Hi all! I am completely new to infinity. I picked up a copy of operation icestorm. I'm looking for some guidance on making up a good vanilla pan o team. I ended up getting a Cutter for 50% off, and was wondering were to go next. I was thinking maybe Auxilia for the orders, or bulleteer for some extra fire power. Also, I was thinking a Hexa unit for some good hacking.
All of the choice you specified are great. Auxilia are one of PanO's best units, relative to their cost. Acontecimento Regulars with Minelayer is another great staple for Vanilla play, since both mines and Sensor are great defensive tools that let you preserve your Order pool and assist the rest of your force (you can always use some Fusiliers as Regulars also.) The Hexa's great, certainly. The Killer Hacker is popular, and a good fit for any list that uses Heavy Infantry, TAGs or combat REMs (which is basically most PanO lists.) A Zulu Cobra is another great choice, either as a Killer Hacker, or a Jammer for more defense. Having strong backline defense is nice in a TAG list, because it means your Order pool can keep itself safe and watch out for itself while your TAG does a lot of the heavy lifting. Other good options are the Swiss Guard HMG... Almostt the same offensive output as a Cutter, but quite less in points. The Nisse are great gunfighters, and a popular Vanilla staple.
If you're going to stick with Vanilla for awhile I would absolutely suggest you buy the Dronbot box – they are abolsutely amazing and fill out lists really nicely. Although they don't make a Hexa hacker model right now a Zulu Cobra is a nice proxy for the time being. In fact, theyre pretty great themselves so it's something to look into! I would also suggest you buy the Fusilier box, if you even want to branch into our sectorials these guys are seen in 1/2 of them and can proxy nicely for the other two kinds of line troops. I would also suggest looking into splitting the "Beyond Icestorm" box as that gives you two really great shooters in the form of the Kamau HMG and the Swiss Guard
Whenever it comes to TAGs ( And HI. ) I cannot recommend enough taking a look at @daboarder thread on using a bunch of the things: https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/a-primer-on-tactical-armoured-gear-operations.805/ PanO is a cool faction with cool things. I'm sure there's a lot of people who know better about PanO than I do that can tell you that in great detail.
Welcome! You made a great steal on that Cutter! Let's see here... I really recommend getting the various remotes (PanO calls the DronBots), you will probably want to magnetize them so you can swap between all the different weapons. If you're not handy enough to magnetize, I'd recommend building one with the gatling gun (that's the Sierra DronBot, Total Reaction 360-Visor HMG) and one with the large tube (that's the Pathfinder, CombiRifle and Forward Observer) as your first two REMs. Then you can debate between the various others for your second box of remotes. Auxilia are really useful for PanO (and a pain in the butt for your opponents to deal with), so that's another good buy.
Came to give my usual advice, but I see @barakiel and @Section9 have beaten me to it. They are both onto it @Greenhadouken I have written a couple of relevant articles which may be useful. This one is on getting started with PanOceania: http://heartofthehyperpower.blogspot.com/2018/09/starting-with-hyperpower-guide-to.html This one is on supporting a TAG in a PanOceania list: http://heartofthehyperpower.blogspot.com/2018/09/supporting-ultimate-argument.html Both are relevant to what you are looking at and should prove helpful. Best of luck, and welcome to the Hyperpower!
Thanks for all the fast response and great advice. The infinity community is a fantastic at making new players feel comfortable with asking questions.
Welcome to the party! To avoid parroting what others are saying, because it’s all true, I’ll recommend two things. One: play through the missions in the Icestorm rulebook. Do all of them and make are you are comfortable with how they play before you move out into the world of ITS (Infinity Tournament System, how 90% of games are played). They are a great way to get familiar with the rules a small chunk at a time, because the full rule set is very deep and sometimes confusing! Two: see if you can find someone else to learn with you. It’s hard to jump into a game solo, especially if your local area is full of a lot of experienced pros. Having a friend who is close to your skill level when you start will help you avoid feeling like a small fish in a large pond. Plus, this gives you someone to split boxes like Icestorm with!
