Infinity/N4 Tactics/Qapu Khalqi
An overview for Qapu Khalqi, a Sectorial for Haqqislam WIP
Why Play Qapu Khalqi?
That's a really good question! In an edition of the game filled with fearsome TAGs and incredible Warbands, awesome alien hackers, and deadly invisible ninjas what does Qapu Khalqi offer the interested player? The short answer is: challenge.
The longer answer requires a very short Infinity history lesson: QK was the first faction to receive the Haris fireteam rule, way back in N2, and as such it had some pretty cool and unique ways to play. However the heydays of N2 are now a distant memory and unfortunately the rules for "The Men of the Gate" have not remained in lock step with more recent developments in the game. Therefore, playing QK can at times be painful and victories hard won. As with all sectorial armies, the unit selection is limited, but it is also old, with some essential profiles that may appear lacklustre compared to more up to date factions.
As a Haqqislam player you might look across at your brothers and sisters playing Ramah Task Force and Hassassin Bahram and start to question your life choices, but wait! There is reward on the path less taken, and some uncommon joys.
So who are Qapu Khalqi, and how should you approach playing them?
The background to the faction is that they are the defacto Navy of the Haqqislam, protecting the Silk routes from pirates, ne'er-do-wells and other factions who wish to bypass the Haqqislamite monopoly on the Silk trade. They also protect travellers, or whatever.
The catch to this otherwise seemingly very lucrative job is that the Sultan likes to keep as much of his wealth to himself, and Haqqislam doesn't have the industrial might of the likes of PanO and Yu Jing, so they hire in mercenaries and pirates, endowing them with the status of privateers, to fight for them.
On the table this makes QK something of a patchwork faction (often thought of as NA2 before NA2 was a thing) containing a mix of Haqqislam, Nomad, and non-aligned mercenary units. This unique mix of units, coupled with quite high unit costs for some of the faction staples, make Qapu Khalqi something of an unsolved faction. This means that it is possible to build a list that can competently take on any one opponent, but there is very little in the way of indispensable units that are always useful and effective, and nothing approaching an all-comers type of list that can address any threat.
In this way QK can be whatever you make it. It's possible to pack the midfield with camo, it's possible to make a list seemingly filled with HI, or with two TAGs, it's possible to take seven AD troopers for a collective total of 15 apparent models dropping in from the side, or via Combat Jump. All these things are possible, and more, but whatever you do you will be forced to make hard choices and leave notable gaps in your setup that you will have to account for - or pay the price.
So why should you play Qapu Khalqi? It's a cool, older faction, with some nice and tricky to find OOP models, it has a variety of ways to play and build lists that will keep you endlessly experimenting, but it also has some distinct shortcomings that a good general will have to be aware of, and do their best to mitigate.
If you like the idea of a rag-tag band of pirates and rough and marines teaming up to protect the profits of a cadre of unimaginably rich and powerful oligarchs (and who doesn't love that?!) then maybe QK is the faction for you!
Faction Features
- Features 1:
- Features 2:
- Features 3:
Special Skills
- Skills 1:
- Skills 2:
- Skills 3:
Weapons and Equipment
- Equipment 1:
- Equipment 2:
- Equipment 3:
Units Overview
Light Infantry
- Bashi Bazouks:Bashi Bazouks have Holoprojector, Holomask, and Parachutist, which make for an incredible combination. They can be a great disruption unit, if you have some leftover points. However, they do requires some foresight since they are dirt cheap irregulars. - troopers that are a low investment that have the added bonus that losing them does not hurt your order pool. Popular profiles include the SMG+Chain Colt, Combi+E/M Mines, and the Specialist Operative with an AP-Rifle and Light Shotgun.
- Corregidor Alguaciles: These are the most basic units in the game, they are in fact the bare chassis that all other profiles and units are derived from. They fill the line troop slot, and have a LT option which comes at 1SWC- which feels really bad but sometimes it still is something to consider. Qapu Khalqi doesn’t give them Fireteam:Core, but they count as Ghulams for fireteam compsition.
- Ghulam Infantry: The Ghulam Infantry is the basic trooper of the Haqqislam nation. However, compared to most other factions, the Ghulam have a wide selection of loadouts including multiple Lieutenant options. The most notable are the Doctor Plus and the Forward Observer. Both are WIP14 specialists. The Doctor can confidently patch up unconscious troopers on a WIP17, and the Forward Observer can fire his Flash Pulse at WIP14. They can form a Core-link.
- Hafza Unit: The main reason to use these guys is them being a cheap way of having holomask in your list. That way you can protect an obvious LT or disguise them as something expensive to hide the fact you got a parachutist or hidden deployment trooper up your sleeve.
- Husam Operative Leila Sharif:
- Medical Specialist Rahman Rouhani:
- Najjarun Engineers:
- Odasliques:
- Warcors: 3pts for an irregular Flashpulse ARO. Fit them into your list whenever you got the slot and points, they're well worth it.
