Hi friends!

Today played my first Star Wars LCG game. Not too bad, not too fun; probably we need some more time to have it go at a quicker pace. One, BIG question came up during the game: what's the sense of the Dark Side attacking objectives of the light side? I mean, DS wins if the Death Star "clock" reaches 12 points, while LS wins if they destroy three DS objectives. No rewards are given to the DS if they destroy LS objectives. So, unless some very nasty LS objective is in play, there is no real reason to focus on objectives while attacking, but on opponent's units. Correct? Thoughts?

You're right- there isn't much reason for the DS to destroy Objectives UNLESS the LS is going to the win the game in a turn or two and you want that dial to click to 12 in one turn! Remember: each destroyed LS objective clicks the dial closer to 12 and cards like The Devastator, Imperial Officer, and that one Objective that I am forgetting the name of all give extra clicks to the dial when you destroy an objective. Also, in tournament play, the rules give points to DS players that have destroyed objectives. That is why fans of the Sith Affliation are clamoring about the rules not giving that deck type much love since The Sith are more of a control and wait-and-see style of strategy.

Hey, thanks for the lightspeed reply :-) Ok, then, it's only about quickening the pace of the Death Star. Can be good, but indeed, I'd prefer defending my objectives until I'm really close to the end. Let's try some more games :-)

Absolutely… this game is like an arm wrestling match- each opponent starts out slow, but something "gives" in the contest and things can wrap up very quickly with someone usually lying on the floor… er, sometimes. Last night I almost all of my games ended with either the DS or the LS getting to turn 7 and blowing up two objectives in one turn to click the dial to 12 or destroy the 2nd and 3rd objectives…

Actually, there are several reasons for attacking as DS. I'll give some examples, but there can be more

1. General principles for why it is good to attack, at least a little.

The LS is generally stronger on the attack, and the longer the game goes on the more opportunities the LS has to make that edge count, even if they just do one or two damage per turn, it still adds up. Also, many LS decks have cards and combinations that create "instant win" from an underdog position, a well timed yoda with trust your feelings and a lightsaber, a home one or red two with a leia, or just two rebel assaults. When you have a good defense, it can be worth attacking with one unit with a blast icon just to start putting a little pressure on. This is even more important if you use "the ultimate power" objective set (getting two clicks with a laser blast because you destroyed an objective already for one click is pretty nice). Also, remember that you always start the game at an odd number, 1. So even if you control the force all game, destroying one objective will shorten the game by one turn, which can be all the LS needs to win.

2. Destroy objectives key to the LS strategy

Often you can identify certain objectives that are just vital to the LS setup. Against hanjedi for example you usually want to try to destroy their Cantina or their last minute rescue, to prevent healing of those pesky guardians. You might want to destroy their "mobilize the squadrons" if you are playing against rebels, to make sure that they cant use that extremely powerful two resources per turn card. Other examples exist. Identify your enemies strategy, and strike a key objective to kill it and disrupt their plans.

3. Disruption

The LS can often work wonders if left undisturbed to play the game they want to play. If you have a ds deck with tactics icons you might want to attack to tie down powerful units so that they cannot act in your opponents turn. If he attacked with home one, and you can attack to put two focus on it, it's a great way to save yourself some headache on the next ls turn. You can also make the opponent block with units committed to the force, focusing them twice and perhaps keeping them tied down and you securely in control of the force. In a deck with TIE attack squadron, a vader with lightsaber, or a boba fett with mando armor, attacking gives you the opportunity to "strike out" a target.

Just some thoughts.

The simple fact is the DS can lose the game faster then they can win it. A LS deck can win on turn two (requires the right cards and circumstances) or three (more realistic). The DS can destroy 3 objectives and still not win. There is near no point as the DS to be attacking aggressively in the first few turns. A really weak openning for your opponent coupled with a strong openning from you could change that but not usually. When playing the LS I'm more then happy for you to exhaust out, I probably won't even contest unless I have a throw away unit and need to ditch cards, because I will probably hit you back harder. And in an objective for objective race the LS will win unless the DS can draw out the game a bit.

ScottieATF said:

Scottie, Ashes,

thanks for your post. Please, don't be offended if I say that I got the general meaning, but not the specifics. With only one game played so far, it was an information overload, I'm afraid ::laughter::

So, technically, if I got your points:

a) LS can win the game a lot faster than DS. So the DS player needs to pay a lot of attention in not having all the troups exhausted and so on. This reflects also the nature of the decks, with LS being more effective while attacking, right? So, defense AND attacking with blasts to weaken the defenses of the LS player

b) using Tactics to slow down the LS player (I noticed that when I started playing Interrogation droid to slow down Yoda - my buddy had him committed to the Force saying "who cares? he refreshes two focus / round" ::chuckles evilly:

c) spotting out the key-objective for LS and destroy that one to weaken his game

Am I correct? I tried to do most of this during the only game I played, and it worked quite well. Need to play a lot more to get more accustomed to cards and strategies, though.

Thanks for your help, guys!

Something else to consider is the affiliation of your DS deck and its build. There are plenty of aggressive DS builds that strike quite tactically, but there are also defensive DS builds that keep the pressure on by an occasional strike, but otherwise merely control the Force Struggle.

Experiment with different builds and decks and find your playstyle. I know for me, though I have played dozens of games, I have not settled into one style that absolutely fits me and my style.

MasterJediAdam said:

That's very true. At the moment, I'm far far away from deckbuilding, since I need some more games to study better the card and the strategies in order to be able to build something. I'll keep that in mind, though, when I start building my own decks :-)

Julia said:

Pretty much.

Glad to help!

Since nobody has specifically mentioned it: play lots of games! :-) The more you play, the more you can get the feel for what does and does not work for each side. Try to avoid playing as the same side or affiliation too many times while you're learning. The early goal should be variety. Similarly, try to play as many different opponents as possible. Good luck, and may the force be with you.

dbmeboy said:

Yeah, quantity will help a lot! As for variety… there are not many people I can play with, sadly. For most of my friends, it's too complex a game. Need to find new volunteers!

Anyway, again, thanks guys for the help and the support!

In that case, I'd also point you towards this blog post talking about how to play online. Not near as nice as playing in person, but it works pretty well.

dbmeboy said:

Bookmarked! Thx!