Arguing About Cyberpunk Ice cream: Sectorial vs Vanilla

So the topic is coming up again and figured I thought I throw my lot in with my "hot take" on this particular point.

Basics on Vanillas and Sectorial Armies

The basic concept in terms is that 'Vanillas' refers to the main generic army for a particular faction while 'sectorial' is playing a sub-faction within the faction. So with a faction like PanOceania, the Sectorials for that faction is Neoterra Capitaline Army, Shock Army of Acontecimento, Military Orders, Varuna Immediate Reaction Division and Svalarheima Winter Force to use as an example.

Vanilla armies are what started this game, but sectorials got added in Human Sphere in N2 with variations and new sectorials being added and how fire teams works. However that is for another post and this is more about the benefits and weaknesses of both.

Benefits to Playing a Vanilla Army

-Full Toolbox of units available to that faction. Which means you can tackle all missions in a line-up potentially

-Tied to the second point, allows you to pick most of the models you may like between a few sectorials and pick and choose what you want to take.

-Ability to spread out models across the deployment zone without much of a downside.

-The ability to spread out certain models and also have the full range of models in faction means you can easily combo without having to risk that many models so close together.

Downsides to Playing a Vanilla Army

-Most lists may come out to be somewhat Min-maxed, relying on a few power pieces that will be too common.

-Facechecking against a fully-linked ARO piece may prove a bit challenging if you are not skilled or do not have the right tools for the job.

-Tied to the first two points, you are often going to have to take models specialized in something but might struggle to spend orders efficiently on them.

-Most of the cognitive load is front loaded in list building, considering that there is a lot of options in vanilla.

Benefits to Playing a Sectorial

-Thematics. Playing a sectorial means you are playing a specific force in otherwise a large army.

-Link teams, which is the selling point of sectorials. Learning how to play them and around their weaknesses can be quite powerful.

-Higher AVA on units in that specific unit, which gives you a reason to run some profiles on some units you may not see in a vanilla lists.

-Smaller Selection of units, which is good when starting out.

Downsides to Playing a Sectorial

-With a limited toolbox, some sectorials may struggle to do some missions or how to deal with some situations.

-Link teams. They are both a blessing and a curse as a poorly deployed link team can cost you the entire game.

-Information obfuscation and mind games are harder to pull off due to the fact there are less profiles with camo or Hidden deployment to play with most often.

What do I prefer?

While my batreps for the blog have has been more on the vanilla side, I tend to consider a sectorial player more at heart. I tend to like the thematic restrictions imposed by sectorials and trying to figure out how to deal with missions and problems within that framework. That said links are a bonus I really love because they are powerful but can be countered still.

This said, I tend to also play a bit of a dark horse so I'll play what is not played in the stores I go to (which most of the time is vanilla factions). Personally I do not think one is overtly more powerful than the other and it comes down to personal play style and taste to what one likes. If I had a little hot take it is the fact vanilla might be a little more flexible because of having more tools at your disposal.

Thanks for my reading my take on the matter! Hopefully there is something to take away from here even though it has been talked about to death.

Infinity Releases: May 2023

So to make new posts without trying to write out battle reports that take a while, I am going to do a monthly release review. Its more to critique of the newer releases, but I may do a unboxing of some things in the near future. 

What is the Metric (You hack fraud) of how you rate models?

So what I thinking of doing is using the late Mayacast's Schriber Scale. Mostly because I am not that original but also, I think it should be honored since I think it is a pretty good way to rate Infinity models. 

The Schriber Scale according to Tanako Skyler:
1. ENDLESS TRASH. DO NOT BUY AND PROXY IT INSTEAD.

2. Eh, not that good. But if I need to, I'll buy it for my army. 

3. The Corvus Belli Standard Work. 
4. Now we're cooking with gas! We're in the territory of amazing and good.
5. The GOAT of Infinity models. Good for even other games or just to own for non-Infinity releases.

As well, I wanted to have a twist on rating these models. Since I run Critposting, I wanted to have a Infinity Critposting Memeability Scale. This is only a rating to 1-3 on how silly, memey or other factors that make it out here in terms of CB standard:

1. Eh, not too Critpost-y. Little meme potential.

2. Getting there. Examples of this is overuse of tactical rocks/garbage or weird paint job/posing.

3. Truly the peak of Critposting. 

Now, let's get started:

Hulang Shocktrooper w/ 2 Crazy Koalas

Rating: 3 (Hulang), 4 (Crazy Koalas)

Not a bad model that looks decently cool. The ribbing of his armor in the abdominal area is actually pretty cool, along with his skull helmet but otherwise it is standard Yu Jing fare. I think the highlight of this box ironically is the new Crazy Koalas, which was a much-needed update and deadly adorable. 

Profile wise the Hulang is kind of meh in both vanilla and IA, but you can certainly do worse in my opinion. Just really overshadowed now that Bixie exists in Yu Jing's toolbox. 

