As a new comer to Infinity I have been keeping things simple for myself playing with a vanilla Panoceanic force. For two reasons really:

1, only playing with painted models, which as you can see from this blog is a slow process for me 😉

2, as I have been using a limited set of models it has kept learning the game rules pretty straight forward. As the number of special rules interactions has been kept to a minimum.

Now I have gained some confidence with the basic rules I am looking to expand out from vanilla Pano lists, and I am itching to paint some of the other gorgeous models in the Infinity range. The most obvious way to do this is to pick a Sectorial Army to play. This gives a limited set of models to pick from (for collecting purposes 😉 )and introduces the link team rules.

One of the Infinity related podcasts I listen to, Mayacast, has just finished a series of episodes covering the link teams available to each Sectorial list.

As there are quite a few Sectorial lists and hence a large number of different link teams I thought I’d  post up the timestamps for each Sectorial in each episode in case others are interested in listening to the Sectorial list of their choice.

In amongst the time stamps for each Sectorial i have also added individual unit time stamps for Sectorials i have an interest in. Along with a brief summary of what Mayacast’s opinions were of that unit. Their comments were mostly made in relation to ITS 2015, and were based on the N2 link team rules.

Mayacast Episode #65

• 0:20:32 – Link Team Rules overview

Aleph

• 0:57:27   Steel Phalanx

Tohaa

• 1:13:48  Talking about Tohaa Triads.

Mayacast Episode #66

Panoceania

• 0:19:57   Neoterran Capitaline Army
  • 0:20:16 Fusiliers;  a good defensive link with cheap heavy fire power. Hmg, missile launcher. Already good non-link ARO options.
    • Mayacast’s example of a cheap, mobile, specialist,Fusilier Link Team on Army 5.
  • 0:25:16 Neoterra Bolts; they  can do a defensive link but at almost double the cost for the same Fusilier defensive link, its not worth it. However Bolts ignore Retreat and Isolated states. Offensive objective grabbing link, not really a defensive group. Weapons of note: Light Shotguns galore, Drop Bears, E/M grenades.
    • Mayacast’s example of an offensive objective grabbing Bolt Link Team on Army 5.                                                                                           
  • 0:30:45 Fusilier Indigo Bipanda;  a WIP 13 specialist that can be part of a Fusilier link. But she costs SWC. Mayacast answered a listener email about her in a previous episode (if any one knows which one i’ll update this post).
• 0:31:50 Military Orders
• 1:01:31  Shock Army of Acontecimento

Yu Jing

• 1:11:40  Imperial Service
• 1:32:15  Japanese Sectorial Army

Mayacast Episode #67

Ariadna

• 0:16:30  Force de Réponse Rapide Merovingienne
• 0:35:34   USAriadna Ranger Force
  • 0:36:16 Grunts; a good defensive link that has specialist options. However there are a lot of specialist options already available in other models available in the Sectorial. So go for a full on shooty offensive link, for example 2x Sniper, HMG, Flamer, Rifle. Just the basic entry level Grunts themselves have a good profile for their cost, the high armour on such cheap troops makes them survivable.
  • 0:40:28 Marauders, 5307th Ranger Unit; these guys have Forward Deployment, V-Dogged, Stealth, Jungle Terrain, and a decent Ballistic Skill of 13. However their only specialist option is a Paramedic. There is also an option for a Haris link team. Forward Deployment helps mitigate the 4-2 speed. V-Dogged is a little bit anti-synergistic for a linkable model as using this skill kicks the model from the link. For a 4 or 5 man link team, it could be more beneficial to go unconscious and then use a paramedic on the model allowing it to return to the link. However for a link team of 3 models going unconscious would also break the link team at which point the choice becomes more based on the game situation. The Sniper Rifle and the Heavy Rocket Launcher have MSV1, which is great for the technologically starved Ariadna.
    • Bringing the big guns , a defensive link team could look this. Open in Army 5. 
    • An objective grabbing team could look like the following. Open in Army 5. 
    • A good option for the Haris link – Mayacast’s “Hairy Molotok” – which would be a cheap objective grabbing team with some good hitting power. Open in Army 5. 
    • A more expensive option to make an effective defensive Haris link. Open in Army 5.
    • May as well used V-Dogged in a Haris link, as the link would be broken anyway by the first member of teh link team going unconscious.
  • 0:45:58 5th Minutemen ‘Ohio’; at first glance the Marauders seem to be the superior choice having better WIP for those objectives. However the Minutemen have  4-4 move, and have access to AP ammo & Missile Launchers. Most of the profiles have 2 light flamers. They are also Non-hackable, Shock Immune, have Multiterrain and Kinematika L1. There is only one specialist option of Forward Observer, but there are lots of those already available in USARF. The heavy firepower and vast amount of templates make this link a good choice for missions where you are going to get close with the enemy and need to kill models to win, such as Quad Control or Biotechvore.
    • TAG = no problem, for the Minutemen. Open in Army 5.
  • Mayacast rated the USARF link teams as follows:
    1. Grunts (defensive link)
    2. Marauders (Hairy molotok – the cheap objective grabbing Haris link)
    3. Minutemen (mission dependant)
• 0:51:24  Caledonian Highlander Army

