So a buddy and I played our first game straight from the rulebook with no previous experience or reading up on how the game was intended to be played. We found the game long but rather easy (choosing to play against the Syndicate with the Bjarlspire and Tharendim. I suspect perhaps we missed some rules that made it a little too easy.
However these were the questions we had during gameplay. A few have been answered either here or on Board Game Geek, I'll put those answers in []. Feel free to confirm them. Comments are preceeded by >>.
1. Are the Weaponry and Defense values printed on a Strike Force Ship Panel starting values or maximum values?
>> Through the course other cards seemed to heavily imply that these were starting values that could be added to.
2. There is a card called Broker's Edge. It allows you to recycle cards for an effect. It does not specify if the cards have to be in hand, or if they can be cards installed on your ship.
>> We assumed it could be recycled from either hand or installed on your ship.
3. The starting mission for the Syndicate is called Solar Ransom, and called for an Opposition Ship Deck to be played but does not specify where.
[Sources elsewhere have confirmed that the ship should be played in the sector that the mission resides.]
4. Does the Fleet Limit apply only to ships that enter play via the Opposition Flip Cards Event, or does it also apply to missions or other phase events which might insert a ship into a sector?
>> I've seen discussion saying that missions which turn into ships ignore the Fleet Limit, and that some people claim only station cards that turn into ships are subject to the fleet limit.
5. There is a Station card named Keller Upgrade Unit which increases a ship's weaponry. Can this card target the ship it is installed on?
6. What decks reshuffle when empty?
>> We played this wrong the first time but I've since found the answers.
[
- No deck should need reshuffling when empty. See Below:
- Scrapped Opposition Cards (ship, mission) are put on the bottom of their respective decks.
- Anyone's scrapped Strike Force Ship cards are placed in their own scrap pile away from its deck. A recycled Strike Force Ship card is placed on the bottom of that ship's deck. A ship deck should only be shuffled when a card effect directs you to.
- Scrapped Station cards are placed at the bottom of the Station Scrap deck. The station deck is shuffled each time a station slot is emptied and must be refilled.
]
7. Is there a game defining reason to keep all scraped Strike Force cards in one pile?
>> It seems easier to keep scrapped SF cards to the side away from your deck for easy re-setup after the game. However there might be game effects which target the Strike Force Scrap deck. Is that the case?
8. Does the Dryskyld Converter tech card for the BjarlSpire ship reset the Weaponry value even if it is higher than the printed value on the Ship Panel?
9. When you are forced to remove energy from your ship, do you always have to remove "outerward to inside" or only during the battle phase?
[You must always remove energy from outward to inside.]
10. When forced to remove multiple energy, can I choose to take some from weaponry and some from defense to make up the total energy lost?
11. When installing a tech which removes energy when it is installed, can it remove energy before it is "installed" or after? In other words if you pay for the install with the same energy that the techn adds, does it remove energy from itself, or the preceeding technology?
12. There is a station card whose Opposition side is a ship with a bounty that says "Recycle this card". How is this different from scrapping the ship with no bounty?
1) Starting values.
2) From your hand. You can only recycle Techs installed on your ship if a card explicitly says so. It will also say when you cen recycle it.
3) I think it is in the Sector, unless someone tells me I am wrong. (Ronway will, I just know it).
4) Fleet Limit applies anytime a ship will enter play from the Opp deck or the Station Cards. Mission cards and Flagships ignore the Fleet Limit.
5) Yes. I card will explcicitly say if it can't target your own ship.
6) Basically what you have, except scrapped Station cards go on top of the Station scrap Opp side up (although it doesn't really matter)>
7) Once an SF starting card is scrapped, it is removed from the game permanently.
8) Yep.
9) Copying from BGG:
10) Only if you have no D left. See #9.
11) After. It can hit itself.
12) You put the card on the bottom of your SF deck, SF side up. You essentially get the card without buying it.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
13. When a card refers to "Opposition Deck", does it refer to the ship deck or the mission deck?
Ship deck
Wow. We were totally playing #9 wrong then. We assumed that effects that said "Remove Energy" let you choose what to remove, since D+W = E, but that damage from battle followed the D->W rules since those rules were in the Battle Phase section. Such is the way of bad assumptions.
I'm also a little surprised by #11 and #12 but I can see the logic in it.
Thank you.