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

PICTURE: I often bash the background on personnel cards, but I have to say this one really helps its score. Simple lines, yet in a classic color scheme that complements Lightner himself well enough. The Phaser Rifle looks cool cradled in his arms, and his cool collected look befits a security officer. A nice 4.

LORE: Well, all invention, really. The Rifle in his hands probably inspired the marksman bit, and the mention of the Academy not so far in the "past" goes to his Youth. Cute tidbit about Parrises Squares too. A good 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Obviously Security, and the download of the Rifle makes sense since he's holding one in the pic (sort of like a Star Wars personnel with weapon). Since the lore dates his sojourn at the Academy, we can infer that his age would support his having Youth (even if the picture was unclear about it, which it isn't). The Staff icon works well on a Lieutenant junior grade. The only skill that's out of place is the Astrophysics. An odd skill for a Security guard to have, and a young one like this probably hasn't had another position aboard ship before this one. Maybe it was his best subject at the Academy? The lore might have helped here, but it doesn't. As for the attributes, they mystify me as well. The lore builds this guy up as a jock (a sports champion) and a marksman, yet his Strength is really low for a SECURITY personnel. His download of the Rifle makes it a relative 9, but I'm sure he didn't bring his gun to the Championship. The Integrity is likewise a little low for my tastes (as a Federation officer) and the Cunning, too high. Yes, it requires high Cunning to be skilled in Astrophysics, but like I said, I'm not convinced he deserves the skill. I wouldn't make such a fuss over attributes if he was universal, but he's unique! Spirals down to a 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: Well, the Federation used to be low on SECURITY before First Contact came along, and Lightner is a pretty good personnel in that capacity. Well, he's got a good download anyway. Makes him, and everyone around +3 to STRENGTH. Otherwise, while Astrophysics is a good and rare skill for passing dilemmas and solving missions, Youth is less so. He CAN solve Study Plasma Streamer by himself, so that's good. The attributes are pretty lame (especially the STRENGTH) without being any real kind of liability. All in all, a pretty average personnel, but good for streamlining your space deck or surprising your opponent with that download. A 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) Looks good, but reads less well.

PICTURE: The usual movie-quality design shows up here, with the unusual color of the Vulcan Lander really lending itself well to Lily's skin tone. (Note that the movie creators did a great job with the color palette, even the new uniforms match the interiors of the Enterprise-E.) This is just after First Contact, as she takes those "first steps", looking at Picard and co. leave, just before she looks up and seees the Enterprise vortex out of her life. A nice moment, making this a 3.8.

LORE: The first sentence is plain old facts. The second is a cool thing Picard said, kinda poetic, and great for this lady. The third fits her into the story, but is really dry. And the last is a quote that attempts to fit her special download into Trek Sense. That last one is kinda hokey. I would rather have had someting about mistaking Jean-Luc for Ahab, or never having read Moby Dick. That last one would have been a hoot! As it is, it feels strained. A 3.1 here.

TREK SENSE: She's Non-Aligned because the Federation didn't exist in 2063 (and the early date makes her AU), but her work with the Feds might have earned her that affiliation (or perhaps a dual-affiliation). My reasoning is that, knowing what she does, she wouldn't work for the Romulans, say (well, maybe she would). Those time location natives that KNOW about the Federation (she and Cochrane) might have been allowed to be Feds is all I'm saying. Not much penalty here though, it's a minor point. She's a Civilian entrepreneur, but also an Engineer. Says so right there on the card. STRUCTURAL engineering would obviously require Physics. Any standard skills they missed? I don't see any. The special download is as strained as its mention in the lore. She told Picard to blow up the ship, she can do the same to any ship commander, or set it off herself if she's alone... well, not so sure of that. Her last skill makes her able to doubly staff the Phoenix, since it appears that she was to be Cochrane's co-pilot. The error here is to believe she was the only one that was supposed to go up. Think of it this way: the Phoenix seats three. You don't put an extra seat in something that has to be launched into space because - and I've watched enough episodes of From the Earth to the Moon to know this - of weight constraints. More weight means more fuel. If there's a third seat, that seat is supposed to be filled, and was. Cochrane's entire team died (except for Lily) so the third pilot was lost (as was his name), and it took two Enterprise-E crew members to fill the slots. Now, maybe we're to believe Lily could fly this thing without the third pilot, but then, why even include a third guy? Ok, enough about that, let's look at attributes. All pretty close to the middle, with Integrity indicative of her selfish motives but ability to see that Picard was off track. Cunning a little low for someone with her skills, but could be lowered to take into consideration her "primitive" nature (I don't really buy it). And Strength is representative of someone that screams a lot when she sees Borg, but is still tough. No real objection here. All things considered, a 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: If you're playing with the Phoenix (for those extra 10 points probably), you'll want to include Lily. With Zefram Cochrane and she both reporting directly to the Montana Missile Complex, they can put the ship into orbit with no help at all. You might not even include a way to time travel, so that those points stay safe in the past. If your opponent doesn't travel to 2063 (quite possibly out of range), that's 10 points squared away. Yes, that's three cards for 10 points. But then, you only need three 30-pointers to finish things up, so no reason to put juicy Borg-assimilatable planets on the spaceline. Other than that little strategy (which isn't worth a whole lot), Lily has two classifications, including the really nice ENGINEER, a skill that's not as in demand as others, a lame special download and low overall stats. Let's talk about that download: she can only download to her location, so she either goes down with the ship or is the last to leave (in Trek Sense terms anyway). Dangerous, but could nab you some intruders still aboard your ship at the end of a turn. Since Auto-Destruct is limited in scope, so is her ability to use it. She can be used by any non-Borg affiliation, but who will really need her? Can't go over 3 here.

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) Still made the grade and is a good collector card.

PICTURE: I know I often compliment First Contact's color palette, but here I just can't. All the colors seem to be represented, and too richly at that, in a canvas of chaos. The cylinders behind Azar meld with her cranberry collar, and everything's too dark (except her face). A 2.7.

LORE: I'm interested in what this lone, background-less figure of a rather severe woman has inspired in Decipher. They make up this whole story which we can't really refute. Turkana IV is the home planet of Tasha and Ishara Yar, if you'll remember. Cute tie-in, and generally intriguing lore. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: We know next to nothing about this person except what's in the picture and lore. Cranberry is the color of OFFICERs, so that's from that. The two somewhat conflictual skills are part of her dual Federation/Turkana identity. The Greed would seem to be a left-over from her youth, and she's still after "opportunities". The Diplomacy is more strained, and might be interpreted as having something to do with her convincing Starfleet to take her on though she's from a non-aligned background. Most officers in the game and on the show seem to start out as navigators, but she could be some sort of diplomatic attaché instead. Would make sense from her skills and non-conn position. High Cunning is okay for someone who rose up to be Starfleet material despite the obstacles, Integrity is at a normal Turkana low, and Strength is fair enough for a woman her size. You gotta try to keep up with the logic, but mostly works. A 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: They're still making 2-skill UNIQUE personnel? Haven't they learned their lesson yet? Like that OFFICER/Diplomacy combo is hard to find in the Federation! But the Greed is unique in that affiliation. Yep, she's the sole Greedy soul in the entire United Planets. How's that useful? Well, Rules of Acquisition makes use of that skill a lot since the Ferengi have it in spades. Of course, that's what the Non-Aligned have always been there for! And Lisa's not really better than Baran or Bok, is she? Well, she's got a worse "suit" than they do (for the 47th Rule), but a worse one than Dr. Farek. Not even low enough on Integrity to pass In the Pale Moonlight (but enough to be targeted by Firestorm). And attributes that are practically fit to be on a universal drops the score to a 2.6.

