Infinity Unit Review: Al Fasid Regiment

Back to our regularly scheduled programming! This week I’m going to talk about one of the coolest units in the Ikari Company (and Haqqislam), the Al Fasid Regiment.

 

Stats and Special Rules

The Al Fasid lives up to what we expect from a S5 Heavy Infantry. While not swift, with MOV 4-2, it has exceptional BS, ARM and BTS, along with two wounds to play with. Minelayer is a handy little tool which allows you to deploy one of his antipersonnel mines, saving you an order to place a defensive mine. Sixth Sense L1 keeps him safe from enemies creeping through his deployment zone. The most important special rule he has though is Veteran L1, which lets them operate normally during Loss of Lieutenant and Retreat, but also means he cannot be Isolated, which is great on a Heavy Infantry.

Profiles

HMG + (Smoke and Normal) Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines. Probably the most common profile of the two, this guy does it all. Being a tough, high BS HMG is never bad, he can also spec fire with the grenade launcher within 16″ and still hit on 10’s. The utility of having both smoke and mines is something that should never be overlooked. You can place shoot smoke next to an enemy, then move up into it and place a mine, then spec fire out of the smoke to force the enemy to dodge… it’s really gross what you can do with all those tools. There isn’t one piece of wasted gear, the only downside being the heavy 2 SWC cost.

Heavy Rocket Launcher, Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines. The less used profile, but the FAR cooler model! While bringing less utility to the table than the HMG version, it is still a force to be reckoned with. Rocket Launchers of any variety are one of my favorite weapons in the game, a large blast, high damage and fire ammo is a brutal combination that can kill nearly anything in the game in a single shot. Despite having lower burst than it’s HMG cousin, the combination of long range, a blast and high BS means that this weapon can still kill swathes of enemies. Finally, the SMG may seem like a trivial addition, but it does allow this profile to enter suppressive fire like the HMG version. Additionally, the SMG gives you a better +3 range weapon within 8″ than their standard Heavy Pistol.

 

On the Table

Either of the two profiles is going to be a power house unit. While it hard to overlook the utility of the HMG profile, the HRL still has utility with suppressive fire, and if you have HMGs or other high burst weapons elsewhere, the devastation that can be caused by a blast of fire ammo is well worth considering. Neither profile can be a specialist, the Al Fasid really only has one job on the table, blasting enemies to pieces. Defensively, both profiles can lock down an area quite well, and in a way, the HRL version is better at this job. Littering mines around, then going into suppressive fire on such a tough platform can be a serious roadblock.