To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the Alternate Universe expansion set.

PICTURE: Like many artifacts, the Head is on a dirt brown background, as if it had been found in an archeological dig. This artifact at least, was! Dull as far as color's go, and it's not Decipher's fault, but Data's head doesn't look like him all that much. A 2.8.

LORE: As eerie as the discovery itself in "Time's Arrow", the lore neverthless fails to mention any of the head's supposed abilities, just how functional it is, etc. Good, but not great. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: On the show, the crew of the Enterprise got to tool around with the head before reattaching it to Data's body, indeed making it like Equipment. The Head retains only one skill and some of Data's Cunning. Why? Well, it wasn't entirely functional when found (in which case it should have NO Cunning or Computer Skill). Then again, the other ability is also not from "Time's Arrow", but rather from "Disaster" in which Data's head was removed from his fried body and hooked up to the Enterprise, repairing its systems from within. So let us assume the Head is as good as it was in "Disaster". In that case, it should have ALL of Data's skills (all of them are mental). It should also be considered personnel since his personality was intact. And why, in any case, is Cunning lowered without the body? Is there a secondary brain in its chest? The ship boosting abilities are semi-sensical. In "Disaster", Data fixed ship's systems (that's Computer Skill), but didn't necessarily enhance them. Still, by interfacing directly with the ship, Data can make it react faster to commands, thereby boosting its attributes. A LOT of problems... 1.7.

SEEDABILITY: For crews and Away Teams it's a little package of "skills". Computer Skill is unfortunately a very common one. I don't deny that commandeering your opponent's Nor with Data's Head is mega cool, but doesn't everyone have enough personnel with the skill? The Cunning is nothing you can't get from a decent personnel (which will have a batch of skills to boot). Ships will use it to enhance their attributes, +2 all around. If you're really trying to boost ships' battle power, I suggest using Bynars, Nutationals and Metaphasics instead. They have blanket effects on all your ships and need not be acquired by going through your opponent's carefully constructed dilemma combo. Sure, it's versatile, can be doubled by Data Laughing, and make Data's Body walk around (see the review to that card for more), but all those little effects don't amount to a big big score. A 3.1.

TOTAL: 10.8 (54%) Siskoid's guillotine pretty much cuts this one at the halfway point. (Btw, Data's Body scored higher: 13.6 or 68%.)

PICTURE: Cool picture of him offering the knives to Picard. This is his opening move diplomatically, sharing in the combat to come. Much better than a headshot, since Dathon isn't the prettiest of creatures. A 4.

LORE: The language of the Children of Tama is a delicious invention. In fact, I loved "Darmok". To have Tamarian lore written this way is a stroke of genius that paved the way for the unique lore of the Borg and Dixon Hill's Business Card (among others). Dathon's is pretty simple though and lacks the invention of the Darmok (already reviewed). It states the basic line from the episode about cooperation, superposes Dathon and Picard to relate to that episode, and how Picard finally understood the Tamarian's message. Not as great as others to come, but still superior. A 4.3.

TREK SENSE: The episode made a point about the Tamarians being Non-Aligned. As captain of his vessel, he is of course an OFFICER with a Command icon. His Diplomacy he demonstrated throughout the episode. His Leadership was shown aboard the Tama when he scolded his first officer. He also led Picard some. Honor: he gave his life for the effort of communicating peace to the Federation. The special skill is only half-right. It goes to reason that he would be able to understand other Tamarians as per Shaka, When the Walls Fell, but the El-Adrel Creature killed him! He wasn't able to overcome it certainly. The Integrity is appropriately high, as is the Cunning (gotta remember all those myths!), but the Strength is a little low. Sure, he and Picard, their Strengths added together, shouldn't be enough to overcome the El-Adrel monster (as per the episode), but making him as weak as Picard? I won't go along with it. He was skilled at knife-fighting, certainly had more guts than Jean-Luc, and was a bigger fellow to boot. On the dot until we hit the special skill, he scores a 3.8.

SEEDABILITY: He's a great Non-Aligned personnel. He provides the nastier species with Honor and Diplomacy, immunity to Q-Nets, plus a way to get around Shaka without the needed CUNNING. His attributes are high and, as matching commander of the Tama, he makes that ship all the more viable. Still, Shaka's days are nearing their end, and El-Adrel Creature isn't that tough or prevalent. And while his skills are good, the Leadership/OFFICER combo is slightly redundant, the Honor more useful for Romulan mission thieves than affiliations who need it and conveniently have it in spades. Better than average, but not overly so. A 3.1

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) A cool character from a cool episode gets his due.

PICTURE: Love it. Sufficiently creepy, as creepy as TNG ever allowed itself to get anyway. And there's something so absurd about the picture that it's practically comical. A strong 4.

LORE: Nice story, well told, but aside from explaining the picture, it doesn't do a very good job of explaining how such an event (well... interrupt... you know what I mean) can happen in any other situation. Great title, I don't know how they came up with it. Bumps the score up to 3.2.

TREK SENSE: A lot of odd readings. First, I object to everything in "The Royale" being categorized as AU. The episode was surreal, but never took place in an alternate universe, dream or whatnot.  Then, we have to look at what stasis means in Trek sense. "Stopped" personnel are busy or have their hands full. Disabled personnel are in some sort of coma and can be transported even though they are useless. Personnel in stasis however, cannot be moved. They just can't interract with the real world. Colonel Richey qualifies as a personnel in stasis I would think. He was cut off from the world, lost. Dead in Bed supposes that a personnel in stasis would age rapidly in that stasis. NOT what happened to Richey, but really works for any time anomaly-type effect (like Quantum Singularity Lifeforms) and maybe could be explained by some sort of cellular degradation (we've seen this on the show), maybe after being made Frigid. In most cases though, there's no justification for dying while in stasis. Vulcan pinched you a bit hard? Just doesn't work too well. A 1.4.

