OFFICER TRAINING SCHOOL - Basic Theory on the Stances of Play
In this series I'll be focusing on subjects that are specially geared towards new players starting with Ramah Taskforce.
This article is meant to give a basic idea of how I personally try to approach the variable battlefield situations as it pertains to what types of plays I'm aiming to go for, and when it's time to shift gears - but first, a word of warning! There are few to no hard and fast rules on tactical conduct in Infinity, and being open to new ideas and options is very much to be recommended! I hope new players take the following to be more of an introduction to the subject, rather than a "how-to-manual". Veterans: as always, take everything with a grain of salt...
The Theory of Stances
I personally tend to picture the changing dynamic between the forces and players locked into a game of Infinity as a "duel" or a "martial arts match". Both sides come into the game from their own backrounds and they both have their own strengths and weaknesses (on the Faction, the list and the player levels). What follows is test of skill, fortitude and mental control, where the side with the stronger overall performance will most likely win.
While it is very much possible that one side comes into the battle with the deck stacked in their favor (due to the Faction matchup, player skill disparity or some other factor), there is always the chance for the underdog to upset the balance of power and win the day - a lot more so than in many other games! Part of this is obviously luck - the dice giveth, and dice taketh away, but what I find to be way more important, is the players' ability to analyze the state of the game and shift their play as demanded by the ever changing set of circumstances before them!
Que in my "Theory of Stances"! If a game of Infinity is a "duel", then the tactical postures taken by the players are the "stances" of the combatants. Even if one side of the battle is clearly favored on paper, it is very much possible that they can waste this advantage by assuming the wrong stance, whereas their opponent can work to counter any perceived edge by adopting a stance that helps to overcome the stronger foe!
The selection of the type of tactical posture to assume is only half of the story though. One has to find the dicipline to hold their Stance despite their Opponent's attempts to undermine it, the will to steer clear of tactical temptations that the shifting battlefield situation offers, and to have a flexible enough mindset to shift to a new Stance when the situation so requires.
How and when to adopt the different stances then? Enter the ring and let us begin!
The Duelling Stance
The more I play Infinity, the more I feel that most games should see both players start the game adopting the "Duelling Stance" - a balanced approach where one is probing the Opponent's defences for weaknesses, and low resource intensity plays aimed at moderate tactical gains are favored over more drastic solutions.
Good Duelling Stance actions could involve:
- Taking out any exposed enemy pieces that don't constitute a serious threat to the attacking model, nor does getting to them require a substantial amount of Orders spent. (Using the Shakush's Tactical Awareness Order to peak out from Total Cover to fire it's HMG at an enemy Flashpulse Bot that's clearly beyond the Flashpulse's optimal Range Band.)
- Using (almost) risk-free plays to advance the Mission scoring parameters. (Using the Ghulam NCO to fire Smoke for the Mukhtar Doctor to retrieve a Supply Box under the cover of in ITS13 Supplies.)
- Executing an attack run that either doesn't seriously risk the advancing model, that chains a series of heavily-tilted-in-your-favor engagements, or is perfomed with an expendable piece. (Using a Mk12 Multispectral Visor L2 NCO led Khawarij Haris to gun down a Warcor, a Flashpulse Bot, and then proceeding to take out a now exposed high end enemy piece, before falling back to relative safety.)
- Making good use of "leftover Orders" that are still usable after achieving the turn's primary obejctives. (Laying Shock Mines with a Tuareg before returning to Camouflaged State.)
When Duelling, I pretty much always try to look for low risk-moderate/high impact plays. This means that I'm trying to use (and risk) as few resources as possible to gain as much of an advantage as I can. Most often this involves picking lobsided gunfights in order to get ahead on attrition, but putting Scenario pressure on a "turtling" (ie. heavily defending) opponent, or launching a suicide attack with an expandable piece are also common things I end up doing at this stage. Risk is the enemy here, and if I'm willing to endure a mediocore risk, the potential reward damn better be great!
Duelling in Relation to Other Stances
I find the Duelling Stance to be the "standard" posture that you should strive to maintain, if you're uncertain as to what approach you should take: not only does Duelling give you a balanced way to both advance your own game and to hinder your Opponent's, it will give you important experience on the Stance and on what types plays to go for and what types of plays to avoid - there's truly nothing like learning from experience! Sometimes I feel pressured to adopt a more aggressive stance to overcome an early lead gained by my Opponent, when in truth the surest way to victory is to just keep calm and keep duelling; the opponent may have landed a blow, but you may well land the next one, and the next one after that! A crucial question to answer when determining if you should keep duelling is "do I have enough time (ie. turns and/or Orders) to keep duelling to achieve my aims? If there's still plenty of game left, by all means keep plucking away! But if time turns out to be agaist you, a shift to another approach is called for!
If the Duelling has gone significantly wrong (from your perspective), and the opponent has secured a decisive lead, it's neccessary to destabilize their position of power, and swing the game back into contention by adopting the Lunging Stance. There can also be situations where one can identify a critical flaw in
the opposing squad's defensive structure that will give you a good
chance to Lunge at them to inflict a crippling blow from the get go,
but it pays to consider whether such an opening truly is there, or
whether your Opponent is about to lure you into a well prepared trap!
