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Infinity Faction Focus: The Free Company of the Star

Good Guy Mercs In A Universe Of Grey

In a universe filled with megacorporations pursuing their own interests, alien invaders bent on the complete destruction of humanity and AI overlords who may or may not be acting in the best interests of humanity, the little guy needs someone they can call on. That would be The Free Company of the Star, pretty much the closest you get to the “good guys” in the Non-Aligned Armies. With their competition being folks like the Druze and Ikari Company, that’s not a huge bar to meet.

Drawing heavily from Corregidor’s roster with a sprinkling of Bakunin thrown in, STARCO has a good core of troops to utilise. A variety of good all-rounder characters and profiles like the Cateran and Irmandihno fills in the gaps, giving you a force that can be customised to do just about anything.

Interested in playing Infinity, or just want to learn the difference between a faction and a Sectorial? Check out the rest of our Infinity coverage here.


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Unique Mechanics:

Starco doesn’t really have any truly unique mechanics like Steel Phalanx or Caledonia. Instead, what it brings to the table is a lot of good profiles that are enhanced with strong wildcard options and innate mixed fireteams.


Units:

There are a large number of units to cover, and I will do so in the following manner: Units are arranged by role, with characters (if any) following the main entry of the unit they belong to. Character entries will be noted in the title.

Corregidor Alguaciles (Light Infantry)

Dependable light infantry with some nice choices for equipment such as Deployable Repeaters to extend your hacker networks. They can make up the entirety of your Fireteam: Core within the Sectorial if desired, though they can benefit handily from some of the Wildcard options and other unique mixes available to STARCO. 

A point to remember is that, while they can make fantastic mixed teams (including Daktaris, Mobile Brigadas and characters), if you only have one Alguacile unit and it dies, the whole team is shattered.

Daktari Campaign Doctors (Light Infantry)

The cheapest of your Doctor specialist options at only 2 points more than an Alguacile Paramedic, which can conveniently slip into an Alguacile or Mobile Brigada fireteam. They can’t go into Riot Grrls, but those have a better choice. You can also outfit a Daktari with a Zondbot or two if you feel like it.

Bakunin Clockmakers (Light Infantry)

Much like the Daktari but without link choices, the Clockmaker is a decent little engineer specialist piece. Not going to break the bank, but also not ridiculously effective. Useful in this faction because you can’t swarm with Irmandinhos.

Raoul Spector, Mercenary Operative (Light Infantry, Character)

A Wildcard and a Specialist Operative, Raoul brings an excellent set of gear to wreck your opponent’s day. 

While he has a Regular Order profile, you’re far more likely to choose the Irregular Order option because of the ability to drop in from the edge of the board, or Combat Jump in. His Boarding Shotgun and Drop Bears can clear the landing zone, and being a Specialist Operative, he can claim objectives to a limited degree. It’s never a bad idea to combine him with other drop troops to help clear the backfield.

Uhahu, Hacker for Hire (Light Infantry, Character)

Another Wildcard, Uhahu is a key piece in getting your hacking network up. 

In a core team she can lob pitchers down the field with relative accuracy and lay down a decent repeater network in the mid-field. She combos well with Alguaciles, and basically anything that can provide a firewall modifier. Her Hacking Device Plus with a modifier for Total Control makes her a real threat when a TAG (“Tactical Armored Gear” unit) is on the table. 

Emily Handelman, Intel Agent (Light Infantry, Character)

A highly effective Wildcard option, Emily’s combination of equipment makes her a beast and one of the major draws for playing STARCO.

While Chain of Command is less useful in this Sectorial, in Emily’s case, it is simply an added bonus on top of her other gear. X-Visors combined with Grenade Launchers, and especially E/M grenades can have the entire table within the effective threat zone. Emily can combo very effectively with a Riot Grrls or mixed Alguacile/Mobile Brigada fireteam for the burst and BS bonuses, and have a reasonable chance of bricking a heavy infantry fireteam. There is also a decent amount of mileage in not taking Emily every game, because the threat of her presence can sometimes be enough. 

