Greetings all,

I wanted to post my thoughts on how balanced (or imbalanced) each mission is for the Doom board game. I've played this game rather extensively by myself, playing 4 Marines vs. the Invader, and I've come to notice how some maps favor one side over the other. There are some missions that can swing either way, of course, but it's the imbalanced missions that intrigue me the most.

How can the imbalanced missions be balanced properly? How much of a handicap must be given to the unfavored side in order to make things fair? I haven't quite figured out the answers to these questions, but perhaps some of you have had experiences where you struck a balance on some of the imbalanced missions. Please feel free to mention your experiences and thoughts on this subject; I'm curious to hear what you guys think.

So without further ado, here's my thoughts on each mission, which side (if any) it seems to favor, and any tactics that I've come up with that have helped me come to the conclusions that I've listed here. I apologize for the long-winded post - I'm a nerd for this board game, and I really enjoy it. You'll be able to clearly tell which missions I favor the most, as I'll have the most to say about them. Hopefully it'll provide an entertaining read for you guys, if nothing else. =P

E1M1: Knee Deep In The Dead

Favored Side: Marines (duh)

My Thoughts/Strategies: This map is obviously more of an extensive tutorial level for the Marines than anything. The Imp Assault Invasion card's demon loadout is obviously too heavy on the Imp part, so the Invader is forced to rely on their Revenants, Cacodemons and the solitary Baron of **** to do any real damage. But even with the ol' focus fire tactic of picking on the most injured Marine until he drops dead doesn't prove effective enough with so many Imps. If you're playing the Invader and you want to have a fair match, avoid this mission like the plague! Play this mission only if you're okay with losing, as you're likely trying to get some new players acclimated to this board game.

E1M2: Molten Retrieval

Favored Side: Marines (again)

My Thoughts/Strategies: This map is immediately set up to favor the Marines in the first round because of one major thing - the close proximity of the Chainsaw. It's literally 5 spaces around the nearest corner at the start of the mission. As I'm sure you all know very well by now, the Chainsaw turns the Marine who wields it into an unstoppable force. Any demon coming out of a blue or yellow portal will become fodder for the Chainsaw-wielding psychopath who will no doubt be rampaging through every room he steps into.

The fact that there's only one red portal token on the entire map also greatly hinders the Invader's ability to really dish out any serious damage in a short amount of time. This forces the Invader to rely heavily on hit and run tactics for most of this mission. But even this is in vain, as there's also a Gauss Cannon on this map. There's no hiding from that frakkin' gun, and the Invader has no Imps or Revenants that can possibly dodge it. All of the demons are gonna die, and there's very little that the Invader can do to stop it. >_<;;;;

E1M3: Spring Cleaning

Favored Side: None

My Thoughts/Strategies: This mission can swing either way, depending on how each side sets up their strategy. For the Marines, it'll depend heavily on which Class Cards they pick during initial setup; for the Invader, it'll strongly depend on how they manage their Threat Token supply. The Marines need to be highly mobile, and they have to be able to hit hard and fast with their attacks. Thar be Revenants, Cacodemons & Mancubi popping up everywhere, so they need to get to the Objective Tokens as quickly as possible to shut them down, and they need to be able to survive long enough to get to the last room in the lower-right area of the map.

The best strategy for the Invader that I've come up with is to spawn demons from the red portal token IMMEDIATELY (preferably 2 Revenants), and then spend the next couple of rounds moving the Revenants up north so that they intercept the Marines at the second Objective Token. The Invader should just plan on letting the Marines have the first Objective Token, and then spending the next few rounds accumulating Threat Tokens and activating all of the inactive portal tokens. When the Marines reach the second Objective Token, start summoning demons from the portals near the first active teleporter in the lower-left area of the map; this lets you flank the Marines with your Revenants in front of the Marines, and a Mancubus, Imps & Cacodemons from their rear. Squash them from both sides to get your first frag and activate another red portal!!

Once you've fragged the Marines once or twice, keep populating the room with the third Objective Token with more Revenants and Mancubi. Clog that room up, and the Marines have little chance of penetrating into that room and shutting down that last Objective Token.

