The Holy hermits of the Protectorate, part 4

Greetings oh faithful ones and many blessings of Menoth upon you!  Unless you are a Thamarite/Morrowan/Dhunian/anyone else then burn heretic!  Today is the last segment of the Protectorate changes from Mk2 to Mk3 and it's taking a look at the various solos the PoM have to offer.  Traditionally the solos have been a pretty strong factor in PoM lists, with some lists deferring units to the solos completely.  I suspect that's changed in the new edition (I could be wrong) but they are still some solid choices.  Let's take a peek!

First things first I am going to include the battle engine, the Vessel of Judgment, here as it is kind of a solo?  So it umm...didn't change at all.  Moving on!

Just kidding!

The Allegiant Monks changed a little bit.  They lost Perfect Balance and gained Parry while also gaining Steady so they will always get their Tough rolls and do not lose that nice DEF.  The Covenant of Menoth changed up a bit with the aura of Screw-KD/Stationary being reduced from their CMD to a mere 5" bubble.  Otherwise no major changes to the big book.  We have a new solo in the form of the Deliverer Arms Master.  It buffs up the Deliverers to being pretty useful where it gives a single model the choice of a single attack/damage re-roll or Arcing Fire.  Also all deliverers in CMD range gain a minor bonus to hit and damage rolls.  With the addition of CRA to the Deliverers this solo helps make them viable in my mind.

Did you know Adele served as a Deliverer of Menoth? Me neither!

E. Bastion Seneschal kept most things with a trade off from Iron Wall to Blessings of Iron which is actually pretty solid.  The ability to keep a marshaled 'jack from being targeted by enemy spells AND ignoring the effects of crippled systems is no joke.  Also healing the Bastions in CMD each turn.  The E. Errant Seneschal dropped Hunter in favor of Unyielding to help the bros stay in combat a bit longer (mind you with a Defensive Ward up, an Errant's ARM with this solo goes up to 20 when engaged).  The Knights E. Seneschal lost Aegis, kept Righteous Fury and Chain:Smite, and Restoration was renamed Inhuman Resolve.

It's the banners that give the ARM bonus...yeah...

High Exemplar Gravus stayed about the same with the addition of Reposition.  Our Journeyman caster Initiate Durant also did not change much either.  Neither did the Wracks, still torture until they explode.  Vassal Mechaniks now automatically remove d3+1 points instead of testing to maybe remove d6.  They lost Iron Sentinel however.  Reclaimers are now Jack Marshals!  I did not expect that change to happen.  They also gained Ashen Veil and can spend soul tokens to do one of the following: give Ashen Veil to another model, give a model Future Sight (boosting after rolling, nice!), or put a 3" cloud effect on himself.  Not bad!

Pyrrhus the Temple Flamguard hero did not change, still pretty nasty.  Nicia the lovely lady many PoM players included in their lists remained mostly untouched except with the addition of having Parry.  She was a nasty solo already and now she became even more useful.  The Vassals of Menoth dropped Ancillary Attack in favor of getting Empower and since my wife plays Retribution (a common ability on those Arcanists), I noticed that the caveat of not having any focus on the model prior to being given one has been removed.  Not a bad support solo, but no longer will we get 2 Vanquisher shots.

The Saving of Infant Pyrrhus who then became a bamf for Menoth!

I kept this group last because it was a big change for me since I do loooooove me some of those Paladins of the Wall.  The actual paladins themselves?  No major changes, they still get that Stone and Mortar going on so where's the major change at?  It's with the big paladin himself, Dartan Vilmon.  He used to have an ability that made paladins immune to all non-magical damage.  Immune.  To put that in perspective I once had a paladin tie up the Legion gargantuan because it didn't have any magical damage.  He would throw me away, but I couldn't be knocked down and a throw was not magical so I would get up and move in and repeat the process. A 2 point solo kept a 19pt Gargantuan tied up the whole game.  Amazing yes, but not really fair to the other guy.  So now we lost that ability and gained Righteous Vengeance and Dartan gained Shield Guard.  I will miss you Impervious Wall.

