A SHIELD HELD HIGH - Hakims in RTF
In the Unit Focus series I take a look at the different units that
make up the Ramah Taskforce, and try to answer why, not if, you should
include them in your lists.
Out of all the branches of the Haqqislamite armed forces, Ramah Taskforce is the one with the most humanistic calling - they are after all the ones who are tasked with diving into the most terrible of situations to rescue those in need of saving. No unit in the Faction embodies this spirit of stalwart self sacrifice like the Hakim Special Medical Assistance Team - as per the unit's creed, these dedicated men and women will let nothing stand between them and their life saving mission!
Comprehensively Trained
In the backstory Hakims are trained as an expert commando force in order to enable them to execute the most dangerous search and rescue missions. On the tabletop this training translates to a statline of a professional Medium Infantry operative. BS 12, PH 11, ARM 2 and BS 3 are more than can usually be expected of a Haqqislamite trooper, while the 4-4 MOV, CC 14 and 1 wound are the standard fare for most Infantry soldiers.
When it comes to special skills, WIP 15 combined with the Doctor (+3) makes Hakims one of the best healers in the game of Infinity! The "Special" in Special Medical Assistance Team comes from the Parachutist
ability, which means that Hakim starts most battles held back (maybe in
a dropship or a helicopter?), ready to jump in when friendlies start to
get hit! Terrain (Total) means that pieces of Difficult Terrain
won't slow these sages down - as a matter fact they can facilitate the
Hakim's advance towards their patients (or their enemies)! Lastly, Regenaration means that an unconcious Hakim is in fact with a 55% chance a fully operational Hakim at the end of the turn in which they went down - I love the idea of this iron willed professional operating at themselves in the thick of battle in order to keep their live saving mission going! In most cases an unconcious Parachutist is as good as dead anyway, and the Hakim might even provide an easy Classified Card target to the enemy, so roll away when you get the chance! If your valiant Doctor
succeeds in their roll, you have your Hakim back for no cost -
reviving him the old fashioned way would have used valuable Orders and
risked the rescuing Doctor or Nasmat to enemy fire!
Some Extra Magazines and Second Medikit, Please!
There are two differently armed Hakim profiles available, as well as versions of both of them with the Nasmat A2 Peripheral. A piece of gear that all the profiles share however, is the Medikit (+1B). This "healing gun" allows for your Hakims to try and resuscitate their fallen comrades up to whopping 24'' away, although you want to be as close as possible to the target for any semblance of reliability. Two cracks at hitting with BS 12 and then up to two attemps at passing (in RTF's case on average rather high) PH roll means that the Special Medical Assistance Team really can live up it's reputation when it comes to healing those in need. Then again, rolling for medium chance successes is always risky when there are no rerolls available, and healing your patients with a 90% chance (and the Cube provided rerolls!) is usually the way to go, unless special circumstances are in effect!
Boarding Shotgun, Pistol - 28pts
The more expensive Hakim option is armed with the Boarding Shotgun; a
weapon we all know and love. It's an excellent armanent at close quarters, as it can threaten heavier targets with its AP slugs and it can even take out several targets at once when utilizing the Direct Template Mode ... At Burst 2 the shotgun
is however a tad unreliable and it's not as easy to get within 8'' of a
savy Opponent's key pieces, even with Parachutists! Then again, the +6 mod can go a long way when it comes to winning crucial face to face rolls, and few models can afford to try and shrug off two automatic hits to return fire if you can indeed close the distance!
Submachine Gun, Chain-Colt, Pistol - 24pts
The second choice available for the Hakim is the way more versatile (and cheaper!): the Submachine Gun and Chain-Colt variant.
While the SMG isn't quite as deadly up close as the Boarding Shotgun,
it does have a higher Burst value, the possibility of using Shock rounds in addition to AP ammo, and it can theoretically hit things up to 32'' away... Losing the double Template option hurts, but Shock
means that if a Hakim gets among the Opponent's cheerleaders, there
won't be anyone left to revive once they're done. Ending the turn in Suppressive Fire also makes it difficult, and sometimes Order intensive, to dig the Hakim out in your Opponent's turn.
