The Flamia Files: Part 1

So I wanted to apologize to my faithful readers for being absent for so long. This is my busiest time of the year because of Celtic Festival season so I don't get much time to anything else during my summers as I squeeze in Infinity games when I can. Add onto this the fact that we have the Wotan campaign going on from Beasts of War and all my writing time is taken up writing battle reports and diplomatic talks since I was elected to Haqqislam High Command instead of getting articles out for you fine people. 

Which gave me a good idea. I want to give my readers something to read as well preserve the battle reports that I have written because I do put a good amount of effort into them so I came up with this idea: publish my battle reports here so that my writing can be preserved. To start this off, I will be publishing my old battle reports from the Operation Flamestrike campaign that preceded Wotan. I am calling these the Flamia Files. I am going to publish a couple or so every week so everyone can find out where I, Commander Envihon, was up to during Flamestrike and then what I did during Wotan. I won't publish the Wotan ones until after Wotan has concluded so that the spirit of the campaign can be preserved, also, I want people to read my reports there and rate them while the campaign is still going on. 

As far as getting back to actually writing once again, I have an article that is about 2/3 of the way done about the Azra'il and Al Fasid, I just have to sit down and finish it but I want to make sure I get my reports out for Wotan because they have an actual time limit for when they are suppose to be done. I hope to have it out soon but with everything going on, I don't want to give an expectation that I can't deliver on. Once Wotan is done, I can give my full attention back to the blog and get you guys regular content. Thank you for your patience and support! Anyway, here is Part 1 of the Flamia Files: 

The Narooma Incident

+++Incoming Transmission from Narooma+++

An unfortunate incident occurred today at the Narooma Advanced Hospital Complex after a Haqqislam convoy dropped off medical supplies to the Tohaa facility. Soon after the convoy had unloaded, PanOceania forces were detected in the vacinity. The Kaplan Tactical Services under the leadership of a Husam Spec Ops with a detachment of Qapu Khalqi forces went to investigate the intentions of these unexpected guests.

It was a Military Orders strike group determined on raiding the facility of valuable medical supplies. After assessing the situation quickly, the Qapu Khalqi forces took it upon themselves to not let the Military Orders get away with such a heinous act and formed a plan to secure the medical supplies in order to deny the PanOceania forces such a boon.

The Yuan Yuan Mercenaries were first into the fray laying down clouds of smoke that allowed the Kaplan Tactical Services with the Husam to move into the complex to secure the medical data. This was achieved efficiently and swiftly with the team able to leave the complex and secure all the medical data before the Military Orders even knew what happened. They secured all of the medical data and then began to take defensive positions in order to keep the Military Orders from accessing the consoles.

They were successful in doing so but not without a few casualties. A couple of the Kaplans were taken down in a fire fight as well as a Ghulam solider and a Sekban. The Djanbazan sniper was well placed, sniping several military orders including one of their valuable hackers. The Djanbazan was also kept alive by one of our great Ghulam Doctors to continue to provide harassment to the Military Orders forces.

The Qapu Khalqi forces provided enough interference that the Military Order were unsuccessful in retrieving what they wanted. They received far less than what they wanted but I have a feeling they weren’t expecting a full armed contingent of Haqqislam to be standing in their way when they got there. The men were proud to have helped keep PanO from throwing their weight around.

Personal Note: I can’t believe that PanO, let alone the Military Orders would commit such an act against such a target. They went after a hospital! How does this serve God at all? Taking precious medical supplies and data from the innocent…it disgusts me and reminds me why I serve Allah. We can not allow PanOceania to behave in such a manner. They may be a hyperpower but that does not justify such actions. Stealing from the sick and the injured…I still can’t believe it but we kept them from getting the medical data which is all that matters. This war on this island is getting out of hand. I fear that Haqqislam might be caught in a crossfire we did not wish for. No matter, we will fight the enemies of Allah and bring honor to Haqqislam. The Silk must flow after all.

+++End Transmission+++

In the Defense of a City

+++Incoming Transmission from Tianxian+++

***Large force of Military Orders headed straight for Tianxian. Deploy the Azra’il protocols. Eliminate with extreme prejudice. Defend the city at all costs!***

The forces of Qapu Khalqi were tested again in the city of Tianxian. The city has become nothing short of a war zone with Haqqislam loosing territory quickly. When a large contingent of Military Orders was next to try and take control of the city, Haqqislam was there to answer.

Command did not play around this time and deployed an Azra’il with full fire support of a Husam and Hafza Fire Team. The Husam even thought it well to bring his viral rifle with him. He had a vendetta to settle with the Military Orders.

The Military Orders advanced quickly but the forces of Qapu Khalqi gave them no quarter. Quickly the well place Djanbazan sniper made quick work of several Magisters and Order Sergeants with a Shihab Remote laying plenty of cover fire with its HMG. The forces of PanOceania was ripped apart by the superior positioning of Haqqislam forces.

Sadly, when it was time for the Azra’il to answer back, a lucky shot from a Magister Panzerfaust brought the walking tank down. The Hafzas and Husam quickly re-grouped to return the favor with the Husam showing the Order Sergeant and Indigo Spec Ops the potency of Haqqislam viral ammunition.

The Sekban Haris team moved forward to secure the advancement of the Military Orders but the valiantly gave their lives as they faced a surprise attack from a female Military Order unit. She was possibly Joan of Arc.

Even though we sustained great casualties, we far killed more of them than they did us and in this bloody battle we won the day completely denying PanOceania anymore territory within this city. Another victory for Haqqislam and glory to Allah!

Personal Note: PanOceania…they feel themselves entitled to everything. They do need not this city which we have ruled peacefully for quite some time and yet they show up on our door step wanting it. Their insatiable appetite for resources and land will be their undoing. They use this outbreak of conflict to do as they please and now they know that their actions will not go unpunished. The hubris that they have succumb to the same folly that lead to their rise in the first place. We will show them what it means to meet the Sword of Allah and the Men of the Gate!

