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It took me more than a year to bring to you another Gaming article, but here I am and with something special none the less! Infinity the Game is still my favorite – that did not changed. Once again I’m knee deep in an online Campaign. This years hotness is called Strikezone: Wotan and it is a truly crazy ride! So, time to put your brushes down and supplement painting with some good oldschool gaming!
Having recently finished the ‘Dong Peyote’ Special Project I was eager to try out the miniature. It craved blood, watching me intensely from the scenic plinth – like if trying to force me to field it! Not that I tried to resist – in the contruary, I used the weekly gaming meetup with a friend to bring some action to the Mighty Dong Peyote!
Location: The Dong Peyote, Wotan Blockade
Time: day twenty nine of the Strikezone: Wotan campaign
Theater: Dong Peyote Repurposed Freighter
Mission: Annihilation
Special Rules: ‘The Dong Peyote’
Game size: 250pts.
For this fine battle I decided to dump the usual Intruder + smoke combo in favour of a new trick. I asked my opponent if he let me use the ‘Dong Peyote’ miniature, prepared just for the sake of Strikezone: Wotan and was granted a ‘go for it’. I restrained myself from building a list around the new character and decided to cut out enough of my usual 300pts. list to be able to field him, leaving the feel of the list intact.
So, there was the usual stuff like Interventor LT, which I find to work miracles, especially as a potent HD+ hacker. Be it defensive, secured Cybermasked LT, support with LT orders at his disposal, or even offensive hacker with chunky WIP and BTS, not to mention an arsenal of very good programs at his disposal.
Total Reaktion Zond is also a simple choice with it’s low points cost, Climbing Plus and ability to be Marksman L2 buffed by a hacker. Mobile HMG to snipe enemy targets – a very potent offensive piece.
A single Moran Maasai Hunter is new to me, as I usually field two of these. Still in this particular case I dumped one in favour of a cheaper Zero Minelayer, fielding two of the latter to deal with potential enemy Camo and spam the map with my Camo Markers, playing mind games with my opponent.
Single Chainguar as a potent corner ARO piece or a good, reliable counter.
Some Transductor Zonds to provide cheap orders and Mimetised, high BS (WIP) ARO pieces.
A Daktari with a Zondbot on top, to keep most of these guys afloat.
MSR Spektr in second group to be used as a surprise ARO piece, and then maybe to eliminate easy targets in active turn.
Three Morlocks to provide smoke cover and exploid openings in enemy defenses.
This left me with 41 points to be used on the Dong Peyote – a surprise attack piece, that had to outperform it’s big cost in order to help me achieve victory.
“Fear not Human Sphere – Dong Peyote is here!” Is a phrase that the Dong Peyote uses to announce himself, once he plunges balls deep into enemy lines! He strikes from behind, but not like a shadow – No! He goes hard, guns blazing, fists dealing punches and cock-rocket trailing clouds of smoke as it launches itself to deal tremendous damage! He cares not for the outcome, but for the performance itself! To adorn the Nomad mask and die in a blaze of glory is the ultimate reward!
In my experience Karol grasps the ‘tricks’ of the game very well. He loves to use shenanigans like TO Camo to surprise me. He tends to reveal his TO Camoed troops in unpredictable spots to deal major damage to my list. Then, just as I feel secure and drop my guard, he pops out another TO Camoed troop and prooves me wrong. On top of that he usually goes heavy on his deployment zone, keeping troops far away from my Nomads and then unleashing them in waves, using Coordinated Orders. Aaaand he likes snipers.
His list, which I know now, is just that. Two Tuaregs to mess me up. One Janissary HMG Heavy Hitter, some versatile troops to be coordinated with him. Lasiq sniper. Some orders to fuel this. A Doctor Plus on top cause it’s just awesome and tends to come back to live with his Auto Medicit time and time again.
I asked Karol to add a note about his list himself – he will do this in time and I will edit the Batrep with it – am curious of his point of view XD
I won the roll off with a Critical pass of the LT’s WIP of 15. Needless to say that the gods of dice were just as eager to see me using the Dong Peyote as I was myself. Still I decided to forfeit the initiative in favour of luring my opponent to spread his troops, thus enabling me to use the Dong to his full potential and carve a deep path to gloory.
HAQQISLAM TURN ONE:
I used a Command Token to deny Karol the use of more than one of these at his first turn. No more rushing at me with half his troops with the damned Coordinated Orders.
Haqqislam forces opened up with just that – a Coordinated Order, which saw a Janissary, two Ghulams and Khawarij advance. (It took me a while before I decided to reveal a TO Camoed trooper in first order of the first turn… but…) Out of thin air a Spektr MSR appeared to put a bullet through the head of the leading Ghulam. The latter fell to the ground, bleeding and unconcious.
Just like in the ‘Enemy at the gates’ a Lasiq sniper sprang instantly from behind cover to try and deal with this new ARO threat. Unfortunatelly for Lasiq he failed in three attempts in a raw. With his final shot he managed to hit the Spektr, who shrugged the bullet off and used a failed Guts Roll to hide behind solid cover, thus denying the kill.
