To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the First Contact expansion set.

PICTURE: I don't know why most FC bridge crew pictures were taken at the conference lounge (more close-ups?), but it's not as effective as anything they could have pulled from her sickbay scene. More action, more drama, something that would have gone hand in hand with her new lore? None of that here. And if I must make comparisons, while the image is less blurry than that of Premiere Beverly, she's not as pretty on it. Like most of the new bridge crew, the picture disappoints. A 2.8.

LORE: The restriction box kills the lore box, and we get a thin justification for that same restriction box. Some fun and the identical title makes her a persona (always useful), but dreadfully brief. A 3.

TREK SENSE: Beverly is of course a double MEDICAL (it's "chief" medical officer) with the two skills associated with that job, Biology and Exobiology. We've seen her use those enough to know it's true. Since the series, she's gained a special download and a restriction. First the download: She can either download a Medical Tricorder (that would be assuming she had one on her all along) or an EMH (like in the film, she calls for one). No problem with the first option, the second though, doesn't work as well. I would think that EMHs would be the product of a hologrid, not a person. Fine you say, in any case, the EMH can only be played where Holodeck is present. Not so, with Holo-Projectors, the good Doctor can appear on any ship. How would Bev have handled that? Especially since she "swore to never use one"? Would she have installed one in the Projectors just in case? The restriction is ludicrous by the way. Even if she dislikes the idea of working with one, how is her Integrity and especially her Cunning going to plummet to half their original value? Just Integrity (she gets short-tempered) maybe. The only attribute change from Premiere is a lowered Strength. Evidence for this? Not much. She lets an EMH fight the Borg for her, I guess. Dicey. And since I have to talk about the Enterprise-E icon, I will. Crew Reassignment doesn't really fix the Trek Sense problem inherent to the icon. And that would be (all together now): How can staffing the most advanced ship in the fleet make you useless on more basic models? It's even worse when you consider that Enterprise-E personnel like Hawk don't have the icon (he's flying blind!). And worse still to think that I really doubt a doctor needs special knowledge to staff a ship. Is sickbay-E all that different from sickbay-D? They should have gone the route of Ensign Tuvok and Captain Kirk on this one and given the bridge crew both icons. A 2.4 and no more.

STOCKABILITY: First, I don't consider the lack of a proper icon all that crippling. There are plenty of personnel with normal staffing icons to go around. I wouldn't go using the entire FC bridge crew at once (especially without the Enterprise-E in play), but an E-E icon personnel is at least as good as a Civilian without any staffing icon at all, and we use those without a second thought. Icon aside, she's just as good as the other Bev, can still solve Evaluate Terraforming by herself, can still work a Genetronic Replicator alone, etc., etc. Add to that a download of the Medical Tricorder to add more MEDICAL to any Away Team or crew and she's even better. You can also download the EMH Program and jump ships, if you care to. The point of STRENGTH won't be making the difference, so I won't mention it. Oops, already did. Forget I said anything. And finally, I wouldn't consider switching between the two Beverly personas during a game. Thay are very close in ability. either you want the Command icon or the download. But using both... is that Tricorder important enough to warrant putting an FC Beverly IN ADDITION TO a Premiere Bev? The FC pretty much replaces the Premiere version in this case: a 3.7.

TOTAL: 11.9 (59.5%) Aw no! Bridge crew personnel and doesn't get a passing grade? Them's the breaks. (She matches Premiere Worf, btw.)

PICTURE: A nice one, rated G. The empty bottles, dark and murky, are a much better choice than the potentially objectionable shots of Zef and Troi getting drunk. After all, we can't all be in our late teens-early twenties. I would hope that, despite the game's growing complexity, there are still younger players with us. And if we want to keep those players, we can't have their worried moms looking through their card collections and finding pictures of people getting "blended". A diplomatic selection from Decipher, worth a 4.1.

LORE: Wonderful! Again, alcohol isn't mentioned, but the "dubious nutritional value" line is a great one. The line from the movie ain't bad either. The whole thing explains well how this could crop up as a dilemma during a mission. And that title! "Blended" is great. That scene between Troi and Riker ("I'm just trying to blend in." "You're blended all right.") is one of the funniest in Trek history, and in that context, "Blended" doesn't just mean that you personnel are getting drunk, but that they are "stopped" because they are making efforts to blend in with the locals. Excellent: a 4.9.

TREK SENSE: This card's a difficult one to make sense of. The dilemma requires the inbibing of some rather strong liquor. That's not for everyone apparently. Morn and Scotty are Trek's big drinkers, so that's not only clever, it's inspired. Diplomacy would have a personnel say "sure, I'll respect your customs and have a drink". Empathy - aside from Troi being the victim in the film - shows understanding of the locals and of what needs to be done to get in their good graces. So what you need to pass is either someone who can drink you under the table, or someone who will politely and gamely draw the information out over a glass of tequila. Can't Klingons drink you under the table with a stomach tied behind their backs? Couldn't have an entire affiliation immune to Blended now could we? All the personnel targeted except one (if there are more than one) are stopped. Fine, since they are either busy with the locals or incapacitated by the alcohol. Why can one continue though? Figures someone else is doing it? Got called designated driver? I don't know. A 3.9.

SEEDABILITY: An excellent filter since it gets rid of two skills required to pass a load of other dilemmas. In the right combo, it can be quite effective. Slow down a team by seeding at a Diplomacy/Empathy mission, or make it vulnerable to dilemmas that require those two skills in multiple. It's even better than most filters, because it's also a wall. Put it the tail end of a combo (seeded first) then zap your opponent's diplomats with Zaldan, get rid of his Empaths with Empathic Echo, then ask him if he has a Montgommery Scott to pass Blended itself. Plus, Empathy itself isn't easy to find except for Feds. There are so many ways to take advantage of this card (whereas many other dilemmas have a specific spot in its particular combo) that I have to give it a 4.5.

TOTAL: 17.4 (87%) Whoo-hoo! Let's go celebrate!

PICTURE: The better of the three Cubes (if I count the Borg Ship dilemma, and I do). It shows better effects than Borg Ship and more subtle ones than Queen's Borg Cube. Its dark back end makes it come out of nowhere, and I guess those flashes of light on it are weapons at the ready. Menacing and cool. A 4.5.

LORE: That dry mechanical Borg tone works well for the affiliation's cards, even if it's sometimes a little ordinary. Here, we get mentions of "biological and technological distinctiveness" and a one-word task: Assimilate. Brrrr. 4.

