Military Assault Command Options

by Ross Fertel, Staff MACO

13th April 2016

You're getting a new MACO today, and you're welcome.

Remember that Creative does not design cards. We're not typically part of that team and quite often, it's the other way around. When they tell us a playtest card is Benjamin Sisko, it's Benjamin Sisko. There might be times that Design asks us if there are choices for relic sites, spy missions and the like. But by and large, we are at the service of Design, not the other way around.

It might sound like this story begins with the Creative team's first pass at A Time To Stand back when it was Crichton, but it actually begins a lot earlier, with Return to Grace (aka the start of Phase II). In that expansion, there is something for everyone who is either a Cardassian or Bajoran player. There is a Bajor region mission, and a cheap one at that, a Pah-wraith thing, Prophet stuff, a Bajoran Ship, a Cardassian ship… pretty much anything in the toolkits gets something.

Flash forward to Balance of Terror. No new headquarters, a brand new mechanic for Earth Space Nine, but still adding to what is available. Then we get to Strange Bedfellows, and while it's clear that Design will work with the affiliations to make them better, they won't necessarily help every single deck type that exists in the world. If an opportunity arises, you might get a new toy, but not everyone will get something.

So when Crichton came out, there were some new Starfleet folks, but not a MACO to be found. At all.

Now, I've played around with the MACO team a bit. Was I chasing what our Achievement Master calls 'That [EXPLETIVE] MACO Achievement?' Maybe or maybe not, but I had yet to play Starfleet in Second Edition, and MACOs seemed like a good place to start. One of the biggest problems was the staffing issue. They have a load of staff stars, but only two command stars, and they are both unique at that. Many players addressed the issue by going with the ships whose staffing is in that range, but those are all shuttlecraft, and I didn't want to go that route. After a PM to A Guy Much Smarter Than Me, Condition Red came to mind, and I had a larger selection of ships. Yes, I might get mana-screwed, to borrow a term. But with three Condition Reds in there along with two command stars, I was more likely to have a problem drawing a ship than getting my golden command star.

So I come back to Crichton, and there is no MACO, and I am okay with it. It's not like the set needs it. It's just something that I would like. I made my peace that my MACOs would not get love from this particular set.

But then, at the Creative story meeting, lo and behold, Lead Designer Tyler Fultz is there. He was there just to make sure that things were going well and that, if a card needed a keyword, it could happen. So I simply asked, “Can one of these non-unique Starfleet mooks be a MACO?”

And there was a pause. You know, when you ask someone out, and the answer is no, and they are trying to put it together in a way that doesn't put you down too bad? That kind of pause.

But the response was simply “Who?”

And I froze. All the non-uniques had skills that were lacking in a MACO deck; Engineer, Astrometrics, Medical. They exist, just not in great supply, or in some cases, not even decent supply. I said as much.

And Tyler went along with it!

There was a suitable personnel, but she didn't get better with a MACO, which is a function of the deck type, except for the Mirror MACOs. Her ability improves the longer you are in the game. Promoting her to MACO status simply added to her utility, and you can still include her in your non-MACO deck.

And it's not just Second Edition. Emissary started out with Two Quarks, one Bajoran and one Cardassian. There was no real way to differentiate between the two until one was named Deputy Quark. After that, Design decided to give him SECURITY… if a certain Changeling was present.

So enjoy your MACO. In fact, here's my MACO deck, complete with the brand-new Nadia Myers. The faction has some really neat tricks. Feel free to test them out and get That Damn MACO Achievement.

Discuss this article in this thread.

This deck is currently eligible for the following family or families of achievements:

• Starfleet Player
• Military Assault Command
• Unbroken I
• We Fear Change
• How About a New Mission, Admiral? I
• No Crutches II

Decklist

Hide Deck Stats

Dilemma Deck Total Dilemmas 20 Space 6 (30%) Cost 2 2 Cost 3 2 Cost 4 2 Planet 2 (10%) Cost 3 2 Dual 12 (60%) Cost 0 4 Cost 2 2 Cost 3 2 Cost 4 4 Total Dilemma Deck cost 50

Draw Deck Total Draw Deck 38 Event 10 (26%) Cost 0 1 Cost 1 2 Cost 2 4 Cost 3 2 Cost 4 1 Interrupt 3 (8%) Personnel 21 (55%) Cost 1 1 Cost 2 11 Cost 3 9 Ship 4 (11%) Cost 3 2 Cost 4 2 Total Draw Deck cost 84

Skills Count Skill # Missions # Personnel 1x 2x 3x Total Acquisition 0 0 Anthropology 1 4 4 Archaeology 1 3 3 Astrometrics 0 5 5 Biology 1 1 1 Diplomacy 0 2 2 Engineer 0 4 4 Exobiology 2 4 4 Geology 1 5 5 Honor 1 4 4 Intelligence 0 0 Law 0 0 Leadership 2 5 5 Medical 1 4 4 Navigation 1 5 5 Officer 1 2 2 Physics 1 2 2 Programming 0 3 3 Science 1 2 2 Security 2 21 21 Telepathy 0 0 Transporters 1 4 4 Treachery 0 1 1 Icons Count Icon # Personnel % Personnel Staffing Icons Command Star 4 19.05 % Staff Star 17 80.95 % Temporal Icons Alternate Universe 4 19.05 % Past 21 100.00 % Keyword Count Keyword # Cards MACO 21 Pursuit 2 Region: Sector 001 1 Species 8472 1