- Wild Bill, Legendary Gunslinger: He's fast at MOV 6-2, got (+1Dam) and shock on his BS, also he's got marksmanship and NWI. Neither the rifle nor the contender have a nice rangeband, but with the MULTI pistol he's got a positive rangeband from 0-12", which overall makes him an unpleasant close-range fighter. He counts as Kaplan or Janissary for fireteam purposes.
Medium Infantry
- Djanbazan Tactical Group:
- Druze Shock Teams: Your standard Druze packs a combi-rifle, chain colt, an X Visor, and a viral pistol with Veteran and BS Attack (+1 Dam). Druze options include a paramedic, a lieutenant, a panzerfaust, a normal hacker, or a killer hacker. They can also take a HMG or a MULTI-sniper with -3 mimetism, but the spiciest profile adds a normal grenade launcher as well as an E/M grenade launcher. The EM/Regular Grenade launcher when combined with the X Visor allows you to roll the dice and potentially cause your opponent to have a very bad time (tm). Druze Shock Teams have a dizzying array of options, but they carry a heavy price due to the amount of weapons they bring with them. They can form a Core or Duo in Qapu.
- KTS, Kaplan Security Units: Kaplans come with a of WIP 14, making their specialist profiles very appealing. They also bring a few extra weapon options to the faction, but don't really compete well as specialists in Haqqislam. Being able to form a Core or Haris they like having Wild Bill around to tag along.
- Sekban, Naval Special Unit:
Heavy Infantry
- Janissaires:
The basic Heavy Infantry option from Haqqislam. Since the release of the Asawira and the Bokhtar, these fine warriors have been supplanted as the HI of choice for vanilla Haqqislam, but in QK we lack such potent new units and so Janissaries can often end up forming the backbone of your list.
Not as dynamic as their more recently developed Haqq HI compatriots, they make up for their slow 4-4 MOV with superior stats in almost all other categories. BS, PH and WIP are all 14, they get Dodge +1" and with a healthy ARM of 4 and a hearty BTS of 6, they can take some punishment. They come equipped with the big guns you expect of HI, but replace the usual Multi Rifle arrangement of other faction HI with an AP rifle/Light Shotgun loadout, which is arguably better. Don't forget your Tinbot -3 to back up your TAG tough BTS score!
However, drawbacks include the Religious Troop rule, which is more of a double edged sword, and only one specialist, a doctor (2W) ("an HI 2W doctor!" I hear you cry, but wait, there's a catch.) That would be really nice, but he gains the ability to heal two wounds at the expense of doctor +3, which all other Haqqislam doctors get, and to add insult to injury Janissaries do not get cubes and so lose the all important ability to re-roll failed healing attempts. This makes the Janissary doctor the most dangerous doctor in Haqqislam - for your own troops. 30% of the time you will fail your doctor roll and simply kill your downed trooper, with no ability to try again. This is a very good rate compared to other factions, but for Haqq it is poor, and coupled with ample, cheaper, wildcard doctor options in QK, sadly the Janissary doctor rarely sees the table.
- Mobile Brigada:
The basic Heavy Infantry option from Corregidor. What sets these apart from other factions basic HI is that they have arm 5 and Courage which is an important perk that lets you pick whether you want to Guts into cover or not. Mobile Brigada can take both the long and medium range weaponry you expect of standard HI, and the basic MULTI Rifle option also has the ever useful Light Flamethrower, and while you're at it why not take a tinbot -6 for much needed hacking protection, available both for gunfighting and hacking profiles.
The drawbacks in Mobile Brigada are the middling WIP of 13, which diminishes their hacker profile a bit, in comparison to other Haqqislam hackers where WIP14 comes as standard, and a merely good BS of 13, which means you're probably not taking any of the heavy weapon options when the BS14 Janissary is right there. The other drawbacks of the mighty MB is an AVA of only 1, and they are not fireteam linkable. This means that all together you really only have 2 options for Mobile Brigada in Qapu Khalqi: The hacker, and the MULTI rifle with tinbot -6. One is a fast, tough, specialist which QK lacks, and the other is a flexible, tough, midfield striker. Both do a good job in their respective roles, but they cost a pretty penny both, so make sure you are not leaving too many gaps elsewhere in your list.
- Special Deterrance Group Azra'il:
The reason you play Qapu Khalqi. The Azra'il is one of the most dangerous units in all of Infinity, though a quick glance at their stats does not hint at the threat lurking in this chonky and slow S5 HI. The relevant stats here are MOV4-4, BS13, PH14 (though dodging on 11,) ARM5, BTS3, W2, Immunity (Shock), so far so mediocre, but the skills and equipment are where the Azra'il comes into his own.
Toting either an AP HMG or a Feuerbach(+1B) and a Heavy Pistol sidearm, he combines those weighty armaments with BS Attack +1DAM and BS Attack (Continuous Damage) and the ability to form a Haris fireteam. This unique combination of skills means that if you take the Feuerbach version you will be enjoying an active turn that delivers B4, DAM15, AP DA (Continuous Damage) shots to your target of choice, and in ARO two DAM15 EXP (Continuous Damage) shots. The AP HMG is only slightly less dangerous thanks to its more limited range bands, but with B5, DAM16 AP (Continuous Damage) respect is still very much due. He may only be BS13 with no vis mods to speak of, but he always has a chance to hit his target, and with ARM5 and hopefully in cover, he has the ability tank a hit from any weapon.
