"Picking Your Infinity Faction..." Topic

A pal of mine was thinking of getting into Infinity and I am kinda getting into it also.

When starting a new faction for Infinity, do you pick them by:
1) You like the look of the figs, and then get the faction?
2) Read the history/back story and then get the figs?
3) Get the faction that is the easiest to powergame?
4) Not an Infinity player.

Any hints on which faction I/we should start with would be helpful.
Thanks!

I am #4 not an infinity player. But I can answer generally.

#3, powergaming, is only appropriate for experienced players. That's not you. Yet.

For #2, read the history / back story, who are we kidding? This is a GAME with a fictional back story. It may be interesting and well written, though let's face it we are talking about authors who are gamers first, writers second, so what are the odds? But who buys a game to read the story? It's miniatures first, game second -- or if you like game first, miniatures second. But always, story for later.

So the only choice is #1, which should be the reason we start any new game with miniatures: you like the look of the figures.

I don't really like the back ground much for the game but I really like the figures, so I chose mine based on criteria 1.

I am #4 not an infinity player. But I can answer generally.

#3, powergaming, is only appropriate for experienced players. That's not you. Yet.

For #2, read the history / back story, who are we kidding? This is a GAME with a fictional back story. It may be interesting and well written, though let's face it we are talking about authors who are gamers first, writers second, so what are the odds? But who buys a game to read the story? It's miniatures first, game second -- or if you like game first, miniatures second. But always, story for later.

So the only choice is #1, which should be the reason we start any new game with miniatures: you like the look of the figures

This.

I am #4, but really like the Aleph. So if I found opponents, I'd be #1 all the way.

I bought the figures that looked cool. #1.

#1. I picked Nomads because the color scheme is one of my favorites (rarely can go wrong with red!)

Also disagree with Ceru. While it is a game, and I certainly cannot fault building the army where you like the figures, background and "fluff" are important aspects to creating a "loyalty" not just to the game setting but also in maintaining interest. I wouldn't still be involved with Battletech approaching 30 years if it was JUST about the figures or the rules!

Damon.

4.

A combination of 1 and 2. It's really fun to hate other factions. There honestly is no 3 in Infinity.

I went with Combined on the grounds that I would be painting a wider range of unusual models…so #1, though I like most of the models in the range.

I haven't played yet, but I'm painting two factions now. #1 definitely was the deciding factor on which factions I went with….Russians vs. Japanese in space!

1). I picked Ariadna, just because I like the look.

4) due to attempting to read the rules. If the rules cannot answer one simple question ("What would I buy to play if I didn't want a starter set?") during an in-store flip-through, they aren't worth the effort.

I picked Ariadna, because I could use the figures for both Infinity and Traveller…. so double duty gets my vote all the time.

I'm thinking the same thing Bishop Odo. But for my Eclipse Phase rpg…

1. Who has the most girls with guns…..

4) Not a player but…
Maybe it would be wise to find the faction with the fewest figures required to make a viable army? That way your friend is less likely to give up on the project before completion.

I went #1, with a bit of #2.
I loved all the power armor and I've always coveted the guijia; but when I found out I could field mind-wiped political dissidents strapped with explosives, my inner super-villain squealed with joy.

1 & 2. That's why I have about 600 pts each of Ariadna, Pan Oceanic, Aleph and several mercenaries plus a number of figures I liked from the other factions.
It's not a problem, I can stop anytime I want, honest…

I am #4 not an infinity player. But I can answer generally.

#3, powergaming, is only appropriate for experienced players. That's not you. Yet.

For #2, read the history / back story, who are we kidding? This is a GAME with a fictional back story. It may be interesting and well written, though let's face it we are talking about authors who are gamers first, writers second, so what are the odds? But who buys a game to read the story? It's miniatures first, game second -- or if you like game first, miniatures second. But always, story for later.

So the only choice is #1, which should be the reason we start any new game with miniatures: you like the look of the figures

My sentiments also!

Which is a good faction to start with?

PanO, Yu Jing and Ariadna have fairly forgiving learning curves. Nomads require tricky thinking to avoid getting thumped, Combined Army and Aleph both don't have a lot of cheap models but are quite powerful.

Basically PanO is better for simply blazing away, Yu Jing likes to get up close and personal with power armour and Ariadna does both in a kilt while swigging vodka. Nomads can be a barrel of laughs, especially with the Uberfallkommando (they randomly roll special abilities at the game start and tear across the battlefield like the psychopaths they are).

Whatever you do, I advise going first for the Vanilla Faction instead of the Sectorials. Link teams take some getting used to, and you won't have so many models of one kind you need the extra Sectorial availability. Also, avoid the Hassassin Sectorial starter pack because that's not a viable force on its own.

I think your best bet is Pan Oceana. They have a good combination of decent armour, good shooting and not too much special stuff so you can really get the most out of a basic force while learning the best way to use the more advanced rules.

Maybe it would be wise to find the faction with the fewest figures required to make a viable army? That way your friend is less likely to give up on the project before completion.

Any given faction will only have 10-15 models on the board at any one time. Stop thinking army, and start thinking 'Ghost Recon'!

The best answer is to find the models you like the looks of, then go to the Infinity forum and ask around and read.

Infinity isn't a 'strategic' game, where you take eButcher, Beast-09, Kayazy, etc. The best piece to deal with [troublesome unit] is the one closest to the problem!

There is no real 'army playstyle' like in 40k or WarmaHordes, all the Infinity factions can do shooty, choppy, or tricksy. Some of them are just better at them than others.

There's no 'killer list' (of models). A good army list in Infinity has ~8 regular orders on the table at the start, with the other 2 orders either hidden deployment, Airborne Deployment, or Irregular. It also has a variety of weapons, so that you can play games with range bands. You want to be hitting on 12+s, while your opponent is hitting on 3s. But all the weapons with the same name have the same stats.

@RicharDISNEY: The best way to learn is to grab 2 starter sets, and play a bunch of games with 3 light infantry and a heavy. The ARO mechanic is a bit un-intuitive at first (no reacting to my reactions!), but once you get that, the rules build up fairly smoothly (as long as you only add one or two at a time!).

I bought the figures that looked cool.

PanO are the easiest to start with.
They have the highest BS for line infantry (BS12) for the cost (10pts) – Yu-jing get cheaper heavy weapons on their line troopers, and cheaper troops, but have BS11 and in a d20 game, that extra point matters (especially given how so many of the modifiers are in increments of 3. +3/-3, -6, -9, etc.