Infinity/N4 Tactics/Aleph

An overview for faction units and tactics in N4.

Why Play Aleph?

Do you want superhumanly resilient troopers with bleeding-edge technology?
Do you find camouflage frustrating to play against?
Do you think that the greek hero Achilles' heroic flaw was not having robotic fire support and cybernetic implants?

Welcome to Aleph, the pinnacle of machine evolution.

Faction Features

• High Tech: Possibly the most technologically-advanced Human Sphere army, they have no shortage of hackers, MSV gear, remotes, and cybernetically augmented humans.
• Elite Units, Named Characters: Aleph boasts some of the most expensive models in the Human Sphere. have gree
• Resilient defense: No-Wound Incapacitation is everywhere, and your troops often have access to mimetism or MSV. Aleph lists tend to have numerous problems for aggressors. On the cheap end, Dakini tacbots have mimetism on a suppressive-capable 13pt line trooper profile, while Thorakitai have several useful special weapons loadouts. On the expensive end, Achilles fights as well as (or better than) most TAGs, while the Marut is custom-tailored to counter mimetism shenanigans.

Weapons and Equipment

• MSV: One of the armies with the most prevalent access to MSV2, with the Asura having MSV3. You can counter mimetism and camouflage easily.
• Proxies: One of the weirdest troops in the game, Proxies let you play a heavily-discounted trooper who rotates between three bodies on the field. They're an oddball troop type, but they work extremely well and are heavily discounted.
• Mimetism: Mimetism. Mimetism -everywhere-. While not as camouflage-heavy as Ariadna, vanilla Aleph is in the running for one of the most mimetism-heavy armies. It's even on one of your basic line troops!

Units Overview

Light Infantry

• Andromeda, Sophistes of the Steel Phalanx: The forward deploying S4 CC-nightmare of Aleph- with guard, so nothing within ZoC stays safe. Take the midfield with her and let your doggo blow up anything dumb enough to move close to her, as she's packing D-Charges. If you're not using the explosives to murder they also make a good use for completing objectives- which she also can do as a specialist. Just watch out for 2" tall buildings - she literally cannot get up them.

• Apsaras: WIP14 Killer Hacker, OR a BS13/WIP14 RemDriver for buffing your (numerous) bots. Both are useful, one gives your 'bots some extra firepower.

• Chandra Specialist Operative Trisha N33: An expensive engineer. Dogged, but so are Dactyls. Compare her to the Sophatect and the Dactyls and it's hard to see a use for her in vanilla. She's the Aleph Defiance character, and doesn't have too much offer. E/M mines are okay, and breaker rifle targets sometimes-weaker BTS saves, but it's rare you'll want to rely on her for any of it. She's +1WIP over a Dactyl at least.

• Dactys:
  • Acmon, Seargent of Dactys: TacAware (meaning, an extra irregular order) WIP 14 Dactyl. Better than the Dactyl, better than Trisha, still expensive for what you get. Two wounds means he's more resilient, but he's slightly more likely to be a Steel Phalanx take.

• Danavas Hacker: For 22 pts you get a WIP15(!!!) Hacker with HD+ and an extra Burst on Oblivion. They also get a Pitcher, so park them near a Baggage bot, spam the board with repeaters and watch your opponent sweat.

• Deva Functionaries: High-cost, high-WIP specialists, they mostly serve a role as a WIP15 specialist or lieutenant, but also provide a fairly inexpensive BS12, No-Wound-Incapacitation profile. Often complained about, but still fairly common.
  • Devabot: The DEVABOT profiles have a synchronized heavy flamethrower bot. Useful for being aggressive and burning out foes, you can round a corner with the Deva and their BOT to do a simultaneous Heavy Flamethrower + Combi Rifle attack, forcing the enemy to dodge (and pray for success) or take an automatic flamethrower wound. Not a mainstay, but still an option.

• Netrods: Lawn darts that generate a regular order and can literally Do Nothing Else. They always generate a regular order, never suffering from Veteran or Isolated. They MUST be deployed during the deployment phase using the Combat Jump rules, unlike most other Combat Jump troops. PH=12 means they'll likely go where you want them to go - and if they don't, then you can deploy them on a board edge.
  • Since being bumped up to 6pts they're a lot less desirable than before, but still useful in a pinch if your list needs every last order.
  • Consider flash pulse bots and baggage bots instead. Only one more point, but they can actually move around and do stuff or bring repeaters.

• Parvati, Circle League Star: Is a potent doctor AND engineer at WIP15. One of the few doctors actually patching up two wounds at once. 6-2 Mov makes her zoom around really fast, 2 STR, 2 ARM 6 BTS and remote presence make her really resilient, letting you patch up fallen HI even in dangerous areas.

• Posthumans: Remember that tactical window limit of 15 models? These guys don't care about that. Your 'G: Jumper' trooper and (as of this writing) the only one in the game. 'G: Jumper' means you must have two or three Posthuman proxies in your list - and you only generate a single regular order. Far from being a downside, the fact that they generate only one order means they take only one slot in your list. Posthumans are uniquely good, and one of the biggest reasons to play Aleph. All of them are good, but Mk1 doctor / engineer, Mk2 Hacker, Mk4 HRL, and Mk 5 forward observer are the most popular.

• Shukra Consultants: Counter-intelligence and fairly cheap Chain of Command are this unit's bread and butter. Useful if you want to play with a risky Lieutenant. The +3 Discover might seem nice, but you're not taking these guys to wander into the midfield. Fairly cheap and popular; pairing these guys with Achilles LT is one big appeal of vanilla over the sectorials.

• Sophotects: Doctor and Engineer all-in-one, with No Wound Incapacitation to boot. She's expensive, but she does her job well. Pair her with a servant Yudbot and keep her safe, and she'll keep both your remotes and meatbags alive.

• [Dead] Thamrys the Aodos: Regular hacking device, No Wound Incapacitation, and a +1B flash pulse. He's an odd profile - think 'super-duper WarCor'. He can extend your hacking range with a Pitcher, but otherwise his lack of offensive power makes for an oddball specialist choice.
  • sadly died a perma-death stopping the Morat fleet during Operation Thunderclap. He's been replaced with Pandora.

• Pandora: Only available in Steel Phalanx, but essentially the same profile as Thamrys. Two notable updates: Dodge(-6) which is interesting if she's out on ARO duty and her flash pulse isn't getting good odds. BUT, she's a much better utility piece than an ARO piece thanks to her pitcher and hacking device. Her second notable upgrade is a profile with medikit(+1b). She's not a paramedic, but suddenly she can help out your beefy HI from a safe distance.

• Trish N33: from Defiance. She's essentially a slightly better Dactyl engineer with Immunity(Shock) and a breaker combi.

• Thyreos: A controversial midfield piece. For an skirmisher in a faction of beefy, survivable heroes she's surprisingly fragile and lacking in obvious stats. Minelayer and Hacker profiles are interesting, as is the Monofilament CCW and Natural Born Warrior, but she's not that resilient and only has Mim(-3).
  • In Steel Phalanx she has the benefit of being a midfield specialist or minelayer in a faction that is sorely lacking in that department.

Mercenary LI

• Aida Swanson, Submondo Smuggler: As a smuggler Booty is an obvious flavor thing, but still very nice from time to time. Forward deployment, MA L2 and Viral Mines, aswell as her SMG make her role of defending/taking the midfield obvious- she's not the cheapest choice for this role, but a competent one, especially if going first.

• Authorized Bounty Hunters: They've got Booty (ReRoll), also stealth can be quite neat in certain situations, but mostly they are a niche unit who can be nice to have if you want to bring something specific to your list you can't have on another unit for some reason.
  • Miranda Ashcroft: Gets a bit more versatility and a general boost over the regular Bounty Hunter, but for her price she doesn't bring a lot to Aleph.

• Cube Jäger: Irregular parachutists, both profiles bring Paramedic, which seems to be their whole schtick. With WIP 13 they can do the button pressing quite well though and having a SMG and an e/mitter can be very useful to scare away the opponents units after a button is pushed.

• Knauf, Outlaw Sniper: While MSV1 snipers weren't that attractive in N3 the Outrage poster boy turned a whole lot hotter. BS (+1B) and Shock is nasty, and MIM (-3) makes using him a bit safer. Besides that he's not doing much, but that trait also keeps him at an affordable price.

• Krakot Renegades, Morat Fugitives: It’s weird that Krakot is typed as LI, as they are a straight up Warband unit. His purpose is to get up into the opponents face, kill as much as it can and die heroically, in a true Morat fashion. Worth considering for an Alpha Strike, if you can get one.

• Libertos Freedom Fighters: Are the highly popular irregular roadbump unit, coming with either a SMG or a light shotgun plus shock mines. They also get Camouflage and Forward Deployment (8"), dodge on a 16 and have Dogged!

• Monstruckers: SPAAAACEEE TRUUUCKIIING! Monstruckers are cheap irregular engineers with Climbing Plus and a bunch of nice weapon options. The cheapest loadout comes with an SMG and Drop Bears, making it ideal to push a button and turn their position into a foxhole afterwards. The other two loadouts are also quite useful, just pick the one supplementing your lists loadout the most.

• Oktavia Grimsdóttir, Icebreaker's Harpooner: A mercenary character with BS (+1B), Sixth Sense and Dogged. Whith a Missile Launcher and a Contender her role is as an ARO piece, but since she's expensive and barely filling any holes anywhere the main reason to bring her is the cool sculpts she got.

• REM-Racers, Mercenary Hacker-Pilots: These mercenaries bring quite the fun mechanic into the game: With REM-Driver they can buff a remote in the list depending on which loadout you pick! There's also a hacker profile, but Aleph probably has a better use for their pts and SWC.

• Wild Bill, Legendary Gunslinger: He's fast at MOV 6-2, got (+1Dam) and shock on his BS, also he's got marksmanship and NWI. Neither the rifle nor the contender have a nice rangeband, but with the MULTI pistol he's got a positive rangeband from 0-12", which overall makes him an unpleasant close-range fighter.

Medium Infantry

• Agêma Marksmen:
  • Atalanta, Agêma's NCO:
  • Teucer, Agêma Warrant Officer: MSV2 and a BS14 with BS(Shock) make Teucer an efficient solo gunfighter. Gets either a K1 Sniper Rifle or a Feuerbach, which both are amazing threats to basically any unit in the game.

• Arjuna Unit: Mimetic Specialist Operatives packing some rather specialized weapons - shotguns, shock marksman rifles, and spitfires. They have the option of taking Kiran Bots on all of their profiles, who help them with E/Marat EM templates and the less-helpful cybermines. Arjunas are specialized around fighting remotes, HI, and TAGs, especially in close quarters, relying on the threat of Immobilization to these three troops. Highly situational, often passed on.

• Chandra Seargent Thrasymedes:

• Drakios, Steel Phalanx's NCO: *Drakios, Steel Phalanx's NCO: A competent murderer with access to Devabots for some extra heavy flamethrower-protection. This guy gets either a regular combi rifle or the Red Fury, which isn't a really amazing weapon this edition, BUT he's good at CC and with Berserk accessing an enemy unit gets way more deadly! He's also a specialist for extra versatility.

• Ekdromoi: Steel Phalanx's combat jump.
  • [Dead] Diomedes, Ekdromoi Officer: Was a named character with combat jump and 2w. His loss will be missed most of all.

• Scylla, Steel Phalanx's NCO: *Scylla, Steel Phalanx's NCO: A hacker with a bonus on Trinity, and up to 2 Devabots with heavy flamethrowers to cover some extra angles. She also brings a pitcher to increase your cyber-boardcontrol, so parking her next to a baggage bot isn't a bad idea. As a bonus she gets a (-3) for enemy hackers.

• Thorakitai: Steel Phalanx's basic line trooper. BS12, 'nuff said.
  • Nesaie Alkeê, Thorakitai Warrant Officer:

• Yadu Troopers, Tactical Assault Teams:
  • Yadu Officer Shakti:

Mercenaries

• Armand 'Le Muet,' Freelance Killer: Dude is a relentlessly aggressive trooper that beats down any enemy at any range and even has an extra wound to do. While poor old Armand cannot remember which side he's truly on; he still is an irritating ARO piece because of his -6 Mimetism. He also comes with the option of either a shock minelayer to protect himself, or a MSV1. If you can afford him, Armand is great for an aggressive area-denying troop who does well in both active turn and ARO.

• John Hawkwood, Mercenary Officer: The Boss of White Company comes with either a Red Fury or a K1 Marksman Rifle, and a Chain of Command profile. While his stats are pretty alright and his skills complement the loadouts well he's coming in very pricey- not exactly a unit you'd want to run here if not for flavor reasons.

Heavy Infantry

• Achilles: The lighter flavor: Mimetism -6 is pure value. Less resilient than a light TAG but with none of the pitfalls, Achilles guns his way up the board until he can CC your face off. There's little in the game that Achilles does not want to fight, and he's among the most durable of the recreations. Treat him like an easier-to-hide TAG.

• • Achilles V2 (Corinthian Armor): The heavier flavor. Mimetism -3, with the addition of Frenzy. Be warned that he will go impetuous after causing a wound to a target, so he will lose the benefit of cover. In exchange, he's 10pts cheaper than his light-armor cousin, has more armor, and forward deployment. In the Corinthian Armor, he functions as a miniature (but fierce) battle TAG, but with no fear of close combat, warbands, or Total Control.

• Ajax the Great, Myrmidon Officer: Achilles' prototype, Ajax is a high-armor, 2+NWI-wound model that shrugs off damage and can explode anything he sees within 8 inches of him. Berserk lets him basically take a wound in exchange for making sure something dies, while his +1 burst and damage means he's a short-ranged 0SWC Spitfire when he can't reach his targets.

• Asuras: Expensive MSV3 heavy infantry with 2 wounds and No Wound Incapacitation. That's the gimmick. When you think you're going to be wading hip-deep in camouflage markers, the Asura will never be Surprise Attacked and automatically passes its Discover check. This trooper is not a favorite among Aleph players, but it does serve a purpose.

• Hector, Homerid Champion: 2+NWI trooper, meaning he's resilient and can dodge good. Like Achilles, he's good in melee, though he might not want to end up there. What's interesting is his Plasma Rifle, being one of the few humans in all of Infinity to have one. Flexible and a decent gun, but pretty expensive for what you get. Can be a Lieutenant.
  • His Lt(+1 order) is fantastic, but he has a split personality when taken like that. If you take him with that profile though, you'll be torn between leaving him back to pump orders into your list, and running him forward with his x-visor'd Plasma Rifle. He's too expensive and too critical to do either of those well.

• [Dead] Patroclus, Myrmidon Special Officer: Sad, sad Patroclus, meeting his end just like in the Homeric Epic. He was a weird profile and cost to begin with, but with him gone Achilles can no longer join any kind of fireteam.

