Part 8 - The Shadows

The last of the three non-player "factions" are the Shadows.  We've noted in the last two columns that the Humans tend to gravitate toward influencing B5, while the Minbari are the Vorlon's natural allies.  The Shadows do not straight-jacket themselves quite so much.  The Centauri
have one advantage when employing them:  Growth in Chaos, a Centauri-specific Agenda.  Other than that, however, any race can make use of the Shadows.

In the premiere edition, the Shadows are far more versatile than their Vorlon counterparts.  This may change when the Shadow War expansion is released.  However, currently the Shadows are far more adept at the direct application of power to interfere with others.  This versatility comes at the cost of speed:  a Servants of Order/Kosh combo in Minbari hands will bring out Vorlon cards faster.  Growth in Chaos, if you are the Centauri, can give you a substantial discount on paying for Shadow cards.  However, most Shadow cards don't cost that much anyway.

So what cards do you use when you wish to call upon the Shadows? Sleeping Z'ha'dum is relatively cheap, almost impossible to lose, provides decent defensive capacities (+10 Military if you use Sortie or +25 if you use Planetary Defenses!), and gives Shadow Influence a substantial boost every time you play a card that provides or requires Shadow marks.  Z'ha'dum is well worth placing in your starting hand of four cards.

We talked about Morden a bit in Issue #5.  He requires that you have three Shadow marks before you sponsor him.  However, once you do he assures you will practically pay 0 for any Shadow cards, and can loan his 6 Intrigue to any conflict.  You can use Contact With Shadows to boost him up further, and can be promoted to your Inner Circle.

Contact With Shadows is the counterpart to Contact With Vorlons, and works in the same manner.  Similarly, What Do You Want? is the Shadow-equivalent of the Vorlon's Who Are You? and is similarly useful. If you use three of each of these, you can add six more Shadow Marks to your faction as well as boost the Shadow's influence.  Contact with Shadows is a little better, since it doesn't require your Ambassador to rotate.  It's also a Common rather than a Fixed cards, unlike Contact With Vorlons.

Precision Strike is one of two Shadow-oriented conflicts, and Intrigue- based.  It lets you both look at an opponent's hand and discard cards
from it.  The Centauri, masters of Intrigue, can make best use of it.

Shadow Assault, the second Shadow-oriented conflict, is Military-based. This is a substantially more useful card.  Not only can you try to
take a Location, using the Shadow's influence as additional Military support, but you can start a war using it.  There are only three ways to start a war (Declaration of War and War by Popular Decree are the other two), and Shadow Assault is the most reliable.  Of course, it requires that the race you want to start with has a Location and that you have a good chance of taking it.

This brings us to the Events.  Chaos Reigns has never stuck this writer as a very useful card unless both A) you've got a lot of Shadow marks and
B) you don't have many useful cards in your hand.  If you don't have useful cards, you should probably design your deck better.  Otherwise, you're probably not doing much better, and you might draw back some of the same cards you were trying to get rid of.

Conflicting Desires is good for getting rid of other players' Shadow marks. However, typically only one person calls upon the Shadows.  If you have games where multiple Shadow-users are a common occurrence, use Conflicting Desires.  Otherwise, don't waste space in your deck.

Confusion in Chaos, on the other hand, is a very useful card.  Get the supporting and opposing values where you want them, then end the round.
Great for use against folks who delay until later in the Action Round to make their move.

Forces Collide is, if anything, even more useful.  You can target anything from the Book of G'Quan to a Trade Pact enhancement with this Event.  Just make sure to use it carefully:  removing the Triluminary now might weaken the Minbari, but then you won't have what you need to deal with the Narn when they come knocking at your homeworld with Mass Drivers.

Knowledge of Shadows is useful if you are planning on an extended military campaign.  There are not currently that many cards that modify
Military or Leadership, but if you use them, use Knowledge of Shadows.

Shadow Strike is a bit more expensive than Forced Evolution.  However, it doesn't require the purging of Shadow marks, either.  It won't work
very well against the Minbari (if they use Fixed in Their Ways, and because they're fleets are expensive).  However, used defensively, Shadow Strike is a great way to selectively target those fleets that are bothering you.

Forced Evolution is the second Major Agenda of the premiere edition.. As well as transferring influence from your faction to the Shadows, you
can eliminate Fleets.  However, since this requires the purging of a Shadow mark, and you can't replace Shadow marks as readily as the Vorlons (due to Kosh), this can get a bit expensive.  You're better off relying on Shadow Strike to eliminate fleets as necessary, and save Forced Evolution for emergencies.

As should now be obvious, employing the Shadows typically means you're going to war.  Use Forced Evolution and Shadow Strike to eliminate opposing Fleets, Shadow Assault to start the war (assuming your target is using Locations), and go for it.  Use Knowledge of Shadows and possibly Growth in Chaos to supplement your Military and Leadership, and Forces Collide and Confusion in Chaos as necessary.  Feed the Shadow's influence, and go for a major victory with Forced Evolution.

Who should use the Shadows?  Probably not the Minbari, since Delenn starts with a Vorlon mark, making it difficult to start getting Shadow marks.  But of the other three races, all can be military-oriented under the right circumstances.  Morden and Precision Strike are Intrigue-based, meaning the Centauri can make better use of them.  And the Centauri have Growth in Chaos.  However, even the Humans and the Narn can employ the Shadows under the proper circumstances.

And of course, the Shadow War expansion may further swing the balance of power towards one or the other of the races.

What are the weaknesses of a Shadow-related strategy?  The Shadows are slower than the Vorlons, and the purging of Shadow marks can become expensive.  Maintain pressure on the Shadow-user so he has to purge his marks and thus lose access to the cards with Shadow-mark requirements. Take out Morden with Temptations or Crisis of Self.  Maintain a strong defense Fleet-wise.

The other weakness is the existence of the Vorlons.  If someone, typically the Minbari, are playing the Vorlons, it becomes much more difficult
to win through Forced Evolution.  If the Minbari go with a non-Vorlon strategy, though, it's unlikely you'll see anyone else take up the Vorlon
cause.  Use your military powers to thwart the Minbari by helping (typically) the Humans, build Shadow influence, and win on Forced Evolution.

One final thing to note:  employing the Shadows can actively hurt you. Urza Jaddo of the Centauri, a relatively powerful character, will penalize
you if you have Shadow marks.  However, he only costs you power. not influence. Keep him out of the Inner Circle and sacrifice him nobly when the time comes to make your move for a win. You might even surprise someone this way, as your power restores itself to pre-Urza levels and gives you the win.

Elric, despite his status as a Seeress, is somewhat over-priced and will abandon you quickly if you gain Shadow marks.  If you're the Centauri, use your other two Seeresses if you need them.  Otherwise, the only time you really want Elric is if you want to play Prophecy and are not a Centauri.

Next week:  Conflicts - Intrigue