Siskoid's Rolodex...............2nd Edition (2)



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To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the 2nd Edition set.

#1723-Ari, Personnel, Cardassian, Cost: 2
-Cardassian; Honor, Officer, Programming, Transporters; Staff icon
-Dissident; When you play this personnel, if you have a Gul or Legate at this mission, this personnel's cost is -1.
"The Obsidian Order and the Central Command have been given too much power over our lives. We're going to change that."
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 6

PICTURE: More frontal than the 1E shot, it's also more lighted, and that light a little too diffuse. Somehow, it also makes the joint of his fake neck appear on his right side (to the left). I think he looks the part of the nice guy, mostly because of the lighter make-up, but otherwise, the headshot's nothing too great. A 2.7.

LORE: I like it. He's the prototypical Cardassian Dissident, and his quote is basically a manifesto for them. It even uses the pronoun "we". Good work: a 3.9.

TREK SENSE: No change in the regular skills from the earlier edition, and that did fairly well. The Honor is because he was willing to do very dangerous things to keep a "good man" safe (Legate Ghemor). We don't really know what his posting was, but the uniform puts him in the military, and Officer works well as the old fallback position (and he's no more than a Staffer). Programming and Transporters would have helped him get Kira off Cardassia, using transporters obviously, and probably altering the transport logs with his computer skills. But we get a little more than on the old card here. First, yes, he's definitely a Dissident (this was in the original's lore). The special skill would work like so: It makes him report to Legates and Guls more easily (at less Cost, or effort) because his position seems to be that of adjutant to the Central Command. Central Command is run by Guls and Legates, so any one of them might have requested Ari's (or one of his "clones'") services. In any case, a lot of reporting would happen at the homeworld where Central Command is. It does make dissidents more pervasive than the Order must think, since any Gul or Legate might have a dissident assistant. I like that the ability uses Cost to guide storytelling. If Ari assists Legates and Guls, then such a personnel must be present, or else it's a little unusual (higher Cost). Integrity flows with Honor, so it's above average. Cunning is average, and Strength a little more. Nothing stands out as wrong. I think he works out very well to a 4.6.

STOCKABILITY: No use yet for being a Dissident (Call to Arms has some, but they remain too sketchy to comment at this time; we just know Quark can add a dissident's skill to his own for now), but in the meantime, well, the non-unique Ari does bring 4 skills to the table. Officer is a dime a dozen, and Programming is fairly common, but Honor and Transporters are less so. Officer and Programming do turn up relatively often on Cardassian missions, but the other two also make appearances, especially the latter. Still, you want to be able to pass Honor dilemmas (all of which have non-Honor alternatives for now), and he's a universal source of the skill. His special ability isn't really one in a sense: it basically makes him cost less if a Gul or a Legate is present. There are a lot of Guls, so it shouldn't be a problem, but if you don't, then Ari is a Cost 2 personnel with only one more skill than the Cost 1 Cardassians. I guess we should be happy he doesn't come with the cost associated with other Dissidents, such as ship attribute drops or discards, all of which will be far less annoying when being a Dissident meant something. Here's to seeing it be resolved soon. For now, well, he's got good skills, and a way to make him cheap. No fabulous attributes, but none below 5. How about a 3.2?

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) In all areas but Picture, better than the original.

#1735-Armus Roulette, Dilemma, planet, Cost: 4
-Randomly select four personnel. Unless they have Cunning>22 or one of them has Cunning>7, your opponent chooses one of them to be killed, the the other three are stopped.
"Now tell me, how would you feel if you were the instrument of death for your leader?"

PICTURE: Lots of color in this one, with the amber sky and various uniforms. It's a bit difficult to see Data's phaser at this range, but it's nonetheless a fun (if grisly) moment to capture. My only real beef with the image is that Armus isn't black enough. Or isn't that the start of him on the right? A 3.6.

LORE: The lore asks a question, and in doing so actually poses a dilemma. Good, and an interesting title. I'm for a 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Four is the number of personnel in the pic, though of course, one of them does the killing, but Data could have shot himself. Ok, but the real Armus could probably have chosen anyone in any size crew. Instead, let's say that only the four personnel closest to Armus' puppet-du-jour are at risk from being shot, which may or may not include the puppet on any given day. High Cunning is a must to survive here, because that's how you outsmart Armus. You can either pool Cunning or have a single personnel have a stroke of genius. If not, Armus can go through with it, chooses a personnel and kills him or her. The other three are stopped as they jump to their dying friend's side. The danger level set at 4 is quite reasonable here. All pretty sensible, though you might say Armus is a pretty localized creature. If you don't want to believe Armus can exist all over the map, think of the dilemma as a type of situation where the characters are made to put each other in danger, play Russian roulette or whatever. A strong 4.4.

STOCKABILITY: With Cunning being at an average 5, you're gonna need, also on the average, at least 5 personnel to come up with the requisite Cunning 23 to pass this dilemma, but only four are selected! With 4 personnel, they need to have an average of 6 in Cunning to overcome the dilemma. Quite possible, though I think the Borg and maybe the Klingons are in trouble. Another way to pass it is with a Cunning 8+ personnel, and there are very few of those indeed. Cunning 8 or more personnel are usually genetically enhanced, androids or Borg Queens. Certainly, pooling Cunning will be the usual way to go, and there, it's something of a toss-up. If the dilemma hits, well it's YOUR selection for which of the 4 random selected personnel will die. Very useful for setting up your next dilemma, and you might have fewer resources to spend on it because Roulette costs 4, so make it surgical. Quite a good specific killer, it scores 4.3.

TOTAL: 16.1 (80.5%) They don't make them rare for nothing.

#1747-Arrest Order, Interrupt
-Capture; To play this interrupt, you must command a [Car] Security personnel equipped with a hand weapon at a non-headquarters mission.
-Order: Stop that personnel to randomly select an opponent's personnel present to place in your brig.
"Thank you for your cooperation."

PICTURE: From the same scene as Extradition, there's some blurring on the faces and an annoying bulkhead in the upper left hand corner, but I like it because it does a good job of representing the game text. There's the Cardassian security guard with his hand weapon, and though the card doesn't require 3 [Car] personnel, many cards do, and there's that exact number in the pic, linking to those other cards. The dark figures over the very bright background help to create jeopardy too. A 3.5.

LORE: Very brief, but it's got the virtue of being ironic in tone. Thanks for cooperating... at gunpoint! Dissonance between the polite message and the way it's delivered. A good 3.5 here too.

TREK SENSE: Arresting someone is a form of capture, I'll give them that, especially when it comes to the Cardassian justice system. Security is the skill used in police actions, and this being a Cardassian-themed card, a Cardassian Security personnel must be stopped (engages in an action, that of arresting someone) to make the collar. He or she needs a hand weapon as leverage. It's fine that you couldn't go arrest someone at someone else's homeworld, you don't have jurisdiction there, but what about Cardassia Prime? Seems silly that you could escape Cardassian justice by going to Cardassia (Damar and Kira's resistance movement aside). Also, why a random selection? The Security guard in question doesn't have a name on his Arrest Order? In 2E, the brig has reverted to a non-specific place. While this nebulosity makes capturing more conceptual, the fact that you're more likely to be playing a single affiliation, and that the interrupt is affiliation-specific, makes it easier to believe an off-screen ship brings the detainee to some location for whatever Punishment you have planned for them. It's not as good as having a "spaceline location" for the prison cell, but it's not as grating as it might've been. Fairly well done overall, I think it's safe to call it a 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: Cardassians have plenty of Capturing options, but this one's a no-cost interrupt. You need to have a Security personnel with a Hand Weapon (that would be the Cardassian Phaser Pistol for now) present at opposing personnel's location. I'd imagine this would usually be on a planet where dilemmas have stopped the crew. Once played, one personnel (sadly) randomly selected from the group is shuffled off to the brig for, what, card draws? (Awaiting Trial or Vast Resources) Points? (Labor Camp) Skills? (Psychological Pressure or Torture) Command of that personnel? (Condition Captive) Forcing discards? (Shared Delicacy) Various Cardassian personnel and ships also benefit from having captives. For many of these (except for skills and command), it doesn't really matter who you've got, so this random pick is an easy capture. Capture Events are more powerful, but they cost more. Well-Crafted Lure requires you to make discards to get the selected captive, which cannot be unique, though it doesn't require the Hand Weapon (and Law instead of Security). Arrest Order remains the better Capture interrupt, and like others of course, downloadable via Fresh Tactic as long as you have 3 Guls in play. Evek (Attaché to the DMZ) can also download a Capture card and has the requisite Security (but also Law). Quick and dirty, it gets a 3.8 here.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) Plenty to make capturing the accepted tool of the trade for Cardassians.

