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

PICTURE: A simple staff meeting like we've seen hundreds of times in Star Trek, right? Well, not quite. To me, this card epitomizes the design ethic of the Alternate Universe expansion set. Yes, it's from an "AU episode" (namely, "Cause and Effect"), but it also features an oddly-angled Jonathan Frakes peering-over-the-set patented shot, with a fish-eye lense to boot. I like that, when possible, AU expansion pictures were made as surreal as possible despite the generic nature of some of the cards (like this one). A superior 4.4.

LORE: Everything looks fine and generic here right? Well, not quite (again). "Paramount problems"? That little nugget of an easter egg bears mentioning I think: It stems from the fact that, in the early days in particular, some of Decipher's delays were due to image approval, and that at one point, Decipher almost stopped making the game because of these problems with Paramount. I imaging these problems were discussed around a conference table at Decipher in the fashion shown here, which makes it an excellent place to take a poke at the ViaCom subsidiary. Subtle and pointed, it brings the lore score up to a 4.2.

TREK SENSE: The idea is to have your personnel meet to discuss options leading to finding a sloution to one dilemma facing the crew. I would quibble at the fact that it only works at space missions when we've clearly seen meetings held before planet missions too. I would also quibble with the make-up of the so-called senior staff: The card in no way excludes junior staff from participating and the meeting may be attended by only universals. Also, though I respect the fact that only the five "starship-serving" classifications are required, the Enterprise often seemed to be able to do without Science (except for an odd guest star here and there). I would quibble about all that, but there's another bigger problem: Namely that no Meeting has ever solved a dilemma for the crew. It just doesn't make for good television drama! I suppose it means that by pooling ideas, the crew substitutes its solutions for the dilemma's actual requirements, or even overcomes it despite the fact that it might not have requirements. Sure, okay. But sight unseen? Because that's what this is unless a Scan was used. Lots of quibbles, it drops to a 2.3, but the starting nugget is sound enough.

STOCKABILITY: Discard a dilemma without meeting any requirements? Sign me up! Except this isn't really what this is, is it? It pretty much converts the dilemma's requirements to one of each of the mentioned classifications, which would be a steep enough requirement in the first place. But of course, these are requirements you'll know of before hand, so that's a plus, and you can use them repeatedly on the first dilemma encountered at any space mission on the spaceline. Also, if you look through the dilemmas, you'll see some have effects regardless of their requirements. Senior Staff Meeting will "overcome" these without effect. Beginning of combo doozies are weeded out, so you'll usually get rid of a killer (Borg Ship?) or filter (Chula?), possibly disrupting the combo entirely. It's also really the only way to say a personnel from Tarellian Plague Ship, for example. There are more and more dual-classification personnel to help you assemble the perfect small senior staff, so most affiliations should have no real trouble using the card. Too bad it only works for space missions, but you can't look a gift horse in the mouth, and as far as mission solving goes, that's what this card is: a gift. A strong 4.

TOTAL: 14.9 (74.5%) Only one weak element.

PICTURE: The blond (human) Romulan has a rather non-descript pic, but I guess the two contrasted halves of the background make him a creature of two worlds - the lighted transporter being Federation, and the darkness Romulan (not as good as if it were some kind of green, but whatever). The study in contrasts brings the score up to 3.2.

LORE: His true species should be part of the lore, but the underground movement's mention is worth a decimal or two. The second sentence casts doubt on his motives for some reason, but that skepticism echoes Picard's so it's not too bad. Remains above water at 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Eeech. That whole idea of dual-classification personnel having two POSSIBLE sets of skills, à la Major Rakal, just doesn't work. Especially confusing is the Officer in the Fed section which makes you wonder if it replaces or adds to the Civilian. Another effect created by this design is that DeSeve appears to exist in two time frames - when he was a Starfleet Officer, and as a Romulan now. Switching between them does cause problems. But let's go step by step. First off, the affiliations: Once he turned Romulan, I'm sorry, but I don't think he could become Federation again (Non-Aligned at most). The Staff icon is okay, but the AU icon is like Rakal's: a mistake. Though the thing about the two time frames mentioned above might explain it, the episode never ever meant him to be AU. The Civilian classification also seems to be in error. Just look at him: he's wearing a military uniform! His turning his back on the Star Empire might demote him to Civilian, but then it would also demote him to NA. When he turns into a Fed, Civilian must co-exist with Officer, and here I thought they were basically mutually exclusive. In Romulan mode, he has Treachery (which is fine) and Greed (which is really unexplained and seems wrong). As a Fed, he keeps the Treachery (a traitor, he is) and gains Officer. Yeah, like the Feds would accept him back into the service. His Integrity is also lower as a Fed since the practice of Treachery is not considered proper behavior. It doesn't mean he's too good a Romulan either, but his belonging to Spock's underground should have upped him in SOMEbody's eyes, no? It's very hard to accept that this is DeSeve as we saw him, which again lends credence to the absurd AU icon. Cunning is way too high for this sap, and Strength perhaps a little too low, but those are just opinions based on my reading of the episode. A real mess throughout as there's no real focus here. A 1.7.

STOCKABILITY: It took me a while to think of a real utility for this loser. After all, he's the worst AU personnel they have (I can think of much better personnel to drive the AU ships), the worst Rom/Fed personnel (CIVILIAN won't get you through Diplomatic Conference and his skills aren't very useful to steal Fed missions) and the worst Greed-Treachery personnel (Galathon is a much better choice, though Stefan CAN pass Chula: The Game). His status as an underground member gives Tamarith a little bonus... big whoop when you consider that he's the worst of those personnel too. Unimpressive attributes too. To the Feds, he'll provide a skill they have little of and a dual-classification, but the Romulans have little to like. Giving him ENGINEER with Reflection Therapy would make him elligible to Visit Cochrane Memorial, but that's it. I think that places him at 2.

TOTAL: 10.2 (51%) Messy, but boosted by cards since FC. Who'd have thought.

PICTURE: Looking more like a plane than anything else, the Tama really isn't done justice in this pic. I mean, it's what was on screen, but it's not as dynamic as that of the universal Darmok for example. Only hits a 3.

LORE: Well, as you know, I really love the Tamarian mode of lore language. Not sure I always know what it means, but it is quite beautiful. In particular, there's Vorath's sword which seems to imply a theatening stance - they don't trust the Federation. Then after the two ships meet, tears shivering in the wind, which might refer to the Particle Scattering Beam, but also hints at a shaking of the earlier stance and at Dathon's sorrowful death. Plus, there's the matching commander status of Dathon listed as his speaking first. Top notch at 4.9.

TREK SENSE: Big enough to warrant three staffing icons, I nonetheless can believe two to be enough (it might be more on par with a Nebula than a Galaxy). The Particle Scattering Device was of course the centerpiece of the ship's appearance, and the lack of a Tractor Beam would be more suspicious if it had actually tried to tractor the Enterprise's rescue shuttle instead of firing at it. Still, the omission means the Tama couldn't normally carry shuttles itself, which seems wrong. Attributes? They seem fine. After all, it had to be able to keep the Enterprise at bay, so should keep close to it in military numbers. Well done, but with a few questions unanswered: a 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Pretty high attributes for just two staffing icons, and you can get them to go higher with Dathon, the Plaque and the Log (yes, up to 9-12-11 there). Dathon's a pretty good personnel in any case, so his ship may well merit inclusion. The Particle Scattering Device is more or less one-note as far as special equipment goes - good in pollution decks, or to keep personnel trapped on a planet while you attack them with your own, for example. It does have a couple weakness, namely that it requires a slow Event card to work (fortunately downloadable via Scanner Interference), and that you need to sacrifice your ship to the task. Not as useful as the Darmok certainly, but a strong Non-Aligned ship for the whole gang. I'd say a 3.4 here.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Wish I could think of something poetic to say.

