by allstar64
Whoshim wrote:
If you get it in the first third of the game, and you don't need the other two tiles desperately, then it is quite a good play tucked in the corner somewhere. It does open up a lot of options throughout the course of the game. I do agree with you though that it is not a super strong tile. Try playing some games where you play it early and see what you think then.
Basically this. Most unusual mods are mods of opportunity. If they happen to be useful when you get them you use them.
The Recon is instead a mod of Potential opportunity. You don't place it expecting to use it immediately but rather you place it on the off chance it will be useful at some point later in the game. As Whoshim said if you get it early than shove it in a useless corner where it will likely be overlooked cause like you said it is an easily over looked mod.
That being said you are right that it is usually inferior to OP's attacking units so if you draw it with 2 attacking units than you should probably chuck it. I usually place it when I draw it with an action or a Mod that isn't immediately useful since it can bestow its benefit no matter where on the board it is.
As for uses it basically turns all move plays into 2 plays so if you use it well once it basically pays back the action you spent placing it. When you draw your moves it greatly increases their functionality and there are times it can be amazing. OP naturally likes a lot of room to run around and if the board is empty there will be great opportunities open to you with it down. It is also great late game for running your HQ around the board as you dodge the opponents. An HQ that can move twice is a pain to hit.
There are actually 3 OP units that have mobility (2 copies of the runner) and just having 2 of these down with a recon opens up tons of possibilities when you have a battle tile. OP likes calling more battles than any other faction and the flexibility you have with 2 movement runners can open up tons of possibilities especially in board control (ie killing of the opponent's units).
Basically its just one of those things that won't always work and you'll not see super often but since it does something that nothing else in this game can mimic when you get it to work it really shines.