Infinity - Escalation League

THE ROAD TO INFINITY: THIRD EDITION STARTS HERE

Infinity is a 28mm wargame set in a high-tech science fiction future with cyberpunk and Manga aesthetics, featuring some of the best sculpts in the wargaming industry and a delightfully complex rules set. I have followed Infinity as it developed and grew over the years, and played the game itself a great deal in the past. Unfortunately, various distractions and other games got in the way, and it fell by the wayside some months ago.

Then Third Edition was announced a few weeks ago, and my interest quickly returned... all I needed was to find an opponent!

Seeking escape from the horrors of World War II, Winner Dave from Breakthrough Assault fame has found a new distraction - a new scale, a new setting, and a whole new set of dice... and now he's dragged me back into Infinity! 

The team assembled

I had run the inscrutable alien Tohaa in the past, but decided if I was going to get a fresh start on the game I would need to forget any bad habits picked up before. Luckily, Corvus Belli had recently released some rather lovely models for my favourite faction, the Nomad Nation, making my next project an easy choice. Fittingly, the Nomads are often seen in direct opposition to ALEPH, Winner Dave's chosen faction, so it would work out nicely. 

Only ten models - but enough for the Escalation League all being well

Having negotiated some time for a practise game and after dusting off my old (rather large) Infinity terrain collection, Dave introduced me to the Escalation League rules - a series of increasingly complex games that would start small and help us learn the game together. It sounded perfect, and I looked through my collection for a solid 120pt force.

Escalation League starts with no Lieutenant, so it was basic troops with some flavour sprinkled through...

Wildcat with Combi Rifle and Light Flamethrower

Wildcat with Combi Rifle and Light Flamethrower

Wildcat with Combi Rifle and Light Flamethrower

Hellcat with Combi Rifle and Light Shotgun

Hellcat with HMG

Alguacil with Combi Rifle

Basically, the Corregidor starter box with an extra Hellcat and no Intruder - a nice cheap opener. 

The Wildcats are Medium Infantry, with better statistics and armour than the basic grunts, but still not the elite Heavy Infantry. The Hellcats are drop troopers, able to deploy from the air during the game, anywhere on the board. The Alguacil is a basic trooper, cheap and cheerful - she was there to bring an extra Order, and would probably sit out of sight for most of the game.

Dave ran a smaller team, but packed the following...

Myrmidon - Boarding Shotgun
Myrmidon - Combi Rifle
Thorikates - Combi Rifle
Thorakites - Paramedic, Submachine Gun
Agema Marksman - Missile Launcher

The board - packed with terrain! 

It had been a long time since my last game of Infinity, while Winner had been learning the rules from scratch over the past few weeks. I did not know who would have the advantage in this situation. 

The nice and clean side, nicknamed "Elysium" 

Setting up the terrain took some time - there's so much needed to deny line of sight and give the impression of a dense city, while making it fair. The decision to put the whole city at an angle across the board was suggested by Dave, as it would stop any long fire lanes forming across the length of the board from deployment zone to deployment zone. 

The... rougher side of town - "Neo Bos-Vegas"

The game itself was a brief but brutal affair - the Wildcats skirmished with his two Myrmidons amongst the slums; ultimately all three were taken down by a Myrmidon with a powerful Boarding Shotgun, protected by his Optical Disruption Devices and some lucky ARM rolls. 

On the other side of the board, the Hellcat with the HMG landed behind his Agema Marksman and two Thorakitai, using the terrain to stalk them and pick them off one by one. Admittedly one of the Thorakitai did fall off a building after fluffing a Climb test... but when the game ended the Nomads had scored more points for the Scenario and the ended the first game of the League on SIX points while the ALEPH Steel Phalanx scored only TWO. 

The Jurisidictional Command of Corregidor - "the toughest, most reliable, aggressive and tireless troops in the Sphere"

A nice fun game, and one that rekindled some of the old love for Infinity. My new faction is solid and dependable at this points level, with lots of clever tricks becoming available in bigger games, while Dave's ALEPH are obviously very capable. It bodes well for the future of the campaign!

Winner Dave's ALEPH lackeys - The Steel Phalanx

So far, our two teams are only undercoated black, but we have both vowed to paint a little bit for each game, so next time there should be a little bit more paint on them, and the pictures will be a little more interesting. 

Thanks for reading, 

George