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Infinity Faction Focus: The Steel Phalanx

The cast of Troy, reunited

In the distant future, with war looming over humanity as a whole with the alien Combined Army overrunning the border regions of the Human Sphere, hope is needed. ALEPH’s answer to this is the Steel Phalanx, the openly acknowledged arm of its forces. Drawing heavily on Greek mythos, heroes from a time etched into legend have been recreated into powerful post-human host bodies. They lead the fight against foes on Paradiso and other battlefields.

Led by the strategist Hector and the aggressive warrior Achilles, the Steel Phalanx is a high tech army that likes to get in close before finishing off the foe with sword and gun. They’re no slouches at range, but their focus is quite clearly in glorious melee. Meanwhile, decent specialist selections means that they aren’t unable to fulfil objectives. 

Although the Steel Phalanx is officially listed as Inactive (as of January this year), its models aren’t too hard to find. They also have one of the most complete ranges in Infinity, since no unit lacks a model… Which means that this is going to be one of the lengthier guides in this series. 

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:

Fireteam Enomotarchos: Commonly referred to in the Infinity community as “Enormous Tacos”, this rule enables the Steel Phalanx to field multiple 4-man teams in a fashion no other army can do (aside from Tohaa). 

You do require certain profiles (usually a character) to be able to form these fireteams, but since you’d probably be taking them anyway, it isn’t a huge loss. Unless it’s stated in their profile, units cannot mix, but wildcards and some characters can enable team creation.


UNITS

Since there are so many units to cover, I’ll do so in the following manner: units will be arranged by role, with named characters (if any) following the main entry of the unit they belong to. Character entries will be noted in the title – and in the Steel Phalanx, there’s a lot of them.

Netrods (Light Infantry)

Basically 4-point communication antennas. Useful for getting an extra Regular Order at only a single point more than a warcor.

Warcors, War Correspondents (Light Infantry)

A 3-point, Irregular Order speedbump armed with a stun gun. Always a good choice if you have 3 points left over – a flash pulse can be an annoyance mightier than the 3-point cost.

Thamyris the Aoidos (Light Infantry, Character)

A Warcor who fights back, Thamyris is a hacker as well as a journalist. Comes with a tricked out hacking device, a pitcher for shooting repeaters downrange, a flash pulse and an assault pistol. He can be nasty if properly supported and, most of the time, can hold his own if in a good position. The only real downside to Thamyris is that, because he can’t be in a fireteam, his pitcher shots often have poor dice to work with.

Dactyls (Light Infantry)

Doctors and engineers for the Phalanx, these aren’t a bad choice for specialists. Coming with a glue gun, or a flammenspeer if you choose the second engineer profile, they can be powerful pieces to hold up an enemy advance. They can form 2-man fireteams, or use Fireteam: Enomotarchos to form a 4-man unit. They can be exceptionally useful tagging along with Hector, but there’s good mileage in giving them a Yudbot to fly around fixing people.

Acmon, Sergeant of the Dactyls (Light Infantry, Character)

The Sergeant of the Dactyl regiment is a neat little Wildcard specialist who can slot into any of the Steel Phalanx teams, and he’s a good choice because he brings a Tactical Awareness Order with him. This is an order only he can use (or his fireteam if he is the leader), which can give a bit of extra needed mobility at a critical moment. He comes with a panzerfaust and demolition charges, and is an engineer specialist, which can be excellent for nabbing objectives late in the game with his fireteam.

Andromeda, Sophistes of the Steel Phalanx (Light Infantry, Character)

A weird unit within ALEPH but a better fit for Steel Phalanx, Andromeda is a specialist operative who is tough enough to reach the objective. She needs it too when she has the same silhouette size as a biker miniature, meaning a lot of fire will be coming her way. 

Not bad, but hard to slot in unless building a skew list. Has a few nasty tricks with particular rule interactions.

Thorakitai (Medium Infantry)

The mainstay of the Steel Phalanx who give you the numbers to power up your team of heroes, Thorakitai are also the cheap way to get specialists on the table. With a variety of profiles including cheap paramedics, engineers and forward observers, as well as a decent array of heavier weapons to fight their way out of the deployment zone, Thorakitai give the Steel Phalanx the juice it needs to secure the objectives in missions requiring specialists. One profile also allows formation of a Fireteam: Enomotarchos without using a named character, which can be useful if you’re tight on points.

