New player looking for help!

concerning your wish to use all the Units you have from Red Veil
just a quick heads up:
Zhanshi are not in the ISS (you might be ok using them as proxies for Celestial Guards though)
neither are Tiger Soldiers

Hsien and Ninja (especially with TacBow and Killer Hacker) are golden
Zuyong is not as high in the rankings as the Wu Ming as far as I know (at least in my meta)

since I am mainly a Haqq Player (and get my data from playing against ISS), I will leave the rest of the advice to real YuJing Players =)

 

I would recommend starting with the ISS starter. All of those models will be available in ISS. The hsien and ninja are two fantastic units.

If you are on your phone go to this website: https://armymobile.infinitythegame.com/

If you’re not on your phone go to this website:
https://army.infinitythegame.com/

If you haven’t yet, read through this:
https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/nobody-expects-the-imperial-service-iss-tactica.1963/

It will walk you through the unit profiles and some options for building your army.

My recommendations for starting at all are pretty simple

1. Play small games first. 100 points, 150 points, 200 points to get used to the rules. Graduate up to 300 later. This is a game with a lot of depth and quite a few rules. The missions in red veil are a great way to accomplish this.
2. Save hacking for later. It’s an awesome tool, but it adds a layer of complexity that you don’t need yet.
3. When you get to 300 points, start with only 10 orders. When you’re comfortable with that, add more.
4. When you encounter a new rule, make note of it for later.
5. Later, go to the wiki (http://infinitythewiki.com/en/Main_Page). Read the entire rule, including the examples. This may lead you to another rule or two. Follow that rabbit whole one or two clicks, but try not to let yourself get overwhelmed.
6. Hopefully, you can do all of this with another new player, or with an experienced player who is patient and willing to work you through this stuff. A good teacher will help you introduce one or two new concepts to your game at a time.

 

@CmdAzareth the Zuyong has a Multi Rifle, but the box says Combi Rifle.

@RomeoWhiskey Zuyong is only vanilla for another 7+ months. I'd say absolutely higher rated than Wu Ming there - provided it's the HMG version! Unfortunately this sculpt isn't. On the note, CmdAzareth, I do recommend picking the Zuyong HMG up if you go vanilla. The sculpt is good and the utility as LT or LT decoy is excellent.

 

@Mahtamori thx for the correction mate.
brainfarted there, you're right of course - Terracotta Soldier is unavailable in ISS too.
(that explains why I never see them as opponents ... only Wu Ming )

 

These has just been a schism, YJ lost his JSA part. In some time we'll get reinforcement, PROBABLY in the form of a new sectorial. The most betted on, is Invincible Army and Zuyong should b there.

 

In theory they become Invincible Army troops, still available in Vanilla.

 

Like @xagroth wrote, "early" next year we're expecting Invincible Army to be released. It's a no-brainer that Zuyong will be able to form Fireteams in IA, but details are scarce beyond that.

Your Zuyong makes for an excellent Wu Ming Combi+E/mitter proxy!

 

You're going to have to proxy eventually. That Wu Ming Combi Rifle profile I mentioned - I don't think anyone is expecting that model to be released, ever.

You will eventually get enough models to do it well, however.

Playing vanilla isn't bad - as a new player it is a trade-off between having to learn fewer of the more complicated rules versus having a smaller list of models you need to buy and learn the huge amounts of slightly less complicated rules for :)

Personally I found sectorials more rewarding as a newbie and vanilla more rewarding now that I know the game decently.
But seriously; proxy the hell out of things to try them out is a very good advice. Maybe use old Warhammer 40k models as proxies.

 

Proxy a lot when learning. The usual suspects for Vanilla are Hsien, Ninja KHD, Sun Tze, Guilang, Daofei, Tiger, Hac Tao, all of the remotes (they are a safe bet: all remotes in a faction are present on all sectorials and vanilla), support pack (ISS has the Sophotect instead, but I doubt CB will keep the new support pack as vanilla only. The new one has a female doctor and male engineer, the old one is the other way around)...

If you manage to get the YJ part of Beyond Red Veil, it might be interesting. The Hac Tao is a 2-models blister that accounts for 150 points easily, too, so you can use it to reach 10 orders of elite troops with ease.

 

Remember Hac Tao are AVA 1.

I heartily agree remotes are a safe bet. The Yaokong and Yaoxie are great additions though I will warn the Rui Shi, a wonderful profile, is a finicky model.

 

We're supposed to be getting a new sectorial about then, the Invincible Army, which is primarily made up of dudes in power armor.

Yes. You should definitely play through the Red Veil missions several times, Infinity is very different from 40k or WarmaHordes.

There's a bit of skill to writing army lists, but there's no "I-Win" button lists like in 40k.

Section 9's 5 rules of thumb for list building(tm)!

1. Orders - You need at least 8x regular orders in your primary combat group. This means that you have no more than 2x Airborne or TO/Hidden Deployment models in that group (or one of each).
   
2. Guns - You want guns with a variety of ranges. Sometimes this will cost you SWC, sometimes it won't, depends on faction and weapon. You win a firefight in Infinity by having your gun at +3 while your target is at -3. So you want combi rifles, shotguns, Spitfires, marksman rifles, snipers, HMGs, everything you can fit in. If you have a variety of guns but haven't spent all your SWC, that's fine. If you don't have a variety of guns and have spent all your SWC, that's a problem.
   
3. Speed - This isn't pure MOV stat, though Motorcycles and REMs are fast. This really means Airborne Deployment, Infiltration, Mechanized Deployment, and Forward Deployment, in addition to pure speed. This also includes Fireteams and Impetuous models. It will take practice, but ideally you want to pick the model that can do what you need it to within 2-3 orders. Sometimes this will mean moving someone farther away, to put their gun into +3 range. Other times this means moving closer.
   
