Infinity/N3 Tactics/Steel Phalanx

The unit overview and tactica for ALEPH's Assault Subsection, the Steel Phalanx

[You came to the sexiest sectorial army in the Human Sphere]

Why play Steel Phalanx

Much like the Greek mythology they're inspired by, the Steel Phalanx is literally a character driven army boasting 19 unique characters.

Where they lack in infiltration and camouflage, they make up in resilience and aggression. Despite having expensive options, multiple Enomotarchos Fireteams allow the army to be very order efficient.

Faction features

Enomotarchos

• Fireteam: Enomotarchos: An Enomotarchos fireteam is comprised of 2-4 models. At least one of those models must have the Fireteam: Enomotarchos Skill, but it's not compulsory that he must be the team leader. The Fireteam is not broken if the Enomotarchos user is null or dead; However, there must be an Enomotarchos user when reforming the team. Unless otherwise stated, the team must be from the same unit as the user of Enomotarchos.
  • For example: Eudoros is a Myrmidon Officer with the Enomotarchos Skill. Therefore, he may link with Myrmidons and/or other Myrmidon Officers.

Normal Fireteams rules for Movement, Bonuses, Activation/AROs, etc etc apply except that these teams cannot have a 5th member and there is no limit to how many teams you may field.

Special Skills

• V: No Wound Incapitation: After losing all their wounds, a trooper with this skill can keep on fighting while in the unconcsious state. Many of the characters in this army have this skill making them very hard to put down. Look out for Viral and Shock ammunition
• Martial Arts: Many troopers in this sectorial has the Martial Arts skill as well as high CC values. Martial Arts also provides Stealth and V:Courage.
• Frenzy and Impetuous: Due to the aggressive nature of the Steel Phalanx, majority of the available units have Frenzy and a few start already Impetuous. Fortunately, all of it is normal Impetuous, so you may cancel it without spending a Regular Order. In a fireteam, the effects of Impetuous is cancelled.

Weapons and Equipment

• ODD: The ODD imposes a -6MOD to your opponent BS attacks. The main bulk of the army has ODD; Myrmidon Officers, Myrmidons, and the one and only amazon biker, Penthesilea has this very advantageous device.
• Smoke and Eclipse Grenades: In any army, Smoke coverage is very useful to advance up the board. Myrmidons and their officers come standard with one or the other. It's a good idea to have both types: Smoke and Eclipse. Units without ODD will need smoke coverage to safely advance. Myrmidons have ODD to protect them, but they will need Eclipse coverage against MSV.
• Netrods: They are dirt cheap 4pt order generators. Only AVA2 in Steel Phalanx, but they help offset the costs of the expensive characters. Look out for Minesweepers, because they can now take Netrods.
  • New FAQ UpdateThe bearer of an AI Beacon CANNOT benefit from the +3PH from EVO Hackers when deploying. The bearer of the AI Beacon is considered a deployable equipment therefore cannot be repaired. Netrods cannot be transfered between Combat Groups using Command Tokens because they are not troopers.

Units

Light Infantry

• Dactyls: Mid cost specialist unit with either Doctor or Engineer options. All of them come equiped standard with V:Dogged, Combi Rifle, and dual Breaker Pistols. There are options with D-Charge and ADHL, or an Engineer with Flammenspeer. Dactyls are very light with ARM1, and no defensive barriers like camo or ODD. However, they are a unit determined to get the job done thanks to V:Dogged, BS12, and a very competent WIP13. Besides the Flammenspeer option, they are short ranged, but have an answer for any enemy. If you need an extra Doctor or Engineer and have the points, Dactyls are a great choice.
  • Acmon, Sergeant of Dactyles: Acmon is currently the only Dactyl character. He has the Fireteam:Enomotarchos Skill meaning he can form a team with Dactyls. Acmon himself is a WIP14 Engineer, armed with Combi Rifle, dual Breaker Pistols, and a Panzerfaust, Acmon is a very strong gunfighter who packs a punch for a very reasonable cost.
  • Enomotarchos: The Dactyl Fireteam will require Acmon and/or Hector. This is a specialist team. Besides Acmon's Panzerfaust and the Dactyl's Flammenspeer -both 2 use weapons- the team is very short ranged. They will rely on Smoke Grenades from Myrmidons to move forward. It's a good idea to include at least 1 Dactyl Doctor to maintain their survival. Also the team is not as expensive as Myrmidons. If Hector is leading the Fireteam, teh Dactyls are his support. They keep him alive and Hector takes them to the Objectives.
• Ekdromoi: They are the AD troopers of the Steel Phalanx. Mid-High cost unit with a great profile stats. Super Jump gives them extra mobility. They have a good and fairly cheap specialist option with an Assault Hacking Device. Martials Art L3 means they also have Stealth and Courage. However. After he causes a wound, the Ekdromoi will go Impetuous due to Frenzy.
  • Diomedes, Ekdromoi Officer: Diomedes is one of the few AD troops in the game with NWI which effectively gives him a second wound. He drops in armed with either a Mk12 or MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Assault Pistol and DACCW. Like the generic Ekdromoi, Diomedes also has Frenzy, Super Jump and Martial Arts L3. All this is reflected in his high points cost. Diomedes excels at sneaking around and destroying the enemy backfield, and/or dominating zones in ITS missions like Frontline and Quandrant Control.