"What do you mean I am not immune to most damage? :("

Like the units I feel like the solos had some of their ridiculous denial toned down to being closer to being fair across the board.  At the same time the strength their combat prowess have stayed and in some cases improved.  As this is the final PoM article overlooking the changes from Mk2 to Mk3 I have to say I am overall pleased with my faction.  Yes there were some nerfs but we have some buffs and enough changes to bring new life into our lists.  I hope to see some new lists out there instead of the same Harbinger Steamroller list you would see everywhere.  I for one would like to try out some of these new units and see if they are as viable as I hope.  If you've got a list or some ideas you'd like to try out leave a comment below, until then happy gaming!

Quick break with a couple of MKIII battlebox games!

Good morning ladies and gentlemen of wargaming and welcome to another episode of Wargamer Ramblings!  Today I am taking a break from my faction reviews of Mk3 (well the factions I play that is) and I wanted to share a couple of games I had not too long ago with some of my buddies up in Wise.  Let's get to it!

We all decided that we would test out our new battleboxes for Mk3 and so my first game was with Josh and his Circle.  I brought up Trolls and the Protectorate boxes and allowed him to choose which he would face off, which ended up being Trolls.  So I brought:

• Ragnor the Skysplitter,
• Troll Impaler
• Troll Bouncer
• Troll Axer

Josh's box consisted of:

• Tanith the Feral Song
• Pureblood Warpwolf
• Gorax
• Argus

So we roll off, Josh wins the roll and has me deploy and go first while he chose his side.  Deployment and first turn were honestly nothing special.  We only had 4 models per side and so deployment was center for me, slightly to my right for Josh.  First turn I ran up and Josh did the same.  Now the first 'real' turn of the game is where it went interesting.  Since in Mk3 you can premeasure anything for any reason I went ahead and measured out if I could potentially hit his Pureblood with my Impaler and if I manipulated some animus casting then I could make a shot.  So I activate my axer first, toss Rush on to the Impaler for the extra 2", and then activate the Impaler moving him up 7".  Then I cast Far Strike on myself, boost to hit....

Impaler was MVT

...and BOOM!  Not only do I hit but I get a critical and send the Pureblood flying back into/past Tanith for 6".  Josh was not happy and even though I didn't do a lot of damage it set his plan back a turn.  So his turn was spent re-positioning models to get ready for what he originally wanted to do.  So on my next turn I notice that if I moved at a different angle I could possibly do the same thing again.  Well Josh saw what I was going to do and unfortunately for him I lived out his fears and my Impaler got another critical slam!  The Pureblood flew right back on top of Tanith, knocking them down again!

Pretty much Josh's face

After that Josh had a hard time trying to figure out what to do, it seemed like what was going on in his mind was that every move he would make meant another spear to the face.  Eventually Josh moved his beasts into a position where he might be able to avoid the Impaler while trying to charge the Axer/Bouncer trolls.  Prior to the Gorax/Argus charges he had Tanith fire off Jaws of the Earth on the Axer but I Shield Guarded it on to the Bouncer nearby.  Instead he had the Argus move up, use its animus to lower the DEF of both to 5, and then proceeded to put some boxes on the Bouncer and Axer.  Josh was able to kill off the Axer, but Ragnor came around the side and hit the Gorax with Shockwave allowing the Impaler to toss a spear right into Tanith dealing a lot of damage.  A couple of more turns of finishing off his beasts and chasing Tanith led the Trolls to a victory!

A couple of turns before victory!

Next up I played my Protectorate versus Mike's Khador battlebox.  Our lists were:

• Malekus, the Burning Truth
• Catigator
• Revenger
• Repenter

• Lord Kozlov, Viscount of Scarsgard
• Decimator
• Juggernaut

Mike won the roll off and he chose to deploy and go first.  As with most battlebox games the deployment and 1st turn are not that exciting.  We both deployed centrally with Mike moving up and taking the hill while I waddled up the field.

