Ramah Taskforce Guide (2019) - Bourak's Finest

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Intro

Ramah Taskforce is a sectorial that has been on the map for some time now (unofficially) ever since Red Veil dropped, but as one of the new sectorials that released with Daedalus Falls earlier in 2019, it’s relatively new to the gaming scene and (as of this time of writing) still fresh in many players minds.

Like many of the more recent sectorials, Ramah does suffer somewhat in terms of having a slightly more depleted model range – indeed, many sculpts aren’t out for them yet (Nahab, Monstrucker, Carmen, Hortlaks, and of course the fantastic Mukhtars!) but this hasn’t stopped many like myself in running them and having a helluva time in doing so.

In fact, while initial perception on Ramah might range from the confused to the underappreciated, clearly they seem to be doing just fine competitively, and with a wide range of options in their stable, I personally think they can do just fine in ITS.

And speaking of personal – all of this guide is simply my take on RTF. So if you're reading this and your first thoughts are to complain, criticze, moan etc - don't be that guy. The world doesn't want tor need to validate how smart you are. I know this is an internet forum (lol), but the Haqq community should be a place of insight and education, so keep all feedback polite, constructive, and positive. I

’m sure others may have a different take on the sectorial, certain units, or even individual profiles, but just like all the walkthroughs that folks have compiled, please bare in mind that these will only ever be limited to the scope of the writer. Also, as RTF is still fairly new on the scene, a lot of things are subject to change, revision, and further interpretation – so expect this document to see edits as time goes on!

Without further ado though, let’s get started, inshallah.





Overview

Ramah is a very diverse sectorial, with a number of different strengths and weaknesses. We’ll start to explore a lot of these as we get to the individual profiles, but suffice to say that the sectorial brings a wide range of different options that can accommodate a variety of playstyles well, letting you run everything from high order count 16+ bodies all the way to two Maghariba TAGS in limited insertion.

This makes it tricky to narrow down a playstyle per se, but in general though, balancing out your variety of elite choices with the necessary support is a clear ‘theme’ of the faction. Let’s break it down a bit further:


Strengths


- Mobility. You have lots of 6-2 or better movement, and a lot of choices have other mobility skills to get you where you want to go (Super Jump, Climbing Plus, Multiterrain).

- Deployment. While limited in number, there are some great deployment skills (Infiltration, Forward Deployment, Airborne) that can combine with the aforementioned mobility to really cement your movement advantages.

- Durability. This is a tough one as Ramah has a ‘non-traditional’ level of durability that relies more on NWI and immunities to stay standing, rather than things like high ARM, several wounds or -6 modifiers. In other words a lot of your models can take a hit and keep on going.

- Doctor Plus. Ramah has… a LOT of doctors, and no less than 3 (!) of them incorporate some kind of deployment skill to ensure they can get just about anywhere. Between that and backup auto-medkits or Regen, even if your troops do go down, there’s a good chance they’ll be back.

- Shotguns. Not exactly the first thing that springs to mind. But if you look through Ramah profiles for a minute, and you’ll notice that with the exception of certain REMs and Naffatuns, basically every profile can take a shotgun. If you’re a fan of buckshot, you might like this sectorial.


Weaknesses


- Complexity. Ramah isn’t exactly the simplest faction in the game, and indeed many models have a variety of weapons, different skills, and less typical stats that you pay for, but may not utilize fully if you aren’t careful (looking at you, Namurr, Nahab and Muktars!).

- Fragility. But you just said… Yes I know. Note that the drawback of non-traditional durability is that if somebody can find a way around your defenses, you can end up in real trouble. And when key pieces to drop, the list as a whole can lose an offensive edge rapidly as well.

- Elite focus. It’s not that you can’t produce a high order count swarm, but the depth of your bench clearly revolves around the higher-end profiles, and of course its difficult (if not impossible) to take all of those quality choices and still manage to produce a versatile list.

- Defense. I mean, sort of. You still have AVA 3 Flash Pulse bots and links, but it’s other things like lacking cheap minelayers and needing to often hide your ‘tough’ power pieces that makes it difficult to maintain board control. This ties into:

- Warbands. Really there’s only one (Carmen) and she’s a bike so already fairly different from your typical smoke chucking footsloggers (who are typically CHEAP). This means taking a different approach to getting smoke and wasting opposing orders.

Ultimately you have highly mobile, aggressive and somewhat durable forces that can skim around the battlefield, hit things hard, and then retreat to avoid retaliation. The tradeoffs tend to be the complexity of some of those pieces, lacking board control like cheap infiltrators, mines, warbands and AROs, and of course, the loss of certain key pieces can really hurt your game plan.

This is very much the ‘thinking players’ faction – a lot of your forces pay for abilities that require a bit of planning to fully utilize them. For this, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them to new players aside from very specific builds, but if you’re looking at a second/third faction after learning all the rules, they are a LOT of fun.

 

Unit Breakdown


NOTE – I put Lt options in with their regular profiles, in case you were wondering. This makes it easier to cover them vs. their ‘decoy’ choices, as most of the time, their profiles are identical.


Ghulams


The bread and butter of Ramah, Ghulams form the most flexible core link in the faction, with a wide variety of different profiles and shared linkability with other key elements (Naffatun, Khawarijs, not to mention Wildcards like Leila and Tarik). Overall they’re really standard line troops, with the notable exceptions that they get +1 WIP (14) and Shotguns for a small bump in price, and they have a huge variety of loadouts as we’ll see below:
Rifle + Light Shotgun (12/0) – Best used in conjunction with the Lt option as a decoy, otherwise you’re usually best off at the very least finding 1pt for an FO upgrade to get a specialist and that juicy flash pulse. As a Lt, this is a very solid choice to get a cheap Lt in your list, and the shotgun can give it quite some defense too against assassin pieces.

HMG (20/1) – A solid line trooper weapon, and despite paying a few extra points vs. other line troop heavy weapons, you’re still getting a very respectable active turn B5, BS 14 shots. Note that this option is one of only 5 HMGs in faction (not to mention by far the cheapest) so keep this in mind as a good secondary offensive option. It’s also not a bad Lt option either as you get a 0.5 SWC discount and aren’t necessarily the most ‘obvious’ choice (most line troop HMGs cant be the Lt) if you’re trying to stay hidden. Like any offensive Lt though, consider Chain of Command (CoC).

Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (13/1)– I’ll be honest here, unless you BADLY need 3 points, you’re probably better off getting the NCO profile below, as this lets you activate the link for a Lt order AND gets you smoke into the bargain (which is otherwise hard to get). Not bad, just overshadowed?

Missile Launcher (17/1.5) - Like many line-troop links, the Missile Launcher is a popular choice as an ARO weapon, and this link is no exception. Cheap and powerful, this is usually a great way to get ARO presence in your list so long as you don’t mind the SWC investment. Weirdly enough, this can also be a Lt option and a lot of folks forget about this, as missiles normally can’t be in other factions. If you do go with the Lt and plan on ARO duty, CoC will very much be a strong consideration.

Sniper (16/0.5) – Cheaper than the missile, this is often a popular alternative for Ghulams as an ARO piece that gets you better rangebands, cost and active turn burst at the cost of raw hitting power.

Rifle + Light Shotgun, Panzerfaust (15/0.5) – Almost a compromise between most of the above profiles, this is a fantastic little upgrade if you have a couple of spare points kicking around (or just really want to trim the cost of your AROs). Remember the Panzerfaust is disposable and will only (effectively) get one shot in the link due to B2, so board/list depending, it may not hurt to have a baggage bot somewhere.

Rifle + Light Shotgun, Hacker (20/0.5) – A bit pricey for just a line trooper hacker, and without a whole slew of combat REMs to buff like other factions have, Haqqislam sometimes struggles to justify this choice. This is particularly true in Ramah, where for 0 SWC and the same cost, you can have Leila to unlock REMs, provide a more useful weapon, and of course get a KHD in your build. Still, the regular HD has utility, so if you find yourself craving one, it’s fine to squeeze one in the list.

Rifle + Light Shotgun, Doctor Plus (16/0) – A lady that needs no introduction, this is probably the second most important Ghulam in your list and a key staple in many Haqqislam builds. While Ramah has a LOT of doctor choices that you might think overshadow this a little bit, she’s still linkable and still the cheapest, so for keeping the core link going, it’s hard to say no.

Rifle + Light Shotgun, FO (13/0) – The regular line troop forward observer, which as a Haqqislam model with WIP 14, is lovely! Definitely worth a look at over the normal filler line troops or when you need a cheap specialist, and particularly in Ramah where your FO choices are actually somewhat limited (Rafiq, Khawarijs and Muktars being the 3 others, and not necessarily as easy to include given competition).