But beware, for this maps does have the BFG 9000! If the Marines are quick enough to grab this weapon early, the Invader is in for a tough fight! The fact that the BFG is right next to a teleporter means that the Marine that grabs the BFG will likely activate that teleporter. This brings the fight much closer to that room with the last Objective Token, and subsequently turns the rest of the mission into an uphill battle for the Invader. Strategy is key if the Invader wants to have a solid fighting chance in this mission!

E1M4: Leaving The Nest

Favored Side: None

My Thoughts/Strategies: This escort mission is on one of the trickiest map layouts in the blue Operations Guide, but the Cruel Mayhem Invasion Card and the weapon placements seem to harmonize in a balanced battle for both sides. The Invader would do wise to stockpile their Threat Tokens and activate every blue & yellow portal token before beginning their summoning spree. When the demon horde starts to arrive, they should first be spawned as close to the blue Progress Token (i.e. the place where the payload needs to be delivered to) as possible, and then begin the march forward to intercept the Marines. Once the Marines have advanced into the large room with the Siphon Field grenade and the Minigun, start spawning Imps & Possessed Soldiers from the blue portal in the lower-right corner of the map. Again, always flank the Marines on all sides whenever possible.

The Marines, on the other hand, need to work well as a team and be mobile. A Marine with the Ranger Class Card is gonna book it towards the Chainsaw; beware! Also, if the Ranger Marine is also toting a Static Rifle and the Minigun, then they're gonna be the Invader's worst nightmare. The Ranger Marine will have so many movement points that he could possibly get ahead and start activating all of the teleporters before the Invader's horde has become strong enough to fend him off! This mission can easily go in favor of one side or the other - it just depends on who gets lucky enough to pull their power strategies before the other side does.

E1M5: Territorial Dispute

Favored Side: Invader

My Thoughts/Strategies: The thing about this mission that makes it unfavorable for the Marines is the fact that there are five demon types that the Invader can choose from, and four of them are of the more powerful variety. Usually, a mission will have a relatively high number of Imps & Possessed Soldiers, and a low number of the more powerful demons. This mission only has one blue portal option that includes a single Imp; every other portal option provides more powerful demons with much more effective abilities to use against the Marines.

The Cacodemons are great for stunning the Marines. The Pinkies just eat all of the Marines' attacks and keeps pressing forward for more (gotta love the Armored Offensive Event Card set!). The Revenants wreak havoc with their missile barrages while dodging incoming Gauss Cannon attacks. The Mancubi waddle into a room and fill it with fire and pain. The only thing that the Marines have going for them is the fact that only one Invasion Card summoning option comes with any Argent Power; the Invader is going to need to discard Event Cards every round if they want their demons to use their nasty abilities.

For the Invader, it's a key point to watch which portals they're activating during each Setup Phase of each round. Always start summoning from the portals that are furthest from the Marines, as it'll take a while to get your Mancubi to the front lines. Once you get 2 Mancubi, 2-3 Revenants, and a Pinky on the board, then start summoning from the portal stacks to the right side of the map. When the heavy-hitting demons start to fall, then start summoning again from the yellow & red portals to the left of the map. Keep the pressure on, and never let up!

On top of all of this, the Invader's Event Deck consists of 3 of the nastiest Event Card sets: Power Overwhelming, Seek and Destroy, and Armored Offensive! These three card sets make any mission a painful experience for the Marines. The Marines are in for a nasty battle here, and there's not much that I can suggest to help them out if the Invader is playing their strategy right.

E1M6: Breaking And Entering

Side Favored: Invader

My Thoughts/Strategies: This is the first map that gives the Invader the option to summon the dreaded Cyberdemon! But just because the Invader has that option doesn't mean that they should use it. The key strategy for the Invader to win this mission is to start off round 1's Setup Phase by placing 6 Possessed Soldiers & 2 Pinkies on the board. 4 Possessed Soldiers should be summoned from the blue portals closest to the Marines, and the other 2 Possessed Soldiers should be summoned from within the big central room with the red portal token in it. The Pinkies should be summoned next to the BFG and the closed door at the lower middle area of the map. The Pinky & Possessed Soldiers nearest to the BFG are to guard the BFG and keep any Marines from grabbing it. The tight quarters and Event Deck composition will aid the Invader in making this happen. The first round is going to be brutal for the Marines; be sure to always use the Possessed Soldiers' Overwatch ability whenever possible! Keep the Possessed Soldiers well-stocked with Argent Power!