See? Not exciting just yet.

Now it was my turn to feel what Josh felt in the game before.  The Decimator took the first shot of the game at my Revenger and cleanly crippled the right arm.  Not good.  My return fire, which consisted of a flame thrower, put his Juggernaut on fire but against Khador armor a POW 12 is hardly any concern.  I had to endure another round of fire from the Decimator before the Juggernaut came down from the hill to charge my Castigator.  Let me tell you, a Fury empowered Juggernaut charge is not going to tickle.  So the Castigator almost became castrated with one hit alone.  Mike positioned the Juggernaut in a way so that it was also engaged with the Repenter shutting down anymore flame thrower attacks for now.

Oh dear...this hurts....

Not only were things looking grim from the 'jack perspective but Mike then popped his feat and charged in with his caster, who does not tickle when he hits.  He was able to put more damage on the Castigator and then Side-Stepped behind him to get a good clear lane of potential charging to Malekus the next turn.  So come my turn and I have a choice, not a good one though.  I can either let him charge me, or I charge him and hope for the best.  I went with the latter and popped my feat so that maybe, just maybe, I can put the torch to him and put Kozlov on fire.  As far as Malekus's melee prowess it was umm...lacking.  On Mike's turn he took a few hit boxes of damage from the fire but nothing extraordinary much to my dismay.  

Oh no, this isn't good at all.

Kozlov and Malekus continued to trade damage here and there, mitigating some attacks outright with the new focus mechanic, until he brought the Decimator into the fray.  That sucker hit me hard and put me close to getting annihilated.  Lord Kozlov followed up and brought Malekus to 4 health and 1 focus point while he had two.  Mike took a gamble as he had 2 points left to try and take Malekus out this round.  First attack missed and with baited breath I wait for the second attack to come through.  As you can imagine I had myself pegged for death as I had 1 focus, 4 health, medium armor with a weapon master Khadoran caster.  Mike rolled...

pls no mike, mike pls

...DOUBLE 1's! Oh the glory be!  Malekus had a chance now that Kozlov had no focus!  I took a risk by moving the Repenter out of combat with the Juggernaut resulting in a crippled flail but still with the flamethrower!  I aimed into melee with no fear of hurting Malekus, since ya know he's immune to fire and all, and managed to get a couple more points on to Kozlov.  Malekus made a couple of boosted attacks for both accuracy and damage and took down the Viscount for the second win.

Rather my lack of one...

I got a taste of Mk3 with these two games but it still feels like the game I've come to know and love.  The subtle but impactful changes they've made to the game have changed the tempo and the feel in some ways.  For example the new focus mechanic made it less of a "Oh you have ridiculous armor because your camping therefore making this game last longer" and more of a decision making process to see what damage you will let through and which you'll mitigate.  It also made me think differently in keeping my warcaster alive and weighing out what actions to take and still keep some focus to reduce some damage.

Overall they were both great games and it was a lot of fun.  I definitely look forward to future games from here on out and I am interested in what people will bring to the tournaments (instead of Harbinger + 1 lists).   That's it for the games folks, tune in next time to pick back up with the last bit of Protectorate changes and until then take care everyone!

The faithful men and women of Menoth: Protectorate Part 3

Good day to you war gamers of all ages!  I hope you all have been doing well these past few days and you've had a chance to get some gamery in of some sorts!  In our continued series I am going to be looking at some of the changes the Protectorate of Menoth had from Mk2 to Mk3.  In particular I am looking at the changes to units today!  I thought about combining solos in here too, but since PoM have a lot of focus on powerhouse solos it seemed better to give them their own section.  Anyways let's begin!