Rifle + Light Shotgun, e/Mauler, Deployable Repeater (14/0) – Not a bad bit of utility this, for merely a couple of points more than the basic profile. The main limitation here is that both deployables are stuck in your backfield, but if you’re playing a more defensive mission/setup or running a more aggressive core, these are both nice items to have for only a couple of points.

Ghulam NCO, Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher, Normal + Smoke (16/1) – Honestly, borderline auto-include. Ramah doesn’t have a lot of smoke, and not only is this model the cheapest and most reliable source of smoke (when linked), but it can also utilize your Lt order to lay smoke down for ‘free’. On top of that, it’s giving you a nice spec-fire option with the regular grenades, which is fantastic for removing tricky models on a roof, sniping key pieces, or punishing clustered enemies. Finally, the NCO order actually lets you activate the whole link when used providing he is the leader, meaning the rest of the link gets a 4” (or more) move while he lays down smoke, and who doesn’t like free movement. Use it, love it, take it.


Naffatuns


Given that we’ve just covered Ghulams, it’s only natural that Naffatuns should be next. In terms of fire-team composition, Naffatuns count as Ghulams, so they’re excellent as low-cost filler in that Ghulam link as well as just standing off on their own. All Naffatuns have flamer weapons, and given their cheap cost and linkability, they’re a great point-defense weapon for keeping scary things at arm’s reach in tight spaces.

Naffatun Rifle + Light Flamer, Grenades (12/0) – This is a great decoy for the Lt option below, and my preferred setup over the Lt + Lt decoy option that Ghulams have above. These guys cost the same as Ghulams but swap a Shotgun for both a flamer and grenades, AND they randomly get +1 PH and +3 BTS??. Bargain. In the link, these guys are great filler to add versatility without pumping the cost. As a Lt, well I think this is one of my favorite Lieutenant options in Ramah for keeping costs down, and the Lt order is still available for use on NCO models. Cheap and defensive, you can leave him in the link or just prone on a roof somewhere and he’ll probably be fine, short of the usual assassin pieces. Compared to the Ghulam Lt option, you can’t F2F that deadly impersonator QUITE as well by hurling a grenade at it vs. the shotgun, but the tradeoff is you can choose to incinerate it instead, which in conjunction with the chance they’ll go after the decoy, makes the opponent’s attempt quite risky.

Naffatun Rifle + Heavy Flamer (13/0) – You lose the grenades, can’t mask a Lt, and pay an extra point, but upgrade to a heavy flamer. Definitely comes down to personal preference here really though, because there’s no denying that a heavy flamer is a pretty nasty thing to be packing in any link, especially if you plan on moving up the field. Both options are great honestly.


Leila


Another near auto-include in Ramah, Leila is one of only 2 killer hackers (and the cheaper of the two), tied for the cheapest way to unlock REMs (vs. the Ghulam Hacker), and is crucially a Wildcard, meaning she can join any link in Ramah and is cheaper than most members. Even if you don’t want her in the link to start, unlike Tarik, she can even join a duo fireteam, so if nothing else you can strap her to a Namurr, Rafiq or even Maghariba Guard to get her running about the battlefield, and then she can always reinforce the core link later after it’s lost a member.

Such a good profile. The other nice part about Leila is she also brings a BS 12 Shock Marksman rifle and Breaker Pistol, which sprinkles in a bit of weapon versatility to whatever link she’s joining on a respectable platform.


Khawarijs


The first of our ‘super soldier’ choices, these guys are an iconic unit for Ramah even before Red Veil and represent an interesting elite unit for the sectorial. Khawarijs are expensive, but a BS 13 gunfighter with Super Jump makes for an offensive powerhouse, and other profiles bring skills like MSV or Fatality to push this even further. Even if you can’t shoot somebody directly, PH 13 + grenades on a lot of profiles is great for spec fire, and they’re even pretty nasty in melee, packing both CC 20 and Poison (If you win the F2F roll in melee, they roll an extra dice using your PH vs. their BTS – aka, pseudo plasma go!)

The main drawback is their durability – ARM 1 (but BTS 3), 1 wound, and bioimmunity makes for a fragile profile considering their 27-36 point pricetag, so you’ll typically want to leverage their mobility advantage to deal damage on the active turn and play a bit more cagily on the reactive (perhaps jumping and hiding prone on a roof). This is especially true because these guys are religious, meaning that failing guts and diving for cover isn’t a sure thing either. Be careful or this unit can completely evaporate.

Finally, like Naffatuns, Khawarijs can link freely with Ghulams. This can make for some fantastic mixed links if you’re looking to keep costs down, but remember that declaring jump with them will leave the other members idle, so plan your movement carefully if you don’t want to leave them out of position.

Khawarij Rifle + Light Shotgun, Grenades (27/0) – Like the ‘base’ profile on many elite troops, this is rarely a big draw due to the other options you have available for only a couple of extra points. As a Lt things are much the same, only you’re likely now investing in a piece that is all about the offense but needing to keep it alive, giving it something of a conflicted role. Even taking this choice as ‘cheap’ filler isn’t necessarily needed either given the existence of cheaper Ghulam/Naffatun/Leila options, so I’d probably skip this one.

Khawarij Boarding Shotgun, Panzerfaust (27/0) – An interesting choice I’ve looked at a couple of times, but typically something I end up forgoing over the doctor or HRL option for only slightly more, who both gain quite a bit of versatility for that added bump in cost. If you really want another ARO, unlike the Ghulam he doesn’t pay any SWC for the benefit, so I could see the use as a discount reactive piece, so there is that going for him, but otherwise you probably have better options.

Khawarij Boarding Shotgun, Grenades, Doctor Plus (30/0) – A solid specialist, and like most links in Ramah, having a doctor to patch you up wherever you go is a big strength of the faction. Your main question here will often be whether you want this profile or would rather spend nearly half (!) for the Ghulam Doc, which really comes down to how much offensive work you think you’ll end up doing and how annoying you find the super jump mixed links. I find it a hard sell personally, but YMMV.

Khawarij Spitfire, Fatality L2 (32/1.5) – One of Ramah’s iconic, mobile gunfighters, “mini Tarik” hits and crits just as often as his big brother (which some people forget) at only a small fraction of the cost. This is very much one of Ramah’s best ‘armor crackers’ at range, as putting down a TAG in cover isn’t all that much of a chore anymore when you’re critting ~42% of the time… Together with the MK.12 option below, this guy is one of the main sources of offensive muscle for the link, and I’d usually recommend taking one or the other (if not both). As a Lt, you don’t gain that much, as the Lt order can’t be used in the link (but NCO can!) so it represents a greater risk without much reward. Really this only makes sense if you prefer offensive Lt options, have CoC, or want to trim costs down over a dedicated Lt option.

Khawarij Heavy Rocket Launcher, Light Shotgun (28/1) – One of Ramah’s better ARO pieces, the BS 13 (16 when linked) HRL is a great addition if you’re looking to get long range firepower in your list, and the shotgun means he’s still useful should you need to get in close. On the active turn, this guy can jump just like his brethren, which can be a nasty surprise if you get a good angle on a link team or other models that thought they were safe and turn them to ash. Great as both a reactive tool in a mobile link, or even just to bump the ARO presence of a defensive Ghulam core, this is a very versatile profile.

Khawarij Rifle + Light Shotgun, Grenades, Chain of Command (32/0) – It’s not cheap by any means (still -1pt vs. the Hortlak mind), but if you’re even considering an offensive Lt or are afraid of assassin pieces, this is certainly a very valid option. This also has the added advantage of getting a specialist in your team, but if that’s all your after, the cheaper FO or Doctor might be more to your taste.

Khawarij Rifle + Light Shotgun, Grenades, FO, Fatality L1 (29/0) – The cheapest Khawarij specialist, who also comes with Fatality L1 to give you a little boost in offensive power. Again like the Doctor though, the main question this comes down to is your preference between getting yourself the cheaper Ghulams for a ‘pure specialist’ role and suffering through the mixed super jump interactions vs. paying more for these more offensive loadouts.

Khawarij MK12, MSV 2, Fatality L1 (36/0.5) – The priciest Khawarij profile, but definitely worth the cost. When linked, this monster can put down B4, BS 16, DAM 16 shots downrange, which in conjunction with bringing it’s own smoke (thanks to the Ghulam NCO) and Super Jump let’s you butcher enemy models from across the table via unexpected directions and often entirely avoid retaliation. This is definitely one of the premier gunfighters of the sectorial, and like the Spitfire above, well worth consideration.

