Starting Ariadna

[byy9080]

Many Infinity players look down on Ariadna because this faction does not have access to high tech gimmicks or expensive TAGs. This is true and may be a bit disappointing with the new edition rules which make electronic warfare so exciting. However, Ariadna makes up for this shortcoming with camouflage, various forms of forward deployment, and a destructive array of special ammunition. And yes, Ariadna does have access to hackers in N3.


This is an example for a list that a starting player could write using the contents of the starter box and four more models. It conveniently features 10 models, the maximum (and thus optimum) allowed in a group.



This list brings on an impressive 7 camo markers. All SWC points have been used up, the list has exactly 200 points. 8 regular and 2 irregular orders are being generated. Maybe not the perfect list, but certainly not bad for the first games.





Line Kazaks (Rifle)

Line Kazaks (Rifle)

Line Kazaks (Rifle)

Line Kazak (AP HMG)

Chasseur (Minelayer)

Hardcase (Light Shotgun)

Highlander Cateran (T2 Sniper)

1 SAS (Boarding Shotgun)

Tankhunter (AP HMG)

Veteran Kazak (AP Rifle + Light Flamethrower)



Line Kazaks with Rifles



Your basic troopers with the dedicated tasks of generating orders and guarding flanks and rear. Do not refer to them as monkeys or cheerleaders. They can actually fight, too.



Line Kazak with AP HMG



Never leave home without the maximum amount of heavy weapons allowed.



Chasseur minelayer



Chasseurs are just awesome. They have rifles, flamethrowers and mines. They are camouflaged and infiltrate. Minelayer means that the first mine is already deployed when the game starts. Mines are primarily there to strip your opponent off orders. Depending on how you deploy your mines, your opponent may have to guess which camo marker represents a mine. It is always confusing for the enemy to use lots of camo markers. Using minelayers means you get to deploy 2 camo markers, adding to the confusion.



With the flamethrower, the chausseur is somewhat of a mine himself. Of course, you do not want to waste this trooper, but sometimes there the opportunities to attack an opponent in his/her own turn should be seized. The chausseur has a relatively easy time to sneak up to the opponent and deliver a surprise shot at optimal range.



Hardcase with light shotgun



This guy does not much more than just add to the confusion with his infiltration and ambush camouflage skills, chipping in another two camo markers. Don t move the model until the enemy has wasted effort on uncovering its camo markers. Use the hardcase for opportunity kills. Unfortunately, he is irregular. There is no model released for him yet. I suggest players use the Highlander Grey model from the starter box as it is equipped with shotguns.



Highlander Cateran T2 sniper



This guy is a cheap, but good sniper. With T2 ammunition he is hitting hard. The trooper is relatively cheap, but comes with the disadvantages of being irregular and having limited camouflage. So you only get to do your surprise shot once. Make it hurt.



SAS with boarding shotgun



Who dares wins – always play this trooper according to this motto! Another infiltrating camo marker. SAS need to really sneak around a bit in order to have the greatest effect. You will learn over time how to do this.



TankHunter with AP HMG



You need someone to hit hard even in low points games. The tankhunter plays this role in this list. The AP HMG is a flexible weapon, useful against high armour as well as any other target. This is probably the model you want to keep back in deployment.



Veteran Kazak lieutenant with AP rifle and Light Flamethrower



I know, a bit expensive for a 200 pts list. But he is in the starter box and does make a good lieutenant. The reason for this is that with 4 ARM, sixth sense level 2 and No Wound Incapacitation he has good chances of survival. If you don’t agree, just swap give the lieutenant burden to one of the line Kazaks at no cost increase.

[byy9080]

List #2: Spreading Fear and Pain 200 Points.



The next list works on the same principles than the previous one, but eliminates the expensive models for the sake of generating more orders and more camo tokens. Camo tokens mean uncertainty for the enemy, and uncertainty brings fear. The pain comes with your awesome ammunition which you will shoot into the enemy’s face with a surprise shot.



8 camo markers and 13 models in 200 points seems to be a good approach to playing Aridna for me.



Unfortunately, you need to put the troopers into 2 combat groups. You could either distribute fairly evenly with 7 and 6 per group, or you could put 10 into one group and 3 into the other.



If you go for the first option, you are depriving the members of both groups of orders, but both will have access to some.



