Introduction

The Droids are the mightiest military race at the Star Chamber. They can deploy uber ships then stack them with tons of offensive and defensive mods. They fear no one except maybe the splodacious Clave. They have free reign over the galaxy yet they still can succumb to an opponent who has overwhelming influence. Those pesky Human and sprouting Onions can entrench themselves at planets and multiply their influence in a blink of an eye. Mind races use their wimpy Infinity Drives to get close enough so that they can zap your few precious persona. Next thing you know, the mighty Droids have lost culturally, bah! What can be done about this atrocious dilemma? Declare War!

War is the key to ridding yourself of enemy influence. It allows you to bomb your opponent's cits to oblivion. It also allows you to deploy certain cards and use various abilities without getting a destiny penalty. With war you can rule the galaxy using your military and never have to worry about losing the influence battle. Here are some pointers in using war effectively.

First of all you need to decide on how best to declare war. The Androids have so many good options these days it's hard to choose one. So let's review each one so that you can make the best choice.

Ways to Declare War

1. Declaring War with the Power Play Vote: This is a great option for the Droids but it is very unreliable. The Androids are already weak influentially and political influence is no exception. There is no guarantee that you will win the vote so don't depend on this option.
2. Scapegoat: One of the two original cards for declaring war, Scapegoat requires that you sacrifice a friendly persona at the Star Chamber. Back in the day that was not so great but in todays game there are usually plenty of extra low tech cits waiting to die for the cause. The nice thing about Scapegoat is that's its relatively cheap (1C 2E) and allows you to draw two cards as a bonus.
3. Galactic War: GW is the other origins card that will allow you to plunge the galaxy into chaos. It cost 4E to deploy but has no requirements or adverse effects. Its simple yet effective.
4. Agents of War: War was sort of put on the back burner until the The Atok Incident was released. But with Agents of War, Droid war decks finally started becoming a glorious way of life. Agents help the Droids in two ways. First of all it declares war when it steps foot onto the Star Chamber and secondly it's a 1 influence voter. While an Agent of War is at the chamber, peace can't be brokered with the power play option. A +1 voter and a lock on war for a mere 4E! Sweet! AP's Combo: Agents of War + Express Shuttle = Deleted Expletive from your opponent.
5. Character Assassin: With Decent we got four new ways for the Androids to declare war! Character Assassin is a cross between Scapegoat and Agents of War. It's cost effective (1C 2E) and kills a persona like Scapegoat but it's a persona that must be brought to the chamber like Agents. The main difference is that it can potentially kill an enemy persona, hopefully an Archon Overseer, and it destroys itself in the process. Not too bad if you are lucky.
6. Daemon Nu (Dark Hammer): Nu is probably the sister of Ardent Executioner. Conquering and killing runs in the family and they are both good at it. Nu is an average leader who is unique and has a special ability of declaring war when she conquers a planet. She will also create a bomber if Strife is giving her a lift. When the galaxy is at war, you can ditch extra copies of Nu and get a bomber locally. The girl loves her bombers and for a cost of 2C 2E, her skills are amazing.
7. Let Slip the Dogs of War: This neat little (2C 2E) zap offers a couple of different options. You can use it to declare war and create a bomber at each friendly minor industrial with a flag. You will take a -2 destiny hit for each bomber but early game that should not be a problem. Later on if the galaxy is still at war you can do it again without penalty. Dogs of War can be a little tricky to play but its benefits can be huge.
8. Threat of Violence: Another little war zapper, Threat of Violence targets a planet, that is any planet. If the galaxy is at peace that planet creates no destiny and war is declared. Declaring war and denying your opponent destiny for only 4E is always a good thing. If you target a friendly planet with a flag, you also get a bomber, bonus! Wait! Did I tell you it also is a fortification card…oh yea!
9. Prevarication: The most recent addition of war provoking cards comes from Maelstrom. You place this mod on a ship, cough Smart Bomb cough, and when it gets destroyed you declare war. "What do you mean I sent a Smart Antimatter Bomb to blow up your fleet? That ship was on a diplomatic mission! You know this means war right?" He he.

Strategic Considerations

Now that we know the different ways to declare war, let's talk strategy.

It's not always as simple as just declaring war and then bombing the hell out of your opponent, it can be, but not always. Timing is often the key in declaring war. If you are not using Agents of War, you have to worry about your opponent brokering peace. Most often that is done by winning the Power Play.

With that in mind, you may not want to declare war right before the vote unless you will win that vote or you have and extra copy of the war card in hand. If, for example, you are using Threat of Violence and you only drew one, then it's probably a good idea to wait until after the vote. That usually gives you six turns of bombing goodness.

That leads us to another point. Peace. It is unusual for players to have peace brokering cards in hand but it happens. Therefore you should have multiple copies of war declaration cards and its probably a good idea to hold one of them especially if you are playing the Onions. This is not a problem versus entropy races but then again they can usually benefit from war themselves. Be wary in this situation, it is often not a good idea to declare war if your opponent is say, Android.

The other benefits of war are that it unlocks the potential of other cards that the Droids have access to. Obliteration Beam, for example, can be used at the Star Chamber while the galaxy is at war. Take that Clave boy! Cards like Planetary Bombardment and Neutron Bomb can be used without penalty. Asura Model becomes a +3 leader during war and OICOB is awesomely bombtastic. Oh yea, let's not forget about Orbital Gunboat. That beast becomes mobile and ready to conquer when war is a go!

To wrap it up, once you choose a method for war declaration, keep a few things in mind. Don't get too crazy with other bombing cards. Most often the bombers that you build will be enough and besides you want to leave room in your deck for mods to turn those bombers into offensive weapons. Also remember your timing. Declaring war too early or too late can make or break the game. Lastly, be aware of your opponent. You may not want to declare war at all depending on your adversary and some may sneek a peace card into their deck. Others races, especially the Hummies, may have lots of heroes for influence and you may need to take care of them some other way.

Remember folks, War is an Androids best friend. Happy bombing!