Sgt. Rock

Guys, come on. There's no shame in having to pay for bananas. Lots of people do it. And hey, he's probably putting those bananas through college.

Jay does love bananas...

Remotes provide cheap orders and utility. For example, the Bulleteer has either a heavy shotgun or a spitfire, a 6-4 MOV, and ODD, which makes him an excellent aggressive gunfighter. Pathfinders are forward observers armed with a combi rifle, but they also have sensor, sniffers, Sat-lock, deactivator, and a repeater. Sierra dronbots have a total reaction HMG, which means it gets its full burst of 4 dice in both active and reactive turns. Point being, remotes offer tremendous utility for a relatively small investment of points, and you can buff them with hacking (I won't get into EVO hacker remotes, because that's a whole other ball of wax.) They tend to be a bit fragile, but if you take care of them and use them properly, they can be a very important piece of your list. Personally, when I play PanO, I never leave home without at least a Pathfiner, and probably a Bulleteer, as well. The only real downside is that you need to have either a hacker or a TAG in you list to field them. Hackers are easy to proxy, though, if you don't have the specific model. For example, here's a Military Orders list with the contents of the Dronbots remote box: Military Orders ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 8 ORDER SERGEANT Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) ORDER SERGEANT Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) ORDER SERGEANT MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 21) FUSILIER Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18) FUSILIER Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) TEUTONIC KNIGHT Combi Rifle, Panzerfaust / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 34) SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25) 3 SWC | 150 Points Open in Infinity Army You have a 3-man core link of Order Sergeants, to get that extra burst on the sniper rifle. The Fusilier hacker allows the use of the remotes, and can throw up supportware like Assisted Fire, which gives the remote Marksmanship level 2. You have a solid utility piece in the Pathfinder, an aggressive heavy infantry in the Teutonic Knight, and the Sierra can be used both offensively and defensively (careful, though, it's fragile.) This list gives you a few big guns and an aggressive heavy hitter to play with, as well as a fair bit of utility with the Pathfinder and hacker.

Sadly, the Nisse isn't available in any sectorials at the moment, which is why I'm always so drawn towards playing vanilla PanO. If you want something akin to the Nisse sniper in MO, you have to look at the MULTI-Sniper loadout on the Black Friar. Still has MSV2, but trades the mimetism and a pip of armor for a BTS of 3 and a nanopulser. Joan is a great Lt. in either MO or Vanilla, because it gives all of her army V:Courage, which is sometimes necessary on low WIP models like Fusiliers and Auxilia. In MO, it's less of an issue, because everything is Religious, but that free coordinated Lt. order is always nice. The downside is that 9 times out of 10, people will be gunning for her on the assumption that she's your Lt. That said, you can use that to your advantage and run a cheap Fusilier Lt. and just go nuts with Joanie, because she's quite a capable murderbeast herself. Have you checked out Infinity Army 6? It's a free tool on Corvus Belli's website for building lists. It's actually the "official" list building tool, and any ITS tournament you go to is going to want you to bring a printout from Army (which is fine, because the software is fantastic.) It lets you dink around with army builds and look at stats and loadouts all in one convenient place, and it includes tables for weapon range bands and direct links to the wiki for skills and equipment. It's a HUGE resource that you should be looking at, and a great way to plan things out. Also, don't be afraid to proxy things. As long as you're clear and consistent with your opponent, people are pretty chill about letting you proxy models, especially when you're first starting out. It's a good way to learn what you want before you start spending money on stuff willy-nilly. It's definitely better than what I do, buying models randomly and *then* trying them out. If you really wanna try out an Orc with an HMG but all you have is the Multi rifle version, nobody is going to begrudge you that. Just be clear from the outset and remain consistent. Models like that Father Knight from Icestorm are awesome because he doesn't have a gun modeled on him, just that badass sword that they all get when they graduate from Father Knight State University, so you can say he's got a missile launcher or a spitfire or whatever. I would definitely recommend buying the remotes, but just about anything else you can proxy for a few games (and that's only because you need the proxy to be basically the same silhouette size.)

