Newbie Board Setup

A while back, GoldenKaos had a great idea.  He suggested that I post a few table layouts for new Infinity players, so that they can see how much terrain we use.  A lot of the terrain showcased on the Infinity forums actually makes me uncomfortable in how open it is, so I asked Murm of MuRm's Minis if he wanted to hang out for an afternoon and set up some tables.  Here are the results.

This first table was one that we used during the newbie-friendly tournament I ran a few months ago.  It's more of an example than anything else, but we were trying to get multiple heights as well as a fair bit of cover all over the table.

Notice how deployment zones have cover from multiple angles.  If AD troops drop in, defenders will be more likely to have cover (or be able to grab cover in a Dodge/Guts move).

The CDs were objectives that minis had to finish their turn standing on to score points.  Although they're not totally hidden, there's a fair bit of low-level and LoF-blocking terrain obscuring them from each other.  Looking down the table, there are very few (if any) firing lanes that stretch from deployment zone to deployment zone.  Firing lanes across the width of the table are just as rare.

When placing terrain, we try to make it so that models can grab cover from multiple angles.  We also try to make Cautious Moves a usable tactic, especially with all the heavy weapons players with bigger collections can bring to bear.

On to the next table.

This is a table that we set up deliberately for new players.  It works on the same principles as the above table, but with less experimentation in height.

Deployment zones have ample cover from multiple angles, and the cover is both Partial (in the case of the short logs and walls) and Total.  The flocked CD-sized templates are Low-Visibility zones, and there is plenty of terrain around them to block LoF if models are left at the mercy of Visor-wearing troops.

The ikubes are fantastic terrain for a number of reasons.  They're box-like and stackable, so you can set them up in all sorts of crazy combinations.  Their sharp edges make it easy to tell when you have cover and when you don't.  They happen to be 2" tall by default, so models can Climb atop them with one Climb skill.  If you set them up in a small maze, like we've done, you can really showcase your close-range minis - shotguns and CCWs and template weapons for everybody!  If your LGS doesn't have any ikubes yet, I highly suggest you print some out!

That's it for this post, but hopefully these tables gave you newer players an idea of how Infinity terrain is set up, and about how much cover you need to make an exciting and challenging game.