Factions

Welcome Star Trek: Attack Wing players! This transmission will give a brief introduction and explanation for the changes to Factions in the updated Star Trek: Attack Wing rulebook!

Let’s start by taking a look at our motivation and methodology behind the restructuring of factions.

Motivation and Methodology

When restructuring the factions, we wanted to address the playability of the smaller factions, as well as their identity and the diversity of options within them. Summarily, we wanted to bring factions like Vulcan, Bajoran, Ferengi, Kazon, etc. into the limelight and bring them in line with the bigger factions while not removing their individuality. Let’s take a look at how we’ve restructured factions to achieve this.

Previously, we simply had a list of factions. Now we have a list of prime factions and sub-factions. Prime factions are those below that are bolded. Sub-factions are those below that are listed as a bullet under a prime faction.

Federation

  • Vulcan
  • Bajoran

Klingon
Romulan
Dominion
Independents

  • Ferengi
  • Kazon
  • Xindi

Borg
Mirror Universe
Species 8472
Q-Continuum

Game elements of a sub-faction also count as their corresponding prime faction. This means that a Vulcan ship also counts as a Federation ship, but a Federation ship does not count as a Vulcan ship.

Here’s how we arrived at this structure.

When we initially looked at factions, we first identified the factions that had the fewest releases.

  • Bajoran
  • Xindi
  • Ferengi
  • Kazon
  • Vulcan
  • Species 8472
  • Q-Continuum

We then made each of these sub-factions under a prime faction and started testing. Initially, Vulcan was a sub-faction of Federation and all other factions listed were sub-factions under Independents. After some testing, we found that Species 8472 was too strong as a sub-faction of Independents and Q-Continuum didn’t really make sense as a sub-faction. We flip-flopped on whether Bajoran should be a sub-faction of Independents or Federation. In the end, we decided to place them under Federation because we felt they would be better served for the purposes of gameplay and theme if they were under Federation instead of Independents.

After some additional testing we settled the prime faction and sub-faction relationships and finalized what being a sub-faction actually meant in what we felt was a very simple, elegant solution to what could’ve been an otherwise complex problem.

Implications

Let’s briefly discuss the implications of what it means to be a sub-faction under the updated rules.

“Game elements belonging to a sub-Faction also count as their prime Faction for the purposes of all rules. However, prime Faction ships do not count as their sub-Factions unless otherwise stated.”

What does this actually mean? Let’s examine by taking a look at some examples and comparing the original rules vs. the new rules.

I equip a Federation Crew to a Vulcan Ship.

  • Original Rules – I have to pay a faction penalty because Federation and Vulcan are not the same faction.
  • New Rules – I do not have to pay a faction penalty because the Vulcan Ship also counts as a Federation ship. Therefore, I’m equipping a Federation Upgrade to a Federation Ship.

I equip a Vulcan Upgrade to a Federation Ship.

  • Original Rules – I have to pay a faction penalty because Federation and Vulcan are not the same faction.
  • New Rules – I do not have to pay a faction penalty because the Vulcan Upgrade also counts as a Federation Upgrade. Therefore, I’m equipping a Federation Upgrade to a Federation Ship.

I equip a Federation Only Upgrade to a Vulcan Ship.

  • Original Rules – I cannot do this because Federation and Vulcan are not the same faction.
  • New Rules – I can do this because the Vulcan Ship also counts as a Federation Ship. Therefore, I’m equipping a Federation Only Upgrade to a Federation Ship.

I equip a Vulcan Only Upgrade to a Federation Ship.

  • Original Rules – I cannot do this because Federation and Vulcan are not the same faction.
  • New Rules – I cannot do this because the Federation Ship does not also count as a Vulcan Ship. Therefore, the Vulcan Only Upgrade cannot be equipped to the Federation Ship.

I equip a Bajoran Upgrade to a Vulcan Ship.

  • Original Rules – I have to pay a faction penalty because Bajoran and Vulcan are not the same faction.
  • New Rules – I do not have to pay a faction penalty because Bajoran and Vulcan are both sub-factions of Federation and both count as Federation as a result. Therefore, I’m equipping a Federation Upgrade to a Federation Ship.

I equip a Bajoran Only Upgrade to a Vulcan Ship.

  • Original Rules – I cannot do this because Bajoran and Vulcan are not the same faction.
  • New Rules – I cannot do this because the Vulcan Ship does not also count as a Bajoran Ship. Therefore, the Bajoran Only Upgrade cannot be equipped to the Vulcan Ship.

Ultimately what this change does is empower sub-factions by removing the faction penalty for equipping cards from their prime faction and other sub-factions under that prime faction, as well as allowing them access to cards that would otherwise be restricted to only their prime faction. It also slightly empowers Federation and Independents by removing the faction penalty for equipping cards from their sub-factions but does not give them a massive boost because they’re still not allowed to equip cards restricted to their sub-factions.

We hope this transmission was insightful and helps you understand our rationale behind the changes to how factions exist within Star Trek: Attack Wing and what these changes mean for building your fleet!

*bzzt* Attention all crew members, our scanners have detected a nearby anomaly that is violently emitting particles of unknown origin that seem to be eating through our shields. Red alert! All crew to stations! *bzzt*

Well, time to go! Be sure to stay tuned for more exciting Star Trek: Attack Wing news…assuming we survive this…whatever this is!