Campaign Prologues

Take a moment to check these out, all of the prologue games we do before the campaign will either be one of these three scenarios, or will just be a straight up game of Infinity for victory points. I'd like everyone in the campaign to get to play at least one of these scenarios before the campaign starts, and I'd like everyone to have a chance to be in at least one prologue battle report. For prologue battles you can use any army you like, you don't have to stick with one army until the campaign starts.

Also, a word of warning to new Infinity players involved in the campaign: As you are buying your first models for your army there are a few things you will be kicking yourself if you don't add. You will want at least one model with the Engineer skill, at least one Hacker (if they are allowed in your army), and at least one model with the Baggage skill. Some of the upcoming campaign scenarios will require you to have one or more models with these skills in order to achieve certain scenario objectives.

Prisoner P-09

Prisoner P-09 will still be playable for anyone who wants to give it a go. This is the same scenario from my first Light in the Grimdark  campaign battle report, so anyone who liked that story can take a crack at playing the same scenario with a different outcome.

Prisoner P-09 requires two army lists:
Attacker: 300 points, which should include at least one (prefferably many) AD troop or Infiltrator. One model in the Attacker's force can be upgraded to a Specialist (see below) at no additional cost.
Defender: 300 points, plus an additional combat group of up to 20 points worth of Line Troops or Garrison Troops.

This scenario uses Specialists, who are the only troops that can achieve certain game objectives. Specialists include any model with the Liuetenant skill, Chain of Command skill, or Engineer Skill, as well as any model equipped with a Forward Observer or Hacking Device. It is highly recommended to have at least one (preferably several) models that can be Specialists in your army list.

The Lost Post

The Lost Post scenario is one of the oldest scenarios written for Infinity, so I've made a small change to fit with the upcoming campaign. The first objective in the mission is to download data from a black box. Originally, only a Hacker could download the data, but now any Specialist (see below) can download the data. The second objective, to upload the Vortex virus into the black box, can still only be achieved by a Hacker. Finally, while retreating with the black box data, if the model carrying the data is killed then only another Specialist can pick up the data.

This scenario can be played by either 2 players or by 4 players.

Each army gets 250 points. Every army must have at least one Engineer and one Hacker in the army list. All armies gain access to any Mercenary Hacker they want, even if these Hacker's are normally not part of their army list (I will have my Druze Hacker and Valerya Gromoz with me to loan anyone who wants them. I'm looking at you, Joel, I know none of your Caledonians have figured out how to use the power switch on a computer yet.) All armies also get +1 AVA to all of the non-character Engineers in their army list.

This scenario uses Specialists, who are the only troops that can achieve certain game objectives. Specialists include any model with the Liuetenant skill, Chain of Command skill, or Engineer Skill, as well as any model equipped with a Forward Observer or Hacking Device. It is highly recommended to have at least one (preferably several) models that can be Specialists in your army list.

Beach Head

The Beach Head scenario was the first official scenario written for Infinity, and it's one I've always been fascinated by. It's the only Infinity scenario I've ever seen that is played on a 6 foot table, and it is also designed to be played with unbalanced army lists. If anyone has a killer attack strategy they want to test out then this scenario is the ultimate proving ground!

There are no special rules or requirements for making an army list for Beach Head. There are two armies in this scenario:

Attacker: 300 points
Defender: 250 points

Infinity Battle Report Supplemental

I just finished filing a battle report on A Light in the Grimdark for our latest battle, and for our prequel to the upcoming campaign. For anyone who's interested these are the army lists we used for the battle, as well as some more information for the upcoming campaign.

