Halo: Flashpoint Faction Focus – The Banished

Welcome to Halo: Flashpoint - the game of tactical, fast-paced, and lethal skirmishes in the Halo universe.

With the first two (😉) factions now fleshing out nicely, today we're going to get up close and personal with the Banished - a brutal threat to humanity's place among the stars...

Story of the Banished

Commonly known as Brutes due to their size and ferocity, the Jiralhanae are an aggressive species of pseudo-ursine mammalian bipeds who traditionally band together in packs, with alliances between packs forming larger clans. The constant conflict between these clans led to a nuclear war that devastated their homeworld Doisac, and many of their species’ younger generation gladly embraced the Covenant and its faith in the Great Journey.

However, the Jiralhanae were deployed as cannon fodder and disposable shock troops in the Covenant's war against humanity, resulting in Atriox rebelling against the Covenant and founding a new faction of mercenaries, independents, and loyal followers: the Banished.

Unggoy 'Grunts' and Kig-Yar 'Jackals'

Smaller troops, but a really big moment for Halo: Flashpoint. Everything you've seen in the game so far has been fairly 'elite' - after all, we started with Sangheili and UNSC Spartans in the starter box, neither of them exactly known for being a slouch in the combat department! So the introduction of regular infantry to the game suddenly puts a new spin on things. You can now field larger numbers of cheaper troops, and strength of numbers becomes a viable way to fight and complete objectives...

Grunts

Grunts are a fan favourite for good reason. There's something simultaneously likeable and awful about them (especially with their masks off!), and they provide a welcome slice of deadly comic relief when they come charging at you with their plasma grenades...and yes, you'd better believe there's a new Special Order for that!

Grunts are also Support units. Units with the new Support keyword have a few important features:

• Only half of your overall Fireteam (by number of models) can be made of units with the Support keyword.
• They are worth zero Victory Points for scoring.
• Less proficient with long-range weaponry, so firing anything with a range of 5 or more counts as a long action.
• Generally smaller minis, so you can include an extra Support unit when counting whether a cube is full.

Grunts also have the Horde keyword, which has existed in the ruleset for a while...just waiting for this release! A model with the Horde keyword rolls a bonus die in close combat for every other model in its cube that shares the Horde keyword.

So, when you combine Horde with Support...nobody wants to get mobbed by a pack of Grunts!

Jackals

Post-dissolution of the Covenant, the Kig-Yar (or 'Jackals') are often seen throughout local space as privateers and pirates. However, within the ranks of the Banished, they found a home as lethal mercenaries.

Unlike Grunts, Jackals do not have the Support Keyword, so are a solid, low-cost unit to flesh out the ranks of your Banished Fireteams. This also makes them an excellent complementary unit for Grunts.

Both Jackal types in the Banished Reinforcements box, Freebooters and Snipers, have the Scout keyword - which allows them to move an extra cube after deployment and before their first turn. Suitably sneaky stuff indeed!

Cool fact: their miniatures have an energy shield that actually comes as a translucent component, so perfect for anyone who feels intimidated by painting energy effects!

Brutes - the Jiralhanae

As a Banished player, Brutes are your heavy hitters, trading speed for durability. In a nutshell, they're slow, hard to kill, and strong in close combat.

The Jiralhanae have access to a range of units among their ranks, from simple Warriors to Snipers and Captains. Common to all is the Imposing keyword, which gives them an extra dice in either Fight or Survive tests during an assault.

And to properly befit their huge presence on the tabletop, they're getting a +1 bump to their HP in the 1.5 balance update (with the exception of Berserkers). Warmaster Atriox is also shifting from Armour (1) to Armour (2), to appropriately reflect that he's modelled with some of the heaviest armour in the game to date.

Elites - The Sangheili

Sangheili Mercenaries are some of the best all-rounders in the game. Though they have less HP than the Brutes they boast an impressive 4+ for their Ranged, Fight and Survive stats alike, plus 3 Energy Shield Tokens as standard.

The newcomer to their ranks from late Summer is the Enforcer, available in the upcoming Banished Reinforcements set. He's a mean old beast, armed with a Shock Rifle (Range 6 AP1), in addition to the customary Plasma Grenade you'll find on his fellow Sangheili.

Critically for any players running a Sangheili-heavy list, the Enforcer brings Tactician (1) into the mix, contributing toward your Command Dice pool. Plus he has an extra point of HP, and an extra Energy Shield token, making him sufficiently resilient to help maintain his tactical impact in the face of enemy fire.

As an early preview of what you can look forward to, you'll find his full profile card below:

Available To Order Now - Banished Reinforcements

For Banished players everywhere, we're very excited about all the new tactics and list-building variety the new box is going to inject into your games! If you haven't already, be sure to check it out among the latest releases.

If you're a brand new player eyeing up the Banished, then there's now a recommended bundle that's the best place for you to start. You'll be up and running with the latest rulebook and cards, the Banished faction box ('Rise of the Banished'), which includes 3D faction-themed terrain plus all the dice and tokens you'll need. And you'll get an instant collection of detailed plastic miniatures to run a diverse range of exciting lists against your opponents. (Link at the bottom of the page after the blog for this one!)

Coming Soon

During the next two weeks, you can look forward to lots more deep dives into some of the most exciting aspects of the game:

• Tactical Preview: Spartan Killers
• Faction Focus: the UNSC
• Overview: Starting Halo Flashpoint in 2026
• Learning the Game: How to Play Recap
• The Heroes and Villains of Halo: Flashpoint
• Video Battle Report: the latest forces go head-to-head

And, even more exciting news about the future of Halo on tabletop! Stay tuned, because we're (still) only just getting started.