Highlander Caterans (Light Infantry)

Like in the Caledonian Highlander Army, Caterans are an excellent sniper option. In STARCO, they compete with more expensive options like Knauf and the Brawler sniper choice, but I think they still have a strong place with their ability to utilise T2 ammo. Two wounds for every failed save can obliterate Heavy Infantry with hilarious ease when applied right.

CSU, Corporate Security Units (Light Infantry)

Cheap Specialist Operative profiles with the chance to score some nice bonuses from MetaChemistry, CSUs can be great if you have a few points left over. 

Rolling the dice on MetaChemistry is always a gamble – which is where you roll a dice to add a bonus skill or stat boost to the unit – but landing a duo with Super Jump is possible, and can make getting to objectives or good vantage points much easier.

Avicenna, Mercenary Doctor (Light Infantry, Character)

Possibly the best Doctor profile in the game, Avicenna brings utility and resilience to whatever team she’s in. 

A Riot Grrl Core fireteam with both Emily and Avicenna is hilariously murderous and can advance up the field to secure objectives if needed. Avicenna having No Wound Incapacitation means that even if she takes a hit she’s not necessarily out, and can Doctor herself back into the fight. Still flimsy though, so try to have a different point-man up front. 

Knauf, Outlaw Sniper (Light Infantry, Character)

A stellar sniper but, in STARCO, he can be a little expensive for what his kit brings. Shock ammunition and +1 burst being built in is nice, and makes his MULTI sniper rifle fairly deadly. Mostly it will come down to what you want to fit in your list, as the Cateran is a more budget sniper choice and the Brawler can be in a Haris fireteam to leverage orders. 

Warcors (Light Infantry)

Same as what everyone else gets, a nice little 3 point speed bump with a flash pulse. If your opponent spent an order to kill him, he made his points back.

Hellcats (Medium Infantry)

Premium jump infantry, Hellcats bring a lot of versatility to a list. With a couple of specialist options and a few disruption options (Spitfire, Boarding Shotgun, Deployable Repeater guy), they can make your opponent’s life incredibly difficult. Useful in combination with Raoul – but honestly, given they have +3 to their combat drop roll, one or two are always handy. 

Brawlers, Mercenary Enforcers (Medium Infantry)

Some nice utility pieces here if you aren’t leaning into a Riot Grrl Haris, the sniper and heavy rocket launcher can get some solid work done. Also has a Lieutenant profile, which isn’t terrible as far as your choices go. A solid set of specialists, but in STARCO you’ll probably load up on characters who can do their jobs a bit better (like Uhahu and Avicenna, and Raoul to an extent).

Mobile Brigada (Heavy Infantry)

The versatile beatstick Heavy Infantry available to STARCO, the Mobile Brigada have a lot of options. You can form a core fireteam with them if you want, attach one to an Anaconda, mix them with Alguaciles. I like the HMG and tinbot profiles the best, the former as a point-man and the latter if I’m dragging Uhahu along or taking an Anaconda to prevent “Total Control” hacking shenanigans.

Riot Grrls (Heavy Infantry)

The other Heavy Infantry units that we can bring to the table are the Riot Grrls. Flexible specialist operatives with some anti-hacking protection, and the only troops Avicenna can join. All of them bring MSV 1 for shooting through smoke, as well as the ability to dodge like champions. Close quarters combat is the name of their game and if they get into combat against plain line troops they’ll wipe the floor with them.

Corregidor Bandits (Skirmisher)

Strong camouflage skirmishers with the chance to pick up some cool bonus equipment from their Booty roll (similar to Metachemistry, you roll a dice to determine an extra item), Bandits are well worth the points. Their kit often allows them to be incredibly irritating to knock down, and they can expand repeater networks for you if that’s what you need. The Deployable Repeater profile is worth its weight in gold.

Hardcases, 2nd Irregular Frontiersmen Battalion (Skirmisher)

Davy Crockett in space, these guys can be prime ambush pieces that reap a tally much more expensive than they are. The Tactical Bow can be deadly at good range, especially because, as a silent weapon, it doesn’t allow a dodge under most circumstances. I prefer the Light Shotgun profile to the Rifle, mostly because the shotgun has a template.

