#453814
Talk about Project Gannicus got me thinking about interaction decks. Contrary to popular belief, I think there is a lot of interaction in 2E, it's just not where people want it (the dilemma pile). That being said, I think that more could be done to boost other types of interaction decks, and Project Gannicus seems to be interested in that. I thought now might be the time to explore this topic more in depth here.
The main problem with battle decks (both combat and engagement) is that battling your opponent has a high cost compared to the rewards you get out. I don't mind there being a cost to battle in 2E, since I think the unrestricted nature of battle in 1E is a definitely NPE for that game, but when 2E was designed, battle came out TOO restricted.
Costs
[*]You must play events that cost counters. Most of those events cost 2-3, plus what you need to draw them. That's 1 or 2 personnel in many decks. There are missions that help mitigate this cost, but you have to solve them first before you get the reward.
[*]You must go to opponent's missions to engage with them, costing you range you could otherwise use to go back and forth to your own missions
[*]If you want to also be solving missions (the main game objective), you need at least two ships and crew, which costs time to build up
[*]You are stopped after battle, unless you spend resources to unstop your personnel and ships afterwards. Currently only three cards allow this and they all cost 3.
[*]Opponent can turtle at their HQ to keep you from battling; not really a cost, but definitely a hindrance to engagement, though I don't mind this one too much
Rewards
[*]You could try for the two-mission win, but usually you need to engage with your opponent 3 times to score the points (unless things are Just Like Old Times). This seems alright on the surface until you realize that this means at least 3 turns away from solving missions, unless you get a 2nd ship and crew out for mission solving. This is a big cost in addition to the cost of the engagement cards.
[*]You can deny your opponent of their resources by killing personnel. There are lots of Assault and/or Maneuver cards that do this, but the main problem with these is all you manage to do is slow down the game, making it more likely that you at best will get a Mod Win.
[*]You can deny your opponent resources by blowing up their ships. This is difficult to pull off because it's tricky to get three Damage markers on a ship in one turn. There are ways to do it (get lucky and hit them with a Tillman pile combo then engage on your next turn or get the Prometheus to hit), but they are not totally reliable. And again, you still end up with the problem of the mod win. I've played against Prometheus decks that managed to blow me up but also never completed a mission
What to do?
[*]More cost-reduction for Assault/Maneuver cards?
[*]More cards that allow you to do other things after an engagement?
[*]Rules changes?
[*]Alternate win conditions?
What do you think would be some interesting workarounds for these issues? Where's the balance between healthy engagement and a lock-out deck?
The main problem with battle decks (both combat and engagement) is that battling your opponent has a high cost compared to the rewards you get out. I don't mind there being a cost to battle in 2E, since I think the unrestricted nature of battle in 1E is a definitely NPE for that game, but when 2E was designed, battle came out TOO restricted.
Costs
[*]You must play events that cost counters. Most of those events cost 2-3, plus what you need to draw them. That's 1 or 2 personnel in many decks. There are missions that help mitigate this cost, but you have to solve them first before you get the reward.
[*]You must go to opponent's missions to engage with them, costing you range you could otherwise use to go back and forth to your own missions
[*]If you want to also be solving missions (the main game objective), you need at least two ships and crew, which costs time to build up
[*]You are stopped after battle, unless you spend resources to unstop your personnel and ships afterwards. Currently only three cards allow this and they all cost 3.
[*]Opponent can turtle at their HQ to keep you from battling; not really a cost, but definitely a hindrance to engagement, though I don't mind this one too much
Rewards
[*]You could try for the two-mission win, but usually you need to engage with your opponent 3 times to score the points (unless things are Just Like Old Times). This seems alright on the surface until you realize that this means at least 3 turns away from solving missions, unless you get a 2nd ship and crew out for mission solving. This is a big cost in addition to the cost of the engagement cards.
[*]You can deny your opponent of their resources by killing personnel. There are lots of Assault and/or Maneuver cards that do this, but the main problem with these is all you manage to do is slow down the game, making it more likely that you at best will get a Mod Win.
[*]You can deny your opponent resources by blowing up their ships. This is difficult to pull off because it's tricky to get three Damage markers on a ship in one turn. There are ways to do it (get lucky and hit them with a Tillman pile combo then engage on your next turn or get the Prometheus to hit), but they are not totally reliable. And again, you still end up with the problem of the mod win. I've played against Prometheus decks that managed to blow me up but also never completed a mission
What to do?
[*]More cost-reduction for Assault/Maneuver cards?
[*]More cards that allow you to do other things after an engagement?
[*]Rules changes?
[*]Alternate win conditions?
What do you think would be some interesting workarounds for these issues? Where's the balance between healthy engagement and a lock-out deck?
Kaiser wrote:Logic does not really factor into it; only game rules matter. Happily, the two often coincide.
BCSWowbagger wrote:This is a post for people who get excited about interoffice memos!What Should I Play Next in 2E?