Thursday, July 26, 2012

Infinity Drive Around the Block

"The mean streets of Milton Bradley." -mezzwargames

The other night we got in a trial-run of Infinity using the free quickstart rules. We had one goal and that was to get down the basics of the turn sequence, the mechanics, and the like. I haven't been the most prolific in posting, but as I may have said, there is growing interest here in Infinity. There were four players; myself and Ray both with painted starter sets, Andy who had figs just not completed, and Jeff, who I'm guessing will be picking some up soon. This was a trial run mind you, so it was kind of slow-going, and as you can see from the impromptu "poor man's urban terrain" it was kind of bare bones.


Look! Freshly painted figs, in action...in a new game! Very exciting! Yup, I'm excited if you couldn't tell. Apparently the starter box I have, the Combined Army, has about 75 more points worth of troops in it than the other boxes so a couple of my line troopers sat this one out.


We proxied a Pan-Oceana starter box as well as a duplicate Ariadna starter box and played two on two. Here you can see Andy's proxied Orc Troop get taken out by the enemy Ariadna troops using their effective AROs.

We're no strangers to Two-Hour Wargames around here, so the reactive type phase of the turn wasn't entirely new, but it was still refreshing to see it in action again in a skirmish game. It's basically overwatch, is your opponent moving across your line of sight? Well you can do something about it now, shoot them! There's a ton of actions you can do in addition to shooting however, and having all those options broadens the gameplay.


Camouflage plays a big role in the game. There are different levels of camo too, from basic fatigues to thermo optics and light bending materials. You move markers around until your model is 'discovered' by the enemy, then you put the fig on the table. Here you can see my Malignos skulking about, he just took a shot at a target, who survived, so he lost his camo for the turn. I like how the figs in the game don't just have combat stats and guns only, you have support equipment and skills that are useful for other things, like bypassing doors and what-not. My Malignos lurker here also has an automedkit as well as some other neat skills and equipment, all of which escape me as of this writing.


Another thing we discovered rather quickly is that the model that costs about four times as many points as any other given model on the table...well, he's pretty good in combat. My Charontid wasn't the fastest guy around but his combat stats and armor seem very high compared to everyone else. I only have the free rules, not the rulebook with all the fluff so I was a bit disappointed to find out that this model is more of a 'ghost in the shell' type character than just a buff alien in power armor. It's still a cool concept mind you, just one I hadn't considered. I am the kind of gamer that likes the fluff, them, story, what-not. It's not 100% for me, but it weighs heavier on the scale than mechanics and the like.

Showdown between the Charontid and an Ariadna Chasseur

Near the end of the test game we weren't playing exactly by the turn sequence but were putting models in situations to test the rules further. Sticking two guys in close combat to see how that pans out, moving a medic in contact with a fallen comrade to work through that, and so on.

I had boldly stated early on that I would learn the rules and handle the workload in that department to facilitate getting everyone on board. In full disclosure I have not, in fact, made a whole lot of progress on learning the rules, ahem. Needless to say, our first foray went over positively so expect to see more. I can't really give an impression of the rules just yet, other than it is more than just skirmish scale, I would call it hero scale, where every model on the table has as many stats and doohickeys as a light RPG character, and once the fast playing rules are learned you will be able to do all kinds of varied and cool games.

Looking at the rest of the way to three hundred points with the Combined Army, it looks like I'm just three models shy. From there, I don't know, I thought of amassing lots of CA models to have options and varieties but I'm second-guessing that now. Infinity is the kind of game where it is very feasible to have multiple 300pt armies without investing too much time or money either way. With all the gorgeous models, it's hard to resist. You can have your cake and eat it too, or in my case, have my aliens and ninjas too. Until next time, enjoy!

16 comments:

  1. I still have to finish painting my infinity figures but the game does look fun to play... when I have a break from Malifaux I think I'll be into it.

    Also with the Proxies there are they Capitol troops from Warzone? I loved that game and have a Dark Legion, Cybertronic and Brotherhood force.

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    1. See, I thought I'd be playing Malifaux long before Infinity, but those figs are still in the package.

      And yes, good eye, those are Warzone troopers; Imperial Blood Berets. I loved Warzone and I guess I should've noted that Infinity also uses a d20 as its main die type, just like Warzone did.

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  2. Infinity is a game i would love to try one day, but there's not enough of a following (or any at all) for me to invest a starter set in.

    I would probably be Nomads. A hacker techforce sounds cool. I would probably paint them white, orange, and black, and call them the "Geek Squad"

    I used to work for Geek Squad.

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    1. It was funny, just the opposite here. Nobody was playing it or even thinking about it. One or two exploratory mentions and we literally had players coming out of retirement to sign up.

      I love your Geek Nomads idea, that's pretty good. After I hit the 300pt mark with the aliens of the Combined Army I'm thinking maybe going in a completely different route just for some variety. And the have a second loaner force if needed.

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  3. Sweet, glad you had fun. Looking forward to seeing what else you come up with

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    1. Thanks Brummie, the main thing I need to come up with is learning the rules. My birthday is around the corner so I'm hoping to snag the final three figs to bring my army to fruition.

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  4. Looks like fun, Im jealous again!

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    1. Just a simple 9,000 mile relocation and you're smack dab in the middle of Minions country!

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  5. You guys move quick! Painted and playing even though you get your models just a couple of weeks ago, right? Love it!

    It's very easy to get the cravings for yet another faction in Infinity, and it's cheap enough (relatively speaking) to get away with it.

    It's worth mentioning that just switching out a single model in your force can change your tactics and playstyle drastically. And most armies can do most play styles.

    Looking forward to seeing more about this! :D

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    1. That's right Martin, two weeks exactly from getting the figs in the post to painted to tabletop.

      I do like that you can test the waters of other factions relatively on the cheap too. Might be nice to have a pair of armies on hand to be able to use with new players sit in.

      Planning on picking up a Speculo, Noctifer, and Rasyat this weekend. I hope I spelled those right!

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