STOCKABILITY: I've said before that it wasn't worth it to Dead in Bed personnel under DNA Metamorphosis's effects (the reason being that such a personnel has no way to get out of stasis, wheras there are ways to get it out of the discard pile), but other cards that put personnel in stasis do so for very short lengths of time. That means you can double-whamy a player who thought he was just going to lose his personnel until the beginning of his next turn, by turning a light sleep into a nightmare. Taking advantage of Vulcan Nerve Pinches is one idea, but that's two cards for one death. Worth it? A better idea is to include copies of Frigid and You Will in Time in your Q-Continuum side-deck. They don't cost much and could make the usually weaker Q-cards deadlier. Other uses include picking off the best crewmembers under Quantum Singularity Lifeform, that kind of thing. Unfortunate that you need an AU Doorway open to use it. Seems killer, but is actually somewhat limited: a 3.9.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) Dead in Bed not dead in the water.

PICTURE: A beautiful D'deridex with disruptors flashing at the ready. Great, but not entirely dynamic due to the very straight camera angle. A 4.

LORE: The lore carries the story from Barash's illusion while not forgetting to mention that it IS part of said illusion. It also makes Tomalak (regular Tomalok, not any kind of AU Tomalak) matching commander, which is always a plus, especially so on powerful ships. The name of the ship is especially interesting as it is that of one of the very first Romulans ever seen in Star Trek. A 3.9.

TREK SENSE: Here's where it gets messy. The ship is Alternate Universe, granted. Why is its matching commander non-AU then? I'm pretty sure Tomalak never set foot on the Decius. I'm pretty sure because the Decius never existed! Also, if it's part of Barash's illusion, where's the Barash icon? Is it only for personnel? Cloaking devices and tractor beams are standard equipment on Romulan ships, but the Holodeck is not. It IS supported by the episode though, since Barash turns the illusion upside down at one point letting Riker believe the original illusion is a Romulan holodeck trick. But is that holodeck on the Decius? The future vessel mentioned in the lore? It isn't. So the only thing we have to go on is that, in the future, Romulans equip their ships with holodecks. The attributes could really have been anything in the higher values, like most future vessels, and they are, so that works at least. No more than a 1.6.

STOCKABILITY: Sure, it's as big a ship as the Romulans will get, with very good Range and all the trimmings, including their only Holodeck to run those holographic Rommies from Premiere. BUT the D'deridex Advanced has overall better attributes including impressive Weapons. BUT the Romulans have few good AU personnel outside of R'Mor and Rakal, making the ship a pain to staff (not as much as the Future Enterprise though). Still, in conjunction with Space-Time Portal, this is the ship the doorway will allow a Romulan player to report. Plus, it's got a matching commander. Not the best of personnel, sure, but a matching commander nonetheless. Not as good as we first thought it was, but not as bad as we believe it to be now. A 3.2.

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) AU cards still have their uses, and the Decius hasn't been invalidated yet.

PICTURE: Very nice. The sun in the background makes for a striking image, and I really like the orange shades here. The sun and scow could have been better centered, but that's about it. A deserved 3.8.

LORE: Tells the story and points to the various effects of the game text. A good 3.5 here.

TREK SENSE: The card contains two ways to destroy the scow. One, by harmlessly towing it into the sun, and two, by blowing it up close to a planet. It all depends on whether the mission has been solved or not. If the mission is done and all the personnel are on a ship, the crew did its job, are all in the ship and the scow is merely discarded. If they haven't, then people might die, and the mission is at least partly a failure because of the radiation which will make findings less important and contact with civilizations less amiable (the point loss). It makes sense that a ship's shields protect your crew (they did, for a while, but maybe it should be Shields at a certain power only). Thermal Deflectors might help people on the surface of planets, but I'm not sure. Radiation from a scow isn't only thermal (if it is at all). One thing about my first justification: it doesn't necessarily work. If the scow is thrown into the sun, I submit, that is a clue that the mission is done (no point loss). But that doesn't correspond with the episode's events. A middling 3.2.

STOCKABILITY: Not used a whole lot I'd wager. One of my favorite polluting stratagems revolves around the Radioactive Garbage Scow dilemma. Seed enough of them, and your opponent is always towing them away before attempting a mission. If your opponent is using a region (say the Bajoran one), he possibly grouped all his missions together. So he's always towing the scow over his own mission, from which it may have to be towed again. With a Destroy RGS or two, you just wait 'til the scow is over a planet, maybe there's a facility there, and blow it up. Opponent loses personnel at facility and mission is now worth much less. And nothing's stopping you from self-seeding the scow and towing it to any location as your very own personal bomb. You can clear an entire Nor with this baby. Better than is usually believed though strategy specific: a 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Always had a soft spot for this one...

PICTURE: Though I usually buck at anything purple (hate the color, but I do like the Cardassians), this one is pretty good. The opening in space-time is well-centered and visible, the Devidians have surreal and strange positions (one seems to be waiting for a bus) and the cave setting is competent. Unfortunate that one of those Federation multi-purpose posts (a pattern enhancer) pollutes the picture just behind the aliens though. The composition is a little haphazard, so a 3.5.

LORE: N/A (Score will be adjusted accordingly.)

TREK SENSE: Seemingly lots. This is a great card in that respect. One Personnel or Equipment card can report from the future (your hand) to anywhere in play (the present) and you don't even have to show a Devidian Door at that time. It's only discovered later (in the future from which the personnel came). No wonder it's AU. Not showing the Door (equivalent to not letting Data join the Away Team in "Time's Arrow") may cause a paradox, destroy the universe and make you lose the game. That's a little thin as far as justifications go though. Other problems include the origin of the personnel and no connection to Devidia II. Maybe only letting AU personnel report from the future would have made more Trek Sense? And the mechanics of the thing on the show would seem to send you to the past from the present too, through a permanent though destroyable fixture. None of that is here. Still a superlative idea: a 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: A very risky card. If you have it and are unable to show it on the turn after you "call" it (Scorched Hand, Masaka Transformations, any number of discarder cards) you lose the game. And what did you get out of it? One personnel or Equipment reported directly to any away team or crew or wherever. Not great? You can use a combination of cards to make it better. Ophidian Cane will allow three personnel to go through the Doorway. Samuel Clemens discards for 10 points if you show the D-Door. His Pocketwatch can protect you by making you play the Doorway on the same turn (this is preferrable to sending personnel "from the future"). And there's more to Devidian Door than adding somebody to a mission attempt without ferrying him there. You can assimilate a starship by sending a drone over to a ship. You can report an infiltrator real easily. And how about sending a nemesis at the right place at the appropriate moment? There's no running away from that one. A cool but dangerous card scores a 3.3.

TOTAL: 14.26 (71.33%) Neat neat neat neat neat neat neat neat.

PICTURE: There were two possible ways to handle this card. One would have been to show alien-looking Devidians gobbling up energy through those gaping mouths of theirs. But I much prefer the one we actually got. The two disguised Devidians are indeed foraging, and the time period works well with the AU feel. They are in shadow, menacing in front of a bright and hazy background. We also see their victim. Definitely worth a 3.9.

LORE: Well explained, good vocabulary and some poetry. Scores a 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Though I understand the basic idea behind the card, it really doesn't stand up to scrutiny, that idea being that your Foragers (AU personnel) steal the energy (attributes) of discarded personnel. First off, your AU personnel are NOT Devidians. I don't see Beverly Picard or Major Rakal consuming neural energy. Getting that energy from discarded (often dead) personnel is also not the same as getting from personnel "that won't be missed". It makes them deader (out-of-play), but they are already dead no? As for neural energy being equivalent to attributes numbers, it has some merit. Cunning is certainly neural energy, and Strength is akin to vitality, but what about Integrity? I find it ridiculous that neural vampires get an Integrity boost from draining their victims. After a while, wouldn't they stop because they now felt what they were doing was wrong? A load of problems sends this one spiraling to a 0.9.

STOCKABILITY: Less than stellar. An attribute boost to one personnel can be useful when facing certain dilemmas or solving certain missions, or in a fight, but is generally less than necessary. It can be a good boost though, potentially tripling your guy's attributes or more (with Ophidian Cane for example). Problem is, you're limited to boosting one AU personnel. It's gotta be AU, so some affiliations won't really need it at all. The side effect might interest you more. It makes personnel unRes-Qable by placing them out-of-play. SO you could get rid of a just killed Borg Queen while jacking up Mogh's stats without worrying about Res-Q, Regenerate and the like. No more than a 2.2.

TOTAL: 10.5 (52.5%) Nice pictures from the Alternate Universe can't save some of the ideas.

PICTURE: For some reason, the missions in Alternate Universe are particularly pretty. Here, Parliament is a beautiful white and purple marble in conference with a smaller planetoid. Interesting how the diplomatic missions often show a meeting of worlds, which is very appropriate. A very nice 4.1.

LORE: Mission lore is rarely very interesting, but this one is good. Gives a good explanation of what Parliament is, and introduces the concept of the mission being historic, and thus worth the large amount of points on the card. I can fairly give this one a 4.

TREK SENSE: Well, this isn't the mission from the show ("Lonely Among Us"), but that's just as well, as that one was kind of silly. VIPs are of course required, and from 4 different affiliations (Non-Aligned here representing a lesser power) so that it really is historic conference. Any affiliation may attend, but there must be a delegate from either the Federation, Klingon Empire or Romulan Star Empire present at the very least. I'm not sure why the Cardassians, Bajorans and Dominion can't participate without anyone from the big three, though it may have something to do with the planet's location. So while I applaud Decipher's decision to extend the mission to other affiliations (the game text has always technically allowed it), Trek Sense is still violated by the affiliation icons present. 60 points really is historic as far as missions go, and a Span of 4 certainly is far away from everyone, which works for a neutral site. If it is neutral though, maybe affiliated outposts should't be allowed to be built there. Mostly good at 3.9.

SEEDABILITY: I love this one, and if I seed it, I probably plan to solve it. Interestingly, my opponent will often not load it with too many dilemmas because it doesn't look like I'm really going to do so (especially when I'm not suspected of playing Borg). While most anybody can solve it, it really is a difficult one. It requires personnel from three different affiliations (and almost no one plays with three affiliations at once), ideally under treaty. The mission works without treaty, but you have to figure a way of reporting the personnel and ferrying it to Parliament. One way of doing this is to have a Neutral or NA Outpost nearby, reporting personnel there and ferrying it to the planet before returning and doing it all over again with the next VIP. This has its problems though. You probably aren't pulling all your VIPs at the same time, and leaving them stuck on planet may attract headhunters. In reality, this is a Romulan or Federation mission. They are currently the only ones with dual-affiliation VIPs from the needed affiliations. Just switch Major Rakal and the Sisters of Duras to their other selves (Federation and Klingon respectively) on the planet with another Romulan VIP and an NA one, and you're all set - 60 points. Playing Fed? Major Rakal and The Emissary will complement your Away Team well. It's a huge payoff. The other way is to play the three-way treaty, and while you lose the option of playing side decks, getting this big a payoff is a great trade. A two-mission win! This is also a very difficult mission to steal. It may have three icons, but who is gonna have the needed VIPs unless they planned for this mission? That's why it's a perfect mission for the Borg. Its high points make it a great target for Assimilate Planet, and you really don't have to worry about it being stolen from under your collective's nose. It may well be one of the least stealable mission in STCCG history (historic indeed). It's for now unfortunate that even though the newer affiliations have access to it, they don't have an easy way of solving it yet. Keeps this one at a still-high 4.5.

TOTAL: 16.5 (82.5%) High marks for a non-homeworld mission!

PICTURE: Lush with color, this is one very beautiful card. Oh sure, the Drone looks like something out of a Disney sci-fi movie, and the image is so packed, it could be lost in the bustle, but I still like it. A 4.

LORE: Everything's there and more, going a long way to explaining the card's singular evolutionary abilities. What can I say except it gets a 4.1?

TREK SENSE: I applaud Decipher's design team for making this Equipment rather than another boring STRENGTH-related dilemma. The Killer Drone is the only anti-personnel device we have. It starts off with the equivalent to STRENGTH 10 (strong indeed) and then goes up by 10 every time because it adapts to opposing personnel's tactics (though the mathematical progression could just as well say STRENGTH is doubled, technically). Fine, if we're talking about the same personnel, but the Echo Papa keeps building STRENGTH even if it goes up against different Away Teams. Heck, even if they aren't from the same affiliation! And technically, the progression can get ridiculously high. I won't take exception to the fact that it doesn't pair up in combat however. That's fine with me, as the EP 607 usually attacks from the sky, providing cover fire for your troups. But I do find it strange that it can be used aboard ships and facilities. Not all of these have wide open spaces like, say, the Promenade. Also, on the show, they didn't require personnel to use them. A mixed, but positive review at 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: With combat becoming more and more important, STRENGTH boosts are too. Most of these come from hand weapons, which can initially net you more of the vital attribute, but an Echo Papa thrown in there can, in the long run, get you more. And it isn't dependent on the number of personnel you have, so a Killer Drone that has won a few battles can easily defend a two-man Away Team. You can go on a rampage with a minimum of personnel while your important people are out solving missions. Sure, hand weapons have some advantages and are mentioned globally on a number of cards (mostly missions and dilemmas), but they have disadvantages too. An Echo Papa cannot be Adapted to by the Borg (pit drone versus Drone!), for example. Specialized and fun, but not always worth inclusion and specifically nullifyable by Paul Rice (ooh, I'm scared). A 3.6.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) Not a bad little card despite the sometimes annoying book-keeping.

PICTURE: Pink is a dreadfully undramatic color, and that's what dominates this card. The transparent subject certainly isn't strong enough an image to take over the composition. There's some interest generated by the lights inside the probe, but not enough to bring the score higher than 1.9.

LORE: Lots to like. Tells the story just fine, but adds a lot of color (which the picture lacks) as well. The term "ship-shuddering tones" used to describe the Edo Probe's communications is very apt. And the quote is unusual for a dilemma, but just great. It's a good storytelling aid when playing. I really like saying "STATE THE PURPOSE!" in my most portentous voice. I would have liked the words "Edo Probe" in the lore to be replaced with something explaining what the Edo God is though. The use of the term here is redundant and useless. A 4.5!

TREK SENSE: Let's see... First, how valid is it for Edo Probe to be a dilemma that you can encounter over and over in the course of a game? Is the Edo God now protecting every race out there? It might have been unique at the very least. Another question: why isn't it AU like the Edo Vessel? If the ship is, and the Edo God is, why not its probe? As for the effect itself, it has some merit (conceptually). Either you obey the Probe's command to stay out of things, or you don't. If you don't, you stand to lose points if you screw things up any more. The points are conceptually that screw-up which more or less undoes the unwritten mission "Expansion" which each affiliation is pursuing in its own fashion. If you do abandon the mission, you can nonsensically return to it later. The condition scarcely makes sense. If it were you solving another mission, that would be one thing. You might prove yourself worthy in the eyes of the Edo God. But if another player solves one, that's okay too? Can't the Edo God discern between one race and another? A lot of problems keep this one at 0.9.

SEEDABILITY: This is a great part of many wall combos. If you count on your opponent going on with the mission, you can make him lose 10 points quite easily. All you need is a good stopper like Radioactive Garbage Scow or enough filters/killers to make the mission impossible. How to force your opponent's hand? Seed one under all his missions, and watch him abandon each one in turn while you bide your time and not solve anything. At some point, said opponent panics and tries one, doesn't succeed and loses points. If a few of these hit, he'll find himself in the gutter point-wise, giving you up to the equivalent of an entire mission in advance. Keep him in total disarray by scoring bonus points only (except maybe for your final mission). If you can keep him from successfully completing even one mission, all the early abandons will stay off limits for good. Can be pulled off, but of course not as easy as I make it sound since once the dilemma has cost him 10 points, the mission can then be solved, freeing the others. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 11.2 (56%) A couple of good scores totally offset by some terrible ones. Result: not the perfect card.

PICTURE: It's a nice image, more for a station than a ship (the model was also used, more solidly, as the station in "Conundrum"), capturing perfectly the "half in, half out of our universe" nature of the vessel. Very different from other cards of this type. I give it a cool 3.9.