PICTURE: A cute little piece of CGI, transplanting Worf's pet from the Enterprise bridge to what seems the be the High Council chamber (what? still can't report for free to The Great Hall? aww). The effect isn't flawless as the shadows seem slightly airbrushed, but the fish-eye lense on the background does put the Targ in the right perspective. Cute, but no cigar at 3.6.

LORE: I'm not totally impressed by the telegraphic style used here, mostly because it starts churning out complete sentences late in the paragraph making this a somewhat stilted effort. The information is correct and all, but the focus falling on Worf, then Heart of Targ, disrupts the usual focus of personnel lore. I do appreciate the pet/food paradox, but it could have been better written. "This one is male" is, of course, a hoot. I know I'm being negative... the score is actually closer to average: a 3.

TREK SENSE: How do you judge an Animal when the great majority of personnel are sentient beings? Well, at least the Targ has no regular skills, which might have been strange. Its two special skills aren't exactly sensical though. The first boosts the Strength of your other Klingons present. How exactly? Is it that a group of Klingons has a battle advantage with fearsome Targs charging into the fray (which wouldn't explain Strength boosts during mission attempts)? Or are they so symbolic of something in Klingon culture that they empower warriors with added patriotism and ferociousness? Nah, I think they just went with relationship=boost, like on many other personnel. Just like with hand weapons, these broad boosts don't work all that well.  It's also a little odd that Targ charging at rival Klingons would enhance those rivals as much as their own team, but that's how it's phrased. The second ability has your Targ charging and killing one Rogue Borg just played, and I guess as many times as your opponent plays Rogue Borg. Cute, but what's difficult to explain in the context of the rules is that the Rogue isn't actually attacked (which would count as a battle and stop at the very least your Targ), but nullified. Why Targs have an innate hatred of Rogue Borg, but not other intruders (including true Borg) is unknown. That really leaves us with attributes. Integrity 4 seems to be "animal integrity" because Spot also has a 4. I suppose Decipher set this number as the "survivalist integrity" (I'm not evil, I just do what I must to survive), though that's also changeling infiltrator integrity, so... I'm not sure what to think. Cunning is at its lowest (1), which is fine by me, and Strength is okay too. The Animal is fierce, but rather small. Oh, and a final word on affiliation. Unlike Spot, the Targ IS affiliated. Do I see a problem with that? (Like, does the Targ KNOW he's Klingon? Does it care?) Actually, I don't see this as a problem. The Targ is clearly part of Klingon culture, and would not normally be seen in the company of non-Klingons. Where does that leave us? Only a 2.1 I'm afraid.

STOCKABILITY: From what I read here, Targs are non-cumulative, right? That means that one per Klingon group would be all you'd need to get the total STRENGTH boost possible, and that's only +1 to personnel who already have a good STRENGTH average and large selection of hand weapons. Not only is the boost slim, but it affects opposing Klingons as well, invalidating your boost up to a point in case of a "civil war". Of course, you might consider a hand weapon to give +2 to each Klingon, but a Targ is a personnel, so is +1 to each Klingon +5 (its own STRENGTH) to the group. The real use for the Targ is in its anti-pinging ability. There are a LOT of Rogue Borg hosers, and some are more expansive, but for straight pinging (the strategy using one RBM at a time just to stop a ship and crew), Targs are a definite boon. They don't attack RBMs, they nullify them. So the battle never occurs, the crew is never stopped. And the Klingon pet's ability is constantly renewable. It can even be used multiple times in the same turn (any time Rogue Borg are just played). Multiple Targs will also stop multi-RBM pinging (once your opponent figures out she has to drop 2 at a time on you, for example), so aren't wasted there. Otherwise, Targ won't add a whole lot. They can't staff ships, use equipment, etc., and the only dilemmas they can pass are Vole Infestation (something the Klingons already do well with assorted hand weapons) and Palukoo (oh yeah, and Scottish Setter). Bottom line, though the furry critter is cool, and you can play Parallax Arguers any time he's affected by some kind of Romance dilemma, he's not the most useful pig in the pen. All depends on the situation. A 2.7.

TOTAL: 11.4 (57%) Wish I could have done more for him, 'cuz I know he's a perenial favorite.

PICTURE: While I consider the near duplication of Premiere Tasha Yar's skills and attributes to be a bad thing, the pic relates to that quite well. Her position isn't exactly the same on both pics, but the expression on her face is dead on. The two being very close makes you appreciate the differences all the more. I like the effect enough to give it a 4.

LORE: Aside from putting the article "a" between "of" and "general", I don't think I'd change anything here. It is kind of odd that the lore focuses more on behind-the-scene events than those of the episode, but not overly so. Maybe they should have kept that lore for a Romulan Tasha or something. Ah well... Oh, and that title is really lame. Giving it a good, though not perfect, 3.5.

TREK SENSE: The duplication of Premiere Tasha's skills and attributes is boring, but I guess it's appropriate. She seemed to be pretty much the same person. It's not like the "military universe" had a more militaristic Tasha, right? Still, a difference as silly as switching the positions of Honor and Leadership in the box might have been an interesting difference, or some attribute point change. Bah. No problems with any of these in any case. The only add-on is the special download of a Phaser (yes, I know, and the AU icon). This makes a great measure of sense since it basically means she has a gun on her. Downloading it means drawing it. I really liked the way it was originally phrased, though the question of whether you could Overload her Phaser caused some confusion. Really dull for the most part, and even the download begs the question as to why all Security personnel can't do the same - after all, don't they wear phasers or disruptors on their persons? - so a simple 3.6 despite there being no mistakes.

STOCKABILITY: I guess the only real reason to use the Premiere Tasha over this one is that you don't need an AU Door or Space-Time Portal to report her, huh? I mean, the Feds have plenty of AUs, so it's not like those Doorways are a waste, and she's got a groovy and useful hand weapon download. As a special download, you can suspend play at the start of a personnel battle to make everyone suddenly STRENGTH +2, or perhaps better yet, to snatch a hand weapon to pass a dilemma even as you encounter it. You could download it beforehand, but would risk losing it to a Common Thief or Disruptor Overload. Not if you surprise you adversaries with it! For those Federation battle teams armed to the teeth, she makes a nice AU addition to the already well-armed First Officer Spock, Fontaine, Mr. Scott, Comm Officer Uhura and Security Chief Sulu. The more the deadlier. Her skills are a dime a dozen and not that great, but at least the Leadership allows her to initiate battle, and the SECURITY really isn't bad. Good attributes all around too. A 3.7 here.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Why did I start out thinking I would pan this one?

PICTURE: Face it, this was as funny and as disturbing on the show as it is here, and sticks in my mind as THE Alternate Universe pic. The colors aren't as crisp as those of later expansions, but that hardly hurts this image. A 4.9 here. Easily.

LORE: Not a bad pass at describing the phenomenon (right down to its normal-world equivalent), but that last sentence is pretty weak. A 3 and no more.

TREK SENSE: With "Temporal" in the title, I have no trouble with the AU icon, but the rest of the card is a little nebulous (actually, a lot). The best way to take it, probably, is to assume that your opponent's personnel are suffering from Narcosis because they are somehow experiencing temporal distortion. They are stopped, so you get to go again. The obvious problem with this is that it hits your opponent across the board - all personnel everywhere, and even functions related to the player him-or-herself - while leaving your own cards exempt from it. You can't have it both ways: Either it affects the entire universe (your cards included) or it's localized (in which case, only cards at one place or time location are stopped). The next problem has to do with the cards that enable Temporal Narcosis, namely the fact that they don't all involve temporal shennanigans! Energy Vortex - yes. But that's it. Emergency Transporter Armbands WERE used in the same episode, but to stave off the effects of temporal null-zones. There's no direct relation to Narcosis. Horga'hn gives double turns, but not as a temporal effect (I've gone on record as believing it was because personnel were working double-time due to over-excitement about upcoming vacations). Revolving Door? I don't get it. This is another card that works more to eliminate temporal effects than cause them. There's a real disregard of Trek Sense here, even if conceptually taken to mean the PLAYER gets Narcosis, so just 1.1.

