Siskoid's Rolodex.......... The Dominion (3)


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To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for The Dominion expansion set.

#418-Goran'Agar, Personnel, Dominion, Gamma Quadrant, DOM
"First. Jem'Hadar soldier who overcame addiction to ketracel-white. Brought group of Jem'Hadar to Bopak III seeking freedom from the white and the Vorta."
OFFICER, Honor x2, Leadership, Navigation, Biology; Nullifies Hippocratic Oath where present; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 8, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 11

PICTURE: Goran'Agar is without a doubt the best looking Jem'Hadar out there. Despite being a "monster" (as my mom would doubtless call him), there's something very human in those eyes. He looks at once wounded and defiantly honorable. Nice details on the scales too. The card becomes beautiful when you consider the green and black background which really gives the picture atmosphere and feeling. A nice 4.3.

LORE: Basically the story, along with his rank, and not much more. What can I say except that it's average? A 3.

TREK SENSE: A Jem'Hadar First deserves OFFICER, Leadership and a Command icon, of course. His treatment of Bashir and O'Brien during the episode certainly deserves a double dose of Honor. Jem'Hadar already follow an honor code, but Goran'Agar is a step above even that strict code. Navigation: Well, he brought his soldiers to the planet, so he has a sense of direction I suppose. It's just one of those skills that easily fits almost any character. Biology: His own research into overcoming Ketracel addiction is the basis for this skill. Finally, since he was the originator of the dilemma Hippocratic Oath, he can nullify it. As in, it can't exist if he's a personnel present, 'cuz that's not what he's doing (he's attempting the mission). Note that it's not "may nullify", it's an automatic effect. No Ketracel icon on this guy, obviously, and the Gamma quadrant icon isn't out of place. Which leaves us with the attributes to deal with, and I don't find anything wrong with them. He deserves all those high marks. A good effort, all in all, at 4.6.

STOCKABILITY: The one Jem'Hadar without the Ketracel limitation, Goran'Agar is sure to find himself into a number of Dominion decks. Heck, even if you're running a Founders & Vorta deck only (avoiding Ketracel rationing altogether), he can stand as your lone Jem'Hadar with no fear of a berzerk frenzy down the line. Even with other Jem'Hadar, you'll have more flexibility in your rationing and transport of the White. OFFICER/Leadership is a little redundant, but Navigation and Biology are always good for something. In fact, most Dominion missions (especially the planets) can use Goran'Agar. And since the Dominion has few missions and is adept at espionage, personnel that read like those of other affiliations can be quite useful. Goran'Agar, for his part, looks a lot like a Klingon. With Martok Founder playing Klingon Espionage cards for free, you can put that Honor to good use. Nullifying Hippocratic Oath is a good ability for the Dominion to have as well, since they're a little low on MEDICAL. And look at those attributes, not a bad one in the bunch. The only annoying thing is having to report him in the Gamma quadrant, but there are plenty of ways to counter this now. A fine 4.4.

TOTAL: 16.3 (81.5%) All hail Goran'Agar, King of the Jem'Hadar!

#426-Gurat'urak, Personnel, Dominion, universal, Ketracel-dependent, Gamma Quadrant, DOM
"Typical Jem'Hadar navigator. Fifth under Omet'iklan. Responsible for safeguarding devices assigned to his unit."
-SECURITY, Navigation, Transporter Skill; Protects one card present from Disruptor Overload; Staff icon
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 8

PICTURE: Pretty plain shot of a non-descript Jem'Hadar in front of a non-descript dark background. Everything's a dark shade of purple. Nothing that goes with any of his skills. Yawn... a 2.

LORE: Well, the skills are, for the most part, explained here. Good enough, but again, dreadfully boring. A 3.

TREK SENSE: A non-descript (universal) Jem'Hadar (Ketracel icon, Gamma quadrant icon) soldier (SECURITY, Staff icon), Gurat'urak's skills emanate more from his lore than anything he ever did on the show. A navigator, he obviously gets Navigation. Transporter Skill isn't explained, but not impossible, I suppose. The special skill is interesting: he protects one equipment (or artifact used as equipment) from Disruptor Overload. As the lore says, he's responsible for safeguarding such devices. Cute, though Disruptor Overload isn't one of the most sensical of interrupts (casting a shadow on any ability based on it). The attributes are fine for a universal personnel, though the Integrity could always be better in a loyal Jem'Hadar's case. Cunning need not have been so high, since there are no real scientific skills in his skill box. Anyway, at least a little better than average at 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: He's a nice one. Oh, not because of the lukewarm attributes, or common SECURITY and Navigation, but because of that special ability. Jem'Hadar (and thus, the Dominion) relie heavily on a steady supply of Ketracel-White. Disruptor Overload can really put a hex on Dominion decks. A Gurat'urak in charge of each Ketracel-White card, will protect not only that equipment, but all your personnel who depend upon it (Jem'Hadar and their potential victims alike). One for each is of course overkill, but one Gurat will at least protect one K-White so that you have enough until the next shipment comes. Navigation is always good in any case, and SECURITY is required on a lot of Dominion missions. Transporter Skill is also pretty common in the Dominion, but always important to use their ships' Invasive Transporters. Gurat'urak makes for a good support personnel, and you'll probably want to use his special ability in each of your decks. Rises to a 4.3.

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) Some personnel were created to patch up your favorite affiliation's weaknesses.

#434-IKC Rotarran, Ship, Klingon, DOM
"Bird-of-prey stationed at Deep Space 9 during the war against the Dominion. Commanded by Martok. Led many raids into Cardassian and Dominion space."
-K'Vort Class[1 Staff] Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam
-RANGE: 7, WEAPONS: 7, SHIELDS: 8

PICTURE: One of the best bird-of-prey pictures available. It's the only one where you can see the plumage on the wings, and the engine at the back makes for a nice splash of color. Thematically, it's leaving DS9 (us) for one of those raids mentioned in the lore. A better than average 3.9.

LORE: The basics mostly, nothing too interesting. The lore does get bonus points for naming a matching commander of course. 3.4.

TREK SENSE: It's got all the usual K'Vort equipment and staffing, plus the right matching commander. Only the attributes differentiate it noticeably from other birds-of-prey. A regular bird is 8-6-6, this one, 7-7-8. Slower? What about all those raids deep in enemy territory? Why can't the Rotarran outrun those Dominion ships? Higher Weapons and Shields makes sense, it's a tough little ship. Ships are pretty plain, especially when you've seen the model many times before. A 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Potentially the most powerful bird-of-prey in the Klingon fleet, the Rotarran, Plaqued and Logged, goes up to 9-12-11 with Martok aboard (his bonus affects this ship too). That's as much as one of the future ships! Who cares about the lesser RANGE then? (Still, use Plaque or a Plasmadyne Relay to make sure it doesn't lag behind - Martok has the bonuses your entire fleet needs.) And use Worf SoM on the Koraga in the same armada for the extra point of RANGE to equalize things. The ship has all the perks of other K'Vorts of course, such as easy staffing and a Cloaking Device. Used to be, Klingon armadas used universal K'Vorts with stooges aboard and a good dose of WEAPONS boosters like Bynars. Now, we can actually build a Captain's Loggable armada for our violent friends, and it'll work. Plus, keep a Ready Room Door handy for reporting Martok directly to his ship just before a battle or after you've lost your main copy to some exploding console. He's one mean personnel, instrumental to your armada strategy. His ship is part of it too. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 15.9 (79.5%) A good score for the closest thing we ever had to a regular Klingon ship on a Star Trek series.

