NeoTerra list attempt

[ edit ] The first and most important question is, what mission(s) are you trying to accomplish? [ /edit ]

There are 5 things that make up a good infinity army (and a 6th, optional thing):

1. Orders - At least 8 regular orders in your primary combat group, not counting Airborne or Hidden Deployment. You have 7 (because that Swiss Guard doesn't count until he's on the table).
   
2. Guns - You want weapons with a wide variety of +3 rangebands, because you win firefights in this game by being in your weapons +3 range when your target is in his -3.
   
3. Speed - Not just raw MOV stat, this also includes deployment tricks like Mechanized, Infiltrate, or Airborne. Whichever model you activate should spend the least amount of orders possible to do what you need. If that's activating the link team to go Spitfire someone to death, that's it.
   
4. Specialists - These either protect your troops, get them back in the fight, or otherwise do the mission while everyone else blows stuff up.
   
5. Plan - This one is on you. You need to have an idea for not only what to do with your primary piece and your backup piece, but you also need a 'the sewage just hit the turbofan, I need to salvage what I can' plan.
6. Theme - This is the optional part. What brought these specific models onto the table?

It would really be good if you could find a way to drop one model and get everything into a single combat group. OR, get 2-3 more bodies.

• For a single combat group, dropping the 3 Fusiliers for Doc, Engineer, and Helperbot works (ie, the PanO support pack).
  
• Not sure what to do for a larger force.

Either one of those will cover Orders.


But I think the big problem is guns. You don't have many SWC spent, and you only have one weapon with longer-than-rifle range. It would be good to have a second long-range gun, probably a sniper rifle, and not in the link team. Do you have the Bolt SWC box? Or a Black Friar sniper?

Your only speed (well, order efficiency) is in the link team. Everyone else is footslogging at 4-4 or even 4-2. Adding something faster would be good. My usual recommendation is the Pathfinder REM. 6-4 MOV, combirifle, forward observer (which makes it a specialist).

You have 2, maybe 3 specialists (depends on mission if the Paramedic counts). 3 or 4 specialists is usually safer, especially if you have Hacker, doc, engineer, and FO.

Your plan is a start, but what happens when someone shotguns (or smoke-CCs) your link team? What happens when your Swiss Guard gets Killer Hacked? You are short on backup pieces that can continue to carry you towards victory. Not that you couldn't win games with that list, mind you. It's just going to be a bit harder than it could be.

Like I said at the top, Theme is entirely optional, and not something even I do all the time. But it helps motivate me to paint and play. Just a thought to keep in mind.

 

First things first: listen to the man, the advice above is rock solid!
Close secound: I would swap the Bolts fireteam for a Fusilier fireteam and use the points gained to field something. A Swiss Guard with HMG, a sniper Hexa, cheap troopers to provide more orders, additional specialists etc.
Unfortunately Bolts are fairly expensive for what they do and it is very hard to get the mileage out of them. I am not saying they are bad, but it takes a lot of experience and hard work to get the most out of them.

 

Or just be Pano, and shoot in +3 into enemy's +3 until it's DED.

 

Do you have mission(s) in mind? Creating list without a mission is not a best idea. For killing missions you don't need more then 2-3 specialists(one will be a doc/eng), while for console scoring you need 4-6 specialists, as mobile as possible.

 

That's a good point. I typically fold that into 'plan', but it probably needs a separate discussion item, before you even get to the other 6 rules of thumb.

 

