Infinity/N4 Tactics/General

With N4, the old meta of N3 was heavily disrupted. Units were reworked, skills were split, condensed, altered, adjusted, recosted, or outright removed. What was once skubby order is now chaos, with cries of 'Morats are Good Now!' and 'Druze Got Better!' and 'OSS sucks now!' - though that last one is still hotly contested

Most of what was posted on the N3_Tactics pages still holds true to some degree, so if something isn't mentioned here, check the old N3 army pages and tread with caution. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/General

For players coming from N3, skip to the end of the guide for the big changes. With that out of the way, let's begin.

Beginner Advice

• Pick a Faction: Looks or play style. Unlike other war games, Infinity's "vanilla" factions (PanOceania, Yu Jing, Haqqislam, Nomads, Ariadna, Aleph, O-12, Combined Army, but NOT Tohaa) have a wide variety of options, so feel free to grab the guys you like the look of. Most vanilla armies can do most things (the notable exceptions being that Ariadna can barely hack at all) but have focuses and twists. If you start Vanilla, pick aesthetics first and just do a look-over of their tactics and playstyle before you buy. If you start with a sectorial (i.e. the Varuna Immediate Reaction Division, a 'sectorial' or subfaction of PanOceania) you will want to research their play style more specifically. In general, Sectorials are more specialized than their Vanilla equivalents. This leads us to the next point...
• Start with the Army Builder: Seriously. Listed here: https://infinitytheuniverse.com/army/infinity It's free, it's official, it's your one-stop source for profiles and army building. It even tells you if your list is valid.
  • What Makes A Valid Army? You need one (and only one) Lieutenant, may have up to two Combat Groups, and have a max of 15 order-generating troops (regular or irregular). You may have one SWC point ('special weapons cost') per 50pts of the game you are playing, regardless of how many points are actually in your list. E.G. If I'm playing a 150pt game, and my army list contains 149pts, I get (150/50 = 3) SWC to spend. SWC is listed in the army builder and is used for big guns and special devices like heavy machine guns.
• Buy a starter box: The starter boxes are small (typically 6-model) boxes that are about 150 points. That's enough to get a feel for a faction, and give you a feel for the core rules of the game. Movement, Line of Sight, Shooting, and Camouflage will come into play without it being too big of an issue. Picking up a package of cardboard terrain (~$15 or so, cheaper online) will give you plenty for a small game, and can be expanded to a 4'x4' board with one or two more packages.
  • The 2-player boxes are even better if you have someone to split it with. They include rules, terrain, and missions to get you up to speed on your own.
• Start at 150, then jump to 300: When you decide to jump into the full game, go for 300 points. It gives you a feel for the faction and will let you play with all the rules in the book. You'll get some wrong, you'll get confused, but the rulebook and online wiki gives you the info you need to sort through it. Other sizes of games (200 and 400) create wonky balance or gaps in factions that can be hard to spot right away.
• More Orders is easier...to a point: When you jump up to 300 points, plan for 13-15 orders. This will give you enough orders to accomplish things on the board, without starving you as your models get killed off.
• 10 order lists are hard mode: At 300 points, 10 orders means that every lost order and every mistake is amplified. You'll want to do this size a list because of all the fun toys, but don't fall into that trap (yet).
• Pick a couple stars, and support them: Focus on one action piece (something fancy, or dangerous with an HMG), a couple mid-tier specialists, one or two reaction pieces (Sin Eater Observant, Total Reaction Bot with HMG) that can shoot well in your reaction turn, and order monkeys to pump actions into your action piece and specialists.
• Corners and Doors: That's where they get you. Peek out around corners enough to see a single target and shoot with as many bonuses and as many dice as possible. Weight the odds in your favor instead of attempting risky shots that 'might' pay off.
• Paramedics are not as good as doctors: In N4, doctors and paramedics both can revive unconscious troops. Doctors use their own (sometimes modified) WIP stat, and paramedics use their patient's unmodified PH skill - in both cases, success restores the patient to one wound from unconsciousness, while failure kills the patient for good. The only other difference is that the Paramedic skill provides a 'ranged' heal... but Doctors can heal through Peripheral helper bots like the Nasmat and the Palbot. Paramedics might be more flexible in range, but are often rolling worse PH compared to a doctor's WIP. Only Heavy Infantry consistently change this trade-off. And keep in mind, all doctors can Paramedic, but not all paramedics can Doctor. It's generally preferable to bring a doctor rather than a paramedic, but paramedics have their place as a budget alternative.