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) A universal icon would probably have fixed everything.

PICTURE: I'm not too impressed. Zefram Cochrane's expression is bad enough without adding that horrible shadow across his face (the Flinstones look isn't becoming). The OCD is centered, but that leaves a large gap of bad background to the left. And the pic is even blurry (maybe because the Phoenix was shaking). A poor 2.1.

LORE: This, I like. Written from a 24th-century point-of-view, rock'n'roll gets pretty bad reviews. I also like the lines from the song being included, as they relate well to Star Trek. A good, even, 4.

TREK SENSE: Very little. First, since it's from the 21st century, it becomes an artifact for 24th-century people, but Trek Sense stops there. The rest is more or less conceptual. Except for the "magic carpet ride" aspect of the card, there's no way a music recording can magically teleport a ship and its Away Teams to another planet. Pure nonsense. And it works like a dilemma if encountered by your opponent (you remain the owner), again, no real reason. That it can be seeded at a space mission may be due to it being found in the Phoenix's rotting hulk in space somewhere. Since the Phoenix is at the Smithsonian, we'll have to believe Magic Carpet Ride was a favorite of genetically-engineered despots like Khan, and the tune was brought along on sleeper ships. Seems doubtful, doesn't it? The card could have been a dilemma called Magic Carpet Ride and fit in better. The OCD is only really included to be the artifact (you need an object). Conceptually, the OCD was "necessary" for Zefram Cochrane to make the first warp trip ("can't take off without it"), i.e. moving the ship elsewhere, though he never went as far as the card would have it. Magic indeed. And no connection to the OCD icon? An off-track 1.7.

SEEDABILITY: Well, it's more of a dilemma than an artifact. I mean, you can always "self-seed" to immediately move your ship and Away Team to the next mission you want to attempt as soon as you complete the last (and thus acquire the artifact). Sometimes, you work in a few missions with redundant skills, but the luck of the draw puts those missions too far apart from each other to allow for consecutive solving. As a dilemma, your opponent gets his ship relocated because you remain the owner of the artifact (à la Artificial Heart). Here, you can ambush your opponent's personnel and ship at a planet location where you have your forces present. Mission Debriefing will keep the Away Team on the planet and the ship empty or near-empty, easy prey for your Jem'Hadar and/or armada. On rare occasions, you'll be able to move opposing ships present at your mission location. Shoo them away so that you don't have to battle them, or get rid of their Away Team at your Nor (if the ship is still docked). You can even seed at space missions which makes it more flexible, though less effective if you can't separate ship and Away Team. The card is limited in that it requires AU cards to be seeded (not too difficult), and that it requires it be acquired. So no quick fix if you're looking to get rid of opponent's cards at your mission - you have to solve the mission! Of course, that may mean that a cowardly opponent might leave a mission unsolved after encountering the still-unacquired OCD, for fear of what you might do (especially if you've kept a garrison of deadly Klingons at a planet location). It would have made a good dilemma, but as an artifact, it isn't all that powerful, especially since it can't field trip too badly (sticks to the current spaceline). A good trick is to relocate personnel to Qualor II to be placed in stasis. A 3.7.

TOTAL: 11.5 (57.5%) Artifacts often overreach and in doing so, don't do too well in some categories.

PICTURE: A little static though it's got a fair-to-good composition and color palette. Not too foreboding as a dilemma, but the "Panel off-line" is visible, so not bad. A 3.

LORE: Well, the lore sorta circumvents what the dilemma actually IS here (see Trek Sense), but it leads right into the game text. Well-written, if a little general. And I always thought the title should have been Maglocks, plural. After all, there are three of them, even according to the game text. Another 3.

TREK SENSE: Just like in the film, Maglocks require three personnel with access codes (that's Officers - as Officer x2 does not exist, you're sure to need 3) and enough Strength to twist the Maglocks into place. I've already dealt with Hawk's inability to "pass" Maglocks in the film while his Strength was above 5, so that's THAT card's problem. Here, everything seems fine. The one question that remains unanswered is: what's the dilemma here? Is it something that requires you to secure a ship's deflector? Is it simply some engineering or computer problem that requires triple-input authorization (à la autodestruct)? We don't know. All we know is that's it's space only, which means the coordination is aboard (or atop) ship. Questions like this make this card average, at 3.5.

SEEDABILITY: A simple wall, it works better in a combo than by itself. After all, Officers are a dime a dozen, and STRENGTH in the 6 or higher range isn't uncommon. The Borg will probably have to adapt to it, since they have no Officers except for a couple of counterparts (or maybe freshly assimilated personnel) or a Borg Queen with that skill. And since most of their options are unique personnel, that's gonna be a little hard, especially if you hose them with a Cardassian Trap or something. Interlink drone required! In a combo, you'll want to combine it with STRENGTH droppers like Rascals or Interphasic Plasma Creatures or maybe OFFICER hosers like Don't Call Me Ahab or Military Privilege (in your Q-Continuum side-deck). OFFICERs, while common, may seem like dead weight to some decks, making this one a good trap. Limited by its space-only nature (though there are few space walls), it's still a good wall against redshirts in shuttles. A 3.9 here.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) One of the more simple cards in the set.

PICTURE: Aside from the fact that the color palette's a little weak (especially for this set), the frame pull was taken a little too soon. Our man seems to not suffer the effects of the phaser shot at all. The special effects are there, but the actor hasn't reacted yet. A weaker 2.6.

LORE: Only explains a small part of the game text and adds Picard's somewhat hypocritical quote (I wonder if he would have given the same advice while he was Locutus). It's okay, and the quote does give it flavor. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Well, only the first part is actually Trek Sensical, and not that much. It kills anyone just abducted (you're not getting him alive!), captured (he'll never tell our secrets!) or assimilated (you'll be doing him a favor!). A little extreme for the docile Federation, but other affiliations (the Dominion, the Klingons) are much more in keeping with this philosophy. The other problem is that you don't need personnel present. Hm. Who does the killing? Maybe the guy commits suicide, bites on a poison pill or something. Doesn't go with the concept of the card, but rehabilitates Trek Sense a bit. The second part of the game text keeps with the theme of the card (kills your own card), but makes little sense. Sure, you could destroy your own Holo-Projectors (all of them? conceptually they are everywhere), or burn down your Drought Tree, or tear up your own Treaty (though why would you want to?), but would you really be able to destroy Captain's Log, a mere conceptual representation of a matching commander's skill? Plenty of cards fall in this category. Too broad  to be acceptable. A 3 for this one.

STOCKABILITY: The first function is certainly useful against the Borg's Counterpart assimilation strategy. Kill your personnel when it gets abducted (don't wait for assimilation 'cuz it won't be a drone), and the Borg will have to change their plans. Your personnel dies, but at least no one else is using it, and with proper deck recycling, you can get it back soon enough. You may not want to kill your captured personnel, but again, it may save you from a nasty Brainwash/E-Band Emissions combo, or even from bonus point strategies. Process Ore to get your card back into your draw deck, or Res-Q for a more direct retrieval. As for the second function, it's not always easy to see why you would destroy your own event. And why not use Kevin Uxbridge if you really wanted to do so. Well, Kevin Uxbridge is vulnerable to such cards as The Line Must Be Drawn Here. You don't want that to happen to you. Which events are good for Mercy Kills? Well, maybe you're done with your Traveller: Transcendence or Alien Probe and want to go back to the way things were. Maybe something went wrong and your Anti-Time Anomaly has got to go. Maybe you want to shut down your Automated Security System. Any card that affects both players could potentially be a target. Force your opponent to work under Intermix Ratio for most of the game, then pass him suddenly by destroying a Borg Ship, that kind of thing. A nifty trick to rig Borg probes is to place good probes in Zalkonian Storage Capsule and Mercy Killing it when you need to probe. The cards go to the top of the draw deck and voilà, assured good probe. Still, it's vulnerable to Amanda Rogers where Kevin isn't, but the alternative may be even less palatable. A fair 3.6.

