City-States Subfaction

Though divided politically, the city-states possess a common culture, each consisting of a dominant metropolis surrounded by a score of towns scattered across the attendant countryside.

Theater, poetry, athletics, sculpture, painting, and learning are important parts of a citizen’s life, and even slaves enjoy limited rights and basic comforts. Life is not all comforts, for the city-states are beset by enemies. 10% of citizens belong to the class called the Symachoi – professional warriors who follow the strict code known as the Thesmos.

In addition to the Hoplite militias, each city-state employs a permanent force of elite hoplites know as the Sacred Band. Bow-armed Sylphs patrol the skies, and lightly armored troops called Myrmidon Marines roam the seas. Local Hill Ogres provide units armed with the powerful 2-handed Falx, but the backbone of the army has always been the hoplite-phalanx.

Demarchon

Epitomizing the martial prowess and honor of the Halodynes are the Demarchons – officers sworn to defend the City-States with their lives and their souls. Every Demarchon is a battle-hardened veteran with both strategic acumen and a strong spear arm. He is expected to lead from the front by example and is always an accomplished warrior of outstanding bravery. Equally vital, the Demarchon possesses a philosopher’s intellect and comprehends how the diverse components of the Halodyne military work together to achieve victory. When not in the field, Demarchons train Halodyne soldiery and work to strengthen defences. After a decade of service, some Demarchons seek their fortunes elsewhere, leading bands of adventurers and mercenaries

Game Role:

The Demarchon is an all-rounder warlord able to both fight well in melee and support his troops. In terms of his general use, he is about a 70% support and 30% fighter. That’s not because he is a weak fighter, rather because he has very useful tactics and abilities to help his troops.

His ability Archilochos allows him to increase his ARM by +2 for free by joining a Phalanx. Heroic Valor allows the Demarchon to assign an action token to a unit within 2 inches for free. Reverence means friendly models within LEAD-Range gain +1 LEAD (when you combine that with the generally high LEAD of Halodyne models and the sub-faction ability allowing models to re-roll LEAD-based tests, you have a warband that is rock solid).

Defiant in Death enables models to fight during their own activation instead of forcing them to make counter-attacks. Grace of Achallon allows them to roll 3 dice for attack rolls and chose the highest two.

Sudden Feat Allows units/models to perform a tactic for free, which is awesome since you are effectively giving units additional ACT.

There are plenty of offensive and defensive strategies available when you lead your warband with a Demarchon.

The Demarchon fights with a shield and spear so he can fight at range 2 and be out of the opponent’s melee range. The huge selection of items available enables him to be tailored to one role or the other. Hoplites and Demarchon complement each other exceedingly well and it makes sense to field them together.

Syntarch

In antiquity they were the heroes who accepted ritual challenges issued to a phalanx but over time they developed into champions who operate autonomously, prowling the battlefield like a rogue predator. Wartime is the Syntarch’s time. Then he shines, supporting the citizen hoplite militia, raising their morale and inspiring them with his valor and martial skill. The Syntarch also has a disciplinary role – dispensing instant battlefield justice. Such punishments may include lashing, ear-clipping or even death by stoning for desertion and treason. During peace-time, Syntarchs command patrols, train hoplite militias and devote themselves to meditation of the Thesmos and improving their martial skills.

Game Role:

The Syntarch is both a strategic character (due to his Vanguard Valor and Counterstrike), and a buffer (Paean and Sunblind) as well as also being a decent melee character. He’s no melee super-killer and not a strategic game-winner, but what he does have is a really great combination of useful talents – a true all-rounder.

Use him in an offensive strategy to lead the charge with Vanguard Valor ability making charges cost less Action tokens for models who follow him.

Defensively he is equally good when you place him as a sacrifice 6-8 inches ahead of your warband. With his Counterstrike tactic he counts as charging models that charge him, and so your other units still get to benefit from his Vanguard Valor bonus.

As an anti-shooter, he can order units with shields to blind enemies with them, giving that unit a bonus against shooting.

As Morale Booster against scary warbands like Mortans undead, Banebrood and Troglodytes, you have the Syntarch’s tactic Paean which makes the target unit Fearless.

