Infinity Bakunin Observance Guide

The Nomads choose to live their lives away from the A.I. control that the rest of the Human Sphere accepts. To maintain this independence, they live on 3 gigantic ships. Each ship falls under the command of a specific force. One of those ships, the Bakunin, is a group of misfits and outcasts, linked by the nature that everyone is accepted on their ship. On the Bakunin, the Observance of Saint Mary of the Knife, Our Lady of Mercy, and the polar opposite of the Bakunin nature has come out from the shadows to protect Bakunin from the A.I. ALEPH and decided the stay in the light, protecting Bakunin from those who would wish it harm. In this article, we'll have a look at Bakunin and the brand-new Bakunin Observance Action Pack for Infinity.

What Is Infinity?

Infinity is Corvus Belli's anime/cyberpunk wargame. If you're brand new to Infinity, the best place to start is with Infinity CodeOne and you can read our guide on getting started here. If you've played Infinity before or are looking to upgrade from CodeOne then Infinity N4 is the latest edition of the Infinity rules. Infinity has two core mechanics that make it a tactical and unique wargame, the order pool and Automatic Reaction Orders (ARO).

Order Pool

Each turn, every unit still standing in your force provides an order token. Order tokens are spent to activate your units during your turn and can be allocated to units as you choose. For example, if you have 10 orders, they can all be spent to activate a single unit 10 times or split between different units. This gives a lot of flexibility each turn and you can prioritize a goal, and spending orders until it’s achieved.

Automatic Reaction Orders

Automatic Reaction Orders are actions you take during your opponent's turn. They allow units to react to actions made by the enemy, like dodging an attack or shooting in response to an enemy attack or movement. This makes turns very dynamic, and you have to be aware of your opponent’s possible reactions to your actions. If your units move out of cover, which enemy units will be able to fire at them? If you fire at an enemy, will they be able to return effective fire?

Infinity Skill Tests

Skill tests are taken on twenty-sided dice known as D20s, and require rolling under the attribute being tested. If the enemy reacts to your action, it changes the roll to a face-to-face roll, which means you have to roll under your attribute, but above the enemy's roll to succeed.

What's The Difference Between A Vanilla And Sectorial Army List?

When choosing an Infinity faction to play, players will refer to 2 different types of armies. Vanilla and Sectorial.

Vanilla

Vanilla armies are the core forces of Infinity. There are eight of them including Nomads. Playing a vanilla force gives you access to the full range of that faction's units.

Sectorial

Sectorial forces are themed forces, like the Jurisdictional Command of Bakunin under the Nomads. They have limited troop choices and generally include some interesting choices from outside the standard faction options. They also have access to Fireteams, which allow you to link up units and move them with a single activation, along with giving them bonuses to attacks.

Who Are the Bakunin Observance?

The Bakunin Observance is a religious sect, previously secretive and shadowy, now very much in the public view and protecting Bakunin from the schemes and attacks of ALEPH. The sisterhood of the Observance only tolerates men in specific roles as they can't achieve the divine that women can. The Observance share some beliefs with the PanOceania Military Orders but considers ALEPH very much against their beliefs, which causes conflict between them, despite their common cause.

Why Play The Bakunin Observance?

The Observance is a small part of the larger Bakunin sectorial, which has previously been dominated by some of the other stronger more cost-effective units available to them. With this new action pack, several new units have been added and several profiles reworked. The Observance brings some hard-hitting, well-equipped troops and with the new options now available to them, they have some great choices and good filler units, but they still suffer from most of their units' high costs. Bakunin overall is not an easy faction to pilot, but with a huge range of flexibility they bring, it's difficult for your opponent to counter them effectively, letting you focus on countering their threats.

Where Should I Start With The Bakunin Observance?

Corvus Belli makes it incredibly easy to start with any faction in Infinity. Factions are usually available first in Operation 2-player starter packs and then released in Army Packs which combine the forces from the Operation and Beyond packs. The rest are released in their own Action Packs, like the new Bakunin Observance Action Pack, which contains 9 miniatures to build the core of your army.

