Greetings! I'm returning to the game after about 3 years away, having accidentally glanced at some of the new miniatures. My goodness, CB have been putting out some amazing work! My choice of new faction was between OSS (the new bots are beautiful) and JSA, and after lurking for a while on the forum, I settled on JSA as a dynamic, sneaky, aggressive faction that will force me to learn elements of the game that I previously neglected a little. The decision making process that takes place as you close range, and your options multiply, always scared me a little, so I'm looking forward to diving in and learning the ropes this time. I'm lucky in that my city has a good few players already, but I'm keen to lure some of my best gaming friends with me on the journey. To that end, once I've painted up the JSA starter army + a few extra models, I'll turn to a second army, in order for friends to be able to play without immediately having to buy and paint metal. To that end, I'd like your opinion on what force you think is the best opponent for JSA? In terms of army dynamics and composition, which one other force shows off the best of Infinity? Which would be best suited as a pick-up army for someone not too familiar with the game? Which faction has consistently produced the best balanced and most enjoyable games in your experience? Imagine you're where I am, please enlighten me. Thanks in advance, it's good to be back.
Just some thoughts, so maybe a few others will join the discussion to correct my mistakes: What is JSA good at: - Melee - Aggressive Lieutenant - Hidden Deployment - MSV2 & Smoke What is JSA bad at: - Long Range Shooting - Hacking/Infowar - AD But I don't know if hacking is something for someone not too familiar with the game... And I don't know all factions very well. - PanO is good at shooting but lacks smoke - Nomads, ALEPH, CA and Haq are good at Infowar - everybody has at least a little HD - everyone but JSA seems to have AD-troops
I would go give Varuna a try as an well rounded faction with link teams. Only Thing they are really lacking is Smoke and CC. Or you'll go with the fluff and take the JSA opponent Imperial Service.
Imperial SS would be the obvious opponent, but I'd recommend a new player avoid Fireteams until they get the core rules down.
Don't know if I would recommend a sectorial which could went the way of the Merovinger this year (Explanation: goes out of production)
If you wanna go vanilla, I'd recommend nomads. Take a look at the NA2 merc factions as well, so maybe with a few troops you can play 2-4 factions. Nomads + Mercs might be a 'flexible' start.
I think vanilla Haqqislam is one of the best starter factions (besides nomads). There is a large amount of crossover from vanilla haqq, allowing you to grow into the following: HB QK (for now) RTF (near future) DBS Ikari Starco (a bit more of a reach) Nomads (overlap with QK and NA2 sectorials) On top of diversity mentioned above, haqq introduces a play style that, while requiring a different approach than some factions, is very rewarding. Learning this play style in vanilla allows you to also apply it in our sectorials and lends a competitive edge to growing players. @Jonno recently wrote a very nice post, touching on this subject. Once you’re into NA2, you also get some first hand experience with stronger attack pieces from PanO and Yu Jing
I think vanilla Haqqislam is one of the best starter factions (besides nomads). There is a large amount of crossover from vanilla haqq, allowing you to grow into the following: HB QK (for now) RTF (near future) DBS Ikari Starco (a bit more of a reach) Nomads (overlap with QK and NA2 sectorials) On top of diversity mentioned above, haqq introduces a play style that, while requiring a different approach than some factions, is very rewarding. Learning this play style in vanilla allows you to also apply in in our sectorials and lends a competitive edge to growing players. @Jonno recently wrote a very nice post, touching on this subject. Once you’re into NA2, you also get some first hand experience with stronger attack pieces from PanO and Yu Jing.
Thanks so much guys, this game has such a great community. Nomads and mercs sound like a great mix. I'm pretty interested in anarchist theory and it made me chuckle to see they'd named a ship after Bakunin... What would a good 100pts nomad/merc start look like?
the nomad starter force is ~150pts. For beginners it gives line troopers, a HI, a camo infiltrator, a sniper and the ODD doctor. I think that makes it a decent intro force
A few people have mentioned not to start with a sectorial. I disagree. Vanilla can leave a new player paralyzed with overwhelming amounts of choice. I’d recommend ISS as a great counter to JSA. Start, as always with new payers, with the starter matches in the dual army boxes, but sub in ISS/HSA models, or just proxy things.
The ODD Doctor is only there if you got this through the Icestorm box. The regular starter doesn't have the Reverend Healer. Just felt like mentioning that on the quick.
