The Steel Phalanx Are Coming!

With my Ariadnan army reaching a 300pt painted milestone, I decided to begin a second faction project. With them being a strictly vanilla army with mix of each of the different nationalities of Dawn included, for the new faction I decided to try a sectorial army instead. I'd gone as far filling a shopping basket on a couple of occasions, with Shock Army models; but indecision regarding the composition of my list meant I was constantly changing and tweaking the list I'd written.

This delay was fortunate though, as whilst idly leafing through the Paradiso book one evening I started to read the background of the Steel Phalanx ALEPH force... and a love affair was born.

After a couple of weeks of waiting for models to arrive, my fledgling Steel Phalanx force has been assembled!

Anyone familiar with them will realise that I couldn't possibly field that selection of models at 300pts! So here's my proposed A-list:

 ASSAULT SUBSECTION
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

 GROUP 1 (Regular: 9/Irregular: 0):

 THORAKITES Engineer Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (20)
 THORAKITES Engineer Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (20)
 THORAKITES (Forward Observer) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle, Flash Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (16)
 ALKÊ Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 27)
 PENTHESILEA Combi Rifle, Contender, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (46)
 AJAX 2 Combi Rifles, Nanopulser / Pistol, EXP CCW. (0.5 | 43)
 PHOENIX Lieutenant Heavy Rocket Launcher, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 44)
 PATROCLUS Spitfire, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW. (1.5 | 56)
 MYRMIDON Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (25)

 5.5 SWC | 297 Points
ARMY CODE: eNpFyLENACAMA8FpnBLJhhCxGBXDQ6CguteHAI2AFwdlblyfnpw+SA9eOEwJrSb5MNsGZWEQaA==

It's a very killy-centric list, but one I'd happily use in ITS scenarios too - as my gaming buddies are going to be taking the plunge into YAMS soon then I'm hopeful it can more than hold it's own there. I'll be running the Thorakitai unit as the main link team, possibly using the remaining non-Penth' models as the second link as the need arises, with or without Ajax involved. The ability to swap the Lt about in the list is also good for keeping it nice and fresh between games.

My second version is this list:

 ASSAULT SUBSECTION
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

 GROUP 1 (Regular: 10/Irregular: 0):

 THORAKITES Engineer Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (20)
 THORAKITES Engineer Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (20)
 THORAKITES (Forward Observer) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle, Flash Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (16)
 ALKÊ Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 27)
 PENTHESILEA Combi Rifle, Contender, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (46)
 AJAX 2 Combi Rifles, Nanopulser / Pistol, EXP CCW. (0.5 | 43)
 EUDOROS Mk12, Nanopulser, Zero-V Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | 40)
 PHOENIX Lieutenant Heavy Rocket Launcher, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 44)
 MYRMIDON Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0.5 | 37)
 NETROD Electric Pulse. (4)

 5 SWC | 297 Points
ARMY CODE: eNozN1JVNbI0VzVVNTRSM1UzrEFQZiAKyAZSRkYQyhBCGYApQ0s1IxAFVmgBElItMwEArTkRag==

This one gives me a hacker and an extra order with the Netrod... but involves losing Patroclus in exchange for Eudoros with Zero-V smoke. Again multi-Lt options give me that option. I'd say this would be the one I'd use versus a TAG list or in a scenario that really needs a hacker. I think it swaps one set of tricks for another without diluting the main punch of the list.

I'm really excited to use them, however I have foolishly vowed not to field ALEPH unless fully painted... so they may see the table at 200pts first. Of course I'm not mentioning the elephant in the room am I? Achilles. I see him as the crown jewel of ALEPH and as such I want to get myself accustomed to playing the ASS before resorting to his 80pt majesty on the table.