Infinity N00B: “Winning Strategy” or “Know When to Hold Them”

Wilson, from Beltway Gamers, won the Games and Stuff Infinity tournament for March.  During a discussion of what every new player needs to know, he said the following:

(Have an offensive plan)
(Hang in there)

Round one I wiped out a lot if my opponents order pool. I believe I left him with 5 orders. A combination of my cammeronean and Cateran sniper. Although I thought I had it in the bag, my opponent Jeff hung on there and had a solid offense with his ad combat offensive.. We ended 3-3.

(Remember the mission)
(Know what to kill)
(Know what to avoid)

I played Wilson this week against his Ariadna.  He went over a few key points that he learned and helped me almost tie.  I lost 4-3 but that was mainly due to not knowing the YAMS system.  I will explain that in a future post.

Have an Offensive Plan

This goes into knowing the mission.  The best way to "know the mission" is to play the missions multiple times.  Once you know the mission and your army, you should generate a game plan.  How will you achieve victory?

Wilson mentions he wiped out a lot of his opponent's order pool.  This is a double edged sword.  Wiping out your opponent's order pool reduces their effectiveness.  A lot of strategies involve having orders to move pieces into position.  Reducing the orders of your opponent basically takes the wind out of their sails and forces them on the defensive.  This is something I struggle with.  I am worried about covering fire lanes that I easily lose cheerleaders.

The other edge of the sword is killing too many sends your opponent in retreat.  This means that in the new ITS missions you reduce the maximum amount that you can achieve for the match.  You may have won the match but you just reduced your chance of winning the tournament.  I will get to this in "Know what to kill".

Hang in There

"No plan survives contact with the enemy".  This is very true.  You planned, you are ready to forth and conqueror and then thing go all upside-down.  You lost a chunk of your team or maybe your TAG is down and now your playing catchup.  Don't panic.  The game still might be winnable.  If your opponent is thinking right, they know that they can't wipe you out till round three.  This makes you more dangerous.  You can try desperation tactics.  Run that chain rifle or flamer into view.  Will he use the ARO to kill the threat and risk losing out on points?

Just remember that they want the most points.  Round three is when they are going to break you.  Try to make it painful or, better yet, win.

In my game versus Wilson, I had three models left and was in full retreat.  He said let three of the models run off and use the last model to kill his guy in my DZ.  I did just that and cost him a point.  The one thing I wasn't ready for was planning for when I was in retreat and using that to win the game.  Wilson is the master of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Remember the Mission

It's easy to get hung up on the killing and maneuvering but you have a mission.  That should take precedence.  You probably also have two classified missions.  Those are important as well.

The issue a lot of people have is target fixation.  They get so "in the groove" of taking out an opponent and they forget the mission.

Know What to Kill and What to Avoid

There is also a time of knowing what to avoid.  Deplete an enemy's pool too fast and secure a first round victory but a low point score.  Not good.  Running piece meal at the TAG with Combirifles.  Equally bad.  While a lot of the game can be like Chess (pawns can kill a queen), its still better to know your match ups.

That's about all I have for this post.  See you all next time.