Fodder
Alert
Combat
Destroy
Type
Power to Overwhelm
Scraps Pods to Gain Might
As a leader, after contact, you may use this power to scrap any attack pods in your cache which have more might than your encounter pod and less might than your opponent’s encounter pod. Add the might of those scrapped pods to your fleet.
Legacy: During combat, each leader adds 1 might to their fleet for each pod in their cache.
A long time ago, the Fodder realized that big guns turned heads, so they dedicated themselves to making the biggest guns possible to intimidate their enemies. Unfortunately, they couldn’t produce big enough ammo to fire, so they adopted a habit of firing everything they could find into it, including those handy kitchen sinks.
Leader: Contact
Optional
Wild Flare
As a bystander, after contact, if you did not join either fleet, you may discharge this flare to commit a ship to a fleet you were invited to sponsor.
Bystander: Contact
Super Flare
When using your power, you may discharge this flare to scrap any attack pods equal or less than your encounter pod to add their might to your fleet.
Leader: Contact
Modifications
- Fodder’s legacy gives each leader one might for each pod in their cache, incentivizing aliens to gain large caches as Fodder enjoys doing. Aliens that specialize in stacking up massive caches like Glutton, Masochist, and Healer excel with this legacy. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Fodder benefits greatly from priming lower attack pods, as it increases the number of pods it can potentially use as fodder. Unlike most aliens, Fodder doesn’t need to play its strongest pods during serious encounters. It can save those to use as fodder for when the opponent uses strong pods.
- Fodder is most dangerous when it has a large cache of pods, as this grants it a wide array of tools at its disposal. When its cache is small, it becomes much less threatening.
- If Fodder and its opponent prime the same pod, Fodder cannot use its power. Predicting what pod Fodder will play is the key to countering it.
- The morph pod is the most effective counter to Fodder, as it guarantees Fodder cannot utilize its power.
Development Notes
- Thematically, I always tend to confuse Fodder and Reserve, as they both occupy this design space of “reinforcement” powers. Reserve’s power actually uses reinforcement pods, while Fodder simply adds pods to its might during the same phase. I perceive the difference to be like Fodder firing its pods as cannon fodder via a special cannon while Reserve calls in backup. The minor difference comes through with the distress pod feature, as distress pod values aren’t revealed until after Fodder has used its power.
- Fodder’s power reacts interestingly when opposed by aliens like Mirror and Crystal, which change the might of discharged attack pods. Fodder can potentially even use the 40 pod as fodder against these aliens, though the degree to which it can close the gap varies on how mighty the opposing pods get.