Upgrades and Stratagems

[Tris]

So, pretty much what the title says - I´m curious about what stratagems you like to play as well as which upgrades you like to take on your commander.

Would be awesome if you could also provide some sort of tactica like when and against whom you like to take what and why - think this could be a pretty ineteresting thread ^^

[Tris]

I want to try the Radio Transmitter and Binoculars more, former seems useful for getting some of our juicy triggers off (mostly stuff like plus str, card draw or pinned) the other looks like it could be hard to get off reliably but could help with one of the biggest problems I´ve encountered - closing the gap to the opponent to bring our shooters into the action without exposing them.

Any experiences with either one of them?

I guess we all have used the Medal of Honour to up our tactics points, I also like it`s trigger, nearly always useful - great upgrade and well worth the price.

 

Never tried the Battlefield Map or the Megaphone, did anyone get to try them and would like to share the experience?

Monocle seems pretty meh, but it`s the only upgarde so far for Thrace (besides Toughness of course) - did it ever do anything in your games so far?

 

 

 

Stratagems I´ve got less experience so far, still getting used to the balance between drawing cards, scoring and buying them^^

Just think that the Artillery strike looks like something I would never use, just like the unit - I feel like I can sense a theme here....

[Merchant]

I almost always bring overwatch and sometimes accurate shot. otherwise not sure what to bring

[Tris]

36 minutes ago, Merchant said:

I almost always bring overwatch and sometimes accurate shot. otherwise not sure what to bring

Thanks for the first answer here, was about to ask if nobody's here anymore^^

(Maybe I shouldn't have hid it here in the KE section though :p)

 

And asset/upgrade wise?

Any all takers, secret weapons?

[Merchant]

i mean if you want a KE specific answer....

 

[Merchant]

1 hour ago, Tris said:

And asset/upgrade wise?

Any all takers, secret weapons?

I love taking sharpshooters tho i find it weird the engineer is a better  sniper. there than than i generally take a grenadier and royal rifles.... upgrades tho as KE I always take my commander specific one and millitary assistant 

[DeleteAccount]

1 hour ago, Tris said:

Thanks for the first answer here, was about to ask if nobody's here anymore^^

(Maybe I shouldn't have hid it here in the KE section though :p)

 

And asset/upgrade wise?

Any all takers, secret weapons?

Crikey! Didn't notice this thread!

Anywho, I always use Military Assistant on Edmonton, after that it's a toss between his personal asset or Radio Transmitter, though I'm also tempted to just bring the Reinforcement upgrade since frankly, we have very little of that. On Margaret it's her personal asset and then either binoculars or the radio, though first is super taxing on the hand and second I forget half the time. With Kassa it's her personal upgrade and after that I'd say just medal of honor, the Reinforcement upgrade or maybe binoculars.

I've considered the map a few times, but haven't actually taken it, but I think has potential on some missions.

Stratagems, I always bring Behind Enemy lines first, since a unit of Borderers from behind is just great. After that, overwatch and perfect accuracy. I'll also bring False Flag operation against anything but Gibbering. Also the one that an moves objective marker has a lot of trickery. Finally, Keep Calm and Carry on is a must if using Kassa.

Thing that's a downer though is that I feel forced to bring the Kassa engine or Thrace if I want any hope of having resources to actually have a turn where it's not automatically choose to either have a hand or stratagems. I'm pretty much accepting at this point that Kassa must always be a commander if you wish to be competitive.

[pawlik]

I always take megaphone on Margaret Belle ( in single commander games only so far). Her biggest drawback is that she has little to do until you commit her to attack, and then she either dies horribly or does wonders. with megaphone she can reliably give reinforcement to 2-3 of your units every turn, which is huge - they can take inspired, advance more freely, etc then. once she kills something you can go to "her majesty's secret service" + 1 megaphone action, which also gives you card draw, and more backfield role to the commander.

Regarding stratagem, i like overwatch for the extra threat it brings (just be sure to always use it after your opponent made his last activation, so that you know which unit will be positioned well to take the shot). I also use behind the enemy lines with borders.

 

Against malifaux side, counter - strategem (sorry i forgot it name, i mean the one that counters enemy stratagem and returns it to their hand) may be costly, but sometimes good. i am not convinced on this one due to high cost, but countering breachling bomb or time glitch on horomatangi can be huge.

