To the heralds of the ancients, To the survivors of Agreda, To the pherocurious, The space elf, The artichoke, The victorious, And to all pending allies of the master race: Welcome to the Tohaa. Tohaa is a faction that is hard to learn, and hard to master. We have a steep learning curve, given the text-heavy rules for fireteams and holoprojectors and camouflage. There is no easy way to learn those things short of reading and playing. However, we can get you oriented in the right direction: Since the closing of the old forum, we need a new general guide to Tohaa tips, tactics, and strategies. The following is a summary of points in the same vein of my previous tacticas and the old forum tacticas, and will be updated with salient points made below. You can find more detailed versions of the following on my blog. What to Buy Maybe you bought the Tohaa starter set, but don't know where to expand. Or maybe you like the Tohaa look, and want to know what's competitive. Or perhaps you know that Tohaa is competitive, but can't get the names straight. In any case, for your first few purchases, I recommend (in order): Tohaa 300-Point Army Pack (the army box appears to be out of production, but you may still find it) Sukeul Commando Blister Gao-Rael Blister Kerail Preceptors Box Rasail Boarding Team Box After that, it's up to you. Most Tohaa units are good, great, or utterly unrivalled. However, there are 2 sets I recommend that you avoid: the Kamael Infantry box, and the Gorgos Squad box. You only need a few Kamaels, and you get 3 in the starter box. And the Gorgos Squad requires a lot of competence and dexterity to use well, and it is the kind of unit that―after seeing it repeatedly die with few results―might burn out a new player. It's worth noting that the female Kamael in the Tohaa Trident starter box is a suitable proxy for Aelis Keesan, if you don't want to split a Dire Foes box. General Strengths and Weaknesses What you're getting in Tohaa are three big things: high mobility, high hit point total, and high damage potential. Tohaa isn't the straight fastest, most armored, or most deadly, but we score high in those three regardless: Our Triad rules and G:Sync rules allow unparalleled movement efficiency for each Order spent. Our cheap Symbiont armor grants nearly-free Wounds to soak up enemy small arms fire. And our Viral Combis, K1 Combis, Heavy Flamethrowers, and HMGs provide a deadly diversity of weapons to counter every army imaginable. We may not have the best tools in Infinity, but we have powerful tools in great number, and in a war of attrition, that's better than the biggest gun in the bag. 101: The Introduction Tohaa is the most synergistic and complementary of Infinity factions. What this means is that traditional "rambo" tactics of piling up Orders behind a few big hitters, in Tohaa, is generally untenable. We can seldom match the big hitters of other factions, pound for pound. Even humble Haqqislam has a greater TAG than ours, and Ariadna has better shooters. Spoiler What you should know about us Tohaa and our Triads is that we excel at a sort of "attack helicopter" approach, zipping in for a barrage, then withdrawing to safety. Our Symbiont Armor grants us extra Wounds, but our low Armor and low Ballistic skill ensures that enemy pressure will pop a Tohaa bubble. The excellent Makaul makes this possible with his Eclipse grenades. He is the "chaff" to the Tohaa's "apache". Eclipse prevents almost every kind of enemy reaction in Infinity. Even a mighty Multispectral Visor L3 cannot see through an Eclipse template. This allows you to reposition a Makaul's triad safely, or occlude a lane so that a lancer like a Kerail or Rasail can make a daring attack (or daring escape). Get him up close and his Heavy Flamethrower and Viral Close Combat can threaten even a Jotum. Just know that Flamethrowering with a Makaul will result in his death, half the time, since the Flamethrower doesn't have a roll and thus other attack rolls may hit unopposed. Sukeuls provide multirole "combat specialists" with their K1 Combi profiles, and direct combatants with their HMG and Missile profiles. Don't waste your time with the K1 Sniper Rifle, it's an overpriced weapon at the moment. If you need to put an enemy model back in your friend's model bag, and a Makaul won't do, the Sukeul can remove it safely. Kaeltars provide insurance against the Loss of Lieutenant state, and provide nice little one-ups to Symbiont soldiers with their cute taara symbiobuddies. "Symbiomates", in particular, gift invulnerability for a single order. It's not without its limits, but it's without equal. I might recommend that you don't use Kaeltars in your first few games, because Kaeltars are just so good, and can encourage you sloppy habits. The Symbiomate rule is so good it's almost guaranteed a nerf in the next book or FAQ. 102: Triad Composition "Triads" are mobile little 3-man teams for which Tohaa is infamous. The Triad rule allows you to mix-and-match any 3 units with the Triad rule together into a team, who get to move and shoot together. Note that they must have the triad rule―Nikouls, Taqeuls, and Kotails aren't allowed. Spoiler You may also find the Kosuil and Sakiel to be mainstays, particularly the Shotgun Kosuil. However, before you go striking out on your own bizarre triads, I recommend you learn to use the big three staples of Tohaa triads: I.T.S. Triad This triad archetype is essential to play in the Infinity Tournament System, which I will cover more in the next chapter. It is the most common triad to see. As a three-armed toolbox, it includes a designated gunner, a cheap specialist troop, and a Makaul for his Eclipse and Flamethrower. It’s entirely feasible to run 300-point Tohaa lists composed exclusively of 5 or 6 ITS triads. Here’s a classic example: SAKIEL Spitfire, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 23) KAMAEL (Paramedic) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13) 1.5 SWC | 50 Points Kill Team This triad archetype is common to deathmatches, direct action missions, or to players who rely on soloists to accomplish objectives, instead of triads. Kill teams are usually supported by cheap Makaul links or Kerails to smoke the kill team's approach and escape. Also doubling well as a "leadership" triad,the kill team can carry a killer lieutenant like a Viral Sakiel, K1 Sukeul, or Neema Saatar herself. There are many variations, but our kill team naturally wants 3 primary weapons that can cover a +3 range from 0-32 inches, without also sacrificing on close-range counterpunch: SUKEUL HMG, D-Charges / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 35) ECTROS Viral Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 43) KOSUIL Engineer Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Panzerfaust / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24) 2 SWC | 102 Points Optimized Support Triad The Optimized Support Triad makes the most of the Gao-Rael Sniper and our newly linkable Kaeltars. This triad is not a small investment, but it’s worth every point. In addition to boosting the Gao-Rael’s Sniper Rifle, it hands out two Symbiobombs and two Symbiomates to your army, protects your orders with the Chain of Command skill. There are few choices in Infinity that I would call “optmizied” in Infinity—the OST is one of them: GAO-RAEL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 31) KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 21) KAELTAR Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioBombs / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15) 1.5 SWC | 67 Points 103: Objective Play You want to have fun, but you also want to win. Especially if you are playing