Apnex Upgrades!!

 

Something about Muons!

Today I'll go over the Tech Upgrades in the RIS Apnex expansion, including the Muon Token and the Interphase Generator. One of these tech upgrades is very good, and the other is very middle of the road. 

The Muon Feedback Wave works as follows:

Muon Feedback Wave (Romulan/RIS Apnex Expansion)
Action: Discard this card to place a Muon Token beside a ship at Range 1. This upgrade may only be purchased for a Romulan Science Vessel
Cost: 4

The Muon Token explanation is found below:

Muon Token (for the Tech: Muon Feedback Wave from the Romulan/RIS Apnex Expansion)
A ship with a Muon Token assigned to it follows these special rules:
1. A Muon Token stays with a ship until it is removed.
2. During the Activation Phase, after the ship moves, the ship takes damage to its Hull equal to the number of its current Maneuver -1. The type of Maneuver does not matter, just the number.
3. After the ship performs a Green or White Maneuver, it can spend an action to remove the Muon Token.

A few things spring to the mind the first time you take a look at this thing. It's really too bad that this is a Discard ability. I understand that a Muon Token is a pretty terrible token to have beside your ship, but I'm of the opinion that it is a bit obvious when it's coming, and you should be able to avoid taking any damage from it. That being said, you'll be restricting what your opponent can do in the movement phase, which is never a bad thing. The fact that the Muon token sticks around makes it that much better. 

I've used Muon Tokens a few times, and once an opponent gets used to them, their usefulness plummets. You'll club some baby seals, but you won't get much long term use out of the things. I think these things need a revamp, as they aren't really seeing much play. I'd probably take out the discard, and put in that it requires a target, instead of just hitting all ships in an AOE. That would certainly increase the usefulness of the science vessel, and you probably still wouldn't see more than 1 taking up space in lists. 

I'm rarely interested in this upgrade, but have found it to be decent when I play draft. 

The below is something a bit better, and definitely raises some eyebrows:

Interphase Generator (Romulan/RIS Apnex Expansion)
When defending while you are Cloaked, you may discard this card after all the dice have been rolled to reduce the damage from a single attack to exactly 1 [DAMAGE].
Cost: 3

To be honest, I would never put this on a science vessel. I would prefer to equip this onto a Klingon ship. The only other Romulan ship that it would be worth equipping onto would be the Warbird, and I honestly don't see too many of them or have too much love for them right now. If they had a rear arc, I think they'd be pretty fantastic, but as it stands, the Warbird needs some love. On a Klingon ship, this thing is bonkers. If you can find room for three in a 3 ship Klingon list, I think it is a decent investment. On the science vessel, however, you want something offensive in your tech slot, and this just keeps the ship alive- which is great and all, but what's it going to do? Probably nothing. 

Captain Mirok is actually not bad. Mirok gives you a fairly rare ability for cheap- it can repair shields without having to deactivate attacks to do so. Here's the profile:

Mirok (Romulan/RIS Apnex) 
Captain Skill: 4
After you move, if at least one friendly ship is within Range 1 of your ship, repair 1 damage to your Hull or Shields.
Cost: 2
Elite Talent Upgrades: 0

A relatively cheap captain that works well if you're running some smaller ships. It also repairs hull points, which is also very rare. This card could work well in a swarm build with a Valdore at the centre, or on a Dominion ship such as to Kraxon, surrounded by Jem'Hadar attack ships. I would run this upgrade in lists with a large centre ship, and multiple small ships, to increase the chances that there will always be a ship within range 1 of yours. You want this ability to go off, so it'll need to be on a ship that can weather the initial attacks. Very good captain with a nice passive ability. 

Next week- The Dominion Wave 0 reviews. Following that, I'll start in on Wave 1, and by the end of January should be on to Wave 2, at which point we'll be looking ahead to Wave 3! I expect that by the time Wave 4 hits i'll be all caught up lol!

Science Vessel- The Apnex

 

Not much to look at from the side is it?

Today I want to briefly go over the Apnex. To my readers expecting longer write-ups, it's difficult to discuss some of this stuff in a vacuum. I plan on getting to lists once I'm through with the individual reviews of stuff, so hold tight, as I review stuff it'll get opened up to further review later on and in context. For now I'm just working my way through stuff in a manner that will not lead to me burning out!

The Apnex is a very odd ship. It raises some serious questions about what kind of ship can be viable in Attack Wing. I got to play with the Apnex a few times the other day and can say that it performed better than I expected. If you play to its strengths, I think it can be a really good closer. 

 So here are the Apnex's stats:

R.I.S. Apnex (Romulan Science Vessel)/ Romulan Starship (Romulan Science Vessel) Front Firing Arc: 90° Rear Firing Arc: NA A: 1 E: 2 H: 2 S: 2(1) Action (once/game): Every ship at range 1 sustains 1 damage (including this ship). During the Planning Phase this ship must choose a '1' Manuver (forward, bank or turn) for the rest of the game. Actions: Evasive Maneuvers, Cloak, Sensor Echo Upgrades: Tech, Crew, Crew Points: 14 (12)

Okay, so it has only 1 attack. You can't put weapons on it, so you can't make it into a cheap Torpedo Boat. The 1 attack is going to get evaded or defence rolled away. I would personally cloak the ship, and then leave it cloaked all game. If you're in a situation where you have to decloak to fire, I think you've probably lost the game. 

Where this thing shines is in the Tech slot. I'll take a look at Muon Tokens tomorrow, but I think that's a very viable, but ultimately uninspired use of the Apnex. Most people by now have faced Muon Tokens, and will not move too far when an Apnex is nearby. Don't expect Muon Tokens to save you.

Projected Stasis Field requires you to decloak and drop your shields. I don't think it's a good fit for the Apnex, unless it's a suicide Apnex. Also, I'd rather that the tech upgrade stick around, since this is going to be a ship that needs to be very annoying. 

Tractor Beam is a very cost efficient Tech upgrade. I'm not sure if "your" has been Faq'd to mean the Apnex's next attack or my next attack with any ship. I can't check Faq's at work. My apologies. 

The upgrade I think is best is the Ferengi EM Pulse, and I've detailed that in a previous article on the Vo. The Apnex gets the added bonus of being able to blow its warp core and damage every surrounding ship. Save this- there's no reason to blow it at the beginning of the game. Every hit your opponent takes makes the Apnex's ability that much more threatening. Eventually, the Apnex could be a huge threat on its own. 

This is a ship that requires a lot of thought to use. The movement dial will save your butt in game, but you need to decide what its role will be, keep it cheap and save your actions for when they count. The whole shebang should come in well under 20 points. I wouldn't run it in multiples, unless you were using something like Donatra, but then I think 2-3 attacks on these kinds of platforms is nothing to sneeze at. You'll have to buy 5-6 of these things, which I think is a bit of a waste of your money, but HEY, it's not MY money that's being wasted, and you'll only be supporting the game!

Tomorrow I'll talk about Muon Tokens and some of the upgrades on this thing.