Introduction

As has been previewed and teased over the last few months, Infinity has now made several significant changes at once. 

First, there has been a general balance pass across the game rules, most notably reining in Pitchers, which have been a staple of N5 play, even more than in N4, to the extent that they were considered as big a part of factions’ hacking ability as the hackers themselves. There were also a lot of re-wordings of prosaic core rules around movement, cover, the bones of how to play the game. These appear mostly to clarify intent and prevent edge-case arguments, there isn’t anything which jumps out as fundamentally changing how things play. An FAQ has also been published to support where questions are too obtuse to be covered in the rulebook. 

Second, they have released a new Sectorial army, Next Wave, the force of humans who have joined the Combined Army, following the hero traitorous himbo Achilles. 

Third, there has been a huge slew of updates across most factions in the game, tweaking unit costs, adding new rules to under-optimised or under-used profiles, and generally injecting new things to try out. Two factions in particular with extremely low win rates in the Infinity Tournament System (ITS) gathered data, Military Orders (MO) and Tartary Army Korps (TAK) received particularly targeted updates to add spice to their rosters, fireteams etc, while generic Combined Army was targeted with a few changes meant to rein in their strengths – although even for them, there are some upsides…

Core Rules & Balance Changes

There’s plenty of blue text in the core rules of the game, and even on specific skills, which doesn’t seem to add up to major changes, more clarification of edge cases or interactions with other skills. E.g. Fireteam Master and Inspiring Leadership both give a +2” bonus to coherency limits in Fireteams which include the user – this is now noted in both skills as not being cumulative. We are going to just pass over this; if you’re really keen on the mechanics of the game, feel free to get your head into it. The headings below are what jumps out as significant to us.

Genghis Cohen: I’ve already seen one of the best players I know happily arguing away on Discord about the rewording of using Climbing Plus, situations where a model moves over the edge of a wall, entering enemy Line of Fire (LoF) once on the horizontal surface, and what that means for claiming partial cover during that Order. To each their own. Perhaps that sort of dedication to the details is part of the price one pays for being really good at the game. 

New Rule: Cyberplug & Peripheral (Cyberplug)

The Combined Army and Next Wave Sectorial (see below) have had two entries added to their rosters, which are Peripheral (Cyberplug), while units in both factions have the Cyberplug rule. Basically, the Cyberplug model is the controller, and the Peripherals (up to 2 of them) are bought into the army list separately. They act something like Peripheral Servants – they don’t need to remain in any coherency distance of the Cyberplug, or of each other. The Cyberplug can activate them both, but only one at a time can use their Connected Profile instead of a significantly weaker Autonomous Profile. Whenever any Peripheral Cyberplug activates, the Controller declares an Idle rather than actually performing any actions, so there is some trade-off for the huge freedoms over Synchronised Peripherals. As fighting units, these are akin to Nomads’ Puppetactica units (which are the only units in-game with Peripheral (Control)). One major benefit is that if the Cyberplug enters a Null state, the Peripherals must use their weaker Autonomous Profile, but they aren’t Disconnected, they can continue to ARO! They share some of the DNA of Servants, in that the Cyberplug can be a Doctor/Engineer and can use the Peripherals to perform those healing functions. Note that such a model cannot have both Cyberplug and Servant Peripherals connected to it, that’s explicitly forbidden.

Genghis Cohen: So this is interesting and potentially very good, just as with Puppetactica. We’ll get to the new units under their faction headings. But I just want to say I think the design philosophy behind introducing a totally new Peripheral rule, which exists between Peripherals (Synchronised), (Control), and (Servant), seems absolutely nuts. Could they not have tweaked any of the previous rules to allow them to realise their vision for these new units? Perhaps the split units were necessary to divorce the AVA (and hence spammability) of the Peripherals from their controllers. 

Cyberplug isn’t a sea change for the game, partly because it resembles previous rules and partly, like so much unique kit in Infinity, because it’s reserved for our alien overlords – Next Wave and Generic CA only. But we do expect it to see some play, and generate some hurried rulebook-referencing. 

New Rule: Technorganic

This is a simple one, and another bit of Combined Army exclusive kit – only found on Victor Messer and a handful of Next Wave models. It means the model can be healed by both Doctors/Engineers and Medikits/Gizmokits. Fine. 

Musterkrux: Dr Worm is seething so hard right now. They went to both Med-School and MIT and now it’s their faction that gets Technorganic.

Genghis Cohen: nothing could be more Infinity than a minor, fluff-driven rule that makes Combined Army better and more special at a thing than everyone else.

But wait! This rule is also present on the new character unit scattered around a few Sectorials, Ruby Monday. See her section below.

New Rule: Tech-Recovery

This very simply allows the user to have harmful states cancelled via Gizmokit, as they would be by engineer. It is added to Aerial vehicle profiles, to fix the issue that they could be easily ‘locked out’, Immobilised and unable (or very unlikely) to Reset out of stacked modifiers, with friendly engineers hanging about uselessly, unable to reach Silhouette contact and repair them. If anything, this is a slight buff, since there’s no penalty for failure, and it is generally more Order-efficient to fire off a Gizmokit, particularly if you can get +1SD from a Fireteam, then it is to approach into Silhouette contact. An interesting removal of an edge case, especially in light of the significant buffs or point drops for almost all Aerial Vehicles (see below).
Musterkrux: An unsurprising quality of life adjustment. I’m not sure this will bring Vehicle players out of the woodwork but something is better than nothing.

Expanded Rule: Journalist

Journalist has always been an entirely useless – sorry, campaign-only – skill in Infinity, except for some ITS seasons which gave it extra benefits. It now does something! That something is incredibly minor, giving friendly models in Zone of Control (ZoC) +3 to any Guts Rolls, and enemy models -3. WarCors will still be taken for their cheap AROs, and we guess this isn’t that bad. We’re also not sure if the wording allows it to work with Religious Troops, making them more sensible.
Musterkrux: I absolutely live for useless but thematic rules like this.

Modified Rules: Pitchers

It’s a commonplace that Pitchers plague the battlefields of N5. Many competitive lists can easily default to firing off a long-bomb pitcher, even over 32” away, with relative ease, enabling killer-hacker strikes, imposing punishing states on Hackable models, and setting up hails of Guided Missiles. Many players consider this a negative thing for the game – such attacks involved very little active manoeuvring or exposure to risk, and they can feel oppressive, and make every game opening feel the same. Ah, I’m playing second. I’ve deployed. My opponent is pitching repeaters near my models. Here we go again.

Well, CB have listened, and as a result, Pitchers’ range bands have been tweaked. They now suffer a -3 modifier at 16-24”, and -6 beyond that, to their maximum range of 48” (previously it was -3 from 24-32”, and -6 beyond that). This is an impactful change – most early-game pitcher shots from one DZ, to get models in the opposite DZ into hacking area, were probably in that 16-24” band. It should also now be much easier, with sufficiently cautious deployment, to force any immediate pitcher shots against the key targets you want to protect to be taken at -6 modifiers. So the change is targeting the negative play experiences which have been discussed in the community. 

But, many of the commentariat would say this is a cautious change that may not go far enough. It might make early-game pitching less of a universal threat. But benefits like +1SD (easily available via Fireteams) make pitching up to 24” still fairly reliable, at least if you have decent BS on the model. That’s not at all an unreasonable thing to spend a couple of Orders on, since it’s risk free and can be done without shifting much from defensive deployments (in missions where that is a decent Round 1 strategy). This is before we get into units with X-Visors. Given both those benefits, as with Druze or Blockers, pitching across the map is still very much a live strategy. We will have to wait and see what effect this change has on use across the competitive community, in all its different forms across the globe. 

