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Infinity has caught my attention and I'd like to start the game, but I'm having a hard time determining which faction to go with. Since I don't know a whole lot about the game or fluff, I'm going to go with what looks good, but most everything looks good in this game!

What I'm looking for:
-I don't like cheesecake, so I'd like to avoid it as much as possible.
-I don't want to show up and have people say, "Oh great...another [insert name of over represented faction] player."
-I'd like to have a faction that is developed enough to facilitate varied tactics (Tohaa has some nice looking models, but seems to not have as many choices as other factions)
-I'd like to spend between $60 to $100 (retail price) to have a well rounded starting force

Also, about how much more would one have to spend to get to a normal sized force?

If anyone could offer some recommendations that would be great.

Thanks!

I got a 300-400 point, 13 (ish) model Nomad force for about £60 (would probably be £70-80 full retail?), with enough models to switch things around. 300 points is pretty much the maximum size game you will ever play.

In terms of cheesecake - you can easily avoid it - pretty much any unit choice can be taken and still be viable (unlike in 40K), so even if a faction has plenty of cheesecake, you can still pick around it if there are other units you like the look of.

Personally I would have a look at the models, see which faction has the best looking ones, check out the wiki for some background on the faction, then if you like the fluff of the faction with the best looking models, go with that one... keep moving down the line until you get a faction with nice looking models with fluff that you think suits the kind of force you want to have.

Remember, even if you play something like Aleph, you could still play a faction within it that is pro-autonomy if you didn't like the fact that Aleph is the pro-AI force. Similarly, you could play a Nomad force that is part of a group that seeks closer ties with the core worlds.

Pan'O. The front runner Nomads is a bad choice because they have flamboyant models due to their fluff.

PanO and Ariadna seem to be the most common, Haqq and Yu-Jing after that. Nomads are becoming more popular. This is in my area anyway.

There is no real cheesecake in Infinity and someone will always say "not another [insert name here] player". Most 'cheesy' units are balanced out accross the faction and it is reasonably hard to make a 'cheesy' force. I would pick the models and the fluff you like and go from there.

Not a very helpful answer I know but that is pretty much what I did and I now own all the Ariadna models and I'm expanding into QK (Sectorial of Haqq).

From a beginners point of view Ariadna is pretty easy to learn to play with because they dont have complicated things like MSVs, Hackers, Remotes, Thermaloptic Camouflage etc. The downside is that because they are 'cheap' in game you will probably need to spend more money.

 bbb wrote:
What I'm looking for:
-I don't like cheesecake, so I'd like to avoid it as much as possible.

Avoid Aleph (semi naked female androids with pinup bodies) and some Nomads (the Bakunin line is pure anime of the worst kind). Outside of that, you're safe.

 bbb wrote:
-I don't want to show up and have people say, "Oh great...another [insert name of over represented faction] player."

That depends entirely on your local group. While Ariadna and Pan Oceania are globally the most popular, your local group might be all Combined Army, statistically the lowest count globally. If you want to find the least played in your area, you're just better off asking the locals.

 bbb wrote:
-I'd like to have a faction that is developed enough to facilitate varied tactics (Tohaa has some nice looking models, but seems to not have as many choices as other factions)

Any faction. Some do things better than others. For example, Haqqislam have lots of good light infantry and some dirty tricks (holofields and impersonation, an viral weapons), but can still run a decent TAG or heavy infantry list.

The best suggestion is always 'go with the range that has the models you like'. You'll be able to make a list you like out of it. The game is incredibly flexible.

 bbb wrote:
-I'd like to spend between $60 to $100 (retail price) to have a well rounded starting force

Very easy for any faction. I didn't even spend that in Australian dollars (we pay more) and got a 300pt, well rounded force.

We don't pay that much more for infinity here because they don't have the "GW convict excise" added to them.

I've found prices from several OS vendors and locals to be much of a muchness - if I'm only saving about $1 buying from OS compared to locally, I'll get local.

Easy to get a 300pt force for under $100USD though. If you plan the purchases - and take advantage of split boxes (chokonnit/shaekonnit).

Thanks everyone. I'll double check with our local group to see what the consensus is.

As far as the rules for the game, every thing is free, right? I can just get the pdf and won't need the books at all?

