Infinity N5 first impressions - changes, new skills, equipment and more!

[@jerryzalewski2240]

The Special Dice is a simple to execute bonus that doesn’t add “math figuring” to the combat roll. You roll two dice instead of one and keep the “best” result for your use case (or five instead of four, etc.). As a Dungeons and Dragons player I have used this mechanic often and find it nice and streamlined for gameplay. Sorry it breaks immersion for you, but from the math and “flow” of the game I think it is a good way to increase odds without creating conversations at the table about adding bonus numbers to die rolls, confirming those numbers with opponents, etc.

[@chrishanneman1902]

At least when it comes to fire teams the special dice in place of +1 burst is a lot less immersion breaking for me. It makes a lot more sense that being part of a team makes you a little bit more accurate as opposed to suddenly being able to fire twice as many missiles as someone not in a team.

[@kikookikaboo7808]

Not only it makes more sense in terms of immersion, but also in terms of gameplay its objective is to decrease lethality from Fireteams. It's a delicate balancing act between providing more value to small fireteams (more flexible and agile gameplay) without making them suddenly overpowered from firing 3 Missiles (if model has +1B on top of FT bonus) just with a Duo in an active turn. And the same can be said to ARO which is now much more dependent on the trooper profile than actually just having one Combi rifle and a ML Fusilier pinning down an entire lane with their 2B ML ARO.

[@peterkij8055]

@@kikookikaboo7808 yea.. my szalamander got shot to death from 48" away by the unknown ranger with varangian guard FT... in N4 it was 5B and i can only ARO 1B to the unknown ranger. even if he misses.. he still has 10orders to keep shooting at me until sally dies

[@YetMoreCupsOfTea]

Thanks for this! Not sure I agree on the special dice though. It just represents the troop having a better chance of success. To me, it never made much sense that having people watching your back in a fireteam would magically make your gun fire more bullets. Having the effect be that your shot is more likely to succeed due to being able to concentrate, receive info from a teammate, etc. makes sense though. Still the same number of bullets, just better placed.

[@thedicegodswg]

See, I always saw the +1B as the fireteam enabling the shooter to get shots down range faster. That extra burst showing the increase in response time brought about by more eyes seeking out victims. But I get your take on SD, interesting perspective, thanks!

[@marcema94]

Agree fully with this. Improved communication and eyes on a perimeter should be represented by some kind of advantage (+BS, Sixth Sense, +3 discover are all good example of this), but +Burst was always slightly odd. But having some kind of an increased chance of success is nicely represented with the "SD" mechanic, similary to other game systems where they simply call this "Advantage" like D&D.

[@vincentstanley2291]

I just jumped in yesterday. Your videos, both new and old, have been a big help. Thanks for your work.

[@thedicegodswg]

You are most welcome and thanks for watching!

[@chrishanneman1902]

I think its SR-1 instead of PS-1 to maintain the rule of negative modifiers affecting the opponent, positive modifiers affecting you.

[@KevnKalifornia]

+1 SD is just like "Advantage" from D&D; it's simple.

[@SPARTANTROOPER]

I'm quite happy with the new fireteam rules, I feel like it will dissuade players from making fireteams with 4 cheerleaders making a high BS unit a static placement that locks down half the board.

[@jamesteal8253]

Kestrel Minescorp Jackals work with the BCA Magistrates. Great initial breakdown! Loving the channel! I had played the game in N1 and N2 a bit. Life had me step away from most gaming for over a decade, but I am really excited to find my way back to Infinity. Your channel has been very entertaining and helpful!

[@skeletor957]

Me and the wife are running training games this weekend using sandtrap

[@thedicegodswg]

Awesome!!

[@AnarchicGoose]

Interesting to hear your take on guided. It was a significant factor in several of my friends giving up the game as local nomad players abused it horribly early in the edition.

[@TenkaiHimura]

Nice video, thank you. Two things I think you missed: - Berserk is now F2F - no dismounting for TAGs and Motorcycles anymore. - some range bands changed. I.e. no more +3 for smoke grenades.

