Infinity Lingo Primer
Everything you need from Alpha-Strike to ZoC
Below is a list of words or phrases that are commonly used when discussing Infinity. As a note, this is not a rules document as all rules can be found on the official Infinity wiki; instead, this is intended to be used so that newer players can better understand some of the day-to-day lingo of Infinity.
[Additional edits and entries added by Headchime]
Alpha strike – When the player who has the first turn invests their orders in getting kills instead of performing mission objectives. This is done for a few reasons:
1. Killing 1 trooper on the first turn is the equivalent of removing 3 orders over the course of the game, so spending the first turn to get 2, 3, 4+ kills can massively impact the order pool of an opponent for the remainder of the game.
2. Killing the enemy lieutenant can disrupt that player’s first turn significantly, but isn’t always possible if the opponent has Chain of Command or their Lieutenant is well-guarded or the first turn player can’t easily guess the enemy Lieutenant.
3. Sometimes it is important to kill certain enemy units before they have the chance to be used on their own turn.
E.g. A Polaris Bearpode is considered an excellent alpha striker because it is able to get many kills without itself dying, sometimes only limited by the number of orders that can be spent on it.
Attack run – Spending orders on 1 unit with the intent of progressing forward while fighting enemy units they encounter. Often this is done by a unit with a strong active-turn weapon like a Spitfire or HMG.
E.g. Achilles goes on attack run, first shooting and killing an enemy Warcor, then discovering and shooting a Camo Marker in the midfield, before the attack run ends prematurely when a Daylami rolls a critical hit with its panzerfaust, killing Achilles instantly.
Button pusher – Another name for a unit that is considered a Specialist and is therefore able to interact with objectives that require Specialists (“push buttons”) such as the tech coffins in Supplies. Units that are considered Specialists in ITS 14 are Forward Observers, Engineers, Doctors, Hackers, Paramedics, Specialist Operatives, or units with the Chain of Command skill.
Camo spam – A list that emphasizes taking as many units with the Camouflage skill as possible. This is an effective strategy because Camouflaged units are unable to be attacked until they are revealed. That, along with the ability to have Camouflage units that can lay mines which are also camouflaged, can make dealing with this list strategy difficult without good ways to quickly discover a large number of Camouflage markers. This strategy is often employed by Ariadna factions, but many other factions have the ability to pursue it as well.
Castle core – A core fireteam made up of five members, one of which is especially suited to shooting reactively. This usually means the unit has a lethal weapon with long range bands like a MULTI Sniper, Missile Launcher, or Heavy Rocket Launcher in addition to multiple wounds, a naturally high BS, MSV, and/or Mimetism. Oftentimes a castle core is a pure core as well, and thereby benefits from extra BS. Castle cores are meant to stay within the Deployment Zone and not have orders spent on it, instead providing orders to other units in the combat group.
E.g. The Kappa Core Fireteam in Starmada that uses a Kappa MULTI Sniper, two Kappa hackers, and two Raveneyes would be considered a castle core.
Cheerleader – A unit that is taken to provide orders to fuel other units rather than have orders spent on it. Typically this means the unit is fairly cheap.
E.g. Netrods and Imetrons are considered classic cheerleaders in that they provide regular orders, but never have orders spent on them.
CoC – Abbreviation for the skill “Chain of Command”
Counterdeploy – Deploying a unit or units for the explicit purpose of denying the utility of an enemy unit. Typically, this is done by the player who deploys second, and against certain enemy units some players might reserve certain units to counterdeploy.
E.g. Placing a sniper looking far across the map at a unit with a much shorter rangeband like a spitfire.
E.g. Placing a minelaying unit and its mine in such a way as to box an enemy impersonator into a corner where it cannot move without revealing itself, thereby triggering the mine. The below image demonstrates this in practice; the impersonator cannot get past the Liberto to get down the ladder without discovering it first.
DTW – Abbreviation for Direct Template Weapon (e.g. Chain rifle or Flamethrower).
Edgeguard – A unit armed with a Direct Template weapon like a shotgun or chain rifle that is placed so that enemies are forced into template range if they wish to deal with that unit. Oftentimes the best edgeguards have multiple wounds, high armor, and are fairly cheap and expendable. This is done to prevent enemy units from getting to more vulnerable or valuable units, forcing them to waste orders dodging or else be hit.
E.g. Diggers are popular edgeguards because they have two wounds and chain rifles for only 14 points. The only way to see the Digger in the image below is to enter its template range, and an enemy would have to kill the Digger in order to use the ladder.
Flashbot – Another name for the type of REM in every faction that costs 7 points and has mimetism-3 and a flashpulse.
FO bot - Another name for the type of REM in every faction that has the Forward Observer skill.
