I think with a decent pilot, both the Violator and Goshawk will be playable in the right army. Raptor1313 pretty much hit it on the head with a comparison between the two. The Goshawk has better attack, mobility, ranged options and is cheaper. The Violator has better damage, better defense stability, and a better heat dial. With a good pilot, I'd probably put Full Strike on the Violator to use that high damage and 270 degree arc, and I'd probably put explosive ammo onto the Goshawk to get the most out of it's ballistic stability.

As for other mechs we'll be seeing, I'm not sure whether our last non will be the Anubis or the Thor. I think I'd be happy with either. If I were to guess, I'd say we'll pick up the Anubis. My reason for this is that we're getting a total of 6 uniques in the set, with one of them being a new Vulture. I'd guess the Vulture was part of the lance, which means most of those will be heavy or assault mechs. And it makes sense. Early on, Liao was known for its "fatties". It's about time we got some replacements.

What I do like with having 6 uniques is the 6 Liao pilots that will come with them. No recruit costs, hopefully decent stats, and if we're really lucky, at least one for each class.

I do think it's about time we started seeing some of our support pieces as well. Dominion had several units, but nothing too spectacular or stand out. Sure, there's the Kelswa and R10. But really, what else? What we really need is a Shun replacement, and I'm still looking for a Fulcrum replacement as well....

Frankly, I'd be surprised if Laio didn't get an Anubis. As cool as it would be to land a Thor, I'm looking at the other faction loadouts.

I'm almost certain about the Anubis, and its looking pretty probable for the Thor, so..

RD(3): Osiris,__________(Anubis?),___________(Thor?)
NC(4): Anubis(g), Avalanche, Avalanche,___________(Thor?)
WH(2):___________(Anubis?),___________(Thor?)
JF(2): ___________(Thor?)
HS(2): Osiris, Goshawk
HD(2): Osiris, Goshawk
HK(2): Avalanche, Goshawk
HL(4): Osiris, _________(Anubis?), Avalance, Goshawk

So heres the guesswork: I'm assuming that Wizkids will give Laio and HL mech,
+ We've seen picks of a JF Thor, so thats their one mech. RD, NC and WH won't probably get doubles of the Anubis or Thor, so I assumed one for each. So with that its pretty safe to say that Laio won't be getting any heavy nons this set.
The uniques are still anyone's guess.

Nice detective work! As they say in Old Detroit, "I'd buy that for a dollar."

So, here's hopint that the Anubis will be on the good side of things. Personally, I wouldn't be upset if it turned out to be our best non of the set...

Getting a Liao Vulture Mk IV is already a given, since WK did announce a Liao super rare associated with the sculpt, but no mention of name and stats yet.

Scourges are getting uniques on this set, and as we speak, the gunslinger version has been announced. I think there might be a Liao unique on this; cover on the Principles of Desolation book got two Scourges and a Vulture on an orbital jump descending on a city firing their weapons.

If Liao gets two heavies (Scourge and Vulture), there is a less chance now they would get a Thor, even though I wished it to be. Anubis is more likely now to get the last remaining Liao nonunique slot. If a Thor comes in, it might be a unique. However, with two heavies (the Vulture and assumingly a Scourge), the Thor becomes less likely now.

If they bring in the Thor, I may think that the Rasalhague Dominion, Wolf Hunters, and the Novacats would get the three slots after CJF. Common theme is that all these are Clan factions. So far the two Thors we have seen, the CJF non and the CW red base, are Clans.

Having heavies doesn't stop WK from handing out assaults, and I still think there is a chance we will see a Liao assault. But it is more likely to be a Marauder rather than a Yu Huang. And if it is a Marauder, a Sandra Sung reincarnation? She had a Marauder back in Counterassault, and like Danai, she is also with McCarron's Armored Cavalry. And if you have two units from McCarron's Armored Cavalry, this might make me think this will go further more into a lance, and that at least four of the Liao uniques in this set comprises a McCarron Armored Cavalry Lance with Danai at the helm.

Does anyone still remember who among the old Liao uniques were from McCarron's Armored Cavalry?

Well, going through the list, there was Rhi Chan in his Targe, Clara Parks in her Tian Zong (one of the best units we had, if on the expensive side), Dmitri Voskavich in his Warhammer (too bad about the range), Jacyn Bell in his Yu Huang (one of the dynamic duo), Flavio Rodriguez (the infamously pathetic), and the afore-mentioned Danai-Liao Centrillo and Sandra Sung.

As for seeing a lance from the MAC, I don't know. I'm pretty sure the Vulture we've seen is in Warrior House colors, and WK normally keeps the super-rares in the same lance, so I'm guessing they'll all be WHO. Hopefully they wont all get shafted on range as seems to be custom for our recent Elite mechs...

Hail & well met my fellow Liao warriors.

Well I have finally fieled my 1st all Liao army in a very lonnnnggg time & to my mild surprise it won.

Battlegroup Pheonix
Liao FP Card
Kelswa
2xSniper Teams
4xSimian BA
3xMiljinor's
2xHero pilots +1 - +1 - +1
the Kuritia school generic pilot +2 - +2 - +0
2xFragmintation Missles
Improved Mymors
600 on the nose

won all 3 with a total of 10 vc's never lost a mech although 2 were hit for 5 damage a peice once. I did lose 3 of my simians cornering Hellfire in the corner & buying time with them to move my Kelswa/ST formation & my mechs to make the killing blows. All and all I found I was able to overwhelm my opponants w/ the fast mechs while my simians took out tanks or slowed down the heavy mechs all my opponants seemed to field against me. Also they buyed time for me to bring in the Kelswa which proved very effective w/ the sniper team support. The Faction pride card truly shinned do to the fact that i could give it to 2 units a turn & allowed me to finnish off or seriously put the hurt on my opponent's :^: & :^^: units. All and all it has rekindled my passion for Liao & i truly look forword to Vangaurd now more than ever.

I gave the Violator a spin tonight. We went for a casual 750 build for Beneath the Seas of Fire since there were only four folks and the BM tonight. We figured we'd have some fun, so...

LI Violator
>Kerensky
>Agility
'Jack'
>Julz
5x Trackbike
WH R10
>LI Kelswa
WH R10
>3x BR TGR
True Grit
Target Acquired
Intercepted Orders
Pull Together

I'd probably have run the Liao ones if I'd had two. Call it a thing about symmetry. To conver to pure Liao, I'd be giving up the Agility to go to the R10s and sniper teams. I hope Liao gets Towed Gauss Rifles that are decent, because I will seriously miss the BR models when we lose the alliance with them.

That aside, I won all three rounds.

Round one:
Kaminari/Dejesus/IT
BR Solitaire/Petros/IT
3x WH Kelswa

He played 'First Blood', I 'Target Acquired' his Shiro. I got the first kill in by tank-dropping and then slaughtering one of the Kelswas, and dinged a second. His Solitaire didn't get a good opening until my Violator wandered off a bit, then the two went mano-a-mano. The Solitaire missed an assault. Violator assaulted, watched the Solitaire fail a breakaway, and then slew it. I did fail to kill the Shiro, though, but a pair of agility mechs in its face did scare it away, so he backed it away. Other than that, blocking terrain kept him from doing a lot of good.

Round two:
3x BR Glory Fire
Merc Transport + 3 TGR
Soliatire+AMS+Panichello
A LOT of Shock Troops. Like, 10 at least.
BR PRide

This one was a little bit messier. Julz ran up to tempt blocking, and the Soliatire hit a 13 to open Julz. I played Intercepted Orders to his Morale Blow. His Solitarie pursued Julz, but ultimately I managed to drag it down with infantry and rams from transports. He salvaged my Kelswa by the end, but I managed to take down some infantry, the Solitaire, and finally a Glory Fire for the win, but 5 Shock Troops in my DZ for a turn or two sort of won him VC3. True Grit was SO the star of the show.

Round 3:
Against one of the new guys
WH Mjolnir + 0/2/0 Grad Certificate
3x ROTS Cizin
2x WH Mjolnir
WH Shamash
2x RD Enyo
RD Kinnol
2x HS Bellona
HS Hadur

A bit unorthodox. He got some good rolls and ripped up the Violator, but never primed his Mjolnir, saving the +2 for a defense bonus. Hey, I've got no problem letting that thing take potshots for 2 instead of 4AP. The Violator had taken about 8 clicks by the end as it got sniped by the Bellona pair and the Mjolnir, and almost got finished by the Kinnol, but time got called. Julz, of course, kept blocking open and let me tear apart most of his Steiner formation. I aced those, beat up the Cizin, got 'Pull Together' pulled off, and almost had VC3 by the end, but time got called.

Overall...the Violator NEVER took a shot. It beat up things, it dished out a lot of abuse, but never fired ballistics. Julz only hit things once or twice, but her spotting ability was what won me the games. The Kelswa and TGRs did the damage; Julz ran around a lot, and the Violator was a threat to keep things off of the backs of my transports. However, running it with agility was expensive, but ultimately very useful. Mostly, when basing a Shiro and threatening it with some serious abuse. Still, with Kerensky, it's an expensive platform. Liao could really use some good medium jocks.

