Star trek ascendancy faction guide and strategy primer

[@3MBG]

So yeah, I enjoyed the game enough that i thought i'd run through all the expansion content and share my thoughts on how they work and the basic strategies for each of them. I hope you all enjoy the vid. This is a neato game.

[@nickbrutanna9973]

As i suggest below, the best way to play the Borg is to play them as a randomly encountered threat, rather than a constant presence. Played from the center, I believe they totally dominate the game and play. Worth a few games, but, as you suggest, not a great main component. IF they are randomly encountered, however, they can be very significant. They do tend to force players to favor early weapons development over shields (since they ignore shields) and you need to take out all 9 subsystems fairly fast before they become invincible. So if you encounter them prior to about turn 3/4 (i.e., you explore too fast) then you can get messed up. I have played something like 75-100 games of STA, and, with the Borg in "random threat" mode for >90% of them, STA has easily been the most replayable game of anything I've played. In all those games, I do not recall a single game that really resembled any other one. Each game has played out very very differently with different factions winning using different techniques.😁

[@3MBG]

I think you'd have to bury the cards a little in the deck. A borg cube as a first explore draw is a sure game over.

[@jimdcushman]

Great run through of all the factions! Haven't gotten my copies of the Breen and Dominion yet but seeing this helper reassure me they are welcome additions to the game.

[@3MBG]

Yeah, both are quite neat. And surprisingly to me, i actually really dig the Breen playstyle.

[@tinstargames]

Faith in the Heart was actually originally written to be the big song in the film Patch Adams (so you got the vibe right). Enterprise was forced to use it by some executive shenanigans trying to make/save money

[@3MBG]

Really? Hahahaha, jeez

[@nickbrutanna9973]

The best way to play with the borg, long-term, is to put the two transwarp hubs and/or the borg home world into the planetary stack (i.e., depending on how risky you want it to be, put 1-3 borg "worlds" into the stack). Ditto with the cards. I DO recommend you put them outside that "initial, 2xplayer 'safe' worlds"pre-stack" that is on top of the otherwise randomized stack. Similarly with the cards -- put the borg cards outside the initial 2xplayer cards, at random. This much more closely resembles the Borg in ST -- they are an occasional menace, but not a constant problem When you start with them as a center-map homeworld, they dominate the game, and kill exploration, because your best bet is to turtle up so they can't connect, which also messes you up by reducing exploration, which is deadly to the Feds, and bad-news for the Ferengi, too. So, no -- don't play the "default" way more than a couple times, just to enjoy it. After that, make them a random experience.

[@3MBG]

Ah, i read the other comment first. Yes, this sounds like a good approach. I want them in the game, but not as the juggernaut they have been. I reckon there is space for a co-op mode though. With just a few tweaks where you have to defeat them. Probably max 3 players

[@nickbrutanna9973]

@@3MBG Perhaps, but rare is the game where they don't come out. And it leads to some trepidation when you're exploring, because... hey, they might be in THAT new star system!! 😛 And that adds considerably to the variability of the gameplay, as you never know how they'll affect the game. The 3 system disks are about strong interaction, but the cards make sure there is likely to be some interaction.

[@MrTroxel]

A great video that makes me wish I knew more 4X gamers. I'm a little sad that the Borg aren't a player faction. It would make me so happy go stomping around space saying nothing but "Resistance is futile!"

[@nickbrutanna9973]

You can... just let the Borg take over your homeworld. Then you play the Borg. You are constrained by the Borg rules, but you have still a lot of options for controlling them, particularly if you can get a bunch of cubes active...

[@nickbrutanna9973]

Note that the Ferengi, once the group knows how they win, become totally impossible to win with. They need to be buffed, in a defensive military manner, somehow. Not a lot, but some. Since they have to have their ships spread all over the place, they cannot build up in defense of the homeworld when they get close. Which means their homeworld is under threat of takeover on a steady basis, and once the other players realize you're close to a win, they will act together to take it over.

[@3MBG]

That all sounds like over-correction/policing play. I know the ferengi have some vile combos especially endgame with hegemony and money to burn. It sounds like the ferengi player needs to slow it down a little, hard rushing and making yourself the first big target in a game like ascendancy is asking to be pruned back

[@Lordborg909]

Awesome runthrough mate! Moar Ascendancy please!

[@jasono.6168]

Excellent primer on the factions of the game! Well done, sir! Looking forward to your homebrew Borg house rules!

