- The Caiman will get a "significant" points bump, like 15 points. They adjusted the Jaguar, but what happened is the Caiman just replaced it/them, so they're going to catch the Caiman up.
- The Firedrake will likely get a small points increase, like 5 points, but Dave thinks it's pretty good where it is.
- The Katana will get a small points increase, like 3 points per unit. Any more and it'd be too much of a penalty since you take them in squads.
- The Ferrum is fine, in Dave's opinion. Do not expect any changes to it, Folks. Simon said he considered dropping Scout from the Drones, but realistically, that's what drones do today, so it doesn't make sense to do so. We discussed dropping their Focus value by 1, but as Dave said, it really reduces the effectiveness of the Units that have Focus to muck around with their Focus value, especially since the Drones have such a low starting E. It makes sense, since if you drop their Focus by 1, then 3 hits would translate into an E10 hit, and that's a big drop from E13. "People just need to learn how to deal with the Drones. They are manageable." [Dave] And he's right, I manage against my regular UCM opponent, and so can you all. So, learn to accept the Ferrum as it is, Folks. It's not going anywhere.
- Dont expect any changes to Rocket Technicals, either. "Learn how to use them", says Dave.
- Storm Wagons, on the other hand, will be getting a good points reduction, and possibly/probably an Alt-1 weapon profile to make them more versatile and desireable, as well as effective.
- Bird Eaters will get a decent points decrease, 10 points(?), but they and the Tarantulas will stay at Mv 6". The large Warstriders are Mv 4", so it makes sense to Dave that the smaller Shaltari walkers should be correspondingly faster.
- Ronin will slow down to match the Samurai, at 4", and Alpha Strike will get a +1 penalty to the Ronin's Acc, to "make you think about using it".
- The PHR Nemesis might get a small adjustment (something new) to its tail gun, but Dave was very vague about this...
- Condors will be able to carry a mixture of different chassis, e.g. 3 Rapiers and 6 Katanas, but as a small upgrade. Expect this in Reconquest: Phase 2.
- PHR players will be able to take Type 3s (Apollos and Erebos) in squad sizes of 1-6. This was an oversight that slipped thru the final review of Reconquest: Phase 1.
- PHR Mercury Drones will most likely not be having their squad size changed to 2/4 or anything else like that, they will stay as 4. (
) Dave doesn't want them to be so cheap that they become an auto-include. If you want cheap Scouts, take Janus. And then there's... Oh, wait, I can't talk about that yet...
- Hawk is striving to have the DropFleet Kickstarter launch late October, but it will likely push to November. Also, they are hoping for an April delivery from the KS, aligned with Salute, but that could slip to May. This is Hawk's first KS, so we need to allow for that, but as I reported, Dave is adamant that he can't understand how people who do Kickstarters can't deliver in a reasonable timeframe/as promised, and it would really drive him crazy if Hawk were to slip at all...
- Fluffwise, Scourge are not running from anything. They're just "like ants", and want to thrive, grow, and expand, like any other organism/race. Also, in the Limited Edition Rulebook, we see some pictures of some Scourge organisms... Creepy!
Something wicked this way comes...
What would y'all say to a new AA unit that was E7, 2 Shots, and infinite range???....
Not sure I like the sound of that, but according to Dave, it's on its way. Probably won't see it until next Salute, IIRC, but Dave had an evil grin on his mug when he dished this one.
And the lucky faction to get this broken, erm, I mean, awesome new unit?... None other than....
Shaltari.
Yes, the mighty hedgehogs are going to get an Ocelot variant (different name) that will have this gun on it. Can't imagine why I'd repressed, I mean, forgotten that...
- Dave says, learn to use and love Flame units as they are. At big events like Invasion he sees about one in five players using Flame units. They are what they are, they're not going to change, use them, touch them, love them!
- Apollos are not going to be getting any "survivability boost". Dave mentioned seeing people "regularly" bringing 6 or 12 of them, which, I think, is the way to utilize them to their advantage.
- On a side note that sprang from this discussion, each faction has a "thing" that defines them, and they in turn "pay a premium" to have access to the opposite, in terms of both points and lack of choices. PHR's "thing" is that they're slow (but tough), so pay a premium for speed, which in the case of the Apollos translates into being a bit fragile by PHR's standards. UCM really don't have a "thing", but are the all-rounders. Scourge don't have long range, but do have the Oppressor. Shaltari "lack toughness and high Energy weapons" is what Dave said, IIRC, or something to that effect (
). He didn't mention Resistance.
- Sorry, Darryl, but Type-3s are going to stay Support choices. PHR have great Standard choices, and flexibility to mix-and-match them already, and if you'll recall, had zero Support options in the Core Rulebook. It is what it is, my friend...
- The Leviathan will be getting updated to be able to bring more than two squads!