Nesaie Alke, Thorakitai Warrant Officer (Medium Infantry, Character)

A named character who can slot into Thorakitai fireteams, Nesaie is a versatile unit able to bring a spitfire or MULTI rifle for dirt cheap, and can also either be the force Lieutenant or utilise the NCO special rule to use Lieutenant Orders herself. Usually better than the Thorakitai profile that allows the formation of fireteams despite the added cost, simply because of her equipment loadout.

Agema Marksmen (Medium Infantry)

The long range guys, the Agema are in a weird spot because they’re fairly outclassed by the named characters from their regiment. Good if you’re tight on points though and can’t afford those characters, bringing a MULTI sniper rifle, a Mk12, or a missile launcher for long-ranged threat projection.

Atalanta, Agema’s NCO (Medium Infantry, Character)

The premier sniper the Agema Marksmen fall short of being, Atalanta brings a lot to the table. Depending on which of her profiles you take, she can be a killer reaction piece or an active turn threat. 

Firstly, both her profiles come with a spotbot, a friendly little bunny bot who makes discovering the enemy a lot easier. Secondly, all her shooting attacks count as having Shock ammunition, which can instantly kill anything not immune to it, and allowing her free choice of ammunition in her MULTI sniper rifle. The main difference between her profiles is one has Total Reaction, a rule that lets her fire her weapons at full burst value in the reactive turn.

Teucer, Agema Warrant Officer (Medium Infantry, Character)

The other Agema named character, Teucer brings either a high explosive Feuerbach to the table, or a K1 ammunition sniper rifle. Both can be quite good, as he also has built in Shock ammunition like Atalanta; the main choice will be what weapon better fills the gaps in your list. 

His K1 ammo sniper rifle also has an interesting advantage in that it means the thing you shoot has to count its armour value as 0. This means that Teucer can threaten things like TAGs, which might be tough to crack otherwise.

Ekdromoi (Medium Infantry)

The drop troops of the Phalanx, the Ekdromoi descend into the backfield to create mischief. Every profile is good, so the real question is what suits your needs most. 

There’s a good argument for the spitfire on a rooftop to suppress or tear apart link teams from an unexpected angle before utilising super-jump to disappear away from retaliation. Bring a hacker for objectives, or a chain rifle to trade up on a backfield defending character. All-round good profiles that are entirely dependent on whether you can afford them.

Diomedes, Ekdromoi Officer (Medium Infantry, Character)

The Ekdromoi named character, Diomedes is essentially an up-gunned version of the basic Ekdromoi. He can bring a Mk12 or a MULTI rifle to ruin your opponent’s day and, like his men, he’s no slouch in combat, either. Like Nesaie, he comes with NCO to leverage Lieutenant Orders during his rampage.

Chandra Sergeant Thrasymedes (Medium Infantry, Character)

Another Wildcard, representing the special forces section of the Phalanx, Thrasymedes either leans heavily into stealth or joins a team to give them a specialist operative capable of completing objectives. His secondary loadout comes with a light rocket launcher for reactive turn fire and is a decent choice in almost any fireteam.

Drakios, Steel Phalanx’s NCO (Medium Infantry, Character)

A decent (if expensive) specialist operative profile with the option to bring along two Devabot helpers, Drakios isn’t a bad choice if you can fit him in. He can lock down your backfield if you bring him with his Devabot helpers, as it means you have three models to cover zones with rather than one.

Scylla, Steel Phalanx’s NCO (Medium Infantry, Character)

Scylla, like Drakios, is an expensive specialist, but in a Sectorial like Steel Phalanx, her hacking abilities make her a little more valuable. With the choice between a regular hacking device or an EVO one, she can be extremely useful for helping your Ekdromoi with Combat Jump to land exactly where you want them. Still, she is expensive, and in a Sectorial with so many characters, the points add up fast.

Ajax the Great, Myrmidon Officer (Heavy Infantry, Character)

A man with a very special set of skills, and a humongously chunky size 5 silhouette, Ajax is an excellent choice to lead a team of Myrmidons. With his plethora of rules that allow him to jump into melee, he can actually manage to accelerate even when dodging and leap into combat in either player’s turn. There’s also the option of just letting him loose, using his impetuous order while his Myrmidon friends hold zones in missions with those objectives. Technically he has a Lieutenant profile, but I’ve personally never found it worthwhile.

