Seconds Out: Alliance: Dominion War Campaign Part II

Tired of replaying the original Alliance missions over and over again?

In that time honoured tradition the wait is finally over as Alliance 2 has broken cover and brought the Klingon Empire into the Dominion War.

For anyone just dropping on here for the first time, Alliance is a sort of Attack Wing version 2.0. Utilising the same movement and combat systems as that Wizkids tabletop game, this version pits players against a common foe through co-operative play.

Featuring familiar Attack Wing ships, the initial box saw the Akira and Excelsior Classes under player command across four linked missions. These could either be played singularly or as part of a campaign in which players could gradually upgrade their ships and skills.

Alliance 2 continues in the same manner however this is very firmly an expansion to the original rather than a whole new pack so having either the Attack Wing Starter Set OR the original Alliance box is essential as the core pieces such as dice, damage cards and movement templates are not included.

The first Alliance introduced the AI feature onto the Jem'Hadar fighters, three of which were in that pack. This sequel now adds the Cardassian Galor Class to the Dominion ranks and the hefty Jem'Hadar Battle Cruiser for good measure.

Wizkids seem to have learnt quite a bit from that first box as well as their lengthy history with Attack Wing itself. Inside the box there are lots of new bits to enhance the Alliance experience and actually add to the original set.

For example, there are additional cards and manoeuvre dials so that the Jem'Hadar ships from box one can be played in Attack Wing as well as generic Dominion captains. There are also some card markers which can be pulled into use if you require the fighters in this expansion but don't have any or enough available (say if you only have the Attack Wing starter pack). This makes Alliance 2 super easy to get into as long as you have those core gaming elements.

As recognition to anyone who did get that first box and wants to continue using their Federation captains, there are a series of new upgrades for those craft in here too. That's a brilliant pay off for those that have intentionally played it all through ready for Alliance 2 to continue the story.

For those wanting a new challenge or are more of a Klingon persuasion, Wizkids has packed in two player ships here in the form of the Vor'Cha Cruiser and a Bird of Prey. Both are ratified with the new points scores introduced over the faction packs, offering more scope on upgrades.

Not to coin a rather cliched phrase but (sigh) this pack is the best of both worlds. It doesn't rely on just having Alliance 1 plus it actually realises some of the pitfalls of that first box and works to rectify them. Add in another four missions to the overall Dominion War campaign and you have a very well rounded pack.

But of course the cards are one of the biggest draws here. Alliance 2 adds in four for Federation captains; Co-ordinated Assault to transfer an Evade, Battle Station or Scan token to another ship at close range, Battle Plan adds a Battle Stations token to your ship if another allied craft is in close range. Extend Shields provides a friendly ship with a shield fix and Engineering Officer allows for an Action to be conducted even if there is an auxiliary power token in play. 

On top of those new upgrades, there are 24 cards to start building that Klingon Fleet. That's six Crew, five(1) new Elite Actions for the captains, five for Weapons and seven Tech. The Crew options do tend to revolve around the utilisation of either the Target Lock or Battle Stations tokens to bolster attack or defence with only Helmsman providing a spin on movement. 

In the Elite Actions Reckless Assault offers repeat usage for head on combat alone. Evasive Maneuvers awards an Evade for use of an Evade while Strafing Run is reliant on overlapping bases to inflict more undefended damage.

Glory to the Empire! acts as an alternative Target Lock to reroll attack or defence. Fight with Honor teases better odds in taking on equal sized or bigger opponents. Eye for an Eye is a real diamond in the pack with the chance to inflict critical damage if you yourself suffer likewise with no chance to defend it.

The Weapon upgrades offer a series of ways to target multiple enemies, improve rolled results and in the case of Converging Fire, allow other friendly Negh'Var or Vor'Cha Class ships the use of the host ship's Target Lock. 

Equally as good is a unique chance to Target Lock two different opponents with the four point Targeting Array. Secondary Cloaking Coil provides a chance to do repairs and cloak in the same beat although as a discard it's a one off. Reinforced Hull also offers a surprising upgrade to any ships with a hull value of four and above. Nor do any of the Tech upgrades have any real deficits or negative impacts so they would be features I'd choose to get onto my ship first.

But let's get it set right, this is a superb pack that offers so much to all players who have at least the ability to play at a base level. The option now to play as either Federation or Klingon will be wildly popular and the inclusion of two new ship classes under AI control opens up options for this and for straight Attack Wing single player scenarios. The cards themselves are top drawer with Helmsman seeming to be super popular. Thinking to add in Attack Wing cards was a bonus that pays dividends too.

News is that with Part III the Romulans will allow you to mix and match anything so you’ll be flying a Federation ship tooled up with anything you can select from any of the three packs.

A great addition if a long time coming and it’s not over yet!

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