ITS tournaments. Spoiler This means that you will need troops to accomplish objectives. In modern Infinity, that usually means a good DataTracker (like the Rasail, Ectros, or Sukeul) and a few good specialists (like the Sakiel Paramedic, the Sakiel and Sukeul Forward Observers, and Shotgun Kosuil), or a bunch of cheap specialists (like the Kamael Forward Observers and Paramedics, and the Tohaa Diplomatic Delegate). Your bread & butter will usually be 1 Sakiel Paramedic, 1 Clipsos Forward Observer, 1 Kosuil Engineer, and 1 Diplomatic Delegate. If you're heading off for a friendly ITS game and don't know the mission, put one of each of those in your first few lists. The mechanics of achieving most ITS objectives are fundamentally quite simple: move a specialist into base contact with the objective, and succeed a WIP roll. Now, Tohaa does not have extraordinarily high WIP on our specialists, but we do have extraordinarily high order efficiency. And the Makaul's Eclipse grenades makes it safe to work on our objectives in peace. There is also a good rule of thumb to live by. Per 10 order group, stick to this pattern to ensure success: Spend 4 orders going after your mission’s Objectives Spend 3 orders attacking the enemy Spend 2 orders repositioning your forces for subsequent turns Spend 1 order wherever you want The most common way to lose in Infinity is to spend too many orders attacking the enemy. Three orders is plenty per turn to roll dice from your Sukeul. Two orders should be spend preparing for your next turn. One order, at most, should be spent trying to heal wounded Tohaa troops. If your mission isn't to kill the enemy, don't focus on killing the enemy. Remember that you always have the chance to outshoot them in ARO―especially with that Sukeul Triad. 104: Soloists Triads aren't the only Tohaa trick. We have quite a few strong "soloists" who work efficiently alone. That might not sound tempting as our trademark Triad, but a Triad represents more potential loss for a single missile or rocket, and 2 or 3 times the attributes to pay attention to. Our soloists, by contrast, tend to be hyper-streamlined. Spoiler Rather than breaking down every unit individually, I will give my top 5 recommendations for soloists to focus on: Rasail Boarding Teams blew our minds when they were released. Four wounds for less than forty points, means this guy wade through enemy fire, even without a Symbiomate. If the Rasail's Chaksa Peripheral survives the Rasail's attempt to cross the battlefield, the G:Sync rule means that most units will die beneath the double-swathe of flames and gunfire. Rasails make excellent DataTrackers for ITS. For its price, Smoke is Infinity's best equipment. Kerail Preceptors are Tohaa's sole source of Smoke grenades, and for that fact alone, Kerails more valuable than you may imagine. Now, the gun beasts can be profitable, too, but what you want to focus on (for 20 points!) is this other fast G:Sync unit who happens to complement your Gao-Rael team on account of the Gao-Rael being pick off helpless targets through the Smoke with his Multispectral Visor L2. While not the best attacker, Kerail Preceptors are phenomenal harassers. A good DataTracker in pinch. Appearing from nowhere and blinding the enemy with mines, mods, and a humble Combi Rifle, the Clipsos Forward Observer makes it into a cool half of all Tohaa lists. One Clipsos is good enough, but you could take three Clipsos and not miss out on Tohaa options. The TO Camouflage rule is so good and so flexible, it's worth a whole article in coverage. Tiny Kaauri Sentinels are the cheap rearguard of the Tohaa army, sniffing out enemies and unflinching at their attacks. One or two Kaauri make great "speedbumps" in your list. The combination of the lesser Multispectral Visor L1 with the Sixth Sense L2 skill (and very occasionally the Biometric Visor L2) allow the Kaauri to ignore most negative modifiers an enemy like Ariadna can smother a Tohaa triad with. The two I recommend most here are the Submachine Gun profile and the Sniper. Number five is a hard choice to pin, but I will go with the Igao for the rule of cool. The Igao's Camouflage, Martial Arts, and naturally high Close Combat stat make it an extremely effective first-turn scalpel. A chopping Igao usually has better odds against an enemy's elite Fireteam guardian than a shooting Sukeul. Against vanilla forces, the Igao can tie up (or kill) a heavy unit like a TAG or Yan-Huo, allowing you a comfortable and deadly turn 2 and 3. Treat the Igao just like the Clipsos' Mines whom he or she may appear to be: it's going to die, but it's also going to kill something. If you aren't going first, the Igao may act as an interceptor against some big dumb TAG marching into your backline. Don't be afraid to try Engaging on PH13 if you have to. Honorable mention: the Baggage Chaksa. A whole box of these guys looks too expensive for most new players, especially considering that the Rocket and HMG Chaksa are increasingly irrelevant in new waves of Infinity. However, if you're willing to shell out, or have a spare Rasail Peripheral to proxy, one or two Baggage Chaksas always round out your list. Don't underestimate his Sensor. 105: Support Network We've already touched on this with Paramedics and Kaeltars, but it bears expounding, especially for joint operations and specialist missions in Infinity. Sniping our Lieutenants is one of the best tactics an enemy can perform against the Tohaa, as our triads become virtually useless in a Loss of Lieutenant situation. Chain of Command therefore is one of the best support abilities in this game. As it happens, we have the best Chain of Command in the game: the Kaeltar. This same Kaeltar also grants two of the invulnerability-providing Symbiomates I mentioned earlier, which are also one of the best abilities in the game. You can also take a Taqeul for Chain of Command, but you're more likely to use the Taqeul for Symbiobugs. Unlike their human cousins, the CrazyKoalas, our Symbiobugs are best pressured upon heavier units like enemy Heavy Infantry and TAGs. Unlike Symbiomate, Symbiobugs can be refilled (with a Baggage Chaksa). The Kosuil and Kumotail are our Engineers, and both roll on a nice WIP score of 14. The Engineer skill allows you ro repair Structure ("STR") units, which, in our context, is only the Kaauri. If you like keeping your little Kaauri alive―or need to, because of an arbitrary ITS objective―you’ll want to pack an Engineer in your list. Otherwise I don't recommend trying to keep the cheap little guys alive. The other primary role of the Engineer skill (outside of specific ITS missions, of course) is to repair negative effects such as Immobilized or Isolated. A Kosuil thus is a very wise unit to pair with our Heavy Infantry, as they are common targets for such types of attacks. All things considered I recommend the Kosuil over the Kumotail, since our paramedics are tough cookies, and the Kosuil (unlike the Kumotail) is a capable combatant. Our Symbiont Armor gives medikits a PH+3 mod, which neutralizes the standard PH-3 medikit penalty. This means that we have the best Paramedics in Infinity. Medikits can be delivered in base contact with unconscious troops, or shot with a BS roll. In either case, the unconscious troop are usually rolling on PH11, a 55% chance, to heal. That's not much worse than a doctor. Note that neither Paramedics and Doctors can restore Symbiont Armor. My favorite Medikit platform is the Sakiel Paramedic, but you may also like the Kamael, Jäger, or Gao-Tarsos for that purpose. TL;DR for newbies: Buy the 300-point army box, read the Triad rule, the Symbiont rule, and the Symbiomate rule. Play games and enjoy your wins.