If you're looking for a 'beginner friendly' faction, most are a good idea. The proliferation of 300 point boxes may make it feel like they would also be a good jumping-in point, but they're probably not something you want to get as an initial purchase. Likewise, just because you're losing with a new faction repeatedly doesn't mean they're "bad" per-se. They just might not match your play style, or have units that look super enticing but act as gameplay traps that you might not be aware of yet.

Instead, here's a good list of what to avoid as a new player:

• JSA - the Uprising folks are a dynamic and...unstable army to play as. They can be a lot of fun, but use a lot of finesse and combos that may be hard to immediately wrap your head around. They're still good, but they have a high skill floor and require foresight that most other armies don't.
• Spiral Corps - These bad boys (and girls) have a completely different power curve to everyone else that looks like it'll be super interesting, but also hard to teach. Consider vanilla Tohaa, or Combined Army instead.
• Druze - While a super fluffy army, and with access to some interesting toys and combos, they're a bit of a high skill cap army. Consider Ramah or Dhashat. Many players dislike their extreme lack of list flexibility and find them samey. They're also fragile.
• Shasvastii - These guys are amazing, but their ebb-and-flow sacrificial play style can be tricky to get feeling right. Instead, try out Vanilla Combined (with some Shas troops).
• Military Orders: Space knights are cool, but they're points-heavy, tricky to build lists for, and lack shiny toys. Their use requires a very risky, very calculated playstyle that emphasizes aggression in a game where overextending is a death sentence.
• Non-Aligned Armies in general: NA2 often has odd list-building options or highly specific weaknesses that most other Sectorials lack. Whether you're leaning absurdly hard on Impetuous with terrible Lieutenants (Ikari) or making the most of an interesting but expensive Medium Infantry option (Druze), you'll find that NA2 factions tend to be more limited or more gimmicky than their sectorial counterparts.

Useful Tips

• Burst is your friend: it's easy to forget with all the tempting bonuses and negative modifiers, but if you have the choice between an extra +3 or an extra d20 in a typical opposed roll, pick the extra d20.
  • some situations (like trying to get below a 5 on a d20) can negate this advice, but it's a good rule of thumb if you're waffling.
• Shoot back: In ARO, your shot and your dodge will likely be about the same target number. If your odds are even, or your odds are terrible either way, take the shot. It gives you a chance to damage the opposing model, and your ARO pieces are there to soak up enemy orders. You might get lucky.
  • If your opponent has a Mimetism and/or Camouflage marker, in your weapon's bad range, in cover (or, worse, Surprise Shot - guaranteed on most camouflage markers) then you should Dodge. Rolling on a 1 or 2 to hit are bad odds.
  • Be a bit more careful with 1 wound models you don't intend as ARO pieces. Saving an active piece by getting it behind cover, or forcing your enemy into LOF of your ARO piece can be worth the dodge attempt. Just remember that it's risky.
• Hide what you can: unless it's a dedicated ARO piece, start out trying to hide your stuff. Most players are good at removing things left out to ARO.
  • If you're wondering whether a unit can ARO, make sure it can do one of the following:
    • Shoot at +3 in the firelane it's pointed at (range is a huge issue)
    • Make sure it can be in cover from the firelanes it's looking at
    • Either fires a really dangerous main weapon (Missile Launcher, Rockets, Sniper rifle, etc...) or several dice at once
    • You can lose it and still go about your day without worrying
  • You will lose your ARO pieces; that's what they're in the game for. Make sure they eat up some of your opponent's orders first.

