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

PICTURE: The effects being much more interesting visually that the cause (Nog's little box of bolites), this was well chosen. It's all very silly and the colors are sickening, but I think that's the point. Two weaker elements: whatever tribble-like gunk is stuck on the wall behind the man, and the man's blurry hand. A stiff and average 3.2.

LORE: Well, the whole story's there, including the less-than-dilemma-ish statement that it was just a prank. A good enough 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Perhaps stronger than it ought to be, the Bolites attack two personnel just like on the show (I'd imagine they are either introduced by some jokesters aboard or are naturally occuring on a planet). Those personnel are stopped while they scratch and are left behind. Given the slim severity of the affliction ("harmless"), wouldn't they be able to catch up rather sooner than what the card allows? Maybe, maybe not. If the two personnel are very smart (average Cunning of 8 for both), they aren't affected. I suppose they immediately figure out what has happened and instead of panicking, immediately apply the remedy. A Hypospray will also do the job, injecting your personnel with the cure. If Hypospray, why not Medical? That's where it fails for me. Seems like you'd still need someone to diagnose the two patients. And if Cunning personnel can diagnose it, how can they remedy it if a Hypospray would have to be present in some other circumstances? The card reads like that should be an AND instead of an OR. Does well with what little material it has, but not focused enough for more than a 3.3.

SEEDABILITY: As filters go, this one will hit more often than not, but its random nature hurts its ability to effectively set up dilemma combos. See, it requires two personnel of average CUNNING 8 not to be present, but to be randomly targeted as well! That means the luck of the draw could easily avoid that Data (12) and just go for Worf (6) instead. I'm not really worried about the Hypospray since I don't often see that piece of Equipment, but that can be weeded out too with Common Thief for example, or Disruptor Overload. Whatever personnel are selected will usually be filtered out as the mission continues without them. Unfortunately, since you can't choose which personnel are filtered out, it's hard to decide what dilemma to follow it up with. With two less personnel, the crew or Away Team might not have what it takes to pass it, but then again, it might. Something that hits redshirts wouldn't be a bad idea if the Away Team started off small in the first place, but mega-Away Teams won't really be touched by that unless you pile on more filters (some Chula perhaps). Nice, but not that nice at 3.4.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Average across the board.

PICTURE: Though on the dark side without truly being shadowy, this is one picture I very much appreciate. The trim at the top of the background is Bajoran in feel, matches both the uniform and the earring in their ancient-looking styles and makes the composition more dynamic. Plus, the War Room is the perfect place for him. A good 3.7.

LORE: Do you really need to say "high-ranking" when the guy is a General? That's just about the only complaint about this otherwise competent lore. Circle membership... is that ever going to be used by another card? Still waiting... a 3.2.

TREK SENSE: At the top of the Bajoran military food chain, Krim certainly deserves Officer, the Command icon AND Leadership x2. It's far easier to justify the multiple skill than it is for Opaka (an extreme x3) or Winn (not worthy of our trust). The Honor is exemplified by his returning DS9 to Sisko's control when he discovered the Cardassians' role in that Circle business. Navigation and Stellar Cartography are standard shipboard skills that certainly go with his commanding an Assault Vessel. They are otherwise unsupported. You know what would have been really cool though? A special download of HQ: War Room. It would have been both sensical AND useful. As for attributes, they're all high average. I don't have any problems there. If you think the Integrity should have been higher, for example, just think that he joined the Cicle in the first place. It's on the level. Everything is, really, but there's a certain lack of imagination I think. Here's to a 3.8.

STOCKABILITY: General Krim offers all kinds of possibilities. His skills are well suited to Bajoran missions, many of which require exactly Leadership x2. Same thing goes for many dilemmas, and this would be an even bigger plus if there weren't so many such Leaders in the affiliation. Navigation is always useful, and also figures on a number of missions (with Honor and OFFICER on Search and Rescue). Certainly the Navigation/Stellar Cartography combo will figure prominently in Badlands decks, and that last skill is pretty rare for Bajorans (only three instances of it, and he's by far the best one). General Krim can almost solve Investigate Coup alone with his skills, but can do so entirely with just his name, so that's a good one to seed if you're using the General. He'll also get you through the very tough Executive Authorization dilemma. He's matching commander of the Assault Vessel, making the fairly easy to staff ship a 10-10-9 when Plaqued and Logged. Certainly would save on the Rinnak Pires, but it also means you can Ready Room Door him to a Spacedoored ship for early retrieval. Of course, the "slot machine attributes" means he's also useful in hand, to win Slots' 10 points (watch out for Writ though). One of the mains, though perhaps one of weaker ones. Still a 3.9.

TOTAL: 14.6 (73%) A strong man - a strong showing.

PICTURE: What the--?!? I understand the need for CGI characters when you're at the end of your rope character-wise, or want to represent someone important but never seen (like Mogh), but what's the point here? For those who don't know, Ghoren is actually Thrax but with a few cosmetic changes (his face has been pulled up to make him thinner) and armor rather than the clothes he wore. But he still looks like Thrax, and there's even a security cell behind him. What's more, that they would need CGI in the very first set featuring Cardassians is ridiculous, as there are STILL a lot of background Cardassians that haven't been made into cards. An inappropriate use of resources, though it looks good - only a 2.

LORE: Even the lore makes it clear this was an off-screen character, but his backstory at least makes sense. His universality is acknowledged too ("characteristic of"). Slightly above par at 3.3.

TREK SENSE: I guess we're just going by the lore to evaluate this one, eh? If he's a Medical personnel, then the Med/Biology combo is a natural one. Music? Geology? No explanation is offered, and the second of those two skills really doesn't mesh with the rest of the concept. High Integrity would be because of the Medical, so I guess this guy's not a butcher like Krel Mosset. Cunning is a bit low though... was this guy just a medic or what? I wouldn't let a Cunning 6 doctor come near me! Strength is okay given what we know. I'm afraid this one's a bust - a random collection of skills and numbers that don't amount to the character described and only worth a 1.8.

STOCKABILITY: Cardassian missions may only very seldom require MEDICAL, but dilemmas often do. And the Cardies are actually pretty low on that classification. There are still only 7 of them, one of which is from the mirror universe. So unless you want to rely on Medical Kit (Cardies have LOTS of OFFICERs), you're gonna need those universal MEDs. Now, Derell has the advantage of being a support personnel, but Ghoren has the Aphasia Device-busting Biology. Take away two mirror Cardassians, and the affiliation only boasts 4 Biology personnel! Ghoren may be worth it simply as a universal Biology. Geology isn't bad either, if a little more common. Music? Haven't seen a Cardassian Ressikan deck yet (only 2 appropriate personnel) and in any case, it's not like Music ever appears as the only possible requirement on a dilemma. In fact, had they flushed that skill out of the skill box, that would have made him much more useful. Still good given the rarity of some of his skills: a 3.8.

TOTAL: 10.9 (54.5%) Despite the effort placed in making the image, the worst designed Cardassian yet.

#854-Gilora Rejal, Personnel, Cardassian, DS9
"Cardassian Ministry of Science member. Worked on the 2371 subspace relay project. Mistook Miles O'Brien's irritation with her as a Cardassian mating ritual."
-SCIENCE, ENGINEER, Astrophysics, Honor; Attributes all +2 if Miles O'Brien in play; Staff icon
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 4

PICTURE: Probably the prettiest Cardassian woman we're likely to get (except maybe various versions of Kira), Gilora's caught in full swing, in a memorable scene with the Chief in a Jeffries tube. She even has a distinctive hairdo, and you gotta love that spoon make-up. And for all that, she still looks like a lizard. A well-designed close-up at 3.7.

