Still Works
There was some concern on the internet that Steel Phalanx is unplayable trash now that Achilles, Pandora, Teucer, and Drakios moved on, so I decided to see for myself if the rumors were true! This is only my second game of N5, so it’s certainly not an exhaustive test. Here’s the first game, if you’re interested:
My investigative partner is none other than Jager Nadim himself, Obadiah (Nehemiah)! We played on this lovely table, which has now been transferred into Tim (Chainsaw)’s possession, so I imagine you’ll see it more often on this blog.
Overview
As before, we’re playing Tabletop Throwdown rules, one list must cover two missions. In this case, it was Cloak and Dagger and Critical Mass. If you’re unfamiliar, Cloak and Dagger is a variant of Countermeasures and Critical Mass requires Hackers and Forward Observers, which will probably explain most of our lists.
- Mission: BAMS Critical Mass
- Forces: Steel Phalanx versus Tohaa (300)
- Deploy First: Tohaa
- First Turn: Tohaa
Nate (natet3hagressar) and I have been talking about the state of ALEPH. He’s been a little sad because he is having trouble coming up with a Steel list that feels good to him, mostly because of the links and changes to how Myrmidons interact with cover. To be clear, he’s not the source of the “unplayable trash” concern, but he is bummed, which I can understand. I’m pretty bummed about the state of vanilla Nomads. It’s clearly strong, but it’s missing some of my favorite tools that I have to dip into sectorials for, which is fine, I’m just sad about it. We did some theorycrafting together for Cloak and Dagger, and he came up with this:
The links are “Myrmidon link (old school),” as he put it, and a Thorakites + Makhe with flex K2. This led me to ask the question if he was aware of how the new edition affected link composition, and he wasn’t too familiar, so I came up with this:
Steel Duo Test
HECTOR (Lieutenant [+1 Order]) Plasma Rifle, Nanopulser, E/M Grenades ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / Heavy Pistol, EXP CC Weapon(PS=4). (0 | 65)
ACMON Combi Rifle(AP), Panzerfaust, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (0 | 31)
PHOENIX Heavy Rocket Launcher, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)
MACHAON Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0.5 | 37)
MAKHE Missile Launcher, Zapper / Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1.5 | 31)
CHARYBDIS FTO Heavy Flamethrower / Heavy Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 12)
EKDROMOS Spitfire, Nanopulser / AP Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon(PS=5). (1.5 | 32)
WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse ( ) / Stun Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)
9
1
3 | 5.5 SWC | 299 Points | Open in Army | Copy Code
I still have a 4-man Level 2 link, but this time with Hector in it (who Nate affectionately refers to as “my boi Hector”). Phoenix’s inclusion remains, which I don’t need to explain if you have any familiarity with Steel. I’ve moved Acmon into the linkand kept Machaon, which gives me the specialists I need for Cloak and Dagger as well as some important tools. I’d rather have run a smaller link, maybe a 3-man to make room for a Thyreos or something, but I need the specialists. Then comes the jank.
It turns out that both Scylla and her bot have the “Steel Phalanx” keyword in the link they can form, and Makhe/Hoplites are the required link members and also have the keywords. This meant I could get the +1SD on the Makhe ML just by giving it Scylla’s bot as a buddy, and then Scylla and the Makhe FO can do some heavy lifting on classifieds or in Critical Mass should they need to. Otherwise, they’d just hide in the back and give me orders.
I see a lot of Steel Lists that are not maxed out on SWC or close to maxed out, and so to fix that problem for myself I took an Ekdromoi Spitfire, which is apparently now a limited to Steel profile. Four points left meant Warcor, and the list is done. It doesn’t have much in the way of redundancy in terms of keeping the links at Level 2, but everything is so high quality and there’s a lot of Tac Aware and Hector’s 2 orders that it’s probably recoverable.
Obi went wide with his list, using cheaper Kamael profiles to get the specialists he needed. It’s a relatively standard Tohaa list–that Sukuel/Makaul/Kosuil Triad is just so iconic. What’s new is that he has a Sukeul/Kamael duo which gives the missile launcher +1SD, which is a nice little points saving. He’s also built in some good defense with the Kauuri and Armand, and has two useful attack pieces with the Liberto and the MBH.