The Invader should only activate 1 portal token every round; since round 1 already gives you 4 activated blue portals, you don't want to run out of portals too quickly. Trickle in your demons slowly. When all blue portals have been removed from the board, summon Barons of **** from each yellow portal. Once all yellow portals have been removed from the board, it's time to decide how to spend that last red portal. Do you summon another Baron and some Possessed Soldiers? Or do you bring in the Cyberdemon and clean house? That'll depend on how well (or poorly) the fight is going for you. If you still have 2 Barons on the board when you're forced to use the red portal, bring in the Cyberdemon. If one Baron has died and you're struggling to kill the Marines, then summon another Baron and some Possessed Soldiers. Remember, the Marines have to kill every demon on the board to win, so the more demons, the merrier. If you're on the brink of getting your last 2 frags, then bring in the Cyberdemon and snuff out the Marines!

E2M1: To Whom It May Concern

Side Favored: Marines

My Thoughts/Strategies: This mission is quite the challenging one for the Invader, as they'll spend most of the time attempting to chase down the Marines in hopes of slowing them down before they remove all of the Objective Tokens from the board. More often than not, this mission always boils down to a showdown for the final Objective Token near the BFG 9000, as any smart Invader will certainly want to keep the Marines away from that dreaded death cannon. The smarter Marine players will realize that they don't necessarily need to engage with the demons - they need only to remove the Objective Tokens. So they'll be busy doing laps around the Invader's horde while the Invader is busy trying to intercept them along the varied paths that the Marines decide to sprint in. It can get downright frustrating at times!

Due to the nature of how the Assault Threat card rules work, the Invader must be VERY mindful of how they're spending their Threat Tokens to summon more demons. If the Invader chooses to blow his load in the first round and summon demons from the Red Portal Token, the Invader will be spending the rest of the mission trying to keep consistent pressure on the Marines. If the Invader instead chooses to spend a round or two by saving up on Threat Tokens and only activating every Portal Token before summoning demons on Round 3 or 4, then the Marines will most certainly have cleared out the 3 Objective Tokens at the center of the map, and could possibly have taken out the Objective Token in the upper-right area of the map! The Red Portal Token's position isn't in an advantageous location if the only remaining Objective Token is in the lower-right room of the map with the BFG; your biggest demons need to hustle their butts into that room and barricade it so that the Marines can't just slip by and remove the Objective Token. This mission feels like a real struggle against the clock for the Invader.

E2M2: All You Can Eat

Side Favored: None

My Thoughts/Strategies: This mission packs some real heavy hitters for the Invader to play with. This mission also has the nasty Rocket Launcher & Minigun right around the corner from the Marines' initial spawn point, so they'll be heavily armed right from the get-go. The difficulty of this mission steps up a few notches with each room that the Marines need to clear, depending completely on the Invader's strategic use of cover & terrain layout and key Event Cards when choosing & moving about the demons. It's absolutely imperative that the Invader pay attention to the map's layout to determine the most strategically advantageous way to bring the pain to the Marines. If the Invader lets up at all, then the Marines will easily plow through each area of this mission.

My Invader strategy for the first "area" of the mission usually involves summoning a Pinky near the southernmost closed door, a Mancubus adjacent to the Gauss Cannon, and a Baron of **** from the Yellow Portal Token (who will also be the Objective Token carrier). Keep the Baron of **** in the Gauss Cannon room and chuck Grand Fireballs from afar; if a Marine begins to approach across the Difficult Terrain room, meet them as they come within reach and tear them apart! March the Mancubus forward (or sprint, using Demonic Speed) into the southern hallway to use Flamethrower, and smother the Marines in the Mancubus' thicc chubby rolls of love. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) While this is going down, have the Pinky dart down that long hallway, sneaking out from behind the red Obstacle tile to chomp at the Marines as they grab the heavy weaponry before retreating back down the hall. Use the Pinky's Armored Hide ability and to eat up the Marines' counter-attacks. The Marines will kill off the demons in this area, but that's to be expected. The goal in the first area is to soften them up and maybe get 1-2 frags before they open the doors to the next area.

