So a reader and blogger far more recognized than myself, Levitas (check out his blog), asked me back in August why I didn't include any Infinity figures in my "favorite miniatures" post. Truth be told. I have so many favorites that 3/4 of the post would end up as CB models. I really wanted to do a post of nothing but my favorite Infinity figures since they produce some awesome stuff. So today I'm going to do just that! I'm going to give my top five miniatures for each faction.
As for where I've been. I can only say family. Wife and I took a working vacation to DC and I spent as much time as possible with both of them during the summer. I'm hoping to return to a more regular schedule now that the wife is back at work and the daughter is back in daycare. We'll see. I still owe everyone a Nomad hacking article.
PanOceania
Crusader Brethren with HMG
I love the dynamic pose where you can tell the crusader is just landing while laying down a withering hail of bullets to cover his approach. The compact HMG is a nice touch for a jump troop and I love the jump "wings" for this troop type.
Jotum
I'm not a huge fan of TAGs (or PanO) but I know that own day I will own this bad-boy. This mecha is so bulky and imposing that it simply inspires hoplessness. How do you kill something like that looks like a transformer ate a tank? Easily my favorite PanO model.
Kamau
I think what i like about this somewhat nondescript sculpt are the graceful lines to the feminine form. Even without the somewhat odd breastplates you could tell this armor is filled with a woman and it just seems quietly menacing which is perfect for a hacker.
Hexas
These models alone make me want to start up a Neoterra army. The sniper looks like she is listening to someone call in her mark while the spitfire guy presses forward, alertly looking for enemies to sweep with his weapon.
Bagh-Mari
Quietly stalking through the marshes of their homeworld and silencing foes before slinking back into the wild. For such an old sculpt this is a great pose. Although the rabbit ears make me crazy.
Yu Jing
Domaru Butai
Closing with the enemy. Just fired the chain rifle to clear the chaff and cause confusion and now readying her daisho for close quarters combat with discipline and grace. Great model and great pose.
Ninja Hacker
One of the first Infinity models I bought. I love the pose as it looks like she is preparing an attack or possibly just made a lethal cut while preparing a hack with her alternate hand. The crouched pose is perfect for the image of a ninja slinking around in the darkness.
Oniwaban
Where the ninja hacker looks graceful and sneaky the oniwaban looks like disciplined death brought to life. Every bit as graceful as a ninja but surprisingly less sneaky (in pose).
Pheasant Rank Imperial Agent
I admit I have a fondness for chinese straight blades but the pheasant rank looks like he is about to kick some serious behind. I love the segmented armor and the face mask. The ponytail could be a little less flapping in the breeze but otherwise this model is really neat and you just don't see it on the table very frequently.
Crane Rank Imperial Agent
One of my favorite models for Yu Jing that you simply don't see on the tabletop very frequently. The flowing cape and dynamic pose showing this leader of the imperial service directing his troops is wicked cool.
Honorable Mention:
Karakuri Special Project
These "girls" remind me of a mixture between Isaac Aasimov robots and anime. I really dig the geisha style they gave them and the call-out to the relatively mediocre "I, Robot" movie based on the much better anthology by Aasimov.Ariadna
S.A.S.
Who doesn't love this model? Seriously he's like Beachhead meets badass. He brings a pistol and a knife to a warzone and he not only expects to live, he will stab you in the face and shoot you for good measure. Easily my favorite miniature belonging to a faction I don't play and one of my favorite miniatures in the game... period.
Calednonian Mormaer
The pose is somewhat static but I love the bulkiness of this model. The addition of an expanded vambrace, almost large enough to act like a buckler, The backpack just adds to the bulk and overall the hefty model looks very imposing but not in a "face-shredding" way but rather "I'm a walking tank" way.
Traktor Mul
Speaking of tanks. These are about as close as anyone gets to armed vehicles. As I've always been a afan of remote rocket artillery of modern armies so I am totally amused and entranced by the future representations. Nice and bulky they fit the retro styling of Ariadna perfectly.
Cameronian
Really great sculpt. He looks threatening in many ways with the fangs bared and the pistols out. I'm curious if we will see resculpts of these with the dog warriors and antipodes seeing new revisions to older sculpts.
Antipodes
Speaking of Antipodes this new box is AMAZING but I want to draw your attention to the lower right model. Now I know CB is rather infamous for overusing the "Come at me, bro" pose but this model uses it with such distinction that I don't think anyone will care. Menacing.
Dishonorable Mention:
Minutemen
I'm not certain what to say here. I've never figured out what is going on with this miniature. Did he trip on a rock? Is the panzerfaust too heavy? Is he trying to shoot someone behind him? While the gear isn't bad, the pose makes this model the most ridiculous in the entire Infinity range for me.
Haqqislam
Kum Biker
My favorite is the one on the right. Maybe it's simply Angel's ridiculously amazing paint job and tattoos but this model captures the essence of the Kum. Tied to his bike like many ancient middle easterners were to their horse they deftly maneuver and fire from the back of their mounts while clearly relying on the speed and bulk of their bikes to protect them.
Tuareg Sniper
I use this as a doctor usually but it still stands. I love the subtly dynamic pose of her lining up the shot while using the cap flapping to measure the wind.
Hassassin Farzan
I'm always a fan of the hassassin helmets and this guy just looks cool. I've never been able to put my finger on it, but he just looks ready to cause some serious harm.
Hassassin Barid
I wish more hackers looked this cool. He is clearly actively hacking something and his gear and pose fit with the more offensive yet subtle hassassin dynamics.
