In Attack Position

Title: In Attack Position
Author: Alex "Greedo" Tennet
Date: Jul 22, 2000 Rating: 4.5

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Cards:

‘Starting (7) This Deal Is Getting Worse All The Time Cloud City Upper Walkway Secret Plans Prepared Defenses

Mobilisation Points
Imperial Arrest Order
You Cannot Hide Forever

Locations (8) Bespin Bespin Cloud City Cloud City Docking Bay Executor Docking Bay Death Star II Docking Bay Kashyyyk Sullust Endor

Characters (20) Admiral Chiraneu Admiral Motti Admiral Ozzel Admiral Piett Captain Godhert Commander Desanne Commander Igar Commander Merrejk Colnel Jendon Darth Vader DS-61-2 DS-61-3 DS-61-4 Emperor Palpatine General Veers Janus Greejatus Lieutenant Cabbel Mara Jade, The Emperor’s Hand Officer Evax Sim Aloo

Starships (9) Bossk In Hound’s Tooth Chimaera Dominator Dreadnaught-Class Heavy Cruiser x4 Emperor’s Personal Shuttle Executor

Vehicles (2) Blizzard 2 Tempest 1

Admiral’s Orders (2) We’re In Attack Position Now x2

Interrupts (6) Imperial Command x3 Masterful Move Monnok Shut Him Up Or Shut Him Down

Effects (6) Cloud City Occupation Lateral Damage x2 Presence Of The Force x2 Security Precautions’

Strategy: ‘

First off, no, there is no Dark Deal. And why bother? You can bet there’ll be a fast uptake of Jedi Testing (regardless of its merits/lack therof) thanks to the bonus cards in DSII. It’s also ‘all too easy’ to cancel these days and attempting to hold the locations can result in a bad battle and damage over the top.

In today’s environment no Dark deck should be hit for cards instead of forfeit, except maybe Scum decks which can afford it. Otherwise you need to get the most out of all your cards. This deck does that. It’s also extremely fast for the amount of power it wields. Average activation is 20+ by turn 3. Combine that with all the deploy reducers and you have a cheap fleet with staying power to hang with the best of them.

To start, you fetch Executor before activation on Turn 1 (with Mobilisation points). That ship will be your base of operations and should never go down in a game. At the same time, you lose YCHF to grab Security Precautions. Against Hidden Base, which will no doubt prove to be relatively popular, this is an important card. Mainly it’s the extra generation that matters though.

Grab a 1/0 DBay turn one with IAO; Executor usually because they can later move straight to the bridge. Drop someone there if possible, should be no trouble. That’s an extra 2 gen for their presence. Fetch Bespin too.

I’m sure the early strat can be worked out from there and the decklist. Read the DS2 cards if you don’t know what they do. They all have their purpose.

Now you have your generation established, use Imperial Command to get your character machine going. Piett can grab the Admiral’s Order if you need it, otherwise he fetches Merrejk or whoever is required. Remember that with Chiraneu (another “downloadable” admiral) your drains are +1 at all systems in the deck. Establish one or two key drains in the early game like this, boosted by POTF, if you’re waiting for the LS to drop ships.

The deck moves at the pace you set. Generation is rarely a problem thanks to the big boosts and the deploy bonuses that abound. Examples Piett -1 to all cap ships Ozzel -1 to all cap ships Aloo and Greejatus -3 to Emperor’s location WIAPN (Admiral’s order) -2 to all pilots deploying to cap ships with an admiral (of which there are four).

These all add up.

Set up the Occupation if you can, with commanders/generals if possible to cause extra force loss. Tagge isn’t in here because he’s not a pilot and is just a bad character. The Emperor can usually hold a site with one of his advisors. But it’s all about playing against the opponent. The shuttle is a nice trick and very deadly against Hidden Base with security precautions. (See my article on “Beating Hidden Base” for more details, it’s a bit older now but still all valid). In fact, this will basically demolish a Hidden Base. Play smart and the diff should be good too.

No sense/alter protection? No. It’s not popular here, but if it is in your area, think about Oppressive Enforcement as a starting effect in place of YCHF. The gen boost can wait, and chances are that if S/A is big, Hidden Base won’t be. But to be honest, S/A doesn’t much hurt the deck. Everyone plays more Sense than Alter on the LS and the effects are either in duplicate or immune anyway. If it’s a really S/A heavy deck, just leave off playing the ints and effects. The more space they waste on inefficiency, the less room they have for MEAT. And that’s what this deck is in no short supply of. Make your own modifications however.

More than one copy of Vader is not needed. He’s useful for landing on Dagobah in the Hound’s Tooth or shuttle and all and is, of course, still the best character in the game, BUT…this deck requires no more than its one Darth Vader. Don’t even consider changing him for DV,DLOTS. Nor Lord Vader. Nor EPP. This is important. And if you see MWYHL, you know what to do by now. Don’t deploy him. No sense risking the Fury for a character that is not essential.

The AO’s benefits. All your ships are at least immune < 4 with pilots (which are in abundance). Chimaera is usually < 7. Executor always < 14. And should you get the shuttle with Palpatine (remember Desanne grabs this too) then you have an invincible fighter that draws 2 destiny with a pilot. Emperor deploys aboard for free too. ***NOTE Palpatine’s text says “…to a SITE opponent occupies.” Nothing about systems. He can be used in space. Despite this however, for most games, he’s probably better off holding a site.

No Ops and Odds protection (after losing YCHF)? No need. Other people will play these cards for me. Leave Them To Me and YCHF may be killer against the two decks but many other people will play them. For now, it is safe to go without. HOWEVER. If you suspect that this may change, use Sarkli. You won’t be knocked off the system, there is no chance of it happening. This will let your own drains go through unhindered while you harass them on the ground. As for Odds - it will be a rarity for now. YCHF hoses NTMTO like never before. Odds might not be dead, but they’ve taken a large hit.

Finally, look at the second function on Imperial Command. Yes, no super falcon. No EPP hit squad (if you’ve been wise enough to use Veers). Why? Because no more than one destiny for them. There’s no chance of that touching the Executor and very little of it affecting your other ships. Use your cards well and you will win.

So to recap. Deal Damage From drains in space. From drains on the ground. From Cloud City Occupation. From We’re In Attack Position Now

Motti is both an Admiral and Commander. Desanne makes all shuttling, landing and taking off FREE at his location. This is good. Run from their strikeforce on the ground and keep CC Occupation going. If they split their forces to cover you, pounce. Godhert is the menace of the menace. No more claw. You start Secret Plans. Don’t forget it. Lateral Damage wins games. Two Lateral Damage wins tournaments. ——–

Enjoy the deck. As always, d-mail me with any comments.’

In Attack Position

Important facts to remember when playing