LORE: Only the last sentence is of any real interest, and I'm glad that aspect of her backstory wasn't forgotten. It was a hoot! Thanks to it, the lore jumps to 3.5.

TREK SENSE: As part of that science team, both Science and Astrophysics are quite natural. Engineer is too, as she was assigned to work with O'Brien on modifications and seemed quite knowledgeable about station systems. A Cardassian good guy (gal), I can see why she would get both Honor and a high Integrity. The staffing icon is correct as well, as would be the relatively high Cunning. I'm more lukewarm about the Strength, though there's no real reason it should be higher. As for the special skill, though uninspired, it makes sense in the context of her episode. She was... stimulated... by the Chief, thus the boost in attributes. Okay, but I would have liked this ability to also include a way to use her with Feds (or O'Brien with the Cardies), just to make it more useful and more topical. No real suprises here, but no real mistakes either. A solid 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: In a Cardassian space deck, she'll do quite well, but you might just inlcude her as a dual-classification personnel. SCIENCE and ENGINEER are both great, and Astrophysics will also see use in dilemma solving. The natural mission for her is of course the universal Study Plasma Storm, which she'll solve time and time again with any old assortment of CUNNING personnel, but there are plenty of good options, from Establish Station (you need some planets) to Characterize Neutrino Emissions. Her particular skill mix is hard to find in the Union too, with but a handful of Astrophysics personnel to match her, and few SCIENCE to equal her. The Cardies have a good number of ENGINEERs, but never enough when you consider the usefulness of Ore Processing. As for the special skill, well, you might get lucky and face a Federation opponent using one of the 2 Miles O'Briens avalaible, or you might play with a Treaty (not unnatural) and use the DS9 version yourself (not bad with that Nor-boosting download). The TNG version just won't work with her, the bloody Feddie. Attribute-boosting isn't that useful in any case, especially for a non-OFFICER with a usually low STRENGTH and high INTEGRITY, so it's just a bonus if you happen to be using both personnel. And seeing as they aren't in the same affiliation, it's gonna have to be a rarer occurence. Good enough, but some wasted space. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 15.1 (75.5%) So Miles, how did Keiko do in comparison?

PICTURE: The composition is so haphazard as to handicap the picture. The Cardassian designs just take over, nothing else is in focus, and there's no real impact to the appearance of a non-descript admiral. A busy and forgettable 2.4.

LORE: Well told, even without much of a context. There's a touch of humor to it all, and I guess the title ain't too bad either. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: The card hinges on two Command personnel disagreeing on a decision. I suppose a Staff (or other) personnel wouldn't be able to put a call through to a higher level VIP as easily. In a way, the card might be better titled as Going Over Your Head. If the tactic is NOT appreciated (or warranted), then use option #1 and get rid of the offending Command personnel. Now, while a slap on the wrist would obviously be called for, is returning a personnel to hand equivalent? Well, it's like relieving someone from their duties for a short time. They can't partake in any meaningful activities until reported again, and since the card can only be used at a facility, the personnel usually can be reported there again. It does mean banishment from a Colony though, and nothing really stops you from reassigning the personnel to another reportable location. That's not too bad. And though the wording would cause problems if the card was allowed on a ship, I don't see any meaningful reason to keep ship personnel from Going to the Top. That's just a DS9-centric notion. Option #2 involves whatever VIP being contacted (the "Top") agreeing with the Command personnel and coming to the facility (or another reportable location, just so it can be contacted at all). It gets "involved", in other words. The "Top" seems to be made up of Admirals (Starfleet upper echelons and a couple of Romulan high-ups), Kais (for the Bajorans, though the military might call on Generals instead, no? Or the First Minister?), Legates (for the Cardassians), Chancellors and Emperors (for the Klingons; again, no Generals?), Senators (I guess a Proconsul is too busy to get any calls, just like a Federation president) and a Nagus (for the Ferengi). A little restricted, and featuring some anomalies like Chancellor Marouk, but not a bad list. I guess the Dominion, Kazon an Vidiians (as far as we know, anyway) never Go to the Top. Given the structure of those societies, that's not totally unbeliveable actually. I'd say a well-done 3.9 here.

STOCKABILITY: Downloading useful personnel at interrupt speeds is a great effect, and all you need to achieve it is two Command personnel. That's real easy to come up with. The downloads are often very good too. For the Feds, there's a couple of great Admirals, especially fun to allow attacks on other affiliations. The Romulans have some very good Senators (leave their only Admiral at home). Cardassian Legates usually have a good skill list or abilities that allow you to peek at Hidden Agendas, protect Treaties and the like. The Bajorans can call on a couple of Kais, and Opaka's great for protecting your Orbs. I'm a little surprised you didn't get your Nagus out sooner, but say you didn't, they're great personnel for the Ferengi. The Klingons really get shafted on this one, with no clear Chancellor as yet and an Emperor you can get into play some other way. All non-Borg affiliations can download Marouk, but you unfortunately can't get her to appear just as Yuta is encountered, so that's a limited ability. Of course, you could use multiple Going to the Top cards to pad out a facility's crew, but Kukalaka would limit that. The other function is to "recall" a Command personnel to your hand. Maybe you need to report it somewhere else, maybe you want to save it from death at the hands of intruders or damage markers, or from assimilation as a counterpart. A defensive function, but in a pinch... The big limit on the card is that it only plays on a facility. That means it'll be less useful to mothership decks, in partcular those that might crop up in the Voyager environment. I'd say it's on the end of its glory days at 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) Not going any higher.

PICTURE: Just a guy, working away at some meaningless job (to us anyway). Actually, while the pic itself is quite plain and boring, this background character was a good choice for a card. He was in the background at Ops throughout the first 2 seasons and beyond. Better than some of the one-shot nobodies we've sometimes seen. A 3.3.

LORE: Universality is acknowledged, and there's at least a little something about his helping the Chief. Not much there, but competent. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Since we know next to nothing about this guy, we'll have to believe what our eyes (and the lore) tell us. From the uniform, he may well be an Engineer, and since he's always at that console, Computer Skill works well. As for Astrophysics, that would seem to be a constant concern for the people at Ops because of the Wormhole's proximity. A good choice, and truly, I WOULD call this guy a "support personnel". Youth could have been argued for, but wasn't necessary. A cute special skill might have been to allow him to report to Ops. As far as the attributes go, they all seem fair to me. The Integrity is Federation standard; the Cunning shows him to be rather unambitious, though here, the complex skills may have deserved a little more; and the Strength is a vital, but non-combattant 5. Not particularly inventive, but well thought-out for the most part. A 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: Unimpressive stats could be boosted to 9-8-7 with Lower Decks, but that's only assuming you'd want to use the guy at all. As a Support Personnel, he can be downloaded at the appropriate time, or may just report aboard a ship when his time actually comes. Either way, his two skills may come in quite handy in mission solving and dilemma passing, not to mention his ENGINEER classification. Computer Skill and ENGINEER will show up together on a fair number of cards, and Astrophysics is a rarer, but by no means less important, skill. You never know when you might need either of these. A good source of all three which haven't been seen together much on Federation personnel outside of various Datas and Mr. Wesley Crusher. A 3.4 here.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Bring him out front so we can take a good look at 'im.

