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So I'm taking the plunge and going for Infinity. First up, hi, secondly, what can I expect in differences from 40K? I know Infinity is a skirmish game, but aside from that I know very little.

Cheers in advance

I'm also jumping off 40k and will be diving into Infinity. I'm looking at Aleph. I too would like to know more.

I just started buying some models based on looks alone.

FWIW, I'm also going with Aleph. Got Nesaie Alke a while back based on looks, but now I'm probably going to seriously invest in the game. Looking forward to it

Well, first off tactical options are much more detailed.

The game is not won or lost during list creation.

You never have to sit helpless during your opponents turn. Unless he maneuvers so that you cannot see him that is.

Lots and lot of terrain. You need it. Standing in the open and firing will get you killed fast.

Depending on the format you'll be playing (YAMS, ITS, other), an army list will still have important impact. In some aspects is less restraining than warhammer, even bad units are workable, however depending on the community those could get overlooked.

The system is sensitive to terrain, you don't want too many pieces of it on table but also you don't want too many clearings, sniper nests are also strongly discouraged.

What I enjoy about Infinity is that there are less unique rules and pieces tied to a specific faction. Rifle is a rifle, combi rifle is a combi rifle etc.

Order pool and management is something a new person should focus in his first few games. I recommend building a larger pool, it's simply easier to work with. With Aleph this is a bit more tricky as units are rather expensive and Thorikates are tied to a specific box.

Set aside any pre-conceived notions you have about tabletop games... ie the GW trained brain syndrome. Once you do that, learning the game gets easier.

Some differences:
-It is a very tactical game. Not so much strategic. So list-building etc, not important unless you need certain units for a scenario.
-10-15 minis per side, as a general rule, at 300 point games. but 200 point games and even 250 point games are fine. For starters, use 100-150 points, just to learn what you are doing.
-Use a d20, not a d6.
-The Order Pool. You can spend all your orders on 1 mini if you need to. Or 1 order per mini ( not recommended) or something in between. Depends upon what you need to do.
-The ARO system. Your meeples can die on your own turn if you are incautious or unlucky.
-If your meeple is seen, it will be shot. If it is shot, it will probably die. Just like in real life. So terrain of all sorts is a must. Cover is important. Very important.

Best advice is to pick the faction with the best looking minis (as you determine best looking ) and go from there. Alot of things become clear once you actually start to play. Good luck, and here or in the official forums are good places to ask about rules etc.

 Red Harvest wrote:
Set aside any pre-conceived notions you have about tabletop games... ie the GW trained brain syndrome. Once you do that, learning the game gets easier.

This is the best advice. For me, coming from a completely 40k gaming background, Infinity was like stepping into a whole new world. The game is going to feel so different. You're going to see models die on turn 1 to precision deep strikes or simply from wandering into the line of sight of enemy models. You're going to see basic line grunts save the day while super expensive models die like flies because you didn't play them right. You're going to need to be far more concious of cover, positioning, and more importantly, facing, as models only have a 180 degree line of sight 95% of the time. Looking at a wall gets you shot in the ass. You're going to see games be decided by turn 2 - but not due to being hit by a plethora of S10 or D pie plates, but due to actually being out played, with both players coming out having a fulfilling, tactical experience rather than one person just spending an hour removing models.

Infinity is a fast, brutal, tactical game which involves both players in every turn, rather than just one person rolling saves for a whole turn. It's basically the polar opposite of what you get from 40k.

I think the thing that hit me in the face when moving to Infintu from a GW background was when my opponent's William Wallace (and his massive sword) charged one of my grunts armed with a knife and got himself killed.

This game is LETHAL.

On a side note since people are talking Aleph, No Wound Incapacitation is a wonderful, wonderful skill. I tend to run out of points quickly and end up with half my Special Weapon points left, make sure to squeeze in as many as you can. Also Asuras are amazing.

Like all things in Infinity, No Wound Incapacitation still does have a downside. It grants the model a pseudo second wound, but it also means that once lost, the model moves straight to Dead, rather than Unconscious. This isn't desireable if you like doctors, as it leaves you no chance to revive them. And while a doctor can attempt to heal them back to 'normal' state once they've lost their wound, failing the roll acts exactly as if it was an Unconscious model - it dies.

And while it might sound like a no brainer - he's Unconscious but still functioning, that leaves a tricky choice. Heal him back to normal to give him another wound back, but potentially kill a perfectly functioning model. Or leave it, hanging in the balance with one wound and no fallback.

NWI is a great skill, but it really does not play well with doctors. So if you like doctors (I do), then while it's a great skill, it's also not something you want too much of in a list.

Just dropped 40K also. 7th edition is too pants on head. Infinity has exactly what im looking for, so I bought a small force of SAS and Rangers. How cool is that? Modern, real life military units in a realistic cyberpunk setting. Can't wait to start playing. From what I understand so far, the rules system seems ALOT like the video game "Valkyria Chronicles" for the PS3. Any confirmation on this?

 Musashi363 wrote:
Just dropped 40K also. 7th edition is too pants on head. Infinity has exactly what im looking for, so I bought a small force of SAS and Rangers. How cool is that? Modern, real life military units in a realistic cyberpunk setting. Can't wait to start playing. From what I understand so far, the rules system seems ALOT like the video game "Valkyria Chronicles" for the PS3. Any confirmation on this?

As someone who played Valkryia Chronicles, I never even noticed that before!

But yes, it's very similar.

 -Loki- wrote:

 Red Harvest wrote:
Set aside any pre-conceived notions you have about tabletop games... ie the GW trained brain syndrome. Once you do that, learning the game gets easier.

This is the best advice. For me, coming from a completely 40k gaming background, Infinity was like stepping into a whole new world. The game is going to feel so different. You're going to see models die on turn 1 to precision deep strikes or simply from wandering into the line of sight of enemy models. You're going to see basic line grunts save the day while super expensive models die like flies because you didn't play them right. You're going to need to be far more concious of cover, positioning, and more importantly, facing, as models only have a 180 degree line of sight 95% of the time. Looking at a wall gets you shot in the ass. You're going to see games be decided by turn 2 - but not due to being hit by a plethora of S10 or D pie plates, but due to actually being out played, with both players coming out having a fulfilling, tactical experience rather than one person just spending an hour removing models.

Infinity is a fast, brutal, tactical game which involves both players in every turn, rather than just one person rolling saves for a whole turn. It's basically the polar opposite of what you get from 40k.

That's a great write-up of the game.

It's good if you can start the game at the same time as someone else as well - then both have a mini 'arms race' as you both get to grips with the different rules, miniatures and the way to play.

But yes, classic 40k faux pas are running your guys in the open waving around a sword (hint: they won't get to use the sword), and standing them so they are facing a wall as though they have done something naughty, and then getting machine-gunned in the back

Long term planning is something in infinity. 40k you can kinda go in but depending on what dies that changes. Infinity really benefits from picturing your long term game plan and worst case scenarios for it and doing your best around it. Positioning mistakes in deployment might mean you only ever get a few shots off in a game while you get steamrolled on objectives or similar.

It's also worth noting that in Infinity you need to play to your objectives as well. 40k is very focussed on tabling your opponent, and maybe grabbing objectives. With Infinity, if you're playing one of the two main objective systems (ITS or YAMS), your victory is determined by your victory points. Tabling your opponent doesn't mean a whole lot if, by the end of the game, they've scored more objective points.

Tabling your opponent while they score more objective points doesn't get you the win.

What is YAMS?

YAMS is Infinity slang (from somewhere) that came out meaning, "Yet Another Mission System".

Its basically a printout of cards you can download, print, and cut out, and then that gives you a Deck that randomizes some objectives for you to complete. It was a community driven need, since the only other option when playing was to murder each other and that was it.

It introduces some objectives like having to hack a certain point, get a civilian, blow up crates, get to your opponent's deployment zone... etc etc. If you Google Yet Another Mission System Infinity you should be able to find it and print em' out. A lot of the Tournament scenes used them for a bit, since it gave them objectives to score and point totals to add up.

And here it is, http://wargamingtrader.com/yams for your viewing pleasure.

Cheers for that guys

So I should hopefully have a kind of introduction game soonish, nothing too fancy, just the quick start rules really. Just a quick question, will we be ok using 3D20s, or do I need to grab some more before we start?

Edit: Oh, and where did the neat Dakka Infinity sig banners come from?

I'm not sure about the Sigs, but as for dice, it is usually good to have 5-6 dice. Some of the higher burst weapons can use four and five dice in a single attack, and the defender will usually need dice to roll while you're making your rolls.

But I think half a dozen should be good. You can always fudge through with three though.

The most you will NORMALLY need (d20s) is 5.

The biggest gun rolls 5 dice in attack (in active).

IF you have a bunch of guys all firing suppressive fire at the one target, you might need more dice - but generally 5-6 of them should be enough.

I've got about 16 of them - but that's because for years, they were those 'orrible D&D dice that were thrown into a drawer and ignored.