Infinity Unit Review: Daiyōkai Dengekitai

The newest S5 heavy infantry on the block, the Daiyōkai is a brute to put on the table. One of my favorite things about Infinity is how they are able to seamlessly integrate futuristic designs with anachronistic elements that end up creating unique and beautiful miniatures. The Daiyōkai was a major reason I contemplated starting JSA, and a unit that I'm happy to be using in my Ikari Company armies.

Stats and Special Rules

Off the bat, the Daiyōkai has a solid profile and good selection of rules to pick from. In close combat, he's hitting hard with CC20, MA2, with dual wield causing PH14 AP+DA hits. While he doesn't have CC >20, or MA3+ like some truly stellar close combat specialists, he definitely can hold his own, and chop apart anything not dedicated for melee. While good in combat, the Daiyōkai is no slouch in a gun fight, BS13 is very respectable, and Fatality L1 guns makes any of it's ranged weaponry that much more deadly.

ARM5, W2, and No Wound Incapacitation combine to create a very difficult to kill unit, and while shock ammo can cause him to fall unconscious, having NWI still has it's perk. If you get knocked into NWI state, you can still be healed, despite not being unconscious, this is important because if you are healed, your opponent will have to deal two wounds again to remove you from the game, where most models only have one wound to take out, after being healed by a doctor.

Profiles

MULTI Marksman Rifle, Panzerfaust. With fatality, the MULTI marksman rifle combines good effective ranges, with a hard hitting damage 14 weapon. The panzerfaust is handy for ARO duty if you aren't in suppressive fire, or to cover the 24-32" range band while you advance, don't forget that it's hitting extra hard with Fatality. This is probably my go-to profile, giving up extra burst for the ability to have AP seems well worth it. It really doesn't hurt that this is a 0 SWC option as well, letting you take plenty more heavy hitters, on top of the Daiyōkai.

Red Fury, Panzerfaust. While not having the AP option of the MULTI marksman rifle, the extra burst of a Red Fury can be quite handy at winning F2F rolls, and causing shock is nothing to be upset about. This version does cost 1 SWC, but if you have it to spare, it's well worth considering.

On the Table

Regardless of which profile you take, their role will end up being very similar. In the game the Daiyōkai is a very difficult unit to shift, they can take insane amounts of punishment, and thanks to NWI, get healed back to a place where the enemy still has to pour two points of damage into them to take out. It is tempting to try and rush them into melee, but they're far more effective at range, where they can leverage their higher burst, if you do get the opportunity though, punching something in the face can be very rewarding.

The model is large and impressive, so is almost always going to have a lot of attention paid to it. When dropped into suppressive fire, the biggest thing to watch out for are enemy Hackers, that will get into range and force you to reset. Knowing that, try using a Daiyōkai as bait, moving next to a hidden deploy Ninja KHD, when it works, it's hilarious.

The Daiyōkai is my DataTracker of choice in some scenarios, like Power Pack, where you want to both keep the DataTracker alive, but also need to deliver them to a specific location.