In Search of Wisdom - Hacking in RTF

IN SEARCH OF WISDOM - Hacking in RTF

In this series I reflect on the game of Infinity, as well the place of Ramah Taskforce in it.

 

Hacking (or infowar, as it's also known), is one of the most interesting aspects of Infinity. Your soldiers are not only clashing against their enemies in the physical world with bullets and blades, but also in the virtual reality with Hacking Programs! While Ramah Taskforce is in the enviable position of being able to field entirely unhackable strike teams for little loss in performance, there are almost always dangers to be avoided and rewards to be reaped by winning the infowar battle in a game of Infinity, so forgoing Hacking shouldn't be your go to solution all the time!

Before we get any further, I'd highly recommend the extensive Hacking Article written for Under Bourak's Sun and the Bromad Academy by HeadChime for those readers who are unfamiliar with cyberwar in N4 - this piece is an excellent beginner's guide to Hacking in general! What follows is my RTF focused take on the subject!

The (Somewhat) Extended Hacking Infrastructure

The greatest weapon is useless if it can't be brought to bear on the enemy, and even the most formidable combatants can fall to inferior foes if caught exposed by well prepared opposition. In Infinity, the battlefield of the infowar theatre is generated to a lesser extend by the physical terrain, and in most part by the Hackers themselves, as well as their extended Hacking Areas. Hackers forced to engage their opposite numbers through unfriendly Repeaters often find themselves on the backfoot - much like the more traditional gunfighters who have to fire from open ground against enemies dug in Cover. Such encounters are dangerous in the active turn, and downright murderous in the reactive, and thus the side that can saturate the field with (well positioned) Repeaters has the edge when infowar specialists go to war.

Unfortunately for RTF players, one of the Sectorial's (main) weaknesses is the difficulty of establishing said Repeater network. Ramah Taskforce doesn't have access to any Pitchers (weapons capable of firing Repeaters across the field), nor can the Faction access any advance deploying models capable of carrying or planting Hacking Area increasing equipment.

If you want to take advantage of Repeaters as a part of your Hacking game, you must be willing to invest resources in having advancing troops that can extend your Repeater network as they go, all the while expecting to suffer casualties from enemy fire and Hacking attacks while doing so. Such Repeater carrying models available to RTF include:

• Fanous Remotes. The Flash Pulse Bot is a cheap way of providing non-lethal AROs, Regular Orders, as well as extending your Hacking Area. 6-6 MOV means that a "lamb" can be pushed forward quite quickly should the tactical situation so require, but advancing on the enemy with a basically unarmed model is highly risky. When it comes to Hacking, the Fanous is usually relegated to providing passive Hacking Area increasement that makes life more difficult for enemy models closing in on your Deployment Zone.
• Kameel Remotes. The Deactivator and Total Reaction Kameels also carry Repeaters, but unfortunately they are not only slow (MOV 4-4), but they're also hampered by their huge bases! As such, they often end being even more passive Repeater platforms than the Fanous...
• Rafiq Remotes. The only truly aggressive REM borne Repeater in RTF is attached to the economical and highly serviceable Forward Observer Bot. Rifle + Light Shotgun combo gives decent close range firepower, while 6-4 MOV gets you where you're going. The ability to engage hostile targets, to Sensor for Hidden foes, and the possibility of completing Mission/Classified Objectives, means that you can actually achieve a whole lot more with your Orders, than just run a Repeater forward! You can even Duo two Rafiqs together if you're afraid of getting hit on the approach and/or you want to splash out for a Redfury!
  
• Ghulam Infantry. A 13 point Ghulam profile can plant both E/M Mines as well as Deployable Repeaters as his/her Fireteam advances towards your enemies... Then again, for just three points extra he/she could be an actual Hacker! Unfortunately, this option is a very niche pick from my experience...

With modest access to Repeater coverage, as well as only a single Tinbot option available (and even that being locked behind an expensive Janissary profile), any Hackers that the RTF strike team includes have to be ready and willing to engage in infowar with little to no Hacking Area extention available, and when facing well prepared enemies, even through opposing Firewall mods. This makes Hacking a high stakes game for your operatives, and one where they're most often the underdogs from the get go. But despair not! Just like in other fields, what Ramah lacks in numbers and durability, it makes up in skill and in aggressive doctrine! Just like the RTF's supersoldiers are usually the ones to take the fight to the enemy, rather than vice versa, so too are the Sectorial's Hackers usually the ones to be on the offensive!