PICTURE: Klingon women really don't come any prettier (ok, I'm a sucker for redheads), and her colors are very much those of Quark's background. Nicely realized with a subtle connection to her romantic interest. A 3.5.

LORE: The special dispensation... her brief marriage... it's all there. But I wish there'd been enough room to include a wink to her relationship with the Cyrano de Bergerac stuff. A simple 3.1.

TREK SENSE: As head of a House, the Leadership and VIP are naturals. Only a Staff icon? Well, leader of a House doesn't translate as commander of a ship. Certainly not in this case. I'm sure the Honor was doubled because of all the Klingon traditions surrounding her two appearances, but her kidnapping of Quark and subsequent shotgun wedding should have kept her back either here or in Integrity. And the Biology? If it has any relation to intra-species sexuality, I don't want to know about it (shouldn't it be EXObiology anyway?). The attributes bonuses are standard between lovers that get a rise from being in each other's presence, and this time, it can be either her husband (the Son of Keldar) or her... um... boyfriend (plain, simple Quark). Cunning may be a bit high given her need for Quark to figure out her House's finances and cluelessness vis à vis being wooed by Quark/Worf. Strength is probably at the right level. I'd say there's a lot of good stuff here, but not always. An unstable 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: Leader of a House unfortunately doesn't grant you free access to The Great Hall, and so another stockability review begins... The Grilka/Quark Son of Keldar combo makes for impressive attributes (he's a sweet ol' 8-10-7 and she's a sultry 11-11-10) whether you're attempting missions or fighting hand-to-hand (especially when you add hand weapons). Quark is simply turned into a survivor, but Grilka gets some very high stats. The double Honor not only allows her to use Klingon support cards, but also makes her worth 8 points if she dies and you play No Way Out. It's also a great help to Klingon missions. Remember those upped STRENGTHs? Well, her Leadership will allow her to initiate battle. As for Biology, it's all-important to pass Aphasia Device among other dilemmas, and isn't represented particularly well in the Empire. She can be downloaded by Tumek, so she can even jump into the mission mid-attempt. So not bad for battle, not bad for mission solving, she scores about a 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Not THAT pretty.

PICTURE: One of the first examples of a ship "in action", the Groumall is surrounded by streaking stars which actually spectrum-shift. Very nice, and I'm amazed such a bulky ship design has produced two cool pics (this one and Military Freighter). That's enough to give it a 3.6.

LORE: The lore starts off with the gift of matching commander status to Dukat, always a bonus. "The Ziyal scandal" - I like this insight into the Cardassian political vista. The last sentence explains the special download, but is also part of the story. A very competent 3.6.

TREK SENSE: As a freighter, Range should be at a premium, and it is the highest attribute there. Shields are equal, but defense should also be important for protecting cargo. Weapons are a point down from the universal Military Freighter, but they definitely were shown to be ineffectual in its episode, and Dukat complained a lot about the ship's age. Everything checks out, including the staffing and Tractor Beam, leaving us with the question of the special download. Well, no problems there since the Groumall is exactly the ship that used System 5 Disruptors. It's way more appropriate there than on any other ship. Those Disruptors are already in the hold awaiting modification. All the elements fall together neatly, only handicapped by the fact that ships are so straight-laced anyway. A 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: The Cardassians can use their other Military Freighters to make cargo runs, but the Groumall has a couple of advantages over them. For one, it can download System 5 Disruptors once those runs are over to make the ship a little more battle-worthy. A more efficient way to do it than waiting for the card to enter your hand. Secondly, the ship has a matching commander in the form of Dukat. Not only can this excellent personnel report directly to the Groumall via Ready Room Door once the small ship is downloaded to a docking site thanks to Ops (it would report for free to Docking Ports anyway), but it can be done in reverse by using Construct Starship, Dukat and an Engineering Kit (followed by Dukat's other commands, why not). So this freighter can cruise along with Dedication Plaque and Captain's Log at 9-7-10, and later convert to a military vessel at 9-11-9. Have it join your armada! The only real problem is in selecting which ship will get Dukat's bonuses, but say you keep him on the just-as-easily staffed Naprem (boosting it to 10-10-10), the System 5-enhanced Groumall would still be at a relatively decent, if vulnerable, 7-8-6. A good little ship at 3.6.

TOTAL: 14.9 (74.5%) Coincidentally equal to the other cool freighter, the Bok'Nor.

PICTURE: There's a lot going on visually in this appropriately lush picture. The overhead grill lays out a patterned shadow, there's an open bar (or something) in the back and flowers on the table. It's still just a set shot though taken from actual Guest Quarters (not Crew Quarters), since First Minister Shakaar's just about to come in there. A baroque yet elegant 3.4.

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

TREK SENSE: Very interesting. A universal site since the station must be crammed with 'em. Though you'd expect to be notified if a VIP came to the station (by the arrival of a ship, for example), this is no different than other Nor reporting mechanisms. For that matter, we never see ships or personnel arrive to Outposts before they initially report for duty. VIPs, then, make the perfect personnel to report to these Quarters, more so than the Civilians. And it's not that Borg VIPs aren't welcome, it's that they aren't really VIPs in function. The Borg just don't work that way. Oh, and I like that the site has to be unoccupied - these guys don't double up! And of course any player can report here since VIPs are often allowed aboard opposing ships and facililties in the interest of diplomacy. As for the effect, I appreciate that it requires an unopposed VIP here, but the rest is very nebulous. It's like saying that the VIP gives you more choices when it comes to resources. Are you negotiating with that VIP for such resources? Is it acting as some kind of resource consultant? Hard to say, though those explanations are as good as any. Of course, you'd have to believe they do all of this from their rooms, not on a more central part of the station like the conference room or even Quark's. Can't give it too many points then... A 3.4.

SEEDABILITY: If running a Nor deck, you might want Guest Quarters to report your Legates, Kais, Emissaries or whatever passes for a VIP in your affiliation, that's certain. Furthermore, these guys will give you the ability to better manage your deck. Every time you get a card draw, for every occupied Guest Quarters (so long as you're occupying with an unopposed VIP), you get to draw two cards and pick the one you want to keep. Now, you may regret to have to put a good card underneath your draw deck, but that should be short-term: the next download you make will shake things up again. If you have access to the top card (with the Orb of Prophecy and Change, Heinsenberg Compensators, etc.), you can better evaluate if you'd rather take your chances with the next card. Since any player may use Guest Quarters, you better report (or send) someone there early on. You don't want an opposing VIP to show up unanounced (though a security team could be dispatched, that's IF you're allowed to battle the VIP's affiliation). And that's where the universal nature of the site actually comes into play. You might want to have your own to play on your opponent's Nor, especially if you expect to draw a VIP early. Those that have Computer Skill may then walk to Ops to commandeer the station, for example. Ambassador Tomalak, Brunt, Duras, Enabran Tain, Spock, they can all do it. The Bajorans don't have anyone with that profile, but report The Emissary then let him report a Computer Skill personnel. Just keeping a VIP there allows you to manage your cards regardless of whose station it is, and you might even stock a Cardassian and/or Bajoran VIP in an otherwise other-affiliated deck, just so the person can't be molested by opposing personnel (depending on your opponent's affiliation). An odd strategy, but could protect your management scheme. What ISN'T an odd strategy is seeding multiple Guest Quarters and arranging for multiple card draws for even greater management. Kivas Fajo-Collector, for example, allows you to draw 6 cards and keep the best 3 IF you have three VIPs at 3 Guest Quarters. For more advanced players perhaps, but quite useful in the right hands. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.13 (70.67%) Perhaps underrated.