4. Specialists - These are the models that can lose you the game. If you don't have specialists, you may not be able to do the mission! Specialists also help keep your troops alive, or keep you in the game after your LT gets killed. I try to have 4 specialists in a list, though I have been known to run 3 in a list intended for killing things. Doctor, Engineer, Forward Observer, Hacker (regardless of what device), Chain of Command, and even the generic Specialist Operative.
   
5. Plan - You should have at least a generic plan for what you're going to do. You don't even need to see the table to start formulating a plan, but you should really be choosing mission, laying out the table, and even knowing what faction your opponent is playing before you write your list. I know this is very different from other games, but it's important. Yes, tournaments are different, but you will at least know which missions you're playing before you write your lists. For most tournaments, you can write a "close terrain" list and an "open terrain" list, or a "Tricksy list" and a "kick-ass list".

Also, those are not restrictive categories, you can have fast specialists or fast guns. A model that is primarily an ARO piece, like a Total Reaction HMG, can give it's order to a more important model during the active turn, so that's orders and guns (and speed, technically).

If you've played WarmaHordes, you're familiar with Play like you got a Pair(tm). Well, Infinity is "Play like you got a Plan(tm)!"

There is an optional, 6th Rule of Thumb: Theme - have some kind of idea of what links your various troops together. I tend to use anime, manga, or movies to start my theme.

To give you an example:

Public Security Section 9, Yu Jing style
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
Major, NINJA Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Shock CCW, Knife. (0.5 | 40)
Tugusa, ZHÀNYING (Forward Observer) Breaker Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 25)
Batou, ZÚYǑNG Lieutenant (AutomediKit) HMG / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (1 | 39)
Saito, GŬILÁNG MULTI Sniper Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 33)
Pazu, KǍNRÈN Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Knife. (0 | 29)
Boma, MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
Ishikawa, CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
Tachikoma, WÈIBĪNG Yaókòng Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
Batou's Tachikoma, HÙSÒNG Yaókòng HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
Tachikoma, SON-BAE Yaókòng Smart Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 18)

GROUP 2 2
Logikoma, PANGGULING (Total Reaction, Repeater) Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21)
Kohl, Zhanshi YĪSHĒNG Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Orders: 9 regular and one Hidden Deployed in the first combat group, plus a couple extras you can stick in as you take casualties.

Guns: got 2 HMGs, a sniper rifle, and a Smart ML. Might want to consider adding a shotgun for short range dominance, though the Breaker Combi is rude (Breakers don't roll against ARM, they roll against BTS, so good for high-ARM models with low BTS).

Speed: One Infiltrator, one Forward Deployment L2. Plus Remotes that move 6-4.

Specialists: 7 of them! Assault Hacker, Killer Hacker, regular Hacker, 2 Forward Observers, Engineer, and Doctor.

Plan: The Major and Pazu need to be pretty close to each other, as Assault Hackers a quite vulnerable to Killer Hackers. Saito can either hang back to give good range for his rifle, or push way forward to shoot people in the back. Everyone else is stuck in the Deployment Zone. Have the Tachikomas push forward first to draw fire. You might swap the Panguling for another Weibing to give another FO to mark targets for the Smart ML, and also free up points to get a helperbot for the doc.

Theme: Obviously, Ghost in the Shell.

• Major is a TO camo hacker, which in YJ means the Ninja.
• Togusa is a police officer with a good intuition and tracker rounds for his sidearm. Zhanying FO is a good fit.
• Batou is a big, beefy combat cyborg with a thing for big guns, so making him the Zuyong Automedikit HMG is one of the better fits. Making Batou the on-scene LT saves one SWC.
• Saito is a sniper with some vision tricks, so I could use a Bao for no camo or infiltration but MSV2, or the Guilang for camo, infiltration, and MSV1. I like the Guilang model.
• Pazu is an undercover military policeman (according to Arise), so the Kanren is a good fluff-match. Plus, the Kanren has decent CC skills, and Pazu is really good with a knife.
• Boma is another big combat cyborg like Batou (even taller, in fact!), but he's also the team's combat engineer. Since there's only the one Engineer profile in YJ...
• Kohl, the Doctor, shows up in the GitS 1.5 manga, so she is canon.
• Tachikomas are all REMs of various types. I have some 1/72 scale Tachikoma models from the Kotobukiya Jigabachi helicopter kit, and a couple Fuchikomas from a PVC figure set. I bought enough Tachikomas that I can use two to make Logikomas, but I haven't finished the scratchbuild yet.

Hope this helps!

 

Note that the Halqas all need to be deployed in the same place. Everyone with Mechanized Deployment gets deployed within Zone of Control (within 8") of one of the models with Mech Deploy. But you can put that circle anywhere on your half of the table.

Other "Themes" I have done:

• a Nomad boarding party: Every model in my entire Nomad collection has either Zero Gee or the Multiterrain skill. This doesn't work so well in Yu Jing, but can also be done in PanO (with Knights Santiago and Crusader Brethren).
  
• a PanO Military Orders combat rescue team: De Fersen and a bunch of Hospitaliers (this one is actually fluffy, de Fersen is assigned to the Mercedarian Order, which is the Hospitalier's combat rescue unit)
• an Imperial Service list themed around the Psycho-Pass anime: A crane, a Pheasant, a quartet of Bao, bunch of remotes.
• a "Guyver Bio-boosted armor" Tohaa list: Every model will have Symbiont Armor. I haven't started this collection yet.