Infinity/N4 Tactics/Morat Aggression Force

An overview for the Morat Aggression Force in N4.

Why Play Morats?

MAF is a sledgehammer. You don't do anything fancy. You don't have any camouflage game. Your link options aren't too crazy. You have okay specialists and few unique tactics to combat. People compare Morats to Military Orders and say Morats is more aggressive and straightforward.

But you sally forth from the deployment zone, bringing to bear good weapons in potent link teams. Armor trembles at your access to K1, explosive, and AP. People curse your warbands while you crack some heads with your Lieutenant, safe in the knowledge that your army won't falter just because your LT's life expectancy is measured in seconds. Your LTs themselves fight with valor and die with glory.

You're even more straightforward than Military Orders, but have the upside of more disposable and flexible units. It is incredibly hard to out-punch a well-built Morats force, and opponents will find themselves having to work around the weight of fire you bring to the table.

To put it simply, you don't sword fight with a sledgehammer. You smash until nothing's left.

Faction Features

• High-Octane Aggression: Perhaps the most aggressive army in existence, Morats offers little subtlety in play and are even more straightforward than Military Orders while providing more specialists. Morats are not as durable, but will crack power armor and TAGs like eggs.
• Big Guns, Anti-Armor: Morats' access to K1, AP+DA, EXP, and E/M weaponry is great for cracking TAGs and heavy infantry. Some weapons are heinously potent - for example, Yaogats can take a burst 3 (burst 4 in a Haris!) multisniper and Kurgats can pack a burst 3 autocannon for some powerful ammo types, while a failed Face to Face with a Sogarat's Feuerbach can wipe anything off the board.
• Great PH: Morats have an unusually high PH. You do pay for this, but your standard dodge is on at least PH12. This comes in handy more often than you think.

Special Skills

• Veteran and Religious: On 95% of your troops - the only troops lacking Religious (or an equivalent) are the Hungries and Dr. Worm. They, plus remotes, are the only ones lacking Veteran, and so Morats largely does not care about Loss of Lieutenant, nor do they care about E/M (though heavy infantry, TAGs, and remotes can still be Immobilized by E/M).
• Lieutenant: Good lieutenants - which is important, as you are the army that literally does not care if your lieutenant dies. Veteran on everything apeish in nature means you don't give half a damn if your lieutenant goes down. At worst, Dr. Worm goes irregular.
• Camouflage, or the lack thereof: Zero. Zilch. Not even your one skirmisher has it. You do possess good mimetism options like Daturazi and Zerats, but you have absolutely zero marker states that don't come from a KHD.

Weapons and Equipment

• K1 Ammunition: The good: Completely ignores a unit's base armor. The bad: Damage 13. A straight upgrade to the Combi Rifle, but your K1 Sniper Rifle will still only do Combi-Rifle damage. The break-even point for the sniper rifle is versus ARM 2 (compared to a normal sniper or HMG), but after that it's all benefit. Both of these guns are on fairly cheap infantry, and the K1 combi is on a trooper with smoke.
• Special Weapons: Aside from your specialists, your troops mostly have heavy-hitting weapons or special ammunition options. Missiles, grenade launchers, AP HMGs, the best feuerbach in the game, panzerfausts on an MSV2 troop. Even the Portable Autocannon has its place. You have SWC options that hit hard and hit good. You are perhaps the most damaging army in the game. Go big or go home.
• Heavy Pistols: Not a huge upside, but it's there. If you don't have a dedicated CC option, you probably have a heavy pistol. Remember this the next time someone tries to get in close in your reactive turn. Damage 14 Shock means people should be afraid of failing that FTF, and that in some cases this might be preferable to shooting with your primary.

Units Overview

• Great Weapons: Learn to love your heavy hitters. Build your list around a good lieutenant and strong weapon platforms. You're not here for trickery or trades. Smash your opponent into pulp with overwhelming firepower.
• Good Airborne Troops: Rasyats can walk in from the enemy deployment zone, and Taryots have Explosive Combat Jump. They're not the backbone of a list, but shake things up a bit.
• Decent Midfield: You have a good selection of mid-field units and even some ways of getting there. You can punch out of your deployment zone pretty hard, as long as you avoid stacking Mimetism modifiers against yourself. Zerats are better in N4 (Mimetism -6!), Daturazi provide good smoke cover and aggression, and all your medium infantry are 4-4 and all have strong weapon options.

