Cardy Scum pt3- Weapons and Tech

DAY THREE!

 
Hello again friends and welcome back to part three of my look at the Galor Class expansion kit. If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm not a huge fan of this expansion. I think it gets some things right, but is overall a miss on the designer's part. It's not BAD, it's just that there's such a thing as elegance in design, and this expansion doesn't really hit that bar. In comparison, I think the Neg'Var expansion set is so well designed, that it approaches the pinnacle of what a good expansion can be. Additionally, the TOS Enterprise has so many useful parts that it doesn't really matter that the ship isn't that good, you're still going to get good value out of the expansion. The Galor- not so much.

The first tech upgrade I want to look at is Antiproton Scan

 Antiproton Scan (Dominion/Kraxon Expansion)
If a [SCAN] Token is beside your ship, add +1 attack die when firing against a ship that has no Active Shields.
Cost: 4

I don't understand why there has to be a stipulation that the opposing ship have no active shields. I still think that at 4pts, it wouldn't be that swingy. It would probably be best if it had the stipulation that it could only be equipped on a Galor class ship. I think that would actually make this a very decent upgrade. It's not that it's a bad upgrade, it's a bit too expensive, but I can see the use against cloaked ships. If your meta sees a lot of cloaked ships, this is a great upgrade for you.

It's really more of a hosing card. If you've played Magic The Gathering, you've probably encountered cards that affect one type of land, or one colour in particular. Protection from Red is amazing if the entire field is playing red. That's what I think Antiproton Scan is like. It's a great card to put on the Sideboard card and swap in just in case the opponent is running a clone fleet.

The second Tech card is EM pulse:

EM Pulse (Dominion/Kraxon Expansion)
Action: Disable this card to target a ship at Range 1-2. The targeted ship rolls 1 less attack die and 1 less defense die this round.
Cost: 4

This is where I think they should have brought the Ferengi Pulse into regular rotation. I really don't like this EM Pulse. It's a much worse scan, with the added bonus of causing the affected ship to roll 1 less attack dice. The disable is a bit overkill as well. I don't think this would be particularly busted if it didn't have the disable. Disable+Action had better be good- because I could just scan every turn and save 4 points to equip an Anti Proton Scan. I think the Anti Proton Scan is a much better upgrade for the points, even though I don't necessarily throw my full support behind it.

If you're at range 1, there's also the chance that you're just negating the +1 attack range 1 bonus. Meh. 

Sure, this stuff has situations where it will be good, but it's not going to swing the game. If you find that these cards are really good, try out a list without them in it, and see if the game really is much different.

Finally, the Forward Weapon's Grid:

Forward Weapons Grid (Dominion/Kraxon Expansion)
A: 5
Range: 1-3
Attack: Disable this card to perform this attack. You must divide the attack between 2 different ships in your forward firing arc. You may divide your attack dice however your like, but you must roll at least 1 attack die against each ship.
Cost: 5

This weapon actually isn't that bad! It is a pretty terrible card on a Kraxon, since it only nets you +1 attack, and really only at Range 2 and 3, but it is pretty great on the Reliant, or the Praetus. For the most part, you're hoping to net 4 attacks on one target, and 1 on another target, because weight of dice is always so much better. The fact that you don't need a target lock really makes this thing shine. Try to throw it on ships with a 180 arc, with 2 attacks- The Miranda is probably your ship of choice for this bad boy.

Tomorrow- The Gor Portas!

Cardy Scum! Dominion Week!

 

It's going to be jokes like this... all week long.

This week, I'll look at the Wave 0 Dominion releases and their upgrades. I want to start by saying that I understand why they didn't include a fourth ship in the initial release, but it had the effect of delaying the dominion being able to be played competitively. Sure, some people have had some success with playing the Dominion, but the initial ships were more in the "advanced" column than in the "beginner", and I think this turned a lot of people off of the faction. Furthermore, I think they got the order of the ships wrong, and should have first released the Keldon instead of the Galor. While the Galor is more iconic, that's kinda pushing the definition of the word. Let's not even get into the discussion about how the Cardassians should have probably been their own faction apart from the Dominion, but I get why they wanted to lump them together, for the sake of not having to include a whole bunch of text on the bottom of each of these cards saying "faction penalties do not apply etc.,"

So we'll start with the Galor itself. The model is great. The ship has a number of odd choices built in, which I think hurt it from the beginning. 

Kraxon (Cardassian Galor Class)/ Dominion Starship (Cardassian Galor Class) Front Firing Arc: 180° Rear Firing Arc: NA A: 4 E: 1 H: 4 S: 4(3) Whenever a friendly ship within Range 1 of your ship receives damage you may transfer any amount of that damage to your own Shields, if possible. Actions: Evasive Maneuvers, Target Lock, Sensors Upgrades: Tech, Tech, Weapons, Crew Points: 26 (24)

The front firing arc is great. I like that cardassian ships generally have a 180 firing arc, and aren't as unfocused as the Federation. It really gives Cardassian ships a unified feel. Where I think this thing falters, is in the movement dial. Given that the Neg'Var has an amazing turning dial, can cloak, has 5 attacks and is only 4 pts more expensive for the generic version, I don't understand why the Galor doesn't have a better movement dial. The 180 firing arc is not SO good that it couldn't have used a few better maneuvers. 

The Kraxon is the only ship in the game that can act like a tank, but isn't strong enough to do so, and requires you to go off faction to really get the thing working. It's like they had a great theme, but didn't want to commit. The ship seems unfocused. 

If you're using the Kraxon as a tank, you have to do some solo practice (or multiple practice tests with an opponent) on range bands. If you can master staying out of range bands while still being within range 1 of other ships, I think this ship can be pretty good. It is definitely not a ship that can be effectively run by a beginner. If you're running a dominion fleet, the time you spend practicing with the Kraxon will pay off. 

It should have had battlestations. I don't get the choice to leave it up to Gul Dukat to provide that particular action. 

Finally, I'm reticent to advise really beefing this thing up. I think you have to either be committed to the tank strategy, or forego that and keep the ship simple. They'll give some builds a run for their money, but it's a very comparable ship to a Vor'cha, and the Vor'cha completely outclasses this thing. The firing arc is not that big of a deal on a ship with a great maneuver dial. 

One way to run a beefy Kraxon is the following

Kraxon

Mirok

Scotty

If you're outside of firing arcs, you can use scotty to give you some serious firepower, or if you've taken damage, you can use scotty to repair shields and keep you in the fight. Same with Mirok. 

This strategy could work well in a three Galor build, or even with some smaller attack fighters.