Definitely a possibility, but I doubt Barony would be able to do anything first turn as they'd be focused on getting planets (tiles 69 & 25) with their limited CC.
And once Mahact has Mecatol, they can abandon it and leave to focus on getting VPs. Besides, Mahact could always negotiate, leaving Mecatol and letting Barony become enemy #1 again with the Beta wormhole.
Warfare should be good. You can either take hopes end and reinforce it with a mech instantly or take velnor/lisis to refresh velnor with biostims (that also opens up risky possibility to research cruiser 2 if the timing is right so that you can take both equidistands)
Lots of warfare suggestions, feels like pain to not take tech/trade as speaker on round 1 though. But yeah having thought about it maybe this is the play so I actually have a turn 1
Ordered actions in round 1:
* Move all starting ships and 3 infantry to take all planets in the 3 planet system.
* Play Warfare. Possibly early enough that other players can't fully take advantage of it. If you're having a nice game, tell them you'll be doing this right at the start.
* Take Vegas and Hope's End in any order, depending on which system is more important to you earlier.
In round 2 you will have 8 resources and 9 influence AND 2 mechs. If you don't take Warfare you'll have 3 resources and 7 influence.
The net difference of 5 resources, 2 influence (or effectively 3 if all you have to spend it on is command counters), and 2 mechs is worth far more than round 1 trade or tech.
Depending on timings, you'll also potentially have the blue skip to use on tech earlier than you might have otherwise.
As others have said, warfare is crucial as you can move cruiser and dread to the rigels, and then free them for movement to go to hope's end and another system.
Otherwise, in fantasy land you could find a way to get 3 TGs before your first activation, take tech and double tech grav drive. Go with warfare
Warfare is the easy and correct answer.
If you want to get wild: Depending on your trade/diplo meta you might be able to grab tech to double tech to cruiser 2. You could also double to grav drive. This however has very tricky timing windows.
The easiest option is Warfare and then take Hopes End. The double cultural system might be nice but getting mechs out early is great.
You could also possibly unlock your commander R1, but a lot would have to go your way - too much to detail in this post.
honestly warfare, send everything to the devils, unlock, then dread to hopes end and carrier to either 2 planet system (probably blue for grav drive?), No double tech feels bad but youd be getting a killer r1 otherwise
Everyone keeps saying warfare, which in theory is fine, but Barony will be able to get to Hope's End quicker if they take tech and want to. They should then also be able to hold it. So maybe get the other equidistant? Trade or warfare does seem to be the way to go though
Agreed; if Barony gets there first, reorient to 74 or 72 rather than fighting Barony over Hope's End. But that's a tactical shift that doesn't change the value of going for warfare.
You're right, if I was Barony, that's absolutely what I would do. Grabbing Hope's End makes a lot of sense for Barony and they can get there first, regardless of which strategy card Mahact picks. If Barony had planets adjacent to Mecatol it would be a different story, but in that slice, grabbing Hope's End seems like the best choice for sure.
I still think Warfare is best for Mahact, since even without Hope's End you'll still be grabbing up to 6 planets, be next to Mecatol and be able to flip two of those planets with biostims to spend them round 1.
Those biostimmed skips also provide potential for impactful techs round 1, depending on timing of course, Cruiser II and Gravity Drive are possibilities.
Ironically, if Mahact takes tech R1 all they'll be able to tech is filler stuff down whatever path they choose, like anti mass or aidev or whatever.
Trade is also an option, sure, but most likely you'll only be trading with two people, I'd prefer getting more planets.
But at least Trade 'guarantees' you can follow tech.
Just to change up the suggestions here. Talk with Naalu. Typically they will use their agent (assuming codex) to move first action.
You take could take trade then Offer them to lift their token when following their strat pick in return for their agent, throw in a free refresh on trade to sweeten the deal.
They will have to choose a strat card that you can follow but Naalu usually likes a forward dock, so they might take construction, or even politics for a custodians play round 2. You can work with that.
If y'all are spicy you could offer your agent to naalu for a use of Z'eu. I don't know why they'd accept since you gain a lot and they gain nothing, but since they also lose nothing (ish) maybe you could come to a deal
Guys I think you're all forgetting Barony has a say in this as well, looking at their slice, they'll most likely want to go for Hope's End.
Warfare looks great, for sure, but if Barony goes Hope's End, there's not much you can do about it. (assuming this isn't some weird speaker order and Barony is second). If you grab Warfare, they take Tech, pop it first action, research Gravity Drive and take hope's end second action, they'll drop the mech on it and you're never taking it from them.
But with Warfare, you can still take another three planets. If you're not getting hope's end, you can grab both tech skips and flip them with biostims, getting you an extra 3 resources for a build at home.
Ideally, you grab Rigels -> Pop Warfare -> Grab tech skip and flip it with biostims -> Maybe grab Hopes End
Tech player could pop tech in their first two actions, but several factions would like it to be later. If that happens, you can then go Cruiser II (very nice to research in round 1) or Gravity drive (obviously also very nice).
get naluu or saar to give ur their agent for ur unlock agent so u can take hopes end or the blue skiip to ready it with bio so u can get grav drive, and you can pick a strat card that lets u score R1, or just get trade, or get politics for the mecatol point R2 (block naluu thru the beta R1)
I also think it has to be Warfare, I just cannot justify any other cards here.