Khawarij Rifle + Light Shotgun, Grenades, Haris, NCO (30/0.5) – Competing only with the Muktar Haris, this is a great choice if you want to run a fireteam of Khawarijs but don’t want to shell out the full cost for the core. This can be a good way of motoring Tarik around the table without dragging 4 other bodies with you (the loss of +3 BS not being as critical when you’re fishing for crits anyway!) or just want a more defensive Core. The other cool part about this option is NCO, which can in effect let you get a ‘free’ order out of the team (usually for movement) without drinking orders from the pool, but just bear in mind how this might potentially fit with the Ghulam NCO as they might end up competing.


Tarik Mansuri


Ah yes, the big-daddy of Ramah. Tarik really is an interesting piece, boasting a statline similar to many heavy infantry with a few notable improvements (6-4 MOV, WIP 15, CC 23 + MA:L1 + DA weapon, and of course not actually being hackable as he’s actually Light Infantry!). He does have 2 wounds, but as he’s ‘only’ ARM/BTS 3 he’s not invincible, and given the cost and large target on his head, cagey play on the opponent’s turn is advisable. Ultimately the fact that he's really so good is actually this model's greatest weakness, in that he is only fairly durable for how badly your opponent wants him dead, and given that he's expensive (53-59 points), it keeps him from necessarily being an 'auto-include'.

Like the smaller Khawarij he’s based off, Tariq is a stellar BS 13, has Super Jump, Religious, Poison and Bioimmunity, but the added movement, bump in CC and of course Fatality L2 on every profile make him generally a much scarier offensive piece in every regard. Whether in a link for the full on powerhouse or even running on his own, Tarik is known and feared throughout the meta.

Tarik AP Rifle, Light Shotgun, Nanopulser, Grenades (53/0) – A bit of a bump over the base Khawarij with AP ammo and a nanopulser, this loadout tends to be a bit more overshadowed by the Spitfire alternative unless you badly need the SWC elsewhere. Really the more interesting version of this loadout is the Lt option, which actually unlocks +1 SWC, and can even give you a second Lt order for only 4 points more. While it means Tarik is more focused on ‘up close’ action, this loadout can unlock a few interesting ‘SWC heavy’ build styles, allowing you to get plenty of big guns elsewhere to compensate.

Tarik Spitfire, Nanopulser, Grenades (55/1.5) – The typical loadout for Tarik and for good reason, as just like the Spitfire Khawarij you can go around critting people to death some 42% of the time, and thanks to 2 wounds, can even potentially lose a roll to keep on going. In the active turn you’ll likely have little difficulty sweeping the table and keeping heads down so long as you move up close to good range (not hard with 6-4 MOV and superjump), and if folks are staying hidden, the grenades + nanopulser + melee is usually perfectly fine to flush them out. His biggest problem is the reactive turn and folks WILL want him dead, so stay cagey when you pass turn (ideally, prone on a roof somewhere) and back him up or that investment will go down the drain. Finally, again he has a Lieutenant profile and a +4 pt Lieutenant L2 option, which makes him a great choice for a Lt, but remember there’s no associated SWC discount on the Spitfire loadout.


Namurr


Ramah Taskforces little angel of death, and personally one of my favorite models. The Namurr is one of the more interesting designs to come out of CB for a while, operating more as a ‘jack of all trades’ toolbox and focused on performing several tasks well, rather than specializing as much as say, Khawarijs or Mukhtars. Like other choices in Ramah, the Namurr boasts high mobility, with 6-2 MOV, Multiterrain and Climbing Plus to get around the battlefield (just watch the Climbing Plus interaction in mixed links). The Namurr is also a specialist, which in conjunction with her flexible link options (she can join both Ghulams and Jannisaries) lets you get mobility, scoring, gunfighting, + durability in a link all via a single model. Not bad.

Overall, most of the stats are nothing to write home about, but Hyper-Dynamics L2 means she dodges on 18s (!) and combines with Total Immunity (BTS 3) to make a piece that can be surprising hard to put down (few things funnier than happily ducking Koalas, mines, and even Noctifer Missile surprises without breaking a sweat). She’s not horrible in melee either against things like TAGs, given CC 18, the E/M close combat weapon/D-charges to tackle big nasties, and of course total immunity meaning she can go two-rounds before dropping. There’s even a fun trick with this where you can run up to melee something big, and if they hit you, fine (total immunity), you spray them with the e/Marat, and if they dodge, you punch them in melee instead.

Namurr Spitfire, E/Marat, D-Charges (44/1) – It’s an expensive toolbox, but if you use it correctly, this piece can do a lot of work. Climbing Plus and the Spitfire is great to hunt after models that thought they were safe, and gives you access to a slightly cheaper SWC cost heavy weapon for links that otherwise might be strapped to get them in.

Namurr, Rifle + Light Shotgun, E/Marat, D-Charges (38/0) – Personally I prefer the Spitfire given the cost that’s being paid for this piece, but if you don’t have the SWC, love the Shotgun, or want to run a duo, this option is still fairly serviceable. This loadout is probably most appealing in conjunction with either a Leila wildcard or running in a Janissary core (to keep the costs on the ‘low end’ but usually I skip it.


Nahab


The Nahab is another super-soldier type of model, and actually fairly unique in Infinity in that it can decide whether it wants to be a midfield skirmisher (infiltration) or an airborne (AD:L2) model at the start of each game. In conjunction with other infiltrators (Tuaregs) and Airborne (Hakims), this can give you a really flexible setup where you can choose how to best control the midfield each game based on the particulars of the board, the mission, turn order, and your opponent. For this reason, the Nahab often makes an amazing reserve model, particularly when going first. Combined with the great array of guns, melee and scoring options, and the Nahab is a very aggressive, very flexible attack piece.

Profile wise the Nahab has solid stats for a 30+ point unit, with the key standout being an incredible CC 22 with Assault, Natural Born Warrior, and a Viral CCW. This in conjunction with the Nahab’s deployment skills are great for getting hand-to-hand with the enemy, and the combination of PH 13+Kinematika Lvl 2 isn’t bad either for declaring skills like Engage. The one thing to watch for it that, while the Nahab has NWI like many Ramah super soldiers, be wary that it lacks any kind of immunity, so things like shock ammo, viral and puncture through you pretty fast if you aren’t careful.

Nahab Red Fury, Nanopulser, (36/1) – A solid gunfighting option, this profile really leverages your deployment flexibility to the max, find where your opponent’s defenses are weakest, and punish them with high burst gunfire. Up close you still have great melee and a nanopulser to rely on, so even the close rangebands aren’t particularly problematic either. This is a fantastic choice if you’re looking to get some firepower outside of your link that can attack from an unexpected angle.

Nahab Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser, D-Charges, Specialist Operative (30/0) – A very close-quarters focused attacker, this profile is all about getting up close and doing as much damage as possible. This loadout deserves special mention for ITS, where the flexible deployment for pushing buttons and D-charges (especially for Sabotage Classified, or missions like The Grid/Looting and Sabotage) are very welcome. The only drawback is you lack any longer ranged weapon outside of 8”, but in the right setup or on the right board this profile can do some serious work.

Nahab SMG + E/Mitter, Nanopulser, Killer Hacker (30/0) – Another close quarters combatant, this profile adds to your close range arsenal and deployment flexibility by bringing hacking on from an unexpected angle, allowing you to hunt backfield support hackers like links/EVOs (as well as push buttons). The KHD of course also grants you cybermask, which is great if you’re looking at deploying regularly in the midfield and want to get back a marker state. Like the profile above this is a great close range option, and I particularly like the SMG for both suppression and a higher active turn burst with good ammo options. Finally, the + E/Mitter is unreliable as a single shot weapon, but it’s nice to have it as a slightly longer ranged option, and anything you do hit will really rue the day unless there’s a nearby engineer.


Hakims


Ramah’s airborne option, Hakims were one of the early additions to Ramah right after Red Veil. All Hakim choices are Doctor Plus and have a Medjector, which works exactly like a Medikit but without the -3 to PH for healing. This is more reliable than a regular medikits for picking models back up, but as most of your models heal on 17s/18s with rerolls if you can afford the orders/danger to reach them in B2B, think about that first before you resort to the ranged alternative. This makes them great at supporting other midfield options, so they work best as a team to leverage the healing to their best advantage.

