Well, the… grand? experiment has begun. I enjoy list building as much as the next Infinity player, but I’ve found that my lists have more or less stagnated a bit. I tend to take the same core units in each list, and then tune the remainder of the list to the scenario or expected terrain. For example, pretty much every list that could have a Kriza HMG in it had a Kriza HMG in it.

Our meta has always been a strong proponent of the “It’s not your list, it’s you” mantra that some of the Infinity community tend to regurgitate across online forums and chat groups, so Adam (TheDiceAbide) and I thought it time to try to “put our money where our mouths are” so to speak. For at least the next few game nights and our next tournament, Adam and I will be running randomly generated lists, courtesy of the Random List Generator. The rules are basically that we’re allowed to fiddle with whatever list generator options we want, and for LI, we’re allowed to reject lists that are under 10 orders. Other than that, and maybe swapping Lieutenant between two legal profiles, we’re stuck with whatever the generator spits out.

We’re both strongly in the camp of playing vanilla armies for Limited Insertion games, so it’s been nice to use some otherwise under-utilized profiles that don’t see much table time in vanilla. Not having your favorite tools really forces you to think outside the box, and as I discovered in the following game, even the presence of your favorite tools can be a hindrance. Without further ado, here’s the game! Thanks to Erik for being my playtesting opponent.

Overview

Mission : Acquisition

: Acquisition Forces : Nomads versus ALEPH (300)

: versus (300) Deploy First : Nomads

: First Turn: Nomads

Random List MOBILE BRIGADA Lieutenant Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 33)

MARY PROBLEMS Hacker (Forward Deployment L1) Submachine Gun + Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 30)

MOBILE BRIGADA Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 43)

REVEREND CUSTODIER Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 34)

HOLLOW MEN Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 37)

KRIZA BORAC HMG / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (2 | 54)

SECURITATE Feuerbach / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 22)

TOMCAT (Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 19)

MORAN Combi Rifle, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)

MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | 6) 9 1 1 | 6 SWC | 299 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Let’s spend a little time discussing my list before we move on to Erik’s. Let’s first off note that it has my usual standbys, the Kriza HMG and the Moran. The Moran, however, isn’t an FO profile, which changes a few things in Acquisition. Mary’s there too, so that’s helpful, and I do enjoy fielding the Reverend Custodier.

I basically have a grab bag of a bunch of things that I know how to use and like, but since I didn’t make the list there isn’t a cohesive plan that’s well formed in my head yet. It’s also got two Brigada, which is fine, but I would’ve much preferred the MULTI Rifle + LFT Lieutenant profile in vanilla. Ah well. Hopefully the shotgun will be relevant!

ALEPH DEVA Lieutenant (Sensor) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)

PROXY Mk.2 Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)

PROXY Mk.4 Heavy Rocket Launcher, Submachine Gun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 20)

PROXY Mk.5 (Forward Observer) 2 Submachine Guns, Nanopulser, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)

NAGA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28)

NAGA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30)

PENTHESILEA Combi Rifle, Contender, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (0 | 41)

MYRMIDON OFFICER (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (1 | 36)

AGÊMA Marksman (X Visor) Mk12 / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 29)

ZAYIN Rebot HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)

SCYLLA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device UPGRADE: Maestro) Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser + 1 Devabot Charybdis / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0.5 | 27)

DEVABOT CHARYBDIS Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (7)

LAMEDH Rebot Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

THORAKITES Marksman Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) 11 1 | 5.5 SWC | 315 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Erik got his lists mixed up and deployed a Thorakites Marksman Rifle on the table, bringing him to 11 orders and 315 points. Neither of us noticed till afterwards, but the Thorakities did in fact affect the game… Ah well. Everyone makes mistakes.

Deployment

I didn’t know what to do after winning the rolloff, so I chose to go first, hoping that some plan would coalesce in my mind. It didn’t. I scrambled around trying to find some way for me to deploy in a sane fashion, and decided I had the worse side… but oh well.