TOTAL: 12.4 (62%) Average by virtue of its mostly defensive nature.

PICTURE: Here, I won't just be rating the image itself which, let's face it, isn't that attractive, but the entire design. Flipping over everything from image to icons to text is a great idea for Mirror Image. Makes it hard to read, but so what? I heartily endorse it. Not sure how original it is (there's a Star Wars card like this, Hindsight, but I don't know which came first in the designers' heads), but it's certainly unique in THIS game. A good 4.7 here.

LORE: Bringing in that quote from the film was a good move. It gives a lot of flavor to the card, and the joke on "reflecting" isn't lost on us either. And thank you Decipher for making it short enough we don't get a headache from reading it backwards. A fine 4.5.

TREK SENSE: Well, none. There's no way to explain how the cards mentioned could affect both players, especially if the card represents either an image in a mirror or someone reflecting on ideas. Thematically, there are some points to be made. Obviously, "Mirror Image" makes the two players mirror each other where the target cards are concerned. That's the whole point. The lore is fun because it indicates that those cards are "unstable elements" introduced in the game (always a "critical situation"). Of the four cards, I'd have to say only Red Alert isn't really unstable, but the others offer card draws, and you never know what you're gonna get there. The Countdown... well, Riker will eventually show up and break the Captain's concentration. Hidden Agenda... who really knows a man's thoughts? Immunity to Kevin Uxbridge... Look, you can play these kinds of logic games all day, but the bottom line will always remain that nothing here could ACTUALLY cause the effect. I'm sorry, but a 2.

STOCKABILITY: As with most counter-cards, their use all depends on whether or not your opponent will use the target cards at all. If she does, you can flip this card over to get the same benefits for the next 4 turns. Extra card draws, extra personnel, ships and equipment reporting, etc. Masaka Transformations in particular will give you the ability to make your opponent discard and redraw her hand. Kivas Fajo can be used to make your opponent draw three cards AGAIN, after which you can play Scorched Hand on her. See, if you think offensively, you'll find more reasons to use this card. You can't be sure your opponent will stock the target cards, but you can be sure YOU will. So... make your opponent be affected by your own Traveler: Transcendence and nuke him with Thought Fire. Or that same card can make sure both draw decks run out of cards so that that lead can tun into a victory (like in the old days when only your own draw deck had to be empty). Yes, you can always use it as a counter against some card-drawing/reporting abusers, but it's more limited that way. Extra points for seedability (don't wait for it) and immunity to Kevin Uxbridge (don't see it go away before the countdown ends). A 3.7.

TOTAL: 14.9 (74.5%) Insert obligatory backwards text joke here.

PICTURE: The lighted table leads to Picard in this First Contact reprise of Senior Staff Meeting. Not bad, but a little busy, and the figures that are only partially onstage (Data and Picard) are distracting. The biggest problem, of course, is that this ISN'T a Mission Debriefing. It occurs at the start of the film, not at the end. Plunges to a 2.6.

LORE: Good explanation of the concept and game text. I do find the phrase "after action report" clumsy, though it's the current military term, it's not like we don't know what "debriefing" means, and that mention of bureaucracies should probably exempt a number of species, including most of the Non-Aligned "affiliation". 2.9 here.

TREK SENSE: Whether the protocol is instituted during the game (played) or been in effect since time immemorial (seeded), Mission Debriefings force crews and Away Teams to lose time after a mission attempt by discussing the particulars of that attempt. A sound concept, but leaves a little something to be desired as far as execution goes. For example, the over-arching nature of the card is disturbing. That such a policy would be instituted on one side of the table is one thing, that both sides become subject to it simultaneously is possible, but not always likely. I'm surprised in particular that the Klingons are this finicky when it comes to procedures, same for many NAs (who don't work under bureaucracies). This is a minor point however when you look at the Hidden Agenda icon. So... you weren't AWARE you had to do these Debriefings as a matter of policy? Makes no sense. Also, if Away Teams are stopped after a mission attempt, that means they are conducting their Debriefing right there on the planet? Even as those Jem'Hadar soldiers are bearing down upon them? When have we ever seen that? The Team should be allowed to beam up to conduct their meeting, no? Finally, the card's a Captain's Order. I'll give 'em that, with one caveat however: what's your captain doing ordering the other side to use a certain policy? That "mirror effect" still hurts. A 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: An excellent card for battle decks or simply to slow your opponent down. Flip it over at the worse time, when his Away Team is stranded on a planet and your cloaked Klingon strike team is close by, to make sure they won't return to the safety of their own ship before your turn. Any reason to keep personnel on a planet will require this event to really work. Don't limit yourself to personnel battles, a ship who forgot to leave Leadership aboard is a sitting duck (great in combination with Ship Seizure). Deadly dilemmas that get played on their location and keep killing (like Harvester Virus) will keep working while personnel are conducting their little meeting. At its root, the event works against those mega-Away Teams that attempt and complete more than one mission in a single turn. Hate those. Being a Captain's Order helps its score since it becomes downloadable by Ready Room Door (which can also protect it) and Commander's Office. The flip side is, of course, that the card affects you also, so I'd keep a Mercy Kill around for when you're done destroying your opponent's plans, or when your own mega-Away Team is ready to finish the game in a single turn. That's why I wouldn't protect it with Ready Room Door. The Borg however, don't attempt missions, and with the slower start-up, would do well to play this. It doesn't affect them at all :-). You gotta keep your options open. Finally a good score: 4.1.

TOTAL: 12 (60%) A just-passing grade thanks to usefulness, admitedly the real reason we buy these cards.

PICTURE: I was struck by the beauty of this card as soon as I saw it in the rules document, but little did I know it would be the very last FC card that would enter my collection! And it was worth the wait. The Phoenix all gold and shiny, a circular perspective all around it, the simple and elegant ship surrounded by the chaos of rafters (or of Earth at that time). Real glad Time Locations got the Doorway treatment on picture. One observation of a graphic nature: This being the only TL, it's hard to compare, but it's the only card with its game text NOT in bold. On purpose? Mistake? Giving it a 4.8.

LORE: Likeable and smoothly said. Not much longer than mission lore, but hits the right marks. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: First and only Time Location... here goes. I really think Time Locations should be played on the planet or location they represent, so that that location should be present on the spaceline. Right now, Earth doesn't have to be in play for this TL to be played, leading to all sorts of "field trip" abuse that had to be remedied eventually. That TLs have natives is an interesting point, and while forcing them to report there made some measure of sense, the new ruling ALLOWS reporting (which it should), but doesn't make it mandatory (since other AU cards somehow report through other ways). Small point: maybe a TL should be AU? All the natives (including ships) are accounted for. That's good. Now for the juicy bit, and how the card fits in the Stop First Contact strategy. This being not only 2063 Earth, but actually the missile complex in Montana, the Phoenix should immediately end up here. Heck, it's in the picture. Zefram Cochrane can acquire it later, being the only person who knows its "secrets". I'm guessing others could make it work (the Enterprise crew were ready to somehow make the flight without Cochrane if he was dead), but there's a problem with the Trek Sense of the ship (that darned OCD icon), and I'll have to get to that some other time. The Borg player may immediately download the Stop First Contact objective, of course. That's the whole point of the TL. You may nullify Stop First Contact by INITIATING First Contact, either by making the warp flight (launching the Phoenix) or having the Vulcans (in the Vulcan Lander) land on Earth. This makes me a little edgy, because for First Contact to occur, BOTH events should take place, but it's not the end of the world. We can always treat the Vulcans as conceptually present in the first case, and accept that they decided to land on Earth without noticing a warp flight in the second. I'll leave timeline disruption to Stop First Contact, but needless to say, there's a lot of stoytelling here, most of it quite interestingly put. A 4.3.

