This forums is for questions, answers, and discussion about First Edition rules, formats, and expansions.
 
By tomservo6
 - New Member
 -  
#568230
Hello All,

New player here. Been playing with my brother just during the pandemic. We have had some good games (including an epic (for us) Dominion/Ferengi showdown!), but so far I have stayed away from the Borg - I simply don't get them. I read and re-read the Borg mechanics over and over and I just don't get it. Where does the other player put their dilemma cards? How to start as Borg with no missions, etc.

Is there a very simple or easy to follow rules or video out there to follow? So far we are just playing physical cards, we have a full set of First Contact and The Borg on hand.

Thank you in advance and thank you for keeping this game alive!
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By Ensign Q
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#568234
borg isnt that different. you still solve mission to get 100P.
but you need an objective that allows "solving" (scouting)
therefore many dilemma that trigger on mission attempts dont work.
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First Edition Rules Master
 - First Edition Rules Master
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
Community Contributor
#568260
Oh, welcome to Borg. :borg:

I don't have references handy, but I'm sure someone will be along with links to things, so I'll just jump in for some of the easy stuff. (I'm sticking to Classic Borg

Your deck construction is still the same as other affiliation - you seed six missions, 30 seeds, etc. What changes is how you go about winning.

You Are Borg. So you have missions, but you aren't really interested in "Diplomatic Conferences" and the like. What you're after is (a) is it a planet or space, (b) what's the point value, and (c) is it a homeworld or nebula.

That's because you're going to score your points with Objectives like Establish Gateway and Assimilate Planet (there are others, but these two are the boring default ones).

There's some nuance, but if you read "scout" as "attempt" you're not too far off - you still hit the dilemmas, etc etc. When you've cleared the dilemmas you don't care about those irrelevant mission requirements - you probe, and when you successfully probe you complete the objective, points are scored, and you get whatever other effects the objective has (Establish Gateway has you download a Transwarp Network Gateway, Assimilate Planet, well, assimilates the planet.)

(Note - I'm super-glossing over some detail here, but you'd mentioned you had read the rules, so I'm hoping some context lets the pieces snap together. Plus as mentioned, someone will surely be along with links to videos or articles. :) )

To my mind, there's a few broad styles of Borg deck:

* Staff a cube and enjoy the massive skill density to plow through objectives like a slightly slow but inevitable force.

* Use Scout Vessels and enjoy their report-with-crew ability to just throw expendable forces at objectives.

* (My personal favorite) Realize your opponent is a better deckbuilder than you and cares about skill matrixes, which means you can ignore them, load up on [Def] combat drones and roll out personnel assimilation (A. Counterpart, A. Species), assimilate all *their* people, then throw them at objectives (possibily including eating their homeworld) plus enjoy the rare Borg bonus points from Add Distinctiveness.
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By ShipNerd
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
#568273
tomservo6 wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:51 am I read and re-read the Borg mechanics over and over and I just don't get it. Where does the other player put their dilemma cards? How to start as Borg with no missions, etc.
Hi. Maybe you read the Borg Rules form First Contact Rule sheet? Because there, the Outpost was separate, as there where no [1E-DQ] delta quadrant missions yet. Nowdays they play a lot more like "normal" affiliations.

Of course you got 6 missions as usual and instead of reading the missions requirements you read [BO] [Obj] Requriements (e.g. Assimilate Planet), which means "scouting" (like attempting missions, encountering/solving dilemmas. most dilemma work the same, unless they specifically refer to attempting). When you cleared dilemmas and ended your turn, you completed scouting. End of next turn you can "probe" = check, if the card you look at at top of your deck, includes one of the icons. If yes the objective is usually complete. Some objectives requires instant probing such as when you use eliminate starship.

Borg Outposts are now like normal Outpost seeded, in the case of the Borg in the [1E-DQ] Delta Quadrant. So you may want to play a pure delta quadrant deck or if you like interaction with your brother have missions in both quadrants and move to the alpha quadrant with Transwarp Network Gatheways or Borg Transwarp Hub or Quantum Slipstream Drive etc..

Here the current Borg rules:
https://www.trekcc.org/op/1e_rulebook/G ... .html#Borg
Mainly:
* Only [Bor] cards in your deck, no non-aligneds etc.
* Ignore Bonus points, unless from a [BO] card, or it specifically stats it counter for Borg too. E.g. you do not lose 10 points on Lack of Preperations, but do lose points on Balancing Act.
* Drones have no gender. Borg Queen is female, Counterparts are male. Counterparts are either identified as such in Lore such as Locutus of Borg, or when being assimilated by Assimilate Counterpart. You need an corresponding Counterpart if you like to do Assimilate Homeworld e.g. needing a Romulan Counterpart to assimilate Romulus. Assimilating Planets by Assimilate Planet, does not require Counterparts.
Gender-related requirements and targets of non-Borg-related dilemmas cannot be met by [Bor] cards. If there is an alternative which is notgender-related, [Bor] must try to meet that; otherwise, discard the dilemma.
* Old Rules are gone (First Contact Rule sheet not up to date): Borg Shields now protect from someone beaming in, like shields of other ships do. Also its possible to scout a planet or space mission which is targed by your current objective ( hidden cards [HA] revealed) with an away team of any size.