#1759-Assassin's Blade, Dilemma, space/planet, Cost: 3
-Unless you have 2 Security or Cunning>26, your opponent chooses a personnel (except an Android or a Shape-shifter) to be killed, then all your other personnel are stopped and this dilemma returns to its owner's dilemma pile.
"With most security systems able to detect energy-discharge weapons, the nefarious often turn to simpler solutions."

PICTURE: While it's a good close-up of a knife in someone's belly without it looking too gory, you have to wonder if a security personnel was the best choice to be a victim. Security is the requirement, and very rarely the target of an assassination attempt. Still, I got to hand it to the designers: the pic looks great. The colors are complimentary, the composition always leads your eye to the blade handle, and the hands are expressive in the absence of any faces. While I question how appropriate the choice of pic is, I have to admit to liking it. A 3.4.

LORE: Aww, no quote? I've gotten spoiled on them. I'm not that disappointed actually, since what's here is very well written, explaining why low-tech weapons would be used in the Star Trek universe, and doing it with a certain measure of flair. Another 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Well, it's very much like its 1E counterpart, isn't it? And both reviews of it (DS9 and Voyager) got very high marks. Basically, you've got an assassin who's looking to kill a specific personnel. You can either use Cunning to figure out the killer's identity before he or she strikes, or 2 Security to simply stop him or her just before the assassination (or as with Cunning, using investigation skills). Knives don't do much damage to androids or shape-shifters, so they cannot be targets of this attack. The more iffy aspect was that the dilemma stayed as a wall, but in 2E, the return to the dilemma pile merely means that the assassin wasnt't caught and could be employed again. All personnel are stopped because they must pick up the pieces, solve the crime, etc. What else has changed? Well, the Cunning requirement is a lot easier (from 37+ to 27+), but this is fair since the average 2E Cunning is lower than in 1E. The other thing is the Cost, or danger level. 3 is a good number for a killer. Nary a false step, so a very high 4.9.

STOCKABILITY: Good in that you kill a personnel of your choice and stop the whole crew (so make it someone who was going to help solve the mission on the next attempt). Not so good in that the requirements are pretty easy. The Cunning requirement would require on average 5 personnel, so if the crew facing it are 5 or more in number, I wouldn't plunk Assassin's Blade down. 2 Security is even easier to come up with, but leading with Kolaran Raiders, Trabe Grenade, Murder Investigation or Psycho-Kinetic Attack will certainly help, depending on how many points you have to spend on dilemmas. It's much pricier to pull this trick at a space mission, in other words. As far as these things go, I think it's a bit better than the similarly-priced Automated Weapons, but its requirements are way too easy, what with Security being 1) so important and 2) so common. A 2.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) Not too far from the 1E version.

#1771-Assassination Attempt, Dilemma, planet, Cost: 4, BC
-Randomly select two personnel. Each of those personnel who does not have Treachery is killed.
"As you know, time is of the essence."

PICTURE: Like I said for Assassination Plot, I think the two images are reversed in my opinion. The Plot should have shown this, with the Federation president in the crosshairs of persons unknown, while the Attempt should have shown the assassin himself taking a bead. Aside from that context however, Attempt has a great look, with Klingon on Federation violence more subtly shown than on other cards. Central composition, good contrast (though I would have liked the reds a bit redder), and Red Foreman as the Prez. 3.8 to begin with.

LORE: The line is all too vague and could be about any number of things. Dull, especially when there's so much room to get closer to the action. I distinctly remember a line going "They're going to attempt another assassination!" Couldn't that have been thrown in there? Sorry, but a 1.5.

TREK SENSE: Problems abound. First, Assassinations are quite premeditated, so any mention of random selection in these cases really doesn't float my boat. Further, I must wonder why 2 personnel are selected. Two? From "Assassination Plot", maybe. From "Assassination Attempt", not so much. Usually there's only one target, no? They can't even claim to the JFK/Oswald formula of the assassin being killed too because Treachery personnel cannot be killed by this. And I would expect an Assassin to have Treachery. Maybe a personnel tries to save the target and gets shot for his trouble, unless he's Treachery, in which case he wouldn't throw himself in front of a bullet. Yeah, ok. But why CAN'T you kill a Treachery personnel anyway? There are many examples of coups against unjust rulers, so the initial target could have Treachery. At this point, might as well mention how the word "Attempt" grates on me given that the dilemma has no requirements to overcome. It's not just an "Attempt" if it succeeds every time. When there are only Treachery personnel available, it just means there's noone to "attempt" on, they're all on your side (I guess). At least the "danger factor" of 4 is appropriate, though why you couldn't assassinate someone aboard a ship isn't. Remember the earlier, more successful, assassination of Gorkon? A very frustrating 1.2.
1E TREK SENSE: Pretty much the same, but without the danger factor element, which was one of the few things that worked. A 1 then.

STOCKABILITY: Costly, but fairly strong. It kills up to 2 personnel, and is only balanced by the random selection mechanic. See, if you get 2 Treachery personnel, you're doomed. That's 4 points spent for nothing. Treachery's a very good skill in 2E, one you can really build around, which severely curtails this dilemma's effectiveness. Against certain affiliations, it would be imprudent to play this baby. Against others, like the TNG Feds, it would more assuredly work. Leading with a Treachery-filtering dilemma can be key. Center of Attention, Forsaken, Inside Collaborators, Justice or Vengeance, Skullduggery, So Many Enemies, Temptation and Traitor Exposed are all good, but unfortunately, the best of the lot may be too pricey to be matched to Assassination Attempt's Cost of 4, Forsaken (Cost 6!) in particular. Having an Alien Gambling Device at the location could help too, especially when the target crew is more or less evenly divided between Treachery and non-Treachery personnel. A potential for 2 kills is great, the Treachery immunity isn't. Stands at about 3.4.
1E SEEDABILITY: More affiliations and Treachery being keyed mostly to certain affiliations' missions makes Assassination Attempt more likely to hit in 1E. Romulans, Cardassians, Ferengi, Mirror personnel and a couple of DQ affiliations are probably safe, but others are more at risk, especially since you can't necessarily build your deck around the Treachery skill. If the missions aren't there, there's not much in the way of incentives when it comes to verb card tricks or dilemmas. The potential for 2 kills increases, and for the Cardassians, having Elim at this location makes them your choice. Not only can you more easily avoid the Treachery clause, but you can take the best personnel right out of the Away Team. Oh, and the Cost of 4 means nothing here. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 9.9 (49.5%) Shares in Assassination Plot's lot.
1E TOTAL: 10.2 (51%) Not as balanced in 1E.

#1783-Assault Vessel, Ship, Bajoran, Cost: 5
-Janitza Class [3 Staff]
"Largest ship of the Bajoran Militia. The handful not captured and confiscated by the Cardassians were used to transport resistance cells during the Occupation."
-RANGE: 6, WEAPONS: 7, SHIELDS: 7

PICTURE: Just a few degrees more toward the back than its 1E counterpart, the Assault Vessel is less blurry, but is shown almost totally from the back. The glowing engines aren't bad, but the ship's so dark, you don't really get a good idea of what it looks like. Can't go above 1.5.

