To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the Energize! set.

PICTURE: I don't mind the orangish color palette, and the circle of Klingons certainly looks menacing, but Worf and Alexander are way too small, blurry and dinky. Especially the farmboy suspenders on Alexander. The air of menace does make me go high on this one with a 3.1.

LORE: Yes, that would certainly be A Klingon Matter, and we're seeing such an attempt in the picture (2E has way more correspondance between these first two categories). A 3.

TREK SENSE: I doubt the Klingons would leave a family alone just because they were on a ship, but as a planet dilemma, I suppose it represents a planetbound ambush by a rival family. Now, I'm not too worried that a Klingon isn't necessarily the victim, because it's very easy for innocent bystanders (or meddlers) to get caught between rival Klingons. Klingons are tough, so if you can make a show of Strength, you can get out with your skin intact. Strength 7+ is a high requirement, and indeed, relatively few personnel outside of the Klingons can meet it, but you are up against more than one Klingon if the picture is to be believed. If you get caught in the crossfire (or the fire was meant for your Klingon in the first place, but the random selection kind of means it's not the plot's target that's hit here), you may be killed. This would stop all personnel present as they... what? Investigate? Fight off the Klingons? Do that Ak'voh thing with the deceased? It's believable effect. And because they're plotting against an entire family, the dilemma goes back in the dilemma pile where it may be drawn again as they go after another family member. Those kooky (and persistent) Klingons! The only way to pass the dilemma is to nip the conspiracy or feud in the bud. The card gives us two ways of doing this. One is to use lots of Intelligence to learn of the Klingons' plans in detail, and Treachery to kill them first, or perhaps just trick them. It's a little hazy what the Treachery personnel does in this context, since a totally honorable crew could use Intelligence to steer clear too, no? The other way to do it is with a combination of Leadership and Cunning. Outsmarting the Klingons? Taking charge of the situation with your Leaders? Good possibilities, but they lack focus. As for the Danger Number, it's sensible enough. So my beef is mainly with the requirements. The rest passes the test. A 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Strength 7 is common on Klingons, but not other affiliations, Strength 8 is on very few personnel, Strength 9 on none, and Strength 10 only on Data (I guess it'll be on most androids). That means you'll want to have the requirements handy so that it doesn't get to the random selection. Even with a hand weapon, the chosen personnel might not have the required Strength even if others in the group do. Now, while 2 Intelligence may be a bit stiff in many cases (the Bajorans, and maybe the Feds unless you use Luther Sloan, will need Non-Aligned support for sure), 2 Leadership and 33+ Cunning is fairly easy. Leading with a Leadership filter like Kolaren Raiders or Trabe Grenade could actually help. It's all about building your combos as you go along. If you kill a personnel, the dilemma stops everyone else and returns to your dilemma deck to strike again if such is your fancy. So it packs a good punch, if only you can get it to work. A 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Nothing the matter with it, it's just rather average.

PICTURE: Certainly a distinctive planet, even if a little artificial (well, can't be more artificial than the population unless they were androids). The cool look makes it a 3.4.

LORE: It may seem like a strange mission to "share DNA", but there you have it. It's a nice enough quote, though it doesn't really inspire all the requirements. A 3 should do here.

TREK SENSE: Forget about the lore, and stick with the title, you'll have more basis for the requirements. I mean, I could believe that all those Medical personnel are used to extract tissue samples, but why would all the Cunning be required. Well you'll remember that the Enterprise crew didn't end up giving out their DNA. They found another solution to the problem by merging the Bringloidi population with the Mariposans'. That would require a little more Cunning, especially since the two cultures were so different. Diplomacy comes into it to. Biology is used to determine that they are compatible, and Medical can still be used to take samples, check the Bringloidi out for contagious material, etc. Taking it from this angle sort of fixes the fact that all affiliations can attempt this. See, if you actually believed your crew was sharing genetic material with the basically human Mariposans, that might be a problem for non-human crews, especially the ones we've never seen breed with humans. Of course, the special game text is a little more open-ended, but not unjustifiable. It works like a sort of clone machine, downloading to hand a copy of a personnel you already have in play. It can't be played until the other dies unless it's non-unique. In those cases, heck, they've made a clone of that personnel, and it's joined your crews. For unique personnel, maybe the copy lives on Mariposa for a while, only leaving when their root personnel is killed, or better yet (since it works better for all affiliations), the Mariposans did take genetic matieral from your crew (that's why I would prefer it if the download matched a personnel attempting the mission) and they reward you with a clone of someone you've lost later on. How this clone would have all the real personnel's skills, etc. is a mystery, but one Star Trek could probably wave away with some choice technobabble. Span and points are ok, no problems there. A workable 3.8.

SEEDABILITY: Medical and Biology are usually found together, and Diplomacy isn't very rare, so aside from making sure you have the high Cunning total required, this'll be an easy 35 points. Sure, there's no second set of requirements, so it fits better in Medical decks, but there are plenty of missions to choose from there, and it does fit in with any non-Borg affiliation. The other incentive is that you get to download a copy of a personnel you have in play when you complete it. If it's non-unique, you can play it on your next turn if you like. If it is unique, then it's stuck in your hand until the copy in play is discarded for some reason. Now, this can be useful for keeping a backup of an important personnel at the ready, or to replace a personnel whose special ability has discarded it. For example, Jake Sisko (Temporal Anchor) discards to download a Federation DS9 personnel. Discarding a personnel from hand can be useful in its own right: Elim Garak (Agent of the Obsidian Order) can gain one of its skills, for example, and as a Plain, Simple Tailor, Garak can save himself from death with a similar trick. Mental Discipline also uses a discarded personnel to boost skills and attributes. Fact is, there are plenty of effects who have a discard cost, and you already have the personnel in play, so you might as well get a free card in your hand to throw away, at a minimum anyway. Short span can be a help too. A good 4.1.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) And it would have been backwards-compatible too, if the decision to put the same mission in All Good Things hadn't been made.

PICTURE: The colors are a bit washed out, but there's something beautiful about those two characters standing vigil over Quique's body. Obviously, Worf is behind the idea of Ak'voh, a Klingon ritual, but O'Brien and the black coffin there invokes the image of an Irish wake. A 3.5.

LORE: There's a long tradition in Star Trek of character playing the "cabbage-head". It happens whenever some piece of technobabble or an alien cultural concept needs explaining for the television audience. One character plays the idiot who has to ask another character what it all means. This is great for Decipher since the explanations can be used verbatim as lore. Quotes that do exactly what the old "factual" lore did. Great Klingon flavor on this one too. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Though a Klingon concept is presented here, the card may as well represent any manner of mourning ritual. Basically, when a personnel dies, its comrades may pay a heavy toll. If this stopped personnel present so they mourn (or at least SOME personnel), that would be something, but the price of a discard from hand is harder to fit into the storyline. I'm taking it to mean that personnel are expending energy on the vigil rather than on producing an effect (Event or Interrupt), calling up another personnel or building a ship. That's a little too conceptual though, with your entire affiliation possibly being in mourning at the same time. I also don't understand why dying in battle wouldn't be worth the same treatment. I mean, dying in dilemma-produced accident wouldn't really send you flying to Sto-Vo-Kor, would it? There's also the matter of the card having no Klingon flavor. Sort of disappointing with such a title. And finally, how about that Cost? I just don't see any way to expend resources to make your opponents respect a custom. Perhaps you originated it, and energy is spent to communicate it through cultural assimilation? I know it's one of the victory conditions in the Civilization computer game, but how this relates here is conceptual at best. And therein lies this card's downfall. An all-too-conceptual 0.7.