As a melee fighter he does okay with MEL7, DEF14, ARM7 and POW3/4,

The Syntarch is a very capable model to have on the team for as a scenarios character for finding objects and fulfilling scenario goals.

You could also use him as a “Deputy Warlord”. If you cast the Archon Aura spell on the Syntarch, this allows him to assign action tokens to units and models just like a warlord. This also increases his LEAD range by 1D6 inches up to a possible 14 inches LEAD-range.

Hoplites

For the last 1,400 years the Halodyne civilization has been the most widespread and influential culture on Calydorn, and so it is common for bands of hoplites to be found in many parts of the world from the sun-baked deserts of Ghorn to the jungles of Kassobar. Within the heartland city-states of the Halodynes they form the core of the armies and are faced with a multitudinous variety of foes. Standing firm in phalanx formation they weather hails of arrows, storms of magic, the pounding blows of Trolloth and the skilled swordplay of Mortans. In a way, the phalanx represents the spirit of the unit, when it breaks so too does the confidence of the Hoplite’s. The Hoplite phalanx is an effective tactic, but once the formation is broken the advantage is lost. This classical fighting style was long since incorporated as a standard tactic by the city-states, and when combined with the considerable armor and indomitable fighting spirit of the Halodyne people, it produces a worthy warrior – the Halodyne citizen hoplite.

Game Role:

The combination of the Hoplon and the Phalanx tactic turns this mediocre militia into a highly effective defensive force. They are however not an elite offensive killer unit, so play to their strengths and use them wisely. For 11 points per trooper they represent a solid unit to form the backbone of any Halodyne Warband. played correctly.

Although highly defensive, they are not heavy infantry, which is an advantage they have over Legionnaires. This means they can also perform easily in an offensive role.

First of their overlooked advantages are their spears. With their melee-range of 2 inches, the Hoplites can engage enemies with RNG1 weapons and not be counter-attacked. This is a fantastic benefit not to be understated since the majority of models in Godslayer have RNG1

Secondly, their Phalanx tactic provides an extra 2 points of armor, buffing the unit to DEF14 and ARM8 which is a serious advantage for such a basic unit.

Thirdly, Rank Fighting allows Hoplites to make attacks over the bases of their comrades. This is particularly useful for models with RNG2 weapons, allowing flexibility in choosing the targets for attacks in melee.

Combined Attack provides a fantastic +2 MEL when attacking enemy models already hit by a hoplite in that unit during the same attack action, effectively raising their MEL to 7 for this attack

The Hoplites, Syntarch and Demarchon have many small synergies and it makes sense to play them together in most cases. But Hoplites are so universally useful, it makes sense to take them in Temple and Amazon Subfaction warbands.

Hill Ogres

From the mountains and highlands of the Halodyne lands come the rowdy Hill Ogres, ever thirsty for alcohol and bloodshed. Ogres dwell within all Halodyne states, typically working as stone-masons, animal trainers, body-guards and butchers where their great size is an advantage. Helm, greaves and vambraces of bronze provide considerable protection, and in their hands they carry the culturally iconic weapon of the Hill Ogres – the falx. When wielded by an Ogre, this two-handed pole-blade can hack through steel. With guttural battle-cries and raucous laughter, Hill Ogres wade into the thick of the fighting, eager to get to grips with the enemy. If a commander can manage these brutes well he will position his hoplite phalanx to bear the brunt of the enemy charge and unleash these brutes to sweep in from the flanks for a gory and decisive victory.

Game Role:

Hard-hitting melee unit. The Hill Ogres have the awesome Falx weapon which is POW7 and has a range of 2. That in itself would be great enough, but the Ogres also the tactic Circular Slash, which allows them to target further models in his considerable melee range.

If that wasn’t good enough, they also cannot be counter-attacked when they charge. They also have ARM7 and 12 life points, so are not easy to kill. Their one weakness is their low DEF of 12, which means even models with MEL5 hit them on an average roll. So use them offensively, brutally and mercilessly.

A perfect hammer for a hammer-and-anvil strategy, and great for a seriously offensive strategy. Because of their high POW weapon and their ability to mow-down units, they are very versatile killers