Going down the list in War Room, first off the Choir.  They got some nerfs a little bit in their command range meaning that they are going to be a bit closer than they were before.  Subsequently this means less 'jack coverage, unless you also clump them up.  Also the most talked about change to the unit: the hymn of battle no longer provides a bonus to attack rolls.  The other hymns were left alone it seems.  Daughters of the Flame received some nice buffs in the form of Parry and Stealth!  These ladies should be able to get into combat a little easier now and not have to worry about being only useful for a single charge (as my experience has taught me).

I like the paint job this fellow Menite did for the Choir (source: http://gdaybloke.deviantart.com/art/Choir-of-Menoth-199926670)

Deliverers, the unit that got me into PoM, finally got some nice love.  Still Inaccurate but now they lost their weird order and just gained CRA.  The artillery version, the Sunburst, lost the ability to get a aiming bonus but now are treated as a small-sized model despite being on a large base.  Exemplar Cinerators gained Immunity: Fire, and now have Vengeance with the caveat that they will get their attack even if you just hurt them a little.  I'm not sure if that's standard but that's a nice tradeoff in my books.

Ok so Exemplar Bastions need their own little section.  I'm sure most opponents of the PoM knows how annoying these guys can be with their moving health around.  Well that's still there but it's changed up a little.  Now the models taking the damage has to be within 3" of the injured model.  So that means a tighter bond for the Sanguine bond he he he...anyways.  The Exemplar Vengers gained Reposition and some changes, which might be to all cavalry, to how their lances and swords work in combat.  Flame Bringers gained Parry and Reposition while keeping everything else.

The cloaks look fantastic!

Another staple PoM unit that got some rework: the Exemplar Errants.  Almost an auto-include in most lists and for good reason in Mk2.  Most of their changes though are in the Officer and Standard Bearer.  Now instead of being immune to enemy spells all game it's a once-per-game ability with the added bonus of expiring current upkeep spells and animi.  Also the unit gains Assault in place of Quick Work (which that rule never really happened for me since the bros were in melee anyways).  Now they should function as being less of a tarpit and more of a vanguard in my opinion.

The Errants from the Warmachine Tactics game

Flameguard Cleansers lost the Incinerate order but gained Ashen Veil for more DEF.  Their UA also changed up a bit.  It lost the Bushwhack order and the ability to create a flame wall but now gives the unit Assault.  It kept Scouring Flames, so I am a little excited to see if this unit can go out and cause some havoc now!  Holy Zealots changed a bit in their prayers as well.  Fervor lost the bonus to attack rolls, they gained a new prayer to gain Immunity: Fire, and warding stayed the same.  Their UA changed up as well (what a surprise!).  For one it gained Sacrificial Pawn to help stay alive a bit longer, it kept the rules for Holy Monolith, but Greater Destiny has changed up.  Now instead of being immune to almost everything except for a feat it will bring back the Zealots who died in the last turn.

Another Tactics render, looks pretty badass!

Idrian Skirmishers are now a partisan merc unit.  The base unit kept most of their rules except they lost Camouflage in favor of Brutal Charge with their melee attacks.  The UA kept Go to Ground, gained Reposition, lost Assault and Battery and CMA, and instead of Huntsmen they replaced it with Prey.  Knights Exemplar changed a bit with the loss of Bond of Brotherhood and gaining Battle Driven, which helps keep the book-keeping down a bit.  They gained a UA which definitely beefs up the unit and I'm excited for it!  With the UA the unit gains: Divine Retribution (an additional die on melee attack/damage rolls) once per game, Cleave (to kill more heretics!), and Overtake! Not a bad trade-off if I say so myself.

Temple Flameguard didn't seem to change much with the addition to Critical Fire to the Flame Spear.  Iron Zeal was nerfed slightly to provide 1 less ARM, they gained Practiced Maneuvers to help with the unit get into it better position but losing Ranked Attacks so they now block LoS.  Now for our character unit Visgoth Rhoven.  His guards gained the Shield Guard ability to better protect Visgoth.  Visgoth himself gained Battle Wizard and his spells were changed a bit.  He gained a pretty nice AoE fire spell, can give one model Eyeless Sight, and kept Cleanse but renamed it Purifying Prayer.  One thing I did note was that the names on the card added a 1 next to it, maybe signifying a second unit in the future?