+++End Transmission+++

Ambushed at Antela

+++Incoming Transmission from Camp Antela+++

The war PanOceania has been waging against Ariadna in Antela finally has affected Haqqislam. Our medical transports dropping off much needed medical supplies to the Ariadnan forces was ambushed by PanOceania forces, it seems they are worried what our medtech could do for Ariadna at this hotly contested for them. Thankfully, we have put heavy security in the form of Qapu Khalqi Defense teams to escort these medical transports. In this case, it has paid off to put such measures in place despite the constraints Haqqislam has been under.

The attack from PanOceania came swift and sudden but the discipline and training of our Haqqislamite soldiers won through as they quickly deployed in defensive positions to weather the tide of PanO forces. Despite the long arduous fights PanO has been fighting here recently, they were slowed down by Paradiso’s jungle landscape giving enough time for the Djanbazan Tactical Group, Shihab Remote and a Janissary packing a missile launcher to set up while the small team of Odalisques took point.

It was just in time a Seraph came storming through the jungle intent on the destruction of our Haqqislamite forces. The Seraph misjudged its accuracy within the dense jungle as it fired on separate targets, missing everyone as the munitions hit all the dense jungle growths. All the Djanbazans could do was smirk as they returned fire, their multi spectrum visors giving them an accuracy the PanO TAG couldn’t hope for. In a hail of gunfire from sniper rifles and HMGs, the TAG was brought down in a blaze of glory. Seeing the crown jewel of the PanOceania force brought down in such a manner, a team of Magisters sprung from the backfield surging forward but they too were stopped by Paradiso’s jungle and became sitting ducks for the Djanbazan Fire team and the Shihab. As the Magisters were trying to leap from the barriers, the Shihab brought down one of them with a hail of heavy machine gun fire. Another was taken down by the Husam Spec Ops armed with a viral sniper rifle in command of the Djanbazans, he forced the Magisters to watch as their fellow brother in arms convulsed in fits of spams caused by a well place sniper shot with viral ammunition. The Magisters eventually use the jungle to their advantage and take cover in the dense undergrowth.

Two units of Yuan Yuans advanced forward laying down smoke to cover the approach of the Bashi Bazouks. Both units advanced forward to bring the fight to PanO in their backfield. They engaged them but the Teutonic Knight took out them with ease providing some of the only casualties during the battle but that was not before they took out a PanO remote with a Total Reaction HMG.

The only other casualty was a Djanbazan that was taken out by the advancing Magisters who fired a well placed shot from a Panzerfaust. They had also wounded a Djanbazan but he was swiftly revived by the Djanbazan Doctor on hand which almost resulted in another casualty as the Djanbazan flat lined but the doctor was able to reboot the soldier’s cube to bring him back to fighting capacity.

An extra boon was acquired as an especially sneaky Rafiq remote snuck around to spotlight the enemy’s high value target for extraction after drawing two markers on the target, our transports were able to locate and detain the target to be questioned for further intelligence on PanO movements.

From there, it was a blood bath as the Odalisques advanced forward to gun down the rest of the Magisters and a Father Knight that had popped out to say hello. Other PanO forces attempted to fire on the Haqqislam defensive line but it was too little, too late as the Djanbazan snipers and Janissary missile launcher further wrecked havoc on the PanO forces. Not one active unit survived this foolish ambush.

Personal Note: The PanOceania forces were overconfident in their abilities and underestimated the power of the Paradiso jungle to work against a force. It was clear that our forces were better disciplined and better prepared for the fight on Paradiso. I wonder if PanO will ever realize that they are fighting in a jungle and not the tech urban sprawl they are used to.

There was a reason why I took an assignment that took me away from this hellish planet we call Paradiso and this infernal conflict. Not even one day back and I was dealing with the scum of PanOceania again! But Allah and Haqqislam needs me here so I will continue to fight and my division of Qapu Khalqi will be ever in your service. There are more medical supply runs to guard, Envihon out.

+++End Transmission+++

The Struggle Between Vanilla and Sectorials

One of the biggest decisions that anyone makes when beginning any war game is what army to play. Infinity is unique because Corvus Belli has not only created the major factions in the game, but has further divided those factions into smaller, more focused armies known as Sectorials; each with their own benefits and tactics. This has sparked a debate about which is better: playing the generic faction lovingly called “vanilla” by the fan base, or Sectorials. Well, I am here to tell you that neither is better than the other and it depends on what your play style is, as well as what you are trying to get out of the army that would determine whether you should play vanilla or a Sectorial. This is the next subject we are going to dive into here on the Sword of Haqqislam -  determining if you are a vanilla player, Sectorial player, or a Hybrid player. 

Determining which is best for you will take some self reflection, and evaluation of past performances to find out what works for you and what doesn't. People approach this game from different angles all the time, and how they utilize a faction or army might differ greatly compared to how you approach the same faction. What I want to do here, though, is go through the pros and cons of playing vanilla armies and the pros and cons of playing Sectorials to help you make this decision. I will say right off the bat, if I get asked by a new player whether they should go vanilla or Sectorial, I usually tell them to go with vanilla to learn the game even if they have an interest in a Sectorial. I usually tell them to buy that Sectorial starter and then play like you are playing vanilla until you get the basics down. Once you have the basics down and feel comfortable playing is when I would start evaluating where you stand whether to stick to vanilla or go to a Sectorial. 

I am a hybrid player and I suspect many people are as well, but there is nothing wrong with being just a vanilla player or just a Sectorial player. The greatest thing about Infinity is the amount that you can customize and format your army to how you play. Sure, the factions have their strengths and weaknesses, but other than that, you can pretty much tackle any faction in the way you want, which might be completely different with how someone else approaches the same exact faction. Use this article to help you determine how you want to approach a faction. With that being said let's get into the meat of the article. 