STOCKABILITY: If you're using killer dilemmas, Ak'voh imposes another penalty on the player who just got his personnel killed. He has to discard a card. Adding insult to injury, as they say. Dilemmas that initiate multiple kills are particularly prized/dangerous. But the card comes at a high price. First, there's the listed cost of 4, and second, the Event affect you too! You might not appreciate having spent all those points on it when it comes back to bite you. If you're using discard pile manipulation, then it might not seem like such a problem. Then perhaps the Bajorans can do that little Klingon ritual better than the Klingons themselves... I'd say it's still a bit pricey unless you really do plan for the eventual kick in your own teeth. A 3.1.

TOTAL: 10.7 (53.5%) The low Trek Sense really sinks it.

PICTURE: A subdued and atmospheric image of Akorem, that's benign and peaceful, but might betray something dark as well. The window behind him has the look of the wormhole opening, certainly an incidental reference, but there nonetheless. Oh, and with all the blurry pics I've seen crop up in 2E, it's great to see one where you can actually count the hairs in a man's beard. Very sharp! I'm giving it a 4.

LORE: A quote to explain his motivations behind bringing back the d'jarras. It doesn't explain his skills much, and I think it's mismatched with the subtitle "Revered Poet". Couldn't there have been the word Emissary in there instead? 2.9 only.

TREK SENSE: Well, I AM surprised he's not AU, but in 2E, the standards may not be the same. After all, he did exist in our time, albeit because of time travel. Then again, so did Telek R'Mor. Is the distinction that the Prophets "kept" Akorem with them for a time before letting him out of the Wormhole, thereby uninterrupting his linear existence (except at the end when he returned home)? I don't know that I agree. Akorem is a man out of his time, one who couldn't exist in "our" time without a little boost from time travel. As for the icon he does have, a Staff icon may be a bit much. He staffed an ancient Bajoran solar sail ship (which requires a crew of at least 2 according to "Explorers", but never mind that), but would that really relate to more modern ships? I don't begrudge him his Navigation, of course, since those things took a lot more skill to pilot than present-day computerized consoles. Perhaps Physics is also required, to calculate solar wind force, etc. Anthropology and Law are both supporting his idea of returning to the d'jarras. It's both a custom and the law. The former can't have hurt his poetry either. As for the special skill, it's a little difficult to get a handle on. Basically, it marks the passage of time, making Akorem more ethical, cunning and strong later in the game. It's pretty conceptual, really, trying to tell the story of Akorem as a regular guy who after his death would become a revered poet and even a temporary Emissary, but the game never really takes place in those old days, does it? Becoming Emissary (if I read the special skill right) makes him go from a good person with little ambition, little foresight and rather ordinary Strength, to a man who would willingly give Sisko back his place, someone with a better understanding of present-day issues, and (less appropriately) more battling ability and lifting power. Cost is too low for the amount of effort expended to get a man from the far past to join your crew, even if I agree that's what he's worth to a player. So, too many problems to gather up more than 1.9.
1E TREK SENSE: The AU problem can't be circumvented in 1E because we have examples of time travelers in our time like Berlingoff Rasmussen, and they're AU. He's also lacking the VIP (perhaps Civilian) classification, which is anomalous. And the first two attributes are too low. At least Cost isn't an issue, but I'm afraid the rest of the review stands. In 1E, drops to 1.5.

STOCKABILITY: When I think about the Bajorans in 2E, I think about discard pile manipulation. So how easy is it for Akorem Laan, with that nifty Anthropology, to use Days of Atonement (it's got 0 Cost) to discard a personnel to draw two cards? Very easy, and then you only need one more Bajoran in your discard pile to boost his attributes to acceptable levels. Heck, at Integrity 8, he's great at all relevant missions (Amnesty Talks springs to mind because he can use a couple skills there). In any case, any discards can be recycled some way (Souls of the Dead, The Prophet's Guidance, etc.) when you have enough discarded personnel in there. After all, dilemmas and battles will no doubt cost lives anyway. Akorem has a good skill list besides, with the rare Law in there, the aforementioned Anthropology, the common-but-necessary Navigation, and another good skill for space missions, Physics. He's not a dud when it comes to staffing, and he doesn't cost much. His special skill being easy to enable doesn't take away from the fact that it is rather minor (the Integrity boost IS useful, of course). So I wouldn't pay more than 2 for him, that's for sure. I'd say he deserves a 3.2.
1E STOCKABILITY: When I think about the Bajorans in 1E, I think about boosting attributes. Akorem does have his attributes boosted by certain conditions, but stacking the discard pile isn't as obvious a strategy in first edition STCCG. Besides, having a couple of dead Bajorans in the discard pile barely boosts his attributes to acceptable levels. 8-6-6 is quite ordinary, and with the mission selection, high attributes aren't as important. Furthermore, his lack of classification means Keeve Fallor doesn't boost him (if he'd been CIVILIAN, of course). Shakaar Edon and The Emissary still do though. Skillwise, he's good for the seminal Characterize Neutrino Emissions, and all his skills are good. Some are rarer than others. With a weaker special skill in 1E, he only gets up to 3.1.

TOTAL: 12 (60%) I'd really like to see another version that deals more with the d'jarras.
1E TOTAL: 11.5 (57.5%) Takes a few more hits here.

PICTURE: The same as 1E's Aldara, which I thought was a pitiable silverfish of a ship, but bigger and with a more appealing template to help it along. The green graphics on the right point the ship in the right direction, and the details are a bit brighter. Doesn't mean the Galor in profile looks anywhere good enough to get a good score, but up from a 1 to a 1.5.

LORE: No quote? Aww. We do get some solid mission parameters, which then fly into the specifics of its episode. A 3.1 by my estimation.

TREK SENSE: I like what they've done with ships in 2E, generally speaking. First, they've streamlined the attributes so that ships of the same class have identical stats. Makes sense. After all, it was quite a conceit in 1E that ships would actually differ so much based on what "muscle" they exercised the most (for example, a ship that pursued another on the show would have higher Range). For the Galor, they decided on 8-8-8, equivalent to the USS Nebula, which makes sense. We know they can give older Starfleet ships a run for their money, but at the same time, that they were a little more antiquated than the Galaxy-class. Note that the Cost for a Galor is that of a Nebula, though I'd have liked the cardies to pay a little more to show how poor they are on resources. I do like that ships cost a heck of a lot compared to personnel, events, etc. They are BIG pieces of equipment after all, and when you think of Star Trek, you often think of the ships first. Staffing has increased in 2E, which is another change I applaud. Seems like starships shouldn't be flown by one or two guys, y'know? Yes there are Ensign Bobs aboard, but the command crew (your personnel) should reflect the complexity of not only staffing, but commanding that ship. Again, the Galor is equivalent to the Nebula, and again, I have no problem with that. And so we come at last to the special ability. Here's how I read it: Since the Aldara is from the very early first season of DS9, it has been in the sector longer than Starfleet or even the Bajorans as an affiliation, that experience is translated as a bonus while the Cardassians have a higher score. What does a higher score mean exactly? Well, it could mean that affiliation has been "in the game" longer in this context, though this isn't true. Yet, it would make the most sense to boost an affiliation because of its familiarity with the terrain as it were. What it most likely means though is that when an affiliation is on the winning side, its morale goes up, boosting the troops' effectiveness. This works too, though a Cunning boost would be better tied to experience than morale. In any case, this is a rather conceptual ability, because the ground covered by the Aldara may not be the same as on the show (on the one hand), and there's no reason why morale should be lower on planets or on other ships (on the other). That special ability sinks the score to a 3.1 Still not bad though.
1E TREK SENSE: Not much of a change, though there are some anomalies given that staffing is higher than for other Galor-class vessels. And let's not forget this is a version of the Aldara persona, so that in some instances, the ship requires more staffing. Strange stuff. The rest reads the same, but down to 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: Galors are cost-effective, I think, especially when you can put a matching commander aboard. In this case, it's a fairly good personnel with no special abilities, Danar - Irascible Gul. Inspiring Leader can thus boost the ship's Range, and Would You Like a Trip can either get him aboard through a nifty download, or else get the ship to him. 8-8-8 are good stats for 3 staffing icons, and the extra point allocated to Keldons for an extra one may not be worth it. And then there's the special ability. Attribute boosts are very important to 2E mission solving. Using the Aldara to boost your crew's Cunning will certainly help with choice space missions (the bonus isn't transfered to planet missions). Of course, there's a catch: you must have more points than all your opponents. Attack the planet mission first then, or you might want to win a battle before you have enough personnel to attempt missions, getting 10 points for the effort using an appropriate card. Kotra and perhaps Labor Camp could also help you keep those points slightly above those of a player trying to keep pace with you. Not entirely fool-proof, but works well if you plan for it. After all, those extra points aren't a waste and do go to you 100-point total. As far as Galors go, it's a good space mission-solver, not built so much for battlle or tripping up your opponent. 3.5 here.
1E STOCKABILITY: Because of its lower staffing, you might start out with the 1E Aldara and later switch to the 2E version later, but maybe just keep the 1E in hand in case you lose too many personnel to staff it? In other words, when you drop to 2 staffers, you lose the special ability and a point of Shields. Otherwise, I don't see why you'd use the old Aldara in favor of this one. Better attributes and an ability that works as above (though +1 attribute boosts aren't as important). It has the same matching commander, Danar, who has the all-too-rare ENGINEER (on Cardassians, I means). It isn't just a great skill to get into play via Ready Room Door, but it also allows him to use Construct Starship to download the Aldara if he's out first. There are more matching commander tricks in 1E too, such as boosting all attributes, in this case to 10-11-11, and using Make It So. Better than the original, it gets 4.1.

