I'm getting into Steel Phalanx and have some noob questions and trouble with list building. The sectorial has a lot of interesting troops and interactions between them, but everything is expensive, so you need to consider what to take (duh, as with any list building). Lot of shiny toys that sounds good and look good on paper, but you can't really squeeze in two Agemas to cover your MSV2 needs supported by some Myrmidons each so they can shoot through smoke, while also having a bunch of characters with their full Enomotarchos links. Oh and also having Achilles rush through the game punching face. So you need MSV2, and smoke to have some nice shooting (but not in ARO, because they are W1 and 40 pts), counter MSV2, because MSV2 counters your whole army, a couple of links and officers, because that's what SP is about, and you also need to do missions, so you need a wide selection of specialists, and usually it's a good idea to add some redundancy, so now we are looking at 500pts worth of stuff that needs to be included in a 300pts game. Feels like Pano. What's the number of orders you can pull off? Recently I try to go around 16, because 10 is too tight and in the 10-14 range those -2 order hurt too much, but SP is a pretty expensive sectorial point wise. How to fill in the mission requirements? In a Thorakitai link you can put every kind of specialist except Doctor (still can do paramedic for missions, so doesn't matter) and Hacker, but only have 2 (+Hector) officer options. How many link teams are viable? It seems fun to have all the officers in their own team, but that's way too much points. So how many link teams, is it a good idea to mix special characters? Most of Myrmidons loadouts seem way too expensive for what they have, so I suppose it's Characters + cheerleaders most of the time. What LT to use? In a link team an LT is only there to cause you LoL and doesn't benefit from the order, but at least all (most?) the officers (and no one else) have LT option, so you have redundancy there. Chain of Command seems like an ideal choice here, apart from Myrmidon officers price, both in points and SWC (at least another source for eclipse smoke). How many Myrmidon minis do you need? SP REMs doesn't seem too good, it only have the standard S3 and S4 set, no combat REMs, no TAGs, so it seems possible to leave home all the hackers (and possibly the HIs). Maybe take Scylla for Impersonation fun. Is there any difference between Achilles having W3 and Ajax having W2 + NWI? Overall the sectorial feels like blocks of 40 pts single troops or characters in links, 80-100pts of link teams or heavy hitters, and you have to cover a lot of fields.
As a base, try 1x Thorakitai link led by thrasmedes, 1x Mymidon (Inc Phoenix and Machaon), Atlanta. Phoenix and thraysy can pull ARO duty. Atalanta cancactive turn hunt. I'd argue you want to try for turn one always with Phalanx. IMO Phalanx has to bully. That being said, lists are so linked to missions you can't design in isolation! Hector is great Lt. Particularly in missions where Lt. Is open info. I like Machaon though. Does work and heals his eternal friend Phoenix.
Models: Steel Phalanx 300pts box + Machaon Blister + Thrasimedes + Thorakitai box are the bare minimum to play. Listbuilding: you either go Limited Insertion with 2 Enomotarchos core plus 2 separated troops (usually an MSV agema of some kind, and another supporting troop or Diomedes), or go really light for 13-15 orders abusing 8pts remotes and 4pts antennas. The fireteams are quite simple: Thorakitai enomotarchos Thrasimedes + 3 thorakitai (one usually is the HMG, other can be the Engineer quite easily, and the third tends to be a Forward Observer) is one, the other is a Myrmidon Enomotarchos that always includes Phoenix and Machaon, possibly a CoC Myrm officer and a 4th member that can be a regular myrm, a hacker myrm, or Eudoros (Steel Phalanx Starter Box, comes with an Agema, myrm hacker, and 3 thorakitai). Other option is 2 Myrm fireteams of Phoenix + Machaon + 2 chain rifle Myrm, Eurodos + Myrm Off CoC + 2 chain rifle Myrm. The support is usually an Agema (sniper or Mk12 are the best non-characters, but you can fit Atalanta or Teucer here), and another model that can be Diomedes if you want to cull the enemy fast in turn 1, or a Total Reaction bot (demanding to include a hacker), possibly a Dactyl with one or two Yudbots, or Achilles.
