However, after deploying cards from your hand, winning an edge battle, and focusing your units to strike, it seems unlikely that a player would have enough cards to go through that entire process a second, or even third time .

I can understand how it might be more likely in a late-game scenario. Do players regularly find themselves engaging more than one enemy objective during their turn?

Engaging multiple objectives can be difficult during the first two ronds or so, but not impossible.

A good way is to attack your opponent with a low-cost unit that has tactics (eg Believer in the old Ways or Jawa Scavenger ) If your opponent does not block, you win the Edge battle by default and can focus one of their defenders (always neat to focus Vader ) and put one unopposed damage on that objective. This will make it easier for your next engagement to do real damage.

Or if your opponent does block your weenie, they will have to use one of their units that cannot be used to block your "main" attack, and it you're lucky, you can even win the Edge battle, focus a second unit not part of the current engagement and sacrifice your weenie to the blocker.

Of course, some decks are built alongst the swarm principle (Tie Swarm; Troopers; Speeder/fighter) where you can quickly have a lot of units in play that allow you to devide your attack over multiple objectives. Especially if you have good tactics units, it can be more practical to lock your opponents board and then spread out the damage over multiple objectives so you can put in some unopposed damage and "whittle down" all objectives equally, leaving them vulnerable for the killing blow the next turn.

And of course, if your opponent has irritating "while this objective is undamaged" effects, you'll want to knock those out as soon as possible as well.

Of course, some decks are built alongst the swarm principle (Tie Swarm; Troopers; Speeder/fighter) where you can quickly have a lot of units in play that allow you to devide your attack over multiple objectives. Especially if you have good tactics units, it can be more practical to lock your opponents board and then spread out the damage over multiple objectives so you can put in some unopposed damage and "whittle down" all objectives equally, leaving them vulnerable for the killing blow the next turn.

Thanks for the insightful response! A follow-up question:

I've really been enjoying playing a DS deck built around the Imperial Navy objectives, as there are a good number of ways to increase the amount of blast damage each unit deals (i.e. Oribtal Bombardment and the Darth Vader variant that appears in the Hoth Cycle). I've found it advantageous to play aggressively in the Edge Battle while focusing such cards such as the Devstator , as it becomes possible to eliminate an objective in one turn if I win the Edge Battle.

The question: would such a scenario be a circumstance in which I would not engage more than one objective on a turn?

Thanks!

It depends.

If you have multiple units to strike with, then there's a limit to how much Blast Damage is going to be effective to begin with. Once you have enough to destroy the objective, any additional damage you throw at it is going to be wasted.

The question: would such a scenario be a circumstance in which I would not engage more than one objective on a turn?

It will usually depend on what else you have lying on the board and what your opponent it surrently showing.

If your other than the Devestator , you don't have heavy hitters, it's often better to play defensively (especially since DS has the dial working for them) and keep your other units ready to block the LS attack, forcing the LS to put more cards in the Edge battle then when you had played your hand empty on your second attack. Maybe even take the Force to speed up the dial.

This means that for your next attack, the LS will have less defensive capacities, making it easier to waltz over two objectives and ending the game.

However, if you have many weenies and Orbital bombardment in play, it's probably better to swarm your opponent and put as much damage on the LS objectives as possible since your bonus is edge-independent making it less important to win the edge battle (depending on the LS edge-dependent defensive capacities of course) and the damage you could do while defending with weenies would probably make it less interesting to keep them back.

If you have multiple units to strike with, then there's a limit to how much Blast Damage is going to be effective to begin with. Once you have enough to destroy the objective, any additional damage you throw at it is going to be wasted.

It will usually depend on what else you have lying on the board and what your opponent it surrently showing.

So it sounds like what I'm hearing from you both is that the need to engage multiple objectives, as with pretty much everything else in this game, is context-sensitive, and depends on what side of the Force you're playing, what cards you've played from your deck, and how far along the game is.