TOTAL: 11.2 (56%) Too bad they didn't change the pic...
1E TOTAL: 11.5 (57.5%) A drop from the original's 12 actually.

PICTURE: Darker than the 1E version and thus more fitting, the card has him in a more active role instead of moaning about something at the town council meeting. The card does show off a piece of cavern that seems to be made of fiber-glass (I mean especially so), but it's generally got more atmosphere, while at the same time keeping the same distance as the 1E version. A neat visual link between the two, and a good 3.9 here, despite not following the game text's lead and putting him on a ship.

LORE: The subtitle is okay, but not great. Reads like someone was stetching his vocabulary a little. The quote, on the other hand, is very simple, but it works well in supplying Amaros' attitude. Not entirely informative, but fine. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: I thought the 1E Amaros was fine, but I'd much rather have him as a unique personnel because he had a large enough role. I get my wish in 2E. He can't be Federation because, though human, he's turned his back on that affiliation (as per his quote). Unfortunately, being Non-Aligned means he can work with the hated Cardassians. That's a problem. If he'd been a Fed, the Maquis icon would have kept him with the right people, but all NA Maquis have this problem now. We know he was Hudson's co-pilot, and so Navigation is an important element. Maquis resources being stretched to the limit, a good pilot would also be a good mechanic, i.e. Engineer. Physics would help in navigating through the Badlands where the Maquis set up their bases, but is also related to the use of explosives. Missing from the 1E version, but nonetheless sensible, are Leadership and Treachery. He was one of the leaders of the Maquis and of the DMZ colonies, or else wouldn't have been on the "town council", which takes care of the former; and he was willing to see people be tortured for his cause, which proves the latter. Below average Integrity is called for, though it's not too low because the cause is relatively just. No high marks in Cunning, but he didn't seem to exhibit more either. And Strength is a little above average, yes I think he could handle himself. I'm not forgetting the special ability: Basically, his Maquis ship joins any battle your other Maquis ship is involved in. Amaros to the rescue. Since he was in a ship battle involving more than one Maquis ship, I think this resonates well. The furtive nature of most Maquis makes a Cost of 3 ring true too. The leaders are just hard to get ahold of. Very good work all around, with the exception of that nasty affiliation business. A 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: The Maquis are a very tight affiliation, so every personnel counts, and Amaros is a pretty good card to have around. Leadership, Navigation and Treachery seem to be common enough on Maquis to make it a mission theme, and in fact, two of those are on For the Cause. All skills are good at overcoming dilemmas as well. And since the Maquis are rather adept at ship-to-ship engagements, his special ability fits right in. Cal Hudson can download a Maquis ship, he can join a ship in battle if he's at the same location, and you've got ships like the Guingouin that scores you points for winning, and the Maquis Raider which has a personnel-to-top-of-deck penalty. Maquis ships don't have the highest attributes, so doubling up thanks to Amaros makes that all possible. He can be used by non-Maquis thanks to his being Non-Aligned, but the special ability is kind of meaningless elsewhere. The list of skills alone isn't really worth the Cost, y'know? For the Maquis though, thumbs up: 4.3.

TOTAL: 15.5 (77.5%) Well, that's pretty high, ain't it?

PICTURE: More in control than the in Premiere pic, I really like that leather chair. Not only is it impressive, but it meshes well with Baran's costume. Background's a little hazy, but the expression is nicely evil (or is that an oxymoron?). A cool 3.8.

LORE: Finally, we get his full name on a card, something of an omission in 1E. The subtitle is fine. I like the quote, very telling as to his leadership style. A likeable 3.5.

TREK SENSE: I gave the original Baran too high a score here given that they didn't give him Treachery. It's back in full force here, along with very low Integrity. The guy ruled through fear and pain, not through respect. In fact, I quite agree he doesn't deserve Leadership backing up his Officer and Command icon. Archaeology is a must since he was on a quest to assemble the Stone of Gol. And Biology was used to implant his crew with latter-day agonizers he controlled with his neural servo device. I'm surprised it's not still Exobiology, since no one in his crew was a member of his species. His species is "Alien", which is wholeheartedly unsatisfying. Couldn't Paramount have approved a name for the species/make-up? Now all the Aliens are of the same species when they clearly aren't, and it's not like Baran was from a really unknown species from Starfleet's point of view. That he commands the Fortune (nice name, though perhaps a bit too "human") is true, and even mentioned in his lore. A Smuggler and Thief of artifacts, yes, though those words don't apply that well to him. He was, first and foremost, a pirate, which includes those two terms, so it's fine. Cunning's been adjusted down from the 1E version, since he was more average than smart. He let himself be hosed by Picard, Riker and Tallera. Strength's been adjusted up however (a 6 now is stronger than a 6 in 1E), and that makes sense given his size and role. The special ability has him expend some effort (discard a card) to download Shady Resources. It may have something to do with the way he used his crew's abilities for his own purposes, and each Shady Resource could well be a use of the neural device. "You'll do as I say!" But I'm not sure how he gains the skills exactly. Shady Resources is linked to Thieves and Smugglers since it shows one selling Quark something, but it's not quite Trek Sensical. As far as Cost goes, he's a mercenary, so he makes himself available easily. 2's good. Baran does fairly well here, but a number of small details don't quite work. A 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: Non-Aligned support for a number of unrelated skills (Archaeology and Biology? Plus the excellent Treachery? Quite good), and he comes pretty cheap. You can pile on the skills with Baran if those 4 aren't enough for you. Bank Heist works when facing a dilemma, and so does Shady Resources, a card he downloads. Be sure to have cards to discard in hand because he needs to discard one to get the download, and then Shady Resources also requires a discard. He can add to his attributes with Pickpocket. Baran is also the matching commander of the Fortune, which by the way, can download him when it is played. As a Smuggler and Thief, he can use Smuggling Run to score points at your opponent's missions, but also use the Fortune to attack opposing ships with The Orion Underworld (also to score points). Oh yeah, and he can enable Morn's card draw, which could replace the discards I mentioned earlier. Looks like Baran can hold his own in mission solving, but also has a couple of round-the-corner options at his fingertips. Only thing is, it tends to be pretty card-intensive. Baran gets 3.8 overall.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) A common score for 2E cards.

