Yu Jing - the Art of War

Yu Jing - The Art of War​

As a quick research on the internet revealed, that Yu Jing appears to be the only faction without a sticky vanilla force write up. Since it was pointed out in the forums in 2019 and sill nothing changed, I have taken upon myself to remedy that – as a super power destined soon to surpass PanOceania, we really need a write up of the vanilla army. As of now this is a work in progress – the first post contains only HI`s, MI`s and LI`s. More will follow – I hope. All comments are most welcome, and I do not claim that I`m all knowing (as my ITS`s scores will surely atest).

Who am I?​

I`ve been playing wargames for over 15 years now – started with WHFB, than played Flames of War for a couple of years, until I started playing infinity nearly 6 years ago. I view myself as more a hobbyist, than a general, and to be honest I have never been a very successful player. I`d also like to thank @SpectralOwl, @Space Ranger and @archon for their valuable insights - which I have included in the document.

Having said that, I have a Master’s Degree in military history and I did quite a bit of research on-line. So here comes my humble attempt at the Art of War - a Yu Jing tactica.

Why play Yu Jing?​

Because Subtlety is reserved for those that cannot afford power armor. It’s as simple as that.

Yu Jing a well balanced faction, which allows for many robust playstyles. What our faction excels at, is a wide range of Heavy Infantry units for almost each task and brilliant leadership options (great LT`s, NCO and assorted skills), while providing them with competitive mid field options and some very good drop troops. Even after the Japanese left/rebelled/betrayed the Empire, and took their fancy toys with them, Yu Jing still has access to some decent CC capabilities.

What not to expect? A very strong ARO game, above average hackers and TAGs, any doctors other then the basic 15pts. Zhansi Yisheng and very fancy ammo types.

Also bear in mind, us YJ Players have an additional superpower, which sets us apart form all the rest of the factions. We complain on the forums. Quite a lot actually. But to everyone who looks at this phenomenon its quite obvious why this is the case. In the first Infinity RPG (from which the miniature wargame evolved) Yu Jing was the players characters arch nemesis. And after spending many years playing that game, the game devs. just wont give all the coolest toys to the faction that was their enemy all that time, now wont they? :-P I am of course joking here. YJ does not stand out in terms of power level from other factions, it is really cool to play and the miniatures look brilliantly!

And if You are wondering who gest the coolest toys? Nomads. Of course it’s the Nomads.

Army rooster​

What follows is my take on the units available to Yu Jing army. Where aplicable I aded information on units that wor well together, and rules, that should be remembered when using those units.

Heavy Infantry​

This is why we are here, right?

Spoiler: List of HI`s

Daofei Tactical Section

A HI unit, that went from being the only infiltrating HI to being the only 2W infiltrating HI overnight. Not making it to the Invincible army (which caused a lot of grief on the forum) made the Daofei a strong argument to play Vanilla Yu Jing. At 4 ARM, 3 BTS, 2W, CH: Camo and Infiltration, with a solid BS of 13 he is a tough mid field contender, more than capable of dealing with almost every opponent. One has to be very careful in deployment, especially if the enemy has the initiative. With all that firepower, camo and good armor, the “Bandit” can die quite easily if he is discovered to early. For that reason, the lieutenant option requires special consideration. Also, bear in mind not to deploy him next to a unit with no marker state – as template weapons can be fired at the revealed unit in a fashion, that allows the camoed unit to be hit too.

Notable profiles:

• Spitfire (55 pts, 2 SWC, or 1,5 SWC for the LT version) seems to be the most popular choice. Taking the infiltration skill into account, it has optimized rangebands.
• Hacker (Hacking Device, 56 pts, 0,5 SWC) a MULTI Rifle is a step down in terms of stopping power, and the HD gives us an extra vulnerability to killer hackers (that can be mitigated by re-camoing at the end of the turn), but in exchange we receive the ability to perform a truly vast array of missions and Classified objectives. Disrupting TAGs, HI, and virtually everything else that can be spotlighted is just a bonus.

Good synergy: other camo infiltrators (Zhencha, Guilang) and FD units (Kanren, Libertos, Beasthunter) for a ultimate midfield domination and 4-6 camo token mindgames. Bear in mind that despite having 2W, 4 ARM and a camouflage, is quite fragile in the enemy`s active turn, so deploy them in a secure fashion (other camo units, assorted ARO`s and deployables can greatly enhance its survivability).

Hac Tao Special Unit

“Black Magic” in its name is by no means an overstatement. Mimetism -6 Camo HI (one of, if I`m not mistaken, three of its kind available in the game). In terms of raw, destructive firepower, almost each profile is a great choice – even taking into account increase in MSV2 defensive link snipers. Hidden deploy a Hac Tao on a rooftop somewhere, and when Your turn comes – unleash a hail of bullets on the enemy at a base -12 mod for return fire (-6 TO camo, -3 surprise attack, -3 for cover). Be sure to go prone/get out of sight at the end of Your order – so You can easily recamo for another surprise attack – if necessary.

Notable profiles:

• HMG/HMG NCO (63/65 pts, 1,5 SWC) for the ultimate application of brutal force, and that from a vector the enemy will be at odds to forsee. NCO shenanigans was greatly enhanced by the arrival of LT2 options,
• Missile Launcher (60 pts, 1,5 SWC) for the ultimate link killing, ARO annoyance. Be sure to carefully read the ARO rules regarding camoed/hidden units, and bear in mind, that declaring “wait” as an ARO breaks Your marker state/hidden deployment. A -9 base for being shot at (-6 TO Camo, -3 cover) and a base 8 ARM (5 ARM, 3 cover) is great, but remember – crits kill people even with N4 rules. If all else fails, this unit can force the opponent to burn a lot of order to neutralize him,
• Hacker (62 pts, 0,5 SWC) is imho the least favorable option. Although being a hacker grants interesting options, it also has a huge vulernability: thanks to its Mimetism -6 and heavy armor, the Hac Tao is rather difficult to kill. All that goes away when he is a hacker, since any ~20 punk with a killer hacking device can fry his brain in 1-2 orders tops (as in the case of Dao Fei, that can be mitigated by re-camoing at the end of the turn).

Hsien Warriors

One of my personal favorites in this army. Long range offensive beat stick with MSV2. Primary use: place smoke, fire at unsuspecting enemies through said smoke for a -6 mod for their ARO (bear in mind it does not work for linkteams of 4+ miniatures and enemies with Sixth Sense, also when dodging the mod does not apply) and kill anything that moves. Secondary uses include efficient discovering of Camo and TO Camo markers, and killing anything that moves. Thanks to good armor (4) and high Courage makes for a decent secondary ARO piece – especially when placed in reserve against an enemy likely to field McMurrough or other units that rely on smoke to get up close and personal.

Notable profiles:

• HMG/HMG Lieutenant (55 pts, 1,5 SWC) – expensive, but highly efficient primary attacker, with high survivability. Perhaps in some particular scenarios a Multi rifle could be more useful (same goes for a +1 discount for SWC for the Lieutenant version), but the HMG range bands and Burst of 4 are well worth paying those few extra points.
• MULTI Rifle Lieutenant + 1, specialist operative (54 pts, +1 SWC) for times, when You want to go all in on SWC weapons.

Good synergy: anything that provides smoke: mostly Celestial Guard KS Control Device (which 95% of the time You will take to enable Kuang Shi) and Shaolin Monks. Bringing a Hsien without any means of smoke is a fast track to serving in the nearest Wu Ming regiment)

Hulang Shocktroopers

A 1 Wound NWI HI with FD2, Mimetism -6, MA 3, Monfilament CCW, shock immune Specialist Operative, which is – basically – a post Rebelion Shikami knock – off. It is a general forum consensus, that it is a botched attempt, that fails short in achieving its goals, whilst being too expensive points wise. Lack of a marker state greatly limits its chances to use that MA/Monofilament in combat, not to mention a rather lowish chances of surviving the first turn should the enemy take initiative. On the plus side – Hulangs are quite capable of completing the majority of ITS scenario objectives, thanks to Specialist Operative and D-Charges.

Notable profile:

• let me know if You find one.

Haidao Special Support Group

Yu Jing has its own Navy Seals! “The only easy day was yesterday!” Yet another 1 Wound, shock immune, NWI, BS13 Heavy Infantry, which brings many useful options to the table (even more so in Invincible Army). Dough Though we remain baffled by its 0 BTS, the Haidao can be very useful – mostly for highly efficient MSV2 ARO and decently priced specialists.

