Overview Welcome to part one in a series of introductory articles about Infinity the game. Coming up in future articles will be game mechanics, gameplay, list building & tactics, miniatures and how all these differ from 40k. Infinity is a 28mm science fiction skirmish game covering covert operations and small-scale clashes between nations and/or corporations. It is very much a ranged weaponry game with close combat usually taking a secondary role to shooting. Forces are typically made up of 6-12 models regardless of points level as 'bigger' games tend to involve more powerful models rather than more models.
Part two covering the game mechanics is now up.
The Setting When the staff at Corvus Belli started out designing the universe of Infinity they wanted a setting that was neither dystopian nor post-apocalyptic. Looking forwards 175 years after slower-than-light colonisation attempts and then the discovery of navigable wormholes, the Human Sphere of Infinity is spread out among colonies in multiple solar systems, all linked together by the Circulars, large wormhole-travelling spacecraft and held together by the O-12 agency, a successor to the UN. Much of the Human Sphere is coordinated and run by ALEPH, the only official artificial intelligence in the Human Sphere, which controls all the information networks.
Most of the current governments and nations are long gone, replaced with new powers and corporations. Although there is little outright war in the Infinity setting there is plenty of rivalry between the various factions, leading to skirmish-scale conflicts. While the technology level in Infinity is higher than ours, it's easily recognisable - soldiers generally use rifles, shotguns, heavy machine guns and similar current weaponry with a noticeable lack of lasers. Where the tech level gets higher is with things like powered armour, telepresence drones ('Remotes' in game terms), thermo-optic camouflage, TAGs and battlefield computer Hackers. TAGs (Tactical Armoured Gears) are somewhere between a Sentinel, War Walker or Dreadnought in 40k terms - substantially larger and more robust than an infantryman but still vulnerable to small arms fire. Thermo-optic camo is the SF equivalent to an invisibility cloak, a la Predator, Ghost in the Shell and other sources. Hackers can hack into and immobilise enemy Remotes and TAGs and even enemy aircraft carrying drop troops.
Also of note are the resurrections - either people coming back from the dead by having recorded memories downloaded into a new synthetic body or AI-generated personalities in a new body, often based on historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Saladin or Sun Tzu. A vital component in resurrections and many other high-tech medical procedures is Silk, a drug only found on the Haqqislamite planet of Bourak. Although Infinity draws heavily from Japanese Manga (especially Masamune Shirow's Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell) it's a surprisingly 'hard' SF background once you ignore the occasional furry.
The Factions As mentioned, the factions in Infinity don't correspond directly to current nations, as described below. Each of the main factions has subdivisions known as Sectorials, in 40k terms these are similar to themed armies. For each faction you will get an overview of the faction, the Sectorials and how they tend to play on the table. As each faction is capable of multiple playstyles they can't be described with simple stereotypes such as 'Yu Jing are the close combat faction and Panoceania are the shooting faction'.
PanOceania is the Big Kahuna of the Human Sphere - they have the biggest population, the highest level of technology and the closest ties to Aleph, the computer AI that governs much of Human space. Originating from the Pacific Rim countries including Australia and New Zealand, they are a mixing pot of cultures from Maori Croc-Man scouts to Christian Knightly Orders. The main Sectorial Armies within PanOceania come from the industrial planet of Aconticimeno, PanOceania's capital planet of Neoterra, the aquatic planet of Varuna and the reborn Military Orders of the Catholic Church.
On the Table PanOceania can be the most straightforward faction lacking some of the sneaky tricks of factions like the Nomads, but they make up for this with accurate shooting and some of the best equipment of the Sphere. They have the best Human access to Thermo-Optic camo, TAGs and other high-level equipment. The Military Orders can (in larger games) field entire forces of powered armour Heavy Infantry Knights that balance close combat prowess with good shooting abilities and are a popular starting point for Marine players looking at Infinity.