PICTURE: Row on row of Harvester Virus vials... You'd think I was going to find this a paltry prop shot, but I do like it. The close-up on the stickers is interesting to a Trekkie geek like me (like us?), and I keep wondering what the difference might be between green and orange-tagged vials. Composition-wise, there are some good strong lines running through the picture, but the vials point out of the picture dragging our eyes along with them. Just try to look at one of those stickers for any length of time and you'll find yourself drifting right out of the picture. That's a small mistake that'll cost the card (ahh, Siskoid and his art training...). A 3.2.

LORE: The mention of NANObiogenics explains the presence of both Bashir and O'Brien at the mission, but isn't followed through much in the game text (more on that later obviously). The lore's okay, with some boring techno-babble... A 3.

TREK SENSE: Let's imagine the Virus got spilt on a planet (or a spill was beamed there), it would start this epidemic that would wind up killing two personnel per full turn. Now, given the nature of the dilemma, there's really no reason it couldn't be space/planet with a sort of quarantining effect. Indeed, personnel leaving the infected planet do not bring the Virus with them. It didn't seem all that contagious in the show with a big drop falling on O'Brien taking hours to kill him, and Bashir never contracting anything even though he was exposed to O'Brien all that time. Yet, if you stay on the planet, it's pretty contagious. The cure seems to match what we saw on the show BEFORE O'Brien got infected. It's how to neutralize the Harvester Virus, but not really how to cure the disease in a person (note the Computer Skill). Now, I'm not saying doing one thing wouldn't do the other, but why would the Computer expert have to be present at the epidemic site? And what about those cure requirements? Well, they underplay O'Brien a bit (the nano part of the Virus) by relegating him to Computer Skill instead of Engineer, Cybernetics or even Physics (muon frequencies?). Bashir's 2 Medical and Exobiology (an alien virus) are there though. Not sure what the difference in viruses is though that makes the Harvesters require Exobiology and the Aphasia virus Biology. They're both engineered viruses of a non-human origin. Ah well. I gotta say this effort isn't quite the poster child for Trek Sense despite what seemed like good intentions. Just a 2.

SEEDABILITY: I love dilemmas with this kind of staying power. It immediately goes on top of a planet and starts killing two personnel per full turn (one on your opponent's turn) until cured. My favorite tactic is to combine it with Duonetic Field Generator to trap an Away Team on the infected planet. Hippocratic Oath can certainly help weed out a MEDICAL personnel which might otherwise cure it. The Doctor and Sulan are the only personnel with the entire skill package, but Computer Skill is a very common skill which can combine to most any MEDICAL personnel to cure the Virus, so be wary and plan ahead, especially against Mega-Away Teams. A side-bonus of this dilemma is that, if in play (even if you set it off yourself), your opponent can't score points from Eliminate Virus (and those points don't count if already scored) until the Harvester is cured. Seed it on another spaceline, and they might never get those points. Of course, never seed it at Eliminate Virus since they share requirements. Setting a Harvester off at the end of the spaceline can turn Love Interest dilemmas and other relocating strategies into killers. There's a lot of potential here: a 4.4.

TOTAL: 12.6 (63%) That's just how many points it could harvest. (Infect me before I pun again!)

PICTURE: From afar, you don't even really see the "Shifter" scrawled on the wall because the card is too dark, and those two lights eat up all your attention. I think a far better shot for this concept would have been Quark's branding by the Circle. Now, THAT was a Hate Crime. Bad moves here make this a weak 1.6.

LORE: Well enough written, but a little stiff. Maybe I'm responding to the second sentence's over-simplification of the events. Vocabulary's good. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Basically, a personnel is targeted for "being different" and it just can't do its job because of political concerns, the population's interference or possibly injury. Since this is Star Trek, the situation eventually resolves itself (much too easily I might add) thanks to the countdown icon. While this is what happened to Odo, the situation could go a myriad ways. Such a personnel could be killed for example, or a duo of, say, Vulcans could be targeted together. I like the idea of involving species on this level, but the card just has too many problems. One of these is the fact that it can be seeded at space missions. Who's the villain in this case? Surely not your own crew! Yes, Deep Space 9 is in space, but you can't encounter a dilemma there in the game. In fact, that question can't always be answered for planet missions. After all, on an alien planet, wouldn't all humans be alien? So what if there's a single Vulcan present? Heck, some lone members of their species look almost exactly human. There's also the matter of the dilemma suspending skills, but not icons, classifications, attributes or other abilities (such as matching commander status or Ketracel rationing). Is the personnel able to do its duty or not? Can't man a computer console, but staffing ships and working down in engineering is okay? The words "non-Borg" also get the card into trouble. Species is irrelevant anyway, so the mention isn't really relevant right? Well, it makes Seven of Nine immune to Hate Crime. Oh, really?!? Who wouldn't like to get there hands on a Borg drone? I already mentioned the countdown, but there's more to it than that: I just don't like how the problem just fixes itself. How about a Diplomatic cure instead? And why is it still in effect once you leave the area? Makes it seem like it's your crew who's doing the Hate Crime after all. It's too bad because I really liked the premise, but I can't go higher than a 1.

SEEDABILITY: This dilemma would be much better if it killed, disabled or stopped a personnel, but removing skills from an Away Team or crew (an effect which may last beyond the current mission) is an okay deal. If it hits, you get your choice from a usually limited number of personnel which is good, and it can't be avoided or remedied as easily as a killer. Good choices for follow-up dilemmas are those requiring species-centric skills. Mindmeld only belongs to Vulcans (Horta anyone?) and Empathy, while scattered over a number of species has a good chance of being targeted by Hate Crime. But will it hit? In most cases, I dare say yes. The Feds have a number of species on hand. They often come in multiples, but you'll probably get a stray Vulcan, Betazoid, Klingon, android, hologram, etc. The Dominion is split into 3 main species, but you'll often find a lone Vorta or changeling in a Away Team, and sometimes a Breen, Karemma or Dosi. Other affiliations are more centered on their species, but those are the ones that might use the most Non-Aligned personnel, and they're from a great variety of species. When NAs are used, it's usually because they're required to patch skill holes, so taking out those skills is an important effect. I think it's easy to see why taking out androids, changelings and the like also weakens an Away Team or crew. Of course, the other affiliations have a few "aliens" here and there. The Klingons have a couple holos, Jodmos and Quark Son of Keldar (and the Targ). The Romulans have Tallera, Data and Picard, Major Rakal, the Sisters of Duras and holos of their own (I am NOT mentioning Stefan DeSeve). The Cardassians have Kira, Ilon Tandro and Overseer Odo (indeed Mirror decks are like the Feds and Dominion as far as species go). The Bajoran have Vedek Dax, Odo, The Emissary, Kasidy and a couple others. For the Ferengi, there are all those dabo girls. And the Kazon have Seska. Nothing for the Vidiians, but both they and the Kazon are going to get burned on their NA personnel (or whoever they're working with using either The Collective or The Sodality). Another cute trick is to play the card as an Interrupt with Zayra, which gives you more insurance vis-à-vis your target, and might even knock out the Leadership required for initiating attack (for example). You can even do it both ways, seeding it then recycling it into an interrupt. Problems do remain: Weaker effect than I'd like and a time limit on it. 3.5 here.

