The Morats of Haqqislam

Welcome fellow seekers of knowledge!  Now that I have some other articles ushering in ITS Season 9 out of the way, I can focus on tactics and strategy for Hassassin Bahram since that will be my main faction for this season (I want to say that I would exclusively be playing HB this season but with the TAGline missions still a part of the ITS missions, I might take Vanilla or QK so I can take a TAG to that event… unless it has the Soldier of Fortune add on as well, allowing me to take a Merc TAG). As I said in the previous article, I am quite excited to start Hassassin Bahram, some of my favorite units are in this Sectorial. One of those units I feel needs a little more attention, especially since they are essentially the Morats of Haqqislam.

It seems like an odd title but the combination of traits given to this unit are the same contained within the Morat rule so I thought it made a good title for them. It’s part of the reason why they are so good but I will get into that later during the tactics and strategy portion of the article. What really endears me to this unit is the fact that they have awesome looking models but also their background is some of the coolest in Infinity. Every time I read about them in the N3 Guide Book, I always feel like I need to find a way to put them on the table despite how the community feels about them. I don’t think it’s because people feel that they are a bad unit but because Hassassin Muyibs are such a great unit in HB that the Govads get overlooked. To start let’s get into the lore of this unit, and delve into the beginnings of the Hassassin Govad.

The Old Man of the Mountain’s Divine Spirits

The Hassassin Govads are actually one of the oldest units in the Hassassin Society, going back to the first days of the formation of the group, before Fidays were even an idea. The word Govad means “wind” in Persian and in ancient times it was used to refer to divine spirits, usually Islamic/Christian angels. This is what they function as and is their intended function when the Old Man of the Mountain created them in the beginning of the Hassassin Society. Back then, they were a covert ops group dedicated to sniffing out any potential threats that could try and disrupt the then young Haqqislamite nation. They were completely off the books and hidden from all intelligence groups, who only recently even learned of their existence, even other members of the Hassassin Society. They were the ones that went in and did what no one else could, and made sure that it wouldn’t be tracked back to Haqqislam. They did what was needed for the Hachib acting through the Old Man of the Mountain. Unfortunately, the first iteration of the Govads wouldn’t survive to modern times.

This was because the rise of a scientific terrorist group named Equinox. It didn’t take very long for the Govads to catch onto Equinox when they started ramping up their activities across the Human Sphere. The goal of Equinox was simple, they wanted to cause a scientific and technological revolution that they were going to spear head and they chose violence as their means of starting this revolution. It was clear to the Hassassin Govads that Equinox presented a clear and present danger to humanity and the Search for Knowledge, and luckily, they weren’t hampered by the need to have official sanctions to take down the terrorist organization. The Govads kicked into action, working alone to hunt and destroy Equinox cells. Their actions didn’t go unnoticed and they certainly didn’t go unanswered. Equinox had unlimited funds thanks to their connections to MagnaObra. Meanwhile, the Govads, being as clandestine as they were, did not have government support and only had limited funds to deal with the threat. The number of casualties the Govads started to accrue was not sustainable and eventually Equinox was able to fight back the Govads until they only had one member left.

The sacrifice was not in vain, though, the Hassassin Govads were successful in delaying Equinox and were able to uncover what Equinox had planned. Luckily, these plans were not immediate. Equinox was playing a long game, and with the addition of the delays the Govads had caused, they were able to re-organize and attempt another strike at Equinox, hoping this time for a killing blow. Several members had their cubes recovered for resurrection and the Old Man of the Mountain went to actively recruit new members, members that could handle themselves in the fight and who were willing to do what it takes to complete the mission. Once these new Govads were ready, they went back on the hunt for Equinox, and this time not only for justice, but vengeance as well. They struck Equinox hard, eliminating key cells and dealing major blows to Equinox despite the resources being funded to the terrorist group. Equinox was caught off guard and couldn’t withstand the bloody retribution enacted by the Govads. Equinox fell and the Govads were successful in eliminating the group for now. When the dust settled, the Govads came back to join the Hassassin Society, now with a more known existence to the rest of the members, but their job remains the same, to track threats to the Search of Knowledge and eliminate them. Even though they are more known now, the essence of the group is still the same and they are ever vigilant in protecting Haqqislam and the Search for Knowledge. The unfortunate truth is that as long as MagnaObra still exists, Equinox can come back. The Govads, however, will be ready to protect the Human Sphere from this threat once more, and when that happens, we will be glad to have the Hassassin Govads.

Art Done by Estrada over on DeviantArt: https://estrada.deviantart.com/ Go on over and see the other awesome art he has done for Infinity

(Would you like to know more? The lore of the Hassassin Govads is contained within the N3 Guide Book, along with a bunch of other Haqqislam units and is the source of this article’s lore.)

The Hassassin Govads have probably my favorite background lore in all of Infinity, as you can see going into that description. They really are a bunch of badasses protecting not only Haqqislam but the whole of the Human Sphere. They sacrificed themselves to bring down a terrorist organization that could have destroyed the Human Sphere in the pursuit of their radical beliefs, and that is awesome. Every time I go into the N3 Guide Book and read about them, I start wanting to put them on the table. I am hoping that after reading all that, it too inspires you to want to get them on the table, but you may be wondering, what is the best way to get the most out of the Hassassin Govad? First, let’s unpack everything the Hassassin Govads bring to the table.

When Haqqislam Units Have Morat Traits

When it comes to the stat line for the Hassassin Govad, they have a little more defense than your average Light Infantry. They are actually right on the cusp of having ARM and BTS that would put them in the Medium Infantry category. They have the standard 4-4 move, an alright CC of 14, a decent BS for Haqqislam at 12, average 11 PH, average 14 WIP (for Haqqislam), they have 2 ARM and 3 BTS (BTS in Haqqislam! It’s great!), 1 wound, they are S2 of course and finally they AVA 3 in Vanilla but AVA 5 in Hassassin Bahram. The AVA 5 helps because it gives them the flexibility of taking a full Core link but they also have a Haris option.

As you can see, there isn’t anything that makes them too special in their stats, but the rest of what they bring is what makes them special. They all have a Multispectral Visor L1, which is useful. It’s not as good as MSV2 but it does help take on Camo spam armies and does take the edge off of ODD and TO Camo. In addition to that, they are a Religious Troop, and Veteran L1 which is why I say they are Haqqislam’s Morats; the Morat rule means the trooper has both of those abilities. The Religious Troop rule isn’t surprising to see on a Hassassin unit, it’s on all Hassassin units. With it, you automatically pass your Guts Roll (in fact, you need to pass a WIP roll to fail your Guts Roll,) are unaffected by Retreat, and can never voluntarily leave the game table. This is one edge of Hassassin Bahram, even if your Opponent forces you into Retreat, you can still have enough regular orders to possibly steal the mission from them since the game ends after your turn. Veteran L1 also lets the trooper ignore Retreat, but it also allows the trooper to remain regular during Loss of Lieutenant, and ignore all Isolated state effects. Govads don’t care about Retreat, they don’t care if the LT goes down, they are going to complete the mission. Their hackers can’t be Isolated with Oblivion, and they don’t fear enemy Jammers or E/M weapons, Govads do their job and don’t let anything get in their way. In Hassassin Bahram, all Hassassin Govads also have Fireteam Core so any of the profiles in HB can form a Fireteam Core.

What Hassassin Govads Bring to the Hunt

Before we dive into where the Hassassin Govad fits into both Vanilla Haqqislam and Hassassin Bahram, we need to look at what profiles they have to find out what they can fully do. The profiles differ slightly between the two armies in relation to the Fireteams that can be taken with Govads in Hassassin Bahram. One thing that all Govads have in common is that they have a Breaker Pistol and knife. There isn’t much to say about the knife as I would hope that you aren’t getting into CC but, the Breaker Pistol provides another option if the opponent is more susceptible to BTS damage, which could give the Govad a chance to turn the tables in a pinch. A lot of the Govads have some sort of shotgun which competes for use with the Breaker Pistol, so which you use is situational because the +6 0-8 range of the shotgun is a huge boon, but if the Breaker Pistol may be more likely to cause a wound if it does hit. For example, if the target has high armor or halving the target’s BTS will be more of a benefit than taking away cover with the shotgun, go with the Breaker Pistol.  

• Govad with Rifle + Light Shotgun: There isn’t much to say about this profile because it is pretty much the standard profile of a Haqqislam troop. It comes in decently priced at 21 points. You would probably rarely take this profile on its own, this profile will be mostly used to fill out Fireteams in HB and won’t ever see much time in Vanilla. Not a bad unit, just not anything special to take on its own.
• Govad with HMG: This profile actually sees a lot of action for me in both Vanilla and HB. For 29 points and 1.5 SWC, you get an HMG with MSV1 and that can’t get Isolated which means you can be a little more cavalier with it than you could with other HMG options in both Vanilla and HB. It’s also one of the few Govads that you would use her Breaker Pistol since she does not have shotgun which is perfect illustrated because the model for this unit has both the Breaker Pistol and HMG out in full display. This really fits to what the Govads do, go out and hunt targets to make sure they go down in full burst. Although, it doesn’t help with smoke, it does help to make Camo spam toast at a really good price too. 29 points isn’t bad for what you are getting.
• Govad with Boarding Shotgun: For 20 points, you get a Govad with a Boarding Shotgun. Again, it’s not bad or too many points for what you get, you just wouldn’t be taking this in Vanilla. This profile as with the Rifle + light shotgun helps to fill out links in HB. It’s a point cheaper than that profile so you can take this when you are trying to get other things in your list and you need that point freed up to do that.
• Govad with Sniper Rifle: This is another profile that sees a lot of action in both Vanilla and HB, and also another profile where you would use the Breaker Pistol because she doesn’t come with a shotgun but if your sniper is using her pistol…there is a problem. Anyway, for 25 points and 0.5 SWC you get a decently armored, ARM 2 and BTS 3 makes it difficult to dislodge (If you can make armor saves) that also has MSV1. She is a great ARO piece to snipe anyone with visual modifiers. Not exactly a hunter like her HMG counterpart, unless she is in a link, but definitely a great ARO piece in Vanilla and a great addition to both a Core and Haris to cover your range bands.
• Govad with Missile Launcher, Light Shotgun: Alright, so I love this profile. I have recently gotten into the habit of putting Missile Launchers in links and it has worked out really well for me. A Missile Launcher with MSV1 is even better. It is the most expensive profile for the Govads at 30 points and 1.5 SWC but you get a lot of bang for your buck (Pun intended). This guy solves a lot of problems thanks to him coupling MSV1 with a Missile Launcher so you might not be able to fully negate ODD or TO but you reduce it and hopefully you have range on it too so that missile lands and takes out that high ARM prick with ODD or TO. He makes a great ARO piece in Vanilla and your opponent probably won’t like that you took a missile launcher with MSV1. In a link, these guys are straight deadly especially in a 5-man link. They can take out whatever you need gone. Plus, the sweetest thing is that he brings a light shotgun with him so if you thought you were gonna be clever and try to hit him in close quarters, he’s got a shotgun with your name on it. A Missile Launcher who brings his own close combat protection, I absolutely love it. Definitely worth a look at.
• Govad with Hacking Device, Boarding Shotgun: This is a profile that isn’t bad but the problem is that there are better options if you aren’t taking it in a link so you won’t see this profile in Vanilla really but it’s not a bad profile for a Hacker. He is 28 points for 0.5 SWC so pretty standard and he is immune to Oblivion and with BTS 3, he is a pretty good defensive/supportive hacker. There are just better Hackers in Haqqislam is all. This profile is definitely the one you take to have a specialist in whatever link you are taking in HB. Those defensive measures are just good if you have an opponent trying to exploit your hackable trait in order to dismantle your link.
• Govad Lieutenant with Rifle + Light Shotgun: Nothing really special here honestly. For 21 points, you get a standard Govad LT. You could take this in Vanilla if you fear that your opponent might try to just Isolate your LT instead of killing it and the same goes for HB, it’s a decent way to make your opponent have to come kill your LT if they want to put you in Loss of LT. This profile is also good to take if you want to protect your LT in a link and have more eyes watching her back. Not too much else to say about this.
• Govad with Number 2, Rifle + Light Shotgun: This is a Hassassin Bahram profile because it only relates to link teams. Simply put, you put this in your link so that even if the link leader is killed for whatever reason, the link doesn’t break which saves on Command Tokens. This is another profile that I use quite often in HB because it is only 22 points to protect your Core link, definitely a worth investment.
• Govad with Killer Hacker Device (KHD), Boarding Shotgun: Not the best KHD in Haqqislam (the Barid and Leila just simply bring more to the table) so you won’t be taking it individually in Vanilla or HB but it makes perfect addition to a link team to protect your other hacker or just go hunter other hackers in the safety of a link team and should the link be totally destroyed, he can go on his own and still be lethal by Cybermasking his way up to the board and using surprise hack on unsuspecting hackers or surprise shot with his boarding shotgun. You can do this for 23 points and 0.5 SWC, one of the rare KHD units with an SWC cost but again, you have to pay for the Veteran L1.
• Govad Haris Leader with Rifle + Light Shotgun: This is another Hassassin Bahram only profile because you have to take this profile in order to take a Govad Haris Fireteam. For 22 points and 0.5 SWC you are able to take a Haris Fireteam with your Govads and that isn’t bad especially considering the options you have to put in that Haris. Again, another profile I use a lot because the Govad Haris is really good which we will get into as we explore what roles the Govads fill in both Vanilla and HB.

The Govads have a wide range of profiles as you can see to do the job they need to do for Haqqislam but they often fall into the perception that they get overshadowed by other units in Haqqislam in both Vanilla and Hassassin Bahram (See my article on Vanilla vs. Sectorials on unit overshadow) or I have also heard that they aren’t like in HB because they don’t have a Doctor profile. It would seem that we have Haqqislam players who are a huge fan of having a reliable way to get their troopers to stand back up which is a valid concern in the only faction that has Doctor Plus. Fear not, seekers of knowledge, there are plenty of ways to integrate the Hassassin Govad into your Haqqislamite forces be it Vanilla or HB. I know going without a Doctor in a link is a bit unnerving, but trust me, it’s not as needful as one might think.

When the Govads Hunt for the Sword of Allah

I feel that it’s in Vanilla Haqqislam (aka the Sword of Allah) that people feel that Govads struggle to find a place. They aren’t a go-to Hacker profile because Vanilla Haqqislam has a lot of great profiles already. As far as support Hacking goes, a Ghulam Hacker is a lot cheaper by 8 points, but for one point over the Ghulam, you get the Hassassin Barid who also gets BTS 3 and is still 7 points cheaper than the Govad Hacker. When it comes to a KHD, as I said before, the Barid and Leila are all around better than the Govad - cheaper with better profiles. Honestly, this is a fair assessment and I have yet to find much of a reason to take the Govad Hacker profiles in Vanilla. The hacker profiles are definitely something that gets use in Hassassin Bahram, which is something that happens to some units.

The profiles I use the most in Vanilla are the heavy weapons the Hassassin Govads have. The lore says, the Govads are there to seek out and eliminate the enemies of Haqqislam, after all. This is the best place to get full use out of their stats and profile when playing Vanilla. There is a problem, though, because this is another place that people feel that other units overshadow the Govad. The main criticism that comes up is why to take a Govad when you can take a Djanbazan in Vanilla Haqqislam? The Djanbazan is more expensive but has MSV2 over MSV1, so ODD and TO Camo are negated, and the Djanbazan can shoot through Smoke. All fair assessments, but, as it was pointed out, Djanbazan are also more expensive. Govads being cheaper is most certainly a benefit in their favor. The Govad HMG and Sniper rifle are 6 points cheaper than their Djanbazan counter-parts, which, in Haqqislam, is quite a difference. You can do a lot with those 6 points and it could be a matter of fitting another order into the pool so you can out maneuver your opponent by having a larger order pool than them. Also, being Veteran L1, the Govad can’t be isolated so your opponent (like if this a Haqqislam vs Haqqislam match up) can’t isolate your attack piece like they could to a Djanbazan in order to shut it down. Another thing the Govads have over the Djanbazan is that the Djanbazan don’t have a Missile Launcher profile while the Govads do, which makes for a better ARO piece than a Sniper when you are facing heavier units that have visual modifiers like Heavy Infantry or TAGs.

The Djanbazan are only AVA 2 in Vanilla Haqqislam. If you are going against an army that can bring a lot of units with visual modifiers, that might not be enough to counter them (Looking at you Steel Phalanx!). Only taking one or two Djanbazan gives your opponent easy targets to cripple your counter measures to them, there have been many times that I have had an opponent go first and they immediately went to take my Djanbazan out to hamper my efforts. While Haqqislam has plenty of different ways to further counter these like tons of templates (We strap shotguns to everything, use them!), losing a unit like a Djanbazan most certainly hurts. The two profiles of Djanbazan I like to use the most in Vanilla are the HMG and the Shock Marksman Rifle. (Seriously, if you haven’t used the Shock Marksman Rifle on the Djanbazan, I suggest you change that. It’s a great way to take down one wound units that have visual modifiers especially those in ALEPH who have NWI.) Those two usually take up my AVA 2 on the Djanbazan. I will supplement this with throwing in one or two Govads to back up the Djanbazan and help not put my eggs all in one basket. The Govad Sniper is a great way to have a long range ARO that can take advantage of the MSV1 and range bands to help keep favorable odds. The same can also be said about the Govad that rocks the Missile Launcher. This allows you to have ARO pieces to take down Camo and ODD but allows your Djanbazan to be more active. If you want another active piece with MSV, the Govad HMG is there as well, allowing you to hunt with the Djanbazan HMG while you put the Govad HMG in a key fire lane and put her in Suppressive Fire.

There are many ways to use the Govads in Vanilla Haqqislam. If you are trying to have a large order list but want some MSV just in case you experience some Camo along the way, Govads fit that bill a lot more comfortably than the Djanbazan on account of their lower point cost. The Govads are also resistant to Isolation, unlike the Djanbazan. The best use, though, is just taking the Djanbazan and Govads together. Everyone feels that they compete with each other but, honestly, they complement each other a lot, and that Steel Phalanx player won’t expect that much MSV in a Haqqislam army. Using both Govads and Djanbazan, you can have 5 troopers with MSV and make it quite difficult for your friend who loves Camo or ODD. Haqqislam has plenty of cheap troops to help offset the cost of those 5 troopers, too, so don’t be scared to show some MSV force.

Under the Old Man of the Mountain’s Command

When the Hassassin Govads are under the command of the Old Man of the Mountain is when you will truly use the full range of their profiles… if you choose to take them, that is. Although they are a fine link team in Hassassin Bahram, they have to compete with Hassassin Muyibs, which, when you get down to it, are just a great link team (They will be getting an article to themselves after this one) and people get caught up in how good they are. I don’t blame them, I am a huge fan of units that cover multiple roles, and the Muyibs do that, which makes the Govads get sidelined. It’s not because the Govads are bad or aren’t worth their points, it’s just that the Muyibs bring so much to the table for their points, especially when competing for that Core Fireteam spot. With two kinds of specialists, one of those being a doctor, the Muyibs definitely attract more attention than the Govads do. Quite often, the Govads get relegated to Defensive Haris Fireteam duty while they get to watch their Muyib colleagues go have the fun midfield. The Defensive Haris isn’t a bad use for them, they do that job quite well, I have used them for the same purpose, but, as I said in my previous post, there is a lot of flexibility in Hassassin Bahram now. Enough flexibility to take a Govad Core Fireteam.

I am just going to get the obvious reason out of the way right now, if you are facing a lot Camo and ODD, a Core Fireteam of Govads is a good solution for you. It’s the only MSV found in HB, like Djanbazans in QK, sometimes instead of finding the crafty tricks to deal with visual modifiers, you just want to hit it hard using a hard counter like MSV. In a link team, ODD and TO Camo basically becomes null and void with regular Camo and Mimetism running for the hills as your heavy weapons tear through them. You can take Hackers along with you as well to help shut down Hackable units or kill enemy Hackers using the KHD. The Hackers do let you take care of a wider range of enemies than the Muyibs, but Govads lack the breadth of utility that Muyibs have in other areas. The other reason you might want a Govads Core is because you are going against someone who can Isolate you easily (another Haqq player) or if you are taking a risky LT (although you can easily protect this with a Farzan). Being resistant to Isolation is one reason why these guys are good for the ITS mission Hunting Party, it limits the ways your opponent can score and forces your opponent to have to deal with them in another way. Also, if you are going against a force with a faction known for hitting on a units BTS (like Tohaa with their Viral Ammo), Govads can be a better choice thanks to their BTS 3 giving you a better defense against those types of weapons.

As always, though, my best answer is to use things in tandem because they are a way of keeping up variety, and variety is the spice of life. Before HSN3, I feel like there was more competition between these two units because Hassassin Bahram only had the Core Fireteam, but now they have Haris, and, as I said before, a lot of people use the Govad Haris. The thing is, though, Muyibs have a Haris as well. This allows them to work together really well. This allows you to take the Core of Govads to take on those with visual modifiers while also benefitting from the utility of the Muyibs as a Haris. A Muyib Haris helps to complement the Govads as well because they have something that can really help that Core take it to your opponent and their ODD or TO: A Heavy Rocket Launcher. Since the Rocket Launcher uses Fire Ammunition, it would burn all the TO and ODD to Mimetism and give the Govads free reign to eliminate them with no negative modifiers. Now you can do the reverse of this, of course, with a Muyib Core and a Govad Haris. That is the more common arrangement of those Fireteams, with less emphasis on the Govads as the killing team, but it will also get the job done.

Muyibs carry with them the air of always being the right choice because of the amount of utility they bring but honestly this is a trap. Evaluating which missions you will be playing, and what armies you are about to face, is important in deciding if you take Govads as a Core, or a Haris, or not at all. I don’t want to paint either as THE unit in Hassassin Bahram because with anything in any army and list building, you want to make sure you have enough to complete the mission, but also prepare for any curve balls that your opponent may throw at you. Over reliance on one unit ends in tunnel vision and a rigid strategy, which is why I am writing this article in the first place, to elevate the Govad to the same point of the Muyib so it becomes a tactical choice about which better serves the current needs. Imagine the units available to you as a toolbox; you wouldn’t take a hammer to put in a screw just because the hammer is so good at hammering in nails.

Follow the Wind and Search for Knowledge

I hope that I have given you enough cause to consider bringing Govads in some capacity in both Vanilla Haqqislam and Hassassin Bahram. I am hoping that the lore, or the tactics, or both inspire you to include them. They are a great unit for the points that they cost. Having both Religious Troop and Veteran L1 along with MSV1 is a huge advantage that sometimes gets forgotten about until you need it. The Hassassin Govads are the original protectors of the Search for Knowledge, take them out in the field and I promise you they won’t disappoint. You just have to give them a chance. They have some of my favorite models in the game too. Corvus Belli really hit the mark with elite light infantry when they designed them so get out there, faithful followers, and put the Old Man of the Mountain’s first operatives to work. As always, my friends, continue to seek knowledge, mashallah. 

What Happened to My Specialists?!

Hello, my loyal readers of the Sword of Haqqislam!

It has been well over a month since my last posting. Unfortunately, when things get busy, the blog is the one that suffers since I only do this in my spare time. With how popular the last post was, I was hoping to have had another article out way before this. It was supposed to be about another Haqqislam unit that I don’t think gets enough attention, the Hassassin Govad. A more pressing subject has come up, though, one I want to cover before doing another unit spotlight. Don’t worry, the article on Govads is definitely coming, but with the new season upon us, I thought that it was better to hit this topic first.

Some changes have come to the Infinity meta with the release of the new ITS Season 9: Treason and I am not just talking about the fact that I am moving on from playing vanilla Haqqislam to focusing on Hassassin Bahram. (For those new to the blog, I am on a quest to master all of Haqqislam so every season I play a different aspect of Haqqislam. I started out playing Qapu Khalqi, switched to vanilla Haqqislam for last season, and now Hassassin Bahram will be my main focus. It is my hope that the Ramah Taskforce will be released before next season so that season 10 can focus on that Sectorial.) Corvus Belli has outdone themselves in keeping this game fresh by overhauling the missions we have been playing these past two years by adding in several subtle changes that make you re-think how you view these old missions.

Now several outlets are going over the changes to all the missions, so I am not going to re-hash that here (MayaCast is spending the next couple of episodes going through all the changes in Season 9 so head on over  and give Tom and Kip a listen here). What I am going to do is tackle a glaring problem for Haqqislam in this new season. This season definitely has shifted the meta to go from favoring specialist laden lists to favoring more direct action lists, even in special operation missions and definitely in all joint op missions. On the surface this seems like a problem for Haqqislam since our primary edge on everyone is our spectacular specialists that press buttons and complete objectives like a boss. The importance of classified objectives has decreased while an emphasis on the new aspect that is the Data Tracker has risen. It has left a good amount of Haqqislam players wondering what to do with our specialists since that was our main advantage.

Well, that’s what I am going to answer in this article, what to do with our specialists in this season and why they are still one of Haqqislam’s main advantage. Sometimes we get tunnel vision with how we see specialists in this game. There are some who see them only as units that press buttons to complete objectives, or only to get the classified if that one happens to be drawn from the deck. Think of this as a refresher for the veteran Haqqislam commanders, and an introduction to specialists for the beginner Haqqislam players out there. Now let’s get into the meat of this article with our first specialist: the Forward Observer.

Forward Observer:

Forward Oberservers (FOs) usually are consigned to those cheap specialists that people often spam to get a high volume of specialists in their lists, especially in Ariadna where they are plentiful. While we may not have such a high volume like Ariadna, we do have a good amount of sources for FOs, from our line troop the Ghulam to things like the Hafza and the Muyib. They are easily accessed in every army available to Haqqislam and they usually only cost a point above the generic version of that troop, so they are super easy to fit in, which is why they are sometimes the most plentiful specialist found in lists. It gives you tons of troops that can run up and press buttons, but this is just the beginning of what a FO can bring to a list.

In addition to being a specialist, being a Forward Observer brings two abilities to the table. The first one is the ability to, of course, Forward Observe an enemy which puts the enemy unit in the Targeted state. When in the Targeted state, you get a +3 modifier when using either BS attacks or Hacking attacks against that target. Also, it allows you to use the Guided trait to fire on those in the Targeted state without needing Line of Fire to that unit.

You don’t hear of many people using the Forward Observe skill despite these benefits. To put it plainly, it’s order intensive because it adds an extra order onto whatever you are trying to do, and it also might draw what some view as unnecessary AROs so people tend not to do it unless you have the units and orders to spare, which I think Haqqislam most certainly can have, but I understand why people shy away from using this skill unless they need to so they can complete a Classified Objective. Most of the time you see this being used in conjunction with the Shaytaniyah Remote to use the Guided trait of its Smart Missile Launcher, but it definitely can help with Haqqislam’s typically low BS skill, or make Hacking attempts even better. If you have the orders to spare, it’s not bad to use the skill. 

The second ability that FOs have makes them useful to take even if you have no intention of using Forward Observe. Being an FO gives them access to Flash Pulse which may not seem like a big deal but it certainly can have a big effect on the way a game plays out especially for Haqqislam given that Flash Pulse is a BS weapon that utilizes WIP instead of BS. This allows Haqqislam units to use their naturally high WIP of 14 to ARO instead of a BS skill at 11 or 12. It also extends the range of their effectiveness since the +3 mod range band for a Flash Pulse goes out to 24 inches which helps since most of the troops that are FOs usually are carrying a Rifle + Light Shotgun, some might only have a Boarding Shotgun. Now, stunning a unit might not be as glamorous as knocking it unconscious or killing it outright but it still is an effective strategy to hinder your opponent because they have to either spend the orders to remove the unit or take the risk of getting stunned thus making that unit useless for the rest of the turn. This allows you to provide cheap orders to your list while also providing cheap ARO pieces that your opponent has to work around. Don’t underestimate the power of a Flash Pulse, I know I have had several times where a Flash Pulse has helped decide the course of some games and in the hands of WIP 14 Haqqislamite units, it’s hard to ignore them.

You might not be cramming your lists full of FOs just to get access to their abilities but if you are filling out lists to get more orders, choosing to fill those spots with FOs is certainly not a bad choice. I have been thankful multiple times to have a well-placed FO to stun my opponent’s units and turn things to my favor. So don’t overlook the lowly Forward Observer.

Engineers:

The definition of what it means to be a toolbox. Engineers usually find themselves in lists for two reasons: 1.) You have them along to repair anything that has STR or 2.) You need D-Charges to complete the Sabotage classified. Haqqislam doesn’t need engineers for the second reason because we have a lot of units that carry D-Charges which can complete the Classified more easily than a Najjarun, like the Al Hawwa’, for example. Still, it’s nice that the Engineers have them, and using them in CC is still fun and hilarious if you can pull it off. There are some missions that require blowing up scenery as well, but again, there are other units in Haqqislam that can deliver a D-Charge. One thing that you can do, though, is plant the D-charge with one unit while the Engineer hangs back out of sight and use the Engineer to detonate it if it was placed in a high risk area. (Side Note: The Kaplan Engineer with Blitzen is one of the only Engineers not to come with D-Charges, but it can still detonate D-Charges because the Engineer skill grants that ability.)

An Engineer is most certainly a support unit, usually there if you want to repair your TAGs and Remotes, something that Haqqislam actually doesn’t have a lot of. We have only 3 TAGs across the entire faction (the Maghariba Guard in vanilla and Ramah Taskforce as well as Scarface and the Iguana in Qapu Khalqi) and the only Remotes we have are the ones everyone (except Ariadna) has so the need to have an Engineer around may not be as attractive as it could be with other factions. Still, Engineers repair your stuff, and being able to get a Maghariba Guard back up is an awesome thing. Having some of the Total Reaction Remotes come back to shut down lanes is also quite useful.

In addition to repairing STR, Engineers can repair certain equipment and fix certain states. If one of your Camo troops is Burnt from Fire ammunition, you can use the Engineer to repair the state and allow the troop the ability to re-camo. Other states that the Engineer can repair are Immobilized, Isolated, and Disabled. It can be quite useful to have an Engineer around if you know you are going to face off against an opponent that can induce one or more of these states. The ITS mission Hunting Party really highlights this because it hinges on causing these states, so it can be very useful to bring an Engineer along to help your troopers out of the Isolated or Immobilized state and prevent your opponent from scoring points.

The Engineer really is straightforward as far as what it brings to the table, but I did want to go over one thing that gets overlooked quite a bit on an Engineer that might make you want to bring them past just supporting your Remotes and blowing up explosives. Just like the FO, the Engineer has a piece of equipment embedded in the Engineering skill, the Deactivator. It’s a nifty piece of equipment that allows you to deactivate deployable weapons (D-charges, mines, E/Maulers, etc) thus disarming them and allowing your troopers to avoid nasty surprises. The Deactivator is only modified by range and never visual modifiers and its range band is pretty good. From 0-8, it’s +6 so that means Haqqislam Engineers can’t fail from 0-8 so that face to face roll makes mines utterly useless against them. 8-16 is +3 and 16-24 is -6. If your opponent is going mine happy, you can run Engineers up on those mines to make them utterly useless.

Haqqislam is blessed to have Engineers outside of just the Narrajun Engineer… well, vanilla Haqqislam and Qapu Khalqi (QK) are blessed to have Engineers outside of the Narrajun. Hassassin Bahram is stuck with just the Narrajun. These are, of course, the Kaplan Engineers who bring more to the table than just the Engineer skill. Not only do all Kaplans have Mimetism, they have two Engineers with two different load outs. One comes with D-Charges, an Adhesive Launcher, and their standard Combi Rifle. The other just gets a Combi Rifle and a Blitzen. Now, there is plenty to say about using the Kaplans in QK since they are a Core Link so we know their advantages in that Sectorial, but I honestly love them in vanilla as well, just because I am a big fan of multi-purpose units, which the Kaplan Engineer most assuredly is. Not only do you get the specialist aspect of the unit, but both Kaplan Engineers comes with two weapons to help Haqqislam deal with problems like Heavy Infantry by Immobilizing them with the Adhesive Launcher or the Blitzen. The Adhesive Launcher has unlimited ammunition but a more limited range, while the Blitzen has way better range and the help of having E/M2 ammunition, the downside being that it is Disposable (2). This can be solved, though, with having a Baggage bot nearby, and if you are taking the Engineer to support the Remote anyway, it’s not bad to bring that Blitzen. Heavy Infantry having to take two rolls at half their BTS or get Immobilized and Isolated is a great way to level the playing field with other factions’ tech.

Chain of Command:

This is probably one of the more commonly seen Specialists and probably one that is usually taken not because they press buttons, but because you want to utilize the ability of Chain of Command. There is only one unit in Haqqislam currently that has Chain of Command, but it’s probably one of the best Chain of Command units in the game because it has both the Camouflage and Infiltrator skills. That unit is, of course, the Hassassin Farzan. Only vanilla Haqqislam and Hassassin Bahram have access to them, sorry Qapu Khalqi players.

The reason to take Chain of Command outside of having another Camouflaged Infiltrating specialist midfield to press buttons (BTW, another quick aside, vanilla Haqqislam is the only faction to have every kind of specialist to be a camouflaged infiltrators except for Engineer. We have doctors, hackers, FOs, specialist troop and thanks to the Farzan, a Chain of Command) is because you are taking a risky and/or obvious Lieutenant. The immediate example one can think of is if you are choosing to use Saladin, you can have a Farzan sitting out of reach if your opponent decides to go assassinate Saladin. Another is if you are using either a Hacker or FO Barid, you can use your LT order to do things with the Barid (One of my favorite things to do is use the LT Hacker Barid for support programs on my Remotes because you can use his LT order to get the support program and have the rest of your order pool to do things with) without as much risk. That’s pretty much all the tricks up the sleeves of the Farzen.

For the most part, Chain of Command is taken to actually make use of Chain of Command. They can work in a pinch if you are playing an objective based mission to press buttons and you are sure that your LT is safe from harm, but they are mainly there to confound your opponent when they spent orders to hunt your LT to put you in Loss of LT and that never happens because of the sneaky Farzan. Times when they are taken to press buttons is primarily if the mission happens to give a WIP bonus to Chain of Command.

Specialist Troop:

This will be a quick one because currently there are only two in all of Haqqislam, Yasbir and the Hassassin Ayyar. There isn’t much to say about them because all this does is allow them to press the buttons in objective based missions so they don’t have any extra abilities. That’s fine because the primary roles of both Yasbir and the Ayyar is not to be a specialist. You usually take them because you intend to use them for what they are actually good at which is killing enemy units, but if the mission also happens to include a couple of buttons that need to be pressed, well, the Ayyar and Yasbir can take a break from eliminating the enemies of Haqqislam and press a button or two. It allows for a versatility to them and I love multi-purpose units especially the Ayyar. They are great to have along, especially if you want killing power but don’t want to skimp on specialists.

Hackers:

Here is something that probably could be an entire article in itself, so this will be a rough overview of a much deeper topic of how Hackers are a great asset to Haqqislam. Hackers are probably my most utilized specialist in Haqqislam actually. I know Nomads get the praise of having the best Hackers in the game, but Haqqislam shouldn’t be counted out of the hacking game. Yes, Haqqislam doesn’t have the same kind of BTS that others do, and we don’t have the fancy hacking devices that Combined, Nomads and even ALEPH get, but that naturally high WIP 14 helps to win a lot of face to face rolls, let me tell you. Haqqislam has access to four types of Hacking Devices. The normal Hacking Device (HD), the EVO Hacking Device, the Assault Hacking Device (AHD) and the Killer Hacking Device(KHD). I will go into how I use each of them to give Haqqislam an edge. One thing to remember is that Haqqislam has access to Camouflaged Infiltrating units (Specifically the Al Hawwa’ and the Tuareg) that have AHDs. This means you can Surprise Hack someone from the Camo State, which is a great way to not only get to enemy hackable units but helps to make sure that the hack goes through.

We will start with normal Hacking Devices, and the EVO Hacking Device, because I don’t usually use them unless I am using them in a support role, either with buffing my Remotes or making sure my HI have Fairy Dust. I sometimes do wish I would include them more because of the ability to Hack Transport Aircraft to keep enemy AD troops from ruining my day but it’s never anything that I have seen as essential really. As I pointed out above, I love the Hassassin Barid Hacker LT for this job because of being able to use that LT order to put up the support programs. HDs aren’t bad by any means but I do find myself using AHDs and KHDs a lot more because I use hacking offensively  to level the playing field against factions like PanOceania and Yu Jing who are fond of their nice hackable toys. The EVO might be worth it if you can use all the benefits that it brings, but I find that it is a bit harder to do in Haqqislam than other factions that have more Duos, more AD troops, or more combat remotes. Losing the offensive ability that the HD brings isn’t worth the pure supportive EVO, so if I do take a support Hacker it usually is just a regular HD.