If you decide for the second option, ten models will have good mobility, while three will have very limited options. In both cases, do not forget that you can use command tokens to put troopers into a different group.



Unfortunately, this list requires a bit of proxying. Some profiles do not have models, other models are hard to come by.



Line Kazak (Rifle) Lieutenant

Line Kazak (Rifle)

Line Kazak (Rifle)

Line Kazak (AP HMG)

Chasseur Minelayer

Chasseur Minelayer

Hardcase (Shotgun)

Foxtrot Ranger (Sniper)

Foxtrot Ranger (Rifle)

Tankhunter (AP HMG)

Caledonian Volunteer (Chain Rifle + Light Shotgun)

Caledonian Volunteer (Chain Rifle + Light Shotgun)







Line Kazak Rifle Lieutenant



The lieutenant is hiding amongst the other three Line Kazaks. You will probably not get much use out of your special lieutenant order, but the enemy will have a harder time getting to your lieutenant hiding in your deployment zone with 3 decoy doubles.



Chasseurs Minelayer



That is four camo tokens to be deployed at the start of the game! As said before, chasseurs are awesome. The only problem is that the relevant model is not sold separately. You can proxy it with a similarly armed trooper.



Hardcase with Shotgun



Another 2 camo markers to add to the guessing game.





Foxtrot Ranger sniper



The reason I am not using the cateran instead is that the foxtrot can camouflage again and, above all, is a regular trooper. With the weapon ranges of N3, it is unlikely that she will ever get to deploy her mines. Most of the time, you wouldn’t even want to make use of the infiltration skill.





Foxtrot Ranger with Rifle



Basically the cheap version of a chasseur. Without the flamethrower and the sixth sense.



Unfortunately, there is no model for this trooper. You can use any other model which is lightly armoured and carries a rifle.



Tank Hunter with AP HMG



Your insurance against heavily armed troops.



Caledonian Volunteers with chain rifle and light shotgun



This model sees a lot of battles in my games. The chainrifle volunteer is simply the cheapest trooper Ariadna can field. With a shotgun and a chainrifle, he is well equipped for guarding duties.

[byy9080]

List #3: Death from Above



This list also aims to confuse the enemy, but not so much with camo tokens. It uses paratroopers instead to keep your opponent guessing. You will also notice that I really like heavy machine guns. I think they have lost only little of their deadliness from last edition.



Always choose to go first with this list if you win the initiative roll. If not, do not forget to take off 2 of your opponent’s order and hide your lieutenant well. This list is a bit dangerous. If it fails and you want to try it again, replace one of the commandos with the boarding shotgun with another chausseur or an SAS with chain rifle.



This list also only uses 10 models, four of them are included in the starter box.



Para Commando (HMG)

Para Commando (Rifle)

Para Commando (Boarding Shotgun)

Para Commando (Boarding Shotgun)

Chasseur Minelayer

Line Kazak (Rifle)

Line Kazak (Rifle)

Line Kazak (Rifle)

Line Kazak (AP HMG)

Tank Hunter (HMG)





Para Commandos





It is not easy to walk on the battlefield with safety. I suggest you use a coordinated order to get the commandos on the table when you feel the time has come. If you have to face enemy fire after arrival, you may even want to use another order to get them into safety.



You could use the SAS and the Spetsnaz to proxy the para commandos with shotguns.



Chausseur Minelayer




The same applies as in the last list.



Line Kazaks Rifle



The lieutenant is hiding amongst the other two Line Kazaks.



Line Kazak AP HMG



Tankhunter HMG



Did I mention I like machine guns? Three in a 200 pts list is quite a bit.

[byy9080]

List #4: Let’s hit the ITS!



The last list is a 300 point list which could be used in an ITS tournament. It contains specialists who are able to grab objectives.



This list has 19 models and creates 17 orders, which is quite good for 300 points. 13 camo markers will definitely give your opponent something to think about, but it may also confuse you. I suggest to write the name of the unit on the bottom side of each camo marker. Ok, the larger camo markers of the antipodes don’t leave much room for speculation. But still, they need to be discovered!



Apart from keeping your opponent guessing, camo markers also have the advantage that you opponent needs to use orders to discover your troopers before they can be attacked.