For Area #2, I usually make a Revenant carry the Objective Token. Depending on how injured the Marines are, what Event Cards I have in-hand, and how many spare Argent Power tokens I have on the Invasion card when the Marines open a door, I'll either summon another Pinky & Mancubus like before (Pinky in front to soak up some of the Marines' better attacks while the Mancubus waddles to the front line) or 2 Mancubi (so that the closest Mancubus can rush in and kill off the wounded Marine(s) before it gets eradicated). Always keep the Revenant towards the upper-right corner of the map, darting out to help finish off a wounded Marine with Homing Missile attacks. Use Demonic Speed to get adjacent to a Marine and attack once, play Ferocity to hit 'em again (which Stuns the Revenant), and then fire off a third attack (a la the Revenant's Assault ability). Note that the third attack will shake off the Revenant's Stun condition; play Demonic Speed to help get the Revenant to retreat further into the upper-right area to force the Marines to move in to flush the Revenant out. Aim to get 2-3 frags out of the second area.

Once the Marines open up the final area with the Red Portal Token, the Invader must make another tactical decision - what to summon from the Red Portal Token? It'd be wise to summon another Revenant from the Yellow Portal Token because they're so frakkin' mean; that's a no-brainer. If the Marines are in bad shape and the Invader only needs 1-2 frags to win, bust out the Cyberdemon!!! BUT - if the Marines are close to having full health and the Invader still needs 2-3 frags to win, then bust out the two Barons of ****. Give the Objective Token to one Baron, and make him retreat back towards the Gauss Cannon room. Let the other Baron and Revenant do all of the pounding, using Event Cards to maximize the demons' attack output.

E2M3: Collect Call

Side Favored: ZOMG INVADER!!!!!!!

My Thoughts/Strategies: This mission is VERY unfair for the Marines. EXTREMELY unfair!!! I've played this mission so many times in an attempt to find a winning strategy for the Marines, and I simply can't do it. The Invader strategy that I've come up with is just so ruthless, and it exploits the bottleneck choke point at the northern bend of the map so well that NOTHING can get by. The only things that I didn't experiment with were on the Invader's side of the setup, such as changing the Invasion Card to something other than Cruel Mayhem, or changing up the Invader Event Deck card sets to something other than Infernal Sorcery, Armored Offensive & Seek And Destroy.

My strategy goes as follows:

• Round 1: Summon 3 Imps from the Blue Portal Token in the lower-left room on the map and march them all northward towards the choke point. Summon 1 Imp & 1 Possessed Soldier from the Blue Portal Token in the upper-left corner of the map near the choke point; move the Imp and stand it atop the inactive Teleporter that's closest to the Marines' starting point, and move the Possessed Soldier eastward as far as he'll go. This Teleporter location is key to keeping the Marines from advancing forward; ALWAYS have a demon squatting on top of it so that the Marines can't activate it easily.
• Round 2: Summon 1 Revenant & 1 Possessed Soldier from the Yellow Portal in the lower-left room on the map and march them northward behind the first Imp group (who will reach the choke point this round). Summon another Revenant & Possessed Soldier from the Yellow Portal Token in the Minigun room. Move the Possessed Soldier towards the upper-left corner of the Minigun room and use Overwatch whenever possible. Move the Possessed Soldier from Round 1 into the Rocket Launcher room; you'll want him to eventually guard the Medikit in the lower-left corner of the Minigun room. Attack the Marines with the Revenant's Homing Missiles, then pull back the Revenant to the lower-right corner of the map tile with the first inactive Teleporter (i.e. the one with the Imp squatting on it); note that this is an impassible terrain square - this'll keep the Revenant safe from Glory Kills.
• Round 3: Summon 1 Imp & 1 Possessed Soldier from the Blur Portal Token in the lower-right room near where the Marines spawned; use these demons to flank the Marines (who are probably in the Minigun & Rocket Launcher rooms at this point). Make the Revenant near the Teleporter pop out, attack, and then retreat to one of those impassible terrain corners (yay Flying ability!). Move the Imp horde into the area around the Teleporter; place one Imp on the nearby Medikit, and keep all Imps at least 2 spaces away from one another. If a Marine kills an Imp standing on the Teleporter or Medikit, move another Imp to take its place. Keep the second Revenant behind the choke point and use peek-a-boo attacks when possible. All Possessed Soldiers will use Overwatch to punish Marines for attacking; the Possessed Soldiers are spread out enough that they should cover any area that the Marines may want to attack from.
• Round 4: Summon 1 Possessed Soldier & 1 Baron of **** from the Yellow Portal Token in the Minigun room. Move the Baron towards the Objective Token next to the Siphon Field (upper-right corner of map) for some guard duty, and break any Marine that gets too close.
• Round 5: At this point, you can do whatever you want. As long as you keep the choke point occupied with demons, and you don't let the Marines get that first Teleporter activated, you're golden! Even if they DO manage to get that first Teleporter activated, you still have that Red Portal Token to summon whatever reinforcements you need to keep the choke point clogged. The Marines are screwed, and there's NOTHING they can do to overcome your forces!