Remember to keep Unit blurbs short and succinct. This is 'what they do and why they're good' not 'here's how you use them'.

Light Infantry

• Morat Vanguard Infantry: Basic AF. Incredibly expensive for what you get, but they still generate orders when in Loss of Lieutenant. Strongly consider dodging in ARO, as you're rarely going to do worse than shooting. Their weapon options are fine - the K1 Sniper is Damage 13. The paramedic makes the check on their patient's PH-0 in the best PH-having army in the game (thanks N4!), the missile launcher is a missile launcher. They're an okay link team, they hunt armor okay, and are an okay staple. Remember to mix them with either Anyat, your two wildcards, and/or a Suryat to lead them.
  • Treitak Anyat: The Vanguard named-character SpecOps dire foe. Specialist operative, climbing plus, shock immunity. The K1 Combi Rifle is a bane of everything armored, E/M grenades terrify HI and TAGs, chain colt keeps skirmishers at bay, and the smoke grenades let you move you (and your fireteam) up-field to threaten with all three weapons. Not a wildcard - Vanguards, Suryats, Sogarats, or Raichos only - but still a decent option. (CB wasn't going to let you fireteam smoke with MSV2 anyways).
• Krakot Renegades: Weirdly not listed as a warband. Decent but they don't fit into any fireteams aside from their own. They compete with your other warband options. Forward Deployment, bonus to dodge, and a very possible mobility option on MetaChem makes them really aggressive. Judge for yourself, they are competing with Daturazi.

• Kurgat Reg. of Assault Engineers: Surprisingly 'eh' but they hit hard. They're useful, BS12 engineers. Two profiles pack AP (armor-piercing, NOT antipersonnel) mines for demolishing armor. The third has the Portable Autocannon. The AC might feel better in a Haris, but three engineers might be a bit much unless you expect some hardcore TAG bullying (and some misplays). They're a bit hamstrung by the lack of link options. If you need an engineer, they're more aggressive than Dr. Worm, but not necessarily better.
• Med-Tech Obsidon Medchanoid: AKA 'Doctor Worm', but don't let the name fool you: they're also your second engineer option. They're your only doctor model, and their price point makes them a pretty efficient specialist through a peripheral. Honestly a good choice if you want a dedicated engineer and doctor that has no reason to expose themselves. They won't be breaking any faces in, but they will be fixing them.

Medium Infantry

• Kornak Gazarot: Decent melee options, MK12. His value isn't from his statline though. Strategos L1 is good, Strategos L1+1 Order is great. He's still 45pts in an army that incentivizes heavy hitting elite pieces. This does effectively compete with NCO profiles
• Raktorak, Morat Sergeant Major: One of your few wildcards, and a specialist to boot. Packs a Vulkan shotgun on an NCO profile, but otherwise a Combi Rifle or Red Fury profile. Expensive for what you get, but Number 2 means you can play risky with a fireteam, while NCO means a fireteam gets more order efficiency via LT orders. Okay filler for expensive teams, or adding a longer-ranged gun to a Daturazi band.
• Rasyat Diplomatic Division: Decent melee options, okay weapons, eclipse grenades. They have enough board presence and pressure to be a real threat. Did I mention they can walk in from the enemy's deployment zone in N4? Overall an expensive but useful option - play a few games with them just to remind your meta that they exist, then watch with amusement as players start treating you like you always have one. Not actually auto-take though.
• Rodok, Morat Armed Imposition Detachment: A classic staple. Fireteam haris and fireteam core, they have a decent statline, great mobility, and 4-4 movement owing to the N4 Medium Infantry buff. Slightly more vulnerable than Yaogats at Arm 2 and still a little bit fragile, they nonetheless get good use out of their mobility and visibility modifiers. No longer as 'must-take' in N4, but pretty strong.
• Yaogat Strike Infantry: A haris of Yaogat Strike Infantry can prove annoying if paired with either Daturazi, Oznat, or Treitak Anyat, owing to smoke coverage. They have some interesting profiles but might be a little bit lackluster in terms of profile. The most interesting part about them is the Burst 4 Multisniper in a haris, or the fact that their 'budget' options all pack panzerfausts. If you need to kill mimetism troops or lean on smoke+MSV2, they hit hard. If you don't plan to do either, skip them entirely. Keep in mind that you can discover markers through Smoke without providing LOF for an ARO (or even provoking at all, if you're out of LOF).

