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Best way to demo people into the game?

Discussion in 'New Users' started by Challenger, Aug 11, 2019.

  1. Challenger

    Challenger Well-Known Member

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    Hey there,

    I'm attempting to kick start a completely new meta at a store that doesn't have any infinity at all. To lay the groundwork i have:

    • Contacted the store about organising a demo day, i'm currently waiting on them to get back to me about an ideal day and for them to advertise it
    • Contacted the store about the best day for a regular playing day each week and time slot, which we agreed on (Not neccesarily the same time as the demo day)
    • Already Own Operation Coldfront and Beyond
    • Bought Operation Red Veil to increase my number of starting armies to 4. Bought Beyond Red veil too.
    • Begun painting all 4 starter sets to a bare minimum of tabletop quality, but going tabletop+ where i can, i'm a noob painter though
    • Bought a modular terrain set from Battlesystems so i can have a very very impressive board to demo on, have worked on doing it up too with some penning etc

    When it comes to actually doing the demo games, i wanted to ask what the best way to do it was. the two things that come to my mind are:
    1. Follow an Operation box just using my new terrain set instead, going from mission 1 to as far as i get
    2. Put more models down at a time like a 100pt-150pt army with a mix of easy rules (simplifying in some cases, like the operations),avoiding hacking etc and allowing players to choose between them.

    Very interested in absolutely any advice you guys have, from tips to running the games to how i should play them (What are good ways to throw games without making it obvious you are throwing? for example). also any other advice recommended. i have no local infinity near me, but i love infinity, which really sucks. so i want this to be a success
     
  2. Plark

    Plark New Member

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    As a new player just getting into Infinity, the Operation box did a very very good job introducing everything to me. However as an experienced gamer (AoS, Kill Team, and X-Wing) it was kinda boring with no objectives and just killing. Still did a very good job though and got me hooked :).


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  3. Papa Bey

    Papa Bey Clueless Wonder. Still.

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    There is no one way to intro the game.

    With that in mind, the Ice Storm way would be the most flexible way in. Remember that while you are introducing the game to a new audience, you do want to get the people who are going to be interested in the long haul. There is little point in getting five people to start buying in in a frenzy of excitement only to peter out in six months because it's too complicated, hard, long, etc.

    The up sides of this game are the people. Those who have gone before us have made great efforts to forge a community where people talk to each other, and can manage to behave like adults. Mostly. While you have an uphill battle during the initial building phase you do want them to know there is a larger scene as well. So:

    Have a local Facebook presence. With in-store advertising this is another way people can sign up without you having to be present. This can also be a central location of information. Like where the free rules are at, and spiffy pictures. You can link in semi-local events like tournaments. The store can make announcements of sales or just new releases being available if they're into that. Simple questions can be easily answered in that format. Also just being able to throw out a line can keep people showing up. Or spur-of-the-moment games. Don't forget WGC_Infinity as a resource.

    Podcasts are important, I feel, in showing there is a national or even worldwide range of players. Have a list of two or three to dip into can help build that larger sense of community.

    Have at least a printout of the ITS missions, and/or others such as TACOs or Recon or the like. There is more than one way to play the game and you want to make sure that is out there. Less because a new player should be jumping in on Game 2, but to show off where things are headed. Maybe it's more than some people want. Maybe it's what some people need.

    Have a firm grasp on your local store's ability to special order. I'm given to understand it's been quite shaky and you want to manage expectations about that cool looking model and how quickly can your store get it in. It's win for the store because that's income and you want to show that Infinity can be an income.

    Before you even begin a demonstration, talk with the attendee(s) about what they want from a game. Change what you are doing as feasible to show that sort of thing off. Tell them what Infinity has (if it does) that meets those desires. Because some people will want that 30 minute outline of the factions background, others will want to look at those spiffy models, and others will want to get right to it and test drive. Knock out a quick 10 minute discussion of the dice and Face to Face mechanics. Have them roll the dice and compare the numbers where possible. Hands on!
     
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  4. AtomicHan

    AtomicHan Plays with fire and sticky stuff

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    As a person who is in the same spot as the OP this is great advise. Thanks for taking the time to write it up. I’m excited to get into establishing a community.


    s a
     
  5. xagroth

    xagroth Mournful Echo

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    We have a saying in Spain that could roughly translate to "make it go through the eyes": use painted miniatures, try to use the latest models, and get the best looking tables. The visual part of the game is critical!

    Then, gather your forces. If there are more people you can borrow to help, even if it's just lending the models, make them participate. Infinity is a game that NEEDS community, the wider the better, precisely because of the rule density.

    Prepare lists and missions beforehand. Personally, I like a mission like Supplies as an introductory one, because it's both simple and engaging. You need to end with boxes, and prevent your opponent to have any in the end, but there are a lot of ways to do so, and it's a "hot potato" situation for the troopers, someone has to keep the box but that also makes him a target.