Zhayedan Doctor+ saw the opening, rushed to try to heal the fallen Ghulam but his medikit sent the poor guy into overdose – the Ghulam died.
In meantime a Camo token (Farzan, which was not known to me at the time) moved closer to Nomad lines in preparation for future outflank options…
NOMADS TURN ONE:
The Haqqislam’s ‘behind’ was pretty well defended, thus the Mighty Dong Peyote withheld his entrance for just one more turn. Instead a Moran Maasai Hunter advanced forward to sneak close to enemy troops rounded up on top and behind a small building. A Repeater and a Crazy Koala in range of both a Lasiq and Janissary meant a potentially good outcome for the Nomads in this part of the table.
A Morlock burst into action, using his 8-4 Metachemistry move to cover entire battlefield, jump out from around a corner and basked both the Zhayedan Doctor Plus and the HMG Janissary in a warm light from his flashlight, cause for unknown reason – he took a flashlight instead of a Chainrifle. The sassy targets stood there, mouths agape, then peppered the Morlock with enough bullets to turn him into a strainer.
A loud facepalm announced the Spektr comming out of his cover just in time to witness the Morlock’s demise. With no targets in sight he just prepared for another turn of ARO.
A Transductor Zond moved in, closed on the enemy HVT and let it’s Repeater be used by Interventor LT’s Order to Spotlight the Civilian.
The turn closing to an end, a Zero Minelayer, moved forward, mined the area and then went back to being Camoed, just to mess the Haqq’s up with the ammount of Camo Markers laying around.
Last order of the turn was spent on a Morlock, who advanced through the middle of the board, just to be stopped by an appearance of a Tuareg AHD’s shot. If not for a splendid reflex of the Morlock and a Smoke Grenade throw that smoked the entire area around him – he might got killed…
HAQQISLAM TURN TWO:
With a Moran and a Crazy Koala covering the Lasiq, a Janissary opened up in a try to deal with both of these threats at once. On top of Crazy Koala bursting into action, the Moran replied with a Boarding Shotgun blast, all the while Interventor LT Oblivioned the Janissary through the Moran’s Repeater. Janissary reacted, sending four HMG bullets in Moran’s direction. Bad luck befell him, as he ate up all three ARO’s and failed to do any damage to the Moran. He was as good as done, going to Unconcious.
Crazy Koala gone, a Tuareg Sniper appeared over the spot where the Lasiq was hiding and shot the shocked Spektr to unconcious. He then continued trying to take out a Transductor Zond from HVT’s range, but failed spectacularly in four orders. He took out a Morlock standing nearby the Zond instead, this one falling to Unconcious without complaints.
AHD Tuareg moved forward, avoiding the Mines nearby, by moving prone. He slowly closed in on the Nomad Interventor LT and hacked to isolate him, but in typical ‘against an Interventor’ situation, he got Sucker Punched to unconcious in return…
NOMADS TURN TWO:
The last of the Morlocks rushed in the direction of the closest enemy. A Camoed Farzan withheld his ARO not to eat up a mine, that layed nearby and basked in the sun. The Morlock, being the last one of his entire group, spent his Irregular Order, Discovering then Shooting the Farzan, who to his surprise, Dodged both the pistol shot and a mine on a Crit…
That triggered me. With a loud announcement of “Fear not Human Sphere – Dong Peyote is here!” I put my ‘dong’ on the board…
In a whirlwind of blasts, punches and a cock rocket shots The Mighty Dong Peyote entered the board…
With a kill count worth of four enemy troops and 78 total points, entire order pool spent, the Mighty Dong Peyote finally succumbed to his wounds and died, but not before he screamed #Hoooodoooong! in a Braveheart style, with his last breath…
Wiping the teatrs from his eyes, the Interventor LT used his order to Spotlight the enemy HVT, thus honoured the fallen hero, ensuring a fulfillment of the Classyfied Objective…
HAQQISLAM TURN THREE:
Loosing four troops, LT among them, was a blow to Haqqislammers. Farzan took over command and advanced to enact revenge. He shot the versatile Transductor Zond in the back and closed in on the Nomads.
Just as usual, the Zhayedan Doctor Plus got up with an auto-medikit (he always does!) and took a defensive position, along with Lasiq and Tuareg Snipers.
Haqqislam troops braced for the last Nomad turn to come…
NOMADS TURN THREE:
Last Nomads turn was a real massacre. Interventor LT buffed the Total Reaktion Zond with Marksman L2 and let it loose on the enemy.
The berzerk Zond moved right through the Nomad Deployment Zone, taking out Zhayedan Doctor Plus from behind a cover. Next to fall was the Farzan, peppered with bullets, instantly dead. Lasiq followed short. Tuareg sniper – last to face the Zond – performed a bit better, goping through the first wave of shots without a scratch. He fell down in next order tho. Being the last Haqqislam warrior on the board, Tuareg delivered the last points to the Nomads score…
Once the dust settled down the remaining Nomad forces swiped the area. This was a fine victory of 9:1 for the Nomads, but not without a cost. The mighty hero who appeared on the battlefield at the time of the direst need and turned the tables on the Haqqislammers got killed. Strangely, his body was not found among the dead…
This was a very interresting game. I had a blast, while some of Haqqislam units got blasted XD At this point the Strikezone: Wotan is still on the roll and I hope this Battle Report helped Bromads in achieving their goal to keep the Dong Peyote afloat!
I’m back with another Infinity Battle Report! Such articles are uncommon here, cause this is clearly a site about painting miniatures – still what would painting mean if not for gaming in the end?
I went on a short vacation, on a trip to 3city (Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot – all located over the Baltic Sea, up notrh from Toruń, where I currently live). As it happened – I took my miniatures with me and used free time to game some Infinity. One of my ventures took me to Micro Art Studio’s headquarters, where i visited my friends. I was given a chance to play one game against Micro Art Studio, represented by Jan Horydowiec aka ‘Jezus’. For the sole purpose of this game, a splendid gaming table was prepared, with use of all the cool stuff made by Micro Art Studio and presented at Kickstarter, early this year! Well, ain’t I lucky?!
When I was taken to the MAS’s Gaming Room – I was awed. So many fantastic terrain pieces. Almost one half of the walls was covered with shelves from top to botom, and each shelf was filled with masterpieces. The table itself looked just amazing and I was shocked to see how superior these terrain pieces really were. Kickstarter does bearly cover the amount of AWESOME that I myself have witnessed.
LOCATION: Zhurong Power Plant, Flamia Island
SCENARIO: ARMIES: Seize the Antennas
ARMIES: Nazroth, Corregidor vs Jezus, Qapu Khalqi
The game itself started with me being so impressed by my surroundings, that I almost exploded! Jezus in the other hand was rather calm and at ease. I now can’t help but wander – what does he felt like, seeing me adrenalized to the point of overheating, spilling thousand word per second etc… Well, at least he is a Nomad player so he had some experience dealing with freaks like me…
Either way – I asked him to use an alternative army, so that in case I won – the points will be scored for the RED team in Operation Flamestrike. He picked some sweet looking Haqqislam miniatures and used a pre-made Army List, prepared by the armie’s owner (another old friend from MAS). We picked a simple scenario, which would compliment the Terrain, already set up on the table. Made Command Rolls (I won) and started the dance of war. This was my first game against Qapu Khalqi so I decided to keep Deployment. Wanted to see what would be fielded against me – before I could decide what to do about that. Jezus decided he will start then, and set up his army first, on the side appointed by me. Qapu Khalqi looked rather regular, with some nice 360* Odalisque chicks (in my opinion defenders), a link, a doc, some FO’s here and there, three Yuan Yuans and a MSV2 HMG guy. This one could become a real problem so I deployed covering him with five ARO’s including both Intruders and some Linked troops. That was supposed to deliver my victory along with supremacy over that sweet looking battlefield.
J Jezus's 1st turn:
That also prooved to be my undoing, as once the game started with me stealing two orders from Jezus’s Order Pool – I was shocked to see a Smoke Grenade landing before HMG DJANBAZAN! Damn – that is a second time I was took by surprise with a Smoke – being sure that Corregidor (using the same tactic) is somehow Smoke-proof. I totally missjudged the situation and deployed like target-practice against a superior firepower. First shot took down my MSR Intruder (I made an ARO and failed), while soon after some of my Alguacils followed (Unconcious). Jezus ate my Crazy Koalas with a Nasmat rush – then used Odalisque to annihilate my Moran. He also seized the central Antenna. After that I lost another Intruder. Ended up with both Intruders DEAD along with Spec Ops. Two out of four remaining Alguaciles were Unconcious. In that state I started my first turn.
N Nazroth's 1st turn:
I tried to make the best out of this situation. Used Daktari to revive both fallen Alguaciles (Lupe being one of them), then using Tomcat Doctor to (what I thought would be) outflank enemy forces. I lost my Tomcat but managed to send one Odalisque to Unconcious. I reformed a Link with four remaining Alguaciles and managed to overshoot second Odalisque, Husam and Djanbazan one by one. I also managed to seize the closest Antenna, made some reshuffle then ended up my turn.
J Jezus's 2nd turn:
Jezus’s turn was more about healing, with one Odalisque getting back on her feet. Yuan Yuans were advancing, alongside a Camo Marker. Due to lack of most of my heavy hitters my ARO’s were somehow diminished with Qapu Khalqi’s superior firepower. Linked Ghulams advanced and seized another Antenna, still I managed to loose Lupe Balboa to a HMG Ghulam’s mad firepower… She was meant to seize the central Antenna, so I had to change my plans a bit…
N Nazroth's 2nd turn:
My second turn was to be Lunokhods great debiut. He managed to survive, hidden in the District5 Warehouse, and I used that huge cover to get him into position. One Yuan Yuan went down, peppered with Heavy Shotgun shells. I smoked the way forward and sent Lunokhod advancing. I hoped to burn Ghulams to a crips and dig deep into enemy lines, so that Alguacil Hacker, or Daktari be able to get to the cenrtal Console and seize it. Just when I got close to Linked Ghulams I felt like something was wrong. I knew that this was my last line of offence – once dead, I had no means to actually keep the enemy out of the Antennas. I pimped Lunokhod with Marksman L2 and went to eliminate a single Ghulam FO that was keeping watch over his fellows. That’s when it strucked me – I was sure that a single fck’n Critical Hit would end this action – I said it aloud and THAT’S WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED merely seconds later. (OH GOD WHY?!?!?). At that point I was sure to loose this game. Still – show must go on. I tried to move my Hacker closer to the central Antenna, was cought off-guard by enemy Hacker, but managed to Burn his Brain in responce. (That was the first time ever, when I killed enemy Hacker with an actual Hacker Attack!). I went Sup.Fire with my Hacker and ended my turn.