Notable profiles:

• MSV2 Multi Sniper (33 pts, 1,5 SWC) for killing Ghazis, Morlocks, Irmandinhos, and the like – be sure to keep him in reserve and deploy to blast as many as possible on their first move. A very solid MSV2 ARO at a decent price.
• Combi Rifle Engineer (25 pts, 0 SWC) – if the Mech-Engieer is to squishy, Monstrucker too irregular, and the Jujak too severely lacking a flamethrower for Your taste.

Imperial Agents Crane Rank

To be honest, after 6 years of playing vanilla Yu Jing I`m quite sure I used them only once. While having some uses in ISS, Vanilla has better substitutes for the Cranes (like hoists, winches, pulleys, etc.). Crane is a MA3, BS13, 4 ARM, 6 BTS 2 Wound HI with some interesting visor/sensor options. It is the best Yu Jing unit capable of using triangulated fire (say You want to get rid of that pesky Missile Launcher Swiss Guard across the board without the usual -12 mod), as it has a semblance of a chance to survive setting up for that shot. Sadly, the Spitfire profile has too strong competition within Yu Jing to be a viable alternative (Dao Fei, Su Jian, Mowang are much better options, if You want to have a Spitfire armed HI).

This saddens me greatly, because the unit has THE BEST back story in the entire army. As a person holding a law degree I firmly believe, that having on as a prerequisite to receiving a power armor is a brilliant idea :D.

Notable profiles:

• MULTI Rifle, Sensor, X Visor (46 pts, 0 SWC) if You want to play the triangulated fire game, or be a general nuisance for Your friendly local 10+ camo tokens Ariadna player .
• Spitfire, X Visor (49 pts, 1,5 SWC) for a strong midfield HI, with a decent range bands (0 Mod to BS beyond 24 inches)

Krit Kokram

One of the recent additions to the Yu Jing army, a HI Engineer hero in Zuyong armor, feastoned with 3 pistols. A bit above average stat line (13 BS, 12 PH, 14 WIP, 3 ARM, 3 BTS, 2 Wounds) and an interesting weapon loadout makes him an interesting addition to any list, dough though at a steep price point wise.

Bear in mind, that he caused quite a stir on the forum back in the days (even by typical Yu Jing complaining standards). A lot of complaints were lodged on the forum, and he quickly earned the nickname “Dick Dickram”. But that was back in N3 days, with N4 he received a significant revamp and now can be considered one of the best YJ characters.

Notable profiles:

• FD1, Minelayer, Heavy Shotgun, E/Miter, Deployable Repeater, 2 Heavy pistols (41 pts, 0 SWC) to make Your mid fields game even stronger (also, together with Guilang, one of the only two ways to get a deployable repeater into the midfield).
• Feuerbach, Chain Colt, D-Charges, 2 Heavy pistols (42 pts, 1,5 SWC) for some heavy ranged firepower. Dough Though, being also FTO, he has much more sense in IA – a Burst 3 AP-DA Dam. 14 gun is quite respectable.

Good synergy: anything with LT +1 Order due to being NCO.

Liu Xing Jump Infantry

One of three most complained about units in the entire YJ list (Shang Ji and Zencha (pre IA release)). The amount of undeserved moaning this unit received is just plain bonkers, especially given how good it really is. Liu Xing is a 1W NWI, Parachutist, Combat jump capable Heavy infantry with a good weapon selection, and a tiny gimmick called Combat jump (Explosion). Decent stat line (13 BS, 12 PH, 13 WIP, 3 ARM, 3 BTS), combined with great flexibility given by Parachutist and Combat jump makes it a great addition to any list. First of all: unless entering from a table edge, be sure to use the Assisted jump EVO hacking program. Secondly: Explosion will not make You kill anything that lives in the selected LZ – live with it. It is more of a bonus option to achieve something extra. Landing on top of a 5 man link team can achieve great effects! If the enemy dodges the blast (remember that the whole link must declare the same ARO, declaring different AROs breaks the link) and choses to face the Liu Xing – they might turn their backs on You other units. Also, there is always a chance, that the link leader will fail his Dodge/Arm. If that fails, Boarding Shotgun at close range can break up the link quite efficiently. Other than landing on LI link teams, Liu Xing is quite good at completing objectives in the 2nd or 3rd game rounds. A great advantage is, that it has two wounds – which is a great back up for an overlooked ARO on landing, or a lucky critical hit by the enemy.

Lastly, many naysayers claim that Liu Xing is vulnerable to hacking, and it is very easy for the enemy to cover his/hers entire DZ with repeaters. While it is possible, I have yet to encounter an armylist geared especially to do that. Should You encounter such a list – just enter via the side of the board and do what needs to be done, or jump on the hackers head – his Burst 1 of Oblivion will not do much against Your B3 Dam 13 Shock Ammo Multi Rifle. Also, should You encounter such a defense – be sure to take a picture and send it to me – as I honestly believe that it exists only on the Yu Jing part of this forum dedicated to complaining about Liu Xing.

Notable profiles:

• Boarding Shotgun (32 pts, 0 SWC) – the economy choice, no bells and whistles.
• MULTI Rifle, D-charges, Specialist operative (35 pts, 0 SWC) – the best profile IMHO, perfect for completing all manner of mission objectives and killing things via a flank attack
• Spitfire (39 pts, 2 SWC) – a step up in the “killing things via a flank attack” department, a strong competitor of the Spitfire Tiger Soldier. Sadly, great firepower comes with a great limitation on mission objective capacity.

Good synergy: EVO Hacking Device for assisted landing.

Mowang Troops

A most fancy S5 HI beatstick, perfectly optimized for mid-field carnage. Mowang has a good stat line (13 BS, 14 PH, 13 WIP, 5 ARM, 6 BTS), two Wounds, NWI, Mimetism -3 and Terrain: Total. Keep in mind, that fielding the LT version has two disadvantages. By making the Mowang your LT, you lose the great advantage given by the NCO + LT2 combo, which is plain awesome. He is durable, really hard to kill and a very strong gunfighter. Just make sure to get into proper range bracket (smoke and tall buildings can be helpful here), and start killing things. Bear in mind dough though, that he is not that good in killing TAGs, due to no access to AP.

Notable profiles:

• Spitfire, Flammspeer, NCO (47 pts, 1,5 SWC) death incarnate, well worth the point/SWC cost, more than capable of taking the vast majority of common ARO pieces head on – should the need arise. Flammenspeer appears to be more useful in ARO, rather than active turn use. Keep in mind that suppressive fire be very difficult to dislodge (-3 MOD for cover, -3 for Mimetism, -3 for suppressive fire for a whooping sum of -9)
• Red Fury, Akrylat-Kanone, NCO (45 pts, 1 SWC) is a slightly cheaper, but still very effective loadout, which – apart from SWC discount – has two advantages. Bear in mind, that Red Fury has Shock special ammo – which can be quite useful against some armies. Akrylat-Kanone can also be a lot of fun in ARO – esp. if you manage to tag a TAG with it

Good synergy: Anything with LT2 for great order efficiency.

Shang Ji Invincibles

Meaning “advanced”. At the time of N3, sadly we do not know what particular advances were made in the Shang Ji power armor, as it is one of the more lackluster profiles in YJ. This changed dramatically in N4, giving us a brilliant attack peace in the form of so called “Shang Jisus”. Shang Ji are a mid-price range 2 Wounds HI with above average stats (13 BS, 14 PH, 13 WIP, 4 ARM, 6 BTS), and mid to long range weapons selection of HMG`s, HRL`s and Multi Rifles. What we get is a very well optimized killer with great weapons and high survivability (PH 14 gives quite good ods when using a paramedic).

Notable profiles:

• Tac aware AP HMG, Chaincolt, TinBot: Firewall -6 (49 pts, 1,5 SWC, aka the Shang Jisus) grants awesome firepower (AP/Shock ammo on each shot) on a solid, decently hacking resistant, durable platform, that brings an extra Irregular order due to tac aware.
• Tac aware Heavy Rocket Launcher, lights shotgun (38 pts, 1,5 SWC) – decent and more on the cheap side version, with a decent ARO capability.

Zuyong Invincivles, Terra-Cotta Soldiers

The staple YJ mass produced HI, with a whooping 13 profiles to chose from! This is a rather basic, cost efficient HI, with very little special rules. However, when You need a HMG for Your list (and You usually do!) the Zuyong is one of the most cost efficient ways to go.

Notable profiles:

• HMG regeneration/HMG Lt Regeneration (36 pts, 1,5 SWC) – just because regeneration got better in N4 (and bear in mind, You roll for regeneration before You check for Lost of Lieutenant – which makes a huge difference).
• Tac aware HMG (37 pst, 1,5 SWC) – for the extra irregular order on top of a reliable, cost-efficient HMG platform.