LORE: Tells the story adequately, and adds a quote that helps to understand the rather unusual special ability of the ship. Rather workmanlike otherwise. Unknown class, eh? A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: The hardest thing to swallow is how this thing can be used as a ship, even considering the AU icon. I can't for the life of me imagine this thing being driven around by Governor Worf or Rachel Garrett, not to mention that regular staff personnel! What's it like inside? This thing really belongs in the dilemma or event category. There's real effort in the design, I'll give 'em that. The half in, half out ship is only hit by WEAPONS 50% of the time, though I'd wager the real Edo Vessel could not be hit at all. Its actual SHIELDS are a paltry 8 to boot? Seemed tougher than that. The RANGE is consistent with a ship that stayed in orbit for the better part of a millenium. The WEAPONS are very high, as I'm sure they could've blown the Enterprise out of the sky. 10 not enough? A messy 0.8.

STOCKABILITY: Limited in ability, it used to be somewhat useful as a battle ship. Its WEAPONS were high, and it was a little more difficult to hit that most. Problem was, and still is, its RANGE is ridiculously low so it can't give chase, and it's a little hard to staff. Not bad as a stationary ship to protect a facility. Why don't I consider it much of a battle ship today? Because with the large number of strong ships and Captain's Log, ships regularly get their SHIELDS over 10. Edo Vessel, meanwhile, doesn't have a matching commander, nor will it ever. Easily skippable at 2.1.

TOTAL: 10.3 (51.5%) A clear example of design over usefulness.

PICTURE: The picture isn't just skewed, it's mirrored, have you noticed? The odd communicator pin (either standard for Utopia Planetia or distinct to a particular time period) is on the left side, Bajoran-style. The image is dynamic with that stripe of light going in the same direction as the skew. Its colors leave something to be desired though, and I never really wanted to examine the pic before now. Still deserves a 3.5.

LORE: Explains the game text and doesn't, and limits its scope to a single incident, while never really explaining the term "empathic echo". A let-down at 2.2.

TREK SENSE: First off, the AU icon is suspect. Sure, the episode had hallucinations and a temporal element, but the Echo itself was quite real and did not require any time travel or parallel universe effect to exist. Things that happened back at Utopia Planetia, or within Troi's hallucination would be AU. The Echo, not so much. As for the effect, it works. An Empath affected commits suicide unless Security gets to him first (preventing the suicide) and Medical checks him out to make sure he doesn't try it again. The only real problem is that that would all seem to take more time than passing a dilemma usually does. Maybe not.  I'm giving this one a 3.7.

SEEDABILITY: Do people seed common dilemmas much? This one is good before Cardassian Trap to get the Empathy out of there, but not that much. For one thing, you need an AU Doorway or Space-Time Portal just to play it. That means Bajoran, Cardassian and Dominion players will use it less, unless playing STP. Second, its fairly easy to overcome, with MEDICAL found in every Away Team and SECURITY getting there. And if no Empath was present (a good possibility depending on the affiliation), the dilemma becomes a useless seed. As far as walls go, it might hit a small portion of the time. Well tailored in that Empaths are mostly Federation, the affiliation that has the least Security (or used to). Quite desirable in Sealed Deck play, but normally, a wash at 2.4.

TOTAL: 11.8 (59%) I never use this one if I have a choice, and my review hasn't really changed my mind.

PICTURE: A lot of interesting details on this one. One of the odd things (have you noticed?) is that the shuttle (a big fat Type VII to boot) is not from the Enterprise. The registry number is NCC-2544 instead of 1701-D. From what ship is that, you now ask. It's from the USS Repulse, Dr. Pulaski's last ship. How marvelously well chosen this image is then, especially given Pulaski's aversion to transporters. Add to that the little figures of crewmen in one corner, the unreadable sign of "Danger of decompression" in the other, along with everything else, gives a really nice overview of the shuttle bay. 4.7 (it's still a little mundane).

LORE: Pretty straight encyclopedic lore, with the odd use of the word "hanger" where Trek usually uses "bay". No real problems, so an average score of 3.

TREK SENSE: Well, just like Activate Tractor Beam, this is one of those things which should have been built into the rules. When Premiere first came out (before the first FAQ came out), I used to tow ships all the time with my tractors. How many others carried shuttles aboard? But we didn't have that rule, so now we need a card to do it instead. Fine. How's its Trek Sense now that it's here? First off, it's too bad Runabouts weren't included. We KNOW they were carried aboard ships, come on! But other than that, it's good. It requires a Tractor Beam to haul it in (or direct it out), but more than that, Tractor Beam has sort of become the standard of large ships. If your ship is large enough to have a Tractor Beam, it's big enough to have a shuttle bay (except for a few exceptions). The ENGINEER seems to be a bit much since, apparently, a kid can steal a shuttle and leave the ship without a hitch. Been taking engineering courses on the side? The part about landing works fine. Shuttles have limited engines and always take considerable time diving through a planet's atmosphere. Although needing Range to land is a little strange since you're basically only falling. Around a 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: The most common use of this card is to extend the range of your ships. Carry a shuttle aboard your ship, use its full RANGE, get everyone in the shuttle, launch and fly another 6 Span, maybe rendezvousing with your next ship. A well linked spaceline can be navigated in its entirety in single turn. Landing a shuttle will make it impossible to attack (and they are more vulnerable), and keep the Neutral Zone safe from patrols. That landing mechanic isn't very efficient though, requiring the shuttle's entire range. If you're going to do a lot of landing, choose Establish Landing Protocols instead (or in addition). It's seedable, also affects a lot of other ships, and lets you land for 1 RANGE only. Launch Portal is also a nice Shuttle Operations partner. It downloads the event plus a shuttle, even as your ship is destroyed if you want. Much better than a motionless Escape Pod! A card that has really grown since it came out, and is somewhat dependent on the shuttles available. The Bajorans, Dominion and Klingons currently have no shuttles except the Non-Aligned Yridian. The Borg have nothing. A nice 4.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) I would never have thought.