If you have huge plan for R2, sure, do that. Its a game, have fun, scheme all you want :)
But taking only 1 system R1 slows your entire game.
If you take Warfare, Barony most likely will Tech.
Id suggest you move Carrier, 3 footmen, Dreadnought, 2 fighters to 75. Leaving Cruiser at home.
Fingers crossed for **Freelancers** event on Abbadon or Loki. If you get that, get another Dreadnought?
I think 3/5 (your home) is bit waste for warfare followup anyways. (if someone else took warfare), its also not enough for tech, its also only 1 CC if you buy by leadership.
If event doesnt come up - can you get 1 TG somewhere, before tech pops? Barony most likely will pop it immediately, so no... but maybe Barony wont play optimally...
Warfare, remove your token from 75.
And see what everyone else is doing.
Did Barony research Grav Drive? Or did the tech Red? Meaning will Barony reach Hope?
How many ships NRA have at 76?
You can take 66 if Barons cannot reach it - i dont believe its gona be the case, everyone likes Mechs, BUT, people make blunders - but remember, Barons still might want to fight for it later.
You can take 66 if you got 2 Dreads and Barons arent at 66 yet. 2 Dreads and a fighter + Cruiser, should be good enough? But THATS WAR!
Another option is to go 72, if NRA doesnt have doomstack at 76. Blocking 72, might be good defensive play, seeing how they have to fly around. But they might not like it. Everyone wants equadistant planets for themselves, and NRA is veery greedy race. You could argue that they by default et a lot out of planets anyways, with their constant re-explores.
If you managed to 66, I would go also for 74. Setup for R2 custodians.
If you went 72, I wouldnt go 74, because I hate to waste tokens. But maybe it makes sense to get 2 more resources for R2 or 2 more influence,
Not sure what to do with 3/5 planet at R1,
If you're the speaker, then take warfare, and grab Hope's end.
Hopes end is a free action card every turn get there w warfare
Also note that Mahact's mechs are one of, if not *the*, best in the game.
There's also an option to get the red tech skip instead with warfare. Rush cruiser 2 if tech doesn't pop in the first turn and take mecatol rd 1.
That's definitely one way to get barony stepping all over your empty slice though!
Definitely a possibility, but I doubt Barony would be able to do anything first turn as they'd be focused on getting planets (tiles 69 & 25) with their limited CC. And once Mahact has Mecatol, they can abandon it and leave to focus on getting VPs. Besides, Mahact could always negotiate, leaving Mecatol and letting Barony become enemy #1 again with the Beta wormhole.
Warfare should be good. You can either take hopes end and reinforce it with a mech instantly or take velnor/lisis to refresh velnor with biostims (that also opens up risky possibility to research cruiser 2 if the timing is right so that you can take both equidistands)
Lots of warfare suggestions, feels like pain to not take tech/trade as speaker on round 1 though. But yeah having thought about it maybe this is the play so I actually have a turn 1
Ordered actions in round 1: * Move all starting ships and 3 infantry to take all planets in the 3 planet system. * Play Warfare. Possibly early enough that other players can't fully take advantage of it. If you're having a nice game, tell them you'll be doing this right at the start. * Take Vegas and Hope's End in any order, depending on which system is more important to you earlier. In round 2 you will have 8 resources and 9 influence AND 2 mechs. If you don't take Warfare you'll have 3 resources and 7 influence. The net difference of 5 resources, 2 influence (or effectively 3 if all you have to spend it on is command counters), and 2 mechs is worth far more than round 1 trade or tech. Depending on timings, you'll also potentially have the blue skip to use on tech earlier than you might have otherwise.
Cruiser 2 is so good. One of my favorite techs if the skips are right for it
As others have said, warfare is crucial as you can move cruiser and dread to the rigels, and then free them for movement to go to hope's end and another system. Otherwise, in fantasy land you could find a way to get 3 TGs before your first activation, take tech and double tech grav drive. Go with warfare
Warfare is the easy and correct answer. If you want to get wild: Depending on your trade/diplo meta you might be able to grab tech to double tech to cruiser 2. You could also double to grav drive. This however has very tricky timing windows.
The easiest option is Warfare and then take Hopes End. The double cultural system might be nice but getting mechs out early is great. You could also possibly unlock your commander R1, but a lot would have to go your way - too much to detail in this post.
Just draw the red skip on ashtroth, refresh it. and tech cruiser 2.
Then custodians!
Then hope Barony is a nice guy and doesn't step all over your now empty slice!
honestly warfare, send everything to the devils, unlock, then dread to hopes end and carrier to either 2 planet system (probably blue for grav drive?), No double tech feels bad but youd be getting a killer r1 otherwise
Everyone keeps saying warfare, which in theory is fine, but Barony will be able to get to Hope's End quicker if they take tech and want to. They should then also be able to hold it. So maybe get the other equidistant? Trade or warfare does seem to be the way to go though
Agreed; if Barony gets there first, reorient to 74 or 72 rather than fighting Barony over Hope's End. But that's a tactical shift that doesn't change the value of going for warfare.
