As I walk into INFINITY

For those who many not have heard of the game, Infinity is a tabletop miniature wargame from Spain that started almost 10 years. I had seen the models back then (even picked up a couple to paint), but I never really went anywhere with it. Mostly because I knew of no one else who played. Advance to 2014, and now I know several people playing the game, and it has quite the following around the world.

One of the two buildings for the apartment complex.

It has an intriguing setting too, especially to those who like high technology run amok, AIs that seem bent on control of the human population, dirty politicking from a future version of the UN, evil corporations, outcasts on the edge of society, cyberpunk hackers, colonial rebels, aliens and starships. Infinity is a curious blend of tropes ranging from movies like Bladerunner and Minority Report all the way to video games like Mass Effect and Titanfall, to anime like Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell (and many others). And it pulls it off pretty well. The art through out the books is manga in style, but the miniatures are much more realistically proportioned, albeit keeping some of the esthetics (like cat-girls... I'm looking at you Bakunin).

Backside of Police Precinct.

Gaming-wise it has the sense to do it differently. Casting off the shackles of the six sided dice, the game is played, rather simply I might add, with a 20-sided dice. To determine if an action is a success, simply roll a D20, add/subtract modifiers and compare to the ability. If you are less than or equal to it, you succeed. If you roll higher than it, you fail. Each turn is completed by issuing "orders" to models, which generally is a movement and an action (but there are a few more complex orders). The number of orders a player gets is equal to the number of models in the force. These orders are then expended one by one, however, you don't have to use one order on each model. If you want, you can not issue orders to some of your models to give other models additional orders. Once you reach zero orders, the turn goes to your opponent.

Front of Police Precinct.
With Parking below.

What I really like about the system, is that it requires a lot of varied scenery. Dense tables are good in this game. This is due to weapons having ranges more realisitic to what one would expect a ballistic round or blast of energy to travel. Long firing lanes make for difficult movement, as your model runs from cover to cover (the game actually recommends "scatter terrain," ie. cars, sidewalk benches, street planters, etc), much like a soldier would do in real life. A well placed sniper can make for a bad day for an opposing force if there is little to no cover for your models.

As a fan of mecha, I also like the inclusion of battlesuits and fight robots in the setting. Most factions have access to their own variant of the mecha, with Ariadna being the most obvious exception, but they get giant werewolves in return. Sounds like a fair trade off, in my opinion. The two alien races, the Combined Army and the Tohaa, also have their own flavour of big armoured model, with the Ralcho and Gorgos, respectively.

The factions themselves are also quite unique. Each has its place in the universe and, again, has a unique feel each stemming from how they left Earth. The main human factions are PanOceania, Yu Jing, Ariadna, Haqqislam, Nomads and Mercenaries, with ALEPH being part of the Human Sphere, but separate. There are also two alien factions, mentioned earlier, the Combined Army and the Tohaa.

Titanfall's Angel City - for inspiration

I'm currently working on a Nomad force, centered around Corregidor. The faction plays well with me attaching to the underdog. But where I'm really having fun is building scenery. Since this game like gobs of scenery, I've been building up futuristic buildings, taking inspiration from the cities in Titanfall. The WIP buildings you see through out this article are the buildings I've been working on with various thickness' and styles of plasticard.

More inspiration

I have a couple plans for how to do holographic banners and ad-boards, like much of the art depicts and various companies making terrain for Infinity include, using clear polystyrene and clear paint with stencils. We'll see how that pans out. I've got a few other plans for table pieces, such as markets, a large warehouse and even roof-top gardens!

I hope to have considerably more pics for this project in my next Infinity post (not sure when...). But in the mean time: