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I am just poking around at Infinity at the moment (I have a demo game lined up for next weekend) and was looking over the factions on the Infinity website. It has a section for each faction listing their strengths(?) in eight categories: infiltrators, camouflaged, parachutist, light/medium/heavy infantry, remotes, TAGs. What does it actually mean, however? Does a high number mean that the faction's units tend towards this, that the units of these types are relatively stronger/weaker compared to other factions, or something else? I cannot make heads of tails of it.

Infiltrators seem functionally comparable to 40K, so I imagine their uses will be obvious to me. Camouflage sounds hilarious and lots of fun to play with! Parachutists seem to drop similar to 40K's Deep Strike (albeit the rules sound better). Would an army using a high percentage of these kinds of units work well, or would they synergise better with plenty of existing models on the table? I am not sure I really follow the tactical differences between light, medium and heavy infantry (or perhaps there are none and I am barking up the wrong tree?). I recognise that heavier units have better armour, yet move slower, but beyond this I cannot see the differences. How to TAGs compare with Infantry? Is it like comparing a 40K Monstrous Creature or Walker with an Infantry unit, or something completely different? I am also not really sure about the point of using Remotes over Infantry. Perhaps this will be clearer once I play or read the rules more in-depth, but currently I do not 'get' them. I have come across at least two specialists/support units: Doctors and Hackers. Are there any others? Doctors seem pretty obvious (revive KOed units), but hackers seem to require a little more finesse. Would it be better to get a good feel for the game before worrying about them?

I understand that all factions can potentially do anything, but each does certain things more easily. From what I gather, ALEPH and Combined Army are the low-model-count elite armies. Therefore, do the other factions tend to be comparable-sizes with each other (broad strokes: I am sure they can all make lists with many or few models)? From the fluff I understand that PanOceanea and Yu Jing are higher tech than Haqqislam and Nomads (with Ariadna being super low-tech), and this seems to be shown in the models, but how does this reflect in actual gameplay? I take it that Tohaa are a relatively new faction, as there seems to be no mention of them in most of the things I have read. What is their speciality?

So far I have only encountered brief overviews of the fluff for each faction. Are there more detailed writings? If so, where can I find them? I have always been very influenced by the fluff in 40K!

Stats: It roughly means that a faction has high availability or a perceived strength. It's kind of like the weapon stats in the battlefield games, they are meant as a guideline not direct 100% comparison.

Parachutist: this skill tree offers increasing levels of freedom of deployment at increasing risks of failed deployment. They can do well, but it's a trade off between high threat versus tactical freedom (their orders are tied up, meaning too many parachutists and you run dry on orders). Once on the table they are normal troopers and do not have jet packs.

Light Infantry: limited in armour, almost never higher than 2. Nearly always 4-4 or sometimes 6-4 in movement.

Medium Infantry: greater variance in armour, usually around 3. Nearly always movement of 4-2 (i.e. slow). High likelihood of being advance deployment specialists, i.e. combat jump, infiltrators etc.

Heavy Infantry: high armour (3 to 6), high BTS (chemical/EM/toxin armour of 3 to 9), nearly always 4-4 move and often expensive. Power armour that hackers can hack!
Ariadna have old power armour so they don't get +1 wound and you can't hack a mechanical typewriter :p .

Remotes: wider and more squat than infantry. Comes with a wide skill set and they are kind of similar across factions. Usually available regardless of subfaction (sectoral). Often they are very fast (often only beaten by motorcycles). Hackable, of course, but you can also use hackers to improve them.
They offer a different tactical use over infantry, generally the drawback is a lack of dodging.

Support units: Infinity player will interpret this query as "specialists according to Infinity Tournament System", so here they are: Hacker, Forward Observer, Paramedic, Doctor, Chain of Command and Engineer.
Generally, yes get a good feel before worrying about them. But always keep a doctor or paramedic, because it's always good to have a plan C and besides you kind of want to get used to them.

Hacker: see Wizard.

TAGs: Think "fast and big terminators" as the closest 40k analogy.

Everyone can do everything: Ariadna, Tohaa and Aleph are probably the three factions that are most limited in what they can do, and Tohaa mostly because they are the newest kids on the block - they haven't even got a sectoral yet!
In gameplay, usually being high tech means you have access to larger variety of units in the high cost end of the spectrum (50+) and you get more options - not better options, just more of them. Additionally, the likelihood that E/M ammo or hackers can screw your models over is increased. Bring an assault hacking device against Ariadna? DOH! Got plenty of E/M against Aleph? Nice!

Tohaa: they specialize in light infantry. Their gimmick is their Triad system, which you can find as Haris among Haqq'Islam. Tohaa also have Symbiont Armour which improve the model it's attached to, usually only in higher ARM, PH and protection against Shock and similar ammo at the expense of being FIRE vulnerable. I do believe there's a profile with better BS when the symbiont is still alive, though.