#442-In the Bag, Interrupt, DOM
"While investigating a Tallonian crystal smuggler, Odo took the form of a latinum-filled satchel. He was forced to abort the sting operation when Worf interfered."
-Allows your Equipment card in play and your shape-shifter in hand to morph (exchange). May be played at the start of battle (may also download Strike Three there).

PICTURE: Worf left holding the bag is a fairly good picture, with nice lighting effects (the glowing bag, the yellow globe), but all the figures are dark and small, making the composition a little chaotic. A 3.3.

LORE: Tells the story of the picture, and gives details on a changeling's powers of subterfuge, but it's a little too specific when you consider the game text's more varied uses. The title is cute, but a little mismatched - Odo wasn't IN the bag, he WAS the bag. Gets around average at 3.

TREK SENSE: A great way to cover this aspect of shape-shifting, as we've often seen Odo turn into objects. While the card could have been more general, allowing the shifter to morph into an Equipment (as well as vice-versa), we usually see an object turn into Odo, who had been concealed from us, the viewers, as well as from the show's characters. Though you might think turning into a working phaser would be beyond a changeling's abilities, we've seen the Founders do things that Odo couldn't do, so who knows? It's possible. And with Salia's shape-shifting people looking like energy in their true forms (and Odo pulling that trick at least once), mimicking energy systems isn't impossible. Teddy bears and Nagus staves are pretty easy, but I might have a problem with equipment that releases matter as part of their function. Could a changeling produce medecine from its Hypospray self? How about Ketracel White? Tougher. Nie near impossible. Maybe the changeling made a switch at some point AFTER the equipment was used last. The equipment can even shift at the beginning of a battle, and this is cool, you can immediately use the element of surprise by using the Strike Three maneuver. Makes sense, though why not The Guardian, or You Dirty Rat, or other shape-shifting cards? Why only give the shifter one option when coming back from equipment form? So, good storytelling, but some flaws. A 3.6.

STOCKABILITY: A shape-shifting card that allows for a number of possibilities. For one thing, it isn't changeling or Founder specific, allowing it to be used by Anya and Salia too. And replacing equipment with shifters is a good thing on a number of levels. One, it gives you the possibility of reporting personnel somewhere other than a facility. You can even use special downloads of equipment to, in effect, report a personnel. Second, it returns the equipment to your hand, to be reported again. So if your Ketracel White or Small Cloaking Device is about to count down for the last time, replace it with a changeling and report it again (maybe right there with Gelnon). Third, equipment isn't quadrant-specific and reports to the Remote Supply Depot among other places (including a commandeered Nor) - a good way to report your Founders directly to the Alpha quadrant. Fourth, it's a great surprise in personnel battle when that PADD becomes a changeling, and even a changeling that can Strike Three! And Strike Three isn't really your only trick here. Various Founders have different downloads, most of them usable. All good stuff, and you don't lose the equipment to the discard pile. A good 3.8 here.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) A cute little card, I've always thought so.

#450-Install Autonomic Systems Parasite, Objective, DOM
-Plays on opponent's ship if your Founder is aboard. That ship may not engage or disengage its special equipment, transporters and WEAPONS until your next turn; then you may use ship to move and/or battle opponent's other cards (ignore staffing and affiliation restrictions); then discard objective. May be nullified by Miles O'Brien OR Odo OR 3 ENGINEER and 3 SECURITY aboard. (Unique.)

PICTURE: It may just be tubes and wires, but this thing is certainly colorful and has a relatively good, if chaotic, composition. At least fun, at 3.4.

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

TREK SENSE: This is a nasty trick played on the Defiant by that ol' Krajensky Founder, so quite possibly, only Founders know the secret of it. No doubt, it's somehow organic and another progeny of their bio-engineering experiments. The Parasite has the effect of locking down important ship's systems like special equipment (cloaks, tractor beams, hologrids, etc.), transporters and weapons. That's a first effect. After that lock-down, the Founder has control over the ship, of course, regardless of staffing. Affiliation restrictions don't count for purposes of battling though, which might be a little strange if opponent is playing Dominion. What kind of Founder is this?  Otherwise, everything mirrors the events of the episode. Very true to it. It can be nullified by the right personnel: Miles O'Brien is, of course, DS9's resident miracle worker; Odo is almost a Founder himself and could have uncovered the plot as soon as the changeling came on board your ship; otherwise, it's gonna take 3 Engineers AND 3 Security guards to snuff the thing. Ouch! Miles and Odo are some powerful personnel! But it all makes sense, as the Parasite was a difficult dilemma. That it is unique, I have problems with. Play balance aside, there's no reason why the Dominion would be limited in resources to the point where they could only produce one Parasite at a time. Well done, for the most part, at 4.3.

STOCKABILITY: Well, this one's a nasty surprise for any player in your Dominion's way! Of course, you'll need to get a Founder aboard an enemy ship first. Well, infiltrating's a good and easy way if the right affiliation pops up. Invasive Beam-In's also a great Dominion tool, and those Feds can't attack you, so they might present a juicy target. And the Borg don't even have anti-beaming SHIELDS, and they won't attack either. Imagine taking control of a Borg Cube. Yee-haw! Where's the nearest Black Hole? Once you have the ship is your thrall, you can do a lot of damage with it, à la Alien Parasites or Neural Servo Device. You're a little less limited though since everything happens during your own turn. Opponent loses everything on the ship save RANGE for the following turn, then when it's your turn again... battles with opponent's own ships (does he favor ships with high WEAPONS and lower SHIELDS? big mistake), movement into dangerous space (an incoming Borg Ship dilemma's always nice), etc. You'll need Issue Secret Orders to actually attempt missions, but the rest of the ship's functions are pretty much yours to control. And it's nullifiable? Oooh, I'm scared. Miles is Fed only, Odo Bajoran only, and they can't be on every ship. As for the ton of ENGINEER and SECURITY personnel required, while the former is quite common (thanks to Equipment at the very least), the latter isn't so easy to dredge up outside of a Jem'Hadar Attack Ship or Interlink Drone's hive. Have fun, start a war. Total use to you: disruption of opponent's strategy and it won't even expose your infiltrator. A 4.

TOTAL: 15.6 (78%) A pretty good card, too bad no one can download it.

#458-Intelligence Operation, Mission, planet, Cardassian/Romulan, Gamma Quadrant, DOM
Founders' homeworld: Covertly compile data on current Dominion homeworld in the Omarion nebula.
-Navigation x2 + (Tal Shiar or Obsidian Order) + Anthropology + (SECURITY x3 OR any Odo)
-Span: 6; 40 points

PICTURE: The lone planet around a star in the Omarion Nebula is as pretty here are it was on the show when we first saw, making this one of the best-looking homeworlds available (along with Earth). Everything's used to good effect here, making the area as remote as it is hidden. A good 4.1.

LORE: A precursor to the attack seen in "The Die Is Cast", the lore is good enough for mission lore, mentions its homeworld status and the surrounding nebula for game play purposes. A better than average 3.5.

