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I'm not sure, if I've seen them as sinister. They are certainly interesting, as the AI ponders of what he really is and how is he tied to us. I can see why people would fear him, especially how the mainstream western media loves to portray " rouge AI " scenario.

plastictrees wrote:I think Machaon is in the middle of asking Ajax to turn his head and cough.

Ah, the memories of that awkward moment... That would make a very funny diorama.
Then again, considering Ajax' pose Machaon could rather be checking his genetically enhanced prostate gland. That would also explain Ajax' facial expression.
But seriously, does he have some kind of scanner in his right hand or is he luring somebody in? Hard to tell from the pics.

 Knight wrote:
I'm not sure, if I've seen them as sinister. They are certainly interesting, as the AI ponders of what he really is and how is he tied to us. I can see why people would fear him, especially how the mainstream western media loves to portray " rouge AI " scenario.

Well the fact ALEPH had a standing army, that she never told us about. Until a time came the HS was so desperate they had no chose but to over look the little fact. Or, the fact ALEPH edits the info it lets the O-12 and the rest of the HS see, dispite the O-12 having a branch deadicated to keeping a eye on her and keep the code staying stable. ALEPH been fooling them for years, has control Maya, the HS money (not Noamds ), and politics. ALEPH may be hard code to protect mankind, but history shows us the deeper the belief the greater the evils there willing to perform to reach there goal.

Ohh... Nomads and ALEPH are my two many faction.

More than once during Campaign Paradiso, ALEPH had Achilles turn around and kill allied soldiers to keep things secret and secure.

Here I thought Yu Jing was the evil human faction. I guess it's ALEPH after all.

There are no saints in Infinity, I'm constantly amazed how many people think that somehow humans evolved into something more, that we have somehow surpassed our flaws. If anything they are even more visible in the setting.

It's silly to think Aleph will keep every information public, never mind the more sensitive. How he interacts with the rest of the sphere and what will be his endgame shall be interesting to read, though I doubt CB will ever release the final answer to this question.

Infinity factions are more about the system and your perception of it. Same as I cannot see Nomads as freedom fighters that are battling the tyranny of civilization and enjoying all the benefits and downsides of raw freedom. Yet some find this thought to be very attractive.

Aleph ties into the classic sci-fi trope of an AI that, while benign on the outside, we can't really know the motivations for. It protects the human sphere, helps the economy and transport networks, backs up citizens into cubes and through it an immortality of sorts, and apparently society would be impossible without it. Now that the Combined Army has attacked the human sphere and the AI has squared itself off against the EI (the CA equivalent), and put forward perhaps the most formidable soldiers in the human sphere against it.

So it's definitely not the overt bad-guy, and far from it. But.. it will be interesting to see how things change going forward. One of the great things about Infinity, is that its not a fixed timeline and the plot has already developed from when the game was released (the CA stepping up the assault on Paradiso, loss of Ko Dali, introduction of the Tohaa etc.), although if Aleph did suddenly show its true colours and turn against humanity, the human sphere would be pretty much done for!

You guys should read Neal Asher's Polity series of books - starting with the "Cormac" series.

There's a very similar thing going on in there, with a rather interesting twist to the ending of it all too!

I'll second the recommendation

Really good books

With all these new releases I am trying to figure out what second faction to start.

I am playing Ariadna right now, and I would like something that feels more like the opposite both in play style and looks. My poor colonists get painted in pretty drab colors, so I am thinking about picking up a second faction that is more bright and modern looking. Right now it seems like a toss-up between Nomads and Aleph, any recs?

Do we know the lineup for the next couple of Die Foes boxes?

As far as I am aware, this is the last of the Dire Foes boxes for the time being.

I would think we will see more, but not necessarily right now. I would be surprised to see them before the next book.

Box 4 being Haqq vs. PanO and Box 5 being Tohaa vs. CA?

 Alpharius wrote:
Box 4 being Haqq vs. PanO and Box 5 being Tohaa vs. CA?

Correct.

We will at some point most likely see Dire Foes boxes with the following of the unrepresented, currently existing Sectorials:
Bakunin
Aconticemento Shock Army
Imperial Service
Merovingian Rapid Response Force
Qapu Khalqi

Admittedly that causes an odd number of possible representations(5) rather than an even number of possibles, but we could see a repeat or some overlap with something else.

