Data Sphere

Hi all,
An old friend of mine recently invited me to an upcoming Infinity weekend over at Tabletop Nation. I'd been aware of the game for some years due to the great models, but have never taken the plunge.

The invitation got me intested, so I downloaded and have been reading the free rules over the past week, and have been really impressed; they look great. I thought I'd join a forum to have a look at how the Infinity universe operates; so hello!

I haven't a clue how to go about picking a faction – I'm more of a painter and storyteller than gamer, but I hope I can pick up some pointers on which faction is more 'me'. My favourite game is larger in scale – Epic: Armageddon – but skirmish level sci-fi gaming is something that I'm really looking forward to trying out again.

Howdy

I like that description of being a painter and storyteller and that resonates with me. Infinity should be great choice for you as it features arguably the best sculpts around and fantastic narrative gameplay. The TTN event looks awesome and I'm gutted to be away that weekend else I'd have been there myself.

The best faction to pick is the one that aesthetically resonates with you the most. I don't often see that advice fail.

Oh, and a great big welcome to data-sphere, citizen! I hope you enjoy your time here!

Welcome!

Pick the models you like best: the aesthetics usually give a clue as to playing style (e.g. PanO is lots of guns and tech, Ariadna is camo and guerilla etc), though you can do a lot of different playstyles with each faction.

That said, there's beginner articles on the Data Sphere blog. I recommend picking a faction based on aesthetics and then searching the blog (search bar is on the right) for the articles. That way you'll get a good grasp of what's what!

Hi and welcome.
As others already said: just pick the faction you like best.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay at Datasphere and the miniatures and the game.

Welcome to Data Sphere.

As a fellow storyteller/gamer I can say this game will give you your fix! it plays like an RPG most of the time. Tell us what you like to see in your army? Lots of high-tech equipment or perhaps more low(er) tech? Heavy Infantry? Or lots of Light Infantry and skirmishers? Infowar?
I second what everybody said, pick the faction that you like the most! But it might help if we know your wishes and we can point you in a direction! You can check out the blog section for fiction on every faction, to give you an idea about who'swho. (still WIP though )

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone

While there's some things I like about almost every faction (a great 'problem' to have!), I think I've narrowed it down to either the Combined Army or Haqqislam. If I list the models I'd like to them a force around, and provide some thoughts on how I usually like to approach a game, could you suggest which way to go, or if something really doesn't fit?

General strategy
I prefer to play with feet on the ground rather than relying on special tricks or delayed appearance; and solid, reliable tech over more advanced stuff. I like my forces to be fairly middle-of-the-road; emphasising flexibility and generalism over specialisation. Similarly, I like mid-range combat, emphasising small arms over long-range support or close-in melee.

In terms of theme, I like the neutral party over the hero or villain; I enjoy shades of grey in the morality of my troops. That said, sometimes it's fun to vamp things up, so I wouldn't mind playing an antagonist force of 'baddies'. Given those thoughts, could you suggest whether I'm barking up the wrong tree with any of these?

Haqqislam
It's the KTS and the Sekban models that I really like. Assuming one or the other (or both?) were the core of a force, what else would you add to take it to 300pts? The Husam Spec Ops is a great model – would he fit with either?

Combined Army
There's no models that jump out quite as much as for Haqqislam, but I like a broader range. The Shasvastii Aswuang and Gwailos are probably my favourites, but as I understand things, the Shasvastii aren't really stand-up-and-fight troops. Is that right? Can one theme a force around Shasvastii that doesn't rely on dirty tricks?

+++
Other thoughts
I always like to play something that complements the other player's army. For that reason, I prefer to play less popular factions; assuming I find something appealing about them. Does Infinity have a preponderance of a particular army or armies? Which are more or less popular? I'm steering away from PanOceania and Nomads because they're in the starter box; which I'm guessing will mean I'm more likely to run into those armies going forward. Is that a fair suggestion?

I don't know much about Haqq or CA, but I can tell you that the Shasvastii are all about dirty tricks. It's pretty much all they do.

apologist wrote:Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone

While there's some things I like about almost every faction (a great 'problem' to have!), I think I've narrowed it down to either the Combined Army or Haqqislam. If I list the models I'd like to them a force around, and provide some thoughts on how I usually like to approach a game, could you suggest which way to go, or if something really doesn't fit?

General strategy
I prefer to play with feet on the ground rather than relying on special tricks or delayed appearance; and solid, reliable tech over more advanced stuff. I like my forces to be fairly middle-of-the-road; emphasising flexibility and generalism over specialisation. Similarly, I like mid-range combat, emphasising small arms over long-range support or close-in melee.

