MAF Starter Is Here!

It's been a long time but we finally have the MAF starter pack!

Every single mini is a winner in this pack. We got ourselves the Vanguard re-sculpts which are a vast improvement over the old ones (to be fair they were some of CBs first Infinity models). Then check out that Raktorak (the Light Flame Thrower is also a typo by the way as it's really a Heavy Flame Thrower),  the Oznat who will probably make any Morat's jaw hit the floor (plus the paint job is awesome on her, nice work Angel), then big and IMO the best model of the group, the Sogarat! Big, mean, and ready to blast you to chunky pieces with his Feuerbach.

We also had some other releases this week but who cares because the MAF starter is here ;)

Nah here's the whole line for those interested:

 

When you haven't played in a while...

Let's just say when you haven't played or done anything in a while you are not going to be the best at it. It's even worse when you play against people that have been actively doing it for the past couple of months.

I recently played in a 5 man tourney and I will give you a guess on where I finishes. It's start with a F... yeah I didn't do so well. You know how many objective points I scored through the whole tourney... 7.5 (even with a bye round), bleh. The games went like this:

Beacons: QK - 7 Aleph -2
Frontline: Bye
Annihilation: Nomads - 5 Aleph - 3

Now I will say I'm not really down about placing last because well it's a game. You win and you lose. Sometimes you come out big and sometimes you come out small. However I did come close to winning both my games until the last rounds... maybe I should stick with deployment instead of initiative.

Hopefully I'll improve on my competitive play next year. I guess I'll report my progress here on how I do next year as I plan to get more practice and tourneys in. I guess a goal would to try and grab a podium spot at Feast of Blades.

Alright, you heard it here first ladies and gents. I'm going to try and grab a podium spot at Feast of Blades in 2014. The adventure should be fun!

Infomerical: Heavy Infantry

Sorry that I've been gone for almost a month. I hope this post makes up for my absence.

Heavy Infantry

I see you have taken an interest into the pointy thing in my hand. I bet you didn't even
notice the Spitfire hiding behind my cloak...

Hammer time!

Transformers!

The Heavy Infantry or HI of Infinity fits in as a unit that can take punishment and give it back. All HI (expect Ariadna) has 2 wounds and have above average BS and PH all thanks to there power armor. Due to this power armor we also get sub types of HI units that we need to go over. This is all due to the fact that not all HI is the same and due to this they have different ways of use.

Sub Types:

Light HI

If you see a link team of Haramaki you're going to have a bad time.

Don't let her good looks confuse you. She's just as deadly with that Spitfire as anyone else.

When I say Light HI I'm talking about the HI that come equipped with ARM 3 but have MOV 4-4. Light HI are basically up gunned MI that are quicker and can take an extra hit. Light HI also come equipped with interesting weapon load outs like Panzerfausts, Blitzens, Contenders, ect. A large majority of Light HI also have the ability to link in there respective sectorials. They are also some of the cheapest 2 wound models you'll find in any force.

Tactics: When it comes to Light HI it's all about the speed and price tag. That 4-4 move should not be over looked when you bring along a light HI. There speed allows them to move about for less orders compared to 4-2 move HI. This allows you to have more orders to use on your force as a whole. To add on top of this nice speed the Light HI come out as some of the cheapest HI options on the market. This allows you to field multiple of them (if allowed by AVA) or leave you open to take other units that more expensive HI wouldn't allow you to.

Now the Light HI aren't perfect. Light HI have the lowest ARM rating of any HI out there. Now the Light HI still come with 2 wounds but with the low ARM value they have a higher chance of blowing through those wounds compared to higher ARM value HI. This lends to the light HI being a very active model in your active turn where it only has to fear single shot AROs when engaging targets. A light HI though is not a stalwart defender in the reactive turn where it's low ARM makes it vulnerable.

Bullet point form for the lazy readers!

• Take advantage of there 4-4 move.
• A cheap price tag leads to more options in the force or more Light HI!
• You get the most out of them in your active turn.
• Try to keep them out of harms way during your reactive turn.

Basic HI

MBs are a solid and reliable unit in any Nomad force.

These guys are military criminals you don't want mess with.

Basic HI is what it sounds like. A Basic HI is a bare bones, no bells and whistles, unit. What the Basic HI does do is provide a very stable and dependable platform. A basic HI unit will come with a wide variety of load outs that range from a basic multi-rifle to a HMG. They are like the LI of the HI world. They aren't very flashy but they provide options and flexibility. 