The tactical ideas behind this list are the same as with the first and the second list: Keep the enemy guessing with many camo markers, have many troopers deployed in the middle of the board or beyond, sneak around and deliver surprise shots. In short, the Ariadnan way of war.



Miniature wise, this list is an expansion of the previous ones. You will obviously need a few more models.



Line Kazak (rifle)

Line Kazak (Rifle)

Line Kazak (Rifle)

Line Kazak (AP HMG)

Antipode Pack (Controller)

Antipode

Antipode

SAS (Chain Rifle + Assault Pistol)

Uxia McNeill Covert Action

Isobel McGregor (T2 Rifle)

Chasseur Minelayer

Chasseur Minelayer

Foxtrot Ranger (Sniper)

Foxtrot Ranger (Rifle)

Tankhunter (AP HMG)

Tankhunter (Autocannon)

Caledonian Volunteer (Chain + Light Shotgun)







GROUP A



Line Kazaks





Nothing new here. The lieutenant is hiding amongst the other three Line Kazaks. You will probably not get much use out of your special lieutenant order, but the enemy will have a harder time getting to your lieutenant hiding in your deployment zone with 3 decoy doubles.



Antipode Pack





The antipodes are the only irregular troopers in this list. The handler is just like a line kazak, but comes with a handy smoke grenade launcher for just a point more. Some players are afraid of antipodes, so use this to your advantage. Apart from attacking in close combat, they can also be used to claim objectives in some missions and above all, reveal enemy camo troopers with their sensor skill.



SAS with chain rifle, grenades and assault pistol





This SAS is probably not as effective as he used to be in N2. Sneaking around with this weapon load out may be a bit harder than with a boarding shotgun, but you will find ways to get use of this slightly cheaper SAS trooper.



Uxia Mcneill covert action



Uxia is also an SAS member. The covert action variation allows her to grab objectives as a specialist troop or blow them up with d-charges. This is why she is in this list. As a superior infiltrator, she can deploy close to objectives. Handle her with great care, because once she has blown her cover, she is very fragile. Make her first action count. Don’t do anything that will reveal her until it has the maximum effect. She can be of use without even firing a shot this way.



Another option of using her is by keeping her for the last model to be deployed when you have the initiative and deploy her near expensive enemy troopers. Blast away at the beginning of the game, exchanging a lower cost model for a higher cost model or killing lots and thus depriving your opponent of orders.



Isobel McGregor with T2 Rifle



The defensive hacking device makes her our second specialist. With the T2 Rifle and ARM 2 she is reasonably equipped to join the fight. E-Maulers and hacking allow her to be useful in the defense of your own deployment zone. If the mission demands it she may have to go out and claim objectives if Uxia is not enough.



GROUP B



Chasseurs minelayer



That is four camo tokens to be deployed at the start of the game! As said before, chasseurs are awesome. The only problem is that the relevant model is not sold separately. You can proxy it with a similarly armed trooper.



Foxtrot Ranger sniper



The reason I am not using the cateran instead is that the foxtrot can camouflage again and, above all, is a regular trooper. With the weapon ranges of N3, it is unlikely that she will ever get to deploy her mines. Most of the time, you wouldn’t even want to make use of the infiltration skill.



Foxtrot Ranger with Rifle



Basically the cheap version of a chasseur. Without the flame thrower and the sixth sense.



Unfortunately, there is no model for this trooper. You can use any other model which is lightly armoured and carries a rifle.



TankHunter with AP HMG



TankHunter with autocannon



Some people like to bring expensive TAGs to the table at 300 points. Teach them the error of their ways with these two badasses. If you highly suspect that your opponent will have a TAG or something equally heavy, hold back the TankHunter with the autocannon and deploy him last with good opportunities to blow up that TAG. These two troopers work very well in a team. If the surprise shot of the autocannon is not enough to kill the TAG, the AP HMG will finish the job. The HMG is good against an enemy which has multiple shots even in ARO. The autocannon can be used in ARO in cases of emergency, even if that means revealing the tankhunter.



Caledonian Volunteer with chain rifle and light shotgun



This model sees a lot of battles in my games. The chainrifle volunteer is simply the cheapest trooper Ariadna can field. With a shotgun and a chainrifle, he is well equipped for guarding duties.