To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the Deep Space 9 expansion set.

PICTURE: While I generally like Outpost pics, especially this one with its beautiful clouded skies and tiny public television screens, most of them have the same basic problems: they show the homeworld. Now, outposts can't exist on a homeworld and they are space facilities, not planetary ones. So the pics are wholely inappropriate. Too bad too, because the mat paintings are gorgeous. Love how the Cardassian city has claws... A 3.

LORE: Bleh. Outposts have some of the worse lores in the game. Repetitive and dry. A 1.5.

TREK SENSE: Yes, the Cardassians have space outposts, they're called Nors. Do they have another, different, facility? Maybe they do. Something smaller perhaps? We can infer it from their technology, but we've never seen any. The problems here are those of other outposts. You can't build one at home. You can often build one somewhere you don't control (how about Mars? or a Bajoran moon?). Building them is too easy, taking only one Engineer, not being able to subcontract the Non-Aligneds, and taking very little time in the grand scheme of things. (Unless that Engineer oversees only the last couple days of construction and takes all the credit.) The only other thing is the Shields, and they're equal to other aggressive races' (Klingons, Romulans). No problem there. Ends up at 3.

SEEDABILITY: Players rarely not use them. Nors and HQs are nice and everything, but they may have reporting limits you don't want to live with. The Outpost remains the one place you can report ALL your personnel, and where your opponent generally can't do the same. If you're playing Cardassian, you have a couple choices here, because you also have the Klaestron Outpost. That one is really for Federation Treaties with the Union, but knock yourself out. Building one will be needlessly difficult in case you lose (or fear to lose) your first one, since there are fewer Kleastron engineers than there are Cardassians, and its SHIELDS are minuscule. Still, with a lot of options for the Cardies, the straight outpost sees less use than other affiliations' homologuous cards. A 4.3.

TOTAL: 11.8 (59%) Doing slightly better than the Bajorans.

PICTURE: Ever notice how the Federation PADDs in First Contact look just like this, except painted gray? Obviously, that anomaly doesn't really impact on this picture, but I thought I'd mention it. The snakey look of the Cardassians' technology is once again illustrated, with a slithering motion suggested by the shape and a lizard's eye for a screen. Otherwise, a boring prop shot. Does well at 2.8.

LORE: Can I... resist... a... yawn... YAWN! Nope. Couldn't. So many capitalized words in that first line, I gotta keep the score at 1.8. No mistakes, but nothing else either.

TREK SENSE: I still think it's make some sense that PADDs would increase your Cunning, allowing you to process information more quickly or giving you access to more memory. However, I still regard the ability as more than a little uninspired. PADDs could have had skill-sharing abilities (reports are filed on them), or something a lot more intersting. As to the Cardassians-only use, they are more isolationist than their Bajoran cousins (eeech, if Kira would hear me say THAT), and don't lend their technology too much. The main point against this equipment will always be: it's boring. A 2.

STOCKABILITY: Few Cardassians drop under 6 in CUNNING, and most will be between 6 and 8. Do they really need the CUNNING boost given by a PADD? The Cardassians have seven missions that specifically calls for the attribute and only one that asks for it over 35 (and even there, there's another option). 35 or less? That's 5 good Cardies. A PADD will only shave one crewmember off that number. Big deal. Dilemmas are only a little more demanding, but not by much. It's about time Decipher gave PADDs a reason to exist, like some other function. I guess Blaze of Glory wasn't exactly the place for brains, huh? There's always Crimson Forcefield, I guess. Again, why use a PADD when you could get two other attributes, a classification and some skills for the same reporting price. Since they're smarter than the Bajorans (overall), this card gets a little lower at 1.1.

TOTAL: 7.7 (38.5%) Oooh! Higher than the Bajorans'! They should be proud.

PICTURE: Cute little thing and perfectly representative of Cardassian design. It looks like some kind of scarab, going right along with the Cardies' Egyptian motif. I'm not sure I understand the interior geometry, but it's cool nonetheless. Note that Decipher had to digitally remove a tractor beam to get this shot. It doesn't show at all. A good 3.5.

LORE: If we take its function as a prisoner transport at face value, this seems to be a larger than usual shuttle (Trek sense will take care of it). The rest of the lore is okay, and a matching commander is supplied in the form of Natima Lang. As you know by now, that usually boosts the lore score somewhat. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: First, I'm not even sure this thing should count as shuttlecraft. It's obviously bigger than others of its ilk, able to carry multiple passengers (so it's at least Runabout size) and, on the picture, seems to have a bridge of some kind (that circle on top). Appelation aside, the ship IS sturdier than other shuttles, with Shields at a high 4. Weapons are likewise top of the line for a shuttle, and Range is quite standard. No special equipment, no staffing required, that's fine. The only thing left to comment about is the matching commander: Natima Lang. I think a lot of these m.c.s were thrown in to make Captain's Log useful to everyone (except the Dominion apparently). I often wonder just how well these commanders know the vessels they are attached to. Natima and the shuttle, well, it's quite possible she's logged a number of hours aboard shuttles like this, but without Navigation among her skills, I find it harder to believe. And can you really COMMAND a shuttle? That's overstating it a bit. A run-of-the-mill 3.

STOCKABILITY: The Cardassian Shuttle has a life simply because it's the Cardassians' only staffless ship. As such, it can report directly to a  Nor's Docking Pads and can become quite useful as support craft there. It's also the only ship they have that can be made to land. Aside from the shuttle, they'd have to go with Non-Aligned support. And it's a tough little ship to boot. Its SHIELDS are the highest of any shuttle, and Logged and Plaqued, goes up to 8/6/7, pretty strong for a one-woman ship. Oh, it won't see much action in armada decks, but might still be a good place to beam your Cardassian with Issues to when you can't have him mix with the rest. Good for a shuttle at an even 3.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) A bunch of 3s, I feel like I'm stuck in the episode "Cause and Effect".

PICTURE: At first, I thought this was just a straight set shot, and then I noticed the three Cardassians in the picture. You really don't see them right away, and that's exactly this card's problem. The shot is so wide (and fish-lensed?) that you can't really see the details. I'd love a good look at the big tactical screen, or any of the consoles, or anything! But with all the light at the empty forefront, you can barely make anything out. A lame 2.3.