LORE: I'm glad they finally let Evan name Bajoran ship classes, and the "Janitza"-class is named after a range of mountains Keiko once explored on Bajor. It's the biggest Bajoran ship, so naming it after mountains is an excellent idea. The lore itself gives us an interesting answer as to how the Bajorans had all these ships immediately after the Occupation, though making the transported personnel refugees instead of resistance cells would have been a little more believable, no? Great at filling in the details not mentioned on the show, I give it high marks: 4.4.

TREK SENSE: The Bajorans have few ships, and those ships are old and disused. This is well represented here with their biggest ship costing as much as a Galor class, but having much lower attributes. When looking at the Bajoran fleet, you find that the Assault Vessel is as lumbering as most and at the top of what they had battle-wise. Three staffing icons are fine for this size ship, and no Command icon? Hey, the Bajorans had to make do without a cohesive power structure for a long time, so everyone had to learn everybody else's job just in case. Does an excellent job, though there are no real surprises. A 4.

STOCKABILITY: The Assault Vessel has the best attributes of the Bajoran fleet even if the Scout Vessel has better Range. In-region, that shouldn't even matter. That one extra point of Shields will cost you 1 extra point and 1 extra staffing though. Worth it? For the same price, you can have the easier-to-staff Kitara and its card manipulation ability. Of course, the Assault Vessel remains the leader in Shields between the two, and the Bajorans do have very little of that going around. There are many cards that temporarily boost ship attributes, and thankfully, the Bajorans are adept at retrieving them from the discard pile for reuse. Bottom line though, the Assault Vessel may be a little safer than other Bajoran ships, so for a mission solving strategy with few ships, it could be the way to go (it would usually remain staffed in those cases anyway). Reaches 3.1.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) Some impressive design in some spots, not so much in others.

#1796-Astrometrics Lab, Event, Cost: 1, BC
-Plays in your core.
-Order: Discard a card from hand to make your ship with your Astrometrics personnel aboard Range +2 until the end of this turn. You may do this only once each turn.
"Space. The great unknown. Only now, we're going to know it a little better."

PICTURE: A wide shot of Astrometrics on Voyager. You don't see the side consoles, but what's really important is the main viewscreen where all the good effects occur. Seven is at her post (the Doctor visits), and what's on the screen is the Hirogen communications network. For my money, the various Krenim Imperiums and their neighbors would have been more appropriate to the game text. Visually, the pic's more than a bit too dark, and the symmetry induces boredom. About 2.2.

LORE: Pretty fun, actually. It starts out sounding like the Star Trek pledge - you know: "Space, the final frontier..." - but what is ponderous becomes flippant with the last part. Wins my stamp of approval and a score of 3.9.

TREK SENSE: Playing in your core, this represents Astrometrics Lab technology, not a specific Lab. It's installed on all your ships. Basically allows your Astrometrics personnel (the one that should be stationed at the Lab) to boost your ship's Range by 2 each and every turn. Sensible enough, as we've seen that information gleaned both in Voyager's Astrometrics and the Enterprise's Stellar Cartography can help a ship make use of gravitational fields, local border customs, etc. to get to where it's going faster. The limit of once per turn falls apart when you have multiple ships. And the other functions of an Astrometrics Lab? Ignored. As for Cost: The low point value is fine since Voyager, with its low resources, was able to outfit the best Astrometrics Lab ever, and the discard represents effort expended by the Astrometrics personnel to run scans and determine the best course. Not stopping the Astrometrics is a slight flaw. A 4.
1E TREK SENSE: In 1E, you have an additional problem in that not all ships are big enough to hold a Lab. Furthermore, the requirement is a bit fuzzier, since Astrometrics may mean either Stellar Cartography (the most sensible) or Astrophysics (ok, but not as appropriate). Major Sense problems drop the card down to 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: Quite cheap, this Event's real cost is a discard every time you want to use it. Worth it? Well, it's no Inspiring Leader, but it may cover any of your ships in play, including the ones without matching commanders (as long as they have Astrometrics aboard). The Bajorans (and the Maquis too) are good at drawing from their discard piles anyway, if they must. Most ships have Range enough to get to any other mission, the worst case being going from a Span 4 to another Span 4. Right away, that's trouble for any Bajoran or Maquis ship. Klingon ships tend more toward Range 7 than 8, and the Romulans are pretty weak on Range too. And then there are those times when your Range has been affected by damage. Most of all though is when you need to fly to another quadrant. Astrometrics Lab basically nullifies the extra Span that entails. For strategies that thrive on battle, capturing and/or interfering with your opponent, you don't want to miss opportunities just because you were stuck in the wrong quadrant. More importantly, it's great for going back to your homeworld, picking up crew, and going to another location. Costs less than a transport ship. Not as powerful as, say, Quantum Slipstream, but steadier. It's there if you need it, the extra Range just a discard away. For some affiliations (Bajorans and Maquis seem to come up more often), it's excellent. For others, it may not be an imperative. A 3.7.
1E STOCKABILITY: First Edition offers many ways to boost ship attributes, and they don't usually require a sacrifice. Discarding to boost? And even if the requirement is less pointed (you can get either a Stellar Cartography or Astrophysics personnel to run the Lab), is this really better than a Plasmadyne Relay or Defiant Dedication Plaque? Not in the 1E environment, not really, even if card recycling is a broader ability. No cross-quadrant tricks either, though yes, you usually have to deal with a longer spaceline. But that's exactly why you need a cheaper and more stable source of RANGE in 1E. Not saying this is useless - it's still potentially covers all ships in play, etc. - but far from as worthwhile. Down to 1.7.

TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) Seven might be insulted, but it's good enough.
1E TOTAL: 11.4 (57%) Seven is definitely insulted now!

#1809-Authenticate Artifacts, Dilemma, planet, Cost: 2, BC
-Unless you have a personnel who has 2 Anthropology or a personnel who has 2 Archaeology, your opponent chooses an Anthropology or Archaeology personnel to be stopped. If your opponent cannot, all your personnel are stopped and this dilemma returns to its owner's dilemma pile.
"You can tell Baran that I'm working as fast as I can."

PICTURE: Likeable for a number of reasons, and not just because "Galen" is cool. The picture shows off the circular design of the door, matching the circular graphics on the Fortune's bridge. I hadn't realized the set designers had made that effort. Moreover, the set integrates extremely well with the card template thanks to a couple of horizontal beams (including one in the door) that have the same horizontal striping the image borders have. Quite a coup! You don't see the artifacts very well, but those silver rods doing the scanning add a good splash of light, and the composition is open and stable. A strong 4.

