A certain board had two sides: and the one side of the board was cluttered upon the left with crates and debris and held a tall building on the right, while the middle allowed a clear line of fire to most of the possible approaches to it. The other side was dominated by three tall buildings, with two lanes of approach in the alleyways between them. Old AT-43 crates dotted the landscape between the two sides, preventing clear lines of fire from crossing the board without venturing up to the tops of the buildings. You've built your force, and you end up with the ability to determine sides. Which side do you choose? And how do you deploy your force within the side you chose?
These are more important question than you might think. It is entirely possible to lose the game simply based on how you deploy your forces - especially if you go second. A lot of this is going to depend on what, exactly, you are bringing to the table, but here are some general guidelines for how to deploy that hold true in most (but not all) situations:
1: Deploy in such a way as to minimize risk and maximize reward. This should be the main, guiding principle behind everything you do in your deployment.
e.g.: If there are two sniper positions, and one of them has visibility to the entire board and the other covers just the major lane of approach to your side of the board, consider that the second may be better than the first: a sniper fires two shots, or one shot in ARO. If you are positioned such that you could be receiving five or 6 AROs every time you shoot, or where a combined order could send 6-9 shots your way, you're in a bad position. It doesn't matter if your opponent needs 4s to hit you if they've got enough shots coming your way.
2: Cover your backfield.
Don't be the person who loses a game because they forgot to have anyone covering the backfield, and then had their opponent drop a pair of Yuan Yuans (or worse) in there. It's embarrassing to lose all your Mooks to chain rifles. You need those orders!
3: Be aware of shadow-zones. If there's a great big shadow-zone that can't be hit by speculative fire because of the height of the building, mountain peak, or whatever, there's no reason not to hide someone (or more than one someone) there. Don't be too confident in the ability of shadow-zones to protect you, though.
4: If you have a total reaction drone, position it where it can do some good. Use them to punish your enemy every time they want to do something. Let it be a huge inconvenience that your opponent must actively plan around and devote orders to either destroy or disable. Rule #1 still applies, however: do it in such a way as to minimize risk and maximize reward.
5: Don't expose your troops to fire unnecessarily. Again, risk vs reward. If there's no compelling reason for your soldier to be deployed exposed to enemy fire, don't expose them.
6: take advantage of the way the board is set up. Is there a low or zero-visibility zone? If you've got multispec, someone equipped with said piece of equipment would be ideal to cover this area.
7: cover the main approaches to your positions, as modified by rule #1. If your opponent has impetuous troops, they'll be coming down this way. It's better to hit them *before* they start hosing down your positions with chain rifles.
I could go on, but I suspect I would begin to repeat myself. Anyone else have anything they'd like to add? Disagree with anything I said? Tell me so!
On the Importance of Deployment
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Looking good. A few idle thoughts:
-I would add some information on the importance and usefulness of mines and direct template weapons. Having inexpensive troops who can cover the approaches to your base, or else hold down the midfield and control lanes of advance/advantageous terrain with a weapon that doesn't need a face-to-face roll to do damage, is very useful.
-If you're a Sectorial player, identify whether you want to use a link team and their valuable bonuses in an offensive or defensive capacity. Do you want to keep them in total cover, preserving their numbers so they can do maximum damage in the active turn? Or do you want to deploy them in overwatch positions, where they can use their high BS and 6th Sense Level 2 to provide table control and contest an opponent's ability to maneuver?
-Provide mutual support for your troops, without clumping up too much. You don't want your troops stacked right on top of one another; this makes them easy prey for templates. By contrast, you do not want your troops so spread out that a single Impersonator, AD3 unit or Superior Infiltrator can move from one target to the next, killing with impunity. Try to walk the fine line between giving your units mutual line-of-fire to one another without stacking them all in the same vulnerable corner.
-Do your homework regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the faction/Sectorial you are facing. Facing ALEPH? Considering protecting your MSV2 or direct template units to the best of your abilities, because you may need them to combat lots of ODD. Facing Nomads? Take care to protect your Hackable targets, and be aware of possible fire lanes or areas where Repeaters/Markers could be dropped that interfere with your Heavy Infantry, TAGs, etc. Every Infinity faction shares a lot of similarities, but the Sectorials all have clearly defined limitations and every faction plays towards inherent strengths and weaknesses. Knowing how to spot a Cutter list, when to expect a Caskuda, or how to handle Camo Spam will be valuable in how you deploy your force.