Fork – An interaction where the reactive player is forced into making an inoptimal decision because of the options available to the active player. One of the most common forks is the “shotgun fork” This is because shotguns can be fired in hit-mode with a +6 modifier to be hit, or they can fired in template mode which uses Direct Templates with no change in burst or damage. A fork occurs in the following interaction:
1. First, the active unit with a shotgun declares Move to see an enemy model within 8”
2. The reactive unit must now decide to either shoot back or dodge as their ARO
a. If the reactive unit chooses to shoot, the active unit can place two templates instead of engaging in a face-to-face, forcing the reactive unit to take two saves immediately.
b. If the reactive unit chooses to dodge, the active unit can shoot in hit-mode, opposing the enemy unit’s PH against two shots with a +6 modifier.
3. The end result is that neither option is ideal for the reactive player and the active player has a major advantage in the fight.
Another common fork is a hacking / template fork versus hackable troops. This occurs because a hack can only be opposed by a reset or shooting, whereas templates can only be opposed by dodging. It works like this:
Hacking unit with a template walks within 8" of a hackable enemy model.
The reactive troop must now choose to shoot, dodge or reset.
If the opposing troop shoots or resets then you can hit them with templates without a face-to-face.
If the opposing troop dodges then you can hack them without a face-to-face.
Many other forks exist but follow the same principles, offering the reactive player two or more options to choose in ARO, and then punishing them for whatever choice they make.
A soft fork is when one of the ARO options available to the reactive troop will successfully oppose all actions that the active player could choose (for example a dodge versus a template / normal shot). The reactive player is left in a poor position but they do have a viable ARO.
A hard fork is when none of the ARO options available to the reactive troop will successfully oppose all actions that the active player could choose (for example dodge/reset versus a hack/shot). The reactive player is left in a position where they have no viable AROs
Free smoke – When impetuous units use their impetuous order to throw smoke, often to cover a lane that a different unit wants to go down. Oftentimes this can be done by deploying the unit in such a way that its movement won’t be seen from across the map (such as depoying the unit in a cul-de-sac), thus making it “free”.
FtF – Abbreviation for Face-to-Face. Also called a Head-to-Head or contested roll.
GML – Abbreviation for Guided Missile Launcher. Refers to the REM in each faction apart from Ariadna and Tohaa that has a Missile Launcher and the skill BS Attack(Guided). Sometimes referred to as an “SML”, an abbreviation for Smart Missile Launcher. Ariadna and Tohaa do still have REM’s with the BS Attack(Guided) skill, but use weaker weapons.
GML package – The components that are used to make the Guided Missile Launcher an effective strategy. This usually refers to the REM with a Missile Launcher, and then at least one Hacker and repeaters for the Hacker(s) to Spotlight through.
E.g. A classic GML package is in Nomads with the GML REM, Jazz who is a powerful hacker, and two Morans who have the infiltration skill and repeaters as part of their equipment.
For related informat
ion see: GML, Hacking projection, T0, and Repeater net
Hard ARO – A unit whose role is to reactively shoot back at enemy units. Often times the unit is either expendable or else optimized for that role. The goal of a Hard ARO isn’t necessarily to stop an enemy attacker, but at the very least delay them and waste orders.
E.g. Warcors and REM’s with flash pulses are classic examples of Hard ARO’s that are left out to delay the advance of enemy units.
Hacking projection – The ability for a faction to extend the reach of its hackers. Typically, this refers to pitchers, deployable repeaters, and units with the repeater equipment. Factions that are better able to place repeaters where they want them to be placed and with the fewest orders are considered to have superior hacking projection.
E.g. Vanilla Nomads players have access to Jazz, who has a pitcher to throw repeaters; Morans, who infiltrate with the repeater equipment; and Hecklers, who have access to FastPanda’s which allow them to place repeaters up to 8” away from themselves without a roll. Nomads are widely considered to have some of the best hacking projection in the game.
HRMC – Abbreviation for Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon.
HtH – Abbreviation for Head-to-Head. See: FtF
Link – Another name for a fireteam. Also used in “link team”, “core link”, or “pure link”.
LoF – Abbreviation for Line of Fire. Interchangeable with “LoS”, an abbreviation for Line of Sight.
LoS – See: LoF
LT - Abbreviation for Lieutenant
MBT – Abbreviation for Main Battle TAG. Typically refers to a more expensive TAG that takes powerful weapons such as an AP HMG or a Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon as opposed to a light TAG which might have weaker weapons with shorter rangebands.
E.g. The Szalamandra in Nomads is considered a classic MBT, while the Gecko, also in Nomads, would be considered a light TAG.
Missile bot – See: GML
Null Deploy – Deploying in such a way to leave few if any units able to be seen from farther than 16” by the opponent. Typically, this is done when the player expects the opponent to bring powerful long-range gunfighters that would efficiently kill any units it could see. Null deployment is a powerful way to avoid losing units to gunfire, but it often leaves a player more vulnerable to other strategies such as pitchers into Guided Missile attacks.
