STAR TREK ASCENDANCY - Is it the "Best Star Trek board game" out there?

A big thank you to everyone who gave us feedback on the first show. Here is the second version. Still a WIP, but hopefully on the right track!
We look at Star Trek Ascendancy. A resource management exploration tactical board game. What do we like, what don't we like, and why you should or shouldn't have this on your shelf!

[@michaelhannell4083]

Never thought it was that difficult to understand learning the rules. Plus just got the new expansion Breen and dominion war

[@barryyoner8170]

LOVE this game! I's random nature does make it difficult acquire different resources, true. However, you can delay joining up with other players while you develop your own infrastructure. After all, every player approaches the game with their own style. As far as player downtime goes... I watch to see what comes up for everyone else, because that can form a critical component for you later.

[@gcaddo]

I love watching to see what other players do ... unless they suffer from Analysis Paralysis :)

[@russelljacob7955]

The new camera setup and display of game really works!

[@andykaufman7620]

This game needs to come with a book of quotes like Klingon Orders and Insults. Things you can say as a Klingon shouting orders to the crew, or things you say as an insult. Plus similar phrases for the Federation. 'Engage'. Take us to Warp 9, "Make it So Number One'. All of this adds to the atmophere of the game.

[@gcaddo]

I love Star Trek Ascendancy too - and have every game expansion for it... just finding people to play the game with is challenging; so I want to learn: a) how to solo it (possible with the Borg, but I'd like an AI for at least 1 other race I think), and b) learn to play via Steam on the TTS mod - that looks AWESOME - the resource allocation step is fully automated! :)

[@shared_xp]

love the excel banter. If you did not already know, Excel has easter eggs built into older copies wherein if you trigger it, you will get a flight simulator or an version of spy hunter to play.

[@KesinX]

Probably my favorite board game yet.

[@縞鰺-o3c]

I really LOVE this game! The downtime is a thing however. Especially when you want to crank up the player count with expansions ... from a certain point it's basically only viable with people who know the game and agree to diligently plan ahead in order to execute their turns more swiftly. As a comparison from experience: While a 3-player game of Star Trek Ascendancy will usually be much shorter than a 3-player game of Twilight Imperium ... the playing time will be about even somewhere around 5 or 6 players and with 7 or more players it'll actually take longer than Twilight Imperium. (Since this video was posted two new expansions have been released and It now plays with up to 9 players ... though people will usually buy those expansions to have more variety between sessions and rather not in order to really play with 9 people. ^^)

[@LandonTheDM]

Two games I think you should check out are: Mistborn: House War and Dungeons of Infinity

[@florianbuhr7553]

There is Excel - The Game. It's called Eve Online and it's great.

[@reallyidrathernot.134]

Can you play it without fighting each other? I know for some people this would be a very strange question, but the euro style of competition is better imo. Even "Frontiers" had coop.

[@MrSnaetch]

With the Borg expansion you have a NPC player against whom you can cooperate together.

[@SheezyBites]

If there's any game I'd want to see get a second edition it's this one, it could well be a mess again, but I think they've learned a lot since the first edition and could really makes something great with it... as is though it's a game I like owning, because it's Star Trek, but kind of never want to play.

[@Steve-zl5om]

I love this game, but I can't beat the Borg solo no matter how I try 🤣

[@danddjacko]

What did Guy think about Star Trek Fleet Captains?

[@Jezza_One]

Its much better than Star Fleet Captains but its a wargame against an exploration game.

[@grog3514]

We like fleet captains more. It's Star trek in a box. Ascendancy is just kind of pasted on. Still a good game though.

[@gcaddo]

I like both; they are different games... both essential Board Game purchases - especially for ST fans

[@henryrodriguez6260]

This game is phenomenal. The mechanics are innovative and gameplay is compelling. However, it does not really feel like Star Trek. The Star Trek coating is nice, but it doesn't seep into the game's bones. The games that feel most like Star Trek to me are: 1. Fleet Captains from Wizkids (feels like a season) and 2. Away Missions from GF9 (feels like an episode).

[@gcaddo]

The Expansions add a lot to the game; different races/different win conditions - and the new Dominion Expansion adds team play: this game is essential for ST fans who are board gamers.

[@sabriath]

Ok, now I'm wondering about this Excel game, lol

[@LandonTheDM]

excel spreadsheet the board game. That part made me laugh

[@durnaxe8708]

There's a lot of balance issues with Star Trek ascendancy but its a fun game. For example: -Federation sucks. They are bad at combat and bad at exploration. Jack of all Trades and master of none is not the Federation way, its more like Jack of all trades and they suck at all of em. -Vulcan's win condition is either incredibly easy or damn near impossible. Oh and they cant start a fight with anyone. However they are fun because they cant win the game normally so if you are someone who likes playing the game by different rules, the Vulcan's are yours. -Romulans and Klingon's with their cloaking are horridly broken for combat, you can never win a fight against them. If they want a planet, it's theirs. -The Borg are either a non-threat or can completely ruin the game, there is no good middle ground. -I have no idea what the Ferengi are supposed to be doing, the person who plays them tends to suck with em. -They stopped supporting the game, even though they said they were supposed to add the dominion to the game. -Andorians are actually fairly balanced except their race bonus (being more advanced) is actually worthless because its impossible to achieve. -Cardassians are the horde army. You get sooooo much production. Don't get me wrong, it's an incredibly fun game (especially when everyone panics when the borg show up). My last game I made a pact with the romulan player as the vulcans and we made the space elf wall that no one could pass, stalling long enough to achieve my win condition. Something we do is a "safe" space around each planet. There is a stack of safe planets that we can pull from at the start, each player gets 3 explorations that are technically safe. The Cards are still random so you may find a safe planet with a borg spire on it right next to your homeworld (I see that actually happen all the time). Board game geek has homebrew rules that fix things plus add in the errata and FAQ, and homebrew factions from star trek history. With 3d printers its easy enough to make the little tokens.

[@gcaddo]

Dominion has been added - an essential purchase!

[@Jezza_One]

IMO yes.

[@erokvanrocksalot7545]

🖖 I’ve not played, but huge Star Trek nerd…if it’s anything like The Firefly Board game, I’ll love it!

[@Jezza_One]

Its not anything like Firefly its a wargame not a trader game.

[@charlescassels3826]

If you can find a copy of Star Trek: Fleet Captains, you may enjoy it. It’s not like Firefly: The Game, but it captures the feeling of Star Trek in the same way that Firefly: the Game captures the feel of its show.