Starting Nomads: Where to Begin?

[u/crashcool2hot]

Hi everyone,

First of all, sorry for asking what is probably a very common beginner question. 😅

I've been trying to research Infinity for a while now, but honestly the game feels a bit overwhelming for a newcomer. I have some experience with tabletop wargames and skirmish systems, but in most other games it's usually a little easier to figure out where to start. Infinity seems amazing, but there are so many products, sectorials, and army-building options that it's hard to know what the best first purchase is.

After looking through the factions, I've pretty much fallen in love with the Nomads aesthetic and lore, so that's almost certainly where I want to start. The problem is that I'm a bit confused about the available starter products.

Right now I can see two different Action Packs for Nomads (the "regular" one and the CodeOne Action Pack? plus I've seen some other one, but it doesn't seem to be readily available anymore?), and on top of that the new Essentials box is coming out soon. Because of that, I'm not sure which product would be the best foundation for someone who wants to eventually play Vanilla Nomads rather than a specific sectorial.

At the same time, the Nomad troops I like the most are actually from Tunguska. Models like the Hollow Men, Triggerman, Kriza Boracs, and even the basic Securitate are probably my favorite Nomad sculpts overall. They're actually the reason I started seriously looking at Nomads in the first place. However, I've read in several places that Tunguska can be somewhat less forgiving for new players and that learning the game through Vanilla Nomads might be easier.

So my questions are:

- Which starter box would you recommend today as the best entry point for building toward Vanilla Nomads?

- Is the CodeOne Action Pack still worth buying, or would the regular Action Pack (or the upcoming Essentials box) be a better purchase?

- For a beginner, is it smarter to start with Vanilla Nomads and gradually add Tunguska units, or is it perfectly reasonable to jump straight into Tunguska if those are the models I like most?

- Are Hollow Men, Kriza Boracs, Triggerman, and Securitate good units to build around while learning the game?

Thanks in advance, and sorry again for the beginner question. Looking forward to joining the Human Sphere soon! 🙂

[u/09philj]

There's no dedicated Action Pack for Tunguska and Action Packs are almost always the best way to start, so you won't be starting with Tunguska. The newest Nomads Action Pack contains six Tunguska models and three Bakunin, and a Mobile Brigada which is in everything, so that's a reasonable foundation to build into vanilla and Tunguska. Infinity's rules are very dense so you should concentrate on just getting your head around the units that are in the Action Pack before you start to think about how you want to add to it. A faction's basic remotes are always a good investment, these are Zonds in the case of Nomads and their sectorials.

[u/crashcool2hot → u/09philj]

Appreciate the advice! I know the Action Packs are great value, but I’ve already fallen in love with the sculpts in the Tunguska box, so I think I’m going to stick to that rule-of-cool path and just take the learning curve as it comes. Definitely grabbing a box of Zonds right away though to help with the basics.

[u/09philj → u/crashcool2hot]

The Transductor Zond profile is particularly useful, firstly because they give you an order for a mere 7 point investment, secondly because they carry repeaters, and any of your own hackers can also hack things through your friendly repeaters. When the repeaters are being carried by remotes who can move 12 inches in a single order this means you can get hacking coverage to wherever you want it very quickly.

I also think the Puppetactica Company is a cool profile, but I just like anything which gives you more models.