TREK SENSE: These are huge ships that can take on a large number of ships at a time. This is well shown in the 24/24 WEAPONS/SHIELDS numbers. And I'm glad they match the Borg Ship dilemma. It's good to be consistent. The Range isn't as good though. I seem to remember the Enterprise having problems keeping up with the Cube that first attacked Sector 001. At least Transwarp has explained how they can get from the Delta to the Alpha Quadrant. It takes a lot of drones (as many as 7!) to run a ship this size. They can report aboard of course (they are activated) and so can equipment. Ships this size are outposts all their own really. The Tractor Beam is supported by the show. Destroying a Cube is a mission in itself, so it works to have it be worth as much as 45 points. Again, nice match with the Borg Ship dilemma. Anything missing? I can't really see what. A relatively close fit: 4.

STOCKABILITY: As Borg, you're either swarming the spaceline with Scout ships, or scouting with big crews with Cubes. The second option (relevant here) is only slightly risky: 45 points may attract the unwanted attention of your opponent's personnel. It's also hard to get those points, so the Cube is probably safer than your average Scout or Sphere. Hard to staff, yes. But once you're out there, your cards can report directly aboard. The ship is usually so tough that, unless pigeon-holed by a nasty dilemma, you may never have to report another. Use it as a movable outpost from which you can scout locations and scare the enemy. It's great for assimilating planets, carrying the resources you need to do so, and has the firepower to assimilate or eliminate starships with a minimum of fuss. As good a choice as any: 4.1 (Borg only).

TOTAL: 16.6 (83%) The Borg didn't get a lot of junk seeing as everything they have is real close to necessary.

PICTURE: Data and the Borg Queen up in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g... aside from the nice motion picture photography, nothing really stands out. It plays as advertised: a 3.

LORE: Now THAT's good lore. As witty as it was in the film, and a bit surprising on the card (I thought this was a PG game!... hey it's only kissing). I won't mention the fact that we don't know with whom he had his last encounter since the date brings us to after Tasha's death, but before he met Jenna D'Sora. A mystery for the ages, I suppose. Goes well with the picture, but not much with the game text, or even the card's title (should have been Android Kiss). A 3.9.

TREK SENSE: Half and half. We have to look at what the Queen was attempting to do here. Obviously, she's seducing Data, and it was clear in the film that she was willing to make him her counterpart. When he resists at first (bad probe result), she puts the moves on him (probe again). He might be more willing after a little noogie. The first function works great. The second, however, makes little sense. Say the abducted male is Data in this case. Queen kisses him. She gets 5 new "resources" just like that? Maybe the personnel volonteers information or energy in exchange for her favors. The more powerful the abductee, the more she can get out of him. It's a strain to justify this one, especially when the drawn "resources" are going to be mostly Borg. And answer me this: if the Queen is not aboard your vessel or on the table, who is doing the kissing? The drones don't appear to be smoochers and they are all (7 of 9 excepted) male! Score drops to 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: These days, the key to a good deck seems to be deck management. The Cardassians have Ore Processing, the Bajorans have Renewal Scrolls... For the Borg, it's Borg Kiss's second function. Your Talon drone need only abduct a male personnel and you could get as many as 6 free card draws. That's not bad in itself, and helps quicken the Borg a bit, but the real action occurs when you have your Queen out. Remember, she can replace card draws with specific downloads. A well placed Kiss and that new Cube can be fully staffed in five or six less turns. The first function also speeds you up, getting rid of a bad probe result (and putting a card into your hand in the process) on Assimilate Counterpart. And since that objective is probably just a link in the chain towards Assimilate Homeworld, you don't have time to lose on repeat probing. Only works in certain strategies, but a good 4.1.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) First Contact really did bring us more good cards than any expansion before it, didn't it?

PICTURE: Blurry, strangely colored, and not very good at all. It's more a shot of a modified tricorder than that of the neuroprocessor. What... no good pulls from the scene where Picard takes it out of the drone? Barely a 1.

LORE: All the information is there in no nonsense language. Describes both the thing, the picture and the game text. A 3.5 here.

TREK SENSE: Ok, the neuroprocessor contains a communications log from the Collective. The Borg's goals and plans are all in there, and anyone able to decode it can possibly ruin the Borg's plans. That's the principle behind this interrupt. Does it hold water? First function allows you to look at a Hidden Agenda. Much like Picard in the movie, you're out to find out what the Collective's secret plans are. Great, except that it works on Borg and non-Borg players alike. How would a Borg neuroprocessor have information on the Dominion (I purposely chose an affiliation that has never been assimilated)? Second function mimics the show even more. Here, a Borg must have died, so you can pull the processor out of him, and you must have a tricorder to decode the thing. Once you've done so, you can ruin the Borg's plans (that interrupt). Problems: none of this has to happen at the same place. A Borg can die at X, a tricorder exist at Y and you don't even need personnel present. Even worse, the plans of the Borg are ruined without the need for personnel to move even a finger. And what's this about Rogue Borg? Do they have a hive mind? If not (they are rogue after all), then how could there be info in their processors. Also, the penalty seems a bit high, acting like an Alas, Poor Queen for the RBMs. Why? Too many unanswered questions, but a good try at storytelling. A 2.7.

STOCKABILITY: It's a good thing they gave the card two uses that work even if your opponent doesn't play Borg or else this one could have been quite unstockable. Peeking at a Hidden Agenda has its uses. It may keep you from making a mistake (like playing a Kevin when The Line Will Be Drawn Here, or leaving something the Borg want undefended), or warn you of impending trouble. Pretty defensive though. The second function will work against Rogue Borg Mercenaries attacking en masse, but won't help with cheesy lone Rogues playing the stopping game. Against true Borg, the interrupt can throw a wrench into the works by killing A Change of Plans or an Adapt card (for example). Problem is, it's all very defensive and you can only do it if 1) a Borg (or RBM) has died, and 2) you have a tricorder in play. While these two things are easy to get, it still seems like a lot of set-up for a maybe card. A weak 1.9.

TOTAL: 9.1 (45.5%) Yeech, even *I* didn't see this score coming.

PICTURE: A very nice picture, well-colored and almost surreal. Though we know it's the "apple core" of a Cube (I assume, from the movie), the actual detail pictured looks more like a wave of Borg technology about to crash down on us. Very dynamic. Cool-looking polluted planet in the corner too. Questions have to be asked however: If the picture is of the inside of a Borg Cube (though the movie's not clear on that), it's not a good choice for an outpost. But the look of Borg technology allows for this, as the inside of their outposts may well look like the inside of their ships. An excellent 4.7 for both relevance and poetry.

LORE: Fun Borg-speak. Its tasks are those of every outpost as discussed in the rules, but with that Borg flavor to them. A superior 4.2.

