Infinity Mission Focus: Biotechvore

Welcome to another episode of this series focusing on Infinity Missions. After the delicate extraction operation of Rescue, we now face a legendary mission which will stress both players and troopers: Biotechvore.

In this mission, players compete to accomplish more Classified Objectives and killing more enemies while a deadly plague invades the map from all sides.

Skills, weapons and equipment 

🎯 Marksmanship: your opponent will likely use every short skill order to make their trooper march forward, away from the dangers of the biotechvore. Terrain won't always be by their side but when cover will be available, make sure to bring some aces up your sleeve. REM snipers like the MULTI Sniper Rifle Dakini or the Plasma sniper rifle Unidron Batdroid are always scary, but here they really make the best out of their EVO hacking device combo. 

Picture by @InglebyJim: Blue Wolf and Yáoxiè Rui Shi make a great duo for this mission: for 2,5 SWC and 94 points you get a fast TAG killer who'll bring flamethrowers to the center in the blink of an eye and a MSV L2 hugging the antenna for the sake of its comrades.

🧊 Albedo: since the map gets smaller and smaller, everyone with a smoke granade will show up in this mission, increasing the number of troopers with Multispectral Visor invited to the party. Since you can't really afford to waste orders throwing eclipse grandes or running white noises around, I strongly recommend bringing your albedo-covered troopers. 

☀️ Plasma rifle: make every hit count...twice! Plasma weapons are really Double Actions in disguise. Moreover, the impact template and the possibility of going in suppressive fire mode really pose a threat to those swarming fireteams. 

Picture by Cristian Il Corinzio. The Charontid is Combined Army's breakthrough ram. This beast has a number of different profiles including a WIP 16 (!) hacker born for Classified Objectives.

Behaviours and tactics

🤗 Hug the antenna & quickscope: not much to say here. Since it's not that difficult to wipe out the antenna it's better to pick expendable snipers like a Helot or a Ghoulam. 

Picture by Cristian Il Corinzio. Cheap, fishy and irregular. Helots are the perfect piece for antenna hugging. 

🗣️ To glory! Got an obvious, beefy, big and scary lieutenant you never pick because it's a magnet for enemy fire? It's time to use it! With no retreat and the desperate need of moving everyone to safety, it's not that important if you loose your commander in the process. 

Like, really big and scary lieutenants.

🥠 Counterespionage: there are 3 "crosshair" Classified Objectives that can cancel 4 "white cross" CO. The crossair Objectives all require presence in the enemy half of the table and one of them specifically requires base contact with the HVT so it's no use to go for secure HVT if you've got one of the "white cross" ones. Since you've got 3 COs, my suggestion to manage this variable is to prioritize their execution: "crosshair" first, then normal COs and "white cross" last. 

Final thoughts 

Picture by @ponty_painter. Fast, heavily armored and you're too busy fleeing from the biotechvore to dedicate one of your hackers to it. There may be TAGs like this Szalamandra in this mission: be prepared!

Some players may risk big and go for a superior deploying list despite the negative effects of Confused deployment. To face such a threat, in case you don't have cc-oriented units to match your opponent, you should just take your time, advancing at the pace imposed by the plague. In any case, don't rush your advance but prioritize by weapon range bonuses: there's no need in reaching safety from the biotechvore if that trooper is going to be shot to pieces anyway.

Infinity Mission Focus: Rescue

Welcome to another episode of this series focusing on Infinity Missions. After the trickeries of Unmasking, we now examine the delicate dynamics of a mission where helpless civilians are involved: Rescue.

In this mission, each player must reach and escort to safety four civilians. Points are scored at the end of the game and take into account who has rescued the most.

Skills, weapons and equipment 

❌ Minelayer: despite being pretty useful in every mission where your opponent has to reach stuff on your side of the table, this skill here goes the extra mile since you've got a lot of road to cover to score points so you want to save as many orders as you can. 

🤖 Tinbot: high infantries are indubitably well suited for this mission since their high armor and wound/structure values but they will have to get their hands dirty to reach civilians and bring them back so make sure to cover them with tinbots if you have the chance. 

