Learning Experiances: Yu Jing

*Clears out the cobwebs and dust*

Oh, hey, did ya think I would forget about this place? Hardly. I'm just sporadic when it comes to updating this damn thing (meaning many months at a time). I'm back for however long I think I am.

So let's talk about some learning experiences since I've started up Yu Jing.

1. Let's talk about some differences between the faction I used to play and the one I do now.

Aleph has some of the most elite units in the game. I mean elite of the elite. A lot of units come with NWI, a form of camo (mimetism, ODD, camo, TO), or an awesome combo of both. This makes Aleph a super resilient or just a pain to even hit force. Add on top of that that all Aleph units have higher then average stats. Yeah the majority of units are expensive but you get what you pay for.

Yu Jing on the other hand is the HI/Melee faction. Their HI units are the most varied and some of the best in the game. They have really scary melee units that have no problem cleaving TAGs or other HI in half. Outside of some select units Yu Jing's troops are pretty average.

There lies the biggest difference. Average with a few elites vs everyone elite.

It's been a slight learning curve getting used to most of my units are not elite. My lowly grunts don't have mimetism or ARM 3. My warbands don't pack ODD or BS 12.

I say it's taken me about 8-10 games to start to understand that Yu Jing has it's own style of play. Also in those 8-10 games I've learned to throw away what I learned with Aleph.

2. Hybrid Warfare

The thing I've noticed with Yu Jing is that it does what I call hybrid warfare. Basically meaning it combines low tech approaches with high tech ones. It's one the few forces who field high end elites backed up by cheap auxiliary like units (example: Hsien with monk support).

Yu Jing has no problem kicking your face in a firefight. Something Nomads have a problem doing without resorting to dirty tricks. Something PanO does without even blinking an eye.

They have no problem going old school employing camo skirmishers or warband units. Something PanO won't do but something Ariadna will happily do.

Yu Jing with this hybrid warfare is basically a jack of trades. Good in a lot of things but not excellent in one particular area.

My last game with Yu Jing I think I took advantage of this hybrid warfare the best. My warband units engaged the hostile warband units and even provided smoke cover for an MSV2 sniper. Zuyong bounded up the board with the majority of enemy warbands removed. A Bao sniper and a Yan Huo provided overwatch. It was a good example of what Yu Jing can bring to the table. This cool mix of cheap and elite.

3. Not Hybrid All The Time

With all forces in Infinity this hybrid warfare is what Yu Jing does best. Now they can build lists ranging from the spectrum of pure elite to cheap swarm.

So I can field an elite list that takes advantage of the awesome selection of HI. On the other hand I can forgo the elites and bring a 17-18 order list.

I've ran a HI heavy list before. I haven't tried a Yu Jing swarm list (they're not my cup of tea in general).

4. Playing with new units. Keep a rotating cast though.

Since starting with Yu Jing I've been playing with a different list every time expect once. Now with every new list I at least try to include a new unit I haven't used before just to feel them out.

Generally I keep a rotating cast of other units I use. I find doing this lets me learn them but not lean on them. I'm still trying to learn how to use the Daofei effectively and the same goes for the Guilangs. I think I've started to get a better handle on the Kuang Shi, Monks, Yan Huo, Bao, CG, and Rui Shi.

Some units I really need to work on are the Raiden and the Aragato. I like what the bring to the table I just can't seem to get them to work for me. I bet they will start to click me the more I use them.

I still haven't even played with the Crane, Pheasant (looking forward to using his way better HSN3 version), Su Jian, support remotes, Wu Ming, Karakuri, Ninjas, or even Kitsune.

5. It's a good time to be playing Yu Jing.

There's lots of awesome coming to Yu Jing with HSN3 (we have leaks from the early copies released at Adepticon) as well as it being the "Year of Yu Jing". We're getting a new starter for the Imperial Service: