Starter vs. Red Veil

[SuperNewb]

Just starting out and am between the Starter Pack and the Red Veil Box. Haven't played any or watched any games IRL, but am looking forward to soon. I am basically starting from scratch but have the PDF manuals needed and have watched a TON of Youtubes.

I can tell you have zero interest in HaqqIslam army and would likely sell the miniatures to fund more Ju-Ying models.

Any benefit of the Starter Box over the Red Veil models for a newbie? I like the Ninja model in Red Veil, but understand that the weapon she has is not something that is "have to have". I'm not at the point where I really care about "exclusive" models or anything like that.

I also really like the Wu Ming Assault Corps models and would probably need a hacker type model and a long range sniper type model. Would that be a good way to round things out to get started?

[Pierzasty]

If you have someone to split the Red Veil box or sell off the Haqqs, there's absolutely no advantage to getting the plain starter. The price difference is very small and you get 2 extra models, dice, tokens, templates, and buildings.

The bowninja actually is a very useful model. Usually as a killer hacker, but some people reported using the plain bow version to good effect.

Wu Mings are seldom used in vanilla Yu Jing, they're a staple in the Imperial Service sectorial though. In that case I'd start with the Imperial Service starter instead and run the Wu Mings as core fireteam with a Zhanying (probably sensor or ML).

As for roles, Ninja and Kanren are good options for infiltrating hackers in vanilla and ISS. If you go Vanilla, a Guilang is pretty much a must-have and a Yan Huo HRMC serves as an excellent replacement for a sniper.

[SuperNewb]

Thanks for the awesome advice! Appreciate it very much.

So basically Red Veil and then add a Guilang and Yan Huo and I should be good to go? Is getting a TAG worth it as well?

And, yes, I'm leaning more towards Vanilla, as the people near me play RECON!

[Section9]

You will probably want more than that, just to change things up and surprise your opponents.

The Yan Huo with the hyperrapid magnetic cannon (gatling gun) is an unholy terror in the active turn. Burst 5 wins firefights, especially when it's hitting on 17s from 16-32" range. Have you seen the start of the 2004 Appleseed movie, where there's a tank with a bigass gatling gun shooting through everything? That's what a Yan Huo does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa7924EZFTg

[SuperNewb]

Oh man, I love that model! Awesome!

Have a bid on a Red Veil Box on E-Bay right now and may head to the FLGS to pick up a couple of models.

Thanks!