First Releases of Infinity 3rd Edition

3rd Edition of Infinity has been approaching for quite some time. Here are the first releases of 3rd Edition exclusive miniatures. These models represent CB letting go of 2nd Edition and pushing their brand of gaming forward. They don't even have rules for 2nd Edition. 3rd Ed, here we come.

First, we have Kasym Beg, who has replaced the previous leader of the motorcycle gang Izzat Beg. Izzat got the "Ko Dali Treatment" of being killed off in the story so that the model is no longer available in game. More like an Exrah eradication, removal of rules entirely.  I don't think it is a shame for Izzat Beg, as the model is one of the older sculpts and was previously one of the unicycles that seemed to be strictly inspired by Venus Wars (terrible anime, do not watch). Kasym's fluff is even better:

Kasym Beg. That’s me. Highwayman, asphalt warrior. A beast on the battlefield and in the bedroom. The ruthless usurper of a criminal empire. The killer of the man who took me in as his son and raised me for great things. A man possessed by the demons of lust and ambition. A man dragged to the top by the forceful passion of two women.

My story begins with a boy who dazzled the greatest Kum chieftain of Gabqar with his talent for falconry. Izzat Beg took me in, trained me personally and made me his right hand. I was destined to succeed him when he decided to quit, and anybody would have been satisfied with that. But I am not just anybody. Izzat Beg himself taught me that, if I wanted something, I ought to take it and make it mine, for that is the only way to truly own something. It just so happened that Izzat Beg had something I wanted: the beautiful Nazarova twins, Zuleyka and Zamira. His peach-skinned, gorgeous concubines. The fiercest tigresses in the chieftain’s harem. I was true to myself and to my father’s teachings when I took them and made them mine. Both of them. Yet I knew it was a grave mistake, one that could cost me my life. Because Izzat Beg never shared his rides: not his bikes, and not his women. If he ever found out about our bout of passion, the three of us would be carrion for the vultures. I could have left the Nazarova twins, forgotten it all and kept things simple, but the girls wouldn’t have gone easy on me. They wanted power as much as I did, or perhaps more. There was no other way: Izzat Beg had to die before he got wind of anything and decided to take me out.

The old man went down fighting like the lion he had always been, but this pride has a new leader: younger, stronger, and more resolute. Izzat Beg died by my hand, but I am not an ungrateful dog, and I bear these scars as a memento of that final fight, as a tribute to the man who was a father to me. My father gave me nothing, everything I have I wrested from him. His clan, his business, his fortune, his women and his deals with the Gabqar Khanate. Everything I want, I take, and I make mine. That’s me. Kasym Beg, the greatest of the Kum chieftains.

The next batch of miniatures is showing the Combined has some teeth. They're supposed to be similar to an "Evil Federation" in that it is a conglomeration of different alien races that work together. They're evil because each race has been conquered by the Evolved Intelligence that is seeking ways to transcend this existence. Along the way, the EI exterminates any competing intelligences, which is why it is interested in wiping out Humanity's Aleph.  I'm sure once that computer pest is out of the way, humanity will be gobbled up into the EI's vast ranks. After all, the EI caused the warrior Morats to surrender - once they blew up a planet.

Humanity's greatest threat is currently only a scouting party but with Paradiso heating up, CB not afraid to push the story forward even at the cost of beloved characters, results in their next batch of bad guys. One of the great criticisms of Combined players is that the starter has Morats, Shasvastii and Combined EI in the form of the Charontids. One of the dirty secrets of Infinity is that there isn't just 8 factions, it's more like 22. This is due to Sectorials being their own independent army. Just because you buy for the generic army doesn't mean you can start playing a Sectorial, it is still the equivalent a buying a brand new army. The criticism of the previous Combined starter was that you wanted to either play the alien-shape shifting Shasvastii, the fearless warrior Morats or even just the EI portion of this invasion force. You didn't want these other aliens, you just wanted to play a unified force for your individual faction. You couldn't, until now:

Red and Black - These Here Are Bad Guys

The Umbra Legates could be a new form of EI, or perhaps just a commander of the Batroids which previously appeared in Paradiso. What's exciting is seeing all of the Batroids with Plasma Rifles, unless Carbine becomes a new weapon (translation of Carabin), due to how rare and awesome they were in N2.  Then we've got two other aliens, which have been speculated to be Tohaa who have surrendered to EI due to them distinct horns.  It is pretty cool to see more Combined subjugated forces. It'll be neat to see if Combined could buy any Cube unit from any army with a little bit of a points tick up and Irregular.

Hopefully CB will release more N3 exclusive miniatures shortly, so we can really see how the future of Infinity will play out.