Agenda cards in campaign

By Kilazar, in Star Wars: Imperial Assault

The cards often read (forgive me I don';t have one in front so I'm going to try and get it as close as possible) "After the card is resolved EITHER shuffle it back into your agenda deck, or discard it"

Now to me this is a choice, but why would you discard your agenda's? Doesn't that mean you never get them again? Or is it to weed out ones that just are not good for you? This way you don't draw them again. Or is this two rules in one but one is for skirmish? I have not read any skirmish stuff yet so I am unclear on if agenda's are used there.

The cards often read (forgive me I don';t have one in front so I'm going to try and get it as close as possible) "After the card is resolved EITHER shuffle it back into your agenda deck, or discard it"

Now to me this is a choice, but why would you discard your agenda's? Doesn't that mean you never get them again? Or is it to weed out ones that just are not good for you? This way you don't draw them again. Or is this two rules in one but one is for skirmish? I have not read any skirmish stuff yet so I am unclear on if agenda's are used there.

I would imagine it's to weed them out. When you're heading into the final stretch of the campain, you don't want to draw four Agendas that are one or two influence... That would be rather brutal. :(

Ok, so it is a choice though? I remember the rule book making it sound like there is no option. But then the card text made it sound like there is an option.

If you're looking at Agenda cards in the Rules Reference Guide, the rules don't say that Agenda cards are discarded, it says when they are discarded, they go to the box. Assuming you have one of these Agenda cards that gives you an option to discard or reshuffle, you would either shuffle it into your Agenda deck or put it in the game box.

Ok, so it is a choice though? I remember the rule book making it sound like there is no option. But then the card text made it sound like there is an option.

I haven't heard or seen an 'official' statement otherwise, but based on the wording you have the choice to either discard it or put it back into the deck.

Anyone have any agenda strategies based around this mechanic? I find it hard to get rid of things when I can reshuffle. But at the same time I'm wondering if it would be better to discard used cheap agendas in favro of stacking the deck towards the higher cost agenda's for late game.

It's tough. You only have a finite amount of influence in any campaign. In my campaign, I went ahead and bought a couple things, knowing it would thin my Agenda deck. The risk is that you pull the card you really want in the next upgrade step and don't have the influence to buy it.

In my case, I drew Vader's Obsession after the first mission. I couldn't pay for it, but I knew I wanted to see it again, so I bought Tracking Beacon (I LOVE that card). I saved influence over the next two missions and was able to reach 3. My Rebels bought off the Tracking Beacon, but I still lucked out into drawing Vader's Obsession. My players had to choose between maybe getting Han and guaranteeing I'd get Vader, or fight to keep me from getting Vader. I convinced them that with Han on their side, they were more likely to see Vader hit the table (because he'd basically be -12 threat with the starting threat of Solo). They decided to go for Vader. I won. They quit. I'll never know if thinning the deck made any difference over the long run.

EDIT: I totally didn't answer the question. Personally, if I have a so-so ability that lets me discard it, I will always discard it so I can buy more powerful Agenda cards later on.

Edited by Budgernaut

Anyone have any agenda strategies based around this mechanic? I find it hard to get rid of things when I can reshuffle. But at the same time I'm wondering if it would be better to discard used cheap agendas in favro of stacking the deck towards the higher cost agenda's for late game.

I find it very important to send the heroes on an imperial side mission. They are usually brutal, benefit the imperial player if you win, and benefit the rebel player less if they win. Take the Vader missions: if you win... you get Vader, if they win... at least you didn't get Vader.

By discarding your agenda cards you increase the probability of drawing these side-mission cards later in the game.