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Tactics to Avoid Death Without Tactics
by Sean O'Reilly
Tactic cards and the Battle Bridge sidedeck. As a certain breakfast cereal cartoon spokeman says "They're great!" Yeah, but what about those players who don't want to use the sidedeck and want to protect their ship or facility from destruction? What cards can they use? There are plenty of great pre-Blaze of Glory defensive cards that are justing bursting to be played now that ship battles may become more prevelant. Let's take a look at some:
- Shipwreck
Get rid of all ship attribute enhancements for the remainder of this turn. Since it can be played at the beginning of a battle, when your opponent attacks you - respond with this Interrupt. If you know they can't destroy either your ship or facility without enhancments, th "wreck" their chances from killing off your crew. This card can also nullify all Wall of Ships in play, so those Federation attack decks which use multiple Enterprises could be hurt severely. And as a sidenote, this card can also be great to play right after your opponent declares they're going to attempt a space mission where you've seeded a Borg Ship dilemma. Ouch!
- Hail
This seldom played Interrupt will prevent two ships from battling each other this turn. You'll find this is great for the times your opponent attacks you with just one or two ships loaded up with WEAPON enhancers. When your opponent moves in for the kill, keep the battle from ever beginning by "Hailing" your opponent. Oh, and thunderclouds not included with the Hail.
- Q-Net
Are you getting tired of playing against Klingon K'Vort armadas? Those ships require just one Klingon with a [S] icon which means your opponent will often staff the ship with one personnel who has OFFICER or Leadership so they can attack you. With a Q-Net, your opponent will have a tough time getting the required 2 Diplomacy on each of their ships so they can move together as an armada. And for fun, you can play Q-Nets on either side of your opponent's facility to keep their ships boxed in like Wesley Crusher in a Punishment Zone.
- Reactor Control Thrusters
If five or six of your missions are all part of a single region, then forget about using alot of ships. Instead start moving your Nor or Outpost around with this Event. First off, it helps to keep your station or outpost from being destroyed by The Sheliak, and secondly, you can focus more of your deck on building up your facilities' SHIELDS using either Plasmadyne Relay or Defense System Upgrade since protecting ships is a lower priority. With higher SHIELDS to your facility you can stay in the game longer - something a person using an attack deck doesn't want to happen.
- Humuhumukunukuapua'a and Anti-Matter Spread
When your opponent moves their ship(s) to your location you automatically get the next action. Play the harmless looking Interrupt at that location - all your opponent's Non-Aligned personnel are CUNNING -4. Why is this a great deal? Only five Non-Aligned personnel (Lore, Ira Graves, Dr. Soong, Lakanta/The Traveler and The Albino) will have CUNNING of at least eight after you play this Interrupt. Then, when your opponent attacks, play Anti-Matter Spread. All of your opponent's ships in the battle will each be WEAPONS -1 for each personnel on board who has CUNNING<8. With the tropical triggerfish making most of your opponent's NAs less than eight CUNNING, you've got a great way to lower their WEAPONS total to survive the battle.
So no matter whether you've decided to use Tactic cards or not, there are cards out there which can save your ship or facility from the wrath of an opponent's attack. And as with any list, there are many more cards you can discover that will work better for you in the deck you're playing. Have fun!
Sean "Jono" O'Reilly
jono1701@prodigy.net |
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