E2M4: Out Of The Frying Pan

Side Favored: None

My Thoughts/Strategies: This mission is a lot of fun, but it requires that the Marines do their damned best to collect EVERY big weapon on the map in the first couple of rounds if they don't want to get overrun by the demon horde. The Chainsaw is KEY to giving the Marines a fighting chance; without it, they won't have the mobility necessary to keep the demons from taking out the Objective Tokens (which give the Invader 1 frag for each Objective Token removed). If a Marine can somehow bolt down the right side of the map and ****** the BFG 9000 before too many Mancubi & Barons of **** clog up that corridor, then the tables will be turned in the Marines' favor.

Here's my Invader strategy broken out per round:

• Round 1: Summon 3 Imps from the Blue Portal Token in the lower-left corner of the map, and move them so that they'll attack (from a distance) any Marine running towards the Chainsaw. Summon 1 Imp & 1 Baron of **** from the Yellow Portal Token at the southernmost part of the map, and get them marching northward ASAP.
• Round 2: Summon 1 Imp & 1 Baron of **** from the Yellow Portal Token in the lower-left corner of the map, and move them northward towards the front lines; continue moving the other Baron northward, as well. Summon 2 Imps & 2 Mancubi from the Red Portal Token at the southernmost part of the map, and get them marching northward ASAP.
• Round 3: Summon 1 Cacodemon from the Blue Portal Token in the hot smelting room on the right side of the map; move it forward and stun any Marine(s) guarding the nearby Objective Token. Continue moving all of your big heavy demons forward, and keep the other Imps scattered so that any Marine that did grab the Chainsaw would have to do a LOT of running to cut them all down in a single go. Continue peppering the Marines with Imp fireballs whenever possible.
• Round 4: At this point, you need to watch which Portal Tokens you summon from. If you attempt to summon from a Yellow or Red Portal Token before any Mancubi or Barons of **** have died, then you'll end up wasting that Portal Token 'cuz you can't have more than 2 Mancubi or Barons on the board at a time. Wait until the Marines have picked off some of your big fatties before proceeding to summon from your Yellow & Red Portal Tokens. Keep the pressure on, and wipe out those Objective Tokens for easy frags!

E2M5: Bringing Down The House

Side Favored: None

My Thoughts/Strategies: This mission is a blast, and it can swing in favor of either side. The Invader's strategy is to overwhelm the Marines with large numbers of weaker demons and get that first frag; once a Red Portal Token becomes active, that's when things start to get really hard for the Marines. The key to this strategy is to always maintain 3 Threat Tokens in the Invader's piggy bank AT ALL TIMES so that once a Red Portal Token activates (which only happens whenever the Invader kills a Marine), the Invader can summon some heavy-hitting demons from it IMMEDIATELY. But if the Invader isn't careful, the Marines can knock out the Invader's heavy hitters and then continue popping the weaker demons with Glory Kills, making this Priority Escort mission a walk in the park. Use the Armored Offensive Event Cards to keep your demons alive for as long as possible until you get that first frag!