Picture by @ponty_painter. Tinbots can help you in various ways but the most common configuration is firewall, boosting your defences against comms attacks. Pretty useful even when you're a Mobile Brigada with BTS 3.  

🔫 Shotgun: +6 within 8". Even a light shotgun unit can effectively make the difference when defending, resorting to impact template if it looks like their last ARO. 

Trinitarian by Cristian Il Corinzio. For 1 SWC and 28 points you get an unhackable specialist minelayer with boarding shotgun and various layers of superior deployment: what else?

Behaviours and tactics 

🍾 Building a bottleneck: since civilians are 8" from each other, you may consider useful to mine the space between two civilians in order to deter your opponent from reaching both. In fact, just one mine may be a risk they'd gladly take to have access to two civilians. So let's follow another logic: if we mine the external corridor between the end of the table and the external civilian our opponent would take a mine to have access to one side of one civilian and that's really unlikely. If we do the same on both sides we are reducing the table of our opponent, forcing them in a 24" board that we can control better. Chances to apply this tactic ultimately depend on the table elements, but in general putting low energy constraints to your opponents helps you steer the game where you want.

And when the bottleneck is ready, you just wait for your enemies to show up! Hidden/revealed Swiss Guard by @stefanodrei11

📊 Fireteams: the mission specifies that units in a fireteam cannot sync with civilians. Should that turn you away from fireteams? On the contrary! In fact I suggest having as much as you can to save movement orders. If you have one duo, one haris and one 3-model core you can dedicate one entire fireteam to 3 of the 4 civilians. Since civilians are 8" from each other, it means you'll easily reform fireteams to hold the line while you escort them to safety as long as you have enough wildcards.

Kosmoflot troopers by @mikipaintstudio: Rokots can make an interesting, cheap and effective Rescue core fireteam with access to a set of bloodthirsty wildcards with either Superjump (Volkolak) or Climbing Plus (Cadin "Firststrike" and Wolfgang Amadeus Wolff).

🧗‍♀️Climbing plus & superjump: these skills really cast a new light on maps and players unfamiliar with them may have a hard time chasing enemy troopers with rescued civilians. 

Final thoughts 

Despite all the minelaying tactics we've discussed above, I can guarantee you'll face hidden deployed snipers like this Hexa, a Knauf-based conversion made by Uopo.

To leave or not to leave no man behind?
This mission is somehow similar to Capture and Protect but forces you to spend a lot of orders on movement and each time one of your trooper goes down you must carefully evaluate if spending orders to put them back up or continue with the rescue of another civilian. Therefore, I believe linked paramedics can be as incisive than a doctor with peripherals here, since all armies kinda have linkable paramedic options. This is also a mission where big linkable bots like the Vostok Sputnik or the Rudra Gunbot can shine, despite their inability to sync with civilians.

Infinity Mission Focus: Unmasking

Welcome back to another episode of this series where we inspect the various missions of Infinity The Game. After the fatal equilibrium of Safe Area, we now scrutinize a mission capable of putting in crisis even the most experienced player: Unmasking.

In Unmasking, you and your opponent place three HVTs: two are decoys while the last one is your secret Designated Target. Before you can shoot it down, you have to find it by activating a console and guessing which one is which. 

Skills, weapons and equipment

🗳️ Jammers: despite the nerf that brought them to disposable (2), those are still very effective weapons against hackers and I can assure you there will be lots of them in this mission since they have +3 and B2 for console activation. In case your army doesn't have Jammers, E/M grenades can be an attractive alternative.

With forward deployment and a robust set of defensive skills, Hecklers have several interesting profiles for Unmasking, starting from the 22 points killer hacker to the 23 points with jammer and FastPanda.

💡 Neurocinetics/Total Reaction: sometimes protecting your Designated Target with mines and hidden deployed troops can be ineffective or just drain your order pool. Masters of disguise taught us it may be wise to hide things in plain sight: nothing both deters and taunts your opponent like a trooper in suppressive fire with no range limits.