201: Essentials of Listbuilding You've already played with the 300 point box, or perhaps you've skipped it and you're looking for a recommendation for a good netlist. Infinity is not really a game of netlists, however. You can use what's in the 300-point box or whatever you think looks cool, and do just fine. However again, because Tohaa options are so limited, compared to the big seven factions, there are common "essentials". Viral weapons for killing, paramedics for healing and ITS missions, a Gao-Rael to see through enemy visibility penalties (or your own from a Kerail), a Kaeltar to provide that invulnerability and lieutenant backup, a Makaul for his precious Eclipse grenades, a Baggage Chaksa for his Sensor and cheap Order production, and a Clipsos Forward Observer as a backup specialist or backup attacker. Spoiler If you need a competitive recommendation, use this your list’s foundation for your first three or four games: 2 Viral gunners of your choice 2 Paramedics of your choice GAO-RAEL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 31) KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 21) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13) CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Baggage, Sensor) Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 10) CLIPSOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) Your main considerations should be: Can you deal with an enemy "spam" army? Can you deal with an enemy "elite" army? Can you deal with a 5-man fireteam? Can you deal with massed Camouflage? Can you deal with massed Perimeter weapons? Do you have "speedbumps" dedicated to dying to the enemy? Does your list have enough "specialists" for your scenarios? Is your list vulnerable to a TAG? Is your list vulnerable to hacking? Is your list vulnerable to Close Combat? If you lacks an answers to three or more of those questions, consider changing some of your models. The "list foundation" I give above can answer these questions in most circumstances. 202: Swarm vs Elite Builds A swarm of Tohaa zergrushes your opponent with Kamael after Kamael, Makaul after Makaul, Sakiel after Sakiel, Chaksa after Chaksa, Kaauri after Kaauri, until nothing but red tokens and straggling Tohaa troops remain. The power of a Tohaa swarm is fundamentally the Tohaa Triad rule, and the core Infinity rule of the Order. Spoiler I would say that a “swarm” army is any Tohaa list above 15 orders. A swarm commonly includes 3 or more triads, usually filled with cheaper Kamaels and Makauls, a grip of Kaauri or Auxiliars, and one to three strong units like a Gao-Tarsos, Rasail, or Clipsos. While light on hard-hitters, swarm lists can provide some truly brutal ARO conditions for your opponent, due to the sheer volume of bodies and Triad burst you can dick down on the table. Swarms provide several upsides: A big order pool is the obvious and probably most important point. Swarms are generally forgiving in your active turn, since should you make a misstep and eat an enemy rocket or fail your WIP rolls in Group #1, switch to Group #2 like a second turn. You have a lot of bodies, meaning a lot of redundancy, and if you lose a Kamael Forward Observer, you have backups. Due to the natural point restrictions of squeezing in so many bodies, swarm lists tend to include three to six Makauls. This gives you general insurance against Close Combat specialists, Camo and ODD units, and Big Bad Evil Guys. And the fact that you are playing a swarm in Tohaa means that more than half your models are in fireteams! Example Swarm List ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 19 1 1 SAKIEL Lieutenant Viral Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) SAKIEL Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 23) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13) SAKIEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) SAKIEL Combi Rifle, Light Rocket Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 23) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13) CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Baggage, Sensor) Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 10) CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Baggage, Sensor) Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 10) KAAURI Sentinel Submachine Gun, 2 Nanopulsers, Nullifier / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 12) KAAURI Sentinel Submachine Gun, 2 Nanopulsers, Nullifier / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 12) DIPLOMATIC DELEGATE (iKohl L1, Specialist Operative) Nanopulser, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5) GROUP 29 2 KAMAEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) KAMAEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) KAMAEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) KAMAEL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 16) KAMAEL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 16) KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 21) KAMAEL Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 16) KAMAEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13) 5 SWC | 300 Points But elites can deliver far better direct results than the cans of spam a swarm spills out. Elite lists, by the nature of being a 10-man list, have powerful and enduring units, which necessarily means that although you have fewer orders, the quality of those orders is increased. An elite list requires your full attention, attention to your own strengths and weakness, and attention to your enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. Having 4 to 8 high-quality Symbiont troopers on board naturally means that the occasionally terrible luck won’t your bite your order supply like it does in swarms. Playing expensive units naturally creates situations where your troops are the ones which dictate the terms of the engagement, rather than reacting to the engagement. In Tohaa, with few exceptions, we can walk multiwound troops through the usual anti-multiwound threats, since most Symbionts aren't hackable. Ectros and Gorgos are hackable, but they above-average BTS, and Nullifiers and WIP14 Kosuils should be in tow to them operating. Elite is not all-powerful, of course. 10 orders is the downside. You need to know bait when you see it and not get distracted. We “punch down” far better than we “punch up”. This is simply the opportunity cost of playing the Tohaa faction: we have many many above-average options, but really no excellent options. There is no Swiss Guard, Spetznaz, Oniwaban, Maruts, or Avatar in Tohaa. That said, with our G:Sync and Symbiont armor, it's really easy to make a 10-man list with 12+ bodies and 20+ Wounds. Example Elite List ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 1 GORGOS Squad Chaksa Peripheral A (2 | 86) GORGOS AP Spitfire, Flammenspeer, Pulzar +1 Chaksa Peripheral A / Viral CCW. (2 | 86) CHAKSA PERIPHERAL A Light Shotgun, Stun Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (7) RASAIL Lieutenant Viral Combi Rifle + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 39) CHAKSA PERIPHERAL Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (- | 4) RASAIL Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34) CHAKSA PERIPHERAL Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (- | 4) KOSUIL Engineer K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges, Nullifier / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 29) SAKIEL Combi Rifle, Light Rocket Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 23) MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13) GAO-RAEL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 31) KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 21) KAMAEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Baggage, Sensor) Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 10) 4.5 SWC | 300 Points Bizarrely, I find SWC is a problem in my elite lists, not because I don’t have enough, but because I try to spend it. One of the reasons our faction does not get MULTI weapons and HRMCs is because we were given so many Viral guns. 203: Intentional Losses This may seem silly to state, but it should be obvious. Your opponent wants to kill your toys. So let him. Spoiler If you don’t decide who you want to get killed, your enemy will decide for you. Deciding for your opponent who gets to die is to your advantage. If your opponent is killing your toys, he usually isn’t completing objectives. When you deploy units like the Nikoul or the HMG Chaksa, you shouldn’t expect them to kill stuff, you should expect them to be killed. If your opponent spends 5 orders maneuvering to kill a 30-point Nikoul, that means that for 30 points, you took away about a sixth of his orders for the whole