Teaching Infinity
Learning a new game is like climbing a ladder. At first, you start on the ground, not knowing how to play. From there, you make your way up, rung by rung, towards the top. The top is awesome, full of complexity and nuance, but getting there can often be a challenge.
One mistake players often make is heaping advanced rules on new players all at once. This is like expecting a new player to climb a ladder, while at the same time disregarding the fact that several of the lower rungs are missing. How do you climb a ladder with missing rungs? Poorly, or not at all. It's ok to use more than just 3 Line Infantry and 1 Heavy Infantry, but setting up demo games with TO, AD, and other complex skills/ammo types is just asking for trouble in the long run. Let a new player get a firm footing on the lower rungs before encouraging him/her to climb higher.
Another mistake players often make is playing "hard" against new players, even with basic units. This is like expecting a new player to climb a ladder while you are monkeying up and down the ladder next to them with ease. They'll see that they're struggling and that you're showing off, and they may give up the desire to climb the ladder altogether. Take it easy, at first. Focus on rules interactions (shooting at a model, shooting at a model in cover, shoot ARO, dodge ARO) rather than on strategy and tactics, even if the new player seems to be picking things up fairly quickly. There will always be time for that later - and besides, winning a demo game is a good feeling for someone who's never played the game before.
What follows is a series of suggestions for "a new player's first demo game". Feel free to use all of it, any of it, or none of it. I've written them with a mind to the ladder approach, because research indicates that the sink or swim mentality only works for a handful of people.
Troop Selection
Start with parallel units. If you're using 3 Line Infantry and 1 Heavy Infantry, the new player should be using them too. Having little cards with unit/weapon summaries is useful, too. Since repetition helps with learning, you can use the cards to do something like "Ok, now it's my turn. I'm shooting you with a Rifle. Look at the Burst value and tell me how many dice I'm rolling." This way, you can reinforce the new player's knowledge of what-means-what even if it's not his/her turn.
Certain factions aren't really suitable for demo games. PanO has, almost universally, +1 BS across the board, which makes things uneven. Aleph has unusual Line Infantry, so it's best to leave them out, too. I suggest Alguaciles, Zhanshi, and Line Kazaks. Ghulam will do, in a pinch.
If you're looking for Heavy Infantry, you'll need to disregard some special rules to make things even. Ignore the Mobile Brigada's V: Courage and the Veteran Kazak's Sixth Sense 2. Ignore special ammunition types (Multi weapons, AP Rifles).
Action Order
Spend the first turn showing your opponent how to move. Leave a model out of cover. Use this turn to explain short skills, and why your model can move twice in a given order.
Spend the second turn showing the new player how to shoot. He/she'll probably want to shoot that model you left out in the open! Use this turn to explain how shooting fits into the short skills you explained earlier. You can also use this opportunity to show the new player how shooting works in ARO. Don't worry about dodging for now, unless the new player brings it up.
Here are some prompts you can use to explain shooting:
Burst: "When you shoot at me, you get to roll a number of d20 equal to the Burst value of your weapon. Look at the chart of the weapon you're using and tell me the number under B."
Ranges: "You may get a bonus to hit me, depending on what range you're at. Let's measure how far apart we are. Then look at the chart and see if you get a bonus for distance."
Damage: "Check out the damage value of the weapon on your chart. To make a save, I have to roll higher than that value on a d20. I get to add my ARM value to my roll, though."
Try to let the new player work out all the totals on his/her own. The more practice the newbie gets with these things, the more they remember how to do it later.
Spend the third turn teaching the new player about Cover. Since you've already discussed bonuses for shooting and ARM rolls, handling Cover should be a piece of cake. Just make sure that the new player is aware how much of a model's base needs to be obscured to provide Cover, as this changes from game to game.
After the Game
Ask the new player if they think they have a handle on how Infinity works. Ask them what they'd like to see next. Try to incorporate other rules, like Lieutenants, Retreat, and Special Ammo types (though maybe not Viral) into their next game. If they want to see TO/AD, warn them that you're using it and tell them how it works before you actually put it on the table.
All in all, make sure that you tailor the game as best you can to the individual player. If you know he/she picks up on things faster, then accelerate the pace. Don't wait until turn 3 to incorporate Cover; maybe throw it in on turn 2. Teaching is a fluid practice, and as a teacher, you must adapt to your learner. Remember the number one rule, though: Infinity is a game, and it's meant to be fun. If it stops being fun, a new player won't come back no matter how awesome the models or rule-set.
