The Banished Are About to Get Scary, But I Still Want More Elites

Anthony Salazar

Promotional Image By: Mantic Games

Okay so the Banished Reinforcements set has me excited. Grunts and Jackals are finally here, the new Enforcer looks like a menace, and honestly this whole Battle for Zeta Halo wave is shaping up to be one of the best drops Flashpoint has had since launch.

But I have to be honest. It still doesn't feel like enough.

Here's where I'm coming from. The Banished are fundamentally a Brute organization. Atriox built this whole thing on the idea that strength is the only thing that matters, not species, not pedigree, not where you came from. Brutes, Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig Yar, even humans and Janissaries,. If you're not familiar with the term, Janissaries are human supersoldiers tied to the Banished. The term was first used by ONI to describe illicit super soldier programs run by Insurrection affiliated power brokers, and has since spread to cover a range of human augmentation efforts run by criminal, corporate, and colonial groups. Within Banished ranks, human Janissaries rarely take frontline roles, but serving is one of the fastest ways for them to gain access to further augmentation. The most well known in the lore is Ilsa Zane. If you're strong enough to be useful, you're in. That's the whole appeal of the faction honestly, it's this ragtag coalition of everyone the old Covenant either abandoned or looked down on, now fighting under one banner because Atriox earned their loyalty the hard way.

And that's exactly why I think a lot of us want to see more Elites.

We are getting three new Sangheili this year if you count everything. There's the one in the Grand Tournament kit, the new Enforcer in the Reinforcements set, and Jega 'Rdomnai as part of the Spartan Killers trio alongside Hyperius and Tovarus. Numerically, its not enough as one of the three is locked behind a tournament play kit, and Jega is in a very expensive three model limited box.

But the variety is where it falls short for me.

I think people are just a little tired of the Sangheili Mercenary look. We've had that sculpt since Spartan Edition, and don't get me wrong, it's a great model. But what people are asking for is Captains, Rangers, Generals, the whole range of Sangheili ranks and roles that exist all throughout the lore. New armor configurations especially. Different helmets, different builds, different silhouettes on the table.

As a painter this matters a lot to me. Paint scheme does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to making a unit feel unique, sure. But when every Elite on the table is running the same base sculpt, even with different colors, there's only so much visual distinction you can squeeze out of it. Most people paint their Elites the classic blue, sometimes red for a Major, gold if they're running an energy sword, or the Banished scheme if that's their faction. Armor variety would actually let those paint choices mean something, instead of just being color swaps on the same silhouette.

Elite Ranks Of The Banished (Halo Infinite), Created By: TheLemurSoldier | Deviant Art

A 400 Point Murder Squad

Okay, theory crafting time, because the Spartan Killers box has me thinking about something genuinely terrifying.

What if you ran all three, Jega 'Rdomnai, Hyperius, and Tovarus, alongside Atriox himself?

I know that's going to eat an enormous chunk of points. We're probably talking somewhere around 400 points just for that core, maybe more depending on how Hyperius and Tovarus get valued. But look at what you're getting. Jega is the first Sangheili Legend in the game, Tactician, a 3+ Fight stat, Lethal (2) on both his Bloodblade and Ghostpierce. Hyperius brings the Ravager and an S7 Sniper Rifle, which honestly might be one of the most flexible loadouts in the entire Banished roster. And Tovarus with the Scrap Cannon is just going to be an absolute nightmare to deal with in melee.

Then you add Atriox on top of that. High Tactician, Fearless, Concussive, two different close combat options depending on whether you need to break shields or just end someone. He's priced around Master Chief level, and for good reason, because he basically doesn't need item support to perform.

If you stack all four of those into one fireteam, UNSC players are going to have a very, very bad day.

I think Spartans, ODSTs, and Marines are all going to have a real fight on their hands against a list like that. And honestly, that's kind of exciting to think about, because it means the meta this year might actually have some teeth to it.

Grunts and Jackals Are the Wildcard

Here's the part I'm genuinely curious about though. The Sangheili and Brutes get all the spotlight, understandably, they're the scary stuff. But the Grunts and Jackals are the part of this release I think could change the most about how Banished lists actually play.

Going off what I talked about in the last post regarding Marines and ODSTs, I think Banished Reinforcements are going to lean aggressive. Breaching defenses, creating threats on the board that have to be dealt with right now, rather than just holding ground. That's basically the opposite philosophy from the Marine and ODST defensive setup, and I think that contrast is going to define a lot of matchups this year.

Only time will tell how deadly Grunts and Jackals actually are, or how useful they'll be in support roles. But here's my theory. The Elites and Brutes in this faction are mobile, they're aggressive, they're not built to sit still. So having Grunts and Jackals hold down firing lines or guard objectives and chokepoints while the big scary stuff goes and does big scary things, that gives Elite focused players a completely new toolkit. No more being stuck with the sluggish, lumbering Brutes as your only option for board control.

I'm also really curious to see lists that try to use every species the Banished currently have access to. Brutes, Elites, Grunts, Jackals, all in one list, all maneuvering together. That's a lot of moving parts, and honestly that sounds like a blast to figure out.

Promotional Image By: Mantic Games

Still Hoping for Hunters

One more thing before I wrap this up. I know Hunters are one of the most commonly requested units for this game, and I really hope we see them down the line. A Hunter pair on the table would be an absolute monster, and honestly it fits the Banished's whole strength above all else philosophy perfectly. Fingers crossed.

All in all though, I think this year the Banished are going to be the dominant force in the competitive scene. The pieces are all there for it.

And from a painting standpoint, I am beyond excited. Grimy, worn Banished armor across all these new units, and getting to make that new Enforcer look like an absolute menace, that's going to be a great project. Already thinking about how I want to weather the Enforcer's armor to make him look like he's been through a war, which, well, he has.

Until these hit the table, I'll be over here planning paint schemes and hoping Mantic gives us those Hunters sooner rather than later.