As a last note: even though Ramah Taskforce may be found lacking in supporting it's own Hackers, it is well positioned to go after it's enemies' infowar assets - with a plethora of aggressive high performance Light and Medium Infantry pieces (as well indirect fire options) at it's disposal, the non-Hacker operatives of RTF can engage and destroy enemy Repeaters and inforwar specialists with no Hacking risk beyond Spotlight being incurred on them!

Ramah Taskforce Operatives as Hackers

RTF has only very few profiles that are equipped with the various Hacking Devices, though luckily for us, each of such troops have their place in the force! What all of Ramah's (non-EVO) Hacker options have in common, is their excellent WIP of 14. Such high Willpower means that the Success Values that your infowar operatives are going for are in most situations atleast as high, if not higher, than those of your opponent's would be! While Hacking engagements are most of the time decided by Burst values and/or Firewall/Surprise Attack mods, it always feels better to go into the fight with good Willpower that can tilt the odds ever so slightly in your favor, than not to have that advantage!

 

The following models are the Hackers available to Ramah Taskforce:

Hacking Devices

Hacking Devices are the most generalist of options when it comes to RTF infowar equipment. They allow for Hackers not only to Isolate/Immobilize Hackable enemy targets, but also to Posses (or Counter-Posses) TAGs, and even to put any target unfortunate enough to get within their user's Hacking Area into the Targeted State. 

Ghulam Hacker (Hacking Device, Rifle, Light Shotgun - 16pts/0,5SWC)

For mere 16 points (and the standard 0,5SWC), your force can enlist a WIP 14 Hacker, who also comes equipped with the ever useful Rifle + Light Shotgun combo! This Ghulam is an excellent budget Specialist, and the cheapest way to include some Spotlighting threat in your force. What makes this profile even more appealing is the fact that when included in a four or five member Fireteam Core, he ignores the opposing models' Stealth (thanks to Sixth Sense), which makes sneaking around your Fireteam/Repeaters a dangerous proposition for opposing Skirmishers. Whether this rank-and-file Hacker is run as a part of a Fireteam or flying solo, he's an elite reprisentative of the cheapest category of infowar specialist!

 

However, at the end of the day the basic Line Trooper Hackers should most of the time be viewed as complementary picks, rather than stars of the Hacking show - a force the relies on hard to maneuver, BTS 0 infowar operatives with no Token States available to them, is just asking to be obliterated by a more powerful cyberwar presence. Hence Ghulam Hackers should either be used as a part of a larger Hacking network, as a "here goes nothing" -gamble when fielded as solo pieces, or in the case of "Going Dark" (see later parts of the article) - left at home.

Tuareg Hacker (Hacking Device, Rifle, Light Shotgun, Shock Mines - 34pts/0,5SWC)

The Tuareg Hacker is Ramah Taskforce's Hidden Deployed infowar option. Infiltration allows this Desert Ghost to seek out a well covered position from which to either Hack targets passing by, or to launch an active turn attack run. WIP 15 gives you as good a chance as you're going to get for succeeding in your Attack Rolls (as well as any Specialist tasks!), so statistically revealing your Tuareg only to have him fail at a critical Spotlight (or a Classified Card WIP check) is quite rare. This nomadic fighter also carries the Rifle + Light Shotgun armanent set (as well as Shock Mines!), so he's also very dangerous in a traditional gunfight (thanks in no small part to Mimetism (-6)!).

