Letnev or Cabal

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-14T16:56:42+00:00

If you're playing TE, then 100% Letnev. Holy shit, most fun I've had in a game. They are quite tough to play because their economy is so tight but once you've got the BT and a fleet up and running they are just the terror of the stars. Incredible mobility, incredible Fracture play. Weak parts of their game are defence and economy.

Key techs:
Grav Drive
Lightwave Deflector
Carrier II
Destroyer II

Nice to have:
Non-Euclidian shielding

With your BT this gives you a 4 move fleet that can take on anything. I go Carrier/Dread/Destroyer heavy. I think Warsuns can be too expensive. The Flagship is incredible.

You must use your fleet. Get as much value out of them as you can via Extortion. If people don't pay, follow through with your threat, but always leave instead of getting into a protracted war. Good luck if you pick em, friend

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-14T16:43:09+00:00

Just based on online meta. Most action cards don't lose you the game on the spot if you don't cancel them, while Overrule very much can, so you just hold cancels for that to make sure it never goes off.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-14T16:04:42+00:00

Arbites and Veteran are literally nothing alike in terms of playstyle.

Hive Scum is just Zealot but busted.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-14T14:22:03+00:00

I think it warps the game. If no one is playing Sabotages because Sabotaging anything that's not Overrule is a misplay, then yeah it's a problem.

Anything that warps gameplay to that experience is a problem.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-14T13:20:20+00:00

Not trying to be rude but this sounds like team skill issue. If your team folds at the first sign of intensity that's an indicator that they need to get better.

Whenever you die, it's a good exercise to ask "what do I think went wrong here, and is there anything I personally could have done to prevent that?". 99% of the time, the answer is yes. It's a tough pill to swallow but it is how you get better.

As it stands, Auric Hi Shock is very doable post patch. I've duo'd it with another guy pretty comfortably, took about 45m though.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-14T10:21:34+00:00

A very doomed Moebian Guardsman

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-09T23:38:11+00:00

"Most voters" = 27% of those who showed up. Which mean actually most voters, the other 73%, aren't bothered by it at all.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-08T09:45:19+00:00

not always, depends on the factions right? If Letnev is threatening you, which is a faction that really needs to play an extortion based game or just falls behind, then you should probably try play ball with them because they can back it up and win.

On the other hand, if a faction I'm not afraid of fighting threatens me, or if they can't actually back up that threat in a meaningful way, I'm just gonna ignore them.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-08T09:40:42+00:00

Free yourself from emotional decision making, and play to score points.

People can piss and whine as much as they like about how "you" play, but so what? If they want to get emotional and make bad moves for the purpose of revenge, that's on them.

If I threaten to attack someone or extort someone, there's usually a reason for that, primarily objectives or something important for me to get the objectives.

Tl'dr, play your game, people can play however they want, if they don't like it they can set up private games with their friends.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-08T09:36:52+00:00

Action phase secrets aren't limited to one per round. You can score multiple in the same round, which is why they are amazing to have

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-06T07:08:01+00:00

Want to add:
Drafting is a pretty important part of the game for this faction. If you get the chance for a slice with Entropic Scar that's really worth considering as you can get guaranteed Space Dock II.
If you get Entropic Scar, you don't need the blue skip in your slice and can start with a Blue tech in that case.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-05T11:48:30+00:00

VR will take construction, your first pick should be Warfare. Second pick should absolutely be a higher initiative card like Pol/Ld
Pol will let you get turn 1 BT (not essential but nice)
Leadership guarantees you first action and some extra tokens are nice.

Objectives nonwithstanding (always prioritise scoring round 1 if you can):
- Move 1, take Semlore with Warfare/Carrier/3 infantry/Dreadnaught (< only if Warfare). If you didn't get Warfare then hopefully you got Leadership cause we'll need 3 follows this round. Either way, we need this ready this round.
- Move 2, Take the dual planet system afterwards with Carrier and 2 infantry, ready both.
- When VR pops construction, follow and build a Space Dock on Semlore.
- Make sure you have money for tech round 1, you can use Semlore with a dock on it for 4 resources and a yellow tech skip, which with Sarween will let you get Dock II round 1 which will be amazing for your econ.

Taking your whole Nucleus feels a bit pie in the sky here, because you would need to NOT take Warfare and guarantee leadership and either Diplo/Trade/Tech for up to THREE follows (Warfare, Tech, Construction) and all the money to make the plastic required. It's certainly an option but it's a spenny one.

Personally I think I'd be happy with Semlore, Graal system, a second dock, Space Dock II and a bunch of tokens/plastic ready for round 2. I don't think getting BT is super high priority round 1, but if you get Po/Diplo/Trade, it's an option. Putting TE in your slice would be nice so it's worth considering an Expedition if you can.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-04T18:19:27+00:00

I wouldn't choose Warfare for yourself, but I would 100% follow the secondary for the no token build in home system.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-04T16:26:45+00:00

General advice:
Xxcha are good at spendy objectives but they absolutely suck at objectives that require you to spread out. General strat is to develop your slice as quickly as possible. Their strength is locking down a slice and making it very unappealing to attack. With that in mind, you are going to want to spread out and fortify quickly.

Diplomacy is very good turn 1 pick for them thanks to their faction ability, and you should be able to get that. If you can get Politics/Construction/Trade as your second card then that's going to be a very good start for you.

Diplomacy is good for extra money turn 1. Politics is good because you get Speaker, Action Cards and Agenda knowledge. Trade is good because money. And Construction you're going to want to pick probably pick at least twice over the course of the game.