STOCKABILITY: The card's gotten weaker with the last rules update - Natives are no longer forced to report there. While the days of obligatory field trips for those personnel is over, the Complex can still be used for regular field trips. You Wormhole a ship here, and it's kinda stuck (especially if Earth isn't in play), unless the player was packing counters (like Operate Wormhole Relays). The real function of the card is to facilitate Stop First Contact for the Borg. Not the most popular strategy (though devastating to a Federation player), and certainly not the easiest. Population 9 Billion - All Borg makes it more interesting, but by no means easier. While the probing, etc. for Stop First Contact is difficult, STOPPING Stop First Contact is also difficult. Sure, launching the Phoenix or landing the Lander will do it, but you have to be packing Zefram Cochrane or the Lander to do it. Those aren't in every deck. It could mean timeline disruption without opposition. Other cute tricks you could play with the Complex: A combination of Rescue Personnel and Temporal Vortex will grab you the 5 points (ooooh, not worth it, though all you need to do to strand an Away Team is to report a native to the TL. Report Zefram and Lily there too, and you could send that free-played Phoenix (didn't even count as a card slot) to 10-point heaven. Beam them out with your Temporally Vortexed ship, beam them down to the planet, then Rescue them for the 5 points, and that was an almost untoucheable 15 points. The field trip stuff alone is worth most of the points, plus the necessity for the one Borg strategy, and a couple of decimals for that last bit. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 17.3 (86.5%) How does it compare to other Time Locations? Hard to say at this point. I want MORE!!!

PICTURE: While the colors and composition should be dynamic here, but there's something wrong with the picture. Several somethings, actually. First, it's a little blurry, a snapshot of an action that may have been a little too fast. Second, Lily looks strange - it's either a lipgloss problem or an odd expression. Finally, there's the weird stuff going on in her clothes: the black tears in her sleeve, and especially the way her gray vest blends into the background wall so as to practically cut her arm off at the shoulder. Misses the mark at 2.7.

LORE: Let me first say that it was a great idea to make a card out of the classic line from the film. Now, the lore itself is good too, managing to make the dilemma universal, while still winking at the events from the movie (and picture). Dryly humorous for a pat 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Simplifies things an awful lot, but has merit. You have to ask yourself the question of how an intruder got aboard your vessel, especially at the missions in the void of space (the ones that don't involve people, but phenomena), and how it gets captured or off. In the absence of any answers, we'll just have to look at the game text itself. Probes are a way to randomize outcomes and as such, are usually good for Trek Sense. There are two ways of looking at this one, perhaps depending on the individual intruder's ethical make-up. 1) Either it shoots (kills) or doesn't (stops by taking hostage); or 2) it stuns (stops) or kills by mistake (phaser on maximum). In Lily's case, it would have been the former. The choice of probe results is usually at least thematically linked to the events of the card, and here, I have a feeling they took their theme from the film itself - First Contact is an event, the Borg interrupt it, time-travel is an AU thing, and it's the Enterprise-E doing it. If you think it's instead linked to the dilemma itself, that works too: An intruder coming aboard the ship is an event, her escape is th interruption, Lily was AU, but also, her killing Jean-Luc would be an alternate possibility, and she was loose aboard the E-E. Of course, I dare say that if an Enterprise-E member is held a gunpoint, that person can talk him or herself out of it. I'm not sure about that probe result. Really shouldn't be a kill. The loss of the probe card is a purely mechanical occurence with no bearing on Trek Sense, right? Well, maybe, maybe not. We can view the probe card as the next resource to come into your hand or play. The intruder causes the loss of that event through her actions. Is that possible? Could be a way to explain how she's tracked down and captured, by spending resources on the endeavor. Not bad at 3.4.

SEEDABILITY: A sure hit, this dilemma will make your personnel automatically lose two things - the top card in his draw deck, and a personnel on this mission attempt. The only question is: will the personnel be permanently removed from the crew, or will it only be stopped from continuing with the rest of it. Events and Interrupts are staple cards that sould have an even chance of being hit, so you have an ok chance of hitting a kill result. AU and E-E are more rare (especially the latter), but add a few percentage points to the chances of death. Random selections are far less interesting than more specific filters when building your combos, but you can always hope for a good personnel draw, a good probe, and an important card on the top of the draw deck to be discarded. Fix that last one by playing Thought Maker as the crew comes barreling towards this mission, but don't let your opponent download something just to get a shuffle! As high as a 3.8 for me.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) Can't fault its originality, but may be too simple for its concept.

PICTURE: Numero uno, I don't remember this shot in First Contact (and I have it on tape) so I'm assuming it's a shot that was never used in the film (Decipher has access to that?) or a still photograph taken of the makeup (a bit like the set shots on Sites). In any case, I'm happy for the shot of an assimilated Cardassian, one who even looks like Garak. The Cardassian sense of family and organisation shines through in the skill-sharing concept I think. Well done, and nicely photographed. Good use of light and shadow and good composition in the background. He's sharing skills now, from his communication node. Oops, green is the NAVIGATION subcommand. Ah well... it'll have to settle for a 4.2.

LORE: The usual dry Borg lore is at least intersting in form if not in content. This one is cool actually. For one, "Interlink Drone" is a good Borg ID. Secondly, "skill-sharing" is described in high technobabble fashion. "Expedite aptitude dissemination", hilarious. The "enhance" bit isn't a useless add-on either, it refers to skills shared "at [their] highest level". A healthy 4.3.

TREK SENSE: The usual Borg trappings are there, and share in those elements' problems. First, we have an Alpha quadrant species with a Delta quadrant icon. Yes, with transwarp conduits, drones assimilated here can be brought back to the delta quadrant where they can officially report, so it's not that bad. That problem find its origin in the universal nature of the drone. It basically says that all Interlink drones are former Cardassians, which just can't be true. Anyway... the attributes are the usual, fine. Interlink should definitely be Communications, so again, good. Its only skill is enabling skill-sharing. It stands to reason the Borg should have someone to manage this since that's the whole point of assimilation. The way it works is, when a skill is in the Hive, all drones have access to it (its techniques and knowledge). Of course, you need a Communication drone present to relay that information. The Interlink will play that role itself where present, but it takes another Communication drone at every other location to share skills there. Why only the Hive and not the Collective entire? The time it takes for the signal to get there? Doesn't assimilated knowledge belong to the entire Collective? Even when its individual drones die? Ah well, that would be too powerful. So, not a particularly powerful score here, though the card has a key function which is very Trek Sensical. A 3.8.