TREK SENSE: This world was the site of a couple missions, all in all, including the Defiant' search for it, and the attack itself, but the intelligence gathering, while not really seen onscreen, is a good choice. It allows for some affiliations other than the Federation to get a nice mission, and is more interesting all in all. I am worried about it being a planet mission however. It IS a planet, no doubt of that, but a [planet] mission means an Away Team must beam down. Conducting scans from space is one thing, actually landing on the world is quite another, and I'm not sure it would have been possible for anyone whom the Founders hadn't wanted there (see "The Search"). In fact, Navigation is not a skill that would be required in an Away Team. It's to find the homeworld in the first place, and that activity takes place in space, BEFORE the mission attempt. So while I understand the 2 Navigation required (the planet's out of sight), it makes no sense in respect to the way missions are attempted in this game. The mission also requires either Tal Shiar or Obsidian Order personnel. Makes sense since those organisations were the fact-finders in this case. Anthropology would be needed to understand the collected data, and SECURITY to insure survival on a planet no doubt protected by Jem'Hadar. Any Odo (being a SECURITY changeling) can give a "pass" to the Away Team if there's a Treaty on the table, or maybe even ask the Jem'Hadar to stand down. Some elements here make it believable that the Founders would allow trespassers to land on their shores: If Odo is along, then it's like "The Search" and they want to see him; also, there are great occasions for the Founders to Espionage this mission with Lovok Founder, infiltrating the Tal Shiar from the inside, just like in the episode. They might allow trespass to gain the destruction of the combined Tal Shiar/Obsidian Order secret fleet. As for the other things, the points are worthy of so difficult a mission and could even have been higher. The Span however, while speaking to the remoteness of the Founder's homeworld seems a bit excessive. Odo was able to get there in a shuttle after all (from a starting point already in the Gamma quadrant, so maybe they were already close). So except for the Navigation snafu (also seen on Cloaked Mission), nothing major, as everything can be explained thanks to the Dominion's duplicity. A 3.9.

SEEDABILITY: First off, it's a homeworld, so already, it's high on the list of both the Dominion and Borg affiliations. The Borg will like it because Assimilate Homeworld is worth a lot of points, and really hurts the targeted affiliation. If the Dominion ISN'T in play, then you're stuck because there's no ready-made counterpart, but it really isn't any harder to go to the Gamma quadrant than the Alpha if they are. For the Dominion, it's the only place they can put The Great Link, which allows for your Founders and HQ cards to play for free there, and where Ketracel-White doesn't count down. HQ: War Room is a great card to play here since you have a pack of OFFICER and SECURITY Jem'Hadar who'd love the +2/+2 bonus. It's usually far away from the main spaceways, but them's the breaks. At least it's far away from those who would want to solve the mission, or attack the Link. Heck, the long span can even be used by decks with fast ships simply to slow down armadas that would be after them. As a mission, it's a good 40 points, but you'll have to work for it. It's a great excuse to use the Tal Shiar or Obsidian Order and their Advanced ships. On the Romulan side, Lovok has one of the Navigations, but Vreenak will probably be the most handy with his rare Tal Shiar/Anthropology combo. Speaking for the Obsidian Order, Elim Garak has the Anthropology and most of the others have SECURITY, making it even more easy for them. While the Dominion can always play HQ: Secure Homeworld here, I think an Espionage card would make it even easier. Lovok Founder and Odo Founder report to The Great Link directly and can carry most of the burden (including playing that Espionage card for free) in mission solving with a great Anthropologist/Navigator Jem'Hadar or two thrown in to do the rest. Let's not forget the mission is at a nebula, so you could destroy ships here with Isabella (and the Cardies and Rommies aren't exactly high on Youth). Watch out though: you don't want your own Dominion ships reporting here to be destroyed in the same fashion, the Dominion is even lower on Youth. While it does have its price, it's a versatile planet location. A 4.5.

TOTAL: 16 (80%) Does pretty well for itself, cashing in all the chips.

#467-Invasive Beam-In, Event, Hidden Agenda, DOM
"Dominion transporter technology is optimized for combat operations. The ability to breach enemy shields allows rapid deployment of Jem'Hadar warriors in most battle scenarios."
-Seeds or plays on table. Invasive transporters, when operated by Transporter Skill personnel, may beam through any SHIELDS (even those of a Nor).

PICTURE: While appropriate, with the Jem'Hadar obviously ready to attack, I don't find the picture very engaging. The colors are messy atop that brown background, and you don't discern much of anything. A 2.2, sorry.

LORE: I don't mind that the Dominion is singled out here, because they're the only ones who can use the event normally. The tone also mirrors the way the Jem'Hadar think. A good 3.4 here.

TREK SENSE: Invasive Transporters being special equipment, maybe they should just work without any special cards, but that's not the way of things (Tractor Beams, for example, are also dependent on other cards). The basic effect is to allow your personnel to be beamed through Shields, makes sense, ANY Shields. This is just like in the show. Now, to make it more balanced, Transporter Skill is required aboard the beaming ship. There's no evidence of that, but maybe the technology's not that easy to use, so it works. You need someone who can figure out the right frequency to beam through. As for the Hidden Agenda aspect, it could be said that we didn't know the Dominion had this kind of technology. Indeed, it's designed for surprising opponents. A lot of good here, with the usual caveats: 4 even.

STOCKABILITY: The fact that it's pretty much Dominion-only won't make this one blow the top off the chart, but for the Dominion, it's a great battle enhancer. It allows your forces to jump any ship, whether it be to clear it or commandeer it (maybe both), and aboard any Nor. While it's not like the Dominion doesn't have Computer Skill or VIPs enough to dock, it means your Jem'Hadar can just skip over all the walking around and beam straight into Ops (which could make Empok Nor only accessible to you, if you exclude any docking sites). As the ultimate personnel battlers, the Jemmies can do a lot of damage to crews, so there's no hiding from them. With half a dozen ready Transporter Skill personnel (including 2 universals), including one that can download a copy of Invasive Beam-In, you won't have too much trouble making your three Jem'Hadar ships do this trick. Sure, those transporter chiefs won't be able to participate in the assault (not if you want to come back), but that's the little price you pay. Note that you can also use this to drop a Founder aboard a ship, no questions asked, that can morph into the appropriate infiltrator in hand. The Hidden Agenda icon is merely a bonus, especially if you use the seed option, but not that important to the score. As long as you have a hidden card and ships with Invasive Transporters, your opponent won't allow you to jump on him carelessly. You have to watch out for Kevin Uxbridge though, as this card will become a prime target for nullification, so Arak'Taral's special download and stocking more copies might be a good idea. Gotta be a 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) Half the card is great, the other half is so-so.

#476-Investigate Coup, Mission, planet, Bajoran/Federation/Romulan, DOM
Tzenketh: Investigate alleged coup that threatens to change the balance of power in this sector.
-OFFICER + Leadership x2 + SECURITY + Navigation OR Benjamin Sisko OR Tomalak OR General Krim
-Span: 3; 30 points

PICTURE: Not a bad looking planet, in fact it looks rather more authentic than most pictured worlds. I also like the fact that romulan green and bajoran violet are represented on the planet, giving more color unity to the card. The only flaw, to me, is the outline of the planet which is too apparent. Even as a line of atmosphere, it's too apparent, especially on the darker side of the planet (towards the top). A 3.7.