Haqqislam

• 1:14:58  Qapu Khalqi
• 1:36:13  Hassassin Bahram

Mayacast Episode #68

Nomads

• 0:12:41   Jurisdictional Command of Corregidor.
• 0:42:28 Jurisdictional Command of Bakunin.

Combined Army

• 1:02:56 Shasvastii Expeditionary Force
• 1:16:28 Morat Aggression Force
  • 1:18:23 Morat Rule; a discussion about this special skill and how it effects link team rules. Ignoring the effects of Loss of Lieutenant, Retreat and the Isolated state.
  • 1:19:44 Vanguard Infantry; this is the basic infantry of the MAF, stat-wise there is nothing special about them, its the Morat Rule that makes them expensive. They have a number of specialist options – Hacker, Paramedic and Forward Observer. They are one of only 2 FO option available in the Sectorial, the other being the M-Drone. They are also the only source of a regular EI Hacking Device.  which you don’t want to link if you want to use Supportwear on REMs.
    • Defensive link 1, mixing the ARO capabilities of a sniper rifle with the offensive capabilities of a HMG, open in Army 5.
    • Defensive link 2, swapping out the HMG for a missile launcher and adding a FO for a specialist. Open in Army 5.
    • Defensive link 3, totally defensive with 2 missile launchers and no specialists. Open in Army 5.
    • Objective grabbing link, with 4 specialists and a HMG for offense, open in Army 5.
    • A couple of models are more suited to not being taken as part of a link team.
      • Hacker – if you want to use Supportware then your Hacker is not going to be part of a link team.
      • Light grenade launcher – if you use Speculative Fire then you’ll be out of the link team.
  • 1:23:37 Treitak Anyat; she is armed with a K1 Combi Rifle, Chain Colt, Smoke and EM grenades. She has Climbing Plus and is a Specialist. An example of including her in a link team would be to take the objective grabbing link above and replace the HMG with Anyat. It becomes a team of 5 specialists and doesnt sacrifice that much hitting power because of the K1 ammo. It also saves SWC for more toys elsewhere in the list. Open in Army 5.              
  •  1:25:03 Rodok, Morat Armed Imposition Detachment; “whooboy!” these Morat’s have the special skills Super Jump and Mimetism. These make the Rodoks mobile and help to stack the face to face roll’s odds in your favour. They have Hacker and Paramedic specialist options. They also have access to some good weapons with mines and dual light shot guns. So they are capable of both grabbing objectives and denying access to them with mines.
    • Mayacast’s go to Rodok link team, plenty of specailists for grabbing objectives, HMG for long range offensive fire power and lots of light shot gun templates for close up fire fights. Open in Army 5.       
  • 1:32:21 Yaogat Strike Infantry; medium infantry equipped with MSV2 as standard, but there are no specialists options  available.  The 5 Morat link is expensive for no ability to achieve objectives, however a 3 Morat link can make a good defensive option.
    • The full defensive link comes in at over half your army cost, and you haven’t brought a specialist yet. Open in Army 5.
    • Defensive 3 Morat link team, Open in Army 5. 
    • Offensive 5 Morat link utilising the Spitfire for offence and Panzerfausts for armoured targets. Open in Army 5.
  • 1:35:50 Suryats, Morat Assault Heavy Infantry; being heavy infantry they are survivable with high Arm and 2 wounds. However there are no specialist options and so are firepower link only. They are Expensive! Prohibitively expensive, if you take a full link in 300 points you’ll struggle to fit in the required specialists for ITS into the remaining points.
    • Weighing in at over 2/3rds of you standard army cost is this full link of offensive Morats. Open in Army 5.
  • 1:39:30 Raktorak, Morat Sergeant Major; a cheap way to get a full Suryat link, saving you 17 points over the cheapest Suryat but he’s not as survivable. Comes armed with either a Vulcan Shotgun or a Combi Rifle + Heavy Flame Thrower.
    • Save 17 points on the above link by swapping out a Suryat for the Raktorak. Open in Army 5.