J Jezus's 3rd turn:
Jezus moved his troops into position, fullfilled a ‘Telemetry’ Classified Objective, tried to overshoot my HMG Alguacil, but lost with three Ghulams in a row, depleeting his Command Token pool and achieving much less than we both anticipated. He finally killed my HMG speciallist, then repositioned his troops and took another Nomad life – Alguacil Hacker was dead.
N Nazroth's 3rd turn:
With not much orders left I tried to figure out a plan that would let me grab the Antenna, I so desperately needed to win. I started with a Jaguar, smoking the way, then moving and smoking some more – and finally moving firward with last smoke grenade being thrown – and failed with a roll of 19. That screwed the plan, as with a final grenade in place I coul’v easily move Alguacil Paramedic to the Antenna and make two attempts of seizing it. Without the final smoke – this game became a gambit. I moved Paramedic forward to the limits of the second Smoke Grenade, then went down, moved two inches and ended up with a final order to try and seize the Antenna. I went for it – with three ARO’s received in response – ALL FAILED! The final roll – I seized the Antenna! OMG – that was so fortunate! I did not believe in this one and was more than happy to see it actually worked! The rush of adrenaline was so intense that I almost jumped. It got even better when I saw that this last move took my Paramedic into ZOC of enemy HVT and I was able to grab an additional point for it.
The game ended up with my forces depleted, but victorious. Two Antennas and one C.O. vs one Antenna and one C.O. meant I won 7 to 4.
Hero of the match: Alguacil Paramedic – for sure!
Worst performance: Nazroth, for playing it like a retard… XD
This was a fantastic game against a cool opponent. I do appreciate the fact I was able to play on legendary MAS gameboard, surrounded all over by my favorite hobby. If theres a Disneyland of Wargaming – that certainly was one for me. Can’t wait to visit Gdańsk once again!
In case of any questions about the terrain performance, or just about the game – feel free to comment!
And be sure to Commend me HERE 😛
Go Go Nomads!
Hello there my awesome readers! As some of you may know – I play Infinity the Game. A new form of global Campaign is currently on the run – you can check it out at OPERATION: FLAMESTRIKE, but for now I invite you to read my latest blog entry – a Battle Report from my Campaign game against Yu Jing army!
LOCATION: Zhurong Power Plant
SCENARIO: Engineering Deck
ARMY: Nazroth – Corregidor vs Garran – Yu Jing,
This time I took my Corregidor on a ride to a Chełmża city, close by. There’s a strong gaming community there along with an arsenal of terrain and a pretty awesome gaming place – “Chełmżyński Ośrodek Klutury” (Chełmża’s Culture Center) – CHOK. I game there from time to time, participating in a local Infinity league. We all agreed in advance to use Flamestrike rules so this time I was prepared, with my Camera being on standby, notes and destined scenario at hand. I arrived just in time to form a pair with a local Warcor – Garran, which happend to be a great coincidence, as we haven’t had chance to game against each other yet! We both agreed to fight for Zhurong Power Plant. (I was eager to finally play a scenario that I failed to pick last time while Garran is a Yu Jing player – so the choice was pretty obvious.)
Along with some small talk we have exchanged our open information and rolled Wip’s. My Leutenant failed (as usual) and I was thrown into defensive by Garran’s decision to keep the initiative. (I actually like to play second as both my roster and game style are mostly defensive. Playing a rather ‘shooty & tricky’ army I tend to deny the field to enemy, covering vital movement/shooting corridors with Koalas and firepower. Once my Reactive turn is over I move to eliminate high value threats with precise amount of offense power. It works for me most of the time.)
I used the opportunity to pick up the Deployment Zone, and asked Garran to deploy first. He covered both sides of his Deployment Zone with specialists and the Yao Zao’s. He also hid Kuang Shi’s and set up a Rui Shi in the center of his Depzone. Now was my turn to do my tricks…
Seeing a rather symmetric deployment I choose to keep left flank covered with my Alguacil Link. They had a really nice, covered spot there and were deployed to ARO one Cuang Shi and Rui Shi at the first sign of movement. Having Rui Shi covered I deployed my MSR Intruder on the high spot, far to the right – adding an ARO punch against Rui Shi if needed and covering the whole right side of the table. HMG Intruder is both my agressive unit and backup in case of Sniper’s death so I deployed him in the middle of my Depzone along with a Daktari and one Smoke-giving Jaguar. While Daktari was close to one Objective Console I choose to cover another one with Alguacil Hacker, hidden just around a corner on the right. Moran Maasai Hunter infiltrated a nice spot outside the Objective Room, with both Koalas being spread wide and in cover. I also hid my last Jaguar behind a small piece of cover and hoped for the best.