The Feuerbach went up at the edge of my deployment zone, on a roof, watching the board. That at least was pretty straightforward. I figured I might as well make use of my Lt order to run the Brigada straight up the board, so I put him in the center as a Datatracker, and then put his sister, the Brigada Hacker on the right, both near the Xenotech so I’d have a choice as to who was the better companion. I stuck the Hollow Man AHD on the left, in total cover, and then put Mary on the left, ready to make a run for her objective, with the Custodier nearby as backup. I didn’t know what Erik had in store for me, so I put the Morlock on the left as well, careful to keep her away from Mary in case he had any missile launchers or HRLs. I figured I could use her smoke to cover Mary’s advance or something. Seemed fine. I didn’t know what Erik was bringing, so I defended my right flank with my Moran, and that was that.

Erik shooed me away from the table to place his Proxy Mk2 AHD next to the central objective, then put down two more camo tokens on his right, both Nagas. the Agema, Myrmdidon, and Lamedh completed his right-side deployment.

Erik covered the central area with his Zayin HMG, and then protected his Deva with Scylla and her ‘bot. The Proxy Mk 5 and Xenotech were just ahead of all of this, ready to advance. The Mk4 came down after much peering about, primarily to contest the middle and the right. I put down my Kriza to deal with the Mk4, and then Erik plopped Penny down behind a building on his right, ready to wreck my left flank. One thing that we didn’t notice until well after the game was that Erik’s Thorakities wasn’t in the list, but oh well.

Turn 1

Top of 1 – Nomads

Well, I started things off by advancing my Morlock safely forward. Then I send the Kriza after the Mk4. Way too many orders laters, the stupid thing is unconscious. I brought in a Tomcat on the left, but I don’t really want to go after the Myrmidon officer. 3 on 6’s versus 1 on 12 isn’t great at all, especially since I’ll have to do it a few times. I settle instead for dropping a repeater… that’s what the random list generator wanted me to do, right? Right? Nope. At least the repeater will let me drop White Noise on the Agema if I need it. I get the Morlock into the building on the second floor, near the Tomcat, figuring she’ll be safe there and can help out later. Then, I do a really dumb thing where I advance the Kriza, pretty inexplicably, to go and attack the TR bot. I clearly remember saying to myself that this is a bad idea, but I did it anyway. I at least have the presence of mind to advance my Morlock to threaten Scylla and her ‘bot. This is dangerous, but I do have a ton of hackers on the table to discourage Scylla from getting into the Moran’s repeater, if the Koalas weren’t threat enough. Back to the Kriza. I continue my stupidity and try to gun down the TR bot. The expected happens and I take a crit to the face before passing the turn.

Bottom of 1 – ALEPH

Penny goes to work, taking out my Tomcat with her combi-rifle. ODD bikes are pretty strong, it turns out! The Securitate can see all of this, but she’s at a net -12 due to range, ODD, and the low-vis forest zone in the center of the table. Erik reveals his Naga FO to drop a mine, covering the Kriza, which is the worst. Penny does some fancy driving to stay out of LoF of my Securitate Feuerbach and get into B2B with the Kriza. On her way there, she lets the Kriza get a dodge change face off, which I take, clearing the mine safely. It was dicey, literally, but I figured it was better than the alternative. I suppose I could’ve left it in place, because in order to get into base to base, Penny would likely cancel the mine template, but I didn’t want to deal with that. The Kriza is almost certainly dead, and it’s not really going to save Erik any orders, either way. Surprising no one, the Kriza dies to the Penny, but Mary stops her cold before falling to pieces (literally) with a zapper hit to the face. My Securitate had a good 2-3 chances at landing a hit while Penny drives around, but whiffs every time!

I’m three models down at this point, which isn’t great, but at least Penny’s been stopped. The Naga FO grabs the objective on my left, then Erik finishes his turn by throwing the Thorakties, Naga FO, Agema, Myrmidon Officer, and the Deva into suppression thanks to a coordinated and a lieutenant order.

Turn 2

Top of 2 – Nomads

I cancel the Morlock’s order, as there’s no point in dropping her out in front of a Naga in suppression and a TR bot, then use a few orders to take out Penny with my Custodier. A few orders turns out to be quite a few. Shooting at an ODD model with two effective wounds is a huge order drain. At least the board geometry prevented her from dodging away, which was nice at least. At this point I’m basically down to throwing some smoke and then knifing the Naga FO with the Morlock, sending it dogged. I reposition my Custodier, Brigada BSG, Moran, and Hollow Man with a final coordinated order and pass the turn.