• Thamyris, the Aoidos: Thamyris is a very competent WIP14 BTS3 hacker. Though extremely short ranged with only an Assault Pistol and Nanopulser, he brings a regular Hacking Device and Pitcher to extend his hacking influence. Even with NWI, he's a pretty soft target. Let the rest of the army do the dirty work, and Thamyris can add hacking support from the back until he needs to run and grab objectives.

• Drakios, Steel Phalanx's NCO: Drakios is a great rambo piece who can deploy with 1-2 Devabot Kydoimos, which are just Devabots with Albedo. He's expensive but brings a lot of firepower with a lot of reach with those Devabots. The Red Fury is a choice weapon.
  • Just a little reminder: Martial Arts would normally give Stealth, but the Devabots do not benefit from it.
  • Keep Free Agent in mind as well.
  • Remember! G: Synchronized units and their User cannot participate in a Coordinated Order

• Scylla, Steel Phalanx's NCO: Scylla can also take 1-2 Devabots. She's an average gunfighter and only carries a Boarding Shotgun and Nanopulser. However, she is a strong specialist and hacker because of her WIP13, a variety hacking devices to choose from, and her Devabot Charybdis which is a Devabot with a Repeater. She brings a massive hacking area for herself and other hackers. In HSN3, she gained a Kilker Hacking Device option which allows her to Cybermask both herself and her bots which can help her up the board and potentially lead up to a big Surprise Shot attack or hacking attack. Even still, look out for enemy hackers using her own Devabot repeaters to attack Scylla. Don't bother with the E/M CCW.
  • Remember! G: Synchronized units and their User cannot participate in a Coordinated Order
• Andromeda, Sophistes of the Steel Phalanx; Andromeda has good stats. She's a Specialist Operative. Despite having short ranged weapon options, Forward Deployment L1, Mimetism and Stealth help keep her safe. All that plus NWI for a decent price. Unfortunately she's fat at S4 making her a much wider target to spot. This is all thanks to Guardian L3, which isn't all that spectacular.

Medium Infantry

• Agema Marksmen: The Agema are excellent long ranged shooters with high BS and MSV2.
  • Atalanta, Agema's NCO: Atalanta is the top marksmen in the game. Thanks to her Spotbot(Tinbot E), Atalanta always has a +3MOD to BS attacks and WIP to Discover. This combined with MSV2 and her MULTI Sniper Rifle makes her a deadly sniper. She does not have any defensive measures like camo or ODD, so it's best to hide her during the reactive turn and use her as an active turn killer. Atalanta should only watch a firelane if absolutely necessary, but even if she's not looking, the opponent will not want to keep idle troops down her fire lane.
  • Teucer, Agema Warrant Officer: Teucer is more survivable than Atalanta thanks to NWI. He's an excellent sniper with BS14 with either a K1 Sniper Rifle or a Feuerbach both of which are ARM busting weapons.
    • Keep the Free Agent skill in mind.