STOCKABILITY: The fact that you can only play this card if your opponent plays a specific card (one of only 4) hurts it tremendously. Reactive cards with no active function aren't very good at all when you consider the multitude of deck-building options available. That said, one of them is played reasonably often: Revolving Door. There are no Doorway counters, but it's the next best thing. Even if your opponent plays on your AU Door (hampering you from playing Narcosis), you can Wrong Door it to another Doorway (one of theirs) and still get the double turn. Horag'hn would have been a safe bet, and a slight turnabout, but Writ makes it dangerous and less used. The other two have their fans, but you can never be sure they'll be used. And all that worry for a double turn? To be taken when your opponent basically determines, if at all? And requiring an active AU Door or STP? I can think of more efficient ways to maximize your turn. A rather lame 1.3.

TOTAL: 10.3 (51.5%) With such a cool pic, I'd LIKE to be able to include it more often.

PICTURE: Aside from the perhaps awkward pose of crewmen holding up the piece of metal, this is a fairly good pic. I mean, you can't really tell the number of stars, but the Chrybdis has seen enough action to look like an artifact at this point. A rather ambivalent 3.1.

LORE: The 52-star thing is fun enough, with most, if not all, of the lore devoted to providing rationale for the game text. We'll soon see about that, but I will say this: The Charybdis is far from "ancient". In the 21st century, we don't use that word to qualify 300-year-old artifacts - that's just the 18th century! Here, I'll give a 2.9.

TREK SENSE: Well, this card actually makes a lot of sense, so much so this might have been a rule from the outset. You can't find Artifacts without Archaeology. Here's why I WOULDN'T go with a flat-out (house) rule on this: Away Team could legitimately acquire Artifacts as gifts, stumble upon them, etc. In fact, not all Artifacts in the game were results of archaeological finds. As is, it's totally conceptual of course. The Charybdis doesn't actually exist anywhere, nor does it have such a power. It's merely an example of a concept. As such, how could it be destroyed, magically "releasing" Artifacts? And while some Artifacts (not all) would require Archaeological knowledge to use (the Stone of Gol for example), this wouldn't necessarily be true to acquire them. This goes to the concept itself. After all, the piece of Charybdis was acquired without any fuss. Archaeology was THEN used to interpret its relevance (activate its game text if you will). Conceptual cards are always on dangerous ground with Trek Sense, but this one's heart is in the right place. A 2.

STOCKABILITY: I used to like this one a lot when I overestimated the power of Artifacts. Instead of concentrating on keeping my opponent from finishing missions, I was trying to keep him from his Artifacts. Keep him from the former, and the latter will follow, see? Of course, in those days, Horga'hn was actually a game-breaker (still is, but in reverse). And depending on your opponent, Archaeology may be quite easy to locate. The Feds have tons and many other affiliations have them on the right personnel (that is, personnel that are useful for many more reasons). It would have been great against the Bajorans' Orb-gathering strategy, but Return Orb to Bajor allow them to acquire Artifacts before solving the missions, using a gaping loophole in The Charybdis. You would do well to play it before Starry Night is acquired too, because Artifacts earned through it are also exempt. You might catch the Klingons or Dominion with their pants down, but that's assuming they seeded Artifacts and then didn't prepare for The Charybdis. In a more defensive way, you might have an easier time of keeping those Artifacts from your mission-stealing opponent, but wouldn't you be better off protecting your treasure troves with Fair Play? The days of players keeping Artifacts out of reach then swooping in to steal them with their Archaeologists, if they were ever here, are long gone I'm afraid. The card is passé, so only a 2.2

TOTAL: 10.2 (51%) Would it have fared better as an Artifact itself?

PICTURE: Bah. Just some Road Warrior extras sitting around a fire. They don't look threatening, and they don't look like they're about to pull off the card's effect. What's more, while the lighting does add atmosphere, the printing process at this stage of the game just doesn't define the characters clearly enough. Too bad, 'cuz that guy on the far right looks like he has some flair. ;-) On the dull side at 2.7.

LORE: Sure, they mention the Gatherers are thieves, but the rest of the lore doesn't help us understand the card's effect. The quote is flavor, but flavor that seems like wasted space. Not Decipher's fault, but those lines are really badly written. 2.8 here.

TREK SENSE: The Gatherers go around the spaceline stealing equipment and artifacts from unwary Away Teams. That's where they get their name certainly. How they also steal a card from hand, I'm not sure. Those cards are not in play, and so cannot be considered present. There's a big difference between stealing a PADD and a ship, for example. Or kidnapping a personnel! And how exactly do you steal a resource like Vulcan Mindmeld? They were already "gathering" within the bounds of Trek Sense, but the designers had to go over the line. There are two ways to pass the dilemma, and both are based in diplomacy. On the one hand, you could appeal to their sensibilities (they aren't without a certain code of honor) using your own good intentions (Integrity). On the other, well, you could have Marouk give them a talk since she IS from their culture, much like she did in "The Vengence Factor". It may even be possible that the equipment etc. is stolen no matter what, but those requirements are used to recover them. The dilemma really should have a Strength or Security-based alternative though. Couldn't you stop them before they took your stuff? I don't totally hate this card, but it cuts corners here, goes too far there... A 2.9 from me.

SEEDABILITY: If using The Gatherers, weed out as many personnel with INTEGRITY as you can before the dilemma hits so that you have a chance of having an effect. 36 INTEGRITY represents only about 5 or 6 Feds (or less), but other affiliations will have to commit a few more. I wouldn't worry too much about Marouk since everybody's got their own DipHoLes without going for an NA version, but her Chancellor-hood may just make her more frequently used. The best place to use the dilemma is at a mission that requires equipment cards, of course, but also as a lead-in for dilemmas that require them. Bat'leth Tournaments and Purchase Moon, for example, won't be solved unless a personnel can do a special download of the appropriate tools. (Indeed, it's a great way to hurt Ferengi with their pockets full of Gold-Pressed Latinum.) At Cure Blight, it'll keep those points from getting too high. And let's not forget the effect on use-as-Equipment Artifacts! There's an increasing number of them (especially with Starry Night), and you want to get those out of the way if you can. While the dilemma won't affect Artifacts seeded at the same mission, it could become a pain to Bajorans using Return Orb to Bajor since that objective allows them to pick up the Orbs without solving the mission. Orb Negociations becomes a prime location for The Gatherers. And finally, there's a random card from opponent's hand that goes to the discard pile, and depending on the luck of the draw, that can be hurtful too. I never really used this dilemma, but I see now that I may have been wrong not to. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) It gathered itself up from the ground at the end there.

PICTURE: The colors are just atrocious (any fushia/chartreuse combination will get that from me), but the basic composition isn't that bad. Oh, all those angles really screw it up, but the character's posture and position in the image are original. Won't go over 1.7 though.

LORE: A repeat of the gibberish dialogue from "Cost of Living" (as opposed to the gibberish plot, wink wink), it's put interestingly ("cosmic lesson" and so on), but is just as baffling as it was on the show. I don't understand why "The higher... the fewer" has capital letters for example. In the title, fine. In the lore, well no. A simple 2.9.

