I am still trying to decide which faction I want to collect. PanOceania are one of my top-choices for loving the models, but I just cannot see how they translate to being an effective force on the table. Haqqislam have high WIP and fantastic Doctors, Ariadna have CH/Infiltration everywhere and a hoard of LI, Nomads have powerful hacking and MI with advanced deployment/mobility options, Tohaa have +1W models and Fireteams. These factions have advantages I can see the value of, but PanOceania's advantages seem weak by comparison. I have only played two games of Infinity so far, so I am VERY new and likely missing some big picture stuff, but PanOceania strikes me as being underpowered.
These seem to be the key points of the faction that define them:
* +1 BS compared to other factions, in a shooty game, but the winner of a face-to-face roll is the person who rolled closest to their target stat. If both players rolled 3, PanOceania's high BS is not helping them!
* Below-average WIP means that PanOceania has the worst specialists, in a game where specialists are critical to success. Their Doctor is the butt of jokes and their hacking options are second only to Ariadna in terms of ineptitude!
* They have access to the most TAGs of any faction, but unlike Yu Jing's HI or Nomads MI, you can only realistically field a single TAG in a game, so I am not sure how this is an advantage.
* My perception of Infinity was that movement and positioning were critical factors, more so than anything else. With the least access to skills aiding in these (eg AD, Infiltration, etc), PanOceania again seems to be severely disadvantaged.
I have never heard anyone state that PanOceania are under-powered, so I am sure I am failing to see some very critical factors. What is it that makes PanOceania 'click' on the table, and what types of play styles does it most easily support (ie players who want CH-spam probably want Ariadna, players who want to emphasise hacking probably want Nomads, etc).