Neuroshima Hexed

Just played my first games of Neuroshima Hex using the excellent online interface at http://online.neuroshima.org/. It's a game I've been wanting to try for a while and though I had fun, I'm glad I didn't bite the bullet and buy or trade a copy. In fact I'm fairly surprised the game enjoys the level of popularity around here that it does.

There seems to be a really good balance between the random nature of drawing tiles and the unrandom nature of what you do with them: there's both strategy and tactics to enjoy here. That balance seems to me to be the heart of the appeal of the game. But the entirely deterministic nature of the tiles effects on one another means you spend every move trying to work out what's going to have what effect where before you can start placing tiles. It's worse when you have a battle and actually have to apply the effects.  Sorting it all out is rather tiresome and a pain in the arse. 

I also didn't much care for the largely abstract nature of the game. It's clearly a battle, yes, but where is the maneuver? The narrative?

I'd play it again if it was suggested or I were at a loose end, but I think there are many better games around. In particular it seems to frequently be compared to Nexus Ops in a favourable manner. Personally I'd rather play Nexus Ops any day of the week. Might that pairing be a good trashdome matchup?