There's no time limit to this mission like a Guard Duty mission has, but the Marines will need at least 7 rounds to push the payload to its final destination at the southern point of the map. Here's my play by play for the Invader:

• Round 1: Don't summon ANYTHING; use 2 Threat Tokens to activate 2 Blue Portal Tokens & 1 Yellow Portal Token. Lure the Marines into a sense of concern at how you're not doing anything.
• Round 2: Don't summon ANYTHING; use another 2 Threat Tokens to activate the last 2 Yellow Portal Tokens on the map. The payload will move within the "+" intersection map tile at the end of this round.
• Round 3: Time to start the party! Spend 2 Threat Tokens to summon 3 Imps & 2 Possessed Soldiers from a Yellow Portal Token that's furthest from any Marine that happened to grab the Chainsaw. Spread 'em out and use attack & run tactics to pepper the Marines. Use the Possessed Soldiers' Overwatch ability to punish any Marines who attack your forces; make sure to keep the Possessed Soldiers at opposite corners of any room that they occupy so that their Overwatch attack ranges overlap.
• Round 4: Spend 1 Threat Token to summon 2 Possessed Soldiers from the northernmost Blue Portal Token near where the Marines spawned; move them southward and flank the Marines from behind. Spend another Threat Token to summon a Pinky from another active Blue Portal Token of your choice (be wary of any Marine with the Chainsaw!). Charge into the fray, do some damage and soak up some attacks with its Armored Hide ability, Demonic Resilience & Unstoppable Event Cards. Remember to focus-fire on the most injured Marine so that you can activate a Red Portal Token ASAP!
• Round 5: If you haven't managed to activate a Red Portal Token yet, use 2 Threat Tokens to summon more Possessed Soldiers & Imps from a Yellow Portal Token. Spread out this cluster of demons and keep focus-firing on whichever Marine is injured the most! Just keep your demons out of reach, and KEEP SHOOTING!!!! If you HAVE activated a Red Portal Token before this round starts, then assess the Marines' well-being and determine if you want to summon a Baron of **** & 3 Possessed Soldiers in front of or behind the Marines' current locations. The payload is getting a bit too close to its final destination at this point, so it's time to block the payload's progress as much as possible.
• Round 6: If you haven't gotten a single frag by now, you're probably screwed. But if you just got your first frag during Round 5, NOW is the time to bring in the Cyberdemon!!! Summon the Cyberdemon from the southernmost Red Portal Token, and move the big guy southward so that he's standing on top of the two Medikits near the BFG 9000; make sure that the Cyberdemon is turned so that he's facing northward so that he's standing on top of the payload and completely blocks the area leading to the payload's final destination. This'll force the Marines to stop and fight the Cyberdemon head-on if they want to be able to push the payload at all (it costs too many movement points to move through the Cyberdemon's location and stand next to the payload underneath its feet). If a Marine somehow manages to pass through and land behind the Cyberdemon and next to the payload, slaughter that sumbish with your Rail Cannon! The Rail Cannon attack resolves before determining if the payload can be moved (which requires a Marine to be standing on or adjacent to it). So if you manage to kill that Marine with the Rail Cannon attack, then the payload stays right where it is!
• Round 7+: If you've lasted this long, then it's time to conserve at least 1 Threat Token and build up your piggy bank stash to let you summon from another Red Portal Token. Spend only 1 Threat Token to summon whatever you like from the last active Blue Portal Token on the map. If you survive to Round 8, summon something big from your Red Portal Token!

E2M6: End Of The Line

Side Favored: None

My Thoughts/Strategies: This mission can go either way, as well, but it does tend to go in favor of the Invader ever so slightly. The last area with two Red Portal Tokens is brutal to fight through, especially if the Invader decides to summon all of the Revenants. Admittedly, I haven't played this mission as much as the others, so I might be incorrect in my assessment of this mission. But what do you guys think?