Power-Gaming in Infinity

A while ago, I found myself answering to the same kind of post that has been coming up ever since Beast of War's Infinity week back in 2013.  The comment keeps coming up, as players from "other games" keep coming over to Infinity.  Getting new players is always a good trend; constantly butting heads with them because of paradigms brought in from other games is not.  Here's a more recent version of "that kind of comment" that I came up against in the Infinity forums:

Moreover I think that people do not want balanced games ! Let me explain - trying to beat a game within (its mechanics, find its flaws) is a part of the game itself.

As many people have said, this is not really the way Infinity does things.  In other games (WM/H, Malifaux, etc.) you look for the combos - the things that will give your list a serious advantage.  In Infinity, it's more about your skill than your combos.  You might have some crazy combination of models, but an experienced player will give you a thrashing because it's not about each individual model (or even a combination of models); it's more about how they're used.

Case in point: Akalis Spitfire drops down in someone's rear line.  To an unprepared player, this will mean death.  To a prepared player, the Akalis will take out maybe 2-3 models before going down in a shower of bullets.  New players will make the mistake of taking certain risks with their air drop troops; veteran players won't (or will calculate those risks).

Most Infinity players do not seem to be "list-monkeys": that is, they do not try to beat the game from within.  Even those players who I would consider more rules-lawyer-y (and we have had our disputes, they and I...) try to push the game towards balance rather than a breaking point.

If you know the kind of player who seeks the challenge of "breaking" a game from within, then I might suggest that Infinity is not for them.  I think that people do want balanced games, so that they can see who's better tactically - not who's better at ferreting out "the winning strategy" (making most of the gameplay irrelevant).

If you know such a player, please refer them to this post.  It might just get them to change their mind.