Review: Star Realms: Crisis - Bases and Battleships

Review of Bases and Battleships, Star Realms Expansion

Star Realms – Crisis: Bases and Battleships
Release: 2015

As I have already reviewed Star Realms before, I will not be going over the mechanics of the game. Instead I will look at the cards involved and examine them in detail as well as how they change the game.

 

The cards in the expansion

12 cards are acquired in this expansion, divided into 8 cards. These provide no new mechanics into the game, as some other expansions (such as heroes, events or gambits) do. This expansion is heavy on ships and light on bases. Another expansion, Fleets and Fortresses, provides more unique bases.

The cards included are:

Trade Raft (TF ship (2))
In itself not very special, but can be useful in certain circumstances. The ability to scrap it for another coin make this a sort of ‘throw-away’ card. If you have unspent trade (coin) at the end of your turn, you can buy this one.

Defense Bot (MC ship (2))
This card is good. It allows you to scrap and if you have enough bases, it becomes a strong attacker as well.

Fighter Base (SE base (2))
Another outpost, which is nice and it can force your opponent to discard a card. Not the first choice, but in a yellow (Star Empire) deck, this can be a part of a powerful combo.

Trade Wheel (Blob base (2))

It provides a single coin and if you have more Blobs, you gain attack points as well. It’s a nice addition and a good alternative to the Blob Wheel.

Imperial Trader (SE Ship (1))

An excellent ship, and basically an upgraded Survey Ship. It has decent attack skills.

Mega Mech (MC ship (1))

This one’s interesting, as it could provide unique mechanics. A base is returned to it’s owner’s hand. This provides interesting examples, when for instance combined with bases that allow people to draw cards. It can also be used to lift an opponent’s outpost and then allow a direct attack on them.

Construction Hauler (TF ship (1))

A ship that serves similar to the Freighter, but then for bases. The base that you acquire is directly put into play, serving as a nice way to build up defenses fast.

Obliterator (Blob ship (1))

A decent attacker that grows more powerful if you opponent has two or more bases.

How do these cards change the game?

This expansion can be added in it’s entirety to the base game. No cards need to be taken out, although of course this can be done according to the players wishes. As stated before, no new mechanics are implemented. Some reviewers describe it as ‘more of the same, but different’, which I can understand and partially agree with. Compared to the other expansions, it doesn’t provide radically new mechanics. However, it could serve as a way to turn one-sided battles. Overall, the shift is made towards a more base-heavy playstyle. This could also potentially make the game more defensive, considering how fast people can build bases. The three of the ships involved have abilities directly tied to how many bases you or your opponent has. Another card has abilities allowing the player to put bases immediately into play. In my personal experience, it seems to make the game slightly longer as people can put up more defenses. Of course, the tools to dismantle these defenses are also provided. Regardless, it’s great to have more variety in cards and they serve as a great expansion to the base game.