The Differences in List Building. 

The first difference you have probably already noticed is the availability of units that in vanilla and Sectorials. Vanilla gets access to a much wider range and diverse unit selection than Sectorials do. Sectorials have access to a smaller variety of units, but can often take more of those units that belong to that Sectorial. This leads to different list building strategies and challenges for each. This alone can be a deciding factor for many people without even getting into the other differences between vanilla play and Sectorial play. 

The main advantage of playing vanilla is the wide access to units of the entire faction. This might not be as immediate or flashy an advantage as fireteams are in Sectorials, but it is a huge advantage, one that I think people sometimes underestimate. I didn't fully appreciate this advantage until I had played Qapu Khalqi for over a year and then switched to vanilla. What the diversity in unit selection allows is the ability to easily capitalize on a factions advantages while being able to mitigate the weaknesses to a greater degree than Sectorials can. What I mean by this is that you can establish a synergy between units that you wouldn't otherwise be able to in a Sectorial since Sectorials restrict the diversity of a faction. 

One of these synergies in Haqqislam is being able to take a better camouflage infiltration list. Al Hawwa are AVA 3 in QK and only AVA 1 in vanilla, but in vanilla, the Al Hawwa joins its fellow camouflage infiltrators like the Tuareg and Hunzakut, allowing for a greater diversity in list construction and allowing for these other infiltrators to cover the weaknesses of the Al Hawwa (Like the fact that Tuareg and Hunzakut specialists have mines and the Hawwa does not). It also lets you be more unpredictable to your opponent since, if you are playing QK, anyone who knows the army, knows that the only camouflage unit in QK is the Hawwa so they can start to make countermeasures. When you have a Hunzakut joining the Hawwa, then your opponent doesn't know which is which and needs to be more cautious when approaching those camo markers. 

For most unit profiles, AVA is higher in a Sectorial than in vanilla, allowing you to take more of a unit that you like. If you have a simple preference for a unit that you really like and you want an excuse to field more of them, the Sectorial gives you this option. This also ties into theme as well. Some armies like Caledonian Highlander Army or the Japanese Sectorial Army, have a theme around a certain culture that may interest you. These units may be available in vanilla but the theme gets diluted among the other units available in vanilla. I have even noticed that some players play better when they’re more excited about, and thus invested in, the army they have down on the table.

There is one place that Sectorials do have an edge on vanilla when it comes to a diverse unit selection and that is in having access to what I have called Sectorial Mercenaries. These are Mercenaries that are only available by playing a certain Sectorials. These include Mercenaries like McMurrough in Caledonia and Corregidor, Avicenna in Hassassin Bahram and Bakunin, and even the new Major Lunah for Imperial Secret Service. Generally, there are lore reasons for why these Mercenaries are so restricted. There are vanilla Mercenaries as well to consider, though, these are the Mercenaries that every faction has access to, units like the Krakot Renegade or Miranda Ashcroft but you will see these units pop up in certain Sectorials like the Krakot in the Morat Aggression Force or Miranda in Imperial Secret Service so they aren't exactly exclusive to vanilla like the Sectorial Mercenaries are.

This leads into the other point is that Sectorials have more obvious weaknesses than vanilla does due to their limited unit selection. When you cut down on the diversity of the list, you highlight the strengths of an army, but at the same time, you also accentuate the weaknesses. Every faction has its weaknesses, they need to in order to have balanced game play, but in vanilla, it's a little easier to mitigate these weaknesses by varying up the lists you take every time. Now, I am not saying that Sectorials can't cover their weaknesses, but the weaknesses of Sectorials can be more obvious and easier to exploit by a knowledgeable opponent since there is only so much variety you can take within a Sectorial. Sectorials only have a few ways to cover their weaknesses which may become predictable even from player to player.

Overshadowing

I hate to do this but it is a problem that has to be talked about because there is a downside to vanilla's diverse unit selection. This problem is overshadowing which occurs in two ways, one minor, and one major. 

Minor overshadowing is when a unit only has a few useful profiles in vanilla and the only time you would use the other profiles is in the Sectorial when you have a restricted unit selection. A good example of this is the Djanbazan and its role within Haqqislam. The Djanbazan is a medium infantry with 4-2 movement, ARM 3, BTS 0 and most importantly comes with a Multi-Spectral Visor (MSV) Level 2 allowing it never have negative mods for Mimetism, ODD or Camo of any kind. It also can shoot through smoke which Haqqislam has in spades to help do that wonderful smoke trick. Djanbazan also have Multiterrain and Regeneration making them a great boon to both Haqqislam and Qapu Khalqi (QK), the two armies in which they are found. All this makes them the perfect hunters of any enemy troop which imposes negative mods towards BS. That preferred usage means their heavy machine gun (HMG), sniper rifle and shock marksman rifle are all put to use in both vanilla and QK, but the Djanbazan also has access to two specialists: a Doctor and a Hacker. They are good, survivable units, but vanilla has access to units that are suited better in those roles for a variety of reasons. There are just more efficient ways to use your points than putting them into a Djanbazan Doctor or Hacker when playing vanilla. Playing QK, on the other hand, you are way more likely to take a Djanbazan Doctor or Hacker because the Djanbazan have Fireteam: Core in that Sectorial. Using the Core Link, you now have a way to deliver your specialists to press buttons because they have the HMG and Sniper Rifle clearing the path, so you’re much more likely to use those specialist profiles.

More significantly than individual profiles being less useful in vanilla, is you may find entire units less desirable while playing vanilla. For this example, I am actually going to venture out of Haqqislam and use my newly found allies of Caledonia and Ariadna. Caledonia is a great Sectorial filled with some awesome units that I absolutely love (Hence why it's the first army to take me away from Haqqislam...that and Tunguska isn't released yet as well as my love for Celtic stuff, yes I wear a kilt!) but many of its units are overshadowed in vanilla Ariadna, mostly by their Kazak comrades which just delights our friend over in Pride of Rodina. Many of the Kazak units fill the same role as the Caledonian units but do so better for the same, or a comparable amount, of points. The only reason to take a Scots Guard is for their heavy weapons in camouflage but why take them when you can take a Tank Hunter which does the same job but can cover a Classified Objective as well. The same goes for taking a SAS in vanilla when you have access to the Ariadna Scout who not only gets Markmanship level 1 but has D-charges with Mines and a better weapon for just 6 points over the SAS. The king of all overshadows though, is how much the Veteran Kazak overshadows all the heavy infantry except maybe for the Blackjack, especially one of my favored units because they look awesome, the Mormaer. All Ariadna HI are shock immune with one wound and this is where the Veteran Kazak outshines all them because the Kazak has No Wound Incapacitation thanks Veteran L2 along with things like Mimetism. The best my Caledonian HI can do is Dogged (And they are expensive to deal a guaranteed death sentence to, these aren't 5 point Mutts who you can just lose but 29+ point powerhouses that hurt to lose) but Kazaks have virtually the same load out and role in Ariadna and they simply outclass all the other HIs.  If I would want a Heavy Infantry bad ass dealing death in vanilla Ariadna, it's either a Blackjack or Veteran Kazak. I wouldn't even give the others a second glance. To really enjoy Caledonia and what makes it awesome, I have to play the Sectorial. It isn't that Caledonia is full of bad units, they really aren't. They kick a lot of ass and I enjoy playing them a lot but there are just better choices in the Kazaks when playing vanilla Ariadna. Volunteers, for cheap orders and the Cateran are pretty much the only things that see much vanilla play time. 

Is overshadowing a problem? Yes and no. There is certainly an argument that could be made for every unit, but it can be hard to choose the model you think looks cool over the one that’s probably better to do the same task. On the flip side, this is one of the reasons to take a Sectorial if you love certain aspects of a faction. I love all the units in Caledonia, so taking the Sectorial is an ideal choice for me. Another plus is my purchases are limited to Caledonian units, which is a concern for some players. 

That being said, if you are a vanilla player who doesn't much care for Sectorials, play the units that you like. As I have said, the units that are overshadowed aren't bad units, there are just more efficient units to take in their stead if you are trying to best optimize your list. Taking those units means you might have to change something else in your list to help compensate for taking that unit that you like, and there is nothing wrong with that. The beauty of Infinity is adapting your army to your play style, and, as we have discussed this entire article, playing vanilla allows you to do this easily. Evaluating the concern about overshadowing in vanilla isn't meant to discourage people from using the units they like, but merely making people aware of the existence of overshadowing for those whose main focus is getting the most efficient point use within their armies. There is no net listing in Infinity and there is no one way to play a faction, so if you want to use Scots Guard instead of Tank Hunters, do it. Your list won't be bad because of it. Just make sure to cover all your bases when making the rest of your list.

Fireteams: The Main Advantage of Sectorials

The obvious reason to take Sectorials is the ability to form Fireteams. The fireteam bonuses are what gives Sectorials an edge over vanilla that is hard to ignore, especially for some new players. I preached about diversity, because there is a certain subtlety to that advantage that everyone might not realize at first. Fireteam bonuses, on the other hand, is something people immediately understand. Understandably, there are players that gravitate towards them once they find out about them. 

Looking over the bonuses, you can definitely see why some become strict Sectorial players. For a three man fireteam, you get an extra burst to BS weapons even in ARO. Four man fireteam gets you access to Sixth Sense Level 2 and the five man fireteam you get +3 to BS Attack Rolls. This improves the ability of the units in a fireteam considerably to help them deal with challenges that would be overwhelming outside of a link. For example, +3 to BS rolls effectively cancels the camo without paying for a model with MSV1+. The added burst helps because extra dice to help defeat opposing rolls is never a bad thing, you can bury your opponent in dice during the active turn with high burst weapons, more effectively split fire or turn low burst weapons into formidable active turn weapons (Burst 2 Missile Launcher can be downright terrifying). Having 2 burst in ARO is also a powerful thing, especially if you have multiple fireteam members in line of sight to ARO. That can easily turn the tables in your favor in your inactive turn and will likely make your opponent think twice about taking the fireteam head on. Sixth Sense Level 2 also allows the members of the fireteam to never be caught off guard and be able to respond at their fullest capability, no getting shot in the back or -3 to dodge because you don't have line of sight. This makes it so that both offensive and defensive fireteams are really hard to deal with. If you don’t have any immediate way to match those bonuses, you have to have more creative solutions in order to deal with an entrenched fireteam.

That's just the bonuses too, the other thing you get with Fireteams is order efficiency since you can move multiple units with one order, something that a vanilla player has to expend their precious command tokens in order to achieve. This also frees up the usage of command tokens some for Sectorial players, allowing them to move even more models up, faster. Since the fireteam moves with one order, it also means they only generate one ARO for everyone in the team, allowing for clever positioning and making your opponent think more about how they will respond with their ARO towards your Fireteam. This means delivering specialists to objectives as well as establishing a midfield presence to shut down enemy advances is easier for a Sectorial army than it is for a vanilla army since Sectorial armies can move multiple models with fewer orders and generate less ARO threats. With all the bonuses gained through Fireteams, a Sectorial really can make up for the lack of diverse units that vanilla has.

The Downfalls of Fireteams

Even with all these benefits, though, there are some downsides to taking fireteams. For one, the bonuses granted of fireteams can be taken away by an opponent breaking up the link by either killing or isolating members of the fireteam. If the member that has been taken out of the link for whatever reason is the link leader, the link is broken and you will have to spend a command token to reform the link with the remaining members. The bonuses will also begin to dwindle as the available team members are taken down. This means you have to take measures to keep your link team survivable or keep a pool of available members to replace their fallen comrades (which is possible especially if you are a person who favors line troops fireteams instead of the beefy more survivable fireteams). This does mean, though, that the Sectorial fireteam bonuses are finite during a mission and a skilled vanilla player can use their own tool box to level the playing field. 