Otherwise Hakims are fairly unremarkable but they do have a bit of sturdiness going for them – ARM 2, BTS 3, and Regeneration (shock immune) mean that you might be able to shrug off a hit and pick yourself up even if you don’t. This often works best with other midfield attackers, as you can heal them when they go down, follow up with close range fire, and maybe even heal both of you if it all goes wrong. Finally, both Hakims come with the option for a 4pt Nasmat (helper-bot) to follow them onto the battlefield. The one drawback of this unfortunately is that you have to enter the same segment of the board (see the G:servant rules) which gives you very little flexibility on deployment for the cost. I usually would argue it’s worth skipping this in favor of points elsewhere as a result, but YMMV.

Hakim, SMG, Chain Colt (23/0.5) – My preferred choice to keep costs down, this Hakim gives you reliable healing, flexible deployment, and of course a solid backfield attacker if you need to trim an opponent’s order pool. Here the template of the Chain Colt is particularly nice, allowing you to pick the best ranged weapon to attack with depending on whether your opponent shoots/dodges.

Hakim, Boarding Shotgun (27/0.5) – A bit more pricey, but if you prefer the Boarding Shotgun for the added oomph, you may prefer this choice. Personally, I prefer trimming the points and having the advantage of a direct template weapon on an AD model, but this option is perfectly viable.


Tuaregs


Ramah’s skirmisher option, and actually fairly unique in Haqqislam in general for being the only option with TO camo. Besides the usual camo+infiltrate+multiterrain combo, in terms of its profile, the Tuareg is mostly what you’d expect for a skirmisher choice in this game, with fairly normal stats across the board. The one notable exception here is a fantastic WIP of 15, which makes the Tuareg simply aces as a specialist, when hacking, discovering, and of course laying down mines with Intuitive attack.

Tuareg Rifle + Light Shotgun, Mines (29/0) – The base profile, and like many base profiles, probably worth a skip unless you’re trying to avoid specialists for certain missions or really desperate to save points. Skip this one.

Tuareg Boarding Shotgun, Mines (28/0) – 1 pt cheaper than the base profile and gives up the rifle for a bit more oomph on the Shotgun. I know some folks are a fan of midfield boarding shotguns, but as every profile comes with a Light Shotgun anyway, I’m not sure that’s worth the dip in flexibility? Otherwise, the comments above on the base profile apply just as equally here.

Tuareg Sniper, Mines (33/0.5) – Hmm this girl is an interesting choice. On the one hand, a TO sniper revealing at the right time can handily win games, picking off a key specialist, link team member, or -12-ing a TR bot from extreme range. On the other hand she’s pricey and only BS 11, so a single shot ARO in the open on 14s (before other negative mods) isn’t the most reliable thing in the world, and active turn doesn’t necessarily afford the same opportunities (deployment depending). Worth owning and using occasionally so folks are on their toes looking for it, but not for every list.

Tuareg Rifle + Light Shotgun, Mines, Assault Hacker (35/0.5) – A very solid specialist choice in Ramah, the hacker gives you great options against hard targets with that lovely WIP 15 (especially with surprise shot), and short of effective sensoring, can be a nasty surprise that opponents weren’t necessarily expecting (or even able to deal with using a KHD) till it’s too late. Just remember to re-camo if any killer hackers are around to avoid being killed in the reactive turn, as you are BTS 0 and even that high WIP won’t last long if they come at you behind a Tinbot or Repeater.

Tuareg Rifle + Light Shotgun, Mines, Doctor Plus (33/0) – A truly unique option, the Tuareg doctor gives you a great combatant, unhackable specialist, and healing on demand in a single package. A doctor that could be anywhere on your half of the table that heals reliably on 18s is a fantastic thing to have in your list, and more so when your opponent doesn’t even know if you have it (so they either waste orders finishing off unconscious bodies or risk a surprise revival). With multiple troops in Ramah that appreciate the healing support after navigating to the midfield, this is a strong inclusion for many builds.

 

Unit Breakdown (Part 2)


Zhayedans


I don’t think it’s particularly controversial to say that Zhayedans… need help. As an expensive unit in a faction full of choices in the 30 point range, Zhayedans stand out as being fairly situational and a touch unreliable considering the points you’re spending. In terms of the profile things are fairly standard for an elite Haqq profile, with ARM 2, BTS 3 and the automedkit giving them a touch of durability but otherwise being nothing to celebrate (note – shame they don’t have Regeneration instead, as this would let them have Shock Immunity and mean you could coordinate regen with other choices like Hakims).

All Zhayedans also come stock with Veteran L1, which is nice to avoid Isolation and helps if your Lt goes down, but considering the CoC options in-faction for expensive Lts and the general desire to avoid loss of Lt in the first place, this makes it a very situational rule that is hard to take advantage of. Coupled with the fact that Zhayedans are far less flexible in linking compared to things like Khawarijs, and ultimately this choice falls into the ‘situational at best’ category. If they all had MM:L2 then maybe they’d be worth taking more often, but oh well. At least they have gorgeous models.

Zhayedan Breaker Rifle + Light Shotgun, Marksmanship L2 (31/0) – One of the few interesting Zhayedans, this profile takes advantage of a curious interaction between Marksmanship and Breaker ammo to deal 1 save vs. ARM and 1 vs. half BTS for every successful hit, essentially granting you a better plasma gun that ignores cover to hit on 15’s in good range (18s in a link!). The shotgun is also cool as it ignores for the -3 BS AND the +3 ARM for Cover (due to being a MML2 impact template), so the end result a piece that can dish out the hurt if you get close. Finally, this profile can be a Lt (if you want something more active, just remember your CoC) and it also lets you form a Haris team for an extra 1pt/0.5 SWC, so if you do take Zhayedans at all, you’ll certainly have at least one.

Zhayedan HMG (32/1.5) – There aren’t a lot of HMG’s in Ramah, but without any other skills, weapons or abilities, this model struggles to justify it’s cost. Amusingly enough this can be a Lt option which I had even forgotten about until I looked it up in Army, so in that sense at least it’s an unexpected choice for staying hidden, but like the Ghulam HMG is harder to justify risking unless you have CoC. In a core link then, this choice works okay to have a high burst active turn weapon, but otherwise you probably want to skip this option.

Zhayedan Sniper, Marksmanship L2 (31/0.5) – The other passable Zhayedan option, this profile at least has MM:L2 to reliably hit targets on 15’s (18s in a core link), making it a decent (if expensive) long range profile. If you don’t want to shell out for the full core, two of these in a Haris can put out B2 shots hitting on 15s, which is comparable to a lot of full-on Core fireteams, which certainly isn’t bad. The big drawback though is cost – 93 points for the team (82 if using Leila vs. 2nd sniper) is a lot to swallow, but can certainly support a more aggressive core or help you get more ARO pieces on the table.

Zhayedan Missile, Nimbus Grenades (30/1.5) – Like the HMG, this profile lacks MM:L2 and really doesn’t bring anything remarkable to the table to justify the cost. In a core link you can certainly bring one if you prefer damage over reliability vs. the sniper, but otherwise I would skip this choice unless you really, really like nimbus grenades?

Zhayedan Boarding Shotgun, Doctor Plus (27/0) – The cheapest Zhayedan, this profile is nice to get a Doctor in the link and will probably be the main one you consider outside of the MM:L2 profiles to get a useful specialist in the link. The thing is, otherwise in Ramah you have access to a lot of viable Doctor choices, and like the other profiles, without MM:L2 or any other useful skills, this is a tough sell.


Mukhtars


A very welcome addition to the super-soldier stable, Mukhtars are expensive but an absolute powerhouse of an aggressive unit that will often be a staple inclusion in many Ramah builds. 6-2 movement and Forward Deploy L1 helps you close in with the enemy, BS 13 and Mimetism give you great gunfighting ability, and NWI and Shock Immunity mean that you can take a hit from most things and keep on going. All Muktars also come with not just one but two Nanopulsers, making them truly scary on the active turn, and more so when you consider that they can operate in a Haris for B3 sprays!

Really besides their cost, Muktars have very few weaknesses, one being that they aren’t much in CC (so resort to your sprays if you get caught out in the midfield). The other one to watch for is that despite having high BTS (6), they are only ARM 1, making them very much a glass hammer of a unit that can quickly fold once they start taking armor saves. Otherwise this unit can really do a bit of everything and you will run them a lot.

Mukhtar Viral Rifle, 2x Nanopulser (30/0) – Anybody who has played Lasiqs knows that these guys are a great gunfighting profile, and this loadout is fantastic for running around and butchering things at close range. This profile also has a Haris option for the usual 1pt/0.5 SWC, which as far as Haris models go is great to actually unlock the team and be a useful contributing member. Very solid.

