Slippery Fish
Okay. So, I’ve discovered a new Infinity practice methodology–playing multiple people at the same time. I’ve wanted to do this for awhile for the following reasons:
- More Games – I play pretty quickly, so playing two games won’t double the time it takes. In other words, if it takes me 90-120 minutes to play one game, I think I can do two in 120-150 minutes. I have less time in front of each table, and my opponents have more time to think and plan so they can plan a few orders ahead and thus the game ends up moving along pretty quickly.
- More Armies – Being able to play multiple games means I can play different armies and face different armies–experience is important.
- Time Pressure – I’m under more time pressure, and my opponents are weirdly under less. At least they perceive being under less pressure since I’m not “waiting” for them, they’re waiting for me. This means presumably they can plan better, think longer, investigate more lines of play, etc.
- Working Memory – I’m taxed pretty significantly here, this is where the 2x cost comes in. I have to keep track of two games, two plans, two opponents, and a minor combinatorial explosion of possible lines of play that sometimes get mixed between games.
This really isn’t much different than chess players engaging in multiple games simultaneously, but there is one pretty significant downside. Unlike chess, Infinity typically is not played with a chess clock, and because of the ARO mechanic it’s hard to be fair when keeping track of time. There’s just not a mechanic to “lose the game” based on the clock, so my opponents are just stuck waiting for me.
Thankfully, these are all my friends and they’re having a beer at the LGS while hanging out, so they’re okay with it. I will say that I am incredibly thankful to my two opponents Erik (Zelaponeepus) and Than (zagdag) for engaging in this exercise with me. They absolutely had to wait for me, and help me manage stuff like moving my models on their side of the table, etc. Bottom line, I think this was an incredibly useful and rewarding experience for me, but it can definitely make it less fun for my opponent. So if you’re going to try this, make sure your opponents are cool with it and buy them a beer or something as way of thanks.
This is actually not the first time I’ve done this–I played a previous game of Infinity and Heavy Gear at the same time, you can see the Infinity battle report here:
I was planning on writing up the Heavy Gear report but I don’t think it was a particularly compelling game and I find I enjoy writing up games for Heavy Gear much less than I do Infinity (and even then it’s hard to get me to do this for Infinity). On that note, I really appreciate those of you who comment on social media that you enjoy these reports–I write these primarily for my own improvement, but it really helps keep me motivated and engaged in the process to know that people enjoy reading these and more importantly are getting something out of them beyond just enjoyment.
This game was against Erik (Zelaponeepus) on Than (zagdag)’s Haqq base table, which is always a treat.
Overview
We were practicing for an upcoming tournament, hence Highly Classified.
- Mission: ITS14 Highly Classified
- Capture
- Mapping
- Rescue
- Sabotage
- Forces: Yu Jing versus Shasvastii Expeditionary Force (300)
- Yu Jing: In Extremis Recovery
- Shas: HVT: Identity Check
- Deploy First: Shas
- First Turn: Shas
I’m straight up playing the same list as last game:
I generally try to play the same list twice to really make sure I want to make changes (unless there’s a very obvious and compelling improvement to the list). In this particular case I did just swap the Beasthunter and Libertos in terms of order pools.
Highly Classified v3
GROUP 1
7
1
GROUP 2
DÀOFĚI (Lieutenant) Spitfire, D-Charges / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 55)
GŬILÁNG (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 30)
MAJOR LUNAH VIRAL Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 29)
NINJA (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow ( ) / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 29)
WÈIBĪNG Yaókòng Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 15)
PHEASANT IMPERIAL AGENT (Minelayer) Boarding Shotgun, E/Mitter, Madtraps / Breaker Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 27)
BEASTHUNTERS (Surprise Attack [-3], Camouflage, Forward Deployment [+8″]) Heavy Flamethrower, Panzerfaust, AP Mines / EXP CC Weapon(+1B), Pistol. (0 | 17)
3
CELESTIAL GUARD Monitor Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenade Launcher / CC Weapon, Pistol. (0.5 | 13)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 5)
ZHANSHI (Infinity Spec-Ops) [i](Holomask, Minelayer(Shock Mines), Doctor, Engineer)[/i] Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
LÉI GŌNG Shock Marksman Rifle, Nanopulser, Blitzen / Breaker Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 34)
LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 8)
5 SWC | 299 Points | Open in Army | Copy Code
Erik is trying to figure out Shasvastii, and he’s got a variant of his last list, with (thankfully) less Q-Drones:
Erik (Zelaponeepus)
GROUP 1
MENTOR (Lieutenant) Shock Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
SHROUDED (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 27)
SEED-SOLDIER (Paramedic) Combi Rifle, Panzerfaust ( | MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
CALIBAN (Multispectral Visor L1) Spitfire, D-Charges ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 38)
GWAILO (Multispectral Visor L2) Heavy Rocket Launcher ( ) / Breaker Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 43)
M-DRONE FTO (Nanoscreen) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 22)
GROUP 2
SPECULO KILLER (Minelayer) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades, Shock Mines / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon. (1.5 | 34)
TAIGHA Chain-colt / AP + Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 6)
5 SWC | 299 Points | Open in Army | Copy Code
He’s still got a Speculo minelayer and the Gwailo/M-Drone Haris. His midfield is significantly nastier thanks to the double Caliban, which means I’ll have my work cut out for me.
