Work took me down to the Bay Area, California, so I made sure to pack my models. I was sadly unable to play in the Endgame Infinity night (but was at least able to poke my head in and say hello). Pete (YueFei23) was kind enough to host a game at his lovely home in the city the following night. After Pete and his lovely wife fed me some delicious food, Obidiah (Nehemiah) arrived to hang out and heckle while we puzzled our way through Frostbyte. Pete’s got a great Yu Jing table, which won the best table award at the Rose City Raid 2018, so we cleared off his dining table and set it up. Pete’s put some serious love and care into this table, going so far as to print out actual advertisements from China for his Antenocities Workshop advertisment kiosk things. He’s also got a giant Guan Yu statue on the table, which is simultaneously hilarious and imposing. Pete usually plays his ISS Durian Inspection Squad but has been moving into vanilla Yu Jing, so I faced them instead.

Overview

Mission : Frostbyte

: Frostbyte Forces : Nomads versus Yu Jing (300)

: versus (300) Deploy First : Nomads

: First Turn: Nomads

Frostbyte TASKMASTER Lieutenant Red Fury, Pulzar, CrazyKoalas + TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Heavy Pistol, DA CCW. (1 | 53)

ZONDNAUT Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 31)

ZONDMATE Chain Rifle, Smoke Light Grenade Launcher / Electric Pulse. (5)

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

INTERVENTOR Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)

CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)

DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)

REVEREND MOIRA MULTI Rifle + E/M Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Shock CCW. (1 | 34)

TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

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

BRAN DO CASTRO Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 33) 10 1 | 5.5 SWC | 300 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Yu Jing GROUP 1 | 10 4 YĀN HUǑ Lieutenant Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 54)

HAC TAO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 67)

SÙ-JIÀN Spitfire, Light Flamethrower, Panzerfaust / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 59)

Zhanshi YĪSHĒNG Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)

YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)

CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)

KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) GROUP 2 | 1 4 4 SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

NINJA Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Shock CCW, Knife. (0.5 | 40) 5 SWC | 299 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Deployment

I won the roll off and elected to go first, figuring I would use Bran to either wreck Pete’s heaters or do some other damage to him. I also wanted to set up a repeater network to handle the inevitable Yu Jing heavy infantry. Pete’s table is deceptively dense–it’s hard to draw LoF to stuff, even from an elevated position. I used the new MI Bravery rules to get my Moira up onto the second floor of the noodle hut (the model is on the roof so I don’t get her stuck in there with all her stabby swords and outstretched LGL arm). I put Zero Cool, my Interventor, all the way on the left to make a flank run for the objective just in case my other specialists couldn’t get it, and then anchored my left flank with my Taskmaster Lieutenant. I covered the center of the board with a Transductor, and then put my Zondnautica smack dab in the center to give me the most flexibility in the first turn. Since this is an HI-heavy mission, I brought a Clockmaker and Daktari, and stuck them close to the front of my deployment zone and out of LoF. Mary Problems and my Kriza were my right flank threats, and I held Bran in reserve. We’re still not sure whether the Limited Insertion sticker on the ITS mission description is real, since it’s not referenced later in the mission rules. I chose to honor it, but Pete had missed it during his read through of the mission. It’s not that big of a deal and I had to drive from the north end of San Francisco all the way to San Jose to make it back to my hotel for an early morning flight, so we just rolled on through this issue and kept our lists as we made them. Pete scattered eight warbands across his deployment zone–a 50/50 mix of Shaolin and Kuang Shi. The Kuang Shi controller went on the right, inside the “temple” building. He answered my flash pulse bot with one of his own, behind a saturation and low-vis tree. Pete has done a marvelous job on his cherry trees–Obi and I spent a good few minutes cooing over them, and I was only too happy to help him break them in with an inaugural game. After shooing me away to place some secret Yu Jing things, Pete decided to hold the high ground with a Yan Huo HRMC, backed up by a Zhanshi doctor. Now that I knew where his Lieutenant was, I stuck Bran on the roof with a critical PH+3 roll of 16! After making appropriately subdued British grumpy noises (i.e. frowning and stroking his chin), Pete countered Bran by putting his Su Jian on the roof. The Spitfire didn’t really mean anything, it was the light flamethrower that I was worried about. I nominated my Taskmaster as my DataTracker and Pete pointed at his Su Jian in response.

