Infinity Human Sphere Sectorial Series: PanO

Good afternoon fellow wargamers and welcome to the start of a small series where I plan to talk a bit about the recent release of Human Sphere for N3 Infinity.  It's been a welcome release thus far and with the updates/clarifications on rules and some tweaked profiles I believe the game to be in a pretty sweet spot right now.  So with that I wanted to go over the official Sectorial lists for each faction and give my 2 cents to them.

Disclaimer: For those who know me personally you'll know that my hands-on experience with Infinity is growing.  So for those who don't know that part, well now you do.  My thoughts are based on what I am primarily toying around in my head and my actual board experience is still growing.  So feel free to add in your thoughts on these posts and correct me, add some insight, etc!

My disclaimer reasoning

I'll be mentioning the new rules about fireteams and presume you know what the rules are/terms mean/etc.  If not here is a link to the Human Sphere N3 rules from Corvus Belli!

Instead of going over each Sectorial for each faction I am going to focus on the ones that I think I would be most likely to play or most interested.  So to start off let's begin with the big ole's boys in blue: Panoceania!  PanO currently has 3 Sectorial selections: Shock Army of Acontecimento, the Military Orders, and the Neoterran Capitaline army.  I'll be honest I have no idea what each one's playstyle is supposed to be but I do know that I most interested in the Military Orders.

How I want thee to be updated so badly, yea verily

So the Military Order Sectorial represents the PanO's Catholic Church's organized military power and boy do I like it!  A big downfall I feel the Sectorial has, which is not unique to the MO, is the prevalence of older sculpts that when redone will look simply amazing, especially given the quality of CB's releases these days.  They've updated and released some new models that just blow away the older sculpts so it's a bit more difficult to just ignore.  I mean, have you seen the Seraph? Like omg!  So let's take a look at the Sectorial list itself.  For those who want to follow along here is the most recently updated unit profile list with Sectorials, fully HSN3 compatible right here.

Like omg! Like so good!  Like so pretty!

Unfortunately one of the flaws I see with this list is that you pretty much are limited in your fireteam choices since the Sectorial lacks Haris options, but it does have quite a few Duo teams and several options for a Core fireteam.  One thing to keep in mind is that you choose a "primary" order of knights (Montessa/Hospitaller/Santiago/Teutonic/Sepulchre) which then become AVA 4 and then you can have 2 other knights of a different order at AVA 2.  That means, for example, 4 Hospitaller Knights and 2 of whatever else. It does not mean 2 of each other order, but 2 total alternative knights.  One thing to also note is that this Sectorial has a lot of rules/options for its fireteams and it is quite useful to be familiar with those requirements and restrictions before buying anything.  With that in mind I'm probably going to roll in with Hospitaller or Santiago for reason I can explain in a bit.

Color scheme examples of the different orders

The other thing that I will need to keep in mind is that a large chunk of my options lack specialist profiles.  Most of the knightly orders lack specialist options, save for Santiago and Hospitaller, and some of the choices in the Sectorial show that specialist profiles are in short supply.  That's not to say that I am completely without specialists, but it does mean that certain models are going to almost be auto-includes to make up for the lack of options found elsewhere.  What the orders do have though in abundance is durability and a certain level of elite playstyle that I do enjoy from time to time (almost like an Eldar force in a way, but not so fragile save in numbers).

One of the things that has drawn me to MO, aside from lore and aesthetics, are some of the model choices that can form a fireteam.  For one: Magister knights.  I love these guys and I'm a bit sad that they ended up getting a nerf with their CCW's but it's something I can understand as well.  Having EXP CCW's is not something that would be too kind to receive, especially with the updated rules on close combat for fireteams.  Personally I would be fine sticking them in a fireteam with a couple of Teutonic knights for that hard hitting close combat team with some pretty decent resilience.  Another example of a interesting fireteam I would be inclined is the Father Knight bro duo team.  Either take both as hackers or use one as a hacker and the other with a spitfire then combine them with their stats?  Hoo boy those bros are going to be a nice little nut to be cracked.

Bro team of two of these? Yes please!

I think that's a primary draw for the MO is their resilience.  A good portion of the models, Order Sgts and Fusiliers aside, have elite stats with pretty decent ARM and BTS.  This tends to make the MO Sectorial able to take a hit or two and stay standing for the next round.  On average in cover you're getting an ARM of 6 which against your standard combi-rifle shot gives you a pretty solid chance of not taking a wound.  Oh and most of the knights have 2 wounds to start with, also bypassing shock ammo.  Not bad at all PanO, not bad at all.  If I choose my main order as Hospitallers then I can go ahead and take Joan in a fireteam with them, which she appears to be a badass on paper for sure (also +1 to SWC if she is my Lieutenant whoooo!).

What my PanO might end up looking like

So that's my blurb on what Sectorial I'd choose for PanO, next up I will take a look at another Sectorial I am interested in and will probably be looking up Ariadna or maybe the Combined Army.  If you have any comments, suggestions, tips, feedback, please feel free to let me know!  Until then fellow gamers happy gaming!