Does is worth to waste cards on space race???

[PawelK198604]

I wonder does is worth to waste card on this?

[Go_Rongor]

Wasting cards is never a good idea.
May they be worth to be invested in the space race? Maybe.
https://twilightstrategy.com/2012/03/12/general-strategy-the-space-race/

[davidvipac]

Space Race is the only way to abort enemy killer event cards and defcon suicide cards. If it were not enough Space Race gives Victory points and valuable advantages.

Of course wasting your own event cards or the enemy event cards that are not dangerous and have got high OPs is a bad idea.

[Kadota]

Originally posted by Rongor:

Wasting cards is never a good idea.
May they be worth to be invested in the space race? Maybe.
https://twilightstrategy.com/2012/03/12/general-strategy-the-space-race/

Thanks for that link, Rongor.

[Drakken]

Space race is your safety valve. It is the only action at your disposal that allows you to discard an opponent-starred card without triggering its effect.

[PawelK198604]

Originally posted by WingedIncubus:

Space race is your safety valve. It is the only action at your disposal that allows you to discard an opponent-starred card without triggering its effect.

So it was very much like in real Cold War, to show oppoent who is "bigger endowed" without risking real World War 3

[houseofjproductions]

Space race is very important especially during the 3rd and 7th turns(due to reshuffle if not playing with the special promos), 3rd turn is important because anything you space won't appear until just near the start of late war(one turn of mid before then), and turn 7 since there is a late war add is very important, you won't see any of those cards for good(but be careful as the USSR as star wars can wreck you)...

[RotorHed]

I think space race is a little undervalued - if you get to upper levels you'll be looking at your opponents headline card before selceting your own, discarding cards which aren't good for you and even taking an extra Action Round.

Against a human opponent, those advantages are pretty big so to neutralise them they'll have to progress space race themselves in order to cancel the effects - consuming cards from their hand too.

As the US - sucking the early war USSR in to the space race is a nice way of stalling them when they're strongest if you can convince them to follow....

So it would be too simple to say the space race is a wasted play - but as discussed the key with space race is putting the right cards there at the right time.

[vacopolycangus]

The space race is a mixed bag...aside from being a necessary escape hatch for defcon suicide cards or other otherwise unplayable events, it's a good source for VP's and a couple of nice benefits, namely seeing your opponent's headline if you make it that far.

The flip is side is that, outside of "skipped" action rounds, you can run into trouble if you zip too far up the space race track. It's just awful to be the Soviets and unable to space Grain Sales or Voice of America because you can only space 3 op cards. Additionally, after the headline benefit (or perhaps the 3vp space following it), the rewards aren't worth it. Discarding a card can be nice, but you are essentially discarding a card you would've otherwise sent to space. I've never seen anyone get to the final bonus where you can play 8 action rounds, but that is just not that good of a benefit (and sometimes the US gets that anyway with a play of North Sea Oil).

Last thing to remember...if you are the Soviets and the US is ahead in the space race, the card Star Wars is almost definitely a defcon suicide card (outside of being a brutalizing card to begin with).

[Drunk-Side Jedi]

Originally posted by RotorHed:

I think space race is a little undervalued - if you get to upper levels you'll be looking at your opponents headline card before selceting your own, discarding cards which aren't good for you and even taking an extra Action Round.

Yeah, it can be easy to get into the midset of only spacing when you absolutely have to, but if you have a card that's just going to lead to an empty action round (does damage, repair damage with the ops), and no other cards you want to space, then remember to space it instead of completely wasting the round.

Socialist Governments as the US is a great space card but it can easy to forget about since you can just go, "Alright I'll just let him take the influence out and repair the damage with the ops."

[Gimcrack]

Rush space as US, play scoring cards early at 0-0 VPs to buy time. Space as many bad soviet cards as you can while putting out fires around the globe. If the soviets follow you, consider calling off the rush by turn 5. If they don't follow, go all the way because those extra VPs are great.

Rushing space as USSR sucks ass because of Grain Sales to Soviets and Nixon Stealing the China Card.

[a.r.reijerink]

Depending on the state of the game, it can even be worth spacing good cards. This week I was well ahead on points and in the Space Race, but looking at losing points from the remaining score cards. I spaced two three point cards, some of which if played would have given me a point, for two turns until I hit the jackpot and scored 4 for the win. If we had gone to final scoring, it could have gone either way. Of course, this only worked because I had two really good hands in a row.