Another problem is that everyone in a fireteam has to do the same ARO. If you are facing off against an impact template, for example, and choose to shoot, any link members affected by the template, but not involved in the face-to-face, just have to eat the template. This is why many choose to have everyone dodge instead of firing back at the enemy to better keep their fireteam intact. This can be prevented by learning to keep your fireteam spread out so your opponent can't lay down a template over multiple units. It is something to keep in mind when you are moving your fireteam around the field of battle. 

Finally, taking fireteams also gives your opponent a place to focus their efforts on in order to help cripple your advance. Fireteams certainly come with all those wonderful bonuses, but at the same time that is a beacon to your opponent to destroy that fireteam to take away the advantages given by them. I know when I switched back to vanilla after playing QK for so long, one of the comments that my friend gave to me is that he had a hard time deciding what to go after since I didn't have a link team for him to focus his efforts on. This can be mitigated through proper deployment and movement to punish your opponent for coming after your fireteam, but nothing is ever foolproof, especially if you are facing an opponent that love their tricks or a relentless opponent who doesn't have to care so much about casualties and can constantly send threats to break your fireteam. Losing your fireteam early game can be crippling depending on how crucial that fireteam was to your overall strategy which is why you will hear that some players don't like investing a lot of points into their fireteams. It's too much of hanging a sign on those units saying "Come kill me and you win!". It all depends on your play style, and the capabilities of the fireteam you have taken, but losing your fireteam is an important thing to think about when taking a Sectorial and the strategies you plan. 

In the End, It's Up to You

This was only a broad overview of the large compare and contrasts of playing vanilla vs. Sectorials. I know I didn't cover everything here because there are a lot of nuances between factions and their Sectorials that might not always fit in the broad strokes I just took in going over this. I am sure there are things I forgot, or could go into more detail about, but this is meant to be an introduction to serve as a beginning of whether you may want to play either vanilla or a Sectorial, or both. It was not meant to be comprehensive in anyway.

I wanted to show that there are advantages and disadvantages to both, but neither is the right, or the wrong way to play. It really depends on you and who you are as a player. Finding out what works for you is what I love about Infinity; no one can tell you how to play. They can give you tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your army, but in the end, they can't tell you how to play your army and players interpret the same armies in different ways that may surprise you. There is no net listing in Infinity, because even if you look at someone else's list, the way they use that list and the way you may use the same list might be totally different. So get out there and explore your army, find out what works for you. Go forth and find out if you are a vanilla, Sectorial or Hybrid player. Make sure you have fun with that journey as well. As always, my friend, until next time, continue to seek knowledge!

Broken Innocence

Well, it has once more been a while since I published something. Sorry about that guys, life has been a little more turbulent than I thought it was going to be, but, things should be calming down now, so I should be able to post some more in the future once a regular schedule sets in... maybe... We will see how things work out. 

We are going to change it up this time, though, because I like to write creatively from time to time, and I wanted to bring you a short story I wrote in the Infinity universe giving you a little more insight on who Envihon is and his duty to Haqqislam.

So, without further delay, I bring to you. "Broken Innocence":

***The text that follows is the personal accounts of Hassassin Envihon within his service in the Sword of Allah, Haqqislamite Armed Forces. The information is deemed classified and any public distribution of these documents would yield a severe penalty. Use of these documents must be cleared with the Hassassin Society. This report was taken from Envihon on his reasons for joining the Hassassin Society as inspiration for new recruits.***

We all have our defining moments. Those things that will go on to shape who we are. Mine can be summed up with a single word: Terrorism.

I was only a child when I learned that the Human Sphere isn't what it seems, and the image that O-12 likes to paint for us is just something they cook up to keep mass panic down. It isn't even the aliens you have to worry about, but the shadow war that engulfs the Human Sphere. We like to make it seem like the Combined Army is our biggest threat but one just has to look back at human history to see that we do a good enough job of wiping ourselves out. Humans need things like the Hassassin Society to keep our darkness at bay, to save us from our selfishness. 

I'm sorry, I know what this must sound like. I try not to be this pessimistic, but, when I think about this event in my childhood, I go to a dark place. One doesn't live through something like this and come out thinking that the galaxy is unicorns and rainbows. It leaves a scar, and no matter how much I talk about it, or get help for it, the scar is still there. It's a constant reminder of why I do what I do. Why I chose to go beyond just my service to the Sword of Allah, why I became a shadow guardian to humanity. It was this event that would light my path to become a part of the Hassassin Society. We must stand against the darkness, we must be the light, so that humanity can stand once again in a golden age. This incident didn't bring me down, it merely knocked me down. I stood back up, emboldened to become a protector of humanity. To protect the Search for Knowledge is the most noble pursuit a Haqqislamite can undertake. 

Now, I am getting ahead of myself again. Apologies. If you look into my record, you will see that I am of American descent. My family was a part of the American refugees from NASA when Haqqislam petitioned them to help find what we now know as Bourak and then to help Haqqislam get off Earth to settle there. Now my family are loyal and grateful citizens of Haqqislam. With what they did for American refugees after the collapse of the United States, how couldn't we be? Everyone was just trying to feed off the carcass of the U.S. and the Haqqislamite government were the only ones to extend a helping hand.

Though, this wasn't enough for them to convert to Islam, we had friends that did it but my family held onto the traditions they had from America. This is the reason why I am the only Muslim in my family. The reason why I eventually converted to Haqqislam lies in what happened on Acontecimento which is the real subject of this report.