TREK SENSE: Only conceptual, and you could argue that any points earned in this game are too. Basically, the Higher the number of personnel in an Away Team, the Fewer the points that will remain in your score. As you can see, even conceptually, you have to fiddle around with the sentence for it to make the right sense. How about reversing it? The Fewer the personnel in an Away Team, the Higher the points remaining in your score. Works a little better that way. In any case, what bearing does this have on the so-called real universe? If points are a conceptual reward for accomplishing goals, then taking them away is a penalty for failure. Here the penalty seems to be: "Sure, you accomplished your goal, but you needed so many personnel to do it, it doesn't really count." Fair enough, but there's even a penalty for 1 personnel (-1) which I can't explain. The penalty is administered by the same supernatural agency that hands out the rewards (i.e. the players). Does well in the conceptual sphere, enough for a 2.5

SEEDABILITY: I often mention it in dilemma combos, and that's because 1) I've been prey to mega-Away Team strategies since the game came out and 2) it really does make a good follow-up to any dilemma that requires a lot of personnel to pass it. If you seed it at a mission or close to a dilemma that has large attribute requirements (and/or lots of skills), you can get the biggest bang for your card slot. Sometimes, you don't have to invite it since your opponent'll just roam the spaceline with his huge Away Team, just asking to be hosed by The Higher... The Fewer. I would recommend playing Lack of Preparation at the same large missions so that it becomes a rock and a hard place to choose between a mega-Team or a redshirt. And note that in any case, the dilemma WILL cause a point reduction, even if it IS only -1 (average should be around -5 or -6, with -10 or more not being infrequent). And when your opponent has her mission points all figured out before the game starts, that could mean the difference between a 100 point victory and a 99 point nothing. Also goes a long way (especially seeded at multiple missions) toward countering various bonus point strategies. Of course, it won't do a thing against the Borg. A 4 then.

TOTAL: 11.1 (55.5%) A perennial favorite, but it's got problems.

PICTURE: Ugh. Picard is ridiculously masked on a beige-ish background. A close-up might have hidden some of these features... A stiff 1.7 only.

LORE: Sheds little light on the game text's relationship with the concept, and the lack of an origin for the "legend" is clumsy. The whole thing kind of is. Not unlike that last sentence ;-). A 2.5.

TREK SENSE: How do you turn a regular universe personnel into an alternate universe personnel or vice-versa? It probably goes to the definition of "AU personnel". And that's not an easy thing to define. The icon throws together such sundry personnel as natives of the past or future (Cochrane, Ajur), residents of parallel universes (Bareil of Borg)  - BUT NOT those of the Mirror universe for some reason - personnel from Q-created timelines (Governor Worf, even K'chiQ), Barash-created "holograms" (Admiral Picard), characters from illusions or dreams (Garak, Grand Nagus Gint, Thrax), some people able to warp space/time (The Traveller), beings created in the image of historical/fictional characters (Wyatt Earp, Mickey D.) and flat out mistakes (Major Rakal). What did the Mask do in its episode ("Masks")? Did it really turn him into an AU? Was Masaka (Data) AU? Well, the fact that such cards as Masaka Transformations and the Obelisk are not AU, I would tend to doubt it. I don't think putting on the Mask made Picard any more able to staff AU ships, absorb the energies of Devidian Foragers or what have you. It's all make-believe! The Mask making an AU non-AU is even more ridiculous. Looks like the effect came before the source in this case, and I think there were much better sources for it (say, the sudden shift in timelines in "Yesterday's Enterprise"). I rate it at 0.4.

STOCKABILITY: Eeeech. Though I can see how some affiliations might want more AUs to fly certain ships (the Bajorans don't have any other AU to fly their Warship than Gantt), there are enough Non-Aligned AUs to fill in. Anything your converted personnel can do (from staffing ships, to using Devidian Foragers, to solving Fissure Research), true blue AU personnel can do. There's no reason you can't include personnel with the built-in icon instead of a slow Event to play in addition to your personnel.   There's always the off-chance you could avoid losing personnel to Stop First Contact, but one Mask won't be enough to really save your guys. And seeing as most AU effects have to do with reporting, and you can't change the status of the personnel until they HAVE BEEN reported, there's not much use to The Mask at all. Turning an AU into a regular personnel isn't useful to you, but could harm your opponent, especially where staffing is concerned. But to do that? You'd have to pull an Alien Parasites/Parallax Arguers combo. The Obelisk of Masaka gives one further use: It protects you from that card's download of Masaka Transformations. Gee, cool, wow. How can you even be sure your opponent will use the Obelisk (and for that function, discarding the incident)? If you're afraid, you can always play The Mask on someone, but the character's death removes your immunity. A real waste at 0.8.

TOTAL: 5.4 (27%) Holo-Projectors' reign of un-power didn't last long. We have a new loser!

PICTURE: A very interesting composition here, with just that central lighted area and soft blues. Unfortunately, it's not as appropriate as seeing the Deflectors in action. The ones on Firestorm, for example. I like it enough for a 3.3 though.

LORE: One thing I don't like is when game text terminology seeps into a card's lore. Here, there's no basis for the terms "away team" and "thermal deflectors" to start with capital letters (except to begin a sentence). Otherwise, it's "just the facts m'am". A 2.7.

TREK SENSE: Thermal Deflectors deflect heat, and that's been translated as a nullification of various fire-related cards (some listed here, others according to those cards themselves). To start off, rather than make them equipment (which they are in actuality), they've made them an Event (representing the invention of that technology). So, in effect, you've suddenly got Thermal Deflectors installed on all your ships and present with all your Away Teams. Gee, they seemed to take much longer to set up than that in "Lessons"! On ships, they might be more akin to the fire suppression systems, I guess. As for the list from the card (when appearing only on another card, I'll discuss it only there), they don't all work. Firestorms do since these are from the same source. Thought Fire isn't real fire, so I'm not sure Deflectors would do anything. Plasma Fire is only on ships, but I guess fire suppression systems could take care of it (if we believe them to be included in this card). Fire Sculptor is a conceptual card, so we dive in the conceptual in its case. Deflecting Phaser Burns is silly if they don't deflect Phasers themselves! So though other cards'll sometimes lend it more appropriate powers (but not always), the card itself has a LOT of problems. A difficult-to-swallow 1.

STOCKABILITY: Specific nullifiers aren't very useful (see Howard Candle Heirloom for another example), but Thermal Deflectors have recently gotten a big boost from being mentioned on some nasty Voyager cards. Let's look at everything they will protect you from. Firestorm: In low INTEGRITY Away Teams, it can be a life saver, especially to such Treacherous affiliations as the Romulans. Thought Fire: Far from as common as Firestorm, you can usually avoid this one by nullifying The Traveller. Plasma Fire: You mean you don't have a SECURITY? Fire Sculptor: Rarely seen, not that dangerous, and nullifyable with Amanda. Phaser Burns: Again, nullifyable with Amanda, but nasty. Destroy Radioactive Garbage Scow: With the combo dilemma Radioactive Garbage Scow, this is a more dangerous interrupt (still nullifyable with Amanda). Volcanic Eruption: A nasty every-turn killer, and this is the only way to nullify it. Flash Plasma Storm: Another big killer with only one way out. Villagers With Torches: Though you really should know better than to redshirt by now, this event is real tough on the startegy, unless you Kevin it or have Thermal Deflectors. Thermals thus gain a lot of usefulness by sheer volume, more so than Plexing because it remains in play. Of course, as an Event, it's a little slow-going and would profit from a personnel with a special download for it. Though the original uses kept it away from most decks, it should start seeing some action in the coming weeks/months. Currently a 3.7, but purely defensive.

TOTAL: 10.7 (53.5%) Maybe Decipher could have just defined "fire-related" cards or something ;-).

