In a combat game, you will likely have to abstain from the fray for a little while to build up what ever action cards needed to accomplish your action plan. As mentioned earlier, players with a tanky set up with a lot of armor/shield defenses don't worry about keeping distance. Other players prefer to move away from active combat and let others duke it out for a while. Either way, it may take time to save up enough cards to do what you need, so where you choose to place yourself on the map can make a huge difference.
Obstructions on the map can help quite a lot. Since obstructions block line of sight you can often hide behind these to make it more difficult to be targeted. There ways around this line of sight problem, of course, but that depends on how other players build their ships. There are many factors to account for here, and no one solution is a guarantee. It will be necessary to reassess the circumstances on the map each turn.
Another way to play with obstructions is mentioned in The Prospectus issue 2021A (the debut issue) where positioning is briefly touched on in the article "How to Really Play" (which you really should read if you haven't already). In that article you'll find this nugget:
Using terrain to one's advantage has proven a wise tactic over the years. Being able to deliver damage and then move behind an obstruction is a staple technique that has served many players well. "Oh, you had 3 attack cards waiting for me because you thought I'd still be in range? Too bad!" Unless your deck is designed so that moving around is of little value, maneuvering typically is a vital tactic many players find most helpful in keeping out of the fray. Without evasive tactics, the term sitting duck comes to mind. And that's entirely a matter of player choice
Avoiding damage obviously helps in both the short and long game, but how to go about that is largely up to you. A situation may provide an opportunity to eliminate an opponent while also exposing yourself to potential destruction. This potential can be handled wisely or recklessly. You're the captain of your ship and your decisions affect the game in one way or another.
Hand Management
There are a lot of resources in combat games. Counters, actions, time, cards, etc., all offer opportunities to do something. Being a combination of board game and customizable card game, Dog Fight: Starship Edition works more like Magic The Gathering or Yugioh! or Pokémon. You choose which cards comprise your deck and your deck is the lifeblood of your ship. So how you manage the cards in your hand is vital.
Unlike those other games, there is no automatic draw action in Dog Fight. Drawing cards is one of the game actions you can spend each tier. It's not uncommon for players to spend all their tier actions in a turn to do nothing but draw cards. When to play cards is a separate topic; for this article, let's spend a moment discussing hand management.
Newer players often play like they're trigger happy. It's very common to see newbies spend a lot of cards but not replenish those cards. Sometimes it works out, with the newbie defeating the opponent quickly. But sometimes the opponent survives, leaving the aggressive new player with few cards in hand - and in a tight spot. With a hand of only two or three cards you'll have few options available to you at the moment. This means you'll have to spend game actions (hence in-game time) drawing cards instead of playing them. With the tactical element of moving on a board, this can be quite precarious.
Being mindful of positioning on the board can affect more than one dynamic of game play, including hand management. If you're far away from combat you're not likely be attacked any time soon and that would be an ideal opportunity to draw cards. But if you're in the middle of the fray, having to draw cards because you have no other options, while your opponent(s) is ready to launch an assault, could prove fatal. Failing to keep your hand replenished could turn you into a sitting duck just as severely as poor maneuvering could. Not moving out of they way because you have no choice is no better than not moving out of the way because you chose to do that.
Another aspect of hand management is hording cards. With a maximum hand limit of ten cards at any time, drawing cards without playing any is most inefficient. If you draw too many, you'll have to immediately discard cards from hand until you have ten, so you'll ditch cards to the discard pile without using them. Taking time to draw cards and not use them is doubly wasteful. As with any customizable card game, this dynamic is an occasional hiccup but it can be mitigated. Deck design has a lot to do with this issue, as does play style. Be sure to get the free Deck Building Guide from our DriveThruRPG store.
Managing resources is as important as using them well. Learning how to do this can only happen with practice. Happy hunting, captain.
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