TooFatLardies loom large in the indie game scene, relentlessly producing games that scratch the historical itch without devolving into rivet counting. And with Infamy, Infamy!, the Lardies take their talents to Rome!
In Infamy, Infamy!, you don’t get 1:1 mini-to-man representation, but that’s fine. We don’t know how skirmishes that small would have gone anyways. However, counting the number of miniatures matters, so you can’t just go for solid vignettes on large rectangular bases. So make like a Sharp Practice player and embrace the movement tray.One of the killer features in Infamy, Infamy! is the activation system. Each leader has a card assigned to them, and both players mix them together in a single deck. The deck also includes the Tempus Fugit card (which spells the end of the turn – or, if drawn before any of the commanders, the end of the Act, which is what a turn would be in a non-TFL game) as well as any Signa cards that players have played from their hands.Ah, the Signa cards. You start with 6 cards in hand, and use them to pay for special maneuvers – or to activate unactivated unit after Tempus Fugit is played. Notably, the cards you play don’t naturally return to your hand – they go into the activation deck. So you are effectively surrendering control of this resource if you play it real early. Drawing 4 Signa cards in a row also causes shenanigans.As in many a Lard game, unit don’t really have statlines that outline everything they do. Their training/level of veterancy describes how many dice they roll in combat, you modify that count, and any 5s are shock while 6s are both kill and shock. You then roll your armor save. Simple! Unfortunately, that’s only for melee – the shooting system is slightly different, which is slightly annoying.But wait, there’s more! Barbarians have a Fervor mechanic, which makes them better at soaking Shock (always important in a TFL game) and even fighting. At the same time, they’re harder to control and have worse armor. The Romans are much better armed and trained, to the point where they can assume formations for specific bonuses and carry out points of drill to turn combat in their favor.There’s also the fact that faction specifics play into the deployment system as well – and TFL always bring their A-game to deployment. Depending on whether you’re fighting in Roman or Barbarian lands, Barbarians might strike from ambush – a historically proven tactic for messing up the orderly ranks of the legions.Suffice to say, Infamy, Infamy! is dripping with flavor. It feels right for the kind of warfare it wants to depict and you’re not weighted down with pointless minutia of comparing which shield is better. A solid recommend. Publish the seco-
