Halo Flashpoint 1.5 Changes Breakdown
Max HoffmanWith the release of 1.5 rules this September we could see some real shifts in the way we build lists. This is a quick list of any changes to units, items, weapons, special orders, keywords and any other rule changes. I’ll be going over any keyword or stat changes along with point changes of everything that changed so this article can be an easy one stop shop to compare how your favorite units and items have changed. I will only be going over existing units and items that changed, I’ll save going over all the new things for another time.
A PDF with a detailed chart is also at the end of the article, if interested!
New 1.5 Rulesets and cards
UNSC
● Brawler w/ shotgun: gained M11 knife and points changed from 37 to 36
● Brawler w/ needler: gained M11 knife and points changed from 38 to 36
● CQB w/ sword: movement changed from 1-3 to 2-3 and points changed from 47 to 49
● CQB w/ hammer: movement changed from 1-3 to 2-3 and points changed from 48 to 49
● Deadeye w/ DMR: points change from 48 to 45
● Deadeye w/ stalker rifle: points change from 46 to 44
● Gungnir w/ plasma launcher: lost tactician and no point change
● Gungnir w/ grenade launcher: lost tactician and points changed from 45 to 46
● Mk VII w/ AR: points change from 45 to 44
● Mk VII w/ pulse carbine: points change from 40 to 42
● Zvezda w/ commando: gained tactician and points change from 36 to 39
● Zvezda w/ cindershot: gained tactician and points change from 37 to 38
● JFO w/ concussion rifle: increased tactician from 1 to 2 and point change from 45 to 54
● JFO w/ target locator: increased tactician from 1 to 2 and point change from 43 to 48
● Master chief: point changed from 90 to 72 and his “one man army” was removed and replaced with “finish the fight” (finish the fight is 3 points so your looking at 75 points for chief with his new special order)
● Veronica Dare: point change from 40 to 39
● ODST Captain: point change from 35-36
● ODST 2nd Lieutenant: point change from 28 to 31
● ODST Bullfrog w/ AR: point change from 26 to 28
● ODST firebreak w/ shotgun: point change from 30 to 27
● ODST SPT w/ BR: point change from 25 to 26
● ODST SPT w/ DMR: point change from 23 to 24
● Noble 1 Carter: point change from 61 to 58
● Noble 2 Kat: point change from 58 to 54
● Noble 4 Emile: point change from 52 to 58
● Noble 6: point change from 60 to 62
Quick Notes: there’s a few large changes here, most notably master chiefs point change and special order change (we will look at that when we get to special orders) but as I noted above taking chief with his new order is now 75 points, which is 25 points less than he was before with one man army. Some will be sad that his swingy potential is not as good but I’d argue he is way better now. Chief will be more consistent and
less reliant on the luck of the command dice and you’ll be able to field a real team around him. I personally love the change and won’t be surprised if we start seeing the chief a lot more. Gungnir got hit hard with their points staying relatively unchanged but losing tactician, he will no longer be an easy obvious pick, there will need to be a little more intention for picking this model. The JFO on the other hand gained a tactician and I think will fill the same role the gungnir filled in previous seasons however at a hefty price of 54 points. Another model who gained tactician was the zvezda who is now a great pick for cheap and relatively tanky tactician. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows for the UNSC however as most of the ODSTs got hit with a point increase of a couple points here and there. I assume this was done to make room for the cheap marines however with less of a point gap between cheap Spartans. ODSTs will always have their place with them having access to Hot drop however I suspect there will be times where it will be more beneficial to take a cheap spartan over an ODST.