I am a fan of the cooler colors yes

Overall, how do I think the units turned out?  Well for one a lot of their obnoxious denial tricks were toned down and in return we gained a lot of new tricks and hidden power.  I'm excited to see some new lists in this edition with some of the underused units, like the Flameguard Cleansers, now that their rules aren't so weird assembled.  I still say PoM have a good denial game going on but it's not impossible to deal with and it's not so powerful that units become auto-includes.  So as the general trend goes I am pleased with these changes.  That about sums up the units for PoM and next time we will look at the solos and end up our discussion with PoM.  Until then happy gaming folks!

Let me see those Protectorate changes part 2

Greetings and salutations fellow war gamers!  I hope you are doing well on this fine day wherever you are and that you have been having great luck with your war gaming/hobby!  Today I wanted to take a look at some more of those Protectorate changes in MkIII.  Since last time we looked at some of the more noticeable warcaster changes, I think today we can look at some of the warjacks and take a quick glance over.  Let's get to it!

One thing that has changed for a lot of 'jacks has been their point cost adjustments.  Translated into MKII points some have gotten a little cheaper, with the intent to make taking 'jacks more attractive I'm sure.  Going down the line in War Room 2 I can see that the Avatar and Blessing of Vengeance pretty much stayed the same with some point adjustments here and there.  Blood of Martyrs had a nice change up though.  Parry was dropped in favor of getting Side Step naturally and now when bonded with Thyra it gains Apparition.  Oh and its weapons now have Grievous Wounds, ouch!

A 'jack that belongs to this badass lady is sure to be nasty too!

It might not be a bad idea to go over which ones didn't change (that I noticed) over from MkIII.  The Crusader, Devout, Dervish, Indictor, Repenter, Revenger, Purifier, Vanquisher, and the Judicator appear to have had little to no changes from MkII to III.  If I missed something like a change in DEF/ARM or POW let me know in the comments below!

One thing that has changed for some 'jacks, Namely the Reckoner/Castigator/Sanctifier chassis, is that they now have concealment naturally and living enemy models in 2" have a -2 to their attack rolls.  Good 'ole Ashen Veil rule, more than likely coming from their particular smoke stacks?  There have been some minor changes across the board.  Guardians get Set Defense now to help against charges.  Templars gained Shield Guard to help keep those warcasters safe!  The wording on the Revelator made it more specifically anti-stealth and less ant-camouflage but remained largely the same.  Oh and the Vigilant now has the Roadblock rule acting as an obstacle for friendly models to get cover from.  Not bad at all.  Finally the Redeemer, while largely unchanged stat-wise, is now not that bad of a focus sink as it used to be with the changes to ROF, being able to fire off 3 inaccurate small AoE's at a pretty decent RNG.

So many AoE's and still a funky looking sculpt

I do want to touch on a change some were quite displeased about and that is the Reckoner.  This jack was considered by many to be an auto-include in most PoM lists and for good reason.  It was great at a little bit of everything and with the assault rule in place (with the Choir buff) it was doing a lot of damage.  Don't get me wrong I think it's still a good 'jack, just maybe not so much a auto-include anymore.  Now that assault has dropped you will have to choose between the shot, which has a decent range to it still, or going into melee.  The gun still has the Flare rule though, so yay?

Just wanted to show off the new sculpt, no more chicken legs!

Looking at the last few character 'jacks it looks like Fire of Salvation stayed the same stat-wise.  Looks like Hand of Judgment also remained largely the same with a slight buff to the spray.  Finally Scourge of Heresy changed up a bit though not drastically.  It dropped Arcane Assassin completely and its bonding with Reznik also changed.  Instead it now gets to advance more frequently whenever Reznik goes to work and takes someone out.  I would have thought that maybe Arcane Assassin would have been dropped for Blessed on the weapons but alas it is not so.

Overall impression of 'jack changes, approved!

So overall I feel that there haven't been a lot of major changes to the set of Protectorate 'jacks but there have been a lot of tweaks going on.  Some have become a more attractive option and others toned down to be in line with similarly priced 'jacks.  I do look forward to testing out some of the new 'jack/caster combos and seeing how they fare on the field.  If you have any suggestions/comments/corrections feel free to leave a note.  Until then happy gaming!

Warmahordes MKIII changes: Protectorate part 1

Greetings and well wishings to you my fellow war gamers!  I hope that you have been having a good time getting some games in or getting bits of the hobby done.  Today I wanted to talk about some of the recent changes I've seen in the Warmahordes MKIII.  Specifically I wanted to go over some of the changes I've noticed in the factions I play and starting off I am going to hit up the Protectorate of Menoth (PoM).

First I wanted to give you all a quick update on my painting table.  Right now I've been working on stripping some old 40k models of their old paint and have been thinking about doing a project with my Space Marines.  Haven't fully decided if I am going to re-paint them as Blood Angels again or go with something a bit different.  More to come maybe?

I'm such a lazy painter

So the PoM were my first Warmachine faction in the game and currently my largest collection of the three factions.  I've not quite caught up with the entire range yet but I have access to the vast majority of the models/units.  So of course to me I was keenly interested in taking a look at the changes MKIII had to offer to the fanatics and zealots.  In this series I wanted to start off with the warcasters but I won't be covering every single one of them, no.  I will cover some changes that I particularly noticed or felt were significant.  So this might be a long post but we'll see how it goes eh?

First up the floating teenager herself, the Harbinger!  Her feat got knocked from her control to command range making this once feared board control caster a bit more tolerable for opponents.  Also her big spell Cataclysm no longer auto-hits but her sword still does!  Spell list otherwise remained about the same with a name change.  Amon Ad-Raza got a slight nerf as well in his Synergy spell no longer stacking past 3, so I suspect some list changes from the horde of Dervishes to something a bit more varied.

If the Harbinger manifested as a mid-manager

Severius 1 got a buff much to my delight in two ways.  First his Eye of Menoth spell is now just an ability...awesoooome!  Also his feat is no longer Warmachine specific and it will reduce Focus AND Fury for enemy war-nouns.  I can see some beasts frenzying a bit more often or being unable to be forced on feat turn (Madrak I'm looking at you).  Severius 2 got some pretty nice tweaks too.  Being able to cast a spell for free is great, but also being able to spend a focus to completely negate a damage roll AND you have 8 focus? Whaaaaaat!?  Oh I also forgot to mention that ability is extended to the warjacks in his battlegroup.  Oh my lawdy lawdy!  Talk about mitigation.

I want to talk about my boy for a second, Servath Reznik 1.  He's still my favorite melee assassin/beatstick caster for PoM.  He seems to have remained fairly unchanged except instead of Iron Aggression he gained Brand of Heresy which isn't bad at all having boosted attack and damage rolls against a unit.  Otherwise stayed about the same in my opinion.  I know his chariot version went through some changes as well but since I've not played that version yet I cannot really say much about it.

He invites you to his birthday party of death!

Let's talk Kreoss for a second.  His version 1 didn't seem to change.  His 2 version mostly unaffected except Aegis was replaced with Tactician which is not bad at all.  Being able to screen some Knights Exemplar behind another Exemplar unit to toss a charge out is not bad.  It is limited to his command range however so you have to be careful with placement.  I've only played a couple games with Kreoss 3 but I noticed that he gained Reposition and a couple spell swaps going on, so that's nice.  Overall Kreoss didn't seem to change too drastically.  

