Budget Deck building for new players

[robotron]

One thing I think is a bit daunting for a new player after they have got to grips with the game mechanics is constructing a deck that isn't a broken, bloated mess. After browsing through the forums i found little in the way of guidance or starting points for decks. I would invite other kindly forumites to post the basis for decks here. My only rule is no more than one non-"starter rare" per deck as it is unlikely that new players will have access to these "super" cards right away, but feel free to advise on other rare cards to add. This is to provide a stable starting off point and allow individuals to tweak their decks as they get better cards

Here is my Budget Maski (Rare Card: Maskirovka). This is a hazy recollection of what i used to use so might not be quite right.

Doctrine (swap out Combined Arms for a Maskirovka if you get more)(Choose Maskirovka as the starting Doctrine)
2-3 Combined Arms
1 Maskirovka

Factories (add more weapon factories if your deck is much larger than 60)
3 Ammunition
5 Tank
8-10 Weapon

Planes (swap in Ilyushin Il-2 or other stronger planes if you have access to them)
0-5 Polikarpov I-16
0-5 Polikarpov Pu-2

Infantry (Swap in Calvary, as well as any other type of stronger infantry if you have any, but Cavalry is especially vital if you want to use this deck successfully!)
5 Infantry (Not essential, swap out for stronger infantry if you have them)
5 Militia (Do not underestimate the value of Milita, they are also vital! they are free so often lead your Maski Attack from turn 1 and are good for soaking up damage)
5 Cavalry
0-5 Maxim HMG (As many as you have)
5 Of your choice Tank Hunter, PTRD Tank Killers etc (add in whatever strong infantry you have here. For example Engineers, Partisans, SMG Infantry are all better choices)

Support
5-0 37mm AA (Perhaps swap these out as you get stronger support cards listed below, you do not want too many support and tanks compared to the number of infantry)
1-5 76mm ZiS-3 Gun (As many as you have)
2-5 Katyusha (As many as you have)
1-5 85mm Air Defence Gun (As many as you have)

Tanks (add maybe fewer T-34 or T-70 if you have some Cavalry)
1-5 IS-2 (As many as you have)
5 T-34
5 T-70


NOTE: Cavalry is of importance only when used with Combined Arms and is weak in a solely Maski Deck

As you play more games try and reduce the overall number of cards towards 60 to increase speed and efficiency by taking out any cards you dont feel work

I welcome other peoples comments and budget decks

[Dotto1979]

I appreciate your idea. Besides helping newby players, it's always a cool thing to build a deck around common cards.

I'll share mine, what I think is the best cheapest deck you can make. Actually, it's so cheap that you'll only need one rare, yes, only one rare card, to get it going really well and 20 uncommons. The drawback is that the rare card is from Hidden and Dangerous, but you can easily trade for it.
Of course, to make it competitive you'd need to put some effort to get some rares later.

That's the deck's base check list, with 55 cards:

Doctrines
1x No Quarters (HD rare)
2x Combined Arms (common)

Factories:
10x Weapon Factories
5x Tank Factories
2x Ammunition Factories

Infantry:
5x Cavalry (uncommon)
5x Infantry (common)
5x Maxim HMG (uncommon)

Support:
5x 37mm AA (common)
5x Fire Plan (uncommon)

Tank:
5x SU 76 (HD common)
5x KV-1 (uncommon)

Play style:
As you can see, the deck is built around No Quarters doctrines. As you rely only on combat damage, most of the cards are really cheap to get.
The idea is to put into play fast a lot of cards and keep attacking, from turn one, while you keep killing enemy defenders and defend your self with as few units as possible (as you lack units with kill ability).

The leap of the cat though is on SU-76, KV-1 and Fire Plan. Why each one? Fire plan will hit (kill) artillery and battle phase supports (hatyusha, Priests, Wespes, 105mm, etc.). KV-1 can absorve hits with its heavy armor and somewhat protect you when you attack with NQ, besides having a battle hit that in conjunction with Maxim HMG can do a very good job. And SU-76 can choose where to hit on close combat, most of the time garanteeing more than one kill per attack. Don't forget that SU-76 is a dual unit (support/tank), so you can attack with two of those or with another tank.

The deck still has 5 spots to be filled as you prefer. You can put some Militia or T-26, both commons, to make it faster, or some 85mm Air Defense Guns (starter rare), to help with 35mm AA against air doctrines and overall help on defense.

I wouldn't be surprised if you get some wins on tournaments or H2H.

[Telesma]

I have a few comments to the decks posted.