PICTURE: The other side of Assassination Attempt, Colonel West disguised as a Klingon isn't plotting here, so much as making the attempt, so I might have flipped those two images. It stands as a clear assassin's pic at 2.5.

LORE: The quote is from Kirk desperately trying to get to the Khitomer conference. That there is "another" assassination makes it a Plot, I think, though there are no sparks here. A 3.

TREK SENSE: I agree with this being an event, since Plotting takes planning, and thus time. It can't be an interrupt. It doesn't matter much that the Plot is right there in the core, since Kirk and co. knew about it, but it still seems sloppy on the conspirators' parts. I don't necessarily agree about the cost however, because if cost=effort, such a Plot would require more than this, probably relative to the assassinated personnel's importance. Real easy to have a non-unique killed, probably, but much harder to tag the Federation president. The Plot comes to fruition through an Assassin, who kills the target personnel. But wait! The target here is random! What kind of Plot is this? Dreadfully wrong. Because the killing has been planned, the Assassin gets to escape back into hand. This I like. The basic idea was fine, but the execution makes a couple of important mistakes. A 2.
1E TREK SENSE: Not much of a change, except that 1E has the Hidden Agenda icon, which would probably be applied here. Drops to 1.8.

STOCKABILITY: If you have access to an Infiltrator, using Pseudopod would be way more efficient than Assassination Plot (no cost), but if you're not playing with the Dominion (for now, at least), this is the card that'll kill you an opposing personnel without participating in any kind of battle. Cost: 1 isn't all that much to spend anyway, and having it in your core looming over your opponent's head like the sword of Damocles has paranoia value. You will need an Assassin, of course, and he or she kills by returning to hand. Cheap Assassins are thus recommended so they can return again and again. The Bajorans have Trazko, but he can already kill Treachery personnel this way without event support. The Romulans have Tal'Aura in the same situation, though she targets Leadership personnel. The other Assassins are Non-Aligned, so useable by anyone but the Borg. They are: Retaya, who has the same killing ability as Trazko and Tal'Aura, though against Intelligence personnel; The Albino, who can do the same to Honor personnel; and Jo'Bril, the only one without an Assassination Plot-like ability. Is he the only one you'd want to use with this event? Well, he's certainly not the cheapest of the lot at 4 (Trazko is, with a cost of 2)! The card can still be used on all these personnel if you don't want to hit a personnel with a specific skill, but the fact that this is a random killer makes the triage offered by those personnel abilities a little better. Why spend a point to do something a personnel can already do? Casts the net wider, but not very efficiently. A 2.3.
1E STOCKABILITY: 1E assassins don't usually have such abilities, though only 2E Retaya isn't backwards-compatible, so the card becomes a little better. Here, the list includes: Neela and Trazko for the Bajorans, Leck for the Ferengi (who can already kill once, but would love to do it again, I'm sure), the holographic NA Falcon, and the 1E version of Retaya. These would all benefit from Assassination Plot, though the card is slow to play and not a Hidden Agenda. I think the card does better in this environment (with Pallra returning Trazko to play for free each time, for example), especially since there are more ways to get personnel together. A stronger 3.5.

TOTAL: 9.8 (49%) One of the lower 2E scores.
1E TOTAL: 10.8 (54%) Better, but still not a winner.

PICTURE: Oh, how pretty! The planet's plain enough, with enough cloud cover to hide Maquis activities, but the sky is painted with sparkling Badlands. A really nice homeworld at 4.

LORE: The Maquis sure are consistent about their obsession with French epics, aren't they? First, they take their name from a French resistance group. Then, they have ships like the Guingouin and Valjean and members like the Miserables-obsessed Eddington. And they even put a base on a planet named after one of Dumas's Three Musketeers! Named before or after the Maquis landed? Either way, it's a fiiting HQ, and an actual quote describing the planet as harsh, murky and remote is really great too. I'll spring for a 4.4.

TREK SENSE: A "homeworld" for the Maquis presumes they aren't jumping around all the time, but lets say Athos IV is secure enough. It IS in the Badlands, after all. Maquis are operating out of there, of course, though all sorts of mercenaries did gravitate to them. That would be the origin of the Non-Aligned icon on the card. What about Treacherous Feds? That's not a quality I associate with the Feds who were moved by the Maquis' plight. I think they're more meant to represent those Federation citizens that have trouble fitting in, like Lon Suder and B'Elanna Torres, and simply joined the ranks of the organization to indulge in their violent ways. A look at the potential personnel doesn't help though, seeing as the list includes Admiral Leyton and Luther Sloan. Only Michael Eddington - Traitor to Starfleet is appropriate. Equipment may be stored at any HQ, of course. The download of For the Cause is very natural, since the Base would be where they rallied around that cause, and planned for it. The Span of 2 is standard for HQs with all missions being compared to HQ distance. I have no trouble with it really. In the final analysis, I think the Treachery thing doesn't work, but the rest is fine. A 2.9.

SEEDABILITY: In 1E, you don't really need to use any particular mission or facility to use an affiliation. Some are better than others, yes, but you've got plenty of reporting options. In 2E, you really do need the affiliation's Headquarters to make use of it. So technically, it's a 5, isn't it? Well, I won't go that route. I really want to see how much the Headquarters helps the target affiliation, or if it's merely a "necessary evil". Athos IV is actually pretty good in that sense. One weakness of the Maquis is that they aren't a numerous affiliation, so the HQ does two things to help here. One is adding Treachery Federation personnel to the list of "members". That's only a couple of non-Maquis personnel right now, but Luther Sloan is a strong personnel with the rarer Intelligence in spades and a useful Event-destroying ability. Leyton won't be able to use his download here though. Michael Eddington - Traitor to Starfleet is useful, but can't share space with the Maquis-related Noble Hero version. The other way Athos IV fights the Maquis' numbers weakness is by allowing you to discard a card to download For the Cause. That objective-style card gives any number of DMZ missions new requirements, helping greatly with skill redundancy for your more limited skill pool (working with Maquis strengths). All three missions simply cannot be attempted without it, but make a good trio in the same region, countering the fact that Maquis ships aren't the fastest in the game. Itself being in the Badlands region doesn't help it that much, since Search and Rescue cannot be attempted by Maquis, but Ro Laren does allow you to Verify Evidence. Cross-reference side-note: Kobb reporting here makes an opponent place a card from hand on top of his or her deck (which wouldn't work if you reported her elsewhere as a straight NA). I think it does a good job of making the Maquis more viable, with more tricks to come, I'm sure. A 4.5.

TOTAL: 15.8 (79%) I expect HQs to do well in general.

PICTURE: Good colors and a very close and diffuse star looking like the nearing stellar fragment make this as good as the 1E original, though the crisper image does show off the matte line between the planet's dark side and the stellar glow. A 4.

LORE: Mission lore tends to be boring, but if the mission goals were plainly stated by a character, why not use that quote? That's what happens here and to very good effect. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: The original didn't do so well, but they fixed some of the problems in 2E. It's still an odd planet mission though, where the action takes place mostly in orbit, yet the Away Team must beam down from the ship. Can't be helped though within 2E's rules. The requirements are much better than they were. Cunning is still the governing principle, since this is a scientific mission. Astrometrics combines both Stellar Cartography and Astrophysics, the second being a lot more appropriate. Seeing as Physicist Hannah Bates helped a great deal, Physics makes an appearance, as does Science. A more complete and rounded mission profile for an unusual occurence that should provide a tougher challenge than 1E offered. Speaking of Hannah Bates, the outside consultant is represented by the extra points afforded the solving player who has 2 Physics or 2 Science instead of just one when solving the mission. The extra instance of skill might mean the colony isn't just saved, but benefits in a way, or just suffers less (no need to relocate, etc.), leading to more points. The Feds, of course, completed this mission on the show, but the Klingons weren't a convincing second affiliation. Well, the Cardassians and Bajorans aren't necessarily appropriate either, though putting both together means Moab IV might be close to Bajoran and Cardassian space. Ensign Ro came aboard during this season, so we might indeed be in that part of space. Not sure how or why they would be at this mission, but it's not that far-fetched. The Span is a bit short for a "hidden colony", one you wouldn't expect on the main spaceways. Better overall, it still has its bugs. A 3.