In terms of theme, I like the neutral party over the hero or villain; I enjoy shades of grey in the morality of my troops. That said, sometimes it's fun to vamp things up, so I wouldn't mind playing an antagonist force of 'baddies'. Given those thoughts, could you suggest whether I'm barking up the wrong tree with any of these?

Haqqislam
It's the KTS and the Sekban models that I really like. Assuming one or the other (or both?) were the core of a force, what else would you add to take it to 300pts? The Husam Spec Ops is a great model – would he fit with either?

Combined Army
There's no models that jump out quite as much as for Haqqislam, but I like a broader range. The Shasvastii Aswuang and Gwailos are probably my favourites, but as I understand things, the Shasvastii aren't really stand-up-and-fight troops. Is that right? Can one theme a force around Shasvastii that doesn't rely on dirty tricks?

+++
Other thoughts
I always like to play something that complements the other player's army. For that reason, I prefer to play less popular factions; assuming I find something appealing about them. Does Infinity have a preponderance of a particular army or armies? Which are more or less popular? I'm steering away from PanOceania and Nomads because they're in the starter box; which I'm guessing will mean I'm more likely to run into those armies going forward. Is that a fair suggestion?

Just focussing on your preference for reliable tech, flexibility and generalism I'd say Haqqislam and the Nomads of Corregidor are good choices for you (you can combine parts of Corregidor with Haqqislam in the Sectorail of Qapu Khalqi). HaqqIslam (and especially Qapu Khalqi) is the faction for elite Light Infantry (lots of grunts, with a better than average skill and equipment kit, but not the best tech). Corregidor is more focussed on the Medium Infantry and can be supported by some faster/heavier units like Geckos and Tsyklons. They get the leftovers in the area of technology; they make due, but you need to keep your head on your shoulders to get it right.

The KTS are famed for their usefulness, and the Sekban are by many considered lackluster next to Qapu Khalqi's other units. Note: they are NOT bad, QK just has other options that people consider to fit their playstyle better, so I'd say.. try them out, see if you can make them work for you. Luckily they have the Haris-linkteam option, which allows you to take them as an extra link team. You can fit a KTS ánd Sekban linkteam in 300 points, leaving you room for a TAG, or some other support models like Djanbazans and Al Hawwa.
The Husam uses some special rules, and I would advice against buying it right now (you can only play it if every body accepts to play with spec-ops).

I play both QK and Corregidor btw, and I like both of the armies really much!

Thanks very much – very useful! After reading your suggestion, I spent some time looking into the Nomads, and the background and models for Corregidor clicked for me. This quote was the deciding factor:

it’s not strange to hear those same analysts say that Corregidor has the toughest, most reliable, aggressive and tireless troops in the Sphere. This is because they are the outcasts. They are the guys of mud-rain-cold-and-void. The ones where “no-matter-the-shit-that-rains-on-us-we’ll-stand-fast”. The ones without glamour and hyper-sophisticated resources, but without whom wars are not won, be it working for their country or for those who can pay them.

As a result, I've ordered a Jurisdictional Command box and a set of Tomcats. I figure that this'll form the basis for a decent force, and can be expanded towards the Qapu Khalqi if I decide the faction's not for me at a future date.

Thanks again for your helpful feedback, chaps

apologist wrote:Thanks very much – very useful! After reading your suggestion, I spent some time looking into the Nomads, and the background and models for Corregidor clicked for me.

As a result, I've ordered a Jurisdictional Command box and a set of Tomcats. I figure that this'll form the basis for a decent force, and can be expanded towards the Qapu Khalqi if I decide the faction's not for me at a future date.

Yeah, Tomcats, CJC starter and perhaps a Wildcat Spitfire and Lunokhod are a solid start of a force. Note that the Tomcats are drop troops, so they can start off the board. Not generating orders at first, so I wouldn't advice to let them all jump in. That will set you back 3 orders. Other than that, doctor and engineer are almost must haves and feature in most of my list.

Another good buy is the newNomad vanilla starter, which contains the alguaciles and Mobile Brigada (both useable in QK as well), a future Alguaciles special weapon box, that will probably be released in a couple of months and if you want to bring something heavy: the Iguana is a great TAG and, again, usable in QK. Most of the CJC starter isn't usable in QK unfortunately. But still a good buy for Nomads!

Happy gaming and have fun!

Welcome mate. I long followed your Mechanicus blog over at WS, I'm glad you've made the jump. Can't wait to see your skills applied to the gorgeous Infinity minis.

Howdy!