Infinity: PanO Starter Analysis
Now that I have some games under my belt, I’d like to come back and take a closer look at the models in the PanO Starter.
Might as well start off with the humble fusiliers. For those very new to the game, these fall under the general heading of “cheerleaders.” Because of the way the order system works you’re pretty much hurting yourself if you don’t bring at least ten models. Anyone who comes along with no specific purpose other than to add an order to the pool ends up with that less than honorable title. In my games though I’ve been happy to have these fellows around. While they’re completely lacking for special abilities, they boast a decent stat line for 10 point troops.
Most important is their BS of 12. While only slightly above average, BS is huge in Infinity because of the way face to face rolls work. One successful hit cancels any hits your opponent might have gotten that were lower, so having the highest possible outcome is ideal. While that score of 12 doesn’t turn them into killing machines, over time I have definitely seen it make a difference in the games I’ve played. My Fusiliers have racked up a good amount of kills. I have enough faith in them that I’ll happily send them off to do a job if their position makes them the more Order efficient choice over a more elite trooper. And they can go into Suppressive Fire mode making them that much scarier.
Of course they can be used for more than killing. There are more ways to play these guys than just the standard loadouts. Since Infinity isn’t overly strict on WYSIWYG, you can usually get away with using a model armed with one weapon as any loadout that has the same weapon. So these guys are also fair game as a Paramedic, or Forward Observer – but be ready to point out exactly what each of them is. And buy the appropriate model if they’re ever released. These Fusiliers aren’t a real substitute for a more elite model dedicated to the task, but they’re good to have if you can spare a couple of extra points. And you want to have at least some of these “specialists” for scenario Classified Objectives. You could also easily get away with using one of these guys as a hacker in a friendly game – maybe even a laid back tournament. There is a Fusilier Hacker model available though so probably best to use him.
Of course you can also use one of these guys as your Lieutenant. Are they the best choice? In the meta game of lieutenant bluffing who’s to say? My Fusilier LTs have an almost 100% mortality rate. Bad luck, poor playing, or bad lieutenant choice? This could be a whole article on its own so maybe just try out Cheerleader vs. Elite LTs on your own to see which you prefer.
Pan O has other cheerleader options, the most noteworthy being the Acontecimento Regulars and the Order Sergeants. The Regulars will cost you the same amount of points, but have an ARM of 0 to the Fusiliers 1. They make up for the deficit with the Jungle Terrain special rule. Whether this will come in handy is completely dependent on the tables you’re playing on.The order sergeants on the other hand cost 3 points more despite having identical stats. Their bonus is the Religious Troop special rule which, without wanting to spend a paragraph or more on Religious, may end up being worth the points from time to time. Since it’s kinda too close to call ability wise, the Fusilier sculpts are the newest, and IMHO the coolest, so I think they’re the cheerleaders you’re going to want.
The Orc is one of the two Heavy Infantry options in the set. Like our previous entry, he has no special rules. He does have a fairly special gun, and a BS 14 to make sure he usually hits. While it won’t set you back any SWCs, his Multi-Rifle is a solid weapon since it packs AP (Armor Piercing) and DA (Double Action) special ammunition. AP will happily halve the ARM value of it’s target (not counting cover sadly) while DA will force an opponent to make two saves suffering a wound per failure. Unfortunately it reduces the gun’s burst value from 3 to 1 so it’s best for AROs (That’s Automatic Reaction Orders) when you can’t spare the order to put him into suppressive fire mode. Obviously his other major attribute is that he has ARM 4. Combined with 2 WDs that makes him a pretty tough guy to kill. This can be especially useful if you choose to make him your LT. The big downside to the orc is his lousy BTS (Bio-Technological Shield) stat. He’s easily hacked and vulnerable to plasma – an ammo type that will probably start showing up more with those cool Batroids in the new Combined Army starter.
In the long term, there are definitely better options for PanO Heavy Infantry than this Orc – even when you just consider Multi-Rifle armed ones. There are the Aquila guards with their Multi Spectral Visors and Swiss Guard with TO plus all the various Knights you could take. But the Orc is on the cheaper side (although he isn’t even the cheapest comparable option) so if you need a hard to kill model that won’t set you back too many points here he is.
Here’s our long range support – also the only model in the set with an obvious Support Weapon. And it’s a pretty nasty one. The Multi Sniper Rifle can do the same ammo types as the Orc’s Multi Rifle, but at a greater distance. While it only has a burst of 2 it will keep that value even when you switch it to DA mode. Keeping this guy’s targets in his sweet spot will be the tricky part. You want him to be shooting at models over 16 inches away. He has a BS of 13. Not bad, but it means without the bonus he gets against models at 16″ or over, he’s only got a 50/50 against anyone in cover. If his target gets within 8″ he’ll actually suffer a penalty. Hopefully there will be a tall building in your deployment zone he can start out on.