Where the Tuareg struggles is durability. BTS 0 and ARM 1 mean that your expensive Hacker is going to go down very quickly once the enemy can attack them, and being a Hacker makes this Skirmisher vulnerable to cyber attacks, unlike the other profile options available to the Tuareg. As a result, I've grown extremely careful about revealing the Hidden Deployed infowar soldier in ARO, unless:

• I know (almost certainly) that the enemy force doesn't include any Hackers capable of affecting my Tuareg this turn. This is usually the case when I can count 15 models and no such threats exist, or I'm playing against a faction like Ariadna. One mustn't forget to consider Pitchers, Repeater carrying models, and the possibility of opposing Hidden Deployed pieces!
• I can reveal the Tuareg against my opponent's last order. This way I know that unless there's a Hidden Deployed enemy (Hacker) within the Zone of Control of my Hacker, my precious Tuareg is safe, and the enemy doesn't get a chance to Reset out of what ever program I choose to use! There's also the added benefit of getting to include the Tuareg's Order in my Order Pool for the next turn...
  
• The potential payoff from a Hacking attack is worth losing the Tuareg for. If a successful comms attack is both decently likely to succeed, and the result will be catastrophic enough for my opponent to be worth it, I'm willing to risk my Skirmisher. Careful consideration is required though!

If, or when, there aren't any worthwhile chances to reveal the Tuareg Hacker on the reactive turn for, it's totally fine, if not downright recommended, to wait for the chance to have this Ghost go on the offensive on the active turn. This way the deadly Skirmisher can employ Camouflaged State to avoid most enemy AROs, while being able to utilize full Burst with (Hacking) attacks! It's also worth keeping in mind that Stealth will shield the Tuareg against any Zone of Control and/or Hacking Area AROs, as long as the Badawi doesn't declare a skill that breaks it (or come up against a Hacker with Sixth Sense)!

As a last note, the Tuareg Hacker is (atleast to me) RTF's prime candide for setting up aggressive Spotlights for the Shaytaniyah Guided Missile Bot to take advantage of, though this strategy is terribly predictable - the presence of a Missile REM with no forward deployed Hackers in sight very much telegraphs a Tuareg hiding midfield... Unless you're merely tricking your opponent into thinking that's what you've got cooking!

Mukhtar Hacker (Hacking Device, Rifle, Light Shotgun, D-Charges - 31pts/0,5SWC)

The most durable, and arguably the most killy, Hacking Device equipped model in Ramah Taskforce is the Mukhtar Hacker. This gal is my most used "lightning" -program supersoldier, not least because this profile marries the excellent WIP 14 to great BTS 6, as well as to the No Wound Incapacitation skill! Throw Mimetism (-3) to the mix, and we've got a dangerous gunfighter, in addition to a great Hacker, in our hands! 

 

The Mukhtar Hacker is one of RTF's best units for hunting Classified Cards - she can theoretically complete 13 out of the 20 potential secret Objectives! Combine this with high mobility (MOV 6-2), and the ability to push trough most light opposition to reach her target(s), and this model can serve in many ways beyond simply spamming Spotlights or throwing out an Oblivion of opportunity!

Sadly, even despite these merits the Mukhtar Hacker isn't invincible. An active turn Killer Hacker will take her out, even though the BTS 6 can slow them down somewhat - it's quite rare for the enemy to be attacking the supersoldier through RTF repeaters after all... The Mukhtar can also get bogged down by stiff enemy ARO presence; even with Mimetism (-3) and BS 13, the Rifle will only get you so far... I usually try to punch an opening for this excellent Hacker with my longer ranged pieces, and then proceed to accomplish my current objective with the Mukhtar, before retreating her into a (hopefully) defendable position!

Killer Hacking Devices

Killer Hackers are dedicated to the task of taking out enemy Hackers with direct (infowar) attacks. They also posses the ability to enter Impersonation State, which gives them additional tactical flexibility.

 

Nahab Killer Hacker (Killer Hacking Device, Submachine Gun, E/Mitter, Nanopulser, Viral CC Weapon, Parachutist/Infiltration - 32/33pts)

Ramah Taskforce's premium Killer Hacker is a powerhouse of an infowar operative hunter! This profile really excels at taking out enemy Hackers, thanks to high Willpower, decent BTS, NWI, Immunity to Critical Hits, Stealth, and the ability to either start up field, or Parachut into the optimal position!

The Nahab is also a semi-durable Specialist and a melee monster who lacks superiors in the Sectorial, so there's always something for him to do! The Marker State provided by Cybermask allows for some level of safety when approaching enemies - keep in mind that suffering a wound/getting Isolated or Immolized doesn't break the Impersonation State, which means you can even sometimes afford to give an opposing (Hidden Deployed) Hacker a free infowar attack on you while you hide in plain sight!