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The second largest of the powers, Yu Jing is an uneasily reborn Chinese empire that has swallowed East Asia and surrounding lands including Japan. Yu Jing are constantly trying to beat PanOceania where they can, seeing themselves as the natural inheritors of the Human Sphere. Both Yu Jing and PanO have colonies on the PanO-discovered planet of Paradiso, leading to further tension between these superpowers. Divisions within Yu Jing include the Imperial Service, fanatically loyal to the StateEmpire - and the Japanese. Japan's annexation by Yu Jing was very unpopular and there are still protest groups working undercover both in public and military circles, possibly supported clandestinely by PanOceania...
On the Table Yu Jing have access to a wide variety of powered armour Heavy Infantry, Ninjas protected by TO Camo and wielding the much-feared monofilament sword, the Akira-inspired Aragoto Senkenbutai motorbikes and even transforming robots. The Imperial Service also bring brainwashed cannon-fodder. Although Yu Jing have more close combat 'specialists' than most other factions they are perfectly capable of long-range firefights.
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Frothing Caledonians wielding claymores, slavering wolf men and man-portable Autocannon - what is there not to love about Ariadna? Ariadna was the 'lost colony', given up for dead when their early explorations of wormhole travel ended up with the first ship on the wrong side of a closed wormhole. Manned by Scots, English, French, Russian and North American colonists, the ship included Kossack and US regiments. The colony soon found itself in conflict with the indigenous semi-intelligent population and struggled to survive without backup. As a result, Ariadnan forces have the lowest level of technology within the Human Sphere, roughly equivalent to present day military forces with a few areas of higher tech and a few areas of lower tech. Not long after the various nationalities among the original colonists had finally made peace, the planet Dawn was rediscovered by ships from PanOceania and Yu Jing. The Ariadnans were not friendly to the newcomers, still feeling betrayed and abandoned by Earth after all these years. This wasn't helped by the rush by PanOceania, Yu Jing and many of the big corporations to colonise and exploit the planet, leading to the free-for-all of the Ariadnan Commercial Conflicts, all-out war in everything but name. Although O-12 ended the conflicts, Ariadna holds a well-deserved suspicion towards the Human Sphere, PanOceania and Yu Jing in particular. Within Ariadna, the main subfactions are the Cossack-descended Kazaks, the strongly Scottish Caledonians, the French-Belgian Merovingians and the USariadnans. Most of whom don't really get on with each other...
On the Table Ariadna have a technological handicap compared to the other factions with no Remotes, powered armour or TAGs but easily make up for it with cheap reliable troops, lots of camouflaged troops (including the SAS) and absurdly large guns. They don't have any Hackers but generally get around this by hacking at the enemy with big swords or shooting them with armour piercing explosive ammo. Oh, did I mention Werewolves/Dog Warriors?
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Haqqislam is, literally, the 'New Islam', a distant descendant of modern Islam that rejected religious fundamentalism and bought in a new era of enlightened humanism and exploration of art and science. Living on the mostly desert planet of Bourak, Haqqislam are consummate experts of the life sciences, with a strong interest in all forms of commerce. Haqqislamite caravanseries exist all across the Human Sphere, often constructed by the Nomad nation, giving Haqqislam wide contacts with all factions but also with pirates and corsairs, leading some factions to distrust them. The Hassassin Bahram, merciless killers and assassins of the Haqqislamite Intelligence Service form a Sectorial within Haqqislam, as does the Qapu Khalki, the military force which protects the caravanseries, Bourak's orbital elevator and the Silk Route. Through their extensive contacts, Qapu Khalki forces often include Nomads and corsairs.
On the Table Haqqislam have access to a huge variety of disciplined light infantry, doctors, regenerating troops, the feared Hassassins, Taureg scouts and more. A lot of the Haqqilam units are specialists in some form or another. They have limited access to high-level tech such as TO Camo and TAGs compared to PanoOceania or Yu Jing. Hassassin forces are worth a special mention for multiple models that can impersonate the enemy and sneak into their deployment zone and for ready access to Viral Ammo.
