Hey all, I haven't played infinity for nearly 2 years now, before I stopped playing I remember someone sharing a link that featured a list of 100/150 point 'starter lists', so if you didn't have Operation Icestorm/Red Veil, you could join in with Tohaa/Combined army etc Would anyone have anything like that handy they could point me to? Thanks :D
Someone or I could help you make a list with whatever you have or want but I don't think anyone's made a database or anything.
Well, if I take the two you listed and just slap up the starter box contents, you get sommat like this: Combined Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 6 UNIDRON Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 14) UNIDRON Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 14) UNIDRON Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 14) UMBRA LEGATE Lieutenant K1 Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | 40) FRAACTA (EI Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 35) MAAKREP TRACKER HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 33) 2.5 SWC | 150 Points Open in Infinity Army Tohaa ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 6 KAMAEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) KAMAEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) KAMAEL Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 16) SAKIEL Viral Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) ECTROS Lieutenant Viral Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 43) CLIPSOS Minelayer Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25) 1.5 SWC | 135 Points Open in Infinity Army
I might as reply to you both, it’s the same answer almost. I’ve got Yu Jing/JSA (a couple of thousand points worth), some Ariadna (mostly focused on USARF, but I’ve got the starter sets and a couple of extras for vanilla Ariadna), Tohaa (700 points) and Aleph (about 1000) I’m potentially running a demo this week and I’ve got no idea what makes a balanced list against each other, that features all the cool things. My friend has a decent chunk of Haqqislam too.
Generally I think using units easy to purchase as a set and not using fireteams is the way to go for demos.
The problem is that "cool things" equate to "complicate things" here. Try to get 150pts and as close to 10 orders as possible. I would try to go with 3-4 basic troops, a medic/engineer, an infiltrating camo, and a "heavy duty" Lt. For Aleph I would suggest 3-4 Dakinis, a Sophotect, an Asura (Multi Lt), a Naga (KHD, fairly simple: "magic kills other hackers"), some netrods, and fill with whatever you have to 150 points. For the Phalanx, a Myrmidon fireteam (Machaon/Eudoros +2/3 mirmydons), Alke + 3 thorakitai (FO/paramedic/engineer) and 2 Netrods, if the Thorakitai are too much, add some lone specialists like the Agema or Dactyls. For USAriadna I would add 1-2 Foxtrots, a Grunts Core, 1-2 Desperadoes, 1-2 112/Dozers and a Hardcase maybe. For JSA I would try to start with smokers: Yojimbo and/or Saito, then a Fireteam of Keisotsu and a Haris with the Daiyokai or Musashi. Tell clearly to those who take them that their strength is melee, and they need cover to reach it. For Haqquislam I would try to get some Ghulam Medic+, a Hawwa, and either the Az'Rail or the Al Fasid, with a Djanbazan (if Az'rail) or a Lasiq (if Fasid) sniper, and maybe some Halqa. Try to avoid Muttas and smoke combo. As you can see, I try to avoid blatant "super-Rambo" for this bracket (Asura Spitfire/Posthumans, Blackjack, Tarik, Phoenix, etc...) with a focus on combi rifles or basic stuff, and focus the hackers on "this thing kills other hackers" only.
I agree with @xagroth , you shouldn't try to show all the cool stuff at 150pts. I wouldn't take more than one 'cool stuff' model per faction.
I sort of agree, but the starter boxes usually have 2-3. I mean the YJ starter has a Hsien and a Tiger Soldier. I wouldn't try and do demos with a kanren and a ninja and a tiger soldier oh my, but I'd totally give them 1 'heavy hitter' and 1 'mobile/sneaky guy'.
By cool stuff I mean a decent trooper, something with Camo etc along the same lines as the Ice Storm box.
@xagroth - the Recon+ rules packet restrictions are very much in line with your recommendations. Special characters are limited to a certain points value (no Achilles / Tarik etc.), Fireteams are limited (one Fireteam, max 3 models), and the number of Ex. Impetuous models are limited for the purpose of balance. We've been playing it a lot in my meta and had a lot of luck growing the community. Is it perfect from a competitive standpoint? Of course not, but it's fairly well-balanced across factions and is good for reducing game complexity and play time. http://rocketshipgames.com/infinity/recon+/
Or if you want really simple (sort of balanced) options, I would recommend this formula. 3 Line infantry. 1 Heavy Infantry (whatever you can get that is roughly equal in cost between demo armies, preferably something vanilla like a Zuyong or ORC troop that will only stand out for having 2 wounds. 1 Ranged Specialist or Infiltrator without other frills - In this slot stick a mimetism sniper, infiltrator with boarding shotgun, or drop troop. Again, try to opt for froughly similar costs and only the 1 special rule (So a bashi bazouk would be less appealing given it also has holoprojector, while a guilang is just a camo skirmisher) 1 SWC Line infantry or similar 'fragile' heavy weapons unit. Try and avoid extra rules on this guy outside his gun, so an HMG or Spitfire are decent options. Examples in vanilla YJ, JSA, Haqq, and Nomads, as the ones I know anything about. Demo ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 6 ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZÚYǑNG Lieutenant Combi Rifle / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0 | 27) GŬILÁNG Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) BÀO TROOP (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29) 1.5 SWC | 113 Points Open in Infinity Army Haqqislam ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 6 GHULAM Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) GHULAM Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) GHULAM Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) ZHAYEDAN Lieutenant (Marksmanship L2) Breaker Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31) TUAREG Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28) NAFFATÛN Rifle + Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) 0 SWC | 108 Points Open in Infinity Army Nomads ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 6 ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) MOBILE BRIGADA Lieutenant MULTI Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 39) GRENZER MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) ZERO Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 17) 1.5 SWC | 118 Points Open in Infinity Army Japanese Secessionist Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 6 KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) DOMARU Lieutenant Chain Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 26) RYŪKEN (CH: Limited Camouflage) Heavy Rocket Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 23) RYŪKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 24) 2 SWC | 100 Points Open in Infinity Army
