It’s funny how these circles get created. In Infinity, some of the changes to rules caused some frustration to those players used to the previous edition. Some get upset but an anonymous player decided to commission art to make fun of a ridiculous rule. The resulting art piece struck me as quite incredible in its subtlety and effectiveness.
The piece takes the largest TAG or mechanical unit in the game, the Maghariba Guard, and shows it under heavy fire. All the shots seems to miss, including a well placed one deflected by a simple potted plant. The N4 rules for Infinity state that any terrain that the model is touching that obscures the silhouette (the imaginary cylinder created by the size of the model’s base) will grant the unit cover (a +3 bonus to its armor and a +3 penalty to the shooter’s target number). This includes a simple little potted plant “covering” a massive mech.
I don’t mind the rule. It is simple and yes it can be cheesy but the old rule of covering 1/3rd the model can get subjective very quickly. Since this is really “any” covering, it makes disputes quite easy to resolve.
I’ve liked the image ever since it was first posted on social media and when I was thinking of ways to make my own Maghariba Guard stand out, this came immediately to mind.
To get the pose right, I had a to do a little modding. I cut off the “tactical rock” that the front left “foot” was balancing on (right side in the photo) and cut the left front gun arm at a joint to bend it outward towards the oncoming fire. The big gun mounts on the “tail” were easy to shave down and swivel to the direction I wanted. That left leg had to be dropped down now that the rock was gone. This also helped give the model that “lurch” dynamic that helps make it look like it is reacting to oncoming fire.
With everything pinned and filled, I primed and base coated the model in black, followed by successive light brown/tan tones (GW XV-88 and Tallarn Sand).
After quite a bit of detailing and edge highlighting, I had the Maghariba Guard complete (Maggie as she is known in Infinity circles).
I picked up a potted plant from an HO railroad set and added several custom fire sculpts to make the incoming fire and wrap up the joke.
I’m definitely happy with the way this model turned out and glad to have this unit to add to my Dahshat Company force. This also completes the baby/mommy mech story I was making with my earlier custom.