PICTURE: I have to like this picture just because of the color, a nice jade, rare in this particular card collection. The angelic figure of the alien is perfectly suited to an Alternate Universe card, and for those of you looking for "eyes", just look to either side of the figure. You'll find dark patches in the clouds which could be eyes. Good composition too. A 4.3.

LORE: A little rough on the syntax (but no more than most of my articles), but tells the story fairly well, evoking the stuff we need to make Trek sense of it all. Take note, Deanna actually saved the Enterprise once. Doesn't make up for crahing the ship into the side of a planet in Generations, though. ;-) A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Basically, your empath (read: telepath) contacts someone far away who, in a dream, helps him or her get out of a dilemma. Maybe. What works? Well, the AU (dream) aspect does. Since you're communicating with an opponent's vessel, there must be a sensible reason why that person would want to help. It's because he or she doesn't really know they're helping. How do they help? By lending skills (which are mental) and attributes (not all of which are, oops) to the Empath (hey! why not the classification?). What doesn't work however, is that the person selected to share skills with your Empath doesn't have to have any telepathic abilities. While this would restrict the card too much, it still fails the Trek sense test. The card also leads to odd situations where Empaths are getting help against Nausicaans and the like. Some dilemmas seem too immediate for the answers to have time to come to you in a dream. I'd have to say the card fares close to average. A 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: Sort of like an Interlink drone for the other affiliations, I'm not sure this one sees too much use. Players will whine that it's only good for one dilemma, and that Empaths don't grow on trees. Though the Feds are the main Empath source in the game, there are enough good Non-Aligneds, including our more recent Letheans, to stock most affiliations. And you do get to suspend the dilemma, you're not choosing blind. Okay, still, you're rolling the dice of which skills you'll get to share. Here, your opponent's mission specialist will really screw you over. On the other hand, you might get a good main. Note too that the personnel's classification is not included in the deal, and those are often useful in passing dilemmas. If you're lucky actually, you're opponent is playing Borg. If he's playing Borg, chances are he's using an Interlink drone. If he is, and you get stuck with a dilemma you can't pass, play Eyes on the Interlink's Hive and, no matter who you pick, you get all of the Hive's skills. You get a better chance of getting classifications this way (Borg have them all in their skill box), but some skills (like Diplomacy) won't likely show up. So stockability all depends on your expectations. A back-up card at 2.9.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) AU gave us a lot of nice pictures, but not a lot of really useful cards.

PICTURE: An early Ferengi attacking with the dread electric whip. A little blurry, with the Ferengi getting lost in that pink rock formation behind him. The pose is stiff. Nothing more than a 2.8.

LORE: Odd syntax, especially at the beginning. Something of their motives might have helped the card along. As is, it barely hits average at 2.9.

TREK SENSE: Since this is a physical attack, the killing effect is okay, though there's no real reason this one should be opponent's choice as an attack like this is more likely to kill any member rather than a specific target. The requirements to pass it help you avoid or survive the attack, and pass the Ferengi "front" (this is a wall). Greed is great here, as it'll probably mean most Ferengi Away Teams will be immune to this dilemma. If you can speak their language ($$$), you can find a, shall we say, "diplomatic" way around the attack. A combination of Strength and Cunning will also help you outwit or outfight them. I don't see why Strength alone couldn't have been enough here. The early TNG Ferengi have never actually been bright lights (a few brainy ones like Bok and Reyga aside), nor very courageous as a people. Strength and intimidation would work against them without the need for any kind of cunning ruse. A fair 3.2.

SEEDABILITY: Always fun to see dilemmas that give you the choice of which opponent's personnel will be targeted. Unfortunately, these usually tend to be balanced so that they are easy to pass. Ferengi Attack falls within this definition, but it's not THAT easy to pass. Unless you have Greed, which isn't very prevalent except on the Klingons and Non-Aligneds (2 or 3 in each of the other affiliations), you will need a full Away Team to pass it. C+S>68 (strange number, wink wink, nudge nudge) means you'll basically need somewhere around 5 or 6 personnel to pass it the other way. Redshirts will go down faster than a thermometer at night in Labrador. But then, you won't get to choose who dies. Best bet: sandwich between a nice filter like Chula: The Chandra and a big wall/killer. Too few personnel get through the filter and they'll be hit by Ferengi. Choose well who you kill and the next dilemma can be a surefire hit. Limited in that it's only planet, comes to 3.7.

TOTAL: 12.6 (61.5%) There is no difference between the black border and white border (from the 2-Player Game) versions of the card. Just thought I'd mention it for completists.

PICTURE: Real rich color on this nebula, a nice fiery orange-brown with even darker clouds over it. Looks like the advertised obstruction. A 3.8.

LORE: The lore has a few things going for it. One, it says this location is a nebula which makes it usable in conjunction with Isabella (it's FROM the Isabella episode). Second, there's a good explanation of the special game text. It doesn't, however, explain the mission requirements which are odd for a research mission. A 4 here.

TREK SENSE: The title is misleading since the requirements cover the events of the episode "Imaginary Friend", but not the mission itself. Research into a nebula should require Astrophysics, Stellar Cartography and the like. Instead, the requirements reproduce the Enterprise's meeting with Isabella, a living "energy strand". Isabella meets up with one Youth, it takes another to take interest in the child's imaginary friend (someone like Wesley), and Diplomacy (I would have included Empathy as well) to convince it to let the ship go. This isn't a mission, it's a dilemma. The research aspect is totally circumvented. Even if the mission were called Communicate with Energy Beings (or whatever), it wouldn't include Youth as a necessary requirement, would it? Youth sounds like a target and Diplomacy a remedy. As for the variable Span, I like how travel through such phenomena would require Navigation. You'd get through without it eventually, but the more Navigation you have, the faster you're able to pass. Fine, but again, Navigation won't really get rid of the energy aliens. The mission requirements tell us so. No problems with the rest, as I'm sure there are parts of space which are "unexplored" and become public domain. The three main Alpha Quadrant neighbors can reach it without stepping on each others' toes. I'm afraid this one's going into the dumpster at 2. It's just the wrong card type.