TREK SENSE: We'll have to take into account the rules about Borg Outposts in the Delta Quadrant in this review. For now, the Outpost exists at an unknown, unaffectable location in the Delta Quad. It's a fine piece of storytelling if you ask me. No one knows where the Borg originated, so the outpost is an unknown quantity, impossible for other quadrant affiliations to get to. Not being able to target it with natural phenomena is a little strange however. As for the card itself, it makes sense that it would have Transwarp technology and humonguous shields (double a Cube's!). I'm a little worried about having the right to build a Delta Quadrant icon facility in the Alpha or Gamma Quadrants though. What's the deal with that? How about making an assimilated outpost card or something that can be built in any Quadrant? And I'm still not sure about the "one ENGINEER can build an entire facility" situation. All in all, I'd have to say 3.5.

SEEDABILITY: Outposts are always important components of any affiliation's reporting strategy, though they are always circumventable. With the Borg, you need not seed an outpost if you plan on reporting Scout ships to Transwarp Network Gateways. Still, the Borg Outpost (or BO), is one of the better Outposts out there. It's totally protected! Huge SHIELDs will make it extremely hard to destroy and the Delta Quadrant location makes it untouchable by other means. And being in another quadrant isn't as much of a handicap as it is for the Gamma-locked Dominion. The special download of a TNG gives you access to a "wormhole" much quicker, and in any case, staffing a Cube takes a little time, time enough to get a second TNG in your hand. The only problem lies in various cards that force you back to your outpost. A Revolving Door can really put the whammy on your plans. That's probably the best reason to build an Outpost in another Quadrant, since most Borg personnel and all their ships can only report in the Delta (except as allowed by a ship or dilemma). Necessary if you want to seed a Complink drone (and keep him safe), let's not forget that. A good 4.6.

TOTAL: 17 (85%) First Contact is a great expansion. Disagreeing is futile.

PICTURE: Slimy and sweaty, the Queen gets ready to swindle Data out of his soul. It's a good picture, one of very few Borg close-ups, but then, it IS the Queen. More than competent at 3.6.

LORE: Excellent lore, using the film's very poetic introduction of the Queen to really set her apart from other Borg personnel. Even the Counterparts use the mechanical Borg language, but not her... she's an enigma. 4.9 for this quote.

TREK SENSE: The coolest thing about the Queen is that she is an enigma, neither universal nor unique. Indeed, it would be thinking in three-dimensional terms to attribute these labels to her. She represents Borg universality (all drones), but is unique in her own sense, yet duplicatable if she were ever to die. Since she is the entire Collective, she can draw upon its entire resources. She thus has all three subcommand icons and the ability to select any skill. She can change that skill at the beginning of each turn. As far as Trek sense goes, this isn't bad, but it isn't necessarily true. Shouldn't she have ALL skills ever assimilated? All the time? Or does she have to download the needed skill from the Collective? Of course, giving her all the skills would be terribly unbalanced, especially given the Interlink drone's existence. But couldn't she have skills in permanence? Like Leadership or Cybernetics? Her downloads make a lot of sense. A Change of Plans was initiated by her in First Contact, and she obviously caused drones to "awaken" at her command. They are limbs where she is the head. Her Cunning matches that of other great computer minds, and while you could argue that having the entire Collective's smarts would give her a higher rating, she DID get outsmarted by the Enterprise (more than once). Her Strength matches the events of the film, where her cybernetic body could barely stand up to Picard. The Integrity seems a little high though doesn't it? She believes what she does is right, and you can't say she's selfish, but a morality contrary to ours can't take her higher than that 6. Scores a 4.5.

STOCKABILITY: While not essential to Borg decks, she's very close to it. Mostly, she offers flexibility to the usually rigid Borg. She can use any of her three subcommands to staff ships and she can choose any skill for herself at turn's start. Because the Borg are lacking in a number of skills, this can prove invaluable. Who else can diplomatically pass through Q-Nets? In overcoming dilemmas, she's the Collective's only natural (non-assimilated) source of Empathy, Leadership, Music, Honor, Youth, OFFICER, etc. The same is true if you're planning to use a card that requires such a skill. You could even try Guramba to make attacking her more difficult. The Interlink drone will protect your Queen by leaving her on the ship, but still in the Hive, plus multiplying the skill by the number of Borg present. (In the above example, it requires to Diplomats to pass Q-Net.) In most cases, you'll have to scout to see what dilemmas are there, and change your Queen's skill at the beginning of the next turn. You lose time, but no more than if you were using an Adapt. The Queen's downloads, I dare say, are just as useful. For one thing, A Change of Plans is crucial to Borg Objective strategies. You never know when your current objective will be invalidated. Don't get caught with your cyber-pants down. Plus, you don't discard the Objective when she's in play! If you get your Queen out early (recommend Tenting her), you can staff your Cube much more quickly. Report a drone at beginning of turn, download one at end of turn, maybe Kivas Fajo three as an Event. She's also a matching commander for her Cube and Sphere. And while Captain's Log bonuses aren't going to help a Cube much (a Sphere yes), Defiant Dedication Plaque will raise it's RANGE, AND she's downloadable using Ready Room Door. You need to get her out as soon as possible, don't you? Good attributes too. Of course, it's dangerous to build your entire strategy around one personnel, so beware of depending too much on her. Also, Alas, Poor Queen can be very destructive if you ever lose her. But she probably has lots more advantages than drawbacks. For example, she'll save you from an exploding ship with Three-Dimensional Thinking. And Engima versus Unique? Enigma comes out ahead, making the Queen immune to Doppleganger, Klim Dockachin, Klingon Painstik, You Will In Time, Rascals, Cardassian Trap and Framed for Murder. A big fat 4.9.

TOTAL: 17.9 (89.5%) Hits the top ten without even breaking a sweat.

PICTURE: Always had problems with this one. It doesn't appear in the film, so at first, I though Decipher had ILMed the whole thing, and I couldn't understand why it was so fancy. Then I saw "I, Borg" again and was surprised to find that Hugh's scout ship did indeed look like that. Decipher still enhanced it though to bring it more in line with the movie Cubes. Guess what? I still don't like it. It looks like it has no roof. It has coat hangers hanging from those pillars. It looks like a cross between a Greek temple and a kid's playpen. Nice work, but totally unconvincing. A 2.1.

LORE: There's that cool Borg lore again. Not only does it describe the function of a Scout ship mixed with chilling Borg goals, but it also hints at the Scout's usefulness in Establish Gateway strategies. Thanks Decipher! That's a little card extra right there on the card for newcomers. A 4.5.

