This forums is for questions, answers, and discussion about First Edition rules, formats, and expansions.
 
By StuartL
 - Alpha Quadrant
 -  
#557286
Hello all,

I'm new to the forums, though I have been lurking around the site since I discovered it a month ago. I used to play back when the game was still in print, (Premiere through to Voyager sets), but eventually other things grabbed my attention and I gave up playing. Now I am getting back into the game with a friend of mine who is also a bit of a Trekkie, and we have played a couple of games with starter decks printed off from here.

I'd like to try to expand on the starter decks we're using, though we'll be sticking to Premiere, AU, Q-Continuum and the TNG Block virtual cards to begin with. I kind of remember the rules, especially after looking over the rulebook on the site. However, there are still a few things that are kind of hazy. This has led me to posting here to ask a question to more experienced players.

Aside from the colour of the cards, is there any real difference between the different affiliations? It seems that Romulans, Klingons and Federation decks can all do pretty much the same thing? I know Borg are completely different (and we aren't using them yet). I'd like to build some casual decks that offer something unique when playing. I have some Ferengi cards as well, and I can probably put together a Non-Aligned deck if I try. Does anyone have any suggestions to help differentiate between Reds, Greens and Blues?

Regards,
StuartL
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By winterflames (Derek Marlar)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#557293
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First Edition Rules Master
By BCSWowbagger (James Heaney)
 - First Edition Rules Master
 -  
Community Contributor
#557297
StuartL wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 6:50 am Aside from the colour of the cards, is there any real difference between the different affiliations? It seems that Romulans, Klingons and Federation decks can all do pretty much the same thing? I know Borg are completely different (and we aren't using them yet). I'd like to build some casual decks that offer something unique when playing. I have some Ferengi cards as well, and I can probably put together a Non-Aligned deck if I try. Does anyone have any suggestions to help differentiate between Reds, Greens and Blues?
In the original game as designed by Decipher, the rough differences were as follows:

[Fed] : high INTEGRITY, good at passing dilemmas / solving missions
[Kli] : high STRENGTH, good at battle (especially personnel battle)
[Rom] : high CUNNING, cloaking devices, good at ship battle

Can you SPOT THE PROBLEM?

That's right: [Fed] is good at winning the game, and everyone else is good at things that are not winning the game. This led to an early-90s meta dominated by Feds. Then the early cards ("the PAQ era," for Premiere, Alternate Universe, and Q-Continuum) fell out-of-style as they were superseded by new and stronger cards, and they weren't really revived until the Continuing Committee released The Next Generation Block 20 years later.

The CC was still quite new at this, and they wanted to correct the problem where [Fed] was good at winning and the other affiliations weren't, so they gave the other affiliations some solid solver cards. They did also try to create some differentiation between the colors, using cards like Seek Out New Life, Expand the Empire, Ferengi Commerce Operation, and We Are Back.

However, while TNG-Block was considered a roaring success overall, those "differentiator" cards basically failed, and one of the most notorious complaints about it is that all four colors basically play the same: spam personnel, solve missions, maybe take a potshot or two at opponents.

(Sidebar: The CC has gradually improved at this, but my frank assessment is that the CC has never developed the intuitive sense for fundamental, pervasive affiliation flavor that pre-Voyager Decipher always had. The CC, to this day, has to fight the temptation to build "a functional affiliation" and then tack optional flavor cards on, whereas Decipher unfailingly found ways to differentiate that was easily included on every card in the affiliation. But the CC is getting better. I think some quite good work was done on [Vul], which is starting to be appreciated years after the [Vul] nerfs.)

Back to TNG Property Logo: You can certainly dig deep for differentiation if you are determined to build differentiated decks. Romulans have access to some very neat sneaky tricks with Scout Encounter, Engage Cloak, Romulan Ambush, and Nelvana Trap. Nobody in TNG is better than the Romulans at matching commander shenanigans using Ready Room Door, Captain's Log, and so forth. A Battle Bridge Door is essential for such shenanigans. And, of course, Rommies heart the Neutral Zone, which can create some interesting "turtle" dynamics.

If you're singularly clever, you might even be able to get a Romulan infiltration deck going in a TNG environment (although not with TNG-only cards, alas).

Klingons are still good at shooting guns. They have some big guns and aren't afraid to use them. I love Officer Exchange Program for its ability to get just the cards you need just when you need them, and Gowron's ability to have Klingons report directly to him with Legitimate Leader could in theory create some scary situations for personnel battle (though in practice it... doesn't).

Feds are still quite good at the mission solve, though no longer dominant. The speediest solviest decks in TNG are still Fed, like UnStoppable Finest Crew and Ace of Angels.

TNG Ferengi never had flavor. They were briefly dominant because Ferengi Military Operations was very very strong, but, when that was nerfed, TNG Ferengi deflated like a popped balloon. Not just because they're weak, but because they're dull, one of the most generic factions you can imagine. There are affiliations/factions that are even more boring and therefore need more help ( [1E-DQ] generally, [Vid] specifically), but TNG [Fer] is just blah and I don't think there's anything you can do about that. All the cool [Fer] tech is in [1E-DS9], in the [Rule] cards. (And I continue to hope that the CC will finally fix what was broken in The Gamma Quadrant and put this gametext (or something quite close to it) back on a 1E card. But that still wouldn't help TNG Ferengi! Decipher never designed them as a standalone faction in the first place, and the CC never found good hooks to add in. If I were really determined, I'd use Qol (The Cage) and Taar and Let Me Help and try to build an interesting dilemma pile around that, but it wouldn't be very thematic.