SEEDABILITY: You can build a nebula strategy with this one by including it along with all the others. Once in place, your opponent might have trouble crossing the spaceline without stopping on a nebula. If he does, Isabella the sucker. Youth isn't all that common (just don't go seeding Rascals this game), especially in non-Fed affiliations. You could do a lot of damage. FGC-47 has a potentially extreme Span, which will make stopping there a more common occurence too. Well prepared (by stocking Navigation x2 personnel), you can slow down your opponent considerably while you breeze past this mission. As for solving it, it's relatively easy to solve for the Feds who have scores of Diplomacy and the most Youth. With Mission Specialists, the points can even rise to 45. The Klingons and Romulans might not do so well though. Fits in certain decks, less so in others. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) It's got problems, but a lot of qualities. And look at that numbering coincidence.

PICTURE: Quite nice. The special effect looks great and really pops off the card. The alien's make-up design is well done and the costume not too bad. Nice contrast, for example, between the fire and the frozen patterns on her gloves and neck. The pose is interesting, and the composition, with blue on maroon, is excellent and dynamic. A 4.4.

LORE: Sometimes the lore has no mistakes, but you feel there could have been more there. This is such a time. Maybe they just couldn't justify the card's effects with the lore, so they kept it simple. A 2.9.

TREK SENSE: There's some nice conceptual thinking going on here, but little in terms of actual Trek sense. To make this card work, we have to imagine a real fire sculptor from the Parallax Colony (not the holographic version) actually existing on a ship. It's not important to know how it got there. Travelling circus maybe? Now, we would have to believe that the sculptor can blow on plasma fires and warp core breaches, sculpt them and redirect them across vast distances in space to anothe ship?  Cute conceptual effect, even if I don't think the warp core breach is all that firery. The second function, "melts" (nice wording) something in a discard pile. Imagine, if you will, a fire sculptor hired to melt down the parts of a destroyed starship, or an overloaded disruptor. Could make sense, though "melting" dead personnel (cremation?) and entities like the Traveller and Kevin Uxbridge, that's going a bit far. Again, it's all very conceptual, and a good effort in that vein. Can't go over 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: The first function was created to give some utility to Plasma Fire and Warp Core Breach, two cards who have a great effect (especially with the new damage rules) if only they could hit. The problem has always been that they are much too easy to nullify. One SECURITY will extinguish a Plasma Fire, one ENGINEER will repair the Breach, and your opponent has all the time in the world to get those personnel there. Now, I know the card's wording makes it sound very defensive, a turnabout kind of effect, but you can't just sit there and wait for your opponent to play one of these ship damagers/destroyers on you. It probably won't happen. You can however, move a Plasma Fire you played on his ship to another of his ships. Watch him scramble to get an Engineer or Security (depending) to the vessel affected, then switch the card to another ship with your Sculptor. This could actually be a good way to manipulate your opponent's forces, placing them in harm's way or away from your own interests. Play cat and mouse with them. This may be a little hard to plan out, but you can still use your Sculptors for their second function, that of getting rid of a card in the discard pile. You would probably use it to melt something your opponent can recycle. These days, what with Regenerate and Process Ore added to the mix of Palor Toffs and Res-Qs, discard pile management is at an all-time high. You can really hurt a Process Ore strategy by using a bunch of Sculptors, or even just one, played at a key moment. You could also melt something in your own discard pile, but why would you? How about to get rid of a big point box when you know you're opponent's going for Are These Truly Your Friends, Brother? Or make your own Ore Processing more effective. There's a third (hidden) function: it nullifies Frigid. You never know, but if you're using the interrupt for something and you're really caught... Better than the reputation that preceeds it, a 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Sometimes I'm surprised at what a card can do.

PICTURE: Not a bad picture at all. The anomaly kind of looks like a space cyclops and is unique among the missions. Did I mention I hate purple? This doesn't move me to lower the score though, and I give Fissure Research a 3.5.

LORE: Star Trek's creators put this anomaly in an interestingly-named sector. Forkus Sector? And it's a fork in the road of reality? Very nice. As for Decipher's part in this, there's an odd discrepency between the title's Research and the lore's Investigation. The syntax is a little muddled, but it's not without some interest (certainly not your usual mission). A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Nothing to say about Span or points, or even about which affiliations can attempt it. The Sector could be anywhere. The requirements are a mix though. Sure, a mix of Astrophysics (the thing's a spatial anomaly) and Physics (the quantum stuff) is warranted, though Physics could have been in multiples. This is Hawking territory here, not simple Newtonian or Einsteinian baby stuff. Then there's the three AU icon personnel. Huh? Why are these people needed to do the research? In the show, Worf flew through the phenomenon by accident, and THEN, a number of AU personnel helped out in setting things right. The AU personnel are more a result of the mission's presence than a requirement for its completion. A mixed 2.9.

SEEDABILITY: Missions with three affiliation icons or more always seem easy to steal, but they aren't anymore, especially not this one. With three new (mission-solving) affiliations, your opponent has a good chance of not having a compatible affiliation. Add to that that the Cardies, Bajorans and Dominion don't have AU icons and you have something that's even Espionnage proof (Borg take note!). The Feds will have the easiest time of it with a lot of AU personnel. Add Einstein to the mix and voila. With Red Alert and Crew Reassignment in play, you could even report the Enterprise-C staffed right there (just don't get damaged by a dilemma). The Klingons and Romulans might consider putting their three AU personnel in a Cryosatellite to get them all at the same time. Don't lose one though, or you'll be unable to complete the mission at all. Could be part of your Dr. Telek R'mor strategy. Pretty good points, but may not be worth the effort. A 3.1

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) A cute mission, but not one I see a lot of.