Heavy Infantry

Remember that your heavy infantry and TAGs don't care about Isolated, but will still be immobilized by E/M grenades. Just remember this before running them into an E/Marat, but feel free to completely ignore Jammers.

• Sogarat Tempest Regiment: Iconic S5 Heavy Weapons platform. 2W+NWI. They received a pretty big facelift from N3, having lost Bioimmunity (but gained BTS6). They lost Automedkit (aka Regeneration in N4) but gained +1 Damage on BS and CC attacks. NCO and Lieutenant options are both great, don't forget that Pulzars have huge templates. +1B Feuerbach will explode just about anything if it connects in active turn (and most things in reactive), and the AP HMG shreds armor like no tomorrow. Strongly consider one.
• Suryats: AP-immune Armor 4. They're somewhat standard heavy infantry, with some decent weapon profiles. There isn't a lot to say here. Notably resilient, only BS13, a decent price range, and can add punch to a vanguard team. Consider pairing the LT+1 with an NCO for extra value, or the MSV1 for some overwatch or cheeky through-smoke shots. They're usually run in fireteams - a common sight is the HMG (being literally half of their available profiles). Anyat could pair very well with a Haris for some mid-field mobility.

Tactical Armor Gear

• Raicho Armored Brigade: Your choice of heavy rocket launcher, heavy shotgun + mine dispenser, or heavy flamethrower+NCO. There's a lot to pick apart here. Do note that your NCO is a full two SWC over the other two options, and that you have no Lieutenant option here. Immunity to crits, cannot be isolated, ECM versus Hacker and Guided. ARM 8, pretty beefy, and dangerous, everything a Morat loves. Consider a Raicho if you're not taking a Sogarat.
  • Raicho Pilot: As an extra consideration, your Raicho pilot has a B5 assault pistol and is a specialist operative. This isn't amazing value, but do remember if you need to pop him out and press a button.

Remotes

• Dropsuit Taryot:
• Ikadron Batroids: 9pts for a 6-2 MOV, baggage-having, repeater-carrying drone with double flamethrowers. Honestly extremely good, and you get two of them. If you absolutely don't want to take Vanguards, consider these for deployment zone defense and cheap orders. Remember they can Prone now.
• Remotes: Honestly the standard Combined Army remotes aren't too noteworthy here. They're decent (or even good). Flash pulse R-Drones are your cheapest order (though AVA1), and the rest of your non-Ikadron remotes are extremely standard. Though your Q-drone has Mimetism-3 which puts it well above its counterparts in other factions.

Warband

• Daturazi Witch-Soldiers: A staple and an excellent choice for warband. High damage, throws smoke, comes with mimetism, can core-link, and is even regular! Their value cannot be overstated. Don't get carried away with them though.
• Hungries: Your basic 'cheap warband CC specialist'. Climbing Plus means they are barely hindered by walls. Forever overshadowed by Taighas in the Shas army, they're nonetheless important as warband screen and link filler for Oznat for one of the cheaper fireteams in the game. You won't be capping them out, given how you're limited to 15 orders in ITS12, but they're still worth consideration.
  • Ghakis: They run, (maybe) bite things, and explode. Cheap filler to swamp the board with angry, exploding impetuous troops. At 4pts a pop, use them to counteract midfield pushes, mines, possibly camouflage, and hope they trade up. They're the cheapest filler for your Oznat fireteam, but they lack any gun whatsoever. Don't forget Berserk for guaranteed trades.
  • Pretas: The chain rifle option. At 7pts, they fill the traditional 'cheap chain rifle glued to a melee specialist'. They trade the Ghaki's berserk and explode skills for Dogged, proving tenacious jerks capable of trading with line infantry and skirmishers. They don't feel great in N4 when compared to other warbands, but they're still okay.
• Kendrat, Krakot Renegade: Named character krakot. Weirdly labeled as 'warband' when krakots aren't. Hits much harder, is a bit more tenacious. She plays even more aggressive than Krakots and loves breaking into CC. She might be useful as a monkey missile you send racing up the board to explode a target.
• Oznat: Either smoke grenades or a smoke launcher. Combi-rifle for a budget option (or a decent range option in your Oznat link) or need to maximize the distance you can lob smoke. The Vulkan Shotgun + Sync Preta is a real winner, though. Sensor got more rare in N4, and having a smoke-throwing shotgun+chain rifle means you can force unfavorable trades and remove Hidden Deployment troops from objectives. Oznats have teeth.

