Xenos and 20 sided dice!

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

Lately I've been having deep hobby thoughts, because I'm missing something. I know exactly what it is I'm missing, too.
I'm missing my Xenos.
Y'all know I luvs me some Xenos.
It's more than that, of course. It's everything that accompanies them.  The fantastical sci-fi settings, the crazy-cool tech gizmos and weaponry...the tentacles, and the refreshing screams of humans as they TASTE DISENTEGRATOR!!!!!!
(or somesuch variant thereof)

*Hey, whatever works, amirite?*

Oh, man...I got goosebumps just typing 'disinegrator.'
;)
Look, it's not that I don't love Flames of War (I do), or that I don't miss 40k (I do), but there's...something more. It occurred to me that I've never really done any hobbying just for myself. The Ultimate Rival is my best friend. He's more than that- he's a brother to me. It stands to reason that every model I've ever assembled was built to (hopefully) destroy him, whether it was a Tau Fire Warrior or a Panzer IV.
*grin*
Don't get it twisted- this has been, and will always be, one of the primary reasons I hobby. I don't name him the Ultimate Rival for nuthin,' folks.

*Yeah, that's him*

But y'know what? It's time for me to branch out a bit. I talk a good game, right? Always goin' on 'bout how awesome what we do is and whatnot....
Time to walk the walk, SinSynn.

Enter Infinity.

*Enter the Xenos... Aw yeah*

I'm sure you've all heard of the game. You've probably seen the models, so you know how friggin' cool they are. Maybe you've seen some blog posts here and there- you've undoubtedly noticed that they all heap praise upon not only the models, but the game system and mechanics.
And, well...there's Xenos!


And so, this week I go about the business of setting myself up! I've got my Infinity Quick-Start rules, two starter sets, and enough Terran monies to purchase the following-

1) A 4x4 foot piece of...something to game on (my FIRST GAMETABLE! I'm gonna be so proud!).

2) The odd model needed to bulk out the starter sets for a balanced, appropriate beginner game (more on this coming up).

3) Templates and...20 sided dice? Yep, Infinity uses 20 sided dice. Yep, I feel like I'm crossing some weird line, delving ever deeper into geekdom, but whatevs, I don't care. At this point I might as well give in, admit that I'm not the young 'street tough' I was, and pursue my true calling.

For those that don't know, my true calling involves tentacles and:

*Well, y'know*

One thing I should mention- NO ONE I KNOW PLAYS INFINITY.
Is this gonna stop me?
Lolz- hell no.
I've already 'Frontlined' a friend of mine who's 'hobby curious,' and I'll, uh...persuade my stepson to play (threats of removing the XBox always works), so that's two victims.

Note- 'Frontlined' definition: To relentlessly pimp a game until  all resistance to it ceases. 
When you find yourself spending an uncouth amount of money on a new game system because of some crazy blog that's clearly run by cats, you've been Frontlined.
:)

*Yeah, that's him*

One of my gaming group's rival clubs, the Brothers Grimm, has an Infinity League goin' on- I'll travel if I have to. Yep, to New Jersey (which is anathema to a New Yorker like myself, but I'll do it, dammit).
I'll run demo games...I'll Frontline the heck outta this thing if I have to.

I wouldn't do this if I didn't think Infinity was worth it, but I've read the rules and they get me excited in my pants, quite frankly. There's some really cool, deep mechanics at play (like varying levels of camouflage, and methods of detecting it via tech or abilities, for instance).
The most interesting, important mechanic has to be the ARO, which stands for Automatic Reaction Order. It's basically a fancy version of the classic Overwatch, which allows a player to react to enemy movement/attacks during his 'off turn.' Simple in concept, this rule adds a great deal of tactical, strategic possibility.
Infinity had me at hello, really, but the ARO rule cements the deal.

In fact, Infinity is so deep, so complex, that the Quick Start rules basically are fairly stripped down. This is a good thing, in this case- the full blown rules are still a free download, after all, and it's clear that there's a fairly steep learning curve. The Quick Start rules were designed to 'ease one in,' one game mechanic at a time, so I'll be doing that. The ultra-cool stuffs, like orbital insertions, hacking the enemy's electronics, linked fire teams and such will have to wait until I have a full understanding of, uh...how to move my lil' dudes around.

*I still have that fresh noob smell*

To expand on point 2 (above), in the interest of keeping my initial games simple and balanced, I'll most likely have to pad out the starter sets with a few simple troopie-types. My Shasvastii starter set comes with this model:

*The epitome of hawtness, the Speculo Killer*

She's da awesome, obviously, but not recommended for beginners. My other starter set is Haqqislam, and I haven't researched them enough to be assured that the two sets will produce a balanced game- I went with what I thought was cool (Combined, of course. Xenos FOR THE WIN!), and my 'hobby curious' friend chose Haqq for the same reason.
I'll be posting on the Infinity forums, and I'll ask for help producing a couple balanced lists with what I have, plus whatever I need to purchase this week. Time to stop lurking, SinSynn.
Let's do this for da Xenos!

I'm sure you all know I'll be blogging some more about this, right?
*big, toothy Xenos grin*

*Accompanied by evil laughter- Mwahahahahahahahaha!*

Until next time, folks- HAVE A VERY XENOS DAY!
Yesh! It felt SO GOOD to type that again!

- SinSynn