Datasphere has a list, let me see if I can dig it up!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Datasphere? Hmm, I might have to dig more, but here's a good link in the meanwhile:

http://infinitytheforums.com/forum/topic/29493-5-pieces-of-advice-for-new-players/


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ah, here we go: http://www.data-sphere.net/tag/starting-with/

Specifically, this one may be of interest: http://www.data-sphere.net/starting-tohaa/

Thanks for the tips and links. Those Data Sphere articles are excellent for a new player: I have read through them all now and have a much better idea of a starting point.

Based on minis (and guides on Data Sphere), I find Nomads and PanOceania the most appealing. Should I just buy the Icestorm Starter, since it gives me starting minis for both those factions along with terrain and dice? Do I then also need to separately buy the rule books, or does this come with a complete book?

There is the N3 rule book, the Paradisio Campaign Book and the Human Sphere rulebook. Do you need all three of these to start, or are the latter two only relevant for experienced players?

Operation Icestorm has a getting started book with 5 scenarios that progressively introduce you to more of the rules. It'a a great place to start as you're interested in both of the included factions.

To get the full rules you can either download them from the CB website or buy the rulebook. The only way to get the fluff is the rulebooks, but the rules are all online for free. There is also a PDF with all the unit stats from all the expansions updated to N3 as well.

http://www.infinitythegame.com/archive.php

Currently Human Sphere and Campaign Paradiso are expansions for the N2 version of the game, rather than N3. There are free rule PDFs of anything you need to know on the CB website, and an N3 version of Human Sphere is expected at some point. I probably wouldn't bother buying either of these books at this point.

Ahh, thanks for the clarification! I am glad I asked rather than assuming

Only buy Campaign Paradiso rules for the campaign rules. It does contain a lot of rules, but they are for the previous edition of the rules and are poorly maintained - however, the campaign rule set will not be re-released and is still to 99% valid.

In general to get the fluff you get the books. Books also provide you with painted slices of wood for you to peruse without the need to electricity, and I've been told some people value this.

Icestorm is also an excellent way to get excellent value and work towards a two-player base. Use them yourself or split with a friend, it will make for an excellent platform regardless to get people interested in the game. It's possibly the best demo kit you can get to infect people with the game

The Campaign Paradiso book may not be released again.
I wouldn't count out either a revamp down the line of Spec-ops, or a redo of C at some point in the future though.. maybe just as a PDF to update it to N3.

Wait for the release of the N3 version of the Human Sphere before deciding about Campaign-Paradiso. We should be hearing news about the HSN3 release next month if CB intends to have it ready for a Christmas release.

If you like Pan-O and Nomads, then the Icestorm box is perfect, since you get both starter boxes for those factions and a couple of other minis ( Father-Knight and Reverend-Healer) which are available only in the Icestorm box, for a reasonable price.

Also, use the official Army builder here: http://www.infinitythegame.com/army/

Makes planning lists incredibly easy. Just remember that how you play the list matters quite a bit.

IIRC, they've already mentioned the campaign rules won't be in HSN3, for better or worse. It's not a terribly well designed campaign, but plenty of people have gotten enjoyment out of playing it.

 -Loki- wrote:
IIRC, they've already mentioned the campaign rules won't be in HSN3, for better or worse. It's not a terribly well designed campaign, but plenty of people have gotten enjoyment out of playing it.

They've also mentioned they will likely design a completely new campaign book that will very specifically not be paradiso, but that it's not going to be out until after Acheron and HSN3 has been released.

So I feel as if I'm missing something glaringly obvious, but this seems like an appropriate thread to ask this question. Lieutenants! Which units can be designated lieutenants? I'm not sure if my Army page is glitched or what, but I've seen other people display screenshots of an area on the left that designates units that can fill the LT role. I'm not seeing it.

Personally I'm considering either Haqqislam or Tohaa, at the moment. Love the vibe I'm getting from both factions. Seems like Haqqislam really symbolizes the whole skirmisher mentality with their abundance of light units, they also seem to require a few tricky abilities (I'm assuming) to see them through whereas PanO, YJ, or CA could muscle through. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm making assumptions here. And Tohaa also focuses on light armor with wonky abilities/armor to get them through. That and I love the models for both, hah.

EDIT: Found it. Though I'm curious if a Hatail Spec-Ops can be a lieutenant.

No ,Spec ops cannot be LT models. Although they can get the Chain of Command skill, which lets them assume the role if the LT dies in battle.

LT's are available per profile/unit. You look for under each unit type, and it will tell you whether or not you may pick an LT from that unit type, it's point cost, and it's SWC cost.

The STARTING Lt unit MUST have the Lieutenant profile option.

Once he falls into a null state - (chain of command notwithstanding) - ANY other model (apart from Remotes and specific units noted as such) can become the NEW Lt, whether or not they have the LT profile available.

Spec-ops cannot be a starting Lt.
The spec-ops ALWAYS use the "basic" profile of the units they are able to be made from.