My father is a Planetologist for the Bourak Academy of Planetology and he is extremely passionate about it. This is why he planned a vacation for us and another American family, that we were close friends with, to Acontecimento. If only I could express in words how much my father marveled Acontecimento. Even though it was a PanOceanian planet, you could not understand how important this trip was to him. He loves knowledge and the chance to visit the great jungle planet to understand it more was something my father could not resist. It took some convincing, but my mother finally gave in as long as my father made it an actual vacation and not just about my father's work. Something easier said than done for my father, but he reluctantly agreed to the terms. 

In the wake of the Commercial Conflicts, though, and since technically, my father would be on official business, our plans were slightly altered. The Bureau of International Relations on Bourak contacted Qapu Khalqi and had two Janissary bodyguards assigned to my family. We all thought that they were overkill, but there was no way for us to refuse, the Human Sphere was on an the edge of a knife even back then and the government did not want to risk it.

As we boarded the space elevator, Janissary Haluk and Janissary Sila flanked us; ever vigilant even though we hadn't even left Bourak. I marveled at them back then, their gleaming green power armor shining in the Bourak sun as we rode the elevator to the space docks. No cubes to speak of, willing to die for my family, for Haqqislam. To a child like me, they were awe inspiring. Many of them weren't even Haqqislamite... being either Delivered or Donated... it let a dhimmi like myself dream of being like them, but I knew my parents would never give me up to be the Donated. Too much pride in our American traditions. So I sat there staring at them. Sila noticed my gaze and she gave me a reassuring nod before resuming her vigilance.

There isn't much to say about the trip to Acontecimento. We took in many of the amenities that my father's position allowed and it was an uneventful journey. Our body guards even opened up a little. Haluk, we found out, was one of the Orphaned, his parents had died in the Silk Revolts. He wouldn't go into details but he mentioned that they were a part of the Sekban volunteers before they had been reformed into the elite unit they are now. It was only fitting that he served as well. Sila was a Donated American refugee and chose the assignment when their command asked for volunteers. She may have fully converted to Haqqislam but she liked the thought of protecting fellow American descendants. Her family wasn't as well off as ours when they sought asylum with Haqqislam, so this was one way for her family to show their loyalty, as well as her chance at a better life. My family was more than delighted to have her protecting us, myself especially. I almost felt that I was a burden to her with how much I hung around her. If I was, she never let on, indeed, I felt that she almost encouraged me.

When I wasn't acting like Sila's shadow, I spent time with my friend, Alex, who was the son of the other family we were traveling with. Like most ethnic groups, we were from the same neighborhood on Bourak, and our families had been friends for quite a while, so my father asked them if they wanted to join us on our venture, since it would give my mother something to do while my father was on official business. They weren't with the government so they didn't have any bodyguards like we did, but my father was able to at least get them a room at the embassy with us. Alex and I were quite excited for the prospect of an adventure to a foreign world since this would be our first time off world. For the first decade of our lives, we only knew Bourak, despite our fathers’ careers taking them off world many times.

I won't bore you with the details of our trip to Acontecimento. Now that I travel quite frequently, I know it was a fairly mundane transit even if it was the most exciting thing to happen to me at the time. Things didn't get strange until we arrived at the planet when I remember my father talking of heightened security measures for PanOceania and its only in hindsight that I really ever took notice of it. On our arrival to the planet's surface, we were picked up by official vehicles and taken to the Haqqislam Embassy on Acontecimento. Every so often when PanOceania finally decided to humble themselves, they like to collaborate with Haqqislamite universities on studying the ecology of Acontecimento, an opportunity that neither my father nor Haqqislam would take for granted.

Luckily though, my father booked our arrival for a weekend so that he could at least spend a couple of days with his family on the vacation part of our trip before starting his work during the week. Despite what happened, I remember that weekend quite fondly. Acontecimento was certainly a beautiful planet from their great forests to the blue oceans. We never saw the great agricultural expanses or the vast industrial complexes that were on the planet in our time there, only the touristy beautiful places that you would see on a travel vid. It was still stunning, I can see why there are groups dedicated to preserving the forests of Acontecimento. That weekend was wonderful, a false pretense to an event that would shatter my world and send me on a journey I could never have expected.

The week began with my father departing to do his work while we, along with Alex's family, had a day in the city planned. It was a sunny calm day as we went to a local park to have breakfast before we set out for the day’s activities. Our Janissary body guards were close by but they were no longer wearing their power armor since we were on foreign soil during an already tense time. Instead they wore concealed body armor and weapons. Vigilant as they had always been, I don't even think they were ready for what happened that morning.

I remember that Alex and I were running around the park and he had run near the park entrance across from the bakery where we had purchased our breakfast when a series of loud booms went off that made us all freeze. Then there was smoke in the street, people were screaming and chaos was erupting. Our parents were shouting for us when another series of blasts went off. I looked towards Alex only to see him swallowed in smoke from the next blast. The concussive force knocked me to the ground as debris from the blast hit me. I remember the ringing in my ears as I lay there on the ground. Disoriented, I started to move and I propped myself up on one arm to see what seemed like a shadow moving in the smoke towards me. I could make it out that it looked like a person, but I couldn't make out a distinct figure. The world was spinning and my ears were still ringing from the blast as the figure in thermo-optic camouflage crept closer.

I was looking around for my parents, for Alex, for the Janissary but I kept going back to that figure that was even closer now fixated on me. I felt the fear well up in me as I tried to get up, but my limbs just wouldn't function correctly. I desperately tried to get to my feet but before I could I was knocked down again by a swift kick to my back. I hit the ground hard, bruising my arm. I managed to turn around to see the figure standing over me. I could see it better now that it was closer as the light bent around the figure to make it almost completely invisible. It tilted its head before I heard the sound of it unsheathing its blade. It raised it up as if to strike, but before it could, I heard another blast from behind me.