LORE: Simple enough, but it does introduce a couple of things that really do make this a dilemma. One is that time is of the essence, and the other is danger in the mention of Baran. Subtle, but it works. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: It's not necessarily explained why the Artifacts are important to the mission, but with this being a planet dilemma, there's no problem associated with finding said Artifacts. Whatever they represent to the mission, Authenticating them is key to continuing on. A personnel with 2 Archaeology is an expert at these things, and can Authenticate with a quick look. They've made Anthropology an equivalent here. Not sure I totally agree, but they are related skills, and a keen Anthropologist should be able to do the same work. If no expert is present, a personnel with either skill has to be stopped while he or she Authenticates the Artifacts. As per the lore, this takes a certain amount of time. That the personnel stopped is opponent's choice is an oddity that I can't explain. The victim should be able to "order" a personnel of their choice to be stopped. Now if there are no skilled personnel present, everyone is stopped. In 2E, a dillema isn't necessarily encountered again on the next attempt in such a case, so the full stop is used for regrouping. The crew has hit a dead end, and must figure out how to proceed without these Artifact clues. A "danger level" of 2 is sensible, since the dilemma is fairly innocuous, though time is a factor. A few bumps, but generally, this works well. A 3.8.
1E TREK SENSE: The only real difference here is that in 1E, dilemmas that stop you like this are walls with some staying power. In other words, there IS no other option open to the Away Team if they fail to Authenticate these Artifacts. Doesn't change the score. A minor point is that Artifacts are a card type in 1E, so the lack of any relationship to Artifacts seeded at this same mission is disappointing. That drops the score down to 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: To pass this dilemma entirely without losing anyone, you need either a double-Anthropologist or a double-Archaeologist. The former only includes Kamala at this time and the latter only Vash (at this point anyway). At least, both of Picard's girlfriends are Non-Aligned and can work with any non-Borg affiliation. Given the few choices available, there's a solid chance they won't be present when the dilemma hits (and it's easy to tell as you're making your combo). That said, chances are that at least one Archaeology OR Anthropology personnel WILL be present, thus not stopping the entire crew. So what you can most expect is a filtering out of one personnel with either skill. What's actually good about this is that it's your choice as dilemma player. Overall, filtering out an Anthropology personnel may help you stop the crew later down the line with other Anthropology dilemmas, but incredibly few Archaeology dilemmas make that option less interesting. Removing specific personnel who have the skill(s) is more intriguing however. A quick survey comes up with such luminaries as Benjamin Sisko in Emissary mode, skill horse Jadzia Dax, both Picards, The Sirah, Loyal Subject Weyoun, Great Warrior Kahless, and many more. The idea is to knock out as many skills and attributes as possible before the next dilemma or actual mission attempt. Authenticate Artifacts doesn't guarantee, but likely filters a personnel of your choice, so it gets to 3.6.
1E SEEDABILITY: Here, Anthropology x2 personnel include Chakotay (who can be NA) and the Hirogen Karon (both from the Delta Quadrant), while Archaeology x2 personnel are limited to Richard Galen and Vash, both all too much part of the Federation. Against non-Feds and non-DQ decks, this dilemma should at least score a filter - not to say it won't score even against those decks. Of course, the 2E Kamala and Vash ARE backwards-compatible. Dilemma combos are more controlable in 1E, but Anthropology dilemmas aren't too nasty to follow up with. Primitive Humanoids perhaps has the harshest, others might stand up as walls. And Archaeology dilemmas? They don't exist, unless you count Ar-Q-ologist seeded with Beware of Q. Authenticate Artifacts probably hits with the same odds as in 2E, but the simple filter will only work well if you have some good options to filter out (it IS your choice, after all). Similar, but due to the amount of killer dilemmas in 1E, less tempting at 3.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) An authentic effort.
1E TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) Less authentic, but still does well.

#1821-Automated Weapons, Dilemma, planet, Cost: 3, BC
-Unless you have 2 Security or a Hand Weapon, randomly select a personnel to be killed, then all your other personnel are stopped and this dilemma returns to its owner's dilemma pile.
"I am not sure that I remembered all of the codes for the security system. You should warn anyone going down there."

PICTURE: Like something lit with ultraviolet (or "black") light, it gets real fuzzy, real fast. Not to say that the huge set isn't impressive, but the colors really do make the pic blurrier than it ought to be. The tiny figure of Data isn't very dramatic either. Giving the effort a 2.4.

LORE: The quote from Paul Manheim mentions danger, but does open the door for 1E Trek Sense criticism, as you'll see. Otherwise, it's a competent effort at 3.

TREK SENSE: When the walls start firing at you, you better have a couple of specialists in Security to turn them off or evade them, or else a Hand Weapon to shoot or slash the zap-guns off their fixtures, or someone's bound to get killed. Or something like that. The random selection is very à propos since the Weapons don't really discriminate between bio-signatures here. All other personnel present run for cover and do not move forward. That all works. One 2E hiccup is that when a dilemma returns to its pile unpassed, it doesn't necessarily show up again on the next attempt. So where did the Automated Weapons go? How were they bypassed? As for the Danger Factor of 3, it's pretty standard for a dilemma that kills and stops. Overall, I'm going with a very good 3.8.
1E TREK SENSE: The criticism hinted at under Lore is that this dilemma would seem to be related to Computer Skill, and it just isn't so. See, Programming has a clearer function, but Computer Skill is not only vaguer, but is used on cards in more generic ways. A minor problem since security codes are better handled by Security, but I thought I'd mention it. In 2E, the dilemma remains under the mission (what we call a "wall"), so the 2E hiccup is just that, 2E. Oh, and I'm not too worried that this is the same concept as Security Precautions with different requirements/effects, because it isn't really. I see the Precautions more as the force fields anyway (no kills). A 4.

STOCKABILITY: Really not that hard to pass, so I wonder if it's worth the 3 Cost. As a former classification, Security can be found on a large crowd of personnel, but leading with Kolaran Raiders and/or Trabe Grenade (both cheap) might give you a chance to get a random kill and stop all other personnel. A Hand Weapon can also ruin your day, so Equipment Malfunction might also make a nice (and again, cheap) addition to that combo. The trick will be pulling all those cards for use at the same time. Not too tempting alone, but with the right combination, can be made more foolproof. A 3.6.
1E SEEDABILITY: Combos are more stable in 1E, but if you want Automated Weapons to hit, you're gonna have to load this combo with lots of cards. Targeting SECURITY shouldn't be much of a problem, with 2 SECURITY a very easy requirement. Even filtering out a SECURITY or two might still leave enough to pass it. And even if it doesn't, the requirement of a single Hand Weapon is only going to be trouble for the Borg, and Common Thief doesn't have the broad effect 2E's Equipment Malfunction does. It's one at a time. There are less risky ways to get a random kill (indeed, to get a specific kill or multiple kills), so a not-very-enthusiastic 2.7.

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) Reasonable if not spectacular.
1E TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) Way more than Security Precautions' 9.5.

#1833-Awaiting Trial, Event, Cost: 1, unique, BC
-Punishment; To play this event, you must command three [Car] personnel. Plays in your core. At the start of each of your turns, if you have a captive, you may draw a card.
"Here on Cardassia, all crimes are solved. All criminals are punished. All endings are happy. ... You're only one man, but your conviction will be a salutary experience for millions."

PICTURE: It's too bad the man Awaiting Trial is on the blurred side of this image, and the prep chair is on the focused side. Quite litreally, focus isn't on the right thing. This shot on the show was ominous and creepy, but without the moving (rack) focus in a still image, it loses a lot. Not entirely bad, of course, since the props and cold lighting on the in-focus side are excellent. A middling 3 should cover it.

LORE: A great speech about the Cardassian legal system, sublime Kafka-esque material. More about the outcome than "Awaiting" the Trial, but then, the outcome is decided while you wait! A strong 3.8.