Sin-Eater by Cristian Il Corinzio. Untamed and armed to the teeth, Bakunin's Sin-Eaters can make every point count if deployed effectively. The 0 SWC, 29 points profile with Mk12 will unleash a storm of bullets over enemies too close to your HVTs at a reasonable price.

🔄 Counterintelligence: this skill is always useful but it really becomes essential in missions like Unmasking where your agenda is full but you still have to navigate in a volatile and uncertain environment.

Táowù by Cristian Il Corinzio. The Aristeia! Mastermind not only provides you the benefits of Counterintelligence but can also lure your opponent in a deadly trap thanks to holomask and his proficiency in cc. 

Behaviours and tactics 

🔓 Open information: deploying and acting like your opponent already knows who is your Designated Target is very straightforward and order effective plus it can ultimately mess with your opponent's strategy. They have to activate a console and guess the HVT anyway, so there's already plenty of stuff to do before guessing it right.  

Not every army has access to cheap hidden deployers and impetuous orders so sometimes you may just follow the simple strategy of superior force.

⚖️The trade: consider leaving completely out of the picture one of the consoles, conceding it to your opponent without too much stress. This tactic works better when you go and deploy first. You opponent may be tempted to lean toward the unguarded console to save orders on his/her first turn, thus lowering the watch on the other two. 

There is no need to introduce the Swiss Guard and its hidden deployment profiles with heavy weapons, which fueled and keeps fueling memes edition after edition.

🤫 The unbalanced trade: act like explained above BUT also add hidden deployed troopers watching for the "unguarded" console. Using an Hac Tao or a Swiss Guard for this task might be an overkill, so look for units like MULTI Sniper Rifle Malignos or Shock Marksman Rifle Lynx. 

Final thoughts 

Picture by @InglebyJim: Armand Le Muet is quite pricey but gives you access to a wide set of tools, making you capable of reacting to ambiguous scenarios. 

Unmasking can be frustrating. Your opponent defines the two most important variables, namely where are the HVTs and who's the Designated Target. This is a major difference with, for example, missions like Mindwipe where the position is set by the rules and the rogue AI location is defined by chance. These factors, added to map variability, tend to demotivate players. Remember that your opponent is in the same situation so leverage on your advantages to get the higher ground. Got a better hacking game? Stay out of LoF. Got better cc? Take your time to smoke/dodge your way to victory. Got better dice rolls? Keep doing whatever you like!

Infinity Mission Focus: Safe Area

Welcome to another episode of this series focusing on Infinity Missions. After the carnage which is Firefight, we look into the compelling mix of ZO domination and specialists relevance: Safe Area.

Skills, weapons and equipment 

🤬 Frenzy: safe area is a mission generally played defensively, since points are made at the end of the game, so you can expect to face big links with snipers well castled within their deployment zone. This is why you may want to have your murder machines with that sweet impetuous order when times are ripe. It can start on turn two, but turn three is the real moment for cc units to shine. 

👯 Holoprojector: since all of the above, having some threatening decoys around can be a big boost to your manouvering capacity. Specialist profiles with holoprojector can make you win games: units like the Tian Gou or the Bashi Bazouk may really be your trump cards. 

The Knight of the Holy Sepulchre was born for this mission. With holoprojector and multi marksman rifle +1B, the specialist profile with chain of command will efficiently hold any console and its ZO.

🌋 Dazer: it is very unusual to mention something available only to a handful of armies in a mission focus but underestimating this equipment can be ruinous. Malignos and Draal saboteurs can be proficient both when attacking and defending, tampering your order efficency with the subtle stratagem of an unexpected difficult terrain area. 

Shrouded by Cristian Il Corinzio: despite not being as relevant or resilient as the Malignos, the Shrouded can still be a pain to deal with for your opponent. The 0,5 SWC, 23 points profile with boarding shotgun, minelayer and Dazer, despite its moderately high cost, can be an interesting choice for this mission. 

Behaviours and tactics 

🗡️🛡️ Sword and shield: aka attacking Haris and defensive Core fireteams. This is a classic formation regardless of the meta you play in and I find it extremely effective in this mission. The best way to preserve it is also the best way to counter it: use the third part of your list, meaning all the units that are not part of those fireteams. Bulleteer, Posthumans and Mary Problems all cover this "third part" role in our Operation Golden Ratio series. 