Obi (Nehemiah)
GROUP 1
1
SUKEUL (Lieutenant, Forward Observer) K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges, Flash Pulse ( | Deployable Repeater) / Pistol, Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (0 | 31)
MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Contender, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 14)
KOSUIL (Engineer) K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges, AP Mine ( | GizmoKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
KAELTAR Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse, SymbioBomb ( | SymbioMate) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 15)
KAMAEL (Paramedic) Combi Rifle ( | MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 14)
GROUP 2
SAMSA Plasma Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
CLIPSOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse, Shock Mine / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
ARMAND (Multispectral Visor L1) MULTI Sniper Rifle, Nanopulser ( ) / Breaker Pistol(+1B), Viral CC Weapon(PS=7). (1.5 | 34)
KAAURI Sentinel (Minelayer) Submachine Gun, Nanopulser(+1B), E/M Mine / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 11)
LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Shock Mine / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 8)
MOTORIZED BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Chain-colt(+1B) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 9)
5 SWC | 298 Points | Open in Army | Copy Code
Deployment
After winning the roll, I chose table side. Obi decided that even though he feels strongly that Critical Mass strongly favors second player (probably true, I need to do some edits), he didn’t want to deal with a Steel alpha strike and decided to first. He set up Le Muet atop a tall tower just outside his deployment zone on his left and then the Sukuel ML on the right atop a building. The Sukeul FO triad was on the right to do work there, with the MBH on the left. The Libertos and Clipsos were more centrally located, with the two Kaauri just sort of hanging out in logical places.
I don’t have a reactive turn solution to Le Muet, so I just null deployed against him and the Sukuel ML, instead choosing to set up shallow diagonal firelanes with Phoenix and the Makhe ML. Obi basically has to cross into the midfield to see either, and he’d have to deal with one before getting into the other’s bad range bands. Phoenix has the dream team with him, and the ML has Scylla’s bot.
I was worried about the MBH just rolling up my right side of the table, so I put Machaon there as a roadblock, carefully verifying that Le Muet couldn’t see him, and then tucked everyone else into spots that seemed reasonably safe. There was simply no good spot for the Makhe FO and Scylla, so I screened them with the Warcor to cost Obi an order before seeing the Makhe.
It’s been so long since I’ve played Infinity that I forgot about the deployment effects of Hector, so I just didn’t put down a reserve, intending to fake Obi into thinking I had hidden deploy Atalanta or something. Obi put the Samsa down on Hector’s side, figuring he could try to deal with Hector with plasma. Not a bad plan. I was suddenly very glad that I set up the Makhe and Machaon the way I did!
Turn 1
Top of 1 – Tohaa
I take two orders from the group with the Samsa, intending to limit the damage. Obi starts by taking the impetuous move with the MBH, dodging as I take a shot. I’m on 6s, so I whiff and the MBH makes it to cover.
The Libertos moves forward as well, and I decide to risk the discover with Phoenix, succeeding, barely.
With the irregular stuff done, Obi starts moving his main link forward. The Sukuel and her Triad trundle forward to see the beacon.
A quick pair of FO orders sees it move into Obi’s near right (my far left) quadrant.
Obi then snags Net Undermine after crossing the centerline.
The Sukuel challenges my Warcor and drops it.
Obi then gets the Samsa to relative safety and super jumps it to the top of the stairs on a nearby building.
He then decides to have some fun with the Makaul’s contender, which is now basically a B2 T2 Marksman rifle, and challenges the Makhe FO. I manage to flash pulse the Makaul to save my Makhe, which is really good.
The MBH moves again to behind the building, and I ineffectually take some shots with Machaon before Obi passes turn.
Bottom of 1 – Steel Phalanx
Time to go to work. My objectives for this turn are to open up the board. That means Le Muet needs to go, as does the Sukuel. The Sukeul FO is also too close for comfort, so maybe I can problem solve multiple things at once. I start by finding an approach to Le Muet and smoking up the approach with Machaon. I’m terrified that the Sukuel ML is actually a Taagma MSV2 viral sniper, which would make me very sad, but it turns out it’s not when I reveal Hector to the Le Muet directly within 16″ and to the Sukuel ML through smoke.
It takes two orders, one to pop the SymbioMate and the other to delete Le Muet, but that’s one problem solved.
On the second order, the MBH finally manages to dodge around the corner (both it and the Samsa have been trying for awhile), so it gets deleted by plasma. Funnily enough, the Samsa dodges into view as well on this order…
so it catches Hector’s EXP CCW to the face and gets splatted.
I’ve still got plenty of orders, thanks to Acmon’s tac aware getting Hector into position and Hector’s Lt orders, so I roll Scylla’s bot out to cover the Makaul and the Sukuel FO with a flamethrower template. Both fail their dodges, popping the SymbioMate and killing the Makaul, but the Sukuel ML takes out the bot. I’ll take it.
There’s a hole in Obi’s deployment, so I drop in the Ekdromoi on a 3.
I split burst on the Kaeltar and Sukuel ML from just outside 8″, doing a wound to the Sukuel ML but failing to penetrate the Kaeltar’s armor.