STOCKABILITY: If I say it deserves a 5 now, will you read to the end of the review? For the Borg, this drone is key. Borg just don't have the pool of skills afforded other affiliations. They being mostly universals, they have very few double-skills or classifications, and are lacking many skills altogether. Now, they can get at those skills through the Borg Queen, the Counterparts, or assimilated personnel, but getting the multiples sometimes necessary to pass dilemmas would require more than that. Yes, there's the Adapt card, but you wanna waste as few of those as possible. And they won't get you through Q-Net for example (for that, there's AU Door downloads, but what if you don't have the appropriate drone handy?). A Queen can have the Diplomacy your Interlink drone can share. The best part is that you don't have to risk either your Interlink or your important personnel (like the Queen) on planet scouting. Send down a Com drone and it will have all the skills in the Hive. Unless it hits attribute requirements (which Unity Drone and STRENGTH boosters can help you with), it can pass any dilemma you could have passed using your entire crew as an Away Team. Dilemmas difficult for standard affiliations, such as Theta-Radiation Poisoning, are much easier for a Borg crew sharing skills. 6 ENGINEER? Well, there are 7 drones just to drive the Cube, and one of them has ENGINEER... ta-daa! Basically, this is a shortcut drone, to get as much out of your Hive's standard skills as you can. Makes redshirting more powerful, as much in space (Com drone on a Sphere or Scout) as on-planet (where you don't usually have any other choice but to go it alone). Do any Borg players really use NO Interlink Drone? Like I said, a 5.

TOTAL: 17.3 (86.5%) A strong showing... you sure he's not Garak?

PICTURE: Not the coolest of Borg, there's entirely too much black on this one, and the skin tone (because of the lighting) looks human, not Borg. It's also a little fuzzy. On the upside, it's not that bad that the Multiplexor would be "outside" as if triangulating ship positions on site (on sight?). Still can't go over a 2.4 here.

LORE: Ok on Task, though not as original as some others, and the ID is at least adequate, though "Multiplexor" hasn't become my favorite buzz word or anything. Not very memorable at the baseline 3.

TREK SENSE: The usual caveats apply - the awkwardness of the Human species mixed with the Delta quadrant icon, for example. Since this guy was no doubt assimilated off the Enterprise, he should be native to the Alpha quadrant, etc. But it's usually a mistake to take the picture too literally in the case of universal drones. A drone is a drone is a drone, and the pic, number designation and biological distinctiveness are rather irrelevant to specific "individual" drones. Since his ability is battle-related, it makes sense that he should be a Defense drone. And let's look at this ability: If you remember First Contact rightly, there was this whole scene where one Borg Cube fires multiple weapons at the Star Fleet. Now, Borg ships, according to the rules, can't do this. But with Multiplexor, they can! (There'll be hell to pay when I do an article on the expansion per se, since the problem lies in the Borg rules themselves - making the Collective entirely dependent on "individual" drones - but it's fine here.) This also brings your Borg ships in line with the "rogue" Borg Ship dilemma that fires on every possible target every turn. The way the ability functions works well, with the each Defense Borg on your Cube occupying its time with targeting a different ship. Good effort at 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: Probably not someone I'd use in every deck, he'll at least be useful against armadas out for your bonus points, so go for the Tent. A fleet of ships ready and willing to take the odd hit in exchange for 45-50 points, will be hurt by the massive retaliation of a Multiplexed Cube. WEAPONS 24 trained at every ship present (if you have enough Defense drones). Use plenty of Tactical drones to raise those WEAPONS, making sure you get direct hits AND giving you the Defense drones you need to acquire all the targets you want. Which brings us to Tactics. With Borg Cutting Beam, there's no one better to assimilate multiple personnel out of armadas. This will cripple your opponent as well as any regular "damage" Tactic, probably stealing all the pilots for his one-man K'Vorts, and thining out the fleet without needing to destroy anything at this moment. Bottom line though, unless you're out for blood and going for a Borg attack deck (using Gowron of Borg, Saltah'na Clock, Conundrum, or some other device to enable your Borg to fight), the Multiplexor's only as useful as your opponent will let it become. Not everyone has the guts to attack a Borg Cube, and if it doesn't happen, it's a wasted card. So make sure there's at least ONE battle. Or else, rescue him from Q's Tent with Awaken just as that armada bears down and cripple your opponent's forces. Can be a life-saver at 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) Far from my favorite drone.

PICTURE: A nicely central and, all at once, relatively dynamic picture. Her expression, the smoky atmosphere, and red alert in the background all provide some tension, and it's always cool to see security personnel holding some big guns. A good 3.7.

LORE: The name seems very arcane to me, and when I first saw the card list, I thought this was some Bolian name. The lore mentions her universality ("typical"), good. Most of the lore is invention designed to reason out the skills they wanted to give her (a sort of cart before the horse situation), but it's good invention. Neither Computer Skill nor Music are skills easily associated with Security, but they went and found a good way to associate them, as well as providing a slight enough character for her not to be one of the tough ones. The Algolian chimes, by the way, are from "Ménage à Troi". In that episode, Riker sent back a signal to the Enterprise using Algolian rhythms. Neat to see that piece of continuity crop up, even if it seems like a silly instrument to play. Note that Riker used the Algolian beats as an encrypted message... encryption? Just jumped to an inspired 4.2.

TREK SENSE: In this case, the lore is really in service of the game text, so it's easy to see they did well. Music - she plays the chimes. Security - obvious from the picture. Computer Skill - her field of security is encryption and such. Cool stuff, well thought-out. Her universality is acknowledged, but there's the small matter of believing that all encryption specialists are also Musicians, though the two fields might be related (see Lore). The attributes are okay. Integrity on the low Federation side perhaps because encryption is a kind of spy skill. Cunning might be a bit low here, but no real problems (if she were real smart, she'd play a more complicated instrument). As for the Strength, we'll just have to believe she's one of the padd pushers in Security, because it's real low. I guess the events in First Contact forced every one to become a security guard. The low 4 goes with her slight frame and duties, but you'd expect these guys to be better trained in combat. A 3.5 here. It could have been more if they'd done something with Fractal Encryption Code or something.

STOCKABILITY: Is there a use for two-skilled Federation personnel outside of a First Contact sealed deck play environment? Very little, I'd imagine. Music is a very limited skill, though Computer Skill is one of the staples of the game. The attributes are very weak. I kinda boils down to getting more varied SECURITY in your deck. Will you need more SECURITY Music than what Jenna D'Sora can provide? That Computer Skill isn't on a whole lot of SECURITY, so maybe that. Attribute-wise, this one's Security Sacrifice fodder unless you play both War Room and Lower Decks or something. A poor 2 (for the skills that ARE there).

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) Very thoughtfully designed, but ultimately useless.

PICTURE: A close-up of Geordi's new eyes (well, eye) shows up as a digitized image. Look at the edges of the blue lines. It really kills the CGI illusion to see it in freeze frame. Not as bas as I make it sound, but this really was one of the cool moments you got from seeing the FC trailer for the first time. Going for a 3.4.

LORE: "Enhanced capabilities"? Really? You mean the VISOR couldn't see in the infrared? I'm pretry sure that's wrong. Maybe the telescopic vision, but not the infravision. Aside from that little bump, the lore's okay. A not so great 2.9.