Rules to remember: Breaker pistols fire breaker ammo – each hit means a BTS save at half its value. For units with low BTS (like for instance multiple Ariadnian baddies with total immunity) or TAGs, this may actually be a bargain, especially with the + 1 Burst.

Tai Sheng, Zuyong Invincibles NCO

One of five NCO`s currently available in YJ, Tai Sheng seems to have more utility in Invincible Army, due to her linkability with other Zuyongs (which allows for using LT2 orders to move a HI link team). In vanilla YJ she still is a decent, albeit expensive choice. Good stats (BS 14, PH 12, WIP 14, 3 ARM, 6 BTS). Apart from NCO Tai Sheng has 2 Wounds, Courage and Forward Observer. The FO bit seems to less useful due to a wide variety of infiltrating camo specialist available to the list (Ninja, Guilang, Kanren, Zhencha, not to mention Tigers and Liu Xing`s). Then there are two Chain of Command profiles, which also have their uses and provide a durable second in command.

Notable profiles:

• Mk12, Chain-colt (40 pts, 0 SWC) – decent shooty HI, capable of clicking buttons.
• Breaker Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, Flash Pulse, Tinbot: Firewall -6 (39 pts, 0 SWC) – as above, don’t forget Breaker Ammo halves the targets BTS!

Sun Tze

On a personal note – one of the reasons I chose to play YJ. Sun Tze – a recreation of a Chinese general from circa 500 BC – is probably someone You all have heard about. He brings a quite unique combination of skills and abilities, which can have a huge impact on the game (especially if he dies on your first turn putting you in a LOL situation). Sun Tze is a 2 Wound, NWI HI with average combat stats (12 BS, 12 PH, a unique 17 WIP, 4 ARM, 6 BTS), with a most interesting set of skills: Strategos L2, Total immunity, Mimetism -3, and + 1 command token on the LT profile. Basically Sun appears to be good at two things: leadership shenanigans and being a large nuisance for the enemy. In terms of command: no faction can field a WIP 17 LT, which makes it extra easy to spectacularly fail the LT roll at the beginning of the game. Strategos deployment shenanigans, a LT order being a regular order, and having 5 command tokens might just be worth those 60/62 points. Sun Tze is also a quite good (while not very obvious) ARO piece. With Total Immunity turning ALL special ammo types to normal, two wounds, NWI (no Courage dough though), a base of -6 for being hit (-3 Cover, -3 for Mimetism) and an effective armor save of 7 (4 ARM, 3 for cover) he is REALLY difficult to kill. He also makes up for his lackluster weapon choices with the Flash Pulse. Bear in mind – it is a technical weapon, which means WIP is used in the to hit roll, instead of BS – making Sun Tzu hitting some targets at 20 or less.

What he brings to the table as LT was recently diminished by the arrival of LT + 1 order skill, which (together with YJ brilliant NCO options) outclasses Strategos L2.

There are only two downsides here – his steep price, and the fact, that he is an obvious LT, making a CoC unit most welcome (which also increases hist cost).

Also: don’t expect him to kill much.

Notable profiles:

• Boarding Shotgun, Advanced Command LT with 2 Nanopulsers and a Flash Pulse – most effective points-wise. Since He is not a killy unit, upgrading from Boarding shotgun to Multi Rifle does not change much and seems to be not worth the point cost.

Good synergy: Anything with Chain of Command, perhaps a Kanren/Tian Gou to disguise as Sun Tze to further confuse the enemy and enhance his survivability.

Su Jian Immediate Action Unit

As You probably noticed, for a very long time YJ had no bikes (that changed with the arrival Motorized bounty hunters). But who needs them, when the Jade Empire is the only army capable of fielding a transforming HI attack kitty! A unique HI unit with great stats (14 BS, 14 PH, 13 WIP, 5 ARM, 6 BTS for the combat form) and great survivability (2 Wounds, NWI, and Remote Presence (remember! 2 Unconscious states!). Being able to move at a 8-2 pace with Climbing Plus and Terrain: Total grants it access to some very interesting attack vectors – to get into ranges unfavorable for the enemy and – if all goes well – depriving him of cover. Keep in mind not to over extend Yourself with Su Jian. Also, make sure to properly acquaint Yourself with Cautious Movement rules (esp. the fact, that hidden deployed units cannot declare ARO against it) and to be able to eyeball 8 inches properly.

Notable profiles:

• Spitfire, Light Flame Thrower, Panzerfaust, Heavy Pistol (54 pts, 1,5 SWC) – seems to be the best profile, providing awesome firepower on a top tier, heavy armored mobile platform.
• Heavy Shotgun +1B, Light Flame Thrower, Panzerfaust, Heavy Pistol (50 pts, 0 SWC) – a cheaper version. With the Heavy Shotgun has "only" Burst 3, bear in mind that with 14BS in combat form You will be hitting on 20 or less at close range (You did remember to bypass enemy cover in mobility form, did You?).

Good synergy: Anything that provides a lot of regular orders to prance around the board. And perhaps some smoke.

Yan Huo Invincibles

Yan Huo HRMC is – in my humble opinion – one of the coolest looking miniatures in the entire YJ range. When it was first introduced (back in N2 I believe) it was a real gamechanger – the only HRMC not mounted on a TAG – accurate, decently priced and armored. 5+ years of the so called power creep made the Yan Hou a bit less appealing, but is still has its uses.

This S5 HI comes with 3 types of heavy weapons: MULTI HMG, HRMC (YJ only way to bring it to the field) and the Missile Launcher.

Notable profiles:

• HRMC (48 pts, 1,5 SWC). You gotta love Your rail guns, right? B5 in active with S 15 AP/Shock ammo is really nice. Just remember about the 32" optimal range – a sniper in the back of the enemy`s deployment zone might be just outside that optimal range!
• Missile Launcher Neurocinetics +1B (45 points, 1,5 SWC). A BS 14, burst 2 ARO with EXP ammo and ARM 5 sound really cool… Right up to the point You notice it has no courage (so each hit taken means 35% chance of filing out guts roll), and is quite vulnerable to being attacked though smoke by an MSV2 equipped enemy (in that case dodge seems to be the best ARO).

Rules to remember: Bioimmunity. Read it really well (say You get hit by a Breaker round: that means 2 saves using 1/2 BTS, which rounded up is 2… You can elect to use Your armor save of 5, which is not only higher, but also not halved – as per the FAQ). Also, You can spend a command token automatically pass or fail a guts roll - even after rolling.

Wu Ming Assault Corps

Yet another Heavy Infantry units specialized at killing people. Decent choice of ranged weapons (Combi Rifle, MULTI Rifle, Boarding Shotgun, Grenade Launcher, E/M Grenade Launcher, HMG, HRL, Chain Rifle) combined with an above the average ARM of 4 gives a decent HI… and all that in a faction, that has many other decent HI`s, as well as some truly brilliant ones.

Notable profiles:

• Heavy Rocket Launcher (30 pts, 1,5 SWC) for a decently priced ARO
• MULTI Rifle, Grenade Launcher, E/M Grenade Launcher (35 pts, 0 SWC) for a niche role of grenadier – which might prove to be very effective in removing pests and deployable repeaters from rooftops.

Rules to remember: No Cube means no re-roll of Doctor skill! It also means no Sepsitor problems.

Zhencha Armored Reconnaissance Regiment

What is the best way to reconnoiter a battlefield in a stealthy and safe fashion? Do it in a heavy power armor, of course! In the good old spirit of a German Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilungen, YJ can field the Zhencha – a camo infiltrating HI with Climbing+, Terrain (Total), 1W NWI. This rather expensive platform gives us a tookit type of unit – capable of effectively performing a lot of missions, while also being a significant threat to the enemy. If terrain can be properly leveraged, The Boarding Shotgun profile can be used to punch in some teeth in defensive links with snipers (dough though a humble Liberto seems to be a more cost efficient option to do that).

Notable profiles:

• Boarding Shotgun Hacker (41 pts, 0,5 SWC) – for hacking and a resilient way to perform missions and interact with various antennas.
• SMG, Panzerfaust, FO (35 pts, 0 SWC) – the more budget version, also the only one that comes with mines.

Rules to remember: Climbing+ means You wont lose camo token state when climbing walls!

Jujak Regiment, Korean Shock Infantry

A quite recent addition to the vast YJ HI family. Their trademarks are: decent speed (6-2), flame throwers on almost every profile and being on the less expansive side. Also Courage might be useful, when employing them for ARO duty (A BS 13, ARM 3 courageous HI is a decent option to slow down the enemy, especially taking into account their light flamethrower which might be useful in dealing with infiltrators). While they have some utility in the White Banner army, I have yet to find a niche for them in Vannila YJ.

