Nids

[maaksel]

Evolution of the hive mind - is this supposed to be for campaigns and refits?  Or are players just allowed to purchase 3-4 of these for hive ships 'on a whim' when making a fleet list?

[Gron]

That's up to you and your opponent to decide what is most fun. The general idea is that they are experience in campaigns, but can well be used in separate games. Hiveships can take up to three upgrades, cruisers up to two and escorts up to one. Note that some upgrades still counts as one despite being taken more than once (like extra spores and/or hitpoints)

[Zelnik]

What it means is, Ask your opponent if you can use them.  Considering that they cannot use them in one shot games, odds are they will say no (and lets face it, some of those upgrades can really render a hiveship nearly indestructible).

I suggest you learn how to play without them.