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Hey folks...

Just about to pull the trigger on Infinity and place my first order. I am, as I always do, building for two, as the wife and I game together a fair bit. I did have a few questions though.

We're looking to drop about $130, and it sort of has to be in one order. As such, the usual sage advice of "just buy two starters and learn the basics" is somewhat different than what we're doing in practice.

As such, what would help pad out the order?

Two starters will run us about $60, leaving about $70 to spend (and free shipping). I know we're both in love with several of the "TAG" models aesthetically. Can a starter plus a "big" unit, get teams up to the semi-standard 300pt list?

Also, what else would we want beyond that? I assume a physical book is worth owning as a reference... what is the most up to date one? Likewise do any token-sets, etc... really help usability? Are there any other extras people generally suggest we add to an order?

Finally, does anyone have a broad-stroke list of which factions suit which play-styles? I know unlike many games, Infinity has more similarity than not in factions, but is there still a bias? We're looking at Halslam(sp) and Ariadna factions on aesthetics. We both want to play up the tactical movement/gun-fighting side of the game, stylistically (we think.... lol)

Thanks!

Rules, less the campaign rules (and you're not going to want those to start out with) are more up to date on the wiki than in the books. the books are more of a fluff thing, really.

"tactical movement/gun-fighting" is basically what any faction does, in any list, to win. No issues there. Ariadna is decidedly low-tech. Haqq has a lot of relatively low-tech too, but with a bunch of very fancy toys thrown in.

Personally, I consider TAGs fine for beginner use (depending on which one; I don't think using a Cutter would be very nice but most 'regular' run-and-gun TAGs are fine). Do keep in mind you want to go for a bunch of orders first, then maybe a couple of funky units - TAGs can up the general budget for infinity by quite a bit; especially if you're going to want several.
Starter+TAG first of all is almost never going to make 300pts (exceptions being CA/Avatar or Aleph/Marut) and it's going to feel "incomplete".

if $130 is your budget for two lists, forget about the TAGs for now.
Get starters, and probably support boxes (you can play without docs and engineers, but generally you're going to want to have the option, at least. and the G:servant bots are always good to have when you take that option). By that point, I'm afraid there's not going to be room for much more than a few blisters - but that's fine. Let us know which forces you want to go with, and we can start advising blisters

Well those are definitely the factions we like most aesthetically, along with mercenaries, so any suggestions are appreciated.

And, incidentally, we don't HAVE to spend $130.... I want to hit $100 at a minimum for the free shipping, but if all you suggest are two starters and a support for each, so be it. I barely understand the rules from a first-glance read, so I know I am not ready for list building at all.

Also, it does seem like there are a lot of fiddly bits to trade and nuance to rules, so as I said, is this a game where a token/chit set of some kind, ends up being valuable?

Thanks!

Around here, for keeping track of orders, most players use those glass beads that magic players used back in the 90s to keep track of get-a-life-points (or whatever they were called - I have never played and don't really care for it).

Counters/markers are available as free downloads that you can make up yourself OR you can buy various sets from different mobs.

You need to learn the basics (and this is where either watching a game, or better, PLAYING it with someone who knows the rules is better than studying the books) and how the orders and reactions interact before thinking about going large (300ts is the equivalent of 1750-2000pts of a GW styled game in terms of complexity). Yes, there are quite a few rules, but they aren't hard to learn if you put some effort into it.

I encourage new players not familiar with the game to start at around 120-150pts to start with until they learn the rules, then expand up from there.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Finally, does anyone have a broad-stroke list of which factions suit which play-styles? I know unlike many games, Infinity has more similarity than not in factions, but is there still a bias? We're looking at Halslam(sp) and Ariadna factions on aesthetics. We both want to play up the tactical movement/gun-fighting side of the game, stylistically (we think.... lol)

Thanks!

As Bolognesius said, tactical movement and shooting is the game, no matter the faction. The differences between the factions aren't as vast as they are in 40k. With few exceptions, all factions have access to most of the toys. Regarding, for example, Ariadna. They don't get TAGs outside of one of their sectorials, where they get a mercenary TAG (the Anaconda). Their heavy infantry isn't really heavy infantry - it's guys in heavy conventional armour, but they can't be hacked. They also get no hackers themselves (which will make the Anaconda an iffy choice). But they get their own stuff to make up for it, like Dog Warriors. Haqqislam get lots of light and medium infantry, and a few Skirmishers, but lack in Warbands and Heavy Infantry. Heavy Infantry tend to be a lot simpler than other factions, mostly just being massively offense focused without special tricks. In return they get a higher than normal Willpower making their hackers and Doctors better. They also have lots of Doctor profiles, meaning you'll usually wind up with one without trying.

