I was given SCBG as a gift one month ago and I find it quite fun once the rule comprehension is out of the way... However, each game so far has been dominated by the Protoss. Specifically, I haven't figured out how to stop a Protoss who masses splash damage with Reavers, Archons, and possibly High Templars casting Psionic Storm.

The Reavers are easy enough because they cannot hit air, and the High Templar depend on their support cards. However, I can't figure out how to effectively counter the Archons. They have high attack and health as well ground/flying splash damage on almost every combat card which is devastating . On top of that, they only cost 3 (2x1 + 1) gas so its relatively easy to produce one per build token allowing for them to be easily replaced as well.

The only thing I've really come up with so far is for a Zerg player to combine Ultralisks with Defilers casting Dark Swarm. That will neutralize both the Reavers and the Archons' attacks and still let the Zerg deal good damage to the Protoss. It's worth noting that Archons are immune to Queens casting Spawn Broodling (last I checked at least).

Terran players can take advantage of Science Vessels casting EMP Shockwave. However, even if the +3 attack kills the Archon, if the Archon has sufficient strength, that's two units the Terran is going to lose. 2 for 1 is not acceptable.

In my experience there really isn't any effective counter. Really powerful units like carriers or battle cruisers can typically get enough health together if you try, or you can try using lots of cannon fodder ( marines/zerglings ) to take the splash damage and to eat through the archon cards. Its also worth noting that in the Brood War expansion, Archons aren't quite as overpowered.

okorz001 said:

Perhaps you was doing sth wrong whan you built them... Merged High Templars must already exist before you reveal the Build order, so you can't build too much of Archons very fast, when every your opponent is watching your moves.

That's probably the best counter vs Archons - early rush: do not let Protoss to get Archons before it's too late tof them :>

Other possibilities?

For Terrans - EMP,

For Zergs - fully upgraded Defilers should take down the strongest Protoss units (Plague is always triggered), the other stuff will kill those weaker.

Brood War solves problems with Archons making them more expensive (+1 gas) and downgrades their support value to +1.

My friends and I were under the impression that an Archon could be built in one turn if you built the two High Templar first, which would then count as three units aganist your build limit.

Edit:

StarCraft: The Board Game Rulebook, pg.38: "'Exisiting' means that a player can only destroy a unit that existed on the active planet before the Build order was executed."

It's not so clear on the actual technology cards, but I clearly missed this small detail in the rulebook.

okorz001 said:

Building an Archon (and any other "Tech required units") counts to the unit limit. E.g. with unit limit 3, you can build 1 Archon (if you already have 2 High Templars on the same planet) and 2 other units.

Yesterday I tried to play " Aldarchons! " in a 5-Player Setup and have been beaten up pretty bad.

My Opponents just hit me with double-attacks (2xMobilize), eventually burning all my Archon Cards. Lost 3 Archons in one Turn. It's still expensive for them though.

I find that when I play 1v1 with my girlfriend that whenever she uses Protoss, if I can't destroy her base on the first turn, she techs to Archons and I'm in serious trouble. Riches of Auir compounds this problem ("free" gas, but more importantly, the nullification of all resource denial cards).

I tried to be more aggressive and start next to her planet but this was disasterous. She turned around and counter-rushed me and the combination of innately higher health units and those three annoying +1 Health cards in the default combat deck prevented me from killing a single Zealot. I basically lost on the first turn (I lost my base and had no expo). I hate Protoss.

Terrans can use EMP and a unit strong enough to get through the health of the Archon and still survive the punch. Or simply use a bunch of Marines.

Zerg can use cloadek units, so the losses don't hurt so bad. Ultralisks also work. Or masses of Zerglings.

Protoss can use haluciantion to burn the cards and, obviously, send their own archons.

From my limited experience with the game, I've never had a problem with protoss. Actually, they seem to be at a disadvantage in many cases since its harder to cover ground when your cheapest unit costs 2 minerals. Also, special attacks and splash damage that automatically kills units takes a toll on expensive protoss units.

But up untill now I didn't realize you could pump out an archon per build order (kill 2 templars for archon to build archon, then build 2 or 3 more templars for next archon build). Maybe I'll try to use the Protoss a bit more in the future.