Infinity N4 Preview

The latest version of Corvus Belli's sci-fi wargame with an anime/cyberpunk twist has launched. Infinity N4 is the latest ruleset and is now available in a physical release, along with Corvus Belli updating all of their online resources. In this article, we're going to look at the physical N4 rulebook, where and what's available for free online, and also talk about how to get started.

You can buy all the Infinity Products from our Tabletop Sponsor, Firestorm Games.

The physical release of the Infinity N4 rules is a boxed set with 2 books. The first book, the N4 Rulebook is an incredibly well-designed book. Its layout is fantastic, and its use of colored tables and in-game examples of rules really make the book stand out. Spread throughout the book are full-colored art pages and painted miniatures showcases.

The Rulebook starts with an introductory game to give an overall example of how Infinity N4 works. It then builds up, going through the basic rules, then a detailed look at combat. It gives clear examples throughout to keep focus and explain tricky rules. A huge chunk of the book is a reference for weapons, skills, and equipment that you won't need to take in on first read through, but can look up as you start to build up your force. 

The second book is the Core Book and is all about the setting and detail of the world and all the factions it contains. It covers each core faction and their sectorials, including the 3 new sectorials coming with this edition. It covers the history of each in beautifully laid out pages, with full-color artwork and examples of painted miniatures. Making this a separate book from the rulebook is also very welcome. It means that you don't have to carry it for game nights, and as the rulebook contains a lot of tables and reference material, you won't have to flick through the setting details to find them.

If you want to take a look over the rulebook before you buy, Corvus Belli has made the rules available for free online, in the Infinity N4 section of their Downloads page. Also, there is a printable page with all the tokens you would need to play. This means that if you have your own dice and measuring tool, you can use any miniatures to represent the forces while you try out the rules.

All of the stats for the different units are also available for free via Infinity Army, which is also available in a mobile app. This is a force builder, that also lets you create legal army lists, along with the ability to save and share them.

We caught up with our resident Infinity pro-player, Andy 'Riker' Roo to get his initial thoughts on N4.

N4 is really exciting. Any new edition brings promising things for the local, national and global metas and Infinity will really benefit from the streamlining of the rules. I'm really excited by the changes to ammo types, and some of the rules interactions there. The 15 order limit will be great for the pace of the game and an across the board reduction of points will mean we can all get more cool things in our lists.
 

I'm going to be running JSA for the new season, as they've got some excellent tweaks, particularly to their fireteams and I'm always up for a challenge.

You can read more about Andy's thoughts on Infinity N4 when he publishes them on his Infinity blog.

If you are looking to get into Infinity, the best place to start is Infinity CodeOne with the Operation Kaldstrom starter pack, which we look at in detail here. It contains 2 forces, along with everything else you need to start playing. Infinity CodeOne also has a streamlined ruleset, to get you into Infinity, before progressing to the full rules. If you want to know more about CodeOne, you can read our full guide here.

If you want to jump straight into Infinity N4 though, the best place to start is with a faction Action Pack. These are available for the core factions, and also many sectorials, which are themed sub-factions of the core factions. The Infinity CodeOne Action Packs are also fully compatible with Infinity N4.

We're going to look in detail at the O-12 Starmada Action Pack, a brand new O-12 Sectorial Army, which launched alongside the new rules, early next week.

For a limited time, there's also a pre-order special of the new rules and the Starmada Action Pack, along with 2 bonus limited edition miniatures. You can grab your copy here while stocks last.

The copy of the Infinity N4 Rules used to create this preview was provided by Corvus Belli.