That's where the differences between factions usually sit. They all pretty much get every type of unit - but what tricky rules they get on them differ between the factions. If you want a huge selection of Heavy Infantry with different tricks up their sleeve like camo, you'll be better off heading for Pan Oceania or Yu Jing. If you want a core of very powerful, but pricey, basic infantry, head for Combined Army or Aleph. Every faction has it's own slant on the core mechanics of tactical fire and maneuvre, but those core mechanics are the same for every faction. It's not like 40k where Tyranids just outright suck are shooting and have to rely on numbers, while Space Marines can't rely on numbers and are absolutely fantastic at shooting - those sorts of polar opposites in total gameplay aren't really in Infinity.

The other difference is stat differences. Every faction has a stat that is higher for them. Pan Oceania have naturally higher Ballistic skill, representing better technology on weapons like better weapon sights. Haqqislam have better Willpower, making them bettwe at anything using that stat like Doctors and Hackers, representing their commitment to knowledge. Yu Jing have better CC, because they're stereotypical Asians who all know kung fu. However, that doesn't mean Yu Jing can't outshoot Pan Oceania or that Pan Oceanias doctors are horrible compared to Haqqislams, or that Haqqislam can't kick Yu Jings face in in CC. The statistical difference is pretty small.

All of this has been incredibly useful. I'll definitely do some more homework before pulling the trigger though.

Again, thank you all. :-)

I have to say first, I envy you. If only my wife would game... OT though, it would be best to do as much research as possible. Read over battle reports and such too. I loved the look of the Yu Jing stuff so I bought into them. Nabbed up the starter and a few blisters. Here I am 11 fully painted models later and I'm buying up a PanO Military Orders army after reading a few battle reports that have me a sucker for PanO. Not too bad a thing as now I have models for 2 as opposed to just one. My 13 yo runs Combined and now my 6 yo wanted models too and chose Nomad. So overall, I have 4 armies in the house now and am planning a Haqqislam army.

Do some digging, you can usually find a few blisters that people recommend to add to a starter (however, it's not like 40k, recommendations are just suggestions). For your two listed armies, I would suggest picking up the starter, a sniper, a blister with Advanced Deployment and something with Camo/Holo/Impersonator just to have a little of everything and a touch of all the rules.

I give these huge sweeping thoughts because I'm not overly familiar with Ariadna or Haqqislam forces and there are no real "must haves" as far as individual units are concerned. Hope that helps.

Cerrik wrote:
For your two listed armies, I would suggest picking up the starter, a sniper, a blister with Advanced Deployment and something with Camo/Holo/Impersonator just to have a little of everything and a touch of all the rules.

I give these huge sweeping thoughts because I'm not overly familiar with Ariadna or Haqqislam forces and there are no real "must haves" as far as individual units are concerned. Hope that helps.

If you really want to expand a starter, there's plenty of ways you can go with Haqqislam. I just threw together a 200pt list based on a starter.

Starter
Ghulam Lt
Ghulam Rifle
Ghulam Rifle
Hunzakut Sniper
Jannisaire AP Rifle
Naffatun Heavy Flamer

Additions. Buy a Haqqislam Support Box, a Hassassin Lasiq Sniperand a Hassassin Ragik Hacker.
Haqqislam Support box - Ghulam Doctor
Haqqislam Support box - Nasmat
Hassassin Lasiq Sniper
Hassassin Ragik Rifle (I suggest buying the Hacker because it's available individually and is armed with a Rifle - no one will notice it's the hacker model)

From the starter, that gives you an Lt and 2 Rifle Ghulam to help hide him (the Lt is exactly the same as a Rifle Ghulam, so you can hide which one he is - you don't have to tell your opponent, just be honest if they get him). Hunzakut Sniper is Impetuous, so gives you a taste of that unit type. Jannisaire is heavy infantry, so you get to try that unit type out. Naffatun has a Heavy Flamethrower, which is really good for a cheap cheerleader.

Haqqislam Support Box gives you the Najjarun Engineer (you don't need him until you take a TAG), Ghulam Doctor (invaluable - I always take one) and 2 Nasmats (little robots that let the Doctor and Engineer perform their duties from cover). Add the Ghulam Doctor and a Nasmat to the starter, you now have a signature unit type for Haqqislam, Doctors.

Hassassin Lasiq Sniper is great. Climbing Plus means it's easy to get into good positions, Mimetism makes it harder to shoot back at in ARO, X-Visor makes it more accurate at long distance and the Viral Sniper Rifle is nasty. To say it's an awesome sniper is a huge understatement.

Hassassin Ragik is an Airdrop unit. Basically like 40k Deepstrike, so there's something else to play with.

Plenty of ways to expand the Haqqislam starter though. That's just something I put together in a few minutes.

 -Loki- wrote:
Haqqislam have better Willpower, making them bettwe at anything using that stat like Doctors and Hackers, representing their commitment to knowledge.

I'm going to nitpick and say that WIP isn't the final deal when it comes to hackers. BTS is very valuable, when WIP 14 Haqqislam Hacker tries to hack a Nomad remote. A mere Morderator with WIP 12 but BTS -3 has a better chance to stop his attack. High WIP is great for offensive hacking, BTS is great for averting the offence.

Well yeah, but having better WIP is certainly better for hacking than not having better WIP.