Expanded: The Dominion in Ascendancy

Following on from a series of faction packs and the Borg Expansion, Ascendancy has introduced the Dominion to the board at long last.

Taking the game into the Gamma Quadrant, the Dominion War box provides not just another faction to the game but a whole new aspect to the Ascendancy experience.

At its core the new faction comes with the standard control panel as well as Jem'Hadar ships and fleet markers plus the usual array of tokens and space lines to ensure that there are enough to go around each and every player at the table.

But there's still more because the Dominion launches from the Gamma Quadrant on their Great Link base and can only access the Alpha Quadrant via the new Bajoran Wormhole playing piece which combines four elements into one. With this there are a series of new planets which can only be added to the game when exploring the Gamma Quadrant and cannot be utilised unless the Wormhole is in play. But even if you don't want to add in the Dominion there are rules to allow the addition of the Wormhole and the Gamma Quadrant for exploration and empirical expansion.

Also the Dominion can utilise Infiltrators. This is, personal opinion a damn cool addition. When you capture Bajor it also means you gain a Command Token for taking control of a space station as well as an established, independent civilisation. Bonus!

Allowing the Dominion to use two Command Tokens, up to five of these little annoyances can be spread out across the board. Their title also tells you al lot about their role, allowing them to provide false orders to rival factions which can in turn lead to some rather underhanded takeovers!

So if you want to use the Dominion in play, it's really as simple as that. Start them out in the Gamma Quadrant and then head off for, no pun intended, domination of the galaxy. But if you want something a little different - perhaps not as different as the Borg expansion - then delve a little deeper into the rule book.

Dividing a minimum of four players into two alliances, the game then allows both expansion and co-operation to reach that crucial Ascendancy level. Dominion players of course will start on the other side of the Wormhole and then connect to their ally from there. Notably though this also means that players start the game with their home system immediately connected to four other randomly selected planets from the Exploration deck. Homeworlds can be conquered although this in turn opens up the chance to act as a Resistance force with your own set of actions to try and destabilise your conquerors. 

Certainly a change from being ousted in the main game and then having to sit it out for hours and watch others take all your rewards.

The biggest issue for me comes in the fact that I'm going to need to have a game with at least three others to take full advantage of the Dominion War element to this pack and that incurs a game time of four hours minimum. Ascendancy is not a game to be taken lightly or as a quick win. This set absolutely cements that and it would be wise to ensure that you have the time to be able to invest in the game before considering adding this to the collection. I for one do like the additions it brings however I'm more likely to be unpacking the Borg for some solo play rather than heading into the Denoris Belt and heading for the Great Link. A shame but I have to be realistic on the limitations unless I manage to find another three willing associates who can sacrifice a Saturday or a Sunday.

The Dominion Expansion opens up the playing field to ensure that everyone can be involved for the duration of the game. I think one of the issues has been that conquered players in the past can be left doing nothing for hours and the Resistance element counters this nicely. There's not a ton of additional rules and it's a step up from the standard faction expansions that provide a homeworld and some new tokens. This feels like a full package and something that can stimulate the game in new directions. Indeed, when I heard it was coming it excited me that, unlike Attack Wing, Gale Force Nine have looked to change up elements of their base game and try to engage players in different ways. 

There are a lot of pluses to rule over the negative of needing multiple players although I can still utilise the Dominion, the Wormhole etc as part of that Borg expansion. In fact that's absolutely what I will be doing (literally dawns on me now) so all of the elements will get used to their fullest as best I can.

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