TREK SENSE: First, it's an implant and as such, the technology can be adapted to Borg and androids alike. This whole implant thing suggests that former Borg like Seven of Nine and her kids will count as Borg for purposes of implant cards. Geordi is the other target, of course. And what can you do with 6 million dollar eyes? Apparently, Geordi (or whoever) can peer at opposing Away Teams (examining them from far away, though I don't expect them to be necessarily far if a battle occurs on that turn). He can also see the next dilemma that's coming. Makes sense when that dilemma is literally coming, like the El-Adrel Creature or Firestorm or something. Except a lot of dilemmas can't exactly be detected from afar (Matriarchal Society, Hyper-Aging, Parallel Romance, etc.). Game mechanics keep this one at a simply ok 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: A little extra information never hurts, but is it worth the extra card play? I've never found peeking at an Away Team too interesting, and if your personnel is already present with it, it and its Away Team is probably committed to battling already, so it's kind of late to check STRENGTH totals. You might just be collecting Yuta numbers, but that still places your personnel in jeopardy in many cases. The better ability is to look at the next seed card (usually, a dilemma) at your location. It's a step down from a Full Planet Scan card, but it can be used over and over again as long as your personnel is present. Trying to find ways of interrupting your mission attempt so you can look at the one after that, and the one after that, etc. is the real sport here. Stop yourself with a self-seeded Sarjenka every so often? This advance warning can be useful (especially if you can detect a combo), and you don't even have to commit your ocularly advantaged personnel to the mission attempt, going back to the ship so it can check out what's next again. One card slot for any number of scans? It'll cost you a standard card play, but it can be downloaded by Geordi LaForge (FC) and really, any Borg on an Assimilation Table. All the affiliations can use it, at the very least with a universal Soong-Type Android, and the Borg can universally use it, telling their Queen what skill to take for the coming dilemma. Or can they? Since "being present" limits the card's use to planet missions, your "ocular drone" will have to be on the planet. It can't beam down unless an objective lets it scout. And if it scouts, it sets off the first dilemma. Short of using Emergency Transporter Armbands (bad probes, but not a bad card for Borg), your Borg won't get much of a boost here. A fine 3.4.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) A good, if not instrumental card.

PICTURE: I think Bolians make great Borg. Those head "layers" when colored in gray veins look especially nice, and composition-wise, this card hits the mark by having similar gray "layers" in the background. His blank mechanical stare is sharpened by the biological eye being in shadow. The pose is unique among the Borg and well-suited to the task Decipher's given him. What's that, a tricorder or a PADD? What little color there is is real efficient too - the red dot, the Borg-green stripe... it's just a little too dark, lime most Borg cards. A 4.4.

LORE: Lifting the drone's task from the Borg tagline is a great idea, though it doesn't totally cover the drone's abilities. "Technological distinctiveness" is more than just equipment, it's also ship technology (so-called SPECIAL equipment), which isn't part of the drone's duties. At the same time, that whole thing with Borg-only equipment isn't covered in the lore. As for the Identification, Procurement Drone sounds like the Borg should have a tie and work in an office. A great coup in using that phrase for Task, but kinda dribbles away after that. Still a 3.5.

TREK SENSE: This drone analyses and adapts equipment for use by the Collective. That function definitely requires Engineer. It also makes sense that this would end up being part of the Communications subcommand, letting other parts of the Collective know how to use the new gadgets. The more aptly-named Equipment drone, not only gathers and assimilates unattended equipment, but also kibitzes together Borg gadgets. Both these functions have some Trek Sense problems. First, though we've seen Borg use tricorders and PADDs (mostly in First Contact), we'd be hard-put to name any time we've seen them with hand weapons. As for the second function, the only Borg-only equipment card we have for now is the Assimilation Table. Since equipment downloads can be imagined as a personnel always carrying said equipment (perhaps even hidden on their person), this just doesn't work here. It's too big! Quick assembly (after all, it's in place of a card draw, so a little harder to get)? Maybe. In any case, both abilities are marginally acceptable, with some holes in the reasoning. Other than that, there's the usual problem of an Alpha quadrant species with a Delta quadrant icon (which I've often discussed, and which is, again, marginally acceptable). All in all, a 3.1.

STOCKABILITY: Definitely NOT one of those drones you can't do without, I'll tell you that right now. That said, the special abilities can still be used in some situations. Stealing equipment may be the most fun-sounding, though it's not entirely useful. For one thing, you have to find them unattended. This can most often be accomplished through battling and killing everyone in a crew or Away Team, then taking their equipment. It's unfortunate that this can't be attempted without a proper objective. Maybe grabbing what's there at assimilated facilities (requiring you to assimilate the planet) is the better choice. In fact, if you're planning on doing this, the equipment just becomes inert (to you anyway) unless you "steal" it. But there's still the matter of usability. Kits, Tricorders and classification-related PADDs are useless to the classification-less Borg. Attribute boosters, on the other hand, will play as well with the Borg as anyone. In fact, it doesn't matter who you steal from, it always becomes "Borg use" (except that darn teddy bear). Hand weapons, while mimicking the Assault Drone's ability for the most part, can add to it (at the +3 level in the case of Rifles). PADDs, if they were ever used, could raise the Borg' low CUNNING. Some equipment is really useless to the Borg, but stealing also means taking away, and those Jem'Hadar are gonna be real sorry they left their Ketracel-White alone (maybe to keep it from counting down)! Same goes for Birthing Chambers and Latinum really. Plasmadyne Relays and Small Cloaking Devices are nice booty too. As for the drone's second ability, this'll only grab you that Assimilation Table you need for Counterpart Assimilation (if that's your pleasure), but it'll get it fast. Simply get at the drone as quickly as you can (using Awaken, Activate Subcommands, Borg Queen, however), then download the Table with some card drawing mechanism. Of course, you'll probably want to activate this download chain at the same time you turn over the objective. You can even go a bit farther by downloading the Table to the drone, then placing the drone inside and downloading Ocular Implants (again in place of a card draw) making our little Procurement Drone just a little bit more useful. Unfortunately, we've already proven in these pages that Oculars aren't too useful to the Borg. While I'd never use more than one Procurement Drone in a deck, its saving grace might be its ENGINEER, which isn't as common as you'd think in the Collective (on 3 universal drones plus the ultra-rare Seven of Nine only), plus it's immune to Fightin' Words. That, and you can never have enough Communication drones to work your Interlink. A lesser drone to be sure, but one with a couple of tricks. A 3.3.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Still not doing too bad. They shoulda given him Acquisition ;-).

PICTURE: Although there are a lot of background details on this image of Cochrane doing his drunk little dance, it's all pretty blurry. These days (and that includes First Contact), the printing process is usually sharp enough not to leave such elements as Zefram's face here, and his bottle so hazy. Because everything appears so lost in this jumble of color, only a 2.7. It could have been a fun and kooky image.

LORE: Originality is worth a great deal to a card reviewer who's done more than 500 Lore reviews to date, with (probably) thousands to go. And using the text of the song Ooby Dooby goes pretty far on that principle. It is hampered however by the total lack of help in regards to Trek Sense. And on a card like this, it was needed. As high as a 3.8.

TREK SENSE: If you really think the Klingons and Romulans are gonna be dancing the Ooby Dooby... I feel for you. Even Starfleet officers (who might have a cultural connection to the tune) aren't so frivolous. This one's thematic alright. It represents the dangerous power rock'n'roll has on society - as proclaimed by such films as Footloose, no less (how'd that movie end anyway?) ;-). Youth personnel LIKE rock'n'roll. Music personnel DON'T. That's why, I suppose, Youths draw cards, and Musicians discard them. How can that be justified? Youths hear rock'n'roll, they dance. Re-energized by the activity, they become more resourceful (cards = resources). Young androids just don't get it though. Rock is based much to much on emotion and gut feeeling. As for Music personnel, in Star Trek, rock just hasn't survived. Classical, yes. Showtunes, yes. Even a progressive musician like Riker (who plays jazz) thought Ooby Dooby was noise. The "noise" makes them less productive, and they might even waste time (time they could have used to play a card/resource) criticizing. In any case, whether dancing or criticizing, both Youths and Musicians (plus of course, that big kid, Zefram Cochrane) are stopped (i.e. otherwise occupied). If some of this seems a little strained, it's because I'm good at explaining away problems, but I think Decipher's made it easy for me by actually using that kind of pretty sound rationalization for the card in the first place. Small problems like McKnight both liking and hating rock'n'roll, and Cochrane LOVING rock'n'roll but not getting a card draw, add to the initial problems of the inconsequent nature of the "dilemma" making it a mere 3.2. Still, good effort.