TREK SENSE: The Scout Vessel normally only carries 5 drones (Hugh was 3 of 5 remember?), so only a pilot is necessary (the Nav drone). Since a Scout goes out of the way of normal Borg channels, it can be found on the frontier of the Alpha or Gamma Quadrants thanks to transwarp. Destroying Borg has always been a mission unto itself, and while 5 points isn't very much as far as points go, a Scout is extremely easy to destroy, so okay here too. The Range is kinda low, as most Scout vessels go for a 9 or close, but with transwarp, who needs good engines? The ship just isn't made for battle, with a 4/4 in Weapons/Shields. Odd that the Borg would have such weak ships when their technology is so advanced, but then again, the only one we ever saw had crashlanded, so it can't call itself all that. The card makes a lot of sense, though it does play fast and loose with what little we know of this type of ship. Doesn't go under 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: There's nothing like a good old-fashioned Swarm deck. While pretty dinky by themselves (4 SHIELDS?), as a group, they are as dangerous as any other ship (though it takes 6 to match a Cube). There's safety in numbers (and you'll need safety seeing as your opponent'll be hunting for those 5 points). The real trick here, is to report ships WITH CREW already outside the Delta Quadrant. You don't even need an Outpost with this strategy. Not only does the ship appear on a spacelince end, it gets you a Transwarp Network Gateway right then and there. How many cards can download the card that allows them to enter play? Not many. The ship is incredibly easy to staff, and just great for Establishing Gateways. Not only can you accumulate Scouts by adding more and more TNGs (you WILL need an Outpost in this case), but they make great probes for that same objective. High points for the one Borg ship that isn't disadvantaged by its Delta Quadrant icon: 4.4.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) If only the picture had been more convincing...

PICTURE: One of the most dramaticly striking scenes in First Contact is immortalized on this card without losing any of that drama. Picard's expression is a gem, and the extreme close-up makes it all the more horrifying. I'm not so worried about the blurriness of the photo, as it goes with the shock of the scene, but the servo looks a little too glued on for my taste. The picture hasn't captured the burrowing motion of the actual gadget adequately. Still a fine piece of work at 4.7.

LORE: Were they going for something Borg-like with the stilted speech here? If so, it doesn't quite reach its mark, while being too telegraphic for normal mode. Some good stuff though, like lots of information and a lovely way out of Borg needing to be there to assimilate personnel. Does a Trek Sense good. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Borg need to be in play and involved for Servos to be lying around of course. I love these dilemmas that are deployed by your affiliation specifically (Cardassian Trap feels like this though it's not). They really do wonders for storytelling. A personnel gets assimilated and turned into a drone unless the Servo can be deactivated, and that can only be done by a doctor and a cyberneticist. Makes sense that you'd need somebody to deal with the meat while another goes after the tech. This hasn't been reflected too much in the show though, because assimilation is extremely quick, you don't get much of a chance to stop it. It can be done later (sometimes) as with Locutus, but I don't even remember a cyberneticist present. Also, where do the Servos come from? Personally, I think the Borg should just have made it rain Servos on the Earth as soon as they were in torpedo range instead of engaging the Enterprise in orbit. Remote assimilation would have been much more successful for them. A 3.9 here.

SEEDABILITY: Fun for the whole Collective, but I think, mostly considered to be fun and not that useful. With Add Distinctiveness, it's a little better as those assimilated personnel are worth a few points to you. At space missions, they are automatically on a ship, from which you may be ready to probe for Assimilate Starship if that is your pleasure. Of course, you'll have to be lucky and hit just the right type of personnel to assimilate. (That, and Assimilate Starship isn't the best Borg Objective.) And while you may think that taking a personnel away from your opponent in a way that makes it hard for him to get it back is as good as killing it, but it's not that easy. MEDICAL is very common and Cybernetics has found its way onto a number of excellent personnel, so the dilemma won't always hit. On the other hand, the skill still isn't common, and MEDICAL can be filtered out. And if your opponent thinks of attacking your new drone, your Cube is allowed to fly over and retaliate. So you can recover the drone most of the time. Great fun, but somewhat useful too. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 15.8 (79%) Card #200 gets to make a good showing in a week that has proven itself generally superlative.

PICTURE: The dark and oily surface of the sphere is well highlighted on this card, but maybe it's a little too dark. Nice detailing overall brings this one to a 3.5.

LORE: The first sentence (in Borg-speak, of course) makes it roughly equivalent to a Runabout or even a Miranda in function. The second one at once mentions the launch option and makes a little joke about resistance. Love it! That's all we are to them, futile resistance. An easy 4.

TREK SENSE: If it seems strange that a Sphere requires twice the staffing of a Scout, and is worth twice the points, it shouldn't. Where Scouts are the size of a small house, Spheres are at least as large as the Defiant. Two Navigation drones does seem a little strange though. Why not require only one with a Communication drone instead? The Com drone could supply the link between the Cube and the Sphere carrying it. The most interesting thing about Spheres - and it's something all shuttles probably should have been able to do, at least, in part - is that they can report aboard larger ships (Cubes contain surprises), be carried aboard them (of course) and launch from them (again, supported by logic, and the events of the film). The stats make it strictly short range (it can't cross some spans) which makes sense since it's used as a deluxe escape pod in the film, but later Voyager episodes have shown deep space, long range spheres. Hopefully Decipher will come out with one of those. Weapons and Shields are certainly bigger than the scouts, and the Sphere do seem to be more fragile than your average starship at 6. I don't dispute the relatively low Weapons either. Just because they had Orbital Bombardment capability, they didn't even destroy the Phoenix with them. Nobody got vaporized in the attack that I could see. So, largely a success at another 4.

STOCKABILITY: Not for mission scouting, the low Range has always hurt this ship. Cube decks usually kept one around to use in combination with Launch Portal in case worse came to worst, or to boost the effective range of that Cube. A launched Sphere can also be a great place to hide your important Borg during a scouting attempt (Interlinked so as to still work with your crew), or can be scouted from, protecting your Cube instead. But face it, Cubes and Scouts each have a deck archetype devoted to them, and the Sphere, nothing. Until Sphere Encounter came out that is! That Incident makes Spheres as fast as Cubes and as easy to report as Scouts. The boost in RANGE alone is worth mentioning as this was the ship's greatest weakness. That you can swarm with them is even better. Scout your space mission (a juicy "Any crew may attempt") and wait for your opponent to swoop in for dilemma-less points. Then flip Sphere Encounter over and download any number of battle-hungry spheres with crew to that location, probably blowing the offending ship out of the sky thanks to combined firepower. Then you have a cool fleet (also called a "bag of marbles") on the spaceline, in just one turn! Spheres do come into their own! From a probable 2.9, they go up to 4.4. No more, because they're really only suited to work with space missions (I recommend Scout strategies adapted for Spheres).

