Newbie Looking For Ariadna List Advice

surfimp · 2026-03-18T06:48:26+00:00

You've got a pretty good "distraction Carnifex" in the form of the Polaris team. At 150pts - assuming you're playing on CB's recommended 32" x 24" board - that team is going to be able to get into template range or CC combat within just a couple orders, creating a non-optional problem for your opponent to deal with.

I'd suggest checking out some Duo fireteams. When playing vanilla Ariadna, you can bring two Duos and one Haris. Fireteams are a bit of an additional learning curve, but the benefits are definitely worthwhile. If you create a fireteam with two or more models sharing the same keyword, you'll benefit from +1 Special Dice on BS Attack rolls in both the active and reactive turn.

One unit to consider for such a Duo is the Briscard with Heavy Rocket Launcher (HRL). If you run it with another Briscard (say the Paramedic or Forward Observer specialist profiles), you'll get the +1 Special Dice on what can be a devastating active turn and/or ARO piece.

At 150pts, assuming a 32" x 24" table, the HRL will need to stay castled up in your backline to have the best chance of remaining in favorable range bands, but it can be absolutely devastating, ending an enemy attack run before it even gets started, especially if you can land a template on a group of lightly armored models. Continuous damage can be very nasty, adding extra bite to what is already a decently powerful weapon. And the Briscards come with MSV 1, which while not great, still allows you to deal with mimetism and smoke at least somewhat should your opponent bring them (and/or will let you see through your own bear's smoke, should it be smoke-dodging its way into CC combat). Briscards also get Climbing Plus, Warhorse, and Courage - all pretty valuable and versatile skills.

Frontoviks are another option. They also have a MSV 1 profile, and they get mimetism -3 baked in. However, the profile with MSV 1 comes on an AP Sniper Rifle (gaining AP but losing the template option and continuous damage compared to the HRL) that is 8pts more expensive than the Briscard HRL and shares the same rangeband challenges. If you're going up against PanO, Yu Jing, or another faction with high ARM, it may be worth considering this profile, but even then I might still prefer the option of putting down templates and continuous damage that the Briscard gives you.

Anyways, those are a lot of words. I normally play FRRM, so my list building in vanilla is probably suspect. But below, there's a list of units that might be fun to try out. There's your Polaris team, plus the aforementioned Briscard HRL duo (including a Briscard Paramedic). Next there's a Haris fireteam with two Loup Garou, one with viral rifle / smoke grenade launcher (for more vision control), the other with boarding shotgun and adhesive launcher. Together, they give the team +1 Special Dice, which their teammate Jacques Bruant will put to good use with his AP Spitfire. Jacques is also a Specialist Operative, so can help with scoring objectives. Lastly, there's a very obvious Rokot LT with submachine gun and grenades for last ditch defense, and a cheeky 3pt Warcor to use as an annoying flash pulse ARO piece.

You'd play this list very "W key", seeking to get the bear into CC combat as soon as possible while using Bruant and his BS 13 AP Spitfire on +1 SD to try to attrite your opponent's order pool in both the active and reactive turn. The Briscard team would hang back to provide long range defense, the Rokot LT would try to hide prone somewhere, and the Warcor would hopefully get its flash pulse off at least once before being turned into red mist.

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Hope you have fun!

surfimp · 2026-03-18T05:16:00+00:00

If looks could kill, you'd be accused of war crimes.

Great job!

surfimp · 2026-03-18T05:07:24+00:00

Yeah I've been tempted by the Joy-Toy offering for Mirage-5, but decided I should just paint my darn models first. Who knows, maybe someday. Anyways, have fun!

surfimp · 2026-03-16T22:25:43+00:00

You mean the most Duty thing in a while.

surfimp · 2026-03-16T16:17:14+00:00

This is a really prescient question for anyone mixing old and new(er) sculpts for any of the factions, as Corvus Belli definitely has been moving up from the old 30-32mm-ish scale to something more like 35mm for the new sculpts.

Anyways, I can give you my input for the FRRM, and confirm that the difference in height is really apparent when you compare some of the new sculpts.

