Doctors

Healing is a game mechanic in infinity that divides players.  There is the group of players that takes paramedics and doctors and the group that only sees them as another button pusher.

Personally I don’t like taking medkits.  Most of the targets for healing in my main faction of O12 have NWI, and I have to say that the idea of killing a functioning unit with an unlucky roll does not appeal to me.  Units like Hector and the Gamma, just don’t mix well with doctors, despite the fabled Hector + Parvati fireteam dream. 

There are medkit targets that seem like healing them would be better than finding a dollar at the ice cream shop.  Mcmurrough and Hippolyta are some of the obvious ones, but let’s take a moment to talk about the efficiency of healing units like this.  Using Hippolyta as an example, if she goes unconscious in a turn 1 Alpha-Strike there probably is not enough orders for her to be healed and to do anything more.  If she goes unconscious in the enemy turn an experienced opponent is certainly going to take her off the board then she cannot be healed.  If she goes unconscious in your second turn then there will be even less orders for her to use if you decide to risk the paramedic roll.  None of these options seem great to me.

I can almost hear the Military Orders players’ yelling in protest, because what is better than a high PH knight with a high BS paramedic team mate?  I would say that removing enemy units and scoring objectives is more important than spending resources on a revival attempt that could be fatal to a friendly unit.  

Recently in a game of Mindwipe I took two paramedics to test my dislike for them, one of them was a drop Troop and one of them was in the defensive core fireteam. I was playing a Corregidor list with Mcmurrough, Wolfgang and an Iguana.  All of whom are decent targets for a medkit shot.  When the time arrived to hand out the medicine Mcmurrough rolled one pip too high and he died.  I had some success reviving various line troopers who slowed the enemy advance… by dying again, but Ultimately I put my resources into a play that didn’t work and it reminded me how much I would rather score points than gamble on a revival.  If I had swapped the paramedic Hellcat drop Troop for a Hacker I would have made an aggressive play, either pressing a console or going after the enemy Lt.  

If you have decided that you are going to take medkit units like doctors and paramedics and Pandora, try to find the right balance of points spent on healing and points spent on attack pieces. Also try to find the balance of orders spent on healing and orders spent on attacking, you don’t have to revive all of your unconscious units to win.  

So is it worth investing in a medkit specialist?  What about the gizmokit? Let me know what you think.