by JohnnyD144
Hi,My gaming group have played with Rho Indi a few times now and haven't seen an apparent weakness that compensates for their very strong built-in shields, +1 initiative on ships, extra interceptor, 4 move activation, 3:2 money-only trade ratio, receiving money for battles, 2 starting tech, and extra slot for victory points from battles. Not to mention, no traitor card. I'm almost to the point of banning this race in 2 player games, akin to Orion. Below, I list the advantages and just some ramblings on them as I've seen them come up.
Advantages:
Built-in Shield: This is essentially a free slot on all your ships. Natural gauss shields are fantastic against ancients, and essentially serve you well the whole game as players will inevitably get computers. As a plus, synergizes VERY well with an initial improved hull technology, akin to Orion obtaining an early improved hull.
+1 initiative: Your ships have a bonus to initiative, which is close to 1/2 a slot equivalent, if you consider nuclear drive or positron computer occupying one slot and providing 1 initiative.
4 move activation: This is HUGE. Saves you actions and further synergizes with your massive fleet built of smaller ships. This also detracts from the need to get a new drive.
3:2 money-only trade ratio: This gives you the most flexible economy of any race in the game, better than even humans 2:1 ratio. Yes, it's only for money but this is the most plentiful resources in the I and II hexes, which is where you're going to be/fighting anyway.
Money from battles: This synergizes well with the 3:2 ratio, and as a side benefit, can give you more actions in a heated turn with lots of battles. Provided you kill enough ships, you can finance a huge turn of building ships, moving, etc.
2 starting tech: This is actually really handy. Starting with starbases is fantastic as it allows early aggression and the ability to hold what you take with more defensible units, i.e. star bases w/ gauss shields, yes please. Not to mention, you start with a head start on the 2 tracks with the most war-themed tech's (top and middle).
Disadvantages:
Yes, 2 colony ships, no dreadnaughts, 0 point home system, and expensive ships are detriments, however, they don't seem to be enough.
2 colony ships: This limits your expansion and reduces your initial ability to explore, and colonize. This really isn't that bad, as you'll usually end up exploring I and II systems, hunting for ancients. Also, by killing ancients/other ships, you'll earn 1-2 money here and there, which compensates you for colonizing only 2 planets. Besides, you'll also only want to colonize a system if it has 2 available planets anyway, as single planet systems suck. Also, good usage of influence actions can overcome this but often isn't necessary.
No Dreadnaughts: This is almost a mute point, as you have 4 activation movement, so interceptors, cruisers are a fine alternative. This does seem to indicate a weaker end game, lacking the ability to pile on a ton of upgrades onto 1 ship.
0 point home system: Alright, I can see this hurting you in the long-run and in end-game scoring as essentially one of your discs provides you with no points, where everyone else starts with a 3 point bonus on you. I could see this being an indication that Rho is a great early-game race, that starts as an early powerhouse but given enough time, will slow down in the end-game with super-upgraded dreadnaughts making the scene and people having their homesystems worth +3 points compared to poor Rho. That being said, I think the extra slot for military victory comes close to compensating for this, perhaps 1 point shy of 3, but close.
Expensive ships: This encourages wise-allocation of resources, as your ships are more expensive. You can't lose them to skirmishes or ancients, as they're pricey to replace. This does make you vulnerable to a low materials start, but all races have this detriment, and having an extra starting interceptor compensates for this weakness very well, as 2 interceptors + 1 cruiser is enough to take out early ancients.
I guess I find the initial head-start that Rho gets to be a bit much, and their end-game is not so weak to eliminate them from contention. Maybe I'm wrong in this but, like most games, a good start can, and often does, snowball into a much better late position.
So, if Rho is a bit too strong in 2 player, how about in larger games, what's a good counter? Cheap, effective star bases perhaps? Mechenama comes to mind? High(er) initiative computer anti-matter ships? Any input on how people properly counter Rho in 2 player or 4+ games would be appreciated! Thanks!