LORE: I've seldom seen a facility's lore I've liked, and this one's no different. In fact, it's a little worse. *THE* Central Command? We could really have done without the superfluous article. Mentioning the War Room, which is also an HQ card (though an event), muddles the relation to the card's picture too. Another lame score, this time a 2.2.

TREK SENSE: All Headquarters are basically the same. They are Outpost #1 from which all orders come. They are always on the affiliation's homeworld. They are actually on planet rather than in orbit. And they can all report high level personnel for free. Sure, other personnel can report here too, since we have seen lackeys and security guards roam these halls (in fact, three are in the picture right now), but when someone reports for free, it's like saying he was there all along. Or at least reported there on an emergency call. For the Cardassians, it's Guls and Legates. Legates are the high-ranking government officials, so it makes sense to have them here. Guls on the other hand are merely the equivalent of captains, and you don't see those reporting for duty for free at the President's Office. One thing that helps the card is that some Guls do have political ambitions, but what about those petty universal ship commanders? What are they doing here? They might have dropped the word Cardassian (I doubt we'll ever see a non-Cardassian Gul or Legate, those are very specific words) in favor of the word "unique". HQ events and objectives can also play for free here since this is where these directives are given. Think of HQ cards as Captain's Orders but from higher up. The Shields are a good 12 more points than the regular Outpost as the homeworld should be better defended. And of course, there may only be one, just like there's only one Cardassia Prime. Rival factions of the same affiliation (two players playing the same affiliation) may use different outposts or stations as a home base, but they still only have one homeworld they must share. Largely sensical, more than your usual outpost, at 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: It's a second outpost if you will, with bigger SHIELDS and some nice reporting abilities. The only risk is that your opponent might play the same affiliation as you, and be able to use those reporting abilities. It also requires you to seed a Bajoran mission, Orb Negociations, but with HQ: Secure Homeworld, playable for free now, you can make it your own. Add the fact that Dukat also reports for free here, and that he has most of the skills necessary to secure the planet, and you scarcely have a problem. So, who else reports for free here? Parn (universal with a good mix of skills), Tekeny Ghemor (more useful if opponent IS playing Cardies), Turrel (protects your Treaties), Danar (doubles as an ENGINEER), Dukat (spoken for), Jasad (universal), Macet (also a MEDICAL), Toran (also an ENGINEER), Dolak (boosts ships), Gul Madred (two versions, great for capture decks, but more useful at an outpost than at an HQ), Evek (NA) and Ocett (NA, matching commander of universal Galor). These personnel, while mostly being OFFICER or VIP, demonstrate a large amount of different skills, and many are matching commanders of their vessels. Note the three Non-Aligned Cardassians which your non-Cardassian opponent could use to report there and make a sneak attack on you and yours. Non-Aligneds don't have any qualms about attacking other Cardassians. Use that to your advantage to create a little NA Away Team to fight off any intruders, unhindered by attack restrictions. So by all means, report your commanders for free and use up your card play for the rest of your personnel and ships. Fast-acting relief. It's even got a play option (no ENGINEER required!) for seed-heavy decks. Due to the nice number of personnel available for free reporting, I'm going as high as a 4.4.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) A great card, sunk by design aspects.

PICTURE: Though the ship is closer than many of the K'Vort shots (and thus, bigger), the effect is that it looks smaller. It's probably the way we're not shown the entire ship, as well as its angle, that makes it look like a toy we're holding up to our eyes. This is an important effect because the D-12 is supposed to be much smaller than your standard bird-of-prey, but Star Trek uses basically the same model for both vessels. The green is also paler here, to mark the difference all the more. Not bad, but not very dramatic at 3.3.

LORE: The short lore attempts to explain away the lower attributes and manage to provide a little color. Otherwise, it's main claim to fame is its naming of two, or actually three, matching commanders - Lursa, B'Etor and Sisters of Duras. Since this feature will make the card competitive, it ups the score to 3.6.

TREK SENSE: A Romulan/Klingon vessel, and our only dual-affiliation ship, the Cha'Joh mimics its commanders, the Sisters of Duras in that sense. Since they can switch at any time, it wouldn't do for them to be unable to command their vessel as soon as they turned coats. It switches with them. Note that Romulans can use the ship without the Sisters Duras, but I can't give you an explanation as to why. It scarcely makes sense they would, except on spy missions. It's a scout vessel, but not particularly small, which means it may still land on planets (as one similar vessel did in Star Trek IV), but can't be carried aboard Birds-of-prey. K'Vorts don't have the shuttle bay to accomodate them. The restriction is a sound one. The Cloaking Device is obviously part of the equipment, and there's no Tractor Beam because the ship is too small to carry shuttles (plus, there's no evidence that is has one). Benefiting from both matching commanders, not separately, but additionally, has to be examined however. We've seen the Sisters be in command together, partners on the same bridge, but is that tantamount to a clear +6/+6 bonus to Weapons and Shields? Seems a bit heavy. Not that the stats are very high to begin with. For an obsolete ship, those 5s are perfect, and the 7 is a bit high, but was probably due to refitted engines. To stay competitive in an expanding universe, that should come first. So some cool innovation, and a couple of bugs - a 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: The ship may be principally Romulan, but I'll bet it'll serve your Klingons better, because if they want to use landing capabilities and easy staffing available to shuttles and scout ships, they normally have to go to Non-Aligned support. Now, they have their own Scout ship, carriable by Vor'Chas, if not K'Vorts, landable under the right card's office, useable with Launch Portal and Scout Encounter... the whole shmear. It's not even as weak as all the others if you factor in its matching commanders. You can even report both as a single card and make your tiny CLOAKABLE scout 11-11-11 (Plaqued and Logged). That's a lot for a ship you can download, launch and, through Ready Room Door, get a powerful matching commander on! Losing the matching commander means the ship's attributes will dwindle to near-uselessness though, so there is some risk. A sometimes iffy 3.9.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) Got a better and better score as I went through it.

PICTURE: Although the purple patches are hideous, this is a nice little scene. I like how the room is full of tiny people, with even a couple of attendents in uniforms in the back. Too much emphasis on the ceiling, but good lighting overall. A 3.8.

