In other threads, I've been a big advocate for the Taqeul Officers. In my opinion they are, far and away, the best Lieutenant option we've got in N4. Going forward, I'm going to try and explain why, while also comparing them to the other Lieutenant we have. Before I start, however, I'd like to point out that I am a rather competitive person by nature, which is why I will look at these units from a competitive point of view, which is why some of my verdicts on units will be rather bad. While you are free to disagree with me, please keep that in mind when arguing for/against certain points. Taqeul Officers While they are slightly above average gun fighters for our faction, with good loadouts to choose from, Taqeuls are pretty expensive for what they can offer in a straight shootout. WIP14 is as good as it gets and +1 CT/Order can be really clutch in some games (although the +1 CT option is far superior imo). What really makes the Taqeul so strong, however, is the insane amount of board control they provide. If you are playing Infinity for a while, you'll have noticed at some point that most of the time, games revolve around certain points or areas that have to be controlled. While there are obvious missions like The Armory, Supremacy or Quadrant Control, many other missions aren't that different when it comes to defense. Whether you're protecting your HVT in Unmasking, your tech coffins in Supplies or your AC2 in Looting and Sabotaging, in order to.do that, you have to be able to control the zone around them and that's where Taqeuls thrive thanks to an unlimited amount of Pheroware. Endgame will make your opponents think twice before entering the Taqeuls Zone of Control, which means they will think twice before getting close to the objective the Taqeul is protecting. Mirrorball on the other hand can make sure you can position correctly, although most of the time a linked Makaul can do that as well, but more efficiently. However, Mirrorball is also an ARO which you can use targetless without LoF, meaning you can litter the field with eclipse templates whenever somebody tries to sneak past on the other side of a building or wall, covering whatever you think should be protected by puff of smoke. I usually do that when somebody tries to get close with a REM, as Endgame can't target units with STR. I'd want a Taqeul in almost all of my lists ever since they got their shiny new N4 upgrade, and since they also have exceptional Lieutenant skills, I might as well take them as the leader of my forces. Note, however, that Taqeuls should not be the back bone of your offensive. Make sure you have a better shooty unit in your list for that. So let's compare them with the other options we have: Neema Saatar Neema is our only WIP15 +1CT/Order Lieutenant and as an HI a lot more durable than the Taqeul. She also has the same shootout capabilities as Taqeuls, which is, as I stated before, just above mediocre. She will lose shootouts just as much as the Taqeul while providing non of their zone control. If an expensive unit does not bring many (or any) defensive capabilities, it has to have an offensive use in order to be worth bringing it. However, we have more capable gun fighters than Neema who are not susceptible to hacking (namely Draals, Sukeuls and with the abundance of Mimitism these days often even Gao-Raels). I honestly don't see much use for Neema other than bringing a cool unit. I really love her model. Maybe if you want to use 7 SWC? Ectros The Ectros Lieutenant is worse than Neema while more expensive. I never wasted a thought on using it. Sukeul Commandos Before the rise of the Taqeul, the Sukeul Forward Observer was the best Lieutenant Tohaa had to offer, and it's still a pretty good option, especially when the mission revolves around doing classified objectives. She's one of our best gun fighters and can, in theory, fulfill 12 of the 20 classified objectives, which is as good as it gets for Tohaa. I still consider her as a Lieutnant in missions like Highly Classified and Countermeasures, although you can just take her without being a lieutenant and use the Taqeul to prevent the opponent from scoring. The Sukeul FO, however, makes a strong second place as lieutenant options. Rasail Boarding Team I used to like this unit a lot, and frequently used it as a lieutenant in alpha strike lists, however, I don't think the Rasail as a unit is in a tough spot right now. There are just too many units out there the Rasail can't deal with, and Nanoscreen is less useful as it was. There's just not much use for equipment that grants cover when you.can also just touch the nearest trashcan. If I felt like the Rasail could compete on the battlefield, I'd use them as a Lieutenant whenever I'd field them, as they are pretty much our only option to effectively use the lieutenant order. Kamael Light Infantry It's a fine Lieutenant if you want to hide it. I used to field it whenever I didn't use a Rasail or a Sukeul LT. Sakiel Regiment The Sakiel Lieutenant is too expensive to hide the whole game and too weak of a unit to use as a durable lieutenant. I don't see much use for it and would rather invest some more points for a better leader or save 11 points to take a Kamael. Gao-Rael There are only two Gao-Rael loadouts worth mentioning and none of them has a Combi Rifle or the Lieutenant skill. And that's about it, Tohaa has some decent lieutenant options, but aside from the Taqeul and Neema, it really comes down to the units effectiveness and whether it can make use of the lieutenant order. +1 Order vs. +1 Command Token When it comes to loadouts, I always find myself taking the extra Command Token over the order. The reason for that is that the Taqeul, now having Fireteam:Triad, can't really make use of the extra order without breaking the link team, which I really don't like when there's only so many Command Tokens to use. I know that there is an NCO Ectros loadout now and I tested it. It's a really expensive backable unit with mediocre gunfighting capabilities and low armor. For me, Ectros are just not efficient or strong enough to use, even with NCO. Wrap-up The immense defensive capabilities combined with good lieutenant skills make the Taqeul Officers one if the best units in N4 Tohaa, and far and away their best lieutenant. Please, feel free to share your opinion on any of the units listet above or my take on them. Have you had any experiences with the Taqeul so far? Edit: Wrong WIP for Neema corrected.