PICTURE: Yes, the pic is taken from the title episode. Yes, it shows Data damaged, accounting for his amnesia. But what's that blurry haze covering the image? There's no sharpness, no contast, and that illuminated cone on the left is even more distracting. Appropriate, but in desperate need of a clean-up at 2.7.

LORE: The first sentence is a plain indictment of redshirting, but not unlikeable as a small Decipher editorial. But then the rest uses quick, simple sentences which seem childish. Not really impressed with this awkward 3. Cool title though (I'm a sucker for anything from Hamlet).

TREK SENSE: The card doesn't necessarily represent amnesia per se (two personnel contracting it simultaneously would be a stretch), but anything that might cut an away team off from its ship. Lost and alone, they are unable to get back to their ship, attempt the mission, etc. The "alone" concept is important because you a larger away team would have the base for getting out of the situation. Personnel may later be found (rescued or captured, I like the two possibilities) by solving the mission. I'm not sure how competing in a Bat'leth Tournament helps you find your personnel (or how they went and got lost there in the first place), as this is a rather arbitrary mechanic. Even if you blame one of the dilemmas for the "loss", the personnel don't rejoin an away team as soon as that dilemma is passed. You won't find a dilemma to blame every time either, though filters that create small away teams seem to fit the bill perfectly. Overall, the card adresses a very specific set of circumstances and not every situation. You'd have to look elsewhere for similar situations happening to larger groups, or for more dangerous "lost in the woods" situations that result in actual death (and not the lore's "death"). Not a perfect card, but the holes are rather subtle. A 3.6.

STOCKABILITY: Any time your opponent has a one or two-personnel Away Team on some planet, it's a good time to play Thine Own Self. Sure, people don't redshirt as much these days because of a variety of hosers, but there are plenty of other occasions. Phased Matter splits Away Teams in two which may cause smaller Away Teams to split into even smaller (targetable) teams. After a few filters, an Away Team may well have widdled down to "loseable" size, so as soon as they hit a wall, you can ambush them with Thine Own Self. Dilemmas (and other cards) that whisk personnel away, like Love Intrerests, Hippocratic Oath or Jamaharon, will also create small Away Teams. There also times when your opponent will just strand personnel on a planet, either to Visit Cochrane Memorial, wipe out seed cards with Ajur or Boratus, or because they played or seeded directly to a no-facility planet like Arandis does. Thine Own Self in an opening hand can sometimes go to work right away. And then what can you do? Well, if the mission remains unsolved, and you solve it (bypassing Fair Play if it's somewhere of your choice you relocated the personnel to), you get to capture them. Indeed, even if you don't, Thine Own Self counts as a capturing-related card for purposes of Prepare the Prisoner. And if the mission has already been solved? That personnel is never getting out of there AND is still considered in play as far as uniqueness goes. For the Borg, who never solve missions, they'll always lose their people. Since scouting is done with one drone at a time, there'll always be a target for this card. Only the Scout Drone is immune, and I bet your opponent isn't staffing all his Cubes with just this type of drone. Hey, maybe you'll get lucky, and your opponent will stupidly send down a counterpart or Seven of Nine. Not just dependent on your opponent's moves, but something you can play for, plus the strong effect on an entire affiliation. I call this a 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) It's certainly had a long run (and is still running).

PICTURE: Hey, that's Darian Wallace from when he was employed in the sciences! ;-) The pic has the right intensity and a blazing color scheme. An easy 3.6.

LORE: Seems to infer that the dilemma represents more than just fire, that the danger may come from other imaginings. It's unfortunate then that Thermal Deflectors treat it as such, but here it's no hindrance. What doesn't work so well is the mention of the "place" the Traveler brought the Enterprise, as to whether or not it can exist at any given mission. A generally okay 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Already exposed under Lore, the main problem is with the Traveler. For one thing, being under his Transcendence does not create this "place where ideas and reality intermix" just anywhere (on a planet especially). And other things from that "place" (like Maman Picard) don't even require Traveler: Transcendence. I guess it's better to have a link to the Traveler than none (though being more consistant would be a help), but more generic lore and game text would have made just the AU icon more than adequate justification. Nobody died on the show, but this card has decided that your imagination CAN kill you. To get it under control will require a force of will equal to your Cunning plus your Integrity, which isn't a bad equation for a theoretical Willpower attribute. Cunning is required to understand that the Fire isn't real, and Integrity works as a kind of courage. Of course, Empathy will make it all go away, perhaps by communicating the Fire's unreality telepathically, except one level of Empathy seems to be too receptive to do this. Troi might detect that an imagined being wasn't really there, but Fire? And how would this help other crewmembers? I tried, it really did, but it gets... hem, hem... burned by too many elements. Hits 1.9.

SEEDABILITY: Too many ifs plague this dilemma. I mean, first you need a way to seed it (not too bad considering how useful Space-Time Portal is). Then, if it's encountered, your opponent has to be under the effects of The Traveler: Transcendence. You can't predict this, but you could make it happen by playing it on your opponent yourself, later perhaps Mercy Killing it out of existence. Or you could play Mirror Image to make your Transcendence affect both players and at least enjoy some of its effects. Well, if it is in play, you would kill only the personnel present with 12 or less total INTEGRITY+CUNNING. How frequent are these? Turns out a lot of immoral personnel make up for it in deviousness, but since neither attribute often gets super-high (like STRENGTH) and are difficult (or inefficient) to boost, you might get a handful of targets with this dilemma. That's IF your opponent is using low-INTEGRITY personnel. If not, then it's doubtful you'll get anything good. CUNNING is rarely rated under 6, which means that any INTEGRITY in the 7 or more range will automatically make personnel pass unharmed. Usually, 6 INTEGRITY will be enough. Even so, just one Empathy personnel can make it all go away, just like that. And with tougher Empathy dilemmas like Cardassian Trap lurking around, most players try to include at least one Empath in their decks. Against the Borg, it's a little better, since no universal drone can survive Thought Fire unless the Queen thought of taking Empathy as her skill, nor can Dukat of Borg. Still, they have to be using Transcendence, need to have the appropriate target personnel AND mustn't have any Empathy present. A bit too high-management in my opinion for any more than a 2.

TOTAL: 10.6 (53%) I imagine this was designed as a Traveler counter, but I think Kevin is much better at it.

PICTURE: Not only does the ship look nice (cool lights and shadows, neat design halfway between the Constitution and Galaxy), but they fought the compulsion to just put it in a plain starfield. With the temporal rift behind it, even the ship's special ability is represented. An excellent 4.5.

LORE: Narendra III, the rift, Enterprise lineage and a matching commander. It's all there, but a little maladroitly put (is that okay? can I use the word maladroitly in these articles?). I guess it's not so bad, but the Rachel Garrett line is really a throw-away. A 3.2 then.