LORE: Nicely worded so that it sounds important, this mission lore is typical, but above average, at 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Ok, well, the sector mentioned has to be close to the Federation (the Tzenkethi war was with the UFP) and Bajor (the Defiant was dispatched there once, and Garak had been on Tzenketh). Since the Bajoran sector seems to be relatively close to the Romulan Empire (the Romulans go there often enough), it's acceptable they would be interested in Tzenketh. After all, this world remains unaligned and should be on the UFP's frontier. The Cardassians and Dominion aren't invited to do this mission because, with the current political landscape, they possibly insigated the coup or were aware of it already. To conduct this investigation requires an Officer who can speak for his or her government, enough Leadership be efficient in his or her duties, Security to actually do the investigating or protect those that are on this unaligned world, and Navigation... to get there unmolested? I've never understood planet missions that required Navigation. It's strictly something you'd use aboard a ship. The requirements are thus a little fuzzy. They can be circumvented anyway by one of three specific Officers: Sisko, Tomalak or Krim. Either of these gentlemen could be near-by and be top-level enough to be assigned this duty. These are such great personnel that they don't need the Security protection or navigational skills other personnel would have afforded. Krim already has everything required save the SECURITY anyway. Ben Sisko saves on the SECURITY and one Leadership. And Tomalak only has the OFFICER and one Leadership to his name, making him the most intimidating of the three (no doubt) since he can get the answers without what would have been a rather large staff. Seems a little excessive. Points are fine, so is span. What can I say? I've picked this one apart until it was a 3.2.

SEEDABILITY: While the "normal" requirements aren't too difficult to dredge up, this one's likeable because each affiliation that can solve it has a magic one-man Away Team that can solve it. Run your personnel through the dilemmas and you can still solve it by beaming that one personnel there later. The Bajorans might be getting the best deal here, since General Krim is the better of the three personnel. In fact, he can almost solve the mission alone already. If it's savings you're looking for, Tomalak's your man. He saves one Leadership, SECURITY and Navigation. Then again, he's pretty lame to begin with (except for his matching commander abilities), so who would want to use him even with this mission? Speaking of matching commanders, all three magic personnel are just that. So you could take advantage of Ready Room Door to get access to them more quickly. Placing your outpost here for easy solving later on could also be the way to go. Mission specialists? The Feds can get this one up to a 45-pointer (Maxwell, Satie and a navigator), the Romulans to a 40-pointer (with a couple of Talluses).  So, an easy mission, even without key personnel since lots of OFFICERs have something close to the required skill list, but rather stealable (given the listed affiliations). Fair Play may be in order. A 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) A likeable card overall.

#485-Issue Secret Orders, Objective, Hidden Agenda, DOM
-Seeds or plays on table. Place on your VIP or OFFICER who has been infiltrating opponent's ship since start of opponent's last turn. Target any opponent's mission in same quadrant. Ship and crew must do nothing but go to that mission (with infiltrator aboard) and attempt it if possible (any infiltrators may decline); then infiltrator is exposed. Discard objective whenever infiltrator exposed.

PICTURE: On the whole, quite average. Yes, the lighting and colors are richer than most of what TNG has produced, but the shadows make Sisko too dark, the composition is haphazard, and the picture doesn't seem to go that well with the title unless you know the episode. 2.9.

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

TREK SENSE: Issue Secret Orders is a hidden agenda, of course. And it's one an infiltrator posing as an Officer or VIP can use. Again, makes sense. The infiltrator must also have established a presence and a trust between it and the crew of the infiltrated ship before giving these "secret orders" (be infiltrating since beginning of opponent's last turn). The orders are invariably to attempt a certain mission, one where, we can suppose, a trap lies waiting. Now, in the show, it wasn't a trap - it was a way to cause political havoc in the Alpha quadrant. That's not so easy to re-create in the game. Also, why not be able to issue orders to attack a certain outpost instead? Likewise, the quadrant limit is unjustified if the Bajoran Wormhole makes the mission a valid target. The card suffers from its limits. In any case, after the mission attempt, the trap is sprung, and the infiltrator is exposed. And here I thought the Dominion was a little craftier than this? If the trap is Armus-Skin of Evil for example, there's no reason the crew would necessarily know the infiltrator had sent them down knowing the dilemma was there. After all, the mission is still valid and solvable. Finally, if the infiltrator is exposed at any time, the crew will stop following the bogus orders. Some good Trek Sense overall (inlcuding the quarantine effect since outside contact would be forbidden - these are SECRET orders), but limited in many ways. A 4 here.

STOCKABILITY: One of the potentially deadly things you can do with infiltrators. Ever played a game where your best and deadliest dilemma combo was never sprung simply because your opponent didn't attempt the right mission? Happens all the time. With this card, you can make sure your dilemma ideas aren't wasted. For now, only the Dominion can make use of this without a Brainwash/E-Band Emissions combo, since they're the only ones who have OFFICER and VIP infiltrators. One of these, Krajensky Founder (pictured), can download it for easy access to this strategy. You don't control the crew and ship of course, only force it to attempt a mission. A redshirt hoser would seem to be in order in case your opponent really doesn't want to attempt the mission. Alien Parasites at this point might very well give you control of the crew, and then send them single file through Armus-Sticky Situation or some other disaster. Anything that destroys the ship (like Borg Cube) will cost you the infiltrator (Flight of the Intruder before anything happens, people). At the very least, this card is a portable Cytherians. You can force your opponent to do nothing but fly to the farthest mission available. The wording on the card doesn't even require the mission to BE attemptable (it could be solved already, for example), just that it have been seeded by your opponent. Net effect: opponent loses use of that ship and crew until its destination is reached. It can't cloak, can't attack, and personnel aboard can't be beamed off. Make sure you know what to do with your exposed changeling once the deed is done though. Extra points for being seedable, but I would rather wait and see on this one, so I'd take the chance and wait for it to be drawn for later play. Another 4.

TOTAL: 14.53 (72.67%) Limited to certain strategies, but flexible enough.

#494-Jaresh-Inyo, Personnel, Federation, DOM
"Male Grazerite. President of the United Federation of Planets. Reluctantly imposed martial law on Earth in 2372 at the urging of Admiral Leyton."
-VIP, Diplomacy, Biology, Law; SD HQ:Secure Homeworld; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 8, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 3

PICTURE: Though Grazerites aren't the most comely species in the galaxy, this pic's likeable enough. The compassionate look, the UFP seal in the background, and the tan/orange palette are all good elements. At least a 3.6.

LORE: Species, gender, rank, and a little back story, nothing out of the ordinary here. Points for mentioning he's the president which'll get him reported for free to his own Office, but nothing more interesting than that. Simply 3.1.

TREK SENSE: A VIP if I ever saw one, the president of the United Federation of Planets quite deserves his Command icon. The Diplomacy makes sense since a large part of his job is fostering good relations among the member worlds and its allies. The Law, likewise, fits this legislator. The Biology, in my opinion, is pure invention, and an odd one at that. I've head people balking at the fact that the prez has NO Leadership. Yeah, what gives? I shouldn't think he deserved Leadership x2 (too easily manipulated by Leyton), but just one level wouldn't have been too bad. I have an explanation though: Grazerites being so peaceful (having evolved from herd animals, herbivores), he couldn't possibly use Leadership the way it was meant to (to initiate battles). Be that as it may, is this president so weak that he WON'T go to war? Seems like his term only SAW war. The special download, at least, works. He was the one that gave the order to "secure homeworld", albeit at the urging of one of his admirals. As for the stats, Integrity is high like it should be, Cunning a little too low even if he was hornswaggled by Leyton - it wasn't that obvious a plan - and Strength is okay at 3. Not much of a fighter, our boy Jaresh. So this one winds up at 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: As a mission solver, he's a little limited. Yes, for a while, he was the only one that had Law in the Federation, and that was worth something, I suppose, but Law isn't on any mission, and only on a few dilemmas (Picard can also pass Drumhead, others can have a go at Framed for Murder, so that leaves Vendetta). In any case, Krajensky now also has Law and he has more and better skills. Ah well. Not that Diplomacy is a bad skill, it's very good, and Biology isn't bad either. But with plenty of better personnel to fill these niches, Jaresh isn't as good as we'd like him to be (especially with those attributes). But that's as a mission solver. Don't forget his other abilities. Report him for free at Office of the President on Earth, download HQ: Secure Homeworld, and as soon as you can meet those requirements (which could be quick with normal AND free plays), you're 40 points closer to victory. Never let your opponent send her spies to Earth! Because of that little combo, the president gets as high as 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) You think he'll get another term? (I'm told he didn't according the the DS9 Season 7 episode "Extreme Measures".)