A next-level question for this discussion: how often does a player find him/herself fighting multiple Edge Battles on the same turn? That could really be a gamebreaker to force your opponent to do that (especially given the above contexts).

Another way to ask that: strategy wise, how many cards do I want to try to keep in my hand after the Edge Battle?

Thanks!

A next-level question for this discussion: how often does a player find him/herself fighting multiple Edge Battles on the same turn? That could really be a gamebreaker to force your opponent to do that (especially given the above contexts).

Another way to ask that: strategy wise, how many cards do I want to try to keep in my hand after the Edge Battle?

Usually, I'll try to make sure to "bet all" on one Edge battle and accept a loss on the other (because I have Edge independent icons; order of strike is irrellevant to me or I am sacrificing a unit to force my opponent to focus theirs) though I usually don't use up more than 2 cards in an Edge battle on average.

Usually, I try to keep one or two cards in my hand for my defense ... if only to bluff my opponent into throwing more cards in his attack edge battle than needed, or make them think I still have an Action ready to play (playing Sith has once forced my opponent to keep their Han Solo in their hand for two turns because I constantly kept one card in my hand with Vader in play, and they were afraid of the Force Choke / Vader combo)

Of course, is your only hand card is Yoda or the Emperor and you throw that in your defense Edge, this can seriously mess up your opponent's attack as well ... especially if you have units with Tactics ready. Sometimes, having a turn with a mediocre attack can prepare the way for having a nearly unimpeded attack your next turn.

Of course, is your only hand card is Yoda or the Emperor and you throw that in your defense Edge, this can seriously mess up your opponent's attack as well ... especially if you have units with Tactics ready. Sometimes, having a turn with a mediocre attack can prepare the way for having a nearly unimpeded attack your next turn.

It took us a few weeks to figure out that it was an okay thing to use a Unique card to win an Edge Battle, but that realization really helped us understand how that part of the game works.

Just last night, because I had a chance to win, I put both of my Hoth Cycle Darth Vader cards from my hand into an Edge Stack so I could be sure to one-shot one of my wife's objectives and get three ticks on the Death Star. It put me at 11, which meant all I had to worry about was surviving her turn to get to mine, regardless of the Force struggle. Good thing she didn't have a 'Twist of Fate' card (those drive me crazy)! That strategy makes so much more sense when you point out that the DS player has the dial working for them.

That's a super helpful idea regarding units with Tactics--we haven't used that function much, but now that we understand that tactics can focus any unit on the board, and not just those that are participating in the Engagement, that will help with our overarching questions about multi-objective Engagements. I suppose the more cards you have, the more ways you can invent to play them.

So far, we've only got the core set and the first Hoth Cycle Force Pack, but we're going to shop around to collect more of the cards so we can branch out and make more decks to play with.Overall, do most players find that the game is well balanced between playing the LS and the DS decks?

The exact LS/DS balance has fluctuated over the life of the game. The general consensus was that DS had the advantage early, but that LS has a slight advantage in the current environment.

It took us a few weeks to figure out that it was an okay thing to use a Unique card to win an Edge Battle, but that realization really helped us understand how that part of the game works.

That's indeed quite counter-intuitive in the beginning, especially if you play with only one copy of each Objective set and you know there's no chance of seeing that card again. But holding on to a more expensive card "until you can play it" will pollute your hand and reduce your chance of drawing a less stellar but still useful card that you can play.

Good thing she didn't have a 'Twist of Fate' card (those drive me crazy)!

Unless when you play it of course

Twist of Fate continues to shape Edge battles, but not as much as they used to do in the beginning. There aren't that much of them in the later sets, so it's not unusual to see decks without any Twist.

Of course, even if you see a lot of the recent cards, you can't be 100% sure that your opponent has no twist, so when an attacker passes after playing one card in the Edge, it's always a question whether it's a Twist, a big Unique card ... or just a bluff.

