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So I only bought one Battle For Zycanthus box (I know, stupid me right? shoulda known there'd be a ton of sweet options) and I so, so, so wanted to build a Bot Handler dual wielding Dominator pistols, but now I'm starting to think that a Journeyman with Aux launcher and Targeting micro drones in a full unit of Contractors with 2xAux launchers would be an absolute monster.

I know the Apprentice bot handler doesn't have the micro drones special rules, but he is already wielding ONE dominator pistol already, and I was just wondering why he can't be equipped with a second for the same cost (or more I guess?) as the Journeyman bot handler. Is it positively game breaking? Can someone that's played the game shed some insight on Bot Handler builds?

If both versions had all the weapon and nanobot options, they wouldn't be very different: I'm guessing they limited the equipment for the Apprentice to keep them distinct from Journeyman. It also fits thematically, chain of command and all that... but maybe just an extra dominator wouldn't be so broken, like you say.

I thought I was set on the dual dominators for the Journeyman as well, but the grenade launcher is better bang for your buck IMO, and it still looks good

What makes you so keen on the grenade launchers?

Having 3 ignores cover 2+SB in a unit with skill 6 that all suppress 1 and poison organics and trash enemy robots with EMP (not that we'll see those soon as Epirians but it is a thought for the future) is really pretty good.

The rest of the contractors getting skill 6 on their maglocks is good too. Means you hit most fleeting targets on 4s instead of 5s and most non fleeting targets you hit on 2s(!)

Yeah I know they were supposed to be different but if they wanted to make the apprentice different because he couldn't take micro drones, then he shouldn't have a dominator pistol, and if they wanted him to be able to *use* the dominator pistol the way it's used in the fluff, then he should be free to take two of them

As to why Apprentice Bot Handlers cannot take a 2nd weapon:

Fluff Reason #1: Apprentices are not capable of fully controlling their bots using just their neural implant. Therefore, they still utilize a tactile interface (otherwise known as a keypad on their arm), meaning they need to keep one hand free way more often than the Journeyman, who can pretty much issue all their orders just by thinking about it.

Fluff Reason #2: We wanted the Journeyman to feel significantly more badass than the Apprentice, and one easy way to visually accomplish that was to only allow the Journeyman to take a 2nd weapon. That way, when you glance across the tabletop, you can easily identify which are the Apprentices and which are the Journeymen (above and beyond the antennae we recommend players use only for their Journeymen).

Game Balance Reason: A full size Spider Drone unit is already a fairly potent shooting unit. Adding just the +1 shot to the Apprentice's Dominator pistol (which is DAM2) made them just a little OTT (especially at taking down Angels). You can still make a Spider Drone unit into a shooting powerhouse by joining a Journeyman to the unit, but that has a limitation of how many Journeymen you can fit into your force. If every Spider Drone unit could take a 2nd pistol, then that really became too much of the 'go to' core choice over the contractor engineers.

Fluff Reason Numero Uno is giving me a hankering to convert up an Apprentice kneeling, furiously issuing commands on his super-futuristic tactile interface (keypad), weapon holstered and forgotten about.

Mr. Badass is probably going to just use an Aux Launcher. While buying him a dominator pistol would make him better in CQ and less likely to fold on an objective, I'm going to experiment with giving him Targeting Drones and Defense drones for that ludicrous Micro Defense Drone profile. As you listed for game balance reasons, a full Spider drone unit is already no slouch with the one Dominator pistol and four cutter LMGs and while they would benefit from a gunslinging Journeyman with targeting drones (what unit wouldn't) I think it's more important to have a toolbox unit like the contractors that has special weapons for organics and inorganics and doesn't fold like a wet paper bag as soon as someone looks at them funny in CQ.

I know CQ isn't super important, but it seems like a great way (especially for Karists) to force someone off an objective if you don't have the time or the firepower to put 3xWP suppression tokens on a unit and force a retreat. Or if you just so happen to have an extra mature angel in the vicinity

Can you give a bot handler more than one type of micro drone?

Is there a special rule for pistols that lets you shoot both of them? Normally you have to pick a single weapon unless you are a large model?

Lukez wrote:
Is there a special rule for pistols that lets you shoot both of them? Normally you have to pick a single weapon unless you are a large model?

You can not fire both pistols, however, if you have 2 pistols, they are treated as linked (except in CQ or when fired by Large models/vehicles).

Seventyone wrote:
Can you give a bot handler more than one type of micro drone?

No, only one, so my one Journeyman can only have targeting drones or defense drones. I'm going to experiment with both options and see which I like more. Obviously targeting drones amounts to more damage in the long run but defense drones can provide a large burst of damage and damage resist right when you need it most. When you're about to get shoved off an objective that might win you the game. And it's 2 points cheaper (free as opposed to 2 points)