The rules are free. The reasons you would want the books are the background, art, and the campaign system that is in the Paradiso book.

 bbb wrote:

-I'd like to have a faction that is developed enough to facilitate varied tactics (Tohaa has some nice looking models, but seems to not have as many choices as other factions)

Then don't go for ariadna.
Almost no hacker except for mercenaries, not much tech.

macbain wrote:

 bbb wrote:

-I'd like to have a faction that is developed enough to facilitate varied tactics (Tohaa has some nice looking models, but seems to not have as many choices as other factions)

Then don't go for ariadna.
Almost no hacker except for mercenaries, not much tech.

Yet they have a lot of different choices in terms of playstyle, at least within the CHA (which is all I have experience playing). Swarms of crazies (Galwegians), all camo'd and infiltratey (SAS, Scots guards, etc), Heavy Infantry link teams backed by cheap support (Greys and volunteers), and probably some more cornercase builds.

They are limited in the ITS scenarios because of their hacker problems (just the dozers if I'm not wrong), but they aren't limited in army style.

FO SAS count as engineers at WIP -3 because they are 'specialists'. So while Dozers are the only Engineers that the CHA can get, there are other specialists.

 -Loki- wrote:

 bbb wrote:
What I'm looking for:
-I don't like cheesecake, so I'd like to avoid it as much as possible.

Avoid Aleph (semi naked female androids with pinup bodies) and some Nomads (the Bakunin line is pure anime of the worst kind). Outside of that, you're safe.

The models are gorgeous. The Aleph have such beautiful mechs aswell...

Eagerly following this thread so I can get some extra info about what's cool and what isn't. Is this game easy to introduce new players into or will it be a pain for me to learn and then try to convince other people to?

Well I'm about average at picking up rules I reckon, and a fellow at my store had me introduced to nearly all the rules in three 150pt games, with just one or two to learn when I started playing against the rest of the group (link team and guts rolls were the only things we hadn't touched on. And hacking and that stuff since I'm playing CHA).

The models are so good that you can suck people in. Show them the chain rifle assault pistol SAS model. That is one of the reasons I started playing, just that model.



Seriously.

I started the game because of the Hawwa sniper.

I hadn't even heard of Infinity, saw a thread about cheesecake models in games, and one of the examples was the Hawwa sniper. That day I had a 200pt Haqqislam army planned using the model and had started talking my brother and a friend into starting.

Motyak and -Loki-: I hands down believe your stories because I'm suffering from the same. Every time I see an Infinity model painted somewhere, and if it's either a mech or one of the snipers, I just think "This model is far too awesome, I want to paint it, I want to play with it, oh, it's so awesome".
Problem is, no one over here plays it. There's no Infinity models for sale anywhere aswell. My only chance is for me to learn for myself and then try to spread the word. But still, please, more opinions about the factions

And bbb, sorry about the thread hijack

For me it was the Hassassin Fiday and the Al Hawwa Sniper. I also like ALEPH too (that Naga Sniper!), but now I'm sticking with Haqqislam because of those two.

After looking over the models yet again... I'm leaning towards Ariadna. While they don't have any of the cool mechs or any of the anime flavor, they seem to have a good amount of diversity for the models available to them. I figure if I can get about 10-15 models that would allow for flexible play styles/objectives then if I enjoy the game I could try another faction.

So what would be a good mix of models to get to start? I'm guessing the starter box, but beyond that would be good choices for the next 5 or so models? I'll probably try to get the starter in the next week or so and try to go from there.

Are you planning on playing one particular Sectorial(Caledonian or Merovingian)?

If yes: Their Sectorial starter boxes are a far better purchase than the garbage Ariadnan starter box. The only reason that thing sells at this point is for the Chasseur, who is pretty much a "Must Have" for any Merovingian player.

And he is not available in any other way, shape, or form beyond from people breaking up the vanilla Ariadna starter box.

Basically when making an Infinity army you just buy all the models you want. Most of the time you can start a legal army from there.

A starter is a good point of... start. One starter plus 4-5 blisters of the models you want is a good beginning (usually). For me, I started with the Haqqlislam starter box, plus a Hassassin Fiday, an Al Hawwa Sniper, a Boarding Shotgun Odalisque and a Naga Sniper (which I proxy as a Tuareg). Add them together, Bob's my uncle and I have a legal army I can play around with.

If you like the models in the Ariadnan starter box, go with it. I think the Merovingian starter box is so much cooler though, even if you're not playing Merovingian: you can always use them as a normal Ariadnan army.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Are you planning on playing one particular Sectorial(Caledonian or Merovingian)?

If yes: Their Sectorial starter boxes are a far better purchase than the garbage Ariadnan starter box. The only reason that thing sells at this point is for the Chasseur, who is pretty much a "Must Have" for any Merovingian player.

