Major Points Changes - N4 Acontecimento

 

Now that the Out Of Production Sectorials and Factions have been added to the N4 Army Builder and their Sectorial and Special Fireteam charts are available we can see how things have changed.

We'll start with Acontecimento, here are their Sectorial and Special Fireteam charts:

No real surprises there, but the meat of the conversation starts when we look at the changes to units, their points and SWC costs.

Up first with them are the Regulars. These have mostly changed along the same lines of most Light Infantry (slightly cheaper MULTI Sniper Rifles, Hacking Device changes etc.) but two profiles stand out. 

Firstly the Sensor + Minelayer profile, which has kept Triangulated Fire (which could easily have gone), but most importantly they have gotten a point cheaper AND now cost no SWC! Keeping with the no SWC trend, the Forward Observer is also now 0 SWC.

The Hacker + Grenade Launcher option has also dropped substantially in points, down from 23pts to only 16pts. Of course at a full 1 SWC it's hard to spam these, but it remains an excellent package of offensive and support options in a very cheap package.

Given that their only real role is "cheap AD" it's a little disappointing that the Akali Sikh Commando went up in cost, 'though the Boarding Shotgun coming into line with the Combi Rifle is simply par for the N4 course. They are still solid budget options overall 'though. Bagh Mari have picked up #2 and some minor points changes, up for the heavy weapons importantly, but broadly speaking they have changed very little.

Kirpal Singh came through the N3 to N4 conversion totally unchanged... in one profile. But the OTHER profile has a lot of potential, dropping Chain of Command and instead picking up NCO, an actually useful option on a Drop Trooper (especially in a Sectorial which typically hides its Lt). Stephen Rao got two points more expensive, a hard thing on an already questionable character (Wildcard or not), but at least he's a Specialist Operative, and #2 can be useful in other Fireteams? His Lt profile is more expensive again, but this, at least, is paying for an extra Command Token. It's fairly questionable 'though, considering his overall cost.

Drakios has swapped Free Agent for Specialist Operative, which is a nice upgrade, but he's a harder sell at the same points and SWC as he once was against the much cheaper HI options he competes with as an aggressive offensive piece. On the other hand Albedo on an aggressive unit does seem even more valuable in N4. 

Scylla hasn't change her attributes, but incredibly she picked up ECM: Hacker (-3) and her device options have changed completely. Trinity is available on all options, which makes her useful against other hackers without the "Marker Repeater" issue ('though the loss of Impersonation flamethrower sync remotes is sad). But the real highlight is the availability of the EVO device on something other than a MuleBot remote, a promising development for the game overall, and one which likely reinforces Acon as one of the best places to do a Remote heavy PanO build.

Finally, Teucer lost the pointless option with no MSV, his Feuerbach got 6pts and 0.5 SWC cheaper and his K1 Sniper got 10pts cheaper. He has lost Climbing Plus, Free Agent, Marksmanship lvl X and Multiterrain. On the other hand he gains BS Attack (Shock), Immunity (Shock) and Triangulated Fire. Probably overall a net gain for his active ranged sniping role.

The Guarda De Assalto is back to being the "fast HI" he (or she) was back in N2, with a 6-2 move. It's come down 9pts for the MULTI Rifle and 6pts and 0.5 SWC on the Spitfire. Significantly the AuxBot is impacted by the change from a Light Grenade Launcher (which had a +3 rangeband) to a Grenade Launcher (which has no +3 rangeband) making it even more chancy. It is overall for the best that it has remained Eclipse, as it's probably better (even with the terrible odds) to block AROs totally than occasionally set up "the smoke trick" for our MSV units.

The Montesa Motorized Knights we had already seen, the Red Fury will be as good here as it is in MO, but the key is that Acon can take a pair of them, which may be interesting for some builds and missions. I can see myself running a Red Fury to make a hole and then a Paramedic to exploit it (and pick his buddy back up).

The ORC changes, likewise, are well known. There are no special Acontecimento ORCs, but the peculiarities of Bagh Mari and Regulars as Fireteam Core options, and the flexibility of the Special Fireteam composition, mean that running one alongside the LI and MI will be very common. The Varuna Feuerbach and Boarding Shotgun + TinBot are available (and useful to think of as Acon ORCs, they do have Stealth and Jungle Terrain) and may be useful. The two MULTI Rifle Svalarheima options seem less good outside the context of their sectorial however.

We've already seen the Tikbalang, and while it's disappointing that the Tikbalang of Montesa is not joining Acon it's no real surprise. Our new friend for N4 is the Dragoes Acontecimento Dragoon, which has dropped in cost a whopping 21pts and 1 full SWC. Otherwise unchanged from N3 this fire support piece is now outstanding value and can be slotted into many different army builds as a go-to solution to any and all targets.

There are also other minor changes, Agnes is slightly cheaper, Nagas got some small points and SWC changes (but are still amazing), and a few other small bits which will shake out in list building.

Overall, things are looking pretty good for SAA in N4!

What do you think about the update?

Anything you hoped to see and don't?

Anything you'd rather hadn't changed?

What were the surprises?

Let me know below, on Facebook, or on the Infinity Forum.