Tinkers, Tailors, Soldiers, Spies - Leila Sharif and Yara Haddad in RTF

TINKERS, TAILORS, SOLDIERS, SPIES - Leila Sharif & Yara Haddad 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. 

(Disclaimer! As of writing of this article, there is no model released for Yara Haddad. Therefore in the pictures of this article her place is taken by Tuareg Sniper with a modified weapon, as to me she is the closest thing available to the consept art provided by Corvus Belli.)

As is the case with most of the sectorials, Ramah Taskforce has access to a rich and varied selection of Fireteam options. While RTF can build very diverse squads of "counts as Ghulams" (Ghulams, Naffatûns, Zhayedans), it's other "pure Fireteam" options aren't as strong. You could look at this as a disadvantage, or you could see it as a chance to cast aside the shackles of homogenic Fireteam restrictions and spice things up with some deadly and versatile (Character) Wildcards! Can I introduce to Leila and Yara?

My Name is Sharif, Leila Sharif

Leila Sharif - Shock Marskman Rifle, Breaker Pistol, D-Charges, Killer Hacking Device; 20pts

Husam Operative Leila Sharif is a great package for mere 20 points! She is a capable Specialist, one of only two Killer Hackers in RTF (the other being a Nahab profile), and a gunfighter and saboteur of opportunity - a true James of Bond of Haqqislam!

Leila's statline mirrors that of Ghulams very closely - the only differences are the BS of 12 (always nice to get above 11 in Haqqislam) and the BTS of 3 (which comes handy in a Hacking fight!). Her only special skill is Religious Troop, which is a minor inconvenience most of the time - it's rare for this Husam Operative to take a hit and want to hold her position considering how fragile she is!

While her stats are pretty mediocore, Leila's gear is everything but! Her Killer Hacking Device not only makes her a dangerous advesary against opposing infowar Specialists (rolling 3 dice at 17s with Trinity!), but it also gives her the ability to utilize Cybermask to assume the Impersonation-2 State and thus get to where she's going (more or less) safely! Unlike the Nahab, Leila won't even lose the ability to use this program after causing a wound to the enemy...

On the more traditional side of armanents, Husam Sharif packs the Shock Marksman Rifle; a nifty gun with which she can assassinate soft targets at medium ranges. At BS 12, optimal range of 8-24'' and DMG of only 13, Leila shouldn't try to pick a fight with a Core Fireteamed Haidao Sniper, but rather stick to taking shots of opportunity at enemy Specialists, Warbands and Skirmishers caugh out of position. Leila can be pressed into service as the secondary gunner of a Fireteam, but she would never be my plan A! The Breaker Pistol gives this spy an exotic secondary armanent, but if you're banking on it, it might be close to time to send the Sharif family a folded Haqqislam flag...

Speaking of going out with a bang! Leila interestingly carries E/M Mines. These Deployable Weapons cause Isolation and potential Immolized-B State on targets failing saves against them, and placing them enroute to an Objective, or as a last stand ARO against overwhelming odds can be great - it often takes your Opponent way more resources to remove the Mine than it took for you to drop it in place! The Husam Operative also has D-Charges that will mostly come in handy for completing Classified Cards, but I'm not above employing them against a careless Heavy Infantry trooper that stepped on an E/M Mine in Leila's vicinity!

As a Fireteam member Leila can fill a multidute of roles.

• A Versatile Specialist. A WIP 14 Character Killer Hacker with D-Charges can accomplish a whole slew of Classified Cards and ITS Mission Objectives, and give opposing infowar Specialists something to worry about (remember that Leila gains Sixth Sense from a 4 or 5 member Team)!
• Cheapish Filler. When thrown in a Fireteam of Janissaries or Mukhtars, Leila helps reduce the cost of the squad, while still being a useful member.
• Duo of Opportunity. If you already have a Fireteam Duo capable model in the list, you might just as well enjoy some Order efficiency, and team them up with the Husam Operative! My favourite Duo is made up by combining Leila with a Rafiq, a pair I've covered in the latter's article in more of a detail!
  
  

The most obvious spot for Leila is among a squad of Ghulams, as she counts as one for the purposes of calculating Fireteam Bonuses! If say your Zhayedan leading the squad gets taken out, Leila can still fire her Shock Marksman Rifle at a respectable BS 13 and Burst 4 thanks to the "pure" four member Fireteam bonuses!

 

While it's extremely common to see this Swiss Army Knife of a character in a Fireteam, don't discount using Leila Sharif as a solo piece either! This allows for her to take full advantage of Cybermask (something she can't do as long as she's a member of a Team), and roam the battlefield without putting anyone else at risk. Lonely Impersonation-2 Stated Leila in a covered midboard spot is a threat that your Opponent can't safely ignore, but also one that is rather hard to deal with in an Order/point efficient way!

