10 Hours In : Infinity The Game : The Yan Huo Missile Launcher

 

10 Hours In : The Yan Huo Missile Launcher

Continuing the series on the 10 Hours In, this time we take a look into a personal favorite : The Yan Huo.

Fun fact, this was the model that pulled me into Infinity and here I am writing about him ever since I started.

As for why 10 hours? Well, that has been answered in a previous post in this series.

The Yan Huo

The Yan Huo is such an awesome model (No bias here). It is similar to Yan Hua, which in Chinese, 烟花, translates to Fireworks. The name blends incredibly well into the role of the Yan Huo on the table top.

Yan Huo Invincible with Twin Missile Launchers

The Yan Huo is clad in heavy armor and they come with 3 options, a twin missile launcher, a Multi HMG (Heavy Machine Gun), or a HRMC (Hyper Rapid Magnetic Cannon). Each serves a different purpose and, make no mistake, they demand respect from your opponent to play against them.

On the Tabletop

On paper, the Yan Huo comes with the profile below :

Yan Huo Profile

 

A couple things stand out from the Yan Huo’s profile, firstly, it has bioimunity, which means, it has an ARM or BTS value of 5 (not 3) because you get to choose what save to use best. The next thing, it has a BS of 14 - which is a premium for models that want to focus on shooting.

A movement of 4-4 is average (back in N3, this guy was 4-2, so this is a welcomed change) that let's you keep up to pace with other models.

There's also a lack of visors that makes it hard for the Yan Huo to deal with units that have any form of mimetism or camouflage. We will circle back to this being one of his few weaknesses.  

Profile Focus

Jumping back into this deep dive, we're going to zero in on the profile with the twin missile launchers, the normal version (the neurocinetics version will be discussed in a later article).

Profile Focus (See Missile Launcher +1B)

 

 

In Infinity, missile launchers are scary to face but not unbeatable. Each successful hit causes the enemy unit to suffer an AP + EXP ammo hit (that's 3 saving throws at half the armor!). This weapon is a bane to linked teams as you can clip one of the models that crosses the LOF of the missile launcher and the whole squad can be deleted just like that. 

I've hit several opponents with that before and trust me, it's a debilitating hit to them and you can almost feel the pain yourself.

However, it only has a burst value of 1 which makes a less favorable choice during the active turn as it can easily be beaten by your opponents ARO. On top of that, there are ways to play against a missile launcher in the reactive turn, either by using something better to kill it or by ignoring the firing lane that the unit is covering altogether, which makes your points investment in a missile launcher a little more shaky.

With the Yan Huo however, things change a bit. The Twin Missile Launchers allow you to shoot with 2 dices during your active turn which increases your chances to beat your opponents ARO. This makes the Yan Huo more suited for an active turn hunter versus a reactive turn defender (a role at which it still can perform effectively). 

Positioning

Before even putting down the model, the Yan Huo is almost always going to be counter deployed against. Nobody wants to start the battle with a model in LOF of the Yan Huo unless he/she is confident that it can take the Yan Huo down. Hence, I'd say to keep the Yan Huo as your last reserve model to give it the most advantage.

I'd recommend a hunter, active turn unit as the style to play with the Yan Huo. Move him around but ensure you're in the long range band and fire things down. It's always easy to give in to the temptation to fire on a strong unit (the Yan Huo can do that too), but its always easier to remove weaker models 1st and then work your way up.

This helps with reducing orders on your opponent's active turn.

With 2 missile launchers, a successful hit is almost always a guaranteed kill and with BS 14, that success rate is higher than most.

As far as placement goes, this might sound funny but I would recommend to place the Yan Huo on the ground level behind total cover and move him around the table, sideways and not entirely forward. Ideally, he should be a short skill move away from a fire lane. Think of him as a mobile artillery and the reason to keep him on the ground level is twofold :

1) You want him to get access to most lanes of fire and sometimes, that can't be achieved when he is on rooftops. Almost always, your opponent is going to counter deploy against this guy or at least get out of his LOF, so you're going to need to work for that sweet explosive kill.

 

Yan Huo Invincibles from Corvus Belli

 

2) When placed on rooftops, he'll have a good vantage point but, if you find it hard to select a target without getting multiple ARO's , it's going to make it tough for the Yan Huo. Focus fire is key here since he doesn't have a high burst and can't take on stronger ARO pieces if he isn't focus firing on them. There are times when activating him cause 3 or more ARO's and he'll probably die at the end of the activation despite his armor and wounds.

On the ground, you have more control on where the fight happens and what to fight against.

The Secret Sauce

Move the mobile artillery around! Not many players expect a missile launcher platform to move in Infinity and this will get you to have good angles.

And let's say you have done enough killing, you can park the Yan Huo to cover a lane and he'll still be a threat because of the missile launcher.

Remember, the name of the game here is order efficiency, so taking out soft targets are much more worth it to pursue than harder targets. 

Some targets to prioritize:

Light Infantry Linked teams

Med Infantry Linked teams

Heavy Infantry and TAGS.

Limitations (Weaknesses)

Big gun, strong armor, moving platform. What are his weaknesses?

As mentioned earlier, he doesn't have any visors. This makes units with Camouflage and Mimetism an ideal counter to the Yan Huo. Your opponent will probably use these on their active turn to sneak up on the Yan Huo and bring it down. This also extends to smoke grenades and their ability to block LOF from your Yan Huo to creep up on you to engage in close combat. 

Tip : One way of working against this is having backup. A couple of units covering the Yan Huo or even a mine can deter some of the weaker camouflaged units.

Next, because he is a heavy Infantry, he is prone to hacking. With good positioning, this shouldn't be a problem but it does happen more often than not, especially with the Hacking meta on the rise.

Tip : remember to use your long range guns. Hacking is only for anything within 8 inches and you shouldn't get caught unless you're being too aggressive with his positioning.

Armor 8 in cover and with 2 wounds sounds strong but he still is vulnerable to more determined attack pieces. A Spitfire can take down a Yan Huo with ease due to the high burst!

Tip : the Yan Huo can go prone! Know when to fail morale and go prone. In fact , that is one of his plus point in that he can survive and fight back on the active turn!

Final Thoughts

Fireworks on the table! The Yan Huo can punish newer players on both sides and will reward those that know how to use him . There is a nuance to use the profile discussed, even though it looks normal on paper. 

Yan Huo in Code One Booster Pack Alpha from Corvus Belli

For this unit, I've used him in many games and it took me a while to develop the hunter style with him. There are times when he wins the game, others when he sits and does nothing. It's polarizing, despite all the tactics because there are factors (table set up, mission objectives etc) that are not always in our control. 

If you like the model, pick him up for some fireworks! The Yan Huo has the potential to suddenly turn the game around at any moment.