And he is not available in any other way, shape, or form beyond from people breaking up the vanilla Ariadna starter box.

This is why Dakka is awesome. Thanks, Kanluwen.

I know nothing about Sectorial forces. They're sub-factions I guess, but when building a force can you include selections from the main Ariadnan list, or do you have to stick to your sub-factions? What is the difference between the Caledonian and Merovingian sectorials? Can you build a good force for the main Ariadnan faction if you just avoid the starter box?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thanks, heartserenade, I've heard there's a lot of proxying in Infinity, so I'll have to keep that in mind. Are the rules for all the models free as well, or just the main rules?

 bbb wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
Are you planning on playing one particular Sectorial(Caledonian or Merovingian)?

If yes: Their Sectorial starter boxes are a far better purchase than the garbage Ariadnan starter box. The only reason that thing sells at this point is for the Chasseur, who is pretty much a "Must Have" for any Merovingian player.

And he is not available in any other way, shape, or form beyond from people breaking up the vanilla Ariadna starter box.

This is why Dakka is awesome. Thanks, Kanluwen.

I know nothing about Sectorial forces. They're sub-factions I guess, but when building a force can you include selections from the main Ariadnan list, or do you have to stick to your sub-factions? What is the difference between the Caledonian and Merovingian sectorials? Can you build a good force for the main Ariadnan faction if you just avoid the starter box?

A vanilla Ariadnan army has more options (ALL the Ariadnan units). A sectorial is a more specialized part of the Ariadnan force: therefore they have limited choices when it comes to troops, but they have higher availabilities (you can take an infinite amount of Metros with a Merovingian list, while you can only take a couple in a generic Ariadnan list). It's basically sacrificing versatility for specialization.

Also, sectorials have access to fireteams, but that's a different story.

Okay, so looking over the models for Ariadna, there are four that jump out at me.

Caledonian Mormaers - T2 Rifle (1)
TankHunter - Autocannon (1)
S.A.S. - Chain Rifle (1)
S.A.S. - Boarding Shotgun (1)

Any suggestions where to go from there? After looking over the Caledonian and Merovingian starters I could go either way. Well...all that tartan is a little scary...

I threw my vote in for the hell of it. But I think you are off to a good start. There's not much I can add that the others haven't.

What's the best way to see how the various Ariadna forces are structured? I've heard there are various army builders on the web, would they be a good place to check? Do the free pdfs have that info?

 bbb wrote:
Okay, so looking over the models for Ariadna, there are four that jump out at me.

Caledonian Mormaers - T2 Rifle (1)
TankHunter - Autocannon (1)
S.A.S. - Chain Rifle (1)
S.A.S. - Boarding Shotgun (1)

Any suggestions where to go from there? After looking over the Caledonian and Merovingian starters I could go either way. Well...all that tartan is a little scary...

Something to take note of is that you can feasibly make a good sized Merovingian force by using the Briscard or Loup Garou boxes as the core in lieu of the Merovingian starter set.
It all comes down to whether you want to field a regimented unit or assorted specialists.

We should be seeing the Scots Guard box within the next few months, but no clue when, if the Scots Guard model has tickled your fancy.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 bbb wrote:
What's the best way to see how the various Ariadna forces are structured? I've heard there are various army builders on the web, would they be a good place to check? Do the free pdfs have that info?

There's the official army builder off the actual Infinity site if you want to fiddle with lists.

The free PDFs should have the Sectorial listings. If they don't, I'll go write it up from the back of Campaign: Paradiso as they updated some unit availabilities.

Thanks, Kanluwen, I'll try to check the pdfs when I get home.

It's good to have the official site open too so you can see the sets and figures that are out. Proxies are okay too if you need to.

So what are the most commonly taken units for Ariadna?

I'm thinking about going with the Merovingian starter and at least getting the Tankhuner with the Autocannon (if it is allowed) and then 2-3 other blisters to start, so if anyone has suggestions on what blisters to follow up the Merovingian starter with that would be great.

In a general Ariadna list I see tankhunter all the time! He's too good not to take.

so if I went with the following, would I be able to field a robust force that could adapt to different situations? About how many points could I field?

Loup-Garou BOX (4) 36.38
Force de Reponse Rapide Merovingienne BOX (6) 48.53
TankHunter - Autocannon (1) 11.81

Cost at retail would be 96.72 and I'd have 11 models.

I'll try to look at the official site when I get home.