Titanomachina: Updated Table and Cards

 Most recently I've updated the table and the dashboard cards for Tabletop Simulator, and prior to that I updated the rules (and cards) for capacitors, turning them from doubling a prior action to tempo-increasing card. So far Titans that lack capacitors don't seem to be at a disadvantage for not having them, and Rhea's armour doesn't seem over-built. What I haven't done recently, however, is take Rhea's secondary configuration out for a spin. The last rationalization of Human Resource (HR) / Victory Point (VP) costs fixed this configuration's cost at 41 HR, the lowest of any Titan configuration on option in Tabletop Simulator. 

Looking very close to Titanomachina's cover art of Rhea being ambushed by Tethys, and swapping out the macro gun for a plasma shotgun, this configuration is all High Explosive. Moreover it'll start with 24 habitats on the board, and essentially starting in the lead by sacrificing expensive equipment like capacitors, lasers, and guns in favour of armour, high explosives, and a head start. The obvious strategy seems to be engaging enemy Titans as soon as possible, so that they don't immediately tank that lead by destroying a few yellow habitats. However, that plasma shotgun is both expensive in terms of charge, and relatively slow-loading compared to an equivalent plasma shotgun on a Titan with capacitors. 

Consider that nearly all of Rhea's systems require charge 1, except for the shields and plasma shotgun. That means that Rhea can engage in four actions in the first round, and two in the second round if one of them is raise shields or attack with the plasma shotgun. By comparison Eos' primary configuration if They get a capacitor off operated by Their master crew, gets about five if they stick to charge 1 systems. Of course, Eos will also get some of those systems back earlier, like the fourth round or even third. Both Titans are probably going to want to use crew members to buff their actions, at the cost of 1-2 cards. 

Now it's kind of interesting that if Eos gets hit with the plasma shotgun in the first round, that full power with the capacitor nets Eos +1 card and essentially swaps the master crew, capacitor, and another card for four others. That's also at the cost of pausing to activate the master crew and then the capacitor, leaving Eos a sitting duck for two turns. If Eos goes the route of just activating two capacitors for full power without crew operation, that's again netting +1 card after being hit by the plasma shotgun. Certainly that might enable a further master-operated plasma howitzer shot, but that would be two more turns and five cards. Rhea might be able to tank the shot, with clever enough shield placement over the frontal extra armours 3 & 5. 

What could Rhea do though, during those four turns? And over the course of four rounds? Certainly with two arms, two legs, and two thrusters a player can keep Rhea moving more than once a round. Out of twenty-three cards though that would be twelve. Then there's one for the sponson, because that agility is important. The four crew would be six cards. That leaves four cards for the three weapons, the two shields, the sensor, and the personality. Of course the arms and legs can attack, and bolstered by the crew can do some work, but that is one card short for the plasma shotgun. That's not counting any incidental blocking that might happen over the course of those four rounds. Where Rhea has five extra armour packs as standard, then one or even two a round is possible. I think keeping the plasma shotgun for blocking purposes might work best with the occasional opportunity shot might work best. 

For preference I think it would be better for this configuration of Rhea to have either the Vivacious or the Pugnacious personalities. Audacious and Gracious don't add much to the heaviest defensive posture in the game, while the extra speed and agility helps middling speed and agility. Controlling the initiative with Sagacious is great, but I think it would work better with a Titan that's trying to scout and scoot, rather than a stand-up brawler like Rhea, and while Rapacious works for everyone where this configuration starts with 24 habitats it might not be as useful as enhancing Rhea's actual performance.      

With Vivacious, I think I would set up in the middle of the board, with one shield token over each front, back, and right/left leg, and then three for each arm. The idea is to tank weak hits with the plasma shotgun or arms, so that any incoming HE gets the extra armour, and then to play for a time-out while threatening a ring-out to keep opponents focused on the threat to their Titan. With Pugnacious it would be straight into an ambush situation and then just keep hammering an opponent for a knock-out. With other personalities I think I would choose a different Titan, or at least a different configuration. 

I haven't played Tethys in a while, and Tethys tertiary configuration just calls to me. Maybe it's the double gun batteries, or maybe it's the macro laser. There's always Styxx's quaternary configuration... Of course, Titanomachina is designed for this kind of rotation of strategies. In theory we would be designing the optimal mix of systems, crew, and habitats, but the available Titan configurations on TTS gives players some opportunity to anticipate or react to their opponent(s) choices. Eos is the knock-out fighter, while Styxx is going to be best at pushing a time-out thanks to their sensors. Tethys is also a knock-out fighter with some grappling ability, while Rhea is intended to maximize that board control with some knock-out ability.