It was from a shotgun, specifically from Sila's shotgun. She had come looking for me as Haluk secured our parents in a safe location. The blast hit the figure and knocked it to the ground. The force of the blast and impact from the BBs disrupted the TO camo of what I now know as a ninja, Yu Jing operatives that aren't supposed to even exist, or so the Yu Jing government would say. The ninja was badly injured, but not dead as Sila walked over to it, face twisted in anger. She picked the ninja up by the neck and I distinctly remember her yelling into the face of the operative "You would dare harm an innocent child?!"

My ear piece translator brought me the ninja’s simply reply: "Anything for the Emperor.” Sila threw the operative back to the ground before ending the life of the ninja with a final fatal blast from her shotgun.

She turned to me "Come Envihon, time to get you out of here, and back to your parents." She came and scooped me up in her arms, and carried me to where Haluk waited. It was a small alcove near the park untouched by the blasts. Haluk was on look out as PanOceanian Emergency Response teams were descending on the scene. I even got to see the Montessa Knights deploy to take control of the scene helping with evacuation as well as provide security for any lingering Yu Jing terrorists. Sila and I had barely arrived before our Haqqislamite state vehicles arrived to usher us back to the embassy. My mom held me tight as Alex's parents begged and pleaded with them to go look for Alex but we no longer could interfere now that PanOceanian forces had arrived. All we could do was go back to the embassy and wait to hear anything about Alex.

Except we would never hear anything about Alex. He was assumed to have died in the blasts. We were put on an express ship back to Bourak in the wake of the tragedy before we could find anything out. His parents were devastated. We eventually had a memorial service without a body to bury. I had lost my childhood friend to a shadow war I never knew anything about, nor asked to be a part of. We lost touch with Alex's family afterwards, they were destroyed by the loss of their son and eventually moved away to start a new life without the reminders of their late son.

Later through my military service, I would learn from Haqqislam intelligence that the attack was perpetrated by Yu Jing's Imperial Secret Service in retaliation to the ongoing aggressions between Yu Jing and PanOceania. We had been innocent bystanders caught between their rivalry, and paid the price for something we had nothing to do with. It was this incident that would spark a fire in me, that would build a resentment for Yu Jing's disregard for humanity in its pursuit for power. It would be this incident that would eventually make me break my family's traditions and become one of the Donated. I know my brother would especially resent me for it, but the rest of my family understood why I did it. My father was the most accepting, knowing exactly the reasons why I decided to serve. Sila's act of heroism convinced me that I didn't only want to serve a nation that had given my family so much, but I also wanted to protect humanity from those who would do harm to the innocent.

It was during my service as a Janissary, that I learned that Alex had survived that day, but not in a way I could ever imagine. That is a tale for another day...

***Audio file recovered from Aconciemento Incident. Conversation between two Montessa Knights combing through the rubble***

"Father Knight! You should come see this, I found something!"

"Oh my... good work my son. God clearly has smiled upon this child! I wonder where his parents are..."

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So I hoped you guys enjoyed that and if you liked it, I will certainly do more. With that though, just one more addendum to add to this....

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In a caravansary near the planet Dawn, a Caledonian intelligence officer meets with a shadowy figure wearing a face shield and hood in a private room in the many secret spaces found within the Haqqislamite space station.

"Always so secretive, can't even show your face in a private room. How am I suppose to trust someone when I can't even see their face?"

A muffled chuckled comes from the Hassassin operative. "It is through these means that the Hassassin Society is able to perform the services it provides, like the one we have done for you."

"Ha! And what have you done for Caledonia or Ariadna for that matter? We don't take part in your secretive services" the intelligence officer snidely said.

"Don't you?" the Hassasssin replies as he pushes forward a holo-vid depicting the death of the MagnaObra CEO, the corporation who was ultimately responsible for the slaughter of innocent civilians at the hands of the Druze and Scarface, the mercenaries MagnaObra hired to destabilize Caledonia and break up the Ariadna Federation.

The Caledonian lets out an impatient sigh "Yeah, the bitch had it coming, we could have done it ourselves if we wanted."

"Could you now? You may have been able to find out that the Druze were only proxy soldiers and MagnaObra a willing puppet of the PanOceania but could you have gotten close to her to do the job? You have the tools and training to be everywhere and nowhere like we can? I have heard that Caledonia is boastful, but I didn't expect this level of cockiness."

Now the Caledonian was losing his patience "What do you want then? I thought this was just what you people did to protect humanity or whatever you say you do, why come to me about this?”

"Yes, that is why we do this but we can't do it without the support of other nations" the Hassassin replied smoothly and calmly.

"What the fuck do you want then?! Money... resources, Teaseum? What are you playing at?" yelled the Caledonian, his temper on the edge of control.

"We want nothing so crass, and calm down, my friend. We just want to know that Caledonia will be there to help when Haqqislam calls for aid."

The Caledonian stared at the Hassassin agent, his temper cooling a bit at his response. He breathed deep before answering the agent "Ah, so that's your game, politics... I see, well, I will take this and show the Clans... I can't guarantee all of their support, some may even take this as an insult, but I will see what I can do... we do appreciate this, it won't bring back those lives but... at least those bastards see that they aren't untouchable... We'll help yah stick it to those Hyperpower pricks."

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That is my announcement that I have taken up the mantle of Caledonia. That's right, I finally break my one faction loyalty to finally start something that isn't Haqqislam. Haqqislam still will be my main focus but I may have from time to time insight on this Ariadnan Sectorial that I have looked at for some time, and thought about starting. It's something to break up and give me something different, plus I have always loved the Dog Faces and Wulvers, and need an outlet for that. Don't worry, this is just an Alliance. My loyalty is first and foremost to Haqqislam. I am the Sword of Haqqislam, after all.

If you enjoyed this, let me know and I will see what I can do about more short stories. If you want me to continue to do just things game related and historical context for units, tell me that to. I live to serve you, my audience. Until next time, my friend, continue to seek knowledge.

Guest Writer: Ayyar You Ready For Some Tactics?!

