GTM #136 - Infinity: The Combined Army of the Evolved Intelligence

Infinity is a skirmish-level miniatures game which depicts a high technology sci-fi universe - an exciting and action-packed near-future where secret missions, black ops, and covert actions determine the destiny of Humankind!

This month, the Combined Army is introduced, a new army composed of various alienraces lead by the Evolved Intelligence, the greatest menace to the Human Sphere. The Evolved Intelligence, or EI, is an alien, artificial intellect gifted with vast knowledge and an implacable and cold will. It has dominated, subdued, and annihilated whole civilizations in the quest towards its greatest ambition: Transcendence to a superior evolutionary plane.

In order to achieve this, it has created a Combined Army, an instrument of conquest within which the most dangerous races of its dominions are united. These are the brutal and violent Morat, born to make war, the insidious and lethal Shasvastii, ready to do anything in order to guarantee their survival, and the Exrah

Concordat, cynical and aggressive death merchants: Directed by incarnations of the EI itself, they comprise the most formidable war machine ever seen in the galaxy. Meanwhile, as Humanity devours itself, this new threat, perhaps the most terrible of all, has managed to form a bridgehead in the planet Paradiso, pointing to the heart of the Human Sphere.

The Combined Army: Morat, Shasvastii, Exrah, even those creatures known as The Hungries, all submit to the orders and designs of the EI, each race playing a role in the Combined Army. The brutal Morat are the base of the army, the infantry in all its violent forms. The perfidious Shasvastii are infiltrators, explorers, and assassins. The cynical Exrah carries out transportation and adds specialized assault troops, while the dangerous Hungries are a sea of death. Still, none are as lethal and dangerous as their leader, the EI, especially when incarnated as a Charontid or an Avatar to coordinate its troops towards a victory that will be the ruin of the Human Sphere. For the moment, the Combined Army is still a small expeditionary force, equipped with technology superior to that possessed by humans, that has managed to withstand everything the Sphere has thrown against it, and appears to be awaiting reinforcements...

United But Autonomous: Though the Combined Army tends to be seen as an amalgam of troops of different species from many points in the universe, this is only so on rare occasions. Be it under the orders of an EI representative, or under their own command, the different racial armies making up the Combined Army are fully autonomous. Each one of them is perfectly able to undertake a campaign alone, without the support of any other species' forces. It is in the structure of any one of these armies that the particular idiosyncrasies of each race can be seen.

The Infinity: Human Sphere book digs deeps into two of the racial forces that are part of the Combined Army: the Morat Aggression Forces and the Shasvastii Expeditionary Force.

The Morat Aggression Forces: The brutal and resolved Morat Aggression Forces never withdraws and is able to completely devastate any battlefield. With the versatility of the Morat Aggression Forces, and the balance of its different units, an aggressive attitude and preference for definitive and brutal assault techniques is maintained. The Morat are persistent in their attacks and show special capabilities for assault actions. Their characteristic brutality and violence qualifies them as exceptional storm troops without comparison in the Combined Army. Cases of extraordinary valor and courage are frequent throughout the military history of the Morat Aggression Forces.

For the Morat, it is said that they never capitulate and that they will fight with claws and teeth until the last of them falls. Even when conscious of danger and sure of defeat, Morat will keep their positions. This is the greatest strength of the Morat race. They know their duty, and they carry it out perfectly until the bitter end. It is this sort of integrity that makes the Morat the most determined soldiers ever known, and unconquerable in battle.

The Shasvastii Expeditionary Force: By contrast with the Morat, the sibylline approaches of the Shasvastii are completely opposed doctrinally. The perfidious Shasvastii Expeditionary Forces use deception and treason to make the master strike that will endany enemy of the Evolved Intelligence. The Shasvastii Expeditionary Force distinguishes itself with an abundance of light troops who exploit the Shasvastii skills for concealment, deception, and treachery. Shasvastii strategists are cunning, wicked, unscrupulous, and basically pragmatic.

The core doctrine of the Shasvastii martial philosophy is the following: "The maximum terror in the minimum time, applied to a small number of select targets". Using this doctrine, a handful of Shasvastii have made whole armies tremble. They have created such states of paranoia among their adversaries that they see Shasvastii everywhere, getting so obsessed with them, that when alarms ring, they only fear the Shasvastii. A veteran soldier brave enough to face a fully armed TAG, will run away terrified if he thinks himself surrounded by invisible enemies. The specialty of this treacherous race is to cause panic, distrust, and paranoia in a whole army with just a single death. Shasvastii win wars thanks to fear and stealth.

Their Sole Purpose - To Conquer: Different styles and various combat techniques blend together to form a dangerous combination when carried out in a coordinated fashion. It would not be wise to make the error of underestimating the forces that form the Combined Army. Even when there is no EI Aspect leading them, these armies have refined their tactical skills through countless campaigns in the service of the Combined Civilization, with the singular purpose of destroying or subduing their enemies.