TOTAL: 15.9 (79.5%) The runt of the Borg ships still does pretty well.

PICTURE: Not bad. Nice balance of color and a dynamic camera shot offset the too tiny Borg working on the deflector dish. The composition is smooth and has a central focus. Real nice at 3.7.

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

TREK SENSE: A fine piece of storytelling. If Stop First Contact just isn't working, switch to plan B (actually, plan C since Assimilate Homeworld was plan A) and build a beacon to get the Borg from 2063 to assimilate Earth. The Borg choose a ship to build a beacon on. If they still have a ship, they do it there (easiest scout-job ever). If not, they have to go over to another one. This is just like in the movie. It takes a while, enough so that you could be stopped while doing it. Great job of enhancing storytelling in the first probe result. You actually set transponder rods in place. It's a two step effort though, and another probe is needed to send out the signal that seals Earth's fate and disrupts the timeline. (I'll have cause to speak of timeline disruption when I review Stop First Contact.) The probes are nicely chosen too, as you need communications and defense to both coordinate and protect the transponder rod undertaking. Navigation though, will be used to direct the dish at the right star. The only rough spots are 1) why can't this objective be played without first trying for Stop First Contact? But I would have asked the same question of the movie. Maybe screwing around with Borg history itself is only a last recourse. 2) The first probe, while ensuring a timespan to the action, is a little forced. It seems a pretty easy task without much chance of failure. Still, these are slight complaints, and I consider this card hits a 4.8.

STOCKABILITY: Stop First Contact strategies are extremely difficult to pull off, and they should be! The objective can wipe out an entire affiliation and non-Fed humans along with them. That said, if you're planning it, Build Interpelxing Beacon is your last ditch defense in case Stop First Contact fails. But what if your opponent isn't playing Federation? Then, it's scarcely worth the effort, is it? Thankfully, Population 9 Billion-All Borg is a nice incentive. Now, that extra time isn't wasted since you can get yourself a two objective win. Of course, the other objective pretty much has to be Assimilate Homeworld or Salvage Starship, since double any other, and you only get 50 points (plus your Earth 40). It's still taking the slow road, and Build Interplexing Beacon is the last chance option. So stock it if you're doing this, but if Stop First Contact works, then it's a wasted slot (recommend: Q's Tent). But imagine all the wasted slots if SFC DOESN'T work and you don't have a BIB handy. So, a good support card for one of the riskiest strategies in the game. A 3.1.

TOTAL: 15.47 (77.33%) Middling as far as Borg objectives go.

PICTURE: Bah, I don't think any of the FC bridge crew pictures are all that hot as they've usually been taken at non-pivotal moments in the film. Data's was at least taken from one of his more famous lines, one I've never liked: "To hell with our orders." It was always too much like Spock's in ST VI and sounded forced. The pic itself is a little gray and lacks pizzazz. A fair 2.9.

LORE: I'm very surprised to see elements of Generations here. I thought they were off-limits. Just look at Captain Kirk: he has a huge backstory, but his lore only has stuff mentioned in his one DS9 episode. Anyway, it's good lore. Avoids repeating what it said on Premiere Data, and is still pretty funny. Love the line about joining the Borg. Also like how they've made this Data different from the other one by incorporating the emotion chip. A superlative 4.6.

TREK SENSE: Data could probably have loads more skills than he does, but that wouldn't be very balanced. Still, he has exhibited understanding of all the scientific skills at some point in his life. This version of him has Astrophysics, Exobiology and a double dose of Computer Skill (has a computer for a head!), all very sensical. His ENGINEER is also a natural for someone who spends more time in Engineering than Geordi. I've always found it slightly odd that someone at Ops was OFFICER yet wore the Services gold uniform (of engineers and security), but Data is definitely Officer as he's Picard's Number 2. Like in the film, Data can write a fractal encryption code in seconds (a fast download). He can fly the Enterprise-E, but surprisingly, can't help with other ships. He is the nemesis of Lore of course. Cunning and Strength are superhuman at 12 (though we could probably prove they were higher, if not for Data's naiveté and peaceful nature which drives both attributes down). What has changed since Premiere? The icons, sure. He's dropped a point in Integrity because he considered joining the Borg in their unholy quest. I feel however, that Data should have had a higher starting Integrity to begin with. The guy doesn't lie and is incredibly loyal. He's lost the Music skill too, not because he's forgotten how to play the violin, but because when he's in Borg-battlin' mode, there's no time to play any tunes. This is Data at a particular time in his life: that one mission. Narrow, and like any other Data, doesn't quite stand up to the real deal (which would be a super-card indeed). A 4.

STOCKABILITY: This Data or the one from Premiere? That is the question. As personae, only one can exist at a time. This one can't staff many ships, but that can be worked around. He still has a large number of skills, some rare and useful like Astrophysics and Exobiology, one not so rare but very useful (Computer Skill x2) and a second classification (one of the best). He's only lost Music which is less useful unless you're running a Ressikan Flute deck His attributes are sky high, and he won't lose a battle easily. The download is semi-useful at this point. You'd have to count on the Borg trying to assimilate your vessel, and why would they if they knew you had FC Data aboard? With Blaze of Glory, I fully expect us to be able to commandeer ships. Yee-haw! Then, this Data will really start coming into his own. For now, I wish he'd downloaded Android Headlock. Ah well. You have to watch out for the nemesis icon. While it's good defense against Lore users running Rogue Borg decks and such, it can also be a liability. Lore can just as easily come over and unplug his brother as his brother can do to him. That could be one reason to stock both personae. Persona-switch only when you're sure YOU're nullifying Lore and not the other way around. In any case, if you lose one Data, you can always report the other, and they are generally excellent personnel, with all the perks (and small dangers) associated with androids. And he's just as much a matching commander for the Sutherland as the original was. Close to the original, with good planet-mission-solving abilities and now, some defensive value. A 4.3.

TOTAL: 15.8 (78%) I think Premiere Data will come out better, but that's just a hunch.

PICTURE: Screen shots are often boring, but this one goes up a notch thanks to movie-quality graphics. I think it's the simplicity of colors that works here, red going well with the interrupt icon itself. Still can't give it more than 2.5.

LORE: Not bad, but I have a feeling it'll get the card in trouble about Trek Sense. They had room for more and didn't use it. An example maybe? Pretty average at 2.9.

