Hi--am I correct in understanding that the base shields are totally random between 10 and 20?

If this is the case, I feel like it would be more interesting to have an upgrade feature where you could spend Np or drillers to upgrade the shields rather than it being a completely random thing.

I feel like this would be nice for a few reasons:
1) Removes a random component that can lead to map imbalance
2) Gives a resource dump when close to the cap (drillers) or to reduce aggro (Np)
3) Allows selective reinforcement of strategic locations
4) Gives another 'surprise' method to react to attacks when forecasting combat

the shields are random, but we assign them in such a way that they're fairly well distributed between players based on starting position. you'll never have a situation where you have mostly 10 shields and i have mostly 20 shields near our starting position.

the idea of spending NP to reduce agro is a good one, i think, and we're already working on it. as of the most recent release, you can buy an extra specialist hire for 20 Np. we might add more things you can do with Np over time. shield upgrade is an interesting idea.

I figured there was some distribution logic present, although there are still positional issues that probably make some significantly better than others depending on their proximity to factories, location regarding borders, etc. since the initial phase of the game defines a lot of the 'lay of the land'.

It still feels like it would be great to be able to say 'hey, there is this node between 3 factories that would be a great place to put a mine, I should upgrade the shields on it to make it more defensible.'

Right now, I feel like position is more important strategically than the extra shields but if you happen to luck into bonus shields in a great position it can be super-powerful of a freebie bonus right now.

I think the game needs the variance it has in order to stay fun. Removing it all makes everything fair and homogenized but also reduces the game to chess. We already have a game for that, it's called chess.

That said, you can just station drills at a location which in effect gives you more shields.

To the contrary, I would argue that adding the ability to upgrade shields as a reaction would be far less homogenized than having it be a static property of the node that is determined at game start time. Players could strategically upgrade as counters to attacks as well as fortify key strategic locations.