LORE: No problem here, as we get a bit of history along with the usual description. Hits 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Obviously planetside, Headquarters all share the same Trek Sensicality - it serves as the primary outpost, where you can still report ships and personnel at your homeworld, but where special personnel (the leadership) are in permanent residence (and thus report for free). Ministers, Vedeks and Kais all report here in this manner. Obviously, Ministers would (check that title), but should Vedeks and Kais? While the religious leadership is housed in another building, the Kai and her Vedeks have often been shown making demands on the provisional government. I believe they're all in the same capital city, so it's all very acceptable. HQ events and objectives also play for free here, since those "orders" come down from the Chamber. The facility's Shields are 6 points over the regular Outpost, since the homeworld is always better protected. +6 as opposed to the Cardassians' +12? I'm afraid the Bajorans are a less military and (dare I say it) a less technologically advanced society, so I tend to agree with the gap. And like all other HQs, your opponent can play cards there. And why not? There are many factions in the Bajoran political arena, and your opponent may well be playing one different from your own. Outposts might be affiliation-specific, but the homeworld should be shared. An impressive 4.7.

STOCKABILITY: Bajorans often seed the spaceline with the Bajor region just to get increased speed - both for their ships and for mission solving - so seeding Bajor herself isn't that much of a sacrifice. Once your Chamber of Ministers is on the planet, you can always play a Secure Homeworld (for free) there, especially if your opponent has the Cardassians for solving Alter Records. The Chamber makes for a second Outpost, one with Shields a little higher, and some extra reporting abilities. The Bajorans benefit a great deal from HQ cards, free or not, like War Room and Return Orbs to Bajor. In fact, you can get some Orb icon personnel for the same price (free) at the HQ. Vedek Bareil and Kai Opaka (who protects the Orbs from nullification) being two luminaries that fit the right categories. Who else can you report for free? Jaro Essa (a good match with Vedek Winn), Minister Rozahn (universal SCIENCE), Vedek Sorad (universal MEDICAL), and Vedek Winn/Kai Winn (personae). These are good personnel, the unique ones having a number of skills in multiple. Perhaps fewer than other affiliations, and unlikely to grow in number too much (just how many Kais have we seen?), but effective nonetheless. Note that the Bajorans even have a mission that requires a Vedek, Refuse Immigration. A good 4.4.

TOTAL: 16 (80%) An even number even the Ministers can agree on.

PICTURE: Just another planet, and way too pastel for my tastes. Actually, it looks more like a "real" planet than a lot of the monochrome ones, readjusting its score to a 3.2 despite my initial aesthetic reaction. Neat coincidence: the 3 affiliations that can attempt it are represented on the planet as the same colors, with Bajoran magenta being predominant (see below).

LORE: Let me nominate this as the absolute worst planet name in Mission history. L-S VI? What is this, a luxury car? An okay lore besides, as far as these things go. Doesn't look as volcanic as, say, Survey Instability, but let that go. A plain 3.

TREK SENSE: The short Span is excellent since we know the planet is only 6 light-years from the Bajoran Wormhole in the Gamma quadrant, though it may not wind up that close on the actual spaceline (due to nonSensical concerns in the basic game engine). Big discovery = big points. The mission can be attempted by the Bajorans who originally did, the Cardassians who are also close to the wormhole, and the Romulans who want every possible advantage against the Dominion. It could be argued that the close-by Feds and Klingons should also get a whack at it, the Dominion might want to rescue one of their own, etc. This is an Any may attempt, really. The requirements are heavily scientific: 3 SCIENCEs, 2 Exobiologies (to analyse the shape-shifting critter) and Geology (to side-step any volcanic pitfalls). To give the mission more flavor, add a doubled Seismic Quake. The Quake is semi-sensical on most planets, requiring us to believe in a sudden earthquake there, but here, fits right in. "Highly volcanic" gives Decipher a chance to bring the Quake more in line with the real dangers of the place. Pretty good, pretty good - a 4.1.

SEEDABILITY: A Bajoran mission if I ever saw one. Mora Pol gets you more than halfway there (leaving only SCIENCE/Geology to find, maybe with Weld Ram) while other affiliations will have to scramble to get big Away Teams to complete it. The Cardies and Rommies have some nice SCIENCE personnel, but they are focused on the space sciences rather than the more planetary ones. At least the Romulans have a universal Exobiology mission specialist (50 points!). One of a dozen Gamma quadrant missions (hey! it's possible to make the entire spaceline in the Gamma Quad without doubling up on universal missions!), it's a good 40 points in a possibly protected area. Bajorans using the Wormhole will find it very accessible due to its span, and probably hard to steal because of its requirement selection. Of course, if your opponent is packing Seismic Quake, he may be tempted to seed it here even though there are good chances you'll have the Geology to pass (still stops or kills 2 personnel though). Use it as a bluff to redirect a dilemma you don't want at the missions you're REALLY planning on attempting, or to make it harder for a victim of a Gamma quadrant fieldtrip to say "what the heck, let's attempt the missions here". The Dominion will find it an easy spy job too (3 Founders and a Geology will score it). Seedability depends on your needs... a 3.

TOTAL: 13.3 (66.5%) Run of the mill.

PICTURE: For those who don't know, the Denorios Belt is where the Bajoran Wormhole is actually situated, and here we can see it start to open. At least, I'm guessing that's what that is. A very subtle mission card. I give it a heartfelt 3.8.

LORE: The Denorios Belt is quite rightly placed in the Bajor Region, and the lore does everything it can not to mention the Wormhole, yet still suggest it. Remember how Dax used to announce that neutrino emissions were rising just before a ship arrived through the hole? An interesting 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Highly scientific (doesn't the lore just sap out all the magic out of the Wormhole?), it requires two Science personnel, along with a degree in Astrophysics AND Physics. Quite sensical. The Navigation helps you get through the "charged plasma field" and maybe even avoid the distortion caused by the singularity. That's all okay. The two affiliations that can attempt it are the ones who have owned the system, the Bajorans and Cardassians. The Federation might want to help on this one, but I guess the line had to be drawn somewhere. Point value and span are impossible to refute, though the cards suggest that from the mouth of the Wormhole to the Denorios Belt, there's a Span of 3! Gee, and I thought we could see it from here. Of course, it's only a Span of 1 in the opposite direction. The special ability is supported by stories of the Orbs, or "Tears of the Prophets", coming out of the Wormhole, or "Celestial Temple", and eventually falling into Bajoran hands. Although we've seen orbs INSIDE the Wormhole (which this mission isn't), like Mysterious Orb, I'm not sure some can still be found in the Denorios Belt. After all, they all landed on Bajor thousands of years ago. But it's possible, whether you're finding them adrift in the plasma or one comes out of the Temple unannounced. Of course, some of those artifacts have well-known histories and probably shouldn't be out in space right now. I'd still say this one's a winner at  4.1.