Achilles (Heavy Infantry, Character)

The warrior hero of the Phalanx, sometimes called “The Human TAG” amongst players, Achilles is what you get when you engineer a superhuman cyborg for pure carnage. He can be the Lieutenant of the force, which isn’t a terrible choice if you can keep him safe, and he can carry a Spitfire or a MULTI Rifle. Honestly though, I find this version to be fairly outclassed by…

Achilles v2 (Hoplite Armour) (Heavy Infantry, Character)

The other Achilles profile, cheaper and a bit better armed than the other version because this one has an AP Spitfire. Loses out on some resilience at range due to a downgrade in his Mimetism special rule, but has a few extra points of armour so he’s more likely to survive being hit. He has a special Duo fireteam he can form with Patroclus, but given it requires over a third of your army points, I’ve never tried it myself.

Patroclus, Myrmidon Special Officer (Heavy Infantry, Character)

A specialist operative with a whole bag of tricks to use, Patroclus comes with both Holomask and Holoprojector, letting you play some sneaky mind games with your opponent. He has a MULTI Rifle or a Heavy Machine Gun (depending on how much you want to spend), making him a good choice to defend a point with his holographic tricks before ripping into your opponent with a vengeance.

Hector, Homeridae’s Champion (Heavy Infantry, Character)

The brains to Achilles’ brawn, Hector is the strategic brains of the Phalanx. Coming with two Lieutenant Orders if he leads the force, and converting them to Regular Orders with Strategos, he is an immense force multiplier despite his high cost. Also the proud bearer of the only Plasma Rifle in the human armies, opponents should feel lucky Hector can’t have a 5-man fireteam in Steel Phalanx for extra hit chance (he can have this in Starmada, and it’s disgustingly good). 

Plasma gives an interesting way around things with Total Immunity due to not having a specialist ammunition type, and forcing both an armour save and a Biotech save. Can link with any team, and brings a Tinbot to help protect his expensive self from being crippled by hacking attempts.

Myrmidons (Warband)

While Thorakitai form the order batteries of the Steel Phalanx, Myrmidons get things done. With a plethora of equipment and skills from smoke grenades to their innate negative 6 to hit, they’re a force to be reckoned with. You’ll mostly see the chain rifle profile because it’s 16 points and ludicrously effective once into the midfield, though the Hacker and Spitfire-toting guy also make appearances. Also, the cheap chain rifle profile means more points to spend on named characters like Hector.

Myrmidon Officer (Warband)

A Myrmidon who went to Officer Candidate School and thus can take over when the legendary warrior leading the force gets his brains blown out. Comes with chain of command and Lieutenant profiles, making them a decent area to save points and fake-out who your commander is. I prefer the boarding shotgun profile mostly because it comes with Eclipse grenades, which are basically upgunned smoke that lets your team survive longer out in the open.

Hippolyta, Amazon Officer (Warband, Character)

Another Amazon who was added when O-12 was released, Hippolyta brings an interesting combination of equipment with her. The Breaker Combi rifle she carries can be lethal to forces with low BTS values like Caledonian werewolves, and the flash pulse means she can stun things before making the dash to kill them. In Steel Phalanx, she’s a Wildcard with no restrictions, meaning she could run with a cheaper fireteam like the Thorakitai to get up the field efficiently. 

Machaon, Myrmidon Doctor-Officer (Warband, Character)

One of the best Lieutenant choices in the Phalanx, Machaon is also a formidable specialist in his own right as a doctor, being able to fix up members of his link with relative ease. Eclipse grenades make him able to lay down cover, and he’s only 2 points more than a Myrmidon officer, making him a decent value investment.

Phoenix, Veteran Myrmidon Officer (Warband, Character)

A Myrmidon with a rocket launcher, Phoenix makes an excellent addition to a Myrmidon team, with the ability to provide a decent ARO to cover an area of the table. Somewhat expensive, but with all the survivability being a Myrmidon entails, Phoenix is rarely a bad choice if you can afford him.

Eudoros, Myrmidon Officer (Warband, Character)

A specialist operative who can keep the team from breaking if the point man gets killed with his Number 2 rule, Eudoros is a solid addition to a Myrmidon team. His Mk12 makes it possible for him to clear a way up the table, while eclipse grenades make it harder for opponents to catch him in the open.

Penthesilea, Amazon Warrioress (Warband, Character)

What’s better than Amazons? Amazons on motorbikes, of course. 

Penthesilea allows for a Steel Phalanx player to zip up the board with her and potentially assassinate a critical threat with her Monofilament blade. With the same innate -6 to hit as a Myrmidon and superior mobility, when played right, Penthesilea can cripple an opponent’s plan by murdering their Order-providing light infantry before the rest of the force storms in to clean up what remains.