Garran made a wise decision and deployed Su Jian from reserve onto my right flank (far away from my death dealing Link).
I responded with a counter-unit, hiding Lunokhod behind a high wall on the same flank as Su Jian. I made my prayers and let him enter the sloughterhouse…
G Garran 1st turn:
– I use a Command Token to restraint Su Jian’s wild charge (-2 Orders from the 1st Combat Group).
The game then started for good with Garran’s Impetous units.
– Firstblood went to Lupe Balboa for obliterating Shaolin with a short burst from her Combi-Rifle.
– Soon after one of Kuang Shis followed to the land of the dead, guided by missiles from Alguacil’s HMG.
(I have deployed after Garran so I covered these miniatures with ARO’s from both girls.)
– Su Jian used the first order from it’s group, moving ahead. MSR Intruder reacted to this fast moving targed with a single round. A burst from Su Jian’s Spitfire was not enough to overshoot my “Sniper’s” Critical Hit and it lost 1 STR.
– Not intimidated, Su Jiand moved along it’s selected route and closing in for better distance against my Sniper. This time more ARO’s replied as Su Jian’s movement took it throug a path covered by HMG Intruder and one rearguard Alguacil. Let’s say that NWI state was the least punishment it could have received.
Battered and a bit helpless Su Jian Cosy cuddled behind a medium piece of cover for the time being and the action moved to the other side of the combat zone.
– Hac Tao appeared out of thin air. Both of my linked Combat Beasts (Lupe and HMG Alguacil) replied with fire, overshooting Hac Tao and peppering him with holes. One Panzerfaust hit and Hac Tao was halved in W attribute.
– Still Hac Tao is a tough bastard. Regardless of his wound he shrugged and sprayed my girls with another burst. One shot vs Lupe missed, while HMG specialist got hit with three rounds. I laughed loud while she saved all three of them. Garran not so much 🙂
– With persistence worth a commendation Hac Tao tried his best to eliminate my Link once more. This time tho HMG Alguacil went freenzy like Blain from Predator the movie and cut him down screeming!
– At that point I was pretty sure that Hac Tao’s reing has ended, but Garran corrected me with a successful heal delivered to the fallen warrior by a Yao Zao standing in base contact, just behind a short wall. (“not again” – I thought, seeing this behemoth of steel rising up from the ashes and threatening my Alguacils once more.) For the worst of it – a successful healing provided Garran with a Victory Point as he choose ‘Experimental Drug’ as one of his Hidden Objectives!
– The sounds of fire begun anew whith Hac Tao shooting three rounds against my HMG specialist and one vs Lupe. Both girsl survived and I decided to fail Guts Roll and let them rest behind a cover for a bit. (Shame to loose them at this point, where one solid burst of 5 could cut down that Hac Tao bastard for good at my turn).
– I turned out that Garran was waiting just for that, as soon after he moved his Rui Shi and forced my ARO’ing MSR Intruder into a defensive.
– A bit late, still Celestial Guard Hacker buffed Rui Shi with Marksmanship L2, thus increasing it’s chance against my covered long-barreled killer. One Critical Hit later my MRS Intruder was a memory as his headless carcass fell to the ground.
– Free of his terror Su Jian came to life once again, leaning out of cover and shooting against second Intruder, who replied with an ARO but achieved nothing.
– With most of my forces occupied by hiding behind cover the field was clear for Garran’s forces to advance. Keisotsu Paramedic choose this moment to climb the stairs and connect a Console (YJ table half, on my right flank).
– Last ‘Irregular’ Order sought my Jaguar being slain by advancing Has Tao, as Garran exchanged it for a Regular one with a Command Token.
TURN 1 SUMMARY: Lost: Shaolin, Kuang Shi, / Killed: Intruder MSR, Jaguar Chain, / Objective: 1 Console, 1 Hidden (experimental Drug),
N Nazroth 1st turn:
With order count of 8/4 and two miniatures lost I was sure to hit back hard. Advancing enemy forces were exactly where I wanted them – with their fronts turned to my forces. Both Hac Tao and Su Jian were bleeding out with a single hit required to send them flying. Discarding these two, only Rui Shi was posing a threat to my strike units (Lunokhod and HMG Intruder). I waged my options and opened with a gambit:
– I moved onto the board with a Tomcat Engineer (left flank, behind Hac Tao and Toketsu Engineer) forsing them to either turn around or face certaind doom. To my surprise Engineer failed to face the newcomer, while Hac Tao turned a bit just to see my Tom’C if he decided to climb the building wall and get him.
– I then moved the action onto the central part of my Depzone, where Jaguar crawled a bit and smoked the way for HMG Intruer.
