Thuggee Warrior House Nagah (Version 2)

[tassa_kay]

Well, I've been doing some tinkering around with my original Thuggee Warrior House unit (linked in my signature), and I wanted to post some of those tweaks here and see if they look better to you, the more experienced players of the game.

One thing that I'd like to find a place for that I'm not sure how to incorporate: I'd like to add some Yuns (from FM3145CC) because they're both really awesome and totally fitting for this unit, so if anyone has any ideas, shout 'em out!

So without further ado...

Warrior House Nagah

Command Element

Tian-Zong
Archangel
Yu Huang
Seraph
Shedu Squad
Shen Long Squad

1st Battalion

1st Company

Tian-Zong
Tian-Zong
Yu Huang
Yu Huang

Lu Wei Bing
Lu Wei Bing
Lao Hu
Lao Hu
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

Pillager
Pillager
Thunder
Thunder
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

2nd Company

Jinggau
Jinggau
Ti T’sang
Ti T’sang

Men Shen
Men Shen
Yao Lien
Yao Lien
Po II Heavy Tank
Po II Heavy Tank

Snake
Snake
Huron Warrior
Huron Warrior
Regulator II (Stealth)
Regulator II (Stealth)

3rd Company

Sha Yu
Sha Yu
Yinghuochong
Yinghuochong

Dola
Dola
Shen Long Squad
Shen Long Squad
Pixiu Heavy Tank
Pixiu Heavy Tank

Raven II
Raven II
Ying Long Squad
Ying Long Squad
Behemoth II Heavy Tank
Behemoth II Heavy Tank

2nd Battalion

1st Company

Seraph
Seraph
Deva
Deva

Grigori
Grigori
Preta
Preta
Shedu Squad
Shedu Squad

Waneta LAM
Waneta LAM
Malak
Malak
Tengu Squad
Tengu Squad

2nd Company

Deva
Deva
Grigori
Grigori

Preta
Preta
Malak
Malak
Brutus Assault Tank
Brutus Assault Tank

Yurei LAM
Yurei LAM
Raptor II
Raptor II
Brutus Assault Tank
Brutus Assault Tank

3rd Company

Grigori
Grigori
Preta
Preta

Malak
Malak
Bolla Stealth Tank
Bolla Stealth Tank
Djinn Squad
Djinn Squad

Pwwka LAM
Pwwka LAM
Bolla Stealth Tank
Bolla Stealth Tank
Asura Squad
Asura Squad

3rd Battalion

1st Company

Morningstar City Command Vehicle
Minion Advanced Tactical Vehicle
Brutus Assault Tank
Brutus Assault Tank

Predator Tank Destroyer
Predator Tank Destroyer
Zahn Heavy Transport
Zahn Heavy Transport
Se’irim Squad
Se’irim Squad
Se’irim Squad
Se’irim Squad

Sheriff Infantry Support Tank
Sheriff Infantry Support Tank
Zahn Heavy Transport
Zahn Heavy Transport
Tengu Squad
Tengu Squad
Tengu Squad
Tengu Squad

2nd Company

Behemoth II Heavy Tank
Behemoth II Heavy Tank
Arrow IV Assault Vehicle
Arrow IV Assault Vehicle

Po II Heavy Tank
Po II Heavy Tank
Zahn Heavy Transport
Zahn Heavy Transport
Shedu Squad
Shedu Squad
Shedu Squad
Shedu Squad

Po II Heavy Tank
Po II Heavy Tank
Zahn Heavy Transport
Zahn Heavy Transport
Nephilim Squad
Nephilim Squad
Nephilim Squad
Nephilim Squad

3rd Company

Regulator II Hovertank
Regulator II Hovertank
Regulator II Hovertank (Stealth)
Regulator II Hovertank (Stealth)

Nisos Attack WiGE
Nisos Attack WiGE
Tufana Hovercraft (iNarc)
Tufana Hovercraft (iNarc)
Asura Squad
Asura Squad
Asura Squad
Asura Squad