TOTAL: 9.3 (46.5%) I don't hate the card! Honest!!!

PICTURE: The raider doesn't look too much like it does on its ship card (it doesn't seem to have the wings), but it's nonetheless fun. The cave environment is the hiding place, of course, but especially nice are the palukoo cobwebs in the foreground (which don't obscure the fighter). We're really seeing through Kira and Dax's eyes. A good 3.5.

LORE: Everything's there, from a specific Trek source to a more general "it could happen to you" sentence that infers the possibility of other people leaving such caches. A good enough (though that resistance is unlabeled) 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Downloads can easily be interpreted as things (represented by cards of course) that were at some specific place all along. Hidden Fighter works great then in representing a hidden vessel on a planet surface: You can't hide a starship because they're too big and couldn't take off anyway, and the card even downloads what you need TO take off. No plot holes there. The card's title refers to a "Fighter", but the card's a little broader than that, isn't it. Interceptors, scouts, runabouts and raiders would fit, but transports, science vessels and shuttles, not so much. A ragtag band of resistance fighters would probably have taken anything they could get though, so ok. Actually, where the card unravels a bit is when you plug into it all the affiliations, ships and planets in the game. The former isn't so bad. Any affiliation could conceivably find a reason to hide a ship, perhaps for a single mission. As for specific ships, the only ones I have trouble with are Romulan Science Vessels which really aren't made for this sort of thing, but again, it could happen. There is a question about Rebel and Alliance Interceptors not being as downloadable as their Alpha quadrant cousins, but that keeps them quadrant-specific I guess. No such explanation for the Jovis though. Here it's more a question of that Zibalian Transport never being hidden like this - it's Kivas Fajo's home! Finally, download locations. This is the biggest Trek Sense hurdle for this card. After all, Hidden Fighter allows you to have an Alpha quadrant vessel in the Delta or Mirror quadrants. No explanations given. Would the Cardassians ever really make the mistake of allowing a Bajoran Interceptor to be hidden on their homeworld? There are plenty of worlds which are closed off to the main spaceways, that are new and unexplored, that I can't believe this card could play there. Still a very strong effort which passes a lot of tests. A 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: A free downloaded ship? What's the catch? It can't have any staffing requirements. Ah. Is that all? Well, the Vidiians and Dominion don't have much to recommend here (nor do the Borg), but other affiliations all have a little something. The Bajorans will get the most mileage out of Hidden Fighter, what with their powerful Interceptors. The Romulans have a cloaking shuttle and the Apnex, and share the Cha'Joh with the Klingons (as well as easily built Scout armadas). For the Feds, there are plenty of shuttles and runabouts to choose from, though many of them already report aboard ships. The Kazon have the nifty boarding pod. Just boring old shuttles for the Ferengi and Cardassians though, and let's not forget there is some Non-Aligned support for this. Not only can you simply report personnel at an outpost, beam down and call for a cab, but it's a great way to get out of tight jams like having been relocated by a Love Interest or Hippocratic Oath. If making a trip to another quadrant, you only need to take one ship (or relocate one personnel) and download the rest with your Away Team. Some of these ships can even report certain personnel aboard (Navigation, or Mirror, or whatever) And it's more than a free ship, it's a great way to get those landing cards (ELP and ESO) into play again for free. If you're gonna use either one of those cards, then you're going to use at least one ship with no staffing requirements, right? Then there's no reason not to get the whole thing neatly packaged into one free download. Another plus: Gaila downloads it. The card is so good, they had to make a counter for it in Voyager: Containment Field. But it's a soft counter that'll only make you lose your turn if you're downloading entire armadas with your hand full of Hidden Fighters. Too bad, cuz that can be fun. A fun 4.2.

TOTAL: 15.1 (75.5%) A quaint little card... with teeth!

PICTURE: Apparently, he's as stylish as Garak because that's really the same cut Elim would wear, although maybe not with so much fuzz on the shoulders (is the costume coming apart at the seams? it seems linty to me). Background and foreground draw on two totally different color palettes (nice contrast), but still manage to remain in a precious stones and metals harmony, playing very well against one another. Not much insight into the character though. A good enough 3.6.

LORE: Being a dissident is just about the only useful thing here, and it's thrown in without so much as a sentence to support it. Why not have placed the word somewhere in the following affirmation if it was going to be about the underground anyway? I don't really think the lore is bad at all, although universality isn't properly acknowledged. A 3.2 for what's there.

TREK SENSE: Well, I just don't understand the Science. The rest is fine though. A "student" would have both Civilian and Youth. The dissidents are against a corrupt government which may make most of them Honorable, and Hogue was certainly loyal to his teacher Natima. Navigation and Staff would have been derived from his piloting Natima's Cardassian Shuttle, though we never saw him do it. Somebody must have, and I guess the Cardassians have their own stereotypes about hotshot pilots being male (why couldn't Rekelen or Natima herself have piloted the ship?). The high Integrity follows the Honor's lead. The somewhat low Cunning is fine because he did show some naiveté wehn dealing with Quark. No problems with the Strength either - not military level, but ready to defend his interests. But the Science... Where did that come from? That's a big blemish in capital letters, bringing down an otherwise acceptable card to a plain 3. He doesn't seem like a typical (read: universal) personnel either.

STOCKABILITY: He's one of 4 dissidents who can boost Natima Lang's attributes to 10-10-6, but it's not a cumulative effect so having multiple Hogues (or other dissidents) present won't change anything. A universal personnel with 4 skills is, however, generally a good thing. Well, CIVILIAN is very limited, and so is Youth (no Cardassian missions require Youth). SCIENCE and Navigation do appear together on their Characterize Neutrino Emissions, Study Cometary Cloud and universal Survey Star System. Both those skills are excellent against dilemmas as well. Honor is rather unimportant to the Cardassians though, though not completely unuseable (For Cardassia!). Finally, fairly good attributes you can boost with Lower Decks. He may be a 4-skill universal, but when half of those (and the classification) are something of a waste, you're left with a support personnel or mission specialist-type that share those guys' advantages. If I really wanna boost Natima Lang, I'll use the better Ari or Tekeny Ghemor. No more than a 2.4.

TOTAL: 12.2 (61%) Oooh, I dissed him ;-).

PICTURE: I'm just glad with have ONE pic of Iliana Ghemor, the Cardassian Kira ;-). Seriously though, the color palette is limited but really good, and it's a great background shot of Cardassian architecture we haven't seen before. Tekeny Ghemor looks small and useless in the back there, but if he needed people to defend him, that may be appropiate. As for how appropriate the picture is as a whole, it's only more or less so. The episode and even basic scene may be right, as Entek in effect battles Ghemor and the dissident movement, but we're seeing non-Cardassians (Garak is an exile) defending the target of that attack. It's reversed, setting it at 3.1 only.