TREK SENSE: First, it's a Captain's Order. Okay, why not? In this instance, the deactivation is (or may be) ordered by the captain. He can order one of four things to be deactivated. One is the Auto-Destruct Sequence, which this card was actually based on. Just like in the movie, a Fractal Encryption Code will prevent the sequence's deactivation. Nice little piece of storytelling although I doubt players actually protect their Auto-Destructs with it much. You may also deactivate a Red Alert (odd, that'll usually be your opponent's red alert, so how are you doing that?) and a Static Warp Bubble (which would kill the person inside, according to the episode). Lastly, you can deactivate an opponent's holographic Away Team. All these things can be "deactivated" sure, but problems crop up aplenty. The lore says Deactivation represents the use of command codes, but when was the last time someone used command codes to stand down from Red Alert? And where are you getting all those command codes for your opponent's stuff? Picked it apart until it was worth a 1.9.

STOCKABILITY: Why use a card that nullifies specific cards when you can use more general cards like Kevin Uxbridge and Amanda Rogers? After all, if your opponent doesn't use the cards in question, you've wasted a card slot. Well, Decipher has made Deactivation fairly attractive by (1) making it nullify some commonly used cards, cards you don't want your opponent using like the evil Static Warp Bubble or the ultimate report-card, Red Alert. Also, (2) as a Captain's Order, you don't have to wait for the nullifier to naturally come into your hand, you can download it with Ready Room Door. And of course, (3) it won't be affected by The Line Must Be Drawn Here. Cancelling an Auto-Destruct doesn't seem as useful, but you could bluff your opponent's intruders into leaving your ship (doable perhaps with Emergency Transporter Armbands) by playing Auto-Destruct on it and then deactivating it before the end of the turn. Like I said, really not that useful. The last function, the one that erases holographic Away Teams is only defensive and dependent on your opponent using holograms (a more and more remote possibility as the affiliations multiply and holos do not). If anyone's dreaming of wiping out an attacking party made up solely of Fek'lhrs, well... maybe. Much better though is to use it to derail your opponent's holographic redshirt strategy. For those players who enjoy setting off dilemmas with holos, deactivating (never losing) those holos in the process, now you can kill them outright after they've beamed down. Ranks above average at 3.7.

TOTAL: 11 (55%) Nothing to rave about, it's still good against abusive and cheesy players.

PICTURE: There's no other card like it, a shot of Data totally distorted by a Borg force field. Nice colors and didja notice? His hands seem to be making the Vulcan greeting. A cool one at 3.9.

LORE: Attempts rather successfully to explain the Trek Sense of the game text, but is a little short. Not bad though it just doesn't sing with any kind of intensity or interest. A 3.

TREK SENSE: The card's picture only gives one example of a dead end, while the lore makes the dilemma a little more general. That's why I'm not really going to make the review about passing a forcefield, but rather about hitting a dead end in any situation. To make this work, we have to imagine points as experience. The more points your crews have, the more missions they've solved, and the more experienced they must be. If you're halfway to your experience goal, you don't suffer from the dead end. You have enough experience to immediately circumvent the problem and continue. If you don't, you'll have to abandon the mission attempt (can't think of another option) and come back to it later when you've learned more about attempting missions. Well, I've justified it pretty well, but you can still find bugs in it. Like, how would solving Study Plasma Streamer help you solve Diplomacy Mission? And do points really = experience? I think a case could be made to the contrary. There's also no Trek Sense reason why the dilemma would have to be unique. It just doesn't seem like you're really looking for a different option at that same mission. 2.9 despite the justification given above.

SEEDABILITY: It's a great stopper, but will only really work at the beginning of a game UNLESS you can keep your opponent under 50 points. Leading with The Higher... the Fewer could be one way of helping your cause along. And though only one Dead End per player can exist, the others being discarded upon encountering them, you may be tempted to seed Dead End under all 6 of your opponent's missions. This won't help with thief decks, and may well be a waste of seed slots. More economically, target a high-pointer or two. That way, your opponent really has 2 missions to solve before he can try his hand at the Dead Ended one. If you play your cards right, this dilemma can also kill those cheesy one-mission win decks. Lots of universal space and a Black Hole? A Dead End at the right place will totally destroy any chance of winning cheese-style. Goodbye Ressikan decks. And in a combo with Edo Probe, you can make him lose even more points! A 3.7.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) A good dilemma brought down by Trek Sense.

PICTURE: I understand the need for uniforms, but I would have much prefered seeing the FC bridge crew at pivotal moments in the movie. If that means showing Deanna drunk, then so be it. It's still not a bad picture and has a nice pastel color palette. Still, somewhat of a disappointment at 2.9.

LORE: Reveals that she is now a full commander equal (yow!) in rank to Will Riker. Other than that, reads a lot like her Premiere lore, but substitutes the colorful background information with an almost quote from the movie. Kinda trivial, but attempts to explain her special skill, which didn't really need to be done, as we'll see below. A slightly above average 3.2.

TREK SENSE: I've discussed the Enterprise-E icon before, and I think it's even more ludicrous here. Okay, the Enterprise-E uses newer technology, but how does that affect the counsellor's job? Especially technophobe Deanna Troi. Her skills are still there, carried over from Premiere. I'm of the opinion that counselors could just as well be MEDICAL personnel instead of OFFICER (they wear the blues), but Deanna's place on the bridge and the way the game has built up Medical, makes me accept it. Her Diplomacy has been shown again and again on the show, and Empathy is a Betazoid trait. And then they give her... Navigation? The woman who drove the Enterprise-D into a planet? The woman who, by stepping on a shuttle, might as well doom it to crashland in a puddle of Armus? First Contact (the movie) didn't build her up as any better a navigator, I'm afraid. A great skill for Deanna would have been Anthropology. She's much better at this, helping Data figure out the Children of Tama's metaphorical language, etc. She does gain a special skill, that of unstopping her Away Team once per game. I know the creators cutely referred to her line about time. "Let's not waste any time stopping," she's supposedly saying. Okay, but there's a better reason for this, and it lies in her abilities as a counselor. One of her tasks aboard the Enterprise is crew morale. Could we then infer that she's motivating her Away Team, or perhaps finding insight where none existed? It works on many levels, but we have to ask: why only once per game? If she can do this once, why not every time? Also, why doesn't it work on her crew? No Trek reason, just gameplay reasons. As for her attributes, they absolutely did not change since Premiere. I'm not aware of any reason they should have, though I would have swallowed a point more of Cunning (experience). Navigation being a cavity in an otherwise pretty okay mouth, plus my reservations about the special skill, brings this one to an even 3.