#503-Jem'Hadar Attack Ship, Ship, Dominion, universal, Gamma quadrant, DOM
"Nimble attack fighter used by the Dominion. Has ion propulsion drive and ventral impellers. Virtual display technology. Polaron beam weapons."
-Attack Ship Class[1 Staff] May avoid being targeted by Establish Tractor Lock; Invasive Transporters
-RANGE: 6, WEAPONS: 8, SHIELDS: 8

PICTURE: A very nice shot of a Jem'Hadar fighter, looking for all the world like some kind of sacred scarab. While it's huge in this picture frame, the detail suggests a smaller ship, and the colors are different from those of the Alpha fighter. A better picture than that card at 3.7.

LORE: Technical specs that seperate this one from most ship cards, the technobabble wears thin after a couple of phrases... I do like the word "nimble" in there - it's a great description. Gets in there at 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Like the Alpha Attack Fighter, everything except the attributes makes sense. The lone Staff icon is a good requirement for a small support craft with lots of firepower. These ships have indeed been shown to be impervious to tractor beams. They do have invasive transporters. And they're most definitely from the Gamma quadrant. And while the low Range is representative of support craft, Weapons and Shields are incredibly high. If the Weapons were at the Galaxy-class level, the Jem'Hadar wouldn't need to attack in packs of three. Seeing them getting picked off like so many Cylon fighters every week has also made me wary of believing the Shields to be so high. I mentioned in the Alpha Attack Fighter review that this might be because Shields don't just measure shield strength, but also maneuverability. These "nimble" fighters can get out of harm's way. It would explain a few things... maybe. Note that it still hits 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: Obviously, this is a staple of your Dominion armada. With attributes and staffing worthy of a K'Vort class ship, PLUS wonderful Invasive Transporters to beam your Jem'Hadar aboard enemy ships, this one's a small terror. With 4 different Tactics to use in conjunction with them, you just know they were bred for battle. The immunity to Establish Tractor Lock is a small bonus, but nothing to cheer about as the situation doesn't present itself very often. The two liabilities are 1) the low RANGE, but you can supplement your ships with Plasmadyne Relays (you can report a pile of 'em at your Supply Depot) or just terrorize the spaceline at a lower speed; and 2) the fact that you must report it to the Gamma quadrant - it's slower than using the Alpha version, but you'll need it to ferry most of your personnel from the Gamma quadrant to the Alpha. And Spacedoor will speed things up a bit if you're that worried. You can also increase your overall range with the Dominion version of Shuttle Operations. Maybe a bit less powerful than it's Alpha cousin, but still quite good at an even-keel 4.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) 0.4 above the Alpha version... it's mostly the pic.

#512-Jem'Hadar Birthing Chamber, Equipment, DOM
"Incubation module used to breed Jem'Hadar warriors. Each infant grows at a greatly accelerated rate, and is able to fight within days of emergence."
-Where present, each of your Jem'Hadar Birthing Chambers allows you to report one [universal] Young Jem'Hadar (for free) each turn, regardless of quadrant.

PICTURE: Looking for all the world like a mechanical version of an Alien egg from a different sci-fi property (they open the same way), the "Chamber"'s picture is a fairly static prop shot. The one saving element is the red square in the background which gives some contrast to the image. It just hits a 2.7.

LORE: The entire story is there, and well told. No mistakes, really. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: In each Birthing Chamber (slightly misnamed, since these a basically carryable buckets), there's a Young Jem'Hadar waiting to happen. Reporting it is equivalent to having it born, and I have no problem with the Jemmie reporting anywhere (as long as the Chamber is present) or for free (it was already inside the Equipment). Is is slightly disturbing that you can report this piece of equipment in the Alpha quadrant, and have Gamma quadrant personnel report to it. Of course, the Young Jem'Hadar can be switched with Alpha Jem'Hadar, but this is not required. I don't mind that the Chamber can do this, but I do mind that the Jem'Hadar don't just lose the GQ icon. Either that, or this is one equipment card that should have a quadrant restriction. Also note that, despite what the lore says, the Jem'Hadar born may be used right away. It is able to fight within seconds of emergence! Well, this is pardonable since time is a relative concept, especially in this game. The real problem is that one Birthing Chamber can report a Jem'Hadar each turn, spewing them out like there's no tomorrow. From the show, we know there's only one Jem'Hadar per Chamber. Unless someone's stocking these, but this Equipment needs not be attended, so... I guess it once again can be chalked up to the confusion behind just how many pieces of equipment each Equipment card represents. A good idea that sometimes goes south - 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: Seems like the Dominion is always fighting against a slow start-up. A lot of cards are devoted to it anyway, and this is no doubt one of the best. Since Equipment can report in any quadrant, this is a perfect way to report Gamma quadrant personnel to the Alpha. Of course, they'll all be Young Jem'Hadar, but these can be switched with other universal Jem'Hadar to supplement your troops in your cross-quadrant war. The same Young Jemmie can be used again and again, reporting-switching, reporting-switching, until you have no more universal Jem'Hadar to report. And all for free. Sure, some of these only have 2 skills and are not rivals to Goran'Agar and the like, but you still get a few with dual-classifications and the one that can protect your equipment from destruction. Whether you're losing 'em in battle or on mission attempts, you'll need to replenish these without going back to your home quadrant. Your only problem is that, while you can get Ketracel-White over to them the same way (equipment is quadrantless), it'll be harder to send a Vorta to ration it. But if you're not too worried about that (perhaps a little later in the game, when you've gone through the Wormhole), even a Neutral Outpost can get you Alphans, Alpha Fighters, Ketracel and Chambers (and thus Jem'Hadar fodder for free). Building a Remote Supply Depot will even grab you the equipment for free, AND will reset Ketracel-White - a great place to breed Jem'Hadar. Grabbing Empok Nor will also get you some fast equipment, how about personnel at the same time? And let's not forget the Primary Supply Depot in the Gamma quadrant - Chambers can easily be seeded there, for immediate free plays and a quick headstart. Another possible strategy is to dump some Chambers at your Colony and start spinning out the CIVILIAN-classification Young Jem'Hadar. Yes, Colonies are riskier than they used to be, but far from unuseable, and if you use Rescue Founder, you'll have a planet right there in the GQ that your opponent might not be able to get to. A great asset to a Dominion deck, but not overpowerful at 4.3.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) Rough going except for the last category.

#521-Jem'Hadar Disruptor, Equipment, DOM
"Standard-issue Jem'Hadar sidearm. Energy from a tritium microfusion reaction is accumulated in a phased polaron source, then pulse-discharged through a parabolic arkenium emitter."
-Dominion and Non-Aligned use only. Each of your personnel present is STRENGTH +2. (Cumulative.)

PICTURE: A well-photographed prop shot. It's a good close-up, with an appropriate background, but not very dynamic, like most of its Equipment cousins. A 2.5.

