The Hotter the Mess - Naffatûns in RTF

THE HOTTER THE MESS - Naffatûns 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.

 

Naffatûns are the Ramah Taskforce's second Line Infantry unit, and they are (supposedly) the light assault counterpart to the more versatile Ghulams. As a matter of fact, the difference between the two units is nuanced rather that pronounced, and thus I'd recommend you read my article on the Ghulams here before venturing any further, as I'll be aluding to the similarities between the units in this text!

Special Gear and Training

As the Naffatûns are clear offshoots of the Ghulams, they share the same special rules (Terrain (Desert) and the ability to count as Ghulams for the purposes of creating  Fireteams), as well as mostly the same statlines. There are two differences, however. The first is their PH value of 11, which makes them slighly better at Dodging (whether that be direct gunfire of inderect munitions) than their Ghulam compatriots. The second upgrade over the RTF's basic infantry is their BTS of 3; while this defensive stat only comes to play against the more exotic weapons you will face on the field, it can really make all the difference in a pintch - a Naffatûn in cover will save a (non-critical) hit from a Viral Rifle or a Flash Pulse more than 42% of the time, while a Ghulam's chance of success in the same situation is only 25%!

All in all the Naffatûns have the stats of a pretty basic infantryman, with some durability springled on top. Unfortunately the unit doesn't have any Specialist options available to them, and thus their excellent WIP of 14 is mostly wasted.

Incendiary Armanents

Now let's get to what make the Naffatûns Naffatûns; Flamethrowers! These weapons use Direct Templates that cause Continous Damage, meaning that a foe that fails a save against these incendiary weapons has to keep rolling until they either pass their roll, or burn to a crisp! This means that even a single hit from the Naffatûn's signature weapon can theoretically down even the toughest of foes (given that they don't have Immunity (Total))! 

The downside of the Flamethrowers is their lower burst value (B 1) compared to the Light Shotguns (B 2) carried by the Ghulams. This in effect means that an opponent hit by a flamer has to fail a save before you reach parity with the Shotgun, while failing two saves sees you turn profit - though the latter is a moot point against most 1 wound models in most situations anyway!

One mustn't forget that the Naffatûns also carry trusty Rifles, and when firing at targets beyond the reach of their templates (but optimally withing 16''), there's nothing wrong with giving your enemies a taste of some traditional firepower! You can also leverage the Rifle by forcing your opponent to dodge by threatening a Flamethrower hit, and the contesting their roll with a Burst 3 hail of gunfire! And now on to the two different profile options available for the Naffatûns:

Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Grenades (Lieutenant option available); 12pts

The cheaper Naffatûn clocks in at a point more than your bog standard Ghulam. For that point you gain the slightly increased situational survivability, swap the Light Shotgun for the Light Flamethrower, and gain Grenades to boot! The Grenades give this profile an interesting weapon that can contest face to face rolls (albeit only at close ranges), while still bypassing the opposing piece's Cover saving roll modifier, and even potentially blasting several enemies at once. This weapon also gives the humble Naffatûns an additional attack vector by allowing them to use Speculative Attack to threaten foes that they can't actually draw a Line of Fire to! This profile can also be your Lieutenant, and he (or she) isn't a bad choice for an inactive "tucked away" LT, especially if you bring a body double along - most Opponents will be hesitant to commit to an assination run against a Flamethrower armed model that may or may not the your force's commanding officer!

Rifle, Heavy Flamethrower; 13pts

The more expensive Naffatûn drops all pretence of nuance, and goes all in on flaming people, by losing the Grenades and picking up the Heavy Flamethrower! The difference between a 8,3'' and 10,2'' long templates (not to mention the increase in width) is quite substantial, and the DMG value of 14 is also quite respectable when the opponent can't claim cover. This Naffatûn can guard even larger a corridor than the first profile on the reactive turn, and if you can maneuver this soldier into a position from which to target multiple enemies on of the active turn, the end result can be quite spectacular!

Light Assault Troops or Rather Guard Troops?

In their backstory the Naffatûns are mostly deployed as light assault troops to sweep positions clear of enemy infantry. While this is a perfectly solid way of using these soldiers ingame, Ramah Taskforce has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to troops capable of close assaults with Direct Template weapons. Infact, as I aluded to earlier, Shotguns are better tools for these types of attacks on the active turn, thanks to their higher Burst value and their ability of choose between templates and +6 to hit mods on the fly. However, unlike the standard Shotguns, the Flamethrowers are capable of utilizing Intuitive Attacks to flush out Camouflaged enemies. While WIP 14 means that few Opponents are probably content to just sit there and hope you fail your roll, dodging or shooting against the Intuitive Attack will result in a one dice vs one dice face to face roll, so who (if anyone) is about to get hurt is very much up to the dice gods! Then again, reacting to your attack does reveal the previously hard to target enemy, which can in turn make them easy pickings for your other units - just because the Naffatûn begun the attack run doesn't have to mean that they're the one to finish it!

