Here is the fundamental issue the gameplay and its asymmetrical nature requires some level of being able to hold groundâŚAnd the rework is gutting the over all ability for the marines to hold ground.
while yes the marines can win with this rework but its harming one of the fundamental abilityâs of the marines that is the construction of hard points. (A hard point is fortification that the xenos canât just flow through.)
The dichotomy of Low Vs High pop and the knock effects of attritional losses. This is a thread i made about the issues of attrition and how it changes low Vs high.
One of the key points i layed out as to why marines tend to lose more on low pop is because of compounding effect that any given loss has on over all combat efficiency. Now one of the matters i bought up is how the loss of hard point construction from less material and labor shortages, decreases the overall staying power of the marines by a good degree.
This is due to the fact that hard points are useful in stalling out the xenos and restricting their movement and even if the hard point canât hold it can allow for scattered marines time to fall back and regroup.
whats more it can act as force multiplier as due to the asymmetrical gameplay the xenos for the most part canât get very good damage off on dug in marines but the marines can dish out a good deal. This means is that less marines are needed to stall out a xeno push. What this means in effect is that if you have hard points constructed at key points fragmented forces have much greater survivability if they can just only get to the hard point.
In gutting the ability to make hard points you are giving the xenos a massive advantage when it comes to maneuver warfare⌠while also keeping the xenos ability to make hardpoints themselves, which only serves to compound the issue.
Now the queen can flank with much less impunity, She doesnât have to worry about there being a hard point on the flank being there to stalling her out. before if the comtecs were on their game, the queen ether would be herded into the marines main push OR would lose the element of surprise. Which then allowing the marines to turn foot and respond.
Whatâs worse if the xenos are sneaky they can weed and wall behind the main marine force restricting the marines ability to pullback safely. So now the xenos can restrict the marines movement but the marines can no longer as effectively restrict the xenos movements.
We also canât forget to talk about readily the xenos are able to heal and recover. In the gutting of hardpoints its makes the ability for the xenos to raid the medic line many times simpler. they no longer have to worry about being able to get the medics in the first place nor do they have to worry about path to get back into main xeno lines as there is not going to be any flank/choke securing hardpoints.
This in effect forces the medics farther into the front line less they risk getting wiped by ether Backliners or a queen flank. And we all know what happens when medics are healing lads to close into the front⌠they risk loseing the bodys on a xeno counter push OR are to have much less efficiency geting the bodys up or healing the wounded. Because now they are in range of the long range xenos meaning they have to deal with taking damage. They also got to deal with being jockeyed around ether by ever flowing marine mass.
does all of this happen right now? No but the xenos are given much greater leverage over the use of the tools they are given at their disposal. while taking away the much of the effect of the tools that the marines have to counter.
You are acting like playing defensive is some how BAD, its just one more tactic to be made use of by the marines. i donât see the issue in of itself that having such gameplay is bad, but i can see how its bad to take away as you unnecessarily striping complexity from the game. many lads really donât like the unga ball that is the meta and all striping out defensive gameplay does is reinforce the fact that the unga ball is the only real meta that can work out.
Here is the thing i understand the need to deal with never ending FOB sieges but you are throwing out the baby with the bath water⌠And with the many xeno benefits they get for holding comms, including the King ( which was made to deal this very issue) the marines are put on timetable to push out they canât just hold forever for Nuke or Stims.
Talking about nukes it was made to deal with XENO stalling the marines out and to force them out. We have things to encourage to not just resting on our laurels, we do not need this rework as it is now.
TL;DR
The Rework just dumbs down the gameplay and gives massive tactical advantage to the xenos.
Addendum: Mines and turrets
While yes mines and turrets can be used to restrict xenos movement, they have little to no true value on their own. Other then OT mines which is whole other beast, Mines are not about to kill or even deter any xeno by itself. Only in tandem with support does the mines become a issue, they are great at the sides or even at the front of the fighting where marines can follow up.
Hell they are even great when mixed with a turret⌠but you know where they really shine? in front of a ether lightly guarded Hardpoint or hardpoint turret mix. A runner takes one look at that and says âfuck itâ and tries to find a way around.
This also gets to other matter at hand the turrets. They also shine best when added behind a hardpoint! like the given before example, They can deter light xeno forces and stall even larger ones.
But a turret on its own simple just is not enough deter most xenos they are just going to get into its blind spot and kill it. Or if got Omni turret they can easily swarm it and destroy it. yes it can stall, but with out the save guard that the hard point gives you are just better off slapping down the turret on the front line for some Free AP IFF DPS.