Infinity Unit Review: 5th Minutemen 'Ohio'

Ever since I discovered USAriadna (which means ever since I started Infinity), I've wanted to get my hands on the Ohio regiment, the most elite and experienced of all of the USAriadna. While compared to other Heavy Infantry in the game, they may seem a little lackluster, a BS13 AP HMG never fails to impress when it's on the table.

Profile

First, lets look across their stat line. They're Movement 4-4, which makes them the fastest link in all of USAriadna, and with Multiterrain too, so you're not going to get slowed down by terrain. They are Arm3 and Shock Immune, and boast an impressive BS13, which goes up to BS16 in a 5-man link. Their WIP is surprisingly low at 12, and only have a single wound, all this combined with Non Hackable means that they're less like a standard HI, and more like an ARM3 LI, or faster moving MI unit. If you think of the Ohio as Grunts+1, you won't be far off. Despite not being made for melee, with CC17 they can be surprisingly durable if the fight comes to them (and they didn't get incinerated by your flame throwers)

For specialists, you're limited to only a Forward Observer on the standard rifle profile, which is fine, but with that impressive PH13, a Paramedic would have been well received.

Weapon Options

The basic trooper comes with a rifle and pair of light flamethrowers, letting him cover the 8" gap up close that the rifle misses. There's also a Boarding Shotgun with Grenades troop that is possibly even worth taking solo, Spec Firing those grenades with an impressive PH13, making them nearly as good of a grenadier as a Daturazi! And another interesting profile is the AP Rifle with Marksmanship L1 and an X-visor, making it ideal to put into suppressive fire with an AP+Shock rifle and no -3 range band.

The big guns in the unit come in the form of either an AP HMG, or a Missile Launcher (also with light flamethrower). One of the few units in USAriadna without a Sniper Rifle, the Missile Launcher is clearly your ARO piece, while the AP HMG is the active turn monster. Both are fantastic choices for a core-link, and I've even had good results running the AP HMG on it's own.

The AP HMG Lieutenant also synergizes well with a dirty little trio: Van Zant (Executive Order), The Unknown Ranger (Chain of Command) and naturally the Minuteman Lieutenant with AP HMG. You can start the game using the Minuteman Lieutenant aggressively, freely spending that Lieutenant Order, then when Van Zant comes on the following turn, he will become Lieutenant, and so will get to spend that extra order, and when he finally dies, The Unknown Ranger then takes command.

My goto link for Ohio is fairly diverse. I prefer one of each SWC option so I can tackle a variety of threats, as well as a boarding shotgun for some grenades, lastly a pair of Forward Observers provide some decent ARO utility, as well as providing specialists. Really the only profile that gets left out is the AP Rifle, which isn't because it's bad, but more because the AP HMG does enough heavy lifting.

MINUTEMAN Missile Launcher, Light Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | 29) MINUTEMAN AP HMG / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | 34) MINUTEMAN Boarding Shotgun, Grenades / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 24) MINUTEMAN (Forward Observer) Rifle, 2 Light Flamethrowers / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 23) MINUTEMAN (Forward Observer) Rifle, 2 Light Flamethrowers / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 23)

3 SWC | 133 Points

There you have it, the 5th Minutemen 'Ohio' regiment. They're brutal at any range band, with their diverse range of equipment, and even have a few profiles that work great just on their own. For USAriadna they can be expensive, but with how affordable your other choices are, you can still easily make a 15 model list and still fit in these bad boys.