I couldn’t cover Deployment in Infinity in a single article so I broke it down. I originally wrote about Facing in Deployment, so consider this a continuation of the harshest skills required to play Infinity. The reason Deployment is so important is that Infinity allows for your opponent to attack you with their opening move. Most tabletop wargames spend a turn having troops run towards each other while Infinity wastes no time to get right into the action. A vulnerable flank may collapse and you can lose before even having a turn. Many new players may think that the game is broken but the real culprit is a game that cannot be told how to pilot.

The first step to understanding your location in Deployment is knowing what type of board you’re playing on. The meta-game can drastically shift for you depending if you have an “American” or “European” board. To get an idea of how drastically different these can change, here’s a thread on the Infinity Forums where people display their boards. When new players start Infinity, one of the most requested items to help them get a leg up is a picture of their game board. The reason is that Infinity has invisible rules on how to setup terrain that if the players are ignorant to will cause negative play experience. There is a minimal amount but also a maximum amount of terrain for Infinity, the local scene’s preference dictates whether their boards are American or European style. A European board is more characterized with less buildings, less scatter terrain and longer fire lanes. The American is the opposite.

Understanding the type of board is important because it dictates your meta-game. A Warband on an American-style board is a viable choice, yet on an European-style board they’re used to punish mistakes. Close quarters combat would occur more often on an American-style board, bring Shotguns, Assault Pistols and melee masters. Sniper Rifles, long range engagements and Skirmishers are more important on European-style. This is another reason why you can’t take people’s word on what units are good because of their own meta-game, in addition to possibly having a different faction than you.

There were a few dust ups over this, including a variety of images (probably stolen from 4chan) over which way is superior. I like to switch it up on and play on different styles, just because then it puts different emphasis over what units are important. To give an idea of how polarizing these joke pictures were, here’s probably one of the most tame examples:

Understanding which type of board you’re on will determine which of your troops are Expendable and which are not. Specialists, by their nature of being game winning pieces, automatically fall within the Non-Expendable category. The important part is knowing which of your attack pieces can be sacrificed. For example, if you’re in a very cluttered American-style board, a Shotgun might be more valuable than a HMG. On a European-style board, your Sniper Rifle models might be the your most invaluable attack pieces. With that in mind, your models that should be overlooking for AROs should not be these pieces.

Models that sit out for AROs are Expendable. Even the most competent, such as the Nomad Sin-Eater, are still at the mercy of your opponent’s Active Turn and are risking death. MULTI Sniper Rifles tend to be units that are sitting out for AROs but if that is your best bet at taking out opponents, don’t have them looking for AROs! Skirmishers can be seen as “speed bumps” for an advancing opponent, to delay their ability to win but again, consider their value. If equipped with a Shotgun on an American-style board, perhaps keep that Skirmisher alive to be a counter-punch to your opponent’s offensive.

Then there are the exceptions! TO Camouflage allows you to note where a model is but not place it. The best thing you can do here is to leave an inviting gap for an opponent to sneak through, only to ambush them! This is an example of high-tier plays you can make, especially with TO Camo SK, that really demonstrate the Skill Ceiling. This trick can only be pulled off if you know your opponent would see the opening and attack. Sometimes, they might not because they’ll think there’s a TO model in Hidden Deployment. Which then allows you place the TO Camo model elsewhere, as they see the open invitation as a trap – even if there isn’t anything there. That’s why Infinity has a whole headgames portion that goes down an entire rabbit hole.

That’s with things your opponent can’t see. Deployment is telegraphing your attack and defence, showing where you expect resistance and where you’re vulnerable. Showing your opponent just enough information can be even more invaluable, such as using an Infiltrating Camouflage Skirmisher but placing the unit in your Deployment Zone. Now your opponent may think you’ve got a different unit. Or placing a Camo Skirmisher within 8″ of another Camouflage Marker to fake out the Minelayer skill in Deployment. The other way to deceive is Holoprojectors, who can appear as entirely different units, to even moreso telegraph the wrong information to your opponent.