TREK SENSE: The various Enterprises play a neat trick with attributes, all being one point away from the next version, and Weapons always being one point lower than the other two attributes. The D was 9-8-9, so the C is 8-7-8. Since the original is only 6-5-6, the A or B will probably be 7-6-7. I like that link between the various ships, which at the same time, recreates the advancement of technology in time. Does this make for fair attributes however? We have no other Ambassador-class ships (go, Excalibur!) to compare the Enterprise-C with, but it was no doubt top of the line for its time. This helps explain why the attributes are so high in comparison with ships from a similar period such as the Bozeman or the Excelsior-class. The staffing likewise goes one more than an Excelsior, which infers more power. As usual, the AU staffing causes some problems in that AU personnel with no starship experience are allowed to staff it. I'm talking about Kathleen Tonell and the like. And there's no real standard anyway since AU personnel may come from various eras. I do like the special ability which really gives a better story for its appearance in our time than other AU cards. It really IS pulled from the Narendra III battle (is damaged) by some kind of rift (playing for free at a Temporal Rift would have been even better) which works as much in space (any place, any quadrant) as in time (any time location too). The only hitch here is that it reports empty which is ridiculous. Some strong ideas, but sometimes iffy execution relegating the card to a still-high 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: An Enterprise is an Enterprise is an Enterprise. Decipher has correctly chosen to honor these vessels with specific advantages which makes the C just as potable as any of them. As an Enterprise then, it may be downloaded by Wall of Ships or given a +1 boost to all attributes (cumulative!) by that same card, it also allows you to score 10 points through The Emperor's New Cloak by bringing a Stolen Cloaking Device aboard, Guinan may double its Captain's Log bonuses, and Admiral Riker may special download for it. Since it does have a matching commander, not only can Guinan double attendent bonuses, but you can Ready Room Door Rachel Garrett directly to the ship (making it, undoubled, up to 10-10-11; doubled, 10-13-14; then add the Wall of Ships cards). Conversely, Rachel's ENGINEER allows you to use Construct Starship to download the ship instead. The ship may play anywhere, so it's a good comeback from outpost destruction, then using the RRD to get the captain or better yet, Crew Reassignment to report AU personnel directly there. It can likewise be used to collect stranded personnel who make a ready crew. It can also find its way to a time location, so as perhaps to stop the Borg from assimilating Earth in the past. Other quadrants aren't excluded either, and the ship could find its way exploring the Delta Quadrant alongside Voyager (no doubt with the similar Luther Sloan aboard). The main hassle will be its reporting damaged. Good news: Any casualties listed on damage markers take effect before personnel report there, even if using a Space-Time Portal to do so staffed. Once there, head for the nearest Spacedock, outpost or Exocomp. If damage markers are used, you won't necessarily get the crippling (in this case) RANGE deduction to slow you down. Not as powerful, attribute-wise, as the later ships, but very versatile and featuring a good matching commander. I give it a 4.

TOTAL: 15.4 (77%) A good score for a legendary ship.

PICTURE: Oh, these guys are less ugly from afar, but there's twice as many of them on the card! The purplish gray that saturates the image is uninspiring at best, and I really didn't need that mouse's eye view of their space-underoos. Unthreatening and boring at 2.4.

LORE: Basically the story told in "Captain's Holiday". No problems, but nothing too interesting either. I guess the title's not bad. A straight 3.

TREK SENSE: This card very strictly deals with its episode's scenario. It really doesn't cover personnel other than Ajur and Boratus stealing artifacts. Fine, but if you're gonna be this specific, go all out with it! Now, what's there seems to work just fine. The card is AU since the Raiders are from the future. The two Raiders pictured must be together to succeed (though they actually didn't in the show), but they can be anywhere relative to the artifact. That's a little odd. For non-equipment artifacts, the location of the card is nebulous in any case, but "going all out" like I call it above could have relocated the Raiders to the artifact's location. Even better would have been to report them together to an artifact's location (in essence, time-traveling there). Of course, it doesn't really matter since the Raiders just pop back to the 27th century (i.e. the discard pile) with their treasure. I'll buy it, I suppose. Up to a point. That point brings us to a 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: Ajur and Boratus are currently in the midst of a renaissance since current rulings have them shuffling seed cards before eliminating all but 3. That has players destroying dilemma combos left and right. Now, each of these personnel can only do it once per game, so a player might use both in her deck (to do it twice). After that, they make very poor personnel with lackluster-to-terrible attributes and just their classification to get them by (and an AU staffing icon, I suppose). Get rid of them at Interrupt speed then, with Vorgon Raiders to immediately acquire an Artifact. Artifacts are so troublesome to acquire normally that you'll be stealing a hard-earned effect from your opponent and taking it for yourself. Even Artifacts that play as Interrupts (or "immediately") can be stolen. They'll still have their effect for your opponent, but you get to mirror that effect. Kurlan your ship, grab those Ressikan Flute points or simply steal back one of your Artifacts your opponent went and got through mission theft. More useful than I would have thought, though leans a bit too much on your opponent's use of Artifacts. A 3.5, okay?

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) I never liked the duo, but there is some life left in them.

PICTURE: Couldn't they find a grayer, blander picture for this concept? What's terrible about this picture is that despite all the potable Nerve Pinches ever shown in Star Trek (and I realize this is because if Premiere's TNG bias), they went and picked an ANDROID Nerve Pinch. Boo! Hiss! Didn't Spock also Pinch someone in this episode? Sure he did. The image helps explain androids' presence in the game text, but is woefully inappropriate at 1.6.

LORE: Kind of a strong generalization which they have to lay to rest the next sentence over. It also doesn't tell us much about the technique. Barely adequate at 3.

TREK SENSE: The card can rightly be used during a personnel battle, like a kind of personal combat Tactic. All the Vulcans present Pinch (i.e. place in stasis) one opposing personnel present. That they all do it regardless isn't such an exageration since most Vulcans are pacifists and would just go for the shoulder right away. That the Pinch is made akin to stasis instead of stunning, for example, is made okay by the time limit (until end of your next turn). Stunning doesn't make you pass out for any real length of time. And finally, having the card cover androids relates to Unification when Data learned how to do it. However, androids are not Vulcans and would not automatically use this technique. Data might, but Lore, for example, won't use Pinches when guns or fists will do. There's another tiny problem to the mechanic: Vulcans and androids are not stopped after Pinching, so that they can still (must still) battle remaining personnel. If they're so keen on pacifying opposing personnel with a Pinch one second, why become rougher the next? Both "species" have the speed this would require however. Very strong despite some misgivings at 4.4.

STOCKABILITY: If you're using plenty of Vulcans and/or androids, you might be tempted to use this interrupt. Here's why you should: It weeds out opposing personnel cleanly at the start of a personnel battle, so that if you're attacked by (or attack) a bigger Away Team, you can even up the odds. Here's why you shouldn't: Personnel in stasis are not elligible for end-of-battle kills (or any other kind, for that matter), and with usually strong Vulcans and androids, you'd probably mortally wound more than a few of them in straight combat. The stasis lasts for a little while so it can annoy your opponent who has to wait around for them to wake up though, perhaps only to find out they were Dead in Bed. And Stockability is boosted by the fact Mr. Spock can download it. You can be sure in that case that it won't sit in your deck during all the important battles, but if you're using an OS deck, you won't be placing a lot of people in stasis (perhaps 2 if you have First Officer Spock there too). Seeing as Federation personnel do not initiate many battles, and that most Vulcans and androids are Feds, I'd imagine this would be more offensively played using the NA Vulcans/androids, which again, limits the card's influence. An average 2.8. It all depends what you do with it.

TOTAL: 11.8 (59%) Had they only waited for the rights to TOS before finding an image...

PICTURE: From the lore, this mission location was pulled from "Schisms", but the image was used a number of times, as early as 4 seasons earlier in "Pen Pals" (also in "The Chase"). Those dust clouds certainly get around! Unfortunately, I'm not sure they are in "Schisms". In any case, purplish grays and pinks aren't necessarily my cup of tea, but those gothic hues suit the Klingons. And that larger star really does seem to cause a dip in the flow of dust underneath it, giving the card that right warp. Despite low production values, there is some interest generated here, so a 3.5.

LORE: Yes, the Diaspora is described on the show as being a globular cluster, but the nature of the "warped space" is not gravity wells. The problem in this episode was with intruding subspace domains. Do these cause gravity wells? Maybe, and an investigation might reveal that, but it's not entirely clear from the lore. I'm gonna have to flunk it: a 2.8.