[@johnthompson4969]

I think there was no need to change how you did save rolls. I really liked that you had to meet a shooting skill, and beat a damage roll. It's more realistic. N3 is where its at

[@skreppeknekker]

Thanks for the quick hot take! SR is different from ARM because some things affect one and not the other (like partial cover and AP ammo)

[@thedicegodswg]

You're welcome. Interesting, so you see it as a way of splitting things out a little more?

[@skreppeknekker]

@ Yes. For instance, the Speedball item that gives +2 to a SR doesn’t discriminate between ARM and BTS and doesn’t affect the PS of the season being used

[@reubenmccallum3350]

I think the biggest issue with Guided was always that it fell outside the usual mode of the way Infinity works. When you avoid an effect in Infinity, you even if it's very powerful you can l often make yourself safe or change how an interaction was going. The problem with Guided was you might roll a dodge and successfully avoid an attack you can't respond to and it's just a matter of your opponent expending another Order. It's not so much an issue of balance as it was an issue of vibe. I feel Speculative attacks are similar - non interactive, repeatable and it's hard to change things with an ARO. I think the changes to Fireteams have substantially altered the power of speculative attacks but you can still rinse and repeat which isn't ideal, in my mind. The changes to Guided mean if someone's willing to do a reset it goes back to Infinity idea of every order being a chance to alter the state of play for both sides, which is good.

[@gagrin1565]

Rolling additional dice and removing them changes the probability of given results without changing the range.

[@davidcorden3531]

I’m ok with special dice. It’s a simple way of making the D20 less swingy in situations where it shouldn’t be. It’s essentially an automatic re-roll except you do get to keep the original if it is the better result. I’m also fine with the nerf hammer falling on fire teams, I just think fire teams were strong enough to be the default way of setting up an army and made vanilla lists a hard sell. Definite over correction on guided though, I guarantee that most of the complainers were frightened of the idea of it rather than suffering at the hands of it. Thanks for the video Hydra, in-depth, frank and informative as usual!

[@christopherstephens2699]

With the BS -3 thing it's kind of a tangent, but paintball kind of illustrates it. If you know how to use suppressive fire and how to move you become an absolute slippery devil to hit even in the open and virtually impossible behind cover unless you're outnumbered well over five to one or the other team has someone that would be the equivalent of what they're calling a warhorse. That makes it a hell of a lot harder. This totally makes sense. For people who really know what they're doing five noobs is like "you poor bastards, you need more friends" because they just won't be able to effectively hit while you pin them down, out maneuver them and eliminate them. I've done it and I've seen other people do it numerous times.

[@thedicegodswg]

I'd agree but this is meant to be due to the volume of fire they put down. Not in suppressive or on the move. Just volume of dakka and it just doesn't sit right with me

[@christopherstephens2699]

@thedicegodswg Fair enough. I think it's something that could be described better on the whole, but does have that actual parallel. I guess part of it for me is that I think it's kind of neat to see it represented in some way.

[@jacobcdenton8524]

Agree with most of what you said but have to say im a big fan of advantage (Special dice sounds silly) in theory. Thank you for the fast content!

[@Leviuss42]

Very good video, thank you. Can I ask u to put some text screenshots next time with skills descriptions when u are talking about them? It would make video even easier to watch ✨

[@dlfleetw]

Nomads have a natural Moran/Zero/pitcher/repeater network that has nothing to do with the rest of the game, and your opponent has the plan for significantly more while also worrying about double or triple AROs from hackers that are above average as standard. Medium to high-value targets (HI/TAG/REM) not only get Targeted but also IMM or ISO at the same time. Then you get to drop a missile or two on that model. It's the potential and disparate effort from one player vs. the other that causes the issue - bring resources that offer a strong threat with minor effort as a screen/ARO threat, then medium order expenditure to use it offensively (If I'm getting a TAG in Repeater Range actively, I'm possessing it before trying to target for example). The changes lower the efficiency of the outcomes (which I think is good), but the threat remains throughout the game otherwise.

[@Rob749s]

Think of Special dice as a reroll. Except It's more efficient with your time, and you can choose the best result.

