Why I only play Ariadna
Most Infinity players I know play multiple factions. I don’t. I only have models for Ariadna and lots of them. I own about 80 minis for a game which requires 20 minis maximum for a game. You know what? I still need to proxy because I don’t have them all.
Ok, I do have minis for the generic and both sectorials. Maybe that counts as having multiple factions. The advantage to this is that I am still able to use minis from the sectorials into the generic army. That is one of the advantages of only playing one faction.
Of course, I like the models because of their modern militaristic look. That is why I started with them before I knew anything about the rules and the background of Infinity. Many people collect Ariadna models for that reason. But those players mostly also have models of other factions.
No, there are two main reasons why I only play Ariadna.
Firstly, I want to limit myself to what I have to study. Many years ago, I played a lot of Warhammer Fantasy. I had four armies. I lost many games. A friend gave me the advice that the reason I kept on losing so many games is that I did not get enough experience in playing each of the armies as I constantly swapped which army I played on a weekly basis. Obviously, if I have models I want to make use of them. It irks me if I see a model sitting in a box which never gets used. So I limit myself to one faction because I want to get the most expertise in that faction. I want to master how every unit works in depth rather than switching from force to force, improving in all of them, but mastering none.
Ariadna seems to be the perfect faction for my goal. I am not a particularly witty person and I definitely have issues with bad memory. Not having to use all those rules about which deal with the technological side of Infinity helps me. My thoughts while playing should be about the tactics, not about the rules. One should know ones limits; I am quite happy with being low tech.
I have to admit that when I heard about the new hacking rules for N3, I got a bit jealous and considered starting a new faction that would allow me to use all those rules. QK or maybe even Aleph. When I saw the hacking tables, I happily decided that I will not burden my brain with all those rules. The less I have to know, the quicker and the further I can think. Sure, Ariadna may use hackers nowadays. But without repeaters this choice is not that attractive. If I do use hackers, the programs I will be using will probably be limited.
Ariadna is beginner friendly as it is uses fewer rules, I believe. But by no means does that mean that Ariadna players can afford to be less witty. Quite the opposite may be the case. Ariadna is fighting an uphill struggle against technologically superior forces. They need to be sneaky and clever to win. Ariadna often plays like a guerrilla army. I like that theme.
I am a bit of a background lover, so of course I like Ariadna because the faction is a bit of an underdog. A small, underdeveloped nation sitting on top of a hill filled with teseum, attacked by the greedy superpowers of the Human Sphere.
However, there is also something very sinister about Ariadna. The Ariadnans have come to a foreign planet and displaced, murdered and enslaved the original inhabitants. I don’t like playing the bad guys, but Infinity does not have the simplistic good vs. evil theme that fantasy games have. This sinister aspect makes Ariadna appear like a real nation like Australia, the USA or Canada. I appreciate that. I shied away from buying the Antipodes models because I felt so repulsed by their enslavement. Now I am using them not only because they are useful, but also as a statement that there are no knights in shining armour to be found on Dawn.
These are my reasons why I stuck to Ariadna and nothing else. Let me hear what the reasons for your faction of choice are in the comments below.
I started with Ariadna. I own all the factions in infinity, because i like to collect, paint en know them all. For tournaments I strictly play Ariadna. Like all You mentioned counts for me also. Ariadna is my specialty. And they rock!
I started with Haqqislam and now own everything but Combined Army and Tohaa. Not every faction and sectorial mind you just the ones that tickle my fancy aesthetically thus why no Tohaa and I will get the Onyx force in the future when I see the rules and if they bring something fun and different to the the table.
Basically I end up using a simple process to decide what I play these days.
Own > Fully Painted > Aesthetics > Playstyle > Fluff
Right now I’m mainly playing my Shock Army of Acontecimento because it ticks all of those things I own almost every model or the models to proxy correctly for the profiles. Their all fully painted and I like their aggressive in your face playstyle and finally the fluff is fun as well.
In a couple of weeks my ISS will be finished to a similar albeit it lesser finished model count force and I can start playing with them and getting to know their playstyle and have fun with it.
My Haqqislam, Yu Jing, Aleph, Nomads and Ariadne are currently in the big gaming bag and only come out when I go to gaming club without my children with me as when I have the children its SUPER hard to organise myself, them and all the things we need to make a successful day of it. 😛
I am tempted by other factions, mostly QK or Nomads, but then again I think I could not give all my models enough playing time to justify their purchase.
Some of the best players in the world (best according the ITS rankings) happen to play many factions. So there doesn’t appear to be a connection between the amount of factions played and how well anyone does.
Don’t cripple your enjoyment if you really want to try the new hacking stuff.
That said, it is MUCH lighter on the wallet and the brain, no question, lol.
Good read, man, keep them coming!
I am sure the best players, amongst all, play a lot of Infinity. I get a game in a week at best.
I don t think it would be a good training idea to constantly swapping armies. Once you are an advanced player, it helps to switch factions to understand the opponents better. And it will not hamper the advanced player as much.
My argument is that a learning or mid field player is better off just playing one faction. This way established combat procedures can be trained and refined better.
I know quite a few players who start with Infinity and buy the models of 2-4 factions simultaneously. This will not lead to the best results. They don t get enough experience in with all the factions they have. Their purchases are not focused on one faction in order to allow more options when writing lists.
Interesting article.
Its the opposite of my ‘faction’ preference in Infinity.
But this is why i really like infinity… the different thought processes, you see i play CA and TOHAA.
The former being my first faction because i wanted to get bogged down by the advanced rules but eventually have a larger Gaumut of play options and strategies available to me.
This was with version 2 of infinity now that its version 3 it seems to have been easier to get into hacking, shasvastii seed pods, advanced levels of MSV, TO-Camo, Impersonation LV2, Martial arts L3–>Natural born warrior. I really like having access to the technologically superior stuff and saying well how does MSV3 counteract TO-Camo etc. Or having one really advanced WIP 15 hacker (charontid)
Larger learning curve = yes. Superior = no. More strategy = Maybe (i still dont know for sure every game is still adding something new. Why infinity is so awesome really) I think you hit the nail on the head if you have less special rules there is an opening to finesse more with the ones you do have.