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

PICTURE: This is one of two cards which picture "Tin Man", the other being Investigate Sighting. On the mission, Gomtuu is more orange, here, yellowish gold. Makes the card really monochromatic, but not unlikeable. A 3.4.

LORE: Interesting facts, but nothing that really puts it over the top. Tam Elbrun shows up as a matching commander, making the lore a little more useful than it would have been. Why no "Tin Man"? 3.2.

TREK SENSE: This "Living Ship" (I like the appelation) isn't driven by consoles and technology (which require the usual staffing icons), but by telepathy (AKA Empathy). I don't see any reason why someone with Mindmeld couldn't make it work as well, except that prolonged telepathic contact would probably be dangerous. I have no problem with Tam's commanding of the ship. I do see a problem with treating this ship like a regular ship though. Would Gomtuu really get repaired at a Spacedock? Are Warp Core Breaches a problem? The list goes on and on. As in the episode, Gomtuu can only be harmed by a Supernova if it lets it. Unstaffed, Tin Man is sad, alone and suicidal. Otherwise, it's content to live on. The hurling ability is a fun one. Gomtuu has no phasers, it throws some kind of kinetic shockwave around itself, pushing ships away. Unfortunately, the realities of the game make the ability a little ridiculous. For one, why would high shields defend against the shockwave? They don't try to penetrate any shields. I would rather say that ships with weak shielding could incur damage from the hurl (stress on the hull). Also, 9 span is a HUGE amount of space. Within a region, it's not too bad, but are we to believe Gomtuu can hurl a ship from Earth to Romulus in a single blow? Too much. Finally, the Range and Shields might have been higher as the thing is from an unknown part of space and it was pretty resilient. And maybe it deserves Integrity and Cunning? Or a closer tie to Investigate Sighting? A lot of nice features, but others don't work as well. Drops to a 2.8 :-(.

STOCKABILITY: A fun collectible, but hardly the best of ships. Low SHIELDS and unimpressive RANGE are only a hint of the problems associated with this card. It's the total lack of standard WEAPONS which might do it in. I'm afraid even Tactic cards don't really pull this one up. Sure, it's got a matching commander, but that'll only make the SHIELDS an acceptable 9 and the WEAPONS still a hurl (will now hurl anthing with less than 12 SHIELDS). The staffing is unusual, but not difficult if you're using Tam in the first place, or alternatively, any other full Betazoid, or Maques even. The immunity to Supernova has got to be the least used ability in the game, but you never know when it'll become handy, right? Riiiiiiight. The trick is actually to find a way to exploit the hurling ability. One way to do it is to play a pollution deck. Place a Q-Net just before some damaging spaceline phenomenon like a Subspace Warp Rift, and you're garanteeing a damage result PLUS your opponent's ship loses precious ground. Even without a Q-Net, with enough pollution you can make sure the opposing ship is never where your opponent wants it. Watch out for the return fire though, especially if SHIELD enhancements should go offline. A support card if you're in it for fun, but hardly a staple. Giving it a 2.9.

TOTAL: 12.3 (61.5%) I've always had a soft spot for this one, so I hope you can see I'm being objective.

PICTURE: Frosty old Worf is pretty cool with his furs and futuristic sash. There's a good color balance working using a winter palette (now it sounds like I read Vogue or something). His hand is strange though. Looks like Data's. Basically a winner at 4.

LORE: Not so much about Worf as about the Klingon Empire in Q's alternate future, it still gives interesting facts. Of note is the reference to the Klingon High Council. It makes him reportable for free to The Great Hall. Ups the score to another 4.

TREK SENSE: Totally Klingon and alternate universe, that's for sure. But how has Worf aged since TNG? (I'm using the Premiere version for comparison because "things have already changed" in our timeline. He's now VIP (a governor) instead of SECURITY, but still remembers how to do that job (as per the episode, where he still took that position aboard the Future Enterprise). He's still as Honorable as ever (rejoined his old crew despite politics) and keeps his Navigation and Diplomacy skills. Add to that Leadership for his having served on the Council and you've got little to nitpick. The only changes in attributes have to do with age: more Cunning and experience, less Strength and vitality. The only thing missing is for him to be able to somehow interact with his old Enterprise buddies despite his affiliation. A good effort, just not particluarly inventive at 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: One of the first Klingon bridge crew personnel, even Gowron doesn't have this many skills.With Guv Worf, the Klingons finally got a decent SECURITY. The Honor is great for many of their missions as well as for their species-specific support cards. Navigation is never a waste. Neither is Diplomacy. And Leadership allows him to attack where before, Picard always countermanded his wishes to do so. Stats are still up there, and while he's slightly harder to report (AU), that's two staffing icons on there. Add to that his ability to report for free at The Great Hall (or on one of the AU ships through Crew Reassignement) and his matching commander status on the IKC Chang, and you've got something really great, whether you found him with his dear old dad on a Cryosatellite or he found himself naturally on the homeworld. Hits all the right notes: a 4.7.

TOTAL: 16.8 (84%) One of the reasons the Klingons will always try to keep access to the alternate universe.

PICTURE: Here's hoping the Tactical console has an answering machine, because hail or no, there's nobody manning it! One of the very worst pics in the collection, it's something between a prop shot and a set shot, and doesn't suggest the card's function at all. A big fat 0.7.

LORE: For one thing, when the lore feels it necessary to point to the picture just so you "get it", it's in trouble (see PICTURE). The rest of the information is clearly self-evident. Filler. A 2, no more.

TREK SENSE: Ah, here's where the card steals my heart. Hailing a vessel can be done for two exact reasons. One, when a ship passes by, you can call it up and it will stop to engage in discussion. Two, when a ship is apparently hostile (weapons and shields powered up), hail the ship and give diplomacy a chance. The first ability makes a lot of sense. The second is a little flawed because you can only stop two ships from battling each other. Usually, hailing the lead ship of an armada will stop that entire armada as it waits for its leader's move. Finally both abilities have the same tiny flaw: there's no reason why an opponent's ship should respond to the hail. They often don't! Maybe a clause such as "with Diplomacy aboard" or "with no Treachery" should have been added. Still a good effort worth a 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: With Tactics out, preventing battle may be enough to make you stock this former binder fodder favorite, but it's the other function which interests me most. The fun thing here is to make an opponent's ship stop at your location. So you can attack it next turn? Okay, why not, but that's not looking at all the options. Consider: Fly a shuttle to Gaps in Normal Space, discard ensign redshirt (Ore process him later) and wait for a ship to fly by. Hail it (somehow, you don't even need personnel aboard the ship, it's all automated), and watch it lose personnel. At a planet location, release a Dal'Rok and land your shuttle for the same effect. Better yet, drop an Anti-Matter Pod somewhere and stay put. Stop a passing ship for immediate damage. On your turn, attack and finish the job. There are a lot of possibilities here. Fight dirty. Even the Federation can join in the fun. With damage markers, this underrated card goes up to a 4.

TOTAL: 10.6 (53%) Good thing the two last categories exist.

PICTURE: A plain gray one with the entrance still hidden (it's a holographic wall), but looking like it's not hidden at all because of that cave entanceway. A better pic would have shown Geordi in profile reaching for the wall face. This card is semi-famous for the false Easter Egg hidden within it. It's just a coincidence, but it looks like there's a little dog, or deer, at the bottom to Geordi's right. Decipher denies any involvement and it's probably no more than the "looking at clouds" phenomenon, but with a card with the word Hidden in it, wouldn't it have been a great place to put something? Not great, but can amuse: a 2.8.

LORE: Nice little story, but fails to give some generality so as to make the dilemma seedable elsewhere than at Omicron Theta (not that there's a mission for that yet). Another mistake: visor should be written VISOR. This one gets a 2.5.

TREK SENSE: Always like it when the game text uses narrative elements like this. Other than that, it's basically a wall dilemma (and truly, it is a wall). Requirements include a VISOR in the form of Geordi LaForge, and while hindsight is always 20/20, this one screams for Ocular Implants instead. It's the VISOR, not Geordi specifically that can pass it by seeing the irreality of the wall, so why can't any personnel so equipped do it? The other choice is an ENGINEER (but could have been Geology) and smart enough an Away Team. Makes sense, but not particularly interesting. The problems aren't too big - a 3.

SEEDABILITY: Does anyone use this outside of Sealed Deck format? Sure, Geordi's Federation only, but everyone's packing an ENGINEER or five, and the CUNNING's equally easy to get. Will stop redshirts, but not a bigger team coming down after it. The redshirt's fine and so there's no real penalty for using him. Where it will make an appearance though is as a lead-in to something you don't want redshirted though, so look to combo land here. Make Us Go could be placed after so you make sure you have a valid target, for example. A lameduck 2.8.

TOTAL: 11.1 (55.5%) Couldn't hide from Siskoid.

PICTURE: When you look closely at the picture (and no one's blaming you if you never have), there's an odd, almost painted, irreality to it. Everything except the candle itself has that odd feel, a combination of out-of-focus fuzziness and sculptural reliefs. Be that as it may, the picture holds little interest for us, since it's basically just a dark object in a dark background. 2.8 here.

LORE: Well, there's not much here. The story is there, but it's not written in the best of prose. For example, the word "special" is a very weak adjective, and the phrase "and drew power from" should really be between commas. And look at all that wasted space that could have been used to justify the game text. Way below average at 1.9.

TREK SENSE: Of the long list of cards mentioned here, only one is truly linked to the Candle and that's Anaphasic Organism. As the Organism's home (it's a genie's bottle, if you will), it draws power from it and becomes a natural booster to that dilemma. Is it, though? Doubling Anaphasic Organism means that it will require double the SECURITY and MEDICAL (2 each), but also that it will affect two personnel. Does it have time to two-time like this? It's just not Ronin's style, and in fact, the Candle is exactly for the opposite purpose. It allows him to linger during an entire woman's life. In the episode, he got his way with two women, but Felicia and Beverly were NOT in the same Away Team. The other cards mentioned have only one thing in common: transformation. The same way Anaphasic Organism changes from an energy form to a human one, Empathic Echo changes the reality perceived by a person. Coalescent Organism transforms itself into its victim. And Anya and Salia are shapeshifters. But there's really no connection, except thematic, to the Candle. Even if transformative energies are affected, why double one, but nullify another? Nonsense, and even the one related function leaves something to be desired. A 1.6.

STOCKABILITY: The only reason to stock a Candle is for the first function. What? You say. Coalescent Organism could be annoying. Anya and Salia are powerful shapeshifters. Yes, but you can never be sure your opponent will use any of these cards, and you don't want to stock unnecessary cards. That's why you better seed some Anaphasic Organisms and Empathic Echoes if you mean to use the interrupt. These aren't bad dilemmas in and of themselves. Organism can be hard on affiliations with few females (the Dominion even has few MEDICALs), and Echo can get rid of an Empath (now two). These are lead-in dilemmas, sending you straight to a Matriarchal Society or Cardassian Trap. Making them tougher at the drop of a hat (suspending play) is a minor effect, but could be important to your capturing strategy. The other functions depend much too much on what you're opponent is playing with. There's enough Exobiology out there for Coalescent Organism not to be too great a problem. Salia and Anya are good personnel though, and Non-Aligned. That means they could turn up. You could keep a Candle in hand (or in Tent) in case you want to prevent them from doing too much damage in a personnel battle, or make sure they can't escape your own attack or a dilemma's. Still, you stock it at your own risk. At most, a 2.

TOTAL: 8.3 (41.5%) The very definition of binder fodder.

PICTURE: The classroom 7 console is cute all right! The little fish says Hello in a perfectly absurd picture. And I'm always glad to find a 47 in Star Trek (although it's a bit overdone over on Voyager), and look at that - there's one over to the right. Fun if nothing else. A 3.5.

LORE: The longest word in any card title, this card is quite absurd (and as such, lovely). The lore itself has a nice educational element (and the card does come from a classroom), and then the schoolroom computer is mentioned leading us to the next part of our discussion. Meanwhile, this scores a 3.5 as well.

TREK SENSE: The rationale is that our little trigger fish (I'm NOT going to type the name again) represents a school computer from which your Youth can mess around with disorganised units' plans. I say disorganised because it affects Non-Aligneds (but not Ferengi like in the episode). Thanks to the computer, we're supposed to believe the kids are getting huge Cunning and Strength (battle ability) boosts, while the NA intruders/opposers are getting a dive in the same categories. I suppose they might underestimate the kids and let their guard down. But why does this work for an entire location, regardless of where the NAs and Youths actually are? Your fishy computer on a ship won't help your kids planetside, and certainly won't affect the NAs on some passing ship! Plus, can your usual child actually run circles around the bad guys? The kids in "Rascals" could, but they were adults in children's bodies. And your standard Youth isn't even a kid, sometimes looking as old as twentysomething. Those ensigns taking remedial courses in kindergarden? Plotholes aplenty as the (take a deep breath) Humuhumunukunukuapua'a's power is overrated. A measly 1.3.

STOCKABILITY: Not much better. A one turn boost at one location for specific personnel only goes so far. If you're running a Youth-oriented deck (maybe with already strong Soong-Types), this could help you solve missions or pass dilemmas, or even win personnel battles. Your opponent will get ambushed if he's using a lot of Non-Aligned support in those same battles, or you could be giving a hard time to his NA-heavy Away Teams (yeah, right... though you could make Qualor II a living hell with the right dilemmas). A newer use for the card (other than keeping your binder full) is in combination with Memory Wipe. Make sure your opponent's personnel are NAs and elligible for attribute drains! Of course, that drain only lasts one turn, but it could be enough to take over the ship or make use of Anti-Matter Spread or Crimson Forcefield and the like. How about Vulcan Stone of Gol and its brain frying properties? Or, even better, make your Borg Queen youthful and interlink the skill with the entire Hive. Gives your drones a great Strength boost (for +4, to +8 against NA)! I did my part, but it's still a limited card at 3.3.

TOTAL: 11.6 (58%) The card's a little absurd on a lot of levels.

PICTURE: While the picture has been well composed, with Tasha's gaze directing our own to the circle in the back, I find it ghastly. Her scars and costume are like a scene from some sort of S&M video and are somewhat inappropriate for this G-rated game. The tunnel has one cool feature: dark figures with flashlights pointing in all directions (We Are the Borg! Oops, sorry), but it's otherwise set in a boring cavern wall. I'm overdosing on "Planet Hell". A 2.2.

LORE: First, the title. I AM glad they didn't stick with the name given to the gangs in the episode, which is "Rape Gang". It would have been a bit violent for my tastes. Heck, we can't even use the word on the BBS. The odd thing about the lore is the use of the name "Natasha" rather than "Tasha". I know it's her full name, but it's been rarely used. It could be a herald from her past (she became nicknamed "Tasha" later in life), but the meeting with her sister Ishara never revealed this (quite the contrary). We're left with adequate lore, generalizing while simultaneously giving a specific example. A good 3.4.

TREK SENSE: A lot of unanswered questions. Why only two Away Team members? What is the rest of the team doing in the meantime? Why are the gangs even attacking a big team and how are they splitting it up? In any case, two personnel get chased. By different Gangs? By the same one? Who gets caught and killed is left to chance, though Cunning is the deciding attribute. Smarts should count for something, but here, this logic is subverted by the even/odd device. So someone with a CUNNING of 8 escapes, but someone with 9 doesn't? Or how about this? A stupid 2 gets away, but a brilliant 13 doesn't. Nonsense. What little is there gathers up 1.5 points.

SEEDABILITY: You've got a chance for 2 kills with one stone, but not really any easy way to make sure it hits. After all, if both personnel picked have even CUNNINGs, you're out of luck. Of course, both could be odd... Just what ARE the odds (sorry, pun not intended) for hitting the right personnel? Well, first off, the dilemma is murder on the Borg. All the drones have very uneven 5s and 7s and go to the discard pile (to circumvent the one scout-one death syndrome, put a big wall in front of Hunter Gangs). Half the Counterparts are also odd. The Bajorans won't lose half their personnel, but such luminaries as Odo and Rinnak Pire will bite the big one. The Cardassians are fairly well divided in the middle, but their SCIENCE will be hurt the most (seed at SCIENCE missions). Only a third of the Dominion falls under "odd", but those include a number of Founders AND Weyoun. The Federation is also well divided, with a number of good personnel in there (Picard, Kirk, Guinan, Bashir and Dax to name only a few), with SCIENCE again taking a specific hit. Klingons will mostly lose OFFICERs, but are all over the map on this one. Same for the Romulans. Non-Aligned personnel are in the best shape right now with less than a third of their numbers being odd, and those being mostly specialized CIVILIANs anyway. So it can be effective depending on on your opponent's choices. I wouldn't write this one off quite yet. A 3.5.

TOTAL: 10.6 (53%) Risky, but could pay off.

PICTURE: I like the fact that we're not seeing the whole ship, cuz these Voodieh class ships are kinda clunky. Only showing the forward section actually makes it seem immense, much more imposing. The lizard skin is quite apparent at this distance too, making the ship into a monster. And guess what? It's named after one too. A 3.7.

LORE: Shouldn't there be a "the" after "Destroyed"? There was room for it. Other than that, the naming of the ship, Decipher's invention, is mentioned as well as the small part it played in "All Good Things..." Great name for a ship, I must say. A decent 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Obviously an AU ship which is so huge it requires at least four personnel to staff (including 2 AUs - even though only one AU Klingon from that timeline actually exists). The Cloak and Tractor Beam are supported, the Holodeck is not, but quite probable given that this is a future ship and big enough. The attributes are perhaps a litle low for a future vessel, except for the Range of course, but they ARE better than your standard Vor'Cha. Comparing it with the other Voodieh, the Chang, I notice that it's a point faster (got to the Pasteur first) and a point less shielded (it got spectacularly destroyed about half a second after that picture was taken). No real problems or insights here. A 3.8.