Turn 1

Top of Turn 1 – Nomads

I started things off by racing the Zondnautica towards the left objective, thanks to the table density and Shaolin placement making that the shortest path. A quick face to face with smoke against Pete’s flash pulse bot got me some smoke on the table, and then I was free to start using my regular orders. Mary Problems immediately scooted her way to land a pitcher on the right near all of those juicy HI targets on the roof, and then turned on my deployment zone heater by doing some top-notch button pushing on the rightmost console. I drove the Zondnautica forwards towards the leftmost console, immobilizing the Su Jian with Carbonite on the way through Mary’s pitcher, but I failed to push the button on the left. Curses! Well, it was time to send Bran into the fray. I scooted around the corner, prone, and lay a boarding shotgun template across the Yan Huo and the doctor. I missed once thanks to the Yan Huo’s cover, but still managed to wound it. Sadly, the doctor fared better and passed his ARM even after failing a dodge. Bran had started his turn in LoF of the Su Jian, which successfully reset out of IMM-1 as I walked around the corner. The doctor failed guts and scooted towards the Su Jian, which let me cover all three with a boarding shotgun template after just failing to get into base to base with the Yan Huo with another prone crawl. This time, the Yan Huo and Doctor passed both their ARM rolls, but the Su Jian failed one. At this point, Pete elects to fail guts with the Yan Huo, revealing Bran to both the Su Jian and the doctor and denying me a good boarding shotgun template. I get a little gun shy and turn my attention to hurting Pete’s order pool, dismounting the Zondnaut and shoving the Zondmate into his deployment zone. While I manage to chain rifle both the flash pulse bot and the doctor’s Yaozao, Pete dodges his Shaolin into view of both the Zondmate and the Zondnaut. Uh oh. I attempt to remove the Shaolin with my Moira, but she’s outside of 16″ and misses with her shock rounds against the Shaolin’s successful smoke. Not great! I’m down to my last order, and I don’t want to leave them there. I figure I might as well sacrifice them to kill off the Shaolin and the Kuang Shi controller there, to deny Pete an order and generally make that flank safe, so I retreat the Zondmate into the smoke, blocking the gap between the walls with its base and retreat the Zondnaut behind the leftmost console. Unfortunately, I misjudged the Shaolin’s chain rifle, and he gets both the Zondnaut and the Zondmate, while I only get the Shaolin. Great trade by Pete! Left side, many whelps. I didn’t handle it properly. 50 DKP minus! I don’t want to telegraph my Lieutenant, since I still have three legal options on the table, so I forfeit the order and pass the turn.

Bottom of Turn 1 – Yu Jing

Funnily enough, the shortest path for 3 of Pete’s impetuous troops is to just climb up the building towards Bran, so Pete ends his impetuous phase with three warbands literally hanging out on the side of a building. I took some shots with the Moira at long range against a Shaolin, but whiff against his smoke. Pete forgets about Mary’s repeater (much to Obi’s glee) and coordinates an order between his Su Jian, the doctor, and some Kuang Shi (just to get the movement). Both the troopers on the roof jiggle in place and await my ARO. I dodge, expecting a flamethrower, and hack the Su Jian with Mary and Zero Cool. Pete curses under his breath and declares reset, letting Bran scoot back around the cylinder. Unfortunately, I whiff both hacking rolls. Unwilling to let me do that again, Pete rolls a Shaolin around the corner to CC the repeater, hoping for a crit. He rolls a 1, but I fail my ARM save and the repeater is gone. Now free to move, Pete pushes his Su Jian to the other side of the roof to see Bran. I waffle on whether or not I should dodge, as then Pete will just roll 4 spitfire dice, so I elect instead to go down in a blaze of glory and shotgun the Su Jian instead. Pete flamethrowers Bran off the roof, but I do manage to finally take out the Zhanshi doctor. Now free to move, the Yan Huo takes two orders to shock Mary Problems off the table, thanks to her ODD and Hyper Dynamics. My Transductor gamely flash pulses away, ineffectually. I had dodged Mary out of line of fire, forcing the Yan Huo to move to see her again, and Pete notices that this brings the Yan Huo into LoF of my Taskmaster. Thankfully, I crit dodge out of the way. Pete sinks a few orders trading a Kuang Shi for my Moira, which is awful for me. I definitely didn’t want to dodge and let him make his way up the table though, as my Interventor was pretty undefended over there thanks to my lazy placement of Koalas. After spending the rest of his orders shuffling his warbands around, Pete passes things back to me.

Turn 2

Top of Turn 2 – Nomads

I sink all of my orders into my Taskmaster, killing a Kuang Shi and a Shaolin. I fail to push the left button again, but manage to push the center button, giving me two active heaters. At least my guys won’t freeze to death! My last order is a coordinated order to reposition a few guys, including pushing a Daktari into the same spot as Mary Problems while saying “this is a bad idea.” I really should listen to myself. Unfortunately, during this Pete reveals a Ninja AHD behind a box that blocks LoF to the Taskmaster and tries to Basilisk him. I pass BTS, and end out of cover but in LoF of the Ninja, ready to make use of my Pulzar. The Taskmaster’s Koalas end the turn in the path of Pete’s warbands and the Ninja. I hope for the best and pass the turn.