SEEDABILITY: Whatever happens, this card is at the very least a Youth/Music filter. Is that much help? When constructing dilemma combos, it's not. Wind Dancer will just stop the rest of your personnel, but nothing too scary there. When looking at targets, you can always look forward to hitting some pretty strong personnel. A number of mains have Music (like Picard and Data), and there's always the Youthful Wesley. But that's Federation. How do the other affiliations fare? The Borg are virtually immune to it, and the Dominion has hardly anything to worry about. The others have varying degrees of Music and Youth, but it could be hitting Mogh just as well as O'Brien. Universal Soong-Type Androids are going to be stopped WITHOUT any kind of card reward, so too bad for them. And there's always Zefram Cochrane, a Non-Aligned human double-ENGINEER that can play his Memorial anywhere. He too can be stopped. But while the filter's an okay effect, you'll want to play it for the card draws/discards. Ideally, you want your opponent to discard and yourself to draw (unless you're itching to Scorch his hand). So, seeding at Music missions is choice. Unfortunately, that's only Risa Shore Leave, and it also asks for Youth. Lucky enough to wall in personnel with Wind Dancer (requires Music)? They could again bring Youth to pass it. The discarding effect certainly isn't a sureshot. The best use for this card is as a self-seed. Send down you're Youth personnel to a planet, draw as many cards as you have personnel. They are stopped, so the mission attempt doesn't continue and your cards are ready to go dancing on your next turn at the next planet. Sending down Music personnel is optional, but could be used to discard resources you didn't want, or avoiding Scorched Hand. The aforementioned McKnight, plus Rase Norvan, Leeta, Arandis and Calandra all actually replace an old card for a new one (and some of those are universal). The Borg can use the Queen and Interlink to share Youth and thus get a large number of card draws which can then be converted into tons of stuff for them. This card-drawing mechanism boosts a rather weak dilemma to a 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) This card seems to be fighting me not to give it a high score, but it still makes the grade.

PICTURE: There's no denying this is one very pretty nebula we have here, colorful and dangerous with its interior combustion. It does look painted on a bit, but it makes a nice companion to the Enterprise-E that uses it as a background. And looking painted or no, it was actually borrowed from NASA's archives. Cool, huh? As beautiful as a mission can get at 3.8.

LORE: Likeable in that it doesn't give precedence to either "superpower", but like other mission lore, it's pretty straightforward. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Well, let's see... First of all, there's the problem of this simultaneously being specifically a nebula, a universal mission and part of a region. What does that do, you ask? Well, it peppers the Romulan Neutral Zone with an outrageous amount of nebulae! Are there really that many? It counts because nebulae have an impact on the game (through Isabella).Oh, they're far apart all right (5 span!), but still, First Contact was the first time we ever saw one on the border like this. The affiliations that can attempt the mission, Feds and Roms, of course makes perfect sense, and I'd like to see similar missions for other bordering affiliations. As for the requirements, they're not great, requiring no Security for example, but they work okay. An opposing ship in the Neutral Zone (great idea, these regions) represents an incursion which, while not stopping you from "patrolling" as per the title, goes well with the mission objectives in the lore. The Leadership is a little more obscure, but represents the ability to attack or counterattack, and so, is representative of military power. Of course, a leader on a shuttle can solve this mission just as easily as a warbird, so... But the reasoning stands fairly solidly. The points? Well, accoriding to this card, the longer the span you're patrolling, the more points you reap. While this makes some sense - in effect, the mission makes all other Neutral Zone missions part of it - it doesn't work that the requirements aren't affected - in other words, it is no harder to Patrol a large Zone than it is a smaller one. Then again, solving one PNZ doesn't automatically solve all the others, so... There's math in here that can't be made to jibe. All in all, the holes make this mission a 2.5 (countered by lots of good ideas).

SEEDABILITY: The strategy seems obvious - seed 4 of these and 2 Neutral Zone planets to avoid Balancing Act and even The Big Picture (and this is why the Romulans like this one better than the planetless Feds, though at 60 points a pop, who cares about those two hosers?), and each PNZ becomes an easy 60 pointer (65 with a Leadership mission specialist). So what's stopping you? Landed ships, that's what. Since it is extremely difficult to destroy a landed ship, it's hard to get rid of the opposition. Factor in the popularity of landing ships for protection and of Hidden Fighters that start off landed, and you've got a risky strategy on your hands (of course, all this can be used to protect your PNZs from mission theft as well!). Solutions? Don't be so greedy. Seed 4 with non-Neutral Zone missions. Each one is worth 40 points (45 with AMS and either Benjamin Maxwell or Tallus) which is great for something that requires only one skill, and you don't have to worry about landings. Simply use a powerful ship that'll just blow holes into whatever moves. Of course, you still have the high Span to worry about (a big minus when moving to intercept opposing ships).  For the Span problem, you might also consider using Isabella to blow up ships (this is a nebula after all) without Youth. Many affiliations have few Youths to begin with, so could prove easy targets (and weak "opposition"). It's the kind of card you have to make your strategy revolve around (one PNZ in a spaceline is a little ridiculous), but then again, decks SHOULD revolve around mission solving ;-). Two players going for PNZ is a cool sight to behold as each mission becomes worth some 100-120 points each (120 if one of them is unbalanced), but don't count on it. If it does happen, whoever can report a ship and personnel early wins, or else they'll have to exterminate each other to be the only presence on the border.One solution to the large span problem here is The Wake of the Borg, which will destroy any (not-landed) ship at your opponent's NZ locations. Now that you can suspend play to download it with Q the Referee, it's an even better bet (and lets you keep your 60 pointers). Of course, your opponent can use that card to hurt your PNZ deck considerably! My last point: seed an outpost at PNZ, Spacedoor a ship and AMS a Leadership specialist - bam! Instant 65 points! See how easy it was? Unless your opponent seeded the same, of course. Oh, and provided your personnel have a way of passing the dilemmas. Almost cheesy (but not quite) at 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) Great for points, but may lead to battle.

PICTURE: An engineer actually at work? Wow ;-). It's always nice to see something other than the usual headshot, or classic "sitting at a console" pose. The originality is countered by the personnel seeming not interested with the game (not looking at the player in the least), but that's not too disturbing. The patches of gold color in the pic highlight the rather gray palette. A better-than-average 3.5.

LORE: One of the few actually named non-regular characters in First Contact, Porter's lore is helpful to the game text, and though I didn't think much of Eiger's geology interest, the relationship here is appreciated. Still a fluffy way to get that skill on him, but good overall lore which scores a 3.6.