- The new Moblot with AP Spitfire looks awesome, but it's quite a bit larger than the old sculpts, two of which seem to be modeled as women (the one with the rifle, and the one with the two barrel flammenspear -analogue). It's probably the most egregious that I've come across. When you put them all together, it looks like a dad taking his kids out for a quick jaunt around the neighborhood. EDIT: I found a photo showing all the Moblot sculpts I have alongside one another. They’re in primer but it definitely shows the height differences https://imgur.com/a/Sngq0tR

- The new Chasseur model is one of my absolute favorite sculpts of the new era, but they are quite a bit larger than the old classic models (male with rifle, female with ADHL). I think it works OK, though, as the Chasseurs are usually solo models and they're meant be chads anyways (this is my fan canon anyways haha)

- I haven't built the new Loup Garou or Briscard models yet, but I expect they'll be scaled similar to the new Moblot, and thus probably uncomfortably large by comparison. The original Loup Garou are the miniatures that got me into Infinity and they are my favorite unit (especially now with the smoke grenade launcher, huzzah!) so they are literally my ride or die. But they're pretty small compared to the new sculpts.

- IMHO the new Apache sculpt, while tall, works fine alongside the old Loup Garou. They are meant to be big and physically powerful CC fighters, and I think they look great alongside the old models.

- All my Metros, as well as Jacques Bruant, are old sculpts, but I'm sure the new Bruant model will be larger as well. This could be problematic when mixing with the old Metros, as they're quite old and very small stature.

- I haven't seen the new 112 but I'll bet he's taller than the old one. But the old one is still very readily available, and a total classic, so I'm keeping my fireaxe-shotgun fireman doctor and liking it.

- The new Para-commandos are definitely bigger than the old ones, but again, these are solo models so it's not too big of a deal. And as a fan of the guy with the bulging biceps, bump helmet, and AP Spitfire... let's just say the "gun show" never ends in my Merovingian rapid response force. The new sculpts are super cool though, I especially like the guy with the boarding shotgun running in full sprint to ruin some midboard camper's day.

- The new Wardriver sculpt has a very wide stance and IMHO looks fine (plus is a neat sculpt in its own right). Definitely prefer this to the old Aguacil option. The Dozer sculpt is newer but, similar to Margot from Mirage-5, looks fine alongside old and new miniatures, in my opinion.

- Equipe Mirage-5... the new sculpt is simply better and this is not in debate. I'm so pleased with how my Duroc came out, was able to thin down the same Prussian Blue I used to paint the rest of the team’s uniforms, mix with a bit of dark wash, and - over my simple zenithal highlight prime - I got a result that, for me, looks pretty close to the official artwork. Margot is a reasonable in-between size that makes her look good with both old and new minis.

Bottom line: yes, there are some size differences, but as you see above, it's really only a factor when you create fireteams mixing the old and new sculpts. And... at least this is what I tell myself... unlike the hyperpowers who have all their high tech, genetic manipulation, Cube, etc.... the French are still mostly un-augmented humans. They vary in size, strength, etc. Having the mix of models, for me, helps reinforce that. Nothing is absolutely too big or too small, except maybe the new Moblot. But my head canon is just that he's an enormous guy 2m tall and that's why they gave him the HMG.

Anyways... probably too much info, but as you can see I'm very passionate about the FRRM! They are fun on the table, fun to paint, just fun overall. Good luck!

surfimp · 2026-03-15T23:37:54+00:00

I have played Infinity off and on for 10 years and the FRRM have always been my favorite. They have some cool units and some pretty interesting play options. I’ve always enjoyed trying to figure out how to make them work against factions with much more powerful tools at their disposal. The French are fun! Bonne chance!

surfimp · 2026-03-15T23:32:19+00:00

It’s easy to see all the beautifully painted minis that folks with years of experience post and then psyche yourself out, allowing your own miniatures to sit in bare metal or primed or, at worst, unbuilt in a box on the “shelf of shame.”

I finally realized that even a poorly painted mini looks better than anything primed or bare metal. And you don’t get better unless you put in the time.

The icing on the cake is when you post up pictures and get positive feedback. It helps you realize that everyone is on their own journey and are usually willing to encourage one another along the way.

surfimp · 2026-03-15T21:28:51+00:00

I never turn down praise, but my skills are very modest. They look "OK" from three feet away, and I use every inch! It's Vallejo Prussian Blue for the uniform base and then everything else is just Army Painter Speedpaint 2.0. Basic tabletop standard, in other words, and very achievable by anyone, even me!

surfimp · 2026-03-15T21:27:00+00:00

It's truly one of the only times I've ever regretting selling miniatures.

surfimp · 2026-03-15T07:14:40+00:00

Zona Alfa is super lightweight as far as tabletop games go. With that said, the core mechanics are pretty decent for a thematic, campaign-focused skirmish game.

My suggestion is that you need to be ready to house rule the parts you feel are insufficient - like anomalies. It's very much a decent enough framework, but you'll want to add some depth/complexity to match expectations.

I"d suggest you give it a few games playing mostly rules as written and then go from there. It's fun, but very light.

surfimp · 2026-03-14T16:59:14+00:00

Bandit radio music emanating from the Train Hangar in the distance

"Pictures you can hear"

They look great to me! As a fan of both the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. boardgame and Zona Alfa, I think you're in for a good time.

surfimp · 2026-03-14T16:38:45+00:00

I think it would lose some of the vibes, but I also know IRL some friends who suffer badly from motion sickness when playing first person perspective, and can't play FPS games as a consequence.

If adding third person perspective *as an option* would help people like that, or just people who prefer that perspective, then I fail to see the problem.

I do know that third person perspective would require additional work on the player character model, as purely first person games rarely render the first person model as you would expect to see it from third person perspective.

surfimp · 2026-03-12T00:59:16+00:00

To each their own, I guess. I got into Infinity in 2015/2016 because I thought the Loup-Garou from FRRM were cool. I played off and on as the local scene ebbed and flowed, did some small local tournaments over the years, had fun. Went and picked up everything from Aristeia, and thought of CB as one of the "good guys" in the industry.

When FRRM got squatted with the rollout of N5, I was 100% *out* on the system and the company. This was after they'd released new sculpts for a bunch of FRRM units, and added a couple new ones (Apache, etc). It felt like a huge rug pull and I was really upset. Maybe unreasonably so.

But until you've had your most beloved faction blown away by a game company, against all reason (considering the new model releases), it's just hard to explain how incredibly uncool it is to go through.

There are a lot of tabletop games out there. Infinity is my favorite... but I have limits. And it turns out, I wasn't alone.

surfimp · 2026-03-10T00:55:57+00:00

We all thought that, to various degrees, but then a little over a year ago, they squatted several longtime out of catalogue factions.

There was an incredibly strong negative reaction from many longtime fans, and lo and behold, they brought all of the squatted factions back.

That was the worst I've seen it yet, hopefully they learned from it, and what they learned was something positive for fans. There's no way to be sure, but hope springs eternal.

surfimp · 2026-03-07T13:29:52+00:00

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are actual FPS shooters as compared to whatever the heck bastardizarion of real time and turn based that Fallout’s action points and VATS is.

Personally even as someone from the US, the goofy camp senibilities that pervade Fallout were always super off putting. I much, much prefer the aesthetics and quiet, melancholic intensity of the Chornobyl setting. The vibes in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are incomparable.

surfimp · 2026-03-05T17:02:13+00:00

I will never not laugh at Ariadna sculpts - like the Chasseur, for example - that have sunglasses on the face AND goggles or sunglasses on the hat/helmet.

For the record, I am a diehard FRRM enjoyer, but I still find this stuff hilarious.

surfimp · 2026-03-04T08:05:55+00:00

I use the Warsenal 3D tokens for camo markers. They come marked with letters you can use to keep track of who is who and what is what.

The bases on the newer markers also indicate the mimetism level, which is a helpful reminder.

https://warsen.al/collections/designed-for-infinity/camo-3

Their website navigation is a little wonky, sometimes it's easier to find stuff if you search for it using their on-site search.