Al Hawwa Unit (Skirmisher)

These guys are fairly straight forward and the sniper profile isn’t great when compared with other snipers in the faction. The Forward Observer and Hacker bring demolition charges, which allow a bit more utility when it comes to completing classified objectives, but Bandits are generally more multi-role in my experience.

Corregidor Jaguars (Warband)

Cheap warband filler with a Regular Order, which makes them pretty amazing roadblocks. Chain Rifles are the name of the game, though the Panzerfaust/Adhesive Launcher fellow can be neat as a surprise piece. Come with smoke across the board to give some extra utility for covering your fireteams as they advance.

Irmandinhos (Warband)

A super cheap Engineer specialist with a Chain Rifle (there are other profiles but an 8-point Engineer is a steal) who, despite being Irregular, has the option to Duo with an Anaconda TAG. Booty gives them a chance to grab some hilarious kit like HMGs or MULTI rifles, allowing them to punch well above their weight. Also come with smoke grenades so the TAG can rampage out of a smoke cloud, Iron Man style.

Senor Massacre (Warband, Character)

The Totally Not Deadpool Aristea! character, Señor Massacre is a killing machine in close combat, with Eclipse grenades (better smoke essentially) to make sure he gets there. 

Able to join either Mobile Brigada or Alguaciles, he can romp up the board and begin slicing. His Regeneration skill is a bit niche, but it does enable him to sometimes get back up and keep punching. I’d probably always take the Boarding Shotgun profile, but if you’re facing Ariadnans, the Breaker Combi can be worthwhile to take advantage of their faction-wide poor BTS stat.

Anaconda, Mercenary TAG Squad (Tactical Armoured Gear)

The TAG of the faction, armed with either an AP Spitfire or an HMG as its primary weapon, and either a light flamethrower or chain-colt to back it up. Overall, a decent gunfighter that can hold its own, with the ability to duo with either an Irmandinho Engineer or a Mobile Brigada to improve resilience. 

Technically you could take two Anacondas in a duo but I don’t know if I ever would. Being a manned TAG with an escape system, it doesn’t give up points until both the machine and pilot are dead. The pilot is also a specialist operative, so can be useful for grabbing objectives if you manage to completely clear a zone and can do so safely.

Stempler Zonds (Remote)

Forward Observer bot with a repeater and the added bonus of Climbing Plus to scale everywhere it needs to go. Can be hilariously obnoxious if ignored and left to its own devices.

Reaktion Zonds (Remote)

Total Reaction HMG bot, once again with Climbing Plus to add to its irritation value. Plonk it on a good firelane to annoy your opponent endlessly.

Vertigo Zonds (Remote)

Guided Missile bot, not super useful in this sectorial with the other options you have around to choose from, but not terrible if you can afford to slot it in. Spotlighted units will feel its wrath if supported appropriately.

Transductor Zonds (Remote)

Cheap repeater bots with a stun gun, these are slightly more effective WarCors in essence, providing a regular order to share with your more effective soldiers. Not bad as a filler if you have points to spare.

Salyut Zonds (Remote)

Baggage bots with either a repeater, EVO Hacking Device or a Total Reaction Combi. The EVO Hacking Device profile is less required in this Sectorial with the Hellcat’s innate +3 to drop, but making something a certainty is never a bad thing. The 8 point repeater is also quite handy to thicken up your repeater network and pass its order along to better units.

Tsyklon Sputniks (Remote)

Another combat remote with either a Spitfire or a Feuerbach as its primary weapon, and a pitcher to lob an extra repeater down range – the word to describe this one is “brutal”. 

Oh, it also has an X-Visor to mitigate bad range-bands and Climbing Plus so it can get into good fire lanes and be truly obnoxious. More expensive than a Reaktion Zond, but arguably a bit more valuable with its extra gear.

Lunokhod Sputniks (Remote)

A mobile minelayer bot with a Heavy Shotgun and the choice of either a Heavy Flamethrower or a glue gun, with Climbing Plus naturally, this remote can be incredibly irritating if used right. Also carries demolition charges so you can walk it up to an objective and rig it to blow. Niche, but with a high chance of hilarity.

