Starting With PanOceania
List #3: Welcome to the ITS system!
Lits number three is designed with an ITS game in mind. For ITS you’ll need to take objectives. Not every unit can take these objectives. Only units with certain skills can do so. These units include the Forward Observer, the Hacker, the Doctor and the Engineer, as well as those units designated as a Specialist. In ITS, PanOceania specialists don’t shine. They have a lower WIP (Willpower) than most other armies, and that makes it harder for them to take objectives. It might be a good idea to focus your first ITS list on cheap specialist, and some heavy hitters to take out your opponent’s threats before you run the specialists in to take hold of the victory points.
For this list you’ll need the PanOceania Starter Set, the Auxilia boxed set, a Croc Men blister (you can buy the boarding shotgun one, and proxy), the Guarda de Assalto blister and the Aquila Guard HMG blister.
The List:
300 points/6 SWC
- Fusilier – Combi Rifle (Forward Observer)
- Fusilier – Combi Rifle (Forward Observer)
- Fusilier – Combi Rifle (Forward Observer)
- Akalis – Combi Rifle (Hacker)
- Nisse – Multi Sniper Rifle
- Orc Trooper – Multi Rifle
-
Auxilia – Combi Rifle (Forward Observer)
- Auxbot – Heavy Flamethrower
- Aquila Guard – HMG
- Croc Men (Forward Observer, Repeater)
-
Guarda de Assalto – Spitfire
- Auxbot – Light Shotgun, Zero-V Smoke Launcher
Croc Men
Aquila Guard
This list might be low on orders (‘only’ 10), This is nothing to scoff at, as it can hit like a sledge hammer. It brings the best of PanO, together with a lot of cheap specialists.
The best of PanOceania:
Aquila Guard. In 2nd Edition this was a much feared unit, especially in the NeoTerra Sectorial. While the 3rd Edition brought some nerfs to the combination of an HMG and a Visor Lv3 this is still a force to be reckoned with! His Visor Lv3 allows the Aquila Guard to auto-discover camouflaged units, whatever level of camouflage they have. It negates smoke and Optical Disruption Devices with ease, and points a very heavy weapon at them. The high burst of the HMG is terrifying, especially with his high Damage output. While the HMG has gotten a blind spot in the close range, it’s still very effective for some long range fire power.
Together with the power of the Guarda de Assalto, these big boys can take out big threats before they allow the Specialist to enter the combat zone.
Croc Men – Croc Men are skirmishers, equipped with high-tech Thermo Optic Camouflage. This allows you to deploy them like a token (TO Camo-token), which has to be discovered before the enemy can take a shot at it. The Croc Men can also perform a Surprise Shot which puts a -6 modifier on EVERY reaction your opponent has at it, even a dodge! He also carries some mines, that allow you to negate your opponent some objectives in ITS. Grab the objective, place a mine, re-camouflage and continue to rock. The fact that he’s able to infiltrate (which is a rarity among PanOceanian forces) makes him a great specialists. He’s already up field before the other specialists are even close to the objectives!
Akalis – the Combi Akalis can be used as an Akalis hacker. They have the same rifles, so no problem there! It’s a great boon to have an Drop Trooper with a Specialist option in ITS. While the Akalis PH is rather low (only 11) he can be used to grab a hard to reach objective, or take an objective from a place that has been rid of any enemy activity, without having your models walk all the way to there. Keep his low PH in mind though, as he can scatter for 16 inches if you fail to make the roll. Still, it is worth a try. 😉
Recap
Vanilla is always a bit difficult for a tutorial since playing Vanilla brings so many options. Keep in mind that we only took a look at three possible options, and there are many more out there that you can try out yourself! See if you can find what fits your playstyle the most!
PanOceania has a lot of high-tech gear and well armoured units, that’s for sure. Their willpower is a bit low, but they make up for that by their lethal weaponry. Their high tech aiming systems increases their ballistic skill by 1 for every unit. Not bad at all! 😉
At 200 points, the PanOceania TAGs are much too expensive to use. Great tools have a price. But PanO can still bring a lot of cool stuff to fit in there, as you can see!
Happy gaming!
Great article – started something similar on a German Blog, but I started with Combined. I think especially now it’s essential to provide new players with all possible support.
Same idea here! 😉 We’ll follow CB’s sequence: PanO (+ sectorials), YJ (+), Ariadna (+), etc.
Gonna be an awesome series.
Might be good to do vanilla Nomads first so you cover both sides of the starter set.
Plus I’m biased as I’m building Nomads 😀
I’ve been thinking the same thing! 😉 Will check with the writer of the Nomads article! Otherwise it will be the PanO sectorials first.
Great article and cool lists for beginners, but… “Feart” the Hyperpower??? 😛
Oops. Fixed!