With either 2 wounds or NWI, any Posthuman proxy profile will allow you to stand tall during your reactive turn with no fear of losing orders.

⛹️‍♀️ Buzzer beater: this tactic is particularly appealing to Haqquislam, Nomads and Ariadna since they have access to cheap parachuting specialists with no SWC cost. Playing with low orders can be tough, but if you wait until the very end of the game you can change everything on turn three. Watch out with a coordinated suppress fire of your advanced troops on turns two and three if your opponent is suspiciously low on orders and you started playing first: they may seize victory right under your nose! 

Picture by u/Stormygeddon: Karakuris may not be everyone's piece of cake, but these STR 3 specialists with two unconscious levels can make a Haris with the ever frenzy Domaru Butai: a deadly combination that works both long range and in close combat 

🃏 Winner, winner, chicken dinner: in this mission, you and your opponent can turn your Classified Objective to either Increase your army points in one Zone of Operations or to make one enemy specialist count as a non-specialist. This is a great strategic boost but you have to declare it before the beginning of the game. I don't like dos and don'ts but if you can't read the situation and you can't make your mind up, always go for the Intelcom card if your opponent did so or you think they will. Moreover, since the "non-specialist" use of the Intelcom card means less points inside a ZO, you could fill the gap by including a Baggage unit in your list, granting you 20 easy additional VPs inside its ZO (especially if you think that the maximum VPs provided by the Intelcom card are 20, assuming you are lucky enough to randomly draw that specific card!). At the same time, keep an eye for enemy units with Baggage if you have to choose first what to declare.

Final thoughts

The Grenzer is a recurring sniper in our games and has proved repeatedly how dangerous they can be against any playstyle, even when not in a 5 trooper fireteam.

Safe area is a call to arms for all those not-hacking specialists profiles with a low SWC cost so there will be a lot of firepower anchored in the deployment zone, ready to jump forward on turn three. You will also face and/or list beefy troopers with specialist profiles, usually put aside in other missions where specific specialists are preferred. About this, please note that a lot of TAG pilots are Specialist Operative. Compared to similar missions like Quadrant Control, where points are made round by round, Safe Area nerfs Forward deployers and Guards unit which are not as effective, so take your time to take them down in case they show up.

Useful links

• Safe Area text battle report by us!

Infinity Mission Focus: Firefight

Welcome to the sixth installment of this series focusing on Infinity Missions. After analyzing the beloved classic which is Acquisition, we dive into a multi faced mission that can be approached in radically different ways: Firefight. 

In this mission you score points killing more specialists, lieutenants and army points than your opponent; acquiring more items from panoplies than your opponent and completing 3 Classified Objectives. 

Skills, weapons and equipment

Rasyat Diplomatic Division by Cristian Il Corinzio: we wrote about this unit when analyzing Mindwipe and you're definitely going to meet it again in Firefight!

⛽ Disposable strikes back: if you're a fan of coordinated mine deployment remember that you can also use a panoply to cancel unloaded states. It's important to do that before succeeding the panoply WIP roll or you won't be able to use it again with the same trooper. Moreover, your opponent may have lowered his/her guard after you've used all your blitzen, sepsitor or panzerfaust: prove them you have more rounds up your sleeve with this simple trick (which is way better than using one entire order on baggage). 

PanOceanian Echo-Bravo Rapid Reaction Unit. This parachuting troop has two interesting specialist profiles with disposables: an hacker with Panzerfaust and (in picture) a paramedic with WildParrot

🌚 Hidden deployment: this mission really push you for some heavy airborne deployment, providing a +3 bonus and the opportunity to reach the enemy deployment zone. Setting up hidden deployed troops to welcome combat jumpers is a good way to break your opponent's nerves.

💂Veteran: this skill is not cheap but is still better than informing your opponent about who to kill next via Chain of Command, it will ultimately save you some precious command tokens. Remember: only the Veteran troop type is useful for Classified Objectives, not the skill!

