Infinity Interlude: Some N2s and HVTs for my Infinity Collection

Over the past several months I have been putting some time in to improving the overall combat capabilities of my Haqqislam force for Infinity, and I am now at a point where I can deploy at least a few decent pieces.  However, missions in Infinity often call for more than just ones own forces to be deployed to the field, and this is an area I have completely lacked in until now.

SecDets and HVTs

In Infinity, some missions require the use of High Value Targets - HVTs - who are involved in some mission objectives.  They're basically Civilians with no real combat ability but help add another dimension to the game - CB themselves can explain better.  There's a slew of these out there, unfortunately most are scattered within the various "Dire Foes" expansions, a majority of which don't offer me anything as a Haqq player.  This is an element of the game I kind of wish some scenarios would lean into more, as having a firefight erupt in an area with a bunch of uninvolved civilians would be interesting.

These could also be used for Holomasks I'd imagine.

For this group, I pulled together a number of HVTs I had accumulated - the "Corporate Executive" blister, the Tariqa blister, the Dragon Lady box from Crimson Stone, and the VIP Executive from Dire Foes 4.

SecDets are Security Detachments, expressed in the form of the "Corporate Security Unit" profile.  Certain Sectorals - such as Foreign Company - can take them as ordinary units, most players only get them from certain scenarios in the current ITS cycle.  They're not great, but you usually get them for free and they do not count against any limits which is nice.

Dragon Lady

This is one of two styles for this model - I have the other floating around somewhere and it may turn up eventually.  I painted this in colors my wife likes, though the default suggestions are also great.  For much of it I broke out some Army Painter colors I had laying about - these are not great but definitely are more vibrant than my usual Vallejo Model Color.  Shot for a North-east Asian skin tone (with some makeup perhaps) but as always I'm pretty ham-handed with those.  I also dabbled in a little of (crude) pseudo-object-sourced-lighting - highlights towards her left are (allegedly) lighter than those further to the right.  Not even close to proper OSL, but the idea was sort of there.

For basing, I decided to go green - specifically, a manicured lawn look.  I usually shy well away from static grass as I never liked it, but it works well in this specific scenario I think.  Maybe.  More importantly my wife liked the look, and if nothing else it really stands out compared to the rest.

I like to think the pigbot (?) is secretly a Crazy Koala.

Tariqa

This is Haqq's specific HVT - these are basically meant to represent some of the highest level consular types in the government of Bourak, though of course it could just be an especially fashionable lady.  I haven't a clue what that cube is supposed to be - it definitely isn't a Cube.  I liked the box art well enough that I tried to emulate it here with a slight modification at the belt - though I kind of wish I'd gone for a brown fur rather than the off-white.  Still, it gets the point across.

For basing, I decided to go with something that kind of looks like carpet - a first for me.  My original approach involved just painting the flat base purple and, following some advice online, stippling on a lighter color to sort of emulate pile.  I didn't really like that, so I ended up applying some AK Interactive Asphalt texture paint I had handy, painting that purple, and then using the slightly gritty texture to represent pile instead.  It kind of works.

VIP Executive

Sourced out of the Dire Foes 4 box, this is a standard business-looking lady.  Nice enough model overall I think, and I decided to go with something bright and colorful instead of the Business Black-and-Blue the example gives.  Yellow and purple apparently complement, though to my eyes that's kinda gauche.  I guess the heavy wash of AP Strong Tone gave it a bit of a messy look, unfortunately.

For basing I went with AK Interactive Concrete, which was given some highlight in a lighter tan.  Not super happy with how it turned out - I should have gone with trying to add some kind of marking to make it feel more like a place - but it works well enough to convey either "concrete slab" or perhaps "flat sandy area" I guess.

Corporate Executive

This guy got more of the standard business attire, though I decided to warm the scheme up a bit with a classic brown duster coat - or a sci-fi iteration thereof.  What I like about this model specifically is that he appears to be reaching for a gun - and he has a pretty substantial briefcase with him.  IMO this should let him slot in as a proxy for a few types of SecDet should the need arise, especially since there's only one (shotgun-armed) model for these on the market right now - the Ice Storm exclusive CSU does exactly this, as she has a briefcase gun.

For basing I used AK Interactive Asphalt, which when given a drybrush of a light grey works well enough.  Like the VIP, I should have added some sort of pattern to make it feel like a place rather than just empty asphalt - cracks, parking lines, or something.  Ah well.

Corporate Security

Alas there is only this model on the market right now, as all the others were exclusive to some release or another.  On the bright side the shotgun profile isn't the worst, and I suppose I have the Corporate Executive above to use for some of the other variants.

I decided to stay cool and formal with this one, though adding a bit of color with some eyewear and bright hair.  Now this model has me wondering if people normally still wear glasses in the Infinity future...

For basing, I stuck with the Corporate Executive - since you'd imagine they'd be together - and went Asphalt.  Similarly I wish it had been a little more lively but it still works alright.

Closing

This is basically all the HVT and SecDet stuff I'll realistically ever need, but I will be doing at least a few more HVTs in the future for variety - as is I have at least a couple floating around from another Dire Foes box set and Black Wind.  Now, on with the next bunch of Haqq models I want out of the way...