Skirmishers

• Zerat Special Missions Regiment: Zerats received an upgrade in N4. They're Mim-6 troopers for sub-30pts, with infiltration and a few decent specialist profiles. Alongside mines, d-charges, and templates, they're a decent multi-role skirmisher, but lack the staying power that camouflage would provide. They're good for Turn 1 button pushers, board control, assassination runs, and just forcing unfavorable fights at -9. They get their best value when going first by pressing buttons, going into suppressive fire, and/or picking off an overextended chump. Honestly hit or miss, and you should expect them to die in turns 1 or 2. If you do take them, know what you want to use them for.

Building Your Army

• Pick your Lieutenant: Honestly, Veteran means you don't care as much (if at all) about loss of lieutenant. The real question is whether you want to kill with your lieutenant (thus, the Suryat or Sogarat); or if you want other troops to use the lieutenant order (Suryat again, Vanguard, or Kornak. The former two pair well with NCO profiles). In the case of Kornak you might skip NCO entirely. No matter what, you should strongly consider using your Lieutenant's order for something, as you sacrifice very little for revealing them.
• Stealth or Rage?: Daturazi are good. You're likely taking them. If you're not taking them, consider why (and consider Zerats for those situations why not - or mix them both). Heavily assess your warband (and skirmisher) options, as they're going to be what gives you mobility under cover of smoke.
• Smash with Skill: Morats is an unsubtle army. You hit hard, do not care about armor, are hard to template, and have some of the best direct-aggression profiles in the game. This isn't the army for clever play or mind games. The saying 'they can't press buttons if you shoot off their fingers' applies here, but it's less 'shooting fingers' and more 'amputating their arms at the shoulder'. That being said, don't be too reckless. There's nothing you can't kill, but you still shouldn't leave your expensive troops out to die in reactive turn. Make sure you maximize your smashing force, it's the best tool you have.
• Full Monkey or Honorary Simians?: Dr. Worm and the assorted remotes are valuable in certain situations, but they're still affected by Loss of Lieutenant if the rest of your army isn't. For some reason, Doctoring School didn't cover what to do when your freshly-promoted commanding officer dies every ten seconds. If you plan around recklessly using your Lieutenant, don't take too many remotes, as you'll lose those orders to LoL.
• Paramedic. No, really: Thanks to N4's Paramedic buff, Morats throw a minimum of PH12 on paramedic checks, often times more. At PH13, it's basically the same as a standard doctor in other armies. At PH14, it rivals Dr. Worm. Do not be afraid to Paramedic your own troops, this is one advantage of paying so much for high PH. Also, remember it can be used at range.

Tactics

• Smash Fingers: You have okay specialist options, but better killing tools. Spontaneous limb amputation is a common phenomena in non-Morat armies, which means less pressure on your specialists to do their jobs.
• Use your Lieutenant: Your lieutenants are the best at murder, they get a free order and zero downside to using it.
• Remember Veteran: Some armies rely on their enemies respecting E/M or Jammers for defense. Those armies aren't prepared for a gorilla to stroll up mid field and pull their arms off, blinky lights be damned.
• Play the Objective: Don't get too carried away smashing fingers and exploding targets. It's extremely easy to put a foe into retreat or spend too much time laying waste to the enemy's orders. Make sure to protect your specialists,