Bottom of Turn 2 – Yu Jing

Pete advances a Shaolin and a Kuang Shi, with the Kuang Shi dodging the Koala successfully. I had thought the Ninja to be the only TO model, but Pete reveals the dreaded Hac Tao KHD and plinks a wound off my Taskmaster, letting me fail guts into cover. Another order knocks my Taskmaster out, though, putting me in LoL for the next turn. That problem solved, Pete jumps his Su Jian from roof to roof, shrugging off my flash pulse. He tries to take out my Daktari (why oh why did I put her there!?) but she dodges her way around the corner, just like Mary Problems did… right into the path of a Shaolin’s chain rifle. After using his Hac Tao to mop up my Taskmaster’s unconscious body, Pete finishes the turn by pushing his Su Jian into cover at the base of the billboard on the roof, finally getting flash pulsed by my Transductor. Huzzah!

Turn 3

Top of Turn 3 – Nomads

I’m in Loss of Lieutenant and have no way to add any points to the scoreboard, so I attempt to settle the score (eh? eh?) by rampaging the Kriza through Pete’s warbands. My Kriza uses Annicka, his trusty HMG, and his heavy pistol to drop two Shaolin and a Kuang Shi with ease. I’m basically out of stuff to do, so I cybermask my Interventor and pass things back to Pete.

Bottom of Turn 3 – Yu Jing

Pete’s definitely won this thing, but there’s no reason to not put more points on the board, so Obi, Pete, and I collectively figure out how to do that. The Hac Tao coup de graces my Zondmate, which I had purposely used to block the way (hah!) and makes it into base to base with the nearby antenna to turn on a heater for his deployment zone, saving his Celestial Guard. The rest of his orders are spent snaking his Ninja across the board, the TO letting it ignore shots from my Kriza and Interventor, and he ends his turn securing my HVT. He’s definitely killed more stuff, including my DataTracker, and has his DataTracker in the zone. He’s also got at least one heater on, and has his classified, making it a

10-1 Yu Jing Victory!

Lots of unforced errors on my end, but that definitely shouldn’t detract from an excellent game played by Pete. Good game, and thanks again for hosting! I’m looking forward to the next time work takes me to California.

Notes

Notes for Me

I lost this game by not being aggressive enough in my first turn. I definitely needed to finish off the Yan Huo, even at the cost of Bran.

I had so many options to. I could’ve just charged into combat and applied MA3, probably losing Bran to the Su Jian and the Doctor, but this would’ve been worth it.

Bran do Castro, Triple Zero – DA CCW 68.66% — Bran do Castro, Triple Zero inflicts 1 or more wounds on Yan Huo Invincibles (1 W)

21.44% — Bran do Castro, Triple Zero inflicts 2 or more wounds on Yan Huo Invincibles (Unconscious)

26.59% — Neither player succeeds

04.75% — Yan Huo Invincibles inflicts 1 or more wounds on Bran do Castro, Triple Zero (Unconscious) Yan Huo Invincibles – Pistol

Alternatively, I could’ve climbed Mary Problems up there and Zapper’ed both the Su Jian and the Yan Huo as part of a coordinated order. Honestly, any of these things are better than what I did.

I think I was too confident in my repeater, but I wasn’t really thinking about the huge amount of WB that Pete had.

I need to practice with Bran more. Definitely need to find a better balance between caution and aggression too.

Losing the Zondnautica was stupid. I got too aggressive there, and should’ve instead pulled them back and thrown stuff into suppression. I also had no need to put the Moira so far forward.

I don’t often see WB across the table in my usual meta, and I think I need more practice at eyeballing good positions to ARO against chain rifles. Denying chain rifle shots is also pretty good, but then I need mines and Koalas to really slow them down and protect my deployment zone.

I was lazy in deploying my Taskmaster’s Koalas. Had I been more careful, I probably would’ve been more comfortable dodging with my Moira and letting the Koalas handle the incoming Kuang Shi.

I needed to do a better job of point counting. I don’t see a lot of Yu Jing across the table, but that’s no excuse. There were 100 points off the table, and I definitely should’ve recognized that.

Surprisingly, the Kriza did nothing actively this game (killing the WB on the last turn doesn’t count, Pete had already won). I suppose he did force Pete to keep things prone on the roofs, as I have fire superiority in my active turn.

I was really disappointed in my deployment. I felt like a lot of stuff was just out of position and on the wrong side. I definitely need to think more about my moves. It’s been too long since my last LI game and I’ve gotten complacent.

I missed Zondbots. A lot. Definitely need to rethink the list a little to get some more board control and Zondbots on the table.

Not sure why I fed the Daktari to Pete. That was dumb.

Also, Mary Problems and her Climbing+ really lets her be safe in the reactive turn. I should’ve used it by “gluing” her base to the side of the crates she was near, which would’ve really protected her from anything except for a WB running all the way around the corner.

Notes for Pete