Zondbots (Remote)

Helper bots, the same as everyone else gets. 


Sample Lists:

Note for both of these lists, Emily can be substituted out for something else if you prefer, but personally I like having her grenade launcher on hand to punt E/M grenades down field to disrupt your opponent’s plans. That said, sometimes just the potential of having Emily is enough to disrupt your opponent, so mileage may vary on whether you include her or not. 

List 1 – Heavy Infantry Door-kickers

Combat Group 1 (1 Lieutenant Order, 10 Regular Orders)

  • Mobile Brigada HMG
  • Emily Handelman (Chain of Command)
  • Alguaciles Lieutenant
  • Alguaciles Combi Rifle
  • Daktari
  • Avicenna
  • Riot Grrl Specialist Operative
  • Riot Grrl Spitfire
  • CSU Specialist Operative (Breaker Rifle)
  • CSU Specialist Operative (Rifle/Light Shotgun)

Combat Group 2 (5 Regular Orders)

  • Reaktion Zond
  • Jaguar Chain Rifle
  • Jaguar Chain Rifle
  • Jaguar Chain Rifle
  • Hellcat Combi Rifle/Adhesive Launcher

This list is all about kicking the door in on your opponent and mopping up after the breach. Mostly good for scenarios where the objective is killing over button pushing, the Specialist Operative profiles included can still score some points to push you over the line for the victory. 

The entirety of the first combat group comprises fireteams: the core fireteam of Emily, the Mobile Brigada, Daktari and Alguaciles can hold a point, and includes a few specialists who can nab objectives; Avicenna and the Riot Grrls form a Haris fireteam able to take and hold in the mid-field; while, if you get lucky on MetaChemistry, the CSU Duo can run wild hitting weak spots in the enemy line.

Combat Group 2 is mostly there for support. The Jaguars lob smoke to cover advances and the Hellcat drop in behind to glue anything foolish enough to be facing the wrong way.

List 2 – Operation Spector

Combat Group 1 (1 Lieutenant Order, 10 Regular Orders)

  • Emily Handelman (Chain of Command)
  • Uhahu
  • Alguaciles Lieutenant
  • Mobile Brigada HMG
  • Mobile Brigada Boarding Shotgun with Tinbot
  • CSU Specialist Operative (Rifle/Light Shotgun)
  • CSU Breaker Rifle
  • Reaktion Zond
  • Raoul Spector (Parachutist, Combat Jump)
  • Hellcat Combi Rifle with Deployable Repeater

Combat Group 2 (3 Regular Orders, 2 Irregular)

  • Cateran T2 Sniper Rifle
  • Jaguar Chain Rifle
  • Jaguar Chain Rifle
  • Salyut Zond
  • Irmandihno Chain Rifle
  • Zondbot (attached to Irmandihno)

Much like the first list, the core of this one has Emily, some Mobile Brigadas. CSUs and Jaguars, but the method of overwhelming your opponent is a bit different. This one is more focused towards having your Core fireteam playing defensively. 

With the baggage bot in Combat Group 2, you can utilise Uhahu’s Pitcher to seed the board with repeaters, enabling her to hack whatever comes up your way. If there’s a TAG, she’ll have a good chance to take it over and blast the bad guys, and the Tinbot toting Mobile Brigada should help keep her safe from hostile hackers.. 

Raoul and the Hellcat will hopefully land the jump and cause mischief in the backfield, while the Cateran picks off threats with T2 ammo. If you don’t feel like using the helper Zondbot with the Irmandihno Engineer, you could upgrade the second CSU to the Specialist Operative with Breaker Rifle version.


Up next:

That’s the good guy mercenaries all done and dusted. As noted earlier, STARCO can be a Sectorial where your superstar characters are the powerful pieces you throw up the field, but the Sectorial as a whole can offer a lot of different choices and they aren’t a one trick pony. 

Next time, we’ll look at the forces of the Neo-Vatican, the Military Orders.


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