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So, after much umming and ahhing I have decided to take the plunge into infinity next payday, but I can't decide on a faction.

I have read through the army lists and can't even begin to work out the potentially good combos as yet, so I'm going purely off minis and background - but that has left me torn between Haqqislam and Yu Jing

Can anyone give me some info to help me decide and what some useful first purchases would be?

Hello, Chimera_Calvin.

I have played a few Infinity games, maybe I can help you.

First thing you need to know is that infinity is usually played using 10-16 miniatures. It is a Skirmish game, you wont find massive armies here, just a firefight between very specialized commandos.

So, you are between Yu Jing and Haqqislam, don´t you? Let´s see...

Yu Jing: They usually have better "CC" values, martial arts, CC deadly weapons. But close combat fights are casual in this game, it is usually more effective shooting than using a knife. Yu Jing have more variety of Heavy Infantry, those are the guys with power armors. The coolest miniatures of the range. Yu Jing is the most complete army, they have a bit of everything.
Game Style: They can do anything, very heterodox.
What to purchase as a beginner player? Now you have two different starter pack to choose, I think that starter packs are the best way to begin an army by models, price, troops...
Yu Jing Starter Pack


and Japanese Sectorial army Starter Pack, this troops can be played in the generic Yu Jing army but can also be used in the Japanese sectorial army, which is a themed sub-faction.


One of those starters have about 125pts of troops, you can maybe reach a 200pts army purchasing some of these:
Blister of two Tiger Soldiers, best para-troops of the game


Aragoto Senkenbutai, Japanese Bikers, really fast and demolishing attacking troops.


Yaokong Remotes. The chinese remotes can perform an amazing defensive role with the total reaction remote. It can shoot 4 dice in reactive turn.
[img]http://i35.tinypic.com/30bcyac.jpg
[/img]


Haqqislam: They usually have better "WIP" values, useful for healing, courage, discovering cammos, hacking, innitiative... The have plenty of light infantry troops, so they can align more miniatures.
Game Style: Many miniatures, some religious faith "never surrender" rules. Multiple especialized guys, good doctors.

As you can see, you have two Haqqislam options for starter pack:
Haqqislam Starter Pack


Hassassin Bahram Starter Pack, this troops can be played in the generic Haqqislam army but can also be used in the Hassassin sectorial army, which is a themed sub-faction.


As I wrote about the Yu Jing starters, any of these would be about 125pts each. for reaching an effective 200pts. army I would recommend:
Maghariba Guard. Like a TANK. Big gun, high armor.


Djanbazans. These guys have Multispectral Visor Level2, they can see through smoke and have no modifiers when shooting at cammo troops. Plus, they can regenerate their wounds.


Touaregs. Thermo-optical cammo troops, good skirmishers.

^^
Amazing reply, exactly the sort of thing I was looking for to decide if I want to try the game!

How about Panoceana or Adriana?

Thanks for that, BobbaFett - just what I was after

A more shooty, longer-range army better suits my playstyle and from what you've said Haqqislam would seem to be the way to go.

Two questions, however: Does the higher number of specialists make it a harder beginners army? And are Kum bikers any good (those monocycles look sweet )?

One thing to look out for in Haqqislam is the lack of combi rifles, they use just normal rifles. may not seem a big deal but it is a little frustrating when you get in close (0-8) and you are at a disadvantage to everyone else (except Ariadna who is in the same boat)

PanO is the 'shooty' faction as they generally have the best to hit and the best gear (MSVs and weapons and TO) but they have the worst WP which means they are susceptable to hacking (except if you take that one LI hacker with -6BTS), can't doctor or engineer to well...

The Haqqislam doctors are nice 'cause of that high WP which means the 4 points to upgrade a ghulam to a doctor really pays off. If you are going to be shooty, look into the guy with MSV and a HMG. (I can never remember the weird names of the Haqqislam guys) and infiltrating TO snipers are always fun!

Twelvecarpileup wrote:How about Panoceana or Adriana?

PanOceania: They usually have better "BS" values, and this is the value that you use for shooting, and this is a shooting game, so, PanOceania is the most powerful army. Also, they have more variety of TAGs which are the super giant robots, usually the most powerful troops of the game. PanO is POWER.
Game Style: "We don´t advance, we stand here shooting at you, try to reach our position."

What to purchase as a beginner?
You can go for the old PanOceania Starter Pack...


or buy the NEW Acontecimento Shock Army Starter Pack. They have just released it, it has really recent miniatures.

I guess that... comparing these two images says it all...