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

TREK SENSE: To defend your ideals, you should be ready to hurt your own people. Some affiliations have intelligence services that work internally to supress dissent and insurgency. Case in point, the Tal Shiar trying to destroy the unification movement, the Obsidian Order looking to kill the dissident movement, and Section 31 ready to eliminate Federation citizens to protect the institution itself. The FCA routinely goes against Ferengi citizens even if I wouldn't call it an intelligence service per se (secret passages to closets aside), and Klingon Intelligence hasn't been seen enough to name an example. I'm certainly sorry not to see Resistance in there, since Resistance members really had to attack Bajoran collaborators. I think it may have been prudent at some point to create the term "intelligence skill" to include all of these, thus allowing for equivalents in other affiliations. As an intelligence-related card, I can understand the Hidden Agenda icon. The countdown may be because such organizations can never get their way for long before the actual government sets them straight or they have to go back into the shadows. They are operation-based, so once a particular operation is over, the effect subsides. But wait, we haven't even gotten to the effect yet! Ok, well, there are two of them. The first is to give a certain authority (Leadership) to the intelligence agents (as seen in "Face of the Enemy", for example), an authority which includes the ability to battle their own people. This is used to eliminate personnel with the wrong ideology (all your opponent's personnel), for example. The other effect is to disallow mission theft by non-Espionage means, i.e. if those missions feature their affiliation icon. Here, I suppose security is tightened up on those missions or that territory (actual Defensive Measures). In fact, that second effect can be used even without any intelligence personnel, so is closer to an HQ card. HQ cards should really be directives coming down from the homeworld government, a kind of governmental Captain's Order. Let me also note how well written the effect is, mentioning missions with "more than one affiliation icon on each end", meaning that Compromised Mission remains compromised. A good show all around, with very few false notes. A 4.6.

STOCKABILITY: The first function re-creates the old Tal Shiar built-in ability to allow intelligence personnel (yes, now useable by Cardassians, Ferengi and Feds too) to attack their own affiliation. The Klingons can already do this, of course, but the other cannot. It's a slim ability in any case, since you'd have to expect your opponent to pick the same affiliation you are, but if you concentrated your deck on battling, you may want to insure you CAN battle. Choose your time well though: There's a 3-turn countdown on this puppy. It also adds 1 Leadership to all the intelligence personnel, which can be useful in more than just battling, but for missions and dilemmas too. The other effect may not be as over-arcing as Fair Play's, but does tend to complete it. Fair Play, for example, doesn't protect you from the theft of high-point (40+) missions. Defensive Measures does, as long as there's more than one affiliation icon on the card. Diplomatic Conference, Hunt for DNA Program, Pegasus Search, Wormhole Negotiations, and plenty of dead-on 40-pointers are all convered here. Defensive Measures will also keep universal missions safe if they have more then one attemptability icon. The idea would be to keep your card hidden until your opponent tried to attempt one of these and then flip the objective over. You would now have 3 turns to complete it yourself or battle the offending cards. In any case, your opponent just lost some time. As an HQ card, it may be downloaded by Defend Homeworld in a pinch, but since it plays on table, may not do so for free through a Headquarters. Bottom line, the effects can be useful, but are mostly of a reactive nature. That's only worth about a 3.4, and mostly due to the suprise factor.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) You can tell the mission theft fix didn't take, 'cuz Fair Play showed up next expansion.

PICTURE: Somewhat poor. To begin with, we have the design problem that all Orbs look alike, so it's hard to present them in new and/or interesting ways. This retread of the Orb of Time has a number of flaws on top of that. I don't know if the warped shape of the Orb box has anything to do with it, but the figure carrying it (Kira) seems impossibly slim-shouldered. There's almost a fish-eye lense effect at play (big hands, small torso). The background offers further distraction thanks to a white strip of light which simply brings the frame to a close before it should, unbalancing the entire image. It's not like the boring background on the left is any better. Note that the Orb still looks handsome, and that the image is appropriate to the card's concept. A 2 then.

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

TREK SENSE: HQ cards a like governmental Captain's Orders, and this one seems to fit the bill, even if your "government" in play happens to be a "friend" to Bajor rather than Bajor itself. Now, the Orb icon is strangely used on this card. By making this Objective only playable on Orb icon personnel, it sets into motion a retroactive orb experience. Had an orb experience (as noted by icon)? Well, there has to be an Orb close by. This is wrong-headed since 1) Bajorans such as Opaka and Bareil make use of an Orb either long-returned or never-taken, and 2) the card goes on to describe how Orb artifacts can be reclaimed from others and/or earned when encountered, as if the Orb wasn't already in their possession. Is the Orb icon only "earned" at that time, somehow "inactive" until an Orb is found? But what if the icon was used for some other function earlier? Is the compunction to return the Orbs a byproduct of an earlier experience then? Aside from the card's target, the Objective works reasonably well. With such an imperative, it makes sense that acquiring Orbs is a goal for its own sake and so taking them takes precedence over completing a mission. Similarly, personnel would certainly attempt to reclaim/steal Orb artifacts in someone else's possession. One might be unhappy at how easy such a "theft" is realized, but I'm not. Each Orb personnel has his or her own way to do so, be it Diplomacy (Kai Opaka), thiefly skills (mirror Bareil) or strength (Kira Nerys). Bringing the artifacts to Bajor is like a mini-mission in that it allows you to score points. The other bonus, card draws, is more mechanical and harder to explain, but in such cases, it is generally thought that the reward is equal to some kind of economic windfall leading to the accumulation of more resources (cards). In the case of Orb Returns, I'm not as convinced. I guess you can explain it through religious fervor leading to increased production. I'll buy it, but it makes no sense for non-Bajoran returners. The same goes for the lack of discards here. Yes, the objective is discarded (mission accomplished!), but none of the artifacts are. In other words, they aren't stored in a monastery out of sight and out of mind once returned. As the Bajoran player, you will appreciate the ability to make use of the Orbs' powers. But what if Cardassian Borad returns an Orb? Why does he get to keep it? Aye, there's the rub. Mechanically unsound in places, the card nevertheless offers some good storytelling, and so I give it a 4.

STOCKABILITY: The basis for many Bajoran decks, Return Orb to Bajor has many good functions revolving around some excellent artifacts. Not only do some of them have great effects (in particular, deck management with the Orb of Prophecy and Change and free card plays with the Orb of Wisdom), but they can also be stacked under Orb Negotiations and Characterize Neutrino Emissions (that one, in the same region as Bajor) so that they can all be at the same place. With this objective, you don't even have to complete a mission to acquire said artifacts. You can even make sure you won't hit offensive dilemmas by seeding Sarjenka and accepting that she stop you for 5 points. If your opponent went and acquired them out from under your nose already, or if they seeded and acquired their own, perhaps lazily with Starry Night, you can reclaim them all at no extra cost to you. Then, it's a quick ride to Bajor, which your Bajorans are no doubt using for its other HQ abilities, for easy card draws and points. You'll get up to 3 cards per Orb present, but only 10 points per objective. If you want more than that, you'll have to return all your Orbs separately, using separate objectives. And the Orb artifacts don't go anywhere! You can use them as they were meant to, bring them to the Bajoran Shrine for even more card draws, etc. Note that while the Bajorans have the easiest time of it (more Orb icon personnel, in-region treasure trove, Shrine benefits, a Headquarters where it and its target can play for free, etc.), the Objective is in no way limited to them. The Cardassians have Borad and a potential load or Orbs right on their homeworld (mission attemptable with Secure Homeworld), and have a mission to solve on Bajor. Using Terok Nor, they're close to Neutrino Emissions which they may attempt, or they could use Starry Night so long as they had Quark's Bar on their station. The Ferengi can do it with Grand Nagus Zek (here, Starry Night is probably a good idea), and the Feds with The Emissary. Actually, anybody can do it with Non-Aligned Barry Waddle, who can also shut down your opponent's Orb Return strategy (from anywhere!), or make your own Orb personnel with Orb Experience. As I mentioned though, an opposing Barry Waddle can bring everything crashing down around your ears since there are no limits on his nullification ability. Recommended recourse: Eliminate the guy. His low STRENGTH is no match for a Bajoran or Cardassian raiding party. A very strong play aid for the Bajorans, yet still useful to others. A 4.5.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) A weak picture hurts an otherwise excellent card.