Most basic HI have a 4-2 mov and come equipped with ARM 4. This makes them slower then Light HI but they have a better chance of shrugging off attacks. Basic HI also come out to be only slightly more expensive then there light HI brethren. 

Tactics: These guys are going to be your hard pounders in the game. They are going to take punishment and give it right back. With there wide range of weapons to choose from this makes them really good at engaging almost any other unit in the game. Now there are some units that will give them fits like Skirmishers, MI with camo, and LI with camo, and Warbands with camo. This is all do to the fact that the basic HI has no bells and whistles aka no MSV. They however make up for this by having some of the heaviest weapons available to them like an HMG which do to how many dice you roll with it can overcome a camo units BS effecting abilities.  Also keep in mind these guys are not the fastest HI to ever grace the Infinity universe. This can be overcome though if they can link in there respective sectorial.

• Large range of weapon options to choose from.
• Cheap for HI standards.
• Can engage a wide variety of units.
• No bells and whistles.

Special HI

They don't care if you wound them. They'll heal right back up by themselves and
put one right between your eyes.

TO, ARM 5, plasma rifle, and a sepsitor... run and run very far away.

These guys are the cream of the crop when talking about HI. These guys have all the fun toys that cause massive damage, misery, and pain. They also come with the best equipment there factions can come up with. That includes camo, MSVs, regeneration, automedikits, ect. Special HI also starts to blur the line between basic HI and light HI. You have some HI like the Asura who has a MOV 4-4 but also has ARM 5. Then there's the special HI who are upgraded Light HI or Basic HI like the Asawira and Sogarat. This extra firepower and goodies though come with a cost.

Tactics: A special HI is going to be the focal point of your force. They are going to do the heavy lifting and are going to be at the top of your opponent "to kill list". Now these guys needed to be supported just like everyone else to stay alive for a good couple of rounds because if your special HI goes down it can be a long up hill climb to victory. So I will say this once and only once. Don't rambo with these guys. By rambo I mean pump all your orders into him because he's a badass and can't die. Well I have news for you. They can die and it's usually because they rambo out and about and no one is near them to support them during the reactive turn. Some HI can weather the storm better then others in this case but it's only a matter of time until they break. So keep him within support range of your other units so they can help and keep the HI alive. 

Now these HI don't always need to do the heavy lifting. They can be used as a distraction because they are an immediate problem for an opponent and they want to get rid of them quickly. Use that to your advantage. Make your opponent commit to your big nasty and let the rest of your force hit the holes he left in his lines to go deal with your HI. 

• Cream of the crop.
• Best equipment and skills you'll find on any HI.
• Expensive
• Number 1 on your opponents "kill list".

When the Morats show up you run.

After another dry spell I finally got to get two awesome games of Infinity in last weekend. One game was with MAF and one was with my usual Aleph.

It was actually the first ITs objective game I've ever played with MAF and it was pretty fun putting a MAF spin on capturing objectives. 

Here's a decent breakdown I did for the MAF game. You can find similar ones here at my MAF log on the Infinity forum boards.

Well it's been a bloody long time and I finally got to whip out MAF this afternoon. Here's how it went down against EnduroJoe. We played seize the beacons from the ITS scenario's. 

 Combined Army - Morat Aggression Force  |  12 models

________________________________________________________

Combat Group #1

 Kornak Lt (43|0)

 Suryat HMG (47|2)

 Suryat Combi (40|0)

 Raktorak Combi (27|0)

 Yaogat Sniper (42|1.5)

 Daturazi Chain (14|0)

 Daturazi Chain (14|0)

 Morat Observer (19|0)

 Morat Observer (19|0)

 Kurgat Mk12 (24|0)

Combat Group #2

 Preta Chain (5|0)

 Preta Chain (5|0)

________________________________________________________

299/300 points | 3.5/6 swc

open with Aleph Toolbox  : [url=http://goo.gl/XRDdqg]http://goo.gl/XRDdqg[/url]

Vs.

 Haqqislam  |  10 models

________________________________________________________

 Saladin Lieutenant (37|0)

 Lasiq Sniper (29|1.5)

 Djanbazan HMG (36|1.5)

 Muyib Viral (25|0)

 Barid Hacker (26|0.5)

 Hawwa' Hacker (33|0.5)

 Ghulam Doctor (17|0)

 Nasmat (3|0)

 Nasmat (3|0)

 Odalisque Spitfire (31|1)

 Muyib Viral (25|0)

 Farzan BS (32|0)

________________________________________________________

297/300 points | 5/6 swc

open with Aleph Toolbox  : [url=http://goo.gl/j511mc]http://goo.gl/j511mc[/url]

Do to the mobile Aleph toolbox showing Korank as a 1 SWC Lt option so I played without an SWC that could of been used to make the combi Suryat a HMG carrying one. Didn't matter in the end though...