  • 1:40:47 Kornak Gazarot, Superior Warrior-Officer; medium infantry stats but with 4-4 move, No Wound Incapacitation, and with Strategos Level 1, why would you not have him as your Lieutenant? He can be added to either a Suryats or Sorgorat link team. His cost is similar to a Suryat so doesn’t really make them more affordable, but he is cheaper than a Sorgorat and so makes affording a Sorgorat link team easier.
    • A 4 man Suryat based link using a Raktorak and Kornak. Open in Army 5.
  • 1:42:28 Sorgorat Tempest Regiment; heavy infantry at Arm 6 and 2 wounds, they are very survivable. Doubly so with an AutoMediKit and PH15, which gives them a 75% chance or recovering from unconscious. They are expensive and can never achieve a 5 man team because of their AVA. They are good for use in scoring missions such as Frontline or Quadrant Control, because they have a high cost and can survive a fair bit of punishment.
    • Basic 3 Morat link of Kornak and 2 Sorgorats. Open in Army 5.
  • 1:44:49 Daturatzi Witch Soldiers;  extreme impetuousness is cancelled when linked and because of that they can benefit from cover. They also have Mimetism making the harder to hit, and are close combat monsters with Martial Arts Level 4. They come with Smoke grenades and they PH 14 so they are succeeding their Special Dodge Smoke rolls on 17s. The Combi Rifle version is too expensive but does give you access to a DA CCW. The most desirable option is the Chain Rifle, as it is the cheapest, but it also comes with normal grenades as well as smoke grenades. There is a Smoke Light Grenade Launcher option but they are better off throwing smoke than using the launcher, which also costs SWC. This link team is good for moving up and then breaking link to let the Impetuous models go wild the following turn. Once in close combat they are better out of link anyway because of how support bonuses work.
    • 5 Morat link “The Missile”, nice and cheap. Open in Army 5.
  • 1:48:50 Oznat, Morat Hunting Regiment; the Hungries Control Device allows the Oznat to form a link team with Hungries. The Oznat herself is Impetuous, while the Hungries are Extremely Impetuous, but whilst linked they are all Regular and can benefit from cover. The Oznat has recently had a second profile added with a Vulcan Shotgun, Smoke Grenades, & DA CCW. This costs the same as the older profile with Combi Rifle and Light Smoke Grenade Launcher, with a Shock CCW. The PH of the model is better than the BS, so is more effective at dodging using smoke grenades than the launcher. The DA CCW is also more desirable, so there s little reason to pick the older profile over the newer one. When using a link of Hungries you should be mindful of the difference in speeds between the Oznat and the Hungries. So that you dont end up breaking the link by moving outside the link leader’s ZoC with the faster models.
    • A full link is really cheap, really cheap. Open in Army 5.
    • So cheap you can afford to create a 2 link, 15 man/ape/alien list. Open in Army 5.
  • Mayacast rated the Morat link teams in the following order:
    1. Rodok
    2. Daturatzi
    3. Oznat with Hungries
    4. Sorgorats (2+ Kornak)
    5. Vanguard
    6. Yoagats (because there are no specialists)
    7. Suryrats (because they are too expensive for 300 ITS lists, and no specialists)

I got to say thanks to Tom and Kip of Mayacast for putting together these episodes, they’ve put a massive amount of work into it which i have only just appreciated really after trying to summarise a small portion of their work above.

Now all that remains for me is to decide which Sectorial I am going to expand into. As a Pano player I like the Neoterra Capitaline Army and could use some of my painted models in that force. However I also own the US Ariadna army pack and could easily go down that route. Finally I really really like the look of the Morat models and have bought a few so could really go that way as well.

Choices. Choices.

I am edging towards Morats! I foresee some Angry Red Apes in my future.