STOCKABILITY: Like the Chang, it's got exorbitant staffing. The Klingons just don't have that many AU personnel available. And if you're using Governor Worf, it's likely you'll want to place him on his own ship, the aforementioned Chang. By using both ships though, you reduce your staffing needs by one AU each. That's two AUs where you would have normally needed four. Using them together also bestows a Nemesis icon against the USS Pasteur and possibly the Future Entreprise (if Pasteur in play) on the Fek'lhr. This is a double edged sword, as those fast ships can come and nip your ship off the spaceline at the end of the Federation player's turn, but you can do the same to his big colossal FE. Recommend using your Cloaking Device on that one. The Holodeck helps the Kligons finally make real use of their few holograms (including its namesake, the Guardian of Gre'thor). It's faster than any other Klingon ship too, and you can use it in conjunction with the Tactic Maximum Firepower for a little extra boost in space battles. Still, it's not as useful or strong as the matching commandered Chang, especially if used alone. Just a 3.1.

TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) Too costly for armada decks, it still gets in way above average.

PICTURE: I'm very drawn to this one. The shot is original, we don't get many back shots of ships. The colors are very nice and glowing. Because the ship is named after the author of The Dream of Fire, we see it heading for a burning star, like a moth drawn to a flame. Do insects dream? And while I know this is taken from "Redemption" (the ship is actually the Hegh'ta), I have a nagging suspicion that that shot was recycled from Star Trek IV, when the Bounty slingshots around the sun. The shots look very much alike. Well thought out for a conjectural ship, and poetic! An easy 4.7.

LORE: Why invent a ship from scratch when you have plenty of others to choose from? To use that great picture, I'd guess. For a long time, I thought the entire lore was an invention on Decipher's part. Then, I saw "The Measure of a Man" again. In it, Worf gives Data a copy of The Dream of the Fire by K'Ratak. Ahhhhhh! A nice idea for an invented card. Somewhere around a 3.9.

TREK SENSE: Just your basic K'Vort with its Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam and single staffing icon. Since the ship never really existed in the show, it's hard to gauge its attributes, but let's try. A normal K'Vort has 8-6-6, the K'Ratak 6-8-6. The word "Fire" might inspire more Weapons, sure. The trade for the Range could be because it's making a slow approach towards that star. In any case, Shields could just as well been upped, their being needed to come close to a star. It's all arbitrary, and shows little imagination in this area. A 3.

STOCKABILITY: For a long time, this was the runt of all K'Vorts. Nothing really set it apart from the others, except its lame RANGE which always made it get left behind by a faster-moving armada. SHIELDS weren't great either. Even the WEAPONS aren't uniquely high, since the Buruk (to name only one) is also an 8. Now at least, it's got a matching commander in the form of Voktak (common and universal) who can take the ship to a more competent 8-11-9. With the Klingon fleet currently available though, I wouldn't count on the K'Ratak to make the cut. Leave at drydock. A 2.3.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) A cool idea that quickly dovetails into a star's corona.

PICTURE: Though I'm usually ready to like an action shot more than a prop shot, this one really ain't that great. Beverly's arm seems totally disembodied, the I.P. Scanner itself, as a prop, is clunky, the interphasic plasma creature isn't all that obvious from this distance, and Picard's head's been chopped in half as if by a drunk Christmas photographer. 'Nuff said. A 1.3.

LORE: A nice little rundown of the gadget's different uses on the show. I'd say it's pretty complete, anyway. Standard lore score of 3.

TREK SENSE: Equipment that protects you against three specific things (everything else it protects you from as listed on those cards and to be reviewed with those cards, not here). In reality, IP Scanner has nothing to do with protection, it's all about DEtection. You detect the problem (interphasic plasma creatures or phased personnel) and work on the problem from there. If you never notice, you don't even know there is one until it's too late. But to infer that the Scanner fixes the problem automatically ("prevents" as much as it nullifies) is misleading. How long did it take a brainiac like Data to figure out that Geordi and Ro had become the Phased Matter he detected with his Scanner? An entire episode. Likewise with the IPCs. And IP Scanner ot not, without some kind of SCIENCE/ENGINEER/MEDICAL team to back you up, I'm not sure the problems can be resolved just by simply detecting them. So while the references are to the right cards, the effect is a little broad for Trek Sense. A 2.3.

STOCKABILITY: IP Scanner's listed uses are actually only the tip of the iceberg, because it's been mentioned on a number of other cards, just so it could be a little more useful. As was, it all depended on what you're opponent was packing (the hallmark of true binder fodder). Phased Matter isn't too terrible a dilemma, and neither are Interphasic Plasma Creatures (both see little use). Brain Drain decks, consisting in draining specific personnel before they encountered deadly dilemmas only they could pass, while infrequent, cause real headaches, so an IP Scanner along for the ride could be a good idea against the right opponent. Recent rules changes have made this strategy's usefulness open to debate. What else is IP good for? It's a requirement on DNA Metamorphosis, a little-seen dilemma that nonetheless has bad consequences for one personnel, and on the related Tarchannen Study, a 40 point mission your Borg opponent may have scouted clean already. And it reports to both the Infirmiry and the Science Lab (oooh, I'm stocking it NOW). Unless you're using Tarchannen yourself, every use presupposes your opponent is using one of the cards mentioned. Not good - a 2.

TOTAL: 8.6 (43%) Seen for what it is.

PICTURE: One of the goals of Alternate Universe, graphically, was to supply a surreal feel to the entire expansion. This one isn't distorted or especially dark, but the weird furniture in Deanna's childhood room is very surreal. Good move making this a wide shot so as to include all the fun stuff. There's a funky red animal on the left (cat? bird?), an antennaed orange coffee table, a cool blue mirror and a silver bowling ball. Even the pill-shaped windows are cool. I like it and give it a 4.4.

LORE: What impresses me the most about this lore is that there's a fair amount of research in it. Go to Troi's entry in the Star Trek Encyclopedia for example, and you won't find any of that information on Grax and Miller. Those details are from "Haven" and "Ménage à Troi", you have to look for them. The rest is family relationships, species and context. A good 3.9.