The Bakunin Observance Action Pack contains:

• Reverend Moira (HMG) - There are 2 Moira's in this action pack, both with some hard-hitting weapons. They both have Armor 3 and Mimetism -6 for some staying power. Stealth and a high CC gives them some up-close punch. The HMG profile has a decent range, solid damage a burst 4 to keep your opponent's units in cover.
• Reverend Moira (MULTI Sniper) - As above, but with a MULTI Sniper which has incredible range, high damage, burst 2, and a choice between AP and shock damage.
• Reverend Healer Doctor (Boarding Shotgun) - The Healer's come with Doctor to keep your troops on the table, the same Stealth, Armor 3, and Mimetism -6 to keep themselves on the table, and a short-range shotgun that punches hard with AP, or a template blast to hit multiple enemies.
• Reverend Custodier Hacker (Combi Rifle and Pitcher) - A hacker with the standard Reverend defensive options, Stealth, Armor 3, and Mimetism -6. The Combi Rifle profile has a couple of options. Lieutenant, Carbonite +1B, Killer Hacking Device or Hacking Device+. Your choice will depend on what you're going to use them on and which programs you need.
• Sin-Eater (MULTI Sniper) - The only men in the Observance and a capable ARO piece. They have Armor 3 and Mimetism -3 on defense, and the MULTI Sniper has a great range and packs a punch. Their Neurocinetics special skill means that they only get burst 1 in the active turn, but can use a weapon's full burst as a reaction.
• Orphans (Observance Engineer) - The Orphans are a new profile with this release, and the Engineer profile has 2 options. The standard engineer is armed with an SMG and D-charges and a gizmokit for fixing structure points on allied units, and an upgraded profile with an added repeater and E/M Mines. both profiles have Stealth, Armor 2, and Mimetism -3.
• Reverend Cenobite (Chain Rifle) - This armored unit loves to get up close with its 6-2 move, impetuous and then high CC, Martial Arts L3, and a DA CC weapon to put the hurt on anything they touch. Mimetism -6 and armor 3 help them get there in one piece.
• Reverend Cenobite (Heavy Rocket Launcher) - The same as above, but rather than the template chain rifle, this Cenobite is dangerous at all ranges with the heavy rocket launcher.
• Penitent Observant (Red Fury) - The most heavily armored unit in the box with armor 5 and Mimetism -3. The burst 4 Red Fury and two launcher options give them options at mid-range and the survivability to take fire back.

What Products Are Available For The Bakunin Observance And Where Should I Go Next?

The Bakunin is currently going through a full re-release of the miniatures and the Action pack is the first of an entirely new set of miniatures for them. This means that now is the perfect time to start collecting them, as there is a well-spaced roadmap of releases for them throughout the rest of 2023.

Arriving alongside the Action pack was Dire Foes 12: Troubled Threat and if you pre-ordered both the action pack and dire foes, you got a bonus Cassandra Kusanagi Event Exclusive miniature. Some of these will be available at some stores as part of a bundle deal.

Dire Foes 12: Troubled Threat

The Dire Foes packs for Infinity are themed packs that contain 3 miniatures, with special missions designed around them that are made available on the Infinity Downloads page. Troubled Threat contains the following miniatures:

• Mother Healer Agatha Wabara (Vulkan Shotgun) - This Noamds/Bakunin named character is a doctor who loves combat, and you'll probably be split between the two roles during games. Agatha has the same defensive stats as the Reverends with Armor 3 and Mimetism -6 but comes armed with the Vulkan Shotgun which is devastating at close range. If a target under the Vulkan's template fails a save, it has to keep making saves until it passes one, or runs out of wounds. Agatha is also a Doctor +3 and has a +1B medkit, so salvation or punishment will be a decision with every activation.
• Indigo Brother Konstantinos (Combi Rifle) - Konstantinos originally appeared in Dire Foes 4 and gets a new miniature here. Konstantinos is an infiltrating specialist operative. Armor 2 and Mimetism -3 to keep them safe, and a Multispectral Visor L2 to spot threats.
• Outlaw AI Robin Hook - Robin Hook is a very fast and nimble hacker that has some interesting weapons. -9 Para CC weapon, +1B heavy pistol, +3BS tactical bow, and a +1 damage rifle, everything is modified. Robin is best in cover and on the move, hacking, but at least there are combat choices should you need them.

The release roadmap for the Bakunin can be seen in the image above. Starting out with the action pack will allow you to see how the Observance play and give you time to access what you'd like to add to your force and the different profile available until their release.

An easy place to expand your Bakunin force is with a pack of Riot Grrls. They are an incredible Heavy Infantry Fire Team and a very threatening ARO piece on the tabletop. They also fit in very well with the sisterhood theme, even though they're not part of the Observance themselves, but the Nomads as a whole.

The copy of the Infinity Products used to produce this guide were provided by Corvus Belli.