Our problem was how to introduce Japanese players to the game when there's no Japanese rulebook and the learning curve to the full game is so very steep. Our solution isn't exactly what you're describing, but might be close enough to your needs to be of interest. We're working with CB to get the rules translated to Japanese and have so far completed the Quick Start and Ice Storm/Red Veil rules; we've also translated @ijw's YAMS cards and the additional Infinity rules needed to play those missions. Then we've devised a system of introductory games using the units in the Starter Boxes plus additional models in simplified games on a fairly level playing field. We have printed lists of all the profiles for each of the units in all the Starter Boxes, plus a few extra units that are likely to show up, such as the Pan Oceania Father Knight from the Ice Storm set, or the Yu Jing Ninja from the Red Veil set, etc. Players choose whichever faction they're interested in and select the units they want to play from the lists, which gives an immediate sense of how army lists work in the game. Initially, the skills and equipment are limited to those in those basic rules, for example, weapons are just Combi Rifle and Heavy Machine Gun, there are no template weapons, and Airborne Deployment is much simplified. We use 50 point increments for the lists, and otherwise stick to the usual SWC limit eg. 185/4 versus 155/4 is ok. Players have an additional 3 slots in their lists which are either a bonus Regular Order or an actual unit and their order. Spoiler: Starter Box units + Regular Order slot lists Key: Starter Box units, optional additional units, up to three bonus Orders Pan Oceania Starter Set Units + optional unit + bonus Orders Fusilier Fusilier Fusilier Nisse Orc Trooper Akali + Father Knight + Regular Order + Regular Order Morat Aggression Force Starter Set Units + optional units Morat Vanguard Morat Vanguard Morat Vanguard Raktorak Sogarat Oznat + Hungries + Hungries + Med-Tech Obsidon After a couple of games, most players naturally want to explore the other profiles on their lists, so we teach the rules for each additional skill or equipment and introduce them into the games at whatever speed the players themselves wish, and can teach one another new rules so they can play particular units, but always fall back to the lowest common denominator by negotiation. As readers will realize, this requires a fair bit of flexibility on the part of the more experienced players, so I keep a list of the skills and equipment that players have learned, to help with the matchups. We have a growing list of troop profiles laid up as PDFs of 4 pages that can be printed, sleeved and reused, and there's further explanation of how to work with the lists on that page. I hope this is useful to you @8bit_jesus, I'd be very interested in your feedback if you try it out, and if anyone wants to run up more of these lists and provide the PDF and Army Code, I'd be very pleased to add them to our page, thanks.
I have done a lot of intro games to new players or people who just wanted to know how Infinity works. What I usually do is play with 5-7 models per side. Both forces are roughly equal and have the same things. It looks something like this: 3 line troopers with rifles 1 line trooper with HMG 1 line trooper with sniper rifle 1 camouflaged skirmisher with boarding shotgun or rifle to show that there is special stuff going on 1 heavy infantry with a rifle Then I play a simple scenario with them, usually from 20x20. This way they get the feeling of how to play the game without having to deal with all the complications, but getting the feeling that there are complications in the game.
I ask myself this question every other month when I run a demo games day here in São Paulo. Last weekend I decided to say 'screw it' and focus on game mechanics instead of having several models on the table. So instead of going for an operation style, 6 models to each side, 150 points game, I went with a TAG deathmatch game. And people loved it! On TAG deathmatch you only have 1 model for each player, and they can focus a lot more on positioning and learning things like spending orders and ARO. It also helps them think more about facing and whatnot, so you can teach the game mechanics more than teaching the game rules. If you don't have a TAG, it's very easy to adapt the rules for infantry models. TAG Deathmatch, simplified: Each player controls a single S7 TAG, and they all have 3 orders. Each tag has the same statline: MOV 6-4, CC19, BS14, PH17, WIP13, ARM5, BTS6 3STR. Each tag is armed with a combi-rifle. You just have to spread spawnpoints over the table (I used some of those retreat tokens, because the flag made it easy for people to understand). And also put on 4-6 consoles where players can spend a short skill to roll on the booty tables to get new gear. If your TAG blows up, you respawn at the beginning of your next turn. First player to get 3 frags wins. Makes for a very fun game, and can even be played with more than 2 people. I find it the easiest way to teach Infinity for someone who never played before.
Well, I've been running Infinity Demo games every other month for the last 2 years or so, and here's some things I noticed: - 6 models to each side looks boring as fuck. An Infinity table looks like a sprawling urban scape or industrial complex with nothing in it. Boring. Doubly so when it's right next to a 40k table with 40+ models on each side. - Infinity at the most basic level is super easy to explain: Movement, facing, orders, range/burst mods and ARO. Forget Camo, forget Lt rule, focus on the basics. - Newcomers shouldn't have to sit through a 10-20 minutes explanation of the game and their models before they can start playing. - When there's 3-4 other games being played around you, you want your game to feel different enough for the players to remember it later. This is stuff for when the person knows absolutely nothing about Infinity, doesn't have their own models, and is only interested in Wargames in general. It does work as a funnier way to the usual '3 models to each side' games that sometimes we play to teach mechanics
