This is the Wartrader, discussing the minor and not so minor changes to the Dasyus and Makaul in N3.

As of this weekend, we've seen the N3 profiles for the ALEPH Dasyus and Tohaa Makauls - units that won't be in the nN3 rulebook itself but will see incremental updates via PDF and the Army Infinity list builder.

The Dasyus

Game-wise the Dasyus is the ALEPH take on the relatively standard Thermo Optic Camouflage (TO Camo) infiltrating skirmisher. Able to set up in hidden deployment where you don't even place a marker on the table it's a hidden horror.

The attributes and skills of the Dasyus haven't changed at all, so let's look at the individual loadout options.

The basic Combi Rifle/Nanopulser/Mines option remains at 35pt. Although TO Camo is arguably slightly less powerful now that all levels of Multispectral Visor help against it's whacking -6 penalty to shoot the user and the Nanopulser and Mines become less powerful due to the changes to the template rules I suspect that TO Camo or perhaps Infiltration have been increased in price slightly, leading to a net unchanged points cost.

The Boarding Shotgun/Nanopulser/Mines option has gone down a point. Looking at the other N3 units we've seen, this appears to be an across the board drop of a point for the Boarding Shotgun over the Combi Rifle and makes sense - as nasty as Shotguns have got with the +6 short range, if it's your main gun you don't have much defence against long-range attacks compared to a Combi.

The MULTI Sniper Rifle/Nanopulser option has dropped a substantial six points. As with the Boarding Shotgun, this seems to be an across the board change as the Nisse MSR in the back of the Icestorm book shows the same drop. This may seem a little odd given the increase in optimum range for snipers (12-36" in N2, 16-48" in N3) but in N2 they were substantially more expensive than an HMG while being worse most of the time. This changes takes them down to being about the same cost as an HMG.

The Hacker (like the Hac Tao Hacker we looked at last week) has dropped six points so the Hacking Device is costing 6pt rather than N2's 12pt - but again don't take this as an indication that all Hacking Devices are halving in points - if there's any unit that's going to be getting a new type of Hacking Device it's going to be skirmishers and TO Camo troops…

The Forward Observer gets two points cheaper, making the skill just 1pt! Given the improvements to marking troops (Burst 2 to mark them instead of Burst 1, being marked helps all shots not just Guided Ammo and indirect fire) this seems like a steal, especially if FOs remain 'Specialists' for the tournament missions, the only models able to interact with objectives. The balancing act in this case is that the FO option doesn't have any Mines.

Lastly, the Lieutenant option. Oddly, this costs the same as the basic loadout while losing the Mines, something that hasn't changed from the N2 version. So if you ever see a revealed Dasyus with no Mines (a model's equipment and weapons are public knowledge if it's not hidden by camo) and it's not a Hacker or FO then it must be the Lieutenant! Although the Support Weapon Cost of two is going to make this a rare choice anyway.

So in summary, the Dasyus hasn't changed much which is expected as non-main rulebook units are only getting minor updates at this point, but the Sniper, Hacker and FO points drops will be very welcome on what it a relatively expensive unit.

The Makaul

Game-wise, the Makaul is an elite Warband. As a Regular unit (it's Order can be used by other troopers, unlike the more common Irregular Warbands) it's substantially more expensive than most Warbands but is extremely effective.

Unlike the Dasyus, the attributes and skills for the Makaul have seen more changes.

The CC attribute has gone from 19 (already high) to 22, confirming that most CC-oriented troops are going to see around +3 to their CC attribute. Bear in mind that an attribute over twenty adds that amount to the basic die roll, so the actual score the Makaul can roll is 3-22 rather than 1-20, so even low rolls are not quite as painful as in N2.

The Makaul also gains the Kinematika skill first seen on the Father-Knight in Icestorm, but at level 2 - so the Makaul can Dodge 4" in the reactive turn and with PH13 even has a decent chance of making the Dodge!

Points costs have also changed - overall it looks like the unit has dropped by a point, presumably due to Impetuous being more of a drawback in N3. The two Heavy Flamethrower options have dropped by an additional point, presumably due to the change in Direct Template Weapons becoming much easier to Dodge - becoming harassing weapons as much as direct damage dealers. Because there's so much more incentive to Dodge the flamethrower (no -6 penalty to Dodge, if you don't Dodge it ignores cover so hits harder) Warbands can now use their Direct Template Weapons such as Heavy Flamethrowers and Chain Rifles to make enemy troopers duck out of the way and avoid shooting the Warband, letting the Warband get up close and personal with a CCW.

On that subject, it's worth a quick look at Martial Arts on the Makaul - level one inflicts a -3 penalty on the target's roll and bumps the Makaul up to PH14 for damage, while level two instead gives the Makaul PH16 for damage making it capable of damaging even a TAG relatively easily!

Lastly, the Boarding Shotgun has dropped an additional point to match the 1pt difference between Boarding Shotguns and Combi Rifles.