Critposting meme rating: 1

Nothing that egregious in the model. Maybe more that the only way to get new Crazy Koalas outside of tokens is this. Moving on. 

Daturazi Witch Soldiers

   Rating: 5 (all models)

So Corvus Belli took a great box and pretty much updated it to perfection. As much as the swords are very angular and kind of have the anime sword syndrome, the new Daturazi fit the updated aesthetic quite nicely. Honestly I can see this being used outside of Infinity for something like Starfinder/Star Grave to use as enemy jobbers or a pirate character.

Profile wise they are your warband smoke throwers for Vanilla CA and Morats. More on the elite end at 14-18 points, but more than likely you are taking the cheap chain rifle profile to use as DZ defense.

Critposting Meme Rating: 3 

Leaving the serious territory of this model review here, these monkey boys are truly looking like they are having the time of their life. The top-right one looks like he is Andross from the Star Fox series, with the bottom left guy clearly knows he is going to go balls deep into someone's DZ. The tactical rocks are also good here. 

But we can make it bigger.

Code One Haqqislam Booster Pack Beta 

Rating: 3 (Al Fasid HRL and Hortlak Jannisary), 2.5 (Asawira AP Spitfire)

This box is a repack of existing models to put into one box for newer players. Asawira is starting to show its age a bit with not so much the model itself perse but the pose kind of weird and wonky. The Al Fasid HRL and Hortlak Jannisary are good as is, holding up still despite it being kind of bog standard. Outside of Code One, this box leans more towards to playing  

Speaking on the three profiles here the only you're going to probably use the most in vanilla is Asawira, especially since it can duo with the Rafiq. In Hassassins, the Asawira cannot link with the Rafiq (for some god forsaken reason), but has the benefit of being a wildcard to any link team for a beefy beatstick and gunfighter. For the other two models, they are in Ramah together. Using them is kind of playing with a handicap compared to what else is available in Ramah, but in certain missions like Frostbyte they fulfill that role of something that can survive the cold since they are HI.

Critposting Meme Rating: 1 for the Al Fasid and Hortlak, 2 for the Asawira, 3 for the box existing. 

Seriously the Asawira pose is still wonky even though I have a soft spot for it since I love the profile. Box itself is kind of all over the place since there is only one Hassassins model. Kind of wish the Alpha and Booster packs for Haqqislam gave them new models but it is serviceable.

Code One ALEPH Booster Pack Beta

Rating: 4 (Acmon), 3 (Machaon and Makhai ML)

Okay so to admit my faults, I kind of have a soft spot for models dual-wielding both a rifle and a pistol, so I have high marks for Acmon and much improved over his old sculpt personally. Wish one had his gizmokit, but rule of cool wins out for me here. 

 Machaon is definitely a step up from his old sculpt if a bit generic. I wish they had his medikit out since he is a doctor character but otherwise, not a bad sculpt.

 Makhai has a definite sassy attitude to her, which might be warranted since she is carry a huge missle launcher to drop templates on something unfortunate to fail the face-to-face against her. Otherwise kind of a static pose for her. Do like her arm plates on her and Acmon since it reminds me of Isaac Clarke's suit from Dead Space.

Critposting Meme Rating: 2

I already made a meme about Tomboy GF with her two Dilf boyfriends (or mutual menage-a-tois), but that's all I got. That said, the releases this year of the 'I'm a healer but...' class of characters have been fire. Please CB if you are reading my shitty blog, take a free idea and give Exrah a combat medic.

Meteor Zond

Rating: 4 

When the tactical rocks works to the benefit of the model.

Honestly, this is a great redesign of a classic model that uses something that people kind of complain about (most of the time with good reason), to support it. Granted it might not be that popular of a take, but I hate flying stands with a passion, considering you have to either prime it separate from the base first or prime it attached. Weird complaint from me but thought I'd get it out there. Otherwise the model design fits well with the Nomads current aesthetic.

Profile-wise the Meteor Zond is in all of the Nomads armies save for Corregidor. It's unique due in part of being a parachutist and combat jump, which can give you a repeater on the side turn two or three or even use it to press the console.

Critposting Meme Rating: 3

Seriously, nearly the whole model is tactical rock and I kind of love it. I also expect a renew amount of bemoaning from the forums because of the tactical rocks and Nomads having more repeaters (though they complain about Nomad's existence in general).

Final Thoughts

While not a big month of releases, most of these were pretty solid. If I had a rare the releases in ones I am most excited by, it would be the Haqqislam Code One Box> Hulang Shock trooper> Meteor Zond=ALEPH Code One Box=Daturazi Witch Soldiers. 

I already picked up my ALEPH box but once I come back around to Combined, I am really tempted to pick up the new Daturazis. Anyways looks like July is an interesting month ahead since we are finally getting new PanO arm bots. But for now, tune into a small tournament report in the next two weeks or so where I take vanilla ALEPH.