Infomercial: Heavy Infantry Revisited

This post has been building up in my head for the past couple of days. I did an old Infomercial talking about Heavy Infantry a long time ago but that was during Infinity's second edition. Now we're in the third edition and we saw some major changes. The biggest being that all the 4-2 (expect one) MOV HI in the second edition all moved up to MOV 4-4. This was big. MOV 4-4 used to be reserved for the lightly armored HI and the more elite. Now almost every HI is fast.

This has kind of changed how I categorized HI. In the last edition I categorized them based off mostly speed and statistics. You had your light HI with ARM 3 and MOV 4-4, your more standard HI with ARM 4 and MOV 4-2 , then your special HI who had fancy toys and either had MOV 4-2 all the way up to MOV 6-4.

Now I break them down by simple point costs.

Cheap HI

Domaru

 Cheap HI: Zuyong, Haramaki, Domaru, Magister Knights, Proxy Mk3

The base of these cheap HI start in the low twenties and scale up into the high thirties with heavy weapon options.

Cheap HI have either Impetuous or Frenzy which drops their prices significantly. Also many of their loadouts are geared for close quarters fighting with some weapons for long range assistance (Panzerfausts, Blitzens, MLs). Also these cheap HI are capped at ARM 3 and BS 13. Also fancy equipment is not going to be found on these guys. They are lean, mean, fighting machines.

An oddity among the HI is the Zuyong from Yu Jing and the Proxy Mk3 from Aleph. These guys don't suffer from the Impetuous or Frenzy like the other 3. The Zuyong also posses specialist options from a paramedic to a FO.  They also have an HMG AND a ML loadout. The Zuyong do come out being the more expensive cheap HI but they are still cheap compared to other HI. Same goes for the Mk3 who even parred with a Mk2 of Mk1 comes out cheaper then some standard HI.

Pros: Cheap! Lack of high burst weapons. Good link options in there respective sectorials.

Cons: Either come with Frenzy or Impetuous expect in a few rare cases. No special skills or equipment.

Standard HI

ORC Troop

Standard HI: ORC Troops, Teutonic Knights, Hospitaller Knights, Shang Ji, Karakuri, Domaru 'Neko, Wu Ming, Janissaries, Azra'il, Ahl Fassad, Mobile Brigada, Riot Grrls, Suryats, Ajax

Standard HI range from the mid thirties to the mid forties with their profile options. These HI have quiet a large range with their armor going from ARM 3 all the way up to ARM 5. Their BS also ranges from BS 13 to BS 14 across some these units. The majority of standard HI are bare bones HI with no special skills or equipment. Some are oddities like the Riot Grrls with the MSV1 or the Teutonic Knights, Ajax, and Neko with their berserk, or the Hospitallers and MA2. Standard HI though are very solid thanks to either higher ARM or BS then the cheaper HI. They also have more high burst weapon options like an HMG or a Spitfire compared to their cousins.

Pros: High burst long range weapons. Relatively cheap. Good link options in there respective sectorials. Bumped stats. Overall very solid

Cons: Nothing really special or as cheap as the cheap HI.

Elite HI

Ectros

Elite HI: Father-Knights, Knights of Montesa, Knights of Santiago, Ectros, Neema

What I call elite HI fall in an odd range bracket for HI. They start in the mid fourties and range up into the fifties depending on the weapon profile. Most of this group is dominated by some of PanO's knights.

Elite HI are a step above the standard HI. They mostly have the same ARM and BS values but they branch out from the standard HI by having special skills and/or equipment. For example the Knights of Montesa have the Mechanized Deployment special skill which lets it start half way up the board. None of the standard HI have that. The Ectros have the equipment symbiont which is basically a third wound for them unless hit by a fire weapon. None of the standard HI have that. One thing to note though is these special skills or equipment is not top of the line. That's reserved for the uber HI.

Pros: Interesting special skills and/or equipment.

Cons: A little on the pricey side.

Uber HI

Charontid

Uber HI: Daofei, Hac Tao, Yan Huo, Su-Jian, Hsien, Crane, Sun Tze, Aquila Guard, Guarda de Assalto, Swiss Guard,  Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, Joan of Arc, Asawira, Asura, Achilles, Sogarat, Charontid, Anathematic

The Uber (I had to find something better then elite) HI are the cream of the crop when it comes to HI. The cheapest starting points you'll find on uber HI is in the high forties but that's only on a couple units. A good chunk have their starting prices ranging up into the fifties, sixties, seventies, and even eighties.

What makes the uber HI uber is that they posses some of the best equipment, weapons, and skills in the game. You got the likes of the Aquila Guard who with his MSV3 is the bane of any camo marker on the field. The Asawira can heal himself back from unconsciousness. The Sogarat has the highest ARM of any HI in the game. Those are but a few examples.

These HI are going to be center pieces for your force and you'll rarely see more then one uber HI in a force. They are designed to do a lot of damage and take a lot of damage. Just remember like anything in Infinity they can be killed so good support from your other units is paramount to keeping them alive through turn 1.

Pros: Have the best weapons, equipment, and skills you can find in the game. Can take and dish out punishment.

Cons: Expensive! Bound to be first person on your opponent's kill list.