TURN 1 SUMMARY: Tomcat Engineer, / Killed: Celestial Guard (KSCD), Rui Shi, Tokusetsu Engineer, Hac Tao (u), / Objectives: 1 Console,
Garran: Lost: Shaolin, Kuang Shi, Celestial Guard (KSCD), Rui Shi, Tokusetsu Engineer, Hac Tao (u) / Objective: 1 Console, 1 Hidden (Experimental Drug),
Nazroth: Lost: Intruder MSR, Jaguar Chain, Tomcat Engineer, / Objectives: 1 Console,
G Garran 2nd turn:
– Loss of Leutenant saw Garran’s forces in dissaray. Impetous warriors moved and lost yet another of their brethren due to HAM Alguacil’s fire.
– Toketsu Doctor moved Yao Zao risking G:servant’s life in an attemt to heal Hac Tao. With a final effort Yao Zao bringed Hac Tao from the verge of death, then his lights went off ang he stop moving himself. Both Alguacil girls made surethat it won’t heal anyone else.
– The dance of death begun anew as Hac Tao tried his chances vs my girls with no avail, as my indestructible ladies rolled saves, laughing wildly. (One Irregular Order exchanged for a Regular with Command Token.)
– Garran made his last attemt so silent my Linked heroines, exchanging his last Command Token. This time HMG Alguacil had no mercy and cut Hac Tao’s body in half with a concentraded fire from her Heavy MG’.
– An order later Su Jian avenged his death by slaying my second Intruder.
– Having nothing better to do Guilang opened the door to the Security Room.
TURN 2 SUMMARY: Lost: Kuang Shi, Hac Tao, Yao Zao (doc), / Killed: Intruder HMG, / Objectives: Objective: 1 Console, 1 Hidden (Experimental Drug),
N Nazroth 2nd turn:
Left with no Intruders I had only one universal assault unit at my disposal – the Lunokhod. With order count of 7/4 I left the things be and started activations.
– I first tried to eliminate a potential threat to my Lunokhod in form of enemy Hacker. I used my own Hacker to do that, shuffling him behind cover and sending a burst meant for the hostile unit. He dodged and hid from LOF.
– Now I could move Lunokhod from behind his initial cover, so he went straight for Su Jian. I kept him hidden, occasionally shooting enemy Hacker once he was revealed. First attempt failed as Lunokhod’s Heavy Shotgun range is rather short, but I hit the mark during another activation. I also los a Koala, who was careless enough to cross Su Jian’s line of fire.
– Third Lunokhod’s activation took him out into Su Jian’s ARO but Heavy Shotgun prooved to be enough to finally slay the beast.
(Enemy in retreat and with Loss of Leutenant – I moved to gain advantage in Objective Points. Zhurong Power Plant and Nomad’s wellbeing were on the line!).
– I cleared the path killing a Guilang FO with a single Burst of ‘5’ shot by Alguacil HMG specialist.
– Path cleared, Moran Maasai Hunter broke into the Security Room and Connected central Console at second attempt.
– Alguacil Hacker followed, moving forward and connetcing the Console on my right flank.
– I was left with no competitive options, but to try and complete my Hidden Objectives which was “Experimental Drug” (lol, yea, whatever) and “HVT: Designation”. I went for the last one, first leaning Mooran out of the Security Room and targeting enemy HVT, then using him as a repeater for Alguacil Hacker and Spotlight’ing the target with my final order.
TURN 2 SUMMARY: Lost: none, / Killed: Celestial Guard Hacker, Su jian, Guilang FO, Objectives: 3 Consoles, 1 Hidden (HVT: Designation),
Garran: Lost: Shaolin, 2x Kuang Shi, Celestial Guard (KSCD), Rui Shi, Tokusetsu Engineer, Hac Tao, Yao Zao (doc), Su jian, Celestial Guard Hacker, Guilang FO, / Objective: 1 Console, 1 Hidden (Experimental Drug),
Nazroth: Lost: Intruder MSR, Jaguar Chain, Tomcat Engineer, Intruder HMG, / Objectives: 3 Consoles, 1 Hidden (HVT: Designation),
G Garran 3rd. turn:
Garran’s forces were in Retreat along with a Loss of Leutenant. (Which was the missfortunate Guilang FO.)
Not many options with both Kuang Shi being far away from combat, and near to all specialist troops gone.
– Garran took a final attempt of earning Victory Points by mowing his regular Keisotsu into my HVT’s Zone of Control. The plan failed by Keisotsu being shredded with ARO fire from my Alguacil Link.
No need for further actions – we shook hands of one another and counted our remaining points.
TURN 3 SUMMARY: Lost: Keisotsu, / Killed: none, / Objectives: 1 Console, 1 Hidden (Experimental Drug),
Garran: Lost: Shaolin, 2x Kuang Shi, Celestial Guard (KSCD), Rui Shi, Tokusetsu Engineer, Hac Tao, Yao Zao (doc), Su jian, Celestial Guard Hacker, Guilang FO, Keisotsu, / Objective: 1 Console, 1 Hidden (Experimental Drug),
Nazroth: Lost: Intruder MSR, Jaguar Chain, Tomcat Engineer, Intruder HMG, / Objectives: 3 Consoles, 1 Hidden (HVT: Designation),
I got back home around 16:30, sat straight to this Battle Report. It’s past 23:00 now so as you can see – writing something like that is a lot of work. I really respect the work of guys from Corvus Belli and other cool content authors, as right now I want only to take a bath and ‘Reset’ 🙂 Hope you like my article – be sure to ‘Commend it’ at Flamestrike Campaign official site 😉
Being a Wargaming hobbyist is not always related to miniature painting. Some of us just like to collect miniatures, others enjoy competitive play. There are those who do not feel joy of having a brush in one hand and a miniature in the other all the time. That doesn’t make them any less a ‘hobbyist’ than the actual painters. Needless to say that regardless of what makes us into true hobbyists we have one important thing in common: we love miniatures.