Pretty awesome pose from Warmachine: Tactics

Feora 1 changed slightly in that all Flamguard now get a bonus to attack rolls when in her command range.  Feora 2 I am not sure if she changed at all?  Now Thyra had some changes I can get behind.  For one she now has stealth naturally and her granted abilities remain the same.  She also had a spell list change with an addition being Gates of Death (sort of like a teleport but happening at the end of your turn).  Kept Carnage, Occultation, and Stranglehold.  Silence of Death changed a bit with Take Down negating any tough and the model/unit getting a decent buff to strength.  Models can still heal/transfer damage so it's not a hordes killer right out like it used to be.

One of my more preferred Menoth sculpts

Overall I am generally pleased with the changes made to the casters of Menoth.  There were a couple buffs and some nerfs that I think will end up diversifying choices made in future games.  Instead of it being Harbinger and another caster, maybe we'll see some other lists popping up.  Next time I'll go over some jacks, though not all of them, and how some of them changed in MKIII.  If you've noticed any changes that I missed or want to talk, leave 'em in the comments below!  Until then happy gaming out there!

Infinity Sectorial: ALEPH and wrap-up

Good day fellow gamers and here today we have the wrap-up with the last (at this time) Sectorial for Infinity and that is the Steel Phalanx with ALEPH.  Sadly the Tohaa do not have a Sectorial so I have no need to review them (also as my game with Scott shows I know nothing about them anyways).  So let's talk ALEPH.

Right now they only have 1 Sectorial and that is the Steel Phalanx.  ALEPH being the SkyNet that it is, created a bunch of warriors stemming from Greek mythology and then made an army of them.  They are expensive, the elite, have a lot of special rules, great tech, and can give a good hurting.  A lot of options available to them are pricey and so forces tend to be a bit smaller than others, however the output can equal or surpass if played correctly.

ALEPH's pride and joy, the (in)famous Achilles

So let's take a peek at options hm?  Most of the list is made up of a lot of named character options.  I'm pretty sure I counted...17-18 characters?  All of them modeled and named after a hero in the mythos.  Another thing to note is that the Steel Phalanx Sectorial does not have ANY Core fireteam options.  What they have instead are Enomotarchos fireteams which are like Core-light.  They can be up to 4 members and get the burst bonus but also the team in the reactive phase have Sixth Sense L2.  Not too shabby!  You can take multiple Enomotarchos team options which the vast majority are a named character + 3 Myrmidons.  You can take a Thorakitai and Dactyls in an Enomotarchos team, but most of your options are revolving around Myrmidons.

2 of the special characters you take: Scylla and Drakios

Due to the large amount of named characters I won't be going over them individually (good Lord that would be a blog series unto itself), but I will talk about ones I am really interested in using.  Looking at Myrmidons first however as they are the backbone for the army in my opinion, and since they are prevalent in most of the fireteams.  Myrmidons have a pretty solid stat-line, ODD, Kinematika L1, and Martial Arts L3.  Their cheapest profile clocks in at 16 points with a chain rifle, nanopulsar, and smoke grenades.  The only specialist available is an assault hacker.  So that's what we are working with, let's look at a couple team options I like.

A new addition to ALEPH and a beast in his own right!

First off, Ajax.  Mudda effin Ajax!  This is Gregor Clegane of Infinity. 39 points gives me: Natural Born Warrior, Berserk, NWI, Kinematika, ARM 5, BTS 6, CC 22, dual combi-rifles, nanopulsar, and an EXP CCW.  Get this guy into combat and whoo boy.  He will wreck.  Getting him there will be the challenge so in a fireteam of Myrmidons the smoke grenades are going be of great use.  I'd have to watch out for those MSV counters as well as anything with Intuitive attack.  If I can get him up to something then it will be hurting, be it a TAG or infantry model it will get hurt.

HUL...AJAX SMASH!

Machaon the Myrmidon Doctor-Officer.  If I wanted to round out my Myrmidon team with another specialist this would be a good option.  For .5 SWC and 39 points we get some of the same bonuses that Myrmidons do with the added benefit of being a Doctor with Eclipse grenades.  In this team I would be most focused on getting a different Myrmidon profile to benefit from the burst bonus, like a spitfire for example.  Otherwise this combo might not be a bad one to have going up the field to secure some objectives and provide solid mid-field firepower.

