Hi. I've collected for a long time, but I'm ready to start playing. I do have a question though. From what I've seen regarding gameplay, the game is designed to be played in 3 rounds. It appears to be structured for a competitive environment. I very much prefer a more casual, story driven game style. Are there any variants that last longer than 3 rounds and function closer to casual gameplay with emphasis on interactions, rather than objectives? Thanks.
Hello, welcome to the community! Yes, the official mission system is competitive by design - after all, it is named Infinity Tournament System. There are narrative scenarios, like the Dire Foes games (oriented around a specific event in the fluff, and typically two pivotal characters). There are fan-made scenario systems, like TACOS, YAMS or 20x20. There is no reason why you couldn't write your own scenario. Or slap some houserules on the exisitng ones - like, "it won't be ober after 3 turns, but after 4, or 5, or however we agree to". Still, for all my Infinity experience I played in just one, local tournament. The rest were friendly, casual games - just using these rules. Let's face it, it is a wargame. Victory conditions need to be determined somehow, and if possible, in a clear way. Objectives to be reached are a more interesting way of doing it that just a deadmatch / annihillation. Like @Papa Bey above, I don't understeand what do you mean by an "interaction, rather than objective, driven game". Could oyu please explain what do you have in mind?
Hey, thanks for the replies. "Interactions" might have been the wrong word. It was late and I have trouble putting it into words. I guess I'm more interested in a longer game or a deathmatch. I'm not competitive at all. I just enjoy hanging out with friends (old & new), throwing dice, making things on table top die (and explode), and talking about it. I love the models and the universe. I'm afraid I won't ever be able to do the models justice since I'm not a very good painter. I'll check out the variants listed above. Thank you and any other advice is greatly appreciated.
There are some older 'campaign paradiso' missions that only ended when a specific objective or event was reached, not a hard 3 turn game thing (we got to 6 and 7 turns for a couple of them). It was also more "narrative", and less "competitive" (in a tournament sense) - and this was also where the "Spec ops" units came into their own before they were an add-on for a tournament.
A potential drawback is games can draw out and out and out. A three turn limit forces a sense of urgency and a need to engage and the risk/reward that comes from that narrative. Something to consider.
I found your post quite interesting and, even if don't participate in the forum very often, I thought I should give you my opinion as a I usually consider myself also a more "narrative" than "competitive" player (if those are words that mean something). The truth is that I find Infinity (with all its problems as a wargame) quite narrative itself. Even in the competitive enviroment. All the games are about spec-ops doing spec-ops things. Killing HTVs, recovering data, controlling consoles... The three turns thing also helps to put you in that spec-ops mood. You gotta be fast, you gotta hit hard and soon to acomplish your objectives. But even if you play five or six or ten rounds, you can be sure that not too many games will last more than three. I mean. Most of the games are over by the third round because everything that had to happen, happened already. The HVTs are dead, the data recovered, the consoles under your control. Or all your guys killed. The missions in the ITS are quite narrative IMHO. The classified objetives help a lot. With the new decks there´s algo a game mode where the missions are randomly generated and can be different for both players, which sounds also very narrative (maybe I have to take control of communication center while you have to rescue an HVT...). So... I'm not sure which gameplay you watched, but would advice you just to try and play. And if after some games you still think Infinity is very competitive-oriented or that games weren't enough narrative, come again, tell us your impressions and maybe we can help each other to mae games more interesting. But, as I said, something that I really enjoy playing Infinity as a non-competitive player (at least not very competitive) is that my miniatures have missions to do and objectives to acomplish that keep the game real. Hope that helps
I think play and see what you think. This game is about as deadly as 40k either 1/3 or less the models. A fair number of games 3 turns is more than enough. If you want story driven with a game master style ...by all means. We've done similar things but rarely. If it helps think of the 3 turn limit as the time it takes for the space cops or ai or mission to fail due to....well think anything. Also while easy to focus on the details of the game the reason and story behind it are compelling. Your not hacking the data for points but because you get the files needed to overthrow the largest corporation bid on the new advanced chip set. Taking the territory is a way to protect critical infrastructure from being damaged and your position being weakened. If you are fighting mud farmers (ariadna) than just culling the gene pool to a non sustainable level is perfectly valid.
In addition to what others have said: A 3-round game usually takes between 1:45 and 2:15. That's with two experienced players playing quickly and efficiently (especially in the context of a tournament where there are time limits on games). If you want to spend time on the narrative and chat about what's happening, it will take a lot longer. I'd expect 3 rounds at a narrative pace to take 3 hours minimum. I don't know what your stamina is, but if you extend that to 4+ rounds, you're looking at some grueling game times. You might check out the fan-made variant "Mercenaries." I haven't played it myself, but it seems to be popular with players who want a casual, narrative experience. I believe it's a campaign system, so the individual games may still be 3-round and objective-focused, but they string together into a longer storyline.
@Cook754 Good Day, as other said, they are a few of games not "tournament" focused, that are really fun, you can have it from Corvus web. https://infinitytheuniverse.com/resources/infinity Go to "Casual Games" and "Dire Foes". If you are more comfortable by playing 4 turns or even to "someone" surrender, it will be more than Ok.