Now into the great way to use Hackers in Haqqislam, the Assault Hacking Device. Haqqislam has plenty of choices  to deploy these. Three of the AHD units have ways of starting up the board and close to enemy. The Al Hawwa’ and the Tuareg both are Camo Infiltrators (Don’t forget about the Surprise Hack from the marker state!) and the Ragik has AD: Combat Drop so you don’t have to spend many orders to get them where they can hack. Both the Tuareg and the Ragik also have the added bonus of being WIP 15, making their hacks that more potent. Pretty much there is always an AHD in my lists, sometimes I take 2 depending on the faction I am about to face.  AHDs really help to level the playing for Haqqislam because it helps to deal with hackable units that have superior BS skill to Haqqislam troops. I use them to Immobilize HI and possess TAGs. I make my opponent regret taking their high tech toys. Another mention has to be for the Barid AHD because it has the UPGRADE program Icebreaker. Icebreaker reduces the enemy BTS value to 0 and causes IMM-1. The Barid may not have the mobility of the other 3, but Icebreaker is more than worth it, plus the Barid has a Pitcher to throw a Repeater and extend its Hacking Area. There are also other repeaters available to the faction to help expand the Barid’s influence.

Next is the KHD, which is a Hacking Device I absolutely love. Again, there is always one KHD in my list, mostly because Leila Sharif has made herself indispensable within my lists. No matter if I am playing vanilla, QK or Hassassin, Leila is there. Many think that without any hackers to kill, or buttons to press, that KHD are kind of useless except they forget one thing: Cybermask. With a successful WIP, Cybermask allows the user to go into the Impersonation Level 2 Marker state, allowing access to Surprise Shot. This is where Leila becomes so useful. She carries a Shock Markmanship Rifle allowing her to assassinate unsuspecting victims. (Read more on Leila in the article I wrote about her here.) The other useful KHD is the Barid, because once again, he gets an UPGRADE program to his KHD known as Lightning which is utterly brutal. Not only does it put an enemy hacker at a -6 Mod, but it uses Breaker Special Ammo and is damage 15. The KHD Barid is the ultimate hacker hunter when you want to deprive your enemy of their Hackers. The other two KHD in Haqqislam, the Druze and Govad, are standard KHD, and while not bad (definitely would include in their prospective link teams), they don’t stand out like Leila and the Barid do. The key to using a KHD outside of its obvious uses, though is remembering that it has Cybermask. It adds an entire new layer to the KHD outside of its attack programs. 

I could go on about how to successfully use Hackers in Haqqislam, but this article is already long enough and we still have one last specialist to go. I saved the best for last, because the last specialist is what Haqqislam is known far and wide for.

Doctor Plus:

As the foremost Human Sphere nation when it comes to medicine and biotechnology, Haqqislam has the best Doctors of any faction. They are so good, they are Doctor Plus (Except for Kaplans for whatever reason…) and as a Haqqislam player…I don’t know what a Paramedic is because currently, there are only two in the entire faction: the Maghariba Pilot and she has yet to have left her TAG and the new unit the Cube Jäger, so yeah, I only know rolling 17s (or 18 in the case of the Tuareg and Avicenna) to get my troops back up because Doctor Plus gives a +3 mod to Doctor rolls making Haqqislam the best in the business at Healing folks. Only Bakunin gets a taste of what it means to have Doctor Plus because they get access to Avicenna as well, but other than that, Haqqislam is the only faction with Doctor Plus, and is the only faction with Akbar Doctor. Akbar Doctor allows you to instead of taking the +3 mod to your WIP for the Doctor Roll, you get to restore a model up to full Wounds, instead of being limited to 1 Wound. Akbar Doctor is only on one unit currently - the Janissary. I really only take the risk of using Akbar Doctor on units with a cube so that if I fail the roll, I can spend a command token to re-roll. The only cubed HI in Haqqislam are the Azra’il, the Asawira, and the Al Fasid. Still, it is so satisfying to see your opponent’s face as the Al Fasid they thought they took down gets back up with full Wounds again.

I think it goes without saying that if you are playing Haqqislam, you should have at least one, if not multiple, Doctor in your list, even in direct action missions. The ability to get our troopers back up with such reliability is a huge boon for Haqqislam, especially in missions where surviving army points counts toward the Objectives of the Mission. I have gone from losing a mission, to winning it because of the well placed resurrections of key units. Even more so, Doctors are found in many of the Core links available in Haqqislam Sectorials, which means that even if an opponent was able to take down some of your link, the Doctor can come along and get everyone back up, restoring you back to a full link once more so you can reap those link team bonuses. I have yet to make a list without a Doctor in it. They are an important asset in the Haqqislamite toolbox. Even if it is just squeezing in the tried and true Ghulam Doctor, I make sure that there is one supporting my troops.

Haqqislam has a lot of good options for Doctors. When I am playing vanilla, I honestly favor just the regular Ghulam Doctor. Even being just a line troop, she has done a lot and she is easy to fit in a list. I am a huge fan of the Tuareg Doctor as well. A TO Camo Infiltrator that can be up the field to help those who went on an alpha strike is something hard to ignore. In vanilla, Halqa aren’t bad either and the Halqa Doctor is just 3 points more than the Ghulam. The Janissary Akbar Doctor is also a fun unit, durable and a great support for the Azra’il and the Al Fasid with the Akbar ability. When I am playing a Sectorial, my Doctor is usually in the Core Link unless the link doesn’t have access to Doctors like the Hassassin Govads or Odalisques. When this occurs, I always fall back on the Ghulam Doctor.

Take This Knowledge and Go Forth to Do Great Things!

Well that was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but I hope you enjoyed it. I hope that it inspires you to use specialists in new and interesting ways in this new ITS season, despite the decrease in the importance of specialists when it comes to completing some of the missions in this new season. Haqqislam’s main advantage is still easy access to a variety of specialists that help us complete our missions. From the common Forward Observers stunning fools, to Hackers shutting down enemy Hackable units and our great Doctors helping troopers get back on their feet, Haqqislam has a lot of useful specialists when compared to the other factions. These specialists are what help us use asymmetrical tactics to level the playing field against our enemies. As always, my friends, continue to seek knowledge. Mashallah. 

A Tale of Two Power Armors

With Wotan over, I finally have time to finish this article, so we take a break from stories and lore for us to once again return to discussing tactics and strategy. So, gather ‘round as I spin you a tale - a tale of two power armors.

In light of a previous post where I went over the differences between Vanilla and Sectorials (Which can be found here: The Struggle Between Vanilla and Sectorials) I discussed how some units can overshadow others when two units occupy the same niche within an vanilla army, causing one to only see play time in their respective Sectorial. The example I used for a major overshadow was from Ariadna, knowing that I would want to later write about a supposed major overshadow in Haqqislam, one that comes up more and more as people start to play Haqqislam because they picked up Red Veil. What is this supposed overshadow you ask? Well, it is between the two S5 power armored units in Haqqislam - the Al Fasid and the Azra'il. 