Robotron:

- Maskirovka works best around infantry doctrines as secondary but i guess this can do.
- So many tanks and only weapon factories?
- MGs are essential to every deck, Maskirovka included.
- Aside from cheap infantry, close phase killing infantry also deserve few spots.
- From my experience KV-1 works rather poorly with Maskirovka. T-34 and cheaper T-70 are better alternatives.

Dotto:

Why not use also some units that kill outright with NQ?
For example, if you stand against a defense with MG (as that is likely) KV-1 + Fire Plan + Infantry will do one kill. While IS-2 + Fire Plan + Infantry will do two kills (of course presuming that there is a support defending). It just makes no sense to me to rely just purely on damagers when you can do more with little extra firepower.

[MeinKrieg]

Easiest deck for newbie should come from Allied . The doctrine here is : Strat-bomb(1st edition rare) .70-card Deck content should be :

3xStrat-bomb doctrine/2xStrat-bomb+Harris the butcher .
Air-support/Steel Umbrella (to finish your opponent).
1xInterdirection
1xRunway cratering
1xStrafing .

2xAmmo Factory
10xAir Factory
8xWeapon Factory

5xFairey
5xWellington Vicker
5xP47
5xSpitFire
2xA31/2xSkytrain(starter rare)

5xMG
3xTrench
3xEngineer
4xparatrooper
5xAA gun
2x75 howitzer.

Unlike other air doctrines which need a specific target like tank or air-craft , this doctrine allow you to bomb mindlessly because everyone gotta have factory .I will be surprised if you don't win a promo for yourself on tournaments .

P/S : I love surprise .

[Dotto1979]

I have a few comments to the decks posted.
Dotto:

Why not use also some units that kill outright with NQ?
For example, if you stand against a defense with MG (as that is likely) KV-1 + Fire Plan + Infantry will do one kill. While IS-2 + Fire Plan + Infantry will do two kills (of course presuming that there is a support defending). It just makes no sense to me to rely just purely on damagers when you can do more with little extra firepower.

It's a possibility, might even work better, but it would make the deck a lot slower as it doesn't use many tank factories and the majority of cards use weapon ones. Also, KV-1 is also used to absorb a damage, so it will just stay idle sometimes on attack so he can take a hit and pin.
But the main reason was just to keep the deck as cheap as possible.

[Narfi]

for NQ, make sure to combine Fire plan with 122mm artys, incase he doesnt use support.

about the tanks, KV-1 is still 3 Tank Facs, personally i would rather use real cheap throwaway stuff or IS-2 for more kills.

[Dotto1979]

I think the deck loses at lot more don't aiming especificaly on support, as it is your main nemesis. And adding 122mm without taking out fire plan will unbalance the %. Maybe in place of some infantries, but that can be dangerous.
T-70 is a possibility in place of kv-1, will make it even cheaper. Just don't try using BT-5 as it doesn't work well.

[baruk]

Here's a cheap blitzkrieg deck comprised of commons and starter cards:


1 *** blitzkrieg doc
1 * combined arms doc

8 * weapon facs
8 * tank facs
8 * air facs
2 * ammo facs

5 * Stuka
2 * He-111

1 ** Engineer
5 * 81mm Granatwerfer
5 * Infanterie
5 * MG-34
2 * Kradschutzen

2 ** Panzergrenadier
5 * StuG IIIB
1 *** Tiger

In total: 61 cards

Notes:
- You have 26 factories in 61 cards, making you an industry powerhouse. Be prepared to sacrifice factories for infrastructure early and often (you can stop at 6 points!).
- You only have 8 tanks and 7 planes, so getting the perfect starting hand will not happen very often. You will usually start out on the back foot - once your industry gets going, the tables may rapidly turn in your favour as you find the units you need.

Low-cost additions:
** Panzergrenadiers - the more the better. They can replace infanterie, to give you a stronger base of armoured units alongside the trusty StuGs.
*** Tigers - perhaps add two more if you have them, to replace StuGs.
** Webelwinds - add up to 3 in place of the StuGs.
** 88mm Flak - add at most 2, in place of StuGs or 81mm Granatwerfer if you need to maintain your tank base.

[robotron]

Thanks for all your great budget decks, newer players have no excuses not to make casual games at least a bit competitive now.

Telesma thanks for your analysis of my deck, i've edited accordingly, can't believe i forgot to include Maxim HMG as it is quite readily available i just didn't want to assume which cards the player had and yes KV-1 is a bit weak. You're right about infantry probe too, and this is probably the way to go, the deck i made is biased by my own bad luck as i've been playing for a few weeks now and still only have 2 probes so again i didn't want to assume they had them.