Also, against hordes i tend to use bloody their noses. it is "Get out of jail free" card in case enemy has stormsiren and puts some of your critical units into tide pool - they can activate safely in the pool and get out of it then.

[Tris]

Thank you, some nice ideas here^^

 

Think I´ll try a game where I´m going to concentrate on Stratagem use first and foremost, just to get a feeling for them.

Kassa should help with my card draw as I won`t use my tactics to draw them.

[AgentRock]

Overwatch every time. 

Medic! is obvious but still a good answer. 

Behind enemy lines. 

[Sharpedge]

Capture the Flag & Keep Calm & Carry on are probably my two most used. Capture the flag in particular is a potentially game breaking strat when used at the right time. Keep Calm & Carry on used on a unit of Rifle Corps has also been excellent - especially when your opponent believes a unit or objective to be safe. The Corps are so reliable they can often get themselves back in to glory on the second activation on top of whatever else they achieve.

Earth strats, I like Behind Enemy lines for the same reason Razhem has stated - surprise steamfist weilding Welsh. I also think Unwaivering Resolve is great for mind games. Just knowing you have a card in hand that trumps even the Red Joker can cause some odd behavoir in your opponent.

Assets, I don't have too much to add, although I will tend to use Military Assistant on Belle rather than Charles because she gets inbuilt Tomes on her dagger in glory and therefore benefits from the Two Heads are Better Than One trigger more reliably.

[pawlik]

I tried using false flag operation as the first player in last game (against the cult) and it worked like a charm. the opportunity to disorder enemy formation in first move is very valuable. Chain activating into grenadiers or rifle corps, while expensive (between stratagem and chain activation you use all 6 tactic tokens in 2 commander game) is very powerful, and has strong impact on later game.
 

What i am not sure though is if the lack of at least 1 card on hand is worth it. Edmonton and stoic demeanor go long way to boosting survival rate of KE, and (without taking Kassa) there are no ways of drawing extra cards later in the turn in KE.

[DeleteAccount]

It's the rough part of playing KE and why it feels a must to play with Abyssinian allies. Either you get a hand, or you use Stratagems, but you aren't getting both. And since you also have to do missions, Ta just ends up drying up almost instantly, so either you play tricks but have to depend on rawdecking or barely use Stratagems but get a hand. Or like said, get Kassa and some Abyssinia units and even post errata you can probably get some decent car draw going 

[pawlik]

i'll do a bit thread necro here - do the new operations hange in any way the stratagems you choose?

I am using artillery strike a lot lately. it is awesome to break the build up of forces some of the armies (Especially Hordes) do, and prevents opponent from grouping in a certain place.

Regarding card draw, dying grenadiers provide me with a steady 1 card a turn. as long as i keep them alive (which isn't very hard), i can keep some minimum hand to feed my stratagems. I also feel KE is better at making the opponent discard his hand (thanks to intelligence corps, multiple "take this action again" triggers and some token manipulation from infitrators) thank in building my own hand.

[Sharpedge]

On 6/4/2020 at 10:14 AM, pawlik said:

i'll do a bit thread necro here - do the new operations hange in any way the stratagems you choose?

I am using artillery strike a lot lately. it is awesome to break the build up of forces some of the armies (Especially Hordes) do, and prevents opponent from grouping in a certain place.

Regarding card draw, dying grenadiers provide me with a steady 1 card a turn. as long as i keep them alive (which isn't very hard), i can keep some minimum hand to feed my stratagems. I also feel KE is better at making the opponent discard his hand (thanks to intelligence corps, multiple "take this action again" triggers and some token manipulation from infitrators) thank in building my own hand.

I must admit, I haven't tried artillery strike at all - I'll give it a shot next time I can get a game in. I haven't tried the new operations either because of this blasted lockdown, but soon I hope.

It's a good point about the Grenadiers. I also heartily recommend, if you have her, Samantha Thrace for King's Empire, as a cheap alternative to Aby allies. If you invest a couple of cards in to getting her in to glory on turn 1, she will more than make back that investment, because she goes up to Ta2 and gains "They knew the risks" - which means every time a friendly fireteam dies near her you draw a card. Have her babysit Grenadiers - because lord knows they can use the reinforcement tokens she generates, and when they get charged by something (people can't resist charging Grenadiers) she can wade in and start dicing things up with her axe - and if your opponent does commit enough to wipe them, you'll have drawn at least six cards out of it.