Nisos Attack WiGE
Nisos Attack WiGE
Tufana Hovercraft (iNarc)
Tufana Hovercraft (iNarc)
Djinn Squad
Djinn Squad
Djinn Squad
Djinn Squad

4th Battalion

1st Company

Behemoth II Heavy Tank
Behemoth II Heavy Tank
Pixiu Heavy Tank
Pixiu Heavy Tank

Zahn Heavy Transport
Zahn Heavy Transport
Sheriff Infantry Support Tank
Sheriff Infantry Support Tank
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

Predator Tank Destroyer
Predator Tank Destroyer
Zahn Heavy Transport
Zahn Heavy Transport
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

2nd Company

Pixiu Heavy Tank
Pixiu Heavy Tank
Po II Heavy Tank
Po II Heavy Tank

Brutus Assault Tank
Brutus Assault Tank
Zhukov Heavy Tank (WoB)
Zhukov Heavy Tank (WoB)
Shen Long Squad
Shen Long Squad
Shen Long Squad
Shen Long Squad

Regulator Hover Tank
Regulator Hover Tank
Po Heavy Tank (HV)
Po Heavy Tank (HV)
Shen Long Squad
Shen Long Squad
Shen Long Squad
Shen Long Squad

3rd Company

Luduan Scout Vehicle
Luduan Scout Vehicle
Nisos Attack WiGE
Nisos Attack WiGE

Tamerlane Strike Sled
Tamerlane Strike Sled
Shun Transport VTOL
Shun Transport VTOL
Ying Long Squad
Ying Long Squad
Ying Long Squad
Ying Long Squad

Yasha VTOL (Interdictor)
Yasha VTOL (Interdictor)
Shun Transport VTOL
Shun Transport VTOL
Ying Long Squad
Ying Long Squad
Ying Long Squad
Ying Long Squad

AeroSpace Wing

Command Flight

Mengqin
Mengqin
Mengqin

Alpha Squadron

Striga
Striga
Transgressor
Transgressor
Troika
Troika

Beta Squadron

Rusalka
Rusalka
Transit
Transit
Defiance
Defiance

Omega Squadron

Shade
Shade
Umbra
Umbra
Thrush
Thrush

Naval Assets

Lung Wang (Command Element)
Assault Triumph (1st Battalion)
Assault Triumph (2nd Battalion)
Triumph (3rd Battalion)
Triumph (4th Battalion)
Vengeance DC (Aerospace Wing)
Kuan Ti (Escort)
Lung Wang (Escort)
Avenger Upgrade (Strike)
Achilles Upgrade (Strike)
Overlord A3 (Assault)
Lung Wang P2 (Assault)
Zhen Niao (Recon)
Invader JumpShip
Invader JumpShip
Star Lord JumpShip

Unit Fluff

Ki-linn Liao, great granddaughter of Kali Liao, inherited her ancestor's holdings on Highspire as part of her birthright as a member of the Celestial Dynasty of House Liao. And, like Kali before her, Ki-linn became the focus of adoration and worship by the Thuggee death cult that survived the fires of the Jihad to fester and grow once more in the remote mountain valleys and jungles of Highspire. Raised to believe in her own divinity, Ki-linn was nevertheless kept on a short leash by her cousin Daoshen, who shared her delusions of divinity.  Though it is unclear just how aware Daoshen has been of his cousin's actions over the course of her relatively-young life, it is likely that he is much more indulgent of Ki-linn's association with the Thuggee cult than Sun-Tzu had once been of his sister's. Evidence has come to light that not only was Ki-linn the architect of the so-called "Daughters of Kali" cult of women that rose up on Wei in the immediate aftermath of the Blackout to embark on a campaign of terror and violence, but she was rewarded by having Wei added to her personal landholds and given a seat on the Prefectorate.

