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Are any special characters restricted or banned in ITS (or other) tournaments at all? (Or, considered a little bit unsportsmanlike in casual play?)

Not really, Achilles can be a bit of a punk, but not banned.

Only the Yu Jing version of Ko Dali, but that's because she's now turned to the Combined Army (and she was a bit unbalanced in some lists for Yu Jing). The Yu Jing model is now just an ugly Tiger Soldier.

Special characters are made to be completely balanced with the rest of the game, and are just other units you can bring.

The only units that are banned for ITS use are Mercenaries, unless they are specifically part of your army list. For example, Qapu Khalki can take Druze, Kaplan, Yuan Yuan and Scarface, but other armies can't.

I dont think anything is banned outside of using certain mercanaries that are not allowed to your faction. Nothing is really banned at tournaments only things I can think of are people will not like you if you bring the 40 preta spam (they would demand you atleast have 40 pretas no proxy) or doing the horrible lock you in combat while in Loss of Lieutenant to make you permanently in Lol which unless its an accident is unsportsmanlike in my opinion.

Any kind of spam done with proxies will be met with disdain. If you're going to put that many models on the table, have the right models so you're not constantly guessing what is what.

Actually, this brings up another rules question I had, about proxies and conversions. My understanding is that Infinity is a little loose about the matter, especially since all legal profiles don't have corresponding models exactly.

Relevant because I absolutely must have Asuka Kisaragi, as that's the model that made me get into Infinity ("ZOMG it's the Akira bike!") Would using her as a Kum rider (or even with Izzat Beg's profile) cause a real fuss? As long as I'm clear with my opponent about it ("she has a rifle and smoke grenades").As a bike unit is pretty distinctive, it doesn't some like any opponent would have a tough time keeping track of what is going on.

The general rule for ITS games is 'if the model exists, use the model'. But, as you say, she's a bike unit representing a bike unit, so I can't see it causing too much fuss. Just make sure she's mounted on a 55mm base, as that's the base size Kum riders come on. If possible, hunt down an AK-47 from another range and do a weapon swap (even better if it has an underslung launcher of some kind to represent the smoke launcher).

Generally one off proxies or conversions aren't a problem, especially if you've put in the effort to make it look like part of your force (so painting her in your Haqq colours and possibly weapon swapping as suggested). I'll be doing this myself with the bootleg Penny who is on a Kum bike.

Where the problems arise is when someone shows up and wants to, say, play the aforementioned Preta spam list, and just throws down 40 unpainted Hormagaunts and says they're proxies.

My reading of the rules is that all bikes are supposed to be 55 mm anyway (http://www.data-sphere.net/bases-official-rules-update-corvus-belli/), though I'm glad you mentioned it, because I probably would've just assumed that the kit came with the right size.

And my intent is to eventually paint her in the same colors as the rest of my force, including Martian dust-themed bases, which are pretty distinctive.

The idea of proxying 40 Hormagaunts as Pretas gave me a hilariously awesome scenario idea using proxies.

Player 1 gets 400pts.

Player 2 gets:
Group 1
1 Hive Tyrant (Avatar Lieutenant)
1 Carnifex (Caskuda)
2 Zoanthropes (Imetrons - bad size but whatever)
2 Hive Guard (Ikadrons - bad base size but whatever)

Group 1
10 Hormagaunts (Gakis)

Group 2
10 Termagants (Pretas)

Set up on Starship Troopers style defensive outpost with a few objectives like killing the Caskudafex and Avatyrant. Hold out for X turns for the shuttles! points per model left to evacuate. Player 2 gets points for each model killed and having the big guys survive.

 -Loki- wrote:
The idea of proxying 40 Hormagaunts as Pretas gave me a hilariously awesome scenario idea using proxies.

Player 1 gets 400pts.

Player 2 gets:
Group 1
1 Hive Tyrant (Avatar Lieutenant)
1 Carnifex (Caskuda)
2 Zoanthropes (Imetrons - bad size but whatever)
2 Hive Guard (Ikadrons - bad base size but whatever)

Group 1
10 Hormagaunts (Gakis)

Group 2
10 Termagants (Pretas)

Set up on Starship Troopers style defensive outpost with a few objectives like killing the Caskudafex and Avatyrant. Hold out for X turns for the shuttles! points per model left to evacuate. Player 2 gets points for each model killed and having the big guys survive.

Haha, that is a very good idea! Although don't know how you would explain the 'Fex dropping onto the table with AD?

I'm planning on using the Predator Hounds from that new AvP boardgame for Gakis, whenever that game is finally released!

 Pacific wrote:

 -Loki- wrote:
The idea of proxying 40 Hormagaunts as Pretas gave me a hilariously awesome scenario idea using proxies.

Player 1 gets 400pts.

Player 2 gets:
Group 1
1 Hive Tyrant (Avatar Lieutenant)
1 Carnifex (Caskuda)
2 Zoanthropes (Imetrons - bad size but whatever)
2 Hive Guard (Ikadrons - bad base size but whatever)

Group 1
10 Hormagaunts (Gakis)

Group 2
10 Termagants (Pretas)

Set up on Starship Troopers style defensive outpost with a few objectives like killing the Caskudafex and Avatyrant. Hold out for X turns for the shuttles! points per model left to evacuate. Player 2 gets points for each model killed and having the big guys survive.

Haha, that is a very good idea! Although don't know how you would explain the 'Fex dropping onto the table with AD?

Mycetic spore.

 -Loki- wrote:
Mycetic spore.

Too soon!

That's interesting, so are conversions and the like quite acceptable at tournies then and does that include official ITS ones? I wasn't aware of this as I just convert for my own joy and don't worry up about competitive play.

 Pierzak wrote:

 -Loki- wrote:
Mycetic spore.

Too soon!

Oh goodness, that sounds bad. Did they do something horrible to my Nids while I was away?

This wasn't dreamed up as anything for a tournament. Just something fun to do with those Tyranids gathering dust on the shelf.

As for Mycetic Spores, they removed them. Entirely. Like, not even the old option of taking it as an option that just lets the unit deep strike. Mycetic Spores are gone.

Which begs the question - how do the Tyranids actually reach the surface in the first place?

-Loki- wrote:This wasn't dreamed up as anything for a tournament. Just something fun to do with those Tyranids gathering dust on the shelf.

Sorry when I was asking about conversion I was referring to the following but failed to quote it into my reply. I expect you to be able to read my mind, okay, Loki? Pfft, put some effort in or we're going to have words.

-Loki- wrote:Generally one off proxies or conversions aren't a problem, especially if you've put in the effort to make it look like part of your force (so painting her in your Haqq colours and possibly weapon swapping as suggested). I'll be doing this myself with the bootleg Penny who is on a Kum bike.

-Loki- wrote:As for Mycetic Spores, they removed them. Entirely. Like, not even the old option of taking it as an option that just lets the unit deep strike. Mycetic Spores are gone.

That is the worst. I hate them sometimes. So I completely wasted my time working on my own designs and biology for it? Humph!

 Casey's Law wrote:

-Loki- wrote:This wasn't dreamed up as anything for a tournament. Just something fun to do with those Tyranids gathering dust on the shelf.

Sorry when I was asking about conversion I was referring to the following but failed to quote it into my reply. I expect you to be able to read my mind, okay, Loki? Pfft, put some effort in or we're going to have words.

-Loki- wrote:Generally one off proxies or conversions aren't a problem, especially if you've put in the effort to make it look like part of your force (so painting her in your Haqq colours and possibly weapon swapping as suggested). I'll be doing this myself with the bootleg Penny who is on a Kum bike.

The official rule is conversions are fine as long as its still clear what it is and it's mostly using Corvus Belli produced parts. Proxies are fine if there's no existing model and the proxy is a Corvus Belli produced model, and again it is clear what it is. Basically the same rule Games Workshop used to have.

However, its down to the TO. Just like in the old days of 40k tournaments, GW employees aren't there with a whip to make sure they're followed. You just ask the TO if it's okay, and since the Infinity crowd is generally pretty awesome, conversions and proxies are usually fine.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Casey's Law wrote:

-Loki- wrote:As for Mycetic Spores, they removed them. Entirely. Like, not even the old option of taking it as an option that just lets the unit deep strike. Mycetic Spores are gone.

That is the worst. I hate them sometimes. So I completely wasted my time working on my own designs and biology for it? Humph!

Spoiler:

Basically, they didn't have a model for it, so they can't sell it, and it's open season for 3rd party companies to make their own. There's plenty floating around from the 5th edition codex.

The new rule with GW is, if there's no model for it, there will be no rules for it. If it was in a 5th edition book and they couldn't find the capacity to make the model, it simply got dumped without consideration to the impact on the army.

That's amazing about the conversions. I would certainly have to confirm ahead of time with the swaps I'm making but it's nice to know I could go along and participate in an event one day.

Such a shame about GW but I see where they are coming from even if I don't like it. Sadly the explosion of the industry has put them on the back foot and they have to turtle up to survive. I just wish they'd start taking some tentative steps outside now. Anyway, another thread, another time.

Yeah even fw models don't seem to count now either. As evidenced by the loss of a huge amount of our artillery when the IG all defected to the astra militarum. Apparently the IG holdouts (marbo, bastonne, & their penal legion) retained the more uncommon arty.

....marbo isn't codex-legal anymore?

Related to the OP: What is OK to use for SpecOps? I kinda want to get some use out of these various bounty hunter models.

There are the official miniatures for SpecOps but I can't see any problem at all with using something else if it fits in character and style, by their very nature they are changeable and you might end up in the situation where the set miniatures aren't really suitable for the higher level SpecOps in a campaign. In fact, think it's a great idea.

 Casey's Law wrote:
Such a shame about GW but I see where they are coming from even if I don't like it. .

Yes you can see the argument behind it, but it is absolutely unnaceptable from the perspective of the fanbase and from their own key principles in the past as a motivator of creativity and imagination.

You can see the reasoning behind it when they remove, say, the Mycetic Spore or half a dozen tank designs from the Guard book when they don't have miniatures for them and don't want third parties stealing their thunder. Perfectly acceptable.

When they remove them without thought to how it will affect the army and do nothing to help replace it, that is just insulting to their customers.

When they remove something with a model to sell later as a dataslate, that's just giving them the bird when they walk in the door to buy the book.

Could we leave the discussions on GW business practices to the other 3000 threads on them?



More infinity talk. They killed the bugs off. Ho hum.

Vanilla factions CAN use the ABH in ITS lists (well, vanilla HUMAN forces can use them).

Sectorials can't - but they generally have access to their OWN "mercenary" forces.

For spec-ops, vanilla/sectorials can both use spec-ops -- but it's generally preferred that they be representative to avoid confusion.