For completing a 200pts list. I suggest:

Bulleteer Armbots


Akalis Sikh Commandos


And... of course, The Cutter. Probably the coolest Infinity miniature ever. Is a bit "Elite" for a 200pts game, it costs 117pts.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ariadna: They usually have better "PH" values, useful for dodging, climbing, fighting... These is one of the most peculiar armies of the game, they have no sci-fi technology at all, no robots, no hackers... they have some old fashioned guns, a lot of cammo troops (not sci-fi invisible, just normal experienced soldiers), even werewolves. They are good at some guerrilla tactics, ambush, courage...
Game Style:They can fill the battleground of hidden cammo troops and surprise the enemy, then hide again.

What to purchase as a beginner? Ariadna Starter Pack, really cool and effective miniatures all of them.


Caledonian Highlander Army Starter Pack, this is a sectorial starter pack army, but it is also playable in the generic ariadnan Army.


What next? for reaching 200pts. I suggest:

Zouave HMG


45th Galwegian Rifles. Crazy Scottish berserker men. Let them run towards the enemy and die for you.


Mirage 5: Margot & Duroc, these are para-troopers. The wolf can only appear if his girlfriend goes with him, they usually make a lot of damage to the enemy lines.

BobbaFett - do you work for corvus belli by any chance?

Also, can I ask my questions again? Does the higher number of specialists make Haqqislam a harder beginners army? And are Kum bikers any good (those monocycles look sweet )?

Hey Calvin,

You may find this Link handy. The first ever Tabletop Gaming News Battle Challenge was for Infinity and yup can find photos, army articles and a ton of Battle Reports (mostly involving me getting hosed by Nomads..,) to get you started.

One of the perks of Infinity as a game is that everyone gets the same stuff and with some minor variances (like +1 out of twenty on a stat) a rifleman is a rifleman. You get variation in availability, gear and skills but humans are all mostly the same.

I'll disagree as a player of all the factions that there's a best army. Some armies excel in certain areas, but everybody shoots bullets.

Good luck!

Chimera_Calvin wrote:BobbaFett - do you work for corvus belli by any chance?

I´m the Infinity geek in my LGS, and I met some of the Infinity staff in the TDN Con in Málaga this summer. But I don´t work for Corvus Belli (I wish).

Does the higher number of specialists make Haqqislam a harder beginners army?

I don´t think so. I think Combined Army or Ariadna are the hardest for beginners. With haqqislam the only "bad" point that I can think of is that you will have to look at the book more than usual because all the troops will have a lot of special habilities. (regeneration, impersonation, I-Kohl, Sixth sense, super-jump, climbing-plus...) But those habilities are common between haqqislam troops, because they are Light Infantry, while the other armies have to pay more points to get troops with that kind of skills, Medium-Heavy Infantry.
I also think that Haqqislam is better at 200pts. than 300pts battles.

And are Kum bikers any good (those monocycles look sweet )?

Sure they are, you can have a bike for 11 points with chainrifle, they move 20-15, the maximum. If you manage to make them cross the table reaching the enemy deployment area massacre is assured.
The difficult aspect for beginners is to handle the impetuous troops. Kums are Impetuous troops. Their impetuous actions have to be spent before all the other troops and they have to move 20cm towards closest enemy miniature. This rule forces them to expose themselves to enemy fire, they can hide that movement using smoke grenades, but it is tricky.

Great info, thanks again! The company really needs to do something similar to this. With games like 40k it's really easy to figure out what you need getting into it because it's broken down into HQ, Troops, Elite etc... I'm worried I'll end up with a bunch of models that aren't usable.

So these are the basic factions, and ones like ALPEH, Nomad and Combined are like weird offshoots?

Nomads are the other human faction, space based and emphasis on hacking and drones.

Aleph are the forces of the AI that runs "human space".

Combine are the aliens who just want what the humans have.

Always good to see some INFINITY love on Dakka!

And thanks for posting the faction summaries - good stuff!

Chimera_Calvin wrote:So, after much umming and ahhing I have decided to take the plunge into infinity next payday, but I can't decide on a faction.

I have read through the army lists and can't even begin to work out the potentially good combos as yet, so I'm going purely off minis and background - but that has left me torn between Haqqislam and Yu Jing

Can anyone give me some info to help me decide and what some useful first purchases would be?

Here are some high level discription and characteristics of the factions in INFINITY.

***

Pan-Oceana - Most high tech faction in the human sphere (only TO-Camo TAG in the game for example). Pan-O are the best shooters in the game. Most BS ranges from 12 to 15.

Nomads - Futuristic gypsies, who fly across the galaxy in "craftworld" like ships that barters and trade between worlds. Nomads have some of the neatest "toys" as they spend most of their resources crafting gadgets and customizing their troops with different effects and abilities.

Yu Jing - Instead of focusing on high tech gadgets and weaponry, YJ focuses their R&D on heavy infantry (HI). Hence they have the most variety of HI in the Human Sphere (for example, YJ are developing the only transforming HI in the game). Additionally, many YU troops are trained for close combat, and the availability of tech gives them dangerous hand-to-hand ninjas assassins.

Haqqislam - Relatively low tech, but Haq has the most variety of light infantry in the game. Their weapons are relatively low tech and low support weapon cost (SWC). Strong willed individuals makes them some of the most dangerous hackers in the game. Having a large number of religious troops makes it difficult for your opponents to force a retreat.

Ariadna - Lowest tech of all the human factions outside of the human sphere, draw back of getting lost and crashing on a remote planet for 300 years... Ariadna troops are cheap, and have a large variety of non-tech abilities (for example, you can very easily have an full army of camo markers in your army). Ariadna is probably the ONLY faction that is completely immune to electro-magnetic (EM) and hacking attacks.

Combined - Faction of aliens, and the most technologically advanced faction in INFINITY. Many abilities are special to Combined, as only aliens can be hatched from eggs directly onto the battlefield, etc. Since alien technology is foreign to humans, Combined TAGs and Remotes cannot be possessed by hackers. Combined troops are typically expensive but powerful.

ALEPH - Non-homicidal SKYNET. Aleph army basically consists of remotes, androids, and robots. ALEPH runs most of the functions within the human sphere and are closely allied with Yu Jing. Paranoid Nomads seem to think that Aleph is plotting to take over the human sphere, but hence the Aleph is ready to defend themselves.

***
Personally, I play Yu Jing, because I really liked the look of their HI. Thermal Optic Camouflaged Oniwaban ninja assassins are also quite awesome. Anyways, I hope the information helps. =)

Twelvecarpileup wrote:So these are the basic factions, and ones like ALPEH, Nomad and Combined are like weird offshoots?

I personally think that ALEPH is not an army for beginners. Their troops costs so much points, their basic infantry requires a Hacker to be field and you will not usually have a 10 miniature army list if you are playing a 200pts match, wich is often. The Combined Army also has these characteristics that I think makes them harder to play with.




By the way, if you go with ALEPH, the first purchase is obviously the starter pack:


Then, if you want to make a 200pts army you just have to purchase the Garuda Tactbot blister.


And, for reaching 300 points I´ll just say the Marut, the biggest miniature of all the ALEPH army.


Well, there are other options, this is just my opinion.

Is 200 points the standard size for a game?

plastictrees wrote:Is 200 points the standard size for a game?

As I´ve seen, people usually play 200pts torunaments for beginners, mostly new gaming groups. 300pts tournaments are the most usual among experienced players.
By the way, that is always about 10-16 miniatures.

So these are the basic factions, and ones like ALPEH, Nomad and Combined are like weird offshoots?

Welcome to BobbaFetts corner, today we are going to talk about: NOMADS.



The first thing to purchase, as I have said with all the factions, is the Starter Pack.


Then, for reaching a 200pts list I would recommend: Hellcats. I always recommend para-troopers because they are extremely effective.


Believe me with this one, the Moran Maasai Hunter. Worths every point it costs.

Yes, it is an african maasai with two robot koalas with him. Ridiculous? maybe, but when you play against that guy you will hate him with all your soul. REALLY EFFECTIVE.

I almost forgot about THE BEST, Intruders. Use them as shooters, the sniper option is probably the best Sniper in the whole range.

September releases:


Those White arachnid robots are a MUST if you are a beginner player with ALEPH.

I also noticed that the Beasts of War videos usually have even more image quality than the official site. They have the photos in HD.

I picked Panoceana and bought the Shock Army Starter Pack. I would have bought the old one but I don't really use the Orc Troop. Aside from the strong armor and extra wounds, the Orc Troop is practically useless.

Having better BS and fielding mostly HMG and spitfire helped me to kill off enemies. i agree on the the weak WP makes it harder to revive downed troops.

I'm thinking about starting another faction either an ALEPH or Combined Army. But would probably do that after I load up with Pan-O T.A.Gs and after painting them 9which would be a bit harder than Warmachine models).