Data Sphere

Hi, I am from Iowa and I am just dipping my toes into Infinity. I started a website http://www.midwestwargaming.com.

As a content creator and administrator of Data-Sphere, I don't have a lot of spare time for other content sites, though I read your article from the 23rd on Infinity.

You were using N2 or N3 rules? Line of Fire is based on Silhouettes, which is very similar to Warmachine in that it is a volumetric cylinder that varies with an attribute of the model. You don't draw Line of Fire from the model's head! You'll find that most cases don't require you to damage your back in an effort to verify LoF.

There are some mechanics that are clunky, I will agree, but they're actually quite elegant once you have a grip on them. AROs, which you bring up, are declared before the second short skill of an order as a means of rewarding the Active Player. When you know what your opponent's AROs are, then you have a slight advantage and can declare your second short skill with more confidence and perhaps change what you were planning to do to be something more advantageous.
For example, you Move, your opponent declares he wants to Dodge away because he fears the burst advantage, you now know that there is no possibility that his ARO can wound your own model, so while you had intended originally to just shoot up his ARO'ing model, you now decide to Move again to gain a more forward position.
Another example, you declare BS Attack as your first short skill, your opponent declares dodge, again knowing you can't get shot during that order, you Move as your second short skill out of cover and towards an objective that was your ultimate goal anyway. If your opponent had shot back as an ARO, then you'd have wanted to stay in cover to gain the bonuses therein.

The ARO is also a strong point to the game as it provides the reactive player a way to affect the game during his opponent's turn. Something akin to having Admonition up in Warmachine (though not as assured and not as debilitating). In some cases, the ARO might grind the Active player's plan to a jolting halt. This breaks up the "You-Go-I-Go" monotony of most wargames. As that is a preference, your mileage may vary.