PICTURE: This establishing shot of Starfleet Headquarters originally seen in "Homefront" is incredibly cool. You've got a very nice building, nice sky and grounds too. People are walking around, the Golden Gate bridge can be seen in the distance, and there's that public transportation tube in the foreground. Everything's crisp and clear and shows the peaceful colors of the Federation. I think this would have made a better Headquarters card than Office of the President, honestly, since the game is so centered on Starfleet. But does it represent Secure Homeworld very well? Not so much. It's from the right episode, but I think security personnel beaming in near Sisko's in New Orleans would have been a closer match. Excellent image minus being inappropriate to the concept equals a 4.

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

TREK SENSE: This card answers the question of why you can't solve your own homeworld's mission. Well, obviously you couldn't since it was often a play against your government, but now Secure Homeworld creates a set of mission conditions that basically allow you to counter opposing mission attempts. You need to match the homeworld's affiliation obviously, though you could conceivably bring in personnel from others to help out (Odo at Earth, for example). What you need first is Leadership to coordinate all activities, a double dose because we're talking about an entire world. Then there's the obvious Security. The option of using either Honor or Treachery shows two possible approaches (Sisko's by the book tactics and Leyton's hostile takeover) and can be ascribed to two affiliation "styles" (Klingon Honor and Romulan Treachery). The required attribute total is a neat enough way to make the objective relate to the actual mission. Theoretically, a mission's points are directly proportional to the mission's importance and/or difficulty. The attribute total has you counter your opponent's best laid plans (even an invisible opponent if actual opponent is not gunning for the mission) with more than equal courage, wits or force, depending. It's a little contrived, but not bad. The added bonus of capturing "intruders" on the planet when you solve the mission is great. It proves your Security did stop the troublemakers who were obviously there to solve the original mission (even if they weren't, such is life). This is a very, very good effort at storytelling. I'm giving it 4.9.

STOCKABILITY: You want to use your homeworld, but are afraid your opponent will solve the mission and score its points. Or, you don't like seeding a mission you can't attempt. And wouldn't it be a great place to attempt a mission since you'll no doubt be seeding a Headquarters there capable of reporting personnel, some of them for free? Sure, Espionage cards allow you to do this, but not if you're playing Ferengi (even Bribery won't work), Feds (they can't play Espionage on Earth) or Klingons (they can't spy on the Romulans). Even if you can, the requirements are very often geared towards some other affiliation's strengths. Enter: Secure Homeworld. Now, not only can this card be played for free on your homeworld if you have your HQ in play, but it allows you to solve that mission with personnel that can report there, quite often for free. Many free reports have Leadership (sometimes at the x2 level) with the other requirements relatively easy to find. You'll always need enough personnel to reach between 31 (Ferengi, Klingon, Romulan) and 41 (Federation, Dominion) in one attribute, but each affiliation will no doubt use its best to get to that total with as few as 4 personnel (less with the right equipment). You may even want to let your opponent believe they can go ahead and solve the mission so you can take advantage of the card's capturing abilities. Putting a good strong wall dilemma at your homeworld is a good way to allow opposing personnel to get rid of the dilemmas, then swooping in with Secure Homeworld and capturing the entire Away Team. Lacking that, I might recommend relocating personnel there when you get the chance (Wrong Door, Hippocratic Oath, etc.). Jaresh-Inyo, while unable to contribute skills to the attempt, can suspend play to download the surprise objective. Legate Damar is a great personnel to use in combination with this card on Cardassia because 1) he has all the skills necessary, and 2) he can download For Cardassia! That second objective requires your Legate to complete Secure Homeworld in order to get either personnel downloads or a 15-point booty. In general, the card turns your homeworld mission into an easy and, in some cases, lucrative one. You're there anyway, might as well profit from it. No use for it in the Delta Quadrant though. A clean home team 4.5.

TOTAL: 17.86 (89.33%) There's no place like home.

PICTURE: A cool second HQ location so to speak, War Room has a lot going for it, but a couple of small defects. The clockwork-like screen with the Bajoran city map on it is very interesting, for example, but the pixel definition is lacking at this range, and it looks like it can only be seen with 3D glasses. The Bajoran-symbol-shaped table in the foreground is likewise very nice, especially since it reflects the banners in the background, though the symmetry is a little off. The figure of General Krim adds an important living element to what is otherwise just a set shot, and all the linework points to him in the center. A very good 4.

LORE: "Map room" is a little weak (I sure hope it was more than that!), but the rest is at least competent. The title has real spark, but is a bit of a misnomer for certain affiliations. The Federation most likely would call such a place a strategic something-or-other, for example. Just slightly off at 2.9.

TREK SENSE: This event represents a place (though it's no facility) where your military leaders can oversee the situation and coordinate both mission attempts and battle. The one shown here is far from the only one, since the Cardassian/Dominion joint War Room later became an integral part of the show. So while Integrity is a pretty personal thing, Cunning and Strength can be added to with strong leadership and tactical knowledge - exactly what this card offers. Who gets it? Well, since the emphasis is on war, all the leaders (Officers and Leadership) as well as the "soldiers", i.e. Security. I take exception with Resistance personnel however since not all of them are in the military. It's a cute Bajoran connection (that goes with the picture), but really, 8 of the current 13 Resistance personnel already have one of the other skills so don't need this. The others are people like Furel, Lupaza and Surmak Ren who have retired from violent life. Does the militia actually exert any influence on someone like Razka Karn? Many Resistance members did join the militia, but not all. Some actually went against the militia in such episodes as "Shakaar". And it also introduces an unfair Bajoran bias in a concept that could conceivably used by any affiliation. Aside from that, there are the broader problems, such as the fact that starships have much more autonomy than this card would indicate, and that all target personnel, and not just the Resistance guys either, are not appropriately subjugated to their governement. Also, why does the War Room help people out in non-battle situations? I guess I gotta give it 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: Like Lower Decks, this event gives you broad attribute boosts to personnel no matter where they are. But it won't just target universal personnel - unique individuals too, many of them very useful. OFFICERs are very common and cover a number of bridge crew personnel. Leadership is likewise an important skill, and along with OFFICER represents the pool of personnel that can initiate battle. See that STRENGTH boost? That's gonna be useful in battle! SECURITY is common is some affiliations (this thing boosts all the Jem'Hadar except the youngling), and less so in others. Resistance is just for the Bajorans (Kira and Kira Founder may be otherwise affiliated, but they already have OFFICER, Leadership and SECURITY), but its an extra little group, and it works well with Bajoran Civil War. The Bajorans are extremenly boostable with various personnel and this HQ card, making them some of the best personnel battlers. For CUNNING boosts, this is way better than a stray PADD, and while hand weapons are generally more useful than a single event at home base, there's no way Common Thief or Disruptor Overload can do anything about War Room. Kevin Uxbridge is another matter, of course, but you might consider playing Rishon on top if you think the attribute hike is important enough to you. The fact that it's an HQ card isn't lost on me - it can play for free at a Headquarters. Speaking of which, it can be a great help in solving the requirements on another HQ card: Secure Homeworld. A very useful booster at 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) Has good strengths, but also some definite weaknesses.