First of all, before I get to the army lists, here is the current campaign roster:

Me, Jon, playing my Gapu Kalqi pirates
Scotty, Ariadnans of Merovingia
Earl, Nomads of Corregidor
Zac, Shasvastii of the Combined
David, Japanese of Yu-Jing
Seth, Aleph (or maybe the Hassassin Bahram of Haqqislam)
Joel, Ariadnans of Caledonia
Matt, Aleph
David, Undecided

First of all for the campaign I'd like everyone to make an army badge that can be posted on our leader board and at the start of any battle reports. If you want a generic badge I recommend heading over to the Corvus Belli Store and snatching one of their jpegs from the army pins. On the other hand, feel free to make your own army pin, and if you need help just let me know, I'm a fair hand with photoshop.

Without further ado, the army lists from the Prisoner P-09:

 ALEPH- Station Security Team
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 GROUP 1 (Regs: 10/Irrs: 0):
  Sara (ASURA Lieutenant) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, AP CCW (73)
    MOV:4-4  CC:16  BS:14  PH:14  WIP:15  ARM:5  BTS:-6  W:2 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    V: No Wound Incapacitation, Multispectral Visor L3, Lieutenant
  Tara (ASURA) Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, AP CCW (72 | 2)
    MOV:4-4  CC:16  BS:14  PH:14  WIP:15  ARM:5  BTS:-6  W:2 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    V: No Wound Incapacitation, Multispectral Visor L3
  April (NAGA) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife (39 | 1.5)
    MOV:4-4  CC:13  BS:12  PH:12  WIP:14  ARM:1  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    CH: Camouflage, Infiltration, V: Dogged
  Ysa (DASYU Hacker ) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife (46 | 0.5)
    MOV:4-4  CC:13  BS:12  PH:13  WIP:14  ARM:1  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    CH: TO Camouflage, Infiltration, V: No Wound Incapacitation, Hacking Device
  0547-1 (DAKINI Tacbot) Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse (13)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:11  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
    CH: Mimetism
  0547-2 (DAKINI Tacbot) Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse (13)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:11  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
    CH: Mimetism
  0547-3 (DAKINI Tacbot) Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse (13)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:11  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
    CH: Mimetism
  2x NETROD Electric Pulse (4)
    MOV:-  CC:-  BS:-  PH:12  WIP:-  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous
    AD: Combat Jump, AI Beacon
  Lisa (DEVA) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife (23)
    MOV:4-4  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:15  ARM:2  BTS:-3  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    V: No Wound Incapacitation

 GROUP 2 (Regs: 1/Irrs: 0):
  0546-1 (DAKINI Tacbot) Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse (13)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:11  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
    CH: Mimetism

 313 Points | SWC: 4


 QAPU KHALQI- Celestial Crow Boarding Party
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 GROUP 1 (Regs: 6/Irrs: 0):
  Fahad (DJANBAZAN Lieutenant) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW (28 | 1)
    MOV:4-2  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:14  ARM:2  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable
    Multiterrain, Regeneration, Multispectral Visor L2, Lieutenant
  Rashid (DJANBAZAN Doctor) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW (32)
    MOV:4-2  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:14  ARM:2  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable
    Multiterrain, Regeneration, Multispectral Visor L2, Doctor
  Sabayah (DJANBAZAN Hacker ) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW (40 | 0.5)
    MOV:4-2  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:14  ARM:2  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable
    Multiterrain, Regeneration, Multispectral Visor L2, Hacking Device
  Aban (DJANBAZAN) Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW (33 | 1)
    MOV:4-2  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:14  ARM:2  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable
    Multiterrain, Regeneration, Multispectral Visor L2
  Imad (DJANBAZAN) HMG / Pistol, CCW (36 | 1.5)
    MOV:4-2  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:14  ARM:2  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable
    Multiterrain, Regeneration, Multispectral Visor L2
  NASMAT Electric Pulse (3)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:8  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Servant
    CH: Mimetism
  Tiala (ALGUACIL ) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (14)
    MOV:4-4  CC:13  BS:11  PH:10  WIP:13  ARM:1  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
    Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater

 GROUP 2 (Regs: 2/Irrs: 3):
  Fatina (HAWWA') Sniper Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife (29 | 0.5)
    MOV:4-4  CC:13  BS:11  PH:11  WIP:14  ARM:1  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
    CH: Camouflage, Infiltration
  Abdullah (HAWWA' Hacker ) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife (33 | 0.5)
    MOV:4-4  CC:13  BS:11  PH:11  WIP:14  ARM:1  BTS:0  W:1 
    Regular, Not Impetuous, No Cube
    CH: Camouflage, Infiltration, Hacking Device
  Ashur (YUAN YUAN) Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW (17)
    MOV:4-4  CC:17  BS:9  PH:13  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:0  W:1 
    Irregular, Impetuous, No Cube
    Booty, AD: Combat Jump
  Sabeen (YUAN YUAN) Boarding Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW (19)
    MOV:4-4  CC:17  BS:9  PH:13  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:0  W:1 
    Irregular, Impetuous, No Cube
    Booty, AD: Combat Jump
  Iraina (YUAN YUAN) Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW (11)
    MOV:4-4  CC:17  BS:9  PH:13  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:0  W:1 
    Irregular, Impetuous, No Cube
    Booty, AD: Combat Jump

 295 Points | SWC: 5

More Campaign Details

Some new information about the upcoming Infinity book has been circulating on the web. In particular, a great interview with one of Corvus Belli's lead designers, Carlos, on Beasts of War.

This new information has given me a chance to do a lot more planning for our upcoming campaign. If anyone has questions, I will be down at the Armory this Friday at 6 PM to do Infinity demos and recruit for the campaign.

The campaign is designed for a maximum of 8 players, and is designed to take about 3 to 6 months for a group of 8 players to complete if they get together and play one game each week. As a result I am going to try to limit the field to 8 people. Please don't let this discourage you, however, if you want to join the campaign. We have about 5 regular Infinity players in our group right now, and I would love to invite 3 more new players to join the campaign. Also, if there is overwhelming interest in the campaign then I am not above rewriting the rules to accommodate a larger group.

Armies for the campaign start at 300 points and can be any number of combat groups. There are also special skills that can be gained by your army over time that will allow them to increase their size or gain extra models. Armies can also change from one mission to another, so you don't need a set army list. The only model that stays the same from one mission to the next is your Spec-Ops avatar, the model that represents you personally on the table.

I will be running this campaign in "hard core mode". This means that when a model dies it is dead forever. Some models will have a chance to survive even if they are taken out of action during a mission, and models with Cubes will have a chance to be resurrected, but for all models there is a very real possibility of death. Unique models and special characters who die, including your Spec-Ops character, cannot be used again until the campaign is over.

I highly recommend checking out the new information at Beasts of War and on Infinity's website. I would also like to ask everyone to start brining their favorite 300 point army lists down to the Armory and Matrix to start getting in some practice games before the campaign. I hope to see you all at the Armory on Friday!

Paradiso Campaign

Infinity made their official announcement today for the Paradiso campaign book. It looks like the book will be coming out at the end of September, which means I'll be starting the Infinity Campaign at the beginning of October. Corvus Belli is starting preorders for the book this week, so I'll be placing my order Friday.

I have a new work schedule which will free me up to run more Infinity demos and the campaign. From now on I will be running Infinity every other Saturday at Matrix, as well as every alternating Friday night at the Armory. As usual, my schedule will become very fluid as the holidays approach, but with luck there will be some form of Infinity going on every weekend for the foreseeable future. I'll post a calendar soon so everyone can see what nights I'll be at what stores.

Anyone interested in playing in the Infinity campaign should get in touch with me sometime between now and the end of September. I'd like to put together a list of players before we start.

The cover of the book features pictures of several Spec-Ops models. The 4 male models from front to back are: Nomad Vortex Operative, Ariadnan Intel, Yu-Jing Gui-Feng, and PanO Indigo Agent. The woman on the left is an Aleph Chandra agent, pictured here for the first time.