Notable profiles:

• Missile Launcher, Light Flame Thrower (33 pts, 1,5 SWC).

Captain Qiang Gao, Invincibles Officer

If in Your meta Your Lieutenant routinely gets isolated by hackers, or pulverized by guided missiles, then congratulations! You are in a unique position to benefit from fielding Qiang Gao, a YJ character from Defiance. With Veteran, he is immune to being isolated, and his ECM: Hacker -3 might just give You the edge necessary to win that FTF roll not to get spotlighted. Sadly, that is literally the only he is better at compared to the entire rest of the Vanilla YJ list. There are better HMG platforms (like Shang Jisus, who – for the same point cost – has AP/Shock ammo and Tacaware, all other stats being equal), better Lt`s (for 22 pts You get the brilliant Daoying, which also has LT +1 order, but is virtually impervious to pitcher led hacking attacks as long as You keep him in camo and on a secure rooftop in Your DZ).

All in all, a shame. The mini looks cool dough though.

Rules to remember: Breaker pistols fire breaker ammo – each hit means a BTS save at half its value. For units with low BTS (like for instance multiple Ariadnian baddies with total immunity) or TAGs, this may actually be a bargain, especially with the + 1 Burst.

Imperial Agent Adil Mehmut (Crane Rank Armor).

Apart from Quing Gao the only veteran in Vanilla YJ, also with an option to become Lt. Sadly, we have yet to find any advantages of taking Adil over a regular Crane Agent. When compared to a regular agent with sensor, triangulated fire and a MULTI Rifle he has: -1 CC, -1 WIP, -1 level of Martial Arts, a Monofilament CCW instead of a DA one, and a Nanopulser +1B instead of a Pistol, and gains specialist operative and veteran. All that at a 1 point cost reduction. Perhaps I`m missing something, but I do not see a lot of reasons to field him (apart from the fact that he has a larger potential for the Classified Deck missions). Also, please refer above to my view on the usability of the Crane Agent for reference.

Sergeant So-Ra Kwon, Jujak Regiment

Ms. Kwon represents – so I heard – a new approach in CB character design policy: to make flavor characters that differ only a little bit from the regular unit they were a part of, without being to much overpowered. She fulfills that goal – we get a Jujak with a better BS, BS +1 DAM and some interesting weapon loadout. All that on a fast, decently armored and fairly priced platform. She is one of the two YJ native profiles equipped with E/M mines, which are quite an effective weapon. Dough though she is most useful in White Banner, due to her linkability, there are situations in which she might be quite useful in Vanilla YJ.

Notable profile:

• Combi Rifle (Shock), Heavy Flamethrower, E/M Mines (33 pts, 0 SWC).

Diggers, Armed Prospectors

CB`s play to make more people buy Deathmatch: TAG Raid . Yet they fit a slot, that is not covered by any other YJ unit: an extremely low cost (14/18), impetus HI with a regular order. I myself have never fielded them, but apart from threatening objectives with their +1B Chain Rifles, they might just be a cost efficient way to protect You LT/other valuable assets from assassination attempts. For 14 points, one can just field a Digger next to the valuable target, and when a Fiday/etc enters into CC – just pass a PH13 Dodge to enter CC and deprive the would be assassin of all his/hers CC bonuses with the Natural Born Warrior skill. In theory sounds great – dough although I have yet to try this one.

They also have AP CCW +1B, which means they might just hurt a TAG – if they manage to get in CC with it.

Notable profile:

• Chain Rifle +1B, Grenades, AP CCW +1B (14 pts, 0 SWC) – for the above mentioned shenanigans.

Bixie, The Jade Champion

The latest (at the time of writing) addition to the YJ army. A character from Aristea, with one hell of a punch in CC. She is also the only way for YJ to bring a Zapper to the field. With NCO, 6-2 movement, Stealth and Climbing Plus (and maybe with some Smoke) she can safely an efficiently approach an kill multiple enemies. A MSV1 combines with MULTI Rifle and BS13 make her a decent way to kill off enemy midfielders. Looks like a blast, and worth spending those 40 Euros for the ITS Season 14 pack to get the miniature .

Notable profile:

• MULTI Rifle, Zapper, Flash Pulse (41 pts, 0 SWC) not only is this good, but is also the only available profile.

Rules to remember: Carefully read the wiki entry on dodging. Bear in mind, that a dodge move is executed at the very end of the execution of an order. That means, that Bixie can approach an enemy behind a corner without triggering an ARO (Stealth!) then pass a PH + 6 test (90% success rate) and then move 4 inches into CC without triggering any ARO`s! With 22 CC, MA 3 and a E/M CCW she is more than capable of killing almost anything other then a dedicated CC specialist.

Medium Infantry​

While primary being a HI faction, YJ does not have a wide selection of MI`s. There are, hoewer, some true gems among those few.

Spoiler: List of MI`s

Daoying Operative Control Unit

Probably the best LT +1 Order profile in the entire Infinity wargame. Definitely the best on in Yu Jing. Given how brilliant NCO profiles are available in our faction, it is almost criminal not to use them. This unit especially shines in missions, where LT identity is open information – as they can be notoriously difficult to kill thanks to their camo state. WIP 14, 3 ARM, 3 BTS – he is a great LT with decent survivability.

Notable profiles:

• Boarding shotgun, LT+1 order (22 pts, 0 SWC) – for the ultimate cost efficient-yet-difficult-to-kill LT.
• Boarding shotgun, LT+1 order, Hacker (30 pts, 0 SWC) – for the ultimate cost efficient-yet-difficult-to-kill LT with the ability to do missions and surprise-hack the shit out of the enemy at a SWC discount.
• MULTI Sniper Rifle, LT+1 order, Minelayer (34 pts, 1,5 SWC) – for the ultimate cost efficient-yet-difficult-to-kill LT with some DZ protection and decent long range enemy killing utility in turn 2/3.

Rules to remember: Do not field a non camo state unit withing template range of Your Daoying – as enemy infiltrators/MacMurrough’s will be able to simply chain rifle that unit, and Your precious Daoying LT at the same time – without having to pass a discover test.

Tiger Soldier

One of the two Combat Jump/Parachutist units available to Yu Jing, the Tiger Soldier is a very good (albeit a bit on the expensive side) choice to complete a lot of missions, or to clear out the enemy back line of cheerleaders. Don’t forget his Elite Troop status, which might be useful in certain classified deck missions. A BS 13, Mimetism (-3) gunfighter packs quite a punch, and (as opposed to Liu Xing) can do really well in a hacker and repeater heavy environment. Just be careful – with only 1 Wound, the first failed armor save will likely be his last.

Notable profiles:

• Combi Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Paramedic (31 pts, 0 SWC) – for cost efficient late game button clicking.
• Combi Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Hacker (34 pts, 0,5 SWC) – for mid to late game button clicking and spotlighting from a surprising angle.

Armand `Le Muet` Freelance Killer

As I might have mentioned, strong ARO`s is not exactly YJ forte. That is where we can lean on some artichoke MSR support. With BS 13 MULTI Sniper Rifle, Mimetism (-6) and `sorta` 2 Wounds, Le Muet (if well placed, and kept out of sight of hostile MSV 2+ shooters) has the potential to really halt the enemy’s advance. Bear in mind he is a bit expensive and works best when kept in reserve – to avoid those MSV`s.

Notable profile:

• MULTI Sniper Rifle, MSV1 (39 pts, 1,5 SWC) – with the abundance of smoke grenades MSV1 seems to be the better option.

Sun Tze v.2 (Marksman Leader)

See the above entry on HI Sun Tze for my take on the Strategos utility.

The shooty Sun Tze (while having a brilliant looking miniature!) is a bit of an odd duck. While not the top tier sniper (BS 14, MSV1, no Marksmanship, no mimetism) he is also quite expensive. There are reports of people successfully using him – and from what I can tell tey were not using him as an ARO peace.

Notable profile:

• MULTI Sniper Rifle, LT, +1 Command Token (51 pts, 1,5 SWC) – for Strageos L2 at a discount, and some shooty capacity.

Rules to remember: There can be only one Sun Tze [insert appropriate Highlander meme] ! Also don’t forget about Total Immunity!

Hundun Ambush Unit

The Hundun is a good Hidden Deployment ARO piece. Especially the HRL version has great potential to surprise link teams in the open with a template attack. This is yet another unit to keep in reserve – to be deployed when the most on the enemy force disposition is known. A good idea is to try deploy the Hundun is such a way, to surprise the enemy when he/she will try to kill another ARO peace (meaning: to force the enemy attack piece to split Burst). The added mind game of “what was that hidden deployment? A Ninja? A Hac Tao Missile Lancher?” is a valuable bonus, included in the price tag .

