by Belthus
MillertimeRC wrote:
Hey Chris - I wasn't sure of your username on here. I was going mainly off memory which was a bit fuzzy given that I had to sort of run the game through most of it, and of course several beers didn't help. I'm pretty sure my details of the combats are at least a little off, if not completely wrong, but the general flow of the game should be accurate at least from my point of view.
I'd be interested in seeing a report from you and the others to get an idea of what your thoughts were at different points of the game as well as how the different factions skewed views of the game.
I'd be interested in seeing a report from you and the others to get an idea of what your thoughts were at different points of the game as well as how the different factions skewed views of the game.
I think you covered the main points pretty well. Many details probably escaped me too because I was busy squinting at the rules summary, reading cards, and generally trying to understand the nuances. Here are the few things that I would add or modify in the account of events:
• I am pretty sure that the three-way alliance was started just before (not after) the big Sol-Letnev battle because I did have access to Jol-nar's information ability.
• The first two Cease Fire cards came up back to back, and then we didn't have another one for a long time. Being locked into the alliance made a big difference in the path the game took. When the first Cease Fire came up, Sol looked strong to our inexperienced eyes, so I got three alliance offers — two of which merged and developed into the three-way alliance with Jol-nar and Lazax. Later, Sol's weaknesses became apparent, but there was enough time for the three allies to have a good working relationship.
From the first post:
I did manage to win the Navy base and assisted my ally in defeating Sol with the traitor, again wiping his entire army out.
• I am pretty sure that is inaccurate. I had only one wipeout, which was against you directly, early in the game. (It would have been impossible for me to recover from a second wipeout in time to be useful.) I can't remember exactly how that situation resolved, but any loss I took at that juncture was small. I remember committing 5 units, losing them, and then recruiting 5 (my limit) on the next turn, putting me back at full strength. Hacan had only a few units there, with the larger part of his forces committed elsewhere.
For example I didn't feel like the traitor cards unbalanced the game as some others did, but they are a main strength of the race I played as.
For me, I think that all the cards taken together were too powerful compared to units. I like strategy games in which a card is an occasional wrench in the works, but Rex seemed like more wrenches than works. That made planning count for less than I would like in a strategy game.
In the end I do think all of the factions are unbalanced in their own way, which probably results out to some close balance as a whole.
I tend to agree. Every faction has some nice situational abilities. No one is completely out of the running, and everyone has something to offer an alliance.
In hindsight, while the 3 vs 2 alliance felt brutal, the two of us were really just that one play away from winning the game. It actually came down to the very last phase of the last round and that makes me think balance is there.
I think that 3 vs. 2 is playable. The group of two needs to keep only one base out of the larger alliance's hands. In an alliance of three, 60% of the players have to capture 100% of the bases for a normal victory (i.e., before any endgame special victory conditions apply).
Hopefully we can get it played again sometime with different race selections as it does seem to be a game that you can't judge on a single outing.
Most of the game was learning by trial-and-error for me. I am sure that the dynamics would change with experienced players who know the basics and can think at a higher level. However, I expect that the cards will still dominate, so many sessions might hinge on a "Haha, you lose!" card play. But yes, the game's depth does require more than one session to be judged fairly, and I enjoyed it enough to be willing to try again.
