This is the Wartrader, talking to you again about Tohaa: the Frenemy…

With their biogenetic engineering, the Tohaa units often take different approaches to units than the other factions in the Infinity universe. Their TAG, the Gorgos, is no exception.

TAGs for Newbies

Tactical Armoured Gears or TAGs are the big guns of the game - the biggest models with the thickest armour and (usually) the biggest guns. Rather like taking a Dreadnought in Kill Team they're going to dominate the game one way or another.

Unlike Dreadnoughts in 40k, TAGs can be taken down with small arms fire but with a typical Armour 8 they're going to be ARM11 in cover - each DAM13 Rifle round will only have a 10% chance of getting through.

To add to the Armour (and the equivalent of three wounds), TAGs usually have the highest Ballistic Skill of their faction, making it even harder to lay a shot on them.

So, on to the Gorgos, much-maligned in online discussions. The good, the bad and the ugly in reverse order…

The Ugly

Let's start with the really bad news.

The weakness of Symbiont Armour to Fire Ammo (the model passes directly to Dead on a single failed save) kicks in badly here. Where a Tohaa powered armour Heavy Infantry model effectively has an extra wound to non-fire ammo compared to other factions' HI and one less wound to fire ammo, the Gorgos has one substantially weaker wound compared to other TAGs but two less when hit by fire. Losing an 87pt model from a 300pt force is painful at the best of times.

The Bad

Although the TAG costs as much as a full TAG it's actually a light TAG with only ARM6.

Rather than the standard MULTI HMG armament of a full TAG, the Gorgos has a Spitfire (closer to an MMG), a couple of Flammenspeers (limited use fire Panzerfausts) and a Nanopulser (small teardrop nanotech flamethrower).

- The Spitfire generally has less punch in the active turn than an HMG due to DAM14 instead of DAM15 and even more so to it's sweet spot range being limited to 24" instead of 32", even if it's a bit better at short range. The problem is that getting up close tends to mean getting in range of flamethrowers.

- The double Flammenspeer is arguably as nasty as an HMG, although it's got half the burst with the same range bands but with a circular fire template per hit. However you've only got four shots in total for the whole game.

- In reaction, the Flammenspeer is about equal to the Explosive Ammo of the MULTI HMG, but again you've only got four shots for the whole game.

- The Nanopulser is nice as a close defence, but the other full TAGs get Heavy Flamethrowers with fire ammo, higher DAM and a bigger 10" teardrop template.

That's quite a long list, so that Good list had better be pretty darn impressive…

The Good

Rather than the standard MULTI HMG armament of a full TAG, the Gorgos has a Spitfire (closer to an MMG), a couple of Flammenspeers (limited use fire Panzerfausts) and a Nanopulser (small teardrop nanotech flamethrower).

Yes, I know I just listed that under the bad points. There is method in the madness! Where TAGs normally depend on the HMG for almost all tasks, the Gorgos has options - if there's a Fireteam with one model peeking round the corner, the Chaksa can fire off two of it's Flammenspeer shots and catch models that were 'safe' behind the corner while a regular TAG can only shoot the visible model. It's a niche use, but when it happens it's just downright freaking terrifying.

BTS9. The Gorgos shares the best Hacking defence in the game, only the Jotum, Szalamandra and Avatar are as hard to hack.

The synchronised Chaksa Perifical.

Ghost: Synchonized for Newbies

G:Synch lets the trooper (the Gorgos in this case) control secondary model(s) (the Chaksa Periferical). The Chaksa has to stay within 8" of the Gorgos but it's activated for free, copying the actions of the Gorgos - so do a move-shoot and both models move and shoot at the same time for one Order. The Gorgos can also see through the eyes of the Chaksa, letting it Dodge if the Chaksa is covering the Gorgos' blind spot behind it.

This is where the Gorgos really differentiates itself from the other factions. One Order can result in six shots - four Spitfire shots from the Gorgos and two Light Shotgun shots from the Chaksa. This is utterly devastating to single opposing models - if they shoot at the Gorgos the Chaksa gets unopposed shots, if they shoot at the Chaksa they suffer from it's Mimetism (-3BS to shoot it) and the Gorgos gets unopposed shots (and might choose to use 1-2 Flammenspeer shots to catch nearby enemy models), if they Dodge their roll will be against all incoming shots and is likely to be beaten by sheer numbers.

Shotgun Templates for Newbies

Shotguns, oh my. In Infinity, shotguns fire proximity fused projectiles that burst just before the target, meaning that every hit results in a small 8" teardrop template spreading out behind the main target. Get the angle right and this can cause utter havoc to a bunch of troopers hiding behind a building…

So, that Chaksa's Light Shotgun. If you can get up close, you can force some blisteringly nasty choices for the opposing troopers by using the 6-4 movement of the Chaksa to angle those potential teardrops into all sorts of nasty places the opponent wasn't expecting, while the Gorgos is also shooting stuff with it's Spitfire. However at longer range the Chaksa suffers - -3BS from 16-24" and no shooting outside 24" at all.

The Chaksa also has Flash Grenades which can temporarily blind troopers but these are very short range in 2nd edition.

Inactive Symbiont profile - at the point where other TAGs have been reduced to Unconsciousness, the Gorgos goes into Inactive Symbiont mode. It loses all it's armour and most of it's attributes drop substantially, but it's still an active trooper with a Spitfire.

Lastly for the positives, the model. Oh my, the model!

Overview

The Gorgos is a close to mid-range bruiser. When it gets up into it's ideal range there's nothing else in the game that can cause as much havoc per Order, the closest is the PanOceania Guarda de Assalto with it's similar loadout of Spitfire plus Auxbot with Light Shotgun. The Guarda has higher BS but is slower, while the Auxbot has lower BS than the Chaksa and has no Mimetism, but has a smoke launcher to advance behind.

The Gorgos suffers pretty badly outside 24" as the Flammenspeer shots run out quickly and need to be used very carefully and the Chaksa won't be able to fire at all. However, getting into that sub-24" range isn't a big problem for Tohaa thanks to the very nicely-priced linkable Makaul warbands with their smoke grenades that can't be seen through by anybody.

The Fire vulnerability is big. Especially if you're facing Corregidor where it can feel like every other model is wielding a Light Flamethrower, getting into that ideal range can put the Gorgos at a substantial risk. There's also Public Enemy Number One for Tohaa, ALEPH's Phoenix with his Heavy Rocket Launcher (Fire ammo! Long range! Circular Template! Optical Disruption Device for -6BS when shooting him!).

I do feel that the Gorgos is slightly over-costed as-is and would love to see either a 7-10pt drop or alternatively swap out the double-Flammenspeer for a Heavy Rocket Launcher - this would be identical for all purposes except that the Gorgos wouldn't keep running out of Flammenspeer shots at just the wrong moment.

Possible 3rd Edition Changes

Of the changes we know about for N3, the preview of the range band changes give the Gorgos and Chaksa a substantial boost compared to standard HMG TAGs.

The Spitfire loses 3 BS within the 0-8" range bracket but the HMGs of the other TAGs lose the same 3 BS from 0-16", putting them on -3 within 8". No longer can you pile in close with an HMG TAG and expect it to keep outshooting everyone. The Gorgos still can.

Shotguns again. That Light Shotgun on the Chaksa? +6 BS with 8". Youch. Unless there have been huge changes to how shotgun templates work, that's really going to put the hurt on any lined up enemy models, and can even make a mess of active turn HMG troops that get too close.

So what are your experiences with and against the Gorgos+Chaksa Periferical on the table?