Greetings.

I love the chance to participate in the OW beta, and one thing caught my eye: Operators, the grunt Guardsmen which is even not an official title , start with a Mind Impulse Unit according to my version of the book. I understand, as it is nice to give them more bonuses to driving their vehicles.

Yet even according to the OW book the MIU is "only granted to the priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus" according to the MIU Weapon Interference, although both are only Rare in this version. Futhermore, most of the other 40k background gives MIU only to very few selected persons, primary of course the Princeps who drive Imperial Titans.

I understand FFG wants the Operators to be good pilots, but this is quite extreme and at least I think quite opposite of background. Futhermore, a common craftmanship MIU is almost the best gear for an Operator, leaving no ways to advance (barring good quality one). I would suggest that they could start with an Interface Port, which lacks the bonus for Operating but is still handy, although I see no reason why the Imperial Guard would put even that cybernetic to just "normal grunts who happen to be good at piloting".

The MIU should be a reward for outstanding Operators, not something every single one should get.

40k is not Halo or some other scifi-settings, where everyone has something like this or cybernetic implants. Bionics are often rare and reserved to those who deserve them. So no to starting grunts, but to actual Tank Commanders (which Operators arent, at least in the beginning).

- Dige

The MIU weapon interface is not the same as a 'standard' MIU; one is to connect with a machine, the other is a permanent attachment to one's shoudler, generally a weapon.

While I cannot see an Operator with a Weapon MIU, having a standard MIU is actually a really good thing, giving a slight bonus (+10 to Operate/Tech-Use) for common quality, rather than the good quality which gives a +10 for Tech-use, BS test, operate, Inquiry, Logic.

And keeping in mind your average starting playing will ahve let,s say 30-35 in his operate skill, a +10 is always a good thing (since big failiure means you fall down or loose control on a tank that's worth many, many times the price of your life.)

I was not referring to Weapon Miu, as I understood the MIU Weapon Interface fluff-text (the bit before rules) as referring to the other, standard MIU (which is the one Operators get). And that Weapon MIU text refers the standard MIU as "more advanced version which is normally granted to priest of Adeptus Mechanicus", as Weapon MIU is indeed inferior to the standard, as the the latter gives so many nice bonuses.

With their +5 to agility, the Operators are rolling their Operate tests normally in the range of 35-40 + the potential bonuses of the vehicle (without the MIU, that is). While this is indeed quite bad, same happens all around the game system, as OW is a low-rank game. The +10 could be given in other ways as well, such as giving the Operators either some special talent, or flat out Operate skill starting at +10. Also standard operating doesnt need test, just the special movement actions, which are indeed quite dangerous (but still requiring often five degrees of failure to cause disasters).

I do understand Operators might want or need some help in operating their vehicles, but giving them the MIU is an overkill, as FFG is trying to fix the mechanical problems of the system but at the same time breaking the background mentioned in the same book.

Futhermore: If giving MIU to every single Operator of the Imperial Guard (including something like feral world regiment), they could mention which vehicles are capable of MIU linking, as it is required for bonuses MIUs confer, and I do not think every single Sentinel has an cortex connector installed.

--Dige

Dige said:

Why wouldn't they? Standard pattern vehicles should, for the most part, contain at the very least some form of access port to the Machine Spirit so the tech-priest can monitor it. Also, considering the fact that they are mostly all build by the Mechanicus, and that every single one of them gets electro-grafts (which are basically cheap MIUs), than I cannot see why any standard issue vehicles should not have connectors, barring the pattern for the connector having been lost on the specific vehicle.