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I have narrowed the two armies I like the looks of down to two. First I love the way the morat look in the combined arms army, especially things like the new drakuzi witches. I also like the sheevestii model and a couple random alien models but for the most part the stuff I like is moray based. Can I sprinkle in some aliens still and be effective or do you have to use one or the other?

The other army I like the look of is the aleph. The steelhead phalanx looks like a good place to start and I like most of the models except the very basic infantry who just look to plain and roboty lol. The rest are cool looking and have awesome Greek names but still are not stand outs compared to some other factions. Aleph are kind of plain imo.

Any help would be appreciated at this point I don't know much besides how things look to me. Lastly I do like Ariadna but mostly just the wolf stuff and the sword wielders so I kind of ruled them out.

You are allowed to run a 'general' Combined Army list with both Morats and Shasvastii units (and pretty much every Combined Army unit). Also, from a storyline standpoint, they're both "aliens" to humanity. It's just the 'sectorial' lists that tend to focus on Morats only or Shasvastii only. The advantage of a sectorial army list is that you are allowed to take more of a given unit and can link them together into specialized teams that work together. The big disadvantage is that you're not allowed to take specific other troops; namely, you can't take Shasvastii in the Morat sectorial and vice versa.

As for Aleph, I'm unsure what you mean by the 'basic infantry'. Are you talking about the Dakini Tactbots in the starter? They're not Steel Phalanx. Are you talking about Thorakites in the Steel Phalanx Starter? They're rather basic in some ways, but not necessary to take. Another common unit in Aleph are Myrmidons that could fill the role of a 'basic' infantry. If you like the named Greek units, Myrmidons will be what you'll be likely taking alongside them. If you don't like the look of the Steel Phalanx starter models, you could do well with just buying the Myrmidons 4-pack, 1-2 Greek named heroes you like, and maybe the Support Pack to bolster your army. Aleph tends to be a very elites-heavy army with a decent amount of special wargear and rules which you end up paying points for even if you don't use it all.

If you like the Ariadna wolf stuff and sword guys, you can very well take just those. No need to rule them out.

Check out the free army builder online. Avoid a sectorial list for the time being, shove in the units you enjoy the looks of, bulk up your army list until you have around 8-10 models (note that the Antipodes pack counts as one model in a way), and make sure you have a Lieutenant. There we go, you have a legit list for the most part. The game doesn't really force you to take bulk grunt troops that you find boring. The game does, however, prevent you from taking too many special weapons and you may be starved for Orders (less actions during your turn) if you take too many expensive models.

Just note that point values and the entire game is currently in flux due to a new edition pretty much rolling out.

It was just the nagas solos they have a very robot looking face the rest of the stuff looks great.

The two shasvestii models I loved were the halved girl and the sheevestii with the light saber looking sword. How are these two in the game good to use? The heavy infantry with a big gun was cool as well. Are the linked armies a lot better? I read a post about them being the big thing in tournaments recently.

How do each of these armies differ play style wise?

Ariadna were cool also buy I only like a select few models not most of the range.

The Nagas aren't really 'basic infantry'. They're forward infiltrators that can camouflage themselves, snipe from afar, or drop mines. They're hardly basic. The Steel Phalanx 'basic' bulk infantry tends to be the Thorakites (Stand-and-shoot) and especially the Myrmidons (advanced aggressive infantry). The non-Steel Phalanx basic infantry tend to be Dakini (cheap robots) and in a way, the Devas (solid all-arounders).

The Shasvastii girl with the lightsaber is probably the Speculos Killer. She's a weird one that has a rule called Impersonation that only one other model in the game has. It essentially allows you to deploy near your opponent in the beginning of the game pretending to be one of their units. Your opponent MAY NOT perform hostile actions against you because flavorfully their troops think it's a friendly. They have to drain a bunch of actions trying to discover your impersonator. Then, you walk up to one of their valuable models, assassinate them, and take their weapon. It's a very specialized unit that can be game-changing when used well but a large points loss if it fails.

Not sure what you mean about the HI with the big gun. Are you salking about the Kurgat or Suryat? They're both pretty much what they seem like. Heavy Armor and a gun that does damage. Autocannons are low ROF but very high kill potential. HMGs are high ROF and high kill potential.

Linked Armies are exclusive to sectorials. They're not essential and you give up a lot of options by going into a sectorial. However, they tend to have a lot of alpha-strike potential yet can be disrupted. It's preference.

