While sheltering-in-place during our present global circumstances, I had the privilege to playtest the upcoming expansion to SpaceCorp, titled SpaceCorp: Ventures. One of my favorite parts of the new game is the updated solo play options, especially the custom competition HQ! In this article, we will take a look at how the new player HQ New Nomads fares against the competition HQ D.P. Roberts Ltd in the Mariners era.

Last week, I went over some of the changes to the solo system and setup for the new player HQ; before we dive into Mariners let’s briefly go over the competition HQ. Ventures comes with four competition HQ and each has a recommended player HQ to compete against, adjusted setups, era changes, new offers action key and edge effects. While based on the competition from SpaceCorp, the new competition HQ give each game a unique narrative.

Playing against the competition is all about timing. Their deck starts with 6 of the 12 start cards. Of these 6 start cards, no action is repeated. These first 6 turns, for each era, are the most important because they allow you 6 turns to establish yourself before the competition can assert itself.

Now let’s venture into Mariners and begin this journey to the stars. The unique capabilities of each player HQ give players access to new strategies. For New Nomads, their Migrate action allows a move cost to be paid by removing a Base from the departure site back to your HQ. If you’re hanging out on the Moon and want to go to the Asteroid Belt in one easy swoop, there you go. The downside is the departed site is now open for the competition to swoop in and claim, with no compensation to you. Settle is similar in that you may pay for the cost of a Build by removing one of your teams at the build site to your HQ. So timing here is critical. One of the limitations for New Nomads is they only have one Refinery and one Secure Base.

My strategy in Mariners is to make sure I get the 1st Beyond marker and focus on my Infra and Genetics marker. I spent the first 6 turns in Mariners gathering move and build cards while the competition populated various sites around the map. After turn 6 it gets more intense, because the competition begins dropping bases and gaining profit. There is a fraught push-your-luck dilemma which revolves around when to go for the 1st beyond marker: the competition will get it after placing a base as long as it has a Spaceport base already in play. I’m a big fan of getting it, especially in Planeteers where the starting benefit in Starfarers is huge. Getting the 1st Beyond in Mariners will let you start Planeteers on better footing, and prevents the competition from taking 3 turns in a row, which you really want to avoid. Normally it’s hard to get it early, but New Nomads gives you tools to get the 1st Beyond quickly, and losing that team to the asteroids region isn’t detrimental because New Nomads start with 3 teams instead of 2. So I went for it early after I had first moved, explored and built a research base on the Moon. The Research base got me an extra card. The following turn I removed the Research base using the New Nomads action Migrate (In your move action you may remove your base from the departure site instead of paying the Move cost. Place the base on your HQ) which paid for the entire move cost and off went my team to venture out beyond the Asteroid Belt, securing the 1st Beyond marker.

Generally I’m not overly concerned with Profit in Mariners – and I wasn’t in this game – as long as I remain within striking distance of the competition. The big Profit gains will come in later eras. The most important thing for Mariners is to prepare for Planeteers by establishing some decent Infra cards and moving your Genetics cube along its track. These two things, along with the 1st Beyond marker and at least marginal profit will establish the best opening play in Planeteers.

In the next article we’ll explore some strategic decision points in Planeteers and how the New Nomads use their unique abilities that only become available in the Planeteers era, including a fun way to get around that pesky radiation that can hamper early explorations.

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