SEEDABILITY: All three required skills are to be expected on the same personnel, and it shouldn't be too hard to squeeze the extra 5 points out of the mission by using redundant personnel. You were going to do that anyway in case you lost someone to dilemmas, right? It's a shame more personnel don't have all three skills though. Further, Science personnel usually have good Cunning, so that works out well too. The mission features skills more often found at space missions, but is planetary, so a great choice for your Science deck. Best personnel to handle the task: Gideon Seyetik has all three skills, including 2 Physics. For Bajorans and Cardassians, the best man for the job is Non-Aligned Jo'Bril, again with all skills and a doubled Science in this case. Jake Sisko/Temporal Anchor and Sareva aren't bad either. Could be part of a well-constructed "spaceline" with easy requirements, and a cool little payoff. Hits 3.6 with this reviewer.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) Less ordinary than the original.

PICTURE: An undercover O'Brien remotely robs the Bank of Bolias in what can only be described as a computer crime. So if you've never seen "Honor Among Thieves", you probably don't understand the pic. Either way, it's dark, with the only light being annoyingly diffuse, and the composition is a little haphazard. I'm afraid it doesn't meet the high standards set by 2nd Edition. Only 1.6 (some interest from the fractal screen piece).

LORE: The line uttered in the pic, but unfortunately it doesn't shed any light on the game text's Trek Sense. Problematic, that one, but I'm getting ahead of myself. For the Lore, I can give a plain 2.

TREK SENSE: Bank Heist is naturally a Crime card, and is naturally something for a Thief to do. And that's pretty much all I find unimpeachable. The card is better described as a Skill Heist, stealing skills from personnel on top of an opponent's deck. Highly conceptual. A Heist would normally be an Event, but as an Interrupt pulled during a dilemma encounter... I don't know. Has the Heist already occured? Then playing this card would simply be a "reveal" or "rememberance" of the fact. The opponent reveals the top 3 cards of his "bank", the reveal being akin to the hacking done in O'Brien's little thievery. You get information as well as latinum. The latinum in this case is represented by one skill from each account-holder (or personnel) in the top 3 cards of the deck. Thin justification: When the Bank Heist is "revealed" as part of the Thief's past, he remembers the training he paid for with the stolen money. Of course, the skills disappear at the end of the dilemma, and I always wonder where they go. So much justification has to be made that I can't go higher than 1.1.

STOCKABILITY: Raimus and Bilby can download it to hand if you put a card from hand on top of your draw deck, and they're both Non-Aligned Thieves than can use it. Without such a shortcut, I don't think these kinds of cards would be that useful. After all, you're not guaranteed even one personnel in the top 3 cards of your chosen opponent's deck, nor are you guaranteed a choice of skills that can actually help against the dilemma you're facing. The large number of skills on 2E personnel helps, but still, no guarantee. If it does work, the present dilemma could be a thing of the past, but the skills are immediately dispelled. The lack of staying power is another problem. Either way though, you get to peek at the next three cards in your opponent's deck. That could at least be useful. If it's loaded with personnel and useful skills, you could use consecutive Bank Heists during the same mission attempt with some peace of mind. The peek at the deck is just about the only advantage this card has over similar skill-givers. The number of skills gained, the amount of risk, and the inherent randomness all play against Bank Heist. A 2.7.

TOTAL: 7.4 (37%) A new low for 2E.

PICTURE: Too many Klingons makes this pic muddled, but it was a great idea to put the Bat'leth in Kahless' hand. Certainly meshes with the lore. Unfortunately, the Bat'leth gets lost in the shuffle, holding back the score at 2.3.

LORE: Excellent. We've got the entire origin of the sword right here, as told by Kahless himself (well, his clone, next best thing). It's mythic, grandiose and full of imagery. A lovely 5. I couldn't imagine anything better.

TREK SENSE: Up 'til now, all Hand Weapons in 2E have boosted their owners' Strength. The Bat'leth doesn't do that at all, which is certainly odd. If it somehow helped you kill opposing personnel, it might still make it in this category. What it does though is cause a discard when your Klingon wins a combat with the sword of honor. Huh? It doesn't help you win at all, and that's a pain in itself, but that effect... Let me think here... Well, we know that Bat'leths are way more brutal than directed energy weapons. Doctors in particular complain that they can expect more wounds when the Klingons come calling. Lacerations are no doubt tougher to treat than cauterized disruptor burns. So after a battle, you really have to spend more resources into treating your wounded (in addition to the death winning combat may cause). I'm still surprised a Bat'leth doesn't make a Klingon deadlier, but at least I can find a reason for the effect. The Cost is set at 0, but that's because Klingons are supposed to be carrying their Bat'leths with them. In a battle, you hardly ever see a Klingon without one anymore. Ok for a 3, but comes a bit short in some areas.

STOCKABILITY: A free Hand Weapon? Who wouldn't be tempted? Not that other Hand Weapons are costly, all being set at 1, but a free card is still a free card. With more than one per crew, you can cause massive discards. It still does the job when it comes to dilemmas that require Hand Weapons, of course, and in battle, though it doesn't boost Strength (the Klingons are already pretty strong anyway), it causes a discard from opponent's hand once you win combat. An extra effect that may well annoy your opponent. Not too major, of course, but a good (and free!) addition to the effects of combat-initiator cards, whether those are deaths, points, event destructions, etc. Remember that the Bat'leth isn't just for the Klingon affiliation, but for any affiliation so long as you use a Klingon-species personnel. The Bajorans have Kurn, the Maquis have M'Vil, and both TNG and DS9 Feds have Worf. More to come, I'm sure. A simple effect, not too powerful, but at no cost (hmm, a cheap 15 points at Kressari Rendezvous). Gotta be worth a 3.7.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) I look forward to other Klingon blade weapons.

PICTURE: This is especially good in comparison to Benjamin Sisko/Defiant Captain. Sisko/Man of Resolve lives in a morally more ambiguous time, and Defiant Captain's confidence is absent here. The gray uniform also helps in this sense, but the true achievement is in the background. Just like Defiant Captain, it's a heavily blurred set, but where Defiant Captain uses straight lines, Man of Resolve has weird, anxious shapes. There's even a gray cloud hovering above Sisko's head. The nature of the background also hammers this point home, Starfleet values vs. Cardassian intrigue. For a headshot, I find a lot of depth. A 4.6.

LORE: Sisko's discusses his moral imbroglio with his soon to be deleted log. Good subtitle too, and the quote has that resolute quality ("whatever it takes"). I would have liked the "I *can* live with it" speech, but it's still a piece of a great episode, it gets 3.5 here.