TREK SENSE: Well, of COURSE, he's gonna be an Engineer! I'm also happy to see that the chief engineer has a second-in-command because we never saw a whole lot of that in the series (unless we were supposed to count Data or Wesley), and Porter rightly earns a Command icon to prove it. As for skills, Computer Skill is the one that fits a "systems engineer", but Physics is easily added to any Engineer's portfolio. The Geology is taken care of in the lore, but, as with Eiger, it's pure invention. Plus, his "amateur" status has the same skill value as a "mission specialist"'s. Odd, but nothing new, as the game sees little difference between the expert and the layman when it comes to handing out skills. The download of any PADD might go with his systems engineering (reading info off the PADD), but isn't particularly convincing. For example, what's he doing with a Medical PADD on hand? I guess it's a case of having the equipment in the pic (like the TwT Odo). Okay, but "any" PADD isn't as strong as a more appropriate - and specific - type. The attributes look fine: regular Federation Integrity, enough Cunning to run engineering but not enough to avoid getting assimilated early in the film. And that Strength leads me to believe that was done by a Defense drone (probably a Talon). Porter's got some good stuff going, with the habitual plot holes. A 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: At three skills and a download, ol' Porter's not bad. Geology is one of those not-so-common skills now being required by dilemmas, and the Geology/Physics combo on the Classic Tricorder has me believing Physics will be required of some new dilemmas real soon. In the meantime, it (and Geology) will find a fair amount of use in mission solving. ENGINEER and Computer Skill are basic deck-building blocks, always useful. The attributes are good without being overwhelmingly so. As for the PADD download, he can summon up at a moment's notice Engineering PADD, Medical PADD, Science PADD and Federation PADD (or other affiliation-specific PADD that could be used under Treaty). Of all these, only the Medical PADD will actually boost Porter, giving him MEDICAL, plus of course the Fed PADD will make him CUNNING 8. Depending on your crew or Away Team, you could be adding a number of MEDICALs, ENGINEERs or SCIENCEs to your skill pool. All useful, with the CUNNING boosters a little less so, but making "Crimson Forcefield" and the like a little easier to counter. Quick equipment needed for discards or even cargo runs can come into his hands more quickly as well. Good support abilities and good skills for mission solving. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Not a main, but could have come in second.

PICTURE: While ship looks good going for the stars, every time I watch the movie, I'm struck by how much better it could have been if the shot had been taken from the front. Another good idea would have been to show the first warp flight by making this the only elongated ship (before it snaps into warp) in the game. Still, not bad, but the backshot is rather dark. A 3 which could have been much higher.

LORE: Shortened, but not unlikeable. The history is there, and the Titan missile is a nice detail. It's got a listed matching commander which is always a plus, even if it doesn't matter all that much in this situation. I like the "model", Prototype Warp Vessel, and hope that prototypes are enhanced in a future set. A competent 3.4.

TREK SENSE: A lot of stuff here. First the ship has to be Non-Aligned even if it proved to be the seed from which the Federation grew, because at this point in time, there is no Federation to speak of. AU is a given. The staffing is a little pricy for a ship that only seats 3 people (note that it was about time this kind of limit made an appearance, those shuttles were sometimes too heavy to fly!), but works. The staff icons would have been required at the time, since the ship was cutting-edge, and would be needed "today", because it requires some knowledge of ship design to use the antiquated systems. Since it seats 3, you require the 3 personnel, much like Apollo needed its 3 astronauts. The OCD icon is just a way to require Zefram Cochrane to be aboard (the obvious matching commander), but it also winks at the fact Zefram couldn't take off without the OCD itself. Cute, but a little weird. I just can't believe other people couldn't fly the ship instead of him. Not make the historic flight, but just flying around in the "present"? Why not? The other restriction is that it has no transporters. Obviously! Once per game, you can make history by taking off and landing. Once per game, because these old ships really didn't survive a mission to fly another day. In fact, I bet it doesn't really land per se. I mean, not intact, again, à la Apollo. Just making the flight should be worth points. Why it has to stay in orbit is beyond me. In fact, I don't think setting off in the present day should be worth points. It's the equivalent of Sisko's reenactment of the Bajoran Sail Vessel's flight to Cardassia. It's not the real thing. Still an achievement, I suppose. Making the flight (the original flight) SHOULD be worth points, since it is a kind of mission. As for the attributes, there really are no Weapons on the Phoenix. The Range and Shields are at a minimum. It was just made to jump to warp, proving it could be done. That's it. Not fight or explore. In fact, Zefram didn't know when he built it that there could be enemy ships out there. A great effort all around, with a few tiny plot holes. Those pinpricks bring it down to a 4.6.

STOCKABILITY: I say stockability, but you don't even have to stock it to bring it into play (or seed it for that matter). Merely playing Montana Missile Complex will bring it there from out-of-play. No AU Doorway needed in that case either. You'll need it to stop Stop First Contact and its debilitating effects on your Federation and human personnel. Of course, that implies your opponent is playing Borg, trying for that extremely hard objective, and you're using the personnel that'll be wiped off the spaceline AND Zefram Cochrane to boot (cuz you need him to fly the thing). An unlikely sequence of events unless you're psychic (itself unlikely). No, while in that case, you wouldn't have a choice but to use the Phoenix in Montana, and if succeeding, scoring 10 points off of her (as long as she remained in orbit), there is a better option. You can use it the same way the Klingons use Arbiter of Succession, to score 10 points at the end of the game to get you over the 100-point limit. The best way to do this is to report the ship to a HQ, automatically placing it in orbit without the need for launching it (or even undocking it) which would require Zefram and either Lily or two staffers. Still, you might even use Zefram, report him to the Pheonix using Ready Room Door (the other matching commander options aren't too hot - ooooh, a 3-0-4 ship!) or more simply, Crew Reassignment. He can Visit Cochrane Memorial  with any affiliation. If you don't report it at the end of the game, you risk its being blown out of the sky in one fell swoop by almost any good ship. A novelty and little more, except those 10 easy points. Giving it a 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) #600 is a winner, and a nice Trek milestone.

PICTURE: This never-seen invention is quite obviously a painting - I can see the brush-strokes from close-up - but it still holds some interest. From a distance it just looks like a gray ball, which goes nicely with the colorless graphics of the "Any Away Team may attempt" design. A closer eye reveals more than just rock and clouds, but patches of green and brown as well, more in tune with a class-M environment. There also the matter of that strange hole in the center of the biggest cloud. Almost looks like where your landing ship dissipated the cloud cover with its passing. The effects aren't perfect, but still nicely done. A classic 3.8.

LORE: That title is pretty plain, especially when the mission isn't quite on the level of [universal] Space (it's actually got requirements). And the mission location (that text in bold) probably shouldn't feature a capital P on there. Otherwise, it's pretty good for a universal, not giving away too much or making it too specific. The weak title keeps it at 2.9.

TREK SENSE: First, the usual problems with universal missions subsist - why can't they be seeded in the Gamma quadrant? Don't they have planets there? I'm sure they do. I'm pretty sure I've seen some. But there's nothing wrong with everyone being able to get in one the fun (everyone has habitable worlds in their space), nor do I find fault with the low price tag of 20 points. It's only a survey after all. Requirement-wise, Geology is pretty standard stuff when it comes to planetary surveys. Greed is the skill people use to gauge how much they can financially exploit a situation, so that's not a bad "evil" substitute. The part that hurts, I think, is the need for a landed ship. If the lore had mentioned some kind of atmospheric ionization, maybe. But this way (and on so many planets anyway), it doesn't work. We've seen too many planets be surveyed by simple beaming by now, that we just can't believe this conceit. Sorry, but just a 2.7.

SEEDABILITY: How good or bad a universal mission is Planet? Not too bad actually. It's pretty easy if you have the landable ship (depending on your support cards, we're talking shuttles, scout ships, ships with no staffing requirements and/or Vulcan Lander and the like), since all it requires is one not very rare skill to solve. 20 points isn't much booty, but it can easily be raised to 25 with a mission specialist (Dr. Farek will work with anyone, for example), and IS immune to assimilation. The trick is that while it requires very little effort for you to complete, if your opponent isn't using landable ships, it's very hard for him to do so. It's even easier than that: By getting you landable ship into play already landed on the Planet via Hidden Fighter, you don't even have to get it over there on its own steam! Real easy, and not a bad choice at all if you're gonna use the small ships in the first place. A 3.6.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) A plain score for a plain card.

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