TREK SENSE: Awaiting Trial is a Punishment because it's something that's done to or with captives. In this case, the Punishment is the demoralizing treatment you get in a Cardassian prison while you wait for your done-deal trial. Ok, but the card's effects aren't really a Punishment, they're a reward for your having those captives. A small terminology point, but there you go. Ok, ok, let's get to the game text proper. These kinds of Trials are definitely a Cardassian concept, so you need to be playing Cardassians to use it. The way to represent this is to require 3 Cardassians under your command, fine by me. While a captive sits in jail (no doubt with his or her sentence already decided upon), you get a card draw each turn. What does this mean? Well, it's a bit abstract, but it could most probably represent the boost in production your Cardassians exhibit when, with pride, they see the system truly working (as per the lore). Of course, the Trial should be proceeding apace, not be in "waiting" mode, for the people to feel this way. Perhaps it's enough to know the government is holding the bad guys. The unique icon is fine, since card draws shouldn't be cumulative: Cardassia is no doubt holding and prosecuting numerous captives at any given time. As for the Cost, it's very low. The Cardassian legal system seems to very efficient and structured, so the cost of processing prisoners, feeding them, etc. could indeed be low. Here's a 3.5.
1E TREK SENSE: Almost struggling to find a difference, but there is one. In 1E, it's possible to play this thing while your captives are in a non-Cardassian brig. That's because 1) brigs are at a physical location, and 2) 1E allows easier mixing of off-affiliation personnel (including through dual-affiliation personnel). A small point, but one that lowers the score to 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: The Cardassians are good at capturing, and indeed, there's lots they can do with their captives. The former is represented by Capture cards such as Political Leverage, Retaliation, Standard Cardassian Procedure, Taken Prisoner, Arrest Order and Well-Crafted Lure. The latter helps you do stuff with all those captives. A Treasure Beyond Comparison gets you a card draw when a captive enters the brig, but it's Awaiting Trial that does that every turn thereafter. And since the Cardassians' main weakness is the waste of cards, free card draws are important to them. When you're sick of the captive, Vast Resources can discard him or her for a number of card draws equal to his or her cost, but for cheapo personnel, you might as well keep feeding them. In any case, Awaiting Trial is unique, so if you have more than one captive, extras can be turned into Vast Resources without affecting your card draw each turn. Getting Awaiting Trial in play shouldn't be a big problem since Fresh Tactic can download it, as can playing Madred/Calculating Captor. Having Punishments in play also reduces the cost of your Nerots. And at Cost 1, it's cheap enough. A nice little workhorse worth its 4.
1E STOCKABILITY: Cardassians are good at capturing in 1E too, but it's not as imperative for them to do so, although using 2E backwards-compatible cards, you could build this aspect up a little. Awaiting Trial offers card draws to an affiliation that doesn't really have the aforementioned wastrel weakness, so they go from fairly necessary to a cool indulgence. The card can even be used by other affiliations if they have 3 Cardassian-icon personnel. I'm thinking of the Hirogen/Children of Light, or the Bajorans using Ziyal, Overseer Odo and Kira. Of course, there are card draw mechanisms that don't require you to work this hard (capturing and getting personnel out), but if played early enough, this becomes something of a Traveller: Transcendence. An even stronger at 4.4.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) I don't punish good cards.
1E TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) Close, but actually better.

#1845-B'amara, Personnel, Klingon, Cost: 2, BC
-Klingon; Biology, Honor, Medical, Physics, Programming; Staff icon
"It is common practice aboard Klingon vessels to carry only a small medical staff, as nearly all warriors are familiar with the basics of combat medicine."
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 6

PICTURE: Kind of an odd thing to say, but this is one unattractive Klingon woman. I'd even thought she'd been digitally put into focus, explaining the look, but no, the only effect here is a blurring of her background to take attention away from her buddy there. If you're curious, by the way, this was pulled from "Blaze of Glory", during the incident where Nog decides to tell Martok and his cronies that they are making too much noise (and standing in his spot on the Promenade). Aside from the unconvincing hairdo and make-up, the background is a bit confused. All works to get B'amara a 2.1.

LORE: Non-unique personnel in 2E really do get generic lore, which is a help, certainly, though sometimes a bit boring. The Klingon take on the uses of medical officers isn't too bad, though it seems a bit cliché by now to give the job to a female. She's like a latter-day Vekma. The info's worth 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Well, we know next to nothing about this character, but we do know she was stationed on DS9, so where's the icon? The Klingons have stayed out of that affiliation for now, but it's bound to happen, and then how will we explain her presence on the station? It does, however, mesh more with the "universal" type they wanted to make. Picture choice is obviously at fault. The lore hints at a few things which make an appearance in the skills. It tells us she's some kind of medic, and we do find Medical and Biology in there. It also says she serves aboard Klingon vessels, and I guess that Programming and Physics are from that. Justification's pretty thin, so that's gonna cost her. Staff icon's perfect, of course. Lastly, the lore says she's a warrior, thus Honor. Attributes are your usual averages for non-hero personnel. Integrity is a bit higher for being a Medical, and Strength too for being a Klingon warrior. As far as Cost goes, 2 is fine for someone with 5 skills. Overall, they tried to squeeze too much into her, but for what works, reaches 2.8.
1E TREK SENSE: On the upside, whether she has a DS9 icon or not is moot, and on the downside, she lacks a classification and has lower attributes than what was meant (though they're not necessarily wrong). Adjusted to a 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: 1- and 2-point personnel are cheap and have few frills, if any, but since the main way of winning a game is still mission solving, they are a cheap collection of exactly what you need to do that: skills. And B'amara has 5 of them. It's not a bad mix either, with Honor being always good in a Klingon deck (not just for missions, but to work with many special abilities), and then the rest combining Medical/Biology to the totally different Programming/Physics. Like she has two spheres of expertise. Attributes are very important in 2E, and hers are pretty average, but her low Cost makes up for it. Nothing wrong here, she'll fit well into most decks, weenie or not. A 3.5, all things considered.
1E STOCKABILITY: At the most, 1E universals manage 3 skills, and at 3 skills, they are actually less useful than 1- or 2-skill personnel who at least benefit from Assign cards. Now, B'amara has 4 skills in addition to what we might call a classification (though of course, she can't use Medical that way). As in 2E, the mix of skills is both interesting and useful, covering multiple bases at once. Attributes aren't too hot, but at least Lower Decks can help her out. Not much other than that skill list going for her, I actually evaluate her at 3.4 here.

TOTAL: 11.5 (57.5%) Unfocused pic and Trek Sense keeps her below average.
1E TOTAL: 11.5 (57.5%) Hey, pretty much the same.

#1857-B'Etor - Sister of Duras, Personnel, Klingon, Cost: 2, unique
-Klingon; Leadership, Physics, Science, 2 Treachery; Command icon
-Smuggler; When you play this personnel, if you command Lursa, you may download a Treachery personnel.
"... why be our enemy, when you can be our friend?"
-INTEGRITY: 2, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 6

PICTURE: TNG pics tend toward lower quality, and this one's no different. The slight blur may be due to the use of older video footage, I don't know. B'Etor's sweetly evil here, which suits her well. Background's a little uneven, and the card is generally dark. Mostly technical flaws, the choice isn't a bad one, so it does get to 3.1.

LORE: The subtitle is obvious enough, and the quote taps right into that evil sweetness I mentioned above. It answers such questions as: "Why would my Klingons work with her?" and "How does she get that Treachery personnel from the game text onboard?" A 3.6 here.

TREK SENSE: B'Etor commanded (with her sister) a ship and at one time, a whole Klingon House, so the Leadership and Command icon are obvious elements. Physics comes into play late, with DS9's "Past Prologue" in fact, where she may or may not have handled the explosives from that old chestnut of a mission, Acquire Illicit Explosives. One of the sisters must've known how to handle these, and they've chosen B'Etor. Science is the root skill of Physics in this case, and no more or less sensical than that skill. And then there's Treachery, doubled. B'Etor was bad enough to betray even the Empire, standing behind some kind of fake Honor. She helped spark a civil war, destroy the Enterprise-D, etc. I'm sold on both the double-Treachery and the very low Integrity. By her DS9 appearance, she'd become a Smuggler. As for her special ability, it may refer to some ability to attract Treacherous (NA) mercenaries and (Klingon) renegades to her service. Well, hers and her sister's, since Lursa must also be in play. Good enough. She seems to be a latter-day version, and I hope to see one more closely associated with the Civil War soon. The Cost is more for the mercenary in her anyway, since the head of a House should "cost" more. Still, if she's latter-day, where's her matching commander status on the Cha'Joh? To finish up, we have Cunning that's above average, since she never really came up with her schemes alone, and above average Strength, ok for a female Klingon warrior, I guess. Good, though it maybe takes a couple things for granted. 4 is enough.