Odalisque with spitfire
The Odalisque is crouch and ready to strike. She dangerously catches enemies off guard using her i-Kohl pheromones to distract them and then either stabs them or blows them away with her compact urban machine gun.
Nomads
Zero
Zeroes are my favorite Nomad unit hands down. The models, and this model in particular, are a large part of my love for this unit. The pose shows a fair amount of movement but what I really love about Zeros are the faceless masks. That design aesthetic caused me to swap from Yu Jing to Nomads pretty early in my Infinity days.
Spektr Hacker
The Spektrs are another of my favorite units in teh game the hackerstands as one of my favorite models in the whole game. Again I'm down with the faceless mask but I also love the crouched pose this model stands as it gives it a very different dynamic with how it occupies the space of the base.
Wildcats
Focus on the left-hand side. All of these generic wildcats are fantastic. From the trooper cautiously moving forward with his combi-rifle at the ready to the middle one striding across the battlefield blazing away these models are dynamic and have that faceless mask look that I positively adore.
Reverand Custodier with Boarding Shotgun
The boarding shotgun model doesn't see much use on the battlefield due to the nature of shotguns and hacking through a hacking device plus being relatively incompatible. However this pose is so cinematic that I can't pass it up. She looks to be sweeping her shotgun across the room while what in my mind is an explosion causes her cloak to whip through the air around her. Also, notice the trend of faceless or near-faceless masks.
Intruder
The new Intruder sniper model is another of my favorites. He is simply standing there nonchalantly with his sniper rifle up as he gazes over the battlefield and his pistol in the other hand. He stands there like this as if he could pick off someone at long range with his pistol just as easily as with the sniper rifle. I love the bulky armor and the cool helmet (also nearly faceless).
Combined Army
Morats
That's right, I'm combing all the Morats together. Why? Because before these new sets came out I had absolutely zero interest of playing Combined Army. Now? I'm considering shelving my ALEPH so that I can put together a Morat force. These guys are big and bulky and menacing. Their appearance matches their impressive lore in the rulebooks. The Morats are my favorite newer models to be released by CB in 2014.
The Anathamatics
I've always loved this model. Maybe I find the blades everywhere terrifying. He has blade claws, blade arms, blade hair, etc. Maybe it's the whole H.R.Geiger vibe from the head area. Whatever the reason for my draw to model, it simply looks impressive. Certainly terrifying, possibly vicious. Definitely awesome.
ALEPH
Penthesilea
Never before did I want a motorcycle unit as much as I wanted to buy Penthesilea. The bike looks futuristic with sleek clean lines yet still identifiable, almost like a crotch-rocket from today. Penthesilea looks epic. I can't tell if she looks to be sliding her bike and readying a swing with her sword or if she is holding up and marking a target right before jumping back and gunning it towards he doomed foe.
Atalanta
She is quite simply the perfect sniper rifle model... with a robot bunny. I'm not certain why CB decided that the spot bot should be a bunny. I think I would have picked an owl or something along those lines but the bunny is a distraction compared to Atalanta.
Ajax
Easily my favorite ALEPH model. You don't understand just how big he is until you hold him in your hand. The his size magnifies his imposing posture even more. He looks like he stands ready to play golf with your man-parts using that giant hammer.
Naga
Anyone who has played against me will know that i have a great fondness of mines. So this model, one of the few that actually show mines being layed, was a welcome addition. This guy is so pro he doesn't even pay attention to the mine as he plops it on the ground. He's busy looking at the poor bastard he just shot in the face.
Dasyus
Another crouching pose. This time the model crouching and the way the limbs are arranged remind me very much of a spider waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting prey. Great model.
Tohaa
Neema Saatar
A rather static pose but I love all the extra detailing that went into separating this model out as a character. The pole-arm she holds is wicked cool.
Gao-Tarsos
Everything from teh dynamic pose of the Tohaa running while landing/taking off to the spray of bullets really is fantastic. I think the fins of the jump pack are really cool and add some balance to the back of the figure.
Gorgos
I remember seeing this for the first time and thinking, "Wow, I want to play Tohaa". It looks like a giant chaos marine on steroids and while a pole-arm (I love pole-arms).
Ectros Regiment
Again, I have a love of pole-arms and you can likely see my bias but I think the overall design of the Ectros regiment is really neat. The horned helm, the carapace like armor really fit this model well. If the pole-arm doesn't get you those knee spikes certainly will.
Nikoul
In general I avoid units laying on the ground. It can be difficult to base them properly depending on my chosen bases for the faction. The Nikoul though is an exception. Leaning around some debris as he takes a shot with the sniper rifle is a pretty wicked, if uncomfortable looking, pose.
Mercs (only 3 here because of the smaller number of models)
Miyamoto Musashi
I have a soft spot for dueling samurai. Maybe it stems from all that time I spent roleplaying as a crane duelist in my Rokugan RPG days, but whatever it is I simply love the simply dynamics of the pose. He's ready to draw his blade and take a life but not until absolutely necessary and honor demands it of him.
Valerya Gromoz
I'm not usually a fan of cheesecake in actual game models (I do like the bootleg models) but Valerya gets a pass because, since she passes as a mechanic she could simply be on her knees to evaluate a piece of hardware or hack a terminal or something. Truthfully, I don't care. She's a cool mini with a ton of character.
Scarface and Cordelia
A great set of models. Scarface clearly draws lineage from the Yu Jing TAGs but with some modification and he is posed as-if considering whether he should shoot the enemy in the face or knife them in the face.
I'll get to that hacking article for Nomads relatively soon. I want to write that next but need to find some time to write the article as it stands as one of the longer segments I've attempted. I may break it up into a few posts to avoid a "death by powerpoint" approach.