Bostria’s Challenge: Japanese Sectorial Army

Credit to Vyo

Bostria challenged us to write an article following these guidelines:

I would like to read about 300pts army lists, ITS effective, with existing good looking miniatures, no proxys and no model from a box left over.

Claudius Sol here! For those that have been keeping up with us, this is the next installment in the Bostria’s Challenge series that we’re looking to match up to here at Data-Sphere.

Some of you might know me and know that my roots are firmly planted in the Japanese Sectorial Army (JSA). So when I heard of Bostria’s little game here, I had to try my hand at it. That said, here we go!

For JSA, the Starter Box is a fantastic place to start. Let’s break it down.

• You get a good little clump of versatile Line Infantry: Keisotsu with combi-rifles. For our purposes in this list, we’ll use them as Forward Observers to give the list some ITS Objective potential.
• You get a solid Lt. who won’t go down easy: Domaru with Chain Rifle and E/M Grenades. Keep him a little bit tucked away so that anyone approaching will have to contend with a PH14 Engage ARO and then have a screaming mad Samurai in their face. Sure to dissuade the most persistent of aggressors!
• But in case they do persist, you also have the reliable Kempeitai with Boarding Shotgun. We’ll be utilizing the Chain of Command profile to prevent Loss of Lt. and guarantee our troops don’t have to fend for themselves. As with the Domaru, tuck this guy away so that anyone approaching ends up looking down the barrel of a shotgun with +6 modifiers! Bonus: when all else fails, the Kempeitai does a bang-up job of taking objectives thanks to Chain of Command being a specialist skill.
• Last, but certainly not least, we have the Oniwaban. This hidden gardener is sure to prune your opponent’s back ranks with his Superior Infiltration, TO Camouflage, and Boarding Shotgun with a highly dangerous Monofilament Weapon to discourage Engagement.

This brings us to 119 points and 0 SWC after just the one box (which retails for roughly 45 USD). That’s not bad at all. But our list seems to be lacking a bit of punch. Something to keep our opponent on their toes while they advance. To solve this, let’s add some good ARO pieces to hold down the fort: Haramaki Zensenbutai!

• Let’s start with a strong direct wall: The Haramaki Missile Launcher blister. With a base BS of 13 and the long ranges of the Missile Launcher, this guy can prevent your opponent from bringing their more common weapons to bear before having to face this monster. This works to slow your opponent down while hopefully getting rid of more than few of them.
• But the lone Missile Launcher won’t work for long, so let’s supplement him by forming a Fireteam with a handful more. For this, we can utilize the Haramaki box that comes with a Combi Rifle that we’ll use in our Active turn for an effective BS16 Burst 4 rifle. Filling out the remaining 3 slots of the fireteam, we’ll use the cheaper Contender/Blitzen profiles with two DA CCWs and one AP CCW. The Contenders and Blitzen will be our staple for ARO support, with no awful complementary range bands and a strong base BS.

So with adding the Haramaki box and Missile Launcher blister, we add 30 and 11 USD, respectively, bringing our total to 86 USD for 250 points and 1.5 SWC. We now have a solid foundation, Objective capability, forward assault vector, and very firm defense. What we need is a flexible attack vector to really put the fear in our opponent, making nowhere safe. I may be biased, but I think the Aragoto are perfect for this job of hit and run.

• Using the base Aragoto box, we have access to two types: The Spitfire and the Combi-Rifle. The Spitfire will be utilized by taking advantage of the shifting battlefield and striking the opponent in weak areas with very little orders lost on the repositioning. The Combi-Rifle will perform similarly, attacking from slightly closer ranges and even with her Light Shotgun if able. These would ideally be deployed on opposing flanks to further increase the capitalization of weak spots.

The Aragoto box is a pretty good price at 35 USD, bringing our total to 121 USD. We now have a solid foundation, Objective capability, forward assault vector, very firm defense, and a flexible flanking force. This finishes us up with 300 points and 2.5 SWC.

Japanese Sectorial Army
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Group 1 10 0 5
HARAMAKI Missile Launcher / Pistol, DA CCW. (1.5 | 33)
HARAMAKI Blitzen, Combi Rifle / Pistol, DA CCW. (30)
HARAMAKI Blitzen, Contender / Pistol, DA CCW. (23)
HARAMAKI Blitzen, Contender / Pistol, DA CCW. (23)
HARAMAKI Blitzen, Contender / Pistol, AP CCW. (22)
DOMARU Lieutenant Chain Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (25)
KEMPEI (Chain of Command) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (23)
KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)

Group 2 3 0 2
ONIWABAN Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (41)
ARAGOTO Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 26)
ARAGOTO Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (24)

2.5 SWC | 300 Points

Open with Army 5

The best part? You have a fantastic army that looks downright gorgeous for a low price. Not a single model wasted or proxied. Now all you have to do is master it.

If you’re not a fan of the Aragoto, you can substitute them with some more hidden shenanigans:

• Oniwaban Shinobu Kitsune is sure to strike fear right into your opponent’s heart. Her Smoke Grenades and CC25 are well used in making mincemeat of opposing line troops and non-CC specialists. Enemy Total Reaction remote blocking your way? Kitsune has you covered… and then promptly cut in two.
• WarCor is a bit lackluster when you first look at him, but be careful! His Flash Pulse can quickly turn a threat into a mewling kitten. Worst case scenario, he soaks up an order from your opponent. Best case scenario, he locks down a section of the board with his Flash Pulse. For 3 points, he’s well worth it.

Though, you’ll have to be wary about combat groups when you have the two Oniwaban. I’d recommend leaving them both in the second group and moving them to the first group after your first set of casualties. Don’t be afraid to reveal one of them on turn 1 and using a Command Token to turn the WarCor’s irregular order into a regular one for the Oniwaban you revealed to use. These options will bring the overall cost down a bit, as well! The Kitsune + WarCor combo will cost you approximately 20 USD, dropping your price total to 106 USD! Not too bad.

Let us know what you think of Bostria’s Challenge in the comments below. If you have a different take on the topic or want to provide us with a list for a different sectorial, don’t hesitate to share that!