PICTURE: One of the best AU pics available, and still a high visual point on the series itself. Decipher tried to give us a lot of eerie, distorted images in this expansion and Frame of Mind really stands out with its shattered Riker and applauding crewmembers in the background. Riker looks like a head at the end of a snakey body. Cool, but a bit dark for a total of 4.7.

LORE: A pretty standard description of events is subverted by a witty play on words. "Shattered," indeed. And it's a great use of the episode's title. A good 4.3.

TREK SENSE: Would this really happen in space? On a planet, a personnel could be kidnapped and reprogramed, but aboard a ship, how are the bad guys (or good guys, depends on who you play) supposed to change your frame of mind? Secondly, why is this AU? Sure, the episode was in Riker's mind, but the dilemma itself has nothing other-worldly about it. The Tilonians were real, their brainwashing technique was real. Maybe the card should give a personnel the AU icon, but not be AU itself. Then, there's that effect. The target loses its allegiance and is relegated to two skills which might as well be Barbering and the like. The affiliation change makes perfect sense, but the skill change wasn't necessarily apparent in the episode. Plus, how can you give someone Youth? Or take it away? Or a difficult skill like Cybernetics or Astrophysics? How about Empathy and Mindmeld? The attributes also go down to 3-3-3 which would indicate that, like in the episode, the bad guys are keeping the personnel drugged somehow. How else are they making someone dumber (well, could be done) and physically weaker? How do Animals get skills and Cunning? In any case, the real problem here is that you get to keep using your personnel after the change. In Trek Sense, you would probably lose contact with it. The cure is okay, with Empathy often being used as a default psychology skill (which it isn't, or else non-telepaths would have access to the skill), or at least showing a telepath could reach the person's other self. Mindmeld couldn't? How about that Riker snapped out of it himself? Shattered, indeed. A 1.2.

SEEDABILITY: This is a cool dilemma in that it has a unique effect, but it's attraction doesn't stop there. Don't forget that a dead personnel can always be re-reported, but one that's useless on the table cannot. That's why taking captives or placing personnel in stasis are good dilemma effects. With Frame of Mind, depending on who you hit, you can strike a good blow at your opponent's Away Team. Where once he had a Kira Nerys with a large complement of skills and high stats, he now has a 3-3-3 personnel without the ability to staff Bajoran ships or attempt Bajoran missions alone, and the skills of Barbering and Cantankerousness. Kira is no help to anybody now, and another copy of her (or a recycled copy) can't be brought into play. With the proliferation of special skills available today, you can also destroy a number of important effects, like The Emissary's reporting and boosting abilities, or a mission specialist's usefulness. Goodbye special downloads too. The cure isn't too easy to get, especially for non-Feds, and the Borg will pretty much lose a personnel over this (NA isn't compatible with them). Note that the personnel won't be losing its classification, icons, matching commander status or species. Still, in the right combo, you can make sure the next dilemma hits by providing the right trigger. There isn't a lot you can do with this right now (manipulate Worshiper results?), but the time will come. At least you know you can weed out any useful skills and a lot of attribute points. Watch out for the more and more useful Plexing which can nullify this one. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) This is a great card, except when you look at my favorite criterion.

PICTURE: A fairly cool action shot of the Future Enterprise flying out of nowhere to destroy some nasty Voodieh class ships. The third nacelle is at once cool and hokey, and we can see other added details like the strange antennae on the saucer section. Dynamic, but still oddly photographed, especially the nacelles... an even 4.

LORE: A big deal is made about that third nacelle, but not much else. At least, it mentions a matching commander in the form of Admiral Riker. Extra points there. Otherwise, pretty average. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Now that we've seen Advanced ships, the class should probably be Modified Galaxy, but other than that, the card is pretty spot on. It's an AU ship with a lot of staffing requirements, but then, it's a big ship. An extra nacelle must mean extra Engineers. It's got the same stuff the Enterprise has always had, namely a Tractor Beam and a Holodeck, but now it cloaks. In the episode, they made a big show of going to warp 13 (the current scale has an absolute maximum of 10), and lo and behold, the FE has RANGE 13! Cute. The Weapons are likewise upped by future technology, but I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been that much advancement in Shield technology in the last 25 years (speaking as if from that timeline). A very good 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: Sure, it's a powerful ship, but is it worth the staffing headaches? Well, while the FE is good by itself - there's no natural RANGE like it, it'll pack a whallop even without a Kurlan Naiskos, and it's one of the few Federation ships that can cloak - in combination with other cards, it becomes quite impressive. Consider: It now has a matching commander in the form of the excellent Admiral Riker who can download it no less. Add Captain's Log and Guinan and you've got a 13-16-15 ship. Defiant Dedication Plaque brings that first attribute to 15. Add Wall of Ships and you've got youself an extra +1 to each and a means to download any Enterprise, including this one. (We're up to 16-17-16 before any other enhancements.) Worried about the staffing? The USS Pasteur, a ship that's just as fast for mission solving (faster!), will reduce that by 1 AU, placing it at a more comfortable level. With this kind of speed and a cloak, I wouldn't be very worried about the shared nemesis icon (if your opponent is even playing Klingons). All you need is a reason (or a way) to go battling and you'll win most any war. A flying fortress from which to attempt your missions at 4.6.

TOTAL: 16.1 (80.5%) Thought I'd demystify the big bad ultra-rare? Sorry to burst your bubble.

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