Typical game size is 300 points, but to be honest, it's recommended that even seasoned wargamers start at 150 and work their way up in increments of 50 points or so. Infinity has a LOT to take in, and trying to dive into a full 300 point game can get overwhelming *fast.* That said, what you have is good. I assume that you have the Icestorm starter kit, from what you've listed. The Orc actually has a MULTI-rifle, which is considerably more useful than a regular combi. I'm also seeing the Military Orders starter there? I don't know much about MO (they're next on my list to pick up) but I know that the Order Sergeants are useful. You can run them as the TO camo forward observer, who's a total badass. The Nisse sniper is an incredible piece, I swear by him in vanilla. The Father-Knight is a brute, and his hacker profile is outright terrifying. The one thing I can see that you're missing is an HMG. I'd recommend either the Swiss Guard (the new one coming out in Beyond Icestorm, or the old "Swiss Miss" if you can find her) or the Aquila Guard. Both are top-notch murder machines. You also are going to want some remotes. PanO has some very, very good remotes, and you definitely want them. I'd say the Dronbots box and either Bulleteers or Peacemakers. You'll need the support pack, despite how gawd-awful ugly the Trauma-Doc and Machinist models are... it's the only place to get those little Palbots, so even if you proxy better looking models for the engineer and doctor, you'll need those little boogers. After that, you can think about expanding wherever you want. Is there a particular sectorial that catches your eye? I play vanilla and NCA, and I can say that the Fusilier box and the NCA starter both have some really great stuff you'll get a lot of mileage out of. The Hexa sniper is a really good one to have. You can pick up a TAG down the road, but I'd recommend you focus on learning the game without them for a while first. TAGs are very powerful, but they're also finicky and can be tricky to use at first. Mostly, just play with what you have in some smaller games for a little while, and when you have the wherewithal, get the remotes and some big bad boy with an HMG, and then grab what looks interesting. Infinity is an amazing game in that you can basically make nearly anything work. You definitely need to put thought into the models you put on the table, but a good player can make average profiles perform pretty well. So get the stuff you like, play with it, and learn the game. Welcome to Infinity!

I admit, I kind of agree. As a lifelong gamer, when I was told that we had to go get George when we opened the doors, that little alarm bell went off in my head and said "Go ahead, let the other guy trigger the trap." It's like when you're playing D&D, and as you approach a door, the DM starts rolling. "No, guys, seriously. I think we should let the bard go in first. There might be someone in there that we want to make a good first impression on." As for the tables, I liked having all that space to set my crap. Being able to put down my tournament box, dice, tokens, mission briefings, glass of beer, hat, etc. without crowding whoever was next to me was really nice. I've played at a lot of events where the tables are crammed so close together that you're bumping elbows with the player next to you, and I really prefer having some space to work.

1: The scenarios were great. I agree that some of the scenarios were challenging with limited insertion, but honestly, I liked it. I'm actually a big fan of limitations on normal list building formats; lower point levels, limited insertion, stuff like that. So I thought it was great. I definitely enjoyed the last scenario (though I admit to letting my opponent be the first to open the door, just because I know George a little too well to be the one to charge in first after what we were told.) 2: The team giveaways were awesome! We got some great swag, and we all loved it the random little bits of loot we received. It's like Halloween, but for nerds! 3: I can't say what I'd like to see next year, honestly. I think I might skip the Face Punch next year; ITS gets a little too competitive for me sometimes. Maybe next year we could do something using 20x20 as a basis for the narrative event? Just to mix things up a bit further. As to prizes, are you kidding? I walked away with a ton of loot, and Kyle was complaining that he didn't have room in his suitcase to bring it all home! I didn't go to Twinfinity, but he did, and he had no complaints. I feel like I definitely came out well ahead on stuff. I have to say, regarding the spec-ops, it was silly fun, but I think maybe it needed to be reined in a little. I mean, an ARM 7 Metro on a motorcycle carrying a MULTI rifle is funny as hell, but for 8 points, it's a bit game-breaking. And to be honest, that Metro basically spent the first four rounds as a cheerleader, even with all the loot she'd picked up. I was so concerned about keeping her alive for that booty roll that I just kept her hidden. It also felt like there was so much emphasis on them that I felt compelled to keep them safe in a link, which kind of limited my list-building options (as if the inclusion of Mirage 5 at 200 points didn't.) I would say maybe let the spec ops make the booty roll, but only keep one booty item at a time. That, or give all the spec ops models scavenger or something like that.