[@wayner396]

I love andorians and wish star trek would do more with them. I think they're one of the best parts of enterprise. Cardassians are fun and sound like their slow grow play style suits my personal play styles. This game looks awesome. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and for doing a whole faction review.

[@afrose71]

Cool game. The only things that seem to be missing are hero recruitment and multiple ship classes.

[@3MBG]

They abstract the ship classes by using fleet types. So a science fleet, one assumes, is mostly science ships.

[@DrakeRunner]

I remember making the choice between Fleet Captains and Ascendancy and now I want both.

[@richardsaunders9214]

I like Star Trek a lot, but I think you like it more. I really enjoyed listening to this even though I haven’t played Ascendency. I would like to try the co-op mode

[@xWilcoXx]

Lots of mixed reviews on this one...I'm glad you've shared your enthusiasm for this. Just bought it at a board game swap and can't wait to get it to the table. Hopefully it isn't too daunting or fiddly for new players.

[@3MBG]

Yeah, i find that interesting how luke warm some folks are on it. I guess if your idea of a good 4x is TI IV, its a very different game.

[@michaelhannell4083]

Thanks for the video you didn't mention where you would rank the andorians on your final comment. I love playing the ferengi. Also your 3 min video on the rules was a good synopsis I got a few new players in my group and it's a good refresher video. Would enjoy a playthrough video if you can do one

[@3MBG]

Cheers. I never do play through videos, i'm not setup for it and they are the antithesis of what we do. Even though this vid was still over 3 mins, it was tightly edited and as short as i could make it. I leave long play throughs to folks better suited to them.

[@bwrpwr]

Been on the fence for ages about this game. Your video finally pushed me over. I'll be picking this up. Lol, I was typing to ask what faction to get if I only bought one, and as soon as I finished, you said it in the video.

[@3MBG]

Lol, have fun, i've really enjoyed it

[@bwrpwr]

@@3MBG I guess as a follow up, have you played Forbidden Stars, or Twilight Imperium 4th ed? If so, which of the three would you recommend?

[@3MBG]

No to forbidden stars, TI4 has way too much down time for me and the groups i've played it with drag the game out too long, 12+ hours, which is just too much for me with a toddler to look after. If i was looking at possible other alternatives, it would be Eclipse

[@bwrpwr]

@@3MBG Eclipse I did play once, but have no need to pick it up since it's in my group's arsenal already. I did pick up Ascendancy yesterday. I was going to go with your 4th player recommend, but since my store only had Breen or Dominion, and we have a player that loves to turtle anyway, I grabbed them for a 1st expansion.

[@timoseppa9124]

Nice! I'm a Star Trek fan (at least through Voyager) and a fan of Eclipse: Second Dawn. Some of my friends who I have introduced Eclipse: Second Dawn to have played Star Trek: Ascendancy as well. It sounds like they prefer Eclipse. However, I am interested in trying it out. If I am going to buy it for my own collection, it seems like a significant investment, to get the base game plus a few of the expansions. Great timing on doing the video, as I have been actively thinking about Ascendancy.

[@3MBG]

Eclipse is also very good, so at least you're losing out here to a good game.

[@timoseppa9124]

@@3MBG Sounds like one of my friends has Ascendancy, so we'll play some time in the future. After watching some online playthroughs, it looks like battles are a little more basic. Eclipse really shines in the ship upgrades. Anyway, I'll probably play in the relatively near future and maybe even order it with an expansion or two. If you got one or two expansions, which ones would you choose?

[@3MBG]

i mention that at the end of the video. Cardassia and ferengi

[@timoseppa9124]

@@3MBG Right, I do remember that now. I ordered, with Cardassian and Andorian expansions. Looking forward to playing.

[@frenzy47]

Awesome breakdown, thanks!

[@tinstargames]

Great to have a 4x-ish game where you can win without fighting

[@3MBG]

Technically yes, unlikely though :)

[@timdertim]

Very cool! Thank you

[@DylanWOWilliams]

I freaking loved this video. Thank you.

[@albertolopes829]

I just tried the borg "out of the box" solo. As you said, no fun. I am eagerly waiting for your ruleset!

[@3MBG]

I recommend trying the fan expanded rulebook on BGG. Im not sure i can top their version of the rules to be honest, they seem to work pretty well

[@MrTroxel]

I got this game during Christmas based on your recommendation and really loved it! So, of course, now I'm shopping for expansions. Am I off base saying that, while most factions have a positive and negative modifiers, the Andorians just have two positives? Neither of their abilities hold them back in any way like the Klingon's Death Before Dishonor or the Federation's Prime Directive does. Maybe I'm missing something though.