For related information see: Hard ARO, Soft ARO, Edgeguard
Overinfil – Short form of overinfiltration. Term that describes choosing to make the PH-3 roll to deploy a unit with the infiltration skill on the opponent’s half of the table rather than deploying on the unit owner’s half of the table without a roll.
Paintrain – A Core Fireteam made up of very durable units that can also generate or use more orders than usual through the use of skills like Tactical Awareness and NCO. Typically this fireteam represents a substantial portion of an army’s points and so must be nearly self-sufficient.
E.g. Invincible Army is a classic example of faction that can take a paintrain, taking a core comprised of five heavy infantry, at least one of which has the NCO skill, while the remainder have the Tactical Awareness skill. This makes for a fireteam with 10 wounds and 10-11 orders across only 5 units.
For related information see: Wounds stacking
Repeater net – The result of multiple repeaters covering a portion on a game table. Commonly seen in Deployment Zones due to REM’s with the repeater equipment, but some factions are also able to create repeater nets in the midfield as well. The below image shows two Morans, units with the infiltration skill and repeater equipment, as well as two Transductor Zonds, who also have the repeater equipment, and the coverage they have over the map with their repeater range.
Scalpel – Can refer to the act of killing a single specific enemy unit or the unit that is used to perform the act. Typically, to scalpel an enemy unit is to avoid engaging with other enemy units that are not of interest in order to conserve orders for killing the unit of interest. Could be considered the complement of an attack run, avoiding fights until reaching the desired goal as opposed to taking every fight along the way.
Shell game – Used to make an opponent unsure as to the identity of a unit or marker by having one or more identical units or markers. Two primary forms:
1. Lieutenant shell game – where a unit with an identical profile to the Lieutenant is taken, and then those units are kept far apart from one another. This typically forces an opponent to give up on trying to kill a player’s Lieutenant because there is a 50% chance that many orders are spent to kill a relatively unimportant unit instead.
2. Camouflage shell game – deploying multiple camo markers with the same level of Mimetism in relatively close proximity to each other. This is most commonly performed by units that have both the Camouflage skill and the Minelayer skill, as the opponent would have no way of telling which marker is the unit and which one is the mine.
SML – See: GML
Smoke Dodge – Throwing smoke to oppose being shot instead of dodging because dodging typically has no positive modifier while throwing smoke has a +3 modifier to throwing smoke within 8” of the thrower and both Dodge and Smoke use the PH of the unit. Has the same effect as dodging in that it is able to contest all shots that pass through the smoke, but is somewhat of a misnomer because the unit does not get to move as it would with a successful dodge roll. Does not function against units with MSV or units using direct templates within range.
Soft ARO – A unit whose role is to slow the opponent down without directly engaging in shooting at range. This is most commonly done with hackers reactively hacking through repeaters which keeps them safe from gunfire while still threatening enemy units.
For related information see: Edgeguards, Hard ARO, Null Deploy
Speedbump – A unit that is used with the intention of slowing down an enemy advance even if it dies in the process. Typically the unit is extremely expendable
For related information see: Edgeguards, Hard ARO
T0 – The state of the game table after deployment, but before the first round (T1). Often used to refer to things that can be set up without requiring orders to be spent.
E.g. Units that have the infiltration skill and the repeater equipment are often called T0 midfield repeaters, because they start in the midfield with repeaters already active as opposed to a unit that starts in the Deployment Zone with a deployable repeater that would need orders spent on it to do the same.
Tax – An extra and typically unwanted cost that is associated with a desired unit or profile. Most often this refers to profiles that require two units to be taken while only one of those units is considered optimal.
E.g. The “Cordelia-Tax” is how in order to take the TAG Scarface which costs around 64 points, a player must also take Cordelia who adds an additional 17 points to the price and is significantly less optimized than Scarface.
Trade – When two units kill each other at the same time, often as the result of declaring direct templates or berserk. To trade up is to have a cheaper unit trade against a more expensive one, while to trade down is the reverse. Many factions rely on trading up as a critical part of their game plan, sacrificing very inexpensive units to kill units several times their cost.
E.g. A 14-point Daturazi declares berserk against a 31-point Ye Mao Hacker. The hacker responds by declaring a template with its chain colt. Both units die, but the Daturazi is considered to have traded up, killing a unit worth twice its cost.
Vis mods – Short form of visual modifiers. Skills and equipment that affect BS attacks. Typically, this refers MSV and Mimetism, and is used as a measure of how effective a gunfighter is. Better gunfighters tend to have more and better vis mods.
Wounds stacking – The concept of prioritizing taking units with more wounds over other factors. Because Infinity is a highly lethal game where a single failed save can kill a unit, adding more total wounds to an army allows for the ability to better withstand attacks.
ZoC – Abbreviation for Zone of Control.