TREK SENSE: Man of Resolve is Sisko not only as station commander, but as a man who must make hard decisions on the front lines of a war with the Dominion. Forgotten here is the Defiant and all that "Emissary business". Obvious then is the whole Officer/Leadership/Command icon scheme, with Engineer being less obvious in this context, but still something that's part of Sisko's background (he helped design the Defiant, etc.). At this point, he's very interested in the Security of the Federation, so that skill makes the utmost sense. It also helps him cover his tracks when engaging in dubious activity. Diplomacy is used here in attempts to get the Romulans to join the war effort (as well as keeping the Klingons happy and the Dominion at bay). When Diplomacy fails however, it may be turned into Treachery. Doing what must be done sometimes means doing amoral things "for the greater good". This willingness to be ruthless is figured into his lower-than-normal Integrity, while the other attributes are the same as Defiant Captain's, i.e. stronger and smarter than average. I personally think Sisko's smarter and tougher than that. He goes hand-to-hand against Klingons and Jem'Hadar after all, but in the context of "In the Pale Moonlight", he's not so physical. Nor is he that Cunning, relying on Garak to come up with the scheme. So it all works here. Cost on personnel is always a bit hard to gauge, but it can be said to represent how important a character is in the Star Trek universe. Sisko as "the hero" (Defiant Captain) is worth 4. As The Emissary, he's a 5. But this Sisko has been corrupted. He controls events, yes, but it all seems to be in other people's hands. He's forced into a corner by the Dominion, he lets Garak make the calls... A 2 may seem low for a shaker and a mover like him, but it's not so far off when you really stop to ponder events. This is a rather well done card, with a couple of elements less obvious for this aspect of Sisko. Reaches 4.4.
1E TREK SENSE: A number of things just don't hold up in first edition. A minor point is that there are no classifications in 2E, leading to some cards no longer working for Sisko here, including a lot of Equipment. The attributes are also non-sensical because of the different scale. Here, he's too dumb, too weak, and way too treacherous. The DS9 icon becomes fairly meaningless and he doesn't benefit from 2E's contention that DS9 personnel should work with other DS9 personnel. It's a storyline element that's lost. The discussion on Cost, of course, is moot here. The various problems bring the score down to a 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: This Sisko is much cheaper to play than the two others, but that does mean he's weaker. And remember, if he's in play, you can't play either of the others. The Emissary has much higher attributes, a lot of doubled skills and a good card manipulation ability. Defiant Captain downloads a ship and is matching commander of the USS Defiant. Clearly, in a DS9 Fed deck (Home of Starfleet Command), if not using the Defiant, Man of Resolve is the one to go with. Otherwise, it depends on your focus, but usually, you'll go with one of the others. Man of Resolve does have a good skill list that includes 3 former classifications and gives you the option of turning Diplomacy into Treachery for the rest of a turn. He can use his Treachery when sharing skills via Shady Resources, but keep the Diplomacy for attempting missions, avoiding the growing number of Treachery-targeting dilemmas. Although he's also a good recepient of Confessions in the Pale Moonlight when attempting missions with his Treachery. And yet, the Diplomacy will generally be the most useful of the skills, since it can be combined with Fed events like Diplomatic Overture and Nothing That Happens Is Truly Random. Being a [DS9] Engineer, he can help you use Visionary. If you don't mind denying yourself the other Ben Siskos, he's a very cheap fount of skills, so does get a 3.5 here.
1E STOCKABILITY: Cost is meaningless, and the attributes are lame, but Man of Resolve has 3 classifications (though none may be specifically used as such). Security's great, especially with that Defend Homeworld download. With Engineer, an equally great skill, he can then download the USS Defiant using Construct Starship. He does count as its matching commander in 1E. Leadership, Officer and Diplomacy are more standard, but Treachery is still pretty rare among Feds, so switching from Diplomacy can be great. Certainly, it allows him to pass In the Pale Moonlight, which is very appropriate. And you're not saddled with him if you want to use some others, since persona replacement allows you to go from one to the other fairly easily. Indeed, since he's the only version with Security, Defend Homeworld may be a good way to report him early for later persona-switching. In any case, he can still pull off a number of Sisko's tricks, like being matching commander of multiple ships, quick solving of Investigate Coup, and working with the Terrans. Comes off rather well at 3.7.

TOTAL: 16 (80%) Though I may be biased towards a "Siskoid"... Nah.
1E TOTAL: 15.1 (75.5%) Exactly the same as the baseline 1E Benjamin Sisko.

PICTURE: This is the same shot of Boheeka used in 1E, but more of a close-up, and consequently lighter. The effect is a little more intense, though perhaps the pic has less definition. The paranoid, now claustrophobic close-up suits him, and is still top notch and interestingly lit. An excellent 4.4.

LORE: The alliterative subtitle is pretty good (though more what non-Cardassians would call him), and the quote appropriate to both pic and special ability. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Boheeka's a minor official, though as a Cardassian, that still puts him in the military. I suppose Officer thus applies, and like most Glinns, he's Staff icon. Glinns seem more subservient to Guls than commanders to captains, so this fits. The rest of his skills relate to his access to bio-implants, though not to Garak's classified one per se. Biology and Engineer are particularly suitable. Physics... debatable. His special ability plays with his smuggling activities, but in a truly conceptual way. First, he conducts his "smuggling" only when first reporting, never later, which is odd. Second, it's all done with cards from hand and draw deck, which are basically conceptual resources, not really referring to anything in the game as of yet. It's not a complicated mechanic though: I give Boheeka X amount of stuff, and he finds X amount of stuff for me. The stuff may have nothing to do with implants, etc., but that's what you get with so vague an ability. Attributes are ok, if uninspiring. Integrity could have been lower (willing to defraud Cardassia - no Treachery?), but isn't unfair. Strength and Cunning are sound for what is basically a military clerk and technical expert. As for Cost, it takes that much effort to contact this "Clandestine Connection". After all, he comes with a potentially lucrative trade. In all, I see a 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: Boheeka is Cardassia's only Smuggler, which does come with a couple of fringe benefits in the form of Smuggling Run and possibly Morn. Furthermore, he's a Glinn, so can be downloaded to the top of your deck via Conscription. Since he comes with a "when you play" ability, this gives you added control in when you can make the specified trade. Boheeka allows you to draw a number of cards equal to the number you discard, and since the Cardassians are wastrels, they operate better with lots of cards in their draw deck, cards they usually have to discard. Your hand could get filled with less useful cards or duplicates or whatever, so a guy like Boheeka could help replace a defective hand. His skills aren't bad either, throwing Biology in an Engineer's profile. (Fun that he would greatly help pass An Old Debt, for example.) Attributes aren't too great, but aren't too low. I don't think Boheeka's Cost is unreasonable either. A 3.7.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) Got better with age.

PICTURE: Better suited to some kind of Boarding Party card, Kruge's men never actually engaged the opposition. Even out of context, the pic's a little gray, though not visually uninteresting. As a side-note, I kinda like the guy in the back who looks like Jerry Seinfeld's Uncle Leo. A not-very-wisely-chosen 2.7.

LORE: In the same evocative vein as the title, the lore is a little Klingon pep talk. Good, but again, very specific to a boarding party idea not actually allowed by this card. Still very aggressive and worthy at 3.4.

TREK SENSE: 2E splits battle into two concepts, combat (formerly personnel battle) and engagements (ship battles). Combats are all Assaults, fair enough, but they may have different initiators and consequences, depending on the exact card. This allows for more variety and actually more Trek Sense than 1E personnel battle. After all, are all fights initiated by a leader and result in X amount of deaths etc.? No, not really. In this case, we're talking about Klingons, so yeah, someone does die. No more than one though, and if the Klingons lose, they don't lose a single personnel. Pretty calm fight, ain't it? Well, they WERE Born for Conquest, so they're pretty tough (really the only connection I can make with the title). In this case, an Officer leads the battle, and so it becomes a goal, and a goal is worth points. The Cost of 3 is on the high side because of its effects, but that's game mechanic stuff. In Trek Sense, we might say that the combat is meant to be more important since it IS an order from a superior. It's unfortunate then that the personnel killed is chosen at random, because he or she can't have been that goal. It'll certainly be interesting to see how other Assaults fare, since they are so close to one another, but here it's a 3.3. A bit too mechanical in its death toll.
1E TREK SENSE: Well, in 1E, we've always been able to call personnel battles without the help of cards, so this is really meant to represent a battle with a goal (again with the randomness problem), ergo the points. Personnel battle still works in the same way beyond this point, and there may be many more deaths. Born for Conquest, they kill and EXTRA person. So a much better 4.5 here.