Musterkrux: Blocker Hacker says hello. That said, it’s still a positive change and I like to see the dials adjusted carefully, rather than aggressive changes.

Genghis Cohen: Yeah – this is welcome and probably a good idea. But it is more of an offset to the recent popularity of models that are particularly good at pitchering, and weirdly it doesn’t affect them nearly as much as it does normal, joe blow, solo models with pitchers.

Next Wave

This was a slightly controversial announcement. Firstly, there are a LOT of factions/Sectorial armies in the game right now. At the time of the initial announcement, there were still some players who were aggrieved that ‘their’ Sectorials had been dropped in the N5 release, but simultaneously or soon after, it was announced those would return, and now they have. But while that addresses concerns about dropping support for some factions while adding others, it doesn’t change the fact that Corvus Belli are adding another faction. This will be the 45th(!) faction available in N5. The competitive player base was also slightly sceptical because new Sectorial releases traditionally feed something back into their generic faction, and generic Combined Army has long been regarded as maybe the deepest faction in the game, in terms of the strength of its roster. 

Despite our jaded online cynicism and tendency to ask ‘is this the best thing for CB to do with their design time?’ Next Wave does have a role in the game’s lore. It’s the worming of the Combined Army into the politics of the Human Sphere, positioning itself as a force that humanity might have to accept, rather than seeking to conquer overtly. It is also the natural home of Team Achilles, the Aleph units which defected to the Combined Army at the N5 release. In game terms, those sat slightly awkwardly in generic Combined Army and will have more options in this Sectorial. Plus, it’s new stuff, and we are always excited for new stuff. 

New Units

Wow, there are a lot of exciting units here, even beyond what was previewed before the full release (the contents of the action pack). Harbingers are the line infantry, and a very good example of the optimised new profiles that CB seem to be bringing in for that unit role, with supporting specialists featuring useful extra gear – a minelayer, a hacker with EM minelayer, a FO with a Wildparrot – plus a semi-gunner with BS Attack(-3) and an AP marksman rifle. We are a big fan of these sort of profiles and the sooner CB extends this design to most line infantry across the game, the better. For Harbingers specifically, the secret sauce is Combat Instinct (particularly for the hacker, to detect enemies with Stealth moving through their hacking area), Dodge+3, and zappers (small EM direct templates) on most profiles. As well as providing Orders and useful extra capabilities, these guys will be relatively painful to assault in their DZ. This does end up costing a little more than some other line troops, 13-20pts. Which is more than fair for what they have, but as we will see, the Sectorial isn’t rich in options any cheaper than that. 

Cliff-Jumpers are highly optimised Combat Jump/Parachutists thanks to BS Attack(+1B) and Mimetism-3. Their profiles are all short-ranged for assault; we like both the shotgun/flamethrower and the killer hacker. While non-hackable specialists are usually good, the FO profile seems the least useful because it lacks a direct template.

Genghis Cohen: On reflection, just maybe, with that FO, a B3 boarding shotgun on a fast, Mimetism-3 unit will still be enough to get the job done. Wow, we are really spoiled these days. Compare these guys to pretty much any airborne unit with a history reaching back beyond N3 and they are miles ahead.

Musterkrux: As a known Combat Jump Enjoyer, Cliff-Jumpers get my official seal of approval. The KHD with D-charges is my pick, gives you access to a marker-state and the ability to complete a fair few Classifieds.

Gearheads have two roles. First, you can take FTOs (the unit is a Wildcard) as either engineers, hackers or TAGCom. These are all pretty standard in terms of stats and there aren’t any synergistic skills for the unit, but they are useful capabilities at a fair price, and every profile has a zapper for close-in defence. The hacker seems like a standout choice because it has an inbuilt Firewall-6 (note, this is not a Tinbot which extends to the Fireteam, it only covers the Gearhead) and a pitcher – a really easy add to many teams. The second use is that Gearheads are your Cyberplugs. See the new rules section above for how that works, but if you take either of those profiles, it means you will be using at least one of the two types of Sartroids:

Sartroids: Puzzlers are infiltrating, Mimetism-3 remotes with non-lethal weapons. The twists are one-use Camouflage or Hidden Deployment, coupled with a deployable repeater, and they have Surprise Attack(-6) – only the second unit in the game to possess this power. That gives them two obvious uses: they can ambush attacking units with potentially run-stopping EM or Adhesive AROs, or by laying down a repeater that will pin them under threat of hacking AROs. Or, they can pop out and have a decent shot at neutralising a midfield target in the active turn. Neither of those are new capabilities to the game, but putting them on a relatively cheap platform (12-13pts), which doesn’t give up an Order if it dies, seems strong.

Sartroids: Ranters are more straightforward attack remotes, with FD+4”, Mimetism-6, but no marker/hidden state. They can pay a little more for Spitfire or Mk12 loadouts, or keep it cheap with an SMG/thunderbolt. A similar trade-off to the Puzzlers here. BS13 and Mimetism-6, on a 1STR model, isn’t new to the game or even standout firepower in this Sectorial. But on a fast model that doesn’t give up anything when sacrificed, it’s a neat possibility.

It seems very tempting to double down on either of those options (both are AVA2) or mix and match. But the flipside to these non-Order-generating pieces is that, well, they don’t generate Orders. A Gearhead Cyberplug and two Sartroids is 37pts at minimum, and while that is a great value, there’s an opportunity cost. We expect these to be one of several new toys that players will have to experiment with to see the full possibilities. Given the lack of models for them so far, many Next Wave bandwagoners will probably default to the more conventional units first.

Raindancers are Irregular melee units with 6-2 move, Mimetism-6 and some nasty weapon loadouts mixing close assault and medium-range shooting. We like the contender/chain rifle FTO version with BS Attack(+1B). Yes, most of the profiles are FTO despite being Irregular. Don’t worry, Next Wave has a plan for that (see the Fireteams section).

Stingers are shooting-optimised elite light infantry. At 25-30pts, they’re not cheap for ARM1 units with no additional resilience skills, but they sure can gunfight: they have Mimetism-3, BS Attack(-3), NCO and Warhorse. We never expect to see the hacker, FO or plain multi-marksman profiles, but there’s an HMG and a multi-marksman MSV2 on offer, and both look great.

Wraith-1 are shooting-optimised elite medium infantry. They’re only 12BS, but they do mix MSV1, Marksmanship and Mimetism-3. The only FTO is a multi-marksman. The Hidden Deployment sniper and multi-marksman (the latter with FD+4”) are a bit more interesting, but all of these look good.

Glyph Warcors are just Warcors with Dodge+3 (something of a NW iconic skill) for 4pts. Fine.

Ironsides are slightly expensive, but elite HI. This doesn’t come from their stats, which are ‘meh’ by HI standards, but skills. BS Attack(-3), Albedo(-3), Combat Instinct and TacAware. This genuinely seems good for the AP HMG, and the multi rifle profile stands out as the only Discoballer in faction. But their fireteam options are strictly limited and there is a lot of competition for the role of ‘gunfighting point man’ in this Sectorial.

Juggernauts are intensely awesome. Beyond being a giant robot sabertooth tiger, they’re a full battle TAG with Climbing Plus, decent melee skills and Guard. There’s a lot of potential there, and they’re 8-2 Move! That mobility is a bit at odds with their armament. You could just use one as a mobile fire platform, mantling over the table and sending plunging fire into your opponent. But if you want to use Guard to fork enemies in the active turn, that means getting close, so you could consider the +1B plasma rifle profile. It’s not nearly as reliable at range, with just a HRL, but looks much more fun. The sad truth is that we expect most players to stick with the Multi HMG, as a proven tactic. The drawbacks to the Juggernaut are full TAG prices (fair enough) and a lack of direct template weapon. Guard partially fills that need, but especially in ARO, the template can be a better defence. Juggernauts will have to watch out for enemy martial artists with the right CCWs, who will cut them up despite their CC stat. 

Controbandoleros (it’s not a failure to translate from Spanish, that is their name in the English language game, we don’t know why) are classic camouflage/Hidden Deployment infiltrators. In fact they are Infiltration (PH=16), which means they can deploy in the enemy table half on a 13 or less – unfortunately, just a bit too unreliable to seem really attractive. The general consensus here is that they’re overcosted compared to more fashionable or optimised profiles. We are not saying they are bad – hidden specialists can and do win games – but they don’t seem as immediately attractive as some of the insane new stuff in this Sectorial.

Speaking of which, who wants robot dinosaurs? Tekdrakens come in two types, Steeljaws and Blackhearts, and they’re both classed as warbands, but that’s a vile alien lie. These are Irregular units (but again, don’t worry, Next Wave has plans for them in Fireteams), but they are not Impetuous, and they can gain the full benefits of Partial Cover. Both are S5, 2VITA, 2ARM, and Mimetism-3, with Immunity (Critical), so they are not easy to kill. Technorganic makes them more convenient to repair, and 6-4 movement is pretty fast. Steeljaws are more like conventional warbands, with good melee skills, MA2 and a deadly PS4 AP/Viral CCW. They choose between an 18pt profile with Sensor & viral mines, or a 19pt option with a combi rifle turret, which is surprisingly useful for a model moving forward into an assault. Both options have a flash pulse as well as grenades/boarding pistol, so they aren’t just melee and template forks, they can be very annoying as speedbump AROs. Blackhearts are actually good gunfighters with BS13 and BS Attack(+1B). Naturally this makes them more expensive than Steeljaws, at 25-29pts, but every single option has a Panzerfaust, AP heavy pistol & E/Marat. So even before we get to the choices of viral mine dispensers, contenders, plasma carbines, multi marksman rifles or AP thunderbolts, they’re stacked. Both of these units seem terrific, the only hard part is going to be fitting them in alongside other necessary capabilities.

Genghis Cohen: I’m torn. On the one hand, I may have to slog through highly cost-optimised 2VITA units when fighting against Next Wave opponents. On the other hand, cyber dinosaurs are really cool. Should I be happy or frustrated? 

Finally, Next Wave sees the first alien vehicle in the game, the Skyhound. Frankly, like all aerial vehicles as of this update (see unit balance changes below), it looks like a real pain to face. It’s only 31-33 pts, and once it gets within rifle range it is on par with most of the other gunfighters in this Sectorial. On a platform that essentially moves 11” while firing, that’s a dangerous thing.

Team Achilles

First of all, the man of wrath himself, Peleus’ peerless son Achilles, drops by 10pts. Peerless indeed. Presumably this is going to be one of the defining units of the faction. In N5 to date, he wasn’t universally favoured in generic Combined Army at 72-73pts, although some players used him to great effect. Now, in his natural home, at this price, he is one of the best all-round attack pieces in the game, for our money. Anything except visor/mimetism AROs that can pin him at long range, he’s going to blow through. Hacking can stop him, although Sixth Sense/Combat Instinct may be needed to beat his Stealth. It was initially announced that he could only be fielded in Next Wave as the Lt; this doesn’t appear to be the case in the Army builder right now, but it might get updated at some point.

Genghis Cohen: I have to attend an event soon and play Crossing Lines. What do I do if I have to face Achilles coming at me from a starting line inside my table half in the opening turn? Hunker down in my DZ under a repeater blanket I guess. This is how those Trojans must have felt after Patroclus went down. 

Patroclus, a character who has historically struggled to find his place, continues his N5 evolution as a kind of hybrid attack/support character. Despite his good stats and melee skills, he doesn’t stand out as a fighter in the extremely crowded Next Wave line-up – he’s NWI without any shock immunity, or Mimetism. That makes his FD+4” profiles with Holoprojector/Surprise Attack relatively unappealing. We can’t say they are bad, he does a lot of stuff. But most players will probably default to a more focussed attack piece. The FTO versions have a real niche though. We will address his Fireteam Master rule in the Fireteams section below. But he’s also the only smoke grenade thrower in Next Wave, and those are B2 smoke grenades with an easy +1SD from a team. Seems like a very strong synergy with…

Teucer, who remains a premium long range gunfighter. His previous plasma sniper variants, regular and Neurocinetics, might be overshadowed by the FTO feuerbach in Next Wave. Yes, the weapon itself doesn’t have quite such good range bands, and it is less dangerous against most any target except very high ARM units without Immunity. But it’s dangerous enough, isn’t it? It’s also significantly more reliable in the active turn thanks to +1SD, without suffering much in Reactive – the best of both worlds.

Pandora continues to be an absolute pain in the backside as a pitcher-hacker. She’s great, and integral to the Sectorial. As well as Fireteam Master, she is one of the places you can buy Chain of Command, which is expensive at 5pts, but probably a good idea, because Achilles is going to meet his doom sooner or later.

Drakios was unquestionably the least-liked member of Team Achilles up until now. He’s still the most complex, with Albedo-6, medium-ranged weapons and flame templates, BS Attack (Continuous Damage) and a slew of situationally useful but rather unfocussed skills. But, he went up to 2VITA without any increase in cost. There are times the CB ‘points formula’ baffles us, and this is definitely one of them. While the Peripheral profiles are neat – the bot has a Mine Dispenser, but then again it’s BS10, so not too reliable – he’s another Fireteam Master, so that will probably be his more common form. We’d also be remiss if we didn’t point out how much his weaponry benefits from +1SD. The panzerfaust profile is in some ways one of the most fearsome AROs in the game. Drakios isn’t an especially gifted gunfighter unless Albedo is triggered (something no competent opponent will ever do in their Active turn), but if he does get lucky, it’s 3 saving rolls with AP and Continuous Damage. Ouch.

Other Available Units

Next Wave doesn’t pull much at all from generic Combined Army, beyond the standard package of supporting Remotes. The first thing to note is the absence of truly cheap Regular Orders. They get an AVA1 R-Drone, and the next cheapest choice is AVA2 Ikadrons, which are fantastic, but now 11pts (see balance changes below). There isn’t much cheap Irregular either, only AVA1 Glyph Warcors and ITS17’s Sacha. After that you’re into the mid-teens, with Unidrons at a similar price point to Harbingers. We might guess that Next Wave lists will have to make consistent use of those units and the support Remote types, or they just won’t be able to get anywhere near 15 Orders while still taking any of their coolest big models. 

Nexus Operatives are here in their updated and more expensive form, Bit & Kiss as well. Ko Dali joins the other human traitors, but despite some quite interesting capabilities, she doesn’t look too competitive with the Next Wave-designed stuff. The new mercenary Ruby Monday also appears, but this is one Sectorial that doesn’t seem to lack two-wound Specialists.

Fireteam Options

Next Wave is a bit of an odd duck here, with 5(!) complex types of Fireteams that can all freely form Duo/Haris/Core teams. The Sectorial also has the enviable right to include 2 Haris teams (with the standard 1 Core and unlimited Duos). There is one Duo-restricted ‘heavy’ team option, and one Duo/Haris for Unidrons and Tekdragons specifically. This amount of breadth seems to be paid for by severely restricted Wildcard options – only the Nexus (we don’t see much room for it) and the Gearhead (which is great for its pitcher hacker with Firewall-6) are Wildcards. There’s also an interesting design decision in that three of these complex teams require the inclusion of a specific character. In effect, there are separate teams that can only be built on Achilles, Pandora and Drakios respectively.

We should also take a moment to remind readers of the  intricacies of the Fireteam Master skill. It’s usually FT Master (unit), but actually, the benefits of the skill – it makes all troopers in the user’s Fireteam Regular, or provides a 2” bonus to coherency limits if everyone is already Regular – are invested in the label Fireteam Master, which Drakios and Patroclus have. Pandora has FT Master (Stingers), but all that means is that if any Stingers are in her Fireteam, should she leave the Fireteam (e.g. by movement, or entering a Null or Isolated state), the whole Fireteam is cancelled. This is kind of counter-intuitive, but think of (Stingers) as a minor wrinkle of the rule. The important thing is that by including Pandora, Patroclus or Drakios, you can make all Irregular models in the team generate Regular Orders. That means Raindancers and both types of Tekdraken are very much on the menu. 

The appropriately egotistically-named Team Achilles fireteams require the inclusion of Achilles himself. The party trick is that every other named Greek traitor character is (Achilles). That means you can compose the Level 5 Fireteam of these heroes (villains?) for as little as 183pts (in practice, probably a few more to gain some little profile extras)! That is basically a meme list, but there is a lot of potential to pair Achilles with Patroclus to provide smoke (and moral support), or Teucer to clear away longer-range AROs, or Pandora to pitch efficiently, or even Drakios to deal with any MSV threats. All of these will give him +1SD, as if he weren’t dangerous enough already! We could also look at tagging a Raindancer onto Achilles. One could go into larger teams, potentially benefitting from FT Master, but those are all cumulative investments. Dragging one ~20pt assault unit along with Achilles, though, will let you use its Irregular order to fire it into any AROs which might stop the main man, like an EMarat, or dodge to clear EM mines, shank enemy hackers that try to present AROs in the midfield, that sort of thing. Final note on Team Achilles – in an interesting new sort of restriction, this team notes ‘No Wildcards’. Basically, the designers want it to be for those heroic characters, plus designated extras, it’s not open to the plebs. 

Research Fireteams require Pandora, and are much lighter on tags for higher FT levels. Stingers share (Research) with Pandora, which is great for firepower and NCO, but can lead to the team dissolving thanks to the aforementioned downside of FT Master (Stingers). This is one place where you can field a pair of Steeljaws and/or a pair of Blackhearts, for those whose hearts yearn for the call of cyber-dinosaurs. Wraith-1 FTOs are also a nice alternative for efficient gunfighters here.

Dragon Fireteams require Drakios, and this is where you can put Raindancers, Ironsides, and Steeljaws, all of which are (Dragon). You can even add in Achilles, who would benefit from being moved with TacAware and supported with cheaper assault pieces, but that cost is really starting to add up. This seems like a possible way to bring Steeljaws and/or Raindancers into close quarters, but alternatively, one of the better ways to use the Ironside AP HMG.

Harbinger Fireteams require at least 1 Harbinger (duh). They can include Teucer or Achilles, the former of whom especially might like gaining +1SD from a pair of relatively cheap supporting troopers. But the real flexibility seems to be in Duos that give you efficient ways to support your bigger models – you can add a Wraith-1 FTO for a reasonable gunfighter, or a Nexus if you want an NCO hacker with Oblivion +1B, and both of those are (Harbingers). You might want a little hacking unit with 2 Harbingers, one of them a hacker, and the Gearhead FTO hacker for the pitcher. This seems like a team which many players will try and squeeze in after blowing too many points on the character-featuring Fireteams.

Shadow Fireteams, as well as stressing that the Next Wave members are a bunch of emo tryhards, are more flexible. They can be built on Achilles, Patroclus or Harbingers. The draw is that Patroclus (FT Master, remember), Harbingers, Raindancers, and Steeljaws are all (Shadow). This is really Patroclus’ team. You can form it without him, but he’s the one who can make Raindancers and Steeljaws work properly (i.e. turn Regular), and it’s the most efficient way to get +1SD on his smoke for true reliability. 

Control Fireteams are Duo/Haris only and can include Unidrons, but our attention is more drawn to Steeljaws/Blackhearts. Either of those can form the team, and both types are (Tekdraken) so can mix and match easily. The issue is that there’s no FT Master. So this ends up being the team to use if you want to take 2-3 dinosaurs, don’t want a FT Master character to handle them, and want to just deploy them as a team, maybe spend some other Regular Orders moving them around, before they inevitably break up. Honestly, we think most players will find a way to leverage FT Master if taking more than 1 dino, but we will have to wait and see how most lists shake out.

Heavy Fireteams are the classic Duo for TAGs. You can build this on a Juggernaut or Ironsides, but they don’t share well with each other. Two Ironsides is an option, if an expensive one. Throwing a Gearhead engineer in to trail a Juggernaut is also a possibility. Ko Dali FTO, which is a Strategic Deployment profile, is here but at 33pts with no way to gain +1SD, we don’t think that’s worth taking. 

How Does Next Wave Look?

Our first impression is that this is certainly a strong, A-tier Sectorial. It has some very good apex threat models, not just Achilles but Juggernauts, Teucer, even Ironsides are very strong, with some slightly less expensive threats (Blackhearts, Stingers, Wraith-1s, Raindancers) that are optimised for aggression. We do wonder about how much their restricted access to really cheap models will affect list building. 

Implications for Generic Combined Army

Combined Army actually gain very little from this added Sectorial. They get access to AVA1 of each type of Sartroid (Dr Worm is their only model that can buy a Cyberplug profile). In fact they lost access to all of Team Achilles except the main man himself. The only loss they really grieve there is Teucer, but they might have liked access to the revised versions of the characters. Since Achilles dropped so dramatically in points, he might be more commonly seen in generic CA, but since he can’t be the Lt, that makes him a tiny bit harder to fit into some lists. CA is more affected by some other simultaneous changes (see their section below). 

Sectorial Balance Update: Generic Combined Army

Combined Army were on the radar for some kind of balance update because, as for all of Infinity’s history, they have been one of the most competitive factions in the game. This hasn’t led to widespread big nerfs or anything crude like that. The designers have taken a very targeted approach here, aiming at one of CA’s great strengths – the sheer efficiency of some of their <10pt profiles at the low end – while preserving and even improving another – the capability of their iconic top-end pieces.

On the low end, R-Drones, the ubiquitous flash pulse bots, go down to AVA1. Meanwhile the notoriously overtuned Ikadrons go up to 11pts (from 9) and slow down to 4-4 (from 6-2). In fairness, they gain Dogged, which interacts nicely with their Remote Presence to make them obnoxious speed bumps (similar to Unidrons). So it’s not really a severe hit, but players need to remember that competitive CA lists universally availed themselves of 2 Ikadrons, and almost universally of 2 R-Drones. Beside AVA2 Imetrons, which are unchanged at 6pts, very good and again universally taken, but not as cheap as they once were, those units are the only Regular Order generators in CA until you get to the 15-20pt range. Technically you could take a plain Morat Vanguard for 14pts, but there’s nothing else below that. It seems minor, but if you look at any competitive CA build, add on 4pts for the Ikadrons (their Baggage and other strengths certainly make them too valuable to remove), remove one R Drone, which would have to be replaced with an Irregular Order or need more extensive shifting around . . . it will certainly change lists. Note that Warcors in CA were replaced with Glyph Warcors, so it’s not as simple as just swapping an R-Drone for a Warcor and using that to pay the balance for Ikadron price rises. Unless your list was 299pts, in which case we suppose it is. 

Generic CA also lost access to the Mentor Lt profile, which was their best safe/passive Lt option. This channels them further into the elite aspects or super-punchy character types as leaders, unless they want to gag down a 1SWC Morat Vanguard option. 

It’s not all downside for CA by any means. The already-fearsome Charontid got faster movement and +1B on its Pulzar, AP on its heavy pistol. We either didn’t realise its HMG had AP ammo, or that has changed as well. The Anathematic similarly goes to 6-2 movement, and its Hidden Deployment profiles are separated out. This means you can take a marginally cheaper Anathematic if you don’t want that capability, and it can’t be a Lt with HD, which removes some janky play possibilities. The Anathematic Lt has +1 Command Token – we don’t even know if it was there before, but it’s a good Lt. These are straight buffs to a pair of already popular and powerful units. The Avatar, meanwhile, gets Tactical Awareness back for a small points increase – basically a buff, creeping it back towards its N4 heights of greatness. 

Genghis Cohen: I don’t exactly see how those tweaks were necessary, those HI Aspects were already strong, and staples of competitive builds. I guess 6-2 makes them feel a bit better to play with. The Avatar hasn’t been as popular as in mid-N4, but honestly I think it is still an incredible gear check for many lists, so again, I’m cautious about it being improved. It’s such an extreme unit that the moment it flips over into being a little too efficient, boom, suddenly it’s oppressive. But in the context of the lower-end changes to CA, I think this is probably going to be fine. 

There were a few other shifts, Bit & Kiss might have got a little more expensive and CA lost access to the cheaper Dartok profile, making their pitcher/hacker spam a little more restrained. On the plus side, Rodoks can now be included in Fireteams in CA, forming an excellent mobile, objective-grabbing Duo or Haris. There were plenty of changes to under-performing or niche units that were neglected for other options, like Umbra Legates (Samaritans have been restricted to Onyx, and also tweaked) or Victor Messer (who is now very interesting).

Overall, CA will remain extremely strong, but it’s a bit of a shift to their extremely solved low-end list construction. Time will tell if players make up the difference with some of the perfectly good Irregular cheap models available, or just accept having 13-14 models, which might give their opponents some insecurity about the possibility of Hidden Deployment or Parachutist (Deployment Zone) units, or whatever the community comes up with. 

Sectorial Balance Update: Military Orders

Military Orders apparently had an extremely low win rate in ITS games. We guess that this is partly because they are so popular as a new players’ faction. Lots of people are drawn to space knights without prior knowledge of Infinity’s gameplay. But they certainly also had a lot of poor to mediocre profiles, while list building was notoriously awkward because of their poor-quality and restricted low end. They’ve had a perennial issue since their introduction, in that the power fantasy of MO is a bunch of Heavy Infantry knights charging up the board. That’s fundamentally a poor strategy most of the time in Infinity, with its hacking nets, high lethality for over-extended models, and general tactical approach of cautious engagements. Hopefully this update will make the thematic core of the army – knights – and their necessary assistants – the cheaper light infantry – a little stronger. 

Unit/Profile Changes

Knight Commanders never worked that well previously in MO. They often appeared, because they were as close as the Sectorial got to a cheap ‘passive’ Lt, but they were regarded as a necessary evil. The Lt profiles got 3pts cheaper thanks to stats/weapon reworking for shorter range but greater punch, and +1Lt Order no longer costs SWC. More importantly, there is now a Chain of Command option. That is a HUGE deal for enabling cool, heroic knightly Lts their time to shine in the Sectorial. A brilliant and impactful change. 

Crosiers were often derided as poor line infantry, and overall they still are, there’s no total reformatting into a more useful support role like Fennecs/Keisotsu/Harbingers. What they get instead is changes to their more expensive profiles. Their sniper takes EM mines off the blitzen profile, and gains Minelayer for them, while dropping in SWC (many line infantry snipers across the game are now down to 1SWC). We’re not big fans of BS12 snipers with no gunfighting mods, this is definitely not the Sapper of Acon Regulars. But it might occasionally be useful given the cost. The basic spitfire gains an X-Visor, which is pointless. MO is still awash in 24” guns, all of which are better shooters. X-Visors can keep a strong gunfighter usable beyond their ideal range; on a weak gunfighter they don’t really help, because you just end up taking bad fights from further away. – no change to low end; cool new top end profiles. But the real prize is the MSV2 Spitfire, which was always tempting but overshadowed by the Black Friars. It is now an MSV2 HMG, for 24pts. Now that is still arguably less good than a Black Friar, but it gives you a high burst gun with a real use case (Mimetism AROs) that can strike from your DZ. The range over a spitfire is extremely important for how Crosier teams want to fight. The other benefit over a Friar is it contributes to Fireteam Level, saving you from having to take too many other dead-weight supporting Crosiers.

Order Sergeants were also tweaked just slightly in their profile loadouts, their basic form didn’t change. The headline here is they got a pitcher on the FTO hacker. With other changes, that is a boon to MO’s potential for infowar. Escort Sergeants are still rather confused (their hacker didn’t even get a pitcher, oddly), but their Auxbots do have Mimetism-3, which might be new. There’s a Neurocinetics profile for the HRL/assault pistol Escort Sergeant. While this might seem fun, our instinct is it’s a trap at 22pts. There are many things which can just overwhelm a B2, BS12 model head-on – it’s no better at winning FtF rolls than an HRL Order Sergeant in a Fireteam, and you wouldn’t rely on that, would you? Even if you find the perfect spot and want to use the Auxbot’s flamer and the Sgt’s assault pistol to hold enemies up, there are too many things in the modern game that will beat it, with some combo of shooting modifiers/marker states/melee combat.

Konstantinos dropped to MSV1, gained Sensor, and dropped 4pts on his FTO profile. We actually think that is great. The lesser visor is kind of a better deal when your faction doesn’t have smoke-shooting, and Sensor is actually much more important for the army, since MSV2 is available elsewhere. The Discoballer was already a great capability to include in a list, and it’s easier to fit in at 23pts. His Hidden version got optimised for lower cost with an AP SMG and Flammenspeer, with the same equipment/skill changes. We’re big fans of that as well. HD Sensor in the midfield is potentially very strong, and it makes him a mission specialist who is actually competitive with Trinitarians, or potentially an ambush ARO if the right chance arises.

Infirmarers are now 6-2, presumably to keep up with their Fireteam buddy options. Meh.

Teutons changed slightly in their SWC options: the spitfire gained an X Visor, which is pointless for the same reasons as the Crosier version – it’s just not a strong gunfighter. The ML gets BS Attack(-3) and a zapper. Will this be enough to make them attractive, given the curse of Limited Cover, and Impetuous not usable while remaining in a Fireteam? Personally, we think as an ARO piece it’s still very vulnerable to mod-stacking, smoke-shooting etc. It doesn’t build up an advantage in FtF rolls, it’s just a trifle less suicidal than the previous incarnation, and that is contingent on shooting – so if you’d rather use the Teuton’s strong (but single-dice) Dodge to decline an engagement from something like a Mimetism-6 attacker, they’re back to hitting you on BS+3. This isn’t the change we’re most excited about.

Genghis Cohen: give Teutons Dodge(+1SD), CB!

Probably the staple active firepower piece of the Sectorial outside the TAGs (which haven’t changed), the Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, gained 6-2 Move, and the previously Chain of Command profile is now MSV1. That’s a great change, the AP HMG was already great and is now a tiny bit more manoeuvrable. The multi-marksman/CoC version, while very occasionally used as a fighting Specialist, was always the poor cousin – it’s still probably not as good due ot lacking NCO, but it has a more realistic role now, it was too expensive to really be a CoC model. MO is up to its holy codpieces in PS6 multi ammunition these days. 

Knight Hospitallers have long been regarded as mediocre, and none of the more dramatic wishlisted changes for them came to pass, they still suffer from Frenzy and 4-4 movement. They gained Tinbot Firewall-3 on the little-seen basic rifle or Lt profiles. Multi rifles get PS=6, and the cheapest option changes from boarding shotgun/contender to shotgun/EMitter (PS=6), which is actually very good – if it is used as an ARO, at least it doesn’t proc Frenzy, so that Hospitaller will hang onto their partial cover. There’s a new Lt option for the HMG, with a minor SWC discount. Even with those little tweaks, Hospitallers aren’t that compelling. They will remain necessary as a unit to base a Crusade team with Wildcards on (their Wildcards are all much better) and potentially we will still see a convenient Duo that includes their HMG as a way to break out of the DZ. 

Knights of Justice were always just very expensive due to their elite stats and lack of Frenzy. Some profiles saw minor points drops, with the spitfire options remaining thoroughly uncompetitive, despite the unit gaining Number 2, which is actually a good, if minor, skill. Their hacker got much better with a pitcher (at BS14!) and a PS6 Marksman Multi Rifle, which the FO also features. But the star here is the Missile Launcher. Still eye-wateringly expensive, but the weapon gains +1SD. That is a formidable dedicated ARO piece, which can’t be ignored in your Active turn either. We’re very excited to try that out in a list, although it is a major effort to fit in. 

Knights of Montesa. These dismounted knights (the motorcycle version didn’t change) are still AVA1. It was technically part of the last update, but their FTO profile is a very useful cheap defensive piece, thanks to its Blitzen synergising well with +1SD for a 3-dice roll in ARO in a team. Skipping ahead to Fireteams, the real change is it can now be tagged onto any team as a Wildcard. We expect to see them a lot, they’re a convenient, optimised speedbump, but remember that with Limited Cover and Religious, they will get killed frequently. 

Genghis Cohen: I’ve already played with this unit a couple times, and I’m a fan, but it is funny when they run out of Blitzen ammo, stay standing due to failing their Religious reverse-Guts-Roll, and have to Dodge because they’re beyond maximum shotgun range!

Knights of Santiago are a divisive troop, with some diehard fans but a lot of limitations. They did get 6-2 movement, and their FTO killer hacker, arguably the most seen profile, is now also a valid Lt option – very nice!

Gabriele De Fersen. The hacker knight is now more conveniently separated into a multi rifle/flamethrower and his classic spitfire loadouts, gaining a flash pulse in each to form a nice alternative ARO. But the real prize, arguably of the whole Sectorial update, is that he has Trinity (+1SD) as an upgraded hacking program. The wailing of all the more established ‘hacking factions’ has been a sight to behold. This guy is a powerhouse, and now having him as your Lieutenant is much less of a glowing sign for enemies to target him with comms attacks. As one pithy comment we read had it: it’s like Zero Pain, except with some pain!

Genghis Cohen: I’ve played one game with him already and he’s making it into most of my lists. Unlike some opinion-havers I’ve seen online since the update dropped, I don’t think MO should automatically lean hard into infowar now. But he was kind of a vanity pick before, that your opponent could punish. He feels properly powerful now. 

Kyle Hawkins gains BS Attack(-3) for no cost on his classic MMR profile, with a pulzar and a flash pulse. Even more interestingly, he gets a BS Attack (+1B) profile with boarding shotgun, flash pulse and boarding pistol. That’s quite a spicy assault piece, especially since he’s 6-2 and MA3, better than most knights. However he is more lightly armoured at ARM3 now. Perhaps it’s because he keeps taking his damn helmet off. Time will tell if he sees much play. He’s in a spot where he fights well, but does have to slog into good range from the midfield, and his FT bonuses are with Hospitallers, which are a bit more expensive and might struggle to keep up. One to play around with. 

Mendoza’s classic FD +8” profiles gain Decoy(1) for no cost change. That’s good, but might not solve his perennial issues with being a valuable, hackable model in the midfield when not playing first. It’s hard to deploy two Decoys in positions where an opponent can’t fairly easily get a pitched repeated affecting both of them, or get both into hacking area somehow, and then the Decoy is at best a chance for them to waste an Order hacking a phantom. At worst, you decline ARO to preserve the mystery, your opponent guesses correctly, and hacks you with Normal Rolls! However, if you are resigned to keeping him where you can protect him anyway, he gained an FTO version. That gets Number 2 and Tinbot Firewall(-3), so is pretty great support for any team (he’s a Wildcard). This is tricky; he’s very expensive and short ranged to start in your DZ, and presumably linking up with other expensive models to gain that range, and/or Specialist support, is going to make a very all-in team. But that’s a lot of capability.

Genghis Cohen: I did say I had to play Crossing Lines quite soon. Mendoza FTO is looking pretty good at that…

Trinitarians gain yet another profile, identical in cost and stats to their existing FO minelayer, except this minelayer has Deployable Repeaters rather than boring old Shock Mines. Interesting, and certainly has some synergy with the Sectorial’s hackers after their shot in the arm. But we need to remember that’s a 1SWC profile, and if you are building into hacking, especially if you want to take a GML bot, that is a real cost. We will see if players adopt this widely or just rely on pitchers. It also competes to some degree with the Peacemaker, which some players already love as an all-round defensive piece. This Trinitarian exposes less on defence, but also gives less defence, and (if Hidden Deployed) won’t contribute an Order. 

Dart continues her buff-athon. It seems only yesterday she gained Specialist Operative for 1 pt. Here she gains Decoy(1) – unlike Mendoza, that’s a big deal, on a Camouflage model. She gets AP ammo for her SMG, she gains +1SD on her Viral Tactical Bow – nice for point-blank defence – and there’s even a minelayer profile for 1pt additional. Dart is a superstar. 

Fireteam Changes

There were some key changes here, although not a complete revamp. First, MO Fireteams are now Core/Haris/Duo. This means Crosier or Teuton Duos are now on the table. This has some cool options with the higher-end Crosier profiles, but so many of the punchy units in this Sectorial are more expensive knights that don’t have (purity) tags, that we think 2 Crosiers (or one and Konstantinos/Knight Commander/Order Sergeant) or 2 Teutons, plus another model, will remain common. We didn’t find many of the Duo options compelling, except 2 Crosiers to fill a supporting role. 

Knights of Santiago are also now a valid basis for MO fireteams. They could already Duo in previous versions or be added as Wildcards, but this opens up some other options – you can start a team with the Santiago, for instance, and add 2 models that are (Crosiers), like an Order Sergeant hacker and Konstantinos, for quite a flexible little team.

The dedicated Duo team type of knightly Duos disappears, replaced by Velox Duos, based on a motorcycle Montesas, Bulleteers, Joan or an Infirmarer). This is still kind of a pointless team due to lack of any mixed options providing +1SD.

The meat of changes is in the Wildcards. Montesa FTO paramedic has been added to Wildcards, and as noted seems highly competitive, both as an ARO and also as a fighty paramedic/specialist – it can always be released in the late game to Impetuous move toward the objectives. Mendoza FTO is also added to Wildcards. That is wild indeed – maybe too expensive for many teams, but a very extreme option to play with. Knights of Justice gained the (Hospitaller Knight) tag, which is actually interesting, since Hawkins & De Fersen have it as well. It’s still very hard to make a team with its level based around that title, without becoming punishingly expensive, but it gives another option compared to just stapling the KoJ ML onto a pair of Crosiers. 

How Does the Sectorial Look Now?

We think they have maintained a core tension in MO’s structure: they still need all their cheap Orders, so will end up frequently taking dross like unarmed Mulebots, where other factions enjoy really useful cheap troops. None of their cheap options improved in effectiveness or changed in AVA. However, a lot of their mid-cost models either dropped a few points, or gained effectiveness. Additionally, they have some star profiles that have gotten sufficiently buffed that they may really shine. Dart, Mendoza FTO, the KoJ hacker or ML, and De Fersen are all potential play-makers. We are optimistic that this update will take the Sectorial into a very good place. 

Beyond the minutiae of how players cobble together their Fireteams, the biggest strategic shift for MO here is the ability to build properly into hacking. I was always trying to build in either De Fersen or a Santiago KHD behind a Firewall, and/or a Trinitarian KHD, to try and stop enemy hackers locking out my HI in ARO from behind a repeater net. Dart is also a key capability to scalpel out such pieces. But with Pitchers on the Order Sergeant, who is simple to put into a Tinbotted Fireteam, and the KoJ, who is uber expensive but a force in his own right, they will find offensive hacking much easier. This even opens up the question of whether it is chivalrous to send Guided Missiles at your opponent. Maybe so, and more practically, MO has a lot of other uses for its SWC, but that kind of build offers some great alternatives for dealing with a null defence, that could previously sit covered by hackers and defy your knights to come at them. 

Sectorial Balance Update: Tartary Army Korps

Tartary also has suffered in ITS rankings; it is best known for spamming camouflage markers, but it definitely had some other strengths with Vystrel AROs, potentially supported by more camouflage, minelayers, Dynamos as cheap mine dispensers, and some fast melee options. 

Genghis Cohen: I was a little surprised to hear they were doing so badly, I know one (admittedly very strong player) who has some excellent lists for them, and I didn’t consider them a weak faction. But I hear many cross-Ariadna complaints about the relatively high cost of light, camouflaged units relative to other factions’ tough hackable models, compared to previous editions. So maybe this is a good faction to get some love. 

Unit/Profile Changes

Spetsnaz have become MI – this doesn’t much affect their Decoy/Camouflage firepower profiles, which are otherwise unchanged (the sniper might have gained PS=4?), but it improves their Parachutists as Classified Objective grabbers. Those Parachutists gained Decoy as well, which is nice if you’re a risk taker, and the rifle version changed to an AP SMG, with appropriate points discount. They were good before and this keeps them competitive.

Dynamos, which were already very good as cheap objective grabbers, mine dispensers etc, gained boarding pistols – even a basic template is very nice for relatively cheap models that can zoom into an attack run. 

Streloks gained a prestige profile (TAK exclusive) for their T2 marksman rifle, with BS12. That’s fun and injects a bit of interest into spammed Streloks/Decoys in the midfield, but possibly not competitive against some of the other firepower in this new-look TAK. 

Kibervolks got a slightly lower-PS trench hammer, as did the Streloks’ K-9 Antipdode. Fine. 

Tankhunters are a big winner here, going up to BS13 (and down to WIP13, to even out costs – no great loss). We’re not sure if their (AP) minelayer profiles are all new, but they add nicely to the camo spam cloud, particularly the FD+8”, and the CoC minelayers, both of which come with a handy and efficient AP SMG/Panzerfaust loadout. But the standout is the portable autocannon, which picks up +1SD. Now that’s a gun. 

Veteran Kazaks get a few good minor changes. They’re up to BTS3, they gain Dodge(+1SD) to get them out of tricky situations, and gain Immunity (Imm-B), so with their existing Warhorse they are now functionally immune to EM ammunition, as well as already being non-hackable HI. They even got Total Terrain and Medikit (PH=15)! Costs remain high, but the T2 rifles picked up X-Visors, which actually isn’t at all bad. 

Ratniks gained BS Attack (+1B). We kind of thought they already had this – maybe that was only a mod to their AP spitfire. This is a bit of a boost (their Battle-Ravaged profile also gets to keep its full BS now) but their high cost, hackable nature and slow movement may still keep them out of most lists. 

Scouts won big; instead of BS Attack (Shock) they get (AP), which is huge because their sniper and shotgun options are now T2 (the Ohotnik most Scouts carry was T2 already). That’s some very high damage potential. A Scout T2 sniper is only 0.5 SWC, which is fantastic. Their EM minelayer also goes up to the enviable Minelayer(2). 

Dog-Warriors are now faster in their starting Dogface form (pre-Transmutation), and dropped in cost. Very nice. 

Vassily Plushenko went from Decoy (1) to (2) and, like Scouts, picked up (AP) for all his T2 gear. He’s still very expensive and probably overshadowed in the faction both as a Lt and CoC option, but he can certainly get stuff done. 

Fireteam Changes

Hold onto your butts, people. Tartary can now form Gunnery Fireteams as Duo or Haris options. These can be formed on Traktor Muls, Kuryers, or Vystrels(!). Dozers and Barsuk FTOs can also join. All of these options count as (Gunnery). Let that sink in for a moment. AVA2 Vystrels, already widely taken in TAK. Prime ARO platforms. There is no stricture against Fireteaming the Neurocinetics version, i.e. the ones everyone likes. You were probably taking an engineer for them already. Now, instead of an Irmandinho, you can pin a Dozer to one and give it +1SD. Or, you can do the same thing with the Uragan Launcher (Total Reaction with Burst 3) on Traktor Muls or Kuryers. Take any of the shooting models and give it a 5pt unarmed Traktor Mul for that +1SD, if you like, or if you think that makes your DZ vulnerable, the 10pt Barsuk for a regular Order with a heavy flamethower and shotgun. Or mix and match these in any way you like. This is seriously one of the best small Fireteams we can think of. 

How Does the Sectorial Look Now?

Genghis Cohen: I thought they were a pretty good defensive faction before! They got better in pretty much every area, and honestly I think their Vystrels, (and to a lesser extent other Reactive-focussed remotes), potentially backed by snipers under markers, and swimming in a cloud of Decoy- and Mine-based uncertainty, is a genuinely very powerful gear check. Let’s just say I’m thinking heavily about where I can get some Sensor, and which of my lists include smoke-shooting. 

We suppose there are still some weaknesses to the faction. Their only MSV is one Frontovik profile, which isn’t really a good shooter compared to other options in-faction. Their assault pieces are more cheap efficiency (Dog-Warriors, Carmen Jones) than apex threats. But for a player who is willing to learn how to maximise the tactical possibilities of camo, these look very good indeed. 

Effect on Generic Ariadna

There’s a less pronounced effect here, but Ariadna will like the nudges to Dynamos and Spetsnaz Parachutists. The Scouts, particularly that EM minelayer, and Tankhunters, particularly that terrifying +1SD autocannon, will also be very welcome. Vet Kazaks were maybe looking out of fashion, and so were Dog Warriors, and this may bring them back to relevance. Overall, Ariadna sees a lot of the unit benefits from this update, but of course it misses out on the enormous power boost of Gunnery Teams. Don’t cry for them, they gained a lot from other balance changes. 

Wider Unit and Faction Balance Changes

Look, this update is huge. There’s simply too much for us to pick out every single change. Go have a look at the changelog on the official site blog, but be aware, it is not complete, and sometimes when it does mention a unit, it glosses over (‘points and skills reviewed’ type stuff) or omits key points – for example, they didn’t mention the +1SD on the Tankhunter autocannon or KoJ ML, despite listing both units. Our advice is to take some time, review your factions carefully, talk to other players about what they noticed, and generally soak it all in. 

We are going to examine some areas where changes leapt out at us – just please don’t come at us in the comments saying “why didn’t you mention X”. 

Aerial Vehicles

All the flying vehicles saw huge gains, on top of the Tech-Recovery rule addressing one of their special weaknesses. Their basic price dropped dramatically, and almost all of them saw weapon/skill changes to improve them as well. To give you some idea, the Nomads’ Go-Pod, the HRL profile of which was probably the best of the bunch, a unit so good it was probably broken, dropped 1pt and received a slight boost to its backup AP SMG. Many of the other vehicles are transformed now. The Redeye was probably the second best flier; it dropped about 6pts, gained +1BS and Sensor. It also got a Continuous Damage grenade launcher, which at BS14 is just about on the cusp of encouraging super boring play where the player simply lobs grenades on 8s for their entire turn, killing any sense of fun or engagement. This is insane.

Genghis Cohen: I’m honestly very critical of this. I don’t want to unleash my inner cynic and say it’s a naked ploy to sell new models, but I do think we are seeing the intersection of game design and a company which needs to shift models as their core business. Clearly the ITS data showed that uptake of the vehicles in competitive games was low. I’m not sure that was due to non-competitive rules, so much as the models only recently becoming available, or not chiming with players’ aesthetic tastes, or the time backlog of players acquiring new stuff, then painting it, before fielding it in events. But while some vehicles could really have used reworks (Haqqislam, O-12), the examples above were already very, very good units. This seems unnecessary, and hopefully won’t plunge us into a hellish era of aerial onslaught.

USARF and Kosmoflot Win Big

Wow. They really tweaked Ariadna, with an emphasis on TAK and USARF, huh? We’ve talked about TAK above, so let’s quickly look at USARF:

Minutemen are being pushed hard. Most notably, BS +1SD on all profiles and Medipack = 15. USARF is a faction with a lot of incidental Paramedics, particularly ones that are easy to plug into Fireteams. Two Grunts (one being a Paramedic) and a Minuteman Missile Launcher? Is that a terrifying ARO that rolls 3 dice in a Face to Face roll and then just gets back up on a 15 if you don’t put them down? Did your Minuteman AP-HMG just randomly decide to start rolling 6x D20 like some sort of souped-up HRMC while dragging around a Marauder Paramedic as a pocket specialist? Heck yeah. Let’s not forget that the +1SD extends to their newly AP Heavy Pistols, suddenly they’re ARO forking you on Burst 2 Flamethrowers or throwing 3+ dice pistols at you. Yikes.

Blackjacks all have BS Attack -3 and the T2 Sniper has been given AP rounds, which make them very solid long range firepower pieces. The question will be whether you take a Minuteman SWC gun backed by a Paramedic or a Blackjack.

Volkolaks are up to 6-2 Movement (huge for Super-Jumpers like them) and gain +1B Drop Bears on all profiles. Their shorter-ranged loadouts got vastly more interesting with AP, T2 rifles at PS6. They are much better assault troops now, and even got more threatening for melee, with CC(+1B) and Dodge distance going up to (+2”). We’re not sure they had Dodge(-3) before either, but we are here for it! Very interesting now.

Kosmosoldats gained BS Attack(-3) on all profiles, catapulting them into the ranks of first-tier gunfighters. They also feature new loadouts. The APHMG is justly expensive, but there’s also a tempting T2 rifle (+1B) paramedic. 

Haqqislam and Sectorials

Saladin got Inspiring Leadership. That’s it. We’re done. Seriously, that is a massive change for Haqqislam. We are not sure the game is ready for AVA4, Regular Ghazis, or several of Haqqislam’s other cheap Irregular units. This is going to be a common sight going forward. Qapu Khalki gets to share in some of the cracked-Lt love with a cheeky Hafza +1 Lt Order profile, potentially challenging the Daoying or Torchlight Raveneye as the most efficient passive Lt in the game. 

Some neglected units got boosts, like Odalisques are now faster and have reworked loadouts, like a lovely viral marksman rifle profile with Marksmanship, or Al Fasid get a +1SD option for their HRL. 

Haqqislam’s aerial vehicles, which it’s fair to say were particularly badly regarded, got transformative updates. The Zeybek added BS Attack(-3) to its Albedo, making it a much better all-round attack piece, and it improved its BS while gaining AP on its spitfire. The Haytham picked up an MSV1 and BS Attack Continuous Damage; it’s now 2STR instead of NWI, a big boost on a Tech-Recoverable piece, and its weapons were tweaked. Both these platforms look pretty damn good now. 

The Other Guys

Yu Jing, Nomads, Tohaa, Aleph, O-12 and Non-aligned Armies all received either minor nudge updates across quite a lot of profiles, and/or very specific changes to key under-performing profiles. Aerial vehicles all came in for improvements, as mentioned, with the Feiquan getting access to a pitcher, and the Firebat BS Attack(+1SD), upgrades to BS and ARM, and some new weapon options. Hannibal had his good profile/unit extended from Neoterra to the other factions he lives in. Triggermen got BS Attack (+1SD) added, and are now Fireteam Wildcards in Tunguska, so unless that is FAQ’d to not include the Neurocinetics profile, it is a new standard for hard stop AROs. There’s plenty more we are running short of space to include here. 

New Character Unit: Ruby Monday

In a rather bizarre move, a new and very unique character has appeared, not only in Next Wave, but Kestrel Colonial Force and Shindenbutai (the other newest things, understandable), Aleph’s Operations Subsection, and Corregidor. We have no guesses as to what motivated those choices – possibly background fluff, and literally nothing about that, or even the design/appearance of this character, is known yet. The name and unit logo gives us flashbacks to the ITS season where several hacker-themed characters were in play for the year, and the ITS winner (the highest ranked player) got to pick one of them to stay and which faction it went to. That is, no word of a lie, why Bit & Kiss exist in Combined Army. Weird, isn’t it? 

In terms of gameplay, this is a very odd unit. Fairly fast, fairly tough, and an Irregular Specialist for 19pts, with nothing but non-lethal weapons. Booty means that sometimes she will just become an unusually good value as a fighting piece. More often, even when rolling nothing relevant, she will be a very usable roadblock and/or objective grabber.

Conclusion

Well, in our opinion this was a fantastic round of updates. The plain fact is a lot of content got added to the game. Some of that is in Next Wave, with bizarre alien inventions and, we can’t reiterate enough, cyber-dinosaurs. Some of it is in Sectorials and individual units which were badly behind in terms of design interest and overall effectiveness. Both of these avenues of improvement are very welcome. We’ve mentioned previously how good it would be for CB to periodically review and rebalance the game, ‘nudging’ under- or over-performing units. While some might quibble with the level of individual changes, or ask why certain units didn’t change, this is exactly what we wanted. Even better, and this is a key takeaway for anyone whose favourite faction(s) didn’t get much love: there is a clear aim for this to happen again, to spread that balance around. Playtesters in the know are actively feeding in community consensus as well as their own results, CB are looking at tournament data, and they are taking things on board – so remember to submit your lists and results on the new Corvusphere app!

We shouldn’t underestimate the amount of time and effort by designers it takes to implement all these changes. No one knows how frequently updates will occur, but our opinion is that anywhere between yearly or twice per year would be fine. For anyone clamouring for immediate redresses to units you are convinced should be the priority, be patient, and no doubt it will come around. We don’t want to get into a situation like current competitive 40k, where things change significantly on a quarterly basis, even aside from the almost monthly drumbeat of new rules releases. Fortunately, CB isn’t a big enough company to even attempt that level of churn. 

Signing off, we just want to note how exciting the design of the game looks at the moment. The core rules continue to get tighter. Missions have been refreshed. Factions, units and profiles are being reviewed. CB are really getting to grips with the de-nested rules they introduced in N4, and the new concepts they brought into N5, to produce units that do cool new things. Even compared to the start of N5, the metagame is looking so different. We hope to bring you some more tactics articles and faction focuses soon – get out there and play some games!

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