I'm very fond of [NA] Mercenary Raiders decks and Illegitimate Leader decks that let me play with Dr. Tolian Soran and The Nexus. The key to the Mercenary Raiders deck is War Council. The key to the Illegitimate Leader deck is sacrificing a little efficiency for the sake of cool re-enactments of Star Trek Generations.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Enjoy your return!
 
By StuartL
 - Alpha Quadrant
 -  
#557318
Thank you for the very useful responses. I will try using some of the suggested cards to build some TNG themed decks with.

On a slightly different topic...
As far as memory serves, the only way to win is to solve missions (or to lock an opponent out of the game by destroying their ships/outpost asap, but even then you need to complete missions). Are there any alternative win conditions aside from that? Is that something the CC has ever looked at doing?
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Executive Officer
By jadziadax8 (Maggie Geppert)
 - Executive Officer
 -  
2E North American Continental Semi-Finalist 2023
ibbles  Trek Masters Tribbles Champion 2023
2E Deep Space 9 Regional Champion 2023
#557320
StuartL wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:18 am Are there any alternative win conditions aside from that? Is that something the CC has ever looked at doing?
I don’t know of any alt win conditions in 1E (besides Raise the Stakes, which is banned). I do know that 2E has several alternate win conditions. Up the Ante, Terrasphere 8, Starfleet Command Recreation, Alsuran Sector, Utilize Abandoned Relay Station, The Long Journey Home and To Rule in Hell all lay out alternate conditions. Additionally, Phoenix, Risen from the Ashes, Pivotal Destiny and Causal Recursion all modify the number of points you need win. Some of these cards were made by Decipher and some by the CC, so we have considered these in the past.
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By nobthehobbit (Daniel Pareja)
 - The Center of the Galaxy
 -  
Moderator
#557322
jadziadax8 wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 6:16 am
StuartL wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:18 am Are there any alternative win conditions aside from that? Is that something the CC has ever looked at doing?
I don’t know of any alt win conditions in 1E (besides Raise the Stakes, which is banned). I do know that 2E has several alternate win conditions. Up the Ante, Terrasphere 8, Starfleet Command Recreation, Alsuran Sector, Utilize Abandoned Relay Station, The Long Journey Home and To Rule in Hell all lay out alternate conditions. Additionally, Phoenix, Risen from the Ashes, Pivotal Destiny and Causal Recursion all modify the number of points you need win. Some of these cards were made by Decipher and some by the CC, so we have considered these in the past.
A Real Game modifies the victory conditions. New Civilizations provides an alternate win condition. Additionally, Devidian Door, Writ of Accountability and Beyond the Subatomic provide ways for a player immediately to lose the game.
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Chief Programmer
By eberlems
 - Chief Programmer
 -  
Explorer
2E European Continental Quarter-Finalist 2023
2E  National Second Runner-Up 2023
#557324
StuartL wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:18 am Are there any alternative win conditions aside from that? Is that something the CC has ever looked at doing?
Well, those could end the game early:
Writ of Accountability, You Will in Time, Beyond the Subatomic or Protection Racket.
And some like A Real Game, Homestead or New Civilizations modify the win conditions a bit.
And pay attention with Devidian Door and check seeded [HA] at the end of the game.
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By stressedoutatumc (stressedoutatumc)
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
#557738
StuartL wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 6:50 am Hello all,

I'm new to the forums, though I have been lurking around the site since I discovered it a month ago. I used to play back when the game was still in print, (Premiere through to Voyager sets), but eventually other things grabbed my attention and I gave up playing. Now I am getting back into the game with a friend of mine who is also a bit of a Trekkie, and we have played a couple of games with starter decks printed off from here.

I'd like to try to expand on the starter decks we're using, though we'll be sticking to Premiere, AU, Q-Continuum and the TNG Block virtual cards to begin with. I kind of remember the rules, especially after looking over the rulebook on the site. However, there are still a few things that are kind of hazy. This has led me to posting here to ask a question to more experienced players.

Aside from the colour of the cards, is there any real difference between the different affiliations? It seems that Romulans, Klingons and Federation decks can all do pretty much the same thing? I know Borg are completely different (and we aren't using them yet). I'd like to build some casual decks that offer something unique when playing. I have some Ferengi cards as well, and I can probably put together a Non-Aligned deck if I try. Does anyone have any suggestions to help differentiate between Reds, Greens and Blues?

Regards,
StuartL
This is probably included in some of the more thorough responses, but one of the big differences is in attack restrictions. Remember [Fed] can never initiate battle. Roms and Klingons can.
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By Professor Scott (Mathew McCalpin)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
Trailblazer
1E Cardassia Regional Champion 2023
#557782
Enabran wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:10 am That's not true. [Fed] can attack [Bor]
And Non- [Fed] Captain Kirk
And [Rom] Lt. Stiles
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First Edition Rules Master
 - First Edition Rules Master
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
Community Contributor
#557803
Armus wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 2:11 pm
Professor Scott wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 2:01 pm
Enabran wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:10 am That's not true. [Fed] can attack [Bor]
And Non- [Fed] Captain Kirk
And [Rom] Lt. Stiles
And [Kli] Admiral Riker
And [Dom] Admiral Leyton
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