Infinity/N4 Tactics/Invincible Army

The unit overview and tactica for Yu Jing's Invincible Army (WIP!)

Faction features

• Suit Up: If you like Heavy Infantry, you're in the right place. This is the sectorial with the highest concentration of HI profiles in the game. You need something done? You've got an HI for the job.
• Come Together: Some of the most varied fireteam options in the game, with 10 (!) different wildcard options. Many of your guys and gals have plenty of loadouts to choose from (Zuyongs alone have 13).
• Army of Elites: We've got plenty of extra wounds and extra order-generating skills like NCO and Tactical Awareness, but in exchange most of the army's options are on the expensive side, and we lack any smoke, warbands or cheap skirmishers.

Special Skills

• NCO: You've got 4 fantastic options: Tai Sheng, Krit Kokram, the Mowang, and the Hac Tao. It's a great way to funnel your Daoying's LT2 orders into a linkteam or elite bruiser. Keep in mind your NCO does not have to be in the same combat group as your LT.
• Tactical Awareness: Both Shang Ji and Zuyong have a few loadouts with this fun rule, granting them an extra irregular order that they can even spend on their fireteam if they are the Team Leader.
• No Wound Incapacitation: Plenty of models have this special rule, largely to keep points cost down. Note that if a 1 wound/NWI model takes a second wound they go straight to dead and are removed from the table, so doctors and paramedics lose some value, but they also don't leave a body for your opponent to score classified objectives on.

Weapons and Equipment

• Breaker Pistol: Haidao, Daoying, Zuyong and some of our characters pack them. A very decent weapon for hitting low-tech or sometimes heavily armoured targets.
• Tinbot: Firewall [-6]: A pretty important piece of tech for an army centered around hackable troops. This cute little guy imposes a -6 WIP modifier to anybody trying to hack a member of a fireteam with an attached tinbot. If you ever run into Tohaa, be aware that this tinbot does affect their Pheroware. Keep in mind the tinbot model itself cannot be targeted or interacted with, and is effectively a fancy token.
• Power Armor: Besides granting many of our troops at least 3 ARM and the ability to take a second hit, power armor gives Zuyong, Shang Ji and most of our characters 6-2 move. This translates to faster movement whenever you do a Move + Short Skill, as well as a longer Cautious Move.
  • Mass-Production Armor: On the other hand, the cheaper nature of our HI often means that they're saddled with lower PH than most other HI.

Units

Light Infantry

• Zhanshi: The humble Zhanshi is mostly here to provide orders and be cheap link-filler. However the hacker can be a surprisingly strong threat when paired with a wildcard tinbot, and linked paramedics are pretty effective in N4 - you only need to succeed one PH save to be healed. Defensive cores with a Haidao MSV2 sniper or Son-Bae are really efficient, while linking the AP HMG tinbot Shang Ji provides both a tinbot and a big gun for clearing AROs. Don't forget that Zhanshi have a LT profile - while it pales in comparison to the Daoying, you may occasionally find a use for it.

• Zhanshi Yisheng: Your only doctor. Very standard and not always necessary since a lot of your dudes have NWI. Might be more efficient to pack paramedics into your links. If you do take her, don't skimp on expenses and give her a Yaozao

• Mech-Engineers (Zhanshi Gongcheng): Our cheapest engineer. Pretty important when a big chunk of your army is allergic to E/M ammo, though you could also consider one of our fantastic wildcard options instead. If you take him, give him a Yaozao as well.

• Chief Mech-Engineer Chung-Hee Jeong: A new addition with the Betrayal manga. While he's pretty pricy for a 1W trooper at 29-30 pts, Chief Jeong packs a smorgasbord of custom gear and interesting utility. He's an engineer of course, to keep your HI and REMs running. He's got the only K1 weapon in all of YJ and BS Attack (+1 Dam) means it's Dam 14, and that profile is the only linkable profile in IA that can carry mines. The LRL profile is a decent midrange weapon that hits like an HRL in his hands. But maybe most interestingly is the fact that he carries a repeater, but is not hackable himself. That means he can walk into ZoC of enemy hackers with impunity, while your tinbotted hackers make short work of the opposition.

• Warcors, War Correspondents: WIP 13 irregular flash pulse for 3 pts. If you have the space, it never hurts to have the 360 visor profile to be a cheap disposable ARO/discover camo/watch your DZ for drop troops.

Medium Infantry

• Daoying Operative Control Unit: Arguably one of the best lieutenants in the game. Camo keeps her safe, while Lieutenant L2 lets you spend two extra orders on a beefy beatstick or a link through an NCO. The base LT loadout is the cheapest and is probably the best choice if you just want to power one of IA's fantastic NCO options. The Hacker profile is solid and can use those 2 LT orders for late game objective rushes. The sniper provides an easy solution to an exposed enemy TR bot and is one of the few minelayers in the sectorial.

• Lei Gong, Invincibles Lord of Thunder: Lei Gong has a highly optimized set of stats and provides some unique utility to IA. In addition to being a wildcard, he's fast with 6-2 move, is an accurate BS13 MSV1 shooter, packs a Blitzen for long-range AROs or coordinated orders, is unhackable, and uniquely, has Albedo, meaning for the first round of the game, he is invisible to anybody with MSV. Both profiles are worth taking, with the SMR being a great budget shooter and the CoC a good specialist with WIP 14. Both are excellent in or out of a link.

Heavy Infantry

• Haidao Special Support Group: Naval HI, the Haidao pack a wide variety of skills and specialist options to round out your links. All of the specialist profiles are great and the MSV2 Sniper is a very strong ARO piece when linked. Be aware that Haidao are rather squishy for HI with PH11 and BTS0.
  • Fireteams: Though they can't form a fireteam on their own, Haidao are all wildcards.

• Liu Xing Jump Infantry:

• Zuyong Invincibles, Terra-cotta Soldiers: Basic, no-frills HI. Zuyongs are the baseline of the Invincible Army: they are reliable, resilient and efficient (characteristics that they share with the sectorial as a whole). Number 2 on all profiles helps keep your fireteams together and is relevant in some missions. And don't underestimate B3 Breaker Pistols at close range either. You can choose between 13 possible loadouts that cover everything from heavy weapons to specialists and fillers.
  • Tai Sheng, Zuyong Invincibles NCO:
  • Krit Kokram, Zuyong Invincibles Specialist:

• Captain Qiang Gao, Invincibles Officer:

• Shang Ji Invincibles: Next-gen power armored line infantry, Shang Ji are excellent, albeit expensive units. Besides being faster than average, they pack a few extra perks compared to other similar HI. Every Shang Ji has Dodge (+2"), which is pretty effective with their PH14 and can sometimes make them effectively 6-4 if you move then dodge as a second short skill. They all have BS Attack (Shock), meaning they ignore NWI on any models without Immunity (Shock), as well as preventing any 1 wound models from being revived by doctors. They each carry a template weapon, helping them deal with CC warbands and high vis-mod opponents. Each Shang Ji also has Number 2, meaning if your fireteam leader goes down, you won't have to spend a command token reforming the link. And though it's niche, all Shang Ji have Terrain (Total), meaning they actually get slightly faster when moving through terrain.
  • All hail our lord and saviour Shang Ji-sus. The Tactical Awareness/AP HMG/Tinbot: Firewall [-6] profile provides everything you'd want for a fireteam in a 49 point package. An extra order, a high-burst armor-piercing long-range gun, and a tinbot to keep your HI safe from hackers, this particular profile is a great addition to nearly any fireteam in the sectorial.
  • Fireteams: Though they can form a Core, due to their cost, Shang Ji are usually most effective as a wildcard complementing other fireteams

• Yan Huo Invincibles, Fire Support Heavy Regiment:

• Hac Tao Special Unit:

• Mowang Troops:

• Hulang Shocktroopers:

• Zhencha, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment:

TAGs

• Guijia Squadrons:

REM

• Yaokong Remotes: The standard array of S3 remotes.
  • Weibing: Sensor/Forward Observer Remote. Has a flash pulse, deactivator, and repeater all for a reasonable price. Fast no-frills specialist and a good option for discovering camo.
  • Husong: HMG Total Reaction Remote. ARO piece that can be buffed with Assisted Fire. Don't forget that with supportware it's a pretty solid active turn piece as well.
  • Son-Bae: Missile Launcher. Unlocks guided missile strats. It's a wildcard option in this sectorial and makes a cheap solid ARO piece when linked.
  • Chaiyi: Cheap regular order bot with mimetism, WIP13 flash pulse, and a repeater. Our cheapest regular order and a decent ARO.

• Yaoxie: Comes in two versions, both great.
  • Rui Shi: Fast and cost-efficient, the Rui Shi brings MSV2 and a spitfire, making it a fantastic attack piece. Lacks the smoke support of other YJ sectorials in IA, but still very strong. Keep in mind that if you're bringing an EVO bot, you can supportware the Rui Shi to an effective BS15.
  • Lu Duan: Holomask and Holoprojector make this S4 remote particularly tricky. Unlike most of our other REMs, the Lu Duan does not have a built-in repeater, instead carrying deployable repeaters and the minelaying skill to start with one of them in zone of control. The MK12 and heavy flamethrower (+1B) are solid weapons, and it's got MSV1 to shoot better against pesky MIM units. Keep in mind that in N4, this allows it to shoot and flamethrower through enemy smoke.

• Yaopu Pangguling: S4 baggage bots. EVO hacker, TR combi, plain baggage, and FTO light shotgun profiles. The EVO Hacker combines well with the Liu Xing, letting them drop on 17s and complements YJ's excellent attack bots. Fairy Dust may sometimes be worth considering if you're short on tinbots or choose to run solo units like the Zhencha Hacker. The FTO profile is a wildcard in IA and is a fantastic link-filler - it lowers costs, packs a template weapon, and carries an on-board repeater. Watch out for its rather large base making it tough to hide sometimes.

• Yaozao: Lovable G: Servants.

Skirmishers

See: Zhencha

Warbands

Nope