I really want a Squalo. What else would be good with a starter/Squalo combo?
I’d look into the Auxilias for sure. Cheap order monkeys with very effective Specialist skills. The Squalo is expensive so it might be hard to fill out on orders. Next to that, it’s all about preferences.
You want Remotes? Go for the Bulleteers. More Infantry? Better take a look at the Crocmen and Hexas. Rather a Heavy Infantry? Look no further than the Aquila of Guarda. 🙂 In the end it comes down to what you prefer.
If you’re starting out, make sure that you at least get to 10 orders in a 300 game, and 8+ in a 200 game.
Great write up. By the way is there someone who is doing a similar article for combined army. This month I am starting in an escalation league (150,200,250,300) and I could really use some advice on how to incorporate the new CA starter.
I could push it forward a bit and work on it, yes. It will be the week after next week (16th to 20th) soonest. I hope that fits? 🙂
We’ll go for the vanillas first, so you’re lucky! 😉
That would be fantastic thank you
Cool! Will do that than! 😉
Multispectral Visor L3 doesn’t negate ODD. Only Visor L2 can do this.
Every level includes the previous levels. 😉 While ODD isn’t mentioned in the MSV3 section, the MSV3 can do what the MSV2 can do, and more. Same as MSV2 includes the skill of MSV1, but can do more.
Sorry, my mistake.
Hey scorch, I’ve been trying to make the list with the bulleteers on army V but I seem to be going over 200 points by 2. Did they change one of the units’ points value?
It appear so, although my MayaNet has me going over 200 by 1. :/ crap! Thanks for pointing it out. I’ll take a look into it!
No problem, and thanks!
Ok, this is really weird…I tried again today on army V, and the lists now works at 199 points… Im 100% sure it didnt fit yesterday…sorry about this.
Btw just a quick question, would you make a fusilier a lieutenant or the orc trooper?
Haha! That’s not you! 😉 I changed a thing so it would get back to below 200 points! The FO fusilier is now a regular.
That’s up to you; you want to hide your lieutenant? Fusilier. You want to have one better armoured and more of an attack piece, go for the ORC. Both have their merits, just different ones. 😉
http://www.infinitycreator.com/users/4705/army_lists/print?id=62468
This is my experimental Jotum list. Im new to infinity and need help. Please check it out!
If you’re new, check out this article, a great read for starting players! http://infinitytheforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/29493-5-pieces-of-advice-for-new-players/
Also, one tip. Start it slow. A TAG needs practice. If you’re new and this list is meant for a tournament, I’d advise you to bring something easier. 😉 If this is not for competitive play; go ahead and enjoy!
Thank you for the article, I found it very helpful! And no, I dont even know where id play in a tournament yet xD. But I figured the TAG looked, and from what ive seen, played out just how I imagined a giant death robot would work. So I wanted to try it! Do you have any reccomandations for my list?
Try it out! 😉 That’s all I can really say. The list looks OK; has enough orders, has couple of heavy weaponry. Nothing more is needed to play. Whether you like how the list works is up to you 😉
http://infinitycreator.com/users/4705/army_lists/print?id=62494
Can you check this two hundred point list for me and tell me what you think? I made it out of the icestorm starter pack i have and the auxilia pack. Do you think it would be ok? But thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for this! Just picking up some models to get going and this is very informative and digestible. I also appreciate the verbiage explanations. Great info for a slightly overwhelmed starter, thanks!
Ps. What is SWC?
Special Weapon Cost. You get 1 SWC for every 50 points that the game is set on. If you agree on 300 point game, both players can spend 6 SWC. If you agree on a 200 point game, both players are able to spend 4 SWC.
You pay SWC for heavy weaponry,or weapons/options that are out of the regular profiles of the units. It’s mainly there for extra balance.
roger, thanks!
Hey, I’m using the Aleph Toolbox army builder, and the second 200 points list comes out to 5 SWC, not 4. Is this correct?
Actually, scratch that. I’m getting 204 points and 5.5 SWC on 200 points list with the Bulleteers and the Order Sergeant. That’s a few points too expensive and way over the limit on SWC for a 200 point game.
We’ll look into that later today! 🙂 Maybe something changed for the point cost with ArmyV (which wasn’t released yet at time of writing this article! Thanks for pointing it out to us! 😉
No problem, glad to help! I’m a new player and was really liking the look of that list, but alas, it seems the Order Sergeant really tips it over the SWC edge.
Hi
You mentioned that a hacker is required to run bulleteers? They are a G. Remote presence in the rule book and it looks like G. autotool is the one that requires a hacker?? Please correct me otherwise.
Sorry spoke too soon. iv’e found the remotes section of the rules…..facepalm!
HELP!! Corvus Belli have done WAY too good-a-job making awesome mini’s, and now I don’t know where to start with Infinity!!
