[ENG] Guest Writer: The art of Deployment

Hello, everyone! With this article, we get into the Blog Comrade program. We'll exchange articles between the comrades to share our blogs, learn and enjoy more the Infinity World!

Yo can read my article here: Why play Corregidor?




An article from Kyle, Pride of Rodina:

The Art of Deploying 

Greetings comrades, the Pride of Rodina here! Deployment….It’s a tricky thing and can either win or lose you the game if done properly or poorly. It’s almost impossible for me to detail every little nuance that goes into, so I’m going to highlight some of the important parts:

Before Actually Deploying

Do I Stand in the Open or do I Hide, That is the Question

Indeed, that is the question. You'll need to figure out for yourself which troops you want to be dedicated ARO pieces, occasional ARO pieces (the troops who only see a small part of the board), or if you want your troops to hide entirely. I previously wrote a few articles on the subject, so I'll defer to those, in an attempt to not repeat myself (here and here) and this wonderful article by Freddie, from Under Bourak's Sun is an excellent read on the subject too.

This is the first thing you should do, even before you start playing the game. You should have a general sense of where each troop will deploy and why, when making your lists. 

I See You

Another key part about deploying is establishing Line of Sights before you start deploying. Get a good scope of the land, see which sniper spots can see where, etc. This is the number one mistake a lot of new players to Infinity make. They -think- a spot is much safer than it is, so they deploy there and then take a sniper round to the face, losing an extremely valuable trooper. It's also important for you to understand where your snipers can see too. I can't even count the number of times I've seen someone deploy a sniper somewhere, thinking they could see something, and then they declare an impossible ARO:

Opponent: "I'm going to shoot your Veteran Kazak, while he comes 'round the corner".

Me: "Are you sure about that? I don't think you have Line of Sight. Let's get the silhouettes out".

*check LoS*

Opponent: "...Never mind. No ARO...."

However, this doesn't mean harassing your opponent about every possible angle and what not. Just establish a few key angles from the sniper nests and go from there.

During Deployment

Going First vs. Going Second

Alright, so you know the mission and you know if you've won Initiative, plus whether you're deploying first/second and who's going first/second. This will definitely effect how you should deploy. It's mostly up to your list and your own personal playstyle, but you will probably want to deploy more aggressively if going first and if forced to deploy first, you'll probably want to deploy more cautiously. Therefore, if you're going second and deploying first, you'll be more cautious. If going first and deploying second, you'll want to deploy extremely aggressively.

No Surprises Here!

One of the first things you should do while deploying is make it as difficult as possible for your opponent to sneak some crap into your Deployment Zone. Keep an eye out for Airborne Deployment troops, Infiltrators, and Impersonators. Don't cluster your troops up, either, but have them watch each other's backs and use the buddy system. Try not to leave any troop by themselves, with no other trooper having Line of Sight to them. Also make sure you watch the table edges, all three of them. Even a lone trooper with a rifle or Forward Observer will do you a lot of good, compared to having no one watch one of the board edges.

What do You See with Your Elven Eyes?

Now that you've established some good sniper spots and have decided which troop will have what kind of duty, it's important for you to place the right ARO pieces, in the right places. 'Soft' ARO pieces (troops with mid-range guns, who don't want to see the entire table) will want to hide at corners or behind barricades, looking down alleys or streets, not overlooking an entire quadrant. 'Hard' ARO pieces (long-range, low burst weapons, or TR bots) will want to have a larger portion of the table within their Line of Sight. Roofs, elevated areas, or even on the ground in larger, more open areas.

Duped by My Own Toupee

If using lieutenant decoys, camo shenanigans, Airborne Deployed, and Hidden Deployed troops, don't overdo it by revealing your own deception. Try to take a nonchalant approach to using deception during deployment, but also don't under do it. It's a bit complex to get the balance right and I could probably write a whole article on this alone, so I'll leave the details for a different time. However, some things to keep in mind;

Lieutenant decoys: Please don't put the actual Lt. next to the decoy. That's just silly. They should be split up and at most, only have Line of Sight to each other, they should shouldn't be in each other's Zone of Control, ever.

Camo Shenanigans: Make them believable! If you have a Minelayer deploying a mine, deploy them one at a time (don't pick both up in your hands and deploy them together). Deploy the Minelayer. Pick up the mine, then deploy it nearby, while looking thoughtful, and deploy it like you would another troop. Same goes for decoys, from Ambush Camo. Also, if you have some cheap, throwaway camo troop, don't just deploy it out in the open, like you don't care. If you don't care, then your opponent won't care.

Airborne Deployment Rouses: Depends on the level you're using, but try to bait your opponent into or away from your deployment area, depending on your plan. Don't over do it, though! Don't be duped by your own toupee. If you completely leave a flank open or with noticeable less strength, then your opponent will probably realize you've got plans to back that flank up.

Hidden Deployment Deception: Try not to be predictable and the do the same with AD, as stated above. Don't make it obvious you have something on that flank already, by having a complete lack of support on it.