PICTURE: Yes, just a prop shot, but not an uninteresting one. The hypo rests on a console, so we see its reflection (they be shiny!). Too bad the leftmost part of the card is so blurry, you can't really appreciate its details. I sometimes think there's a changeling in liquid form in the reflection, but I can't be sure. A good enough composition keeps it all dynamic. A 3.3.

LORE: Heavy on the jargon, it's still understandable and possible technology. Plus, both effects get some airtime. What, no "many species have developped this gadget"? I don't miss it, and I'll call this a competent 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Two effects, and they correspond to the two things our doctors do with it. The first function was popularized by McCoy when he found out he couldn't rely on a fancy nerve pinch. One quick pshhhh of a Hypospray in your opponent's arm or neck and he's stunned! The Hypo only works for Medical personnel (it's not standard equipment for anyone else), that's fine, but I'm not sure a stun effect is long-lasting enough to really be appropriate. Something like the stasis of of Nerve Pinch might've worked better. On the healing side, you can fix a mortally wounded personnel back up to disabled (well, they were in bad shape!), which works relatively well. I'm a little perplexed at how the Medical personnel can fix someone up while also battling (pairing up, etc.). Fight scenes being what they are on Star Trek, it's not that surprising, but I felt I had to mention it. It having no effect on androids is great, but there's an obvious lack of non-battle-related functions, in particular for the life-saving half of the card. Sure, Garanian Bolites mentions Hypospray as a remedy specifically, but what about all those disease-related dilemmas? Couldn't Hypospray help with Garak Has Some Issues? Harvester Virus? Blended? Well, in most cases, biogenic dilemmas have always been presented to have no quick cure, so again, I'll let it go. But I still wish a classic like Hypospray was given a little more exposure. Hey, at least it's not another one of those "gives MEDICAL to" cards. A very good 3.8.

STOCKABILITY: Not a hand weapon, but it can sort of be used as such by your MEDICAL. These are often a little weaker than, say, OFFICERs or SECURITY, especially in the Federation, but armed with a Hypospray, they need never actually face an opponent in a fair fight. Stunning that Jem'Hadar as it's paired up makes the doctor that much more useful in battle! If a double-MEDICAL is using it (and you might actually consider using Reflection Therapy to create one of these guys for an affiliation that doesn't have them), you can protect him from harm with the Hypo, and everyone else with a Genetronic Replicator. Your assault/defense team is invincible! That's a strong combo that can be thwarted in one of two ways (more if you count Disruptor Overload and other equipment-affecting cards): 1) by still losing the battle and the doctor ending up as the random end-of-battle kill; and 2) by pairing it up with an android. Both of these CAN happen, but not often enough to discourage this strategy. Hypospray's second function isn't as useful (and unnecessary if using the above technique), but you can save a key personnel from death this way. What's annoying is that said personnel is disabled (i.e. useless) unless brought to an Infirmiry. If you're not using a Nor, and you may not, you'd have to return the personnel to hand and re-report it to snap it out of it (using STP perhaps). Sometimes, it's simpler to send it to the discard pile and fish it back out with Res-Q or a recycling card. Second function's a little lame, but that first one... worth a 4.4.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Could a Classic Hypospray do something as interesting?

PICTURE: Q as a Bajoran is fun, but aside from coming from the point in the show where he says the title words, it has very little to do with either title or effect. The colors tend toward gray and tan, which isn't really explosive enough for Q. A richer palette than most of his TNG pics, but there's still something off about it. A 3 and no more.

LORE: The Q-uote simply gives us the next line of dialogue after the title. It's an eerie thing to put on a dilemma, but it's still pretty simple. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Purely an abuse-hoser for the DS9 environment, there's very little here that actually reflects the episode. In the show, Q warned Vash not to cut him loose, claiming that she still needed him to get her out of trouble. The tenuous link is that Vash is a woman alone, and the card can be triggered by a redshirting personnel. The other trigger of all space or planet missions has little or no validity. Of course, the effect is something that Q could conceivably do, making a mission off-limits, voiding its points (undoing the mission or objective I suppose), etc. The point is that he didn't do it in the episode. It's almost like the it's Decipher saying the title words, as if "we tried to tell you with Balancing Act, but you didn't listen", etc. Fun in that sense, but has trouble getting out of conceptual country. And the mention of the Borg who don't attempt missions is confusing, and causes former Borg like Seven of Nine to redshirt at their discretion! I say a 1.7.

STOCKABILITY: Q-Dilemmas are inherently superior Q-cards because they may be seeded specifically, without the need for a Q-Continuum side-deck, with Beware of Q. And this one's a redshirt counter AND a substitute Balancing Act. If you can catch your opponent using either cheeseball strategy, you can do a lot of damage. You can destroy (that's what it is, more or less) one of their missions. If it was solved, they lose the points(!!!). If it wasn't, they can't ever attempt it. Great targets include high-point earners, missions with bonus downloads (like Construct Depot), missions with lots of artifacts or seeded personnel/hand weapons underneath and, if the Borg were caught in the act, planet/space missions (yes, it kills all mission AND scouting attempts). Almost makes you want to find a way to force a redshirting attempt... how many Barclay Transporter Phobias would it take again? ;-) Redshirting being more common than unbalanced spacelines, I Tried may have more of a chance of hitting, but it still requires a confluence of events for it to pay off. More of a metagame card... Still a 3.8 for its powerful effect.

TOTAL: 11.6 (58%) I tried to warn them about conceptual cards.

PICTURE: The Toh'Kaht is exactly the Maht-H'a, just reverse angled and a bit farther away. Cheap? Sure. But it still looks pretty nice by building on one of the better Vor'Chas. By leaving more space around it, they've made it look like it was flying rather than sitting still. But still cheap, yes. A 3.3.

LORE: We don't care who the captain was here because all his appearances were on a garbled log, and we'll never get a card for him. That's how this matching commander attribution sounds anyway, since I don't think Hon'Tihl, who allowed the ship to be destroyed, should get such consideration. The rest is a good contextualization. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: The big thing, I suppose, is the special +1 boost to all attributes when the ship is in the Gamma Quadrant. Now, I understand the sense in modifying a ship for certain missions or opponents, but is the Gamma Quadrant such a different part of space that a ship could be modified to be faster, stronger, tougher there? That sounds a little unlikely. Any changes to engines made there would work here, and vice-versa. The rest differs from the baseline Vor'Cha by -1 Range and +1 Shields. It was on a long trip, so the Range should have remained high, and as for the Shields, yes they should be tougher if you're going in Dominion territory. I've already mentioned how I think Hon'Tihl makes less than the perfect matching commander as well. All of that makes for a simple 2.6.

STOCKABILITY:  The Klingons have something of a a good deal with Colony Preparations, and the Toh'Kaht can be their big mission solving/stay out of my Colonies patrol ship. In the GQ, the ship is a good 9-9-9 attributes, 11-12-12 if you throw in Hon'Tihl and the appropriate cards. Of course, if you're not going to venture into the Gamma Quadrant, the Toh'Kaht is just another large, hard-to-staff cruiser which'll go by the wayside when you decide to use an armada instead. Other Vor'Chas are no doubt better for Alpha Quadrant strategies, like the Bortas. Most have better attributes, in fact (when in the AQ anyway). A ship for a very specific Klingon agenda, I can only give it a 3.3.

TOTAL: 12.3 (61.5%) No wonder it came out of the Wormhole exploding.

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