STOCKABILITY: B'Etor's a pretty good Klingon, especially if you're not into Honor ;-). As a Treachery personnel, she can use No Peace in Our Time to initiate an engagement (and boost her Cunning while it's in play), and with her Leadership, reap the rewards of Ja'chuq when she wins that engagement. And with that 2 Treachery, she's very much able to help counter a number of dilemmas, including Inside Collaborators and Nausicaan Pirates. Since she's expected to be with her sister, AND is able to russle up more Treachery personnel, Treachery-based missions are naturals for her deck. Physics and Science, meanwhile, are excellent dilemma and mission solvers (in fact she's the best Treachery Science they have for passing Unscientific Method). She's a Smuggler that can use Smuggling Run, though the Klingons do have access to 3 others. Examining the special ability a little more closely, we see that her sister Lursa must be in play for the download to occur. And Lursa? She's got the same special ability, requiring B'Etor to be present instead. Basically, you need 2 personnel to download one personnel. It's not very efficient, but then again, the Sisters only cost 4 together, and they do have a good selection of skills. Perhaps other versions of Lursa will make this ability more interesting. The Treachery Klingons downloadable are a good bunch, usually with some special ability, but don't forget the large load of Non-Aligneds that can be added to that list. Attributes are a bit low, of course. She certainly fits into a Treachery strategy, and the Cost is about right for all that. A 3.4.

TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) Comparison with Lursa will have to wait for now.

#1869-Back-Flush Bussard Collectors, Event, Cost: 0
-To play this event, you must command a [Fed] Engineer personnel. Discard a card from hand to draw two cards. Destroy this event.
"Blowing that hydrogen exhaust through the Bussard collectors sure put on a nice light show."

PICTURE: Bah. Not the greatest of effects, even for TNG, with the Enterprise windows and background stars suffereing from motion blur, and the red wipe of the exhaust looking lame and pinkish. On the upside, the composition is dynamic and the close-up unusual. Won't go above 2.3 though.

LORE: The title is more mired in technobabble than the lore itself, which is unusual, but the "light show" references make up for it somewhat. How this relates to the game text is unknown, and I'll have to work at that in the next section. As is, there's enough energy in the lore to get 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Since every affiliation has one of these, Decipher's nicknamed them cycle cards. You know them well: They are all Cost 0 Events that allow an affiliation to discard a card from hand to draw 2 cards. Where they differ is in their exact personnel requirement. For the Feds (and I think there's cause to put TNG, DS9 and Maquis personnel all under the same effect), it's an Engineer. Indeed, the "famed" Starfleet Engineers are always ready to pull a little magic, turning one thing (the discard) into an even greater thing (2 cards). Mechanical wizardry is how the Feds often respond to a problem, making heroes of Scotty, Laforge, O'Brien, B'Elanna and Trip. That's what I guess cyclers are, moments of inspiration where Cost drops to zero, and one resource is turned into two. Yes, mechanical and conceptual, but with some basis in fact. And while I know there's resistance to the idea of giving each affiliation its own version of the very same effect (to seemingly pad an expansion), I do appreciate that different affiliations get their own way of doing it. Which brings us back to the choice of picture and title. It's an Engineering trick, which indeed turns innocuous exhaust into an impressive light show. Works for me. Due to its conceptual nature, can't go very high, but a well done 2 is appropriate.

STOCKABILITY: Card draws have an intrinsic Cost of 1. Cycle cards, then, offer a sale of sorts. Or does it? You paid 1 point to draw Back-Flush, you paid 1 point for the card in hand you have to discard... So you're still paying 2 points for the card draws. Not a real sale then. It's rather a deck manipulation card that allows you to get rid of an unwanted card from hand to draw 2 new ones during the card play phase, i.e. in time to actually play those cards. The Feds are high on Engineers, so the requirement should be easy enough to have in play. So where do cyclers stand? Not the bargains they first appear to be, they can be a quicker way to get deeper into your deck. Yet, copies of Back-Flush essentially create dead weight in your hand. Let's set the standard at 3.

TOTAL: 10.5 (52.5%) That's what you get with overly mechanical effects.

#1881-BaH!, Event, Cost: 2, BC
-Maneuver; Plays in your core.
-Order: Destroy this event to begin an engagement involving your [Kli] ship. That ship is Weapons +1. If you win, score 10 points.
"In war, there is nothing more honorable than victory."

PICTURE: A very dynamic shot of a torpedo hitting the Enterprise's shields toward the end of Generations, as shot from the Sisters' bird-of-prey. Hey, great effects, great perspective, lots of action... a strong 4.5.

LORE: The title means "Fire!" in Klingon (and was the working title for the Blaze of Glory expansion) and the quote is from Worf in "Way of the Warrior". A good one too, especially to explain why the Sisters of Duras (from the pic) can do what they do (or any evil Klingon for that matter). Another strong score, this time 4.3.

TREK SENSE: A permission slip for space battles (and as such, a Maneuver), it works fine, I think. All you need is a Klingon ship, as battle is pretty much their reason for existing. Being called "BaH!", it's meant to be a full-on offensive attack, so the boost to Weapons is quite relevant. And as Worf tells us in the lore, victory in and of itself is an honorable goal. And where there's a goal, there may be points. It all clicks. If there are no real (read: tangible) consequences to winning the battle, such as casualties or damage, well, see it as beating the enemy into submission with no lasting losses for the ship or its crew. So I think a Cost of 2 is fair given all that. Not like it's much of an effort for Klingons anyway. An excellent 4.5.
1E TREK SENSE: In 1E, no need for permission to do battle, so Bah! becomes a battle GOAL. In this case, there may be damage and even casualties (in the event of a Battle-Bridge side-deck), so it's even better (or more complete, let's say). And I happen to agree that Klingons don't always need a leader. Reaches 4.6.

STOCKABILITY: The is the cheapest Maneuver the Klingons have specifically, and it's really good as a round-the-corner strategy. The 10 points are pretty easily gotten, in fact, with the help of the card's Weapons boost. Want to do a little more damage? Use Ferocity to get an extra casualty from the victory. Now, at the same cost, the more generic Pierce Their Defenses, Precise Attack and Point Blank Strike (the 3 Ps) get you a much greater Weapons boost, but all they do is damage, no points. With enough Officers in play, you can use Coordinated Attack to get this card in play in the first place. Kargan can also download it as he reports if you so wish. And it may be tipping your hand to leave BaH! on the table for your opponents to see, but while it's there, it does boost Klingon attributes: Larg's of course, but also Klingons present with Martok/Leader of Destiny during dilemma encounters. Only 3 copies allowed, which is why there are so many other similar permission slips for your Klingons, but this is the cheapest for getting points. Again, a strong showing at 4.3.
1E STOCKABILITY: Again, 1E doesn't need a permission slip, though this does allow a battle to play out with a leader present (as if that were ever an issue with the Klingons), but you have to see this as an extra effect to winning a battle. Well, not just winning a battle, but just participating thanks to the WEAPONS boost. It's not a big one, but every little bit helps. Now after you win, you'll do damage, possibly drop a couple of damage markers which may hold casualties or other effects, and in addition to all that, you win 10 points! A good way to supplement your Klingon score, and it's actually possible to use more than 3 copies of BaH! in a 1E deck, so you can get more than 30 points from them. Worth it, and worth the same 4.3.

TOTAL: 17.6 (88%) Shooting for the stars!
1E TOTAL: 17.7 (88.5%) No humbug here!

#1893-Bajor - Gift of the Prophets, Mission, HQ, Alpha Quadrant, unique
-You may play [Baj] cards, [NA] cards, and equipment at this mission.
-Region: Bajor System.
*Bajor: "We're on the verge of a new era. The Occupation is over, we've achieved pace with Cardassia, Federation membership is only a few years away - this is an exciting time to be a Bajoran."
-Bajoran Headquarters; Span: 2

PICTURE: Bajor's a very pretty planet, bruised or not, and it looks idyllic here. I really like how we're positioned so that it looks like a new day is dawning on the world... just as the lore promises. A very good 4.5.

LORE: An evocative subtitle is followed by a quote that actually makes you want to play the Bajorans ("an exciting time to be a Bajoran!"). Great stuff about Bajor coming into its own. Another strong 4.5.

