Infinity Unit Review: Aïda Swanson

This season for ITS we are welcoming another alien bounty hunter to the Infinity universe, what makes her really unique though is what kind of alien she is… a Shasvastii infiltrator from the Combined! Aïda Swanson has infiltrated the sphere, and deeply imbedded in the Neoterran Capitaline Army.

Stats, Special Rules, and Equipment

Aïda has a respectable profile, without many surprises. A competent gunfighter with BS12, and a moderate melee threat with CC19 and MA2. Despite not having the raw stats of a killing machine, her combination of other special skills and equipment make her a bit of a terror. Forward Deployment L1 gets her a little further up the board, while mimetism pushes ranged engagements into her favor a bit further. Armed with a pair of SMGs, viral pistol, and Shock CCW means she will make short work of single wound models, even with NWI or Dogged, letting her swing well above her weight. Finally, Viral Mines are a truly terrifying, nothing in the game wants to take two BTS saves after getting hit in the face with a mine.

Scavenger is fun when you can use it, but don’t fall into the trap of TRYING to use it just because you can. Often to get to an unconscious enemy, you’re going to be spending a bunch of orders, and unless they have something really juicy, it is probably not worth the effort. Finally, don’t forget that she is a Shasvastii! At least for now, it means when she’s unconscious, you’re still holding 24 points in the area she went down, which can be key in some scenarios. Who knows how that rule may change though.

On The Table

She’s one rough and tumble skirmisher. Aïda isn’t a specialist, she’s not here to push buttons and secure objectives, she comes to the table to bust head. In fact, in the first game I took Aïda, she single handedly murdered Joan of Arc, which is purely anecdotal, but was pretty fun to do! A great scalpel unit, if she has a clear path up the board, and can close the gap into 8” for her SMGs, or even up to 16” thanks to mimetism, she can decimate a target. Before peeking around the corner to shoot, drop a Viral Mine, it’s well worth the extra order. Often against heavier targets, they may opt to eat a regular antipersonnel mine, but a Viral Mine is an entirely different threat. You’re pretty much assuring that they’ll declare dodge, which is somewhat easy to overcome with Burst 4 AP or Shock rounds from the SMG.

Defensively, she can hold a bit of territory, by spending a few orders and dropping mines around, then ending in suppression and cover, Aïda will hold ground and at the very least, force your opponent to waste orders clearing the area. Suppression with AP/Shock, and a -9 BS penalty is not something your opponent will be happy to jump into, odds are they’ll toss a direct template weapon in there, or speculative fire, so just be mindful of that.

Overall, for her cost, her equipment and skills really let her go after some big targets. She can be a great tool with her deadly range of weaponry, and when she goes down, you’re not out a ton of points either.