TREK SENSE: Well, everything about "Schisms" has been side-stepped, basically by 1) not building in any kind of relevant dilemma and 2) warping space some other way. While I'm glad they did something new with this mission, speaking of the disparate Spans, it just doesn't gel with the episode the location was pulled from. Even the lore doesn't do that good a job explaining it. I realize gravity wells might put strain on engines, etc., but it's not that clear. Nor is the fact that one player is always stuck with Span 5 and the other with Span 1. Not very random after all. The requirements, on the other hand, are fine. Science and Astrophysics are obvious tools to study gravity wells and star clusters. Navigation is required to pilot around the unstable region. Perfect. I'll even believe this is a Klingon mission since the Diaspora seems to be a big, fairly neutral region not belonging to any power. It actually helps that the mission doesn't mirror the one the Federation did in "Schisms", truly setting it apart. The points are outrageous however. 45 points for a simple investigation? Science really isn't that important to the Klingons that one of their most important missions would be Warped Space. Not buying it, especially with those easy requirements. As for the Span, we've already discussed it a bit, but let me add this: What's the location's true Span? I mean its actual breadth. At first I thought yes, a large cluster, a diaspora, WOULD have a large Span of 5, but then I started thinking about it some more. If one player can fly past it with a Span of 1, and gravity wells would tend to slow you down, then isn't it reasonable to think that the 5 is the modified number? If so, that's a very small diaspora! Or is the local gravity shooting your ship past this section of space? Not as likely. You can dismiss it all you want by saying the Klingon side of this space has the gravity wells, while the other side is the one the Enterprise experienced in "Schisms" (and that does go a certain way with me), but the card still fails even in its originality. A 2.1.

SEEDABILITY: For the Klingons, this represents one big point-earner. Not only is it 45 relatively easy points, but they can throw 2 mission specialists in there to boost it to 55 points. There's a trio of Navigation specialists (B'iJik, Klag and Konmel) to choose from, and Torin for Astrophysics who even has the appropriate SCIENCE classification. It's unfortunate, but no Klingon has both SCIENCE and Navigation, so you'll always need 3 personnel, but there are some NAs you might want to use in that role (Galen, Jaheel, Vekor and T'Shonra, for example). 45 points with easy requirements does have its cost though. 5 Span for you, only 1 for your opponent. If it were reversed, it would have been quite a good card, speeding you up while your opponent was bogged down, especially in shorter quadrants. Unfortunately, it's not, and I probably wouldn't recommend use of this mission with armada decks as your opponent might use his proximity to Warped Space to escape more easily from your grasp. But if mission solving is more your thing, this is one part of a two-mission win. I'll give it a balanced 3.6.

TOTAL: 12 (60%) #1000 is somewhat anticlimatic, but at least it made me think, not like some knock-off ship or something.

PICTURE: Now that we're used to Federation ships "going dark" in battle (Voyager) or under cloak (Defiant), the alternate Enterprise doesn't look so odd. You even have to look closely to spot the stiff collars and side-weapon belts. The strip of red light at the top sets an appropriate tone, but the figures aren't too interesting, especially the non-descript security guard. When we talk about war, I'd like to see a little battle, y'know? The fair composition gets it to 3 anyway.

LORE: The death toll at the end there may be good trivia, but it reads a little awkwardly. Seems off the subject a little bit. Otherwise well done for a 3.

TREK SENSE: As a reason for the Federation to go on the offensive, it's not bad. Affiliation X attacks them, war is declared and they can now fight that affiliation with impunity. That certainly happened during the Dominion war, for example. That example given, let me cast doubt on the card's AU icon. They couldn't have known back in Premiere of course, but I'm hardly ever reasonable on such issues. Otherwise, the card works simply and efficiently. Even the delay that may exist between the initial attack and the formal declaration of hostilities makes sense when you remember that the Federation would try to exhaust all diplomatic avenues before declaring war. The only real problem I see with the effect is when dealing with a Non-Aligned attack. If you want to be at war with the Miradorn, that's fine, but why would you hate the Tamarians, Pakleds and 21st-century Vulcans too? That holds the card back at a still strong 4.

STOCKABILITY: Yes, some personnel or interrupts allow the Federation to battle, but usually in a very limited way (just one ship or Away Team, or against a single specific affiliation, or a single time), but Wartime Conditions is much broader. It allows your Feds to fight anyone so long as they attacked you first. And you would like to use those powerful ships to fight, wouldn't you? As the defensive affiliation, Decipher hasn't been stingy on Federation ship attributes and Tactics, so there may be a strong compulsion to use those cards, from the Defiant to the Future Enterprise, to punch holes into an opponent's fleet. Of course, you need them to attack you first. That's where Conundrum and Saltah'na Clock come in, forcing your opponent to attack you and triggering Wartime Conditions. If you don't have WC in hand, it'll work if played from then on. Pure affiliation decks will be easily fought using this card, but Treaty decks or the use of NA ships may derail your plans. You can battle the attacking ship's affiliation, not that of personnel aboard. An opponent could attack you with a Combat Vessel, for example, then keep his few Non-Aligned personnel aboard. If it were destroyed, you wouldn't have anything to fight anymore. There's also the matter of the AU icon which requires you to keep one of two doorways open and in play until you do play it. I can see someone keep their Space-Time Portal until WC was played, then discarding it for Future Enterprise reinforcements, but usually the doorway is used much sooner, depending on when you get your opponent to attack you and when you get the event in hand. A candidate for being a seedable Hidden Agenda if I ever saw one. Still has bite at 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Success conditions were pretty much met.

PICTURE: Ooh, a big fluffy dog showing its teeth. He's okay, but the perspective makes his hindquarters look spindly in the back there. And of course, there's still all that TNG beige. Shows what it's supposed to, but not very interesting. A 3.

LORE: The cute tidbit here is the mention of the Betazoid "metaconscious". Otherwise a fair effort at 3.1.

TREK SENSE: This one's difficult to gauge because the Wolf only exists (even as AU) as a figment of a person's subconscious. If we take it to represent an empath's natural psychic barriers, the AU icon is a little out of place, because that's a real thing independent of the dream world seen in the pic. The first function of the card takes the idea of an empath's defenses, but leaves all the mental stuff behind. I mean, how can a self-induced coma save you from death or capture. It won't. It might actually help it. Now, you tell me, that's why it's AU - the Wolf becomes real. Well... how? That's not from the show! The second function uses the psychological angle, but leaves the empathic metaconscious behind, nullifying a card Plexing should adequately take care of. Seems like Barclay would be just as afraid of the Wolf as the transporter. A couple of conceptual strands try to keep this one together, but the lack of focus really hurts it. A poor idea at 1.1.

STOCKABILITY: Empathy personnel are useful because they can pass a couple of annoying dilemmas for you. Of those, Cardassian Trap is the best known, but Lethean Telepathic Attack has a nasty disablement effect, and Frame of Mind isn't too cheery either unless you like Cantankerousness/Barbering support personnel. Wolf protects the Empaths from an early death or capture before they can be used to pass or cure all this stuff. If nothing ever happens to them, you could always use the card to nullify another annoyance, Barclay Transporter Phobia. But it's not until The Trois came out that Wolf really became a stockable card. I mean, there are other ways to protect personnel, and they'll usually affect a larger segment of your personnel pool (especially for the affiliations with few Empaths). Barclay TP can likewise be cured by other means (Amanda, Quinn, Plexing). In The Trois, you have a special download that will protect that Empathy x3 personnel, and that you don't have to have in hand just at the right moment. So it's a good fall-back plan for the Feds and Ferengi. It still won't protect them from being Framed of Mind themselves, skill loss, disablement, stasis, or ship destruction. And it won't even allow them to survive opponent's choice dilemmas. Got better with Enhanced Premiere, but still has a long way to go. A 1.7.

TOTAL: 8.9 (44.5%) Start howling now.