As for army rundowns, there was a great writeup with rundowns of each of the factions. In a nutshell, both Combined Army and Aleph are very elite-heavy. Both factions even basic troops tend to be very competent, well-armed, and have several skills and equipment that you may or may not use. You will pay more points for this stuff. Aleph tends more towards the defensive side of the two with troops that can take more damage than average or have defensive countermeasures to prevent getting hit (ODD, Smoke Grenades, etc). This doesn't mean they're cowards though; their resilience makes them a very strong and aggressive force. Combined Army tend more towards unique offensive stuff. They have exclusive access to Plasma weapons and the dreaded Sepsitor which is essentially a permanent mind-control device. They tend to have units that can take a beating and carry strong guns (Morats) or units that have weak defenses but have sneaky-high kill potential (Shasvastii).

You may do well to specifically list what models you like specifically and someone can make a list for you. In a sense, every model is viable. The only lists that are sub-par are just flooded with far too few models that limit your options tremendously and cripple you.

It was the impersonator girl! She looks sweet my favorite models were the morat with the Axes and sickle looking weapons the typical morat infantry that come in the starter box and the s has shasvastii with the polearm. The HI had auto cannons just looked cool but I know the morat have their own HI that look cool.

II like everything in the steelhead phalanx box. One model does look a little weird with his pose his chest is pushing out lol but it isn't a big deal. I liked most of the aleph except that mine layer nagas and one other sculpt of nagas.

Which faction tends to be less played I don't like being on the bandwagon? Love those new morats but overall I am leaning toward aleph. I am gonna look at models again tonight and then make an order.

Sheskiin? the Shasvastii girl with one tentacle as hair?
Shes cool, haven't used her but she should be a lot better with the Multi Rifle being better and cheaper and CC being cheaper and better, problem is she loses Nanoscreen if frenzied, not the usual Shasvastii sneaky he/she/it but sometimes with Shasvastii you just want to bring in the heavy firepower

You really need to compare all of the factions, side by side.

A lot depends on whether you are going for camo, armoured, lycra, whatever..

I'm sorry but nothing can top the new Brigada in terms of toned Glutes. They are impeccable

 Pacific wrote:
You really need to compare all of the factions, side by side.

A lot depends on whether you are going for camo, armoured, lycra, whatever..

We definitely up to date version of that.

Yup the sheskiin! I am having a tough time still I love the morat or red aliens especially the new axe remakes but the slender shasvastii there are only 3 models I like and the anethemotic tag. The aleph are great as well but are more plain looking without the extra wow factor. I forgot to mention the jax model with the hammer, what a model!

The Anathematic isn't a TAG. It's classified as a "heavy infantry". However, it may as well be a light TAG with those rather high stats and the Sepsitor.

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I've played Haqqislam for a while and still can't identify that 2nd butt on the chart. What is it?

Probably an old Janissary.

If I start CA i would grab the morat starter force and a unit of dratuzi witch soldiers. I like these models the most my big question is are the witch soldiers good? I just cannot find info on them. For aleph I would start with steel phalanx set and maybe achilles or jax the guy with the big hammer. If morat witch soldiers work well with their battle force I think will be my best route though as those figures are just a tad cooler imo.

Daturazi are extremely impetuous, have Mimetism, Martial Arts L4, High CC, smoke grenades, and lots of weapon options that are close in. They also have the Coma ability, which works with any other unit with a sepsitor, allowing it to sepsitorize through him in a template.

You will almost always take the Chain Rifle version, to make them as cheap as possible to offset the fact that they are extremely impetuous, and have to get in close anyway.

They're mainly there go run down the enemy's throat, with mimetism making up for them not getting cover, so you don't feel as bad for using their impetuous orders to run them straight at enemies.

 Absolutionis wrote:
The Anathematic isn't a TAG. It's classified as a "heavy infantry". However, it may as well be a light TAG with those rather high stats and the Sepsitor.

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I've played Haqqislam for a while and still can't identify that 2nd butt on the chart. What is it?

Ahl Fassed w/boarding shotgun.

 Pacific wrote:
You really need to compare all of the factions, side by side.

A lot depends on whether you are going for camo, armoured, lycra, whatever..

Haha, shame Szalamandra pilot is such a butter face, she has the 2nd best buns after O:I Mobile Brigada

 Vertrucio wrote:
Daturazi are extremely impetuous, have Mimetism, Martial Arts L4, High CC, smoke grenades, and lots of weapon options that are close in. They also have the Coma ability, which works with any other unit with a sepsitor, allowing it to sepsitorize through him in a template.

You will almost always take the Chain Rifle version, to make them as cheap as possible to offset the fact that they are extremely impetuous, and have to get in close anyway.

They're mainly there go run down the enemy's throat, with mimetism making up for them not getting cover, so you don't feel as bad for using their impetuous orders to run them straight at enemies.

I would like to add Coma is gone in N3.

it's not like it made sense with Sepsitor now being a template, that would have transformed Datus into Sepsitor mines, can you picture something that scary?