Posted in: Games, Tabletop | Tagged: Corvus Belli, infinity, Infinity the game, miniatures, Third Offensive

Review: Corvus Belli's Infinity: Third Offensive is a Doozy

Published Fri, 30 Nov 2018 09:40:37 -0600

The newest source book for the Infinity strategic table-top game has arrived from Corvus Belli, and it's a doozy. Clocking in at 191 pages, this release is sure to have something new for any Infinity player! Well, any player except Nomads or JSA. And Tohaa, but they suuuuuck, so whatevs.

The first section of the book goes into great detail regarding the state of affairs on Paradiso, a dense jungle planet that was home to humanity's second failed attempt to settle the stars. After the colony ship Aurora was lost to an unknown calamity on the planet's surface, an alien menace known as the Combined Army became aware of the existence of the human race, and promptly set out to subjugate it.

The lore for Infinity is typically told through fictional first-person accounts, and Third Offensive is no exception. There are plenty of accounts of troops on the ground, Admirals on their ships, and enigmatic leaders making difficult decisions. There is also a lot of background information surrounding the home environments of the new factions in the game. Overall long-form stories are absent, which is too bad; the lore behind Infinity is rich and fun to pick through!

Speaking of factions, quite a few of them get updates in the Third Offensive book. The previously mentioned Pan Oceania has new aquatic Helot troops, as well as information on the people of Varuna. Army lists have been updated for the Varuna Immediate Reaction Division, the Military Orders have been re-worked, and the Shock Army of Acontecimento has been updated as well. Yu Jing gains a single new army list with the Invincible Army, while Ariadna can now take the TAK (Tartary Army Corps) list. Combined Army receives an updated Morat Aggression Force, which can now take a terrifying TWO Raicho TAGs! Aleph sees a brand new list with the Special Situations Section. The last section on factions covers new troop additions to Mercs.

Third Offensive is light on new rules, with only a few pages dedicated to them at the end of the book, with new weapons, tactics, and the new WildParrot mobile weapons platform.

Third Offensive is lavishly illustrated, with a lot of new art alongside some older, and frankly aging pieces; most of the new art depicting women in the Infinity universe shows bad-ass soldiers and hackers who have enough tactical gear on to match the men. The Streloks pictured on page 119 looks so cool and capable that it's jarring to see the Tech Bee bouncing about in all her fan-serviced glory earlier in the book.

Corvus Belli also added some great comic book style pages that show some great action pieces. I am really hopeful that Corvus does more of this kind of art in the future, and maybe puts out another comic book; Infinity really shines in that format, and I would love to see more!

The binding on the hard-cover book appears to be high quality, and I can say from experience that the books stand up to regular use. The pages are thick and glossy, and easy to navigate through. The artwork, as mentioned previously, is consistent with Corvus Belli's excellent standards for the universe they have created.

Third Offensive is a great supplemental book, but comes with a warning: Infinity is one of the toughest strategic table-top games out there, and a casual player will need a lot more than just this book to get in to the game. Luckilly, Corvus Belli has made the full rules to the game free, and you can download them here!

Infinity: Third Offensive is available at your favorite game store now!

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