STOCKABILITY: The Klingons have a ton of what I call "battle permission slips", but since they can build their decks around this concept, it's a good way to get around the 3-copies-per-title rule. You can only put 3 copies of Born for Conquest in your deck, but also 3 copies of A Chance for Glory, 3 copies of Brutal Struggle, etc. Is Born for Conquest better or worse than its cousins? Well, it offers a kill AND 10 point for a Cost of 3. In exchange, you should have a Klingon Officer present (not too hard). There are cheaper kills with Let Honor Guide You, Ferocity and Brutal Struggle, but no points, while the more flexible A Chance for Glory has the same Cost, but no kill. Heart of Glory is the best killer, but you pay for it, and again, no points. So Born for Conquest remains the only one-stop shop for both effects. The Klingons can win their combats too, so this is at once a good personnel attrition tactic and a fine round-the-corner strategy. Having Assaults sitting in your core actually helps some Klingons, so you don't have to use them right away, and if you need one in a pinch, they are downloadable in a couple ways. A good 3.9.
1E STOCKABILITY: 1E doesn't need Events to initiate personnel battles, but Born for Conquest does offer more than that. See, in addition to the usual kills suffered by the losing group, Born for Conquest adds another to that list. It's like getting two kills instead of one at the end of the battle. Sure, there are cheaper ways to gets extra kills than using an Event - Phaser Burns is one example - but there's more: 10 points. The Klingons are great at fighting, and with this, they can get paid for it. An extra 10 points here, another there... Worth it. And Klingon OFFICERs grow on trees. Hits 4.1 too.

TOTAL: 13.3 (66.5%) A Chance for Glory still the #1 battle permission slip by far.
1E TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) 2E was designed for conquest!

PICTURE: Good action shot on location. The white skies contrast well with the gray quarry and costume, the guy behind Borum doesn't steal his spotlight, and his expression has all the necessary urgency. A nice 3.8.

LORE: The quotation is part of the speech that showed off his selflessness, and it tries to explain his special ability. A nice hommage to the character, and a 3.3 here.

TREK SENSE: Borum is a mixed bag. The Honor is a given, since he was ready to give his life for Li Nalas, but the Integrity doesn't seem to match. Maybe what he's ready to do to the Cardassians mitigates the score a little. Medical... I guess he could have helped with other prisoners' injuries, but then why also give him Exobiology? Are we supposed to believe that his Cardassian overseers would let a former Bajoran Resistance member work on THEM? No anesthetic please! What may be missing is Geology, since he did work in the mines. The Staff icon is probably a throwback from his Resistance days, since there's not much use for it in the POW camp. The special ability allows him to make a sacrifice similar to the one made on the show. Inspired by a great Bajoran Leader (Li Nalas, in this case), he saves them from the discard pile, dying for that Leader, if you will, and very permanently (removed from game). What's odd is that the Leader in question may have been dead/discarded for a long time - he doesn't replace them at the point of death. While this is mechanically troublesome, there is a sense of said Leader being left for dead some time ago (like Li) and being 1) found and 2) saved by Borum in one fell swoop. Still far from tip-top, but I understand where the ability is coming from. Wrapping things up, Borum's average Cunning looks fine, and his Strength has him a scrappy fighter, but emaciated. A selfless POW at Cost 2? Sure, why not? So all in all, there's a lot of good here, but also some strange decisions. A 2.2 unfortunately.
1E TREK SENSE: One thing I don't understand about the conversion rules is why the Bajoran Resistance keyword isn't equivalent to the Resistance skill. Wha?!? Along with attributes that are too low (especially Integrity now), we've got an even lower 1.7.

STOCKABILITY: Honor's pretty common among the Bajorans, and it does appear on a number of their missions. Medical and Exobiology don't seem to be a priority there (nor are they common in the affiliation), but are pretty important to passing dilemmas. So the skill set works, though the attributes are middling at best. As a member of the Bajoran Resistance, he can be used to destroy Events (Deep Roots), and begin a combat (Just Like Old Times), but he also has a special ability of his own: You can throw him away (remove him from game, never to get him back) to recover a Bajoran Leadership personnel and place that personnel exactly where Borum was standing. Indeed, at a Cost of 2, he can recover a personnel that costs more than that, and put it directly in play. How about Bareil Antos, Odo/Constable, Sisko/Emissary or Opaka? They all have a Cost of 5! That's a big loss to take if you ever lose them to the discard pile. With Borum, it doesn't have to be so bad. Even better, you can throw Cost 5 Leaders away on purpose from your hand (say, with Days of Atonement) only to throw away a Borum to get them into play. You can only have 3 Borums in your deck, and only one in play at a time, so there is a limit to this, but it certainly offsets high-price personnel nicely. And unlike Steeled by Loss, Borum can do stuff while he waits for his big moment. A very good 4.
1E STOCKABILITY: 1E Bajorans aren't too hot on Medical, and even weaker on Exobiology, so Borum, even without an actual classification, isn't a bad addition. Medical/Exobiology is, of course, excellent against dilemmas, with Honor bringing up the rear, so to speak, but the Bajorans have few missions for any of them. Runabout Search might work, but I don't see Borum as an obvious choice for the mission. His special skill lacks the necessity it has in 2E, since there are cheaper ways to recover personnel from the discard pile. Removing a personnel from the game seems like a steep price. Still, there are more than 20 possibilities to choose from, including the more important First Minister Shakaar, Kai Opaka, Kira Nerys and even Leeta and The Intendent. Attributes are lame at best, so his main use will still have to be as Medical/Exobiology support. A 3.3.

TOTAL: 13.3 (66.5%) He'll take the hit.
1E TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) He'll take the hit even more.

PICTURE: A strong, youthful warrior's face, and they manage to make the DS9 support beam look like a Klingon weapon! Cool enough for a 3.5.

LORE: The lines could be delivered to any of a number of Klingons from "Way of the Warrior" onwards, which makes it great for a non-unique. We understand right away what kind of Klingon Bregath is supposed to represent, and I do like that Garak's mentioned in there. A 3.6.

TREK SENSE: In "Way of the Warrior", we meet Klingons that have long longed for battle, and now that they've declared war, they're running a little wild. No Honor here, as you can see, but Treachery certainly fits. Bregath (and Klingons like him) are junior officers (Staff icon) and soldiers of the Empire (Security). Engineer may come up in the searching of ships, you gotta know the lay of the land, so to speak, but I don't know where they get Archaeology. It's an odd skill to give the them in the context of the Klingon-Cardassian war, and I can't find a rationale for it. Cost is fair for a junior officer with so many skills. And the attributes? Well, while they are Treacherous and ruthless, these Klingons are still just following orders, so their Integrity isn't TOO low. The average Cunning is ok, though could still have been lower, and the Strength adequate even if Klingon warriors should get a little more than that. And lest we forget, there's the special ability that boosts Bregath's attributes when an enemy ship is damaged. An interesting incentive to battle, these Klingons are after glory, after all, and space battle (engagements) is their chosen method. Gaining glory simply gives them more confidence and makes them tougher opponents. Not sure they should get the rise in Integrity also however. One minor anomaly is that Bregaths are boosted by dilemma-delt Damage. I guess these young turks see a damaged ship and they automatically assume Klingons caused it. Aside from one absurd skill, I think they did a really good job with him, and he really is a portrait of a time. Great "universal". A 4.1 despite the flaws.

