Holoprojector Deception - Feature Friday

Infinity is a science fiction Covert Operations simulator and while there might not be a fog of war, there is plenty of deception available.  Thermo-Optic Camouflage, Airborne Deployment and Impersonation are ways of showing how information might be missing.  That TO Ninja wasn't detected by the sensor sweep for this mission. The Airborne Deployment Hellcat was held in reserve in case the mission went sideways.  A Speculo Killer Impersonator replaced an operative for a critical mission in Combined's invasion. With all of these possible awesome deceptions, how can a Holoprojector compare?  After all, it's only wrong information on the dossier.  How could a little bit of misinformation be powerful?  How could it not?

Austrians in Disguise

Holoprojectors come in two levels: one is to deceive your opponent and the other is to deceive their models.  Holo 2 creates fake copies that can be shot at, which is what I mean by deceiving models.  When a model shoots at a Holo 2 setup, they chose a model or marker and find out if they're right.  I'm not so much interested in delving into Holo 2, but moreso the application of how Holo 1 can climb into your opponent's head and mess with it.  What should be stated is that Holo 1 and 2 cannot be combined to say "ho ho ho, here are two Holo models and two Markers". Unfortunately, Holo 2 is obvious in what is the model and the Markers.  You cannot use a second Holo model to trick your opponent.  Infinity is about outplaying your opponent, not breaking the game.

As for Holo 1, you place another model in its' place.  This could be any legal model within that army, even if it would bring the AVA above the legal limit.  The famous example in Haqqislam is using Saladin with two Hafzas Holoprojecting as Saladin.  Saladin is potentially one of the most powerful Lieutenants in the game and unlike most Strategos models, he paints a giant bullseye on his forehead.  The Holoprojectors are the shield.  Holoprojectors operate as a 3D Marker.  It follows the same procedure as Camouflage and Impersonation.  The Holoprojector also breaks if they're in a Link Team when a non-Short Move Skill is used - anybody Shoots or Dodges in the Link Team will break the Holoprojector illusion.  What breaks Camouflage and Impersonation also breaks Holoprojections. But instead of earning Stealth, Surprise Shot and Surprise Attack to trick your opponents miniatures, you get a much more valuable deception: tricking your opponent.

Cuddly Mascots Obscure Hardened Detectives

Holoprojections are by far the most useless skill against a new player.  New player's ignorance protects against the following tricks but keep these in mind as tricks you can leverage against a veteran.  TO Camouflage and Airborne Deployment are abilities that allow a player to not place a model on the board for a surprise opportunity.  These are devastating against a new player who doesn't expect the attack and allows the attack to happen.  You frequently gain the sense to detect "missing points" of a TO Camouflage MSR-weilder or perhaps an AD heavy weapon waiting for an opportune flank.

If a Holoprojector unit doesn't cost that many points but appears as a very expensive model, there is a potential to hide an invisible unit in the point gap.  In Haqqislam, there are two such potential choices.  A Medium Infantry Ragik with a Spitfire costs 32 points and the 33 point Taureg Skirmisher can be armed with a Sniper Rifle.  A Haqqislam Hafza costs 16 points, but can appear as a 48 Asawira - which is 32 points more than the Hafza. When your opponent looks across the table, they can't add up the math to see that you can blindside them with an off the table model.  If your opponent is especially devious, you can even hide the SWC cost by equipping the Asawira Holoprojection with a 50 point 2 SWC Spitfire.

At the start of a turn, players figure out what they need to accomplish and one of the trickiest uses of a Holoprojector burn Orders on a fool's errand.  Deceiving a player to waste Orders is the key component to the success of the third Maxim of Infinity.  An example of this is the supposed Aleph bodyguard Patroclus.  As a Medium Infantry, Patroclus looks can look like a Heavy Infantry and if he's precariously placed, he can invite a Hacker to make an attempt to Immobilize.  When the Hacker makes the attempt, that breaks the illusion but the Order has been spent.  Reversely, if you have a Heavy Infantry Holoprojector like PanO's Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and appear like a Light Infantry, that Hacker needs the Holoprojector illusion shattered before they can cripple the Knight.

Finally, there is the most obvious use of Holoprojection: out-and-out deception.  Make a Lieutenant look not like a Lieutenant; make a non-Lieutenant look like a Lieutenant; make a weak position look strong; make a strong position look weak; and, make it look like you have the wrong unit in the wrong place.  The Yu Jing Lu Dan Remote has a Heavy Flamer, making a non-obvious corner guard exist to thwart Airborne Deployment flanking maneuver.  The Haqqislam Hafza can be a Forward Observer yet look like a model that is unable to accomplish Objectives.   Aleph's Patroclus is known to disguise himself as Achilles to protect the Greek God, which is a great way to scare your opponent into not wanting to confront Achilles.  Or better yet, have them over-commit in a process to take him out, leaving you available to take the game.

In the science fiction environment of Infinity, it is cool to see something as mundane as bad intelligence can wreak havoc upon your opponent's forces.  I also like the pure bluff of situations that can arise with Holoprojectors and your own brazen bravado.  Use Holoprojectors in conjunction with other methods of deception to make your experienced opponents unsure of what's happening.  Turn their ability to analyze a situation against them.  A Holoprojector turns acute analysis into a detriment.  Just because you're deceiving your opponent doesn't they aren't as well.  With Holoprojectors, not only do you need to question what's missing you need to question what's there.