I won with the VP's being MAF - 6 Haqq - 2

Kornak and Crew: This team was designed to be the hammer in the list. It kind of was and wasn't at the same time during the game. The game starting with Kornak and his comrades sulking behind a building during my first turn. I eventually moved them up to a building in the middle making a move up towards the second beacon that was right around a tree where Kornak and his team was. During Haqq's first turn they brought the hurt down on the link team. First it was the Odalisque moving up to the point where she could only see Kornak (who was the link leader). She got a good angle on Kornak catching him out of cover. Luckily the short firefight between the two put Kornak down to NWI and he sulked back to total cover. The next attack didn't come at the link team from the Oda but from an Al'Hawwa hacker how was perked on the building roof that my team was sandwiched against. The hacker target my HMG Suryat successfully immobilizing him. This then let the Oda engage Kornak again without fear of the HMG adding fire to the fight.

However, the Suryat Combi was able to see between Kornak and the now immoblized HMG suryat as the Oda attacked. The Oda decidded to split her burst sending two shots at Suryat Combi and then Kornak. Kornak withered the storm again by beating out the Oda's dice but the Suryat took a wound. The Oda survived Kornak's Mk12 ARO. Next the Al'Hawwa hacked the Suryat Combi and immoblized him. Joe finished up the round by dropping suppression fire over the link team and fired at Kornak. Kornak once again beat the Oda on rolls but failed to wound the Oda. 

A little into my second turn I was able to get rid of the suppression fire on the link team and get a wound on the Oda that wasn't from my link team.

Kornak got his revenge on the Oda by pumping her full of lead. The team also started it's reset process after I killed the Al'Hawwa hacker that was in the way. Both Suryats freed themselves with WIP rolls of 12 on their first use of the reset order.  The team didn't do much after that in my second turn.

During Joe's second turn though he brought the heat again by bringing down the Lasiq sniper who plucked off the HMG Suryat but not before he dropped her himself. However the Lasiq was doctored and got back up to pluck off the Combi Suryat. The Raktorak got lucky that Joe ran out of orders before the Lasiq could rip into him. The Lasiq successfully broke the team apart but didn't touch Kornak because he was behind total cover. 

Last turn saw Kornak make a suicide run for the middle beacon that was now in Haqq hands. Kornak moved up and fired off his Mk12 at the Farzen who captured the beacon. Kornak gunned him down and with my last order he moved up to the beacon and successfully turned the beacon over to the Morats. 

Comments: Kornak was the star of the show in the team pulling most of the weight off the team. The rest of the team sadly didn't do much do to two of them getting immobilized by hacking. The Raktorak was actually really good at covering the team's six making approaches towards the teams rear hard. He did have some help though from other units. I'm also starting to learn how to use link teams and more specifically Morat link teams. I hope I get more out of Kornak and crew in the future. 

Yaogat: Looks like I found where Rovat's cube went after his last outing and it so happened to end up in this Yaogat sniper. I'm finding that the Yaogat sniper is just a home outside of a link team as he is inside of one. 

The Yaogat started the day by keeping his head low at first as he had two rooftops across from that I correctly guessed would have trouble on them (Lasiq on one and then a Djanbazan). His rooftop also over saw all three beacons. The Yaogat got some help from a Dat who dropped smoke in front of the building he was on. This then allowed me to stand him up but my first target was not the Lasiq but the Djanbazan. I threw the smoke down so the Lasiq wouldn't get a ARO on the Yaogat. The Yaogat successfully gunned down the Djanbazan and then caused the Lasiq to go prone. He allowed me to move up my link team without getting plucked off by the Lasiq or the Djanbazan. I then made him go prone at the end of my turn so he wouldn't have to face the Lasiq.

Second turn saw me trying to get a bead on the Lasiq and on the camo marker next to the middle beacon. I couldn't find a good angle on them so I made him go prone again.

Third turn saw the Yaogat trade lead with the Lasiq who fell to him. I then traded lead with the camo maker next to the middle beacon who was the Farzen. The Yaogat survived two shots from the Farzen's contender but couldn't put the Farzen in the dirt.

Comments: Did exactly what I needed from him to do and that was clear a way for the link team. He then provided to be a resilient bastard and didn't want to go down during the last moments of the game. 

