Saturday, July 12, 2008

AT-43 Upcoming Releases: Some Wild Speculation on the ONI and the Cogs

Hey everyone,

The weekend is finally here so I can finally throw in my own wild speculation about the prototypes for the ONI and the Cogs. So without further ado, let's get to it.

First up is the ONI trooper. I am thinking that this will probably be a type 2 infantry trooper, mainly because of the weapon that he is carrying. It seems to be some kind of energy weapon (I am guessing a laser rifle similar to the one used by the UNA) which typically is given to the elite troopers. The type 1 units for both the RB and the UNA are only equipped with assault rifles so I don't see any reason for ONI to be diferent.

The other thing which really stands out is the face mask. Most of the other human units that have face masks also have some kind of an optical enhancement (ie the triple lens of the UNA) but in this case I don't think that it will have any effect in the game. It looks to be just some kind of a gas mask which looks cool but there is nothing in game that I can think of that it would really protect you from.

Next up is the ONI version of the TacArm. The weapons look like they must be some kind of an energy weapon, probably a particle gun of some kind. That big X for the opening of the barrel just makes me think of the nucleus cannon on the Golgoths.

The really weird looking thing about this figure is actually the torso and the arms. The detailing on the torso is very odd looking and the upper arms appear to actually be arms rather than armor. This makes me think that these TacArms might be on the low end as far as armor goes simply because they don't seem to have the armor plating that the UNA TacArms do. I also wonder if they will have the gyroscopes that the UNA has because they look very top heavy. Seems like some odd compromises but it all depends on how many points they cost to field.

Finally we have the first of the Cog prototypes and they look pretty sweet! They are definitely some kind of an assault troop but I am not sure which type they will be. Just looking at the picture, they look like they have almost no armor on but all have something attached to their back. Maybe some kind of a force field? The Cogs are supposed to be a very advanced race so who knows what to expect from them as far as technology.

For their weapons, they seem to be equipped with an energy blaster but they look like they have some kind of sight on top of the gun so their range might not be to bad for an assault weapon. As for the "swords" I am not sure what to make of them. At first glance they looked like some kind of chainsword but what I first though were teeth on the blade are actually posts. I am guessing that these posts either generate some kind of force field around the "blade" or possibly a disruption field. Which ever it is, it will probably be a fairly potent hand to hand weapon. After all, the Therians had to bring in the Karmans to bring their war against the Cogs to a standstill so the Cogs must be some pretty nasty customers.

Well, that is about all for now except that Rackham has updated their release plan. In addition to extending it further out than before, they added a little something for the Therians in the same wave as Operation: Frostbite.

Ain't she purdy? (What did you expect? I am a Therian player after all...). So until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

No comments: