Tohaa Journey - Stage 5
Woo! The rules for the Tohaa starter box are finally out! Now that we finally have some numbers for our crazy new aliens, let's do a bit of unpacking to see what they bring to the table.
Kamael Light Infantry
These guys appear to be the basic grunts of the Tohaa Trident. Stat-wise, they're basically Line Kazaks with Combi-Rifles, which means that their PH is higher than that of most line troops. One big thing that stands out is that they have the Fireteam: Tohaa ability, so you can always group them in threes for defence - or use them to add to the burst of one of your more potent units.
They also have some interesting gear options. I'm relieved to see that the basic line troop has access to an HMG, but this follows the trend that all armies - even Aleph with its Dakini Tactbots - has been following. The Tohaa seems to lack MULTI weaponry, but what that means for me is that their Sniper option is much cheaper because of it. In a triad, their snipers are going to be B2 anyway.
The Defensive Hacking Device and the Paramedic really stand out to me. The DHD seems to indicate that the Tohaa are playing a reactionary game against the Combined Army, throwing up defences in the hopes of surviving just a bit longer. The fluff about the Nullifier (sadly belonging to another unit) certainly seems to suggest this. You won't be hacking your opponent with your basic Kamael, but at least you'll have a rather cheap defence against hackers...and guided missiles. As for the Paramedic, well...apparently they can heal Symbiote-wearers without the PH penalty, which is very cool indeed. I'm still not sure about the rules regarding Symbiont Armour and healing (do you need a doctor/engineer? Do you need a medkit? What is going on!?), but I'm sure it'll all be ironed out soon.
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Sakiel Regiment
Oh man. The Tohaa's elite light infantry choice is nasty, and I mean that in the best possible way. With Symbiont Armour active, they share stats with units like the Loup-Garou, and the stats are pretty good for the price. They also have a bunch of interesting equipment choices like a Light Rocket Launcher, Swarm Grenades, the awesome Nullifier, and the even more awesome Viral Combi-Rifle. But none of this is what makes the Sakiel scary. Oh no. What makes them scary is that they have all of these options plus the Tohaa fireteam rule and effectively 2 wounds (active and inactive armour).
When joining a fireteam of two Kamael, for instance, the Sakiel instantly gets +1B to all of those juicy weapon options, and presents a reasonably tough front-man (front-alien?) for the triad's combined efforts. With a triad of three Kamael, you can also bring some variety to the party: want to use a B3 Light Rocket Launcher for a certain shot? Switch over to that model. Want to use a B4 Viral Combi? Switch to that. B5 Spitfire? Yeah, you see where I'm going with this. Very high burst weaponry for discount prices without sacrificing stats. Well, except for that ARM score once the symbiont goes inactive, but consider the inactive state your Sakiel's second chance at glory.
Oh, and they have a Paramedic option with a Combi-Rifle and Swarm Grenades. Heal those symbionts!
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Ectros Regiment
My mind reels at the CC17 and Poison tax on the Ectros, but once you get past that (and who knows? Maybe you'll even make use of it once in a while!), the Ectros starts to look pretty damn cool. It's a fast (4-4) Heavy Infantry with PH 14, which is reasonably rare across the sphere, and it has an HMG option that Aleph players will be gnashing their teeth over for a long, long time. With Symbiont active, the Ectros isn't the toughest thing in the world (only ARM 3), but its BTS protects it from a lot of unconventional warfare...not to mention the viral attacks of all those other Tohaa you're bound to see on the table once Paradiso comes out.
Fireteam: Tohaa is very neat with this model, because you're getting a B5 HMG even if you hook the Ectros up with a few Kamael. Drool. If you're not willing to shell out the SWC for the HMG, the Ectros also has a Viral Combi option (I hear these aren't bad at B3, let alone B4...) and the cool new Vulkan Shotgun. Shotgun-type weapons might be really circumstantial on 4-2 Heavy Infantry, but fortunately the Ectros doesn't suffer that problem. If you feel inclined to try out the Vulkan, don't forget that the rest of the Ectros' triad can carry longer-ranged weapons to provide support if necessary.
Leaving out the Nanopulsar would be a crime, because each and every Ectros has one of these. That means that you have access to a template no matter what, and template weapons are damn versatile. And hey, in a triad, you have a B2 Nanopulser! Fun!
Lastly, I'm still tempted to consider the "Inactive Symbiont Armour" profile as the model's last chance at glory. That may change with play, but for now I think it's especially true with the Ectros, which actually takes a big hit to 4 stats (BS, PH, ARM, BTS) when its symbiont dies. Make sure you make those last few shots count!
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Clipsos Infiltrators
I normally play Yu Jing and Ariadna, so the idea of a vanilla TO infiltrator actually makes me drool just a little. I know it's no big deal for a bunch of other factions, but the Clipsos has already won its place in my heart for its cost and its role in the army. It's also got a few fancy toys (Nullifier and Swarm Grenades!) that may see more use as I figure out just what to do with them, but for now I'm just looking at the Minelayer option and hoping that the Tohaa have more Camo models so I can start laying down some traps...
The Clipsos is one of those rare Tohaa loners, so no Fireteam: Tohaa rule for it...but that's ok. I don't think Corvus Belli was going to let us link infiltrators anyway, and that's a good thing for game balance. Oh yeah, one last thing...the Clipsos also has BTS -3, so Nano/Viral/Flash isn't as good against it. That's definitely something, especially considering its 0 ARM score!
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Tohaa Diplomatic Delegates
The model just frightens me. The rules, though, make me giggle madly. For 5 points, you get a Nanopulser Specialist objective-taker, which is pretty damn cool. Granted, the Diplomatic Delegate isn't like the Warbands of other factions in any other way (it's a LI...does that mean there's hope for real Tohaa warbands in the future?), but I don't think that's the point. All that other stuff is nice (and I'm really hoping for it!), but I really like the idea of having a very cheap objective-grabber with an auto-hit weapon.
Plus, it's not actually Impetuous, so it won't be running out into the field of fire when it's least convenient for you. I usually like the Impetuous rule, but in this case, I think I'd rather do without - it's not like the Diplomatic Delegate can really defend itself with PH 10 and no smoke, anyway.
Kamael Light Infantry
These guys appear to be the basic grunts of the Tohaa Trident. Stat-wise, they're basically Line Kazaks with Combi-Rifles, which means that their PH is higher than that of most line troops. One big thing that stands out is that they have the Fireteam: Tohaa ability, so you can always group them in threes for defence - or use them to add to the burst of one of your more potent units.
They also have some interesting gear options. I'm relieved to see that the basic line troop has access to an HMG, but this follows the trend that all armies - even Aleph with its Dakini Tactbots - has been following. The Tohaa seems to lack MULTI weaponry, but what that means for me is that their Sniper option is much cheaper because of it. In a triad, their snipers are going to be B2 anyway.
The Defensive Hacking Device and the Paramedic really stand out to me. The DHD seems to indicate that the Tohaa are playing a reactionary game against the Combined Army, throwing up defences in the hopes of surviving just a bit longer. The fluff about the Nullifier (sadly belonging to another unit) certainly seems to suggest this. You won't be hacking your opponent with your basic Kamael, but at least you'll have a rather cheap defence against hackers...and guided missiles. As for the Paramedic, well...apparently they can heal Symbiote-wearers without the PH penalty, which is very cool indeed. I'm still not sure about the rules regarding Symbiont Armour and healing (do you need a doctor/engineer? Do you need a medkit? What is going on!?), but I'm sure it'll all be ironed out soon.
---
Sakiel Regiment
Oh man. The Tohaa's elite light infantry choice is nasty, and I mean that in the best possible way. With Symbiont Armour active, they share stats with units like the Loup-Garou, and the stats are pretty good for the price. They also have a bunch of interesting equipment choices like a Light Rocket Launcher, Swarm Grenades, the awesome Nullifier, and the even more awesome Viral Combi-Rifle. But none of this is what makes the Sakiel scary. Oh no. What makes them scary is that they have all of these options plus the Tohaa fireteam rule and effectively 2 wounds (active and inactive armour).
When joining a fireteam of two Kamael, for instance, the Sakiel instantly gets +1B to all of those juicy weapon options, and presents a reasonably tough front-man (front-alien?) for the triad's combined efforts. With a triad of three Kamael, you can also bring some variety to the party: want to use a B3 Light Rocket Launcher for a certain shot? Switch over to that model. Want to use a B4 Viral Combi? Switch to that. B5 Spitfire? Yeah, you see where I'm going with this. Very high burst weaponry for discount prices without sacrificing stats. Well, except for that ARM score once the symbiont goes inactive, but consider the inactive state your Sakiel's second chance at glory.
Oh, and they have a Paramedic option with a Combi-Rifle and Swarm Grenades. Heal those symbionts!
---
Ectros Regiment
My mind reels at the CC17 and Poison tax on the Ectros, but once you get past that (and who knows? Maybe you'll even make use of it once in a while!), the Ectros starts to look pretty damn cool. It's a fast (4-4) Heavy Infantry with PH 14, which is reasonably rare across the sphere, and it has an HMG option that Aleph players will be gnashing their teeth over for a long, long time. With Symbiont active, the Ectros isn't the toughest thing in the world (only ARM 3), but its BTS protects it from a lot of unconventional warfare...not to mention the viral attacks of all those other Tohaa you're bound to see on the table once Paradiso comes out.Fireteam: Tohaa is very neat with this model, because you're getting a B5 HMG even if you hook the Ectros up with a few Kamael. Drool. If you're not willing to shell out the SWC for the HMG, the Ectros also has a Viral Combi option (I hear these aren't bad at B3, let alone B4...) and the cool new Vulkan Shotgun. Shotgun-type weapons might be really circumstantial on 4-2 Heavy Infantry, but fortunately the Ectros doesn't suffer that problem. If you feel inclined to try out the Vulkan, don't forget that the rest of the Ectros' triad can carry longer-ranged weapons to provide support if necessary.
Leaving out the Nanopulsar would be a crime, because each and every Ectros has one of these. That means that you have access to a template no matter what, and template weapons are damn versatile. And hey, in a triad, you have a B2 Nanopulser! Fun!
Lastly, I'm still tempted to consider the "Inactive Symbiont Armour" profile as the model's last chance at glory. That may change with play, but for now I think it's especially true with the Ectros, which actually takes a big hit to 4 stats (BS, PH, ARM, BTS) when its symbiont dies. Make sure you make those last few shots count!
---
Clipsos Infiltrators
I normally play Yu Jing and Ariadna, so the idea of a vanilla TO infiltrator actually makes me drool just a little. I know it's no big deal for a bunch of other factions, but the Clipsos has already won its place in my heart for its cost and its role in the army. It's also got a few fancy toys (Nullifier and Swarm Grenades!) that may see more use as I figure out just what to do with them, but for now I'm just looking at the Minelayer option and hoping that the Tohaa have more Camo models so I can start laying down some traps...The Clipsos is one of those rare Tohaa loners, so no Fireteam: Tohaa rule for it...but that's ok. I don't think Corvus Belli was going to let us link infiltrators anyway, and that's a good thing for game balance. Oh yeah, one last thing...the Clipsos also has BTS -3, so Nano/Viral/Flash isn't as good against it. That's definitely something, especially considering its 0 ARM score!
---
Tohaa Diplomatic Delegates
The model just frightens me. The rules, though, make me giggle madly. For 5 points, you get a Nanopulser Specialist objective-taker, which is pretty damn cool. Granted, the Diplomatic Delegate isn't like the Warbands of other factions in any other way (it's a LI...does that mean there's hope for real Tohaa warbands in the future?), but I don't think that's the point. All that other stuff is nice (and I'm really hoping for it!), but I really like the idea of having a very cheap objective-grabber with an auto-hit weapon.Plus, it's not actually Impetuous, so it won't be running out into the field of fire when it's least convenient for you. I usually like the Impetuous rule, but in this case, I think I'd rather do without - it's not like the Diplomatic Delegate can really defend itself with PH 10 and no smoke, anyway.
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