STOCKABILITY: Why would anyone use her Premiere self? This one on the other hand, totally supercedes it. Same skills and attributes plus a couple more bells and whistles. Okay, she loses a Command star, but those are a dime a dozen. Just make sure you pick your ships well, either picking out an E-E or ships that require less staffing if you're using FC bridge crew. The Diplomacy/Empathy combo still lets her solve First Contact (the mission) alone. Add to that Navigation, a pretty useful, if common, skill and a nice special skill, and you're all set. Now, the special skill is only a once-per-game deal, but it's still good if you use it wisely. Unstopping Deanna's Away Team (which means she'll have to be stopped too) can save you an entire turn if you've been stopped by a dilemma just short of the mission goal. It also means your Away Team can escape the two deaths associated with Harvester Virus after being stopped on the doomed planet. Just an example of the type of thing you might save your skill for. Sometimes, you'll need another special skill or other ability to be unstopped at a given time. Troi can possibly ensure that, while providing a few good skills to dilemma resolution and relatively good attributes. A clear win over her former self (with no persona switching in sight) at 3.9.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) Three guesses as to which Deanna will score higher.

PICTURE: The great thing here is that we can finally read the computer screen without needing the benefit of freeze-frame. For all you lazy bones or tired eyes out there, here's the list of holodeck programs in Jean-Luc's personal folder, and they're all supported by the show:
"The Big Goodbye" Chapter 12, Holographic Novel (the name of the Dixon Hill story from the episode of the same name is remembered).
Café des Artistes - Enjoy a meal at a French café (from Jean-Luc and Jenice Manheim's date in "We'll Always Have Paris").
Champs Élysées - Famous section of Paris (visited by Ogawa in "Imaginary Friend", Picard mentioned it in "The Perfect Mate").
[something] Comedy - Laugh in a 20th-century comedy club (from Data's foray into stand-up, don't know why Jean-Luc would be interested... maybe he likes Jerry Lewis like a good little stereotype. Actually, Jerry Lewis IS funnier in French. Must be the actor who does his voice.)
[From now on the titles are indistinct, but the descriptions are not.]
The 1940's world of gumshoe detective, Dixon Hill (highlighted).
[something Pool] From planet Sumiko III, a safe experience (refers to Emerald Wading Pool, a program mentioned in "Conundrum". Problem is, the pool was on Cirrus IV, while Sumiko III had the far more dangerous Cliffs of Heaven.)
Horse riding in an open country side with a choice of ("mounts" is probably the next word, we know Picard is a horse rider and we've seen this program before in "Pen Pals").
The button Picard's hand is reaching for no doubt disengages the safety protocols. The few mistakes are Paramount's, not Decipher's and I'm really glad for a readable shot of this screen. A 4.6 (the image is top heavy with black).

LORE: Straightforward explanation followed by a quote from the film. Lends some color to an otherwise workmanlike production. The first sentence could have been more general as First Contact wasn't the first time we've seen this happen. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Worded with storytelling in mind, this one hits the mark. Since holograms cannot normally kill (though I'm surprised something like Fek'lhr wasn't programmed to do so - do the Klingons really use Safety Protocols?), disabling the safeties allows them (and holographic guns like Dixon Hill's Tommygun) to do so. So simple, it's impossible to argue with. A 5.

STOCKABILITY: Formerly a curiosity, holograms are becoming more and more viable all the time. With this Event, you can send your Holo-projected holographic Away Teams to battle your opponent's personnel. Your guys die? They are merely deactivated (keep a ship handy) and can come back for more. Opponent's guys die, it's for good. Imagine a pile of Fek'lhrs going after the other guys. 15 STRENGTH? Even STRENGTH 7 personnel will kick the bucket. A Protocol-free Tommygun will mortally wound one personnel at the very start of a battle to boot. The card is only limited by your need to battle and your access to holo-personnel. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 17 (85%) The weird thing is, this is the longest Picture review I've ever done, and certainly one of the shortest Trek Sense reviews I've ever done.

PICTURE: Picard's strange painted expression aside, this is a great pic. Not only do we get a rare chance to see Jean-Luc in Dixon Hill drag, but the flash of the tommygun firing is very dramatic. And look at the lore. The part about shooting his heart upon the Borg (from a line later in the film, and orginally from Melville's Moby Dick) is represented here in a sense, as part of his chest (the heart) is hidden by the flash of bullets firing upon his hated ennemy. Beautiful. A cool 5.

LORE: The title, I must say, is very good. It was never spoken in the film, and certainly not here (the Ahab scene occurs a bit later), but it represents well the situation. The lore means well, but sounds a little forced. Usurping Melville's words is a little trite the way it's phrased here. Still head and shoulders above most lore at 4.6.

TREK SENSE: Obsession and revenge take hold of one or more personnel and they are stopped from their mission for a turn. Could work. The target is an Officer with a lot of Integrity? Why? Sure, that's Picard, but how does it apply to other officers. Or rather, how does it NOT apply to Officers with less Integrity? I think it's because the dilemma ISN'T about indulging in revenge (which the less moral personnel do quite well), it's about being at odds with your own morals. The target personnel here wants revenge, but knows what's right. He or she is stopped because he or she has doubts, which makes him or her lose valuable time. That's why an Officer is chosen. Officers are the ones who have to make the command decisions. The Enterprise-E personnel may be stopped as well, due to Picard's orders and/or their own particular history with the Borg (or whatever conceptual enemy it is they might hate). Not the most solid of dilemmas as it almost needs another reason to exist, like an enemy present in some form. A 3.3.

SEEDABILITY: A filter with odd targets, this one makes a nice lead-in to dilemmas that require high INTEGRITY (like Q), good OFFICERS (like Maglock) or Diplomacy (like Shaka) because diplomats are often high INTEGRITY OFFICERS. It'll hit mostly Feds, Klingons and the Dominion (and maybe the Bajorans if you're lucky, and Non-Aligneds like Dathon), but rarely any others which limits its usefulness. It'll also stop E-E icon personnel, like you needed another reason NOT to use them. Actually, Federation players may be using them more now that they can report and staff better through Crew Reassignment. It hits them in an interesting way too. You can choose which ones go ahead and which ones don't. If you're good at remembering your dilemma combos, you can do interesting damage here. But only if it hits E-E personnel. Very limited in use. The kind of thing you replace with a Beware of Qed Q-Flash. Alone, a 2.8.

TOTAL: 15.7 (78.5%) A few high marks early on really make this one place higher than on any card of the day chart.

PICTURE: Crisp and clear, with an interesting background, but what's with the colors on the jacket? The closest part of it is brown instead of gray, almost like he's wearing something else over it. And what's an archeologist doing in Main Engineering? A 2.8.