Right off to make Baruk's Blitz deck and going to try and get my hands on No Quarters and some Strategic Bombing ASAP

[nachopontmercy]

Hi!Here is my first Massive attack deck. I designed it after asking for help in the forum(http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...ve-attack-deck). Although it has evident weaknesses, it was the first deck that allowed me to win matches and to understand the concept of deck balance, and I used is as the basis to develop ore advanced ones.

1 Deep Op
1 Masky
1 Massive attack
3 Attrition

10 Weapons Factory
10 Tank Factory

5 IL2

5 Cavalry
2 Engineer
4 Infantry
5 Militia
2 Partisans
3 SMG Infantry
1 Zhukov

4 BT5
4 IS2
4 T26
4 T70

[PatheticWretch]

Keep the ideas coming! Great stuff for beginners (like me!). Any thoughts on building an Axis Infantry Probe Deck?

[GoshoGogov]

Keep the ideas coming! Great stuff for beginners (like me!). Any thoughts on building an Axis Infantry Probe Deck?

Hard to pull it without SS and Stosstruppen,but still can be great.Here is somewhat good one:

60 card deck

4 Probe Doctrines (or 3+1 Inf Attack)

14 Weapon
3 Ammo

5 81mm Granatwerfer *
5 Engineers **
2 Infanterie *
2 Kradschutzen *
5 MG 34 *
5 Panzergrenadier **
4 Volksgrenadier **
2 20mm Flak *
5 88 Flak **
2 75mm PaK 40 (H&D)*
+
any two from this rares in that order:
SS-Panzergrenadier
Stosstruppen Doctrine
Wespe
Nebelwerfer

Some tips:
Good draw of first 10 cards must be 3 weapon factories.From here you can try to play aggressively:
1)deploy on field two 81mm Granatwerfer(to snipe if they try to defend) or one MG 34 and one Panzergrenadier.For attack to be really solid you must have 88Flak(or Wespe) in hand to play if opponent defend.So you can play unit in 2nd phase of the battle that is from reserve to soak opponent's damage.

2)You can play two inf cards that cost 5 weapon(2 MG34/81mm,1 engineer 1 MG34,1 Infanterie 1 88Flak,1 Panzergrenadier 1 MG34) and sacrifice right away 3 factories for 1 Infrastructure.

Try always to put damage on units that come from reserve no matter how good they are.

Try to play first the cheap units and leave the 88s,SS/Wespe/Nebel and in some cases Panzergrenadiers in hand to be played as reserve.

Try not to kill infantry units over support if you are short on them and don't have some in hand to play next turn.

Your goal is to put pressure early with 2nd doctrine so don't risk many battles on exchange if you don't have more inf than the opponent or if he is playing Probe too.

[Romdanzer]

This is a great thread guys! Excellent ideas and info! Finally a thread which considers the rarity of cards and just does not say "oh yeah to counter that threat / combo is no problem you just need the cards x, y and z and hey presto you win!" - while being completely oblivious to how rare and difficult these cards x,y and z are to get.

Fantastic help for beginners like me.

Romdanzer

[quicksabre]

Here is a super-budget allied deck I built recently, that has brought me some success in casual play. Obviously there are weaknesses here but the deck has a grand total of 0 rares and 0 H&D, and it is fast, fun, and reasonably effective. Also, most of the cards are starter cards so should be easy to get your hands on.

5x Combined Arms

17 Factories. Currently I'm using:
8x Weapon Factory
7x Tank Factory
2x Ammo Factory

24 infantry. Currently I'm using:
5x Infantry
5x 81mm mortar
5x Vickers mmg
5x Engineer
2x Armored Infantry (note, I'd cut into the tanks for more of these if I had them)
2x Paratroopers (mixed blessing - expensive infantry, but the free unpin makes for some cheap attacks)

14 Tanks. Currently I'm using:
5x Cruiser
5x Sherman
4x Stuart


This is a rush deck, so the point is to keep your enemy on the back foot by attacking early and often. Ideally you want to get 2 or 3 doctrines on the table and attack 2 to 3 times per turn. You WILL take losses, a lot of them. Usually it is a good idea to let your tanks take the hits. But if you can make attacks early before your opponent gets defenses on the table, and then, when they do get their cards on the table make more attacks than they can defend, you can win.

edit - question to more experienced players, would it be wise to ditch some tanks in exchange for more infantry (I only have mines, but at least they work as cannon fodder which I always need at some point), or maybe some 40mm AA?

