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So I'll be getting the Aleph Steel Phalanx starter set from the mayacast's last contest. I had several questions for ya'll.

I understand that the starter set comes out to 169 points.how would you expand that to 300 for an ITS setting?

Also, how do most of you play Aleph on the table, I.e., are they a defensive or an aggressive playstyle?

The Steel Phalanx is about very agressive sectorial. As far as what to get a box of myrmidons is a great start.

Hi, for expanding from the Starter if want to link the Thorakitai then you'll need one of their officers which are Nesaie Alke or Thrasymedes. If you're more interested in the Myrmidon link you only need one more model to link so you can just get the spitfire Myrmidon and/or one of the officer blisters. If you're really into the Myrmidons consider getting the Myrmidon box and another officer. Phoenix is never a bad purchase for Steel Phalanx.

For specialists I would look at Machaon, the Myrmidon Officer, Hacker Ekdromoi, Thamyris and there are also the new Dactyls which are coming out. Thrasymedes if you can find a way to get him cheaply since he's the only Infiltrating specialist. You already have the Myrmidon Hacker and the Thorakitai which have a few specialist load outs.

Play a few times with proxies to figure out which specialists you like playing with. Some players don't like Machaon because of the amount of NWI in Steel Phalanx and I personally don't like using Thamyris. The nice thing about Steel Phalanx is most of the characters are in the 40-45 pt range so it's easy to plug a new one into a list.

As for how Steel Phalanx plays, it's undoubtedly aggressive but they're not really slouches in the reactive turn. Myrmidon links are really a pain to take on in direct Face to Face because of the Fireteam bonuses, ODD and Smoke Grenades. Thorakitai aren't bad either since they have good ARM and 360 visors but are weaker against long range fire. Things to watch out for are Parabolic weapons, MSV2s and templates particularly Shock and Fire. Link teams are Steel Phalanx's bread and butter and you can push multiple groups forward really quickly. Make sure you understand the Fireteam: Enomotarchos rule since it allows you to form multiple links, with 3-4 members in each link and the option to have more than one officer in a link. 4 man links gain a significant defensive bonus with Sixth Sense L2 in addition to the shenanigans Myrmidons can pull off with Sixth Sense and smoke grenades.

Also keep track of wounds caused by your Frenzy models, almost everything has it, if you get into an grinding slugfest Steel Phalanx can have the edge since the order pool depletes slower with the extra Impetuous orders if the models aren't linked.

Oh, I guess I should mention Achilles. Properly played he is a monster. Weaknesses to Fire and MSV2s still apply. It's a shame he can't score objectives anymore.

Man , that is whole heap of info right there thank you for that.

I take that most Steel Phalanx players concentrate on Myrmidions over Throkatai. If I'm wrong please correct me.