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 Tangent wrote:
I just played my first game of Infinity yesterday and it was a LOT of fun. A friend demoed the game for me and 3 others.

1) I was hoping that someone well versed in this game could give me a quick run-down of the playstyles of the different factions. Everywhere I look seems to have good storyline/fluff/background information on all of the factions, but little in the way of information concerning how they play on the tabletop.

Okay, so the first thing you need to know is that every faction is capable of a playtstyle to some extent, some factions can just do it differently, and maybe more effectively than others.

But, for the love of all that's infinity, it's NOT this "Aleph is the CC army, Ariadna is the shooty army, Nomads are the hacky army, and PanO is the giant robot army. So if I run Aleph I have to max out my CC, and if I take Arianda I have to max out shooty, and if I take Pan0 I have to take as many giant robots as I can. . ."-- NO NO NO

Armies are not binary "do this well, don't do this well" sort of thing. Rather, each force offers several different options to address similar threats. As such, it's pretty hard to categorize each faction into a particular playstyle. :S

2) I was also hoping that someone could explain to me a bit about the sub-factions. How do they work? You choose Nomads, and there are various subfactions. If I pick one, how does that choice affect my model usage and/or special rules? Also, do I HAVE to pick a subfaction?

Sub-factions are called sectorials. You do not have to pick a sectorial. If you do, a sub-faction does two major things:
A) Gives more availability (ava) on units within that faction.
B) Provides access to using a link team, which is basically a fireteam of three to five linked models of the same type. These units get bonuses as long as they are within a certian distance of eachother.

However, if you've chosen to run a sectorial, you can only choose models from within that sectorial. Usually, this shifts the playstyle to an "extreme" for example, I play the MRRF, which allows me to take more FANTASTIC skirmishing, air-drop and in-your-face infiltration options than I would be able to take if I were playing as normal Adriana, however, I lose out on getting the long-range firepower from units like tankhunters, or the advantages of impetuous, claymore-wielding, bezerk highlanders, found elsewhere in the larger faction.

Still, while the MRRF prefers to play with a bunch of skirmishing nonsense, I'm not "locked into" that style completely. There are still some good units with sniper rifles and even one with a rocket launcher, my medium and heavy infantry choices are still solid, I have access to an artillery-type unit and I still even field one werewolf.

3) Is there such a thing as "special characters" and, if there is, how are they perceived? Totally 100% legal to the point where you don't even have to ask your opponent if they care if you field one (which is my experience with 40K)? Or is it more on an agreement basis, where you and your opponent are expected to agree on their usage beforehand (which is more my experience with Warhammer Fantasy)?

Yep. there are characters. They are 100% legal without consent. While sometimes powerful, they have to be used with a certian amount of finesse. (Except Achilles, he's about as subtle as a brick-wall to the face)

 Bolognesus wrote:

 kestril wrote:
So if I run Aleph I have to max out my CC, and if I take Arianda I have to max out shooty, and if I take Pan0 I have to take as many giant robots as I can. . ."-- NO NO NO

...Except, I mean, like, seriously: who the feth picks PanO and resists buying a TAG (or, uuhm, all four? ) for longer than a few months?

True, but The REAL guy to look out for is the Aquilla guard with a HMG. I mean, look at him, he's one-handing the machinegun like a gangster at BS 15. If he took the time to aim with two hands, he'd get even MORE BS skill.

Aiming. Aquila guard ain't got time for that.

 Bolognesus wrote:
...Meh. I think we have a different opinion on 'cool' use of firearms; I have one of those incoming since MSV3 will be the perfect way to ruin my mate's day next time he brings one of his annoying camo-heavy ariadna lists but won't field it before I've resculpted both arms to hold the HMG in a similar fashion to my dragoe conversion: two handed. The only way to actually fething use such a gun... to each his own, though.

I think I just failed at sarcasm. Now I must wander the internet in shame.

 Tangent wrote:
Wow, thanks a ton for the responses, guys!

All of my questions were answered, but I've got a follow-up question regarding playstyles.

Basically, what I'm wondering is... if every faction can essentially do everything, what differentiates them on the table other than how they look? If the answer is, "nothing," I'm alright with that - that gives me more freedom to pick the models that I like the looks of.

Weaponry, primarily.

For example, High-tech factions will have cool stuff like monofilliment ammunition. MF ammo causes insta-death if the opponent fails one armor save. This makes it great against stuff with multiple wounds.

Now, if you're not super-high tech, you may have an adhesive launcher instead. It's a giant glue-gun, basically. If you hit and the opponent fails a physical roll to un-stick himself, he is immoblized, and can't do anything but generate an order. This makes the AHDL great against stuff with multiple wounds.

Both weapons do similar things, but MF weapons are usually a template, and AHDL weapons are usually fired like a rifle. Therefore, a MF weapon-heavy list will want to close within template range, and have tough troops to survive ARO's (And that's just what the Aleph assault sectorial does.) Whereas, if your using AHDL, you want to stay not too close, but not too far away from an opponent and skirmish them within your weapon's "sweet spot" Meaning using AHDL requires careful placement and lends itself to a skirmishing sort of playstyle. (Which is what lower-tech factions with good light infantry do well.)

 -Loki- wrote:

But then you have the problem of all of the ranges looking fantastic.

That's a problem?

Edit: Wow, I didn't see there was another page

DrDuckman wrote:
Look guys, can we not do the Warmachine etc thing where we keep claiming that everyone can do everything? It actually makes the game look less fun, not more, like the fans would like.

Nope. Gonna snip to save space.

<PanO>

Yeah, but you also have impetious knights that can shake a stick in CC. The cutter/draigo/tags very much geared towards offence with their high-burst weapons and/or the templates they can bring to bear. You can be up-close assaulty shooty, lock down the board with total reaction remotes, or charge into the fray with those knights, just to name a few.

<Aleph>

In the assault subsection, sure, but proxies, tacbots, and other units allow for some cheap play. As a trend, they are elite, but that doesn't mean they must be played that way. The assualt sectorial, however, focuses on having hard-hitting durable infantry.

<Yu Jing>

So you're saying YJ versatile with a lot of options? I'm not sure what playstyle your saying YJ does?

<Nomads>

Nomads have a lot of dirty tricks, sure, but that isn't the be-all-end-all of the faction.

<Haqq>

Again, I'm not sure what playstlye Haqq can't do?

<Ariadna>

I disagree, You've got tactics outside of rushing and werewolves. you've got long-range firepower of tankunters, you've got durable infantry like the vet cazak, you've got great skirmishing choices like rangers and the chassuer, and you've got amazing light infantry like the viral-weilding loup garou. While naturally troops are a little cheaper, there is nothing stoping you from running an elite list as vanilla Ariadna.

<Combined army>

I haven't had any experience with them, so I can't say.

<Tohaa>

The Harris rule allows an additional link team of three in other factions, IIRC, so multipile links are possible outside of tohaa. Still, I'd agree that the tohaa are most unique, but I'd also say that having multipule links doesn't define a playstyle--it's how you use those links.


The problem with saying "all X plays like Y' in infinity is that it's not the unit nessesarily make the playstyle, but what they are equipped with. With all factions having some access to snipers, guided missiles, template weapons and the like, it allows the factions to mix and match, playstyles in their own unique way. Perhaps instead of explaining how a faction plays, we should explain the general trends instead?