Deployment
I win the rolloff in this game and the other one against Than (zagdag) so I choose deployment for both so I can guarantee that I’m going to be on the same side of the table for both games!
Erik puts both Caliban quite far forward in the midfield protecting his HVT (near the Caliban Spitfire), scatters Taigha everywhere, and stacks his Gwailo link up in the back right of his deployment zone.
A pair of Seed Soldiers and the Shrouded complete the midfield. I screen Lunah and the Celestial Guard controller with a Libertos, and then sprinkle Kuang Shi everywhere. Of note, I put the SpecOps pretending to be a Kuang Shi in the middle with its mine out to ARO as it were Lunah. The Weibing are also out to ARO in case I need to discover something. The Beasthunter is on a roof to keep it safe.
The Guilang and Daofei are just outside my deployment zone, prone. I could have them further forward but I have no interest in feeding them to the Caliban. The Pheasant is all the way on the right with a MadTrap nearby. Erik puts his Speculo down on my left with a mine, and then I put Lei Gong down to ARO the world–specifically the Gwailo!
Turn 1
Top of 1 – Shasvastii
Let’s get started!
I dock one order from Erik’s main pool. After the Taigha advance where they can, Erik starts moving the Gwailo around. He first takes out the Weibing on my left…
then shifts to the his left to take out the other Weibing.
This is very bad, as that’s 4 orders gone, effectively. I think this is a classic example of forcing a non-null deployment due to scary camo and Taigha, and then punishing it with an active turn gun. I think I probably could have done a better job of deployment if I had more mental bandwidth, but I was trying to get both games going simultaneously and didn’t want to overly delay.
I could have spent more time carefully setting up the Weibing, but I don’t necessarily think that the deployment zone really afforded me the opportunity to do so. After failing to discover the Libertos with the MSV1 Caliban, Erik has the Engineer Caliban gets Sabotage. Both Caliban retreat and recamo.
I have a brief bit of extreme pucker factor when the Gwailo attempts a discover (and fails) on Lunah. Erik then sets up his Gwailo link in the midfield and that’s the turn.
Bottom of 1 – Yu Jing
My goal for this turn is to do some damage and take out some specialists. I can’t let Erik just run a Caliban around the board on his next turn, that has to go. If I can tackle the Gwailo that’s great too. I don’t really have a hope of getting Rescue or Capture right now, those are turn 3 things, and I don’t want to over-extend anything to get Sabotage or Mapping, so murder it is.
Lei Gong is perfect for the task at hand–killing both Caliban. Lei Gong rolls in and discover-shoots the Caliban Engineer, tanking the return Pulzar template.
I then push forward and do the same to the MSV1 Caliban, beating the dodge and taking it out.
I can see the Shrouded nearby, so I attempt a discover-shoot there with pistols to get the +3 BS from being within 8″ instead of the -3 from the shock marksman. This fails, and this is the last order I’ve got on Lei Gong. I had hoped to just throw him into suppression, but I’ll just rely on him being awesome. Hopefully it goes okay!
I decide to get the Beasthunter into base to base with the Gwailo and take it out. This is pretty efficient since I can jump onto the rocky hill that the Gwailo is hiding being from the building I started on. Unfortunately, I get discovered on the way by a Seed Soldier. I decide to just attempt a flamethrower instead since I don’t have the movement to get into base to base anymore safely. Unfortunately everything dodges the flamethrower hit even at a -3 in some cases, and the Seed Soldier tags the Beasthunter with a panzerfaust, killing it.
The Taigha do break cover to threaten berserks on Lei Gong on Erik’s turn, so I use the Daofei’s lieutenant order and split burst with its spitfire, taking both Taigha out.
I reveal my Ninja KHD and Trinity the Shrouded that Lei Gong revealed…
and coordinate the Ninja and Daofei back into camo.
That really wasn’t a bad turn for me!
Turn 2
Top of 2 – Shasvastii
Erik is in a bit of a tough spot, but he’s good at fighting his way out of those.
After the remaining Taigha move up, first order of business is taking on Lei Gong. I’ve already written him off, but hopefully it’ll take a few orders. I get hit on the first attempt from the nearby M-Drone, passing ARM and going prone.
Erik keeps pushing the Taigha on my left, dodging past the Libertos’ mine. I dodge the Liberto towards the Taigha in an attempt to delay it…
but this turns out to be a bad idea as it grants a template onto Lunah, killing her. The Liberto templates back, KOing the Taigha and passing its save, which is at least some small consolation.
Erik moves the other M-Drone into a spot where it can see Lei Gong and dumps enough orders into to finish poor old Lei Gong off.
Losing Lunah really sucks, but at least I stalled Erik out in the midfield. My Daofei gets discovered, but I just dodge it behind total cover, then the turn’s over.
