msprange said:
The new rulebook will have everything you desire in this regard
I don't mean to be a colossal jerkface, Matt...but I'm not so sure about that.
Cast your mind back to the original rulebook, in the original boxed set. Yes, it had it's share of flaws, but one thing I DID love about it was how it was a marvelous and broad repository of lore about the two races of the time in addition to the rules and army lists.
I mean, the Mobile Infantry section was GREAT. There was the history of the Federation, basic MI organization, some notes about the fleet...
...a little bit about life IN the Federation, that smattering of internal messages hinting at political skullduggery and the systematic oppression of Civilians? BEAUTIFUL.
Why, it even
explained the rationale behind the special Reaction choices and leadership-related special rules found in the MI Army Lists. In short, it elevated the MI from a ruleset into a FEELING, I read that and really, really got the impression that the MI was a magnificent, idolized military machine, and according notions as to how they should be used.
The antithesis of this laudable approach reared its head in the Skinnies Army Book. Now, the stats? Just fine. Ruleset? Apart from a lack of AT and AA fire, which I'm sure you planned and still plan to remedy in time, great. But the background was so painfully bare, it could have made some decent money dancing in dodgy "gentleman's clubs".
The closest analogy I can come up with for the Skinny problem is a mechanically unskilled goober - say, myself - being handed a large pile of spare car parts and a selection of power tools and being told to construct a working replica of the internal combustion engine. The possibilities are THERE but, to borrow a concept from various teachers, "show your work", man.
Just what's the rationale behind the Champions thing? How does Skinnie nomenclature work? Just how widespread is their aggression? How numerous are they, overall? Under what cultural and outside influences did they work out the current generation of their armoury? How DOES the Skinnie mind work?
I could come up with the answers to these questions if they were applied to the Arachnids or MI easily, I really should be able to manage the same with the Hegemony. I understand the strength - and the weakness - of the Hegemony is its fractious diversity as opposed to the homogeneous Federation, but it looks less like a cross-section of an unpredictable people and more like...well, like a rush job.
In short, I hope that more will be done to ensure the Forth and Skinnies have an identifiable spirit and credo (for lack of better terms) when SST : Evolution hits the streets, putting them on a truly (and not just on the tabletop) even footing with the MI and Arachnids and not just some DIY sideshow.
*whew* Well, I've...said my piece. Any thoughts, sir?