SEEDABILITY: Well, the points are good and the requirements not that difficult. You'll always need a number of personnel to complete the mission, but, on the Bajoran side, Nalan Bal can get you three fifths of the way there, as would the Non-Aligned Jo'Bril. The Cardassians don't have as close a match, but do have the appropriate personnel available. Obviously, this will go into Bajor Region decks, adding speed to the Bajorans' mission solving and Interceptors. And for amateur archeologists, how about that unlimited Orb artifact seeding? Artifacts at a SPACE mission are rare enough, but any number of them? For Orb icon personnel, which both the Bajorans and Cardassians have, it means the possibility of peeking at cards through Orb Experience, or collecting points with the Return Orbs to Bajor objective. Getting all the orbs your heart desires in one fell swoop means more points faster in the latter case. Watch out for mission theft though. Once your opponent sees you stacking Characterize Neutrino Emissions, he'll guess your orbing the place. You might even use it as a bluff and seed nasty dilemmas there. In a fluke game, both players seed each Orb there and it's a race to see who gets two copies of both! Well, Mysterious Orb anyway. The others are non-duplicatable. It's also the best way for a Borg Establish Gateway deck to score an Orb of Prophecy and Change to rig their probing. A nice, but not risk-proof, mission. Scores a 3.9.

TOTAL: 16.3 (81.5%) I would characterize this one as pretty decent emission from Decipher.

PICTURE: A bit too dark, especially given the bright lights in the background, this picture merely looks like a wide shot of None Shall Pass and, lighting aside, would look more at home on a Star Wars card. I don't know why I say that except that there's a Tatooinish quality to the Clan's costumes. Unimpressive at 2.7.

LORE: Doesn't tell the whole story. I think that if the never-ending war had been explained as existing because the Clan People cannot die, it would have helped us understand the card's Trek Sense much more. It's not bas as it is, but simply won't be getting anything higher than a 3 from me.

TREK SENSE: My first instinct was to mistake it for a clone of None Shall Pass. The question became, why can't STRENGTH overcome this dilemma? Then I realized the card was called Clan People and says nothing about passing through something. Rather, to ovecome the situation, you need smarts. The fact that the Clan People cannot be killed (or anyone else on the planet for that matter) makes Strength a little futile. Five smart Away Team members are required instead, or the galaxy's greatest peace-maker, Kai Opaka. The only real problem is that Clan People like these (immortals, as it were) can't possibly exist on an infinite number of worlds, so maybe the dilemma should have been unique. Also, the same thing that keeps these jerks alive should keep anyone who dies on the planet immortal as well, but unable to leave. Maybe at least do this to Opaka? Nothing's perfect, of course, and this dilemma works pretty well once you get under its skin. A fair 3.5.

SEEDABILITY: What at first seemed to me a rather lame wall, turns out to be pretty impressive against the right affiliations. If the Bajorans have Opaka, they should use her here. A precious personnel, you may not want her to go through dilemma resolution, but sometimes you have little choice. To get the CUNNING requirement, you need, at a minimum, 4 personnel with 8s and one with 7. That's the minimum. Is this going to encourage PADD use? It might. The Bajorans have a fair number of 8s, but nothing higher (plus Opaka). The Cardassians aren't as advantaged, even if they have a couple of 9s. The Dominion's unique personnel should go through this one like butter. The Federation is in one of the better positions depending on the personnel included, since they have a number of very smart androids, scientists, mutants, etc. The Klingons are in the worst shape with very few natural 8s even (use PADDs, guys). Finally, Romulans have plenty of 8s and 7s, but not much over that, so the "minimum" way is the way to go here. And since your brainiest personnel are usually SCIENCE (and sometimes androids), follow up with a combo targeting those very personnel. Did I mention using PADDs up there? I might instead recommend some excellent Non-Aligned support. Plenty of NAs have high to very high CUNNING (including Soong, Lore, Fajo and more). The dilemma will really put the hurt on AMS decks, because universal mission specialists have overall lower stats (even Lower Decks may not save you). It'll also give the Borg a headache, because unless they're willing to send their Queen and smart Counterpart on the scouting trip, no amount of Navigation drones will be able to pass it. Here, Lower Decks is a must. Or else the Collective will have to adapt. A much better dilemma than I ever gave it credit for. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) A fun little wall.

PICTURE: The guy from Wings makes a nasty villain doesn't he? The shot is a good one, nicely color-coordinated with those grays and dusty roses. Lots of angles in the background too, making the image as jarring as it is soft-hued. Even his high rank is marked by a couple of henchmen in the background. A likeable 3.7.

LORE: Lots of good information, though it's all on the journalistic level. I wonder if Circle members will eventually get a card that affects them, like a bonus Nemesis icon, or a special HQ. For now, it's just filler text. A fair 3.1.

TREK SENSE: As a Colonel, he gets the OFFICER classification and Command icon of course, and as a man of war (part of the militia), he also gets SECURITY. The Treachery is required to double-cross his own government and try to kill Sisko... it's inexcusable! Navigation is a filler skill which I don't doubt. He had to have a specialty, and he's listed on Assault Vessel as a matching commander, so he's served on a ship. The Integrity is a low 3 to go with his double-dealing, the two other stats are fine (7s) for a high-ranking militiaman. There's nothing here to dispute, but there's also nothing cool. Maybe an allowance for working with the Cardies? I don't ask for much. A plain 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: Two classifications is always nice, and SECURITY is in demand, while OFFICER allows for battle initiation. He's also the matching commander for a universal Assault Vessel. Matching commanders of universal ships have a little more flexibility than others since they can actually jump from ship to ship bringing their Captain's Log bonus with them. As for skills, he has some pretty common ones. Treachery isn't that useful in the dilemma arena, but does well on Bajoran missions. Navigation IS useful, but is shared by a number of other Bajorans. Just when you're thinking his SECURITY might be the only big reason to include him, you start to notice a lot of skill duplication on Bajoran missions. Colonel Day completes more than half of Investigate Coup and some other missions, and is all you need to do Search for Weapons! Ah well, he's not so bad after all... a 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) Rereading... could that Navigation be a Wings joke???