game. "Intentional losses" should be decided first in your list. When I make a Tohaa army, I usually set aside 50 to 150 points of troops who I do not merely expect to fight, but expect to die. In turn 1, typically, these units go straight out in a mission to get themselves killed, because I know my opponent will try to kill them—and especially, because he will have to kill them, because to leave such troops alone means more death for him in turn 2. For most factions, losing Wounds means losing army points. The point of army points retention may appear peripheral in Infinity , but it is an important point, especially for scenarios where the point value of your unit matters to the scoring of that scenario. Look up the Nomads’ Igauna profile. See how the Iguana pilot is worth 0 points? Now look at the Ectros. You can see what is different. Tohaa troopers retain their full points value, even when at Inactive Symbiont state. This fact will not be relevant in every game, but in most Direct Action- and Join Operations-type ITS missions in Infinity, and indeed in many 20×20 missions and YAMS missions, the fact that your troops retain their points is directly relevant to mission objectives. A flimsy Inactive Symbiont HMG Ectros is still worth 45 points, and can swing a game of Frontline. Because of that, you need to pick up the habit of "symbiont cycling". The idea is that you cycle wounded Symbiont soldiers back so that fresh Symbionts to take their place, protecting your overall points and orders. Say you have just 2 Orders left, and you have this K1 Kosuil Engineer, Rocket Sakiel, and standard Makaul triad. Let’s also say there is a Spitfire Tsyklon nearby who, you assuredly expect, will get the Marksmanship buff and go on a killing spree next turn, if you don’t kill it. The setup looks like this. The Spitfire Tsyklon, on the right, has ARM3. K1 ammo treats any ARM not from Cover as ARM0. You wisely move out your K1 Kosuil as link leader to shoot it. But the dice hate you, and the Kosuil ends up losing a wound. Now—stop right here. A newer player would continue shooting with the Kosuil, because his K1 Combi is the weapon of choice. But it’s not worth losing your K1 Kosuil Engineer and breaking your triad, just to throw down another K1 volley. Instead, your Kosuil and Sakiel are going to cycle positions. You move your Rocket Sakiel out for a volley. Rockets and Combis aren’t ideal against ARM3, but they can still kill stuff dead. (In this case, if both the Sakiel and Tsyklon are in cover, the Rocket and Combi have nearly identical odds of killing the Tsyklon, so choose whichever gun you prefer.) But we don’t stop there. Remember that the intention of your movement determines where you end, so if you end in the open, and the order is declared, you cannot backtrack and withdraw him into total cover. So don’t think “move to shoot”, but “move out to shoot”. Only terminate your movement in the open if you are sure you want to stay there for the indefinite future. Note that in this example, the Nomad player could have reacted against the Kosuil as it cycled positions with the Sakiel. When newbies spend shooting orders with triads, they are usually thinking move > shoot. You have to think more comprehensively than that. When you spend orders to shoot with your triad, you should follow a train of thought like this: Choose the right gunner for the target Move secondary gunner behind, close enough to swap places in 1 more order, but not close enough to be hit by a Template weapon, unless: 2a. I am certain there is no danger of Templates, in which case make the most of each troop’s movement, else: 2b. This is the last order I spend on this triad, in which case 4a. Make sure to move my gunner back into total cover, not leave him exposed, unless: 3a. I want the gunner exposed for subsequent orders, else: If the gunner is fails and is wounded to Inactive Symbiont, move fresh Symbiont gunman to engage the target, else: 4a. Reposition all other triad troops in cover in preparation for enemy turn, else: Continue advancing That may look complicated, but if you make it a habit, you won’t have to think about it. You’ll just do it instinctively, and you’ll be a much smarter and tougher opponent. And your tactical losses will result in objective wins. 204: Maximizing Command What does your Lieutenant do, anyway? In Infinity, the Lieutenant keeps your Orders regular. With the Lieutenant dead, everyone can only spend their order on themselves. The Lieutenant also can spend a unique Lt order on itself that puts a big neon I’M THE LIEUTENANT sign on itself, once it does. There are a couple other things a Lieutenant can do, but that’s basically it. How can we make the most of that? Spoiler New players immediately understand, “I probably don’t want to spend the Lieutenant order then because then my Lieutenant will probably die, and my next turn will suck.” That's true, but it's not true with an active Chain of Command troop. With Chain of Command Kaeltars or Taqeuls, we'll be okay to get our Lieutenant killed. This is good for several reasons: 1. Our Lieutenant can be extremely obvious. 2. Our Lieutenant can't easily die. 3. We can spend that Lieutenant Order with impunity. Note that spending a Lieutenant order ejects your Lieutenant from a Triad, if he's in one. For that reason, a Rasail is my #1 recommendation for the Tohaa Lieutenant for new players. There are lists where Neema Saatar or a Sukeul Forward Observer will be the better choice, but more on them later. A related point about Command Tokens: I’ve looked at a lot of Tohaa battle reports since the last book released, and Tohaa's Command Tokens tend to not get spent. The reasons are real simple: we can’t use Coordinated Orders on Triad troopers, we can’t use Coordinated Orders on G:Sync troopers, and we don’t bring Kumotails anymore. So what the hell do we do with all these Command Tokens? There are still three strong (but not obvious) uses for them. I’ll list the simple ones first. 1. Netrodding the Delegate. With all these extra Command Tokens, you can actually plan to use your Command Tokens to turn your Delegate’s Irregular Order into a Regular Order, every turn. In this way, think of her not as an ARO piece, but as a 5-point "Netrod" with an ARO option. That will still leave 1 or 2 Command Tokens for juggling triads or coordinating orders. 2. Coordinated Orders. Yes, do Coordinate Orders, even if it breaks a triad. When orders are tight, you can use Coordinated Orders to inch forward up to 4 triad troops once more, before reforming those triads again. You’re getting 1.25 order of moved out movement for 2 or 3 Command Tokens, but it can be worth it. Especially in elite lists and competitive Limited Insertion matchups. 3. Juggling triads. When you’re running heavy triads, always remember that your triad troops can rejoin with other triad troops, at any time on your turn through Command Tokens. Remembering this can save you a lot of orders and extra rolls. Here's what juggling triads looks like: In this overhead example, your enemy has left a Yan-Huo vulnerable to a left flank. You want the K1 Sukeul for the job. The K1 Sukeul is in a triad with a Spitfire Sakiel and Makaul, towards the right. However, the Yan Huo and a Rocket Raiden are overwatching your K1 Sukeul triad on the right. In the bottom left, you have a light backfiller triad with a Kaeltar, Kamael, and Makaul. A bunch of other stuff is off to the right that we don’t care about for this example. Many players will do the smart thing and avoid a face off with the Makaul, knowing that the Sakiel will be probably hit by the rocket’s splash, and the Makaul could fail the roll against both the Yan Huo and Raiden. So, you wheel in the backfiller triad to make your Makaul throw unopposed Eclipse smoke on the approach. This allows the K1 Sukeul triad to safely across the gap to get at the Yan-Huo’s flank. But there's something even better. Just make a new triad with the K1 Sukeul and the backfillers. This new triad can move straight up on the left flank, without progging AROs. You don’t need to burn 2+ orders to make a safe path for a triad, when you can just make a whole new triad. And don’t forget to reform the Kaeltar, Sakiel, and Makaul into a triad before your turn ends. As you’ll have the orders now, you should also reposition the flank triad into a more defensible position before the turn ends. When you aren’t juggling triads for order economy, you can still juggle triads to play hot potato with your specialists, or decisively repositions gunners for more advantageous threat ranges against the pending enemy turn. TL;DR Tohaa lists always do well with a strong lieutenant, a few disposable distractions, and a Kaeltar and Makaul to protect the team.
301: Lieutenant-Hunting Lieutenant-hunting is a high-level way to play Infinity. It is difficult not only because it relies upon your knowledge of your own Tohaa list's strengths and weaknesses, but knowledge of your opponent's army. There is no easy way to get good at this short of playing regularly against many opponents. However, there are a few tips: Spoiler Lieutenant skills: Advanced Command, Inspiring Leadership, Strategos, G:Mnemonica These skills are a dead giveaway. Basic weapon: Rifle, Combi Rifle, MULTI Rifle, HMG, Spitfire Most Lieutenants have a basic bullet gun. Traits: Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry, High WIP, TAG Most Lieutenant profiles are average infantry or basic TAGs. Placement: Cornered, Bunkered, Roofed A Lieutenant who does not want to die will hide in a corner, in a bunker, or prone on a roof. Let's put these tips together in an example. We will presume for this example that you are familiar with Infinity in general, but not your opponent in particular. Lighter gray scenery is lower height, and the buildings have doors. (drawn to scale) It's your opening turn. You deployed your reserve model, an Igao, right up on the table edge in the middle of the board. You are fighting Nomads. You intend to use your Igao to try to alpha strike his Lieutenant on the first turn. You look at the open information. Your Nomad opponent has (left to right) a Jaguar with Smoke Grenades and a Chain Rifle, a Stempler FO Zond, an Alguacil with a Combi Rifle, a Transductor Zond, the engineer/hacker character named Zoë, a Morlock with Smoke Grenades and a Chain Rifle, an Iguana TAG with HMG, two Interventor hackers on and inside a building, a Zondbot helper for Zoë, and the ODD robot named π-well. Putting together the deduction tips above, you conclude that the likely candidates for Lieutenant are the Combi Rifle Alguacil, one of the Camo Markers, or the Iguana TAG. There are 3 camo markers also in the middle. Another camo marker is in back. Because the two camo markers to the right are pretty close, you guess that one of those in an antipersonnel mine, and avoid that corridor. This makes the Iguana TAG rather off-limits. So you decide to gamble on the Combi Rifle Alguacil, who is prone in the middle of the back. You advance your Igao to the large 8x8 building. The Morlock throws smoke, and the Iguana delays. You continue moving safely and open the door to the large building. The Igao is able to move unimpeded through the building to the door on the opposite side. No TO camo surprises jump out at you. As you move the Igao out, the Jaguar throws smoke to cover the Stempler Zond and himself. The two Zonds attempt to discover, and Zoë dodges, hesitantly expecting a Nanopulser or Boarding Shotgun from your Igao. You just continue moving, right over the scatter terrain and into close combat with the Alguacil. You are able to handily defeat the Alguacil in melee. This whole affair cost you 5-6 orders, and will cost you the Igao. However, it may cost your opponent his entire first turn. Were you correct? We are not the only army with Chain of Command. However, only a few models in Infinity with Chain of Command. You should kill them when your opponent leaves them vulnerable. If you want to cause Loss of Lieutenant with an army with Chain of Command, you will need to kill both the Chain of Command model and the Lieutenant in the same turn. I generally discourage pouring too much attention to that. But if your opponent leaves you an opening, punch it. 302: Eyeballing Terrain This is a very important skill for Tohaa players to learn, since two of our best guns (K1 Combi Rifle and Viral Combi Rifle) rely on a specific range to be effective. To learn to eyeball measurements, you mostly need tp: 1. Pay attention. 2. Trust your instincts. Spoiler So, take a look here. You’re standing over a table at your recent tournament, deploying your troops and planning your orders. Your Forward Observer Kotail here is right on the edge of your deployment zone. Where his Combi Rifle’s 16 inch range end? Take just a second to look that over, the Kotail, the console ahead of it, the barrels, the ramp… you should be able to guess it decently. You guessed right, right? If you were way off, start paying attention. Note how far you have moved (especially if you move-move) and the distance between models, and you can use it in later interactions. If a building is 8 inches wide, that means that up to double that will be your +3 range for your Viral Combi Rifle. Train your brain, and learn to trust it and not second-guess yourself. You’ll begin to shock yourself with how accurate your subconscious is. Reserved for later: 303: Countering Pie-slicing 304: Deployment
These are my ratings on each Tohaa unit. Don't take them as gospel, but if you're looking for assessments, here are mine: The Kamael Troop is a putty trooper, filling out our Triads with the sort of equipment you see in other faction’s standard infantry. Highly spammable and mindbogglingly dull, the Kamael performs just as well, or just as poorly, as you might expect. Spoiler KAMAEL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) KAMAEL Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 18) KAMAEL Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 16) These three aren't worth your time. The Spitfire in particularly is a terrible option outside of perhaps low-point formats. The Spitfire Sakiel, by way of contrast, gets better BS, ARM, Courage, and a whole extra Wound for just 5 points. KAMAEL Hacker (White Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 16) KAMAEL Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) A White Hacker occasionally, very occasionally, may make it into your list. If you know you're going into a mission that really benefits hackers, or unless you have Ectros or Gao-Tarsos to support, he's basically an expensive hackable Sixth Sense L1 model. The Kamael Lieutenant can be good for low-point formats and swarm lists. KAMAEL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 16) KAMAEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) KAMAEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) Of the options, these are the best. Lots of Kamael Snipers in triads is a really wicked thing to lay on your opponent. Lots of players prefer the Kamael FO as a specialist, though my favorite Kamael is the Paramedic. Score: 1/5 Overall: FO, Paramedic, and Sniper are occasionally good. Expensive, weak, and way outclassed by cheaper/better order generators like Kaauri and Chaksa, and more expensive but more durable triad troops, that is, Sakiels. Hatail Aelis Keesan is a special snowflake character with an extremely elastic toolbox. Unfortunately, she is highly expensive in both points and dollars. Aelis is best suited for missions that require a Hacker, or a mobile Sensor, or both. Spoiler HATAIL AELIS KEESAN Viral Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Pulse, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30) HATAIL AELIS KEESAN K1 Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Pulse, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 29) Score: 1/5 Overall: With all the power creep around here, Aelis has gotten gross and old. Best to wait on this one until the Dire Foes packs get updated this year. Edit 03/30/18 New score: 3/5 Overall: With a recent update, Aelis keeps her Sensor, but replaces her crappy Defensive Hacking Device with a Killer Hacker Device. Aelis now occupies a unique role in Infinity: The Sensor Killer Hacker. You can use the lethal (and cheaper) new Aelis to pick off camo Hacker specialists on the mid table, never needing Line of Fire. Our Diplomatic Delegate is a civilian combatant, who acts as a cheap specialist for Infinity’s Tournament System missions, and who can occasionally foil of enemy plans with her offbeat weapons. Spoiler DIPLOMATIC DELEGATE (iKohl L1, Specialist Operative) Nanopulser, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5) Score: 3/5 Overall: I took this guy more and more last year, especially now that I made a model for him. If you don't mind the goofy Beyoncé sculpt, she's worth your money. Pairs great with a Neema Saatar or Taqeul Lieutenant for extra Orders. The Chaksa Auxiliar acts, as its Latin name suggests, as a supplemental troop. Like the basic robots of other factions, Chaksas provide perimeter defense and heavy weapons, and a handful of orders to supplied to your frontline troops. Spoiler CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Neurocinetics, 360º Visor) HMG / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 25) CHAKSA AUXILIAR Smart Heavy Rocket Launcher / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 15) Both good, not great. Since the last book, I actually taket he Smart Heavy Rocket Launcher more. Sukeul FOs and Clipsos FOs make it reasonable to get work done with guided rockets. CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Baggage, Sensor) Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 10) Best of the bunch. If there was a blister of just this guy, I would recommend him to every player. Score: 3/5 Overall: Chaksas haven't aged as well as the Remotes of the other major powers, but are usually productive choices, especially the Baggage Chaksa. Unarmed Chaksa Servants can let a Doctor or Engineer troop do their work from afar. A savvy player will use his Servant to distract enemy attention and foil their traps. In a pinch, you can use Servants to clear the table of perimeter weapons like Mines and CrazyKoalas. Spoiler CHAKSA SERVANT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) Score: 2/5 Overall: Slow for a Servant, with one expensive Doctor option, and with not enough valuable Structure units to go with our Engineer options, I seldom take the Servant and thus would seldom recommend it. The healer of Tohaa, the Kumotail, is a trustworthy but unexciting unit. In a Triad, or via Servants, she will heal or repair anything you like, but don’t expect her to pull off any heroics. Spoiler KUMOTAIL Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22) Score: 2/5 Overall: The Kumotail really wants a 17-point Submachine Gun option, and a 0.5|23-point Combi & Revatlis option, in order to be a competitive choice. Otherwise our Kosuil and various Paramedics are usually the better choice. Moreso than the Kamael, the Sakiel is our backbone infantry. Good weapons, good stats, good Triad candidates all around. The small model selection for Sakiels is probably the only reason you mightn’t field 2 or more of these rockstars in every list. Spoiler SAKIEL Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) SAKIEL Combi Rifle, Nullifier / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18) These two profiles are usually not worth it, mostly because they are an opportunity cost for superior Sakiel, Sukeul, or Kosuil options at a reasonably similar price point. SAKIEL Combi Rifle, Light Rocket Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 23) SAKIEL Viral Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) SAKIEL Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 23) SAKIEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) SAKIEL Lieutenant Viral Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) SAKIEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19) All killer options and worth a 5/5 score. I think the Nullfier should be condensed with the Forward Observer, since the Nullifier is available on other specialists, and because many players have trouble justifying 1 more point for another button pusher in the Paramedic. Score: 5/5 Overall: Great. My top three Sakiels are Rocket Sakiel, Viral Sakiel (non-Lt), and Paramedic Sakiel. Need more models! And probably needs to go back to being Impetuous, to be fair. Penal regiment Kosuils are our dedicated bomb squad. With their high Willpower and Symbiont Armor, they are also respectable, though pricey, specialist troops. Kosuils pair quite well with Kaauri and Ectros. Spoiler KOSUIL Engineer K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges, Nullifier / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 29) KOSUIL Minelayer K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) Both good options, but unfortunately, other better Tohaa options exist. I do recommend the Kosuil Engineer in elite lists where a Sukeul can't quite do the same job. I also recommend the Minelayer Kosuil in Direct Action missions where specialists aren't as necessary. The Minelayer still makes a good Symbiobomb user without being an Engineer. KOSUIL Engineer Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Panzerfaust / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24) Best of the bunch. I include a Shotgun Kosuil in probably 50% of my lists. Score: 3/5 Overall: I'd rate 5/5 if the Sukeul was significantly more expensive, or if Bioimmunity was significantly more valuable. Other than the Shotgun Kosuil, you're advised to take the K1 Sukeul for "combat specialist" needs. The Kerail is a fast gunman with a couple tricks of his own, but his biggest tricks are big alien lion monsters with guns mounted on their backs. Kerails are a fascinatingly flexible “interceptor” unit, able to quickly flush or catch any enemy interloper. Spoiler KERAIL PRECEPTOR Light Shotgun, Nanopulser + 1 Mutan SymbioBeast / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 25) KERAIL PRECEPTOR Combi Rifle, Nanopulser + 1 Mutan SymbioBeast / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 30) The Mutan Kerails are good, but outclassed, unfortunately, by the Rasail, and the cheaper (better) Surda Kerails. Give these guys Smoke or a Specialist Operative skill, and they'd regularly show up in our lists. KERAIL PRECEPTOR Submachine Gun, Smoke Grenades + 1 Surda SymbioBeast / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 20) KERAIL PRECEPTOR Submachine Gun, Smoke Grenades + 2 Surda SymbioBeasts / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 28) Basic Smoke and low price makes this unit an incredibly valuable inclusion in the Tohaa arsenal. I still can't believe they actually gave us Smoke. Score: 4/5 Overall: Surda Smoke Kerails get a 5/5, the Mutan Kerails get a 3/5, there you go. Take a Surda Kerail with a Gao-Rael for maximum profit. Lithe little Kaauri are bioconstructs whose favorite thing in life is to protect Tohaa troops from nasty surprises and evil lurkers. A Kaauri or two will dissuade most enemies who rely on holoprojectors, impersonation, or light camouflage. Humanity should be so lucky. Spoiler KAAURI Sentinel Boarding Shotgun, Nullifier / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15) KAAURI Sentinel (Pheroware T.: Nimbus Sphere) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 17) Both are fine profiles and worth taking occasionally. The Boarding Shotgun would be more popular if its Nullifier were replaced with a Nanopulser, I think. KAAURI Sentinel Submachine Gun, 2 Nanopulsers, Nullifier / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 12) KAAURI Sentinel Sniper / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 19) Excellent! I love these little guys. I recommend the newest of the two blisters, you get one of each, and they are just great. Score: 3/5 Overall: One of the best "speedbumps" we have, and affordable enough to be an Order generator. I strongly recommend bringing an Engineer with them, if you're off to an ITS event. Kaeltars are the most useful and asymmetric support troop ever devised for Infinity the Game. We are very lucky to have the Kaeltars, and their Pheroware skills can transform any Symbiont soldier into a unprecedented kind of threat. Spoiler KAELTAR Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioBombs / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15) KAELTAR Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioBombs / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 20) Good enough units, but Symbiobomb's Pheroware Tactics are a bit bloated and ineffective. The Bomb Kaeltars themselves need to be specialists in order to be a popular choice. KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 21) KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 26) 6/5. Chain of Command Kaeltars are so good, they're broken. I recommend not taking them in friendly games, since they have a good habit of causing angry forum posts about fairness. Score: 4/5 Overall: You're probably only here for the Chain of Command Kaeltar and her Symbiomates. The Rasail is a “medium tank”, a sort of mini-TAG unit who can rush in and wreck face, shrugging off hits along the way. Unburdened by useless weapons or overpriced skills or nerfbat Fury traits, a Rasail is a good addition to any list. Spoiler RASAIL Boarding Shotgun, Contender + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 35) RASAIL 2 Contenders, Light Shotgun + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 36) These two go mostly unnoticed due to the cheaper Combi/Mines option and the lack of Lieutenant options, but on cramped close-quarter tables, Nimbus Zone missions, or as a general defender, these the Shotgun Rasails are good options. RASAIL Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34) RASAIL Viral Combi Rifle + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 39) RASAIL Spitfire + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 39) RASAIL Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34) RASAIL Lieutenant Viral Combi Rifle + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 39) RASAIL Lieutenant Spitfire + 1 Chaksa Peripheral / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 39) Nothing wrong with any of these profiles. Pick one. Or four. Each one is an amazing deal. The Spitfire Rasail can even roll a combined Burst 6 like a Gorgos or Guarda de Assalto, since the Peripheral has that Burst 2 Pistol. Score: 5/5 Overall: Little waste for your points, even the Shotgun profiles are competent. The Rasail gave Tohaa our first good―and still overall best―Lieutenant option. The Nikoul is a cruelly lethal sniper who takes the Sapper skill to an obtuse extreme, the likes of which no other Sapper has ever seen. Plop a Nikoul somewhere in your deployment zone, and he will likely earn his points back in kills, without a single order. Spoiler NIKOUL Viral Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28) Good in spam lists. NIKOUL Minelayer Viral Sniper Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30) Better in general lists. In Direct Action missions where the Minelayer Kosuil and Igao can shine, even better. Score: 3/5 Overall: A fearsome sniper. Never deploy a Nikoul without a Symbiomate, unless it's your reserve model. A truly bizarre and jealously useful unit, the Kotail can go just about anywhere you want, and complete just about any objective you could think of. To the uninitiated, the Kotail looks positively unfair―but note that everything that makes the Kotail cool will evaporate, if he gets wounded. Spoiler KOTAIL Combi Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32) KOTAIL 2 Combi Rifles / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 32) KOTAIL Boarding Shotgun, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31) Decent options, but you want to focus on the next two. You'll probably take the 2 Combi Kotail for a spin, just because that cool cocky model. KOTAIL Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 36) Good unit. Great if you have cluttered tables where a hopping Spitfire will get more done for his orders than a Sukeul or Neema Saatar triad. KOTAIL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 33) By far the best Kotail of the bunch, and sadly lacking a model. The combination of Specialist with a unique (to Tohaa) E/M Grenades, I still recommend this guy even with Sukeuls and Kerails around. Score: 4/5 Overall: A great unit overshadowed by power creep, winced at by Pheroware restrictions, and gimped by the lack of good imitations to holoproject, the Kotail is still (almost always) worth his points. The Sukeul is the elite light infantry unit, our most superb gunner. Mobile, professional, and lethal, there is little a Sukeul cannot handle with ease. Note that at the time of this writing, the Sukeul does not yet have a model. Spoiler SUKEUL K1 Sniper / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 34) Garbage. The K1 Sniper is overpriced trash. The weapon really needs a DAM15 Shock option to be competitive, it's really not a good option unless you face massed TAGs, and even then, the Missile Launcher and K1 Combi options are more effective. SUKEUL (Forward Observer) K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32) SUKEUL (Forward Observer) K1 Combi Rifle, Nullifier / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 33) SUKEUL HMG, D-Charges / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 35) SUKEUL Missile Launcher, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 36) SUKEUL Lieutenant (Forward Observer) K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32) Godlike. Take 1, take 4, but always take at least one. Score: 5/5 Overall: The Sukeul exists. They laughed when we suggested such a unit. They aren't laughing now. Edit 03/30/18: I noticed recently that the Sukeul gets her Forward Observer skill for free. They should probably bump up those profiles by a point for fairness' sake. Do you hate enemy camouflage? Do you like trick shots through smoke? Do you want a sniper who can reliably shoot everything? He may be slow, but you’ll be happy you picked up a dependable Gao-Rael. Spoiler GAO-RAEL Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 26) A weird profile, vestigial from the old Boarding Shotgun/Swarm Grenades profile, which was decent when you could throw one down. GAO-RAEL Combi Rifle, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 28) GAO-RAEL Spitfire / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | 33) GAO-RAEL Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 28) Good and I recommend all of them. The Gao-Rael Lt has a place particularly in Limited Insertion lists. GAO-RAEL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 31) S-Tier. You may be an atheist, but all Tohaa know the Gao-Rael Sniper is unusually lucky. Tohaa players love it. Tohaa opponents hate it. And it's just a plain old Sniper Rifle! Score: 4/5 Overall: Not an "autoinclude" for all players, it might be for me. To me, a Gao-Rael Sniper is just as necessary to a Tohaa list as a Makaul or Kaeltar. Using a Gao-Tarsos is dropping a big fat problem somewhere onto the board, and with a bit of decisiveness (and a bit of luck), the Gao-Tarsos will continue to foil your opponent’s plan long after the drop. Unlike human drop troops, the Gao-Tarsos can be dropped insanely aggressively, since his Symbiont Armor means he won't die to a stray Combi or Chain Rifle. Spoiler GAO-TARSOS Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28) GAO-TARSOS HMG / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 36) Good enough options that are outshone by the Sukeul. GAO-TARSOS Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 27) GAO-TARSOS Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 30) These still see some use, and I recommend them to any plucky player who wants to try to build the 12-piece sculpt. Score: 3/5 Overall: A great Combat Jump unit, even though Combat Jump is such a unreliable skill that it should be free. You're losing out on a Sukeul for your points, but if you have a swarm list, a Gao-Tarsos is a good choice. The oddball officer Taqeul is an entry who, due to his big price tag, is usually a secondary or tertiary choice. A Taqeul is a good troop to plan your list around, rather than just tossing one in the bag. Note that at the time of this writing, the Taqeul does not yet have a model. Spoiler TAQEUL (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle, SymbioBugs / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34) TAQEUL Lieutenant (Advanced Command) Combi Rifle, SymbioBugs / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34) Too expensive to just field Symbiobugs, and too good to just field a Combi Rifle, these two options are cancer. TAQEUL (Chain of Command) Spitfire, SymbioBugs / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 40) TAQEUL Lieutenant (Advanced Command) Viral Combi Rifle, SymbioBugs / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 40) Now we're getting closer. BS13 with a good gun and a decent unit—and Symbiobugs—is not a terrible bargain. TAQEUL (Chain of Command) Viral Combi Rifle, SymbioBugs / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 40) TAQEUL Lieutenant (Advanced Command) Spitfire, SymbioBugs / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 40) Hey, now we're talking. The Viral CoC Taqeul is a respectable specialist for ITS. The Spitfire Taqeul Lt, though slow, has an easier time making use of his Spitfire due to range, and is a good candidate for builds with lots of Kaauri to march en mass by use of his extra Command Tokens. Score: 2/5 Overall: An okay profile made bad by the overpriced and resource-inefficient Regeneration skill, the Taqeul may be made useful by a good list or a competent commander. Super-Symbiont Ectros troops pack our deadliest guns on a heavy, hardy platform. A couple Ectros will make your opponent waste a king’s heap of orders, and with brave and shrewd plays, you can gobble a king’s heap of his troops. Although we do not have Killer Hackers in Tohaa, the Ectros are really easy to protect against hacking with the existence of a Nullifer. Spoiler ECTROS Vulkan Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 38) ECTROS Lieutenant Viral Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 43) Less popular, but still good options, you may fiddle to make your list have a great reason for these two. ECTROS Viral Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 43) ECTROS HMG, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (2 | 45) Both great options, even with the existence of the Sukeul. The Sukeul is pretty easy to counter with a Multispectral Visor or Close Combat. Ectros doesn't care about either of those, and has a whole extra Wound to book. Score: 3/5 Overall: He's a 5/5 for me, but maybe I'm just lucky. Most people have their reasons to prefer Sukeuls instead of Ectros. I think the perfect combination killer/toolbox triad is probably an HMG Ectros, a K1/Nully Sukeul, and a Makaul. Super-Ectros Neema Saatar is a sassy dame with a lot of spirit. Easily a quarter or more of every Tohaa list I see has Neema Saatar leading the charge. Neema is a confident Lieutenant who often dies in a blaze of glory, taking 50+ points of enemy rabble with her. Spoiler NEEMA Breaker Combi Rifle, Panzerfaust, Nanopulser / Viral Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 41) NEEMA Spitfire, Nanopulser / Viral Pistol, Shock CCW. (2 | 43) Good options actually, really good options, but we always forget them because her Lieutenant profile exists. NEEMA Lieutenant (Advanced Command) Breaker Combi Rifle, Panzerfaust, Nanopulser / Viral Pistol, Shock CCW. (+1 | 46) NEEMA Lieutenant (Advanced Command) Spitfire, Nanopulser / Viral Pistol, Shock CCW. (1.5 | 48) Both excellent Lieutenant options. Shabby in comparison to Joan of Arc, at a similar cost, but everything's shabby compared to Joan. Take the Breaker Combi Neema 3/4 times. You probably already have Spitfires and HMGs. Score: 4/5 Overall: Strong character commander with a slick new sculpt. Spitfire Neema I occasionally run solo. If you like big, heavy, expensive units with capable armament, the Gorgos Squad is for you. The Gorgos is our most heavily armored, although not most