Banished
Source: Mantic Games
● Atriox: armor change from 1 to 2 and point change from 86 to 75
● Brute captain w/ hydra: points change from 55 to 51
● Brute captain w/ ravager: point change from 56 to 51
● Brute chosen warrior: HP change from 5 to 6, RA stat change from 5 to 4 and point change from 41 to 44
● Brute warrior: hp change from 5 to 6
● Brute sniper w/ shock rifle: HP change from 5 to 6, gained stable and point changed from 35 to 36
● Brute sniper w/ skewer: HP change from 5 to 6, gained stable (no point change stays at 42)
● Berserker w/ dynamo: point change from 32 to 33
● Elite w/ pulse carbine: point change from 40 to 41
Quick Notes: there are less changes here but a few that stand out for sure. Similarly to chief Atriox’s points got reduced to 75, it’s not as big of a reduction than chief got however he did get the armor buff and now affordable enough to run a proper team with him. The most exciting change here for me personally is the chosen warrior gaining a 4+ shoot stat. He now matches the captains in versatility while keeping guarded I see myself taking him over captains in a lot of scenarios. The snipers getting stable is interesting, it makes the skewer sniper way more viable than the shock rifle one however that is definitely accounted for in their points, with this change I’m curious if the shock rifle will really ever get picked over the skewer one. Final note here is just most of the brutes gaining an extra HP not game changing but seems fitting and needed.
Weapon/items
Source: Mantic Games
● Dynamo grenade: point change from 4 to 5
● Demo charge: point change from 12 to 8
● BR55 (odst BR): point change from 10 to 9
● BR75: point change from 10 to 11
● Brute shot: point change from 13 to 11
● Cindershot: point change from 6 to 5
● Fuel rod: point change from 12 to 13
● Concussion rifle: point change from 9 to 8
● Focus rifle: point change from 8 to 9
● Target locator: point change from 7 to 5
● Heatwave: point change from 6 to 5
● SPNKr: point change from 12 to 11
● M45 shotgun: point change from 8 to 9
● M6G magnum: point change from 4 to 5
● Assault rifle: point change from 8 to 7
● Mangler: removed knockback, gained lethal (1) and point change from 7 to 6
● Needle rifle: point change from 9 to 8
● Needler: point change from 7 to 6
● Plasma launcher: point change from 9 to 10
● Plasma rifle: point change from 9 to 8
● SOCOM: point change from 7 to 4
● Avenger carbine: point change from 5 to 4
● SMG: point change from 9 to 7
● M90 shotgun (ODST shotgun): point change from 9 to 7
● Flamethrower: point change from 8 to 10
● Mauler: point change from 8 to 4
Quick notes: As a general rule of thumb it seems the weaker weapons points went down by 1 or 2 while the stronger ones increased by 1 or 2.
Special orders and Detachments
● Supply drop: point change from 3 to 2
● One man army: removed
● Finish the fight: New for chief only it reads: Spend a Special Order Command Dice result at the start of Master Chiefs activation. Master Chief may perform an additional Short action this turn, and may choose one of the following keywords that will apply to this Short action only: Gains Weight of Fire (2) - If using an Advance action to move into a cube containing an enemy model gain Smash (1) on the following free Assault.
● Reinforcements incoming: point change from 5 to 8
● Holograms: point change from 4 to 2
● Lone wolf (noble 6): point change from 4 to 10
● JHP(jiralhanae hunting pack)-Ambush hunters: now gives brute snipers and chosen warrior the scout keyword and point change from 6 to 4
● JHP-Drop pods: point change from 8 to 4
● JHP-tactical display unit: points change from 8 to 4
Quick notes: the big thing to note here is obviously the new chief special order. This brings his maximum capabilities down quite a bit but with it only costing 3 points combined with chiefs point decrease it’ll be very refreshing to see a list with chief that play more consistently and feels less gimmicky. Lone wolf also getting bumped all the way to 10 seems a little aggressive but it did kind of turn him into a mini chief so I understand why they changed it.
Final notes
It seems on average most of the less used weapons and units got either a point decrease or a buff or even both in some cases. The huge thing I noticed is both atriox and chief being only 75 points and the new elite Jega also being 75 points we could see an increase in chief and Atriox viability due to their decreased points. It’s hard to say for sure but I think as a whole teams are going to be a little cheaper making it easier to fit in those more efficient 4 man teams however with the intro of support units as well it’s very likely 5-6 man teams will be common. Mantic has hit the mark with most of these changes and combined with the new models coming any day now we will see a shift in how players will build their lists and if I had to guess we’re gonna see a little more banished out there, so keep your heads up Spartans!