Notable profile:

• Heavy Rocket Launcher, X Visor (27 pts, 1,5 SWC) – for a cost effective way to surprise that advancing link in the open.

Ye Mao Infantry

This Mimetism (-3), Super-Jumping medium infantry, appears to be a YJ hard counter to roof hugging Moran Masais and deployable repeaters. Their usefulness is however limited by their MOV of 4 (which means they won`t super jump all that far) coupled with the fact, that straight out jumping on rooftops might not be the safest option due to the prevalence of long ranged ARO`s (and the fact one can’t claim that all important -3 cover MOD while super-jumping).

Notable profiles:

• MULTI Rifle, Chain-cold, Hacker (KHD for 29 pts, 0 SWC, HD for 31 pts, 0,5 SWC) – for a rather difficult to hit hacker with ADHD and good BTS.
• AP Spitfire (32 pts, 1,5 SWC) – for an average priced TAG hunter, who might just die after one bad die roll .

Linguistic side note: “Ye Mao” in Polish sound almost as “Je mało” which means “He eats very little”

Lei Gong, Invincibles Lord of Thunder

Yet another Aristea character – Lei Gong is our hard counter for MSV2 snipers (particularly PanO`s Kamau Sniper). The only Albedo unit we can field, Lei Gong is a fast (6-2 – rollerblades rock!), and a decently priced attack piece. Bear in mind the best way to leverage that Albedo status is not to go straight against that Kamau Sniper (remember that thanks to Sixth sense in a 4+ fireteam said sniper will ignore the -6 MOD to hit for Albedo), but to try to kill everything else – in plain view of the MSV unit, which will not be able to anything until You attack him. So either kill the other ARO units one by one and do mission objectives, or just try to get into the less than 8 inch range band and then blast the sniper. Two great looking miniatures to chose from is another bonus.

Notable profiles:

• Shock Marksman Rifle, Nanopulser, Blitzen (34 pts, 0 SWC) – for a flexible middle range attack piece.
• Submachine Gun, Nanopulser, Blitzen, Chain of Command (32 pts, 0 SWC) – for a flexible short range attack piece with button clicking capabilities.

Jing Qo, the Shadow of Huangdi

This YJ secret agent has a brilliant (imho) backstory, an average looking miniature with a lot of special rules. All of those special rules sadly raise the point cost, and without a marker state, the only reliable way to use all those MA3, 23 CC, AP+DA CCW is to try to dodge into CC the way Bixie does better for a 5 points price increase (Jing dodges on 16, and only for 3”, as opposed to Bixie`s 18 and 4” respectively). On the plus side (when compared to Bixie) she is unhackable and has Mimetism (-3), but can’t super jump and has no visor. All in all she seems to be more useful in White Banner, where she has some really good fireteam options (particularly that Haris fireteam with Shaolin Monks, which makes them regular).

Imperial Agent Adil Mehmut, Special Division

Similarly to his heavy armor/law degree alter ego, MI Adil is not in the forefront of the most awe inspiring YJ characters. He does have a niche – especially with his Chain of Command profile. He offers a decent alternative to the rather squishy Weibing Yaokongs and Zhanying Imperial Agents way of bringing a sensor and MA2 to the table.

Notable profile:

• Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser +1B, Chain of Command (35 pts., 0 SWC) – for a survivable, hacker resistant way to sensor the sh*t out of Your friendly local Ariadna players.

Rules to remember: There can be only one Adil [again insert appropriate Highlander meme] ! Don`t forget he has his own comic book!!

John Hawkwood, Mercenary Officer

A White Company mercenary officer (always worth mentioning, as one might have missed the merc. part of his job description) Hawkwood is one of the two ways YJ can bring K1 ammo (ARM=0, which is nice) to the table. In the range of mid 40 points we get a hacking resistant, Mimetism (-3) competent (BS 13) gunfighter, with an option to be fielded as a WIP 14 specialist. I must confess that a specialist starting in Your DZ with 4-4 Mov is not the most cost efficient way to push buttons, but there are obviously worst ways to do that. He can also decently fend for himself in CC, and has a DTW with burst 2. Also he is one of the 5 available profiles with Chain of Command.

Notable profiles:

• K1 Marksman Rifle, Nanopulser +1B, Monofilament CCW (41 points, 0 SWC) to harass and scare those pesky TAG`s.

Line Infantry​

AKA: The Poor Bloody Infantry.

Spoiler: List of LI`s

​

Zhansi

The humble Zhansi – YJ most basic Line Infantry. Rivers of ink were spilled on this forum over the so called “CC tax” – a 1 point cost increase commonly attributed to their outstanding CC characteristic (15 as opposed to 13 for Fusiliers and Kamaels, or 14 for Ghulams and Alguaciles). I`m not going to get in that discussion here (other than bragging, that at one time I attacked an Avatar in CC with 3 of my Zhanshis and actually scored a wound on it!). The Zhansi are a basic, no frills LI, which are quite useful in Core links in WA and IA. Their utility in vanilla YJ is, however, minimal. Other than a simple hacker (or the Grenade Launcher if You want to surprise somebody), there seems to be little point to take them.

Notable profile:

• Hacker, Combi Rifle(16 pts, 0,5 SWC) – for a basic, cheapest, WIP 13, 0 BTS regular hacker in the list.

Good synergies: Guilang and Krit Kokram minelayers – to get those Deployable Repeaters in the midfield, for the Zhansi Hacker to use.

Zhanying Imperial Agents

The “Fighting Eagles” of the ISS have a very interesting niche in vanilla YJ. One can use them for the obvious benefit of sensoring the enemy and using triangulated fire to blast him/her, which they can do fine. The Zhanying is the only Vanilla YJ hacker with native Sixth Sense skill, which might be mighty useful against all of those silent movement enemies (Sixth Sense ignores Stealth, which can be nasty surprise for enemies advancing in total cover).

Notable profiles:

• Hacker, Hacking device, Breaker Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, D-Charges (25 pts, 0,5 SWC) – for Sixth Sense hacking shenanigans, and – for some reason – D-Charges for Classified objectives.
• Breaker Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, Madtraps, Sensor, Triangulated Fire, Minelayer (23 pts, 0 SWC) for a DZ protector on a budget (remember, with Sixth Sense he gets a normal ARO when shot in the back!).

Rules to remember: Breaker Combi Rifle fires breaker ammo – each hit means a BTS save at half its value. Bioimmunity. Read it well – Yu cane use BTS (3) for armor saves against normal ammo instead of ARM (1).

Zhanshi Yisheng

Pros: The very best Doctor Yu Jing can field, has Dodge +1”, is hacking resistant and is fairly well priced for what it can do with a WIP 13.
Cons: Is the only Doctor Yu Jing can field and is a 1W, 1 ARM, no frills LI. And that’s that, folks.

Notable profile:

• Combi rifle, MedKit (15 pts, 0 SWC) – [insert .gif of Porky Pig sayin “that’s all folks!]

Rules to remember: You can use a Command Token to re-roll a failed Doctor Skill roll. And if that also fails, You can spend another. And then, if You are very lucky – another :-P. If You chose Sun Tze as Your LT, You can spend all five of them on re-rolls (my highs score is still 3 Command Tokens to heal one wound).

Zhanshi Gonhcheng (Mech-Engineers)

Pros: A hacking resistant Engineer Yu Jing can field, has Dodge +1”, and is fairly priced for what it can do with a WIP 13.
Cons: We have a shit load of better Engineers, and the Monstruckers (while being Irregular) have better special rules and kit.

Only profile:

• Combi Rifle, Dodge +1”, Deactivator, GizmoKit (15 pts, 0 SWC) – You get what You pay for.

Monstruckers

Mercenary Troops available to all the armies usually are an interesting and valuable option – since their objective (as Mercenaries) is to earn money (for CB of course). The Monstruckers are a viable alternative to Mech-Engineers, and some of the other mid-price range YJ native options. At WIP 13, PH12 (2 pts better than Mech-Engineers) they have potential. Since Engineers are usually placed in the second, defensive group, their Irregular order is not that much of a disadvantage. Also, every once in a Blue Moon, that Climbing+ might just come in handy.

Notable profiles:

• Submachine Gun, Chain Rifle, Drop Bears (12 pts, 0 SWC) – for engineering on a budget, which added DZ defense options of mine throwing.

Celestial Guard

One of the two (next to Zhanshis) no frills Line Infantry available to YJ. While being a bit more expensive, they bring some very interesting options to the table.

