The DFA business matches the design of the new JF mechs. Look at the claws on the feet. This may not match up with the old fluff, but wizkids will explain it away as being a natural progression over the time gap in the story line. This is a new design paradigm for the JFs.

This is for a different thread, but the booster boxes do say "OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE BATTLETECH UNIVERSE" as opposed to, say, "Based on", and that's where a lot of people get their beef, in that they feel they were marketed something different than what the product turned out to be. Not that we're all melting down our figs or anything, but still discontented.

the Enhanced Imaging faction ability means that JF units ignore evade, camouflage, and electronic camouflage from the target unit when they make shooting attacks.

The DFA ability basically means that JF mechs roll 4d6 for DFA attacks.

Hmm Highlander Templar that puts Eriabee's lance one member from full. :) I just wish though that HL would get some non-assault mechs for change for uniques/LE's. They have plenty enough of assault mechs already.

See, if WK had said "It's eighty years after Operation Revival, and Clanners use some physical attacks," that's one thing. I don't think people are really digesting how broken the ability that ShivanWurm posted would be if it is in fact going to be the faction ability.

Let's break it down and talk about things in terms of expectation value. Consider a target unit with a 21 defense and a DFAing 'Mech with a 10 attack. Let's say the DFAing 'Mech has a primary damage of 4. The attacker needs a 13 and has a 25.94% chance of hitting, and thus expects to do .2594 * 6 = 1.56 damage and take (1-.2594) * 2 + .2594 * 1 = 1.74 damage. Poor tradeoff.

Throw in what ShivanWurm stated will be the Merciless ability. Well, the attack adds 1D6 to his attack stat. (I mistakenly read 1D6 to damage to start with, sorry.) The attacker's odds of hitting now go up a lot. See http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corr...259/g_prob.htm. In fact, the odds of hitting are now 55.63%. Expected damage dealt = .5563 * 6 = 3.38, expected damage taken = (1-.5563) * 1 + .5563 * 0 = .4463. At this level of risk/reward, Jade Falcon 'Mechs should do nothing but DFA. They should DFA every turn they have a target in range, and get in range to drop a DFA every turn they don't have a target in range.

So we see what ShivanWurm posted is broken just from a gameplay POV. Now let's look again at roleplaying. Inner Sphere pilots, who've been making DFA attacks since the 25th Century, aren't this good at it!!! How would this make sense?

Envision this: kaKhan Marthe Pryde is suited up in her Turkina B armed to the teeth with huge pulse lasers, ER lasers, and guided by a deathly accurate targeting computer. She mounts a lot more firepower than some DropShips. She looks at the Word of Blake 'Mechs attacking her command post. She has enough skill and weapons to drop two of them in their tracks where she stands. She opens a channel to her troops and says, "Warriors of Turkina, I have had a revelation. In place of utilizing our deadly arrays of pulse weaponry, ATMs, and Ultra autocannons, which have slaughtered Spheroid 'Mechs like mice before the jade falcon for nearly twenty years, we will best defeat these barbarians by rising up on columns of flame and making perilous attempts to slam into their upper regions with our sophisticated avatars of war." Do you see this happening? Don't think about what the Falcon Guards did against Kai or any of that. Think about some of the greatest, best-armed warriors who ever lived deciding that they need to specialize in a risky attack that occasionally results in a killing blow but more often results in their 'Mechs lying on the ground and enemy pilots paralyzed with laughter. Does it make sense?I'll grant that's possible but, if so, they are mislabeling "zellbrigen." Zellbrigen is supposed to refer only to the dueling tradition.

For now, given that these are rumored stats based on early playtesting, I'll give the wizkid designers the benefit of the doubt. I would hope that professional game designers would realize that 200+ pointed units with defenses of 18 or less are not usable within this game system.

Any of the Mechs are Omni Mechs or any of the bases have slots on them? Like MK 2.0. I hope this is not the start of MW:DA 2.0. If that happens. If it is MW:DA 2.0. Will be chaos in the forums all over again.

So much for the external playtesting program...

Was this even confirmed as a JF faction ability? I've read about some new SE's that are green. Mabye its one of those.

Griffin
Vulture
Gyrfalcon
Eyrie
Shrike

Hmm... looks like we're seeing a whole bunch of bird names? Geez, this isn't hawkwarrior.

People, this isnt even confermed!


Calm down, there is no proof that ANY of this is even true.

I agree. Jeez, they haven't even started the sneak peaks and
already people are up in arms! :rolleyes:

Speaking for myself, I'm excited about this set! I think the
Highlanders are finally going to get some decent, balanced
units! :)

And that's saying a lot.

It's not, but here's the thing: we should be wanting MORE of this. Factions being fluff-logical (or whatever you want to call it) is a GOOD thing.

Instead of every faction getting a hodge-podge mix of units, they should specialize more. THAT is what makes the factions mean something.

The thing is, I don't think that it is fluff logical (not sure), just makes me think of WizKids employees going "Ooh! Falcon! Lets make birdie mechs!" and have them using mechs with bird names that they would never use in CBT.

Yes, well, even tough I'm unhappy with several aspects of the Falcon Prey spoiler, Mech names isn't one of them.

Clan JF named several of their Mechs after birds in CBT.

Night Gyr
Fire Falcon
Turkina (was a Jade Falcon)
Black Lanner

And the Vulture was never named Vulture, Clan name is Mad Dog.