Behaviours and tactics

Hexa (top center) and other PanOceanian troops by Supermassive Barnowl

🐅🐉 Hidden hacker, crouching camo: since the classified deck has 25% of the objectives that can be completed by hackers, you may definitely want to bring some here. Hackers with parachutist or hidden deployment have a defensive edge that will improve their life span so watch for this kind of units. Once you reveal them they will be on top of your opponents' killing list so troops below 30 points like Ninjas, Hexas or Noctifer are the real deal. My final line here is: lower your revealed specialists to the bare essential (doctor/engineer), make sure they have two peripherals and go for camo specs if you think you need more.

With camouflage, hidden deployment, infiltration, mimetism (-6), surprise attack (-3) and two specialist profiles the Croc Man is an excellent Firefight unit for PanOceania!

🤖 Remote spec. party: this is the occasion for your remote presence specialists to shine. With two levels of unconscious and a few hackers around, these guys can be a real pain for your opponent in this mission even when they're not hackers themselves like Parvati, Dakinis, Betatroopers and Dropsuit Taryots. Just be sure to have enough GizmoKits to bring them out of null state before the end of the game. 

📔 Be ready to change your agenda: you may have an idea of how to take the match home on turn one, based on how you and your opponent have prepared for the mission. This is ok and proves that you've made your due diligence, but victory cares about opportunities and you must be ready to seize them. If you have a specialist oriented list you may still win through army point killing in case you have a lucky reactive turn and, vice versa, you may still have a chance to win by classified even with a super aggressive born-to-kill army. Don't sit on your premises and keep trying to understand what is going on. 

Final thoughts 

Firefight tends to be a very oscillating mission so don't be surprised if things look irrecoverable at the end of turn one. Despite all the midfield elements, there is a high chance the game will be played around deployment zones so watch out for your cheerleaders and consider spending an order on them any now and then.

Infinity Mission Focus: Acquisition

Welcome to the fifth installment of this series focusing on Infinity Missions. After gazing at the everchanging dynamics of Capture and Protect, we now examine everyone's beloved classic: Acquisition.

In this mission you'll have to activate antennas, control them and control a tech coffin but remember: you only score points at the end of the game.

Skills, weapons and equipment

👨‍💻 EVO hacking device: there's always room in any list for some EVO hacking device but here you have 2 big reasons added to the benefits of its characteristic programs: 

• one additional cheap (doesn't apply to Scylla) specialist "automatically" activating antennas: doesn't matter how low is your WIP if you get a +3 bonus and burst 2; 
• antennas are 12" from the border so you want something to buff your combat Jump and nerf your opponent's. 

@ponty_painter's Salyut Zond is ready to hack! 

🪂 Airborne deployment: an excellent way to contend your opponent's achievement at the end of the game if you can resist the first two rounds without one order. Parachuting can be a good choice if your opponent has controlled jump, especially if your model has MOV 6.

Akalis, Sikh Commandos: the Shock Army of Acontecimiento can field up to five!

👻 The Libertos effect: forward deployed camo marker between the tech coffin and one antenna? That will definitely bug your opponent! The libertos is a very good pointwise choice to push your opponent forward and making mistakes. However, having one irregular order is not optimal so you may lean toward pricier profiles. My two cents: anything with these skills and a cost higher than 20 points should also be a specialist.

Behaviours and tactics  

😊 Among us: you're gonna bring hackers for this mission so you'd better remember what they can do. Cybermask is your friend for this mission: don't forget it. This is a very good reason to list those 0 SWC Killer Hackers.

🕵️‍♂️Hack antenna, achieve classified, spoil HVT, contest: remember you score objective points only at the end of the game? It means player two will always have a chance to challenge player's one achievements. Once you have one hacked antenna it may be useful to achieve your classified and spoil your opponent's possibility to secure HVT; the last step in this strategy will be to protect your hacked antenna and contest the tech-coffin. By doing so you're focusing your game on just two elements, forcing your opponent to keep at least one model in base contact with the other antenna: if it's a valuable model you're keeping it out of action and if it's a cheerleader you'll have a good chance to blast it.

u/Stormygeddon's Hisen shows us how to keep your opponent away from your HVT

Final thoughts

Profiles with high mobility (motorcycles, superjump, combat jump) and infiltrating units have an edge in Acquisition but can be countered with deployables so don't be stingy on mines and remember they can also be deployed with AROs. Watch out for units with dogged/NWI since they'll likely be used in the final round to challenge control of the antennas and of the tech-coffin.

