Choosing your Leader

One of the most important decisions you will make during the game is picking your leader.  Your leader's assets and skills will directly affect your early game play.  Each leader has different strengths, skills, and bonuses that determine your strategy.

As I previously pointed out, you will not always get your ideal leader since the person who rolls the highest gets to pick his Leader first.  However, all of them have viable strategies that will allow you to maximize your profit as you traverse the Black.


Malcolm

• Skills: 2 Fight, 1 Negotiate
• Keywords:  Pilot, Soldier, Moral
• Perk:  When you complete a Crime Job, collect $500.

Malcolm is easily one of the easiest Captains to play if you are looking to get money quickly via Misbehaving Crime Jobs.  He has the Pilot keyword, so all he needs to find is a Mechanic and he is free to roam the Border Space without worrying about Reaver attacks.  Also, Crime Jobs make up a large majority of the higher paying jobs, which will only further increase his bankroll towards the end game.

His biggest downside is the Moral keyword.  This prevents him from doing a lot of Niska's work without taking a Disgruntled token.

From what I have found, the best strategy for Malcolm is to get a well-balanced crew with a wide variety of keywords (like Transport, Hacking Rig, Firearm, and Fancy Duds) and start doing crime missions for Patience and Badger.

Monty

• Skills: 2 Fight, 1 Tech
• Keywords: Mechanic, Soldier, Moral.
• Perk: When you complete a Smuggling Job, Collect $500.

Monty is very similar to Malcolm in many respects, with more of an emphasis on Tech than Negotiation. His Smuggling bonus will come in handy along with his Soldier / Mechanic keywords to provide additional Mission cash.

Monty needs a pilot in his crew in order to evade Reavers.  He can be played a lot like Malcolm except that Amnon Duul and Badger will provide the best jobs for him (if you want his bonus money).

Nandi

• Skills: 2 Negotiate, 1 Fight
• Keywords: Companion, Moral
• Perk: Can Hire crew at no cost

Nandi has several advantages that the other leaders do not have.  First, she is the only leader with the Companion keyword.  This is beneficial for mission bonuses and some Misbehave cards.  It is important to note this, because Companions are easily the rarest of crew that you will find in the 'Verse.

However, she lacks both the Pilot and Mechanic keywords, so she will need to find both in order to safely cross through Reaver space.  Nandi does not pay for crew (though she still must pay them upon completion of a mission) so finding more crew to replace the ones that you have lost or killed will not be a problem.

While she excels in Misbehaving and Crime Jobs, she will be slowed down by Immoral jobs, since it will require an action to remove her disgruntled token.


Corbin

• Skills: 2 Tech, 1 Negotiate
• Keywords:  Mechanic
• Perk: Can Buy Drive Cores and Ship Upgrades at half price.

Corbin is probably the one leader I have never seen get picked.  He lacks any fighting skill, has a single keyword, and his perk doesn't seem all that useful.  I have seen a number of games where players have gone the entire game without buying an upgrade for their ship.

However, Corbin's perk and skill points provide a massive advantage in two areas: Speed and Salvage.  Since all ship upgrades and engines are half price, he can quickly upgrade his Drive Core, grab an Onboard Chop Shop and Sky Hook, and start hiring Scrappers.  If you throw in a 4WD Mule, you will find your ship loaded to bursting with lots of precious bits o' shiny.

Never underestimate the game changing effect that Salvage Ops can have on a game.  Selling 4 Contraband to Niska will net you a cool $2800 without having to pay your crew.  Corbin makes it cheaper to set up an effective salvage operation.


 Burgess

• Skills:1 Fight, 1 Tech, 1 Negotiate
• Keywords: Fancy Duds
• Perk: When you complete a Shipping Job, load 1 cargo.

Aside from being the biggest douche in the 'Verse, Burgess is a decent leader.  He is the only Leader that has one of each skill test and he has Fancy Duds.  It's a shame that he doesn't have a another Key Word.

However, Burgess is another captain who excels at making profit off-the-books.  With his perk, he gains 1 cargo for every shipping job completed.  Those extra cargo will add up quickly over time, netting a cool $600 each from Amnon Duul. Burgess does not offer much else though.

Marco

• Skills: 2 Fight, 1 Tech
• Keywords:  Transport
• Perk: You may buy gear with Explosives or Firearm at half price.

With Marco having Transport from the start and a perk that lets his purchase Explosives and Firearms at half-price, Marco is probably one of the fastest Leaders to be able to start Misbehaving.  Marco needs to take a quick lead, especially against leaders that have cash bonuses to their missions.

If you have him as your leader, I highly recommend starting in Silverhold and getting geared up quickly.  The faster you can start doing crime jobs with Marco, the better off you will be.

Womack

• Skills:  2 Fight, 1 Negotiate
• Keywords:  Soldier
• Perk: When you complete an Immoral Job, Collect $500.

Womack, in my opinion, is the best leader to have if you intend to be working for Niska (and all of his high risk, high paying jobs).  He gets a bonus for Immoral Jobs, which Niska provides the lion's share in this game.

He is also not hampered by being a Moral character, so you do not have to worry about having your leader becoming disgruntled when doing Niska's work. Even in the early game, Womack can take advantage of Harken's immoral jobs to increase his pay days.

Also, having two Fight Skill and 1 Negotiate comes in extremely handy when misbehaving.  He does need a pilot and a mechanic though, in order to keep him safe out in Border Space.

Conclusion

Those are all of the leaders thus far.  It is rumored that in the next expansion Firefly: Pirates and Bounty Hunters, will have new leaders.  When that happens, I will make a new post detailing the new Leaders.

Stay Shiny!  Tune in for the next issue which will discuss Salvage Operations.

~ Captain Paddy Bardic