• Thorakitai, They are the cheapest and most toolbox units available the the Steel Phalanx. The HSN3 update gave them a bunch of new toys like Feuerbach or HMG. Thorakitai are slower than the rest of the phalanx, but they make up in low cost and high ARM.
  • Nesaie Alke, Thorakitai Warrant Officer: Nesaie Alke is one of the best gunfighters in the army. She brings a BS13 Spitfire for a meager 25pts, and with 360 Visor nothing gets past her. Enomotarchos opens up the option of taking Thorakitai in a fireteam. This greatly reduces the the impact of their slow movement. **Remember, Thorakitai and Nesaie both have Frenzy. Putting them in a fireteam will cancel the effects of Impetuous.
  • Enomotarchos: Thorakitai fireteams are generally the cheapest options. Thanks to the HSN3 update, thank can now fulfill different Fireteam rolls: Offensive/ Defensive Fire Support and ITS Specialist.

• Chandra Sergeant Thrasymedes:
  • Enomotarchos: Thrasymedes is the other Enomotarchos character for Thorakitai. He comes equiped with a Light Rocket Launcher, SMG, ODD, and has the Specialist Operative skill. He more in cost but less in SWC than Nesaie.
  • Infiltration: The second option drops Enomotarchos, Rocket Launcher, and 3pts for Infiltration (probably to get closer to his lover, Lupe). This is the one and only infiltrating model in the sectorial. Deploying midfield helps take objectives and makes his SMG very relevant especially in Suppression Fire.
    • BOTH options have Frenzy!

• Patroclus: The HSN3 update gave Patroclus a huge boost. Read up on the update to Holoprojectors.
  • ODD: Multi Rifle or Spitfire, Patroclus's ODD profile is very demolishing. Holoprojector L3 cancels the Negative Feedback of both Holoprojector L1, L2, and ODD. Pat can impose a -9MOD (ODD and Surprise Shot) in firefights. With his 6-4MOV, he can easily bring his guns into good range, and he can provide Smoke Grenades further up the board. He's very expensive for a 1 wound model, but his special skills and equipment makes him a strong shock unit. Pat is also decent in close combat.
  • Duo (Achilles v2): Patroclus trades in ODD for Mimetism, and gains Duo with Achilles v2. This is a VERY expensive but devastating team. In the team, Achilles's Frenzy is cancelled allowing him to benefit from partial cover and Patroclus provides extra Smoke support for the duo. Thanks to the new rules for fireteams in close combat, whatever this duo touches is as sure as dead.
    • The idea of fielding 4 Achilles models seem like a cool idea, but it's just a gimmick because Holoprojector units must have a marker next to one of the models to indicate the use of the skill, so it won't hide Achilles.

Heavy Infantry

• Achilles: Achilles is often called the man-sized TAG. He's got incredible profile stats, equipment, and skill set. Spitfire or Multi rifle, he can easily get into good range bands. He's no joke in close combat either. Achilles is usually taken as a Lieutenant for the extra order. If you do, taking a generic Myrmidon Officer with Chain of Command is a good idea, because Achilles will be a fire magnet. Achilles is as expensive as some TAGs but he can be a monster to your opponent.
• Achilles v2 Hoplite Armor: Similar to Achilles v1, but he trades in ODD for ARM6, Mimetism, and Forward Deployment. He can also form a Duo team with Patroclus.
  • Both Achilles profiles have Frenzy!

• Ajax the Great: Firstly, Ajax is a Myrmidon Officer with Fireteam: Enomotarchos, so he can link with Myrmidons and/or other Myrmidon Officers. However, unlike those Myrmidons, Ajax drops ODD and holds a large S5 volume. CC22, berserk, and Natural Born Warrior - this guy is built for close combat, and in a firefight, he uses dual Combi Rifles at BS13. Thanks to the new rules for close combat with fireteams, Ajax will vaporize anything with his EXP hammer. And though he doesn't have ODD, Ajax has ARM5 and 2 wounds plus NWI. He's stupid with WIP12 making him a rather poor Lt choice, but even still 39pts is a steal.
  • Ajax starts impetuous, so stick him in a Fireteam to cancel it.
  • Enomotarchos: In a fireteam Ajax's dual Combi Rifle goes to Burst 5! But it's short ranged. Usually that team has a Myrmidon with a Spitfire giving your opponent a tough choice of contesting a Burst 5 Spitfire and let Ajax close in, OR freely shoot Ajax and accept the Spitfire shots. Impetuous is suppressed allowing Ajax to take cover which makes him even tougher, and in close combat Ajax benefits from other members of the fireteam in CC with him - with those bonuses, whatever Ajax touches will die.

