I like list building. I wouldn’t say that I’m great at it, but I like the puzzle of trying to fit units I like into 300 points and 6 swc. I’m also pretty lousy at the ‘meta-game’ concept of points efficiency (I couldn’t decode Corvus Belli’s points algorithm if you paid me to).
Instead, I’m interested in the following (in no particular order):
- Do the models look cool? Even if a profile is amazing, I’ll go for a cool model first. Eventually, I’ll find profiles that I have to try, but I end up proxying in units for it instead.
- How Fluffy is it? I’m unabashedly interested in the fluff of Infinity. As an example, I haven’t run Sophotects in any of my lists because 1) I don’t like the model, and 2) I don’t trust Sophotects after they helped out the Yandun division during the Uprising.
- Does it have something amazing? Every list I create has one “thing” that I want to try. I’ll try to have backup plans in place in case it fails, but that’s always secondary to whatever my ‘shiny’ thing is that the list is built around.
- Can it handle any mission? Our game group plays random missions most nights. I don’t have a great idea of what mission I’ll be playing until the LT roll. If I’m prepping for a major event, I’ll take my all-comers lists and start refining them for a specific mission instead of building from the ground-up.
- Can it fit Dart? Dart isn’t an auto-include for me because of her points or her profile (though both are great), she’s an auto-include because I love her model and fluff. She hunts things. She hunts everything. In a lot of ways, she’s like my spirit totem in Infinity and it makes me happy to put her on the board.
This means that I have to play a lot of games to refine my lists: taking pieces out, subbing other pieces in. Trying one unit, or attempting combinations. It’s all based around ‘gutfeel’.
Efficient? Nope, but it seems to work for me.
Starter List(s)
These are lists that use core elements of Cold Front, and only a limited number of additional models. Think of this as a “what can I put together quickly” list, instead of a “what do I take to my first tournament” list. It has both a 200 point version, and a 300 point version to get a new player on board and ramped up. It can also help the cost-conscious wanting to try a new faction.
Is it short on SWC? yes. Is it perfect at all ranges? Nope. But it only needs the Coldfront box (proxying the Naga as a Dasyu), a Dakini box, and the Asura hacker blister. From there, the player can branch out to whatever boxes and blisters look interesting. (cheap orders like Netrods, CSUs, and Remotes being key)
Dakini Core List
Dakini Cores have just been so-so for me. They’re great little bots, but I always seem to either waste their points, have bad luck with their rolls, or over-estimate their combat prowess and get them stuck somewhere they shouldn’t be. Here, they’ve got some good (if short-ranged) support scattered across the board:
Yadu Core
I’ve been singing the praises of Yadu teams. They’ve got their risks (as does everything in Infinity), but they’ve been fun to play with.
TAG List
OSS has the Marut: a fun toy worth a lot of points. Building a list around it is pretty limiting and comes with some risks. I ended up having to focus everything around her:
Copying these lists
I have no feelings of ownership over these lists, and I don’t pretend that they’re perfect lists. There are a lot of units in OSS that I struggle to fit into any list I use (Dasyus for example), or that I struggle to use properly (HMG TR bots). They’re great units, and the absence of those from my lists are because I try and find things I can work with above anything else.
But, those things said, the first question I often hear asked is “What should my first lists look like?”
It’s a solid question, because of how many options there are to choose from. A bit of guidance, and something for new players to pick up and play can be incredibly helpful.