TREK SENSE: Nothing's really known about Ian Andrew Troi's abilities, even a mindscape (AU) version like this one. He was a Starfleet officer (or, OFFICER), probably high-ranking enough to encounter an ambassador/vip like Lwaxana Troi, so deserving of a Command icon, Leadership and even Diplomacy. Music: he sang his daughter to sleep I suppose. Computer Skill: a default skill since it's something most everyone in Starfleet has experience with. If you don't believe in the Music, you can always say this is an idealized version of Ian, as seen by Lwaxana or Deanna, and they must think he was good enough to earn the skill. It would explain the idealized Integrity and Cunning. Though there's no reason to disbelieve those stats as the Strength is a fair 6. Whatever the case may be, there's not a whole lot to say "true" or "false" to. A 3.2.

STOCKABILITY: Yeech... The combination of OFFICER, Diplomacy, Leadership, Music and Computer Skill is one of the most common in the Federation. He's like a watered-down version of Picard, of which there are already many. I'm not disputing that these skills are all useful to some extent (sometimes to a great extent), but they are all very common, and commonly found together on the same personnel as well. There isn't even a noteworthy combination of these exact skills on a mission. The attributes are on the high side, but not overly so for a unique Federation personnel. The AU icon may make him reportable to the Future Enterprise via Crew Reassignment, but again, he's not the only (or most useful) AU fish in that particular sea. Have him ply his music with two other AU Musicians and a Ressikan Flute seeded inside a Cryosatellite, it used to be a strategy. Nothing really sets him apart, or put him over the top. A lame-o 2.1.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Starts out strong, but petters out.

PICTURE: Suffers from being too purple and pink, most hated colors of the rainbow, and off from the episode's true, bluer colors. The composition is likewise lame and unbalanced. The only redeeming element is the Gateway's destination. Is that 20th century Toronto, Canada? My, yes, that's Toronto City Hall! So... where are those Iconians? Barely hits a 2.7.

LORE: I'm really glad the phrase "Demons of Air and Darkness" was used. It's very poetic and one of the best things about this average episode. Good lore, good lore. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Well done for the most part. The Iconian Gateway allows travel to any planet, the same way the Iconians escaped their own world. Personnel just walk through (with possessions, if any) to any planet they choose. It's not a network with defined tunnels, you can go anywhere. The game has limits of course. Planets not in play are outside the scope of the Gateway (wouldn't know how to handle this any other way), and ships are likewise forbidden locations. EXCEPT Picard walks to a ship in the episode. Too powerful with intruder strategies? Of course. But I don't care about balance here. There's one other piece of nonsense: shouldn't a discovered Gateway be played on that planet right there? If an Artifact is acquired someplace, especially one as unmovable as this one, it should definitely stay where it was found. "Contagion" shows no evidence that the Gateway can be moved, and DS9's "To the Death" actually implies that the technology is NOT movable. Ends up around 3.3.

SEEDABILITY: A great Artifact. Once you find it, you can play it anywhere you want (including your HQ or Outpost location) and use it to send personnel to any planet you wish (no return ticket though), in any quadrant! Use it to start a far-away Colony in the deserted Gamma quadrant, or to supply personnel to any mission location where your ship or Away Team is. Because once your ship is staffed, it can take off in any direction and, as long as it stops at a planet, it can pick up any new personnel you report along the way. It can make you pretty efficient, avoiding unecessary return trips to your outpost. Watch out though, there are five counters to the Gateway. Kevin Uxbridge and KU: Convergence will nix it, Revolving Door will close it, Barclay Transporter Phobia will stop a personnel from using it and Wrong Door will redirect it. That last one might offer a way to trap your opponent. Don't forget, that Gateway can be used by both players. Leave it unprotected and you're asking opposing personnel to come over and abuse it. Fine, let them, but make sure you have a Wrong Door ready to send them to your ambush (or Qualor II for immediate stasis!). Of course, these days, there are a lot more ways to report personnel to various locations, including ships, so it's taken some of Iconian Gateway's thunder away from it. Still a 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.3 (66.5%) Even if it used to be better, it always had that horrid picture.

PICTURE: Ye olde admiral giving a not so nice order. The standard Incoming Messages are all on a forward viewscreen, but this one is on a desktop monitor, even notice? The message is confidential and secret, so it's only piped through to the captain's ready room. The plants add color to an otherwise static pic. A 3.6.

LORE: A good explanation of why the Federation DOES attack from time to time, regardless of some "battle restriction". It even covers ships of the same affiliation (or side!), "rogues". Cool. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: A mess here. First, couldn't other affiliations' ships get a message like this? You just wouldn't use it with your Klingons, but the others could conceivably attack rogues and enemies of their own. But either way, the whole thing hinges on what kind of personnel are aboard. Why, if it's a Message issued from some starbase? Here's what I mean: If Treachery must be aboard, then it's not the admiral giving orders from afar who's treacherous (well, he still might be), it's the crew who's willing to go along with it. But then, it means the VIP is not the Admiral either (he's not present), it's some diplomat or admiral who countermands the order. It can work the way it's described I suppose, but isn't an order an order? We're still talking enemies and rogues right? Why would you need for a crew to be treacherous? And what if the captain's honorable, and only a civilian like Vash has Treachery. She has no say in the matter (let's say it ain't Jean-Luc who's captain). Same thing with the VIP. I don't see a guy like Devinoni Ral stopping the attack. 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: Two ways to use it. For yourself or against your opponent. For yourself is the easiest way to do it. You stock Treachery personnel and help yourself to big Federation WEAPONS on such ships as the Future Enterprise. Along with Kirk, Leyton, Admiral Riker, etc., you can find a way to attack most anyone, any time. Of course, Wartime Conditions is more permanent, but you need for someone to attack you for that one to work. The other way is to play it on your opponent's Federation ships. It could be fun, because the ship present could be on its side. Or you could force it to attack your Borg Cube, with instant retaliatory wrath. I wouldn't advise stocking it for that purpose though. 1) Opponent may not be using Feds; 2) there are very few Treachery personnel in the affiliation, and 3) though VIPs are not the most useful classification, their presence will nullify your cool attempt at subversion. Like many cards with a potentially powerful ability, it's balanced towards uselessness. A 2.9.

TOTAL: 12.4 (62%) Lame, but has some saving graces.

PICTURE: A nice screen shot. I'm glad they didn't go with something like I.P. Scanner. Those creatures are repugnant, but not very clear on those other shots. The Easter Egg is outdated (danswerman@decipher.com? apparently still valid, it forwards to Mot) but discreet enough not to be irritating. Balanced color scheme too. A 3.7.

LORE: A good definition. There's that word forbidden on Decipher's boards again. Tsk, tsk. Nothing that wasn't said on the show. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Okay, these things come from subspace or some other fool place, so they are AU. I'm not griping about that. A couple of Scientists will figure them out and get rid of them, that's okay too. Mindmeld? Cool idea. A plasma creature in contact with a Vulcan will probably be detected by that Vulcan (though they must all have been on shore leave during "Phantasms") since their telepathy is based on touch. How Mindmeld actually gets rid of the dilemma, I'm not sure though. It would be quite a challenge to nerve pinch each of the little fellows. Of course, detection may be all that's needed here, followed by a quick fix. As for the effect, STRENGTH is lowered by two for every personnel you have in play. Undetected, the parasites get passed from ship to ship (even across quadrants...). A bit much. We apparently need our peptides, without them we get weak. I thought the danger in the episode was that if nothing was done, everyone would lose cohesiveness and turn into bags of water and dust though? The dilemma not being cumulative (as if the creatures don't reproduce, or your peptides continually do) is downplaying it. Also, why can't it be cured later? It would have benefited from a countdown icon, followed by a couple of deaths. Ah well... only a 2.8.

SEEDABILITY: 2 SCIENCE? Easy. Mindmeld? More difficult for non-Feds to have (Saakona, the FC Vulcans or the pricy Tallera), especially for the other-quadrant affiliations, but never the only requirement on a card. It'll hit redshirts though, or really small Away Teams from which the SCIENCE has been filtered. In the right combo or situation, it has an even chance to hit. But is a hit worth it? Well, it'll eliminate the effects of one hand weapon at every location, and every point counts if you're running a war campaign against your opponent. It's not cumulative, but Brain Drain doubles it permanently, for a clean -4. And that's on every personnel your opponent has in play. Play with lots of STRENGTH dilemmas and go for the throat with your well-armed Away Teams, and you could take advantage of all this. A fair 3.1.

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) Usefulness just outside the range of visual acuity...

PICTURE: A good shot of Madred from a classic, classic episode. The colors are cool and appropriately Cardassian. Everything is well-balanced and menacing. And the lights are included! A 4.2.

LORE: Starts off pretty well, but that last sentence (the quote) finds its way into the game text and seems redundant. Would have otherwise approached the average. 2.9.

TREK SENSE: Lovely game text Trek Sense-wise, but the card isn't without its problems. For one thing, the appelation "Interrogation" is a slight misnomer. It's more akin to "Mind Games" than anything else. If this were really Interrogation, the goal would be to learn information (Hidden Agendas, cards in hand, etc.), but it isn't. The way everything is phrased, and the points handed out (what I call a "game goal") imply that the actual goal of the "interrogation" is to break someone's spirit. If you break the captive, as Madred wanted to do, you score 10 points. If you don't, you still score points (just 1). These points represent the pressure of the pain and torture inflicted on the captive personnel. The torture if you will, though that has become an entirely different card. One question: why is a broken personnel returned home? Supposedly, he revealed some information, but the interrogating player gets none. All he really gets is an answer of "Five". Sure, Madred used the return home as a carrot to dangle in front of Picard, but was he really going to honor that promise? I also wonder if "good" affiliations actually use these methods. Probably not, they're in "violation of the Seldonis IV convention". The thing with "how many lights do you see?" is delicious, but the card has the wrong title. A 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: One of the things you can do to captives, Interrogation is good for some extra points now and then. Will the player stand up to his oppressor and give him a point per turn? If he or she does, it's because he or she believes the game will be won before the tenth turn, that he or she can rescue the captive soon enough, and/or that the personnel is unimportant. You can learn a lot from your opponent's reaction to this. It's either 10 points now, or in little pieces. With Madred in play, you get a little more for your money. He adds one to Interrogation, making it worth up to 20 points! That's a small mission's worth! Will your opponent give in now? 2 points per turn? Or an overall 11 by seeing five lights right now? And waitaminit, if he never says Five, that's 2 points per turn (1 without Madred) for as many turns as the game will last. And such cards have become friendlier to use by Elim's, Security Holding Cell's and Holding Cell Door's download abilities (even Reflection Therapy's). Sweet. While not as versatile as Brainwash, and not as killer as Torture, Interrogation remains a good card to foist on your captives. A 3.7.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Still a lot of trading of this one going on.

PICTURE: The pink creates quite a splash of color on this reasonably likeable card. Everything outside the force fields is a little bland and the picture's not as sharp as it could be, but it's worth at least a 3.3. Seems like those corridor force fields would have been a more logical choice for this.

LORE: Details quite well the scene in the picture, but not very generic as to what these things could do in other situations. Sets up the game text somewhat, but as we'll see, Trek Sense is incomplete. A good try at 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Played on table rather than on specific ships, I suppose this card represents the invention and installation of such technology aboard all your ships. The force fields have two possible functions. The first, as represented by the picture, reverses Telepathic Alien Kidnappers. Okay, turnabout is fair play, and you can somehow extort the TAKs the same way they did you. Except, I don't see how you can gain telepathic abilities (which TAK simulate) from trapping them. Suspending the card would have made more sense here. Maybe you can extort the information out of them the old-fashioned way instead of telepathically, but are the TAKs really working for the opposing affiliation? I dare say no. The second ability restricts Rogue Borg invasions to parties of at least three. The field on the picture shows 2 people being trapped. So you'd have to be at least 3 to make a dent in the ship's interior defenses right? Problems: The card doesn't disable two Rogue Borg and leave the other to attack alone. (The third deactivates the force field?) There's also no reason to believe you couldn't trap a larger attack party. In fact, with corridor force fields, an entire squad could be trapped between two energy shields. Third, the card doesn't make allowance for other types of intruders (like real Borg, Jem'Hadar, etc.). These weren't possible when AU was introduced, but still, it took until Blaze of Glory for a Trek Sense repair card, Intruder Alert!, to make this possible. Again, even with Intruder Alert!, you can't capture (hey, yeah! why no capturing option???) larger Away Teams. I gotta say, the problems outweigh the good here. A 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: A magic bullet for a couple of nasty cheese strategies. One was the abuse of the Telepathic Alien Kidnappers/Alien Probe combo. With hands face-up on the table, choosing a card to be discarded became insanely easy. The current rules at least allow a shuffle of the hand, and the target to be picked blind, so Intruder Force Field has lost some of its power here. But still, TAK is a nasty event, and IFF reverses it, doesn't nullify it, so you can use its nasty abilities against your opponent if she dares use it. The second function limits the use of Rogue Borg Mercenaries played one at a time simply to stop your ship and crew at the start of every turn. This is as annoying as it is potent, so making your opponent need to play at least 3 (emptying her deck of RBMs much faster, for one thing), is a good thing. Play Intruder Alert! and you can at once download and protect IFF from nullification AND extend its effect to any kind of intruder. Assimilation and Sabotage drones, Jem'Hadar high on Invasive Beam-In, evil VIPs bent on Opening "Diplomatic" Relations with you, changelings in the walls, everybody. They now have to be 3 or more, or else are disabled. See how many of them report singly to your ship now! Sloan can report anywhere, but can he report anywhere un-disabled? Maybe not. Too bad IFF doesn't cover Nors, eh? Two cards to get the maximum effect, but still boosts this event to a 3.7.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) Like all magic bullets, they do depend on your opponent's strategies. The idea is to cover a bunch of them on the same card.

PICTURE: A big yawner, as Isabella's red eyes don't do much dramatically, especially with the rest of the color scheme being so dull. I'm gonna take a nap and come back to do the lore... oh yeah, giving it a 1.1.

LORE: Not bad, as it gives leads as to why the game text plays out as it does. I detect the effort. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Isabella is a life-form that inhabits a nebula. I'm pretty sure these energy beings aren't in every single nebula (no more than Bajorans could be found on every planet, Class-M or not), but we're rewriting Trek history every time we play, so okay. These beings felt the Enterprise's presence was a trespass and would have destroyed the ship if it hadn't been for the whole Isabella idea. Namely, one of them took on the identity of a little girl's imaginary friend to see what kind of people we were. With no Youth aboard, these beings have no childlike "imagination" to tap into, presumably. Or maybe childlike naiveté is our one redeeming quality. I'm not sure. Why are the Borg immune? Would they meet the standards of the energy beings? Or are they too powerful to be meddled with? Even a small Sphere? The second function makes less sense as to location (no longer needs to be at a nebula), but works with the spirit of Isabella to punish personnel who exploit others. Though there are plenty of ways to do so now that the Ferengi are part of the game, only the thing with the Worshiper dilemma is included. A lamer function, though thematically related. Plays fast and loose and so, only gets a 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: With currently 9 nebulas, two of which are universal, and one of those being part of a region, it's quite possible to make good use of Isabella. You don't even have to be afraid of Balancing Act and such now that two nebulas hold planets (Establish Station and Intelligence Operation). And the effect is pretty good, no? Destroys a ship (except a Borg one) that has no Youth aboard! Oh, your opponent has a few moments to bring the Youth to the ship, but it's not the most prized of skills and it might not get there in time. A chance at playing it at the Dominion homeworld shouldn't be passed up. When a ship reports there, usually empty, you can destroy it. Sure, a Young Jem'Hadar can be reported there too, but maybe it's not on hand, or maybe you've played a Distortion Field on the planet or something. The affiliations that stand to gain the most from Isabella are the Federation (other nebula bonuses thanks to Ensign Tuvok and Hawk, androids enough to seed Paxan "Wormhole", relative inability to go after enemy ships through battling, and 4 missions including PNZ), Klingons (3 missions), Borg (immune to same tactic, can't usually battle, can scout any mission really, and there's a homeworld in there) and Romulans (5 missions including PNZ). The Cardassians have the two planet nebulas, and the Bajorans are mentioned on one of them. It's good defense against ships trying to abuse PNZ strategies, and will surprise even a ship hiding from battle at the universal Nebula. The second function works in combo with the little used Worshiper. You don't really want to set up something where your opponent scores 5 points and you kill his personnel. It's not a bad trade, but winning isn't about trading (unless you're Ferengi, wink, wink). Of course, since the Ferengi (and they're not alone) are plenty Greedy, they might use Worshipers as self-seeds to get some extra points. In those cases, if you have an extra Isabella on hand, you might consider killing the Greedy personnel. Not something I'd stock it for, though you might consider using Worshiper yourself along with a bonus point limiter (after all, it's not that easy to overcome without exploiting). You can build your strategy around Isabella, and it's fun to do so, but it's not always rewarding - there are too many ways she can be overcome. A 3.4.

TOTAL: 10.7 (53.5%) An interrupt that's really more like a dilemma, and is really hurt by its lame pic.

PICTURE: The Jack Crusher from Wesley's sweat lodge vision (as opposed to Beverly's flashback or the holodeck) has moody lighting, but hardly anything else going for it. No background, almost no glimpse of the uniform... just a plain headshot. Giving it a 2.9.

LORE: The last sentence is the real AU part of the card since he did this after his death (via the vision). It's all workmanlike relationships and such. Nothing interesting leaves this one at the average. A 3.

TREK SENSE: Little is known about this particular cog in the Crusher line. Really, all we know is what's in the lore, that he went on a picnic once, and that he died on an away mission. That, and that he recorded a holo-message for his son, no doubt earning himself that Computer Skill. The rest we'll have to infer. For example, as a Lt. Commander, the Command icon, Leadership and even Officer, make sense. Honor is okay since he seems to have given his life for Starfleet. The other two skills are interests shared by Picard, and these two were friends, so... maybe. Actually, Picard didn't become a musician 'til much later ("The Inner Light"), so that reasoning falls a little short. The AU icon is fine since the character dies a long time ago, and in any case, is seen here from Wesley's vision. The attributes are normal for an officer of his caliber. Too bad he's so boring. Nothing about Wesley or Bev or JP, just another list of skills, almost given arbitrarily. A 3.1.