As with any unit, even this splendid profile has it's drawbacks. While the (Parachuting) Nahab Killer Hacker can pick their fights as they choose to deploy, it's rare for even this supersoldier to be able to ravage the entire enemy infowar presence in one go, which leaves him vulnerable to a counter attack by his opposing numbers - something that the other Nahab profiles don't have to worry about! He can also only sustain so many hits from traditional gunfire thanks to ARM 1...

 

This "marauder" is also a rare example of an infowar operative with Frenzy, which means that once he has inflicted his first wound against the enemy, the Nahab not only can no longer benefit from cover, but he also can't go into the Impersonation State (remember that being Impetuous is also a cancellation clause, and as the Frenzy kicks in the States Phase, this Killer Hacker will be left very much not Impersonated at the end of your turn even if he activated Cybermask!). While you're not forced to use the Impetuous Order even once Frenzied, you are allowed to declare Move + Trinity as a "free" Order, so it's a good idea to keep one's eyes out for chances to do some (quite literally) Frenzied Hacking!

 

Leila Sharif

Leila is a great addition to the RTF Hacking game for several reasons. First, she is a rather cost effective Killer Hacker in her own right (and one that lacks Frenzy, mind you!). Second, she also carries E/M Mines; a rather underrated and handy a weapon for deterring high tech enemies from closing on your positions! And third, unlike any of the other Hackers in Ramah, she's also a Wildcard, meaning that she can be inserted in a variety of different Fireteams that can benefit her in various ways:

• Janissaries can include a Tinbot (-3) with them, making Leila a whole lot more formidable an opponent in a cyber duel.
• Likewise Leila can take advantage of the Firewall provided by Hacking through a Repeater on a Rafiq she's Duoed with!
• Ghulams can provide cheap escorts to get Leila to her targets, while Sixth Sense allows for her to ignore Surprise Attacks and Stealth!
• Zhayedans, Khawarijs and Mukhtars can provide elite bodyguards for this fragile Killer Hacker.

Whether used as a member of a Fireteam, or run solo, the Husam Operative is a pick I turn to when I want to strengthen my Hacking presence without breaking the bank, and she's something I'd consider including in a list that otherwise lacks infowar all together - at the end of the day, 20 points isn't much to lose if the deck turns out stacked against her in the Hacking fight department!

EVO Hacking Devices

EVO Hackers are destined to provide purely supportive functions to their companions, whether this be increasing the acccuracy and/or ARO power of Remotes, providig Firewalls for Hackable targets, or contesting the landing of enemy Combat Jumpers.

Kameel EVO Hacking Device (EVO Hacking Device, Baggage - 15pts/0,5SWC)

The humble Kameel is as bog standard a EVO Hacker as they come! This mechanical beast of burden is large, slow, and unarmed; it's really purely a support piece! With RTF having no Combat Jump troops, limited Heavy Infantry presence, and usually modest amounts of Remotes deployed, the EVO is often not high a priority on the list of things to include in your strike team. Then on the otherhand, having the ability to interfere with incoming enemy Jump Troops via Controlled Jump, to frustrate opposing Hackers (or Pheroware users) with Fairy Dust, or to increase the tactical potential of friendly REMs using either Enhanced Reaction or Assisted Fire can most definately be worth 15 points!

A Kameel EVO is hardly something to build an entire list around, so one shouldn't over do it with trying to protect the EVO from enemy Hackers - I cover the humble Bot if I can, sacrifice it if neccassary! It's best no to forget to take advantage of the Baggage ability to reload the stocks of Disposable weapons and/or to add points to contested Zones of Operation!

Commencing the Cyber Assault in Three, Two, One; Execute!

