So why is O12 apparently quite unpopular?

They only recently got most of the needed profiles as models (most were locked behind a KS), hit right before an edition change then into a pandemic, and still feels like it's missing another secotrials worth of stuff to flesh it out.

basically timing stopped it from being big at launch and the the last few years havent helped at all. give them time.

I recently started playing them again regularly and trying to relearn how they work.

 

I'm superficial, and for me it's the aesthetics. I think the models are alright, but I find the paint scheme horrendous. Navy and gold is not particularly enticing to me, and the aqua used here and there clashes badly. It's also difficult to copy if like me you like to paint official schemes: the gold NMM takes more work than I'm ready to put in.

But then I'm someone who has bought a lot of their Infinity stuff based on looks, I assume many posters here are better than I!

 

For me personally it was that starmada was somewhat underwhelming, restricted and there where a lot of somewhat redundant models added instead of working with the gamma and omegas and the likes that are available in vanilla.
I actually painted all the O12 miniatures of operation wildfire and like them from the asthestic viewpoint, well except the zeta. But I already had so many factions that I gave the painted O12 and the exclusive models from Defiance to a friend.

 

I think it's a combo of there isn't much to discuss on the forums due to a lot of interest when the first came out and they haven't recieved much since, combined with some peoples disappointment with Starmada. For me, I really like O-12 as it can run any kind of list I want and is good for new players but I find myself drawn to the more complex gameplay in Ariadna and Shasvastii.

 

Lack of narrative depth. They're portrayed as unironic good guys.

 

Heavy handed, overreaching bloated bureaucracy is the good guy?

 

They are by definition, "The Man." They also look like they were custom built to be the beginner faction. Hopefully as the world begins to open up, we shall see more of them.

 

They're not actually portrayed as heavy handed or overreaching in the fluff.

 

Agree to disagree.

 

We have 7 O12 players mostly drawn from our more recent crops of recruits in a group of about 30 players so I would tend to say they're doing pretty well in my parts (if anything we struggle for Pano players)

O12 didn't have many models at the start, the models that exist are very nice but they're struggling in range at the moment, like gangbusters; everyone and their dog uses at least 1 gang buster and the only model available is the gorgeous but pretty niche usage shotgun profile rather than SMG KHD madtraps which people actually use.

 

There's just no evidence for your argument. O-12 is portrayed as unfailingly righteous, justified, and heroic, in contrast to basically every other faction in the game.

 

For me it was the Epsilon, and the whole "better Nisse" argument. Then I saw the Varangian, which felt like a better Galwegian, and after that I couldn't help but see the faction as some power creepy Bulrog.

I know its not true, but man, first impressions really matter.

For what its worth, I love the blue and gold aesthetic on certain models (fuck yes bluecoats), but don't like it extended across the range.

 

The forces of O-12 are the Space Cops. While cops are popular protagonists in media, it is definitely not universal belief that cops are unfailingly righteous. O12 is no different in that regard. To me, the fluff makes clear that they do some ambiguous things to keep the peace and the status quo. In addition, the fluff blurbs for the units make clear that they are not all good guys (Lynx, PSI-Cops, Razors https://infinitytheuniverse.com/blog/december-releases). Also the betatroopers have a such a high attrition rate something has to be off (https://infinitytheuniverse.com/blog/betatroopers-unit-beta)...

Basically, every faction has its grey.

 

I think both point of views are actually valid, funnily enough. They’re the hyper-idealist UN with the actual means to do things. THEY certainly think of themselves as righteous, justified and heroic, but they’re also very much a bureaucracy, and a heavy-handed one at that.

I’d also point out that their decisions-making sucks. Sure, let’s validate Yu Jing presence on Svalarheima, and ensure the two hyper-powers have a constant point of friction and seizable battle front for the foreseeable future. Again.

 

It's almost like the fluff is nuanced and has multiple ways of seeing it from different points of view.

 

Can you show that's anything other than an attempt to explain away inconsistencies?

When O-12 was first released I joked that "they're globalist cops, a faction both the left and the right can hate." But the issue is that they're neither - any negative ideas about police or globalism or anything else are just the fans projecting onto O-12 what they thought might be true - the fluff relentlessly portrays them as cops with none of the downsides, just some cool "don't play by the rules" types to spice up the faction. And they're generally portrayed as righteous in their usurpation of nations' sovereignty as well - the sensible adult O-12 in the face of those squabbling naughty luttle children.

(If anyone is putting forward the Defiance storyline as a counterpoint, it's so poorly written, plotted, and characterized that I can't really see it counting).

 

Don’t forget the righteous, tooth breaking fury of the Bluecoats when called that to their face, the Gammas in Sudenne, the brutality of the Bronzes.

We could also note the body cam audio of the Epsilon who executed three and severely wounded a fourth criminal extrajudicially?

 

I'm not going to do your reading for you dude. You see things differently when you read. That's fine. That's why i said agree to disagree. Some people think Yu Jing are the good guys.

 

Part of the beauty. Read the lot, and you see everyone is grey, and your assessment of it is a reflection of you, not them.