[@3MBG]

Thats a good point, guess i hadn't thought of it, certainly doesn't seem to make them particular strong as a faction though. I guess what holds the andorians back is they need a little of everything, science, ships, culture, pretty easy to end up quite spread out as them

[@abruwer08]

Goodness this does look like pretty good adaptation of Trek into game form. Trek is such a difficult property to build a game around. One of our game shops had a second hand copy of so looked at it briefly. This makes me almost sad I did not buy it. Almost. In any case the game should have the Maquis as faction just to balance out all those authoritarian factions.

[@3MBG]

Ha, i get you. But the idea of this one is it starts from when a culture gets warp. So Earth is just Earth at the start of the game. The marquis are in the game i think as an encounter card.

[@abruwer08]

@@3MBG Ah okay, I understand. That makes sense for a 4X game. Though it breaks with the theme a bit in the sense that the Federation is more than just Earth and a lot of 4X-ing has already taken place by the time it's formed.

[@3MBG]

A little, but you can hegemony world like Trill and betazed into the federation, think of it that way. The federation is who you become, not necessarily who you start as

[@abruwer08]

Cool! I'll give the rulebook a look. Thanks!

[@brandonjohnson9876]

Just got the game and it’s an incredible 4x game. Three player games are fascinating, as long as you have a fun group of players who won’t gang up on each other and balance each other out. The Borg could be a fun thing to add to a three player game, forcing the players to work together to hold them off while also forcing the players to keep an eye on each other. Brilliant game design all around. Only issue I have is the AWFUL rulebooks and spotty production value. It’s a Gale Force Nine game, so that isn’t a surprise.

[@3MBG]

I wish gf9 would sort that out, but if anything, over time its gotten worse.

[@jasonraber3770]

Do the Sirillium Warheads destroy the 3 ships before combat rolls? Or are they added to the opposing fleet damage after die rolls.

[@3MBG]

id say after

[@jasonraber3770]

@3MBG Thank you. We weren't sure if you exhausted the card, then proceeded with the 1st round of combat or not.

[@OverlordZephyros]

I really like the Borg in star trek... Too bad they aren't very fleshed out

[@saviloic]

This was great, thank you! Any recommendation to get this game on the table for 2 players only?

[@3MBG]

Hmmmm, the borg expansion plus the alternate rules for the borg on board game geek

[@tinstargames]

What’s the player count? Is this the true twilight imperium killer? (Not that killers are a real thing)

[@3MBG]

With expansions? 1-9. I do doubt ill play twilight imperium again any time soon though

[@MassDefibrillator]

love the look of this game, but I can't really justify having to buy an expansion to be able to even play it with my group.

[@3MBG]

Fair, I think if they did 5 factions in the box though, that box would have been crazy big

[@MassDefibrillator]

@@3MBG Is it possible as a 2 player? Or is the 3 player limit very literal? Also, I'm looking forward to your game. Have it on order on GMT. Would like to design my own game some day.

[@3MBG]

Cheers for the preorder. Um , nah 2 players would be pretty awful and the Borg bot is a bit busted, which is one way to play 2 player. 3-5 seems the green zone for it

[@MassDefibrillator]

@@3MBG what expansions would you recommend to get it up to 4 or 5 players?

[@maximoskouitziou2773]

Hello i am kinda new to board games i wanted to buy a big one. I am looking something co-op with 2+ player ~ the more the better~ and less than 80 dollars. We have tried (and liked) games like pandemic kai eldrich horror. Do you have anything to suggest plz :D ?

[@3MBG]

No idea about costs, as im not sure what dollars you are talking about. I buy all my games in New Zealand dollars, which is very different to US dollars. But if you like Pandemic and Eldtrich horror. Maybe horrified, or a card game like Aeon's end

[@laughing_sunset]

Hey everyone! Not really related to star trek games, but a question to true board games lovers. I've played shadows over camelot (company vs game type) and really enjoyed. Anything similar comes to your mind? Need an advice! Anyway, thanks for great content and community 🤍

[@greytoeimp]

Quest is somewhat similar and quite close flavor wise: other than that all I can think of is dead of winter

[@laughing_sunset]

@@greytoeimp thank you! 🤍🤍🤍

[@3MBG]

Yep, Dead of winter, unfathomable, Dark Moon and New Angelese are similar in style to Shadows over camelot, but they are all a bit more complex.

[@laughing_sunset]

@@3MBG thanks! Seems like I will have a lot to discover!

[@3MBG]

I did a video on 10 games to start a collection with you might like