I made a thread a while ago to help beginners deal with some things that they would think OP the first time they played against/were steamrolled by it. There were some really helpful ideas (which I, being one of the greatest noobs on dakka, can attest), and I decided to make an article out of it, so it didn’t vanish to the bottom of the forum.
Anyway, let’s get down to business…
Snipers are OP
No, they aren’t. Snipers in the sense of taking out models from across the board in the active turn are very hard to use due to a lack of open fire lanes, and their low burst. Snipers in the sense of one model taking shots at you every time a guy moves a finger are quickly dispatched of by using a nice little gimmick called coordinated orders. When four models, even order grunts, fire simultaneously at the same guy who gets only one return shot, he’ll probably be dead. Not to mention speculative/parabolic fire to shoot at him without him getting an ARO.
Going first is broken
This is a matter of deployment. You don’t want every model to see every model on the other side, because then it will just be a shootout with your opponent having(at least) triple the shots. ARO’s aren’t a great way of defending anything, unless you have something like a linkteam with doubled heavy weapon ARO’s or total reaction remote/sineater holding the line. You should hide. Deploy prone behind barricades, in houses, on top of towers. It really hurts your order stack when you have to walk across the board before you can do anything, especially if there’s one or two camo markers to discover along the way. And when you’re finally arrived, you should watch your defences, because it’s very easy to get overstretched and cut off by an flanking AD trooper. The guy going second, however, doesn’t have to mind that. The enemy is already in front of him, he can just start shooting!
AD is too powerful
You have to see it coming. Look at his list, are there any gaps in points? If so, you should watch out for an airdropping troop. Deploy a few order monkeys at the sides, they’ll get an unopposed ARO as soon as he comes in. Try to do the same with large open spaces that can be used as landing zones. One thing you should always remember is that when next to a wall, you should always position your models to be with their backs against it. That way they can cover (almost) all directions of attack with ARO’s.
TAGs are OP
Yes, they’re powerful. Lightning fast, ultra tough, outstanding BS, and usually a MULTI HMG. Best of all worlds. Except points. They usually cost around 100 points, and 2 SWC. When you kill it, your opponent is likely halfway there for his retreat threshold. Yes, they’re tough, but Infinity is a very lethal game, and coordinated massed fire can bring it down a handful of orders, especially when some heavy weapons/combat camo attacks/flanking shots are thrown in. If that doesn’t work, you can always kill its cheerleaders so it’s only got a few orders left. Keep in mind that your opponent is hugely hamstringing himself when he brings a TAG. He’s got around 100 points in one model, and it has to make back its points. Most of the time he has only one turn to accomplish that, because of aforementioned vulnerability in the reactive turn and the fact it will have a HUGE bullseye on its head (again, 100 points in one model). This means it will have to kill as much as possible in one turn. Play ‘nasty rabbit’ tactics: Hide (In a building along you put one heavy weapon model, a camo marker somewhere, etc.) and the TAG will probably pass around it, for it’s got only one turn to kill as much as possible, no use wasting orders discovering or trying to shoot the lone model in the building! The rest of your force must also hide, as far back as possible. Then, on your active turn, move out of your ‘rabbit holes’. Do a combat camo attack, move the guy in the building behind TAG, and keep on pumping coordinated volleys into it until nothing’s left. Wait, are there no models defending it? No, he’s just run it across the table, the other guys providing orders.
Another scenario would be that your opponent has a bit more experience (and he plays a TAG against a beginner? I wouldn’t consider that good sporting) and moves it up while the other guys support it. However, when he does that, he won’t get as far, and to avoid overstretch, he’ll only move up a little over the halfway line. When this happens, things get hairy. No massed attacks against the TAG, because there are other models defending it. The only thing left is to try and play something like a game of chicken. He still has 100 points in one model that will have to make its points back, or else he’s on a huge disadvantage. Try to engage the rest of his force, but without drawing the big guy into the fight, and make sure you’re well protected if he tries to rush anyway. Yes, you’ll have to put a lot of energy and orders into avoiding it, but so does he, having to protect it. In the end it all boils down to your 300 pts against his 200 remaining points, so you’ll either have a big advantage in numbers or your troops will be vastly superior. And, when the opportunity presents itself, don’t be afraid to try an attack on the TAG to remove a few structure points or try to kill a few cheerleaders, as this will put even more pressure on your opponent. At one point in the battle, he’ll likely make an irresponsible move with the TAG and you can kill it.
Are vanilla lists underpowered due to lack of link teams?
No, they aren’t. Vanilla list can pick all kinds of cheesy stuff from across the faction, largely compensating for lacking links. But link teams aren’t all that powerful. Active link teams are basically one dude carrying his own order bots and rather overpriced bonuses. For example, If you have a Fusilier HMG, you have to pay 20 points for two orders that will get dragged into the fight, and ergo are not safe once bullets start flying, and +1 burst to his HMG. That isn’t half as OP as most beginners think it is. One us is to carry a specialist and a heavy weapon specialist moving around in the team with one order, but vanilla can do that too with coordinated orders. Once you go for the full link, you’ll have half a combat group with very limited flexibility, both in deployment as when the battle rages on. You’ll also have the problem of sinking a lot of points into one unit, resulting in the same difficulties as with a TAG. They are also very vulnerable to template weapons, with multiple link members being killed at once. I am, however a fan of defensive links. Have 4-5 guys with one or two heavy, long-ranged, and powerful low-burst weapons (such as sniper rifles), sitting in cover on the end of a long fire lane and double ARO away on anything thinking about poking its head around the corner. Order monkeys are good for this, as they don’t eat up too many points, meaning you still have points left for a decent attacking force, and often have a variety of weapon options. It’s also a good place to hide, for example, your hacker (have him as your leader, or you’ll break the link!), or your lieutenant accompanied by some decoys. Let your opponent just try and get them!
The learning curve is too steep
While it can be hard to adjust to the rules system, the basic ARO and Face to Face roll mechanics are widely spread throughout the rules, so once you’ve got them down, it will be easy from there. There’s also a number of rules videos that are really helpful.
sorry, I couldn't help, but:
I don't think they're "beginner biases" as such - more like "gamers who got into gaming with GW and who have never experienced other games misconceptions".
-Chromedog
