Forming a Green Strategy

Styxx is difficult to use, especially when it mounts expensive Charge 2 weapons. In part this is because the player will find themselves facing opponents with a card advantage of having more cards in hand with the opportunity to make more actions. Styxx players are forced, almost, to play more slowly, at a lower rate of activity than players with other Titans. This can be ameliorated by the green player holding off on the initial rounds to build up a big hand of cards they can use to match an opponent's rate of activity. That is pretty unfriendly to a new player though, trying to keep up with the other players and not the tempo dictated by the Styxx cards. 

Take Styxx's primary configuration, for example. In order to use both arms and both legs, Styxx needs to spend 12 cards (including the arms and legs). Rhea, Tethys, and Eos primary configurations only need to spend 8 cards. Now Styxx may get 10 cogs to Rhea's 6 cogs, for all that, but there's a question of when and where that makes those four extra cards mean something important. Notably Styxx may only use Her legs, spending 6 cards for 6 cogs, but that is two actions to Rhea's four. So either Styxx is giving up a card advantage, or a tempo advantage. 

Likewise Rhea's primary configuration can use all three weapons for 6 cards (for 5-8 points of damage) meaning Rhea can move and attack at capacity for 14 cards. Styxx primary can use all three weapons for 8 cards, meaning moving and attacking for 20 cards. That gives Rhea 9 cards to enhance movement and attacks with crew (their entire crew) and then cards to block and intercept attacks. Styxx gets 2. One of them is a capacitor, but that makes it equivalent to 3 cards if it's used at its basic effect. Where can Styxx get those six cards to make up the difference? It's going to have to be weapons, and possibly the thrusters. If we swap out the laser blade and plasma shotgun, that reduces 6 cards to 2 cards. After that, the rocket pod can be swapped for a laser battery as a dead heat, but also for weapon synergy. Take out the thrusters for a second capacitor, and that is 12 cards for limbs plus 4 cards for weapons. That's 16 cards, leaving 7 including two capacitors for an effective 9. 

Styxx's tertiary and quaternary configurations have similar issues, but have a slightly different flavour due to these configurations lacking arms. With legs and thrusters and sponsons, and only two weapons, these configurations of Styxx need crew to ensure those shots Styxx takes don't miss and hit hard. That's 12 cards for 10 cogs (and 90-180 degree arcs). Setting aside 4 cards for senior crew and their charges, lazy gits that they are, that leaves 7 cards for shooting and sensors. Including the two capacitors, that means a Titan may be able to activate legs and weapons at the same time, leaving 5 cards for sensors (two for detection, one for scanning) and blocking with extra armour. Weapon-wise, it's going to need to be guns, rockets, and maybe a laser battery. It's kind of funny to be returning to those historical roots in Adeptus Titanicus (1989) where a Warhound Titan would have a turbo laser and vulcan gun...