heavily-armed, unit. A Gorgos is a good choice for players who would rather rely on centralized power than the codependent synergy of other Tohaa troopers. Spoiler GORGOS Squad Chaksa Peripheral B . (2 | 82) GORGOS AP Spitfire, Flammenspeer, Pulzar +1 Chaksa Peripheral B / Shock CCW. (2 | 82) CHAKSA PERIPHERAL B Pulzar / Pistol, Knife. (4) Tempting because it's cheaper, and may be the better choice if you have a Stun Grenades Igao around, but I don't recommend this one. GORGOS Squad Chaksa Peripheral A . (2 | 86) GORGOS AP Spitfire, Flammenspeer, Pulzar +1 Chaksa Peripheral A / Viral CCW. (2 | 86) CHAKSA PERIPHERAL A Light Shotgun, Stun Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (7) Spend the extra points. Chances are you'll want a Shotgun, chances are you'll want Stun Grenades, and chances are the Gorgos will get into Close Combat, and you'll want that Viral Close Combat weapon. Score: 2/5 Overall: Gorgos is not a good TAG. Handle with care. With Camouflage and Infiltration, an Igao is a capable gunfighter, but it’s her big blue naginata for Close Combat that you want to be cleaving through your enemy’s weak spot. Her Frenzy state forces her best turn to be her first turn, so don’t be shy. Spoiler IGAO Boarding Shotgun, Stun Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 25) IGAO Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Stun Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 27) Both great options. I way prefer the flexiliby of the Combi/Nanopulser Igao, but plenty of people love that Boarding Shotgun. Agreed that the female Igao is best Igao. Score: 3/5 Overall: A really effective killer, with all her -3 modifiers. Take one and she can wipe a good 40+ points your first turn. Some people say Tohaa is not truly “high-tech” because we aren’t toting MSV3 and ODD. Ha! Clearly they haven’t seen three Clipsos on the game table. Clipsos let you liberally use Infinity’s most valuable skill: Thermo-Optical Camouflage. Spoiler CLIPSOS Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) CLIPSOS Boarding Shotgun, Nullifier / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 23) CLIPSOS Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) You may have to squint to see the usefulness of these three. If you fancy the Nimbus Plus Grenades Clipsos, take a Combi/Nanopulser Igao for even more fanciness with the Nimbus mod stacking. CLIPSOS Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 26) CLIPSOS Minelayer Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25) CLIPSOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) All three great profiles. The Forward Observer has perhaps caused more cries of unfairness than either the Sukeul or the Symbiomates, in her lifetime. Score: 5/5 Overall: Used to always take 3 Clipsos. It was hard to wean off that. I recommend new players always take one of the FOs, what a fantastic toolbox she is. Last but not least, every single Triad in the Tohaa army benefits when a Makaul joins. The Makaul is arguably the best “warband” troop in Infinity, holding the best template weapon, best smoke grenade, and one of the best best close-combat weapons, all on a good statline for a fair price. Spoiler MAKAUL Boarding Shotgun, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 19) MAKAUL Combi Rifle, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 20) Decent profiles that some people like. Boarding Shotgun lost stock after the linkable Kaeltar and Kosuil were added. Ash of Guerilla Miniature Games takes the Combi Rifle option. If the Heavy Flamethrower ones didn't exist, I would still take these for the Eclipse grenades. MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 13) An ideal choice for demolition missions, or any list which already has several Viral options. Bioimmunity and BTS9 isn't common, but it isn't uncommon enough to warrant ignoring the DA CCW. MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13) Your bread & butter Makaul. In the top 3 warbands in the game, probably in the top 10 units overall. It probably deserves to be taxed a point to be the same price as a Daturazi. Score: 5/5 Overall: Use sparingly, or use swarmingly, but always use at least one Makaul. What's that you say? Mercenaries? In Tohaa!? Alright, I'll say a couple things about our mercenary options. I was skeptical about the Cube Jäger when I saw it, and even then I was disappointed. I won one in a tournament, but I've never been tempted to field it. He may have some fans in Tohaa, but you have better options. Spoiler JÄGER Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon. (0.5 | 21) Trash. Just spend six more points for BS12 and an ARM3 Symbiont if you want an airborne Shotgun. JÄGER Submachine Gun + E/Mitter / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18) Less trash. These guns are a good cheap combo, but I bet you would be happier with a Diplomatic Delegate and a Kaauri for your 17 points than this guy for 18. Spoiler Score: 1/5 Overall: Other factions may be happy to have him, but you should avoid this miserable troop in Tohaa. Don't be fooled, the mean Krakot Renegade is not a bad unit. With Metachemistry L2 and some unique (to Tohaa) weapons, the Krakot deserves fielding once or twice. Even though it looks and is priced like a smoke chucker warband, but isn't, it isn't useless. Spoiler KRAKOT RENEGADE 2 Submachine Guns, Chest Mine / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 17) KRAKOT RENEGADE Boarding Shotgun, Chest Mine / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 18) KRAKOT RENEGADE Submachine Gun, Chest Mine / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 15) KRAKOT RENEGADE Red Fury, Chest Mine / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (1 | 24) These are all decent, especially with a good roll like Dogged + Total Immunity or 6-4 + Super Jump. You may be more likely to get use out of the Krakot's Boarding Shotgun, for his points, than a Kaauri's Boarding Shotgun. KRAKOT RENEGADE 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 14) Amazing for Tohaa, 4/5 or 5/5. Pray you get PH+3. Score: 2/5 Overall: The 2 CR+Grenades Krakot is way better than you think. Dorky sculpt, deadly sniper. You probably pass him up every time (so do I), but that doesn't mean he can't have a place in Tohaa, even though he's a filthy race traitor. Spoiler ARMAND (Minelayer) MULTI Sniper, Nanopulser, Antipersonnel Mines / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CC Weapon, Knife. (1.5 | 42) Good minelayer sniper, but we already have a good minelayer sniper. ARMAND (Multispectral Visor L1) MULTI Sniper, Nanopulser / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CC Weapon, Knife. (1.5 | 45) I like this one. He can legally get a Symbiomate, and is a sort of super-Nikoul. Score: 3/5 Overall: Nothing wrong with Le Muet at all, he's just happens to be a good option in a faction full of amazing options. Thank you for reading and we hope you stay with the #tohaamasterrace
Oh boy Dasaan is back. @Magonus good to have you around again. Did you ever check the stats on that one? I for sure didn't, but I'm inclined to say Infinity isn't particulary suited to plan out Order expenditure. From my experience it always seemed better to set certain priorities and goals to reach each turn instead. Otherwise great writeup mate.
Hey Tesla! Yeah, that breakdown is not a hard-fast stricture. It is something I eavesdropped at my (now closed) FLGS of medium-experienced player recommending 4-3-2-1 model that helped him, to a new player. It is a model you could move away from as an Infinity vet, but I do think it's actually a great model for how to play non-Direct Action missions in Infinity. It would have helped me when I was new. I lost lots of games in my young Infinity days spending all round 1 and 2 attacking stuff, then scrambling on round 3 with six or seven orders to complete all my objectives.
Added unit breakdown and other points. The last blurbs I'll add once the related blog posts are done. If you have disagreements, post away, I'll be happy to incorporate salient points into the tactica that aren't my thoughts.
Excellent write up as a new player just starting out, you have given me a lot of good insight into what I am looking at. Since this is my 1st trip into infinity and I managed to grab the 300pts set , Now having a bit more of an idea on which order to purchase more .
I was wondering when this would get pinned. Gotta change that aelis write-up, but im sure you know that.
Awesome. Yep, Aelis is much better now. I'll edit this after work today. She has become the first Sensor Killer Hacker in Infinity, making her an excellent ITS specialist hunter.
Alright, added my updated thoughts on Aelis, and put all the sections in spoiler tags, so it's easier to browse through. Thanks @ whoever pinned it, I appreciate it!
Excellent work. Damn good write up. Almost made me want to start playing Tohaa again. Which is a pretty significant feat.
New player here, how does this work? I can't find anything that can get it more than 4 Burst, since it can't fireteam.
The Chaksa shoots two shots separately to the Spitfire, and with different range bands then right? It seemed to imply that the Spitfire itself gets to Burst 6 and confused me :/