Having that in mind I’ve prepared something not exactly related to painting miniatures. It is a small Tutorial about Preparation before an ‘Infinity the game’ Tournament. A preparation that in my opinion is especially important from the ‘beginners’ point of view but will benefit all the players present at the evet, and here’s why:
The game lives on as long as it sells and it sells as long as it’s fun. ‘Fun’ is the principal of hobby, still a lot of players consider miniature wargaming tournaments of being ‘all about competitive play’. The fact that both sides should have the same amount of fun is pushed to back burner as once the adrenaline kicks in, there’s no thinking about ‘what the oponent feels?’ – only what he ‘thinks’ and only if related to the current game 🙂 Sometimes that leads to stressful situations or even unpleasant behavior. On the other hand there are players more interrested in throwing some dice and moving miniatures enjoying scenario flavor and nice looking scenery pieces. These happen to misstriger some reactions, forget rules or equipment vital to play the game according to the rulebook. So in order to bring fun to the tournament and have some fun ourselves we shoud both prepare mentally and grab some gear for the upcomming event.
Mental Conditioning: First of all try to think about what the opponent feels? Off course it won’t be fun to be massacred by some unpainted ‘tournament ready in 15 minutes’ miniatures of a guy who ‘must win this one to get to top 3’. Stone face and lack of sense of humour is your’s enemy as much as it is for your opponent, regardless of which kind of player you face. At the same time have in mind what’s going on in your opponent’s head while you shift back movements and can’t make your mind for what seems to be an eternity. Or while you whine about your opponent’s miniatures being unpainted and how ‘devoid of climate’ that is instead of facing this match like a man.
– You play against ‘non competitive flavor snail’? Even when you behave nice and point out some vital rules, that your opponent may to forget, try adding a joke or some short battlefield anegdote to smooth the atmosphere. It is possible to win literally obliterating oponents army and still to achieve fun for both sides. Try to keep your adrenaline glands dormant as once they flare up you only worsen the opponent’s reaction time.
– You play against a ‘rookie’? Keep the atmosphere calm and friendly having in mind your own first tournament experience. Try not to use tournament slang and abbreviations – your opponent nodding does not have to mean he understands what you said. Tutour your oponent (ok, do it after some actions have been taken so he learns on mistakes) to help him understand what did just happened but also to become a better opponent for the future matches. This way you also become a better player.
– You play against a ‘tight ass pro’? Don’t treat some rules as not obligatory, for example be thorough while moving your miniatures (don’t steal some vital inches due to being lazy). Be calm and accurate but at the same time try to decide fast even if it costs you a loss of confidence on the table. Better to loose and learn from your opponent than to win and stagnate without evolving your skills. Remember that once you estabilish an accurate form of contact you will be able to ask some vital questions thus fastening the game and having less difficulties with making important decisions.
– You play against ‘Luck’? Don’t be angry at dice. This game is all about RNG, also luck is a bitch. You will take your time to position a sniper in full advantage just to be taken out by a stupid pistol’s ARO while at the same time some Combi Rifle grunt will multikill on a spree! Infinity is just ‘that kind of a game’. Deal with it or move on to ther systems;)
– Clock is ticking! Keep track of time as you may be the one overthinking too much.
– Hands off! Under any circumstances do not touch opponent’s miniatures unless he lets or asks you to.
– Obtain certainty! Ask your opponent for any ARO’s or other actions available to him so that he won’t misstriger. Have in mind that the harder it is to win the better player you’ll become.
– Buckle up and disengage! When game ends just pack your stuff and report results to a judge. Then transfer your things to a neutral place (parapet, empy table…). Most people tend to leave their belongings scattered around the table and dissapear to be late for another round. In that case you being late and unprepared means that four players, yourself included, will be awaiting while you chaotically collect your stuff from around the table.
– Keep noting! Write down every major choices so that there won’t be any doubt about them. For example which Camouflage Marker reffer to which miniature etc.
! Additional tip - Read the official Infinity Tournament System rules and Scenarios that will be played at the event.
Gear Preparation: Gaming is so much easier when you don’t have to borrow stuff from all the peeps at the tournament. Usually it’s also much faster! Being professional does not mean that you go straight for Power Gaming, it means to play according to the rules thus reducing a number of conflicts to a minimum.
Pro: If you consider yourself a Pro then I don’t need to tell you of how important some of this stuff actually is. You probably own your personal tournament set and know your own ways of waging war.