[@MakiePaints]

I think the replacement rules (werewolves, etc) aren’t base to base but you can either match the centre or the edge, they still have to overlap the original base. (Pg. 22)

[@thedicegodswg]

I may have misread it! I shall have a check, thanks. Even if so, you can still expressly move with the replacement, in effect, and enter an engaged state.

[@MakiePaints]

⁠@@thedicegodswg yes, still allows for everything you mentioned, just with less movement. The graphic suffers from poor readability.

[@pablodelgado3997]

Guided gets +3 from distance but also +3 from the marked state, I believe that’s effectively the same bonus as before?

[@devonaikins9065]

I like the change to berserk, and Martial Arts is a step in the right direction. Unlike you, I have had my army cored out by Nomads players using pitchers and guided several times. I play USARF, and so when the choice is trying to dig through a layered defense of flame throwers to slay my Unknown Ranger before he tries to single-handedly slay their entire army (if I'm lucky), or just lob missiles at him and my backup attack pieces from the safety of the other side of the board, they almost always chose to missile me. Not being able to attack the pitcher as it was activated over and over to relay spotlight was very frustrating to sit through. I also don't mind the nerf to fireteams. Duos are actually sort of neat now, and I very rarely saw anyone using the 5 man bonus to make a cheap light piece into a good attack piece. It was normally layered on top of an already good attack piece to make it a rampaging monster. Unknown Ranger is a good example, but not nearly the craziest example of that.

[@OldManRogers]

Interesting about the fireteams... they were strong but maybe over nerfed as you said. Interesting!!

[@thedicegodswg]

I guess we shall see...

[@chrishanneman1902]

With vanilla factions' lists of available models getting significantly trimmed, fireteams needed a pretty healthy nerf to keep vanilla viable.

[@somechannel8275]

So i play Ariadna & Haqquislam.. thanks for all the Nerfs.

[@thedicegodswg]

Ariadna I get that, Haqq? Not so much! Especially with all the super jump!

[@RealJahzir]

Dang this came out fast

[@thedicegodswg]

Can't let the grass grow...

[@RealJahzir]

​@@thedicegodswg 🫡🫡🫡

[@Zac-Hansen]

For me, the biggest changes to the way the game will be played are they removal of templates from shotguns and the nerf to fire teams. Imo Vanilla factions got stronger sectorials got weaker. As a vanilla player, those impact my play style none. The most interesing is that so many units just got there templates removed. This will CC easier to do without "trading". I also think this was. A buff to those HI units that still have a template weapon. My guess is this will speed up game play over all. Because now there will not be as many instances of declairing AROs for several troopers under a template. I like to think of the extra die as a reroll. Its slightly better staticially. Im indifferent. I agree the guided attack was not that bad. However, because it Spotlight turned into an ARO in N4. This made hacking and guided attacks something to account for in every game. It didnt used to be that way. Imo it defined the "meta" lists aka net lists and meta play styles. Im happy to see some relief in this area of the game. Now, I wont feel as punshied to play Yujin or Invincibles. I almost had the whole range of models with many painted. I completely dropped them in N4. It felt bad all of my money time and energy went to waist. Im looking forward to putting them back on the table. Time will tell. Thanks for your thoughts.

[@DeepGreenX]

So I can provide a sort of explanation for the name Disco Ball, its the same across all languages since Disco is a modern made up word. Other names that might use terms for Darkness, Black, Void ect that you would imagine would work well don't translate well and in some cases end up becoming very UNFORTUNATE words in their respective languages. Plus we now get the opportunity to make little 3D printed Disco Balls as tokens which I am 100% behind.

[@Nulldragoon]

Overall I'm quite eager to try out n5, there are a few change I want to mention that you've missed. Firstly Berserk loses the normal rolls, it's all opposed. Secondly Biometric visor and MSV3 got big improvements. Imp-1 is now -3 instead of -6 and Biometric visor skips Imp-2 and goes straight to revealed. MSV-3 can now shoot camo markers without revealing but takes the mimetism penalty (this is similar to how it used to work in N1). I think the disco baller will be quite useful, it's LoF OR ZoC so it's not hard to turn back on. As for guided I agree they got a bigger nerf than expected but honestly I don't think it's too bad, spotlight is PS-5 with AP so it's not hard to stick and honestly I'd rather have the burst advantage, burst 1 is just too unpredictable. I think the bigger nerf is you have to use the blast mode now so guided missiles will no longer have the AP and blast. I admit I'm a bit worried this new edition will favor Tags too much, but we'll see how the meta shakes out.

