Switching from Defense to Offense

The factions that I play are quite defensive, O12 and Corregidor.  Both are famous for their midfield minelayers and turn 0 repeater network.  When I began playing Infinity I would try to win or gain advantage through the ARO mechanic, not realising that the active turn is when any army will be at its strongest.  I think that this is true of many new players and it might be a clue to why Total Reaction REMs are popular beginners.  Obviously most units have more Burst in their active turn, but in the active turn a player has the opportunity to get an attacking piece into its good range and into the enemy’s bad range, all contributing to a more successful gunfight.  Not to mention using zero visibility zones to your advantage, like shooting through smoke grenades with MSV2.   Another active turn advantage is what is known as  a “Fork”, like a fork in the road.  A fork is when the reactive player has choices, but none of them are good.  A good example of this is the cheap warband with a Shotgun, if the target dodges then the warband uses hit mode, if the target shoots then the warband templates and if the target templates the warband dodges into CC.    

As I have become more experienced in the game of infinity my strategies have become more aggressive. I began to mix up my game plan by taking units that can Alpha strike, and less than the full 15 units, so that I have fewer units, but they are stronger.  This usually means that I have less specialists but I am focusing on my attack rather than the mission objectives, so it doesn’t matter.  Regardless of your faction TAGs in particular are a unit that I would recommend picking up if you want to go in the attack.  They are also a great place to start your model collection. There are a few TAGs that are weak, so check out this loss of lieutenant video for some ideas on what’s good.  https://youtu.be/5XubZP5g_rw  Also if you’re not ready to give up your midfield minelayers, that’s OK! Because they synergise quite well with a TAG, providing a safe area to hide during the enemy turn.  I have had good success using both the Gecko and the Zeta TAG.    

Aside from TAGs, other units that have good Alpha Strike potential are units with “Reach”.  Reach can be as simple as good long range on a gun so that the unit doesn’t have to travel far to attack.  Forward deploy units that can easily get into the bad ranges of enemy AROs.  Fast units and units with Mobility skills that are able to find lines of fire to their enemies that others would not.  Concealment such as Marker State or Smoke Grenades also allows an easy approach.  Some examples of units with good Reach are the Knauf with his very long range or Carlota Kowalsky with the deployment zone parachutist skill.