Are we still getting the Morat Sectorial starter this year?

Kinda/sorta?

It's slated for a December release--which most likely means it will get shown in December and then actually released in January.

Ahh.. the elusive Morat starter box! Hope it comes soon...

Alpharius wrote:You guys should read Neal Asher's Polity series of books - starting with the "Cormac" series.

There's a very similar thing going on in there, with a rather interesting twist to the ending of it all too!

OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:I'll second the recommendation

Really good books

Thanks for the recommendation guys, will make sure I check that out.

You won't regret it - and I love your updated avatar picture - ha!

Haha thanks mate! Need to stick an Xmas hat on it at some point I suppose

 d-usa wrote:
With all these new releases I am trying to figure out what second faction to start.

I am playing Ariadna right now, and I would like something that feels more like the opposite both in play style and looks. My poor colonists get painted in pretty drab colors, so I am thinking about picking up a second faction that is more bright and modern looking. Right now it seems like a toss-up between Nomads and Aleph, any recs?

Yes right both of those are very cutting-edge looking. Although, the 'big two' Pan-O and Yu-Jing both have very futuristic looking miniatures as well.

The Pan-O have had a lot of focus on their Military Order most recently, which are kind of old-fashioned ideas with a sci-fi spin on them, but there are a lot of miniatures from the range that would suit:


And Yu-Jing have got stuff like the 'Bjork' robots, Hac Tao (most hated of enemy miniatures.. ! ), robots and stuff.


The Japanese Sectorial again is similar to the Military Orders in that it is heavily influenced by Japanese Samurai-era culture (although cyber ninjas and ashigaru are pretty cool!)

The latest set of items(Intruder Sniper, Ectros HMG, Machaon, and the last two Dire Foes sets) have now gone up for preorder at The Warstore.

You have another 8 hours and 5 minutes(11:59 PM Eastern time) to place an order and get the Black Friday discount applied.

Well shoot, what was the black friday discount? I ordered 2 x Ectros (one for me, one for Kan ) and the Intruder Sniper (also for Kan! for minis already sent to me ) but didn't see anything applied to my order.

For the reference of anyone else ordering(since I forgot to tell RiTides...damn my cold medication today)

The Warstore wrote:At its heart Black Friday is an extra 5% discount on everything we sell! Woo Hoo! I must be nuts. Anyway, when using the shopping cart just type the words "Black Friday" into the coupon section of the checkout screen. BAM! An extra 5% off the order total! It's like internet magic!
Please Note: YOU MUST ENTER THE CODE TO GET THE DISCOUNT!

warstore

At its heart Black Friday is an extra 5% discount on everything we sell! Woo Hoo! I must be nuts. Anyway, when using the shopping cart just type the words "Black Friday" into the coupon section of the checkout screen. BAM! An extra 5% off the order total! It's like internet magic!
Please Note: YOU MUST ENTER THE CODE TO GET THE DISCOUNT!

Well darn . That's kind of obvious, I totally should have thought of that! No big deal with such a small order and only 5%, but you'd think I would have thought they might be having a sale today before ordering

Oh gak, those flat pipes/tubes on the Etro Regiment model look like they'll be hellish to assemble, especially if they come even slightly bent/warped.

~Tim?

 Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:
Oh gak, those flat pipes/tubes on the Etro Regiment model look like they'll be hellish to assemble, especially if they come even slightly bent/warped.

~Tim?

The Ectros tubes are pretty easy to work with especially compared to the Dragoes, Szalamandra, or to a lesser extent the Iguana. They should come prebent to the proper angles and fit with no real work if the Ectros in the starter box is anything to go by.

I personally had more problem with the knee knife than the power cables on my Ectros.

I wonder what could be getting 3D designed here.

I think this might be a first peek at the Thorakitai boxed set now that I look at it a bit harder.
The design from what I can see looks slightly ALEPH.

 -Loki- wrote:
I personally had more problem with the knee knife than the power cables on my Ectros.

I lost the knee knife for my Ectros--or it just plain was not in the box to begin with.

I think he looks better with the gap filled in with putty anyways though.

While I enjoy the Dire Foes, I'm still waiting for another Bootleg set.

One that has the Old Man for Haqq.

Like, now, preferably.

Also:

Gorgos!