• Hector, Homeridae's Champion: While Achilles is the wild blood thristy warrior, Hector is the strategic leader and second in command of the Steel Phalanx. Achilles is a single purpose killing machine. Hector brings much more utility, and he's almost as expensive as his rival. If he's your Lieutenant (and why wouldn't he be) Strategoes L1 changes his Lt special order to a Regular order. Although he has no defensive abilities like camo or ODD, Hector is VERY resilient with his ARM5, two wounds, and NWI; Also his Tinbot A boosts his defense against enemy Hackers. A very unique feature is his Plasma Rifle, the only one in the Human Sphere forces. Such a unique weapon makes the Spitfire almost negligible (which is saying something). X-Visor with the Plasma Rifle makes for a very deadly combination especially with the extra burst in a fireteam as well as in suppression fire. Stun Grenades also got big boost in HSN3, so dont ignore them. Hector is great in Limited Insertion.
  • Enomotarchos Hector can link with any unit: Myrmidons, Dactyls, or Thorakitai.
  • Tinbot Don't forget that his Tinbot protects the entire fireteam.

TAGs

See Achilles

Remotes

• Rebots: Basic REMs
  • Daleth: This is the standard Sensor, FO, etc etc REM. However. The Daleth has Climbing Plus.
  • Zayin: Standard 360 Visor and TR remote, but with Climbing Plus
  • Samekh: Standard Smart Missile bot.
  • Lamedh: Standard Flash Pulsing Sniffer bot.

• Probots: The 8pt baggage and minesweeper bot is a cheap filler unit, and can help with zone domination missions. Baggage can also reload Acmon's Panzerfaust and/or the Dactyl Engineer's Flammenspeer. There is also an EVO Hacker option and, in a faction with multiple fireteams, Teampro could be very useful.

• Yudbots: Remember a model with a G:Servant cannot be a part of a fireteam or Coordinated Order. Don't bother with them unless you have solo Doctors or Engineers.

Skirmishers

The Steel Phalanx has no Skirmishers

Warbands

This is basically the ODD section of the army list. Be aware of Frenzy and Impetuous which can be cancelled by using fireteams. Also stay away from Fire!

• Myrmidons: They are the backbone of the army and will do most of the dirty work. Every Myrmidon is equiped with ODD, Smoke Grenades with a reliable PH13, Nanopulser, and Martial Arts L3. All of the options are strong, but the most noteworthy is the Assault Hacker, Spitfire, and the humble 16pt option with Chain Rifle. Myrmidons require at least one Myrmidon Officer, Myrmidon Character, and/or Hector to for a Enomotarchos team.
• Myrmidon Officers: The generic officer is tough as nails. Definitely consider her as a fairly inexpensive Lieutenant option. Her Chain of Command option is also at very good price, and is advised when taking hyper aggressive LTs like Achilles or Hector. Both Boarding Shotgun options are equiped with Eclipse Grenades.
  • All of the officers have Fireteam: Enomotarchos, ODD(not Ajax), Nanopulser, and NWI.
  • Eudoros: Eudoros is often overlooked when compared to the other officers, but he is still a very strong character. He wields a Mk12 with BS13, Eclipse Grenades, and is the only Myrmidon officer with ARM3, BTS6, and Martial Arts L4. Definitely consider him especially if you're tight on SWC.
  • Phoenix: Phoenix is a very popular and strong choice for good reasons. He wields a Heavy Rocket Launcher with BS13. Phoenix also has normal Smoke Grenades.
  • Machaon: Machaon's WIP15 makes him a popular Lieutenant choice as well as a very good Doctor/Specialist. Machaon also brings Eclipse Grenades.
  • Enomotarchos: Myrmidon Fireteams are highly aggressive but also surprisingly multi-roled: Aggression team, Smoke/Eclipse support, Close Combat monsters, and ITS Specialist roles. In this team it's a good idea to have both Smoke and Eclipse Grenades. Phoenix or Eudoros will usually be the aggression piece of a team. Phoenix provides long ranged fire support which greatly benefits from the extra Burst. Same with Eudoros, but for mid range. Machaon will generally be used as healing support keeping the team members alive and ITS specialist jobs, and lets a member with a heavier weapon do the dirty work. The generic Officer is generally taken as a cheap LT or Chain of Command specialist. If you don't have points for Ajax, Hector, Phoenix, or Eudoros, the Myrmidon Spitfire is a solid active turn fire platform.