They are absolutely a pro-hacking faction. Remember, those Unidrons in that link are REMs, so you can throw things like Assisted Fire on them. Marksmanship L2 on top of all the bonuses from a 5 man link is terrifying, indeed.

Super kickass, dude. Welcome to the Infinity crew. Come out to game night on Sundays (when the weather isn't trying to kill us all of heatstroke.)

I know it's 11th hour, but it's way to effing hot in my house, and I need to get out. Anyone want to play a friendly against a super league coach tonight? I can meet just about anywhere.

I'm sure I can scrounge up a few, if my girlfriend is willing to part with hers...

What they said. Also, as a Seattle expat, I can tell you that Mox Boarding House in Bellevue has zero interest in supporting Infinity (or they used to, anyway) but if you're on the eastside, Games & Gizmos in Kirkland is a big supporter. They run tournaments and everything. Don't know what days they play, though. I think Mugu up in Everett does some, and I know that Card Kingdom/Mox up in Ballard has a pretty decent scene on Tuesday nights, that's where I used to play.

Last I heard, Jake Richmond had resigned as the store's WarCor, and there were never more than about 3-4 people who played there when I used to attend. They only have two tables dedicated to minis gaming, and their Infinity terrain, while nice, is in a bit of a sad state, rather abused and beat up. I'd recommend Fate & Fury for Thursday night Infinity, but they're all the way up in Vancouver, so if you're looking for somewhere close that you can come in late, that's definitely not it.

Guys, Team Pride of Rodina says thanks. This was the first OFCC for all of us, and boy were we not disappointed. Kyle, despite being sick as a dog for most of the weekend, said this was the most fun he's had in a long time, and well worth the trip from Missouri. Y'all showed us a great time, and I'm so proud to be able to call this community of great gamers my home. Eric, George, and the whole Portland/Vancouver community are all my friends, and I know you all pretty well, but you guys displayed a perfect example of what a great Infinity community has the potential to be. Every single one of you, locals or not, are awesome gamers and awesome human beings, and I look forward to doing this again next year. Oh, and go read our blog! it's awesome! http://www.prideofrodina.com

I only got to play against Ian on Friday, but he was a champ. I was still steaming from my dice betraying me so badly in round two, and he made my game against him a lot of fun. I hope to play against some of you guys at ECI this year!

Kyle is still repairing our table. Might take us a little bit to get there. Up at the hotel, yeah?

I have to paint my bases and glue the models in, then I will FINALLY be done.Then we can focus on making final repairs to Kyle's terrain (UPS can eat a bag of dicks.)

Oh, his skills will be put to the test. Just not those skills... what UPS did to his terrain... no man should have to see that.

Molotoks and Ojotniks. Sadly, I don't get to play with them much these days, being on a FRRM kick right now (and obviously PanO is right out) but they're so useful.

Maybe you *should* have shipped it with the terrain...

I do not, but I'll ask him...

It better, I don't have a replacement team member...

Probably won't make it. Too much last minute stuff I need to get done, as well as cleaning for the rest of my team to crash at my place.

Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to.

If I didn't have so goddamn much to get done for OFCC, I would. Carry on without me, guys.