LORE: Why isn't the title Dominion Disruptor if the entire Dominion can use it? The Jem'Hadar may be their foot soldiers, but even a Vorta needs to defend itself now and again. Still, it has a nice ring to it. The lore itself is pure technobabble and would fit right into any Voyager script quite easily ;-). But it's not very intersting. A 2.8.

TREK SENSE: Whenever we talk about hand weapons, we're always faced with the same basic problems, questions on use and quantity. Use: If it's just a matter of pulling a trigger, why can't just about anyone use the disruptor. And if it's really about needing the Dominion to get it into play, why can the Non-Aligned use it? Secondly, there's the problem with needing only one Dominion or NA to somehow arm everyone. One NA in an Away Team enables your Klingons to use Dominion hardware. Quantity: Or is that one NA the only one with a gun, but the gun mysteriously gives all personnel present the same strategic advantage. There's some measure of sense in that point of vue, but only in certain situations. Would a lone Disruptor really give a 15-man Away Team a +30 advantage? So, it stands to reason that, like Kits and Tricorders, one Equipment card represents multiple hand weapons, one for each personnel present. But if so, what happens to the disruptor "held" by a personnel who gets separated from the team? And if there are 3 or 4 Disruptor cards, does it mean everyone's packing 3-4 guns? With just two hands? Messy. Gotta go for the usual 2.

STOCKABILITY: Do Jem'Hadar REALLY need a lot of guns? They already have very high STRENGTH, but hand weapons will certainly help them against other personnel wielding weapons. The Disruptors will actually be most helpful to non-Jem'Hadar Dominion personnel accompanying your soldiers. Vorta don't have very high STRENGTH (and they often follow Jemmies to ration the White) and valuable Founders don't always make the cut either. What's more, these two last species offer the bulk of the Dominion's Diplomatic skills (Jem'Hadar aren't very diplomatic), making the simple Disruptor more viable than the Rifle in some instances. Dilemmas requiring Diplomacy can make you lose time (or personnel) if you're overpowered. Hand weapons are also necessary for the high-point Betazed Invasion and help out with a few Objectives and Dilemmas. Easily a 3.6 for this warlike affiliation.

TOTAL: 10.9 (54.5%) I wonder if Equipment will ever hit a high score...

#530-Jem'Hadar Disruptor Rifle, Equipment, DOM
"Jem'Hadar weapons have nonvariable energy setting, but their polaron beams can be enhanced with chemicals such as anticoagulants, nerve agents and osteosolvents."
-Dominion and Non-Aligned use only. Each of your personnel present is STRENGTH +3, but loses 1 Diplomacy unless aboard your ship. (Cumulative.)

PICTURE: I usually encourage the use of action shots over prop shots of, say, a gun sitting on a work bench, but in this case, I don't think it works. Maybe it's the Rifle itself. The shape of it, and those big rivets in the wall, makes it look like the Jem'Hadar is working on construction. And I never noticed before now how badly those gloves fit the Jemmies. Underemphasis on the Rifle brings this one down to a 1.6.

LORE: A good report on how Jem'Hadar weapons differ from those of other affiliations, unfortunalety, that's just going to hurt its Trek Sense (see below). And I know this is canon (I've checked), but it seems real strange to me that you could lace an energy attack with chemicals as is stated here. I like it for its deadliness, but I still have to ask these questions. A good 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Well, I've beat my pulpit often enough on the issues surrounding hand weapons, so I won't bore you with them again. Just check other hand weapon reviews on matters touching number of weapons represented by the card, who gets the bonus, affiliation usage, cumulatives, etc. You'll note that Rifles always get a better score than regular disruptors. That's because of the originality of cutting down on Diplomacy when people see you with those big guns. Don't come armed to the negotiating table. Now, like I mentioned under Lore, there are some problems inherent to this particular Rifle. One, it apparently doesn't have a stun setting. Unfortunately, the game makes no distinctions between the various weapons on this subject. Sure, a glancing blow won't kill, but that makes for an awful lot of glancing blows that are *just* like stuns. Two, there's the whole business of anti-coagulants, nerve toxins, etc. that have no effect on game play at all. Too bad. Had the usual 3 for rifles, then dropped to a 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: Rifles are more powerful than regular disruptors, so it goes to reason they are more useful, right? Well, for Jem'Hadar they are. These are not the kind of people who care for Diplomacy anyway. Jem'Hadar parties are made for battle and you certainly want your Ketracel-rationer well protected when you attack your opponent. Vorta or Founders are often the only ones with Diplomacy, but they'll never need it on a raid. And on planet mission attempts? If you really need the Diplomacy (for dilemmas or whatnot), you can still do well without any STRENGTH enhancements since the Jem'Hadar are all very strong. In battle too, but you want to make sure you mortally wound more often than you stun. A clearcut 3.9 here.

TOTAL: 11.4 (57%) Everyone likes to go guns a-blazing from time to time, too bad the picture's so lame.

#539-Jem'Hadar Sacrifice, Interrupt, DOM
"Injured by phaser fire, Meso'Clan could no longer contribute to his unit. He requested that he be put to death rather than continue to consume ketracel-white."
-Plays on your [Ketracel-dependent] personnel. He sacrifices (dies) to keep all your Ketracel-White present from counting down this turn OR to substitute for a Founder present who is about to die.

PICTURE: You bastards, you killed Kenny! This rather dark picture feautures a good reaction shot from everyone's favorite Jem'Hadar, Goran'Agar, and good overall color balance. I think it's a bit TOO dark though, keeping the visual appeal score at 3.4.

LORE: Well told and well written. I find no flaws in this one, though it only covers one of the two functions. A good 3.6.

TREK SENSE: Both functions make a lot of sense. Following the picture and lore, Jem'Hadar are expected to sacrifice themselves to make sure their unit has enough White. Obviously, a non-[Ketracel] personnel won't need to do this. Killing youself keeps the Ketracel from counting down (from being used up considerably). This raises plenty of questions about how many vials of Ketracel-White are included in one Equipment card since an Away Team of one Jem'Hadar will eat up Ketracel at the same rate as an Away Team of 10, but that's a matter for that card's Trek Sense. The one big problem with this function is that it kills a healthy and able Jem'Hadar. The lore makes it clear that Meso'Clan was wounded, and so couldn't contribute to his unit. What's the excuse of your Jem'Hadar? The second function is more sensible. It places your Jem'Hadar in the path of whatever is about to kill a Founder. That's the whole purpose of the Jemmies - to protect the Founders, even with their lives. Leads to problems such as replacing a Founder about to die because of a virus or something, but it's Star Trek and I'm sure there would be a technobabble explanation. All things considered, better than average at 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: A failsafe card to counter some of the limitations of the Dominion, this one actually took a hit with the last rules supplement. If you remember, originally, if a Founder died in the presence of your Jem'Hadar, they all committed suicide. So sacrificing one soldier to save not only a valuable shape-shifter, but also your entire unit, was a very good idea. The suicide rule has since been lifted, so now the second function isn't as primordial, but you still might want to save a shape-shifter (though Flight of the Intruder and You Dirty Rat should work in many cases, you won't always have those handy, or want to exclude yourself in battle). The first function is also a failsafe in case your Ketracel-White is about to countdown and your new load hasn't yet reached your Jem'Hadar. Kill off the Jemmie of your choice (some lame universal one) and save yourself the trouble of having your Jem'Hadar turn on their own Away Team or crew. Since these problems can be devastating, and your opponent can't be trusted with letting you have all the White you want, Jem'Hadar Sacrifice is a necessary fallback plan. At the very least, a Tent card, and one that one Jem'Hadar (Meso'Clan) can download. A good 4.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) Meso'Clan didn't die in vain...