Bottom of 2 – Yu Jing
I decide to get my Weibing on the right back up with my SpecOps. This doesn’t get me Test Run since it’s not an actual classified this game, but it will become very relevant later.
I pour some fire into one of the M-Drones with the Daofei and I finally drop it.
This also allows me to get In Extremis Recovery off off the downed Taigha that took out Lunah.
I sneak the KHD Ninja all the way into Erik’s deployment zone and grab Mapping, then I’ve gotta pass turn.
Turn 3
Top of 3 – Shasvastii
The Gwailo shifts around the corner and takes out the Libertos, finally.
However, on its way to get HVT: Identity Check, I succesfully flash pulse it with my repaired Weibing! This was huge.
Erik shifts the the Speculo forward to get Capture off of Lunah…
and shifts the Forward Observer Seed Soldier forward to get Mapping.
The Mentor scoots forward and sets up for Rescue on the downed M-Drone.
Bottom of 3 – Yu Jing
I take a lesson from my last game against James and think very carefully about my turn. It’s also worth pointing out that the other game against Than has concluded, so I can now focus my complete attention on this game with Erik.
I have Mapping and my secondary classified. Erik is set up for Capture and Rescue, and I only have Mapping. To win, I need to deny him either Capture or Rescue, get one of those myself, and get Sabotage. A tall order. Fortunately, Kuang Shi are expendable and are very good at killing stuff. My first impetuous order takes out the Seed Soldier.
The second one fires on the Speculo with its pistol but fails to take it down.
One more order worth of pistol shots makes it happen.
I budget enough orders for Sabotage with the Daofei, and discover I have enough to potentially get Capture off of the Gwailo if I can beat it down in close combat with the Ninja. I tacbow on my way in, but the Gwailo crit pistols the Ninja and finishes her off.
I spend the budgeted orders and get Sabotage with the Daofei. The Gwailo whiffs on its HRL shot, not that it matters.
I need to force the Seed Soldier down, so I try to Triagulated Fire it with my Weibing. It passes ARM and stays put.
I try with the SpecOps and get my poor SpecOps shot unconscious for my trouble. Then I try with the Guilang and finally succeed in shifting the Seed Soldier out of LoF.
That’s enough for me to get a Kuang Shi in there and get Rescue, and that’s game.
8-5, 140-115 Yu Jing Victory!
Post Game Analysis
I was pretty happy with this game. Lei Gong finally did the job I brought him to do, which was to bully MSV units on the first turn and help me zone the table against them in reactive. Playing this game also gave me more confidence and practice in using the Daofei. I think I gave up a little bit on using the Guilang, and it’s actually a very good unit to take on things like the Seed Soldiers and the like. I probably should have spent more orders on the Guilang to try and pick on the Seed Soldiers and keep the Beasthunter in reserve to attack at the bottom of 2.
I got pretty excited to land a flamethrower template on all of Erik’s stuff, and I guess it’s pretty statistically unlikely for everything to have made its dodge. I could complain about how I should have deployed better somehow, but honestly I’m not entirely sure there were significant improvements. Yes, small adjustments, but Erik is getting a lot of mileage out of his Gwailo lately, and I can’t just null deploy into a field of Taigha and Caliban. In some ways, leaving the Weibing out was the best possible ARO, because while they’re going to die, they are very difficult to take off the table, and I have an engineer on the table. It’s also very convenient to answer the question “do you have any engineers?” to which I can truthfully respond “not that you see.”
With regards to this being a multi-game, i.e. I was playing Than at the same time as playing this game versus Erik, I think I did pretty okay. I think the key to my success was identifying a plan of action and then sticking to it. Having the additional pressure really forced me to make a reasonable plan and put some thought into it. Moreover, having to context switch between games also forced me to pause and re-evaluate priorities, like I did at the bottom of turn 3. That I think is the hardest thing for me to do–check my emotions, train of thought, what-have-you and re-assess where I am. I think it’s been harder for me lately due to factors outside of gaming leading to stress and lack of sleep–nothing special or alarming, just an increase in the demands of adulting over the past year and a half or so.
We’ll see in the game versus Than that I had some problems with identifying and executing on a plan. I needed to stop and reformulate a plan there, and I chose the wrong option. That was definitely a big problem for me there, and I think it was entirely because Erik had me under a lot of pressure at the top of three with both the Seed Soldier and Speculo making a concerted push.
Regarding the game itself in isolation, I talked a little about how happy I was with Lei Gong, but I also have to mention the slippery fish itself, the Libertos. It’s not clear from the battle report just how many orders Erik sunk into removing it. Oftentimes I condense 2-3 maybe even 4 orders of trying something into a single photo/statement just for brevity. I try to call out the effects of that sort of order expenditure on the game, but I don’t always succeed. The Libertos staying up for so long really kept the Speculo at bay, which I appreciated immensely.
I want to again thank Erik and Than for agreeing to play games like this. It’s definitely an ask of them to have them wait for me to respond, and I really can’t underscore how awesome they are for being so patient and allowing me to be so ridiculous. I really enjoyed the experience and will happily do it any opportunity I get. Thanks for reading!
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