What the Flamethrowers have going for them is the chance of dealing catastrophic damage to opposing units, thanks to Continous Damage (I've had a lone Naffatûn burn a fully healthy Knight of Justice to death when the PanOceanian was making a dash for a Scenario Objective, the medal for the Haqqislamite in question was awarded posthumously though...). Most of the time this chance is too low to be relied upon on the active turn (unless you've really outmaneuvered the Opponent, or the situation is truly desperate), but solid enough that your opponent has to be weary of it on your reactive turn. The great equalizer that is the ARO burst of 1, means that when returning close range shots on your Opponent's active turn, you're often better off having a Naffatûn than a Ghulam take a defensive position when you're looking to either deter enemies from advancing on you, or just plan on going out in a (quite literal) blaze of glory!

While the argument can be made for using the Grenades or the Heavy Flamethrowers as active turn tools, the truth of the matter is that most of the time the Naffatûns are (at least to me) an investment on the reactive turn, rather than on the active one. This isn't a bad thing - RTF has plenty of aggressive troops just jumping at the chance to take the fight to the enemy, and it's often worth having someone to cover their backs while they go in!

Joint Training Regimen

The Naffatûns count as Ghulams for Fireteam composition, and as such it's rare (if not unheard of) to actually form a Core Fireteam of just these soldiers. Rather they are usually added to a Ghulam based squad for a spesific reason:

• 
  Point defence on the reactive turn. Fireteams based around Ghulams have little staying power when attacked on the Opponent's turn, and thus it can be a good idea to bring a (Heavy) Flamethrower armed Naffatûn along to cover the team from over eager enemies. 
  
• Access to Grenades. The 12 point Naffatûn is the cheapest way to include Grenades in an RTF Fireteam (or a list for that matter). You can even pretty easily assemble a team that includes three or even four Grenade armed models (Naffatûns/Ghulam NCOs/certain Khawarijs), and spend a Coordinated Order or two to rain Speculative Fired pineapples at your enemies!
• A hard to get to Lieutenant. A Naffatûn Lieutenant bubble wrapped in a full Core Fireteam can be quite tricky to get to. Furthermore, with Sixth Sense (thanks to Fireteam Bonuses) and PH 11, he's not trivial to pick off with Speculative Attacks either!
• Guarding Objectives. Covering Objectives, Objective Rooms, or access paths to them with Flamethowers will make it risky for your opponent to approach them head on. There are ways to counter the reactive turn threat posed by the (Fireteamed) Naffatûns, but such tactics often aren't (points) cost/Order effective to employ, which in turn can help you gain the upper hand in the larger battle!
  

Special Circumstances Require Special Soldiers

I believe that in most other factions in Infinity, the Naffatûns would be celebrated as excellent Line Infantry of choice, but in RTF they face extremely stiff competition in the form of the amazing Ghulams. Then again, one of the strengths of Ramah Taskforce is it's ability to form versatile Ghulam based Fireteams, and while the Naffatûns don't overtake the role of these basic soldiers, they can slide nicely among them to lend their particular strenghts to the squad when the situation calls for it. Besides, what more than a clear cut task and the occational chance for glory can the Line Troops in Infinity really expect?

Until the next time - I wish you the very best in leading the Swift and Deadly Spear of the Haqqislamite Army to Victory!

 

 

The Veteran's Word

In The Veteran's Word I write down experiences and tactics that I did not include when I released the article originally. I will separate these additions into a subpart of their own, instead of adding them to the main text, as to make it easier for readers who've already read the article to find the new additions!

•  Check out The Veteran's Word on the Ghulams! The Ghulam's Gambit -tactic can also be employed with Naffatûns, though the Ghulam's Light Shotgun in most of the time more dangerous on the counter attack than the Naffatûn's Flame Thrower!

17/4/2021 edit. Corrected spelling mistakes and made some small edits for increased readability. Added the reference to the Ghulam's Gambit into The Veteran's Word.

10/4/2021 edit. Made some slight updates to the article (mainly the point about the Intuitive Attacks and the post Fireteam Update Fireteam roles).