The Dirt – NEW Infinity Skill – Marksmanship

6 Minute Read

May 29 2014

One of the Infinity models from the May release will introduce the new Marksmanship skill. This is everything you need to know.

Last week’s article on how terrain should be set up to avoid issues with weapon range modifiers seemed to stir up some really good conversation. I will be returning to that topic in a future article in the near future with both a second article and corresponding YouTube video. But let’s jump into some really exciting news that will impact models announced in May.

The News – Marksmanship Introduced in May
One or more of the models announced by Corvus Belli in May will include some form or fashion of the new Marksmanship skill. Before we continue, let’s take a look at what models were announced in May 2014.

With May’s models comes three new rules: Fast Pandas(Interventors), Ambushed Camouflage(Kazak Spetznaz), and Marksmanship Level 2 (Kazak Spetznaz).

Infinity May 2014 Releases

(Go Look, LOTS of pics)

The Skinny – What is the Marksmanship Skill?

While the exact wording of the skill will have to wait for the Corvus Belli official post, this is the paraphrased version of the rule:

Marksmanship Level 1

A model with this special skill will treat all BS weapons with a damage rating as though they are firing Shock Ammunition.
The Shock Special Ammunition provided by Marksmanship can be combined with any other special ammunition loaded by the BS Weapon. However, this special skill cannot be applied to non-leathal weapons (i.e. smoke grenade launchers, flash pulse, etc).
This special skill does not require an order or short skill to prepare nor does it require a successful skill roll to activate. It is automatic.

Marksmanship Level 2

When a model with Marksmanship level 2 declares a BS Attack (regardless of the weapon being lethal), the model can ignore the -3 modification to their BS Attribute when the opponent is behind partial cover.
Like Marksmanship Level 1, it does not require an order or short skill to prepare and it does not require a successful skill roll to activate. It is automatic.
For Lethal weapons, I believe that it stacks with Marksmanship Level 1.

Breaking it all down….

If anything you’ve read thus far seems confusing, drop down to the Marksmanship examples. It will go over this rule with photos and a real game example.

The first question that I imagine people will ask is… “Can you use these skills as an ARO?” The answer is yes. The fact that it does not require an order or short skill would mean that you can apply this skill in ARO.

Also, the Marksmanship skill is applied to a model not a weapon. For Marksmanship Level 1, any Ballistic Skill (BS) weapon that has a damage rating will now also be treated as Shock Special Ammunition. This is huge since single wound models would pass straight to Dead, ignoring the Incapacitated state. It also means that those no wound incapacitated models that could normally fight after being dropped to zero wounds would also die on the battlefield if they failed an armor save.

Marksmanship Level 2 is really imposing. If they showed this skill in a movie:

A gunner on a ridge would see an opponent duck behind cover. Instead of trying to shoot at the opponent’s head, the gunner would shoot through the wall to target the much larger body of his enemy.

Photo used under creative commons licensing. Photographer: Jonathan Kos-Read

We’re looking at the movie WANTED, where James McAvoy is making a bullet bend around things. In this case, it’s around whatever partial cover your opponent is hiding behind.

Corvus Belli may see it happening some other way. When I explain Marksmanship Level 2 to new players, I’ll be using one of the examples above. Remember that it’s on the model, not the weapon. So if the model is carrying an HMG and a pistol, the model would get the Marksmanship bonus regardless of which weapon was fired.

Marksmanship Examples

I have no indication that Spec-Ops will get the Marksmanship rule, but we’ll pretend for this example.

The Ariadna Spec-Ops flanks the Aleph line. The Spec-Ops BS is 11, he’s got an AP HMG and decides to fire twice at both the Sophotect and Myrmidon.

Example 1: Without Marksmanship Skill

The distance between the Spec-Ops and the Sophotect is 10 inches, to the myrmidon it’s 11 inches, both in the +3 range of the Spec-Ops. For the Sophotect, the Spec-Ops needs a 14 or less to hit (11 for BS + 3 for HMG Range band of 10 inches). For the Myrmidon, the Spec-Ops needs a 5 or less to hit (11 for BS + 3 for HMG Range band of 11 inches – 6 O.D.D. – 3 for cover).

The Spec -Ops rolls a 7 and a 12 against the Myrmidon and a 2 and a 15 against the Sophotect. The Myrmidon shots miss and the Sophotect is hit once. The Sophotect needs to roll a 15, since her armor 2 is halved by the AP ammunition of the HMG. The Sophotect rolls a 14, so close, but she fails her armor save. The outcome is that the Sophotect lost a wound but is not incapacitated since she has No Wound Incapacitation (which allows a model to continue to function with zero wounds).

Example 2: With Marksmanship Level 2

In this case, the Spec-Ops would have needed an 8 or less to hit the Myrmidon (as the Myrmidon would not get the cover modifier). So one of the shots would have hit the Myrmidon. Also the Sophotect failing her armor save would have meant that she passed straight to dead. This is because the Spec-Ops rounds would have been treated as shock ammunition, negating the No wound Incapaciation of the Sophotect. The AP HMG still counts as armor piercing as well, so the roll of 14 does not save the Sophotect. Without changing a single roll, with Marksmanship Level 2, the Sophotect is Dead and the Myrmidon needs to make an armor save. If the Myrmidon fails the armor save, he too will pass straight to dead.

Level 3????

While I do not have any notes regarding a Marksmanship Level 3, I can’t help but think it’ll eventually happen. Following the next logical step, level 3 would ignore the +3 Armor that partial cover allows. This would be a great combination to deal with revealed Infiltrating TO camo snipers who start in cover. I have every confidence that Corvus Belli will correctly price (either via points or SWC) the Marksmanship skill set and keep the game balanced. This just expands the universe a little more and provides more strategies to investigate.

So that’s the news, the skinny, the DIRT on the new Marksmanship rule. Next week we’ll do a deep dive into ANOTHER new rule… Ambushed Camouflage. Were the examples in this article helpful? Let me know in the comments below. As always find me here, my YouTube Channel, or drop me a line or Infinity photos at my new email address [email protected] .

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Author: doremicom

Doremicom has been a tabletop wargamer for over a decade. His area of expertise is Corvus Belli's Infinity: The Miniatures Game. He began writing for BoLS in 2015.

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