I used to play back in n3 and was looking to get back into playing and while through the n4 rules was noticing a couple things which I'm wondering if there was a change I remember template weapons avoiding partial cover and thus being a good option to punch through the +3arm vs shooting from partial cover via impact templates from missles and shotguns back then. I don't see any particular mention of cover interacting with impact templates other than drawing LOS from the template source to gauge whether or not the target has total cover. The rules as written say "the target of the BS Attack reduces the Attack Damage by 3 for Saving Roll purposes, if the Roll was necessary" which if read literally would mean that if you land a hit with a missle, the targets would still get the partial cover bonus on the armor save based on los to the shooter regardless of where the blast source actually ended up. Is this how it works in the new edition? Also, is dual weild no longer a thing? I was a JSA player and I noticed a lack of anything that looked like it'd act like that rule despite the numerous units that still have more than one melee weapon. On another note, as I was looking to get back into the game, on the off chance that anyone in the Central Texas area is reading this, is there a LGS in the area between College Station and Houston that plays Infinity regularly enough to have PUGs and walk ins? I'll ask in the general forum as well but I reached out to the nearest warcor mrduncanwright a week ago but figure I might as well shoot the question on the forums as well.
Templates ignore the damage reduction from partial cover, it's in the main templates rules rather than the sub-pages for impact and direct templates (I can't access wiki to give you a link at the moment) In the N4 PDF it's on page 47 Dual Wield doesn't exist as a separate skill any more but it's effects are still around. Mushashi gets CC Attack (AP) skill in addition to his EXP CCW, giving the same effect as having Dual Wield, an AP CCW, and an EXP CCW. Likewise Domaru have CC Attack (Shock) skill in addition to their CCW. N4
Nice, so those two at least work pretty much exactly like they used to. Thanks. Are there any notable things that have changed from N3 I should know about? Oh, I noticed that the Camo markers now have the penalty level for discovery listed on them. How do you shell game with -6 TO camo markers and Mine markers nowadays? Am I reading it right that the mine markers all will show -3 and a -6 mimetism camo marker has no option to downgrade to -3 to mix in with them? Basically, I'm wondering if there's any way to shell game with a rocket ryuken and all the minelayers now.
No more shell gaming different levels of mimetism/Camouflage in N4 sadly. Biggest changes with N4 are probably unnested skills, so things like Martial Arts no longer include Courage by default, crits being an extra saving throw instead of auto-wound, Dodge movement in active turn (and Change Facing/Engage being subsumed into the Dodge skill), and the 15 combat group slot limit.
Also, shotguns now have templates that automatically hit. This plus the critical change has made armor much more valuable. So you usually need to include dedicated anti-armor weapons. Another very important overlooked change for JSA is that E/M CC weapons are one of best weapons in the game. Each hit causes two Saving Rolls per impact suffered, using half his BTS value (2 x BTS/2). On each failed save, they lose a wound, get isolated, and if HI or a TAG, are immobilized. They are absolutely brutal.
The biggest change from N3 to N4 is not in the rulebook you can buy physically, but in the FAQ (and now also reflected on the wiki); The whole Order Execution Sequence has changed! This is the most important rules segment in the game, as it dictates how the game runs. Generally speaking, requirements at checked right before you are about to roll dice, not when you declare the skill. (To prevent declaration entrapments, you can only declare the skills from a position you have already been in during the current order, but don't be surprised if you smoke someone and as you creep closer they declare a CC Attack on your Ninja to try and keep you from entering base to base contact with your second short skill) You can also check the active trooper's zone of control! You do this on the ARO declaration steps. (Because Hidden Deployment and Holomask are two things, you can check the entire zone of control and that of any active player repeaters. Typically people use this to check rangebands for small teardrop templates, mines, smoke grenades and shotgun rangebands, rather than for AROs) P.s. as others have alluded to; the old teardrop impact templates are gone and replaced with a small teardrop direct template attack that does not have intuitive attack.
Thanks for the responses guys. The 15 model limit and no more mixed camo markers is a real change to how I used to play as I used to use lots of button pushing cheer leaders and I liked to use a camo non hidden shinobu shell game with mines to throw people off every once in a while and surprise people who would clear mines by stomping a tag past them. After a couple matches in a day with that, people would often waste a couple orders checking markers even if I only had a on the field on the off chance they might pop my LT for free. The new CC weapon changes are interesting and it's nice to not need to sheath your katana and punch a tag to death with Domaru anymore. That said, tearing apart a Jotum with your bare hands is quite epic thematically. The problem I have with it is that it looks like they got rid of the Unarmed and knife profiles entirely. Doesn't that mean that Shinobu has no PH melee option whatsoever and can't get dmg benefit from MA5 as written? Since Monofilament doesn't punch through Immunity anymore, seems pretty rough... especially when you're trying to avoid being dog food. The change to checking when the order reqs is checked is a big deal too, I remember some corner case issues with dodging and link teams that might have been a lot more reasonable if this was how it worked from the start. As a whole, I agree with the concepts, but it is sad that Saito chucking a smoking a TAG and tying it up in melee as the last order of a round is no longer going to be viable. I take it you'd basically get a normal roll on the smoke and then get normal punched in the face after using the second short to get into CC. Checking zone of control before declaration is very useful and overall, the simplification for hacking chart was a good call, too many different wordings for basically the same thing in N3. Makes me think that premeasuring ranges would be more fair if that's the direction they were going, but any sort of pre measuring can drastically slow down play. I'm honestly surprised that the shotguns don't have intuitive with their changes. I totally get the idea of the changes, but small teardrop seems crazy short for buckshot or flechettes. A B2 chain rifle on every shotgun would probably be abusive though. I actually liked the potency of the old impact cones from N3 but saw first hand how people gaming them for maximal fireteam catch prompted a lot of arguments The impetuous changes are both simpler and much more clearcut to follow and I like that extremely impetuous is no longer a thing. Keeping the old impetuous beeline it to the nearest enemy guns blazing option would have made a lot more sense to keep as a third choice especially with impetuous troops that aren't exactly fantastic melee troops. Overall, I like most of the changes I've read. They seem to be easier to follow and adding the modifiers to the stat blocks rather than referencing an obscurely named rule in a rules annex published years after the book makes things a heckuva lot more clear. I'll keep reading when I have time and keep trying to find someplace people play in the west houston area.
Intuitive attack on shotguns was tested and they said it was found to be a little bit too good. Ranges are a bit weird here and the teardrops don't really make sense for any weapon. The max lethal of an assault rifle is above 3km while the estimated *effective* combat range of ye olde M16 is about 550 meters (or 800m for area burst) which is a lot more than what 16" would hint at although you vould argue the abstraction of +3 rangeband is 100 meters for M16 which is still closer to 100" than 16" for Infinity's scale. An area attack at all from a shotgun makes little sense. Just consider this to be one of those "game" things where distances are really weird and heavily favours movement for more action gaming. Oh. And it is also what makes shotguns topsy turvy whete they become decent weapons and incapable of opening locks.