-I would add some information on the importance and usefulness of mines and direct template weapons. Having inexpensive troops who can cover the approaches to your base, or else hold down the midfield and control lanes of advance/advantageous terrain with a weapon that doesn't need a face-to-face roll to do damage, is very useful.
-If you're a Sectorial player, identify whether you want to use a link team and their valuable bonuses in an offensive or defensive capacity. Do you want to keep them in total cover, preserving their numbers so they can do maximum damage in the active turn? Or do you want to deploy them in overwatch positions, where they can use their high BS and 6th Sense Level 2 to provide table control and contest an opponent's ability to maneuver?
-Provide mutual support for your troops, without clumping up too much. You don't want your troops stacked right on top of one another; this makes them easy prey for templates. By contrast, you do not want your troops so spread out that a single Impersonator, AD3 unit or Superior Infiltrator can move from one target to the next, killing with impunity. Try to walk the fine line between giving your units mutual line-of-fire to one another without stacking them all in the same vulnerable corner.
-Do your homework regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the faction/Sectorial you are facing. Facing ALEPH? Considering protecting your MSV2 or direct template units to the best of your abilities, because you may need them to combat lots of ODD. Facing Nomads? Take care to protect your Hackable targets, and be aware of possible fire lanes or areas where Repeaters/Markers could be dropped that interfere with your Heavy Infantry, TAGs, etc. Every Infinity faction shares a lot of similarities, but the Sectorials all have clearly defined limitations and every faction plays towards inherent strengths and weaknesses. Knowing how to spot a Cutter list, when to expect a Caskuda, or how to handle Camo Spam will be valuable in how you deploy your force.
e.g.: If there are two sniper positions, and one of them has visibility to the entire board and the other covers just the major lane of approach to your side of the board, consider that the second may be better than the first: a sniper fires two shots, or one shot in ARO. If you are positioned such that you could be receiving five or 6 AROs every time you shoot, or where a combined order could send 6-9 shots your way, you're in a bad position. It doesn't matter if your opponent needs 4s to hit you if they've got enough shots coming your way.
Well, that depends on if you want to use your sniper as an offensive scalpel, or a defensive deterrent. If I want my sniper to deter my enemy, you betcha I'm putting him with maximum visibility of the board.
Also, if my opponent burns six of his orders on a combined order, then that's a success. He spent more than half of his orders to take out my one model. (heck, even if he just spend three orders as a combined order i'd be happy, and I'd be okay with two orders to take out my one model as well.)
I mean, I agree with the original point (in principal), but I think this example doesn't really illustrate that point.
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Although, on the other hand, I don't usually make a mental effort to deploy defensively or ooffensively (or not-risky, or not-rewarding?) . I usually have a general strategy that I try to implement in deployment. Something like, "I want my paracommando to come in here, so I'll put a skirmisher near that point to clear it out of enemy AROs before he arrives." or "I'll drop some mines in the center to force them to use the side approaches. Then I'll put my link team in the center, so no matter which approach they choose, my link team can engage and mop up afterwards." If a unit isn't necessary to that plan, they sit in full cover just behind a corner, or get placed near an objective to capture later.
Even if you go second, you don't want to be on your back foot all the time simply reacting to your opponent in order to mitigate "risk." If you don't make an attempt to slow the enemies unit down, then your reward is a loss of board control and probably a loss as well.
I mean, the general tips you've got are nice and all, but I guess my gripe is with the terminology of risk v. reward. Deployment isn't and shouldn't be a gamble, but rather the first stage in your overall strategy for the game.
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Anyways, Tools to keep in mind while deploying:
-Keep in mind your ammunition types. Double-action, explosive, and viral all make great reactive ammo because they force multiple saves. Adhesive and shock get a special mention because they can potentially shut-down multi-wound and NWI models, respectively.
-When possible, try to set up multipule AROs: This helps you two ways. If the opponent fires their full burst at one model, then your second (or third) ARO model gets essentially a free shot. If you opponent splits their burst, then your models have a better chance of winning the ftf roll!
-Range bands: If you can snag cover and keep the enemy in your +3, do so! This makes longer-ranged weapons like sniper rifles, Mk12's, N3's, panzerfuasts, rocket launchers, marksman rifles and others have an edge over a combi-rifle toting opponent trying to attack from farther away than 16".
-Templates: are very valuable since they don't require a ftf roll.
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