PICTURE: Likeable. The central planet (the "suitable" planet) is surrounded by litle moons that look entirely like it, little colonies to the main planet's homeworld, if you will. It also creates the idea of choosing a suitable world among many available ones. That said, it's a bit cheaply done with the thanks of cut&paste functions. Still, nicely thematic at 3.8.

LORE: Mission lore is usually pretty dry, though I admire yet another instance of a nameless planet given yet another designation. Decipher's pretty good at this. Goes well with its game text too. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: First off, I really dislike the fact that universal missions are quadrant specific. Aren't colonies built in the Alpha quadrant too? An interesting choice of attempting affiliations, it looks like those are the two that are running out of room. The Klingons have been shown doing this as far back as "Dramatis Personae", and the Bajorans have the Wormhole in their back yard. I don't see why other affiliations couldn't be included, except that it seems to be a priority for none of them. So what does it take to make the survey? SCIENCE gives a general survey to see if the world is habitable. Geology and Biology work together to give a more complete picture of the planet's mineral, vegetable and animal characteristics. And SECURITY makes sure there are no Dominion troops or other enemies lurking about in the same area. Well done. If the planet turns out to be safe, you can build (download) a Colony here. That was the whole point of the survey, wasn't it? With Span and points unremarkable, I'd have to say this one is well designed. A 4.1.

SEEDABILITY: A universal mission worth 30 points and attemptable by a limited number of affiliations must be something that can be taken advantage of. It's even harder to steal than that because it sits in the Gamma quadrant. Far away, but protected. And once your Colony has been plopped down, it stays far away and protected. The Bajorans will have the easiest time of it thanks to the Emissary. Take the Wormhole (which sits in your space) to the Gamma quadrant, solve the mission, beam The Emissary down to the new Colony, and start reporting CIVILIANs directly there. Don't get hassled! Close the Wormhole behind you. You won't be needing it. For the Klingons, the best strategy is still to report the T'Ong to the end of the Gamma spaceline, then re-report it again and again full of CIVILIANs by using Space-Time Portal. A little unwieldly, but workable. Either affiliation will have to enter into a Treaty with the Federation if they want to get some extra Assign Mission Specialist points. And as with every universal mission, you can't beat the skill redundancy. A player cannot live on Colony points alone. But what about the Dominion? They already start in the Gamma quadrant. When playing Dominion, make sure there's no way to get to your Gamma quadrant built of almost all Colony Preps. Espionage as many as you need (for free with Martok Founder) and start building Colonies unmolested. That Birthing Chamber will get you some young CIVILIAN Jem'Hadars for free right then and there. For a more peaceful Dominion, it's a great defensive strategy. Of course, The Wake of the Borg and all those bonus point killers, etc. might be in the way. All strategies are at your own risk nowadays. A cool 4.2.

TOTAL: 15.4 (77%) Were you prepared for this?

PICTURE: A set shot could have been a very boring thing here, but they managed to make the composition both interesting and dynamic. I might have expected a shot of the desk from the door (yawn), but this is pretty cool. Sisko's models are visible in the back (that's the Saratoga to the far left) with great lines around them. The desk itself is a dangerous weapon-like thing, and the basball is in place. Cool colors in general. Weaker points: it's obviously Sisko's office, and doesn't fit as well on a Cardassian Nor; also, the tabletop monitor hides the window, interrupting the otherwise fine composition. A 3.6 here.

LORE: N/A (score will be adjusted accordingly)

TREK SENSE: All Nors have access to this site, of course, and it's obviously in the Ops Module. As for the rest... Firstly, this is your commander's sanctum sanctorum. Here, he weighs options, makes decisions. Your commander, for game purposes, is a matching Command icon Officer, and he or she can download any Captain's Order (those options) to your hand (weighing them, no need to actually give orders now). That Officer and other Officers under him or her can file mission reports here as Kira often did with Sisko. Finally, there is no way to walk to this site from anywhere but Ops. After the Office, outer space. I wouldn't try walking there. So you would have to walk through Ops to get to the Commander. This, and the rest of the card's logic, is dead on. The only thing keeping it away from the perfect 5 is the fact that a "commander" could be anyone who just disembarked on the station, even while a "matching commander" in the same sense as a ship's (Dukat, Sisko) could be at Quark's or something. Even a matching Officer owned by your opponent! Still, a 4.7.

SEEDABILITY: No personnel may report here, unlike at a number of other sites, but at least, your opponent can't report there either. As the innermost site of any Nor, it's also the furthest away from the docking ring, so you can place plenty of interference between valuables here and your opponent's ships. As long as a Command icon OFFICER (everybody has them) is present, and they can report nextdoor at Ops, you can download Captain's Orders to your hand. Not as great as into play, but at least you don't need to wait for them to be drawn. Ships that report directly to your Nor, like the Yangtzee Kiang or any ship with lower staffing requirements (like all the Bajoran vessels), are great here, because you can grab an early Captain's Log and Defiant Dedication Plaque. The Bajorans at Deep Space 9 will benefit greatly since all their ships are loggable. Filing mission reports is a nice way to earn a few bonus points, and your strong OFFICERs were probably used in more than one mission attempt. Certainly not the most useful of Sites, especially for the Cardassians, but other affiliations may think differently. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 16.13 (80.67%) Not the best, but still excellent.

PICTURE: While the character doesn't exactly scream "thief", the card is well balanced color-wise. The composition is attractive, I love that airlock in the background. The thief looks like something out of Star Wars and that may be "thiefly" enough. Likeable at 3.5.

