Tohaa 103: Objective Play

“Objectives” are a basic part of Infinity play, and something that Tohaa does well.  Many new players, in their quest to wreck face and crack skulls with their new Tohaa force, may miss their scenario’s objective:  the objectives.

You want to win.

Playing for fun is fun, but let’s not lie to ourselves.  Everybody likes to win.  A close game is fun.  A close game where you win is more fun.  But winning in Infinity usually isn’t killing your enemy.  Winning is ultimately achieving objectives, and so achieving objectives should be your focus when you play.

How do you achieve an objective?  Usually, in mission systems like ITS, 20×20, and even YAMS, there are about 2-6 “objectives” (such as an antenna, a computer, a flag, a civilian).  You need a “Specialist” to reach base contact with the “Objective”, then succeed a WIP roll.  Simple as that.  Bring the right specialist for the job, and you get a WIP+3 bonus to boot.  Achieve more Objectives than your opponent to win.  However, it’s not the mechanics of “objectives” that are usually the problem.  Usually, the problem is how you spend your orders.

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ORDER BUDGET

At Games and Gizmos, I eavesdropped on this great summary of how to play Infinity when you are playing missions and scenarios.  The stranger I heard discussing this said it came from a blog.

I don’t know which blog that is, but if you do, comment below and I will link to him.  His recommendation of how to play objectives-based Infinity missions boiled down to budgeting your order pool.  Anyone can do this with any list.  When it is your turn, discipline yourself by using this rubric:

Spend 4 orders going after your mission’s Objectives

Spend 3 orders attacking the enemy

Spend 2 orders repositioning your forces for subsequent turns

Spend 1 order wherever you want

There is some wiggle room there, but as a guideline for 10-man order pools, that is a golden a guideline as I have seen.  You’ll notice that only 3 orders are allotted to directly attacking your enemy.

Every time the active turn switches back to you, look at the objectives, appraise which ones you can reasonably achieve, and go achieve them.  If it isn’t a deathmatch, don’t blow all your orders on killing sprees.  For missions with noncombat objectives, killing sprees are the #1 cause of defeat.  Gamble on your Triad Burst™ and defensive pieces to kill your friend on his turn.

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LATE DESIGN BONUS to I.T.S.

If you are brand new to Infinity Tournament System play, here’s a rundown on all “Specialists” in Tohaa.  We touched on these in the past couple articles.  Without getting into a history lesson, your bread and butter here is the Forward Observer and Paramedic.  We don’t need so many Forward Observers, but because Corvus Belli is nice to us.

KAMAEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
Your basic bitch specialist.  Outside of specialisting, the best thing the Kamael Forward Observer is for to complete a Triad for two better units, and to occasionally stun enemies with Flash Pulse.  Never eligible for a scenario WIP+3 bonus.

KAMAEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
My favorite cheap Tohaa specialist.  Affordable, linkable, and gets a WIP+3 bonus on many ITS objectives.

KAMAEL Hacker (White Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 16)
A fairly shitty hacker, but just unshitty enough to be worth it, occasionally.  If a scenario calls for hacker, this isn’t a bad choice.

SAKIEL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
This Forward Observer I directly recommend using combatively, as Symbiont+WIP13+Flash Pulse lets you really troll with interlopers.

SAKIEL Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle, Nimbus Plus Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
Symbionts heal easily with Paramedics, and the Sakiel is a good Paramedic.  Also a good specialist.

KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 21)
The Kaeltar is usually going to have a Light Shotgun, and usually isn’t busy being a specialist.  However, he does have a WIP14 Flash Pulse, so if you’re in an elite list, or in Round 2 or Round 3, it’s a good idea to use this Kaeltar as a full-fledged specialist.

KUMOTAIL Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22)
All-in-one doctor and engineer.  Expensive, but great for that purpose, and that purpose alone.  She’s too squishy to stick in most Triads, and usually does her wetwork better through Servants.  Some scenarios may let her do specialisting through her Servants, but not many.

KOSUIL Engineer Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Panzerfaust / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
#1 Kosuil choice for everyone who wants a Kosuil, #1 choice for everyone who loves dreadlocks.  Boarding Shotgun on BS12 and Symbiont with a couple Panzerfaust shots is a great buy.

KOSUIL Engineer K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges, Nullifier / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 29)
Less common and worth addressing separately, this Kosuil carries a K1 Combi Rifle, a good but expensive gun.  The K1 Engineer is mostly an inferior choice to the Sukeul Forward Observer, who is comparably priced.  Overall, this Kosuil is a good choice if your mission specifically favors Engineers, or if your list has Kaauri and Ectros, and you need the extra Engineer support.

SUKEUL (Forward Observer) K1 Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32)
A brutally effective gunfighter with a routinely usable specialist profile.  If you’re packing Symbiomates, definitely stick one on this gentleman.  Also has a Nullfier option and Lieutenant option.

HATAIL AELIS KEESAN Viral Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Pulse, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 32)
Really expensive, squishy, expensive model, but she has a lot of fans.  Sensor + Gunner + Hacker + random stuff = pretty good troop.  Also has a cheaper K1 Combi option.

CLIPSOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
Best specialist in the game, in my opinion.  This Clipsos gets the best skill (TO Camouflage) with the cheapest Specialist trait (Forward Observer), on the lowest price imaginable (0|25).

KOTAIL (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 33)
The go-wherever-I-want-to specialist.  For missions with convoluted boards and creviced consoles, Kotail don’t care, and can get there.  Overall a great kit on a great unit.

DIPLOMATIC DELEGATE (I-Kohl L1, Specialist Operative) Nanopulser, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
Just 5 points for a Nanopulser Flash Pulse Specialist.  It’s a truly unthreatening goofball unit, but heroically wastes enemy attention when she isn’t pushing buttons.

GAO-TARSOS Paramedic (Medikit) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 30)
Parachute-a-specialist.  The Gao-Tarsos can either risk a PH roll to drop into a specific zone, or can walk in on a table edge without a roll.  Up to you.  Great unit.

TAQEUL (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle, SymbioBugs / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34)
A good but expensive profile, the Taqeul is a specialist gunfighter officer.  Use Baggage Chaksas to refill Symbiobugs, and handle with care.

And although he’s not a specialist, it bears mentioning:

MAKAUL Heavy Flamethrower, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, Viral CCW. (0 | 13)
Eclipse Grenades on the Makaul make sure you can safely get to every objective you want.  No unit can see through Eclipse smoke, and once you get Eclipse down, there’s no way for your opponent to react and interfere with what you do beneath it.  There’s no penalty to doing objective rolls beneath Eclipse smoke.  If there are objectives, bring Makauls.

We also currently have access to the ALIVE group.  However, the ALIVE hackers are temporary options, and so I will not discuss them here.  I would quickly note that I think Switch is the best of the bunch.

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TL;DR  Read your scenario.  Don’t get caught up in killing sprees if you don’t need to; but if you do need to, don’t pull your punches.

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TOHAA SOLOISTS