In addition to a good gun he has a sweet piece of equipment and a couple of good abilities. With Multiterrain you can choose a terrain type for this guy to ignore at the start of the battle making it a little easier for him to get around. Really though this is more for the HMG or Hacker Nisse who will want to actually move around the table. What will help this guy out is is CH Mimetism which will give any model shooting at him a -3 penalty. Since he’ll frequently be shooting outside other model ‘s ideal range bands there’s a good chance they’ll already be at a penalty. And if he’s in terrain too he can be very difficult to hit. And if anyone else wants to use mimietism he won’t care thanks to his Multispectral Visor (level 2). And it isn’t just mimetism he’ll get to ignore but also the penalties incurred by TO camo. And he can see through smoke and other zero visibility zones. With his good combination of abilties and his BS of 13, you could make a case for this guy being the best Sniper in Pan O. There are other comparable ones, but when you need an MSVL2 nothing else will do.
Here’s the other Heavy Infantry model from the set: the Father Knight. He’s the one who only comes with Icestorm, so if you are buying the Pan O starter separately you can skip this part. This guy is the most interesting case in the set. Since he’s the only Father Knight model and there’s literally no ranged weapon sculpted on to him, you can technically get away with using him as any of his different versions since they all have that DA CCW (close combat weapon). He can be a lot of different things too. You can give him a Combi Rifle, Boarding Shotgun, or a Missile Launcher. You can make him a Forward Observer with Nimbus Grenades or even a Hacker with D-charges. He’s the hardest model to kill in the set so you can also consider making him an LT, but he’s expensive enough you’ll probably end up putting him in danger so he can make his points back. That could get him killed despite his ARM 5. When I use him I’ve been giving him a Spitfire, since none of these other models come with such a high burst value.
While this guy looks like he should be swimming through Close Combat, the truth is he’s not that amazing at it. With a CC value of 23, he’ll almost never fail a normal roll in CC. But he doesn’t have any level of Martial Arts to reduce enemy CC or increase his Burst value. Even in a fight with one of the lowly Alguaciles in this set, there’s a decent enough chance he’ll lose if they roll a higher success than he does. His armored body will likely shrug off the hit, but he probably would have been better off shooting. This means the Assault skill is kind of wasted on him. Kinematica can be ok if you ever choose to dodge something since the extra inch on his dodge move can get him completely out of enemy LOS faster. This is especially true given his high PH, but even if he had a PH of 20 dodging would always be kind of a gamble.
And here’s the last model from the set. This Akal will drop out of the sky – hopefully to start raining death in your opponent’s most vulnerable areas. The truth is AD (Airborne Deployment) troops like this have been proving to be really tough for me to use properly. Trying to find the right landing spot can be time consuming and try your opponent’s patience. This guy has AD Level 4 so you get to place the blast template and put him inside it when you place him. You want to land out of sight so you don’t die by ARO before you’ve had a chance to do anything. On top of that you don’t want to be inside of anyone’s ZoC (Zone of Control) or they can turn to face you. Not as bad, but they’ll get to ARO shoot you when you activate next. Once you’ve figured out where you want him you have to make a successful PH roll. This guy only has PH 11 so his odds aren’t much better than 50/50 to land where you want him. If he fails he deviates a rather massive 16 inches. If you want to be able to rely on using this guy you’ll probably want to bring a hacker (one with a regular or defensive hacking device – not an Assault Hacking Device) for the Controlled Jump program. Man those guys have so many uses.
Once this guy is on the ground he’s basically slightly better than a Fusilier in all respects – except he’s a move 4-2 instead of a 4-4. Medium infantry are slow. If you do find a good spot to put him, his combi rifle can probably only be really relied upon to kill enemy cheerleaders, which is a perfectly great thing to do. Drop troops like these can often be the only way to break up big mobs of guys in suppressive fire mode since they can land behind them. If a model turns it goes out of the supressive state. If you’re really clever you can set up troops you’ve already deployed and catch your opponent’s models in a “crossfire” where no matter which way they turn to face you’ll have someone positioned to shoot them in the back. The first part of setting something like this up will be avoiding the urge to bring your AD troops in first. This is what I always wanted to do when I first started playing. While killing all your opponent’s Cheerleaders to limit their orders on their next turn would be helpful, it rarely works when an entire army is still hunkered down in it’s deployment zone with lots of good fire corridors set up.
~Hope you enjoyed the article. Please let me know if there are any major errors. We’re still kind of learning in this neck of the woods and I’ve found that just when I think I’ve got all these rules figured out is when I learn I’ve been doing something really wrong.