That's a super helpful idea regarding units with Tactics--we haven't used that function much, but now that we understand that tactics can focus any unit on the board, and not just those that are participating in the Engagement,

Also, keep in mind that there is no limit to how many focus icons you place on a unit through tactics (as long as you have enough tactics strikes to deal them out) Sometimes you will want to ignore your opponent's weenie and bury their heavy hitter in tactics icons. Especially Elite units can often only be kept at bay by burying them in focus tokens.

I suppose the more cards you have, the more ways you can invent to play them.

Indeed. And it's always good to go back over your older sets when the new sets come out, because sometimes you discover exciting new ways of using less appreciated objective sets with the newer sets.

A good example is Mobilize the Squadrons . The Objective is powerful, no doubt about it. Rebel Assault? Don't mind if I do (though not exactly cheap). The X-wing and the rookie pilot are cheap, but quite vulnerable as well and don't do a lot of objective damage as they are. And then there's the Trench Run ... Looks like a great way to end the game early, but very conditional on when you draw it. If you can't play it in your first two turns, you should probably already have put enough damage on your opponent's objectives that continuing to strike those objectives requires less Blast damage than what you need to take out the Death Star dial.

So though you would see a Trench Run from time to time, it wasn't exactly common.

Then the last Force Pack in the Echoes of the Force cycle arrives and in it is a power-combo ( Force Barrier with Asteroid Base ) that can take out the Death Star in practically one turn, so playing a Trench Run late in the game is no longer a problem and immediately, I've seen a lot more Trench Run being played.

So far, we've only got the core set and the first Hoth Cycle Force Pack, but we're going to shop around to collect more of the cards so we can branch out and make more decks to play with.

Ah ... that sweet exitement of discovering new cards and possibilities.

Overall, do most players find that the game is well balanced between playing the LS and the DS decks?

I guess there's some discussion about that (including on this forum), especially when it comes down to competetive play.

At the beginning (When only the Core and Hoth cycle was out) there was a noticeable advantage for Sith Control decks (Vader, Palpatine and their associated tricks) so you did see more DS wins than LS.

Then the Edge of Darkness expansion arrived and Smuglers and Spies got a very powerful boost ... those were the days of the much dreaded Sleuth decks. And the first Force packs of Heroes and Legends gave Smugglers & Spies additionally powerful cards that so many people played that combo it actually had to be restricted (decks can only have one of the objective sets from the combo, not both) so in those days there were indeed complains about the balance having been broken.

But as Heroes and Legends advanced, it was clear that the real powerful Smugglers and Spies cards were in the first packs. Jedi became more powerful in the later packs (including the afore mentioned combination) and with Between the Shadows , Jedi really got a boost, making it possible to consistently win with Mono Jedi.

And now with the first Pack of Rogue Squadron , I have already seen powerful new tricks for Imperial Navy and Rebel Alliance, and expect those factions (and Scum and Villany) to gain some momentum in the rest of the cycle.

So in short, I think that by now, the card pool has matured enough that it's possible to work out a powerful winning strategy for each faction (and thus side) but "auto-includes" will reduce in number so it will become more and more difficult to really plan against one specific type of deck. So while it should be possible to have the right "anti-deck" against one type, it will leave you completely open to another type of deck.

And in my opinion that's a good thing, because that means that your win chances will be defined more by how you construct your deck and play your game, than by which deck your opponent plays, which in turn will make it possible for players to use the kind of deck they enjoy, because more and more, every kind of deck has powerful tricks.

The exact LS/DS balance has fluctuated over the life of the game. The general consensus was that DS had the advantage early, but that LS has a slight advantage in the current environment.

Is that because of the DS dial? We have only early-set cards, but it seems like we're about evenly matched beyond the typical randomness a deck of 48 cards will typically have. We just finished a game in which I held on against like 8 units just because I could throw Edge Battles and still focus out some of her units. I had terrible draws, so I lost my 3rd objective when the dial was at 9, but I was able to at least keep it interesting with nothing really game changing to play.