When I'm building a Ramah Taskforce list, I usually make a point of defining a "Cyberwar Doctrine" for the list. This helps me focus on what units to pick and what to avoid, and the Mission being played, as well as the opponent being faced (if known), is heavily taken into to account when deciding on the matter. The three broad categories that I use are:

Going Dark

As already stated, RTF tends to mostly rely on Light Infantry to carry day, so if you're scared of getting seriously outhacked, you can just choose not to participate in the contest! By leaving TAGs, Heavy Infantry and Hackers at home (something you might do anyway), you're effectively denying your opponent any meaningful targets to Hack! While there still is the ever present threat of Spotlights, and opposing infowar operatives are useful Specialists to their commanders in their own right, it is also very possible that your opponent has now ended up "wasting" resources (mainly points and squad slots) in building a cyberwar infrastucture that they can't use to it's fullest potential against you! This is a totally valid way for new RTF players to start their careers, but it also means you're left out from one of the coolest parts of the game...

I do consider a list to be "Going Dark" even when it employs some Hackable models, such as Remotes and/or Al Fasids; the former because they're often not Order economical to disable with Hacking attacks (if my opponent is willing to fire a Pitcher, or move an aggressive Hacker to within 8'' of my Shihab, then spend the Order(s) to succesfully Carbonite it, before proceeding to shoot it, by all means, have my TR Bot; it's yours!), or because they're almost immune to infowar (the Al Fasid is a Veteran with Sixth Sense, which means that opponents should have fairly tough time bogging down this Heavy Infantryman with cyber attacks).

 

So I use this lightest of infowar doctrines when neccessary, but I don't default to automatically!

Punching Up

My favorite Cyberwar Doctrine positions my RTF strike team to opportunitystically attack the enemy from the ether when and where the opposing force shows weakness. While Ramah Hackers may not be capable of taking on multiples of their opposing numbers at once, they are more than capable of defeating unsupported infowar operatives one on one in the active turn, thanks to the advantages provided by their high Willpower and the ability to leverage the full burst of their Hacking Programs!

A strategy I quite often utilize is to try to draw out my opponent's Hacker(s) by baiting them with a Ghulam Hacker and/or Remotes/Heavy Infantry, only to bounce on them with a Parachuting Nahab or a Hidden Deployed Tuareg! It's also quite common for me to focus my more traditional attacks on the opposing infowar defences early on (if possible), in order to weaken them enough that my Hackers can go to work - I've found that just like in the field of fire superiority, the Hacking battle often begins with the enemy having the upper hand, but as the fight progresses, a patient Ramah Taskforce commander will be able to swing things in their favor and end up winning the day!

All of RTF's Hackers are perfectly good picks even against enemy forces that include no Hackers and/or Hackable targets themselves, so you really shouldn't not take them, just because you're suspecting to face low tech enemies!

Infowar Domination

While making Hacking one of the primary focuses of an RTF list isn't common, it's doable! It is very possible to overwhelm the cyber defences of an enemy force that doesn't come prepared for a heavy infowar engagement, and then take advantage of the ensuing Hacking superiority to cash in your cyberwar win.

Gaining Hacking superiority may require the aggressive use of non-Hackhable attack pieces and/or Killer Hackers against some foes, while against forces that have chosen to forgo infowar, one's trike team will be able to achieve it from the get go. Regardless of how this position of strength is gained, the RTF force also needs to be able to capitalize on it, for example by:

• Hindering the activities of enemy pieces susceptible to Hacking (such as Remotes/Heavy Infantry/TAGs) by threatening (mostly reactive) Hacks.
• Posing a serious Spotlight + Guided Missile threat. While Ramah Taskforce can apply active turn Targeted State to try and remove troublesome pieces, it's rarely Order efficient. Usually when my Shaytaniyah has blasted a happless foe to pieces with Guided fire, it's been because of an ARO applied Spotlight, courtesy of the enemy having no choice but to activate within the Hacking Area of my infowar operative(s)!
• Denying the opponent the use of their Hackers for the implementation of their game plan, whether that includes using cyberwar assets for engaging Ramah's troops, or completing Mission/Classified Objectives (the latter can be especially important in (ITS12) missions like Countermeasures and Biotechvore where the Classifieds constitute a large amount of the Objective Points available).

While the benefits of going for "Infowar Domination" vary greatly from case to case, going for it doesn't have to mean you give up too much in the form of traditional fighting power to achieve it - as already stated, RTF Hackers are good picks in (almost) any case. I personally feel that the main casualty of this approach is the opportunity cost of including other exotic (and expensive!) pieces, but then again, there's always the next time!