Vanguards: Well one Vanguard gets some credit as he turned the closest beacon over to the Morats. He then promptelly got picked off by the Lasiq as he was flapping right in the wind and no one had an ARO to the Lasiq. 

The next vanguard held down my right flank and provided his order to the force.

Comments: Did what I need them to do. Grab an objective if possible and hold down an area and provide some orders.

Kurgat: Helped my Vanguard secure my right flank and even added a mine to the party in case a Ragik decided to come down and play.

Comments: None

Dats: Did what they always do and that was cause pain and suffering. One Dat helped to get bring down the Oda to NWI and that helped Kornak finish her off. The other Dat killed the Al'Hawwa who hacked my Suryats and kept him from interrupting my Suryats resets. The one who wounded the Oda also provided the smoke for my Yaogat at the beginning of the game. They both helped to get my link team out of tough spots and not just once but twice!

They also both died but did there jobs before they meant their end.

Comments: Dats are still showing me they are just toolboxes of pain and will always find a way into my lists. 

Pretas: Well, one meant an untimely demise at the hands of the Lasiq right at the beginning of the game. The other preta provided support to my link team by laying down a marker on the steps of a building leading down to the rear of my link team. The Preta was the first to try and down the Al'Hawwa hacker but the two chain rifle bursts didn't seem to do it. 

Comments: None

Overall: I think I'm starting to understand MAF more and more and it's starting to show. The dice also seemed to be fair to both parties. It just came down to tactics and I pulled it out. 

My MVP of the game would have to be Kornak. He went through hell and came out victorious. He did have some help from the supporting crew and that's what helped keep him alive. My time keeping Achilles alive seems to have transferred over to Kornak. 

Now the Aleph game was an annihilation game that I ended up losing 6-4. It was an interesting game to say the least...

Infomercial: CA Sectorial (Shasvastii Expeditionary Force)

Background: The Shasvastii used to be a well off space civilization a while ago. However a dramatic and violent event changed all that. The Shasvastii colonized there home system extensively and this is what lead to there downfall. The star of their home system went supernova and destroyed the home system and almost caused the extinction of the Shasvastii race. However the Shasvastii did have colonies outside of their home system but they made up a small fraction of their population.

Theses colonies were the last hope of the Shasvastii. All turned out well in the end but because of these events the Shasvastii have changed. They know have multiple seed storage facilities on multiple planets and are there encase something like the supernova event happens again. The Shasvastii also turned into the universes best survives and guerrilla war specialists.

The CA showed up some time later and the Shasvastii willingly joined the CA. The CA gained exceptional scouts and guerrilla fighters from the Shasvastii.

On the Table: The Shasvastii are polar opposites of the Morats. While the Morats are brick to face the Shas are the guys who snipe your Lt from a concealed position or slaughter your teammates by disguising themselves as one of them.

The name of the game for the Shas is fear. The Shas have wide access to TO camo and regular camo. This allows them to play mind games and make opponents uneasy through out the game not knowing what might be lurking under a marker or where some alien might be hiding in hidden deployment.

This camo also allows for the Shas to strike first and get the drop on a multitude of troops who don't have SS1 or SS2 (SS means Sixth Sense) or a MSV3. Match that up with a Spitfire, Missile Launcher, or Multi Sniper Rifle and you have a nasty combination. There camo also makes them hard to combat because of modifiers for shooting at them unless you have a MSV. There camo also requires you to discover them before attacking them unless you're using a MSV3 or your trying an intuitive attack with a direct template weapon (e.g Flamethrower, Chain Rifle).

Did I also mention the Shas have a TO TAG...

Now the Shas aren't the sectorial that use link teams extensively like say the Morats. That's only because the Shas choices of link teams is limited and quit frankly they aren't the best.

Also the Shas don't have easy answers to camo or heavy hitters. They are almost like a highly advanced Ariadna where they have to use a combination of soft counters like direct template weapons to deal with camo because they don't have a single MSV unit.

Why Play the Shasvastii Expeditionary Force: Do you like to play mind games? Then the Shasvastii are waiting for your resume. Do you like to strike from the shadows over attacking up front? Then the Shasvastii are ready to hand you a combi rifle. Do you like the idea or uber scouts or guerrilla fighters? If so the Shasvastii will give you a call sometime late.

Infomercial: CA Sectorial (MAF)

Your friendly Morat diplomat

Background: When you need something to die you call on the Morats because that's what they are really good at.

Before the CA showed up to the Morats system the Morats were a hyper violent race. This stems from there home planet consisting of super predators and the only way for the Morats to survive was to turn into super predators themselves. They literally climbed up the food chain from the bottom to the top by being the most merciless, cunning, and violent species on their planet. This has lead them to be hyper violent and that carried over when they became a civilized race.

During the Morats civilized age there were multiple genocides that had been raged across their system and this had lead to some interesting traits about the Morats. They are all left handed, have red faces, and have white hair. Now these genocides are waged like every decade or so they are waged on a almost constant basis and that has lead to the Morats being excellent soldiers because if you're not you're dead. Being excellent soldiers also extends from their hunting history and that carries over to the Morats regiment mentality (being apart of the pack).

A Morat when he joins the Morat army is placed within a regiment starting as your basic grunt or Vanguard. They then move in to the other regiments like the Yaogats, Suryat, Kurgat, ect. In these groups the regiment is the Morats home and he will die for his regiment without question. Morats have a very strong espirit de corps among there regiments. It's just like the current French Foreign Legion.

Now Morats aren't like these uncontrolled beasts raging across the battlefield. They are highly disciplined... think colonel British but with a mean streak. They however don't have a shred of honor in them... all they care about is victory in any way possible.

Now the CA came about the Morats along time ago. The CA also didn't just win over the Morats with diplomacy they had to prove they were tougher and stronger then the Morats for them to bend their knee to the EI. The Morats put on a very bloody struggle but finally gave in when the CA blew up one of their planets. Now they serve the CA as it's shock troopers. 

On the table: When we talk about brick to face I mean brick to face with the Morat Aggression Force. They pull no tricks on you and by that I mean they run no camo troops what so ever. The only trick they really have is the Rasyat and he's more like a swift kick to the balls then a true back stabbing move.

The power of the MAF comes from it's link teams. It's the CA sectorial where you want to link your troops to make them even more brutal. Even the lowly Vanguards make for a force to be reckoned with when formed into a link team.

What also makes MAF a powerful force is the versatility of it's troops. By that I mean all the units have multiple uses and work very well together no matter who they are. Take Yaogats and Suryats. The Yaogats provide camo protection, long range support, and armor cracking potential in there panzerfausts. The Suryats provide speed to the combo and ability to take a hit. There are more wonderful combos but they are to many to list here.

Not much to talk about really as it's all really straight forward for the Morats... for better or worse.

Why Play MAF?: Want to get away from those cowardly tactics that use camo then the MAF will happily provide for you. Want to bring the pain to the enemy and just drive his face into the ground over and over again? Then MAF is the sure fit. Want to play some space oni (or monkeys)? Well then I think the MAF is ready and waiting.

GTA V happened...

You know those three posts I promised ya last week... well a particular video game came out last week and it kind of held my attention through the weekend I was going to bring you those 3 new posts. Don't fret now though! You'll be getting those posts this week! Not it's and or buts.

Don't worry!

I'm still around folks. Expect at least 3 new posts this week. At what times... I don't know but there will be 3 new posts!

Photobucket can go die in a hole.

Yay for photobucket and it's shit bandwidth requirement stuff... time to go back and replace all of Guges hard work.

Thanks photobucket!

Infinity Gencon Seminar in video form.

For the people that don't keep up with Infinity news or are new to the game I present you with two videos of the Infinity Gencon seminar. A big thanks goes out to Doremicom for these!

You also might be asking why didn't you just post up pics? I didn't because there's a lot and the videos show exactly everything any pics would show.

Part 1

Part 2

MAF starter and a bunch of other Morats from Gen Con.

So Gen Con has been going on for the past couple of days and CB was there. Now this only there second time showing up to Gen Con but just like last year they brought a crap ton of goodies with them. They also love to share said goodies with their fans! Here we have a bunch of MAF stuff:

First up we have the MAF starter that will come out around October/November. You can see the new designs for the Vanguard who were showing there age in the CA starter. I must say I love how they are bringing the Vanguards in with the likes of the Yaogats. We also get a look at the Oznat that we've already seen. We then have the big monster in the box being the Soggy and is assumed to be armed with the Feuerbach. Last we have the Raktorak in all his bad ass butler glory being the second from the right. All we need now is a box of re-sculpted Suryats...

Here's some concept art of the units in the starter box (some we've already seen some we haven't)

Vanguard

Oznat

Sogarat

Raktorak

Oh and here's some renders of the new Vanguards.

There's also this awesome piece of concept for the new Daturazi. You can see the new weapon designs as well in concept art.

Daturazi

A big thanks go out to Guges for taking these. I'll have another post focusing on the other stuff from Gen Con but I though it would be nice to give the Morats a spotlight as they haven't been in for almost over a year.