Useful links

• Acquisition text battle report by us: Tunguska VS OSS
• Acquisition text battle report by us: Varuna VS OSS
• Acquisition video battle report by the amazing Ash Baker from Guerrilla Miniature Games
  

Infinity Mission Focus: Capture and Protect

Welcome to the fourth installment of this series focusing on Infinity Missions. After studying the possibilities of Highly Classified, we now examine a mission where both players have to go to Hell and back: Capture and Protect.

In this mission you'll have to reach and steal the enemy beacon to bring it to your deployment zone, while your opponent does exactly the same.

Skills, weapons and equipment

🩹 Akrylat-Kanone: pair this beauty with a 5-core link and a baggage bot and you'll be shooting glue blasts from deployment zone to deployment zone at BS+6 saving on PH-6. On average, it means hitting on 18s and saving on 4s. Your opponent is eventually going to waste a lot of orders on engineering skills to unglue its troopers. By the way: only Starmada Bronzes have Akrylat-Kanone and core link so be advised. Plus, they have BS 13 so make sure you bring some smoke even if you have -6 Mimetism.

🔥 Impetuous: anything fast is good here, especially motorcycles! Just remember that these troopers can't benefit from partial cover so think twice on turn one: it may be wiser to reveal/remove enemy snipers before finding yourself in a tight spot. 

👓 360° visor: in this mission you'll definitely cross paths with your opponent so this equipment will work like a charm. Sixth sense is good too but I don't see it as a reason to push for 4-core links. 

Behaviours and tactics 

🐂 Come at me bro! Don't let your opponent taunt you unless you really want to. The risk of being lured towards a trap is high. Better send un-hackable/sixth sensed units ahead if you feel like things look a little too easy. 

📸 Blinded by the lights: picking up the beacon is an attack skill and therefore cannot be performed by a stunned trooper. It may sound strange, but a flash pulse bot can put up an excellent defense for your beacon.

🚨 Steal your own beacon: just remember it can be done. I see it as an order waste but it can be situationally relevant. 

Oooops! No you can't: only enemy beacons!

Final thoughts 

👁️‍🗨️ Out of sight: before playing this mission you'd better familiarize with all those weapons that can be used without line of fire. Speculative and perimeter weapons are always a pain to deal with and can really be useful to turn the tide in this mission. Also watch out for guided bots: all troopers (especially the carrier 😉) may be targeted by an hacker or by a forward observer and have a close encounter with a guided missile.

Useful links

• Capture and Protect text battle report by us!

Infinity Mission Focus: Highly Classified

Welcome to the third installment of this series focusing on Infinity Missions.
After studying difficulties and opportunities when playing Mindwipe, we now indulge in one of the most erratic missions of all: Highly Classified.

In this mission, four Classified Objectives (COs for short) are drawn and shared by the two players, while each one draws a personal Secondary CO.

It is not that important nor difficult to get familiar with the CO deck: it's an additional set of rules introduced in ITS Season 10 composed by 20 cards, each one detailing an objective and the requirements and rolls needed to accomplish it.

To be prepared for this mission, let's see if we can brake it down in order to be prepared whatever our 5 cards will be.

Breaking down the deck

👨‍💻 Hackers: 25% (5 out of 20) of the COs can be accomplished with an hacker. Only 1 of these (5%) requires base contact, therefore it may be very wise to bring pitchers to this game.

👩‍🔬 Other specialists: doctors/paramedics and engineers cover 25% of the objectives, with one being shared and the rest being evenly divided between the two academic skills. Also forward observers have their share but their objectives can also be accomplished by hackers and therefore were already counted so in the previous paragraph.

🎖️Veteran/Elite/Chain of Command: 15% of the COs can be accomplished by having CoC or by using a Veteran or Elite trooper.