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The Nomad nation is a collection of outcasts and the unwanted, travelling on three huge spaceships, constantly battling the overt and covert attentions of the AI ALEPH. Surviving the attentions of the other great powers thanks to their seat as a nation on the O-12 board (the successor to the UN) and their excellent hacking and spacemanship skills, the Nomads are fiercely independent. Their sworn enemy is ALEPH which the Nomads believe is intent on enslaving mankind with a side-order of loathing for PanOceania who are seen as puppets of ALEPH. Tunguska is the money-broker ship with a specialisation in hacking and cryptography to help protect it's status as a money haven/money-laundering operation, providing the Hacking strengths of the Nomads. Corregidor was originally a prison ship and later a convenient dumping ground for refugees. Bakunin is a social maelstrom of anything-goes experimentation and social misfits, the outsider's outsiders.
On the Table Nomad forces tend towards sneakiness and hackers, diasabling robots and powered infantry via electronic warfare, appearing out of nowhere with an antipersonel mine or grenade ready to hand and generally making the enemy's life hell, sometimes with the help of an explosive Crazy Koala - a mine on legs with a cute face. Favoured sneaky tricks also include marking you from outside line of sight and then dropping a guided missile in your lap.
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The ancient Evolved Intelligence has sent a scouting force of it's subject races to have a look at this upstart species called 'Humanity'. This 'scouting force' has fought Humanity to a near standstill on the planet Paradiso which does not bode well for Humanity's future. Eventually, the EI is going to decide between annexation or annihilation... As far as the Infinity background has 'bad guys', the forces of the EI are about as close as you get to full-on bad guys, although obviously not from their own point of view... The Morat race are consummate Shock Troops, reminiscent of Klingons in their martial culture but without the Klingon's redeeming sense of fair play. Morats never run away and tend to take a direct approach to warfare. Shasvastii on the other hand are sneaky gits who will do what they can to avoid direct confrontation in a fair fight, depending on lots of camoflague. Their primary motivation is the survival of the remnants of their race. Exrah are exo-skeleton insect-like warriors with limited flight abilites. They don't (yet?) have the same breadth of units/model and background as the Morats or Shasvastii.
On the Table The Combined Army tends toward smaller more elite forces than most of the other factions as many of their models are expensive in points. This can put them at a disadvantage in maneuverability, especially in lower point games. The combination of Morat shock troops and Shasvastii skirmishers gives the CA a very flexible force which can include a whole bunch of units and equipment with no direct equivalents in other factions due to the much higher technology level of the EI.
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Introduced in the Human Sphere expansion book, the Special Sitations Section is the direct action arm of the AI, with even higher technology than PanOceania. With Ghost in the Shell-like combat cyborgs, post-human characters that can jump from body to body plus the fearsome resurectee Achilles, they are the elite of the elite. With ALEPH being the only entity in the Human Sphere to really grasp the threat of the Evolved Intelligence, their natural opponents are the Combined Army although the SSS is also beleived by some to have been involved in a series of clandestine missions against the Nomads who oppose ALEPH and illegally create their own AIs. As the newest faction in the game, they do not have any Sectorials at this point.
On the Table Aleph forces tend to suffer the same problems of low model count that the Combined Army do. However their models often have good surviviability needing at least two hits to take down. As the highest technology faction of Humanity they have good access to equipment such as TO Camo and monofilament mines.
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Rather than being afull-blown faction of their own, Infinity mercenaries form a pool of units that all the factions have access to. Players can also make up mercenary forces incorporating a mix of mercenary units and units from up to three of the main factions.
On the Table Mercenary forces aren't seen often as they are not legal in tournament play, lacking the internal balance of the main factions.
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Summary So that's an overview of the different factions within the Infinity background, future articles will cover assorted playstyles in more detail and discuss which factions are strongest at which playstyle.
Ian
P.S. You can see a timeline for the Human Sphere on the Infinity wiki and can read unit-specific background on Corvus Belli's official Infinity site, click on one of the factions and then on the unit thumbnails. |
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