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So I recently became interested in Infinity. How do I get started? I've downloaded the rule book, skimmed over it, but now I need to know how to pick a faction to start with. And once I've picked one what units/boxes should I buy to start my army?

Thanks.

Do you have any preference in terms of background or mechanic?

If by mechanic you mean like core of the play style, something like shooting everything that moved I guess. Lol

Well, shooting is what the whole game is about so that doesn't narrow anything down.

Usually the most recommended way to decide is how much you like the minis, as in terms of playstyle every faction can succesfully do every playstyle (with varying degrees of success, but successfully. Well, Ariadna can't play the hacking game too well, but if you went mad you could try).

Check out this site: http://www.data-sphere.net/tag/starting-with/


You can read up on most of the armies/sectorials and they have a buying guide on how to build from most of the starter boxes.

Even if you don't follow it specifically, it will give you ideas.

Then you can plan purchases and get the most out of your spending.

Here is sort of a rundown on what each faction's fluff is like,

Pan-O: The richest faction. Their soldiers have the best equipment money can buy. They're the Hyper-power of the sphere, the best TAGs and best Heavy Infantry. Lots of Knights too. They rely on their gear to get through sticky situations, doctors and hackers aren't the best but they have good gear. Not a ton of tricks, mostly straightforward in playstyle.

Yu Jing: Like heavy infantry? Yu Jing has lots of heavy infantry. Lots of melee specialists too. They also totally do NOT have Ninjas, ninjas are a complete Myth. The Emperor would NEVER sanction an organization of remorseless killers with no oversight, absolutely never They also do NOT send criminals into battle with explosive collars, that would be illegal, cruel, and unusual.

Nomads: Lots of tricks, best hacking faction. Solid all around units. Faction of smugglers, lawbreakers, and all around scum and villiany. Also cat girls.

Haqq: A faction of light infantry, and the best doctors. Slightly less techy than the other main factions.

ALEPH: A faction of super post-human cyborgs. Soldiers are expensive, have excellent gear. Lots of characters(heroes of greek myth recreated)

Combined Army: A consortium of alien races in service to an artificial Alien Intelligence which is searching for the key to enlightenment. You got robots, space klingon gorillas, and space frogs who want to breed and populate the galaxy with their spawn. Also kinda have a "We are the Borg, you will be assimilated" thing going on. Can mind control many of the other faction's units because people put computer chips in their heads now.

Tohaa: Artichoke face aliens who have symbiotic armor and weaponry which is allergic to fire. Hate the Combined Army and are desperately trying to use humans as a meat shield for their relentless advance across the galaxy.

Ariadna: Low tech human faction. Make up for it with lots of dirty tricks like hiding in bushes and sniping people with the rough equivalent of depleted Uranium bullets. Or throwing mind controlled dog aliens and human hybrid werewolves at people. Faction comes in Russian, French, Scottish, and 'Murica! flavors. Little to no hacking, and the vast majority of units are unhackable.

Faction with the best minis-- best in your opinion. Works a charm.

Start with the quick starter rules, downloadable here http://infinitythegame.com/archive.php for playing purposes. Official scenarios are on that page under ITS rules and missions Don't worry if the rules seem confusing at first. Once you start playing things become very understandable.

The starter boxes for each faction are generally a good value. But some are showing their age.

 Red Harvest wrote:
Faction with the best minis-- best in your opinion. Works a charm.

This.

Infinity is exceptionally well balanced with very few, if any, outright bad models. Find the faction you think looks badass.

Then find one of their starters. They will have one named '<Faction> starter', which is the generic starter for the faction. Then they will have '<Odd name> starter' which is a sectorial. These are sub lists that reduce or entirely remove the availability of some units while greatly expanding the availability of others to create a themed force. Either way works.

Once you've picked your starter, start asking about for intro games, and look for models to bring yourself up to 300pts/6SWC. If you've picked a sectorial, pick one of the models in the box that can expand into a 'linked team' (basically a squad) and find their box and buy that. For example, if you buy the Qapu Khalki starter, which is of the Haqqislam faction, buy a box of Odalisques to expand the single Spitfire Odalisque into a team of 5.

And again, look around for games. Nothing tells you want you'd like next for your force than playing games.