An Event came up which drew all players into battle. We went around playing cards until everyone passed. We then figured out who had the most speed. What we could not figure out was what to do next. When one of us attacks, who do we deal the damage to? Do we choose who to damage, or is it automaticly assigned to another player?
The rulebook would seem to indicate that each player chooses where to assign damage based on where they fall in the speed order.
Another interesting question, though - the rulebook states that ships that end with the same speed assign their damage one at a time, but for gameplay purposes the damage is dealt simultaneously. If the above supposition is correct, could two players with equal speed values apply their damage to the same ship, bypassing the target ship's shields value for the secondary attacker?
For instance, Player A and B have equal speed, and both choose to target player C's flagship. Player A has a weapons value of 5, and Player B has a weapons value of 3. Player C has a shields value of 4. Would player C take 4 damage as a result of the damage being dealt at the same time, or would their shields value be applied to both incoming damage groups, resulting in only 1 damage being taken, despite the damage being received simultaneously?
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Shields can only be used once. So Player C would take 4 damage.Originally Posted by Mr. Domino
Damage is dealt in order of speed to which ever opponent you wish (this is a good time for your opponent's to try to sway your favor and shoot someone else). A ship that is defeated before their time to deal damage comes, will not deal damage. Ships that have the same speed will deal damage at the same time and can choose the same target or choose each other or any other opponent they want. Shields only reduce the first X damage for the turn so 4 would be the correct amount of damage for C to take.
Came across this when we played as well. I think the rulebook needs an errata or update for this because it wasn't clear on who you should/can hit. Tried hitting only clockwise and tried free for all (which basically makes is hard for the winning player because he becomes the one with the big target on him)... Though, when the flagship is defeated, there isn't really that bad a penalty...
When we played with the guys at Gen Con and Origins all the Player Battles we done were free for all. Its always funny how diplomatic war becomes
It was actually the hope/intent that the lead player was the target of wars. It helps keep them at bay and balances the game to let the other players catch up.
So the only downside to Defeat is gaining an Ensign? And it has the upside of getting to shuffle? How does that help balance the game? EDIT: If gaining an Ensign is supposed to add useless filler to the Defeated player's deck, I think it would have been more interesting to have a card like "An asteroid" or something that plain does Nothing rather than giving +1 Atk & XP.
Why does each player play 1 card until they all pass? I'm guessing because someone can play cards that mess with another player's hand, but the turn player has an advantage because chances are at the start of their turn they played their entire hand at once.
On another note, do the remaining Starter cards (when there are less than 5 players) go into the Starbase Deck? Trashing them removes them from the game, but they have a cost so I just put them into the deck.
Enjoying the game so far.
Thanks,
- Michael
Last edited by Space Elmo; 10-12-2011 at 08:06 PM.
Defeats can occur often so we wanted the penalty to not be too harsh. Yes the intent of gaining an ensign is to reduce the consistency of the deck. The shuffling is meant to reset everything for that player. Essentially their flagship has been damaged and they need to repair and reset before they are ready to venture out again.
Players play cards 1 at a time for the reason you explained. Some effects will mess with other players so the order of effects can impact the battle. The turn player gets to play the first card, but having to start a war with all your cards played is usually a disadvantage. Every other player will see what you have before they decide what they want to play. The turn player however has no information on his opponents when he plays his card.
The starter cards should be set aside but you are more then welcome to add them to the star base deck if you like.
The one thing we can't sort out in battles (war, and others) is it a 1 shot and done from everyone or do you keep going until only one ship is left standing?
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