The Sukuel goes prone, so after dumping 4 dice into the Kaeltar to knock it unconscious, I super jump up to see both the Kamael and Sukuel, and whiff all my shots, eating a combi and a missile for my trouble and dying horribly. Well, at least the Sukuel is prone!
This lets me move the Makhe ML with its tac aware order into view of the Sukuel FO (the ML could see where I needed to be), and throw some breaker pistol shots at the FO without any results.
I’ve got one more tac aware on the other Makhe, which I use to move Scylla up and hide the Makhe FO. I’m convinced the Makhe ML is dead, so I want to get the FO to relative safety.
With that, I pass turn. I didn’t meet all my objectives, but I feel pretty secure on my right flank.
Turn 2
Obi’s dominating the quadrant with the beacon, so he snags 2 points.
Top of 2 – Tohaa
Obi starts by trying to drop the Makhe ML with the Sukuel. Pretty scary odds, I think:
In any case, it goes my way and I drop the Sukuel.
Obi uses the Kosuil to get Mirrorball up in front of the Makhe.
This lets him move the Sukuel ML to a position where he can tag Scylla with a missile. Much to his disappointment, I dodge to safety.
He does snag another classified by picking up the Kaeltar I dropped with the Ekdromoi though…
and picks up the Sukuel FO too!
The Libertos drops a mine in front of Hector’s link and even shoots Hector in the back, but without any success.
With that, it’s back to me.
Bottom of 2 – Steel Phalanx
Hector easily downs the Libertos, catching the mine with the plasma template too.
Phoenix then does Phoenix things and kills the Kosuil at about 31″.
I then cross the centerline and snag Net Undermine too.
This gives me a nice spot within 24″ to see the Sukuel ML, who has lost Mimetism at this point, and gets Phoenix’ed.
The Makhe ML drops the Sukeul FO once more, this time with a flurry of breaker pistol shots.
I then castle up next to the beacon and reset the Makhe FO and Scylla with the Makhe’s tac aware order.
Turn 3
I’ve got the Beacon now, so I get 2 points, then the HVT shows up.
Top of 3 – Tohaa
Obi reveals a Clipsos behind Phoenix but fails to hurt him.
A Kaauri tries to take on Machaon and succeeds only in forcing him into cover.
It does, however, put a wound on Phoenix.
Phoenix can now see the Clipsos so we exchange fire without any effect.
Obi and I decide to call it here, as I’ve still got a game of Age of Sigmar: Spearhead to play and it’s a pretty one-sided game at this point given the material I have at my disposal.
It seems quite unlikely that I will not CivEvac the HVT, so that will score me both HVT Kidnapping and the CivEvac points. I have certainly killed more specialists, which brings us to a
8-4, 252-115 Steel Phalanx Victory!
Post Game Analysis
While losing Achilles certainly is a big deal, and Myrmidons are less powerful now, I certainly don’t think Steel is in a bad place. There’s plenty to explore in the faction, with good changes to the Thyreos, Hoplite, and Makhe. I think Steel’s ability to just make Level 2 duos all over the place with quality profiles is its new superpower. It does a lot do give me deployment flexibility. I’m really liking the Makhe ML + Scylla’s bot duo, it’s a pretty low investment to power up the Makhe in ARO, and I think my deployment of it is a pretty good case study on its potential effectiveness. I think putting a Thyreos in front of it would be a nice thing to do, and really make it more powerful, but I couldn’t fit it due to the stringent specialist requirements of Cloak and Dagger.
I don’t think this was necessarily the most representative test of how Steel plays in N5. Obi mentioned after the game he felt he over-extended the Sukuel FO, which I agree with. He also leveled a bunch of (valid) criticism against the mission and how it favors player 2, which I agree with. Probably have some things to figure out there. We both forgot confused deployment, which is funny because I wrote the mission, and I think I’m just going to remove it. I also think I’ll move the quadrant control to score at the end of player turns, which should help with the second player benefits. I will say though, that the first player has the opportunity to abscond with the HVT at the top of 3, which is what I thought would be the big equalizer.
That certainly isn’t true when Phoenix and Machaon are standing right on top of the beacon, but that’s not a problem with the mission. So, in short, I think this came down to a few things:
- Le Muet was stuck on a tower and couldn’t run around and murder me.
- The Makhe ML and Phoenix did a good job of protecting me
- Obi over-extended the Sukuel FO
Relatively small issues, but Hector will just blast the door wide open on any mistake. It’s so hard to stop him once he gets within 16″, and his superfriends link is really mean too. I’m really liking N5 limited insertion so far, but that’s not surprising as that’s always been my favorite playstyle. Well, with that, thanks for reading. I think I might try more Nomads next? Not sure. Also have to update the BAMS missions for N5. That will take me some time, please be patient!