Bottom of 2 – ALEPH

Erik’s illegal Thorakites kills my Morlock. Boo. The Agema advances a little, along with the Myrmidon Officer as part of coordinated order. I know what’s coming, and dodge my Securitate prone. My suspicions are rewarded by the Officer throwing smoke. He then reveals his Proxy Mk2, firing a boarding shotgun at my Moran, who dodges successfully, but I lose my Koala.

Erik Cybermasks team Scylla, then flamethrowers my Moran with the ‘bot. Scylla retreats out of coherency, but the ‘bot survives the Koala and my Moran fails his dodge, burning to death. Erik advances the Mk 2 to take shots at my Hollowman AHD, so I chain colt it. Erik, sadly, crits and passes ARM against the chain colt. UGH.

Turn 3

Top of 3 – Nomads

I have to get rid of the Proxy Mk2, so I coordinated order stand up the Securitate, push my Brigada BSG into LoF of it, and threaten a chain colt with my Hollow Man. The saturation and low-vis forest limits the damage to a single wound, and Erik fails guts around the corner. I get a little movement for my Custodier to cover an approach to the tech coffin off this order as well. I’ve really got to get some points on the scoreboard, so I advance my Mobile Brigada hacker, finishing the Proxy Mk2 off on the way. I managed to drop the Multiscanner, and then fail a WIP roll to connect the right antenna. Dammit! I’m out of orders, so I just spend my Lieutenant order to run my Brigada out to cover the central tech coffin and pass the turn, hoping that my Brigada hacker will still be alive at the end of the game and that I’ll be able to dodge either the Hollow Man or the Brigada to the central objective.

Bottom of 3 – ALEPH

Erik does the MSV2 + Smoke trick to down my Hollow Man, who is just dodging forward. He activates his Proxy Mk 5, dragging his Xenotech along with him, and fails to drop the Multiscanner. Fortunately for me, Erik is pretty low on orders at this point thanks to setting up the Smoke trick, and I get a little bit of forward movement in with the Brigada BSG while the Mk 5 is walking its way forward, even plinking a wound off it with the Custodier as it shuffles forward. The TR bot tries to finish off the Brigada to protect the Mk5, but I manage to dodge forward a little, and now Erik is down to his last order. Erik goes for the biggest points pay off and tries to get the Mk5 into base to base with the central tech coffin, declaring dodge as his second short skill. My Custodier whiffs, but my Securitate finally remembers which end is the business end of the Feuerbach and lands an explosive hit, blasting the Mk5 off the table. Erik’s pushed a button and my Brigada Hacker is still controlling an antenna, but I’ve dropped a Multiscanner and he hasn’t, which means it’s a

1-0 Nomad Victory!

Notes

Notes for Me

I had a lot of good opportunities that went to waste. I should’ve gone after Scylla and the Deva with my Moran, I think I could’ve swung it. Some potential tricks I could’ve done there. Putting the Moran on the second story of the building was pointless. I was going to try for a hit on the Myrmidon officer, but ALEPH is so full of NWI profiles! A better option would’ve been to use smoke and positioning to set up an intuitive attack on BOTH Nagas at the same time. I definitely could’ve pulled it off and that would’ve been great.

If you ever wanted an example of an overextended unit, just look at my Kriza usage this game. Just fed it to the wolves.

I had no good plan for the Tomcat. I think I could’ve probably brought him in on turn 2, when the board state changed. I definitely needed to fake a TO model by kicking Erik away from the table too, but I forgot to. I thought about trading the Tomcat for maybe two orders, by rushing it out and taking on the Myrmidon officer and the Lamdeh, but was took chicken to.

Really I needed to go after the Proxy Mk5 with the Tomcat, and fight my way through the Deva and Scylla.

My right flank was pretty weak, but everything happened in the center and on the left. I should seriously consider using the AHD Hollowman more aggressively too. I think I was just concerned about a Naga AHD or something.

This game is also a good example of how I relied too heavily on my Kriza, which I didn’t really need to do after the Mk4 died. I clung to him like a life preserver due to the unfamiliar list, and paid for it.

I like playing random lists so far! They make you think about things way more carefully and force to you eke usage out of every possible piece of kit. I think I could’ve done better this game.

Notes for Erik