Rookie: One of the reasons why Infinity is such a great game is that you don’t have to spend a lot of cash on a bunch of useless items (say ‘hi’ to Games Workshop from me) and can focus your finances on miniatures instead. Rulebook, Unit Profiles, Unit Silhouettes, Tokens and Markers are all printable. Just fallow to Download section at Infinitythegame.com. Even the Classyfied Objective Deck is not obligatory as rulebook includes a special table that you may use instead! That leaves you with some vital stuff like Tape Meausure, Dice, Templates and off course Miniatures to obtain. So regardless of what kind of Tournament Gear you have – it’s time to pack it correctly.
– Pack your bag! Try to pack your bag/box to the optimum. An optimal packed bag will let you move swiftly on the tournament ground, embark your miniatures fast after the game (to let other use the same table) and unpack them rapidly when facing next opponent! Some vital stuff will be within reach all the time also!
– Print an Army Roster! That goes both for your’s and ‘Courtesy’ one to show it to your opponent. A printed roster is easy to apprehend and will fasten the ‘game preparation’ process. Also you will be able to decide on strategy easier when facing plain enemy roster yourself. Did I mentioned that wothout it you won’t be able to participate?
Use ARMY program to prepare your army list and don’t forget to print ‘Courtesy’ roster for your opponent.
– Templates (‘teardrops’), Blast Markers (‘cookies’): Must have, just don’t show without them!
– Precise Measures: Precise Measure is in my opinion the most important tool of precise gaming so I recommend you bring one. It comes in handy while moving miniatures and checking their Area of Control. It makes the game a lot more pleasant.
– Tokens: Wounds, Unconsious, Prone, Regular Orders, Impetous*, Irregular Orders*, Camo*, Command Tokens (*if your army uses these) are vital to the game performance. These are must have and if you lack some cash to purchase fine versions of these – you can always print and cut yourself.
– Objective Markers: Objective Markers are not obligatory but they come in pretty handy. All for the sake of keeping track of what’s going on at the table.If you lack these yourself then probably your opponent will provide his own set, but what if he thought exactly the same?
– Silhouettes: Silhouettes* are a must have in N3 (*if your army uses these) and they tend to be used at some point in the game. They are being used if a certain Line of Fire situation is not clear. At first you will probably mean they are an inconvenience but after couple of tries you won’t be able to play without them.
– Classified Deck: This item is just awesome. All the rolling involving a special table and then searching how does a certain secondary objective works is just frustrating. You can either buy one of these along with your friends or print a copy. Whatever you choose you won’t regret!
– Laser Pointers: No more Line of Fire arguments, no more asking other players if a miniature sees another miniature, no more judge involvement needed. Fast and awesome method to check out LoF!
– Facing Markers: Facing Markers are a whim, as you can just mark facings on the miniature’s base. Still I preffer these instead of destroying smooth, black surface of my miniatures’ bases.
– Wound Rings: Wound Rings have one advantage over Wound Tokens – they fallow the miniature wherever it goes without you being involved.
– Tape Measure, Dice: These must be present. They all are vitat to the game and not taking one is like forgeting to put your pants on for the event. (Well if you actually happen to like going out without pants consider this actidentally putting them on instead!).
– Pen & Paper: Pen & Paper are important as you will be asked to write some vital information like which Camouflage Marker is related to a certain miniature etc.These ARE OBLIGATORY regardless if you consider yourself a Pro or a newbie.
– The Miniatures: Try to pack only the necessary ones and in a configuration that will be easy to access and won’t require lots of time to be deployed/swiped back.
The Rules: No one demands that you take a paperback Rulebook with you, not to mention all the errata, Paradiso, FAQ, whatever. A mobile phone with basic Rulebook.pdf will usually do. Be advised tho, as leaving on a tournament without any means of consulting a Rulebook is a mistake. Syre you may be able to memorise all the rules but I doubt that and a Rulebook is much cheaper than amphetamine.
A mobile phone with internet access to check out Infinity Wiki is also a nice thing to have.
So a lot of what must and musn’t be done here 🙂 Please remember that this is my own opinion based on personal experience acquired during over fifteen years of miniature wargaming including some world class tournaments. As for Infinity I’m still a noob so I will have to confront my ways with a bunch of tournaments but I’m sure that most of these will prove true.
Infinty Tournament Checklist:
Must haves:
– Miniatures,
– Roster for you and the opponent,*(printable)
– Pen & Paper,
– Tape Measure,
– Dice set,
– Tokens, (printable) / WHERE TO PURCHASE
– Silhouettes, (printable) / WHERE TO PURCHASE
– Templates and Blast Marker, (printable) / WHERE TO PURCHASE
– Rules,** (printable)
Usables:
*- Printed Roster for you and the opponent,
(printable)
– Precise Measure, / WHERE TO PURCHASE
– Objective Markers, (printable) / WHERE TO PURCHASE
– Classified Deck, (printable)
– Laser Pointer, / WHERE TO PURCHASE
**- Paperback Rulebook, (printable)
Convenience:
– Facing Markers, (may be painted) / WHERE TO PURCHASE
– Wound Rings, / WHERE TO PURCHASE
**- Printed Errata, FAQ,
**- Paperback/printed Paradiso etc,
Feel free to add some stuff in the comments – In the future I will gladly expand this article according to wise advice.