It must however be said that this list building doctrine can leave the RTF strike team open to the apex Hacking Factions of the game to do their thing, but if you end up against a clearly superior infowar presence in your game, best just keep your head cool and change tactics to more hit-and-run oriented attacks and optional threat vectors, (such as melee attacks or Direct Template Weapons) - many of these tactics are something that even the Ramah Hackers can execute!

Quantronic Systems at 100%, Watch Out for Hostile Hackers Out There! 

While most of this article has concerned the Hackers of Ramah Taskforce, as well as the infowar operatives opposing them, there's a piece of the cyberwar puzzle that still needs it's own time in the Spotlight (pun intended) - the Hackable units of RTF.

One of the balancing mechanics in Infinity is the fact that most of the most heavily armored and armed models are to a lesser or to a greater extend vulnerable to Hacking attacks. This gives the player facing such foes an additional avenue of countering such threats. When playing Ramah Taskforce, I very much emphasize the word "optional" here, as from my experience the Sectorial doesn't have to lean heavily on infowar to gain the upper hand against the heavy units of other Factions. In the same breath, it must be said that I also don't feel that RTF's own high-tech pieces absolutely require defensive Hacking presense to be usable either. This is because...

• The Remotes RTF has access to are so inexpensive (and tactically low priority), that as long you don't walk into enemy Repeaters willy-nilly, it shouldn't be Order effective to go after them with Hacking attacks.
• Al Fasids are WIP 14 Veterans with Sixth Sense and BTS 6 - the only Hacking Program (other than Spotlight) that can effect them is Carbonite, even against which they have a decent chance of saving (two dice needing 8s or over), and a fair chance of Resetting from (one dice on a 11 or less).
• Janissaries have WIP 14, BTS 6 and access to Tinbot (-3) - which you surely brought along! Hortlak Janissaries can join the Fireteam, and while they're only BTS 3, they do benefit from Stealth!
• The (HMG) Shakush should be able to keep it's distance from potential Hackers, and you can always position a Nasmat in base to base should you fear Total Control! WIP 14 and BTS 6 don't hurt either...
• The Maghariba Guard has the ECM (Hacking -3) advantage, in addition to all the other Haqqislam perks!

When using the above mentioned Hackable units, it's definately not wise to deploy them heedlesly of danger and offer your opponent easy opportunities of countering them, but their innate ability to some extend resist Hacking attacks should make protecting them easier, and disabling them a whole lot more of a gamble!

The main point I'm trying to make, is that you absolutely should employ Hacking assets to protect your Remotes, Heavy Infantry and/or TAGs, but there's no need to overdo it! Investing too heavily on "insurance" pieces and abilities will leave your list hurting in other respects... The other point that I'd like to raise that the above average resistance to traditional counters that the Hackable RTF units Posses (strike two!), which fits into a larger theme of the Sectorial as a whole: the ability to soft counter a number of opposing pieces and/or strategies, and not to be easily countered in return, all the while providing excellent levels of diversity and redundance to the force! But I digress, let's focus on that subject in a future article...

 

Power Down Your Hacking Units - We're Going Home!

Ramah Taskforce is a great Faction to play regardless of whether one prefers to have cyberwar take a front and centre position in one's list, whether one wants to have just enough of it to spice things up, or whether one wants to forgo Hacking alltogether! Few strike forces in Infinity give their commanders as much leeway when choosing their infowar doctrine, and this means that not only does list building stay interesting and refreshing time and time again, but also the opposing players can't predict what to expect when facing RTF - will they face a force entirely devoid of Hackable targets, or will they face a team of highly aggressive and highly trained Hackers backed by Heavy Inftanry, TAGs and/or Remote Units, or indeed something in between?

The military doctrine of Haqqislam places heavy emphasis on the value of human spirit as the most deciding factor in any tactical confrontation, and rarely is this more aptly reprisented on the game table, than when Ramah Taskforce's Hackers engage their targets in the realm of cyber combat! The resulting fight is in my experience almost always as interesting as it's bloody, and I for one prefer exciting and interesting face offs to one sided trashings ten times out of ten! So go forth, and either decimate your opposing infowar assets, or bypass them almost entirely - the choice is yours!

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