Muktar Boarding Shotgun, 2x Nanopulser (30/0) – Another great loadout, the boarding shotgun continues the fast aggressive theme and combines with the twin nanopulsers to be something most opponents really don’t want to tangle with up close. The other cool part with this model is you can doctor yourself back from the NWI state and any other Mukhtars as well, allowing you to take a normal hit when using the sprays and recover soon afterwards. For this reason, it makes a great model in the link, and as you’re getting a doctor further up the table, a fantastic choice in general.

Mukhtar Rifle + Light Shotgun, 2x Nanopulser, D-Charges, FO (28/0) - The cheapest Mukhtar and the second scoring option, this profile is nice to get both button pushing and classifieds done while keeping costs down and still providing effective close range fire support. Like any FO you also have a Flash Pulse, which couples with the Haris team and Mimetism to actually be a surprising ARO option.

Mukhtar Rifle + Light Shotgun, 2x Nanopulser, Assault Hacker (33/0.5) – For a few points more, you can swap your FO + D-Charges loadout for an AHD, which gives you both valuable scoring and a great offensive toolkit against harder targets. While this is the most expensive specialist and opens you up to being hackable, WIP 14 and BTS 6 isn’t bad as far as Hacking prowess goes, so depending on how useful you find the AHD in general, this can be a very respectable inclusion in certain builds.

Mukhtar Red Fury, 2x Nanopulser, MSV 2 (37/1) – Expensive, but like the Khawarij MSV 2 option, worth every penny. This profile is borderline ridiculous, putting out 5 BS 13 shots downrange through smoke, and unlike the Khawarij, not even necessarily dropping dead to a lucky crit or template hit in turn. The only drawback of course if you can’t bring your own smoke in the link, so just make sure you have other options elsewhere to support you. This is very much in the ‘top tier’ of Ramah gunfighting pieces, and is a very strong option, either on its own or in the link.


Janissaries


Ramah’s armored ‘true’ Heavy Infantry option, Janissaries are actually surprisingly ordinary for a faction full of weird, esoteric and downright Bakunin-esque profiles. Standard heavy infantry stats make them fairly vanilla in many ways, but as they’re hackable and BTS3, remember the Tinbot and consider fairly dust if you don’t want to find yourself getting shutdown. Really the one thing to watch for with Janissaries is that they are religious, which comes up fairly often on a sturdy unit that you’d expect to see a fair amount of combat in the reactive turn.

The other annoying thing to be careful with Janissaries is they don’t have cubes, which can make healing them a little riskier (more so with Akbar Doctor) but at least makes them immune to Sepsitor? Otherwise, the combination of Fireteam core and interchangeability with Hortlak’s (below) makes them fairly flexible, and more so when you consider the potential additions of Namurrs or Wildcards to their team. This makes Janissaries a fairly expensive choice (typically running a minimum of 145 points for the cheapest Core with Leila, but more like 160 if you want more effective loadouts) but one that is ideally suited to scenarios that reward durability (holding zones, armories etc.) or if running a single group list.

Janissary AP Rifle + Light Shotgun (36/0) – The base profile, this loadout gets you a semi-decent armor cracking gun and some close range support while keeping your link costs down. This loadout can also come equipped with a Tinbot for +1pt/0.5 SWC, which is generally recommended on this or the Shotgun below to provide hacking protection in your list. Also, the base profile can be taken as a Lt (that is sadly 0.5 SWC for some reason?), which can provide you with a very safe option in a core link for scenarios that promote going after him (Decap, Firefight, etc.) or vs. assassin types, so consider this choice if you want something a bit sturdier, particularly in a single-group build.

Janissary Boarding Shotgun (31/0) – The cheapest Janissary option, this loadout lets you keep the costs of the link down while providing close range fire support. However, if you simply want a cheaper link, you should probably consider the Hortlak Janissary below, as this loadout is fairly unremarkable. Really the best use for the Boarding Shotgun is to run the Tinbot (again, +1 pt/0.5 SWC), especially as the rifle profile is usually better off being upgraded to the Doctor loadout for his scoring and healing capabilities.

Janissary HMG (40/2) – The ranged gunfighting option, the HMG is a very straightforward profile that lets you get B5, BS 16 shots across the table and deal some damage. Without any mods or way to ignore them, this is a fairly straightforward weapons platform, but if you’re running a core of these guys, it’s a strong inclusion as one of the heavy weapons.

Janissary AP Rifle + Light Shotgun, Akbar Doctor (41/0) – For only a few points more than the base loadout you can take an Akbar Doctor, who can get you a useful specialist for the link as well as a durable, effective gunfighter. Akbar Doctor lets you choose to either heal on 17s (Doctor Plus) or 14s (Akbar) but heal 2 wounds at a time (useful for other Janissaries!). Remember the lack of cube though when making your choice, as this can sometimes be a risky proposition.

Janissary Missile Launcher (37/2) – Finally the Janissaries can take a Missile Launcher, which makes for a solid ARO setup (more so when combined with the Hortlak Sniper below). This is a great reactive piece that is hard to shift, can heal back up readily, and hits like a train with high BS. The only drawback is that this model lacks any other backup weapons and thus will need protection up-close.


Hortlak Janissaries


The Janissaries’ sneaky baby brother, the Hortlak Janissaries bring an interesting tradeoff. On the face of it they lose a bit of durability (NWI + Bioimmunity vs. straight 2 wounds, as well as dropping ARM and PH), but they do have Mimetism which makes them generally better gunfighters. When coupled with their MSV 1, Hortlak Janissaries are also great at countering enemy modifiers, allowing you to stack the odds more in your favor and helping win more gunfights with opposing models.

The other nice quirk Hortlak Janissaries have is that they have Stealth, which can let them avoid enemy hacking in the active turn and help your durable pieces secure key areas of the table. This makes Hortlaks interesting as both linked and solo models, and in fact Hortlaks link interchangeably with Janissaries to result in a versatile team that can tackle a variety of different problems.

Hortlak Janissary, SMG, Blitzen (28/0) – A nice cheap heavy infantry option, this profile is useful to keep the costs of the link down while providing you with both long ranged AROs (Blitzen) and short ranged point defense (SMG). These are often a good idea then if you are taking the full Core team, but I could see a case for running this guy on his own as a bargain-basement combatant that can skirmish in the midfield and hard-counter enemy scoring models.

Hortlak Janissary, SMG, Blitzen, Chain of Command (33/0) – Only a few points more than the base loadout, Ramah’s second Chain of Command option is a touch pricier than the Khawarij, but actually keeps the cost of the Janissary link down and is fairly durable while bringing a specialist option to the table. A good choice if you think your Lt might be in danger, but otherwise everything mentioned about the base loadout is equally true here.

Hortlak Janissary, Sniper (36/0.5) – A great long-range piece, the Hortlak Janissary sniper in a link combines BS 16, B2, Mimetism and MSV1 to provide a scary defensive setup all without breaking the bank. The fact that this reactive piece has (functionally) 2 wounds makes it an attractive alternative vs. many of the other linked AROs in Ramah. In the link, it works great in tandem with the Janissary Missile in the core to keep the SWC costs down vs running a pair of regular Janissary heavy weapons, so you’ll want to at least consider this in any Janissary build.


Al Fasid


Ramah’s other durable HI option, the Al Fasid focuses more on being an individual powerhouse than operating in a link, making it perhaps the better option if you’re looking for traditional durability but don’t want to shell out for a full Core of Janissaries or a Maghariba Guard. Compared to the Janissaries, the Al Fasid is a bigger base, +1 ARM, +3 BTS, but he does move slower at a paltry 4-2 and will have to often rely on his own base stats to carry the day without the option to be in a team.

The Al Fasid also has a number of other benefits to justify his price increase vs. the Jannissaries, in that he’s ditched religious and picked up Veteran L1 (good to avoid Isolation/Loss of Lt) and Sixth Sense L1 (good to avoid close range surprises, and to allow him to delay AROs vs. folks in 8”). The latter is particularly interesting when we consider the fact that he also has Minelayer, allowing the Al Fasid to keep folks at arms distance, and then if they do get close, choose between dropping a mine or clocking them with the heavy pistol depending on situation.

Al Fasid, HMG, Smoke + Normal Light Grenade Launcher (53/2) – Personally this is my preferred profile of the two loadouts, as Ramah is somewhat short on Smoke options, and even if this is the most expensive of the 3, it has the highest base BS and is definitely the hardest to get rid of. The pricetag is very hefty for this choice, but overall the model does bring a lot of flexibility to the table with spec fire, smoke, mines, and of course a solid beatstick of a gun. Definitely not for every list given the cost, but I wouldn’t say it’s utter garbage either, and I could see this having uses in certain missions, particularly where folks are forced to cluster up (e.g. Armory).

Al Fasid, SMG, Heavy Rocket Launcher (45/2) – A fair bit cheaper, this loadout works as a decent ARO piece that can go into suppression with the SMG and then resort to using the HRL in case somebody tries to whack him from a distance. The problem here is ultimately the cost – Ramah has a lot of choices that left this guy behind around 10 points ago, and fundamentally the weapon choices don’t lend themselves all that well to a model that can’t be in a link. Certainly a situational piece.


Maghariba Guard


Ramah’s TAG option, and jeez this is a big one. Enormous base (and Heavyweight!) aside, the Maghariba Guard is on the face of it fairly similar to the Squalo, Lizard and Guijia options of the other major powers, shaving off a few points to help compensate for the fact that, well, it’s really big! Ultimately this is something of a two-edged sword, because on the one hand you are very difficult to hide, but it also makes getting a good angle on somebody on the active turn that much easier, particularly when you are coming out wide around a corner and still maintaining 1/3 behind cover (!).

In Ramah, the Maghariba actually has a couple of unique profiles (below) and also links nicely with the Rafiq (or Leila), letting you drag a specialist around the table and helping provide close range protection against the kinds of models that can make taking a TAG a risky prospect.

Maghariba, Multi HMG, Heavy Flamer (78/2) – The cheaper option, and probably the preferred path if you’re trying to take the TAG in your list while keeping the costs as low as possible. Whether you pick this or the Mine Dispenser/360 Visor profile below is going to come down to a bit of personal preference, but I’d tend to lean towards the latter to maximize your investment. YMMV.

Maghariba, Multi HMG, 2x Heavy Pistol (79/2) – Exactly the same as the above profile, with Heavy Pistols instead of the Heavy Flamer. The tradeoff here comes down to whether you prefer having a scary template weapon or the desire to still F2F opponents within 8”, which in many ways comes down to the threats you expect your TAG to face.

Maghariba, Multi HMG, Heavy Flamer, 360 Visor (98/2) – SKIP IT. For literally 1 pt more, you get a Mine Dispenser and an extra point defense weapon thanks to playing Ramah. Don’t argue, find the 1pt.

Maghariba, Multi HMG, 2x Heavy Flamer, Mine Dispenser 360 Visor (99/2) –Ramah’s version of the Maggie takes the 360 loadout and straps on a second (!) Heavy Flamer and a Mine Dispenser for… +1 pt? Okay CB we get it, you’d like us to play this option. Unless you are desperate to save points, this (or the option) below will likely be your default when taking a TAG, and will serve you well as a nice balance between durability, long range power, short range defense and getting a beautiful model on the table.

Maghariba, Multi HMG, 2x Heavy Pistol, Heavy Flamer, Mine Dispenser 360 Visor (99/2) – Exactly the same as above, just with a pair of heavy pistols instead of the 2nd Heavy Flamer. Again, think about how you plan on playing the TAG given your scenarios, and decide which threats you’re most worried about. Interestingly, this doesn’t cost +1 pt for the Pistol upgrade, unlike the normal TAG? Okay…


Najjarun Engineers


The standard line troop engineer, who works much like every other faction’s bog standard choice with the exception of the underslung shotgun and the WIP 14 in exchange for costing 17 points. Honestly I haven’t really had much love for this profile, as the price tag is fairly substantial given the steep competition on the Ghulam front, and Haqqislam isn’t necessarily full of combat remotes that need constant repair to justify the price tag.

The other issue of course is the wonderful Monstrucker (below) who gains quite a lot in terms of versatility and being cheaper at the cost of being irregular. However, being Irregular isn’t much of a drawback if you’re fixing things, and if you’re not fixing things, why take an engineer really? Really the Najjarun ends up in the ‘very corner case’ category for very specific builds (e.g. perhaps Highly Classified, single group lists, where the Irregular on the Monstrucker is a liability?).


Monstruckers


One of the few irregular troops in Ramah, the Monstrucker has comparable stats to most line-trooper engineers, but compensates his training status with a whole host of interesting equipment. As well as being an engineer, the Monstrucker has Climbing Plus – again, cementing Ramah’s mobility advantage, and allowing you babysit your remotes on taller buildings (especially TR/Flash Pulse bots on overwatch) and then climb down again after they inevitably die to be relevant in the late game.

Monstrucker Boarding Shotgun, Adhesive Launcher, E/M Grenade (18/0) – This model has a lot of kit for taking on bigger targets, bringing out no less than two ways to shut down a big nasty and a shotgun to finish it off afterwards. The only issues are that both the BS and PH are nothing special here (11/12 respectively) and the cost is rather steep for an irregular model.

Monstrucker SMG, Chain Rifle, Drop Bears (13/0) – This is where it’s at! Tied with the Ghulam FO as the 2nd cheapest specialist, this loadout is fantastic for giving you both Drop Bears (thrown mines) as an otherwise rare example of board control, a Chain Rifle for backfield defense vs. assassins/airborne, and a SMG to suppress with (which, given that he’s irregular, is a good idea if you’ve got nothing else to do). I take one in every 2-group list, and given the lack of warbands and board control in Ramah, it’s often no bad thing to run a second (AVA 2).

Monstrucker Rifle + Light Shotgun, Akrylat Kanone, D-Charges, 360 Visor (18/0) – Well okay. Rifles and Light Shotguns are everywhere in Ramah, and while the 360 is nice to provide some backfield defense (esp. in suppression), you can often focus on better deployment for a piece like this and cover things just fine. To me, you have to really love the AK to bring this model, as otherwise going for the Najjarun to get +1 WIP and a regular order for 1 point less is more appealing.


Warcor


Well the Warcor is just the same as the one everybody else gets – our favorite 3 point flash pulse ARO, alert/discover bot, and minefield clearance tool. In Ramah the warcor is nice in 2 group lists because you aren’t exactly swimming in cheap warband options that compete for the points bracket, you will almost always have room, and very often your doctors are either linked or deploying via AD/Hidden Deploy that makes the Nasmats less useful. It’s nice to bump up the ARO presence of your list, and having an extra irregular to convert for a last bit of aggression or to retreat to safety wins games.


Remotes

Ramah gets access to a lot of the same remotes as everybody else, with the usual complements of Flash Pulse bots, Baggage Bots, TR bots etc. So I’ll cover these largely in one section and focus primarily on the differences and roles here as there’s little need to reinvent the wheel. In general, as with most factions, the 8 point bots are solid as cheap order fuel, which is especially true given the lack of cheap warbands and slightly pricier line troops. While the Kameel is nice to put points in a zone, it’s really the AVA 3 Fanous (Flash Pulse bot) and AVA 2 Shihab (TR bot) that standout here, as Ramah likes having ARO presence to gain back a bit of board control, and the latter especially pair nicely with a Monstrucker buddy to guard your backfield against encroaching threats.

The one option that does warrant some extra consideration is the Rafiq, which as Haqqislam players know, comes with a Rifle + Light Shotgun vs. the combi in other factions. In Ramah, this is also supplemented nicely with the fireteam duo option (allowing it to form a Fireteam with the Maghariba Guard and follow it around for scoring, sensor, and point defense duties). Finally, the duo version can also swap the Rifle + Light Shotgun for a Red Fury (22/0.5) which is particularly welcome in Haqq given the lack of more traditional ‘attack’ remotes (Bulleteer, Rui Shi, Tsyklon etc.) and represents a nice effective way to get cheap firepower in the list (esp. if you have a normal Hacker for assisted fire).

The remaining options (EVO, Smart Missile, and TR Rifle bot) are all highly situational pieces that largely require very specific builds to take advantage of them. There isn’t much particularly of note for Ramah here as they’re largely pretty standard, though I will note that the duo with the Al Fasid on the Smart Missile is likely worth skipping due to a lack of any real synergy or purpose.


Carmen


The only true warband of Ramah, Carmen is in many ways a Kum Biker that picked up a lot more melee punch, Scavenger and an Antipode w Dogged (aka also good in melee, and lovely Sensor) for a few extra points. As one of the few sources of smoke in the sectorial (and the only one that doesn’t cost SWC), Carmen is always going to have a place in the faction, and she can really push that mobility edge and provide melee punch (great for things like Predator classified) without breaking the bank.

Just like she is in TAK, Carmen is really just a missile – she’s ARM 1, can’t take cover, has a large base and is Dogged, so don’t expect her to survive long. Use her to put down a smoke screen, maybe Sensor something along your route, and go punch something meaningful before she explodes in a giant fireball. The difference in Ramah is that she has far less competition with other choices, and remember that with the prevalence of high quality doctors everywhere, Dogged is less of the automatic choice. If you can punch something, die, get healed up and then rinse/repeat, well, so much the better

 

List building and Strategy


Alright so now we’ve done a rundown of each of the units in Ramah, it’s time we looked at how they fit together in terms of an overall strategy. Now this is important because knowing what models can do will only get you so far if you don’t understand how they fit together within the context of a list.

Moreover, as some online commentators have noted, it’s also important that we consider the weaknesses of many choices. Now unless the unit is inherently flawed** (e.g. Zhayedans) or specific loadouts are suboptimal (e.g. often things like base profiles when specialist choices are available), weak choices in Infinity tend to boil down to being ‘highly situational’.

**Normally, this means models that are only valuable in very specific list builds, but this can also cover cases where units have abilities or skills that they pay for which are rarely used or unreliable.

As a result, most of the time when we’re considering a model and whether something is ‘strong’ or a ‘good choice’ for a list, most of time this is framed within the context of ITS scenarios. For instance, certain specialist options go way up in stock in things like Highly Classified. Chain of Command might end up being more of a scoring liability in Decapitation. D-Charges and anti-material melee attacks become more important in things like Looting and Sabotaging or The Grid. You get the idea.

So, the important thing to take away from this is to start with what you need for mission first, and consider the below with a grain of salt, as the list you construct might need an adjustment based on the missions that you’re playing.

To get us stared though, let’s consider something of a core setup that will form a nice ‘baseline’ from which you can tweak your Ramah build according to what you’re trying to accomplish. Note that this is ‘my’ baseline and is working on the basis of a standard 2-group list (we’ll get to Limited Insertion), so in no way is this prescriptive, but you might find it helpful as a place to get started from:


1 Naffatun (Lieutenant)
1 Ghulam (NCO)
1 Leila
1 Monstrucker (SMG)
3 Fanous

Why these choices? Well to start off with, this has all the makings of a legal list (Lt, Hacker to get Remotes) and starts with some nice low-cost choices that help us get both orders and utility on the table. Right away, you can see we have:

- A solid defensive Lt, who can hide in a link or be off by themselves prone somewhere.
- Valuable smoke that can make use of the Lt order without giving you away, and even move the link using that order via NCO.
- A cheap killer hacker to be a specialist, fight potential hackers, unlock REMs, and likely form a Wildcard with whatever link we choose.
- A Monstrucker to help us to get board control, give us a low-cost specialist, and defend the backfield from Impersonators, Airborne and the like.
- 3 flash pulse bots to both provide orders and AROs. The latter in particular is important – as noted, Ramah is lighter on ARO potential given the absence of cheap skirmishers and warbands, so Flash Pulse bots patch this over nicely while still providing us with regular orders, and we can hack through them as needed.

Not bad, and with only (85/1) spent and already 6 regular (and one irregular) orders ready to go. You might notice I didn’t include a Doctor, and this is largely due to the fact that there are so… many…. Doctors in Ramah. One way or another, you’re almost certainly going to have a doctor in the list (often, 2 of them) which means the particular choices you opt for depend more on the rest of the complete build as a whole, rather than forming part of the baseline.

From here, we can start to think about our link options. Depending on the direction we want to go in, we already have at least 3 members of the mixed Ghulam/Naffatun/Khawarij link, and even if we did want to go with Janissaries, Leila is already in the list to make that happen.


Let’s consider a couple of modules options to expand the setup.

1-3 Khawarij (HRL, Spitfire or Mk12)
1-3 Ghulam (Doctor, Sniper, HMG, or Missile).
0-2-Naffatun (Light or Heavy Flamer)
0-1 Namurr (Spitfire)

This is a good place to start:

- Khawarijs give you good, mobile firepower that can be focused more on defense and long range (HRL, Shotgun for close quarters) or offense and closing the gap (Spitfire/MK 12). If you want more offensive potential and want to invest more in this link, 2-3 is definitely a workable option.
- Ghulams can get you either budget firepower to fill out the link and keep it cheap (useful if trying to focus on expensive, order intensive things like a TAG, a pricey Haris (e.g. Mukhtars), or pricey solo models (e.g. Nahab, Tuareg, Hakims, or even the Namurr).
- An extra Naffatun or two, which is often a good way to get yourself a Decoy Lt, fill out the link and order pool with a cheap body, and get a close range surprise in the team.
- Finally, the Namurr is good to combine a heavy weapon and a Specialist with some close range weapon flexibility, but she is pricier than the rest of the team, so often it comes to cost. This tends to be more popular in active turn links that will be moving up the table, otherwise she often feels like dead-weight when stuck in the backfield.


But if we wanted to go with more of the Janissary route:

1-2 Hortlak Janissaries (SMG, SMG CoC, Sniper)
1 Janissary (Doctor)
1-2 Janissary (HMG or Missile)
0-1 Janissary (Tinbot)
0-1 Janissary (Lieutenant)
0-1 Namurr (Spitfire)

This gives us a lot of different choices, depending on the mission:

- Hortlaks keep the cost low, as they tend to be cheaper than their big brothers. If its pure cost-cutting than the SMGs are nice. The Sniper excels in more of an ARO role for the unit, and pairs especially well with the Missile Launcher Janissary. Finally, the CoC is a good inclusion if you have an aggressive Lt option.
- I’d always take a Janissary Doctor. It’s a very useful specialist to have in the link, and the combination of the AP Rifle + Light Shotgun gives you solid close range firepower which allows you to focus on different weapon types. YMMV though if you feel you have sufficient doctor potential elsewhere.
- The HMG and Missile give you good long-range options, with the former being good for active duty and the latter for ARO. Personally, I stick to just one as they cost a lot of SWC (2 each), and look at the Namurr (below) or Hortlak (above) if I want a second heavy weapon.
- The Tinbot keeps you safe from hacking and keeps the costs low. Good if moving upfield, but likely more skippable if you think you won’t be needing the protection or have just filled up the link with other more essential options.
- The Lt is solid for missions that reward hunting the Lt down (Decap, Firefight, Hunting Party) so you have some durability, or if you face a lot of assassin pieces/AD.
- Again, the Namurr gives you the combo of a heavy weapon, a specialist, mobility, and flexibility, but she definitely bumps the cost of the link and will usually want to be in a more mobile core.

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At this stage, it’s probably helpful if we have an aside to talk about Tariq. A lot of players look at him as very much the ‘poster-child’ of Ramah, and it’s often been asked if the fact that he is both so powerful (Fatality Lvl 2 on a linked BS 13 Spitfire…) and so flexible (given his Wildcard status) that he should form a part of every list. Honestly, the short answer is no – while he is no doubt effective, Tariq is both expensive (53-59 points) and yet still relatively fragile (2 wounds, ARM 3), which combines to make a model that your game often revolves around.

For instance, as the active player, you are often working to get the most out of him by having him kill as much as possible and avoiding dying in the process, while your opponents works to take him out as quickly as possible. In some missions that focus largely on killing and dealing damage, that will play very much to your advantage, and he will likely be worth considering at the very least.

In others that reward button pushing, specialist actions, or other order-intensive activities, taking him can often be a liability, as he’s a large chunk of points devoted to a task that the missions may not directly reward. This can often be compounded if you’re putting him as a Wildcard member in a link that is already expensive (Janissaries, mostly Khawarij fireteams, Zhayedans etc.).

In many ways, the Maghariba Guard (especially 2 of them!) is much the same – they are relatively durable and certainly hard hitting pieces that you will absolutely want to build the list around. Particularly this means making sure you have the usual TAG support, like a Killer Hacker, Engineer, and point defense templates (mines, chain rifles etc.) to make sure they don’t get locked-down, disabled, or otherwise made useless. Fortunately for us – many of those choices are already in the baseline!


Let’s look at two more key link setups in Ramah:

1 Mukhtar (Haris)
1-2 Mukhtar (MSV2 Red Fury)
0-1 Mukhtar (Hacker, Doctor, FO)

This is one of Ramah’s powerhouse units, and the Mukhtars will make many lists due to their excellent flexibility – fast, good shooting, semi durable, and even scoring if you want it.

