Starting with Tohaa

Tohaa are the newest addition to the range of armies Infinity has to offer. And they are a special kind of ‘special’. 😉 They are the only regular army that is able to run fireteams. It’s considered Tohaa’s strength. They can form 3-man teams, and as many as they like of as they can fit in their list. Also, every model that has the trait can be part of the team, mixing units.

This gives each ‘Triad’ of Tohaa models a +1 to their weapon’s Burst, which is a big plus in offensive and defensive play. I mention this as you should play every army and every unit to their strengths and possibilities. Tohaa Fireteams are a strength, and a possibility. The Fireteam trait makes Tohaa a very offensive and highly mobile force that can still punch very hard in their reactive turn.

Another Tohaa thing is Symbiont Armour, that some of their units wear. It functions as an extra wound. This Symbiont brings two sides

1. Your unit has an extra wound, and can take an extra hit before it goes unconcious.
2. Once the symbiont is broken by bringing its wounds to zero, the unit also loses in effectability; lower PH, lower ARM, lower BTS.
3. Symbiont hates Fire Ammo. When it comes into contact with fire, the unit will be insta-gibbed after failing one ARM save, disregarding the amount of wounds it still has left.

These two things are Tohaa things, and as a new Tohaa player you should keep them both in mind as it can shape the way you run your army.

Tohaa Starter

Let’s look at Tohaa’s starter set, which is pretty solid on its own!

The box gives you 3 Kamael, 1 Clipsos Infiltrator, 1 Sakiel and 1 Ectros, covering the usual 3 Line Infantry, 1 Heavy Infantry, and elite unit and a unit that got a couple of advanced rules; in this case TO Camo and Infiltration. It comes in at 135 points and 0 SWC (depending on the load-out that you give the Clipsos). It leaves enough room for cool toys in the three 200 point forces that we’ll show!

Kamael are some of the most expensive Line Infantry in the game. You pay 12 points for a regular loadout, and it doesn’t bring superb stats. But it does have the Fireteam Tohaa skill, which immediately makes is worth the extra points. Kamael are the cheapest Triad-filler in the army and with the bonusses of the Tohaa Fireteam, even their standard combi-rifle profile carries a Burst 4 weapons, which is not bad at all.

Sakiel is a more elite Light Infantry wearing Symbiont Armour. Having two wounds, it can almost work as a low-armoured Heavy Infantry. It also possesses the Fireteam Tohaa trait. It’s a fiery fellow, Impetuous and he tends to rock hard. Linking him will keep him a bit more in control, as he loses the Impetuous trait when linked. Unlinked, he’s still a tough fighter and he can take at least two AROs before going down. His V:Courage allows him to keep shooting, while other models would dive to cover. The Sakiel sports a Viral Combi Rifle. This is an Ammo type common with Tohaa, and it uses BTS stats instead of ARM stats to save. Frightening for armies with a low BTS.

The Ectros is Tohaa’s heavy Infantry. A beast, with Symbiont Armour and the Fireteam Tohaa trait. He also has the Poison skill which, together with decent CC stats, makes him a surprising Close Quarter fighter. Poison forces an extra BTS roll for each successful CC attack, ignoring special ammotype of the CCweapon and even whether you hit with a critical. That makes this skill a potential dual wound strike! Basically with an extra viral weapon. That’s rough! Next to those special rule, the Ectros is a standard heavy infantry, with 3 Wounds and a Viral combi rifle.

Last but not least, the Clipsos. A Thermo-Optic Camouflaged Infiltrator. It has a decent statline, and a can lay mines for area denial. His TO Camo allows the model to hide entirely on the board, or to be deployed as a little 25mm token, forcing your opponent to discover what it is before even thinking about attacking it. The load-out of a combi rifle can be used as a couple of profiles; the standard one. The Swarm Grenades which forces BTS rolls, instead of ARM, having Shock ammo trait and allows you to place a template for the entire turn, damaging all that comes into contact with the template. Next we have the Forward Observer; allowing you to ‘Target’ models, giving a +3 BS to every BS-attack you aim at it. And last but not least the Minelayer which allows you to lay down a mine during deployment which is great for area denial or back cover.

The Tohaa starter brings some extra special rules, that you’ll have to memorize to use for great effect. It’s a pretty round-out starter set, with lots of possibilities and optional plays.

The starter allows you to form one of the Triads that makes Tohaa unique. Sakiel, Ectros and the Kamael can all be part of a 3-man team in all kinds of arrangements.

Let’s take a look at a couple of 200 point starter lists!