LORE: Except for the his gender and species, all invention. So how good are the inventions? The name is one thing I don't like. It just doesn't sound Bolian (Mot, Rixx... nope, doesn't sound Bolian). First name, Rolls? As for the lore, it's only somewhat acceptable. Doesn't mesh with the picture's setting too much, for one thing. Universality is acknowledged ("representative"). There's a nice mention of the Daystrom Institute, the same annex mentioned in "The Offspring", where Admiral Haftel wanted to send Lal for study. Too bad there isn't a finer relationship between his archeology specialty and cybernetics to make this connection worthy. The "friend of Vash" is a really odd thing to put on there. I doubt she has many friends, especially in Starfleet. A relatively good effort at 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Universality, SCIENCE and Archeology are all supported by the lore without a hitch. Archeology is a fine mission specialty, one of the most appropriate in fact. He might as well be Staff. The attributes also make sense, with your usual universal Federation INTEGRITY, high scientist CUNNING and lower scientist STRENGTH. A bit of a yawner given all the tidbits in the lore (he could have had Physics or Cybernetics or ENGINEER or a boost to Vash), so it stays at 4.

STOCKABILITY: While the Federation isn't the most Archeology-driven affiliation available (only three Fed missions require it), a universal Archeology mission specialist will bring you very close to a one-mission victory. The mission? Hunt for DNA Program. With 3 Royses, you're 15 points closer to victory under Assign Mission Specialists. And since the Feds have Computer Skill, Biology and Leadership mission specialists available, Hunt for DNA Program can be solved for 85 points. Add some self-seeded bonus points, a Particle Fountain and a Drought Tree and you have your one-mission victory. SCIENCE isn't a bad dilemma solver either. And Archeology has a couple of other uses, such as use against The Charybdis. Limited, but very useful in this case. A 4.2.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) A well thought out personnel from First Contact. Had to be, with the already great number of Federation personnel.

PICTURE: It's the haughty snobbish air we've come to expect from the Doctor, and it characterizes well his early personality. Since this is a just-activated EMH, it would make sense for him to still exhibit these two-dimensional traits. An à propos 3.8.

LORE: The restriction box cuts into the lore, but the basics are there. We would probably have gotten a little extra like Crusher's use of him, but that was covered on I'm a Doctor, Not a Doorstop. Pretty basic, but not flawed. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: This Medical hologram has a lot of nice features. That there can only be one per ship or outpost is represented on the show, though here, logic would dictate that the program could control a number a doctors who could assist each other, but this is a flaw in the show's logic, not Decipher's. It can't join Away Teams, of course, but neither can ANY hologram. Why don't Holo-Projectors work with an EMH? The program too inbedded in the ship's core? Ridiculous. And it DOES work with Holo-Projectors, because it will exist on outposts and holodeck-less ships with the event's help. The special skill is what makes the card really shine. It really mimics an emergency situation. The EMH downloads from hand SUSPENDING PLAY to come to the help of your personnel. Great stuff! It can be called any time you need it. Too bad it doesn't have any other skills. I know the Doctor evolved into something more, but even a regular EMH has been programed with tons of medical information, including Biology, Exobiology, counseling techniques and McCoy's Cantankerousness. The attributes show an unreasonably low Integrity for a physician. He may buck at un-Medical tasks, but he's programed with the Hippocratic Oath from which he cannot flinch. The Cunning is high, as he's been stored with Medical knowledge, and the Strength corresponds to a non-combattant made from a magnetic field. Has one great Trek Sense feature, but the rest doesn't always work. A 3.5 nonetheless.

STOCKABILITY: I dare say, NEVER report the EMH normally, and ALWAYS download him from your hand to an emergency. You never know when you'll need him to surprise your opponent. In a normal game, he'll play like a card that says "adds one MEDICAL to crew" more or less, saving you from any number of (space) dilemmas. Don't forget, he doesn't go planet-side, or on any Nor, nor can you have more than one present. A Medical Kit and such is often a better deal than an EMH in this regard. More MEDICAL for your money and you can bring it anywhere, even where Genetronic Replicator is in effect. The real surprises come when you get attacked by your opponent. He's scouted out the territory and knows how much power you have, so he goes for it. Blam, you add a crewmember after he's initiated the attack (EMH suspends play, remember?) and things might change. Mark Tuttle, in Decipher's card extra makes a great point about suddenly having all the classifications necessary to activate your Kurlan Naiskos, but such situations will be rare. Personnel battles aboard ships however, are becoming a more common occurence, but again, is 5 STRENGTH going to make much difference? With the current rules, even a battle you win could see some casualties. Use in combination with I'm a Doctor, Not a Doorstop to instantly cancel a personnel battle you don't want to fight. He's also downloadable by Beverly Crusher (FC), whom he'll immediately reduce in attributes. A lot of limits on this guy, and he's not that powerful to begin with. A 2.9.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Showed promise, but didn't live up to my amazingly picky standards.

PICTURE: A nasty looking fella, mean enough to come and assault us. Too bad he's not in an action shot though. I really like his Spider-Man eye, with an extra cherry on top to make it pop out. The lighting is cool and atmospheric, but the "combat apparatus", aka that little pincer there, was laughable in the film, and, seeing as this is an Assault drone, here as well. Still a good 3.9.

LORE: Borg lore is pretty straightforward. His identification is a good one given his abilities, and his task is handled ok. (I keep thinking back to the silly cybernetic claw...) Oh, and a note on drones in general, since this is my first one, I really like how, within a subcommand (or among all the Borg), whether you store them in alphabetical order from the actual card title or Identification, it still comes out the same. Good job, Decipher. An adequate 3.

TREK SENSE: Defense drones are the equivalent of Security personnel, so what better than to give this patrol guard the skill of SECURITY? And his cybernetic enhancements turn him into a living phaser with that +2 STRENGTH to each Borg. Here, the skill works like hand weapons option B. That is: one weapon (the drone) gives a tactical advantage to all the drones present. I found flaws in that logic over in the weapons department, and here, it's much the same. How many drones does it take before that one Assault drone makes no or little difference? Of course, we're dealing with Borg, and they can coordinate their attack through the Collective. Workable... a 3.9 because, Assault drone or no, I've never seen a Borg who fights particularly well.

STOCKABILITY: The Borg don't have hand weapons. What they have is this guy: a living weapon with attributes and the extra skill of SECURITY. And since the Borg are particularly vulnerable to personnel battles (opponents may beam aboard their ships, anyone can attack them, their STRENGTH is a well-known low of 5 or 7), they'll need a couple of Assault drones just to survive the fight! Bring your guys up to a respectable 9 or 11 at the very least. The SECURITY will come in handy, but can be found on other, also useful, drones. And you shouldn't be afraid to stock Defense subcommands in a Cube deck (where you'll need Assault drone the most). The icon makes a good probe for assimilating counterparts, starships and planets, as well as helping pass a number of planet dilemmas. All in all, a very good 4.4.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) First Contact's economy makes a lot of cards indispensable to the Borg.

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