Notable profiles:

• Celestial Guard Monitor, Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenade Launcher (13 pts, 0,5 SWC) – a prerequisite for the “Kuang Shi 33 pts 0,5 SWC 5 Regular Order Battery”tm – a YJ staple, that the subject of envy from everyone.
• Hacker (hacking device) Combi Rifle (18 pts, 0,5 SWC) for a decent WIP 14, BTS 3 hacker.

Good synergies: Kuang Shi`s! Four of them at best!! Also Guilang and Krit Kokram minelayers – to get those Deployable Repeaters in the midfield, for the Celestial Guard Hacker to use. Also anything that benefits from smoke.

Kuang Shi

Fluffwise, this unit represents the ugly face of YJ – can You get any worse than brain washing political prisoners and sending them into combat with a remote controlled mine strapped to their neck? But game-wise, taking into account the N4 changes in impetus orders, they are an excellent unit. For 5 points (or a total for 4 KS and 1 CG – the “Kuang Shi 33 pts 0,5 SWC 5 Regular Order Battery”tm) You get 5 Regular orders, which no longer run into enemy fire like stupid people did in N3 . Also great corner guards and efficient disposable mine clearers. On the 2nd, and especially in the 3rd turn it might make sense to advance them into the midfield using their impetus orders to threaten objectives.

Notable profile:

• Chain rifle, Pistol (5 pts, 0 SWC) – the one and only cost efficient way to bring regular orders into play.

Rules to remember: Impetus units never get cover bonuses! Also when taking fire from outside of the Chain Rifle range remember You can use their pistols! Sure, they are BS 11 and lousy range bands, but in the active turn B2 can actually give higher success rates than a simple dodge at PH 12. KS`s need to be in the same Combat Group as the CG controller. Also remember about the Explode rule!

Good synergy: Shaolin Monks. If You want to advance using impetus orders, activate monks first – that way they can use Smoke grenades to cover the KS advance. Also: Anything that needs cheap regular orders to win the game.

Imperial Agent, Pheasant Rank (Ye Ji)
The Pheasant agent was not very popular in N3, and thus was significantly revamped when N4 landed. The changes helped, but still they are not a prime choice. This Chain of Command (one of 5 such units in Vanilla) Line Infantry is a very competent close combat fighter (getting them into CC with PH 10 and no camo can be quite a challenge). For around 30 pts. We get a LoL insurance with decent button clicking (WIP 14) ability, and some DZ defense options (Madtraps with minelayer profile). Just be sure not to expose the Pheasant to enemy fire on the first round – its really rather pointless to pay for CoC only to loose that miniature before the LT!

Notable profiles:

• Red Fury, Tac aware (31 pts, 1 SWC) – for some extra orders to click those buttons in the last turn, and decent firepower to reach them.
• Boarding Shotgun, E/Mitter, Madtraps, minelayer ( 27 pts, 0 SWC) for a basic DZ protection and LoL insurance.

Good synergy: Every Lt You are going to put in harms way.

Knauf, Outlaw Sniper

One of a wide variety of YJ merc. snipers. While most of them are ARO pieces, where Knauf shines, is the active turn. With BS 13, MSV 1, Mimetism (-3) and a Burst 3 MULTI Sniper Rifle, he really packs a punch.

Only profile:

• MULTI Sniper Rifle, AP Heavy Pistol, BS Attack (+1 B) – to kill things.

Aida Swanson, Submondo Smuggler

A mid field mercenary, competing in the light Forward Deployment department with Libertos and Kanren. Also, her Viral Pistol and Viral Mines are a decent counter to a certain popular Total Immunity, Vulnerability (Viral) attack piece .

Notable profiles:

• SMG (+1B), Viral Mines, Viral Pistol, Minelayer (23 pts, 0,5 SWC)
• SMG, Viral Mines, Viral Pistol, Minelayer (20 pts, 0 SWC) – a 0 SWC, FD+4”, Mimetism (-3) Minelayer? Sounds interesting!

Rules to remember: Shasvastii embryo state – read it up, as we don’t use that in the Jade empire . Also, the strategic command token use for Suppressive fire might be a good option here.

Libertos Freedom Fighters

One of the most popular Mercenary Troops across the board. For 8 pts we get a streamlined FD+8”, Dogged, camouflaged, template weapon bearing killer. Don’t forget the +6 Dodge, which might be a very effective ARO to allow the opponent to spend orders, that are much more needed elsewhere. Also, the Liberto is one of the very few units with S2 Camouflage and no mimetism mod – it makes him really easy to spot on the board once You have learned that.

Notable profile:

• Light Shotgun, Shock Mines, Minelayer (8 pts, 1 SWC) – for a cost efficient midfield speedbump/piece to trade against a defensive core link with a sniper.

Wild Bill, Legendary Gunslinger

For a legendary gunslinger he is really very rarely seen on the tables (at least in my part of the world – I have yet to see anyone field him). If You know a way to use him in YJ please don’t hesitate to contact me .

Bao Troops, Judicial Watch Unit

Bao Troops were among the least used YJ units in N3. No wonder they got some changes when N4 landed, but sadly, they still seem pretty useless. They are the only way for YJ to bring Biometric Visors int the game. Unfortunately, this is one of the least useful pieces of kit in the current state of the game, which makes their usefulness rather limited. Perhaps the Boarding Shotgun version might have some utility when planning to play a camo token/impersonation heavy opponent, but other then that, they mostly stay on the shelves (if one bothered to buy those miniatures, which are not imho that good, that is).

Authorized Bounty Hunters

An interesting way to bring something surprising to the table. With a re-roll on the booty table, they might just find something usable (like that Mimetism -6 for the sniper). But since (at least for me) the large part of the YJ appeal is reliability, I have very limited experience with them. The sniper option might work in some cases as a cheap ARO.

Warcors, war correspondent

Everybody loves a Warcor, especially with the N4 changes to Flash Pulse ammo. A highly cost-optimized speed bump, best used together with other ARO pieces (lets be honest: a Warcor chances against anything with burst 4 or more ale abysmal, but then the opponent is forced to divide his burst… this is when the magic happens!).

Notable profile:

• 360 Visor, Flash Pulse.

Rule to remember: The Flash Pulse is a technical weapon, which means You fire it using WIP (13) and not BS (9).

Miranda Ashcroft, Authorized Bounty Hunter

As Yasashii Fayou elegantly put is in his ISS Tactica, “Miranda is an Authorized Bounty Hunter that got REALLY lucky on the Booty Charts table”. What we get for a decent price is a Mimetism (-6), CC capable, Monofilament wielding Specialist Operative. There are, however, better ways to spend those ~25 points in the game.

Krakot Renegades, Morat Fugitives

Yet another alien mercenary unit, the Krakot bring interesting options to the midfield. FD+4” with no visual mods, but some very interesting mobility options with a re-roll on the MetaChemistry table, they have the potential to really surprise the enemy.

Notable profiles:

• Chain Rifle (+1B), Grenades (14 pts, 0 SWC) – for cost-efficient trades, grenade lobbing and an antimaterial CCW for certain scenario objectives.
• Submachine Gun (+1B), Chest Mines – to blast the enemies midfielders.

Rules to remember: Impetus means no cover bonuses.

Gui Feng Xi Zhuang

Gui Feng is a named Guy from the Celestial Guard, which comes in a Dire Foes Box. Generally characters from the Dire Foes boxes are quite good, and our Guy here is no exception. While he shines best in ISS due to his linkability and Number 2 rule, he is a quite good choice in vanilla too.

The only profile:

• Combi Rifle, Light Flamethrower (+1B), Flash Pulse, Madtraps, Minelayer(21 pts, 0 SWC) – for a cost-optimized LI for DZ defense, who also is a Forward Observer with WIP 14.

Major Lunah, ex-Aristea! Sniper

Our very own (mercenary who is also available in other factions) hard counter for a certain popular Total Immunity, Vulnerability (Viral) attack piece. With BS 13, MSV1 and Mimetism (-3) she is a very competent ARO piece (best kept in reserve when the above mentioned popular attack piece is expected), which also has some offensive potential.

The only profile:

• VIRAL Sniper Rifle (29 pts, 1,5 SWC) – to scare the living shit out of McMurderface.

Cube Jager, Mercenary Recoverers

An irregular, parachutist paramedic, armed with a Monofilament CCW. The last bit is a bit surprising due to its utter lack of CC capability (CC16, no cc skills – he might just cut himself with that blade…). I am at a loss how to use them – especially when Tiger Soldiers can do almost all they can but better, with a regular order and at a mere 10 pts price increase. What they do have, is an Emitter on the SMG profile. So theoretically they can immobilize a REM/HI/TAG and then mono it.

