Happy to help!

great gamei'm still getting everything for it like the space stations and alter ships for the federation

Thank you so much! And yeah, sorry that didn't work out. Happy to see that you funded though!

Thanks! And look, TNG is great, I'd say it probably had the best individual episodes, but DS9 was a better series overall (and had some amazing episodes of its own)

@RTFM 100% TNG is great with awesome episodes, they just weren't always connected with an overarching plot. DS9 was. I enjoy TNG, DS9 is just more entertaining to watch!! plus, we get the Dominion which is my favorite Star Trek faction!!

@@joesolo1836 Same!

1 -- yes, DS9 is one of the best SF series of all time -- there are four, IMNSHO: ...a -- Firefly -- best SF "western" -- fun, not all that serious ...b -- Babylon 5 -- best long-term story arc ...c -- The Expanse -- best truly HARD SF -- no magic techs (warp speed, phasers, or shields). Almost everything applied (for at least the first few seasons) is something we can do or close to do (e.g., no "new physics", just engineering) already. ...d -- DS9 -- best, most complete use of SF Tropes. Time travel, alt history, alt universes, space combat, you name it. They also considerably expanded the usage of the Holodeck beyond what ST used it for, as a "place to play games" -- with DS9, it actually became a place with atmosphere to hang out in. And finally, they considerably explored alternative storytelling methods, as with "Take Me Out To The Holosuite", and "Far Beyond the Stars" I do ack, the first couple seasons of DS9 were pretty poor (same for STNG, Voyager, and Enterprise) but once they worked out what worked and did not -- which, for DS9 was that they needed the Defiant, Worf, and the Klingon problems to add longer-term tension), it went off on the run. I will also assert that Section 31 was a good addition, though some disagree. And it also "broke" the pure, unrealistic Utopia of ST a little bit, which irks some people, but not me... And finally, I think, in "In The Pale Moonlight" is the best ST episode ever. ======= AS TO GETTING THE GAME -- I would say it has the most replayability of any game I've yet played -- and that numbers in the multiple hundreds, my own collection is >150 games, and there are a lot I don't own but have played with others' -- I have played upwards from 80 games of STA, and it's pretty much NEVER repeated at all. It rarely even "rhymes". Each game plays out completely differently, once you involve all the factions as well as the Borg -- do note that I also don't start with the Borg in the game, the 3 borg disks go into the system stack, and the borg cards go into the exploration deck , with a "safe zone" of 2x#p (2x the number of players) in cards and system disks which have no borg and no phenoms. (e.g., for 4p, 8 "safe" non-borg cards and 8 non-borg, non-phenom disks). This leads to another factor of variability to the game, as sometimes the borg come into play early and everyone has to cooperate to keep them at bay, and other times they are a total non-factor. This, plus the way the factions work and the planets come out all factor into making each game like a fingerprint -- unlike any others. We also start with the 8-6-4 "advanced start" token -- that is, you have 8r, 6s, 4c tokens. I also would recommend, if you're on FB, to find the Star Trek Ascendancy forum/group. They have a lot of fan factions noted there which have been fully playtested.

Thanks! I'm feeling pretty good about that!

Happy to!

targs of war!!!! omg this video was made for me!

I figured you'd like that :D

Yeah, it's not the best. And the Borg rulebook is even worse. Happy to help clear things up!

Well that's good to hear. I'll have to check it out then.

Haha, where'd I miss for you?

Just fyi, your house rule isn't even a house rule (unless your purpose was to make it easier to be eliminated). According to the rules, as long as you still have even one ship, you're still in the game.

It means as long as you have the ability to make ships which means an opponent can't control any star bases either so it actually prolongs the game bc you could control both opponents home systems and if they have control of a starbase they can still play bc they can still produce ships

​@@michaelhannell4083 Ah, I see. So you need almost total obliteration to win through Supremacy. Would you say that makes winning through Ascendancy easier if Supremacy is harder?

@@RTFM as long as you don't wipe out a plant if you invade and destroy nodes. it is easier for a ascendancy victory with that house rule bc if you are able to keep culture nodes intact. If they get destroyed the other factions fight to get there home system back.

I had to :D

Actually, if I, the feds, attack the rommies, then I, the feds, MUST take back my TA, but the rommies do NOT have to do so, though that is often by far the most rational of options. There are some strange exceptions to that, however, where it can be relevant. Most of them involve the Ferengi. Also, to get the "free fleet assembly", you must build at least 3 new ships at that location, and can add any other ships, new or existing, to said fleet.

@@nickbrutanna9973 Hey, thanks for the spot! I've added a subtitle about the fleet creation thing, though I do mention the 3+ rule when I talk about building. However I can't find anything in the rulebook about the Romulans not having to give back Trade Agreements after a betrayal. Do you know where that is so I can verify? Also, on p. 26 in the "More to Learn" section it seems to state that no matter when you successfully brave a phenomenon's hazard, you can place the research on a project. If there's something that contradicts that, please let me know, otherwise I'm going to leave it as is.

I thought it was strange, but I never found anything that said that worlds that are naturally hazardous become unhazardous under any normal circumstances. So that means to me that even after colonizing it, the world still presents a danger for all who stop there. Makes it good place to drop a starbase though.

The Federation is still classically liberal, or libertarian, but still pretty state heavy. Certainly better than the Cardassians, or dominion. Haha

Yes, enterprise deserved another season. It get's way too much hate.

I actually let my Patreon backers choose which games I teach, so if they ask for it, I'd be happy to.

A bold stance! It definitely had good moments, but I can't say I'd rather watch it than any of the others. To each their own though. Glad you like it!

You can find my email in my channel's about section. Send me a message, I might be able to help.

@@RTFM i can't seem to find it 🙈

@@mirandaleaptrott6899 No worries. If you go to www.youtube.com/@RTFM/about and click "view email address" it should show up.

Haha, appreciate it!

Of course it is. It "borrowed" heavily from Babylon 5.😉

Galaxy Quest is a classic, but because it's more of a spoof of Star Trek and its fandom as opposed to an earnest effort, it didn't feel right to include in the list. Still one of my favorite films though.

You have to be in the system to do a planetary invasion, and it's a separate action from the ship battle. If you have a trade agreement, attacking their ships or trying to invade their planet will result in a betrayal, dissolving the agreement. Hope that helps!

@@RTFM So it sounds like you need to clear out all enemy ships before planetary invasion is even on the table.

You will be using warp the majority of the time. With the exception of the Federation's impulse improvement, warp is almost always more efficient. Impulse is more often used after combat in my experience. That and blockades, like you mentioned.

Season three was pretty good, but I've also been enjoying Lower Decks more the more I watch it. If anything Discovery might be dropping a step, but other than that it's pretty much the same.

I calls em like I sees em. And yeah, Picard season 3 has been much better than the first two. Might push it up a bit, but since I'm judging the whole of the series, it's not gonna raise it more than one spot.

That's actually something that the Federation specifically can't do. The Prime Directive is baked into their gameplay.

@@RTFM so how do they expand?

@@wastelanddv8062 Through cultural hegemony, which they can do to the warp-capable civs, and colonizing uninhabited worlds.

@@RTFM seems like it puts the Feds at a disadvantage.

@@wastelanddv8062 Well, all of the factions have a positive and negative trait. It should all balance out.

Nope, it's the designer made rules.

I did, but one good season doesn't redeem an entire show for me.

@@RTFMfair enough. I watched one or two eps of S2, and decided to ignore the rest of that, but for me S3 is a standalone thing

I haven't got round to it yet but it seems many people dislike discovery.