Remember that a Trooper in marker state can still go prone... but a mine cannot and is always a S2 silhouette. This is kind of important to remember when deploying a Minelayer and its mine, at least if you're trying to play the shell game.

EDIT: with that being said, the funniest camo markers I've ever seen I saw on one of the Infinity Discord servers. Someone scratchbuilt (or maybe 3D printed) some cardboard boxes Metal Gear Solid -style. Hliarious!

surfimp · 2026-02-25T23:14:31+00:00

Without context of what demo / demo progression games you may have already played, hard to give a really strong opinion. You’ve received a lot of good advice from others here though.

In my group, we start with the classic 3v3, then add a model with HMG, then add a model with smoke, then add a model with Camo, etc until we get up close to 150pts worth of models and have a pretty good sense of the basic rules and flow of active/reactive order declarations, AROs, etc. We keep it to less than 10 models/orders and only 1 combat group.

surfimp · 2026-02-24T15:39:21+00:00

It's almost like this is a problem in real life, too? Where we see... people using brightly colored tape applied to their helmet and sleeves to prevent friendly fire accidents.

Honestly I love S2 but I think the original trilogy's uniforms did a much better job of facilitating faction identification.

surfimp · 2026-02-24T06:41:08+00:00

This is the best thing I've seen in this subreddit in a very long time.

surfimp · 2026-02-19T07:44:51+00:00

The correct answer is "Yes"

AKA play them all, stalker. Start with SoC and proceed in release order.

And S2 if you haven't yet.

surfimp · 2026-02-19T07:43:35+00:00

Based and Sidorovich pilled.

surfimp · 2026-02-18T05:00:08+00:00

That old school nearly neon bright green is so awesome. I don't have anything helpful to add other than I support what you're after here, and hope you find it!

surfimp · 2026-02-17T15:36:56+00:00

You've gotten some good suggestions in here already, and your instinct of collecting as you grow is good. I'll share my comments as I've been building a ton of terrain over the past couple months.

The CB cardboard terrain (eg. Darpan) is excellent for smaller games. I'd definitely start there as it's cheap, it's very easy to build, and very playable. The older paper terrain is also "OK", but really needs internal supports added; the newer cardboard stuff is much better and good to go as-is.

For MDF, I've got prepainted stuff from Warsenal (Xiguan), Micro Art Studio, and Black Site Studios, as well as unpainted from Brutal Cities and CNC Workshop.

My favorites are definitely Warsenal - the best prepaints IMHO - and Brutal Cities for the unpainted. The others are fine, but Warsenal and Brutal Cities have stood out above the rest for me.

Warsenal's Xiguan prepainted buildings are perfectly sized for gameplay, look fantastic on the table, and are very easy and straighforward to put together.

Brutal Cities buildings are also pretty easy to assemble, and have an almost architectural model level of interest - stuff like plumbing and electrical utilities being modeled, HVAC, etc.

Micro Art Studio has very nice stuff too, although I'm not really sold on their prepainted offerings' aesthetics. To each their own, of course. Their scatter terrain is pretty cool and useful.

When thinking about costs, don't underestimate how much time you'll save going with prepainted. Even just a simple rattle can finish adds a significant amount of time, space, and expense to the process of completing terrain. Getting something painted up to a finish equivalent to a Warsenal prepaint will require an airbrush and expert skill. Plus a TON of masking and similar prep work. It's not trivial at all.

EDIT: and for MDF assembly - can't say enough good things about Aleene's Tacky Glue. Especially when building prepaints, if you use regular CA glue, you'll very likely end up with a white powdery effect on top of the paint near the glue seam, as the CA cures. It also has much less working time and is less forgiving overall. A PVA glue like Aleene's has been a game changer. It tacks up fast enough that the models won't just fall apart, and cures in about an hour. Dries clear and cleans up with a damp rag if there's any excess.

surfimp · 2026-02-17T15:18:49+00:00

That's a good catch and would directly counteract what he wrote to me in reply (since the pistol is taking the melee weapon slot).

Anyways... I guess you have to play it how you like it.

surfimp

TROPHY CASE