I have not seen any picture of the Liao Vulture. Only that WK mentioned it with their Vanguard and Vulture announcement. I would like to see it if anyone has a link. I personally don't mnd seeing a Warrior House regiment; I'm a particular big fan of pseudo religious military cults or orders.

Here's a test army that packs The Heat, mostly as an attempt to run the Heat in 600.

'The Heat' 242
>Dejesus 33
>Decoy 38
LI Long Tom 74
LI Long Tom 74
LI Kite 32
LI Combat Techs 15
4x LI Simian BA 4x18
True Grit 20

Thoughts? Setup depends on the enemy force. With ATVs and a swift force, I can screen off one of the Toms, and the Heat should be able to swat down other ATVs fairly quickly. Combat Techs are workable sort of filler. The Kite and infantry serve as basers. True Grit, well, is True Grit. Thoughts?

Now, reworking to have the Loki with arty support...

Loki 217
>Kerensky 32+9
>X-pulse 42
LI Long Tom 74
LI Long Tom 74
6x Trackbike/Simian 6x18 (108)
Oni BA 22
Pride/Grit 20
598 Total

The Oni are in there becase, well, after the Long Toms, Loki, and Infantry, I ended up with 24 left. They fill the most of it, and I guess they can wander around as filler. The infantry can screen if needed, or move up and base. The Loki...well, the AV is a bit low, but it should vaporize things if it gets the first shot in. Thoughts?

Im not impressed with the lot of units that we are getting from this set. The LRM's are short on range and are expense formation fillers. The skala light tank would be nice if it was 10 points less... but I'd rather play a bellona instead for 13 points less. The octris in not good at anything... and the artemis IV on the 6" balistic is just screaming for some battle armor to capture it.

The only good unit I like so far is the Avalanche. Good ballist range with steady damage and great heat dial. I hope the quality of the pieces gets better because I see alot of filler junk that will only see the light day once in a blue moon or never.

A Shen Yi is out now. Looks like a Unique and it is a Warrior House. I'm not very overwhelmed with it. Solid albeit conservative unit. I thought Shen Yi's are going to be reserved for the battle set, but now it looks like heck, we may even see a Tian Zong, Tsi Tsang and Yu Huang.

One now wonders who the other unique slot will go for. As for the LE lance who knows. Will Danai be an LE or unique?

Looks like Wolf Strike will produce anothe Liao reputed mech, the Raven. Hoping for one in Liao colors whether a non or unique.

I am not pleased that our Heavy Totem Unique mech is outclassed by many Light mechs, some Mediums (One of which has just about the same stats and utility from this very set), and not even in the same paragraph with just about every heavy mech released. I am waiting to see what the next mech for House Liao may be. If it is anywhere like this I am going to blow-up. If this thing had had a 10AV I may have been willing to like it. But a 9? Come on.

Stick with the Avalanche Liao players. This thing is not worth the extra points.

But if you do feel the need to play with it its only advantage is that it can still use HB somewhat effectivly after having taken a hit. So if you are using it for a setup mech for a serious Tankdrop or some other ballistic meanness place a pilot in it that would give you a +2 AV modification to help get the use out of it that you want. Because other than the HB this is a very expensive light mech.

Here's hoping that this poor Shen-Yi was the supporting member of its lance. I'd have loved to see an ability to use its Homing Beacon with an assault. I'd have loved to see a bleeding +2 on one of the modifiers; a straight 1/1/1 for 18 doesn't do us a whole lot of good for the Loki.

If I really want to tag something with Homing Beacon, I think I'll use Arachne and maybe IT on it. Or, if I want to abuse LOS and the like, I'll just take 'Jack' with Julz and recruit it if I'm running FP.

Here's hoping the rest of the lance is decent.

So it's confirmed Yen Lo Wang is coming into the set as a unique (black base). Quite possibly a Liao unique light (Jackalope). So hoping that Danai's stats won't suck; she's going to have to provide for the medium pilot goodies, like the Avalanche and Violator.

Liao appears to be getting a Morningstar HQ and yet another tank of a new sculpt, whose name I can't spell as it sounds mesoamerican.

The Anubis is confirmed as being a nonunique in the set, hoping Liao gets a good one to offset that Osiris.

Yen Lo Wang and Danai's stats are now up in WK's site. Happy to say, Liao now has another solid medium mech and pilot, plus a superb special ability.

'SLAM (optional) This unit cannot use Rapid Strike and ignores the assault modifier when using an assault order to move and make a close combat attack. When this unit resolves a successful close combat attack against a single opposing target figure, make a second close combat attack against the target. The target gets –1 to its defense value for the second attack.'


I am truly liking all the medium pilots these days since the Annihilation set.