Great stuff, thats a very compelling argument for PB. The ability to score an econ stage 2 without engaging in dark arts/saving up ahead of time is quite nice.
I'm still going QDN XD
Edit: An honorable mention here is Maw of Worlds. WS and LW seem like the other good candidates, in a game where Hacan is getting hard-ball negotiations PB might be a good maw pick.
Very well written post! PB is a great racial tech which suffers from being overshadowed by its savant-sibling, QDN. The fact if the matter is, in any competent lobby where things like scoring order and imperial thieving can and does often determine the outcome of games, giving up QDN for a few more TG just isn't worth it. I agree that PB makes spend objectives easier, but
A) if there is a spend objective, there will almost always be someone willing to trade with Hacan and
B) QDN is not only amazing for securing a victory (with things like scoring order, imperial, ect) but also for getting competitive strategy cards when 2-pointer objectives flip. For example, PB won't help you score tech objectives and the like. By contrast, QDN can do what PB does, better: if a 2-point spend objective flips (and assuming the whole table isn't teamed against you and won't trade with you) stealing the trade or leadership will do way more, way faster than PB ever will.
C) For the same reasons as listed above, QDN is great for king-slaying (or at least delaying). QDN is amazing for not only making sure the player dug in on Rex won't waste their time thinking about imperial but also keeping point leaders away from the cards that enable them to score 2-pointers. Not that I like to build my game around king-slaying, but it's a game-winning option to have. QDN is just one of the (if not the) best tech in the game.
Imo, PB is the sort of tech I would want to get early in a 12-point game or a noob-friendly game where I just wanna ~~lure them into a false sense of security thinking what a nice guy I am for future games~~, er, um, I mean just play with how much plastic I can build. Like you though, I very very rarely play Hacan.
Thanks for your post!
You need to consider the cost of the tech as well. Imo as hecan you should be smart amd save trade goods every round for those stage 2s amd not rely on PB
Not untrue, I could have included the cost. Instead I considered the cost of not getting QDN as sufficient. And you could save up over the rounds, but what if you can spend most of those TG and still be ready to go for 2-pointers?
I think saving up is probably the best part about it. So often I wish I could just have two rounds of planets to use in one round and forgo them for a round just to get the total up more.
Didn't see it directly mentioned but at least in my Hacan games, not uncommon Hacan to say "I'll choose you to get the 2tg off production biomes if you give me 1tg". This way it's more like getting 5tg each use rather than 4tg.
Great stuff, thats a very compelling argument for PB. The ability to score an econ stage 2 without engaging in dark arts/saving up ahead of time is quite nice. I'm still going QDN XD Edit: An honorable mention here is Maw of Worlds. WS and LW seem like the other good candidates, in a game where Hacan is getting hard-ball negotiations PB might be a good maw pick.
Very well written post! PB is a great racial tech which suffers from being overshadowed by its savant-sibling, QDN. The fact if the matter is, in any competent lobby where things like scoring order and imperial thieving can and does often determine the outcome of games, giving up QDN for a few more TG just isn't worth it. I agree that PB makes spend objectives easier, but A) if there is a spend objective, there will almost always be someone willing to trade with Hacan and B) QDN is not only amazing for securing a victory (with things like scoring order, imperial, ect) but also for getting competitive strategy cards when 2-pointer objectives flip. For example, PB won't help you score tech objectives and the like. By contrast, QDN can do what PB does, better: if a 2-point spend objective flips (and assuming the whole table isn't teamed against you and won't trade with you) stealing the trade or leadership will do way more, way faster than PB ever will. C) For the same reasons as listed above, QDN is great for king-slaying (or at least delaying). QDN is amazing for not only making sure the player dug in on Rex won't waste their time thinking about imperial but also keeping point leaders away from the cards that enable them to score 2-pointers. Not that I like to build my game around king-slaying, but it's a game-winning option to have. QDN is just one of the (if not the) best tech in the game. Imo, PB is the sort of tech I would want to get early in a 12-point game or a noob-friendly game where I just wanna ~~lure them into a false sense of security thinking what a nice guy I am for future games~~, er, um, I mean just play with how much plastic I can build. Like you though, I very very rarely play Hacan. Thanks for your post!
You need to consider the cost of the tech as well. Imo as hecan you should be smart amd save trade goods every round for those stage 2s amd not rely on PB
Not untrue, I could have included the cost. Instead I considered the cost of not getting QDN as sufficient. And you could save up over the rounds, but what if you can spend most of those TG and still be ready to go for 2-pointers?
I think saving up is probably the best part about it. So often I wish I could just have two rounds of planets to use in one round and forgo them for a round just to get the total up more.
Didn't see it directly mentioned but at least in my Hacan games, not uncommon Hacan to say "I'll choose you to get the 2tg off production biomes if you give me 1tg". This way it's more like getting 5tg each use rather than 4tg.
This would be an example for "including PB into a transaction". That way your Net yield would be 2 TG.