LORE: First, the title is really funny. No other cards show off they commonality like this, and I'd love to see an "Uncommon Occurence" or a "Rare Find", to make this a trilogy. The lore itself does a good job of explaining the game text, though I have to wonder if common thieves are regularly common killers. I bet they're not. Still, the joke (and it is a joke, they could have used the lore's "minor") was well worth it. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Just like the episode, we get a sanguinary thief who either steals something or kills someone. It's all based on his skills actually. He steals Equipment. Why does he attack someone if there is no Equipment present? Shouldn't it be, if he steals and someone (say, a SECURITY or Law personnel) spots him, he tries to kill him or her? That personnel is killed if he/she wasn't strong and/or cunning enough (lower than the total 16 required).  We could always say that "no equipment present" means the thief just wasn't able to get away with it (there must be equipment present but not in play, like jeweled hairbrushes or cortical stimulators) and then one personnel present tries to stop him (but always a personnel of your opponent's choice with low attributes, if any, which scarcely makes sense) and he kills him or her in his escape. As you can see, even with justification, there are still problems. The thief doesn't choose the Equipment card he wants, but he chooses who runs after him? Sounds more like an assassin. But there's an even more basic problem: Why is this thing space/planet? How does a COMMON thief get aboard your ship and start stealing? While I understand this happened on Deep Space 9 and thus, in space, personnel at a facility can't encounter this card, and ships are very different places. On the surface, I thought this one had potential, but it's scarcely worth the 1.8 I'm giving it.

SEEDABILITY: I love dilemmas that almost always hit, don't you? Hey, it's either an Equipment card or a personnel (provided it's weak and/or stupid). Actually, it doesn't need to be very weak or stupid - anything lower than an 8/8 will get it. Jem'Hadar and androids are fine, but this will tear through the less smart species like the Klingons and the weak-bodied Federation and Ferengi. And the Borg are practically sure to lose a body, unless using an Assimilation Table, which isn't that common. But the kill is only a consolation prize in most cases. You want to seed this one at missions requiring equipment (like Samaritan Snare, Bat'leth Tournament, Kressari Rendezvous and Tarchannen Study) or before dilemmas that require them (like Vole Infestation, Security Precautions and DNA Metamorphosis). Only a Weapons Locker or a large equipment stash will save a ship from returning to Outpost for resupply. And it's not just hand weapons and tricorders either, it's Latinum and Ketracel-White too. Yee-haw! A 4.4.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) Though Trek Sense makes the card take a dive, it's a very useful common card.

PICTURE: It was obviously going to be a computer screen. I like the one they've chosen. The peach circle is attractive and distinctive. The words on it are readable. It's a good image at 3.3.

LORE: An idea of how a computer could crash in the 24th century, though maybe the events mentioned are too specific, and don't really constitute a "crash", though I'm no computer expert. Stays around a 3.

TREK SENSE: Conceptually, this one works great. In reality, we'll see. First, if the computer "crashes" in the way described by the lore, I have no problem with the Hidden Agenda feature. It's a secret hacking venture. Then, because the word "downloading" is part of our computer jargon, the crash forbids these (as well as going into your Q's Tent "database" for a card). Works conceptually, but in reality, "downloads" are not always downloaded from a computer. A Computer Crash shouldn't stop Picard from Sensing the Borg, nor would it keep a personnel or ship from being downloaded (maybe the transporters are offline, except they're not). Further, one computer crashing on the entire spaceline won't make an entire affiliation and its allies lose computer databases. The event is discarded soon enough, since computers are fixed pretty easily in the 24th century, and there are some downloads that might make sense. Makes it to 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: Eminently stockable. Downloading, including Special Downloads, and Q's Tents are now staples of this game. With one or more Computer Crashes seeded or played on the table, you can wreak havoc with your opponent's downloading, suspending play to do so. For the best results, use it against cards that can only be downloaded at specific times: missions that offer downloads upon completion, downloads allowed by successful probes (like Visit Cochrane Memorial and Secret Compartment); or that can only be used at a certain moment: Sisko's Baseball becomes useless if opponent hasn't "just" commandeered a station, Lauch Portal serves little purpose once the ship is destroyed, no new Borg Queen with Long Live the Queen, kills Starry Night's artifact download, and Empok Nor could be crippled when first "switched over" with its computer crashed (no Site or Equipment downloads). Speaking of crippling, the borg are extremely dependent on downloads. Stall them (especially their Retask strategy), and even ruin the Queen's multiple downloading when you see Kivas Fajo hit the table. A lot of good cards go into the Q's Tent, so again, it becomes a stalling technique to stop your opponent from going to that particular well. It's a short-lived event, but a powerful one. An EFC drone suspends it, and 10 and 01 nullify it, so you better be ready to go hunting, but it was still kinda strong. Until Qurak's Isolinear Rods hit, an Incident that totally kills it, that is. Lost its teeth, and is now a plain 4.

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) A lot of things drag it down.

PICTURE: Cool make-up and the utter darkness of the card really goes with his status as a rebel. That's Planet Hell again in the background, but not that bad as far as colors go. The forbidding shape of Coutu gets a 3.5 from me.

LORE: Less than stellar. Took me awhile to figure out in which episode Coutu had been on the strength of this text (O'Brien is always getting kidnapped, so that's no help). If they had mentioned he had uncovered the plot to replace O'Brien with a replicant, then yes, ok. As it is, it's worth its 2.7.

TREK SENSE: Typical = universal, and so begins my review of this far from well-known character. His Honor and high Integrity goes with his doing the right thing and rescuing O'Brien. The Diplomacy, well, he was all for the peace talks, which doesn't make him a diplomat, but at least someone who's willing to talk. The Exobiology? Knew about the replicant. Did he make the determination that one O'Brien was real and the other wasn't? Unknown, but we could infer it. The high Cunning corresponds to someone who could grasp the Exobiology. Civilian? If you say so. Though a Civ with a Command star always seems a little odd. I suppose the "rebel forces" don't have Officers running the show, or any kind of military structure. Strength would be consistent with being a rebel fighter. A lot of invention, but what's here gibes with the few facts. The only real problem is that Parada II sits squarely in the Gamma quadrant, yet... no GQ icon. 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: The host of Non-Aligneds in DS9 seems to have been added mostly as help to the Cardies and Bajorans in DS9-only games, but Coutu has skills which are common to both (and every other) affiliations, and not unknown on other NAs. Maybe the Ferengi can make use of the Honor. Of course, a universal personnel with three skills (including the good Diplomacy, and useful Exobiology), good attributes and a strong staffing icon, shouldn't be put down too much. He can do Investigate Raid for the Romulans all by his lonesome (with parental accompaniement of course) for example. But he's not too good at putting himself ahead of many other Non-Aligned support personnel. A 3.1.

