Playing The Borg:
Choosing Objectives

Objectives These are the source of points when playing the Borg, so you should choose them as you would choose missions when playing a normal deck. Either pick some objectives, and then the personnel with the probe icons to match, or pick personnel, then the objectives to match. Above all, focus your strategy. Just as the best non-Borg decks don't usually have six missions with wildly different requirements, the best Borg decks aren't out there trying to do all 9 Borg objectives. Here's a look at a few of the predominant tactics for the Borg:

Emphasis on Space Establish Gateway is your primary objective. Stock multiple copies of it. Space locations are easier for the Borg, but there is a trade-off for this -- after you have completed scouting a space location and scored your points, a non-Borg opponent can still come by and score points for completing the mission -- with no dilemmas remaining to oppose them. Most decks of this type stock an Eliminate or Assimilate Starship objective or two just to be sure this doesn't happen. (Communications and Navigation drones are most important to this strategy.)

Emphasis on Planets Assimilate Planet is your primary objective, so stock multiple copies of it. You should choose planet missions worth at least 35 points, since you can't always count on an opponent to play missions you can target for assimilation. If they do, you will usually want to grab their missions first before scouting your own. For one, you know what dilemmas you'll be facing at your opponent's missions (and you should pick at least a couple pairings of dilemmas designed for your Borg to easily overcome). Second, by assimilating those planets, you remove the options for scoring points your opponent had intended -- no one can complete a mission at a planet location that has been assimilated. Foremost, target any legal planet location where your opponent has foolishly seeded an outpost, so that you can assimilate that outpost and prevent your opponent from reporting cards for duty. (Communications and Defense drones are most important to this strategy.)

Emphasis on Attacking Stock copies of Eliminate Starship objective as prevention against your opponent's aggressive scoring. You do not score points just for doing this. You'll need to combine this tactic with another, and one of the best matches is a strategy-centered on Salvage Starship. You might use Hails or other cards to be sure you stop your opponent's ships at space locations. When you Eliminate them at space locations, you can then target those locations with Salvage Starship for 30 points (and enhancements coming from the ships salvaged). (Navigation and Defense drones would be most important to this strategy).

Assimilating Personnel Another strategy that is not entirely self-sufficient, your plan is to try and assimilate as many of your opponent's personnel as possible -- after all, they cannot win if they have no people to score with. There are only two common ways you can get involved in personnel battle with your opponent (where you'll have the opportunity to assimilate people with your Talon Drones). First, you can retaliate against attacks they initiate against you. The best way to induce your opponent to attack you is with an aggressive Assimilate Starship strategy. Second, you can use the Assimilate Counterpart objective. Beam over as many Assault and Talon Drones in your team as possible when striking for the counterpart, to take as many with you as possible. You can always use He Will Make An Excellent Drone to convert any counterparts you obtain back into drones so you can play Assimilate Counterpart again and attack your opponent again. (Defense drones, particularly the Talon and Assault, are most important to this strategy.)

Assimilating Starships This objective is usually only played as a means to an end -- getting your opponent to initiate a battle against you. Requiring a turn of scouting, Computer Skill, and a successful probe, it's less efficient than just Eliminating the Starship... although your opponent can't Regenerate, Res-Q, or Palor Toff a ship you assimilated, so there is a benefit. It's also powerful against a Borg opponent, who cannot attack your scout attempting to complete this objective. In any case, you score no points for this alone, and so need to pair this tactic with another that will score you points. (Communications and Defense drones are most important here, especially drones that have Computer Skill -- or extra Communications drones to share that ability.)

Assimilating Homeworlds Choose the three Homeworld missions for your deck, and go for points that way. Generally, you'll want to play Locutus of Borg first, and assimilate Earth, then convert Locutus to a drone so you can try an Assimilate Counterpart on your Klingon or Romulan opponent. If the counterpart you get from your opponent has at least 4 skill dots, this can give you the win off only 3 objectives (40 + 20 + 40). But if your opponent is playing Borg or Federation, the homeworld tactic is not self-sufficient. You'll only have one homeworld (Earth) to target, so look to get other points with Establish Gateways in space -- unless you want to risk Balancing Act by playing with other planets. (A good mix of drones is best here. Navigation and Communications drones will help most if you need to Establish a few Gateways to win, while Defense drones are best for the assault on the counterpart. But most importantly, you need Communications icons for the Homeworld objective -- nothing else will work.)

Time Travel You can plan to go back into the past to assimilate Earth, erasing all Federation and human personnel in play. Beware also that this will erase some of your Borg: the Astrogation Drone, Multiplexor Drone, Quantum Drone, and of course, Locutus of Borg. Try to avoid depending on any of these cards when time traveling, since you won't have them after you do. Much of what applies perparing for Assimilate Homeworld applies here, since you must scout Earth before traveling back to begin probing. The first time-travel objective, Stop First Contact, has a countdown icon of 3. Usually, you can get a successful probe in this amount of time if you've build your deck well (with probe rigging). But since only a Defense icon will work here, and because your opponent might land the Vulcans or commandeer the Phoenix on you, you should probably stock Build Interplexing Beacon as well as a backup plan.

MOT'S ADVICE: Time travel can be time consuming as a primary strategy. The two time travel objectives should probably be backup cards in your Tent. Normally, you'll just want to assimilate Earth in the present and be done with it. If, however, your opponent is Federation and has reported a large number of personnel, you may fall on your backup plan to erase history and stop him from running away with the game. Think of the time travelling cards just like the movie -- assimilating Earth in the past was not the Borg's primary plan, rather their fallback when their Cube was destroyed.

When choosing objectives, make sure you have enough to get to 140 points. You should cover for the possibility your opponent will play a Q's Planet. Since you cannot attempt that mission to restore the win conditions to 100, and you certainly can't count on your opponent to be merciful, you'd better be sure you can win if this happens.

Also, you'll probably want to stock at least one Eliminate Starships in every deck. By the time you get to the Alpha Quadrant in many games, your opponent will be up and running, or near to it. If you can catch them with this objective, you'll set them back enough to catch up.

Remember that many objectives allow you to download new objectives upon completion. This allows you to stock only as many objectives as you need in a deck, without worrying about the extras needed to guarantee them coming up in card draws. Just as you download personnel, and thus don't need to stock as many, you can stock few objectives. Don't forget about A Change of Plans.

This will help you get an objective if you just completed one that didn't let you download a replacement. More importantly, it is the only way the Borg can "shift on the fly." You might be happily scouting a planet, when suddenly your opponent takes off in a loaded ship to start completing missions. A Change of Plans would be nice to let you swap out for an Eliminate Starships. And of course, the Queen can download that interrupt.

Above all, if you can get by with only one type of objective, do. Building a deck around Establishing Gateways means all you need to probe for are Communications or Navigation icons. An eclectic mix means more varied probe requirements, which translates to a slower deck.

So now you've got your objectives. You'll be using them to target missions on the spaceline. What missions should you use?

NEXT TIME: Choosing Missions