At first glance they seem to occupy the same job within a list - S5 power armored badass to straight up wreck fools. I understand this because they do appear to be similar units like the Mormaer and Veteran Kazak I used as an example in my last post. I can see why people ask the question: "What is the point of the Azra'il when the Al Fasid exists?" Unlike the Mormaer and the Veteran Kazak though, the Al Fasid and Azra'il occupy two different niches within a list but these two niches are nuanced to the point that people often miss the difference when they are first starting out and taking in all the profiles of Haqqislam.

Before we get into the difference, let's go over the unit profiles. First up, the Azra'il, the Angel of Death from Qapu Khalqi!

The Angel of Death, the Azra'il

Calling the Azra'il the Angel of Death isn't something I came up with to make it sound more awesome. It's actually the meaning of the name in Turkish, since the Azra'il is from the Turkish themed Sectorial of Qapu Khalqi. The ranks of the Azra'il are filled when a new Sultan comes to power within Qapu Khalqi. The former Sultan's guard is disbanded to prevent any conflict of interest, and because these operatives can not return to their former units as they may have seen and heard things while in the service of the Sultan, they are sent to where they can be watched carefully - the Azra'il Special Deterrence Group. It is the job of the Azra'il to protect the transportation of Silk. The big heavy armor isn't a mistake, or is the fact that it's outdated tech, the armor of the Azra'il is designed to look intimidating to dissuade any attempts to illegally obtain Silk. They are there to hunt down any enemy of Haqqislam, as their name implies, and they wouldn't have it any other way. They are often deployed to finish off a mission, hunting down the rest of the enemy as the Angel of Death. 

Right there gives you the Azra'il's role in a list. It is a hunter. The Azra'il is not a static unit meant to be an ARO piece. It is meant to hunt things down and it certainly has the weaponry and stat line to achieve this goal. The Azra'il has a BS of 13 which is standard for HI in Haqqislam, but it is still high for Haqqislam units in general. This is the main stat we actually care about, because it's the main one we will be using. The Azra'il has a PH of 13, which is nice, because despite being S5 HI, it allows the Azra'il to dodge shots when conditions aren't favorable for the Azra'il to fire. With 4-2 movement, the Azra'il is slow, but both loadouts the Azra'il has have positive range bands out to 32", so you won't be moving much to get into favorable fire conditions. The CC isn't anything special at 12 and the Azra'il has a standard Haqqislam WIP of 14, which will come into play mostly with Guts! checks and hacking attempts. Reset at 14 is awesome and will help to keep the Azra'il from being Immobilized. With ARM 5 and BTS 3, the Azra'il is pretty survivable, especially after you have mastered the skill of keeping an S5 model in cover. Lastly, the Azra'il has 2 wounds like all HI outside of Ariadna. 

It has a pretty solid stat line, but that is all it has. There is nothing else special about the Azra'il. No extra special skills, which is why a lot of people don't like it. Even the Janissary at least gets Religious Troop while the Azra'il has nothing. The thing that people mostly overlook about this, though is that the Azra'il is cheap as dirt when compared to other HI. You will pay either 39 or 41 points to take one which is a steal when it comes to 2 wound HI, especially considering the heavy ordinance that the Azra'il carries - which is why you are taking them. Big weapons that will make things dead. 

Azra'il with AP HMG:

I am going to just say this now, this is my preferred profile of the two Azra’il options. It is a problem solver. Have a tough target to crack? The AP part of that AP HMG shreds their armor at damage 15 making sure that you get wounds on those tough targets. Hunting lighter targets? Well, it's still an HMG so it's good at taking out those targets as well. No matter what the AP HMG can take care of the target which is why I like it so much. Plus, the burst 4 gives you more dice to defeat any ARO your opponent tries to throw. I also like the AP HMG because you have the ability to put it into suppression fire allowing you to lock down a fire lane after the Azra'il cleared it out, establishing better board presence and control of the board. The AP HMG definitely is a dominating presence on the board and defines the Azra'il as the hunter that it is. 

Azra'il with Feuerbach:

Now don't get me wrong, I still like the Feuerbach. It’s main advantage over the AP HMG is a more forgiving range band. Instead of going to -3 mod if you shoot over 32 inches, the Feuerbach is a straight 0 which is a lot more forgiving if you misjudged your distances.The Feuerbach is only burst 2 at damage 14, but it adds DA ammunition to the AP, so you get less dice, but when you do hit, it hurts more. The Feuerbach has an explosive mode at burst 1 as well that is usually done in ARO, making your opponent think twice about what kind of moves they want to make in front of the Azra'il, so the Feuerbach gives a little more of an ARO edge than the AP HMG. It's not a bad weapon, I am just the kind of person that prefers more dice. The Feuerback is 2 points and .5 SWC less than the AP HMG, though, giving you more room in a list while still giving you a scary hunter. The Anti-Material characteristic also can't be ignored, because this allows you to destroy scenery, which is useful in missions like Nimbus Zone where destroying objectives is a tactic you may want to employ to deny points to your opponent. 

As usual, this really comes down to preference when it comes to choosing which load out you want for your Azra'il. I am a person who tends to favor more dice in the active turn, but that is my preference. I have used the Feuerbach and it is a fine weapon.

By now, it's clear that the Azra'il is meant to ruin people's day in offensive maneuvers, it truly is the hammer used to smash your opponent's forces… “But wait,” you say, “isn't that what the Al Fasid is for?” NOPE! If the Azra'il is the hammer, the Al Fasid is the anvil.

The Corrupted, the Al Fasid:

The updated lore for the Al Fasid right now is contained in the Red Veil booklet, so unless you have acquired Red Veil, you might not be familiar with the background behind the Al Fasid. In Arabic, Al Fasid means "The Corrupted," and relates to the Islamic religious concept of corruption. The reason for this is the Al Fasid are only chosen for their ability to do the job, no questions asked about their past. Because there is no need for them to share their past, it is generally assumed to be bad. The only concern they have when applicants sign up to be Al Fasid is that they can survive the grueling process and admission tests associated with it and that they have a solid operational record. Al Fasid are known for their willingness to do absolutely anything in order to get the job done because these soldiers don't care about glory. Some just enjoy it, others just want the paycheck and for some, it's all they know how to do.

Just as with the Azra'il, the lore gives us a hint as to what it's job is suppose to be. The Al Fasid is a little more of a utility piece than the purely offensive Azra'il. It's the rock that you anchor the rest of your forces to. That's not saying that an Al Fasid can't be used offensively, but both profiles of the Al Fasid really lend it to be a utility or defensive piece to help cover your flanks. Haqqislam lore often talks about how the Sword of Allah likes to use Hammer and Anvil tactics, and the Al Fasid most certainly fits the role of the Anvil as a solid backfield piece.

Just like the Azra'il, the movement of the Al Fasid is 4-2 but just like the Azra'il, you won't be moving them as much, especially as the anvil of your army. The Al Fasid also has a bit better stats than the Azra'il. The Al Fasid has 3 better CC bringing it to 15 instead of a 12, while you don’t want either of these units in CC, the little bump can make the difference against CC units trying to assassinate your HI. The Al Fasid also has a PH 14 which gives it a slightly better Dodge. Finally, the Al Fasid has a BTS of 6 instead of the Haqqislam standard of 3. Combine this with the fact that the Al Fasid has ARM 5 and it's a pretty tough target to take down. Your opponent will have to work to dislodge the Al Fasid from its position. The Al Fasid also has the typical Haqqislam HI BS of 13 so its shooting is in line with all the other HI. The rest of the stat line is as you expect as well, 2 wounds and S5.