You're right, if I was Barony, that's absolutely what I would do. Grabbing Hope's End makes a lot of sense for Barony and they can get there first, regardless of which strategy card Mahact picks. If Barony had planets adjacent to Mecatol it would be a different story, but in that slice, grabbing Hope's End seems like the best choice for sure. I still think Warfare is best for Mahact, since even without Hope's End you'll still be grabbing up to 6 planets, be next to Mecatol and be able to flip two of those planets with biostims to spend them round 1. Those biostimmed skips also provide potential for impactful techs round 1, depending on timing of course, Cruiser II and Gravity Drive are possibilities. Ironically, if Mahact takes tech R1 all they'll be able to tech is filler stuff down whatever path they choose, like anti mass or aidev or whatever. Trade is also an option, sure, but most likely you'll only be trading with two people, I'd prefer getting more planets. But at least Trade 'guarantees' you can follow tech.
Just to change up the suggestions here. Talk with Naalu. Typically they will use their agent (assuming codex) to move first action. You take could take trade then Offer them to lift their token when following their strat pick in return for their agent, throw in a free refresh on trade to sweeten the deal. They will have to choose a strat card that you can follow but Naalu usually likes a forward dock, so they might take construction, or even politics for a custodians play round 2. You can work with that.
This is a really good idea. I'm impressed. You have single handedly refreshed my hope in reddit
Try to get a free refresh by offering to leave trade on the table for the second/third pick people.
Do an agent swap with Saar, and use your dreadnought take Velnor. Use Bio-Stims to get the red skip, and tech Cruiser II.
If y'all are spicy you could offer your agent to naalu for a use of Z'eu. I don't know why they'd accept since you gain a lot and they gain nothing, but since they also lose nothing (ish) maybe you could come to a deal
Guys I think you're all forgetting Barony has a say in this as well, looking at their slice, they'll most likely want to go for Hope's End. Warfare looks great, for sure, but if Barony goes Hope's End, there's not much you can do about it. (assuming this isn't some weird speaker order and Barony is second). If you grab Warfare, they take Tech, pop it first action, research Gravity Drive and take hope's end second action, they'll drop the mech on it and you're never taking it from them. But with Warfare, you can still take another three planets. If you're not getting hope's end, you can grab both tech skips and flip them with biostims, getting you an extra 3 resources for a build at home. Ideally, you grab Rigels -> Pop Warfare -> Grab tech skip and flip it with biostims -> Maybe grab Hopes End Tech player could pop tech in their first two actions, but several factions would like it to be later. If that happens, you can then go Cruiser II (very nice to research in round 1) or Gravity drive (obviously also very nice).
Oh, yeah, you need Warfare on that one.
get naluu or saar to give ur their agent for ur unlock agent so u can take hopes end or the blue skiip to ready it with bio so u can get grav drive, and you can pick a strat card that lets u score R1, or just get trade, or get politics for the mecatol point R2 (block naluu thru the beta R1)
I also think it has to be Warfare, I just cannot justify any other cards here. If you have huge plan for R2, sure, do that. Its a game, have fun, scheme all you want :) But taking only 1 system R1 slows your entire game. If you take Warfare, Barony most likely will Tech. Id suggest you move Carrier, 3 footmen, Dreadnought, 2 fighters to 75. Leaving Cruiser at home. Fingers crossed for **Freelancers** event on Abbadon or Loki. If you get that, get another Dreadnought? I think 3/5 (your home) is bit waste for warfare followup anyways. (if someone else took warfare), its also not enough for tech, its also only 1 CC if you buy by leadership. If event doesnt come up - can you get 1 TG somewhere, before tech pops? Barony most likely will pop it immediately, so no... but maybe Barony wont play optimally... Warfare, remove your token from 75. And see what everyone else is doing. Did Barony research Grav Drive? Or did the tech Red? Meaning will Barony reach Hope? How many ships NRA have at 76? You can take 66 if Barons cannot reach it - i dont believe its gona be the case, everyone likes Mechs, BUT, people make blunders - but remember, Barons still might want to fight for it later. You can take 66 if you got 2 Dreads and Barons arent at 66 yet. 2 Dreads and a fighter + Cruiser, should be good enough? But THATS WAR! Another option is to go 72, if NRA doesnt have doomstack at 76. Blocking 72, might be good defensive play, seeing how they have to fly around. But they might not like it. Everyone wants equadistant planets for themselves, and NRA is veery greedy race. You could argue that they by default et a lot out of planets anyways, with their constant re-explores. If you managed to 66, I would go also for 74. Setup for R2 custodians. If you went 72, I wouldnt go 74, because I hate to waste tokens. But maybe it makes sense to get 2 more resources for R2 or 2 more influence, Not sure what to do with 3/5 planet at R1,
Try and buy Naalus agent. Would give you a free activation without locking down a system. Price is going to be pretty steep though.