OK I will be that guy.
As a rule of thumb this 2-3 specilaists for killy missions and 4-6 specialists for button pushing missions works well generally. That is for most factions. I can verify this for Ariadna (all flavour) SP QK and to smoe extent even Neoterra.
Keep in mind this is PanO. And PanO generally wins button pushing missions by killing the enemy (including enemy specialists) first and pushing buttons later. That rule of thumb is great but PanO works differently.
With that in mind having a relatively low number of specialists that are relatively safe (hidden deployment, fireteam to guard them, sitting back in the backfield) and concentrating on what PanO is good at (killing opponents in firefights) is a viable (PanO) way to victory.
Don't get me wrong: I am also of the opinion you should get more specialists in case you play a button pushing mission.
Your list is more or less fine (especially for killy missions) but I don't like it for three reasons:
1) ORC Lt is a risk factor. I understand you want to capitalize on his big gun, Lt order and (if you lose him) rely on Bolts being veteran to fight through. That is not bad a plan. The problem here is as soon as the HMG Orc goes down, you can vawe good bye to too much of your firepower for my liking. You will be left with a Swiss Guard (One awesome trooper!) and a sniper (Well... Not very good in the active turn...) in addition to BS and Rifles.
2) The fireteam lacks long-range guns. You have one tough unit buck the short rangebands in addition to a low (4-2) MOV stat means you are pretty much hamstrung. Low MOV values are no problem if you plan to make MOV+shoot order combinations anyway, But you need long rangebands to to this (preferably HMG). Having a Spitfire (not ideal but long range and high burst) will turn your fireteam from very expensive cheerleaders into a fearsome unit on the field. The short rangeband of BS and rifles means you need to spend a relatively high amount of orders to position your fireteam correctly. You simply can't afford this, because:
3) You are very low on orders. Running a 10-order list means you have very, very little room for errors. Having 8 orders to start with exaggarates this problem. (Being an Ariadna player I rarely play single combat group lists and obviously am strongly biased. The other PanO players will correct me if I am mistaken.)
I hope this helps.
PS I recommend taking a close look at the MULTI Rifle profile of the Black Firar. The guy is loaded with shiny toys and cost zero SWC. (Making room for a Spitfire in the Fireteam for example.)

 

It's kinda widely agreed upon, that Bolts are bad, mostly because they are MOV 4-2, have overpriced stuff (drop bears for 3 pts, where other gets it for 1 pts, Combi rifle + Light shotgun for 4 extra points), and their special skills that make them MI, Bioimmunity and Veteran are situationally useful, most of the time they won't help you, but you are still paying for them.

So maybe you want to switch to Fusilier link teams, but those can get boring. You can also accept, that you'll pay a few extra points for your bolts, and still go with them, because they have nice loadouts.

Moving up mid table with MOV 4-2 would cost you more orders though than it would with MOV4-4 with the Fusilier link, also the Fusilier link is for backfield defense (just stick that Missile Launcher out there (in cover of course), and shoot everything that pops up), so they won't even have to move. You can still move up midfield with your Bolts, as they are better geared for close combat. Just know, that you need more orders to do that.

You are low on order. Despite what appears to be the default, Infinity is not played with a single, 10 order group. You can do that, but it would be a lot easier, if you could manage to have 14-16 orders in your army.

Swiss guard HMG is one of the best shooters in the game. It will give your opponent -6 BS due to TO, -3 BS due to surprise shot (for the order you come out of TO camo, only on your active turn, and if you want that -3 again, you need to move out of line of fire for all enemy troops, then spend an entire order to recamo, so it's order intensive, you need to decide when to use it), while it also have BS15, which is the highest raw BS in the game, only some Pano HI, high end TAGs and a some high end HI in a few other factions have that. And Atalanta has BS14 + Tinbot E Spotter, which gives her +3 BS, making her BS17. Also HMG has Burst 4, which is nearly the highest in the game, Heavy rapid magnetic cannon on the Dragoes, a linked (3 man and above) HMG or Spitfire or something with Full auto Level2 can achieve Burst 5.

This is why using a Swiss HMG is playing the shooting game on easy mode.

For the same reasons Bulleteer spitfire (the ODD REM) is really good with shooting. ODD gives it a -6BS mod, it has BS12, and you can give it Marksmanship Level 2 with a regular hacker (1 hacker can maitain 1 supportware, and has to spend an entire order for each target, every 2 turns (your turn, then opponent's turn)). So you can get effective BS15 and -6BS for your opponent on a Burst 4 weapon.

Remember, the shooting game is played in your +3 range, in cover. Don't wander out of cover in front of AROs, not even with the Swiss or a TAG (they can actually survive or even handle that, still not a good idea), and don't shoot while you are not in your +3 range.

Usually Pano troops are geared towards shooting, so if you are in cover, and in your +3 range, then active turns superior Burst and your good shooting abilities (+1 BS anyone) can brute force through enemy opposition, you may not need to try to shoot at the enemy in it's non-ideal range, so you don't need to attack a HMG with a combi/MULTI rifle, within 18". Even then usually you need your best shooter to deal with enemy's dedicated ARO pieces, and even then bad rolls can happen (I had my Jotum shot down by TR bots).

I don't really believe in aggressive LTs, not without proper Chain of command support. I'd rather take a Fusilier LT in prone on some rooftop. ORC HMG with an extra order sounds good, but eventually he will drop, and then you are in LoL, with your 3-4-5 remaining regular orders from your Bolts. Veteran doesn't make you immune to LoL, it just make it hurt a tiny bit less. 5 regular orders are still a third/half active turn.