Add Nasmat A2 to either of the profiles above - 4pts
Last thing about the profile choices is the possibility of taking a Parachutist Nasmat A2 to accompany your Hakim for 4 points. In N4 these guys can drop in any legal position on the field, regardless of where your Doctor
is going. With this little helper the Hakim no longer has to choose
between a spot where they can heal a fallen comrade and a spot from which
to engage the enemy - they're free to do both! The Nasmat can even be used
to set off Mines or Premiter Weapons,
run into a melee or add a few points to an otherwise unoccupied
quadrant in some Missions! You can even jam the hapless robot to a tight
space like a doorway and force your Opponent to spend Orders chipping
through them... The Nasmat isn't cheap, but it can be clutch in some situations, and I usually give this robotic helper more priority in Missions where completing Classifieds is important, as this allows me to split the Hakim's Card completing potential into two locations at once!
Once on the Ground, Every Choice is a Matter of Life and Death
The first thing that draws attention to the Hakim is the cost. The cheaper (and by far the more popular) profile of SMG/Chain-Colt Hakim costs only 24 points - which insn't half bad in a Sectorial with a plehtora of 30+ point models. When rounding out your list investing in a Nahab as the 15th model may just be a bridge to far, but getting a significantly cheaper Hakim might come into the question - especially when you might even be able to downgrade (or sidegrade) a Doctor somewhere else in the list thanks to the added medical support you're now bringing!
The key feature of Hakims is their signature Parachutist skill. I've found some of the most common uses for
this skill to include:
- Reviving an aggressive model knocked unconcious by your Opponent. The Hakim can usually get to his fallen comrade safely (deploy Smoke from the outstanding Ghulam NCO if neccessary, or outsource the risky job to a Nasmat A2), and then very reliably heal them back to fighting condition (being effective WIP18 with rerolls from Command Tokens available)!
- Flanking the enemy by deploying outside their Deployment Zone and then attacking backline troops. Leveraging cover and Burst advantage the Hakim can put quite a dent in to the enemy Order Pool, if the enemy has left an opening in their defence, or they could take out an isolated midboard piece by popping up behind them. It's often best to use Direct Templates against targets otherwise out of your league or when encountering clustered troops!
- Interacting with a Mission Objective or achieving a Classified Card. Unlike with Hidden Deployment, Parachutist troops have the advantage of picking their spot of entry as they join the battle. This means that the Hakim can usually get to the ITS Mission Objective/enemy model/HVT otherwise out of your reach, and more safely to boot! WIP 15 means that they will most likely also succeed at their job once they get there... Follow Up Classified Card, here I come!
- Providing points for controlling a Zone/Quadrant in a Mission requiring it. Few things screw up your Opponent's apparent cruise control drive to victory more than Parachuting
24 to 32 points of fresh troops to a quadrant otherwise beyond your
reach. In a pinch you can even split up your Hakim and their Nasmat!
Into the Lion's Den
In conclusion; why would you want to include the Hakim in a Ramah Taskfore list? In short - for tactical versatility. An affordable model that can either deploy on the table as a healer, or Parachut into combat guns blazing as the situation dictates, is a great boon in a game of varied Missions and constantly changing circumstances. Remember - the hand that can mend could just as easily rend!
Until the next time - I wish you the very best in leading the Swift and Deadly Spear of the Haqqislamite Army to Victory!
1/2/2021 Edit. Cleaned up the article by correcting some spelling mistakes and making the visual style a bit more in line with the more modern articles.
20/4/201 Edit. Made some further improvements on the language and added links to the text.
5/8/2022 Edit. More or less re-wrote the article after the release of the N4 Fireteam update; the piece was starting to show it's age, and the update to BS12 on the Hakims was all the excuse I needed to get going!
Comments
Post a Comment