Yudbot (Remote)

A little helper bot that can join the Dactyls. You’re unlikely to take them in Steel Phalanx because a lot of your advantage is leveraging multiple 4-man fireteams, and a unit with a Yudbot helper cannot be part of one.

Daleth Rebots (Remote)

A forward observing sensor bot with the Climbing Plus rule that allows it to access some hard to reach places. Not a bad choice for getting a specialist on the table and acts as a repeater for hackers, opening up some interesting plays.

Zayin Rebots (Remote)

The standard area denial bot with a Heavy Machine Gun, Total Reaction and a 360 Visor to ensure it won’t be easily surprised. Zayin also has the Climbing Plus skill, so it can situate itself in those hard to reach spots and irritate your opponent.

Samekh Rebots (Remote)

Standard missile firing bot. Paired with forward observers and hackers using spotlight, this bot can make itself a real pain by raining shots down from afar.

Lamedh Rebots (Remote)

A repeater bot armed with a flash pulse, the Lamedh can be yours for under 10 points. This bot usually makes points back, expanding your hacking net just by existing and sometimes leading to hilarity when it stuns something worth much more than itself. Plus, it’s always nice to get some extra orders in.

Probots (Remote)

Standard baggage bot that is also a repeater. If you invest some extra points in it, the EVO hacker profile can be quite worthwhile – especially for jumping Ekdromoi, as it can run supportware to make their landings more secure.


Sample Lists:

I’ve decided on a couple of sample lists for this Faction Focus, which hopefully give you an idea of how the Steel Phalanx can work in a mission. While the first is a generalist list, the second is very much a skew, so bear that in mind.

List 1 – Trojan Wars

Combat Group 1 (2 Lieutenant Orders, 10 Regular Orders)

  • Hector with Plasma Rifle (Lieutenant option)
  • Myrmidon with Chain Rifle
  • Myrmidon Hacker
  • Machaon
  • Atalanta 
  • Penthesilea
  • Nesaie Alke with Spitfire and NCO profile
  • Thorakitai Forward Observer
  • Thorakitai with Light Rocket Launcher
  • Thorakitai with Light Rocket Launcher

A good example of a character-heavy list, which is a concept the Steel Phalanx embraces. Hector is a costly Lieutenant, but when he hits, whatever is opposing him usually dies – plus, with his Strategos rule, he adds his Lieutenant Orders to the regular pool. A hacker tags along to take advantage of Hector’s firewall tinbot, while Machaon is there to make sure no one stays down if they get hit. 

Atalanta provides overwatch with Alke’s fireteam of Thorakitai, holding the middle so that Hector and friends can punch through. Penthesilea rides off into the backfield and, if she’s lucky, chops a bunch of cheap order battery units into mincemeat. A bit of an order-light list, but the individual parts can work quite well together.

List 2 – Our Jump Troops Will Blot Out The Sun

Combat Group 1 (10 Regular Orders)

  • Ekdromoi Hacker
  • Ekdromoi Spitfire
  • Ekdromoi Chain Rifle
  • Ekdromoi Chain Rifle
  • Probot EVO Hacker Remote
  • Nesaie Alke with Spitfire and NCO profile
  • Thorakitai with Light Rocket Launcher
  • Thorakitai with Light Rocket Launcher
  • Thorakitai Forward Observer
  • Zayin Rebot 

Combat Group 2 (1 Lieutenant Order, 5 Regular Orders)

  • Machaon (Lieutenant Profile)
  • Myrmidon with Chain Rifle
  • Myrmidon with Chain Rifle
  • Myrmidon with Chain Rifle
  • Netrod

Something of a gimmick list, this is one of my favourite setups for missions where units coming in from unexpected angles can have a large impact, though it does mean starting with a decent chunk of your army off the board. The EVO Hacker remote can enable the hacking program “Controlled Jump” to make sure the Ekdromoi land where they plan, and a surprise chain rifle or spitfire can rip a fireteam apart if applied correctly. 

Alke and the Thorakitai make a good speedbump that can set up somewhere central and blast the enemy with templates, and the Zayin can lock down a sizeable area while also benefiting from the EVO hacker remote’s ability to put “Assisted Fire” on it to improve the chance of hitting the target. Machaon and his Myrmidon helpers meanwhile will hopefully be trucking up the centre of the board and snatching objective points up..


Up Next…

Hopefully this overview has helped you be assured of ALEPH’s benevolent intent, because why else would it have an army of super-soldiers if it didn’t love us, right? 

Next time, we’ll cover one of Infinity’s mercenary companies: The Free Company of the Star.


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