Which Infinity Army is for You? Part 3: Nomads
Certainly one of the most iconic armies in Infinity, Nomads embody the rebellious/anarchist hacker that we’ve come to associate with the Cyberpunk genre. With their population spread out between three motherships, each with their own style of combat specialist, the one thing they all have in common is terrific access to hacking.
It’s easy to think of the Nomad ships as some sort of post-capitalist technologically advanced anarchist utopia, but that is very much not what life is like on the motherships. Being the outcasts of society means everyone has to pull their weight. On Corregidor, a former prison colony, you have to earn your oxygen, if you’re a burden on society, you’re going out the airlock. Bakunin sounds like perpetual Burning Man, full of music, glowing lights, and raves, but is home of mad scientists who will happily scoop you up out of a back alley and see what you’d look like with a bit of raccoon DNA mixed in. Tunguska would also be a terror, if you’re lucky you’ll get a corporate job, if you’re unlucky, you’ll be an enslaved brain in a jar. This harsh life makes Nomads well suited for combat in Infinity, each unit brings unique capabilities to the table, as they each fight to prove their worth and value on the ship.
Do you like to play a fair game and have stand up fights with your opponents? If so, go elsewhere.
If you like to surprise and frustrate your opponent as they try to move up the board, then have I got the faction for you!
— Matt G.
Rating System
Instead of comparing one army to another, I’m going to rate armies based on how good of a match they are for new players interested in that particular category. For example, just about any army can make a hacking heavy list, but it may take more effort for some than others. An army which effortlessly competes in hacking would be given a 5, armies take considerable effort (if at all possible) would be a 1 or 2, while armies which could be tailored either way would be a 3.
Army Metrics
Firepower. This is probably the easiest to understand, which is why it comes first! This is the sheer ability for this army to win ranged firefights. While it is a good metric for offensive power, it doesn’t mean they’re going to punch everyone off the table every time.
Resilience. Like firepower, this is a fairly straight forward metric which expresses how much punishment an army could take. If a typical list for this army has access to a lot of high armor or multi-wound troops, they’ll have a higher Resilience score.
Control. Tempo is incredibly important in Infinity, the ability to control the ebb and flow of the game, which engagements happen and so on. Armies with high control tend to have better access to infiltration, camouflage, and other deployment skills, as well as troops which can rapidly change position on the table.
E War. A huge draw of Infinity is Hacking, E War represents any particular army’s ability to compete in the hacking arena. Do they have enough to get by, or can they build out a punishing hacking network to shut down the enemy?
Accessibility. This represents the difficulty for new players to pick up the army, learn the basics, and play effectively on the table. Some armies are easy to figure out at the beginning, while others have a lot of unique rules or require more advanced techniques to win.
X-Factor. Every army has a little something special about them, and if you’re debating between two armies, this could be the deciding factor.
What’s missing? If you’re coming from other game systems, you might expect to see how good an army is in close combat. Infinity is not most games, this is a game where bullets are lethal, and you don’t want to bring a knife to a gun fight. Some armies however are exceptionally good in combat, which will be called out when discussing that particular army.
Nomads
Bag of Tricks. As a starting place, vanilla factions can often be a bit intimidating, there is a ton to pick from, but you can pick the best, or your favorite units, to do the job. Aside from hacking, the primary strength of Nomads is their ability to control the board, partially though hacking, but also with exceptional infiltrators and airborne troops. Instead of beating the enemy over the head with a blunt object, Nomads play a much less directly confrontational game, because of this, they take a bit more practice to get started with as you become accustom to the additional rules they take advantage of. Many veteran Nomad players will refer to vanilla as the “correct” way to play Nomads, to get access to the full gamut of tools and tricks. As a new player though, it’s not a bad thing to take a smaller bite of Nomads first through one of their sectorials if the wide unit choice of vanilla is overwhelming.
Jurisdictional Command of Corregidor
Attack From All Sides. Usually just called Corregidor, this sometimes misconstrued as the “easy” Nomad army. They have a bit more focus on direct combat units, with ample access to some heavy firepower, even on light and medium units, but they still exert incredible board control, especially through an advanced repeater network to boost your hacking coverage. Compared to vanilla, they’re a bit easier to get started with and the game more similarly to a “standard” Infinity army. As of now (December 2020) they’re due for an impending update for much of their line of miniatures, and what we’ve seen of the concept art, it will be worth the wait!
Jurisdictional Command of Bakunin
Freaks and Misfits. Bakunin attracts all kinds of dissidents, cybernetically or biologically enhanced vagrants, and zealous religious outcasts, with their society held together by the Moderators and Taskmasters who keep everyone in line. This is well represented on the table and creates for an army that has some very diverse units. The Observance (all the Reverends and Sin-Eaters) bring high tech and well armed gun fighters, while Morlocks and Uberfallkommando represent the extreme back-alley bio-modificaiton that occurs on the ship, and add very capable close combat units to the mix. They’re probably the more difficult Nomad army to play, without some of the staple gunfighters you find in Corregidor or Tunguska, but they bring a diverse range of threats for your opponent to handle, letting you find and exploit their weakness.
Jurisdictional Command of Tunguska
Armored Interdiction. If Bakunin represents the cyberpunk anarchist protagonist, then Tunguska are the sinister corporate powerhouse. Tunguska is a no-nonsense army, that can crush their opponents through weight of firepower, while still retaining a fair amount of the board control that Nomads are best known for. Their heaviest fighters can be shockingly resilient and maneuverable, or lay down some of the most oppressive firepower in the game. Tunguska exerts less control over the table than other Nomad sectorials, but they make up for it through application of force. Similar to Corregidor, they’re a bit easier to get up and started with, thanks to their play-style being more of a typical Infinity gaming experience (though still with damn good hacking), but they’ve also very recently received a whole host of new sculpts, so they look incredible and coherent on the table.
Late Night Wargames
If you’re looking for some more discussion on Nomads, be sure to check out our episode of Late Night Wargames where Jon and I have put together our thoughts on the rule changes in N4 and how they affect Nomad players.