Infinity Unit Review: Kriigel Agent

I’ve managed to sucker Obi back into writing more about the new Spiral Corps units, this week going over the deadly and obnoxious Kriigel Agent!

The Kriigel Agents are semi-autonomous law enforcers of the frontiers of Tohaa space and the border regions between the Tohaa and EI occupied territory. Used to operating with little or no backup, Kriigel Agents are a gruff Tohaa unit introduced with the release of Spiral Corps, and bring along a slew of interesting skills and equipment to help them with their goals.

Stats and Special Rules

The Kriigel Agent does not have much that stands out in its profile other than BS12, which is high for a Tohaa, (especially for one not wearing Symbiont Armor), and 3 BTS.

The Kriigel has the Fireteam: Triad skill, but what makes the Kriigel an interesting and unique unit is that it has T. Pheroware Eraser & Mirrorball which means it can attempt these skills without having a SymbioBomb, and there is no restriction on how many times these skills can be declared.

Eraser is effectively a burst 2 Comms Attack which can only be used to target units with the Wounds Characteristic within the users Zone of Control, and imposes a -3 to the opponent’s face to face roll. For each hit, the target must take a BTS save against Damage 13 with Double Trouble Special Ammunition. If they fail they become isolated. Keep in mind it is still only 1 WIP roll in ARO, regardless of if the Kriigel is in a Triad, but it is still effective enough opponents will likely keep their distance. Pair this unit with a Tri-Core Taagma, and the Kriigel gains Sixth Sense so can delay its ARO, and ignore the Stealth, making it even more difficult for an enemy unit to sneak up on.

Mirrorball allows the user to make a WIP roll and on a success they may place a White Noise Template completely within their Zone of Control which lasts until the end of the turn. A unit can only have one zone active at a time, but can voluntarily drop an existing zone without a roll, or order expenditure.
This combination of skills allows the Kriigel to be a fantastic utility piece. When teamed with a strong gun fighter (though the Gao-Real does not get as much out of the paring), the Kriigel provides area denial for the triad due to Eraser, and Mirrorball can be to engage MSV equipped units at a massive advantage, or, if they are linked, they can simply be bypassed for more favorable targets that the MSV was set up to protect. Acting alone a Kriigel can be a useful objective guard who can isolate button pushers from out of line of sight.
Another point worth noting is that in addition to its primary weapons, the Kriigel carries a Viral Pistol as its side arm, which is perfect for taking out Dogged, or NWI, (as well as most other), units which get too close.

Profiles

Submachine Gun, Phero-Booster: At 24 Points 0 SWC, this is the cheapest the Kriigel comes, and for this it is equipped with a SMG, and a new weapon in the Tohaa arsenal, the Phero-Booster. The Phero-Booster has unique range bands, but similar to a spitfire, (though, its +0 band extends to 16", but only hits the -6 band at 40” rather than 32”), and has 3 modes: Burst, Hit, and Stun. Stun is the most self-explanatory with Damage 14, Burst 2, and Stun ammo, but, just like the other modes, Stun mode has the Technical Weapon Trait, so the Kriigel uses its WIP value rather than BS value when making a BS Attack with this weapon. Burst Mode is Damage 14, Burst 2, and Pheromonic ammo. Hit mode is Damage 16, Burst 1, and Pheromonic Ammo as well. Previously SymbioBugs were the only thing with Pheromonic ammo, and what it does is cause the unit to make a BTS save against the damage of the weapon, (or equipment in the case of ‘bugs), or lose a wound, but regardless of if the unit makes the save or not, they enter the Targeted State, (which also counts for the purpose of the achieving classified objectives). Due to this mechanic if the enemy loses a face to face against a Kriigel even once, it becomes more likely to lose another, and any other firefight it gets into that turn. In spiral you can add in the fact that the Kriigel can be in a Tricore, and if it targets a unit it could break 20s to hit if the target can then be shot out of cover. In the active turn a Kriigel in a Triad it can fire the Phero-Booster at burst 3 in Burst or Stun mode, and in ARO the Hit mode is still burst 2, so is often the best option unless you are facing a low BTS multi wound model, or an enemy skirmisher with a template weapon, in which case Stun may be a better option for preventing them from achieving their goals for the turn. In Spiral Corps, there is also a Lieutenant version of this profile which makes a difficult Lt. for the opponent to get to grips with due to Eraser.

Breaker Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher: For 31 Points and .5 SWC the Kriigel can bring a Breaker Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher. A BS 12 Breaker Combi is a pretty useful weapon, but what the Kriigel is really paying for is the Grenade Launcher. This is only the second unit in all of Tohaa to have access to a Grenade Launcher, and is the only unit in Spiral with one.  Although it should not necessarily be a staple of every list, a Grenade Launcher equipped unit is very useful for missions with a Designated Target, and tables with a lot of difficult to access ledges where enemy troops may hide out.  Tohaa and Spiral Corps also have inexpensive access to a TO Forward Observer, which can open up tactical options if the opponent leaves them too close together.

Breaker Combi Rifle + Smoke Light Grenade Launcher: Coming in at 27 Point, .5 SWC, and unique to Spiral Corps, this profile offers one of the few ways to get smoke in Spiral Corps. While this profile does not have as many options for directly dealing with enemy units, combining the ability to set up Smoke and White Noise makes it an optimized profile for setting up Zero Visibility shots as well as simply ignoring the opponent’s units. This profile also has a Lieutenant version which can make a useful unlinked support Lieutenant by making use of its order to either drop Smoke or set up White Noise.

One last note is the Taagma can also hide as any of the Kriigel profiles, and can be a way to keep the enemy from venturing too close without the cost of actually bringing a Kriigel.