Welcome to the Hyperpower! BROKEN RECORD TIME! These are two great points brought up by @MrNailbrain - You'll find that most people will always suggest playing through the missions of the starter boxes. They really are designed to introduce the rules in small bites so that you feel comfortable with all the core mechanics by the time you're done. Sorry if you've already played through them, and this has turned into a TL;DR rant. In regards to purchases and options, @barakiel and @Section9 have already suggested the options I would look at, and they will also give you more to play with if you decide to move into a sectorial (most options fit nicely into NCA). - The Hexa KHD is a popular one it seems, and works in both Vanilla and NCA. One thing to keep in mind is that there is no model currently for this profile, so a conversion or proxy would be needed. - The Zulu-Cobra profiles are fantastic, and one of my favourites in the game. The killer hacker and the sensor/jammer options are great, and both come in blister packs, so they are easy and cheap to purchase - The (dron)bot suggestion from @Section9 is great, and they can be used in any of the sectorials as well. - If you're looking at using your Cutter in most of your games (expensive, but fun), perhaps looking at an engineer option might be beneficial. Nothing fancy, just a Machinist with a palbot is a solid choice. HMG PROFILE RANT TIME! Though there are a multitude of weapons/skill options that make for amazing gunfighters, I think that there are some great solo HMG pieces that work well in Vanilla (some already mentioned by @barakiel) as gunfighters; and ones that don't cost the 115 points price-tag of the Cutter. Nisse HMG - Popular profile and great sculpt (IMO). Decent BS of 13, Mimetism (meaning it is harder to shoot at/back at him) and MSV2 (allowing him to deal with things like smoke, and helping to mitigate negative mods imposed to his shooting by opposing models). Also a combo-blister option that comes with the hacker profile. I think this blister is a good purchase for someone starting to collect pano. Swiss Guard HMG - Tanky Tanky. Some similar rules and gear to the Cutter, but on a cheaper platform and smaller base. This model is also one of my favourites, and comes in the Beyond: Operation Icestorm box. This box is a great purchase for anyone who wants to expand on the core box, especially if you have a friend you can split it with. The Nomad side also has great models/options, so it's a win-win. Kamau HMG - Another BS13, Mimetism HMG gunfighter. He lacks the MSV2 and higher armour that the Nisses have, but gains some fun rules like shock immunity, stealth, aquatic terrain and has a BTS of 6. He is also 6 points cheaper, and his SWC cost is 1 (compared to the 1.5 of the Nisse). I love this guy, though to be honest it is probably because I play Varuna. This model also comes in the Beyond: Operation Icestorm box, so that may make things easier as you start. Aquila Guard HMG - Like the Cutter and Swiss Guard, he is a BS15 gun platform. He also has the coveted MSV3. Once again, this model comes in a mid priced blister so it is easy to pick up... ALSO, he has a trench coat that he wears over his armour. What's not to love? ORC HMG - Perhaps not the best choice for a standalone gunfighter but I thought this deserved a mention, especially if you decide to branch out into either NCA or Varuna. The ORCs are a non-bloat profile. They have no special skills or gear, so every point you pay goes directly into the statline and weapon/gear option you purchase. The age-old saying of "Boring and Reliable" might come to mind, but I really do like these guys. Gonna wrap this up, as it is becoming a (bad) novella at this point. I would also recommend reading the Pano pinned posts here in the forum, and the links that @AdmiralJCJF posted... they're great. One thing to remember is that everyone will have a different playstyle, so try things out and have fun with it.
When I started and before switching to ITS, me and my meta tried the 20x20 mission system. The objectives are more or less similar to those on ITS but it has less special rules and less restrictions regarding specialists. They work great as an intro to ITS and to avoid being overwhelmed with all the things a regular ITS brings to the table. To check the missions and avoid looking for PDFs, we put up a simple reference web page. http://54.149.71.220/infinity/20x20.html
I just gotta say it again, the community is really great here. I've been reading all of the suggestions you all made for me, and I have been learning a lot more about what goes on in a match. @Quehacesfede, I will definitely look into that. My freind that got me into it plays vanilla ALEPH. After I go through the missions in operation icestorm I will probably want to give those a try. I think I'm going to pick up a box of the Auxilia followed by Beyond operation icestorm. That Swiss Guard sounds like a bad ass, and I would love to have him and a cutter on the field together. I like the idea of having the father knight as a hacker. I don't think he would be expecting that. After I pick up those 2 boxes it's a toss up between the Dronbots box, or the bulleteers. I like them both.
Welcome to the Hyperpower! I highly recommend playing "Infinity:Recon" it's a fan made pdf-book with scaled down versions of popular ITS missinons for some 150point games. It's a nice step inbetween icestorm and the big missions while learning.
Some of my most fun Infinity moments have been playing Recon! It gets stale rather quickly but as a break from ITS prep it’s great fun!
You could also peruse this: https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threa...or-at-least-the-sectorials-that-i-play.28070/