When in doubt, don't overcommit! I will also strongly consider an early game Lunge before falling back to Duelling if this maneuver enables me to take out an important enemy piece (or pieces) that would make Duelling my opponent seem like too much of an uphill battle otherwise!
Then again, if the Duelling turns out well, and you're able to get ahead in the game, it may not be in your best interests to try and trade blows with your Opponent anymore, but rather it's time to strangle out the enemy resistance by taking up the Pressuring Stance!
The Lunging Stance
Let's face it, sometimes (alot of times actually) the manure hits the fan and the game tilts heavily in your Opponent's favor. In such instances even expert Duelling may no longer be enough to get you back into the game, and what's even worse, an excellent Opponent will be able to shift their Stance into a more defensive one, further limiting your chances of getting back into the driver's seat. Desperate times require desperate measures!
The "Lunging Stance" is just what it sounds like - you execute high risk plays (often one after another) in a desperate attempt to wrestle the control of the game back into your hands by, let's not sugercoat this, getting lucky. Remember the previous statement that risk is the enemy? Well it's time to make risk the Opponent's enemy and your last chance at victory!
Some examples of Lunging Stance plays could include:
- Challenging a dangerous enemy ARO piece pinning you down into a 50/50 (or even worse!) gunfight. (Having a solo Zhayedan HMG engage a Core Fireteamed Kamau Sniper.)
- Allowing the opponent to get Normal Rolls against you and just hoping for them to miss or you to pass your save(s). (Moving a Tuareg Hacker to activate a Console while in Line of Fire of an enemy Total Reaction Bot.)
- Going for a "Hail Mary" assassination run on the opponent's Lieutenant. (Speculative Attacking with your Ghulam NCO's Grenade Launcher at a probable Line Trooper LT until it's gone or you run out of Orders.)
- Chaining a series of "must succeed rolls" together to make your plan work. (Having a Mukhtar Hacker Dodge a Mine and a Chainrifle shot to get to spot from which to make a face to face Hacking roll against an opposing TAG to Spotlight it for a Guided Missile strike on the last Order of the Combat Group.)
- Sending your Lieutenant to the fray without having a Chain of Command backup available. (Using the Ghulam Lieutenant to engage a Combat Jump Trooper that has landed on your flank in order to free up your other assets to advance.)
- Committing a critical resource to a play that won't win you the game. (Leaving your Maghariba Guard into a vulnerable position just to clear out an emeny aggressive piece threatening your backline.)
There is a reason high risk-high impact plays are something to be avoided when possible - they have a (mathematical) tendency to go wrong! When you're already trailing in a game, handing further advantage to the enemy (in their reactive turn, no less!) by getting some of your most important remaining pieces killed or hung out to try will often see things go from bad to worse for you... Then again, you wouldn't be making these types of plays if there was another way out... Or would you?
Lunging in Relation to Other Stances
In the heat of the moment it's easy to face a serious tactical setback and immediately go into a "oh well, that's that, here goes nothing!" -mode, even when such measures aren't actually strictly called for! When you feel yourself losing the control of your emotions, take a breath, assess the situation carefully, and try not to get tunnel visioned! Maybe make a couple of no-brainer plays of little importance to get you going again, and then consider whether you can hatch a plan that doesn't involve a high likelyhood of a heroic death for your entire strike team.
When facing a clearly superior player across the table from you, it can also be rather easy to think yourself into a mindset that encourages adopting the Lunging Stance, but I would caution against such action in many cases! While it is true, that from a purely "win-or-lose" standpoint Lunging at better players does make some sense (your over aggressive strategy may surprise someone who is expecting a more level headed approach), it will also often lead to very one sided and unenjoyable games! What's potentially worse still, you're denying yourself the possibility of getting to experience the game play out in a more deliberate and calculated way, which in turn could have been an excellent opportunity to learn about your Faction and/or it's Units, the Opponent or the game at large! Winning is fun, but you must learn to walk before running after all...
Any seasoned gambler will tell you to quit while you're ahead, and that's something applies to the Lunging Stance too. It's not wise to test the old SAS motto of "Who Dares, Wins" further than is absolutely neccessary - when adopting a more reserved Stance becomes viable, one should immediately stop taking big risks and shift to the Duelling Stance for example. You don't even need to be on par with (much less ahead of) your Opponent to take things down a few notches; you're looking for the most likely path to victory after all, and going all in on every play will see you lose sooner rather than later! If there's still time to win the game by Duelling, give it a try, but if you judge such an action to be unviable, go for the throat!
Sometimes a desperate attack will break the Opponent's hold on the game and land a critical blow against them. In such an instance, a rapid backpedalling maneuver will be in order, and you should identify that the Opponent's game plan is foiled, and the best thing to do is to take a step back by assuming the Pressuring Stance and rather than offer the enemy a chance to Lunge, make them wear themselves out by trying to stage a comeback!