🤷 Various: 5% of the objectives can be achieved by using Heavy or Medium Infantry, another 5% by equipping a Multi Spectral Visor, a Biometric Visor or using sensor and the last 5% can be achieved using D-Charges.

Completing the analysis

Adding all those percentages together, you'll reach 80%. That means there are 4 COs missing. These four don't have specific requirements and can be divided in two groups: premium and normal. 

🏆 Premium COs: these can be overachieved to have additional Objective Points. To reach them, you'll need to be proficient in Close Combat and to have very high PH and mobility. 

🚰 Normal COs: these only need you to be in base contact with Unconcious enemies and perform an action.

👫 Get personal with your HVT: last but absolutely not least, remember that 35% (7 out of 20, that's the highest ratio we've seen) of the COs require an interaction with the enemy High Value Target. It may need LoF, ZoC or base contact, but since HVTs have to stay 4" away from any deployment zone it means any Superior Deployment skill will save you some orders to reach that HVT.

Fast units like @ponty_painter's Lawkeeper shown in this picture can be very useful not only to complete objectives but also to deny the enemy's efforts to fullfill their CO agenda! Check out his Twitter profile for more Infinity pictures!

Final thoughts

Taking all the above information can be a bit overwhelming and is really not that different from reading through all the COs so here's the takeout:

WATCH FOR POLYVALENT UNITS

It's easy to understand that units with all the requirements above would be essential in this mission so you should be looking for units in your list (and in your opponent's) that can cover a high number of requirements. These will be your mission wildcards, capable of tackling most of the COs you'll draw.

Such a unit will likely be (in this order): a hacker, with a Superior Deployment skill, with troop type Veteran or Elite, equipped with some sort of visor and d-charges, either an HI or MI, proficient in CC and with some high mobility feature like MOV 6, Super Jump or a Motorcycle.

Of course there's not such a unit and some armies will have a hard time satisfying just the first requirement* but you'll find that there's a pattern you can follow here.

Notable examples

• Liú Xing from Invincible Army: these guys were born for this mission. I won't even start talking about their Combat Jump (explosion).
  

• Knight of Justice from Military Orders: super effective in this mission but lacks Superior Deployment so I see Kinghts of Santiago to be the perfect complement to them. Watch out for both.
  
• Ekdromoi from Steel Phalanx: these guys are dirty cheap for what they can do in this mission and you can bring 4 of them!

I won't go in detail for every army because I don't want to get trapped into making tier lists or whatever but I've spotted valid alternatives in each sectorial to cover this "Jack of All Trades" role.

*Ariadna and Tohaa players, I'm looking at you: you'll have to make things work out differently. I believe your strength here lays in fireteams but I'm not 100% sure. I'll keep thinking about this and come back for you.

Infinity Mission Focus: Mindwipe

Welcome to the second essay of this series focusing on Infinity Missions.
After Panic Room, we are now analyzing Mindwipe, another mission from ITS season 12 supplement.

In this mission, two consoles in the center will allow each player to score points and understand which of the enemy servers contains the rogue AI that has to be destroyed.

Skills, weapons and equipment

🏰 Albedo/Nanoscreen/Sapper: these are some unusual defensive skills that may totally foil your deployment: check your opponent's courtesy list twice before rolling for initiative!

⏩ Total reaction: the most iconic defensive skill by definition. Watch out for enemy units with this skill and carefully evaluate where to deploy yours. 

👯‍♀️ Peripheral: peripherals can be excellent midfield deniers that are way more expendable than your regular order providers. Wanna reach my servers? You'll have to pass over the dead body of my Chaska periferical! Oh, you did? Well, at least it was just 8 points worth.

Behaviours and tactics

☄️ Origin of asymmetry: rules allow each player to activate only one console, therefore a "preferred" console is typically elected by each player at deployment. Look for hints that may reveal the opponent's preference and act accordingly. If you are going first it may be useful to spend one command token to set aside one extra trooper and wait for your opponent to show his/her preference. Both hard countering your opponent's preference or second it, going for the other antenna, can be effective strategies. Usually, if your opponent has more orders than you, it may be smart to hard counter it in order to leverage on your trooper's (supposed) higher resilience since turn one. 