Quick note but Neema is actually WIP 15, not 14, which makes her the highest WIP LT available to Tohaa. Taquels are very nice though, certainly much improved from N3, and killing entire squads from outside LoF feels like cheating sometimes.
I agree with most of your explanations, I came to the conclusion that it was the best bet as a lieutenant since, in case you want to play Taqeul, if he is a lieutenant, you can save a few points and balance your list better I take advantage of command tokens very well by making coordinates or redoing triads, which is compensated very well if you want to use your own lieutenant order for Endgame, I'm one of those who always run out of Command Token, so extra one are always welcome! Or, use the 2 lt orders to do whatever you want ^^
The discount on the Rasail viral combi especially I think keeps it an attractive option (it pays like half as much to swap out it's combi as any other model and viral is a great munition) but the taqeul has massive chops. Given how close they are points wise I'm going to try a few games with my Rasail list but swapping her out for an unlinked Taqeul +1 order. It doesn't need a link for its pheroware and those two orders seems pretty massive even if it just drops smoke. (Have played it once already and it just hid all game and didn't die but the scenario was decapitation so that's ok. Have a few more games lined up in the next couple days; will play it more actively in those).
I use Taquel +1 order (viral or spit) with Hatail (k1) and makaul. Multitools for any mission, and perfect secondary offensive triad (after sukeul+makaul+specialist). They start in triad to move on positions and after can perferm solo. Hatail use cybermask to live. Taquel throw smoke or kill somebode or move on the roof or better position. Makaul can perform free impetious next turn etc. With sensor and endgame we domitate middle field, can kill hackers with trirnity (better chance than endgame) also can kill any model with our tools (camo or odd or LI - sensor+endgame, tag or HI - with k1, bots and snipers - drop eclipse and moove).
That is indeed a good triad, i am trying the same those days, but with Taqeul Combi (+1 Token) 33pts, to cheap itself and invest in other units
Managed to get five games in over the weekend including a couple with the +1 Order Taqueul lieutenant unlinked in group two. Super dig it. Great utility and a really nice way to hit old-school order counts. I mostly used her for laying smoke for other troops to advance (super convenient to drop those templates centered anywhere in ZOC) but also one game she endgame'd a Libertos that was giving me grief to dogged state then dropped smoke on its head so I could ignore it until it bled out. Weird and rankles not running her in a triad but overall I like it. Will definitely play some more. (Bonus: won a game with a Gorgos off the back of the pilot still being worth 67pts. Rad.)
I am new to tohaa and really interested in the lists you played, especially the one with Gorgos. Could you guys maybe post some?
This is my current Gorgos list, although I'm experimenting with some variations: High Impact Sexual Dimorphism ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 9 2 3 GORGOS AP Spitfire, Flammenspeer, Pulzar / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon. (1.5 | 71) CHAKSA PERIPHERAL B Pulzar, E/M Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (- | 4) SUKEUL Heavy Machine Gun, D-Charges / Pistol, Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1.5 | 34) SUKEUL (Lieutenant, Forward Observer) K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges, Flash Pulse ( | Deployable Repeater) / Pistol, Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (0 | 32) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Contender, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon. (0 | 13) KAELTAR Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse, SymbioBomb ( | SymbioMate) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 15) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Contender, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon. (0 | 13) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Contender, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon. (0 | 13) LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 8) CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Sensor, Baggage) Heavy Flamethrower(+1 Dam) ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 10) CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Sensor, Baggage) Heavy Flamethrower(+1 Dam) ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 10) GROUP 2 4 1 1 DIPLOMATIC (CC Attack [-3], Specialist Operative]) Nanopulser, Flash Pulse, Pheroware Tactics: Eraser / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 5) KAAURI Sentinel Submachine Gun, Nanopulser(+1B), E/M Mines / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 12) SUKEUL K1 Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1.5 | 30) KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse, SymbioBomb ( | SymbioMate) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 21) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Contender, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon. (0 | 13) 6 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Really interested in K1 Sukeul. Do you think it's needed to counter armour? Also... I dig the name of your list. Edit: OK. After some mathhammering, it's MUCH better against TAGs and HI than Nikoul. What a time to be alive...