Where the Al Fasid really shines, though, is the skills it gets. All Al Fasid are Minelayers, carrying antipersonnel mines, so you can place a mine out during deployment to better protect your backfield and your LT from things like infiltrators, impersonators or the occasional Van Zant. They also have Sixth Sense Level 1 so there is no sneaking up on them within 8 inches and no surprise shot/surprise attack allowing them to fire that heavy pistol that they all have. The final special status that the Al Fasid comes with is Veteran level 1 so the Al Fasid can't be isolated by any means, and the Al Fasid stays regular should you lose your LT or go into Retreat!. All this makes the Al Fasid an awesome unit. It is also the most expensive HI available to Haqqislam, but the Al Fasid most certainly earns its points, and it only gets better when you consider the loadouts that it gets. 

Al Fasid with HMG + (Smoke and Normal) Light Grenade Launcher

I really like this profile despite it being one of the most expensive unit in Haqqislam (Only Tarik and the Maghariba Guard cost more than this unit) because of the amount of things you can do with it. It is a jack-of-all-trades utility piece that can fill many roles in a list. It can be an offensive piece with the HMG and grenade launcher utilizing that BS 13 to eliminate things. It actually makes speculative firing worth it, you don't have to risk the Al Fasid when facing mimetism or ODD. You can also just choose to mow things down with the HMG as well. You get utility out of the Al Fasid because of the access to the smoke grenades, allowing you to put smoke cover to move units through or use a Djanbazan to fire through the smoke. By being a lot tougher than the other smoke delivery units in Haqqislam, the Al Fasid helps you keep access to smoke longer. The defensive nature comes from the fact that you can put the HMG into suppression to cover lanes while the Sixth Sense Lvl 1, Minelayer and Mines let the Al Fasid act defensively. I always find myself spending orders on this unit for some reason or another. This is what makes Red Veil worth buying, this unit is not only a great sculpt, but so useful. From what I have seen, people tend to use this profile a lot because of how much it can do. It's a tool box that likes to wear power armor. 

Al Fasid with Heavy Rocket Launcher and Submachine Gun

This profile I think doesn't get enough credit, mostly because people see the light grenade launcher that fires both smoke and normal grenades, get tunnel vision, and miss what this unit brings to the table. It's one of my favorite sculpts in Infinity too, shouldering the heavy rocket launcher while wielding that beautifully rendered SMG (Best looking gun in all of Infinity, hands down.) I also really like the profile. It's not a tool box like the other profile, but it is a solid defensive piece and it is 8 points cheaper than the HMG, making it easier to throw in a list. The heavy rocket launcher does only have burst 2, but I still like firing it offensively, especially at fireteams. That blast template forces your opponent to make some tough choices concerning their link. It is also a great ARO piece for the same reasons since it has a relatively forgiving range band. The Submachine gun not only helps to cover up close encounters, using AP or Shock depending on the target, but it also allows for the Al Fasid to close down lanes with Suppression. Might not be as good as an HMG, but it does give more options to this profile when it comes to the reactive turn. The other defensive capabilities are the same as with the HMG. I find this profile, though, to be an ideal body guard for obvious Lieutenants like Saladin. The defensive nature of this unit make it ideal for sitting in the backfield and protecting such things.

As you can see, an Al Fasid isn't a purely offensive piece like the Azra'il is. I won't necessarily spend orders on an Al Fasid like I do the Azra'il because of the amount of things an Al Fasid can do, usually to help support other units. While your Azra'il goes crashing forward raining destruction on your enemies, the Al Fasid is hanging back making sure the home front is nice and secure. One of my favorite ways to use the Al Fasid with HMG and grenade launcher is in support of units like the Khawarij or Tarik. Launching smoke to cover their advance so they can super jump to their heart's content in order to get into their threat ranges; meanwhile the Al Fasid can also cover them with HMG fire. Laying mines to ensure pesky infiltrators and AD troops have a tough time getting to your backfield or playing bodyguard to valuable pieces are the main job of the Al Fasid, using them as a hunter like the Azra'il is wasting their potential. The price difference between the two units is the selling point. If you are investing this amount of points into a unit, you have to make sure to use it to its maximum potential. If you want a power armored badass to kill stuff, stick with the Azra'il, since it is cheaper and that rampage is a much riskier undertaking.

The Hammer and the Anvil: The Destruction Duo!

I hope by now I was able to illustrate the differences between the Azra'il and Al Fasid, which are so similar, yet so different, because now I want to tell you my favorite use for them - working together. I love bringing both of them in a list. If you are playing vanilla Haqqislam, I suggest you try them together because they are an awesome force to behold, and will give your opponent a problem that they might not be used to facing in Haqqislam: two tough heavy infantry that sow destruction wherever they go. These two really highlight the Hammer and Anvil tactics favored by Haqqislam that I mentioned earlier, and I absolutely love it.

The best way to take them, in my opinion, is if you take the HMG of the one profile, choose the non-HMG choice of the other. My favorite combination: Azra'il AP HMG partnered with the Al Fasid with Heavy Rocket Launcher. You have the hunter in the AP HMG taking out tough targets while the solid defensive piece that is the Heavy Rocket Launcher able to cover the flank of the Azra'il. The best thing is once the Azra'il is done clearing things out, both can be placed into suppressive fire, making them incredibly hard to dislodge. The Rocket Launcher is there when you need something burnt (Like Camo/ODD or pesky space vegetables like Tohaa), or when you see a nice grouping that is begging for the attention of a template.

The other combination, Azra'il with Feuerbach and Al Fasid with HMG isn't bad either, but the Al Fasid has to pick up a bit more of the slack in the active turn. The Al Fasid in this instance probably will get a little more orders than the Azra'il because they kind of switch roles with the Azra'il being more of a cheaper ARO piece while the Al Fasid has more of an offensive capability. The tool box the Al Fasid brings is definitely where you want to be spending your orders, though, with the Azra'il there to take down your tougher targets. That AP + DA will be able to take down higher armored targets than the Al Fasid's HMG. Still, not a bad combination, especially if you want smoke coverage, which is something the previous combination lacked.

Now, I can feel it, why not just take both Al Fasid profiles? That's because of the expense of the Al Fasid. You can do it but they take a hefty chunk. The two Al Fasid together cost 98 points and 4 SWC, a large chunk of your list right there, which might be nice for Limited Insertion, but maybe not so much for regular 300 point games. The Azra'il AP HMG and Al Fasid with HRL is 86 points and 4 SWC. A 12 point difference - that could be another order. The Azra'il with Feuerbach and Al Fasid with HMG is 92 points, but you do save 3.5 SWC. That is a reason I like taking the Azra'il with AP HMG and Al Fasid with HRL, you get a lot for those points.

Finally, if you are playing limited insertion or just don't mind low order counts, throw a Janissary Ackbar Doctor when taking them in tandem like this. They both have cubes which means you can re-roll failed Doctor rolls, really making the Ackbar Doctor worth it. There is nothing like your heavy infantry standing back up at full wounds after an opponent spent so much to take them down. Honestly, the Janissary Doctor makes a great partner for either of them when taken solo as well due to that ability.

Both units are great weapons platforms and I suggest using them both, whether solo, which is how I like to use the Al Fasid with HMG, or in the tandem roles I just pointed out. Both S5 power armors have a clear and present niche within Haqqislam, something you can't often say about some power armor laden factions, and neither overshadows the other. I hope this has inspired you to use both the Azra'il and the Al Fasid to their fullest potential. Until next time, my friends, continue seeking knowledge, mashallah!