[Haakona_Ops]

I was trying to search, and found a few mentions, but not a specific topic/discussion.

Now that 1E is no longer a "report 1 then draw 1 at end of turn" meta, how many download cards should be typical for seed and a deck?
I would guess this is going to vary by affiliation somewhat, but is there a general rule of thumb to try and follow?

In particular, it seems critical to ensure there are enough Assign Mission Specialist or Support Personnel objectives to power a deck.

[BCSWowbagger]

General rule of thumb is that your deck should be able to play 3 cards (mostly personnel) per turn to compete. More is obviously better. Less is tough, but has been done.

One of those cards can be a download. (No more than one -- usually -- because you're only allowed to download personnel once every turn.) Cardassians and Dominion often use Dominion War Efforts to download somebody on each turn, and they can use New Arrivals or a Headquarters card for a free play each turn. Free play + download + regular play = 3 cards per turn.

But it's more common to see decks that use their 1 normal card play + 2 "free play" cards to meet their quota. For example, a deck will usually use Finest Crew in the Fleet for 1 free play + Attention All Hands for a second free play. Adding your normal card play makes 3 cards per turn. You can even add to that with Cybernetics Expertise or Office of the President. (And you probably should, because personnel are not strong except in large numbers.)

Then there are really weird decks, like the ones that use Military Assault Command Operations to play a bunch of MACOs using a single normal card play plus a free play via MACO Training Camp, or use one free play engine plus a Ferengi Conference each turn. But that's a bit outside the norm.

Does that help?