We had brutal, brutal weather here yesterday. The temperature dropped throughout the day while we got hammered with even more snow starting about nine in the morning. By supper time several of the main routes around the city were closed due to accidents. My trip to the shop was uneventful, but took longer than I'd expected. I was also the only person to show up.
I can certainly understand not wanting to brave the weather and road conditions to go out and play a game. I'd have encouraged folks not to come for their own safety, had I known what I was getting into before I got in my own car. On the plus side however, I did pick up wave 2, and had a quick look over the OP4 kit.
When I finally arrived home I sat down to open up my new toys. Sitting next to my little Christmas tree it felt a little like an early Christmas present. A present I had to pay for, but still fun nonetheless!
The first ship I opened was the USS Excelsior. On first glance I don't think that Captain Sulu has a very good ability, and I'll likely opt for Captain Styles over Sulu. Being able to drop a bit of tech on any ship he captains just seems much better. The ship sculpt itself and a lot of the other upgrades look pretty solid, but the standout in my opinion is Transwarp Drive. I'd be tempted to buy another expansion just for a second copy of that card but since the rest of the pack is almost all unique cards it'd be a waste of cash.
The Excelsior will definitely give the Federation some more options, and it's fun to see Sulu get his own ship, even if the ability is a little disappointing.
Next up was the Koraga. This expansion was simply loaded with tokens and cards. The ship looks identical to the B'Rel class Ch'Tang prize ship from OP2, but is listed as a different kind of Bird of Prey. I find that a little strange, but the model in this pack is sort of secondary. There are a lot of great cards in this pack. I especially like having another copy of Advanced Weapons Systems (from the core set). Worf as a Klingon-aligned Captain has a pretty good ability, as do several of the other cards.
I've got a couple of ideas for how to use this one. I think it will make it into more than one list for tournament games.
The third pack I opened was the RIS Vo. Coming after the Koraga this pack was a huge letdown. A re-use of the RIS Apnex sculpt from Wave 0. We get a small ship (the ability is actually pretty good), a captain with a useless ability and an elite talent he can't use if he uses his ability. There are only a few other cards included so compared to the Koraga this thing is hardly worth the price. I can find uses for the ship, but as a standalone expansion this is shit. Wizkids gets an "F" on this one on all counts.
Duplicated sculpt, cards that don't gel together or have synergy with the ship, only one non-generic captain where most other expansions come with two. If you're going to skip an expansion, this is the one to save your money on.
Finally we get to the Dominion's Koranak. The Dominion finally has something to be proud of. This ship has great stats and comes with some excellent upgrades: a cloaking device, another way to attack in 360 degrees, a cloak-light, and Gul Dukat. I'm glad I bought two of these. There are enough non-unique upgrades that can help bolster the Dominion ships that it was a worthy purchase. While I haven't tried it yet, I'm very excited about what this expansion provides to Dominion players.
The Koranak is the standout of Wave 2 in my opinion. You should buy this ship.
I also picked up a second Valdore, which I'm sure will see far more play than anything in the Vo pack. It's hard to believe that product was packaged and shipped, let alone retailing at the same price point as the other ships. Shame on you WizKids.
I'll touch on the OP4 prize kit next month after I've had a chance to play in an event and get my hands on it. Players should be very excited for the flagship participation prize cards. They look extremely useful, and there's one to fit almost any player strategy. Oh yeah, and the USS Sutherland. Wow that prize ship has some exciting stuff included with it. I can't wait!
I can certainly understand not wanting to brave the weather and road conditions to go out and play a game. I'd have encouraged folks not to come for their own safety, had I known what I was getting into before I got in my own car. On the plus side however, I did pick up wave 2, and had a quick look over the OP4 kit.
When I finally arrived home I sat down to open up my new toys. Sitting next to my little Christmas tree it felt a little like an early Christmas present. A present I had to pay for, but still fun nonetheless!
The first ship I opened was the USS Excelsior. On first glance I don't think that Captain Sulu has a very good ability, and I'll likely opt for Captain Styles over Sulu. Being able to drop a bit of tech on any ship he captains just seems much better. The ship sculpt itself and a lot of the other upgrades look pretty solid, but the standout in my opinion is Transwarp Drive. I'd be tempted to buy another expansion just for a second copy of that card but since the rest of the pack is almost all unique cards it'd be a waste of cash.
The Excelsior will definitely give the Federation some more options, and it's fun to see Sulu get his own ship, even if the ability is a little disappointing.
Next up was the Koraga. This expansion was simply loaded with tokens and cards. The ship looks identical to the B'Rel class Ch'Tang prize ship from OP2, but is listed as a different kind of Bird of Prey. I find that a little strange, but the model in this pack is sort of secondary. There are a lot of great cards in this pack. I especially like having another copy of Advanced Weapons Systems (from the core set). Worf as a Klingon-aligned Captain has a pretty good ability, as do several of the other cards.
I've got a couple of ideas for how to use this one. I think it will make it into more than one list for tournament games.
The third pack I opened was the RIS Vo. Coming after the Koraga this pack was a huge letdown. A re-use of the RIS Apnex sculpt from Wave 0. We get a small ship (the ability is actually pretty good), a captain with a useless ability and an elite talent he can't use if he uses his ability. There are only a few other cards included so compared to the Koraga this thing is hardly worth the price. I can find uses for the ship, but as a standalone expansion this is shit. Wizkids gets an "F" on this one on all counts.
Duplicated sculpt, cards that don't gel together or have synergy with the ship, only one non-generic captain where most other expansions come with two. If you're going to skip an expansion, this is the one to save your money on.
Finally we get to the Dominion's Koranak. The Dominion finally has something to be proud of. This ship has great stats and comes with some excellent upgrades: a cloaking device, another way to attack in 360 degrees, a cloak-light, and Gul Dukat. I'm glad I bought two of these. There are enough non-unique upgrades that can help bolster the Dominion ships that it was a worthy purchase. While I haven't tried it yet, I'm very excited about what this expansion provides to Dominion players.
The Koranak is the standout of Wave 2 in my opinion. You should buy this ship.
I also picked up a second Valdore, which I'm sure will see far more play than anything in the Vo pack. It's hard to believe that product was packaged and shipped, let alone retailing at the same price point as the other ships. Shame on you WizKids.
I'll touch on the OP4 prize kit next month after I've had a chance to play in an event and get my hands on it. Players should be very excited for the flagship participation prize cards. They look extremely useful, and there's one to fit almost any player strategy. Oh yeah, and the USS Sutherland. Wow that prize ship has some exciting stuff included with it. I can't wait!
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