- The Haris model is essential to take the 3-man team and brings you excellent firepower in the form of both the Viral Rifle and the twin Nanopulsers.
- The Red Fury gives you a source of MSV2 for both hunting negative modifiers and shooting through Smoke. This is an excellent gunfighter, and I mention even bringing two of them in case you even wanted a second one (they’re often still very effective on their own).
- Finally, a specialist of choice brings scoring to the link while either opening up your attack options against harder targets (Hacker), healing and boosting short-range capabilities (Doctor) or simply keeping costs down and still having an effective combatant with a Flash Pulse ARO (FO). Dealers choice here, with the Doc usually being my preferred option. Otherwise, you can have Leila or Tariq fill the team.

I’m not really going to go much into Zhayedans too much here, as a lot of what I’ve got to say about them has been covered in their specific section. Suffice it to say, if you ARE determined to make use of them, your core will probably want to focus on a couple of heavy weapons (Snipers, Missile, HMG), a Doctor for healing duties, the Breaker Rifle model for close range defense, and Leila to keep the costs down and get another specialist.


Now that we’ve got our links covered, let’s start to look at some of Ramah’s powerful solo pieces that form the core of the mobility options in the sectorial:

0-2 Tuaregs (Doctor or Hacker)
0-2 Nahabs (KHD, Red Fury, or situationally the Shotgun)
0-1 Hakims (SMG)

All of these choices help you to control the midfield and the pace of battle, as well as give you options to get around and behind the enemy or grab objectives in certain scenarios:

- Tuaregs are pricey and a little fragile, but these are excellent choices to get both mines and high-quality midfield specialists in a list that’s looking for traditional infiltrating skirmisher models. These tend to be excellent in certain objective-based scenarios like Supplies or Tic-Tac-Toe, but can be valuable even in more combat-oriented missions too due to their weapons and camo.
- Nahabs are incredibly flexible for most ITS missions, as they can choose between Infiltration or AD based on the scenario/board, allowing them to focus on killing the enemy, scoring, or troubleshooting as they see fit. In missions like Power Pack or Firefight then can even come on the enemy back-edge, and They’re also a stellar melee option for things like the Predator Classified or missions like Looting and Sabotaging or the Grid.
- Hakims give you a reliable doctor option and an AD choice without breaking the bank, and they tend to make a very solid ‘second skirmisher’ purchase if you already have a Nahab or Tuareg in the list so they can support them in their role.


Finally, there are a few odds and ends we can use to supplement the list:

0-2 Kameels
0-1 Warcor
0-2 Shihab
0-1 Rafiq
0-1 Carmen
These tend to represent choices that you are using to fill out the build, perhaps because you simply have spare points left, you are looking to get utility in the list, or because you are trying to patch over a weakness that you have (extra orders, extra scoring, extra AROs, extra smoke/melee):

- Kameels bring you valuable additional orders, and their stock seriously goes up in any missions that reward putting points in a zone due to the baggage rule. In tournaments (especially over the course of 4-5 games), Kameels can also form excellent tiebreakers by bumping up your VP, which tends to be very valuable in larger events.
- The Warcor tends to need little introduction but is a great filler for spare points as well as a way to get another flash pulse in the list to supplement your AROs.
- The Shihab is often a staple for many Ramah players to both cement your ARO advantage, give your Monstrucker something to babysit (as the two synergize very, very nicely together) and even supplement your long-range firepower in a pinch. I usually have one in every list, but I know some players aren’t a fan.
- The Rafiq is a great choice to boost your scoring flexibility, and indeed this is a good choice to get you a Sensor for dealing with enemy camo, triangulated fire to help you get models out of melee, and fast-moving specialist for missions that reward them like Supplies. FO bots are one of the more flexible models in Infinity, so it’s hard to argue with their inclusion in many builds.
- Lastly, Carmen is a solid choice if you’re looking for another source of smoke, and the combo of her low-ish cost, mobility and hard-hitting melee power is a good choice for certain missions (e.g. Looting and Sabotaging), although she won’t make every list due to her fragility.

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But before we wrap it up, let’s have a small section (as promised) on limited insertion or single group setups. While these aren’t necessarily my preferred way to play Infinity and I tend to have less experience in running them, in many ways the principle is much the same. Obviously, you will likely start off by skipping over the Flash Pulse bots, and indeed it might be better to take the above approach in a different order.

For instance, if you’re building a single group list, I would start off by focusing on your link (or TAG), then make sure you have your Lt, usual essentials like Leila and a source of Smoke, and then finally look at powerful solo pieces to fill out the group.

As you can see here, I’ve tried to go over some of the basic ways you can start to string some of these models together without going into the process of ‘net-decking’ or exhaustively trying to cover every possible combination or useful piece that’s out there. Remember that just because a piece isn’t covered in one of the main ‘stages’ above doesn’t mean it isn’t useful or doesn’t have a place at all, it just means that you will likely be reaching for it in a more specific setup that require different choices.

 

Conclusion


In summation, Ramah is a very diverse faction that might be a little on the tricky side for newer players, but it can be immensely rewarding. Focus on learning the full suite of abilities you have at your disposal, as having such a huge range of tools will do you no good if you don’t make the best use out of the right choices in the right situation.

In particular, many of Ramah’s choices are expensive (30 points range) and only modestly durable (ARM 1-3, with some NWI+immunity rather than full 2 wounds), so you’ll want to focus on hitting hard on the active turn and making the best use of the mobility, weapons, and skills at your disposal to stack fights in your favor. Successful usage of Ramah requires careful, deliberate, and thoughtful moves, but if you focus on your strengths and getting the most out of your abilities, I think it’s both challenging, fun, and rewarding to play.

I’ve already gone over a lot of ground at this point, but I think its helpful at the end here to open the more general discussion up to the community. What are some of the pieces you’ve had success with? What links do you typically run? Which choices surprised you?

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Edits


Reserving this space for any necessary edits, corrections and so on that may arise after publication of this guide.

 

I'm glad you liked it sir! Just had a chance to finally update today the section on list-building and strategy, which concludes the work I wanted to do on putting this together :)

 

So while Leila can cybermask, so can every Killer Hacker - it seemed a bit redundant to mention it really given it's not really particular to her profile.

If we're considering this in her context more specifically, being highly linkable makes it a bit more tricky to utilize, but it certainly becomes a bit more of a consideration if you have her stationed to re-enforce a core link for example, or after link teams get depleted.

And yes indeed, the Nahab finally shows itself! I think the female model just needs a bit of an arm adjustment and it should be good to go. Color me excited really, because I thought we'd end up with just a single blister and got all 3 sculpts in a single swoop.

 

Hey that's not what I meant by that buddy :) - I wasn't saying that the feedback and commentary wasn't welcome at all by any means, I was simply noting why I didn't include it in the entry.

Thank you for pointing it out, as yes I agree that it is a valuable play for her if you have the spare order and/or want to keep her a little safer.

 

Sadly I havent had a chance to play her as much as I'd like to, but yes the primer on TAGs is a solid place to start for more general TAG options.

More than any other TAG in the game, deploying her is going to be crucial due to that huge base. Yes you can mantle over a whole slew of smaller things, but you don't want to find yourself boxed in by narrow terrain or completely unable to get partial/total cover by having her setup in the wrong spot.I think literally every tourney I've been to, I've overheard one of the players taking her saying that's amusingly what cost them the game.

After shes deployed, at that point, she's in many ways like the typical Multi HMG + Heavy Flamer/Heavy Pistol type TAG chassis in that their role is to sweep the table of anything they can see during the active turn (particularly if it means freeing up objectives for your button pushers to go meddle with) and then finding a good spot to leave her in the reactive turn that maximizes the distance between her and various dangerous melee threats, ADHL, hacking etc.

If you have the order, suppressing is particularly useful (and more so on the 360 version) but not always mandatory - rememeber, you have the EXP ARO and valuable templates still, and it's often easy to get a TAG out of suppression if you have to.

If you do spring for the mine dispenser variant, this is a great way to keep her safe in conjunction with things like Naffatun flamers, KHD support and so on. Mines will make approaching her with a Jammer, AHD or Antipodes that much more tricky, and shores up a bit of a Ramah weakness nicely due to the lack of cheap camo infiltrators. Just be wary of dumping too many orders into that, and not enough into killing stuff or completing the mission, and make sure your list at least HAS a baggage bot for the option to reload.

The one thing I really love about her is the ability to 'lean' around a corner. Being only 1/3 behind scenery to get cover means that big base can get some serious width around a corner, granting you some truly fantastic angles to attack with.

Ill aim to get some more table time with her after a tourney this weekend (missions don't suit her) and let you know how it goes :)