SP ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 1 MACHAON Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | 38) MYRMIDON Chain Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 16) MYRMIDON Chain Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 16) EUDOROS Mk12, Nanopulser, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 40) MYRMIDON Chain Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 16) MYRMIDON Chain Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 16) THRASYMEDES (Fireteam: Enomotarchos) Submachine gun, Light Rocket Launcher, Nanopulser, Stun Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0.5 | 30) THORAKITES (Forward Observer, 360º Visor) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) THORAKITES Paramedic (Medikit, 360º Visor) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) ATALANTA MULTI Sniper Rifle + TinBot E (Spotter) / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 39) GROUP 2 5 ALKÊ Lieutenant Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | 25) THORAKITES (Forward Observer, 360º Visor) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) THORAKITES Paramedic (Medikit, 360º Visor) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) NETROD Electric Pulse. (0 | 4) NETROD Electric Pulse. (0 | 4) 4 SWC | 298 Points Open in Infinity Army
You can't go wrong with size as long as you give thought to what you take and how you plan to use it. I tend towards smaller lists 10 or 12-14 orders. The reason I play steel is to bash things which my main faction Nomads, are not as proficient at. (Though that Kriza!). I tend towards 1 elite myrmidon link with Macheon, an officer (coc), a chain rifle, and another myrmidon to taste. (Hector, pheonix, spitfire are my most common 4th). I also tend towards 1 Thora link with thasemedes and mainly FOs. Then the rest of the list is whatever I feel like playing today, some favorites are khd Scylla, atalanta, ekdromoi an Achillies (downgrade the myrmidon link). I tend to stay away from common things like standard remotes, not because they are bad, but because I get to play them a lot in other armies and I like steel for a change of pace. Other people have a lot of success playing higher order count too.
I tend towards 14-15 orders. With other factions, I want the second group to have fast or infiltrating specialists. With steel phalanx I often make my second group long range fire support. Something like an Agema sniper and/or a TR bot. I would argue that msv2 is not necessary. It is nice to have, but I’ve had success with and without msv in my lists. My favorite link teams are Machaon+spitfire+chain rifle+chain rifle Eudoros+chain rifle x3 you can swap one chain rifle out for chain of command if the mission requires Phoenix+chain of command+chain rifle x2 Thrasymedes+hmg+engineer+forward observer I try to avoid three member teams as sixth sense level 2 is an incredible asset for a link team in the middle of the table against skirmishers and warbands. I usually take two links and a handful of other pieces. The TR hmg can be fun as it’s a surprise to many when they face steel phalanx, but is is pricey because the cheapest hacker to buff it is 24 points. Depending on the mission, I take a specialist in almost every link so they they can move up the table, crush face, push a button, and hold an objective. I have taken Machaon as my LT outside of a link and given him two yudbots. One runs around with him and provides +1 burst in cc and the other stays in my deployment zone to heal things. He can be pretty vulnerable without sixth sense or link bonuses though. I almost never hit the table without chain of command. I got three myrmidon boxes, although I used the third to do some arm swaps for the boarding shotgun and chain rifle ekdromoi. Two boxes is probably enough. I like have two chain rifle and three ccw myrmidon models to use as my chain rifle guys though. Scylla can be fun, but I often avoid hackers at all, unless the mission requires it. Steel phalanx has a couple of decent hackers, but without any camo hackers, cheap line infantry hackers, or combat remotes, it’s tough to do the hacking game without getting completely outmatched. The myrmidon assault hacker is a pretty good piece to have if you expect to see tags or heavy infantry links. She has stealth so she can be pretty good at getting up the table and avoiding killer hackers too. As long as she’s not the one throwing smoke. Three wounds can take three wounds and then be healed back up. Two wounds plus NWI means that when the model takes a third wound, it’s out.