Tactical Armor Gear

• Maruts: One day, ALEPH noticed that the Combined Army had a -6 Mimetism, Sepsitor-Equipped, Strategos L2 Main Battle TAG. In response, ALEPH said 'NUH-UH, I HAVE AN ANTI-AVATAR TAG!', and thus the Marut was born. No joke, the Avatar is poised to be an Avatar direct-counter, negating the Avatar's mimetism, being remote presence (and thus immune to Sepsitor), and Strategos L2, for fewer points than the Avatar. Less specifically, the Marut exists to punch camouflage in the face, be resilient, and be a main battle TAG. A capable (but expensive) Lieutenant, and all around decent offensive piece. Unfortunately, the Marut does compete with Achilles, and its niche is being a pricy counter to camouflage.
  • If you want a big, reliable, survivable gun the Marut is a great pick. It kills stuff dead.
  • Sadly, because of the AP CCW and the Wip 11 Karkata bot it's useless for completing missions whose objectives are anything but KILL

• Agamemnon the Atreides: Yet another great profile for the Marut to compete against. With his DA CCW he can actually smash objectives like Heaters and AI Cores, and with an AP Spitfire he's dangerous against armored targets. Cheaper than Achilles, with an extra order, and a slate of rules that most TAGs would want in a slim S6 profile, Agamemnon is a great choice for TAG aficionados. What he lacks in mimetism or MSV, he makes up for in being cheap enough to bring amazing support pieces alongside him.

Remotes

• Tacbots: Come in two flavors.
  • Dakini Tacbots: These guys act like remote presence LI with MIM (-3), being essentially an expensive linetrooper option with a bit more resilience. They lost a lot of their penalties from N3, now being able to go prone. Don't forget that you need an engineer to fix them, but that they have two levels of Unconscious and that engineers can Command Token Reroll a failed engineer save on them.
    • The HMG is one of the best gunfighters in the game with paired with Marksmanship and a 5-bot Dakini link in OSS. Even in vanilla paired only with Marksmanship its a great gunfighter that can be healed up with an engineer easily.
  • Garuda Tacbots: Like Dakini, but with Combat Jump and Parachutist, and a Spitfire option. While PH 11is not great for a reliable combat jump (EVO helps a bit) they still make a nice and cheap parachutist option.

• Rebots: These are the S3 Aleph bots.
  • Daleth Rebots: The combi rifle gunner with FO. Climbing Plus!
  • Lamedh Rebots: Flashbots. Cheap order and area denial.
  • Samekh Rebots: Guided missile bot.
  • Zayin Rebots: The TR HMG bot. Climbing Plus!

• Rudras GunBots: 2 STR gunbots with a good ARM and BTS. They come with Mine Dispenser for extra board control. These guys are more on the expensive side, but get hefty guns for their price.

• Probots: The S4 Baggage bots. As always they come with an EVO option, and a Combi TR version.

• Yudbots: ALEPH Helper bots.

Warband

• Hippolyta, Amazon Officer: A premium warband, without smoke but really good at CC thanks to MA L4 with an EXP CC weapon. Dodge (+2"), MIM (-6), Superjump and NWI make it easier for her to reach her targets. The Breaker Combi Rifle is a great general threat. WIP 14 on a Flash Pulse is no slouch either!

• Myrmidons:
  • Eudoros, Myrmidon Officer:
  • Machaon, Myrmidon Doctor-Officer:
  • Myrmidon Officer:
  • Phoenix, Veteran Myrmidon Officer:

• Penthesilea, Amazon Warrioress: 2 wounds, Specialist, on a bike, with Bioimmunity and Mim(-3). What's not to love? She's close ranged only, but she has smoke grenades and she's fast. AND her model looks fantastic despite being N2 era.

Skirmishers

• Dart, Optimate Huntress: Gets Forward Deployment (8"), MIM (-3), NWI, and Camouflage, making her a midfield threat. With her SMG she can get into suppression or just be an unexpected close-range threat, her bow is more for flavor reasons. E/M grenades make a good weapon against beefy HI and TAGs.

• Dasyus: Mimetism -6, Hidden Deployment infiltrators. More expensive than Nagas (see below) but they come with some useful toys. If you want a specialist to hide in Hidden Deployment on an objective until turn three, these are probably your lads. Of note, they're also your only Hidden Deployment in all of Aleph.

• Nagas: Infiltrators with camo and MIM (-3), aswell as Dogged for some extra resilience. WIP 14 makes them excellent midfield specialists with a bunch of profiles to choose from.