TREK SENSE: Headquarters missions are usually pretty straightforward. I mean, they allow for the reporting of its root affiliation (the Bajorans) and their equipment, which is all fair enough. Since NAs are support for any affiliation, it makes sense they would report here too. Sense in the game, at least, even if most HQs are not usually where we see the most NA aliens (similarly, some equipment may make less sense depending on the affiliation). The Span will usually be kept short, as if the HQ is pretty much in the middle of the affiliation's sphere of influence. The Region wasn't overlooked, of course. Now, there may be things you don't agree with as far as the card type goes, such as how these homeworlds benefit from protection from attacks, and how there seems to be nothing to accomplish here, ever. This is more about the core of the game than the card itself, but nonetheless has an impact. Bajor is as good as any HQ, but the card type's limitations do restrict it to a 3.5.

SEEDABILITY: How do you rate an HQ when it's absolutely necessary to play an affiliation? I mean, shouldn't they all get 5s? Well, that's up for debate. Bajor, for example, isn't the only way to play Bajorans, since many of them report to Deep Space 9 or Terok Nor (and one to Athos IV). Bajor does allow for more varied Bajorans to report, including the DS9, Terok Nor and Maquis ones. Its location in the Bajor System means its slow ships won't have as far to go to attempt Acquire Illicit Explosives and future missions in this Region. Of course, all of that is true of either Mouth of the Wormhole HQ, so there's no decisive advantage to using Bajor over the shorter-spanned DS9/Terok Nor per se. If you want to use all Bajorans however, especially if focusing on Bajoran-related verb cards, you'll need the wider range of personnel the planet offers. HQs are necessary evils, though Bajor does give the Bajorans a small boost, even if it's not the only spawning ground for them. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 16.6 (83%) Expect all Headquarters to do well.

#1905-Bajoran Gratitute Festival, Event, Cost: 1
-To play this event, you must command three [Baj] personnel. Remove up to four cards in your discard pile from the game, then draw an equal number of cards. Destroy this event.
"As the scrolls burn, may our troubles turn to ashes with them."

PICTURE: I remain unconvinced. Kira's pretty enough with her renewal scroll, the fire below her dancing its light softly, but the angle makes her head slightly disembodied, the background is empty, and the scene seems too intimate for a Festival. Overall, more a miss than a hit at 2.5.

LORE: The key to the game text resides in this short prayer, which is what we hope for with mechanics-heavy cards. That said, I give it a 3.5.

TREK SENSE: As it turns out, though it may seem very mechanical, it really works for me. First, this is a Bajoran tradition, so the requirement for three Bajoran personnel makes sense. After all, you need enough of them that they can hold a celebration. An annual event, you celebrate it de facto, no questions asked, like we do Christmas. That explains the low Cost, but it does introduce one problem area: In the game, you could play it many times - it wouldn't be annual anymore. The mechanics of it are well rooted into the real world however. If the discard pile represents things past, and the cards you wouldn't need anymore could be seen as "troubles" (especially since the Bajoran rely so much on their discard pile). With the help of the Festival, you can put those troubles behind you, i.e. never think of them again, i.e place them out of play. Pretty elegant. For every trouble you leave behind, you are spiritually boosted toward new options, here showing up as card draws. Yes, it's mechanical, and yes it's conceptual, but I think it transcends that nicely. A 4.

STOCKABILITY: The Bajorans are adept at manipulating their discard pile, and so it is very important to them. Often, effects will be cued to what's in the discard pile, but the Festival's removing of cards doesn't help you there. You need to keep those cards in there. The cards you DON'T need anymore though, perhaps the floatsam and/or extra copies of cards that wind up in your hand and that you get to discard for effects, well, they can be turned into free card draws. It's a sacrifice mechanic predating Necessary Evil by a couple expansions! It's not gonna do you any good to do this with a single card, since a card draw costs you the same as this event, and indeed, you had to draw Festival, so it really cost you 2. But you could be getting as many as 4 cards for the price of 2, as long as you're willing to part with discarded cards for good. It shouldn't be a problem to get rid of every card that doesn't work with special abilities, etc. It could also be a good way to reduce your discard pile to play Straying From the Path and exchange hand for pile. Since a DS9 or Terok Nor deck could also have the requisite Bajorans, but not the reliance on the discard pile, the sacrifice may not be a big one there. Heck, might as well do something with all the cards those Cardies are wasting. In brief, not a bad way to speed up your Bajoran game, but a balanced one. Draws a 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Don't burn those cards for real!

#1917-Bajoran Interceptor, Ship, Bajoran, Cost: 4
-Perikian Class [1 Command, 1 Staff]
"Primary attack vessel of the Bajoran fleet. In 2370, several were appropriated by the Alliance for Global Unity and used in their attempted coup."
-RANGE: 6, WEAPONS: 7, SHIELDS: 6

PICTURE: A lot more detail than can be gleaned from the 1E version of this same card, and because we have since seen how big it is inside, the whole card has been geared toward making it bigger. Ergo, it looks bigger in the frame. A pleasant-to-look-at 3.4.

LORE: I like the new class names for the Bajoran ships, Perikian being the name of a peninsula on Bajor. In fact, it's interesting that the lore mention the Alliance for Global Unity, since the Circle had a hidden base there. Otherwise though, I don't think that reference is too interersting, and in fact, shouldn't the universal model speak more about the standard militia? Still above average at 3.3.

TREK SENSE: 1E would have made us believe that Interceptors were nimble fighters with a crew of very few personnel, but in DS9's last season opener, we saw Kira command one from a captain's chair with lots of crew stations around her. To represent that, staffing has been adjusted upwards. It's still a small ship, as per the Cost and attributes, but the points are in the right place. A bit slower than the Scout, and not as tough as the bigger Assault Vessel, the Weapons are nonetheless at the same level as the best of those ships. That's what Interceptors are all about. Because the Bajorans are so poor, the ship doesn't equal some other ships that have a Cost of 4, like the USS Excelsior or IKS K't'inga, which makes perfect sense. A simple but cool 4.

STOCKABILITY: DS9/Terok Nor Bajorans may well want to use non-Bajoran ships because theirs aren't cost-efficient, but pure Bajorans have little choice in the matter. The Interceptor isn't bad, not that costly and pretty easy to staff, but while it has as many teeth as the Assault Vessel, it's slightly less safe for going out mission solving. The low staffing does make Bajoran armadas a possibility however. You'll never lose a lot of personnel if you lose a ship. Armada assistance can even be gained through Hazar rather than the usual Render Assistance. Bajorans are even adept at fishing Maneuver and ship-boosting cards (and Ships!) back out of the discard pile for re-use. The Interceptor is a ship tool for battling if that's the way you want to go. Still a bit risky at this time, so a 3.1, no more or less than the Assault Vessel.

TOTAL: 13.8 (68%) Ships ARE their weakness, after all.

#1929-Bajoran Phaser Pistol, Equipment, Cost: 1
-Hand Weapon; While in combat, each of your [Baj] personnel is Strength +1.
"Predominantly similar to Starfleet hand weapons, this standard-issue side arm of the Bajoran Militia eliminates the need for a prefire chamber by employing a 'tracer' beam to focus the primary energy discharge."

PICTURE: A solid action shot, in good focus and with the right energy. It's the color palette that's a little dull, but was almost to be expected considering Bajoran security's uniforms. And the composition leads your gaze right out of the frame. I'm not giving it more than 3 because of those flaws.

LORE: The inner workings of the Phaser Pistol are either pure invention or from the DS9 tech manual, and all pretty interesting. Technobabble perhaps, but I enjoyed learning about the stuff that makes the particle weapons work in this case. A solid 3.4.