Blunt Force Trauma

Yara Haddad - AP Marksman Rifle, Heavy Pistol (+1 Burst), Multispectral Visor L2, (Lieutenant option available); 25pts

Where Leila Sharif is a finely balanced, multi use precision instrument, Yara Haddad is a hammer, (mostly) only good for smashing things. Her statline is what you'd get if you stripped a Khawarij out all their mobility and melee enhancing powers. At BS 13 Yara is an excellent shot, and her Bioimmunity combined with BTS 3 and Immunity (Shock) makes her somewhat resistant to returning fire.

Yara Haddad's draw is the fact the she is the cheapest way of including a MSV L2 equipped model in an RTF force. She doensn't get thrown off by enemy models employing Mimetism or Smoke, and her good BS makes it rather likely that her shots find their targets - especially when the weight of a Fireteam is behind her! She can even bring the pain up close with her Burst 3 (4 in atleast a three member Team!) Heavy Pistol. 

You can't get a 25 point model with MSV L2 without drawbacks though. Religous Troop is something you must be used to by now, so no reason to beat that dead horse anymore. More importantly, while Yara is likely to win her face to face rolls when fighting at her optimal range, putting down her targets can prove to be a bit harder - even with the AP trait, DMG 13 will often just bounce off enemies in cover; disproportionately often so against lightly armored foes! The Heavy Pistol (+1 Burst) is a great gun to have on a mid-cost model that can put it to effective use, but it's value suffers a steep inflation in a Faction that's swimming in Shotguns - even in the hands of a humble Ghulam, the Light Shotgun achieves (while within 8'') a highter Success Value (when using hit mode), and a highter effective DMG value against models in cover (when using Direct Template mode)!

The main purpose of Yara Haddad is to shoot enemies dead by utilizing her AP Marksman Rifle, usually by spearheading some sort of Fireteam, and optimally while shooting through Smoke. This is most easily achieved by inserting her into a Core of Ghulams; these basic troopers provide a cheap source of Fireteam bonuses, reliable Doctor support, and the NCO can lay down smoke for Haddad to fire through! While this setup is economical, such a squad can't obtain the full Fireteam bonuses, and as such it's rather easy to dump a Battlegroup's worth of Orders into it for little effect, and the squad can get killed pretty quickly on the reactive turn if left to it's own devices.

Yara can also be slotted into a Haris of more expensive troops. Here she helps to lower the price of the Fireteam (even if only slightly), while providing a (secondary) attack piece for their use. I'm personally in the process of experimenting with a Duo of a Shakush with the Mutafawiq Officer - Yara can engage Mimetic targets, Hackers and enemies that get too close for the TAG's comfort, while the Shakush can propel the Duo forward with it's Tactical Awareness Order and bully targets at longer ranges!

Yara Haddad can also be your strike team's Lieutenant. This is a rather awkward a choice, as she can't make use of her Lieutenant Order while in a Fireteam, and running her solo does feel suboptimal. Then again, if you're planning on running a Chain of Command Hortlak Janissary anyway, she might be a viable solo LT to take.

As a last note, while Yara isn't a Specialist per se, remember that she can accomplish a number of Classified Objectives by the virtue of being a Character Medium Infantry trooper with MSV!

I'll Take it From Here, Sergeant!

Ramah Taskforce is an elite fighting force among elite fighting forces. It hosts a large number of great units to choose from, and I find myself needing to spend 400 to 450 points on a list in order to get everything I want included. As we're (normally) capped at the standard (and balanced!) 300 point level, RTF players have to cut corners where they can and find every spare point to strech their budjet to maxium effectiveness.

Husam Operative Leila Sharif and Mutawafiq Intel Officer Yara Haddad are two of the many ways to include width and depth in a Ramah strike team, while at the same time saving you precious points when compared to the more elite of units that can perform their roles. When I want a Killer Hacker added to my list, I often reach first for the Nahab, but if the points are tight and the brutality of this airborne commando isn't strictly needed, I'll exhange him for Leila instead. The Khawarij NCO Mk12 MSV L2 is a great spearhead with which to gun down enemies through Smoke and regardless of Mimetism modifiers, but at 38 points he's by no means an easy model to include, so Yara can in a pintch serve in his stead (though at a clearly diminished capacity).

One of the strenghts of Ramah Taskforce, and one that I continue to be amazed by no matter how much I play them, is their ability have several alternative ways of solving nearly any problem. This allows for you as a player to build a strike team that can cover (nearly if not) all of your bases, and emphasize your favorite approaches to the game. Do you splash out for a strong MSV L2 gunfighter, and maybe go for a more of a humble pick for your Hacker(s)? Or will you invest in a close combat monster who can also fry the brain of an opposing infowar Specialist, and downgrade a strong Fireteamed shooter into a more mundane version? (Almost) what ever you preder, RTF's got your back, and so do the deadly ladies Leila Sharif and Yara Haddad!

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

17/2/2021 Edit. Corrected an awkward spelling mistake; thank you forum user Brokenwolf!

20/4/2021 Edit. Cleaned out some spelling mistakes and added links to the text.

2/8/2022 Edit. Updated the article to the post N4 Fireteam Update era.