Getting Bit by the Infinity Bug

Okay, so perhaps "Bit by the Infinity Bug" is a bit of an understatement. Since I finished the Hatail Spec Ops figure for Casey last November, I have only dove deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. I believe that it actually may have devoured me whole and spat out a truly devoted fan of both Corvus Belli and their game, Infinity.

Considering I try and maintain an unbiased attitude on this blog though, I thought I'd actually bring you into my head (slightly scary thought), and show how and why I reached the conclusion to invest in this game and it's community.


Maybe a very brief history is in order, especially considering my love for Infinity didn't just spontaneously come into being yesterday.

I'm not one for playing a bunch of different games. Not only do I not have the time to do so, but there is only so much space in my head to remember multiple rules systems and be proficient in them. Because of that, I analyze and weigh the pros and cons of each game to see if I truly want to devote the time and money necessary to playing each one. I've ran Warma-Hordes, Malifaux, Firestorm Armada, Uncharted Seas, Dystopian Wars, and X-Wing all through this little gauntlet in my head as well…and so far Infinity is the only one to win out. Though to be fair, I do like Malifaux, and X-Wing is very appealing because my son is loving Star Wars right now and I've liked what I've seen and read on it, but that's another article.

My very first exposure to Infinity was a local shop starting to stock it, years back, called Miniature Market. They had a decent sized community for the time, and if this is any indication of time period, the very first Aleph starter had just been released. I bought that, and then proceeded to let it sit idle on my shelf for a while until it sold as a part of a gaming auction at a different store. I thought I just didn't have time for it. Fast-forward to November of 2013, and Casey, a fellow blogger and co-host to the Live Cast show Atomic Salt, commissioned me to paint the Hatail Spec Ops figure. If you're curious, see this post HERE, and then the second one HERE. Then another blogger needed to liquidate some of his own unused stock at a good price, so I decided to seriously give thought to starting Infinity again.

So here's the first step: Let's analyze the Pros and Cons to investing time, money and head-space to Infinity.

Pros:
Skirmish-level game
Low model count
Beautiful models
All metal figures
Active tournament system, actively supported by Corvus Belli
Helpful and friendly community
Ability to play multiple factions for minimal investment (compared to other games)
Action-Reaction style of gameplay, so you're never bored during a game.
3-turn tournament games means fast gameplay
Reminds me of Necromunda (which still is to this day my favorite GW game ever produced)
Free download of rules via PDFs on CB's website
Monthly release schedule of new miniatures
Encouragement for conversions
Terrain-heavy
Smaller playing board

Cons:
Smaller community (for now), both locally and nationally when compared to other games
All metal figures (yes, this can be a con as well)
Smaller scale than I typically am comfortable with
Completely new ruleset to learn
Conversions will be difficult
Possibility for repeated models in a singular list
Terrain-heavy (yes, this goes in both again)

Two points cross each list. An all-metal range can be a Pro at times for the strength of the figures themselves, but can also be a Con when it comes to pinning and assembly at this scale. The game being terrain-heavy can be a Pro when it comes to the sheer impressiveness of the look and play of the games, though it can be a Con as well considering I'd rather be painting models than buildings most of the time.

Even when you take those two points into consideration for both lists, you can see that the Pros far outweigh the Cons. At least in my opinion. After I took all of the above into consideration, I did end up buying 95% of my fellow blogger's Yu Jing models as my first official foray into the game.  Since then I've gotten a few games under by belt and listened to hours of podcasts from MayaCast, The Krug, and the newly-minted Totally Crit. I've even entered a new-army style contest that MayaCast put out in their last episode, which isn't nearly as intimidating as it sounds considering there are only 11 models total in the list!

Have you tried Infinity yet? What about the other games I listed?

How do you figure out if you want to try a new game or not?

- Tim