Infinity – Learning the Game (part 2)
Ian from the Wargaming Trader here again, with a follow-up on what order to learn the Infinity rules. This time with big stuff…
So, following on directly from part one, stages 1-3 give you a good solid
Stage 4 – Advanced Skills and Equipment
Hacking, Speculative Fire, Camouflage, AD (Airborne Deployment) Troops.
Forces – most models, apart from TAGs (the big Dreadnought-sized walkers).
We’re getting up toward the ‘full’ level of the game now, adding in the electronic warfare element, camo models with their need to be discovered, ‘first strike’ abilities and weapons that can hit without needing to see the target.
Hackers add in a degree of electronic warfare with their ability to make short-ranged debilitating attacks against Remotes (robots), TAGs and powered armour Heavy Infantry. If the only approach to your models passes the other side of a wall from a Hacker then high-tech models are likely to be in trouble…
Hacking can only take place within the Hacker’s 8″ Zone of Control but several factions can lay out a network of ‘Repeaters’ which extend the Hacker’s battlefield coverage.
Speculative Shot with parabolic weapons like grenade launchers let you shoot at targets out of sight but with an additional -6 modifier on your d20 roll. It can be hard to get the shot off and if it disperses it can easily hit your own models, but on the other hand you’re not getting shot at every time you try to fire!
Taller scenery items cast a shadow zone that can’t be fired into, so if you find that grenade launchers are causing too much havoc, make sure you include some tall buildings or billboards to make safe zones.
Camouflage models start off as markers which can’t be directly attacked. This gives them a lot of extra manoeuvrability and protection, and if they uncloak in their own turn they also get a first strike effect – getting to shoot before the target gets it’s reaction. Camo markers can’t be attacked until Discovered or they reveal themselves by attacking or making any kind of die roll.
On top of all that, even after they’re revealed, there’s a -3 penalty to shoot at a model with Camo, making them more likely to win a shootout.
Intuitive Attack is a special skill if you have a Direct Template Weapon (flamethrowers etc.), giving you a chance of hosing down an area because you suspect there’s someone hiding under camo. It can be used against camo markers and also against targets that you can’t see due to smoke clouds.
Airborne Deployment comes in three main flavours:
Parachutist models can come on from the side of the board (but not within the enemy deployment zone), but they have to privately specify which area of board edge during deployment. Think in terms of a limited version of Outflank but with the ability to choose the turn of arrival on-the-fly.
Airborne Infiltration lifts the need to specify where the model is coming on, letting the model arrive on anyboard edge that isn’t part of the enemy DZ.
Combat Jump lets the model land anywhere that a 5″ circular template can be placed, but woe betide you fail the Physique roll and scatter! This is tactically similar to Deep Strike, but of course remembering that once the model has landed safely you can then carry on spending Orders on the model…
Stage 5 – Advanced Skills and Equipment Redux
TAGs (Tactical Armoured Gears), Possession, Sepsitor, Hidden Deployment.
Forces – big shiny toys!
Once everyone’s realised how much scary stuff there is in the game, introduce the really scary stuff like TO Camo/hidden deployment, being able to possess TAGs etc.
TAGs are some of the most distinctive models in the entire Infinity range:
Yes, the big flying cockroach is a TAG and it’s bleeping massive, weighing in at over a quarter of a kilo of metal! It arrives via Combat Jump.
TAGs in Infinity are slightly similar to Dreadnoughts in a Kill Team game, with the difference that even a basic rifle can potentially take one down with good dice or (preferably) good positioning and tactics, preferably shooting it in the back and similar sneaky approaches.
They’re definitely not recommended for early games as they can cost as many points as a whole starter pack, games tend to revolve around whether the TAG lives or dies, and the phrase TAG-shock exists for a good reason.
TAGs generally have even bigger guns, loads of armour and wounds and are among the fastest models in the game. The downside is that some weapons like adhesive launchers and autocannon can potentially one-shot them, Hacker can temporarily immobilise or even possess them and they’re so expensive in points that the rest of the force tends to be quite weak.
Sepsitor is one of the nastiest weapons in the game and is exclusive to the Combined Army aliens. It’s basically a nano-virus which takes control of nearby models if they have a Cube or memory backup device. Sepsitorised models become part of the alien force for the rest of the game, there’s no known cure even in the background! In fact, in the latest book one of the named Yu Jing characters has become part of the Combined Army faction.
Ko Dali, before and after:
The Cutter is a PanOceania TAG with TO Camo. That’s right, it’s something as vicious as a Dreadnought that starts the game hidden somewhere in your deployment zone. Your opponent doesn’t know anything about it’s presence unless they guess that you don’t have enough points, and even after it’s announced it’s presence by killing something thoroughly they’ve got -6 to hit it, roughly equivalent to a -2 modifier in a d6 system. Oh, and models with Camo or TO Camo can recamo back to a little 25mm diameter marker.
Sweet dreams, everyone…