Here's my 10-list :) ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 1 2 TAQEUL (Lieutenant [+1 Order]) Viral Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Pheroware Tactics: Endgame, Pheroware Tactics: Mirrorball / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 41) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Contender, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 13) KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse ( | 2x SymbioMate) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 28) SUKEUL Heavy Machine Gun, D-Charges / Pistol, Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1.5 | 34) KAELTAR Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse, SymbioBomb ( | SymbioMate) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 15) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Contender, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 13) GORGOS AP Spitfire, Flammenspeer, Pulzar / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon. (1.5 | 74) CHAKSA PERIPHERAL A Light Shotgun, E/M Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (- | 7) IGAO Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Pheroware Tactics: Mirrorball / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0.5 | 28) JAAN STAAR Light Shotgun, Shock Mines / Viral Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1 | 31) SAKIEL Combi Rifle, Light Rocket Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 22) 6 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army
I really dig the Taqueul LT on paper but in my List designs he quite often ends up as CoC to provide his Triad with a WIP14 specialist. Like when doing stuff like like this: gyEFdG9oYWEAgSwCAQoBhRoBkvkAAoKNAQEAA4KNAQEABIMWAYvhAAWCjQEBAAaCjQEBAAeDIQGMHwAIgo0BAQAJgo0BAQAKhPsBBAACBQGDFgGL4AACgs8BAQADgs8BBAAEgpIBAgAFgxcBBAA=
Taquel being our only zero SWC chain of command option is definitely also an attractive niche for them. I've been continuing my experiments with the unlinked LT2 Taquel combi. It's been outstanding every game I've played it in. It hit a true high water mark during a game last week where it killed a hundred and twenty points of models by itself. But even when it just blaps down super flexible ZOC smoke it's felt worth the cost.
Maybe if we keep throwing him into lists CB will cave and finally give us a model. I'd say there's no chance except we DID just get Longarms soooo... maybe? @RobertShepherd which primary weapon choice do you usually take on the LT2? Viral seems spicy with ARM 3, BS 13, 2 wounds and Regen but he's already so pricy...
Just the combi. I'm not ever gunfighitng with her, I'm attacking with Endgame or laying smoke with Mirrorball. I've fired a BS weapon exactly twice in anger in six games with her, and one of those times was to shoot a mine.
In my case, I still use it in a triad, I take advantage of Makaul a lot, although it needs LOF to throw Grenades, there are few cases where I should use Mirrorball instead of Grenades The unit continues to give good results and forces the opponent to make flanking movements, which combines very well with Clipsos In the event that you play Hacker and the Sukeul Combi K1, it also combines very well, the rival is targeted for several ARO's at the same time and is still forced to do "Move + Reset" and that little by little bleeds his orders
You can always use the Viral Combi Rifle if you have some points to spare, but it's not really worth it. With BS13 without any visual modifiers, anything you actually want to shoot at will fall to a regular Combi just as easily. As @RobertShepherd stated, however, the Taqeul doesn't really want to shoot in the first place. I always try hiding them in a place where my opponent can't reach them stealthily, bit can't shoot them from afar, either. It's a real pain to deal with. For the same reason, I usually don't bother giving the Taqeul a Symbiomate, saving at least 7 points when picking Kaeltar loadouts (as I rarely use the double mate Kaeltar anymore). People here seem to have a lot of success with the LT2 loadout. I haven't really thought about using the Taqeul solo before, though it makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it. Especially since I usually break the Triad in ARO at some point because "Shoot" and "Comms Attack Pheroware" are not the same ARO.
Point of order, actually they are. Pheroware is a technical weapon - it functions identically to a jammer. Only 'use symbiobomb' is a different ARO.
Do you have a source for that? I argued about this point quite a lot and asked several Warcors about it, however I've been told that it does break the link just like the use of a hacking program would. :(
