Which Infinity Army is for You? Part 2: Yu Jing
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Following up my previous review on PanOceania, I’m going with their main rival in the Human Sphere: Yu Jing. Commonly referred to as the State Empire, the Jade Empire, or just YJ, Yu Jing focuses it’s technological capabilities on enhancing their individual soldiers with remarkable powered armor.
The army itself has an extensive unit selection, drawing warriors from the Invincible Army, the armored backbone of YJ, the Imperial Service, dispensers of the Jade Empire’s justice, as well as the specialized infiltrators and winter soldiers of the White Banner. These units come together to build a force which very diverse, and able to take on any threat.
Rating System
Instead of comparing one army to another, I’m going to rate armies based on how good of a match they are for new players interested in that particular category. For example, just about any army can make a hacking heavy list, but it may take more effort for some than others. An army which effortlessly competes in hacking would be given a 5, armies take considerable effort (if at all possible) would be a 1 or 2, while armies which could be tailored either way would be a 3.
Army Metrics
Firepower. This is probably the easiest to understand, which is why it comes first! This is the sheer ability for this army to win ranged firefights. While it is a good metric for offensive power, it doesn’t mean they’re going to punch everyone off the table every time.
Resilience. Like firepower, this is a fairly straight forward metric which expresses how much punishment an army could take. If a typical list for this army has access to a lot of high armor or multi-wound troops, they’ll have a higher Resilience score.
Control. Tempo is incredibly important in Infinity, the ability to control the ebb and flow of the game, which engagements happen and so on. Armies with high control tend to have better access to infiltration, camouflage, and other deployment skills, as well as troops which can rapidly change position on the table.
E War. A huge draw of Infinity is Hacking, E War represents any particular army’s ability to compete in the hacking arena. Do they have enough to get by, or can they build out a punishing hacking network to shut down the enemy?
Accessibility. This represents the difficulty for new players to pick up the army, learn the basics, and play effectively on the table. Some armies are easy to figure out at the beginning, while others have a lot of unique rules or require more advanced techniques to win.
X-Factor. Every army has a little something special about them, and if you’re debating between two armies, this could be the deciding factor.
What’s missing? If you’re coming from other game systems, you might expect to see how good an army is in close combat. Infinity is not most games, this is a game where bullets are lethal, and you don’t want to bring a knife to a gun fight. Some armies however are exceptionally good in combat, which will be called out when discussing that particular army.
Yu Jing
Jack of All Trades. Vanilla Yu Jing (YJ) is is perhaps the most well rounded army in the game. Drawing warriors from the Invincible Army, the armored backbone of YJ, the Imperial Service, dispensers of the Jade Empire’s justice, as well as the specialized infiltrators and winter soldiers of the White Banner. These units come together to build a multi-faceted force, able to take on any threat.
You want Infiltrators? They’ve got good ones, including Heavy Infantry versions. You want Airborne Deployment? Same thing. How about some big guns? Why stop there and get it protected with thermoptic (TO) camouflage. Deadly combat remotes? Some of the best... Vanilla YJ really does have a bit of everything, letting you custom tailor your army for any occasion. For beginners, vanilla Yu Jing is an incredible choice, they can build armies to fight effectively in any aspect of the game they choose.
Invincible Army
Might Makes Right! The Invincible Army (IA) is the undisputed king of Heavy Infantry (HI) in Infinity. While they miss out on a bit of the board control that Vanilla gets access to, they double down on the toughest troops in the game, carrying a formidable arsenal of heavy weapons to punish the opponent. As a beginner army you will have to learn how to counter enemy hackers, which counter your own heavy infantry, but since the troops are so resilient, the army is overall very forgiving to new players mistakes. Plus an army entirely in powered armor looks awesome on the table.
Imperial Service
Sensor-ship. The Imperial Service (ISS) is a very fun and rewarding sectorial. An interesting aspect of the army is the amount of Multispectral Visor (MSV) that the army has. This is an easy to overlook advantage, but the wide presence of this equipment mitigates the Mimetism skill that many players rely on to win firefights, or smoke that the opponent may bring to advance up the table. Instead of focusing on full units of well armed and equipped soldiers, ISS armies often feature various Agents and their support. Some of these come as heavy infantry (as you should expect in Yu Jing), and are both incredibly deadly at range and in close combat, while other lighter Agents add a but of support to the fireteams they accompany.
White Banner
Armored Ambushers. If you like Yu Jing, but you’re looking for a bit more subterfuge in your gameplay, then White Banner (WB) is where it’s at. With higher availability of camouflaged and hidden troopers, they can play a bit of a shell game, before demolishing the foe with withering firepower from some of Yu Jings most advanced Heavy Infantry. This army isn’t as skewed in one direction like Invincible Army, but instead still offers an array of options, while giving a bit more opportunity to take the sneaky units. Despite being based on the Yu Jing representation in Code One, this army might be a little more difficult for beginners (compared to other YJ), but don’t let that scare you away.
Late Night Wargames
If you’re looking for some more discussion on Yu Jing, be sure to check out our episode of Late Night Wargames where Jon and I host, joined by our local Yu Jing expert, James. We talk about th changes to the Jade Empire in N4 and dole out plenty of wisdom when putting them down on the table.