Metagame Advice

• Specialists - Love the FO: So one particular thing is that only specialists can interact with generic objectives and only specific specialists with specific objectives. This is important because its possible to table a player in the final turn and lose because they scored objectives and you just wasted time killing shit. This means playing the scenario takes priority over just killing shit and because of this you need to have a few specialists in your list. Chain of Command, Hacker, Doctor, Engineer are fine except they often cost a premium in points or charge you precious SWC, the Forward Observer on the other hand frequently comes as a variant of the base version of a unit with no cost or a very minor increase which means you should have at least 1 in a list with one other type of specialist.
  • In N4, most (but not all) Forward Observers have a flashpulse that, while non-lethal, has better range than a rifle and uses their (generally higher) WIP stat. The tradeoff is that this merely stuns the model for the rest of the current player turn, meaning they cannot make attacks (including attack-labeled declarations such as pushing buttons), while performing face-to-face rolls at -3. Do note that Technical Weapons such as the flashpulse no longer benefit from fireteam bonuses.

• Paramedics - Not Just The Inferior Choice: Paramedics got better in N4. Now the check to save a patient is only the target's flat PH - they make for better link filler than Forward Observers for a modest points increase. Keep this in mind if you're running high PH models or can't spare a decent doctor for a link.

• TAGs define their matchups: This one is simple; if you don't have anti-TAG options built into your list you won't beat TAGs. TAGs are a tradeoff, they cost a lot and draw lots of fire, but are tough and can take out whole teams if they positioned poorly. TAGs can be beaten by other TAGs, but infantry need Adhesive launchers, hacking, panzerfausts, heavy rocket launchers or really high strength AP+EXP weapons to break TAGs. Because you can't guarantee that you won't bump into a Cutter or Avatar, anticipate a TAG list or be prepared to concede.
  • N4 Note: Now more than ever, TAGs are appealing due to their various buffs and cost rebalances. You no longer can let TAG defense go by the wayside and hope they 'make the mistake of bringing a giant tableweight'. Make sure you have two ways to deal with a TAG, because most TAGs got more teeth or got much easier to bring.

• Orders equal actions: Basically it's important to have order monkeys or cheerleaders; units that are cheap and provide orders for good units to use for multiple activations. Losing cheerleaders means reducing the amount of actions you can use in a turn, which leads to your units doing all the work being less effective. So always have a nice blob of orders on the table in the form of a few cheap regular units. Don't take many Irregulars unless they have Impetuous or other ways to be action efficient. By the same token if you get the opportunity to wipe your opponent's cheerleaders early, take it because its a very difficult position to play from. This is doubly important for Rambo builds with TAGs because hitting the order pool before going after the TAG restricts its ability to back out of crossfire traps. A good recommendation is to have 8+ Regular Orders in your order pool when starting out. Some factions get good filler units, like 4 point Netrods for Aleph, which are an excellent way to squeeze more orders into a list.
  • N4 Note: Remember, your order pool caps at 15 orders as of ITS 12. Elites are back in style, most high-armor units received cost reductions, and maybe it's not such a good idea to stack 4 Ghazi anymore. Plan accordingly and balance your cheap troops with strong elites.

• Hacking with a purpose: Don't just throw hackers into a list if you aren't Nomads or Aleph. Hackers are versatile, but having a hacker should be for a reason, such as fielding/buffing remotes or dealing with HI/TAGs. In some cases, such as Myrmidons, Ekdromoi, Ninja, and Aragoto, the hacker is the only specialist profile on a troop that can deliver itself to an objective. Hacking is a good way to disrupt an opponent's game plan, so be prepared to face it, especially when playing Nomads as they have some of the most powerful hackers. Also keep an eye for units with high BTS values, eg -6. Having a few hardened units can make a difference against someone with multiple hackers.

• Sectorials are a tradeoff: After the release of Sectorial lists the meta has been abuzz with sectorials with a lot of players neglecting vanilla lists for sectorials to use the Link Team rules. Link teams are very good, this isn't in doubt, but what is overlooked is that vanilla lists have a huge amount of diversity while sectorials run from being just a trimmed down selection with link teams (Neoterran, Qapu Kalqhi) to being tightly restricted and unable to cover some key factors (Military Orders, Hassassins and JSA).