Also: one of the things I like most about this game is that the deck size is 48 cards. That makes a build around a key card or two very friendly.

So in short, I think that by now, the card pool has matured enough that it's possible to work out a powerful winning strategy for each faction (and thus side) but "auto-includes" will reduce in number so it will become more and more difficult to really plan against one specific type of deck. So while it should be possible to have the right "anti-deck" against one type, it will leave you completely open to another type of deck.

This thread might need to move to different category than "Rules" if I ask my next question, but here goes:

Is there a disadvantage to only shopping certain Force Packs, or do most serious players tend to collect each of them to maximize their options?

The exact LS/DS balance has fluctuated over the life of the game. The general consensus was that DS had the advantage early, but that LS has a slight advantage in the current environment.

Is that because of the DS dial?

In the beginning, the DS dial was indeed the biggest player in the Sith Control decks that gave the favour to the Dark Side. A typical Sith Deck (especially when composed by two Core sets) would be able to win by never attacking: Take the Force in the first turn; Turtle down and keep your cards in your hand for defensive Edge battle and if you're lucky you've got Counsel of the Sith as one of your objectives (draw an extra card when LS turn starts); Use your tactics units defensively (and many hand cards often means you can enable the Edge-dependent tactics of the Advisor to the Emperor , or the Emperor himself) to lock down your opponent's attack (and possibly defense) and play the nasty damage events ( Force Choke or Force Lightning ), preferably with Vader 's reaction to pick off your opponent's most irritating units. Such a deck could just sit back and see the Death Star Dial tick ahead with two points every turn.

Later LS effects have reduced that tactic (Smugglers and Spies effect that give you bonuses for cards in the opponent's hand; Jedi Control that can tactics heavy units in play for less resources), so a typical Sith control deck will now find itself more on the offensive if only to speed up the dial or to knock out "while this objective is undamaged" effects.

Also: one of the things I like most about this game is that the deck size is 48 cards. That makes a build around a key card or two very friendly.

Keep in mind that though the play minimum is 8 objective sets, a competition-legal Deck has a 10 objective sets (so 10 objectives and 50 command cards) minimum. As a result most deck descriptions you'll see on-line are for 10 objective sets.

Also, you do know that you can mix affilations in your decks, right? (So for instance: the core Sith objectives and Navy's Defense Protocol which was a typical objective to see in early Sith control.Mostly for its additional Twist of Fate and the one damage for one less card draw)

Is there a disadvantage to only shopping certain Force Packs, or do most serious players tend to collect each of them to maximize their options?

If you're catching up on the current card pool, there is no disadvantage to concentrating on the Force Packs of which you know that they contain the cards that fit best in your playing style (e.g. if you like to play aggressive Navy, the Hoth cycle has better cards than the Echoes of the Force. For Sith control, the Hoth cycle was quite lack-luster. For Jedi, Hoth was "meh" but A Hero's Resolve was a nice boost for the Fighter/Speeder aggro decks. While Echoes of the Force made Jedi a power-player). On-line resources like CardGameDB contain full card lists with all effects so you can confirm which Force packs you can go for first.

I guess that once they have all previous sets, most serious players will keep up with the new packs. At 15 USD a month, there certainly are more expensive hobbies out there >cough cough<MtG>cough cough<. But I understand there are players that wait for the spoilers and strategy suggestions of the new Force Packs before they decide to buy them or not.

PS. From what I've seen so far, the Forum management isn't exactly strict in enforcing "on-topic" rules (especially if they are the result of an ongoing thread). Still, you could start a new thread in General or Strategy if you want to discuss the specific Force Packs. This might invite feedback from other players that are not interested in discussing rules.

Also, you do know that you can mix affilations in your decks, right? (So for instance: the core Sith objectives and Navy's Defense Protocol which was a typical objective to see in early Sith control.Mostly for its additional Twist of Fate and the one damage for one less card draw)

Started a new thread over in "Strategy" - https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/144973-ground-up-strategy-chat/