STOCKABILITY: You might say he's a Picard with Computer Skill and no Diplomacy or Navigation, or that he's an Ian Andrew Troi with Archeology and Honor, but no Diplomacy, or that he's a Riker... you get the picture. Nothing really sets him above what we already have. Sure, the mix of skills is pretty good. Music lets you go the Ressikan way, Computer Skill can be used to commandeer and Archeology is good for mission solving. Leadership and OFFICER are often synonymous (and redundant) however, and Honor's a little weak in the Federation. If skill redundancy is what you want, and you're running some sort of Federation Archeology deck, Jack is a good option. His skills and attributes are nothing to really sneeze at. In a Ressikan Flute strategy, seed him with the Flute and a couple of other musicians (like Mr. Troi for example) in a Cryosatellite for an instant +15 points upon the artifact's acquisition. Still some life in this one, but might stay unused just because he's so boring. Runs in the family ;-). 3.6.

TOTAL: 12.6 (63%) He's no Wesley... (no, that's not a compliment).

PICTURE: The pinks and greens are very attractive, and Joval's forehead symbol still clear even at this resolution. We still don't know what Jamaharon entails, but maybe the secret is in that little make-up case she's displaying. (I hear it's an anti-grav device.) Who knows? A clear 3.6 here.

LORE: Average to good lore, though Trek Sense might have been better served by naming the card Joval, though not necessarily. Ambivalent as I am, I'm giving this one a 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Ok, why is this thing nullifying what it should encourage? There IS a way to explain it, if you want to buy my explanations. Since displaying the Horga'hn attracts Jamaharon (like playing the artifact attracts its nullifier), Jamaharon "resolves" the Horga'hn, discarding it. Horga'hn is one of those cards that scarcely makes any sense. The only way it works a little for me is to say that your personnel work doubly hard (earning double turns) because they really need some... hem... love. Let's get it done so we can go back to our escapades. So Jamaharon resolves the situation and satiates our dastardly crew. For Parallel Romance, you can take the same explanation, or you have to look to Joval more than Jamaharon. She's so attractive (or what she offers is) that you leave your Parallel lover (who seemed a bit strange on account of the alternate universe anyway) for greener pastures. And speaking of green pastures, Risa is it for single men looking for a good time. They take some outside-of-play transport ship and head for Joval's home. Of course, this brings up a number of questions, like how does the personnel get there so quickly? Why would some less libidinous (or strictly puritanical) personnel go there at all (not to mention sexless Jem'Hadar)? Sometimes, there isn't much time between a beam-in/out and your personnel's disappearance. Have to work entirely too much to justify the effects, and the last one's a little too broad. A 2.7.

STOCKABILITY: How to use this, let me count the ways. Horga'hn seems to have a strong deterrent in Writ of Accountability right now, but you can't always use that card, and in any case, it still allows SOME double turns. Jamaharon will nix this powerful card. Killing Parallel Romance isn't as useful, but if you haven't found cause to use the Interrupt and you're about to win the game if not for those two stopped personnel, could be a nice contingency card. This effect is what is called a bonus. Never what you stock it for, but if it can be used that way, all the better. The last ability is the interesting one, because there are various ways to use it. Obviously, you need to seed Risa, but if you put your outpost there, it could be a good way to "recall" personnel who have been stranded by Love Interests, for example. Or need a personnel to staff your waiting ship? Just beam an extra one down from another ship elsewhere and bring him back. Or, you could use Jamaharon in conjunction with Iconian Gateway to redshirt from afar (bringing back any survivors). Stunt decks might enjoy working without ships. More offensively, you could separate personnel from their ships with Love Interests or Alien Groupies, then send them to Risa where you're waiting to capture them (with Captured) or kill them with your contingent of Jem'Hadar or Klingons, taking a sip of their pina coladas inbetween assaults. Add a few decimals for being downloadable (through Arandis, who even makes Risa more useful). Flexible and fun, Jamaharon still isn't the best of cards, but it does create possibilities. A 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) A cute card, in more ways than one.

PICTURE: Bah. Nothing much here. It's a regular pic which doesn't tell us much about K'mtar, and has no real relationship with Alexander's pic. The chain mail looks like the top of a metallic tie... Ok, just 2.6.

LORE: The story's there, and a link to Worf's family is included, though his mixed human/Klingon heritage isn't. How about a plain 3 here?

TREK SENSE: In the last 40 years, Alexander had time to lose the Youth, become a VIP and add both Leadership and Diplomacy to his list of skills. Normal, since he's become a diplomat. His important place in the future has given him a Command icon and the afformentioned Leadership. That's not supported by the episode, but not so far-fetched. His substantial attribute boost when his younger self is present is thematically linked to his returning to "our time" with the express purpose of talking to Alexander, but is a bit steep. If his purpose was to induce change in Alex, why isn't the bonus going to the boy instead of the man? The new affiliation, Klingon, makes sense, as does the AU icon. No problems there. The attributes, all 8s, make sense for a man of his profession and Honor, though the Strength need not have been so high. After all, he was a diplomat and not a warrior. Plus, in game terms, he's the wrong species. A lukewarm 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: How many Klingon VIPs are DipHoLes? Entirely too many, that's how many. And this one can't even report to the High Council for free. That said. He's one of the few AU Klingons (there are only 4 others, two of those less affordable, and only one universal) that can drive your two Voodieh class ships. Plus, they can report directly aboard with Crew Reassignment, so K'mtar starts to look better. Unfortunately, he's still no Mogh, Ja'rod or Governor Worf. K'ChiQ is more versatile too! The special ability won't do us any good until there's a Klingon Alexander Rozhenko (perhaps from Deep Space 9), unless we're running a Fed/Kli Treaty deck (not common). And even if you are, you would still be hard pressed to use Alexander. But the prospect of a 13-13-13 attribute Klingon (that means Bat'leths and such) with Honor (can you say Qapla'!?) may be enough to add this warrior to your ranks. Still, that Alexander's not gonna survive more than one fight. Can't go higher than a 3.1 here.

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) One of the lame rares that came out of Alternate Universe, back when Decipher was still making mistakes.

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