Until next time, may the dice gods favour you!
One mistake players often make is heaping advanced rules on new players all at once. This is like expecting a new player to climb a ladder, while at the same time disregarding the fact that several of the lower rungs are missing. How do you climb a ladder with missing rungs? Poorly, or not at all. It's ok to use more than just 3 Line Infantry and 1 Heavy Infantry, but setting up demo games with TO, AD, and other complex skills/ammo types is just asking for trouble in the long run. Let a new player get a firm footing on the lower rungs before encouraging him/her to climb higher.
 |
| What do you mean, I have to get all the way up there? |
Another mistake players often make is playing "hard" against new players, even with basic units. This is like expecting a new player to climb a ladder while you are monkeying up and down the ladder next to them with ease. They'll see that they're struggling and that you're showing off, and they may give up the desire to climb the ladder altogether. Take it easy, at first. Focus on rules interactions (shooting at a model, shooting at a model in cover, shoot ARO, dodge ARO) rather than on strategy and tactics, even if the new player seems to be picking things up fairly quickly. There will always be time for that later - and besides, winning a demo game is a good feeling for someone who's never played the game before.
What follows is a series of suggestions for "a new player's first demo game". Feel free to use all of it, any of it, or none of it. I've written them with a mind to the ladder approach, because research indicates that the sink or swim mentality only works for a handful of people.
Troop Selection
Start with parallel units. If you're using 3 Line Infantry and 1 Heavy Infantry, the new player should be using them too. Having little cards with unit/weapon summaries is useful, too. Since repetition helps with learning, you can use the cards to do something like "Ok, now it's my turn. I'm shooting you with a Rifle. Look at the Burst value and tell me how many dice I'm rolling." This way, you can reinforce the new player's knowledge of what-means-what even if it's not his/her turn.
Certain factions aren't really suitable for demo games. PanO has, almost universally, +1 BS across the board, which makes things uneven. Aleph has unusual Line Infantry, so it's best to leave them out, too. I suggest Alguaciles, Zhanshi, and Line Kazaks. Ghulam will do, in a pinch.
 |
| Of course this demo game is fair. Why do you ask? |
If you're looking for Heavy Infantry, you'll need to disregard some special rules to make things even. Ignore the Mobile Brigada's V: Courage and the Veteran Kazak's Sixth Sense 2. Ignore special ammunition types (Multi weapons, AP Rifles).
Action Order
Spend the first turn showing your opponent how to move. Leave a model out of cover. Use this turn to explain short skills, and why your model can move twice in a given order.
Spend the second turn showing the new player how to shoot. He/she'll probably want to shoot that model you left out in the open! Use this turn to explain how shooting fits into the short skills you explained earlier. You can also use this opportunity to show the new player how shooting works in ARO. Don't worry about dodging for now, unless the new player brings it up.
Here are some prompts you can use to explain shooting:
Burst: "When you shoot at me, you get to roll a number of d20 equal to the Burst value of your weapon. Look at the chart of the weapon you're using and tell me the number under B."
Ranges: "You may get a bonus to hit me, depending on what range you're at. Let's measure how far apart we are. Then look at the chart and see if you get a bonus for distance."
Damage: "Check out the damage value of the weapon on your chart. To make a save, I have to roll higher than that value on a d20. I get to add my ARM value to my roll, though."
Try to let the new player work out all the totals on his/her own. The more practice the newbie gets with these things, the more they remember how to do it later.
Spend the third turn teaching the new player about Cover. Since you've already discussed bonuses for shooting and ARM rolls, handling Cover should be a piece of cake. Just make sure that the new player is aware how much of a model's base needs to be obscured to provide Cover, as this changes from game to game.
After the Game
Ask the new player if they think they have a handle on how Infinity works. Ask them what they'd like to see next. Try to incorporate other rules, like Lieutenants, Retreat, and Special Ammo types (though maybe not Viral) into their next game. If they want to see TO/AD, warn them that you're using it and tell them how it works before you actually put it on the table.
 |
| If your opponent looks like this, you have failed. |
All in all, make sure that you tailor the game as best you can to the individual player. If you know he/she picks up on things faster, then accelerate the pace. Don't wait until turn 3 to incorporate Cover; maybe throw it in on turn 2. Teaching is a fluid practice, and as a teacher, you must adapt to your learner. Remember the number one rule, though: Infinity is a game, and it's meant to be fun. If it stops being fun, a new player won't come back no matter how awesome the models or rule-set.
Until next time, may the dice gods favour you!
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