During the Capellans' renewed drive into the Republic after the Blackout, Ki-linn was offered as a bride in a clever play by her cousin to seal his alliance with Jacob Bannson, who used his immense resources to help the Chancellor in his bid to retake the Capellan Confederation's birthworld of Liao from the Republic of the Sphere. Though the pairing was displeasing to Ki-linn, her public persona was very much one of love towards her husband, and she publicly mourned for him when he fled the Confederation...though, as the rumor goes, Ki-linn sent Death Commando hit squads after Bannson when he left. The reason for Bannson's flight from the Capellan Confederation remains a mystery, but it is possible that he stumbled upon Ki-linn's secret: she was training her Thuggee worshippers in the vein of the so-called "Thuggee Warrior Houses" that her ancestor raised during the Jihad and was almost certainly encouraged to do so by Kali Liao herself at some point. That Ki-linn would repeat history in this way is almost a foregone conclusion, as she is utterly convinced of her divine right to do so, and her strident calls for war against the Federated Suns within the House of Scions betrayed the bloodlust and desire for retribution that burned within her.

And so it was in 3145, during the height of the Capellans' renewed war against House Davion, that the so-called "Warrior House Nagah" made its spectacular battlefield debut in a brutal assault on the nearby Federated Suns world of Bell. The newest Capellan war machines fought side-by-side with designs (mercifully) not seen since the Jihad: Word of Blake Celestials, Demons, and Spectrals. Though no one has been able to confirm the source of these terrifying monstrosities, the most obvious answer would be that Kali Liao herself had sequestered them away from prying eyes. Soon thereafter, a second attack was launched against Lee, and the Thuggees were merciless in their butchery and destruction, making no distinction between warriors and civilians. It is believed that, given their successes against these targets, Warrior House Nagah may be growing bolder, and the long-standing Davion stronghold of Kathil is almost certainly in Ki-linn's crosshairs as the Capellan Confederation proper continues their invasion of the Federated Suns.

Though the rank-and-file appear to be on a par with legitimate janshi as one might find in Warrior Houses such as Dai Da Chi or Imarra, the elite of the Thuggee force appear to be another Jihad-era relic: the dreaded Phansigar, cybernetically-enhanced, hyper-elite troops with a single-minded devotion to Ki-linn herself. And even though Kali's Thuggees did not count women among their ranks, Ki-linn has not excluded them from her new Warrior House. One of these women, holding the rank of Jemadar and known only as "Black Lotus", commands the aerospace contingent of Warrior House Nagah. A former Death Commando, Ying-zhang Jericho Xu, commands the first battalion; a former House of the Setting Sun assassin, Jemadar "Daitya" commands the second battalion; Tikonov native Ying-zhang Nikolai Zuyevo commands the third battalion; and hardline Liaoist and borderline psychopath, Jemadar Veronica Nguyen, commands the fourth battalion.

The House Master is a mysterious, murderous Phansigar known only as "Vritra", having taken his rebirth name from the serpentine Hindu demon and personification of drought. His rise to the vaunted rank of Risaldar has come at a high price, as his sacrifices of flesh in service to the Death Goddess are many and his enhancements are equally legion: among his known implants include cybernetic eyes, full-body myomer, vehicular DNI, a communications implant, enhanced prosthetic jaws with incisor injectors, an enhanced prosthetic tail, a pair of enhanced prosthetic arms, and a massive pair of flight wings crafted to resemble the wings of a bat... or, more likely, a demon. He commands Warrior House Nagah with singular devotion to the Death Goddess and her newest incarnation, and there is not a single Thuggee within the House that would not give their very lives at his command.

Warrior House Nagah's war machines are painted a lustrous ebony, accented with vibrant red stripes resembling the gouges made by tiger claws. All members of the Warrior House wear an all-black uniform with two symbols: the House symbol on the right shoulder, and the image of the Goddess Kali on the left shoulder. The Warrior House symbol appears to be an inverted Liao triangle, bordered in crimson, inset with the head of a cobra rearing to strike.

[Kojak]

I like what you've got here. I looked over this TO&E vs your old one side-by-side, so I can see the main change is that you've streamlined the 'Mechs a great deal. I assume that's to better suit your play style? At any rate, my the only tweaks I might recommend are around your battle armor deployment: for example, you've paired your Fa Shihs with your Zahns in 4th Batt, 1st Company, when Fa Shihs can ride on literally any unit. You would probably be better off pairing Purifiers or Ying Longs with them, since their mimetic armor means they get the maximum mod from that during the turn they deploy. Likewise, you've paired Ying Longs with Shuns, but Ying Longs don't have jump jets and thus can't deploy without the VTOL landing; in their place you'd be much better off with Amazons or some other jump-capable suit. Lastly, I noticed a couple places where you have OmniMechs but you've paired them with suits that can't ride them: 2nd Batt, 1st Company's Shedus immediately jumped out at me (riding Omnis is another place where Ying Longs and Purifiers are good) I think this sort of thing could largely be accomplished by just shifting around what you've already got, FWIW.

[tassa_kay]

Yep, a more streamlined selection not only suits my style better, but it makes it easier for me to track and assess things. I guess it’s an OCD thing, but I’m big on organization and aesthetic. Do you think it’s a bad idea? I thought there could be some utility in pairing up specific Mech models, perhaps differentiating them where possible with different variants that would complement each other.

As far as the battle armor goes, that was actually the part that I already knew would need some tweaking, because I didn’t have my resources handy to check which armors were jump-capable and which could mount directly on vehicles. I’ll definitely shuffle them around... and return the Purifiers and Amazons to the unit, because I’d removed those to use purely-Capellan and -Demon Series armors, which I was obviously hasty in deciding.

As an aside, I’m probably going to rename the unit again, because I’m just not satisfied with either choice so far. I’m thinking Warrior House Asura, just because those have been considered the “evil” deities in some Vedic and post-Vedic mythology, and (quite coincidentally) I learned that Vritra led their ranks, like Ravana was the leader of the Rakshasas both in mythology and in Kali’s canon Warrior House. I thought the symmetry was a happy coincidence. I’d just need to figure out a symbol.

Also... what do you think of incorporating Yuns into this unit?

[Kojak]

Yep, a more streamlined selection not only suits my style better, but it makes it easier for me to track and assess things. I guess it’s an OCD thing, but I’m big on organization and aesthetic. Do you think it’s a bad idea? I thought there could be some utility in pairing up specific Mech models, perhaps differentiating them where possible with different variants that would complement each other.

No, not at all; my own preferences and play style tend to streamline around speed because I like my lances acting as a single unit, so I totally get why you'd want to do something like how you've got these guys set up.

Also... what do you think of incorporating Yuns into this unit?

I mean, I'm always pro-air-dropping-battlesuits (or really I'm just pro-combined-arms), but on the flip side the Yun is literally the one 3145-era CC design I have yet to use on the field. So unlike most of the time, I can't actually speak from experience here. It seems like it should work well on paper, but I've only ever used the Kirghiz C for this sort of thing in the past, and only a couple of times at that. I can't tell if the protective effect of the stealth armor is enough to obviate the relatively light armor, for example, or whether that fact that it's so slow for its size means that it can't use underwing payloads effectively despite the fluff implying that's how it often rolls. So I would give them a recommendation, but it's a qualified recommendation: use at your own risk.

[DOC_Agren]

I like your fluff background for the House.

not full up on my 3145 design work, so besides what I can lookup for data I'm not going to be great help on those.

and I have to agree that matching up lances via either speed or roll is the way to go.

Do have a question did the warrior houses not got to CC augmented lances?  or is this a 3145 change?

[truetanker]

The Yun can also carry Jump Infantry... 4 tons is 4 tons...

TT