🐒 Monkey see, monkey does: the Rasyat Diplomatic Division is the quintessential unit for this mission and is a valid benchmark to know what to get and what to fear. With 34 points and 0 SWC you get an un-hackable specialist with eclipse grenades, DA CC weapon and D-charges that can parachute inside the enemy's deployment zone. It's a true game changer but still has BTS 0 so stay away from nanopulsers or keep one close to your servers. 

🍗 Spamming Yuan Yuans: on the other side of the scale, opposite from the Rasyat, are the Yuan Yuans. With just 8 points you'll get all you need to blow those server up. They also have AVA 4 as Mercs so there's plenty for the task. Most of the times they'll show up in turn 2 to make full use of their orders on turn 3. Players having Yuan Yuan's as their aces up the sleeve may show through a particularly asymmetrical deployment, rushing to hack the console asap.

Final thoughts

This mission requires an impenetrable defence and a surgical offence. Not all armies are proficient in both but you can still use the offence/defence code to read through your list and the one of your opponent: how many of the enemy troopers cover offensive roles? How many of your SWCs are spent on defensive troopers? This will give you a quick ratio to read the situation thorugh the match: if you're playing very aggressively but you haven't activated your console by the first 2/3 orders of your second active turn something's not really working as it should.

Useful links

• Mindwipe video battle report by the amazing Ash Barker from Guerrilla Miniature Games
• Mindwipe text battle report by us!

Infinity mission focus: Panic Room

Any road may lead you to either victory or defeat, yet probability and psychology can help us navigating in the sea of uncertainties which is wargaming.

With these essays, we try to make some considerations on the game's missions trying to stay away from the temptation of defining do's and dont's or establishing tier lists.

Panic Room is a mission from ITS season 12 supplement which pushes both players toward the center of the table in an attempt to score points and flee from the upcoming biotechvore.

Skills, weapons and equipment

🤩 Mimetism: wether you choose to rush the panic room or wait to turn the tables, you'll find yourself inside the room with no cover so be prepared and remember that it takes a level 2 multi spectral visor to nullify a -6 mimetism.

🙄 Superior deployment: this mission forces a PH -3 roll on troops using special skills to deploy. Unless you have PH 14 consider using something else if you don't want to loose you camo or hidden deployment state to a coin flip. There are not big downsides to a fail if you only have forward deployment but you're really paying for skills you're not using so it may be more useful to spend those points differently.

📶 Pitchers: just like diamonds, repeaters are forever. Like mine dispensers, pitchers can shoot up to 40" but, unlike mines, repeaters can be triggered multiple times. In case your opponent is holding the room with units with Mimetism remember that you can spotlight them to pieces.

Behaviours and tactics

🏃‍♀️Rush A: the first player may be tempted to rush the room and occupy it with as many models as possible, especially with fireteams. This may not always be productive because of range exposure and lack of cover inside the room. If you're playing first, consider taking the room with only one model, leaving the rest in cover. This way, you're forcing the second player to contend your achievement by exposing a small part of your power.

💥Blow that antenna: depending on your arsenal, it may not be easy to do it but it's worth remembering that a Multi sniper rifle has the anti-materiel trait and shoots DA rounds from antenna to antenna with a +3 bonus. Does it mean it can be smart to take a sniper cheerleader to a close quarter fight? Hell yes! Remember that you or your opponent may resort to antennas also in later turns and not only during deployment (see below).

🕺Stayin' alive: you can score 5 points just by holding one Essential Personnel Trooper in the room, complete your classified and then duck away from the panic room, shooting enemies through open doors. Easier said then done, right? What I mean is you don't really have to go into the room with all your troopers if your enemy has better close combat skills or more mines and flamethrowers than you: bring the fight where you can handle it!

Final thoughts

Panic Room is only apparently a straightforward mission where you fight to control the objective room. Differently from The Armory, a lot of the fight may take place outside the room and sacrificing troopers towards certain death may be more rewarding than careful investment and position holding.