This month, Mantic Games has been shipping out their latest wave of releases for their Halo tabletop miniature game, Halo: Flashpoint. Whether you’re leading a team of Spartans or Elites to victory, Halo: Flashpoint continues to release more expansions… and keeps selling out! In this latest wave of releases, Mantic Games’ reprint of the Spartan Edition starter is the largest ever since launch, and has sold out even before release.
So what’s new on Zeta Halo? The Banished Reinforcements join their Elite and Brute allies in their continued fight against the UNSC. We got our hands on a copy of the expansion and have the unboxed contents below.
Unboxing the Banished Reinforcements
This expansion is part of the new 1.5 Ruleset, which has consolidated rules and a new balance update after two years of content releases. This expansion’s cards are fully compatible with the new rules, so you don’t need to get the new Unit Cards Expansion for them.
Banished Reinforcements Box Contents:
- 1x Sangheili Enforcer with Shock Rifle
- 2x Kig-Yar Freebooter with Needler & Energy Shield (bagged separately and produced in a translucent blue)
- 2x Kig-Yar Sniper with Stalker Rifle
- 2x Unggoy Conscript with Needler
- 2x Unggoy Conscript with Plasma Pistol
- 2x Unggoy Assault with Disruptor
- 2x Unggoy Assault with Needler
- 13x Unit Stat Cards
- 1x Special Order Card
All the figures come pre-assembled in their updated plastic. The earlier releases had very soft plastics, which were a pain to prep and clean for painting. The box also includes a Zeta Halo rulebook, which includes information on the faction reinforcements, new keywords, and new scenarios.
The fact that the plastic case holds the assembled Jackal with the Energy Shield attached shows that Mantic is paying attention.
Banished Reinforcements Unit Cards
In addition to the new unit cards, there is a new order card: Unggoy Plasma Grenade Assault. Designed to capture that iconic Plasma Grenade charge the Unggoy (Grunts) do in the video game, this gives Banished players a devastating option to pin and scatter units. The attack causes the Unggoy to suffer two wounds, which can potentially knock them out at their three HP threshold.
In addition to those silly little grunts, I really like the Sangheili Enforcer and Kig-Yar pieces. I think it adds some nice options for range and/or focused fire attacks for your Banished Fireteams, depending on your playstyle.
It’s a small thing, but I really like that they have shields that can be painted up and attached to the Kig-Yar (Jackals). It’s a simple little touch that can help enhance the look of the pieces on the battlefield.
Final Thoughts
It’s great to see some more variety for the Banished. Even though the Grunts are squishy, a swarm or horde of them to overwhelm your opponent could be a really solid strategy. I think regardless of how the Fireteam is built, these pieces have a lot of great detail, and I am excited to paint them up!
Have you played Halo: Flashpoint yet? Let us know! Don’t forget to follow GamingTrend for more Halo and Halo: Flashpoint board and video game news and reviews.