[GoshoGogov]

Yes,I think is better to get rid of all Stuarts and put 3 more Arm Inf and maybe 2 Churchills or M10s.Just say when you can be in lobby and I'll give you all the cards that you need.

[M4j. Maniacal]

If you want an allied deck that isnt about planes and on the cheap side. Ive made a Meeting Engagment deck that uses mostly cheap cards. Against beginners it plays well and is quite fun but against thougher advanced decks it doesnt work the best. It would be a solid deck for players to familiarize themselves with the intricacies of the combat phase.

Doctines
1x Meeting Engagement
1x Combined Arms
1x Infantry Probe

Factories
3x Ammo
4x Tank
10x Weapon

Units
2x Armored Infantry*
4x Engineers*
4x Infantry
4x Paratrooper*
4x Vickers
2x 2pdr ATG
3x Bofors
3X 75 Pack Howitzer**
2x AT Mines
3x M10 TD***
4x Cruiser****
4x M3 Stuart****
1x Daimler AC^

* = If you lack the number of each type of the above infantry simply add 3-4 81mm Mortors and beyond that add up to 3 Mines.
** = The 75 pack Howitzers can be exchanged with a 1-2 more bofors, 1-2 105 Howitzers, or 1-2 C-47s.
*** = The M10 TDs can be exchanged with a 17 pounder and up to 2 M4 Shermans.
**** = Feel free, if you added some shermans to drop a M3 or Cruiser for another Sherman.
^ = If you have more Daimler ACs, add them!

Strat;
your job is to be fast. first turn attacks with Meeting Engagment are important but not vital. Damageing over killing is important since you cannot let your opponent build up units. Use the defending tank to your advantage, attack with and ATG or TD. Also Daimler AC is incredably powerful in this deck. I would have more but I only own one IRL and also the OPs restrictions mean that only one can be in the deck. The ACs damage tank is helpful vs multitype cards (especially Axis) plus if you attack with an M10 TD you can swap in any unit you want since the M10 is tank/support.

[enolc]

I've never had an Allied collection (or played Allies, for that matter), and I seriously don't have any Allied rares anymore (apart from a Skytrain and a few Fire Superiorities no one has bought in the last six months), so quicksabre's deck suggestion was kind of interesting, so I tried to make a similar deck out of what I had (Allied 1ed commons/uncommons; Allied HD commons). Well, it didn't turn out to be a complete disaster.

3x Meeting Engagement (thinking about swapping one of these for a CA)

2x Ammo Factory
7x Tank Factory
8x Weapon Factory

Infy
5x 81mm Mortar
4x Engineers
5x Infantry
1x Paratroopers
5x Vickers MMG

Support
2x 40mm Bofors AAA
2x 8-pounder ATG
3x M10 Tank Destroyer
2x Rolling Barrage (yes, you totally have to get these, the whole thing won't work at all without them)

Tanks
2x Churchill VII
2x Cruiser Tank
5x M4 Sherman
2x M3 Stewart
1x M4A1 Sherman 76

[Aernil]

Actually you really dont need Rolling Barrage for a decent Allied ME deck.
A attacking force of Prep Bombardement + MG/Engineer/Armored Inf/Browning + Churchill/Sherman is pretty decent.
Combine that with Trenches for defence and you have a pretty solid deck.

Im currently playing:
2 Me
2 Ammo Fac
9 Tank fac
10 Weapon Fac

5 Armored Inf
5 Engineer
4 Browning
1 Trench (should be more)
5 Vickers MMG
5 Prep Bombardement
5 Churchill
5 M4 Sherman
2 Firefly

Though adding 2-3 Daimler AC might be a good idea

[enolc]

Actually you really dont need Rolling Barrage for a decent Allied ME deck.

Do I need to wear elk antlers when I am not serious?

Also, no Allied HD uncommons and no Armoured Infantry, although Prep Bombardment isn't a bad idea.

[Rick25]

This is my comin Probe deck, I use right now. Since I don't play comin a lot, there is only common and uc in it. Still, I get really good result with it.

4x Infantry Probe (UC)

3x Ammo Factory
13x Weapon Factory

Inf
5x Guards Infantry (H&D Common)
5x Engineers (UC)
5x Militia (C)
5x Maxim HMG (UC)

Support
5x 120mm Mortar (UC)
5x 76mm ZiS-3 Gun (UC)
5x Fire Plan (UC)
5x Katyusha (UC)