TREK SENSE: The first standard 2E Hand Weapon to be reviewed, the Bajoran Phaser Pistol will set the tone for the rest (the Bat'leth was NOT standard). Let's compare it to the 1E model, shall we? The Equipment still has the old problem of not answering the question as to how many Phasers the one card represents. If it's only one, then how does the bonus spread to all personnel present? And if it's one per personnel, then why doesn't the card split up when the crew does? This is alleviated somewhat by the bonus being lower (+1 only), lending more credibility to the theory that the one Phaser gives the crew a strategic advantage that can cover more than one personnel (through cover fire, for example). That lower bonus makes more sense with the new attribute scale too, so the exact number of plusses doesn't really bother me. One improvement is that the Strength boost is only during combat, preventing such Trek Sense gaffes as when Phasers helped you lift a heavy Malfunctioning Door, helped with a Dangerous Climb, etc. Although some dilemmas should probably get help from the Phaser, like Hunter Gangs and Nausicaan Pirates. The limit on Bajoran personnel simply puts the right guns in the right hands, though of course, couldn't NAs and others use Phasers supplied by Bajorans? Point and click, right? No problems with the Cost at all. A great improvement, but still a ways to go at 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: This may be 2E, but the Bajorans are still adept at boosting their attributes, and in particular, their Strength. Indeed, not everyone started out with a useable Hand Weapon, but they did. Only +1, but that's how it's being done now, and anyway, it IS cumulative. It's unfortunate that it won't work for missions, where attribute boosts are REALLY important, but the Bajorans are good at combat (more than engagements), so they can get points that way. Personnel like Shakaar Edon/Resistance Leader and Tahna Los are excellent additions to such a combat deck. The Phaser will also help with dilemmas like Automated Weapons, Rogue Borg Ambush and Nanite Attack (to name only three), and discard it for points at Kressari Rendezvous. Certainly a help if you include any Assault cards, so a strong 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) Let's call this the standard for such cards.

#1941-Bajoran Scout Vessel, Ship, Bajoran, Cost: 5
-Bestri Class [2 Staff] DS9 icon
"Widely considered to be the fastest and most reliable Bajoran design. Very few remain in operation, as their parts were often scavanged during the Occupation to repair other, more combat-oriented vessels."
-RANGE: 7, WEAPONS: 6, SHIELDS: 6

PICTURE: The same fuzzy, ugly pic we got from 1E, just a little more close-up. This has two effects: First, it manages to look slightly more blurry. Second, there are more stars in the background. One effect it doesn't have is raise the score. Still 1.1.

LORE: Again, some lovely work on naming the ship class. All Bajoran ships seem to take their class names from geographical features on Bajor (they are people of the land), and the Scout is named after the Bestri Woods, where Kira once killed a hara cat. The relationship between woodlands and scouting is a clear one. As for the lore itself, it's got some interesting stuff, tying in with the Bajoran feel of being low on resources, but making do. A very good 3.9.

TREK SENSE: The only non-unique Bajoran ship to have the DS9 icon, is that right? Well, yes it is, since this is the small ship we constantly saw docked at the station (though most were probably Freighters instead - they all look the same). Assault Vessels and Interceptors were for military use closer to Bajor, and rarely at the station. The staffing makes sense for a non-military craft (no Command icon) of this size. Since it's a Scout, more attention has been given to the Range, with Weapons and Shields being lower. Lower, but some might still say too high. The new attribute scales might warrant this, but they are equivalent to a Maquis Raider, which, while of a similar size, would be more combat-ready. Well, Raiders are probably a bit smaller (less staffing), but my point stands, I think. Attributes are the same as the Flaxian and Romulan Scouts at any rate. Freighters like the Xhosa get 5/5. Ok, ok, I'll buy it (don't you just hate seeing my entire thought process at work?). Cost is too high for this size of ship, but that's the Bajorans for you. They're poorer, so seem to pay more. But the same as an Assault Vessel? I guess they are rarer after all. In all, a 3.

STOCKABILITY: Turn one Staff icon into Command, and you can staff the Interceptor (-1 Cost, +1 Weapons). Or add a Staff, and you can use the Assault Vessel (+1 Weapons, +1 Shields). The Scout's one advantage over the others is +1 Range. Is Range really worth the sacrifice? Well, Bajoran ships are terminally stuck at 6 (the Baraka not withstanding), so Missions with a Span of 4 or more could be hard to reach from Bajor without the Scout (never mind taking off from another mission). No problems in-region, but tough getting to other quadrants. Still, Bajorans aren't going to win many engagements anyway. If they do battle it'll be personnel combat, so if they need to carry troops to the right mission (or place emphasis on mission solving), the faster the ship the better, right? In a DS9 deck, the Scout takes on a little more importance. Sure, Federation DS9 ships are better overall, but they can't use Bajoran effects like that of Sisko/Shipwright (if only Hazar had the DS9 icon!). There are unique DS9 Bajoran ships, but this is the only non-unique, if not necessarily cheaper than those uniques. With a Span of only 1, the Mouth of the Wormhole is also a better place to launch Scouts from to take advantage of their higher Range. Not really flawed, but nothing cool. A 2.8.

TOTAL: 10.8 (54%) And no Scout Vessel keyword to eventually make it more interesting.

#1953-Bandee, Personnel, Federation, Cost: 1, BC
-Human; Biology, Medical, Programming, DS9 icon
"After retaking Deep Space 9 in 2374, the number of Starfleet personnel aboard was increased in all departments. The medical staff was nearly doubled, in case of a surprise Dominion attack."
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: An odd choice for a non-unique in that Nurse Bandee (yes, that's her actual name from the show) was only seen in a reality produced by Sloan's mind. Since Bashir didn't react, I'm guessing she really does exist, but this pic of her here is technically "AU". Aesthetically fine, with a cool "medical blue" rainbow behind her and a good composition besides. I'll give her 3.3.

LORE: I like the lore on non-uniques, since it usually talks about the subset of personnel represented by the card, and hardly ever about the specific personnel. Certainly helps Trek Sense. In this case, they've given us a logical if unmentioned piece of DS9 trivia, and taken into account Bandee's gray uniform. Good, solid stuff worth 3.4.

TREK SENSE: A typical Starfleet nurse on DS9 during wartime, i.e. at the ready for larger and larger medical emergencies. Medical and Biology are standard here, and Programming is a 24th-century necessity given the place equipment holds in medicine. Assisting the doctor often means looking at consoles and giving information, and in a note that relates directly to Nurse Bandee's character, she was apparently on hand to take Bashir and O'Brien out of Sloan's mind, which required computer equipment in the first place. Attributes are average (the usual non-unique stuff), with a slight empathic boost in Integrity (she's a care-giver). Since she's part of an "added" contingent of medical staff, it's possible she's been trained on the fly to replace lost troops, and can't quite staff a ship yet, so no Staff icon. Besides, DS9 staffers need not be able to staff ships, being trained for station duty. Cost is standard for such personnel. I can find no fault with Bandee, and there are even a couple of subtle personal touches. A 4.
1E TREK SENSE: The same holds true in 1E, but the attributes are a little low as far as Cunning and Integrity go, and the lack of classification is puzzling. Further, 1E's design ethic might well have her as an AU card. A drop to 3.

STOCKABILITY: Cost 1 "weenies" can be the cornerstone of a fast mission-solving deck, or can cheaply fill holes in your skill pool. As a Medical weenie, Bandee reads a lot like the Bajoran DSNiner, Jabara, with Biology replacing Exobiology and a few tweaks in the attributes. In a DS9 Federation deck, however, she's pretty much it. All three of her skills are good, and none are actually common on weenies. Decipher has done well in parcelling skills out, I think. Dilemmas where she'll be the most help include Biochemical Hyperacceleration and Disgraceful Assault. Programming is something you think you'd weed out by filtering out Engineers, but she's a solid Medical with that skill. Relevant missions include Eliminate Harvesters and Medical Relief, but no tighter fit (unless you count the cheapo Treat Plague Ship, where she's a cheap discard). As good as any weenie, and not yet obsolete at 3.5.
1E STOCKABILITY: Without the Cost mechanic, 2E weenies lose a lot of their appeal. What we have here is the equivalent of a 2-skill personnel that can't use her classification except as a skill, and can't use Assign Support Personnel. Attributes are poor, and in the Federation, all skills are common, especially Biology, MEDICAL and Computer Skill. Just 1.5.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) 2E is a world where cheap "universals" do well.
1E TOTAL: 11.2 (56%) 1E isn't.

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