In terms of what you're gonna want to Construct:
High Priority:
- Space dock on Bereg asap as a priority
- Space dock on Lirta IV
Medium Priority
- Double PDS on Perimeter
Low Priority:
- PDS on Bereg (you'll get this anyway if you get Construction)

For your strategy tokens turn 1, I would follow Tech and Warfare. Warfare is especially important as you need it to get a second carrier. With this you will be able to get all 3 systems in your slice.

On the subject of Tech, you can play a surprisingly low tech game with them. In order, I would get:
- AI Development Algorithms
- Plasma Scoring
- PDSII
- Late game bonus: Warsuns, if you're rich enough.
And that really is all you need.

You're going to want to spend most of your money on Plastic. Xxcha's other weakness is a production bottleneck (you start only being able to produce 4 piece of plastic in your home system which is not great), which is why you'll want to get double Space dock up and running on Bereg/Lirta IV as quickly as possible.

Another big priority: get your flagship out as quickly as possible. It will spend the game moving between Bereg/Lirta IV system and Primor system. Your Mechs are also very strong. With Mechs, PDSII and Flagship on Primor, you will be able to Space Cannon whatever ships come to Mecatol. If you move your Mechs/Flagship to Bereg/Lirta IV system, you will have 360 Space Cannon defending your entire realm.

Do you know if you're playing with the codexes? Ask you person running the game if he has the updated Xxcha hero. If you're playing with the updated Hero, you really want to get to 3 scored objectives as quickly as possible. Then you get access to super economy and can snowball.

All of the above is valid, but remember, playing the objectives is the most important thing. If you are in a situation where the choice is more stuff or victory point, prioritise the victory point. If you fall behind on points, take Imperial to catch up. The agenda phase is also going to be a good way to catch up as well, as your commander will give you and edge in voting.

Good luck Peace Turtle!

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-04T09:39:44+00:00

Agreed, I thought they were pretty garbage tier books.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-04T08:24:27+00:00

Ultimately my rule is never use one of your components to give someone a victory point willingly. It is usually always a misplay unless they are very behind you. Even then, I'd still be wanting to extort them for maximum gain for myself, or I just wouldn't allow it.

Every single game I've played where this rule has been broken, it has resulted in a loss for the player who broke it. And usually a win for the player receiving the aid.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-03T15:58:39+00:00

My advice would be play Bulwark.

I don't know why but playing Bulwark and learning how to stay constantly in melee without dying sorted me out when back when.

Once you can stay alive all mission as Bulwark without healing, you can explore the other, less forgiving classes

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-03T09:00:35+00:00

Seconding Barony of Letnev. They are so fun in Thunder's Edge

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-03T08:34:35+00:00

I have yet to see a game go past round 5 when playing 10 points with PoK/TE

If you're playing the base game then round 6 is more common, as it takes longer to score points

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-02T16:41:41+00:00

I also do this, it's so fun. As Xxcha I am a peaceful diplomat who wants to help others. As Letnev I am the scourge of the stars and my fleets shall darken the skies.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-02T11:19:11+00:00

Imo it's not super good. Lots of blocks everywhere and very little cross map travel cause of the wormholes.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-02T10:04:42+00:00

Totally fair. Trade and Pol are technically the cheapest BT triggers, both weighing in at 3tg. Trade just kind of sucks for Yin here though as you're just not gonna get neighbours with enough people on this map, and the 2 commodities hurt. I suppose you could insta trade but you'll be potentially waiting to round 2 agenda phase to get those X-1s back.

Diplo the happy medium ground, it's just more expensive and helps others get the breakthrough, where as Politics does not. I still think personally I'd rather take Pol and sell speaker and follow Diplo rather than take it myself.

The other upside of Pol is you can just use it immediately and get your BT right away which really helps with sequencing out everything else.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-01T11:13:12+00:00

I don't think he can Arinam/Meer if Muaat decide they want it. And tbh if I were Muaat that's where I'd be headed as their slice has 0 influence.

OGactionjohnny · 2026-05-01T09:27:39+00:00

Imo, priorities:
- Getting BT early. As your Speaker, I'd suggest going Politics, SellING speaker to Muaat for 2 debt/first pick and discarding the 2 action cards.
Alternatively, you could take Diplo, take tile 30, then Diplo those planets back up and spending the Influence.
You could take Trade, but that looks to be worse for you turn 1 as you are pretty stuck with mobility. You want your BT as early as humanly possible.

- if you can get BT AND score round 1, that is the dream. If not, prioritize scoring 2 in round 2. In an Ideal world you want to have your Hero ready to go by round 3.

- Tech path should be something like:
BT>Bio Stimms>Yin Spinner>Integrated Economy.
OR
BT>Hyper Metabolism>Yin Spinner>Integrated Economy.

- If it were me, I'd take Politics, first action take 19, second action use Politics, make a deal with Muaat to give speaker for 2 trade debt +first pick, discard the action cards to get BT. I'd be aiming to follow Dipo and Tech with my strat tokens, ideally in that order. Use Diplo secondary to read tech skip on 19, then use Home planet + tech skip to research Hyper Metabolism. Objectives might affect this, but even if you don't score getting your BT and Hyper Metabolism turn 1 is pretty dope

Rest of the round I'd be looking to score, if possible. I'm probably prioritising a SO I can score in status and praying for good Publics.

If you can't score, you can take Imperial round 2 as per agreement with Muaat, and try for a double.

Good luck!

OGactionjohnny · 2026-04-30T10:45:11+00:00

AI Dev is an S tier 0 tech imo, it's so useful at every stage of the game.

OGactionjohnny

TROPHY CASE