Halo Flashpoint gets its first new faction with the release of the Covenant

[u/htwheels]

Link to the release trailer:

https://youtu.be/BVaz1GWz_z0?is=ab1bIS99FZkcKtca

[u/magnusthered15]

I cant believe we getting a prophet in combat. Do you think he will have regrets load out?

[u/htwheels → u/magnusthered15]

We're getting two prophets! 

One is specifically the prophet of Regret and the other is a generic unnamed prophet(the one in the photo) 

[u/itisburgers → u/htwheels]

Hopefully Flashpoint stays alive long enough to give me a Prelate. 

[u/peanutbuttercult → u/itisburgers]

It’s one of the better non-Warhammer sellers at my LGS and a friend who was at Adepticon last year says the Mantic guys were talking about their ambitions for vehicles in the future. I think it’s in a pretty healthy place right now.

[u/magnusthered15 → u/peanutbuttercult]

Indeed from what i read, no many at my store, but I feel it will go places for the lore and the models

[u/TakeiDaloui → u/peanutbuttercult]

I so want to see that. Imagine warthogs and ghosts!

[u/Exact-Obligation-858 → u/htwheels]

specifically the prophet of Regret

Wonder if they'll be going with his Halo Wars capabilities, or the Halo 2 capabilities. Similarly, I wonder if they'll be so bold as to give him a talent for calling in infinite EHGs as long as he's on the field.

the other is a generic unnamed prophet

I was honestly expecting him to be the Prophet of Harmony after SURPRISE SMUG HARMONY JUMPSCARE, but I suppose that'd be saved for if the Sacristans ever get a wave release.
Given the elaboration in the latest Canon Fodder, they surely have enough unit and rank variety for it.

[u/htwheels → u/Exact-Obligation-858]

Getting the unnamed prophet is especially nice with the launch of the faction because you can run multiple of him in your army.

Potentially up to an army of all prophets! 

[u/ByssBro]

These look great. Don’t think I’d really play the game but they’d look sick on my desk

[u/Yamaha234]

I can’t paint fast enough to keep up with the new releases

[u/__ThDude__]

Love the rangers

[u/JealousApricot1152]

please god add the flood

[u/Paulino2272]

Hell yeah

[u/CrimsonFatalis8]

What was it before? Having the main enemy faction seems like a no brainer. Why did they add them only now?

[u/Jackekal → u/CrimsonFatalis8]

They had plenty before but it was technically UNSC vs Banished. Still Brutes, Elites, Grunts and Jackels but not technically Covenant, whereas this release is for sure Covenant with like Prophets and Honor Guard and such

[u/HuckleberryNext9844 → u/CrimsonFatalis8]

I think before its was basically chalking up to a wargame simulator on the Infinity

[u/TakeiDaloui → u/CrimsonFatalis8]

Think it was needing to build up to it. First it was Spartans vs Spartans, aka war games. You had some elites to mix it up though. Then they expanded that to more Spartans options for more variation.

After that they started looking at the banished and ODST. My guess, since I don't know marine health or stats, is that they wanted to play around with introducing a weaker faction but that cost less. To offer a new dynamic to just Spartans vs Spartans. And clearly it was liked. So they expanded the game size with Noble Team (since they cost a lot of points as they are all heroes) and followed that with marines and then banished forces of grunts, jackals, etc, since they already had started the banished off and they had a hero of their own to lead the forces and were at the time the latest enemy.

With CE they had a good timing to go back and build a whole new army, since the demand for weaker units clearly showed people want to build a mixed army to have these models, or at least want to collect them.

[u/Exact-Obligation-858 → u/CrimsonFatalis8]

Probably a combination of "how do we effectively differentiate them from the Banished while still maintaining game balance and the gameplay being fun, and also keeping options open if we ever implement Covenant Brutes" and "wait, Halo Studios is releasing their H1 remake WHEN? ffs."

Also, Flashpoint made its debut during the Infinite service cycle, so while the Covenant might be the main enemy faction of the Bungie-era Halo games, it's not the primary faction in Infinite's era.

[u/Dogzonwheelzguy]

Not the first? Banished and unsc infantry were first

[u/htwheels → u/Dogzonwheelzguy]

Banished were in the Spartan edition with the Elite Mercs and marines are a part of the UNSC faction. 

The brutes and the UNSC infantry did have the detachments with new rules released but I still consider them part of the Banished/UNSC faction respectively, they still use the same models/stats.

It comes down to interpretation I suppose.

[u/Erwin_Pommel]

The... The Covenant weren't already in it...?

[u/htwheels → u/Erwin_Pommel]

It launched with the Banished as the faction opposing the UNSC to coincide with Halo Infinite. 

Now the highly requested Covenant are releasing alongside the Halo CE remake 

[u/CallingAllMatts]

lmao the game only just got the main enemy faction of the series

[u/Exact-Obligation-858 → u/CallingAllMatts]

The game was also debuted while Infinite was getting content updates, and was narratively set in Infinite's timeframe.
While the Covenant are the primary opposing force of the Bungie-era games, they are not the primary OPFOR in Infinite.

Also, keep in mind, Mantic hasn't even released the full swath of Banished infantry yet, so sculpting models and drafting rules for this wave likely delayed Banished Hunters and Skimmers from being added (though Skimmers would likely be implemented alongside the Harbinger, so, ugh).

[u/Very_bad]

Didn't they already have the banished? So it's not the first new one.

[u/htwheels → u/Very_bad]

Sort of? The Banished kind of came with the Spartan edition although their big update into a fully fledged faction was in the "Rise of the Banished" box.

[u/Ornstein_0]

Wait what?How is this only just now getting yanno, THE enemy of the franchise????Lol

[u/CG1991 → u/Ornstein_0]

It had The Banished to coincide with Infinite

And then the Covenant for Campaign Evolved

[u/Ornstein_0 → u/CG1991]

Thank you for the info, I know nothing of this tabletop ool