Playing Borg and downloading the right drones, implants, interrupts, objectives can be difficult. The Trekcc introduced different and easier ways to play Borg, if you like to have a look at virtual cards, see:

Virtual Borg Cards:
https://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?cardID=4148 (you could use this, instead of an outpost if you like the action to be entirely in the alpha quadrant).

A Borg deck where you only use Borg Personnel (mostly virtual cards) with Star Trek The Next Generation logo and no drone downloads but other benefits:
https://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?cardID=3959 (downloading ultimate user)
https://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?id=217
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By Armus (Brian Sykes)
 - The Center of the Galaxy
 -  
Regent
Community Contributor
#568275
I legit miss the "outpost to nowhere" [Bor] days. 1999 was a great era to play Borg.
User avatar
 
By Iron Prime (Dan Van Kampen)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
Moderator
#568296
Armus wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:06 pm I legit miss the "outpost to nowhere" [Bor] days. 1999 was a great era to play Borg.
+1 That was a super fun time
 
By tomservo6
 - New Member
 -  
#568502
Thank you!
ShipNerd wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:00 pm
tomservo6 wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:51 am I read and re-read the Borg mechanics over and over and I just don't get it. Where does the other player put their dilemma cards? How to start as Borg with no missions, etc.
Hi. Maybe you read the Borg Rules form First Contact Rule sheet? Because there, the Outpost was separate, as there where no [1E-DQ] delta quadrant missions yet. Nowdays they play a lot more like "normal" affiliations.

Of course you got 6 missions as usual and instead of reading the missions requirements you read [BO] [Obj] Requriements (e.g. Assimilate Planet), which means "scouting" (like attempting missions, encountering/solving dilemmas. most dilemma work the same, unless they specifically refer to attempting). When you cleared dilemmas and ended your turn, you completed scouting. End of next turn you can "probe" = check, if the card you look at at top of your deck, includes one of the icons. If yes the objective is usually complete. Some objectives requires instant probing such as when you use eliminate starship.

Borg Outposts are now like normal Outpost seeded, in the case of the Borg in the [1E-DQ] Delta Quadrant. So you may want to play a pure delta quadrant deck or if you like interaction with your brother have missions in both quadrants and move to the alpha quadrant with Transwarp Network Gatheways or Borg Transwarp Hub or Quantum Slipstream Drive etc..

Here the current Borg rules:
https://www.trekcc.org/op/1e_rulebook/G ... .html#Borg
Mainly:
* Only [Bor] cards in your deck, no non-aligneds etc.
* Ignore Bonus points, unless from a [BO] card, or it specifically stats it counter for Borg too. E.g. you do not lose 10 points on Lack of Preperations, but do lose points on Balancing Act.
* Drones have no gender. Borg Queen is female, Counterparts are male. Counterparts are either identified as such in Lore such as Locutus of Borg, or when being assimilated by Assimilate Counterpart. You need an corresponding Counterpart if you like to do Assimilate Homeworld e.g. needing a Romulan Counterpart to assimilate Romulus. Assimilating Planets by Assimilate Planet, does not require Counterparts.
Gender-related requirements and targets of non-Borg-related dilemmas cannot be met by [Bor] cards. If there is an alternative which is notgender-related, [Bor] must try to meet that; otherwise, discard the dilemma.
* Old Rules are gone (First Contact Rule sheet not up to date): Borg Shields now protect from someone beaming in, like shields of other ships do. Also its possible to scout a planet or space mission which is targed by your current objective ( hidden cards [HA] revealed) with an away team of any size.

Playing Borg and downloading the right drones, implants, interrupts, objectives can be difficult. The Trekcc introduced different and easier ways to play Borg, if you like to have a look at virtual cards, see:

Virtual Borg Cards:
https://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?cardID=4148 (you could use this, instead of an outpost if you like the action to be entirely in the alpha quadrant).

A Borg deck where you only use Borg Personnel (mostly virtual cards) with Star Trek The Next Generation logo and no drone downloads but other benefits:
https://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?cardID=3959 (downloading ultimate user)
https://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?id=217
User avatar
 
By SudenKapala (Suden Käpälä)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#568532
Hi, @tomservo6!

I'm late to the party. Many great things were said above. It's good to first have the basic ideas down. So -- did you choose a deck type, and can you handle the [BO] aspects of it?

Then, if you could still use some random, and detailed, [Bor] input, follow this white rabbit.

Have... perfection playing! :borg: ( :wink: )
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