Editing Infinity (wargame) (section)

===Ariadna===

[[Image:Ariadna.png|100px|left]] A nation formed by the descendants of the Kazak Russian, French, Scottish, and American colonists who were sent through a wormhole to the planet Dawn, the discovery of which prompted the second space race and the first colonization program. They set up colonies on the newly christened Ariadna, named after their ship, and waited for the second wave of colonists. Unfortunately, when Earth tried to send the second ship through the wormhole the wormhole collapsed, killing the colonists and causing a massive market crash on Earth, not to mention stranding the Ariadne on an inhospitable planet. They quickly antagonized the sentient, dog-like Antipode natives and ended up at war with them for the better part of a century while intermittently going to war with each other, since each nationality had decided to set up its own base to maximize survival chances. Eventually, with the whole colony on the brink of collapse the Kazaks (who are ultra-capitalists and other oligarchs which Putin likes to try to kill every now and again), who had about twice the population of every other colony, just declared themselves the planetary government and started flexing their military muscles to make sure everyone focused on fighting the natives instead of each other.

Eventually, the planet was rediscovered, first by PanO and then by YJ, at which point everyone discovered that this odd metal the Ariadne had been using since they got there was actually something called Teseum, which is harder than diamond yet easier to shape and is also the primary component in advanced building materials. Normally only mineable from asteroids, both of the hyperpowers rushed to exploit a technicality in interplanetary law by claiming that Ariadna only owned part of the planet and that the other 75% that didn't have any settlements on it belonged to the original nations that had financed the colonial mission (by now absorbed into PanO/YJ) and was up for grabs by anyone. They started paying corporations to land on Ariadna and claim ownership of bits of the planet. This pissed the Ariadne off, especially since they already felt they had been abandoned and left to die by Earth. The ensuing Commercial Wars were fought by Ariadna on one side with training and weapons provided on the cheap by the Nomads (acting to protect their interests as a minor power by making sure the hyperpowers didn't establish a precedent of violating sovereignty) against the PanO and YJ-backed and equipped corporations on the other. Eventually, the Nomads and Haqqislam managed to ram a bill through O-12 (the "Organization of 12 Planets", basically the Space UN) that established Ariadna's sovereignty over the whole planet and recognized them as an independent nation.

Needless to say, this didn't exactly sit well with Ariadna who now have a major grudge against PanO/YJ, but are bros for life with the Nomads and Haqqislam.

Gameplay-wise, Ariadna has cheap light infantry, little access to heavy infantry, elite dudes that are really cheap, though fragile, a shitload of troops with camouflage, and infiltration. They also generally cannot be hacked because they're using early 21st century equipment in the 23rd century and generally work best as a guerrilla army, setting up traps before the game begins and dropping out of camo to take shots before going back into camo. Unfortunately, if you came to Ariadna for the sauce of playing crazy Scots, sneaky Frenchmen, or MURICA, be warned, they are being discontinued at an alarming rate, leaving Ariadna as the RUSSIA (and friends) faction.

*'''Caledonian Highlander Army:''' Psychotic Scotsman. Practically a 40k army with most of their units having an unhealthy obsession with beating shit to death with claymores in a setting where guns are more than just practical. Runs a fair number of camo units, infiltrators, and some interesting regular units. Move forward, throw smoke, charge and shoot if you have LoS/survivors. This is a very simple army and splits between whether you want to charge forward really fast with berserker units that can smoke for cover or whether you infiltrate forward with semi-elite infantry, get the drop on them for easy kills and then charge forward like the berserker units do while using smoke for cover. '''''Out of Production.'''''

*'''Merovingian Rapid Response Force:''' To fight the Antipodes and later the corps, the French colonists developed tactical doctrines that enable police, military, and paramilitary units to operate in an integrated fashion in the event of an emergency. Specialize in coming at you from every angle with a ton of camo, infiltration, and parachutist options. Have some surprisingly high-tech options for Ariadna, like MSV-1/X-Visors and viral rifles but do not gain access to any teseum weapons. Extremely fragile, even by Ariadna standards, you need to make sure your plan comes together or your Frenchmen will die to a stiff breeze. '''''Out of Production.'''''

*'''USAriadna Ranger Force (USARF):''' The US contingent of Ariadna, the USARF brings bikes, well-armored troops, airborne deployment, flame throwers, Devil Dog teams, and a bit of the camo shell game. Their line troops are of a tougher build than most other order-monkeys, and the sectorial is almost entirely shock resistant. They even manage to bring a few troops with MSV-1 to deal with pesky units. Playing them means playing a combination of USMC-esque assault gunnery, with sneaky-beaky infiltrating rangers slipping around and breaking necks in the opponent's back lines. They offer Van Zant, a "he walks in from your table edge" parachutist and The Unknown Ranger (literally Captain America) as their unique characters. Tough and stalwart, though a bit generic in the shooting game. Despite their stats, they have the typical Ariadna "problem" of needing a solid plan to succeed.

*'''Tartary Army Corps:''' The first indication of Corvus Belli's obsession with Russians, the TAK is a bit of a middle ground sectorial for Ariadna. Their troops are extremely solid operators who generally have either camo or mimetism, though they lack the forward deployment options of the MRRF and USARF outside of Scouts and a character or two. They can also field the "I Can't Believe It's Not a TAG!" Ratnik, showing up the American Blackjack quite handily. Most Ariadna lore nowadays focuses on the TAK being the primary military of Ariadna, occasionally using the other forces for back-up. The unit descriptions even go so far as to characterize them as the best soldiers in the human sphere, held back only by Ariadna's limited equipment. K. This dressing-up is reflected in MRRF and CHA no longer being supported and by the next sectorial in our list.

*'''Kosmoflot:''' Have you ever wanted to see Captain America go to space with Russian space bears supported by raging Scotsmen and a French werewolf? No? Well fuck you, because Corvus Belli decided that this is Ariadna now, bitches. A sectorial that almost feels like a bad joke, Kosmoflot is essentially a cut down TAK list with a couple French units, a few Caledonian units, and the Unknown Ranger (for some reason). It introduces the Bearpode... presumably a bear version of an Antipode. In terms of gameplay, they get some dead hard unit combos and their unique units (Bearpodes, Zenit-7, and Kosmosoldats... yes Space Soldiers) are quite good. They also pull some of the best units from the Caledonians (Scots Guard, SAS, Uxia, Varangians, and William Wallace) and even Paracommandos and Equipe-Mirage 5 from the French. Looks to be a bit more well-rounded than Ariadne forces tend to be, as it has a smattering of parachutist, infiltration, and camo supporting actually competent straightforward gunfighters.