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Noticed there was a post about needing threads in here, so I thought I'd post and say hello!

Just finished assembling and priming my Aleph and Tohaa starters, and looking forward to painting them up, though I also have a bit of apprehension, as I want to do them justice.
Looking forward to getting my first couple of games in with a mate. (He's a bit skint, which is why I'm putting two armies together.)
If you have any top tips for our first few games, feel free to share!

The biggest problem I have with painting my stuff is exactly what you saud - wanting to do them justice. My stuff is pretty solidly tabletop standard, and don't look anywhere close to what Angel Giraldez churns out so effortlessly.

Still, a consistently painted force on the table looks a lot better than bare metal in Infinity just as much as in any other table top game.

My friends Aleph is all unpainted bar one model. While that one model is painted better than my stuff, having all but 2 of my models on the table painted felt a lot better. Plus it helps with visual recognition. When unpainted, a lot of weapons blend into the model and make it hard to know what you're dealing with.

Definitely agree with that. Think the miniatures definitely bring out the best in you as a painter (I've found myself being a lot less "That'll do!", then throw on the pile, with them). Although TBH I think you can go a long way just with drybrushing and washing, as there is often a lot of texture on the model.

Game wise probably the best piece of advice I can give is start simple - use just a few guys each a side, perhaps one special weapon (HMG or standard sniper rifle etc) just to get a feeling for the mechanics. After that you can start bringing in more miniatures, and a few more of the advanced rules (like camo etc.) I've actually found the game a lot less abstract than some others (chances are if you can imagine the miniature doing something, it can do it) but if you drown yourself in rules from the first game I think it can put you off.

I recently quoted this in another thread, but the Beasts of War starter rules are a good place to start for the first game or two:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/Infinity-QuickStartRules-V1.pdf

 Eggs wrote:

If you have any top tips for our first few games, feel free to share!

If neither of you have played Infinity before you will probably want to start by using just the basic troops from each of the starters to get the hang of the game mechanics to begin with. Then you can start adding some other units as you go along.

Also the Aleph and Tohaa starters aren't balanced in terms of points so you may want to proxy some different units so that the points are more equal.

 Pacific wrote:
Game wise probably the best piece of advice I can give is start simple - use just a few guys each a side, perhaps one special weapon (HMG or standard sniper rifle etc) just to get a feeling for the mechanics. After that you can start bringing in more miniatures, and a few more of the advanced rules (like camo etc.) I've actually found the game a lot less abstract than some others (chances are if you can imagine the miniature doing something, it can do it) but if you drown yourself in rules from the first game I think it can put you off.

...And I'm going to disagree with that strongly: I would advise diving in, more or less. Avoid camo (higher than CH: mimetism, that is!), 'jumpers, and anything *too* fancy (no TAGs for your first five or so games, please ) but anyone with a modicum of intelligence who can read a rulebook should, after watching CB's videos (preferably before reading the rules!) come quite a way with 150pts-ish of fun. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the starters are named as they are for a reason; in my mind, there's no problem with starting with the starter boxes (perhaps 'downgrade' any TO camo to CH:Camouflage time being, and avoid the ruddy CA starter - that Charontid might be a wee tad over the top), especially with an experienced player, but for two beginners as well.

In my mind, infinity lends itself to diving in head first extremely well - it sure worked out for me.

Thanks for the tips folks!

 Bolognesus wrote:

 Pacific wrote:
Game wise probably the best piece of advice I can give is start simple - use just a few guys each a side, perhaps one special weapon (HMG or standard sniper rifle etc) just to get a feeling for the mechanics. After that you can start bringing in more miniatures, and a few more of the advanced rules (like camo etc.) I've actually found the game a lot less abstract than some others (chances are if you can imagine the miniature doing something, it can do it) but if you drown yourself in rules from the first game I think it can put you off.

...And I'm going to disagree with that strongly: I would advise diving in, more or less. Avoid camo (higher than CH: mimetism, that is!), 'jumpers, and anything *too* fancy (no TAGs for your first five or so games, please ) but anyone with a modicum of intelligence who can read a rulebook should, after watching CB's videos (preferably before reading the rules!) come quite a way with 150pts-ish of fun. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the starters are named as they are for a reason; in my mind, there's no problem with starting with the starter boxes (perhaps 'downgrade' any TO camo to CH:Camouflage time being, and avoid the ruddy CA starter - that Charontid might be a wee tad over the top), especially with an experienced player, but for two beginners as well.

In my mind, infinity lends itself to diving in head first extremely well - it sure worked out for me.

I agree with both. I would definitely reommend spending a few games with just line infantry learning the order and ARO mechanic. It's not like other games out there, and it will take some getting used to. After a few games (I really mean a few, don't do too many of these) ramp it up to 150-200pts. As above, avoid anything complicated if possible like Camo, but go for a 200pt list. The porblem with sticking with line infantry games for too long is it gets boring. Once you ramp up to about 200pts, it gets more interesting, and you can stay there longer while you really learn the game. Once you've got the games mechanics down pat, ramp up to 300pts and give something like YAMS a try.

Yes I suppose that is a good point - perhaps of the crux of this is who you are showing the game to, and a lot would depend on Egg's level of wargaming experience. From reading other threads it sounds like he has tried a lot of other games? If so that would probably make you more disposed to jumping straight into the deep-end, although I would still limit how far you take it in the first few games.

I've shown quite a few people how to play the game who haven't had that much wargaming experience, and have always started with a quick 20 minute game of a few line infantry running around the side of buildings just to ease them into it. But thinking about it, if I showed some wargaming vets the game would probably go for more straight off the bat as Bolognesus suggests.

As a novice myself, I'd like to add: Don't worry too much about making mistakes. One thing about small games of infinity is they go very quickly, which means each game doesn't have to be a masterpiece. You can wrap one up pretty quickly, look up any rules related questions you had about the game, laugh about what you messed up, and then play again. There are so many tactical options available to you once you start, even at the most basic level you'll definitely forget something. If you're anything like me, you'll spend a lot of time banging your head against the table after a game while your buddy chuckles and says, "I was wondering why you didn't use Alert as your ARO?". The nice thing is, there isn't a huge time investment in each game, so it's a lot more laid back with us when we play and discuss.

The starter game we run in my group is 3 basic infantry (say Line Kazaks for example) and a Heavy infantry as the lieutenant (say a Veteran Kazak). Deploy a little closer than normal (16 inches or so) and just blast away at each other. The order and ARO systems are something so different, that it takes a bit to get used to even for a veteran gamer.

Once you feel comfortable with the rules, start at 150 points (about the contents of a starter box). Move up in blocks of 50 points when you feel ready. Most of all: enjoy! Infinity is an awesome, awesome game.