#548-Jem'Hadar Warship, Ship, Dominion, universal, Gamma quadrant, DOM
"Mainstay battle cruiser of the Jem'Hadar fleets. Capable of serving as a mobile base for attack ships. Equipped with shield-penetrating transporters"
-Battle Cruiser Class[1 Command, 2 Staff] Tractor Beam; Invasive Transporters.
-RANGE: 9, WEAPONS: 9, SHIELDS: 9

PICTURE: Ok... what's this? One of the toughest ship classes ever seen in Trek and it looks smaller than an Attack Fighter. We can't even tell which way it's facing, and the ship's profile is muddy. Man, do I hate this pic! A far less than adequate 0.5.

LORE: Fairly technical, it hints at the ability that would only be given to it in the next expansion (its own Shuttle Operations). Otherwise, this is pretty standard fare. The word "mainstay" is better than "typical".  I'll go as far as 3.4 here.

TREK SENSE: A huge ship more or less equivalent to a Galaxy class starship, it was a given that it would have both high staffing and the ability to take in other craft (thus, the Tractor Beam). The Invasive Transporters are standard for Jem'Hadar ships. The Gamma quadrant icon, for Dominion ships. The high attributes make a lot of sense for such a warship (remember, these were incredibly powerful), and it surpasses anything this side of the newer technologies of the Enterprise-E and such. Ships are pretty basic creatures, and none of the basics are faulty here. Even universality is acknowledged. No flashes of genius, but a good 4.

STOCKABILITY: While pretty comparable to Attack Fighters as far as WEAPONS and SHIELDS go, the RANGE is much higher, and that's where you'll want the Warship: RANGE. In addition to 3 more points in that attribute, you can extend the RANGE of your Fighters by taking them in with Shuttle Operations: Dominion and flinging them at enemy craft in swarms. The Jem'Hadar ships have no matching commanders, so every attribute point helps really. The Warship isn't as good as the Fighters for Dominion armadas, but it does share in all the Dominion Tactics except Attack Wing (including Target Weapons and Engines), and they really aren't THAT hard to staff. Most Dominion personnel have staffing icons anyway, and you'll usually use a Vorta for Ketracel-White plus a cadre of Jem'Hadar to use with Invasive Transporters. You do realize this is a 9-9-9 ship that can be smacked down with Spacedoor, don't you? A powerful universal ship, though perhaps unwieldy for some decks at 3.9. It's not like the Dominion has a lot of choices anyway.

TOTAL: 11.8 (59%) If it wasn't for that execrable picture...

#557-Kai Winn, Personnel, Bajoran, DOM
"Vedek Winn became Kai of Bajor in 2370. Concluded Cardassian treaty negociations begun by Bareil Antos. Finally accepted Benjamin Sisko's role as the Emissary."
-VIP, Leadership x2, Diplomacy, Treachery, Honor (if The Emissary in play); SD any Bajoran treaty; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 4, CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 2

PICTURE: The very bright lights compliment the Kai's golden habit and go with the idea of an "enlightened" religious leader. It's hypocrisy in any case, or actually, dramatic irony, since Winn is anything but wholesome. Her pinched smile, like her cothing inlaid with gold and those bright lights are all for show. A nice, light picture at 3.7.

LORE: An answer to the lore on Vedek Winn ("Aspires to be Kai - by any means.") at the start, which is cool, though drably put. It's clear that this is Winn after she became Kai, but before she fell to the Pah-Wraiths. The other sentences are pretty much in service of the game text, trying to explain it. Nothing wrong with that. No mistakes, though I would have liked to see a spare adjective in there somewhere. Something in the "slimy" family ;-). A potable 3.7.

TREK SENSE: Kai Winn is Bajor's top religious leader, so of course, she's a VIP! The Leadership x2 is likewise warranted, even though she's not charismatic enough to inspire people to follow her blindly, her position alone evokes obedience in the zealous Bajoran people. I draw the line at the Command icon though. I'm ready to accept she has Staff potential (she fiddled around in ops when Jake was possessed by the Pah-Wraiths), but a religious leader shouldn't be able to command a ship. Not her anyway. The Diplomacy and Treaty download have to do with the treaty mentioned in the lore. Bareil did most of the work, but at least she didn't foul it up, and she did manage to put her name on a couple of historic treaties with some big enemies (the Cardassians and Dominion). The download ranks as fair. Treachery is of course required on a character like this. Honor is acceptable (remember the aforementioned situation with the Emissary's son?), and it being switchable based on The Emissary's presence is a cute wink in the lore's direction. He's such an influential figure, he can't help but keep Winn in line. Integrity is normal for a selfish person like Winn, as is Cunning (she's "cunning" all right) and the low Strength, though I might have added a point there. She's a heavyset woman after all, and looks tougher than 2. She's of course a persona of Vedek Winn, and tracing her evolution, we find she actually went up in Integrity (the on-again, off-again Honor). Otherwise, she's very similar. Good enough. All in all, a 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: Skill-wise, the Bajorans have need of Leadership on their missions (there are plenty of places to plug her Leadership x2 and other skills, including HQ: Secure Homeworld), which Winn will bring in nicely, and they also have a fair need of Treachery. Everyone likes Diplomacy. The Honor isn't so Bajoran, but could work well with the Bajoran/Klingon Treaty she can download (an easy affiliation match). And what, you're not using The Emissary as a reporting tool? If you want the Honor, you can get the Honor (plus, he's a good persona-switch with Klingon Jodmos). Kai Winn too can be persona-switched with the Vedek version, in case you want a quick "stopper" skill after you've gotten the Treaty you need. That Treaty can come into play fairly quickly using a Nor's ability to download a personnel (the Kai) early in the game. Otherwise, you can report her for free using Chamber of Ministers (remember how well she fits in Secure Homeworld?), or download her at some other point using Going to the Top. And let's not forget her ability to play the Bajoran/Dominion Treaty for free which adds to her Treaty-related abilities. It's not a bad Treaty since your Bajoran toughs can act as Jem'Hadar, except they're not addicted to Ketracel-White. STRENGTH and INTEGRITY are pretty bad, so she'll get creamed in personnel battle, if she doesn't bite it trying to pass a dilemma first. Specialized, but with enough mission compatibility to warrant a 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.9 (74.5%) Thought that last one was gonna be 3.7, didja?

#566-Keevan, Personnel, Dominion, Gamma Quadrant, DOM
"Devious, aloof Vorta. Extorted a Federation Away Team into destroying his marooned, white-starved Jem'Hadar unit before it could turn on him. Hates Ferengi."
-VIP, Treachery x2, Anthropology, Diplomacy, Geology; SD Hostage Trade; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 2, CUNNING: 10, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: Keevan's smarmy enough in this pic, thoroughly untrustable. It's a good expression. And while the background uniformly plain, there's something to be said for outdoor shots giving the cards more variety. This crisp and light picture is good enough at 3.4.

LORE: I usually like adjectives in personnel lore since they have more flavor that straight facts and don't take too much room either. Devious is an obvious enough epiteth for a Vorta, but aloof is a nice one. The fact-based sentence is well constructed and interesting. And that "hates Ferengi" bit from "The Magnificent Ferengi" makes a perfect tag at the end. He was killed by their bumbling after all, so his famous last words make for the perfect epitaph. An easy 4.