STOCKABILITY: Klingons have various incentives to win engagements and combats. One of them is Bregath, a cheap enough non-unique that has 6-7-8 attributes as soon as you put a Damage card on an opposing ship. Those attributes are great for mission solving (that's Kahless-level Strength!), and his skills aren't bad either. He's got two very versatile former classifications, Engineer and Security (often required together on missions), and Treachery that works well with the Sisters of Duras. Archaeology rounds it all out, a skill that turns up often enough on missions. Look, your Klingons are gonna be engaging ships anyway, so a simple Damage card gives you an army of high-attribute personnel, whose Strength certainly gives you an advantage in committing to combats. Attack the ship, then attack the crew. Since it's much harder to destroy a ship in 2E, you want that Damage to go a long way. And hey, you don't even have to battle, since Damage dilemmas will work just as well. Bregath gets my 4.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) Ahh, those super-weenies...

PICTURE: The reunion of Garak and Tain is a dark and moody one, despite the smiles. I don't really like Odo standing there off-palette with that blazing neon sign behind him. They're incongruous in an otherwise rich image. Still 3.4.

LORE: Tain's words hint at the potential brevity of the Reunion. The trust just isn't completely there. Fun Cardassian double-talk worth 3.3.

TREK SENSE: An interesting play on Cardassian paranoia, very much in their flavor (paranoid AND wasteful). The story goes that a reconciliation takes place between your Cardassians and a Cardassian that has possibly fallen from favor. With all the government changes, this really could be any unique personnel. Unfortunately, that reconciliation is short-lived, and the personnel is assassinated at the end of the turn. Most probably, they were just using the former exile. In the pictured episode, Garak wasn't killed (he's a Plain, Simple survivor), so it's not a direct representation. The idea that the personnel must be downloaded to Cardassia Prime is also not a direct representation of "Improbable Cause", since they reunited on a ship, but Cardassian exiles all seem to want to go back to Cardassia some day, so it's all believable when you forget the specifics of the picture. Deftly done, and the low enough Cost is fine: 1 resource to bring the personnel to the planet, another for putting the assassin in place, let's say. I'm impressed by the amount of Cardassian flavor that comes out of this card, and give it a high 4.6.

STOCKABILITY: Why would you want to download a personnel only to kill it at the end of that same turn?!? Well, in the turn that personnel's alive, you might use him or her in a mission attempt. In fact, you might download a personnel, let it die, then later rescue it from the discard pile in order to get at it more quickly than if you were to get through your deck normally. It might also be used just so you can command the right kind of personnel for an Event or Interrupt play. All depends when you get Brief Reunion in hand, of course, and it won't work with a Terok Nor deck unless you also stock Cardassia Prime. If "play" and "place" were the same, we'd get more mileage out of this card, but as is, it adds a little flexibility, just not much. Just 2.4.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) Great Trek Sense enhances the card a lot.

PICTURE: Now hold on. What was wrong with the 1E image selected for this planet? It's not the same planet: the original was grey and purple, and the new one is green and blue. Don't get me wrong, the new one looks more realistic and prettier, but I miss the original's bruised quality. It would seem to be pulled from newer Enterprise shots, so it's a "correct" look of the place. I'll have to go with a 3.

LORE: To really understand where the quote comes from, we have to go back to the original's lore. There, we learn that Kriosian rebels are seeking a foothold on Krios' sister planet (historically its sister, not astrophysically). The quote refers to those rebels then, and is pulled from "The Mind's Eye", which actually takes place on Krios. We sometimes lose a lot of useful context with quotes replacing standard text. Great writing in the quote though, and much more evocative of Brute Force, whatever context you want to give it. So despite the lack of information, still hits 3.4.

TREK SENSE: The mission to crush the rebels is a Klingon one for a good reason. If Krios is in Klingon space, then 1) the rebels are their problem, and 2) the relationship between Krios and Valt Minor probably puts the latter in or near Klingon space. Note that this time around, you can send Non-Aligned mercenaries to take care of business (payment may come from the Klingon Empire or Valt's government itself), but the extra 5 points for keeping it "in the family" is clear on who's responsibility this really is. Having even one merc around could tarnish the Klingons' reputation, so you want to keep the story about letting things get this out-of-control out of outsiders' hands. 40-45 points seems a bit much to me though. It's not as if Kriosian rebels would ever bring the Empire to its knees. As for the requirements, we need heavy doses of Leadership, Security and Strength. Makes sense: Crushing - not just beating - the rebels will indeed require a lot of force (BRUTE Force). The soldiers (Security) need Leaders. Takes care of that, and I really have no comment on the Span aside from the fact it looks fine. Aside from the inflated point value, it all works, attaining a good 3.8.

SEEDABILITY: Leadership and Security are easy for the Klingons to come up with, and Strength is their best attribute, so it shouldn't be too hard to get 45 points from this mission. You DO need a lot of personnel however, if only for the Strength requirement. Though Kahless and Gowron have 8s, the high point is usually 7. That's at least 6 personnel even with the two big guns. Still, Strength can be boosted, and if you have an interest in combat, you're likely to have high Strength overall, especially when attempting a mission later in the game. You can also have Non-Aligneds present, and they may have more Strength to offer from the likes of Data/Loyal Brother (and no doubt some version of Lore when Necessary Evil comes out), but aside from Roga Danar, the NAs really aren't up to the Klingons' level. If you must have one or more along (perhaps filling skill holes for dilemmas), then take your medicine and only 40 points. But I wouldn't really recommend using the mission for a pure NA deck. They just don't have the Strength yet. Other affiliations using an NA personnel to gain access? That's another matter as I think the Jem'Hadar will be very comfortable with the mission, possibly more so that even the Klingons. 40 points really isn't bad. High points that fit into more than one deck type, but personnel-hungry. I'll go with 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) Aside from the title and planet name, unrecognizable from its 1E cousin... and it helps!

PICTURE: The shadows are a bit stark, and I don't believe that background is outside for a minute, but it's still sharp, and Hudson has definitely abandoned his Starfleet uniform here (in favor of burlap?). The guerrilla fighting is about to begin. A fair 3.

LORE: His subtitle is a mirror of Evek's, appropriately enough, and his quote, though short, summarizes well his intentions. Nothing amazing, but all relevant. I'd say 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Hudson is the highest-ranked personnel to ever convert to the Maquis (covering Leadership and both icons), and from his high position, I'm not suprised he could get a ship for them. He did supply them with weapons, and I'd put the Peregrine-class fighters in that category. His original job wasn't to fight the Cardassians, of course, but to use Diplomacy to make the DMZ a peaceful place. He ended up flying a Peregrine into battle against Sisko (Navigation) and no doubt uising what access Officer grants to get all sorts of toys for his band of terrorists. As for Treachery, you might argue that he was doing what he thought was right, and never hurt his friend Sisko, etc., but the skill is supposed to represent multiple underhanded activities. Basically posing as a Starfleet officer in order to mount attacks on a civilian population (Cardassian or not) certainly counts. Indeed, the Integrity of 4 is the one that takes an "I'll do bad things to protect my community" stance. Cunning and Strength, at Sisko's level, seem fair as well. As for Cost, a 3 is a fair amount of work for the Maquis to "turn" someone so high-up to their cause. Especially if he's bringing a ship with him. A strong 4.5.

STOCKABILITY: Cal Hudson reads like a TNG or DS9 top Officer, which isn't something the Maquis have a lot of. And yet, they have the same missions the other Federation-types do. There's nothing rare about any of his skills... unless you're a Maquis! His special ability is particularly useful, especially early in the game, since you need to get a ship out as soon as possible to go attempt missions. Maquis ships are almost all cheap (the Defiant excluded), so putting out one late in the game won't be too wasteful (and may help in battle). There's a good selection, all of them with special game text, so you can download one who fits your current situation/strategy. Downloads must still be played normally from hand and paid for, so it's not an outrageous ability, but there's enough here to warrant a 3.7.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) I hated this character, but he makes a pretty good card.

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