Pretty sweet looking paint job for the good ol' doc

I could keep going and going as there are 18 named characters but I will stop for now as I think these two examples give you a good idea on how the Steel Phalanx run their game.  Pricey but kitted out, this Sectorial can provide a lot of hardships for your opponent while having some hard counters to be aware about.

Well that wraps up this brief little series on the different Sectorials and which ones I would have chosen for each faction.  Coming up I've been thinking about working on some 40k projects or I might resume my Warmahordes painting and gaming.  I hope to get some more bat-reps coming in but lately there have been no gaming to be had!  In the meantime feel free to leave a comment below about anything I may have missed or didn't consider.  Until then everyone take care and happy gaming!

Infinity Sectorial: Nomads

Good day to you my fellow wargamers and welcome to my second to last post about the different Infinity Sectorials available in Human Sphere N3!  Unlike my last post which can be summarized as a bunch of America jokes for the USAriadna Rangers (since my knowledge on them is about the equivalent of a potato), I actually have played some games as the Nomads and so this one should be a bit more informative.

So the Nomad force is a quirky grab-bag representing the unique aspect of the lore.  Instead of having a traditional culture steeped in a home world you have 3 massive spaceships going between the different worlds collecting the outcasts, the odd ones, and the unique.  Currently there are only 2 Sectorials out representing two of those ships.  First up we have the Corregidor Jurisdictional Command which originally hails from, if memory serves, a South American and Australian prison ship turned into the security/mercenary/hard muscle inclined part of the fleet.  Second we have the Bakunin Jurisdictional Command which is made up of the bulk of outcasts and quirky individuals hanging out on the ships.

The Nomads in their true form

With that in mind I am sure I would favor the Corregidor Sectorial for sure, it has two of my favorite units in the faction: the Mobile Brigada and the Geckos.  Love 'em.  It has a good selection of units and troops to take from ranging from the Alguaciles to having the Jaguars.  In terms of fireteams we can take a few Core selections from the following: Alguaciles, Wildcats, Mobile Brigada, and Jaguars (with Senor Massacre).  We can take some Haris teams as well including the Wildcats and Jaguars (with Senor Massacre again).  Finally we can take a Duo team of Geckos.

Love this TAG, from an unknown blogspot (will add link once I find it)

For specialists I would not be lacking with this Sectorial as there are plenty of options across the board, especially for hacking, and in each Core team I can take a couple specialists.  The Mobile Brigada might be a bit lacking in terms of variety but they can take a hacker which can help out against other hackers.  Wildcats wouldn't be a bad option either.  An assault hacker with an engineer put in the group with some light flamethrowers and D-charges could lay down some serious hurt.  I'd consider the Alguaciles but in truth I think I would prefer my Core team to be a bit more beefy since I only get 1.

Not a bad model or fireteam

Even outside a fireteam the Corregidor have plenty of specialist options for ITS missions.  Seriously it's like a bonanza of choices.  The Alguaciles have 3 options, Mobile Brigada have 1, Wildcats 2, Tomcats have 4 profiles, and so on!  In a non-ITS mission I would have no qualms about taking some of the more ridiculous choices.  5 Mobile Brigada with a Missile Launcher, with a Daktaris patching them back up?  Why yes please!  Even the Jaguars are a consideration considering the massive amount of smoke grenades they can toss out, though any MSV is going to cut right through that plan.

One of the new models, the Bandit.  Nice!

There is definitely a mercenary/'loco' soldier vibe I get from Corregidor and I think the models are pretty solid too.  With that in mind I think sticking with them as a Sectorial will be more my thing when it comes to Nomads.  Unless they do a Tunguska one then I might be tempted to stray to a different ship (I do like the Grenzers).  Anyways that about settles it for Nomads, so until next time lads and lasses take care and happy gaming!