PICTURE: There's a golden quality to the light here, which has the Worshiper bathing in her deity's glow. That's interesting, and the background is rather unintrusive. It's a fair effort at 3.4.

LORE: Well, yes, the lore states an absolutely true fact, but it has nothing to do with the image which is of the Edo girl from "Justice". The lore is from "Who Watches the Watchers". And since the game text makes mention of the Edo Vessel, the link to "Justice" remains, and the lore, then, is mismatched. A 2.

TREK SENSE: There are two ways to react to the natives "worshiping" your personnel. The first is to exploit them for points (think of it as a goal unto itself for the personnel doing so), and that can only be done if the "moral" balance tips more towards Greed than Honor. I imagine there are situations where all the Greed personnel would be subservient universals, and the only Honor would be a leader, but that wouldn't stop the Greedy underlings from defying orders and still exploiting the hapless native. If you do not exploit a Worshiper, the entire situation stops you (becomes a major part of the episode) unless you have the means to deal with it. The obvious choice is Anthropology, which could be used to explain how the characters are not divine within the Worshiper's cultural context, etc. The other requirement, Edo Vessel, is an odd choice since it would only mean something to the Edo (and we don't even have that planet). In that case, however, it would provide a "true" divine figure that could tell the Worshiper that the characters are not gods. It's borderline, and the fact this is a planet dilemma might create a situation where the Worshiper could not, as the Edo girl did here, beam up to a ship. There's also an issue about where the dilemma is seeded, since there can't be superstitious natives like this everywhere (Earth? Betazed?). So while the exploitation mechanic works well enough, the rest fudges a little. A 2.9.

SEEDABILITY: Since there are points attached to the dilemma, this is better as a self-seeded, especially for the less Honorable affiliations such as, well, the Ferengi. They really are the best ones to exploit this since other affiliations generally have more Honor than Greed. The skill can of course be supplemented by more than a dozen Non-Aligned, and since you know you seeded it yourself, a Greedy redshirt will instantly score the points. In any case, when not a self-seed, it's pretty easy to pass. The Edo Vessel isn't used much, but Anthropology has become a rather useful skill. There's a very good chance the dilemma will be passed, and if it isn't, the dilemma is discarded anyway. Even as a self-seed, there's a limit on such bonus points imposed by Writ of Accountability. You wouldn't want to lose the game because you exploited one Worshiper too many. Or a Greed personnel for that matter, since a player could use Isabella to kill your exploiter. (Obviously, you could use a Worshiper/Isabella combo to kill off one of your opponent's personnel, but really, you'd need an Isabella in hand at the right time AND a Greedy enough opponent.) Despite the attraction to the Ferengi, this one's mostly a flop at 2.7.

TOTAL: 11 (55%) We don't see this one too often.

PICTURE: The console used for Red Alert is given a new CGI job for Yellow Alert, so the link isn't lost on us, and where the earlier card had an inside joke for an Easter Egg, this one has a simpler, and much more universal, one. For those not yet in the know, the 07734 in the corner uses an old calculator trick, so when you turn it upside down, it says "hello". A bit juvenile, but then again, so are card games I suppose ;-). The yellow graphic is superimposed on the television image, but it's not flat, it has its shadows, so it's not bad looking on the whole. Of course, we've never seen this during a Yellow Alert - it's usually just indicated by lights. I'll give it a 3.5 if that's all right.

LORE: Well done. I think it prepares you amply for both the card's effects, and sometimes, that's all you really need. A good 3.5 here too.

TREK SENSE: As an event, in fails in that it's played on the table rather than on a ship. Such alerts are not usually called on every ship in your fleet no matter their location, nor are they in effect in Away Teams (I'd say an Away Team is always on alert status). How to drive your personnel out of their minds? Keep the Yellow Alert sign on constantly so that they have no real downtime. That's what this card does since it doesn't go away on its own. At least it's not cumulative - you can't pile Alerts one on the top of the other (from canary to lemon to ochre alert). The effects are a bit better too. The increased readiness is translated as hightened Cunning which is just fine. There's also the fact that you can't have a Red Alert in effect at the same time (for the same reasons mentioned under cumulativity), and playing Yellow Alert downgrades the previous Red. That the opposite isn't possible (playing Red on Yellow) is nonsense however, as is your Yellow Alert affecting your opponent's Red Alert. Some pros, but definitely a lot of cons. A 2.8 then.

STOCKABILITY: One of the first "magic bullets", it was meant to counter Red Alert abuse, by preventing its use by your opponent and nullifying one already in play, perhaps including your own after you're done reporting en masse. Problem remained that 1) the card could be nullified, and 2) you had to wait for it to come into your hand, which could very well be too late. Commander's Office and Ready Room Door helped here, naming this card as one of the Captain's Order cards the two seedable cards (RRD through Make Is So) could download, and in the case of RRD, one it could protect from nullification. Of course, now the bullet isn't as necessary as it once was because there are plenty of opponents to Red Alert including It's Only a Game, Deactivation and Mirror Image. Plus, plenty of alternatives to the card, cards that offer free plays, downloads or noun card seeds. As for Yellow Alert's bonus effect, the +1 CUNNING across the board, well, it's not as strong as a PADD's bonus, but stretches the bonus more effectively than equipment does. It'll help the dumber Klingons and Kazon, for example, and will make a greater number of OFFICERs immune to "Crimson Forcefield". Still useful, but more in Sealed Deck for example, than in the wider environment. 3.4 if you don't mind.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Middling, like the alert condition.

PICTURE: Boring background and the awful early TNG uniform, but the expression is disgruntled enough, and the webbed hand freezes a detail that was apparent to Wesley, but not necessarily to the viewer. Still aesthetically underpar at 2.6.

LORE: All the elements are there with one line to spare. It could have been used to note Wesley's role in the same episode, or that it was an Academy test, but that might have taken away from the dilemma's danger. It's a fair 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Diplomats are too polite for the Zaldans, eh? Well, only if they don't know what species they are addressing, which doesn't make them very good Diplomats. In fact, the one thing that's missing from this card entirely, as a requirement is Anthropology (even, say, only Diplomacy without Anthropology would be targeted). The Zaldans, apparently Federation members, go out and kill the offending Diplomats, which again, is really a stretch. They may be beligerent, but murder? I don't buy it. Numerous enough Treachery is seen as impolite, so okay. Same with the show of non-friendly disruptors (phasers are too warm and cuddly I suppose, though melee weapons should now be included too). Wesley Crusher actually passed the dilemma, so he's here too. And Exobiology is there instead of Anthropology, in my opinion. Sure, it has you notice the webbed hand, but since the dilemma is all about behavior, shouldn't the other skill count as much, or more? And another thing: One Zaldan kills TWO personnel? You'll note that the dilemma is singular. I guess these guys are stronger than they look. I'll close up shop now, before I think of something else to sink this card. A 1.7, I'm afraid.

SEEDABILITY: Used to be a competent lead-in to Shaka When the Walls Fell, getting rid of the Diplomacy in an Away Team, then blocking them off. Unfortunately, though the effect is a strong one (2 kills, exactly the skill you want out), the requirements are now too easy to come up with. Ok, Wesley is just there for laughs, but who doesn't carry Exobiology these days? Weeding out MEDICAL before hand may be the way to go, but isn't a sure shot. Some affiliations are high on Treachery and will have no trouble using THAT requirement (even the Feds if using Mirror personnel). Disruptors are standard issue for everyone but the Feds and Bajorans, which you can weed out with Common Thief or Disruptor Overload, I guess. But no, there are too many ways to pass this one, and you'd blow the combo just trying to get there. Just a 2 then.

TOTAL: 9.4 (47%) Alternate Universe reviews end with a whimper, not a bang.

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