Oktavia Grimsdottir, Icebreaker`s Harpooner

An interesting LI character. For 28 points we get a BS 12 Missile launcher, witch +1 Burst on the active turn. Don’t forget go Dogged, when You want to annoy Your enemy in ARO!
Saddly, an active B2 ML with BS12 is simply not overwhelming and the opportunity to get a victim for your big gun is limited. You have to stay out of HMG rangeband, avoid sniper or other ML and ... as an ARO piece she is wasted points.

Rem Racers, Mercenary Hacker-Pilots

If You want to use some of YJ awesome combat remotes, the Rem Racers are a good way to go if You have points to spare (and have already bought the Pangguling EVO Hacking Device, which is a better (albeit SWC costlier) way to boost those remotes).

Notable profiles:

• RemDriver [+1 DMG, +1 WIP, +3 BTS], Light Shotgun (12 pts, 0 SWC) – This boost is brilliant for Rui Shi and Weibing remotes.
• RemDriver [+1 ARM, +3PH, +9CC], Light Shotgun (12 pts, 0 SWC) – if You want to play around with a TR REM (don’t forget: when Your TR bot is fired upon through smoke (perhaps with a surprise attack), You dodge.

Rules to remember: The rules for firing Guided Missiles prohibit using any mods other than the +6, so You cant use the RemDrivers bonuses while doing so.

Tian Gou, Orbital Activity Squad

If You were looking for reasons there is so much salt (as in: complaining) in the YJ forum, remind Yourself of the Tian Gou. After years of being pummeled in N3 by dirt cheap Muttawi with Jammers, or Hecklers with Jammers, we finally got our own Jammer bearing unit, with WIP 14, and a Holomask to boot… only for the Jammers to suffer a giant nerf two months later by gaining the “disposable” trait (imho that nerf improved the game, bit sill, it hurt).

Anyway, the Tian Gou is a very interesting unit, with cool loadouts. Apart from the Jammers (which can be mighty useful in certain scenarios which include the defense of consoles, and the like), we also get Surprise attack Killer Hackers and DZ protecting Minelayers.

Notable profiles:

• Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Jammer (22 pts, 0 SWC) – for a nasty surprise to paratroopers, infiltrators and the like.
• Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Madtraps, Killer Hacking Device, Minelayer (27 pts, 0 SWC) – for DZ protection and a hacking surprise.

Rules to remember: Jammers have the intuitive attack trait – which means You can use them to spook Camo Tokens on the other side of the building . Also (and I bullshit You not) when Jamming, we use WIP not BS.

Taowu, Mastermind and schemer

This Aristea! character is the only way for YJ to bring Counterintelligence to the table. He also as a very particular set of skills (“Taken” pun intended) to cut to pieces a certain popular Total Immunity, Vulnerability (Viral) attack piece, should they get into CC. With a CC of 21, Natural Born Warrior, CC Attack (-6)* and a viral pistol he should be able to kill almost any CC specialist field against him. Just make sure to use that Holomask, to make him look a juicy, exposed target :D.

Notable profile:

• Counterintelligence, Nanopulser (+2B), Flash Pulse (+1B), Viral Pistol (+1B), Monofilament CCW – for a hard counter to the enemy`s intelligence and strategic use of command tokens .

* - that -6 applies to the enemy`s CC stat of course.

Chief Mech-Engineer Chung-Hee Jeong

As opposed to the other YJ character from the Betrayal Comic, Chung-Hee actually brings a lot to the table. At double the regular Mech-Engineer cost, he is an Engineer with a Repeater of his own and an interesting weapon loadout. What is the point of an Engineer with a Repeater? Glad You asked. Since Jeong is a wildcard, You can form a duo of him and – for instance – a Guijia TAG. Not only does the TAG benefit from having a tag-along Engineer to fix it in the field, but it adds an additional layer of protection against enemy hackers. With clever placement, You might be able to hack the enemy hacker trying to attack the Guijia. Has Your Guijia been total-controlled? First thing You do when the opponent starts moving it, is to use Your own hackers, to block it! (and do that quick, since good old Jeong will likely by the first victim of Your possessed TAG.

Also, a K1 Combi Rifle can be surprisingly useful (and Jeong is one of the two profiles in YJ that can bring K1 ammo).

Motorized Bounty Hunters

You want bikes? Now YJ has bikes. Not that we need them with our Cyber Kitty™, but if You really want to field a bike in an army list containing, for instance, a Zuyong Invincibles tacaware HMG, now You can do that without having to resort to fielding the Dashat Company armylist .

Notable profiles:

• Submachine Gun, Chain-colt (+1B) (9 pts, 0 SWC) – for a cheap, irregular, impetuous bike. With a little luck and 2-3 order this unit can be traded for an enemy heavy hitter - might just be a bargain.
• Red Fury (16 pts, 0,5 SWC) – for a cheap, irregular, impetuous bike with some dakka.

Beasthunters Free Guild

Contrary to what the name suggest, the Beasthunters (a unit designed to sell more TAG-Raid boxes) are not free. They are just irregular, dirt cheap and darn effective close combat troops. If the price of the entire TAG Raid box seems to steep to get this miniature – feel free to use the Jing Qo miniature – her sword is prominent enough, and You likely will not be fielding her anyway.

Notable profile:

• Heavy Flamethrower, Panzerfaust, AP Mines, Camouflage, FD + 8”, EXP CCW (+1B) (17 pts, 0 SWC) for the only YJ native 2B CC unit, with an efficient way to get in the aforementioned melee.

Rules to remember: Be sure to know the interactions connected to getting into CC while being in marker state.​

Remotes​

It seems to me, that when fielding 2+ Remotes it might be prudent to field an engineer to fix them. Not only will that force the opponent to spend more orders to kill Your Remotes of the table, but also might be quite effective at keeping that Rui Shi (and maybe a TAG) in the game, while also completing certain classified missions. Also, do not confuse REM`s (REMotes, we have 9 types of those) with REMF`s (Rear Echelon Mother F***s, I assume we have hundreds of thousands of them, but none can be found in the Army App).

Spoiler: List of REM`s

Weibing Yaokong

The typical, run of the mill, average sensor drone, that each not-ATEK faction gets in Infinity. No bells and whistles, just a shit ton of special rules to remember. Quite a useful, inexpensive, fast toolkit type of unit, which can accomplish many classifies objectives, Sensor all of those pesky ATEK camo tokens from the relative safety of staying in total cover. And a Repeater.

Husong Yaokong

The typical, run of the mill, average HMG-total reaction drone, that each not-ATEK faction gets in Infinity. With total reaction and a HMG it is quite an efficient ARO against anything, that is not shooting at through smoke.

Rules to remember: Through it might be counter intuitive at first, when being fired upon through smoke and by a Mimetism unit/from outside HMG good ranges – a B1 doge reaction on 10`s might actually be a better choice, than a B3 HMG, which will be hitting on 2 or less.

Son-Bae Yaokong

The typical, run of the mill, average guided missile drone, that each not-ATEK faction gets in Infinity. Definitely a must have, when You want to use the Spotlight/Guided missile combo.

Good synergies: anything that can reliably spotlight (i.e.: FO`s, hackers, and reapeter/deployable repeaters).

Chaiyi Yaokong

The typical, run of the mill, average messenger-armed-with-lethal-Flash Pulse(tm) drone, that each not-ATEK faction gets in Infinity. 7 points for a regular order, with Mimetism -3? I`ll take two please! Oh wait, only YJ and Haqq can`t do that in vanilla .

Yaozao

The typical, run of the mill, average doctor/engineer peripherial drone, that each not-ATEK faction gets in Infinity. A quite good investment, when taking a doctor or engineer.

Good Synergies: Anything with a Doctor or Engineer skill. D`oh.

Yaoxie Rui Shi

The typical, run of the mill, average… wait! Rui Shi might actually be the best combat remote we have, and is a subject of rare envy by other factions players. For 23 points we get a MSV2, Spitfire totting fast and reliable attack piece. Its only downsides are a complete lack of armor, and large footprint, which makes it a bit more difficult to deploy and hide. A very strong and cost efficient REM.

Good synergies: anything that can provide smoke to shoot through, and perhaps an EVO Hacking device to give it marksmanship.

Yaoxie Lu Duan

A S4 holomask holoprojector attack remote with a Heavy Flamer (+1B), MSV1 and a Mk12. I mostly use it to disguise as an unarmed Yaopu remote, to flame the shit out of enemy parachutist and infiltrators. Also works well as an attack piece, and a fast mine/perimeter weapon remover (by that, I mean: use its holoechoes to trigger those at no cost and danger to Your units).

