Holmegaard

Holmegaard

Ready...Aim...Fire!

Holmegaard is a piece of HB ICE that hasn't got much popularity recently, which is a bit sad, because this is not a bad ICE by any means. Let's compare it to its more popular cousin Ichi 1.0.

Pros:

5 strength is nothing to sneeze at compared to Ichi'1 4

Trace 4: No access is a fantastic subroutine compared to Ichi's Pitiful Trace 1

EDIT: Trace does stop Indexing, or other "instead of access" run events

Program trashing subroutines are always welcome

is not a bioroid, cannot be clicked through like Ichi can, will almost always punish a facecheck with a trash

Cons:

7 rez cost is a little steep

Program trash is limited to an ICEbreaker, which is marginal due to the fact that you always target icebreakers with trashing subs anyway, save for the occasional Magnum Opus

Overall I think this is a pretty good ICE that complements HB nicely.

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For anti-facecheck ice the 7 rez is rather hard. Runners tend to look at your bank account before running without a killer or AI. Ichi also has one more sub which means it's probably 1 more cred to break all subs, making up largely for the 1 lower strength. And because Holmegaard is not a bioroid it doesn't get any help from bioroid support cards and identity abilities like HB:ST (which is the new core HB ID). —
Just a quick note on the Indexing. According to UFAQ if the runner can't access they also can't replace that access with an "instead of access" ability. Therefore I'd say Holmegaard does indeed stop, for instance, Indexing. —
The Eater and Keyhole interaction would suggest that Holmegaard doesn't stop Indexing. —
It doesn't. Eater specifically allows you access a number of cards - that is 0 - instead of just making you unable to access anything, so that you can still use it to slam in replacement effects such as Indexing, Siphon or Keyhole. Holmegaard's subroutine flat-out prevents access, so no replacement effect can take place. You only get the successful run credit - which is relevant for things such as, say, Temujin or Emergency Shutdown, but you can't hit someone with an Indexing through that. —
Ah yes, you're right Gargulec. For some reason I thought the subroutine on Holmegaard was similar to the one on SYNC BRE, where the Runner accesses 1 less card. —
Populist Rally

Populist Rally

Bloo Moose, our favorite martian fortress, is the prefect place to hold your Populist Rally. If you are just a few creds short from breaking into that scary server and you smell a GFI on the horizon, play this and build up some more before you make a run. Also works deviously well with various Viruses, and also prevents Jeeves Model Bioroids shenanigans. Pretty good, I reckon.

1632
Good catch. Bloo Moose not only makes it playable (it is probably in almost every runner deck now) but it also refunds the play cost. Probably a good one of. —
Shannon Claire

Shannon Claire

As of Blood and Water, you can do many fun things with Shannon Claire.

  1. Whampoa Reclamation a Government Takeover onto the bottom of R&D, then once you have 2 Biotic Labor and a Red Planet Couriers draw and FA it for the win

  2. She becomes a mini Jackson Howard once he rotates

  3. Literally broken in NBN: Controlling the Message. As long as you can protect her and a Whampoa, (which is pretty easy to do), you gain infinite Archived Memories. I've BOOM!ed a runner through a 7 counter Jarogniew Mercs by playing it, protecting the two assets for one turn, and then BOOM!ing again.

  4. 0 cost asset for 3 trash is pure value

  5. Buries agendas rather than shuffling them

tl;dr: Shannon Claire is a great card.

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Elizabeth Mills

Elizabeth Mills

Scenario 1:

Ring Ring

"Mills here."

"Yes I'll be on the first flight out. Yes sir."

8 hour flight later

"Yes this must be the place."

"Alright boys, let 'er rip!"

"Yes ma'am"

Bloo Moose is now in rubble

Scenario 2:

Ring Ring

"Elizabeth."

"I'll be right there."

1 hour car trip later

"Okay boys, same deal as last time, knock it down here, here and..."

"Wait stop this is the house of God please no"

"Nothing personal"

Citadel Sanctuary is now in rubble

Scenario 3:

Ring Ring

"What is it now? I've got some college kids to evict."

"mhhm hmm."

"Okay."

"Yeah you'll see it on the news.**

*Later."

One DX5 Corporate Equipment Requisition Form Later

Ring Ring

"Oh hey Frank. Hey D. What's up."

"I'm doing great, thanks. Anyway, how would you and the gang like to participate in some incandescent structural alteration?

"What do you mean, "what does that mean?" didn't you graduate from Armed Thugs University?"

"Let me make this simple. It involves flamethrowers."

"Okay great. How soon can I get you on a plane to India? 1 ? Awesome I'll grab you plane right away."

End Result: Runner's house is in rubble. Runner is bloody chunks floating around in orbit

tl;dr: Don't mess with Mills

1632
Argus Security: Protection Guaranteed

Argus Security: Protection Guaranteed

Breaking News!

Notorious criminal Aaron Marrón has been placed in police custody after months of a crime spree ridden city. After a tense shootout this morning, NAPD Officer Micheal Boggs managed to tackle Aaron and place him under arrest. In other news, Old Hollywood celebrity and known political activist Film Critic has been takn under house arrest. Officials say pirating of simsensies is at an all time low as she cannot effectively continue her enterprises while under NAPD Watch.

The city of New Angeles can sleep easy tonight as Weyland Subsidiary Argus Security: Protection Guaranteed issued a statement today through their PR department.

"Citizens of SanSan, New Angeles, Heinlein, and Bradbury can rest easy knowing that our highly trained security operatives are cooperating with NAPD Officers and MCA officials to keep the streets clean and safe." -Elizabeth Mills

Argus security manager Chief Slee held a charity gala last night commemorating the lowest crime rate in over five years. The party raised over 3000 credits for the gentrification of the Underway slums.

This is Lily Lockwell, reporting live.

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Man I honestly cannot believe it took me almost a year and a half to read this. Awesome job, NP! —