Hello everyone, After months of thinking about joining in on this game, I have finally decided to pull the trigger. I have heard this place is good for looking for advice and talk about the game, so I decided to make an account here. Hope everyone can help me with this journey. I live in Boise, Idaho in the United States and hoping there is a scene here that I can join.
Hello and welcome to the game and the forums! There are a large number of people here who are quite knowledgeable about the game and will be happy to help you get started. If you have any questions about the rules/mechanics, no matter how basic, we'll be happy to help out. If you're still on the fence about factions, there are plenty of folks who can talk about the various options there as well. I don't know what the Idaho community looks like, but I'm sure we can help there as well.
Thanks! There is a lot of stuff I'm wondering about that I am sure that I will ask sooner than later. Should I ask them here or in another place?
If it's just basic getting started stuff, this thread is fine. There's an official rules forum, but people generally don't mind reiterating basic how-to-play info in personal threads. If you stumble into an actual hairy rules scenario where the answer isn't immediately clear, you may get pointed there just so that the question gets wider visibility. Same goes for factional musings. Basic discussion of different factions can take place anywhere, but if you want to dive deep on a particular one, you're probably going to get more and better replies if you take it to that faction's particular forum. But please, ask away!
Thanks again. I was looking at a couple of factions and need some help with deciding which. I was looking at Combined Army, Tohaa, and Haqqislam and don't really know which is good for a starter like myself.
By and large, most factions can support most playstyles, although you've got a decent spread of options there. Combined Army is, as you might be able to tell from my forum avatar, my main faction. One of their defining characteristics is that their troops are fairly expensive in points; it's not impossible to make higher model count armies, but they will generally tend to have somewhat fewer models than opponent are able to bring. I really enjoy the vanilla faction, which has some really powerful and cool unique units (EI Aspects, host bodies for the Evolved Intelligence: Charontid, Anathematic, Skiavoro, and Avatar). These are very expensive but very powerful troops that have built-in protection from Loss of Lieutenant, along with some unique weapon options. I also enjoy playing Morat Aggression Force, which has relatively few tricks or subtleties, but is also very robust against loss of lieutenant. The Shasvastii Expeditionary Force just got a big overhaul in the last book, and is going to be part of a two-player starter box coming out this summer. It's focused on the stealthy, sneaky, camouflaged elements of Combined. I've also played some Onyx Contact Force. It's got some really cool theming with all the biomechanical constructs, and has a selection of great units across the racial lines, unlike MAF and SEF which are segregated. Tohaa is in a bit of a weird spot at the moment. A large number of models were recently discontinued while another large portion were added under the Spiral Corps mercenary army. I played Tohaa a few years ago, but I haven't kept up with them. I've also never played Haqq, so I can't speak as much to their options as others. They also got a new sectorial recently (Ramah Taskforce) in the same book that the Shasvastii one was in. In general, Haqq has a good mix of strong attackers, cheap irregular models to use as speedbumps, and some of the best doctors in the game. They're one of the few factions where I consistently see people use doctors effectively, either bringing models back into the fight and threatening their opponent with them or forcing the other player to spend additional resources to make sure they stay down.
Hehe, I feel like I sold CA better because they're what I know. I'll try to get some additional perspectives to post in here.
@Indominus Rex Tohaa are a good faction/sectorial. You can find a few Tohaa 300 point boxes on ebay. It gives you a good number of models that can be used in any list you can come up with. Not to mention the Spiral Corps box would go great with the Tohaa or their own sectorial. Tohaa is also the least played faction in ITS so you will have something that is unique compared to the most of the player base. Who wouldn't want to run unlimited 3-man triads all over the field? I think they are a good faction to check out and the Spiral Corps second since they are a Tohaa merc force and can be used in Vanilla Tohaa. Give them a shot & playtest them. They're different from how the other faction in Infinity are set up making them a breath of fresh air. I would even playtest all three factions (Combined, Tohaa, Haqqislam) a couple of times for each faction and see which one clicks with you. If it turns out later that the one you picked is no longer for you no problem. Try the next one. No need to rush into a decision just yet. Enjoy the journey and learn the game through each of these three different factions.
That might be a better suggestion for me. Now I hope I find a game store near me that does Infinity playtests.
Hello from Utah. We get a few Idaho folks playing at our events. Brigham and Logan area is starting to grow with interest.
Oddly enough, you'll probably get more traction on the local places to play if you join WGC Infinity on Facebook. When they all look so cool the proper solution is to simply buy all of them. Rarely is that practical though. I recommend that you find six models (not in the same box) that you like the look of in each of those interesting factions. Then go with the team that was easiest to pick out. Come back and ask any questions that are deal breakers for you. There is a lot of learn, and you can make the curve much steeper for yourself than you have to. Jump on over to the list builder (tournament validation tool) here: https://army.infinitythegame.com/ . Pick the faction* you liked most and then poke around and find the units you chose and just add them willy nilly. Print the list out. Now you know what you have to learn first (There are hyperlinks to help out) over and above the basics like walking around, shooting, and so forth. You will note that you almost certainly have many many other units you haven't even looked at. Those are _more_ rules. ;) *When you pick a faction you will see others to choose from. Those are 'sectorials' and represent themes or organizations within the bigger catagory. Typically they get more of some things, and none of other things. Themes. You can ignore them if you want.
So, an update about my journey so far. I visited locally game store that I know sell some Infinity stuff and it turns out that the Infinity scene in Boise is basically dead for the most part. I don't know about the other communities in Idaho, but given @wildchevy response, I think it is also dead.
@Indominus Rex If you like the game alot then don't let an obstacle like this deter you. Which part of Idaho are you from? Perhaps there is a place out of state that you can visit from time to time.
Dead as in nobody plays the game in Boise. I live in Boise since I go the university there and also live there too.
Warmachine thrives in the Boise area and the big names in the game run a podcast there too. The folks that I know who play Infinity are in Poky and IF. I invite you to join UT-ARO Facebook group to reach out to the other Idaho folks.