Welcome, friends and Comrades! I know I have been silent these past couple of weeks but I promise I have something special in the works, it's just taking some time to get everything right. In the mean time though, our wonderful Comrade in Arms over at Pride of Rodina  has graciously helped out by guest writing for the Sword of Haqqislam! This is what I hope to be as furthering diplomatic ties between Haqqislam and Ariadna! It seems that there are a few Russians operatives for the Hassassin as Pride of Rodina has written about the awesome, the mysterious Hassassin Ayyar! Without further delay, my friends! 

Ayyar You Ready For Some Tactics?!

Ayyars are one of those criminally underrated troops that perform exceptionally well in both their respective sectorial and in Vanilla. They are master killers, while still possessing the ability to dupe your opponent, and claim objectives.

General Tactics

We'll break down the skills first, before we get too carried away:

• Specialist Operative - Always counts as a specialist, for mission purposes. 
• Religious Troops -  Never runs away from the fight or cowers (actually requires a Guts check to even duck in cover).
• Free Agent - Does not require a Command Token to switch Order Pools.

The one thing that REALLY makes the Ayyar shine is their Holoprojector Lv. 2. This piece of tech is superb and has a wide range of uses. The absolutely key part about the Holoprojector is its ability to throw up Holoechoes and regenerate them in the Reactive Turn. These Holoechoes give you a few things; the ability to hide your Ayyar (which one is the real one), a way to protect them (can't kill what you can't find, plus 'echoes can preliminary destroy mines) allows them to benefit from Surprise Shot (sometimes even Lv. 2, depending on which loadout you're using), and, sometimes, even extra movement.

I won't go into the full semantics of the Ayyar's Holoprojector (like the shenenagins of mixing Lv. 2 and Lv. 1, I'll leave these for another article), but the best way to play with the 'echoes is to fool your opponent to shoot at the wrong one. There's a few different ways you can get this done, but usually keeping your 'echoes in a triangle is the best way. It allows you to split up them up without creating a 'head', and avoids having all three hit by most template weapons (should still be concerned with big template weapons, like heavy flamethrowers). This also makes it a bit harder to figure out which is the real one, since it helps create the illusion of not having preference of one 'echo over the others. Having an indifference towards all of them is critical to maintaining the illusion, but, of course, don't willy nilly throw the actual Ayyar into trouble. That's just silly.

The other perk of the Ayyar is the fact that they're a HI with BS 13, WIP 14, ARM 3, and BTS 3. They can easily outgun opponents, cap objectives, and they're somewhat resilient (especially with 2 wounds). They are excellent harassers, assassins, and objective-grabbers. They're the kind of troops you send out on a flank by themselves and take that side of the table on, by themselves. You will rarely need to support them, as they contain almost all of the tools they'll need to support themselves. They have the ability to easily stack mods, allow for unopposed shots, clear mines, can engage targets at varying ranges (thanks to their twin viral pistols), eliminate most targets with ease, secure and objective, and hold it. Even the ability to switch groups easily, to maximize the use of your Orders between groups, helps accent their 'lone wolf' role. Their only weakness is being hacked. Try to avoid those hacking nets, as much as possible!

Rifle + E/Mitter (37, 0)

This rascal packs a bit of a diverse package. It's got a rifle, E/Mitter, and D.E.P. to engage a wide range of targets. The rifle helps give it a reliable, short-ranged weapon, the E/Mitter for all of the fun of completely shutting down any electronic targets, and the D.E.P. to help it crack any armored targets it comes across. While most of the weapons are pretty close-ranged and low burst, the Surprise Shot Lv. 2 and BS 13 of the Ayyar will help it hit any targets. Plus, if you use your Holoechoes correctly, you could even get an unopposed shot off. The real advantage is the twin viral pistols. Since this Ayyar already wants to get up close and person, those pistols will really shine as a counter-measure and backup offensive choice, when the rest of the kit fails. Burst 3 viral with a +3 for range and a -6 on the opponent for Surprise Shot Lv. 2 is DEADLY. 

If you just want a versatile HI Specialist to take an objective and hold it, this loadout is for you. Its specialty isn't killing targets, but scaring them away and holding zones, especially with Suppressive Fire, while your bigger, scarier pieces take out the threats.

Shock Marksman Rifle (39, 0)

The Shock marksman rifle turns your Ayyar into a tricky, Houdini-esque, HI, into a deadly threat to most MI and LI. The marksman rifle allows them to out-range most common weapons, and stacking a -6 from Surprise Shot Lv. 2, like the Rifle+E/Mitter loadout. It also allows this Ayyar to tackle most heavy weapons and take them out with ease, except for TAGs and HI. This loadout prefers to go hunting and flanking enemy positions and take objectives, especially those protected by any light targets that aren't immune to Shock. It easily works as another front line aggressor/pusher without using any SWC and can sit on an objective when the time comes, in Suppressive Fire too!

This loadout is an excellent killer/hunter and objective grabber, since it can hold most objectives with ease and can deter most other Specialists, besides HI. Worse case scenario, get up close and use those twin viral pistols!

Sniper Rifle (39, 0.5)

I'd argue that this is probably the least impressive of the loadouts, since Hassassins and Vanilla Haqqislam have a lot of better snipers, but it's definitely an interesting choice. The ability to use Holoprojector Lv. 1 and Lv. 2 is really an interesting choice on this loadout. It's arguably useful on the other two, as they're already aggressive and moving about, but since this loadout is more likely to lay low for a bit, you can get the most out of the little ruse. Also, it makes for an excellent late turn objective grabber, it excels at securing objectives near your Delpoyment Zone, and it also works well at securing your DZ, too, thanks to the twin viral pistols. The most disappointing thing is the lack of Surprise Shot Lv. 2 on this loadout, like the others, it only has Surprise Shot Lv. 1 (granted by Holoprojector).

Thanks again to the Pride of Rodina for sharing his knowledge with the Sword of Haqqislam! As always, my friends, continue to seek knowledge!