• Recreations are targets: A number of factions have basically artificially vat grown cyborg/androids modelled on famous historical figures, called Recreations. These are pretty powerful units and are also common choices for Lieutenants, with some being pretty much mandatory for Lt. When your opponent sees you have Saladin in your foam box, they're going to start planning to make a beeline for him, even if its just a Hazfa you deploy as Saladin, players who have had their ass handed to them by a recreation are going to make killing it ASAP a priority.

• Have 2 plans: Build a list so that you have a rock solid Plan A and a Plan B that can work if it fails. Have a strong Link team of 5 elite units, but have linkable order monkeys with HMGs who can form their own link and brandish Sixth Sense boosted HMGs should your main link get cutdown. Hackers are a decent Plan B because you only need 1 with decent willpower and BTS to start crippling vulnerable HI or Remotes.

• Remotes are an option, now more than ever: Remotes are cheap and efficient options - they no longer mandate a hacker or TAG to bring along. Their main tradeoff nowdays is whether someone is less specialized - flashpulse bots aren't as popular with the 15 order limit unless points are extremely tight, but the Rui Shi is as powerful as ever. Vanilla Aleph for example can get around their premium pricing by using Dakini TactBots as their cheap Order Monkeys and can use Garuda TactBots for cheap disposable Airborne Deployment units instead of paying for the elite & expensive Ekdromoi. Remotes still produce orders and can shoot things, though they may not count for much in terms of objectives, they can fill holes and let you use them as disposable units compared to more precious models. With the advent of hacking supportware, many remotes become far more dangerous.

Changes from N3

So you've dusted off your miniatures, noticed the world hasn't ended quite yet, and fondly remember that one time some spaniards made a wargame ad based on an 80's toy commercial. There are some key differences between N3 and N4 you need to realize:

• Lists are capped at 15 orders and two combat groups: The biggest change you'll see in listbuilding. This has huge implications for the previous 'spam' armies (Haqqislam, Ariadna, and Ikari, largely). Combined with armor cost reductions, TAGs and heavy infantry see more play in even the spammier light infantry armies.
• Critical Hits Do Not Automatically Wound: Rejoice. Critical hits now inflict an extra Normal wound instead of automatically hitting. This is a benefit for high armor units - the breakpoint is approximately ARM3, with a small risk of taking more wounds than before, but now with a chance of not taking any wounds on a crit. See the prior note about elites and TAGs.
• Dude, Where's My TO Camo?: Skills are no longer nested (mostly). Martial Arts makes sense - every level of Martial Arts is an upgrade to the one before it. Camouflage and Hiding skills have been split into three components: Camouflage (the marker state), Mimetism (the BS attack penalty), Hidden Deployment (being invisible on the board until activated), and Surprise Shot. If you don't have one of these on your profile, you don't have them, not even in Camouflage state. This means Camo -0 markers are a thing. This applies to other skills, like Veteran, the former Valor skills, Strategos, and More. Reacquaint yourself with the changes before making assumptions.
• Hacking Made Easy...ish: Hacking programs and devices were simplified. Now it's 'Hacking Device' or 'Killer Hacking Device'... or just 'Hacker' if you're unlucky. Hacking Devices come bundled with programs - of note, Spotlight comes on the standard device, can ARO, and is a huge PITA for literally anything in the game, but Standard hacking devices can't kill anymore. Killer hackers can still murderize other hackers, but have a more limited arsenal. 'Hacker' without a device means you only get programs listed on the profile - the Wardriver Hacker[Zero Pain] profile only gets the Zero Pain program, the unlucky bastard. Assault Hacking Devices are basically now the Standard. Make sure to read your programs before packing any type of hacker.
• Impetuous Changes: Similar to before, but now you only chase down troops if you can go into Base to Base with them, instead preferring the enemy deployment zone. Read up on the rules, this one's a huge change.

• It's N3, But Better. Mostly: Honestly, most of the changes are positive. Take some time to learn them, but the jump from N3 to N4 isn't huge, just keep the rulebook handy and relearn some of your old favorites and how they operate now.