• Penthesilea, Amazon Biker: Penny is the only biker in the Steel Phalanx. She's incredibly short-ranged, so she'll need to get up close and personal to do damage with her Combi Rifle or Nanopulser. Then wip out the Contender for ARO. Finally, she's got a Monofilament CCW for taking out high valued targets. With her speed and ODD, she can easily reach the backfield to pick off stragglers and cheerleaders.
  • Choose her opponents carefully. Penny can easily gun down grunt infantry. If it comes down to close combat, she can easily engage heavy armored troopers. Don't forget that i-khol does NOT work on troopers with STR value.
  • Penny takes a lot of practice to use, so don't be discouraged. Also remember that you can cancel her Impetous Order for free.

Building Your Army

Take advantage of using multiple Enomotarchos teams. Most armies field at least two. It's a good idea to include a couple of specialists in those teams. It's very tempting to throw a bunch of named characters in a fireteam, and let them run amok and kill everything. Don't. The team isn't a bad thing, but you'll be putting too much points into a single team that is too dedicated to a single purpose.

• BAD: Ajax, Phoenix, Eudoros, Machaon. Each member is roughly 40pts. Only 1 Specialists. Eudoros, Ajax, and Phoenix are active turn platforms, and you don't need all of them.
• Good: Phoenix, Machaon, Myrmidon Hacker, Myrmidon Chain Rifle. Much cheaper team leaving you points for the rest of the army. Phoenix is enough to drive the team forward for the 2 Specialists to be ITS relevant.

Generally, army lists go for 10 order main combat group with a small support element in a second group. The Steel Phalanx is very order efficient with multiple fireteams, so more even/uneven combat groups are definitely possible. It all depends on your preference and how well you can utilize those orders.

This is a very aggressive army. If you're playing missions in ITS with the Retreat! rule, do not send your opponent into retreat too early. Find a steady tempo.

Hints and Tactics

• Damned if you do. Damned if you don't This is a general strategy that can be applied to other armies. However, the Steel Phalanx troopers are so well equiped, that they will give your opponent a hard time with AROs. The NCOs, Drakios and Scylla are the masters at this.
  • Example: If Scylla's Devabot approaches an enemy Yan Huo, he can ARO with shoot, dodge, or reset, but it doesn't matter because Scylla can easily counter any ARO. If the Yan Huo dodges, Scylla can hack. If the Yan Huo Resets, Scylla's Devabot can fire its HFT.
  • Another Example: A Myrmidon with a Spitfire is the link leader and has Ajax in the team. The opponent can ARO against the Spitfire which would let Ajax to get closer OR shoot Ajax and get hit by a Spitfire at B5.
  • The opponent could shoot back, but suffer heavy modifiers from range, ODD, and Cover, OR forgo shooting back and dodge - and your Myrmidon is safe from ARO.
• MSV2 and Smoke Grenades: The army has plenty of Smoke and some of the best MSV2 troopers in terms of BS value.

• Martial Arts and Stealth: A lot of the fireteam options have a level of Martial Arts. If the entire fireteam has it, then they can benefit from Stealth.

• Martial Arts and Fireteams: Close combat is not always the safest action because of the low Burst. However, Burst and PH increases by 1 for every fireteam member engaged with the adversary.
  • Example: If a Myrmidon team lead by Eudoros drops Smoke on top of their target blocking its LoF, Eudoros and his buddies can easily jump into close combat. Eudoros would get +1PH and +1B for each member engaged PLUS any CC Skill and Martial Arts level (MA4 in this case).

• Kinematika: A lot of the Steel Phalanx profiles have Kinematika L1. If you successfully Dodge in ARO, Kinematika gives you extra movement. Kinematika also applies to Engage ARO, so, if your opponent is foolish enough to get too close to a team of Myrmidons, that team can Engage into Close Combat in ARO with the extended Engage distance.

• Fireteam Compositions: Play around with these options. Generally, you should have a cornerstone unit with a high BS and high Burst, and at least a couple of specialists.
  • Example 1: Hector, Acmon, 2 Dactyl Doctors
  • Example 2: Phoenix, Machaon, Myrmidon Assault Hacker, Myrmidon with Chain Rifle.
  • Example 3: Nesaie Alke, 2 Thorakitai FOs, Thorakitai Engineer.
  • There are many combinations. Play around with them, but don't spend too many points on a single team. Don't forget your fireteam bonuses.