TOTAL: 12.6 (63%) Looks like a lame Star Wars card, gets the score of an average Star Trek card.

PICTURE: Just a planet, and not a particularly interesting one. The muddy surface has that dark stain on it, a blight, so that's not too bad conceptually. But we've seen this often enough before... a 2.9.

LORE: Nothing bad here, but nothing particularly great either. It's hard for mission lore to make much of a splash. Anyone else surprised to find Teplans living on Boranis III, which is in the Teplan system according to the Encyclopedia? The show's goof, not the game's. A simple and straight-forward 3.

TREK SENSE: I like the fact that Bashir and Dax can complete this one alone, since they were the only ones there in the episode itself. Aside from that, I'm not sure those requirements are enough! Dax and Bashir didn't complete the mission, not really. Well, the next generation of Teplans will do fine, but the ones infected now will all die, and we saw Bashir keep working on this problem back on DS9 afterwards. But for the minimal "cure", all you need is a bunch of doctors (MEDICAL), some SCIENCE and... Anthropology? I suppose you could need some background on the natives, but I'm not sure how much that would impact on the quest for a cure. Seems a little out of place. Why not Exobiology instead? The planet is definitely in the Gamma quadrant, and the span makes it far from the Wormhole, or relatively far at any rate. The two closeby dogooder affiliations can attempt it, that's fine too. 30 points doesn't seem much for a humanatarian act, but goes with the difficulty of the requirements. You can add points by having medical Equipment there. This, I'm not sure about. Medical equipment would make the mission easier for the personnel, no? So if it's easier, why more points? Maybe the equipment just makes the cure more readily available to the population. This, I would buy. Ok, so where we up to? Mmm... a 3.7.

SEEDABILITY: For speedy mission solving, Bashir and Jadzia will breeze through these requirements for 30 points. Do it with OFFICERs hopped up on a Medical Kit however, and you've got your 3 MEDICAL plus the med equipment that jacks up those mission points to 35. Maybe you don't like the Kit, so maybe your ENGINEER could be there with a Medical PADD, or your SCIENCE (necessary anyway) with the Medical Tricorder. Hypospray's not a bad piece of equipment either. Go with some personnel that can download these, like the FC MEDICALs, or Paul Porter. That's the Feds. The Bajorans have greater access to this equipment thanks to the Infirmiry on Deep Space 9. The mission does have some weaknesses. For one, it's in the Gamma quadrant (better protected, but harder to get to). Second, dilemmas that affect equipment will be drawn here (you might use it as a decoy). I'd say a good mission at 3.9.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) A bleak-looking card, but not without its uses.

PICTURE: I don't particluarly like it. The colors kinda muddle the whole thing, and the way his hair is arranged, hiding his shoulders, creates the illusion that he has a tiny body and a huge head. Not pretty on a Klingon. At the same time, for the Ferengi-like Klingon, maybe that would be appropriate. Barely a 2.9.

LORE: Plenty to like. "Crafty but dishonored" is a fine two-word description. Love the way they emphasized the word "money" with italics. The word is a filthy one to the Klingons, and you can hear the disgust when reading the card. Lore score also gets a bonus from the mention of the High Council, making D'Ghor reportable for free at the Klingon HQ. Trek Sense doesn't like it, but that's a matter for the next paragraph. There is a matter of the Encyclopedia saying he was trying to get into the Council but failed, which is different from being a former member. I just don't remember the episode enough to know if both statements were true. A 4.2 here.

TREK SENSE: Holding no special status either in the military or the Council (which would have made him VIP), D'Ghor winds up in the catch-all CIVILIAN category. His Ferengi-like activity and motives certainly warrant all his skills. Treachery for sinking so low, Acquisition to use money, Greed to motivate him, and Computer Skill to carry the project to term. I have absolutely no objection to Computer Skill personnel automatically having a Staff icon, since all starship consoles are basically computer-driven. The Integrity had to be low here, the Cunning high (but maybe not as high as Quark Son of Keldar who outsmarted him, eh? and he only had a 7 - though a 10 with Grilka). Strength is about right for a Klingon his age. The one thing I object to is the mention of the High Council somehow allowing him to report for free to The Great Hall. I mean, the guy was rejected by the Council, so why should he be able to report there as if he hadn't been? That's just plain wrong. These shortcomings bring the score down to 3.6.

STOCKABILITY: Rules of Acquisition really made this guy more useful recently. I mean, he's the only Klingon with Acquisition, a skill that now has myriad functions. You can use D'Ghor to manipulate Gold-Pressed Latinum (including use of the 34th Rule that pays for battling). He's the only Klingon who can Deliver Message to Ferenginar unless you have Quark Son of Keldar. He's the only Klingon that can infiltrate a Nor using its Cargo Bay. He helps out with a number of dilemmas including Skullduggery, Arms Deal and Dangerous Liaisons. You could always go for some Non-Aligned help, but this guy's pure bred and even reports for free at The Great Hall. I'm not forgetting the rest of his abilities, including being a multi-skilled CIVILIAN for use in Kurlan Naiskos decks, the useful Computer Skill and high CUNNING useable with Airlock and, in the case of the skill, commandeering. Greed's okay and Treachery's found on enough missions. His STRENGTH will do, but watch out for low INTEGRITY hosers. Before RoA, D'Ghor might have garnered a score between 3 and 3.5 from me. Now? A good 3.9. Could have been more if he fit in better with the rest of the Klingon roster.

TOTAL: 14.6 (73%) Not bad for a guy who was rejected by the High Council.

PICTURE: A terrible background compounded with such strong lighting that the actor has to practically close his eyes. The colors are lame, the shadows too strong. This sleeping guard gets a 2.4 from me.