[@eyaldiskin3665]

Spotlight is still B1 in ARO

[@xs7r3am]

Loved the Video :) great content :) but... how is everybody, including you, ok with the change to super-jump. From my perspective, this is totally pushing for Alpha strike type of plays and really overpowering units with Super-jump giving them insane movement. I know how much damage I was able to do with Hollowman core with Perseus attached in N4, and now that I can move 12 inches per order stopping them is going to be bloody impossible. From everything I'm seeing in N5 if you are not running 3 or 4 dedicated ARO pieces, you are not surviving round 1 if the opponent is playing first and includes a couple of attack pieces with Super Jump and a Vehicle. As always the time will tell and we need to do a lot of play testing but with 10+ years of experience on my part, I think it is going to become an issue. I would really appreciate it if you would do a video on Alpha strikes in N5 and if you think they have become way more powerful or not.

[@jamesmaybrick2001]

I have thoughts. Many thoughts. Overall i like what i see. But there are some things i dont care for. Obviously we will all need to get some games in to have a proper idea. The big sticking points for me are... The Avatar. Holy shit. I understand that BS has come down which in itself makes the bs15 still a force, But to strip so much from it, but keep it at the same points seems wrong. The Morats Raicho is brutal for so much less points....oh well. Things may change. Bikes. Bikes is a big one. I am new to the game, but i understand that bikes being able to deploy without impetuous was a loved new mechanic that made people take them more, but thats gone now. :( Bikes (and everything else manned apparently) cant be dismounted now. Was being able to hop Yojimbo of his ride for a quick bit of action really so problematic? The conspiracy nut in me wonders if the Avatar being hurt so hard with the nerfbat is to balance out against things like combat dropping repairs in and insta cover on demand? But then with the tagbuffing dudes around you can seemingly get some crazy things happening. I assume it is mistake, but as things stand right now the O yoroi is dodging on 19's lol. And it comes with a peripheral. The peripheral is there to do the things the pilot used to dismount to do. But now its a new thing to have on the table when just 24 hours ago it was a piot your rarely saw or needed to see. It just seems like more complexity for no reason. Edit: Rather than delete stuff its maybe more useful to note a new thing, So with regards to bikes/impetuous : "During the Turn’s Impetuous Phase, the player may activate each Impetuous Trooper once" MAY being the big word.

[@reubenmccallum3350]

Anyone unhappy with the spelling mistakes or awkward sentences should be able to get their money back for the rulebook. It's only fair.

[@DeepGreenX]

Is this sarcasm, I hope this is sarcasm.

[@reubenmccallum3350]

@DeepGreenX I 💯 believe you should get back every dollar you spent on an entirely free downloadable rulebook

[@oneeyedwonderer6781]

Guided and spotlight is too many steps so I'm avoiding all units with them . Sv-1 etc is just poor and needs to be pos-1 as that just makes more sense .

[@jasonbaxter3658]

Where is the pdf?

[@thedicegodswg]

I've updated the description, but you'll find them here: downloads.corvusbelli.com/infinity/rules/infinity-rules-n5-en-v1.pdf

[@murphy7801]

I think bang bomb is worse name

[@thedicegodswg]

Well, i can't argue...

[@CrossFireX32v6]

Guess they went for the literal name of the effect 😂. Stun / flash grenade might have confused some people, thinking it'll add a stun token / have the same effect as a flash pulse or something. Thanks for the summary, btw. A good listen while at work.

[@crouchingotter]

They could have just called it a Flashbang. The worst thing about the Bangbomb is this: imagine what type of trooper you’d expect to throw an explosive on the floor and have suddenly disappeared? If you said “Ninjas” then you’re right. Now guess which troops don’t have bangbombs? If you said “Ninjas” you’re right but you shouldn’t be. Come on CB…