    Another simple mission is Capture and Protect; I prefer the ITS9 version (because it requires to activate consoles before grabbing the "flags"), but in ITS10 it's a simple Capture The Flag, so the concept is really easy to transmit.

    Finally, Annihilation is the simplest and most easy to explain mission, but it's a little too common in all the miniatures games (kill more enemies than the opponent).

    As for the lists, it will depend on what you want to achieve. I would suggest avoiding Hidden Deployment and Hacking, and if they are watching, make the demo with a TAG or two in the table (certainly, a game with superjump troops in a table with lots of heights can be impressive), if the idea is for them to play against each other, try to use basic troops and limit the size to 200 points, try to include one troop with Fury per side, and possibly avoid fireteams.
     
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  6. n21lv

    n21lv SymbioHate

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    I am doing most demo games in my country (we only have one active playgroup in Riga), and from what I've seen and experienced, Infinity is a very difficult game to actually demonstrate. There are lots of cool things units can do, but these cool things are covered by rules that are too complicated for a new player. So there has to be a certain degree of interest in playing this type of games before it becomes worthy to try to gather a playgroup.

    I'd say the easiest way is to look for players who are fed up with other wargames (40k, Warmahordes etc) and are looking for something more balanced and dynamic. On the 'casual <==> tournament' scale I'd have Infinity at the 80% tournament mark, and I think potential new players should know that most of the game's cool is about tournament play. If they are looking for relaxed games with beer and pretzels, I'd say they will have a hard time and would recommend other games instead.

    Mentioning the newer XCOM games (by Firaxis) really helps, as ARO mechanic, cover mechanics and two Short Skills per Order is very similar to what you see in XCOMs. Some other mechanics like FtF rolls can be explained by references to other systems that use contested rolls (such as D&D).

    Also, while Op: IceStorm is a cool book, it is too long for using it as a demo source material. No one will have enough time to read through all the rules in the book and play all 6 missions. There is also little value in actually playing the 3vs3 game, as it doesn't show anything cool about Infinity.

    Definitely do not have the killy mission as the demo mission, it's just dumb and again doesn't show what's so cool about Infinity. We're currently playing a variant of Supplies mission where you have 2 Supply crates instead of 3, and building two armies using Recon+ rules (150 pts, smaller table etc). Another homebrew mission I tried is a variant of Acquisition, but without the Tech-Coffin. For all these demo games I'm using a house rule that makes any Specialist to roll 2 dice with +3 MOD when attempting to grab an objective, so that games are faster. All this allows me to build two small lists consisting of different units with arms that are good at different ranges and also include some cool things such as AD troops, TO troops and unconventional ammunition.

    And don't try to push the game if the person is not enjoying it. It's not a game for everyone, so it's better to not waste your and their time on something that is not mutually beneficial.
     
    #6 n21lv, Aug 27, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2019
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  7. Challenger

    Challenger Well-Known Member

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    Thank you @Papa Bey , @xagroth and @n21|v these are some super helpful posts!

    In particular its definitely opened my eyes to playing a simple mission off the bat rather than just a generic kill mission to help show off the more interesting parts of the game!
     
  8. TheRedZealot

    TheRedZealot Well-Known Member
    Warcor

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    A big thing I try and focus on is tailoring the experience. You're going to get some people who have never touched a miniature before. You're going to get some people that have already watched 16 hours of battle reports online and maybe tried a game in N2, and you're going to get people in between.

    Ask a few questions, gauge how comfortable they are with Miniature gaming as a whole and then try and go at a speed that will be comfortable for them.

    Someone whos brand new I usually start off with 3 line troops on 3 line troops. Get them comfortable with Measuring, Rolling, Checking LOF.

    Someone who has played every miniature game out there and knows a bit about the rules I'll go in size sometimes up to a full 300pt game.

    Its also helpful if you know about other games, because it helps you make connections with our player's knowledge. "Oh you play 40k right? So A sectorial army is a little bit like a different space marine chapter. They're similar but have distinct playstyles."


    Finally make sure to set small achievable goals for each game. If they get to the end of the game and their interested talk about the most important things to learn (usually the way Face to Face rolls work and Order timing. Short Skill - ARO check - Short Skill - ARO Check.).
     
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  9. Belgrim

    Belgrim Well-Known Member

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    4-5 days ago i sat up an introductory game on 200pts. I used my main fully painted Steel Phalanx force and the O:RV Yu Jing force (unpainted) for our 2 new players.
    I customized a mission from 20x20, the one downloading from 3 antennas on the field, and let them play with each other. They were not wargamers but they are experienced board game players so I went a little heavy on the rules at the beginning.

    I told them to stop me as soon as they are bored or frustrated and then I let them play (with my guidance of course). They both loved the game. One guy was sure he was gonna get addicted just from seeing the painted miniatures and the cyberpunk lore. The other one was not so sure (he doesn't like other wargames like warhammer etc) but he was hooked as well.

    The point is I got 2 new players into my local Infinity community and I am so happy. Good luck @Challenger !
     
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