LORE: Universality is taken into account, and the rest tells us he's from "The Homecoming" (the Li Nalas episode). Not bad on the details. An average 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Well, a Security guard would have SECURITY, a "representative" would be universal, a Cardassian would have Treachery (especially working in a secret labor camp) and a Glinn would have Leadership and a Staff icon. That leaves Navigation as an invented skill. Geology might have been more appropriate or something. The attributes make sense given what little we know of him. Low Integrity for his Treachery, low Cunning for being tricked by Kira, and high Strength for SECURITY reasons (though he was quite easily beaten by Kira, let's not forget her bonus against Cardies). An uninspired 3.6.

STOCKABILITY: SECURITY and Treachery are mainstains of the Cardassian missions available, and you'll find his skills fit a great number of missions (most of the non-scientific ones at any rate), but they are also very common skills in the Cardassian Union. So whether you use Dakol or not may be a matter of taste. In fact, skill selection on the other SECURITY are all at least a little better than his. You'll find the Cardassian "mains" usually have Navigation and Leadership as well (if not Treachery). At least the Leadership makes him a leader for battles, and that STRENGTH of 9 is very high (11 with Lower Decks, 13 with War Room, then add hand weapons). As a universal, you can actually have an entire battalion of Dakols come down on your opponent's Away Teams. It also makes him the perfect support card for your Cardassian dilemmas, like Sleeper Trap and Extradition. That boosts his score somewhat, to a 3.7 in fact.

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) Useful, but not pretty.

PICTURE: I think the Dal'Rok is one of the coolest "creatures" in Star Trek, the way it bubbles up like some evil (yet oh so fluffy) cloud. Here, it's fine, though a little off-centered. It's attacking, again, good for a dilemma. And the background setting is ambiguous as to the question of its being on a planet or in space. All the elements are there, but the sheer simplicity keeps it at 3.8.

LORE: The story's there, shough if you haven't seen the episode, you might be at a loss to understand the relevancy of some of the information. "Terrifying" is a good adjective for the effect the Dal'Rok has on people. Altogether, this one scores a 3.1.

TREK SENSE: First off, there is no evidence that a Dal'Rok can exist in space, and none that indicates that it can exist without the orb fragment and storyteller present. Even if we accept that the storyteller, as an "offstage" character (not represented by a separate card), is present, the Orb Fragment DOES have a card, and could be in play somewhere else. In any case, the Dal'Rok is a very localized phenomenon/myth. It lives in the woods and comes to a single village once a year. It's part of that village's culture. Would you then meet a Dal'Rok on Qo'noS or Earth? How 'bout in outer space? Who's manipulating it then? Do one or more Dal'Roks exist in actual nature? I really don't have the answers here. The effect is good in any case: it kills the weakest person there unless the community shows 150 total attribute points. The idea of a community fighting back with good thoughts is well represented on the card, and the victims are always those who are less intelligent, strong and/or able to generate peaceful thoughts. Its attacks on ships (when in space) make me wonder how it actually kills people... is it inside the ship or what? Shields don't work? I'm sorry, but only a 2.3 this time.

SEEDABILITY: It's a good dilemma for a number of reasons - first, it always hits. You immediately place it on mission and immediately kill someone (though the weakest in atributes, that could still be an instrumental personnel). If you manage to then stop the Away Team or crew, the start of your turn will kill another ("each turn"). That's a two-for-one right there. All you have to worry about is that it be nullified (before it works or later) with total attributes greater than 150. At an average of say, 7 points an attribute, you'll need some 7 personnel present to get through (results may vary). So it wouldn't be a bad idea to lead Dal'Rok with some killer dilemmas first, getting excess personnel out of the way. It WOULD be a bad idea to have personnel of your own present, since the total attributes include everyone at the location, even your own guys. Indeed, someone who keeps personnel aboard their ships during a planet mission attempt can nullify the dilemma using their safe shipboard personnel. The Dal'Rok can also be nullified using an Orb Fragment artifact at the same location, but here's where the card gets interesting. Where you have Orb Fragment, you can play the dilemma as an event! Dilemmas are very destructive, while events rarely are, but bang, there you have it. A sort of Atmospheric Ionization-type card that kills personnel. Bring your artifact to a facility and your opponent can no longer let her personnel stay there in small numbers. More when we come to that artifact, but the Dal'Rok itself gets a high 4.4.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Trek Sense sinks this very cool dilemma.

PICTURE: A good square jaw and determined look in his eyes, this is one nasty Gul. The good angle is enlivened by really sharp lighting which shows just how much DS9's atmospheric shadows are better than TNG's stark fluorescents. An excellent 3.9.

LORE: His small part in the DS9 saga is told in one sentence. The rest is game mechanics - a Gul for reporting to Central Command, matching commander of the Aldara - and a cute little anecdote about vole fights. That all brings up the score to 3.7.

TREK SENSE: Gul = OFFICER = Command icon, that doesn't take a genius to figure out. We can suppose his tracking Tahna Los would count for his Navigation. He wasn't at the helm, but mapping everything out in his head seems to be worth a double dose of the skill. The rest is pure speculation or invention. Engineer and Astrophysics are both good skills to have for a starship commander.Other than that, not much proof of these skills.  No Leadership, but Officer takes care of that somewhat. Maybe Security would have been closer to his duties in the fleet. The Integrity is on the low end (evil Cardassian), the Cunning mid-to-high (a commander) and Strength is high for he is a soldier (and looks real tough to boot). We don't know much about him, so the invention is okay, but not great. An even 3.

STOCKABILITY: Well, the best part is the double Navigation. The skill is in high demand on Cardassian-attemptable missions, sometimes in doubles, and it'll help in Badlands-oriented decks, both in lowering spans and surviving storms. It's also a good skill for passing dilemmas, and with the ENGINEER (two classifications, note), he'll even keep The Three Vipers from damaging the ship all by his lonesome. Let's talk about that extra ENGINEER: it passes a lot of dilemmas as well and is one of the best classifications out there, and makes Danar a good candidate for processing ore. Astrophysics is getting to be more and more useful, though less so for Cardassian missions. With Danar, you need nor fear from Stellar Flare for example. He's got excellent STRENGTH, though he's something of a Firestorm victim. And let's not forget you can report him for free at Central Command, always useful in staffing your fleet quickly. And for that fleet, he's the matching commander of the Aldara. The ship becomes, Plaqued and Logged, a 10-11-10 Galor class ship. Not a bad vessel. Danar makes for good mission AND battle support. A good 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) I've got him in competition with Damar and Roga Danar now...

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