Black Friar MSR is bad imo, but I don't like MULTI sniper.

For me, Hexa should have KHD instead of regular HD. Regular HD is there to enable REMs, apply supportwares. That's in conflict with Hexa's TO, because to apply your supportware, it has to come out of camo then go back, spending extra orders for nothing. Have a Fusilier HD or EVO Hacker. Or even nothing.

Try Auxilia, Heavy Flamethrowers are the best thing in the game.

If you ever play against Ariadna's camo spam, try Pathfinder + 3 Fugazi, move them up with a coordinated order, deploy Sniffer with the second part of the order, then spend a regular order to use Sensor, then watch all those camo states go away. Also this setup gives you 4 orders for 40 points, so as if they were order monkeys, but essential part of your list.

You'll need some ARO pieces, Sierra dronbots are the most newbie friendly ARO troops out there. Just know that people will eventually handle them, and they will go down. But that's not the problem, they are there for that exact reason, for your opponents to waste order on them. Preferably put them in the second order group (remember? have 14-16 orders), so when it goes down, your main attack group won't lose orders.

Warcor and Tech bee with their flashpulse are nice, Spitfire ranged (8"-24") ARO pieces. You put them somewhere visible in cover, and whatever your opponent does, you Flashpulse him in ARO. It may not do anything, but eventually you'll annoy himself enough that he'll spend orders on removing them. If you happen to stun their main attack piece for the turn, then you are in luck. Fugazi can do the same, but they give regular orders, so you are actually losing something, if they go down. But they also have Mimetism, so giving them some edge in the fight.

Neoterran Capitaline Army
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUSILIER HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 18)
FUSILIER Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 15)
FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
FUSILIER Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18)
FUSILIER Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
SWISS GUARD HMG / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 68)

GROUP 2 3 2
TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
HEXA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 27)
WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)
TECH-BEE (Remote Assistant Level 1, Specialist Operative) Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

6 SWC | 255 Points

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A random example, add 45 points of whatever you like.

 

Here is a NCA list I really like playing for several missions.
Could be something to slowly build towards or proxy it toghether to have a go at it and see how you like it.

I'm fairly new to the game but starting to learn with a couple of tournaments played and a lot of games at home against friends.

Neoterran Capitaline Army
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
SWISS GUARD HMG / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 68)
HEXA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 27)
FUSILIER HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 18)
FUSILIER Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 15)
FUSILIER Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
CSU (Specialist Operative) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
CSU Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11)
TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)

GROUP 2 7
HEXA MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 32)
AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

That's a solid list.

What kind of missions were you using it for?

 

@AdmiralJCJF Thanks! When there is a lot of button pushing I go with this. Tic tac toe, Comms center and Supplies works.

Its doesn't have a really strong datatracker though and that's my struggle with list building ATM. I'm thinking of trying out Aida or Black Friar for that role this season. Any thoughts on datatrackers for NCA?

 

MULTI Rifle Black Friar is a pretty good choice starting out of your DZ, with solid statline and them visors.
I would consider a fireteam member (Bolts being MI, Fusiliers being cheap and ORCs being the toughest) for the added relative safety their comrades grant them.
Deva Lt with Devabot: high mobility and a personal bodyguard. (Maybe too many eggs in one not-very-robust basket...)

 

Well, a CSU can be a really good Data Tracker with the right skill drop.

I've deployed my Swiss Guard out of marker state in order to make her my Data Tracker on occasion too.

But an Aquila is an ideal offensive Data Tracker, simply not in this particular list. I wouldn't rebuild it for that 'though, I certainly haven't for when I've been running similar lists.

 

I like the Aquila HMG but it rarely gets into my lists (except for limited insertion). I don't feel that I'm good enough at the game to play one order groups without LI yet.

Don't you lose a lot to deploy a TO:camo outside marker state? It can't go into marker if it's a datatracker right?

I've been trying this list for the last couple of games and kinda like how it plays.

Neoterran Capitaline Army
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
SWISS GUARD HMG / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 68)
HEXA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 27)
FUSILIER Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 15)
FUSILIER Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)

GROUP 2 6 1
HEXA MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 32)
BLACK FRIAR (Albedo, Biometric Visor L1) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Drop Bears / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
WARCOR (Sixth Sense L1) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

5 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

It is a big loss.

But it's worth it for missions with significant active scoring attached to the Data Tracker.