As a special bonus, everyone who preorders the new book will get a limited edition Go-Go Marlene miniature. Go-Go Marlene is the most famous roving reporter for MayaNet, and host of the popular Go-Go in Paradiso news program on the Oxyd channel. The other night Seth was watching me run a demo game for someone and made a joke that he was like a news reporter making commentary on the game. That got me thinking, the perfect perspective for me to write battle reports for the upcoming campaign is in the form of news reports. And now here comes Go-Go Marlene, our intrepid reporter and the POV for the upcoming campaign!

Spec Ops Models

As I was sitting and quietly nerding out about the changes to Infinity last night I set about to do some research. The most exciting new feature for me are the new Spec-Ops avatars.

Each player gets one Spec-Ops model in their army that represents them on the battlefield. In a way Spec-Ops models are like player characters in an RPG. Just like in a RPG these characters gain experience and can learn to use new skills, weapons and equipment.

Every army in the game will be getting at least one Spec-Ops model, which will each be able to be customized to fit into any of the sectorial armies. From what I have been able to tell, every Spec-Ops model will come with at least 2 heads, and at least 2 sets of arms. It appears that the arm sets will either attach at the forearms or elbows, making them easy to detach or magnetize. From the pictures I've seen and articles I've read most of the Spec-Ops models will have neutral poses that will make them easier to convert.






The Spec-Ops models confirmed so far are:

Indigo Agents (PanO)

Intel (Ariadna)- Pictured above.

Gui Feng (Yu Jing)- I think this translates as either "Wind Soldier" or "Ghost Wind", but I don't speak Chinese. Also pictured here.

Husam (Haqqislam)- Arabic for "Sword".

Vortex Operative (Nomads)

Treitak (Morat)

Corax Agent (Shasvastii)- Latin for "Crow".

Chandra (Aleph)- Chandra is the Hindu god of the moon, and in Vedic stories is the god of the mind and emotions.

Kaplan Tactical Services (Mercenary)- I'm not sure about this one yet, this is just a rumor. This model will definitely exist, but it may just be a new unit and not a Spec-op.

The last photo here shows off some of the alternate heads and weapon arms that will be available for the Intel and Gui-Feng.

Tohaa!

Drop whatever you are doing, sit down, and go to Beasts of War right now. I'll wait.

How awesome was that? I'm so excited right now!

For those that don't know, the Tohaa are the native humanoid race of Paradiso. These enigmatic aliens are peaceful and friendly, but not very forthcoming with useful information. It has been suspected that they were not orginally native to Paradiso, and may be an alien race. Well, it looks like we have our answer now!

So many great new things that have been rumors, but that are now confirmed! A campaign system with experience progression, a full mission system, customizable Spec-Ops player characters, a new army, and at least one new sectorial army. This is almost everything I was hoping for in a new book, I just hope we don't have to wait long for it.

Tournament Rules Recap

During the Infinity Tournament there were many times when I had to be called over for a rules clarification. Obviously, this is the job of a Tournament Organizer, and is to be expected for a game with so many new players. However, there were a couple of times that I was confused by multiple people asking me questions at the same time or I had to make a snap decision about a rule that I actually did not know.

Mistakes are a great opportunity to learn, however, so this is a good time for me clear up any that I might have made. Of course, any calls that were made during the tournament still stand, this is just an opportunity to make sure we do things right in the future.

1. Models have a minimum movement of 2-2. This means that a model crawling prone through difficult terrain can still move 2 inches as a short movement skill.

2. If the modifiers on a roll results in a penalty that is greater than the attribute being used by a model then the skill being used fails automatically and the order is lost. For example, if a model uses his BS attribute of 12 to perform a Shoot Skill, and his penalties from range and visibility result in a -15 modifier, then his attack automatically fails with no die roll and the order is lost.

3. A Light Shotgun x2 is actually a special weapon in its own right. Rather than adding the Burst value of both weapons together, this weapon has a Burst of 3. Currently shotguns are the only weapons that can be used in this manner, although there are very strong rumors that the new book will have official rules for dual-wielding weapons.

4. The only difference between an AutoMedikit and the Regeneration skill is that the AutoMedikit is a piece of equipment, and can therefore be affected by things like E/M ammunition and the Booty skill.

5. When a model attempts to lock a target using a Hacking Device Plus the target may attempt to use a Dodge skill as an ARO like he would against any other lock attempt, even if he doesn't have line of sight to the Hacker.

6. A model may attempt to shoot a target in close combat, but suffers a -6 penalty to BS for each friendly model involved in the combat. If the attacker fails to hit his target, and his failure category is equal to or less than his penalty, then he hits a friendly model. For example, a model shooting into a close combat involving one ally needs a 6 to hit, but rolls a 9; in this case the shooter hits his ally by mistake. If there are multiple friendly models in the combat then determine the victim randomly.

My "New" Army

With Norcon behind us, and my work load now completely clear of terrain, it's time to start working on a new army. And my new army? My old army!

I've been painting my Qapu Khalqi army for years in traditional Haqqislam beige and green, and in all that time I've only finished 3 models. Embarrasingly my only fully painted Infinity armies are either demo armies or armies that I have sold. Haqqislam is by far my favorite force, and the one I play most often, yet I've never given them the attention they deserve.

That all changes now. I'm rebuilding my army from the ground up and finally painting them. The models will be mounted on resin bases, and will be on a magnetic display board (inspired by Seth's cool display for his JSA at Norcon.) I've been toying with different paint schemes and ended up with red and black as my final decision. To avoid ending up with an army that looks like Nomads I'll also be adding some yellow and purple accents to highlight certain models.

As I usually do, I'm slowly developing a story line in my mind for the army, as well as names for all of my fighters. All of the fighters in my army represent members of the crew of the Celestial Raven, a pirate ship that has become a privateer vessel "loyal" to the Haqqislam Sultinate. To start I'll be working on my Djanbazan link team, the backbone of my army. I'll start posting photos as my work progresses.

Norcon XII Recap

 Norcon XII is behind us, and it was a great time this year. The Apocalypse 40k game was bigger than ever, plenty of players got to try out new games like Dystopian Wars, and this year Norcon added a huge new Magic Card Game event.

Infinity had a solid turnout as well. Plenty of new players got to check out the game and we did several demo games to teach new players.

The Infinity Tournament had a good turnout as well, including a couple of new players competing in their first Infinity event. The winners were both new players, Jack and Jacob. Jack, the first place winner, won using a brutal defensive Bakunin list. Jacob came in second with a balanced Imperial Service army. Seth and Joel tied for the player's choice award, with Japanese Sectorial and Caledonian armies respectively.

Norcon XII Part 12- Finished Tables 3

Except for a few finishing touches on some of the smaller pieces and objective markers, I am done. The only major thing I really have left to do is to finish painting my Imperial Service demo army, which I have half a day left to do.

The final two tables for Norcon, not counting the beautiful Japanese Village table that Joel made, are the Apartment Complex and Spaceport Warehouse Offices.

I expect that the Apartment Complex will probably be the most popular table of the six for Norcon. Personally I am more excited about the Starship and Beach tables, but the Apartment complex features a lot of really great terrain pieces from Micro Art Studio. This polish studio makes the official terrain for the game of Infinity, and it fits the game perfectly. Complimenting these pieces are a few fantastic bits from Antenocitis Workshop, including the cars and phone booth I reviewed in an earlier post. Finally, the civilian objective marker is represented by a model from Reaper Miniatures.

I decided not to throw any pictures of the warehouse terrain up here because, frankly, that's the one table I am disappointed with. I saved it to last, and ended up doing almost no detailing on it. Compound that with a boring color scheme and the nicest thing I can say about it is: at least it will be fun to play on. Fortunately, David is painting half the terrain for the warehouse table. I haven't seen his efforts yet, but if they are up to his usual caliber it should manage to save the table.


Also pictured here is one more shot from the Beach table, showing off the completed jungle area.