I personally have the hardest time deciding on what Stance to adopt when my succesful Lunging causes my Opponent to reel back and I have to decide whether to press the attack to finish them off once and for all, or whether I should adoptthea Pressuring Stance and wait the game out. Situation such as this calls for very careful consideration! How great a player is my Opponent, can they really recover from this unless I end it now? How is the Mission scoring looking, is there a potential way for the enemy force to stage a comeback if I lift my foot off the gas? If I do go for the throat and end up failing, how catastrophic does the situation look? Some self reflection can go a long way here too: it's best not to let your natural tendency to be aggressive or to play it safe sway you into making the objectively wrong decision!
The Pressuring Stance
Because Infinity favors aggression and proactive action so heavily, I personally denounce even the thought of asumming a purely defensive Stance. Instead, the third broad umbrella of a posture that I use is the Pressuring Stance. If Lunging is trying to achieve much with little, then Pressuring is it's polar opposite; using much to achieve little!
Examples of these types of actions might include:
- Using three Orders just to take out an enemy Flashpulse Bot with your Nahab. You don't need the Orders, you're already winning, and removing yet another Order from the Opponent will severely effect their ability to stage a comeback!
- Moving your Warcor in a more central positon. Sure, you could use a Command Token to turn that Order Regular, but if there's no need to press the attack, shoring up your defence will probably end up being more valuable!
- Leaving your Ghulam Fireteam Core amid the enemy lines without support once they've completed their attack run. Yes, there's a high likelyhood of five folded Haqqislam flags heading to various addresses on Bourak after the mission.... Then again, there are a bunch of Burst 2 Shotguns in the middle of what's left of the opposing strike team, and killing the Ghulams won't even win the enemy the game - dealing with them is just the cost doing business from here on out! And good grief if one or more of them survive until your active turn...
- Leaving your Shakush to face the entire enemy strike team from it's shooting position in Partial Cover. The Opponent will take the light TAG out eventially, sure, but how many Orders and/or bodies will it cost them?
- Having your Zhayedan HMG Lieutenant march his way to the middle Objective before entering Suppressive Fire. I'm rolling 3 dice on 12s and imposing a -6 mod on you, care to dance?
- Leaving a Mukhtar Hacker in the way of the most likely enemy advance. Spotlights and Direct Templates for everyone trying to move past this point!
The idea of the Pressuring Stance isn't to simply passively try and safeguard one's lead - it's about bleeding the enemy out via a defence in dept as they try to claw their way back into the match, all the while threatening a killing blow if (and when!) the Opponent has to overextend in their desperation! This Stance will exact a toll of casualties on both strike teams, but there's one side that can afford those casualties (you), and one side that will be crippled by them (your Opponent).
A word of warning though! It's important to have as realistic a picture of the remaining opposing strike team's tactical capabilities as possible when setting up for the Pressuring Stance; a miscalculation might leave the door open for a dangerous counter attack! Special care should go into counting the amount of troops the Opponent has revealed (lest something like a Parachutist drops in and makes a mess) as well as trying to figure out what's under what Camouflage/Impersonation Marker. When in doubt, make gutting the Opponent's remaing Order Pool a priority - all the world's off board Troopers can't harm you if they don't have Orders afterall!
Pressuring in Relation to Other Stances
If the game ends up going your way, Pressuring should be the last stance you adopt; you've been able to secure an advantage in the game (whether it comes primarily from Objective Point or attrition lead), and by carefully managing the situation you can now strangle the fight out of the enemy. As long as things are progressing towards your ultimate victory, there's no need to adopt a new Stance anymore. This doesn't mean that you can afford to get complacent though! Unless they're totally demoralized (or their force is almost entirely wiped out), your Opponent will still be trying to find ways to get back into the game! Try and stay keenly aware of what the Opponent is trying to achieve and respond accordingly - there's no excuse to lose the game from a position of strength!
There are times when the Opponent will be able to claw themselves back into the game, whether it be through sheer luck, determination, skill or a mistake you made - or in the most likely case, a combination of the aforementioned factors. When this happens, it's important to realise that the advantage is lost and quickly adapt your game - suddenly you can't afford to lose the pieces you could afford to lose a minute ago, and your plan for the rest of the game needs to change! Don't over-react by trying desperately to regain what was lost either, just adopt a balanced Duelling Stance anew, and start jockeying for the lead again!
Sometimes the Opponent's desperate counter attack shatters your defences, or you misjudged their remaining strength to begin with, and suddenly it's you who needs to go into desperation mode! Who's about to win the game can also rapidly shift from one player to another in the closing stages of a closely fought battle, as diminishing resources mean that smaller and smaller swings can start to have more and more dramatic effects on the end result. In situations like these, mourning what's been lost or blaming your luck isn't going to help, but rather it's time to shift into a Lunging Stance and first stop the bleeding, and then throw your remaining troops at the enemy hoping that this time around the luck smiles upon you!
The Basic Course Completed
Until the next time - I wish you the very best in leading the Swift and Deadly Spear of the Haqqislamite Army to Victory!
This is an amazing article for someone who's still in the beginning stages of getting good at this game. Thank you so much!
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