Yaopu Pangguling

A typical baggage remote, with several options.

Notable profiles:

• EVO Hacking Device (15 pts, 0,5 SWC) – for the only way to bring an EVO Hacking device in the game
• Total reation (19 pts, 0 SWC) – with ARM 2 and B3 in ARO it might be surprisingly efficient and survivable in Objective Room types of scenarios (provided You manage to get it in the objective room without being blasted by enemy snipers).

Yaofang Long Ya

By far the ugilyest remote in the YJ arsenal (that is just my humble opinion, but feel free to quote me on that), the Long Ya is great ARO piece.

Notable profile:

• Minelayer (17 pts, 0,5 SWC, Panzerfaust +1B, Flamensper +1B, SMG) – for a cost efficient, camouflaged, FD+4” speedbump.

Skirmishers​

Skirmisher noun. /ˈskɜːmɪʃə(r)/ /ˈskɜːrmɪʃər/ a soldier who takes part in a short fight, especially one that is not planned (i.e. a master of SNAFU/JANFU sitiations).
(SNAFU: Situation Normal, All F*****d Up)
(JANFU: Joint Army/Navy F**k Up)

Spoiler: List of Skirmishers

Guilang Skirmishers

One of the better midfield skirmishers in the game, thanks to their MSV1 visors they are quite efficient in removing enemy midfield skirmishers. With infiltatration, camouflage, dodge +1”, Mimetism (-3) and Stealth they are also more on the expensive side, but still a well optimized choice. In the current meta it seems that the minelayer is not as good as it used to be.

Notable profiles:

• Hacker, Hacking Device (30 pts, 0,5 SWC) for pushing buttons, carbonating HI, and annoying everything else with spotlights. Just remember they have 0 BTS.
• Forward Observer, Combi Rifle, Flashpulse (26 pts, 0 SWC) for pushing buttons and annoying everything else with spotlights.

Ninjas

For the record: the State Empire does not (and never in the past had) employ Ninjas. They are the tool of the evil Kuge faction in the JSA.

Having said that, Ninjas (if we had them) are a great midfield skirmisher, with brilliant CC abilities, and the marker state to bring them into said CC. Don’t break hidden deployment in ARO – Ninjas are squishy and in 9 times out of 10 they’ll just die if You do so.

Notable profiles:

• Hacker, Killer Hacking Device, Tactical Bow (29 pts, 0 SWC) for the most cost efficient, Hidden Deployment button pusher – with the option to kill some enemy hackers.
• Hacker, Hacking Device, Tactical Bow (35 pts, 0,5 SWC) for a Hidden Deployment button pusher and effective hacker – with the option to kill some enemy hackers with a AP Katana .

Rules to remember: Learn how to safely enter into CC while using the camo state.

Kunai Solutions Ninjas

On the existence of Ninjas in the Jade Empire, please refer to the “Ninjas” entry below. These guys dabble in the “Killing shit at a distance with camo” department, and they are quite good at it (albeit with a BS of 11…). Sadly, they also pay quite a lot for MA3 and ClimbingPlus – skills which seem to be rather useless for people who specialize in killing people form a distance.

Kanren Counter Insurgency Group

A FD+8" Holomask/Holoprojector skirmisher. Note to self: deploying holoechoes is a skill that takes time to master (by that I mean one must loose a bunch of Kanrens due to stupid deployment choices to learn that – at least that is the way it worked for me). This unis has a significant shenanigans potential. One of the less obvious ideas: should You happen to deploy first, deploy Your Kanren as 3 Wu Mings with HRS`s, to scare the enemy into not going int their fire lanes (keep in mind to leave the actual Kanren in a secure location ). Also, remember about Your Monofilament blades!

Notable profiles:

• Hacker, Killer Hacking Device, Combi Rifle, Chain-colt (26 pts, 0 SWC) for a fairly priced FD button pusher – with the option to kill some enemy hackers (use the Holomask and claim he is not a hacker at, for double the fun!!).
• Forward Observer, Boarding Shotgun, Flash Pulse (24 pts, 0 SWC) for a fairly priced FD button pusher (use the Holomask and claim he has a hacking device, and watch the enemy expose his KHD in a wasted surprise attack - for double the fun!!).

TAG`s​

When you absolutely, positively got to kill every Fusilier in the room, accept no substitutes.

Spoiler: List of TAG`s

Guija
Lets face it – You are not on this part of the forum to play TAGs. But if You are looking to supplement Your force with a S7, MULTI-HMG toting, ARM 8 killer-robot, then Guija is the MBT (Main Battle TAG) for You. In a rather TAG-less army it is a decent choice – with good armor, good BS, good weapon, MA level 2 and Super-Jump – which might just that little bit of an edge You need.

Just remember to bring an engineer to pick up the pieces that fall off during combat, and a killer hacker to remove enemy hackers. In other words – if You want to use a TAG, You need to spend at least half of Your points to properly support it.

Good synergy: Engineers. Chief Mech-Engineer Chung-Hee Jeong might be a good choice to Fiereteam Duo with You Guija. Not only can he fix it, is himself unhackable, and carries a repeater – which is a great way to counter total control hackers – by using Your own total control to counter, should they succeed.

Blue Wolf Mongol Cavalry

The Blue Wolf Mongol Cavalry is as close to the wwII style tanks destroyer, as it gets in Infinity. A B5, BS 14 AP Spitfire can really shred some armor – provided said armor was kind enough to advance into the midfield to get in correct range bracket (and preferably to be flanked to bypass cover).

Just don’t count on in too much in ARO – with 6 ARM and no fancy ammunition, it wont shine in that role. Use Your S6 to hide somewhere, and then, in Your active turn – Hetzer gonna hetz ().

Good synergy: Engineers (as above).

Triphammers, Repurposed Industrial TAG

You want a cheap power loader with a gun and just 2 STR points, that currently has no miniature available? Enter the Triphammer. Does it do anything better than an average YJ HI? Well, it has booty, so if You are feeling lucky it might just work.

​

Warbands​

When You want to go to war, but with a band.

Spoiler: List of Warbands

Shaolin Warrior Monks
One of the best, very well optimized warbands in Infinity. For a discount price of 5 points we get an irregular, Impetous, stealthy, MA3 CC23 Smoke Grenade delivery platform. With Ph13, they can toss those grenades quite efficiently.

Bear in mind they have no cubes, which makes them an excellent choice to cut to pieces (or at least tie down) an Avatar.

Good synergy: Anything with a visor, especially MSV2 (I`m talking about Hsien warriors and Rui Shi`s in particular). Also Kuang Shi`s – if You want them to advance in the midfield using their impetuous orders, just remember to activate the nearby Shaolin Monks first to provide smoke cover (and with clever placement it should be possible to do without exposing the monks to enemy fire).

Notable profiles:

• Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades, Shock CCW (5 pts, 0 SWC) – for the best bargain.
• Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades, DA CCW (6 pts, 0 SWC) – for the second best bargain with huge CC potential.

Liang Kai
A named character Shaolin Warrior Monk, which can be best characterized as a one-use, fire and anti- everything torpedo. With 4/4 movement, FD+4’, Mimetism (-3), Super-Jump, MA4, 23 CC, NWI and an explosive CCW, he can successfully berserk almost everything to death. With proper supper – (i.e. smoke, or pummeling that long range ARO with a hail of HMG bullets) he can even be used more than once! Plus, he costs only 21 points!

Also, don’t forget he has WIP 14 and a flashpulse – if You are forced to ARO at long range. It is, however, situational, since he also has Doge +3, which together with his PH13 makes a good ARO option to live and berserk another day.

 

Reserved for assorted modeling tips ;)

 

Reserved for list examples of sth ;)

 

Foiled again by the autocorrect ;). Thanks for Your input, I have updated the guide.

All good points and taken into account, thank You! Especially on the dough part - I`ll knead that in mind :-P

Edit: boy, that was a s***t ton of dough in that post, thanks for pointing it out!

Excellent point, thank You :)

 

I have updated the first post with a write up of MI`s and LI`s. Enjoy!

All comments and thought are most welcome :)

 

And another update of the tactica has arrived - now it includes REM`s and Skirmishers. Now I only need to do those vast TAG and WB sections, and that part will be complete :).
I also added some "spoilers", to make the guide easier to navigate. Enjoy!

 

Since the TAG and Warbands part of the YJ rooster is obviously the longest, no wonder it took me 3 months to write this part. But now its here in the guide, for You to enjoy, and for the glory of the Emperor and the Party!.

 

It can't (entire order) my bad. Corrected the guide.