TREK SENSE: Like most Vorta, he's a Command level VIP from the Gamma quadrant. That doesn't really deserve discussion. Otherwise, he follows the usual lines. His double Treachery is very appropriate to the being who would have led his entire unit to slaughter by design. The Anthropology must have something to do with his understanding of humans, particularly Sisko's psychology. The Diplomacy: he made a deal with the Feds. Geology? Well, was he the one who found a cave to hide in on that planet? I don't know, it just seems like anybody pictured on that rocky planet gets Geology. Iffy, but potable. And while Hostage Trade is, for now, a broken link, I think we can figure out what it'll do: either switch one captive with another of your choice OR release a captive to get back one of your own captured personnel. It might be that you have to play it on the personnel to be switched, since his download must be played on him. Keevan would be the personnel to be switched, same as on the show, where he was switched with Moogie. But can a captured personnel use a special download? We'll see, but without knowing anything, the download seems to make sense here. The Integrity is way low, which goes with his high Treachery. Cunning 10? That's a lot, and while devious, I'm not sure he was THAT brainy. 10 is a LOT. Too much probably. He did force Sisko into a corner, but then again, Ferengi were the death of him. Strength could have been lower (never seen him fight), but is basically okay. A competent, but sometimes dodgy, 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Vorta aren't only useful for rationing White, they usually have a good mix of skills as well. We won't know he full extent of Keevan's usefulness until we get our hands on Hostage Trade, but for now, cursory examination of his abilities reveals the generally useful Diplomacy and really high CUNNING. These'll be useful in a number of situations, including a host of Dominion missions. As for the rest, they're more geared toward Espionage decks against the Romulans (lots of Treachery) and Federation (Anthropology and Geology, plus the Diplomacy). VIP/Treachery/Diplomacy is a common Vorta/Founder combo, but the other skills are rather rarer, with only four instances each, and some dilemmas now requiring them. And hey, he can use Protection Racket, so that's cool. The attributes other than CUNNING are either impossibly weak, or only lukewarm. I'd have to say Keevan's worth a 3.4 for now. Maybe he'll be better later?

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Some anti-Ferengi ability would have been nice here. Too bad.

#575-Keeve Falor, Personnel, Bajoran, universal, DOM
"Typical leader of Bajoran colonists who fled Bajor during the Cardassian occupation. Resides on Valo II. Helped Jean-Luc Picard locate the terrorist Orta."
-VIP, Leadership, Biology, Honor; Your [Baj] CIVILIANs present are attributes all +2; Staff icon
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: The sunburnt image of Keeve Falor looks wistful, providing the necessary pathos that goes with his refugee camp. It, and the Civilians he's responsible for (the ones he boosts), are in the background. A solid image - I don't even care if he's wearing an atrocious purple scarf. A 3.9.

LORE: Universality is acknowledged, then it falls into the actual story told in the episode. More details than usual even. A fair 3.3.

TREK SENSE: When I started looking for the card, I couldn't find it. Not under Civilians anyway. I was actually surprised to find him under VIP (I classify my personnel by classification). Ok, he's a LEADER of a colony, but his delapidated look made me forget that counted as a VIP. I guess it does. Leadership goes in there obviously. Honor was important to him, and he made that clear to Picard. Biology? Unproven, but I suppose he has had to inspect medecines for his people. That could be it, and would fit with the "typical" Bajoran refugee leader. I'm not too concerned about the lack of Diplomacy. It was Picard who was diplomatic in the episode, and Keeve was a much too short-fused to earn himself the skill. The special skill may be a little overpowered as far as Trek Sense goes. While I don't doubt he's respected by Civilians, and that he may bolster their spirits, +2 across the board is a lot. Further, Civilians with absolutely no connection to Keeve, or to the old world order (before the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor), wouldn't necessarily be affected by him. The attributes look okay, but Strength could have been higher since I'm sure he's fought for his people. The Cunning, on the other hand, looks a little high. Hard times have made him a ruffian, but he probably still has his smarts I guess. The Staff icon, while not jibbing with his leader-status, is a normal step down for a simple refugee. Mostly good at 3.8.

STOCKABILITY: First off, Keeve will give a pretty decent bonus to all your Bajoran CIVILIANs of which there are many, and some that are pretty strong already (Ro Laren, Shakaar Edon, Orta, etc.). Add Shakaar, War Room and Lower Decks, and you get some pretty powerful Away Teams. They can even go toe-to-toe with Klingons and Jem'Hadar in personnel battle. Just Keeve will give a few of them attributes equal to 10. That's good. Otherwise, his skills do help out with Bajoran missions some, but only rarely, and only with one skill at a time. He might be better in Treaty decks (the Honor smells of Klingons) where even his special skill will fit in. He's also a non-MEDICAL source of Biology that will avoid MEDICAL-targeting combos before leading into an Aphasia Device, and has good overall attributes. Bajoran attack parties will find him to be a 3.7.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) A respectable card.

#584-Keldon Advanced, Ship, Cardassian, universal, DOM
"Faster than standard Keldon-class vessels. Secretly upgraded by the Obsidian Order. Staged in the Orias System."
-Modified Keldon Class[1 Command, 2 Staff] Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam; Attributes all -3 unless Obsidian Order in crew
-RANGE: 9, WEAPONS: 10, SHIELDS: 9

PICTURE: There's something about the Advanced Keldon's layout and pose that reminds me of a chinese kite, maybe one shaped like a carp. Cardassian ships aren't particularly good-looking, but this one gets a higher mark than most at 3.6.

LORE: Ehhh. There are two sentences devoted to the ship's enhancements, and I don't see what the first sentence really adds that isn't covered by the second. As a result, the third part is a little too short. It may be good english, but it suffers from a missing word or two. No more than a 1.7.

TREK SENSE: Essentially a Keldon with "secret upgrades", it only keeps those upgrades if Obsidian Order personnel are present. Why? Special codes enabling them? Could be, but there's something tragically wrong with the absence of Obsidian Order agents turning this ship into a 6-7-6 Keldon, when a normal Keldon is 8-8-8. Why not just dump the Obsidian Order in the staffing, requiring one to even use it, and be done with it? That would have worked much better. The Cloaking Device is another upgrade - part of a treaty with the Tal Shiar - and this special equipment should probably have been disabled by the absence of the Obsidian Order. That secret enhancement probably came with command codes and would make more sense than the virtual scuttling of the ship's attributes. A not so advanced 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: Oooh, big ship around quadrant. Or is it? While a universal 9-10-9 ship is a powerful addition to the any fleet (especially to the weaker-shipped Cardies), the whole idea of needing specific personnel aboard to keep those attributes up and running is risky business. One bad casualty result from a Tactic and your ship could be taking a -3 loss across the board in addition to regular damage. Yes, there are 6 O.O. personnel (I was gonna say 7, but 2 of them are the same guy), which is one less than there are Tal Shiar to staff D'deridex Advanced, and they're quite useful as a whole, so you might include more than one per ship just in case. Also, the ship gives the Cardassians cloaking ability with all related advantages. The cloak may be used when your attributes becomes 6-7-6 to protect it from opposing ships, but before that happens, you've got powerful WEAPONS and SHIELDS with which to wage battle. More useful than the modified D'deridex, but holds the same risks (except it's even harder to commandeer since there are no Obsidian Order personnel in other affiliations). A 3.

TOTAL: 11.2 (56%) Do my words have the carp of truth?

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