So, I’m trying to get a starter force on the cheap (cause that’s how I roll…), and there’s a lot of good sales on right now. But:
– How many models (at 300pts) do you guys recommend having? For instance, with Pan-O Military Orders, I could just take 7 Knights and have a 300pt army. But is that far too few models, re: Orders, and wound/shots count? Does Infinity lend itself to spam lists, simply because you’ll have more orders and more shots/ARO’s? Am I right in thinking that if you have say, 7 orders, you can spend all of them on the 1 model, so it’s possibly better to have a couple of really good models in your list, backed up by loads of cheap models providing Orders for them?
– Line Troops. You don’t HAVE to take them to make the backbone of the force, but is it the “done thing”, to get a solid base of cheaper troops then add a few specialists? Just cause I’m looking at the aesthetics of various troops. For instance, I wouldn’t want to take a core-Fusiliers list as I don’t really like the models (I want a more dedicated Anime/sci-fi feel), but that leads me to the above situation, re: more specialists/too few models…
– How often do you take REM’s and TAG’s? Across all the factions, I reckon they’re some of the best models, but it seems that you’ll only ever take 1 or 2 REM’s, and probably never a TAG – too high a points cost. The breadth of really cool REM’s and TAG’s is what got me interested in Pan-O to begin with, but I’m suspicious that I’d hardly ever get to field them (I should point out that I’m NOT a prolific painter, so I won’t just be getting all the models to paint up and display 😉
– For gameplay, I primarily want to play sneaky tricks, and just have fun rather than play to win (think Gobbo’s in WHFB, Gremlins in Malifaux, etc), so which factions fit that best? I’m intrigued by the Aleph Proxies (although it sounds as though you’re putting 2-3 models on the board and can only control 1 per Order), and Remote Presence Tactbots etc, but are the Nomads the “Grin-factor” faction of this game? Or does every faction pretty much have that? Also, I’m curious about how effective the Hacking/digital combat side of Infinity can be if you build a specialised force.
Anyway, I’m really loving these guides – they’re a great resource for easily learning more about the game. Thanks! It’s just that I can find models that I love in ALL the factions, and there’s so much flexibility in the lists that I just can’t put my finger on what I want to start with!
Bazlord
For 300 pts I recommend having 14 models at least. That way you ahve 1 full combat group and can replace casualties by expending Command Tokens.
Correct analysis on the “coupel good models with order generators”.
TAGs and REMs are very rarely taken. Maybe soemtiems more often on Yu Jing, Nomads and PanO, but otherwise not.
Ariadna is the king of shell-games and camo. Apart from that all teh factions have some aces in their sleeves.
Glad you liked the article.
If there’s anything specific you want us to write about, let us know!
Thanks Alkasyn! I just looked at my ridiculous wall of text, and am amazed that anyone replied – I appreciate it!
Sad to hear that TAGs don’t get taken often – or even REMs! – as those are by far my favourite sculpts so far. Especially the Pan-O ones. Manga-PLUS! But, I guess they could go into the “Collectibles” basket 😉
Shall have a closer look at Ariadna. Not into the USAriadna aesthetic, but the SAS, (new) Antipodes and Khazak/Spetsnaz soldiers are all excellent. My will is currently being pulled in different directions by Pan-O and Haqqislam. With Tohaa and Aleph close behind…
That’s usually how it is – all the factions have their draws 🙂
I chose my faction, for example, because the others I liked were already being collected by my friends. There’s no bad way of going about choosing your faction. Just go with what you like the most.
If you do want to use REMs and TAGs then Yu Jing, PanOceania and Nomads are the best bets, other factions have limited choice in that domain.
Hello, there. I found this article very informative. I’m only just learning the game, but, on a purely flavor aspect, I really love the look and style of the PanOceania. Especially the “knights” and “Crusader” type units. I haven’t even had the chance to play yet, so, I was wondering what you thought about them?
I mean, in your opinion should I even bother with them? If I enjoy the game as much as I imagine I will, I’d like to at some point be able to really put together efficient teams. Sorry for the long message, haha. Thanks again for the helpful article regardless. ^_^
Generally, most everything in the game is viable and a worthy investment. I’d say go for it! Worst case scenario is you’d have a bunch of really sweet looking models you could use to proxy for something else or as conversion material.
Hi,
Great article covering PanO, however with Army 6 there are few changes on the points so all above armies are less points than the cap by up to 5.
Which for 200pts army means the ORC can get Deflector 1 with the multi rifle, making him a harder to dislodge 🙂 And keep it ofc to 300pts games 😀
Hey thanks!
We have thsi idea of updating all the starter articles when HSN3 comes out to better reflect the changes that both N3 and HSN3 have brought. Your points are very valid 🙂