Infinity June releases

     
       

Well this month is a bit of an odd one for me. There are two units in it that we don't have the rules for, for a start off and a Muyib option we haven't seen in the rules before. So I'm not going to be able to do any tactics for them yet, but when I know what the rules look like I'll try and dissect whether they're any good and how I'd use them. It is also yet more evidence that the new missions book can't be that far away... so where is it Corvus Belli? Some of us have been waiting for roughly 4 years for it to arrive and... I'm getting impatient now, and I really don't mind saying it. They've taken far too long to get this book out and I'm getting annoyed with them now. This has been the missing piece of the Infinity jigsaw for five years now, and for five years I've waited patiently for them to get their arses in gear. Too long Corvus Belli, far too long. While I still love the core game, until they get a proper missions book out I'll be shelving Infinity for a while... yep I'm board of the published missions and pitched battles already.


Shaolin Warrior Monks

When Angel Giraldez gave us all a sneak peak at these miniatures I have to say I gave a huge sign of relief. The original sculpts were utterly pants and dire. I hate cartwheeling miniatures, they always look awkward and lame and 9 times out of 10 should never have been attempted. When I become Emperor of the Universe it'll be once of the first things I ban... and any sculptor attempting such poses will be flogged to death with a ribbon... and yes I know that'll take a very long time, that's sort of the point! These bad boys though blow their lame counterparts out of the water the two with the shock CCW's look all badass and Jedi like, while the Chain Rifle Monk looks like he's in charge. The Combi Rifle chap looks like a spec-ops temple guard, I love him. All of them brilliant miniatures. So are they any good? For the points they're not bad actually. They have CC 19 and Artial Arts L3, so being able to pick them up for between 5 and 14 points looks pretty dan sweet, they even have smoke grenades to cover their advance, they're also Religious Troops so that's an even bigger bonus in their favour... but they irregular and impetuous. You can still make them work and tehy're worth the effort, but these are for experienced Infinity players only, because they are easy for your opponents to tempt into the open and blow them away. Their PH 13 isn't great either when chucking those smoke grenades down in ARO, and their ARM 1 does mean they're very squishy. I'm a fan, but only every now and then.

Metros HGM

I really like the Merovingienne forces stuff on the whole, and the Metros have very nearly tempted me on a number of occasions to start an Ariadna force. If any of you have played the computer game [Prototype] then I think the look of this chap might be a little bit familiar. The hooded pose is ever so slightly reminiscent for me of that games central character Alex Mercer... which by the way I heavily approve of. As always I love the utilitarian look of the Ariadna weapons and this HMG does not disappoint. So for me this sculpt is a bit of a home run, I really like him. He's also a bit of a home run in terms of getting him on the board as well, especially for the Merovingienne sectorial players. He's a cheap linkable HMG at 20 points and 0.5 SWC. That's pretty much all you really need to know about this guy. The Multiterrain comes in handy, but otherwise his stats aren't anything to write home about, BS 10 is a bit of a pain when you've got a HMG in your hands, but as I say as a linkable trooper you can overcome many of the downsides and really make him work.

Hassassin Muyib Heavy Rocket Launcher

This guy actually wins Brownie points for being a Haqqislam sculpt that isn't a static pose, or wildly energetic. It's fully in keeping with the other Muyibs with their cool 'bug eye' visors, which I happen to like, but there is't really anything new in this miniature, which is kind of the way you want it because you don't want your Muyib with Heavy Rocket Launcher looking significantly different to all the rest of them. Speaking of the Rocket Launcher... I don't like it. The muzzle looks a bit wrong to me and it just seems overly fussy, it's not terrible, but its also not great. Still it's more than passable. I'm going to be honest and say that I wouldn't take Muyibs in a normal Haqqislam force, it's not that they're not good, they are, but they're expensive as a basic trooper and you can eek more out of cheaper troopers with similar weapons. But in an Hassassin Bahram force they're actually worth taking and linking. Possibly even round this chap once we get the weapons load out for him and see how much he costs. Until then he'll remain an average looking Infinity miniature. Hopefully Corvus Belli will have the rules on the website shortly.

Riot Grrls

This weekend Sunday Sermon will be an interesting read, regarding our hobbies portrayal of females and treatment of them in general. Much of what Corvus Belli does with it's female sculpts falls into thre categories; firstly they're really subtle and well done, and you often don't realise the miniature is female at first look. Secondly there are the obviously female miniatures, but with strong poses that aren't there to accentuate their feminine wiles, they have parity if you will with their male counterparts in that sense. Then finally there are the furries and cheesecake poses. They're not as bad as some firms, but some of them do make you raise your eyebrows. This miniature though is weird insofar she doesn't really fall into any of those standardised categories. Obviously she's female, the boobs with nipple armour (sorry Corvus Belli but WTF is up with that?) give that away. But she's not in action pose, or cheescake. I like the armour and the look of the miniature on the whole, I'm not too sure about the I'm a little teapot pose, but on the whole I'd have given it the thumbs up... but that nipple armour looks dumb. Sorry, but it does, it looks like the sort of thing a 13 year old boy would do. In terms of tactics I can currently tell you bugger all about these either, because they're a new unit type. Here's hoping they're good though, Nomads could do with some decent HI troops.

Cadamus-Naish Sheskiin

I love this miniature to bits, she fits into the clearly female, but with a decent action pose category for me. She looks a little bit like the twi'lek's from Star Wars, but obviously with one head tail thingy instead of two. She's carrying a wicked looking futuristic naginata like weapon, that I just think rocks. She's pointing a nanopulser out at some unsuspecting victim. She looks totally confident striding forward and totally in charge. I think I'm right in saying this is teh first female Cadamus we've seen in the Combined Army. Again like the 'Riot Grrls' I can't really tell you too much about how they will perform on the tabletop because bugger all is known about them as of yet. Hopefully Corvus Belli will update their website soon and we'll know a bit more and I'll be able to let you know what I think. For now though Combined Army players should content themselves with the fact that they have yet another nice looking mini to add to their ranks.

So in conclusion I am yet again disappointed we've heard no noise on this mission book. While I've been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them get on top of it as a product and refine it so it's perfect, I think they're rapidly heading into taking the piss mode now. Get it released already guys. Peace out!