Infinity Tactics: Risk Management

Don't forget the arrival of the famous reinforcements game mode, which seems to bring a lot of rebalancing, maybe some factions like the Scots, will benefit from being able to take out so many irregulars.

 

That's what my Killer Hackers usually do though... especially the particularly annoyed part.

Though I have to say I do not find Pitchers to be that reliable, my opponents luck so far is not that great on pitchers...

 

That is because the people you play against are, frankly, bad at leveraging this aspect of the game. Trinity is a near worthless program when it is forced to try and compete against opponents that are applying large negative modifiers and saving on numbers like 6+.

This is a far cry from N3 where being subject to the ire of a KHD armed with Redrum and bypassing Firewall MODs was a highly lethal prospect. In N3 a lone KHD operator like Ninja was a reasonable threat and thus a deterrent. In N4 they are statistically awful at hunting high end hackers, and many armies don't have a higher grade alternative to fill that role which ties back to the nature of this thread in risk management.

Part of the reason this play is so low risk is because many factions don't have a direct lethal response they can leverage to fight back against it and are instead encouraged to look towards passive defensive counters. What's one of the best counters that reduces your risk against GMLs? Play camo spam if you can, it stops being a problem almost immediately without creating any further risk to yourself.

 

Is there any info about this anywhere?

 

I haven't seen anything concrete just people speculating based on the fact it's referred to as a reinforcements mechanic.

 

Referred to where?


Edit: found it - interesting. I'd missed that.

 

The Adepticon studio update is the only official mention of it so far I believe, might've been more off the cuff information released at one of the seminars but I haven't seen any of them yet.

Based on what Bostria said it sounds like they are adding some kind of staggered reinforcements effect with additional troops, possibly to help dial back the current alpha strike heavy emphasis on what most people experience in the mainstream meta game of 300 points. That's absolutely pure speculation on my behalf though.

 

Maybe, maybe not, I will agree its not as strong as N3 and probably the reason why we see normal hackers on the table again, I am not sure this is a bad thing.

Overall I think hacking in N3 was excessive, when now it feels better.

 

There was a solid group of players, myself included, who found N3 Hacking to be quite deep and useful. The biggest problem was that AHDs were usually on platforms that couldn't use them very well. The N4 core Hacking rules are a definite step up from N3, but IMO the army design's a little worse in terms of external and internal balance, especially where Upgrades and exceptions are handled.

 

N3 was an interesting study subject, setting aside the 6th Sense hacking, on one hand you had a group of players who found it extremely deep and useful as you said, and on the other hand you had players who swore that KHD made AHD and EVO obsolete and most other hackers irrelevant except of the top tier ones.

And most new players (and some seasoned) got problems handling all the programs.

We definitely saw the reality that everybody included one or two killer hackers, but almost all hacker types except the top tier ones were almost non existent and almost nobody bothered with Assault hackers.

N4 has made basic hackers see a reemergence.

 

Good news: GML is so well established as a problem with the game it's now generating meme fashion!

As you say, Psychoticstorm, it's Definitely Not An Issue© ;)

(I'm just being a cheeky sod, no offence meant!)

 

As to why we see more hackers on the table again, I think the reason is threefold; 1) it's a much more target-rich environment 2) Now spotlight has been massively buffed, GML means they double up as an oppressive attack vector, if your faction has access to the other elements needed for GML, and 3) KHD's best program is now cybermask; its attack against hackers is pretty naff.

 

That is a nice meme.

I am not sure Cybermask is the best program, it allows some mobility and mines safety but unless the killer hacker already has Surprise Attack it offers no extra edge to the hacking attack.

 

I will agree that targeted buff has finally give hackers something to do against everybody and targeted is useful even if you do not have Guided ammo, so that has definitely increased their usability and helps increase their fieldability.

 

for me, the value of Cybermask is not the MOD from Surprise shot but the marker state. A marker is in activ round and ARO always one of the best states you can be in; it means you (mostly) cannot be attacked. You can cross firelines without F2F, you can ignore mines, you don´t die randomly to some up-popping HD unit. Marker state is the best state of the game, especially since u don´t have to roll for it.
In ARO your opponent has to SUCCESFULLY Discover you. That can be the matter of one order. Or he has to move into position.... and fails his WIP. and now has to move with ANOTHER UNIT to try again.
Surprise shot is not, what makes a Killer hacking device good, but just cherry on top. It´s the safety of the Marker state imho. And therefor a huge advantage in mobility.

 

As a utility it is good, and there are enouph killer hackers who do not also have camouflaged state, but the defense bonus of the Cybermask does not help in the attacks, admittedly positioning for the attack is something it helps a lot with.

 

That is absolutely incorrect. One of the most common hacking units were the basic hacking devices, particularly the line infantry ones because they were the cheapest source of marksmanship for REMs, Uprising saw Vanilla Yu Jing bitching about losing Keisotsu because now they had to pay extra points to get Zhanshi hackers for their Rui Shi.

N4 hasn't made basic Hacking Devices see a reemergence because N4 literally deleted that device from the game. N4 Hacking Devices are actually just renamed Assault Hacking Devices, and the running joke in my meta is CB just did the switcheroo to trick people too stupid to play the hacking game into actually taking AHDs.

 

What Anubis said. Markerstate is amazing on a lot of KHs like Raptor, Nourk, Kiss, Mary, Santiago and Locust (only joking).

It also allows a way for KHs to actually counter GML lists, as they can stand next to important units and deny the template of doooom (wish I was joking).

I have to ask what it would take for CB to actually take a second look at GML design. They let it off the leash over two years ago; when are they gonna check for bite marks?

 

It's the rule of GML; it's good every other edition.
Amazing in n2, rubbish in n3, amazing in n4. Don't worry, it's back to crap again in n5