Make no mistake, a serious gun fighting platform will be able to make short work of the Azra'il, especially if they can employ smoke and MSV2, but for the most part all targets are valid, and your opponent has to ask themself: Do I feel lucky? Because if they're not then their prize piece is going to be deleted.
Tactical Armor Gear
- Iguana Squadron:
The largest light TAG in the game, the Iguana’s claim to fame is it paltry 2 STR and Ejection System which, on the destruction of the TAG, drops a smoke template on itself and releases a BS12 2 wound HI Operator, toting a basic HMG. Basically Iguana is not designed to last, but to sprint forward take up space in the midfield and lay down the hurt using it's very good BS14, DAM16 HMG and Heavy Flamethrower, before in its reactive turn inviting midfield hackers to take a shot which at it, with AROs through its onboard Repeater waiting to strike.
A great idea in principle, unfortunately like so many QK units the Iguana is tuned to a different age of the game. In reality 2 STR and S7 means that it is relatively easiy for good gunfighters to take it on, and nowadays the prevalence of pitchers and deployable repeaters mean that hackers do not need to risk going into ARO range of the Iguana to take it out with a comms attack. It has all the other kit you might expect of a good TAG, high ARM and BTS of 6, ECM: guided (-6) and ECM: Hacker (-3) all mean that it is not trivially easy to kill, but with only 2 wounds it lacks the staying power of other TAGs. Fortunately it is not overly expensive at 65 points, but it still sits in a bracket that means you more often than not end up building around it, which is not great for such a disposable unit.
- Scarface And Cordelia:
They're still around and are still doing what they do best: kicking asses. Scarface throws down with an array of shooting options: Mk12(+1B) and an Heavy Rocket Launcher(+1B), AP HMG and Panzerfaust, or an AP Spitfire(+1B) and Panzerfaust, all with +1DAM and teamed with a DA CCW. This big guy gets all the usual TAG defences you should expect, ECM Hacker (-3), ECM: Guided (-6), ARM7, BTS6, STR3, though his relatively low BS of 13 is a drawback, but really shooting is what you are doing incidentally while on your way to exercising a close combat bloodlust unrivalled for a model of his size.
On a platform that boasts MOV 6-4, CC22 and PH16, Scarface also gets CC Attack (-3) and Berserk (+3) which means on the turn that he uses Berserk he is hitting unopposed on CC25, and if you come up against someone with Martial Arts they suffer an unmodifiable -3 to their CC stat, which levels the playing field against all but the very best CC specialist. So Scarface is the original CC bad boy of the TAG world and still does a mean job of laying down DAM16 DA hits in Close Combat.
Incredibly, when he is inevitably forced to bailout of his smoking wreck of a TAG, he gets to keep his BS Attack +1DAM, CC22, CC Attack (-3) and Berserk (+3) and pulls out a Boarding Shotgun, for good measure. Unfortunately he trades his DACCW for a shock version, but he also becomes a WIP13 Specialist Operative, for when everyone is dead and you still really need to push a button.
All in all, Scarface is designed to get in your face and make a mess of your best laid plans, and he does it well. There is no TAG quite like him in the game, and none of the other six main human factions can take him - hell, the only other factions that can are the NA2 Druze and Ikari Company. Use him, love him, he is the fly in the ointment, the boot on the neck of your opponent, and when they see you are playing a Haqqislam sectorial they will never imagine Scarface is coming along for the ride.
On top of all that danger, when you take Scarface you are obliged to also take his sister, Cordelia. Fortunately she is a well equipped Engineer with -3 mimetism, WIP 13, a combi rifle, chaincolt and d-charges. Together these two are good value, despite a maximum cost of 85 points and 1.5 SWC (though you can take one of two 81 point version) for which you get 2 order generating units, a stone cold killer and a decent specialist.
Remotes
- Fanous: The generic 7pts Flash Pulse bot.
- Kameel: S4 baggage bots, with an EVO-option
- Nasmat: S1 helper bot peripherals.
- Rafiq: The combat FO remote. Haqq gets a Red Fury FTO version! It can be linked as a Duo with the Az'rail.
- Shaytaniyah: Guided missile remote.
Warband
- Yuan Yuan: Very cheap impetuous space pirates with combat jump on PH=11- what's not to love here? They have Booty for reasons of flavor, and come at 8 pts for their cheapest loadouts. Using them is a gamble, but since they're pretty cheap and a ton of fun there is still a point in fielding them. You will never forget successfully trading your Yuan Yuan against some expensive active turn gunner that one game.
Skirmishers
- Al Hawwa' Unit: Regular infiltrating specialists with a great WIP14. You can pick between FO, Minelayer (with a Sniper) and a Hacker. Great for having an efficient button pusher.
Building Your Army
One to two short paragraphs on list building.
Tactics
- Shoot Enemy, Don't Die:
- Don't Die:
- Play the Objective: