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

PICTURE: Picard and Data look cool carrying phaser rifles, and I like the colors in the background (gold and grayish blue), but the assault team in the back has to go. They look disorganised, or like innocent bystanders, and one of them looks to be peeking at Data's tushie. That small flaw aside (you never really look at them), the score gets to a 3.5.

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

TREK SENSE: A nice little objective, technical but well thought out. Organizing assault teams would be a true battle objective, something you'd keep secret from your enemies (Hidden Agenda), and that would be use only on the short term (the countdown). After all, the teams would eventually rejoin after the skirmish had been fought. This is how PAT works: First, you pull out a hand weapon (the download). Then, you commission your Security personnel to be leaders for purposes of this "mission" (after all, if they are the fighter classification, why shouldn't they be able to initiate personnel battle?). The card further gives you a battle strategy to work with: Your Away Team can split into two, letting one attack while the other circles back to either attack as well, or do something else. Perhaps the first covers for the second as it escapes with key personnel. But wait, I may be tipping my hand about Stockability here ;-). There is very little wrong here... perhaps not making it a Captain's Order? One weak link is that your opponent chooses which team to attack (practically at random) which takes away from the strategy. A clear 4.4.

STOCKABILITY: As much a defense against personnel battle as one to use BY personnel battle decks, PAT has a few useable strategies. For defenders, it may protect your key personnel from being hit by splitting the group into two, only one of which may be attacked. Your opponent chooses though, so he might still choose to attack the one with the important personnel inside. Of course, if you have more than one such personnel, splitting them up may be the way to go. That way, if you lose one, you still have the other. Being a Hidden Agenda, it can turn the tables on your opponent in that battle too. Not only is there the split, but you get to add a hand weapon (go for a +3 Rifle) to your side. For attackers (and defenders who are FED UP), splitting an Away Team means that while one attacks, the other remains uninvolved and unstopped... ready to attack as well on the same turn. With strong enough Away Teams (and you DID download that extra weapon right?), you can attack once, win the battle (loss of life incurred by opponent), then attack with the second assault team, win against the weakened opposing team (loss of life AGAIN). Can be nasty. And if the tide turns, that second assault team can always do something else, like take a walk to another site, get important VIPs out of there or try for a mission even. The weapons download gives some pep to Sleeper Trap and even Kressari Rendevous. As a bonus, the card can be downloaded by the Ferengi Morta. Not the affiliation I would have connected this card to, but it may help defensively (probably more than offensively). I forgot to mention the utility of making SECURITY personnel leaders for battle, and that works as much for space as personnel battle, which can enable low staffing armadas, or just make sure you have enough leaders for even two assault teams. Not that important in most cases, since OFFICERs and Leaders are a dime a dozen, but a nice side-effect. And the Klingons have a universal non-Leadership SECURITY that reports for free at The Great Hall. Why not make use of those free Goraths? On the disadvantage side, along with the opponent's selection vis-à-vis the attacked team, there's the countdown icon. 4 is a relatively long time as far as these things go, but you can't just use the card for an entire game, supplementing your smackdown deck. Of course, using multiples (too bad it can't seed!), you could be downloading a hand weapon every four turns as you flipped a new PAT over. Not a bad thing. Balanced, but still a good battle support card (better in combination with Bodyguards): a 4.2.

TOTAL: 16.27 (81.33%) Another story-telling miracle from First Contact.

PICTURE: Entirely too blurry, especially for a First Contact pull, all one-tone color-wise. It's so blurry in fact that over T'Shonra's shoulder, someone appears to be some kind of bird-headed alien out of Star Wars. And while I think it's funny that the Primitive Culture here is humanity, the card would probably have been better served by using a TNG pull like the Mintakans from "Who Watches the Watchers". Cute, but visually inferior at 2.2.

LORE: What could also have been called First Contact if it hadn't tied it to the essentially unrelated Stop First Contact, at least centers its lore on the concept. I find it especially interesting that humanity's first contact with the Vulcans is superimposed on the one with the Klingons, with very different results. It also uses the idea that humanity was primitive in the first example, but not in the second. Plus, the game text is well served by the mention of three first contact tools: caution, subterfuge and force. An excellent 4.7.

TREK SENSE: Handling a Primitive Culture is no easy matter, as those primitives are always getting in the way. There are many ways to handle these situations, and the card does a pretty good job of being complete. First there's the cautionary first contact expertise represented by 3 Vulcans (weaker, but from the film itself) or an Anthropologist. I'm not sure, in that last case, why the Anthro has to be a Civilian, though (or be accompanied by a Civilian). Maybe that shows the primitives that "we"'re not a military power out to destroy them. I'm surprised there's no Diplomacy option included here, but there are plenty of Diplomacy dilemmas already, I suppose. You can also use subterfuge to get AROUND the primitives, perhaps infiltrating them to get them out of the way, or just using espionage to gather the same information Anthropology would. This option is represented by the Tal Shiar and Obsidian Order. No Section 31? Too bad, it seems right up their alley. For less subtle or generous players, there's force. 6 Klingons, 4 Jem'Hadar (with accompanying Vorta for the intimidation element) and 4 Defense Borg (the Collective would always use force in these situations) can break enough primitive heads to pass the dilemma. Works for me, though the insinuation that 4 Defense drones are equal to 6 Klingon warriors is... (what would Worf say?) insulting. There's a fourth option: buy your way into the primitives' good graces! The Ferengi (and other "entrepreneurs") will enjoy using their Acquisition and Greed for good effect here. The major thing is that some planets probably shouldn't support this dilemma: Romulus, Earth and Ferenginar don't have a Primitive Culture, like a lot of Star Trek worlds. A lot of stuff on the card, and it mostly makes sense, but a few bugs like the last one keep it at 3.9.

SEEDABILITY: An all-purpose wall dilemma, it nevertheless has a way for every affiliation to pass it. The Federation has its Vulcans, the Ferengi have their Acquisition, the Klingons have... heh, their Klingons. That said, it it worth using? Well, the requirements either demand a goodly number of personnel (limiting redshirting), or very specific (and, in most cases, rather uncommon) skills. Follow up with a mega-Away Team hoser if you think the latter option will be used, or lead into Primitive Culture with a specific killer/filter if expecting the former. But expectations are a dangerous thing. The Ferengi will find it very easy to overcome, I dare say, but the Bajorans are a little less well-equiped. Really, there are too many possible requirements to make combos such as Bendii Syndrome viable (the Vulcans have only a 1 in 8 chance of being the selected option), so this remains a good generic wall, but not entirely reliable. The Borg might use it to amass an army of scouts on a planet, passing it on the next round if the 4 required Borg are present, but it's nothing other dilemmas can't really do. In the current playing environment? A 3.4.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) Ultra-cool when it was released because it promised Cardassians and the Dominion, but that's worn off by now.

PICTURE: Closer-up than the regular Borg Cube which is the same model, it doesn't necessarily look tougher. All those lights from without and within makes it appear like it's about to blow up. It's even got a rounded look, as if bursting at the seams. Didja catch the launch portal on the darkened face of the Cube? It's cool, but perhaps too gaudy (like a crown?). A 3.2.

LORE: A very specific Task is tacked onto this ship, and it's not told that interestingly. And while "Borg Queen commands" adds points for including a matching commander, it loses pretty much the same for being un-Borg-like. After all, doesn't the Queen command ALL Borg ships? I guess Decipher thinks 3-dimensionally... a boring 2.9.

TREK SENSE: Well, aside from the matching commander implausabilities (which are slight), it looks pretty much like a normal Borg Cube, and I remember those passing the test well enough (to the tune of 4). So, again, the Borg report aboard because they are basically just being "activated"; the Tractor Beam is supported; the points make sense because destroying a Cube is a mission in itself; and the attributes match those of the Borg Ship dilemma, with Range making sense once you factor out Transwarp. Okay. What's been added? The extra Weapons and Shields at Earth is part of the ship's Task, probably "adapted" for in-system attack, but seems a little specific for the Borg. What can they use at Earth, they can't use against any Federation ship? The added Range makes sense given that the ship reached Earth not long after first sighted (at least, that's how they made it look in the film). The added bonus points also work given that this isn't your generic Cube, it's the Royal Borg Cube ;-). So again, a pretty tight fit. Still a 4.

STOCKABILITY: Adding WEAPONS and SHIELDS to Borg Cubes has always made me laugh a bit. Yeah, I know armada decks can actually do damage to the Borg, but in many situations, I don't think an extra +3 makes much difference. 24/24 is huge already. Still, power players out there love the 30/30 they can get at Earth with Captain's Log. That's just the problem though: Earth is the only location where the +3 boost occurs (not talking about Captain's Log here). It's a homeworld AND the site for Stop First Contact, so when using that mission, sure. Otherwise, the special ability isn't very intersting. The Queen's Cube still has other tricks up its sleeve: namely, that its matching commander can download directly to it using Ready Room Door. And the Queen isn't just another matching commander, she's an instrumental part of Borg decks. Get her quick! Use Make It So to unstop the Cube, that could be fearsome too, depending on the current objective. The Cube also has higher RANGE, which is never wasted, and Defiant Dedication Plaque can make that an 11. Of course, the Borg don't have very many matching commanders (and are unlikely to get any beyond the first two), so including bad probes that use their special status isn't the most efficient of moves. Still, you wanna protect those 50 points from being scored! A tough cookie still worth its 4, but you can't Spacedoor it you know.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Blow that puppy up!

PICTURE: It's just the regular Borg Sphere (actually, the regular Sphere is the Queen's), but closer up and at a slightly different angle. No big whoop, but more imposing than the other version. Nice detailing (just look at the copper designs), and worth a 3.5.

LORE: Except for the ridiculous "Borg Queen commands" (see my review of her Borg Cube), some nice, if very specific, tasks for this craft. The contingency option is still there, but its temporal vortex capability is highlighted as well by giving it Stop First Contact uses as well. A good 3.4.

TREK SENSE: I restate my opposition to Borg matching commanders, especially where the Queen is involved, since she commands them all (4-dimensionally). Aside from that, this Sphere is like the other one sharing in its successes (right amount of staffing, the whole launching mechanic, the low range of a deluxe escape pod, and weapons and shields that didn't prove very effective against either the Enterprise OR the missile complex) and failures (iffy staffing icons, since a link to the Cube via Communications would have been better in my opinion). Largely a success, as you can see. The Queen's ship adds 1 point of Range and 5 points to the shooting range score (just like what was done to the royal Cube), plus the excellent Temporal Vortex download. Just like in the film, and just about redeems any points lost due to the matching commander situation. A 4.3.

STOCKABILITY: Like other Spheres, the royal marble acts as an escape pod for your Hive, one that reports to a Cube (not just the Queen's) and may launch from it, becoming its own ship. The upped RANGE of 5 isn't much better than the original 4, but can take on a couple more missions. Unfortunately, the WEAPONS and SHIELDS remain the same, though the bonus points for destroying it go up by 5. Still, add Sphere Encounter, and the RANGE goes up to a very decent 9. Put the Queen aboard plus Plaque and Log, and the Sphere's an 11-9-9 ship. With Sphere Encounter, you can already download personnel aboard your reported Spheres, so Ready Room Door for the Queen may be redundant. Maybe. You can't always make use of the sphere report strategy. For Stop First Contact, the Sphere has its own Temporal Vortex downloadable to travel back from a time location. Helpful once you're done, though the objective is seldom seen. A cute gimmick is to use the Vortex to escape from a Borg Ship dilemma. In that one, you use the Sphere to set off the dilemma, save the Sphere, then Retask the dilemma and finally, take in the Sphere to safe harbor. The ship suffers a little from not being universal, that is, it can't be Spacedoored. Otherwise, a close match with the regular Sphere, though I'm not sure I'd use it when pulling a scout-style Sphere swarm strategy. Why bother? A 4.2 which is a little down from the normal Sphere, despite the bells and whistles.

TOTAL: 15.4 (77%) 0.4 under the universal kind.

PICTURE: This one must have been hard to pull from the film, but the frame does exist (maybe they fixed the angle a bit, but not much). The doorway is crisp and clear, and its cranberry color looks good, which compensates somewhat for the boring wall and floor, and the fact Picard isn't as clear as the door. A still cool 3.2.

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

TREK SENSE: Two functions, but a host of ramifications. First, you can make your matching commander come out of the Ready Room (through the Door of course). This makes perfect sense, boldly stating that a matching commander belongs on its own ship, and was probably already aboard when the ship reported for duty at the outpost. (Drawing no cards that turn is simply mechanical, I have no problem with it.) The other function is to have your commander come out of the Ready Room with an order (a Captain's Order). He or she has thought about it in seclusion and is ready to "make it so". Makes sense, though you don't need a matching commander or even a Command personnel aboard to use the card. Note that you also don't need a Ready Room (for example, on a shuttle or runabout) which also hurts the score. After use of the Doorway, it can be discarded (Captain's done thinking), placed atop draw deck (Captain plans to keep thinking), or over the Captain's Order, protecting it from nullification (Captain's even thought of contingency plans to make sure the order can be carried out). Am I giving the designers too much credit? Maybe, but the justifications for what are essentially mechanical operations come easily. Ramifications: the card makes 4 other cards Captain's Orders in addition to the cards already so marked. Now, for those other cards, the validity of being "so marked" is discussed in their Trek Sense, but for those four, let's examine it now. Captain's Log, while not exactly an "order" is a captain's prerogative, and besides, it's by giving orders that they can squeeze all that extra juice out of the ship. Lower Decks is more iffy, but again, it's the captain assigning universals to bigger tasks like in that episode. Yellow Alert is obviously an order, and there's just the matter of Red Alert not also getting this treatment on account of game balance. Senior Staff Meeting? The captain calls it. Good stuff. I give it a 4.3.

STOCKABILITY: Decks using matching commanders (pretty common, especially for the Romulans and Bajorans, but for the rest also) will almost always stock this card. After all, it's not just a report card, it's a download card. Even the Borg might want to get at the Queen quickly by using one of her ships. Of course, you have to get at it which may not be any easier. That's why matching commanders for universal ships (Rinnak Pire for any Bajoran vessel is the best, but there's also Ocett and Tomalak, for example) are the best here. You can download the ship via a seeded Spacedoor and download the matching commander as soon as you have the Door in hand. The second function is actually enough to warrant including multiple Doors in your deck, thereby increasing the odds of your getting it early. Since you're using matching commanders anyway, Captain's Log and Defiant Dedication Plaque will both be useful. A Ready Room Door used this way can be re-drawn and reused for the next turn, so you could download a full set of Captain's Orders enhancements. Or if you're afraid of Kevin, you can protect the card from nullification by using the Door as a shield. The universal aforementioned Rinnak Pire will find use out of Lower Decks. Yellow Alert will get rid of an opposing Red Alert quickly. Senior Staff Meeting is a good card, though one you can't protect (not an event). But there's more than what's listed on the card! Crew Reassignment will get even more personnel aboard your ship (or fix FC Picard and crew's staffing problems). Mission Debriefing can be a real pain in the neck (and non-nullifiable? Yikes!). There's also Establish Landing Protocols (again, Rinnak may be interested). Tactical Console has another shot at enhancements, though you'll still need to be docked AND either Miles (he drives a runabout) or a SECURITY-classification personnel, and only Worf Son of Mogh is also a matching commander. Deactivation isn't too great, but works as a too-specific counter. Recent bonus: Make It So downloads the Door to download a Captain's Order if you have your matching commander aboard its staffed ship. Makes things even easier. Qualifies for a good 4.6.

TOTAL: 16.13 (80.67%) I think I was ready to praise this one.

PICTURE: One of the cooler special effects from the film, the pic is only tangentially about Regeneration (we saw a ship repair itself in "Q Who?", but this had to come from the movie), and that's gonna hurt. As is, the pic's cool, but a little stiff and slightly blurry. That drone on the right is really distracting and ruins the composition by being too elevated, headless and inconsequential. What got a high score in the film only squeezes by with a 2.4 here.

LORE: The lore does its best to integrate the picture into the card design, but it's wasted energy. Not bad prose, mind you, though it verges on technobabble in places. Works hard for its 3.2, probably too hard.

TREK SENSE: The first function is in keeping with Trek Sense. As I mentioned, Borg ships have been seen regenerating as far back as their first appearance. The card thus affects both the "rogue" Borg Ship dilemma and the affiliated Borg Cubes, Spheres, Scouts, et al. As on the show, the ship stops to make these repairs. The bonus of eliminating cards that reduce the ship's attributes makes the repairs even better, and works great for the Borg, since they can adapt to anything, even Baryon Buildups, "Pup" and the like. The second function is more of a game mechanic thing, conceptual more than Trek Sensical, and since it can work for any affiliation, just wrong. If the lore is to be believed, the Borg might very well recycle their resources, even biological ones (personnel) and draw them back to their hand. Other affiliations can't really do this, but Regenerate applies to them just the same. It "regenerates" your draw deck... totally conceptual in design. Good thing the first function is so well thought out - a 3.4 thanks to it.

STOCKABILITY: Here, it's the opposite, the second function can be better than the first. Let's still look at that first one though. The Borg have huge SHIELDS, but are still susceptible to attacks or damage from dilemmas. Their outpost however, is on the other side of the galaxy. No need to go back! Regenerate the ship and be on your way. Of course, you'll lose a turn doing so (and a card play), but that may be less than what it would take to go back to the Delta quadrant and wait for repairs there. As an added bonus, cards such as Baryon Buildup (slowing down your already somewhat slow ship) or attribute-affecting dilemmas, are also discarded (along with any Tactic). It's nowhere near efficient, but it beats giving your opponent 45-50 points for blowing up your behemoth. Being stopped though, you just might only be delaying the inevitable. Let's hope your retaliation shots take away too much armada for your opponent to keep attacking successfully. The card will also work on the Borg Ship dilemma, so that your opponent might not have such an easy time of his Borg hunting strategy. Self-seeders just don't deserve the points. The second function is the better one though: useful to anyone, it allows you to have a smaller draw deck and to simply reshuffle all your redundant cards into it if need be. For a deck that's heavy on downloading, it's often better than Res-Qs and Palor Toffs, because you get all your downloadable cards back (like drones for example). It's one way to offset losses incurred through Scorched Hand or mass killers (including death by armada). One drawback is that it shuffles in all the discarded dilemmas, but that may be just what you want if playing with Q's Planet or Beware of Q (just for Q-Flashes though). A mostly defensive card at 3.9.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) Am I a nitpicker or what?

PICTURE: What a smile, huh? It shows Barclay's gained comfort, while retaining a certain measure of awkwardness. The apple green of his jacket matches nicely that of the background, so a well-composed and colored pic at 3.6.

LORE: Limiting itself pretty much to the events of the film, the lore nevertheless puts "hypochondriac" in there (makes me wish we'd seen a little more of Barclay in First Contact, maybe a scene where he think's he's been assimilated). "Member of Alpha Team" is a not-so-overt A-Team reference (a show Dwight Schultz was a regular on, also starring Mister T if you'll remember), and put in Trek terms. Funny if you catch it. I still would have liked a little more meat on the her worship element though, maybe a the cost of "hypochondriac". A good 3.5.

TREK SENSE: The slightly older Barclay has grown beyond his simple beginings as a mission specialist, giving him more depth as far as Trek Sense goes. He's still an Engineer who specializes in diagnostics (Computer Skill), and still Staff personnel. Minor disappointment: his helping to repair the Phoenix goes largely unnoticed, since no skill relates to that except the same ol' Engineer. Since Premiere, he's learned Plexing. Good: He's pictured on that card, and certainly should be able to use by downloading it to himself. Bad: The original Barclay details the events of "Realm of Fear" in its lore, meaning that he already knew Plexing when he was created. Better late than never! His hero worship is translated as a doubling of Visit Cochrane Memorial, which is cute. While Geordi also admired Cochrane, he was still able to see he was a flawed man. Somehow, I doubt the starstruck Barclay could make that constatation. The oohs and aahs (the probe results) are all doubled, but a disillusioned Reg will also double the "I thought it'd be bigger" result. He's so high on Cochrane, disappointment could be very hard on him. His Integrity is the Federation standard, no more, because courage isn't really part of his make-up. The Cunning has gone up a point since the last time we saw him, showing experience but also more confidence (he'll share his ideas more readily). The Strength looks fair too. A better version than the original which showed little imagination. This one's worth a 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: ENGINEER and Computer Skill are good enough skills to merit inclusion, but that's not all Reg has to offer. First of all, he's a persona of the Premiere Barclay, meaning that you can download his mission specialist self with AMS, and replace him for the new version when you're done with him. Of his two new functions, the Plexing download will be the least useful. Plexing is just a specialized nullifier, so you could stock a copy in your Tent in case Barclay encounters any Empathic Echo, Drumhead or Frame of Mind, for example, or if you're plagued by Nightmare, Parallax Arguers or Transporter Phobia. That's all fine and dandy, but the dilemmas will usually be encountered by the other Barclay (and in any case can be passed normally easily enough). His doubling of VCM is by far the best reason to use him. First of all, he acts as the necessary human ENGINEER. You can use him to draw, download or play two cards instead of one, which can be a great advantage. Fixing the probe result is, as always, recommended (perhaps using the Orb of Prophecy and Change), because you might not enjoy discarding two cards. But hey, that's a slim risk when considering the other three probes' great value (just a few examples off the top of my head: playing 2 Baryon Buildups on the same ship, downloading a ship and its matching commander together, etc.). And that ability can kick in as soon as the second turn since you can get him in the first with Assign Mission Specialists. At 5 STRENGTH, he makes an easy target, so try to protect him, ok? Specialized, but pretty special. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 15.4 (77%) He should really think more highly of himself.

PICTURE: First Contact offers a lot of crisp, clear pictures, with interesting color palettes. After all, it's a movie, and movies have a more tended-to look. Remodulation is one of them, of course, and while we're not even sure that's what Picard was doing (remodulation seemed to be a simple enough pressing of a button, though it only worked for so long), the rifle in front of him makes it likely. A 3.5.

LORE: A small but important part of the film summed up flawlessly. The thing that puts this one ahead of the pack is the dynamic drama it generates with its use of words. A practically exciting 3.6.

TREK SENSE: Eeech. You'll note I errataed the card for you, otherwise nullifying Adapt: Neutralize Weapon does absolutely nothing - the card doesn't exist. Countering Modulate Shields though, makes more sense, though it puts Remodulation against Modulation, which sounds a bit odd. But it works. Since the Borg have Adapted to your weapon, you can Remodulate its frequency to make it useful again. The other function, while cute ("remodulate hand"), makes absolutely no Trek Sense. The hand represents the resources you have ready to report or use. You can't "remodulate" those, and any kind of shuffle between them, the discard pile and the draw deck can't easily be explained. The mention of resources in the lore is a nice little effort, but does nothing to actually save the card in my opinion. Only a 2, and that's for the first function only.

STOCKABILITY: Here, it's the first function that's a liability. After all, why stock this card to nullify a specific card employed only by a single affiliation? Adapt is an interrupt - use all-purpose Amanda Rogers! No, it's good for the second function, 'cuz deck management is where it's at. Getting rid of cards in hand you don't need to get at potentially good cards at the bottom of your draw deck is one thing (and with this counter-crazy meta-game, you might have some of those that are sitting uselessly in hand), but wouldn't you rather KNOW what the bottom of your draw deck had in store for you? Enter: Ore Processing and the Bajoran Shrine. Those management engines allow you to cycle cards to the bottom of the draw deck, where Remodulation allows you to cycle them back in your hand. It's a kind of Palor Toff for two cards. With a few Remodulations, you could agilely keep cards in use at all times, simply redrawing the interrupts you just used, personnel you just lost, etc. With more than one Remodulation, you can also keep the previous Remodulation in hand, know what I mean? Keep a supply of pinging RBMs if you're into cheese, punishment Oofs if you're not, etc. The card offers a lot of flexibility if you can use it right. Who knows, your Cardassians or Bajorans might be facing the Borg and want to nullify an Adapt in a pinch. A 3.9 viewed this way, but no more since the important strategies aren't useable by everyone unless they grab Empok Nor first.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) A middle-of-the road effort with a lot of potential.

PICTURE: A small part of an impressive FX shot in the movie, Retask is a bit stiff as far as pictures go, but it's still cool. All those little drones with their subcommands over them like green halos... I like it. A 3.7. The fact that it's only marginally about the card concept (it fits ok, but just ok) keeps it from getting any higher.

LORE: Fixes the lore and Trek Sense of the Borg Ship dilemma by telling us it's a rogue. The deadpan way this card's lore tells us this is classic Borg compu-speak, which is very appropriate. A good 3.8.

TREK SENSE: The idea is to reassimilate a Borg Ship dilemma into the Borg (affiliation) collective. Great idea, giving rationale for the idea that the Borg started out as a dilemma and stayed that way. It's all the work of rogues now, either Hugh's gang or that of Unimatrix Zero, eh? ;-) The mechanic is as elegant as it is simple - you simply replace the dilemma with an actual staffed Cube. Great stuff. The Cube must be universal because I don't think it would do for the Queen's Cube to go rogue. Fully staffed, because it did fly and attack ships, so it had to be staffed, and only drones, keeping the unbelievable presence of the Queen or a counterpart from occuring. You draw no cards that turn probably because it took some resources to reassimilate the ship (no card draw relates to that resource drain), and it's all done from afar, by extending the collective's mind to the Ship and requires no Borg cards be present. Very, very well done. Seeing as it even fixes another card, I can't see it getting anything but a 5 here.

STOCKABILITY: A real monster, this one. With the right card draws, the Borg can get a fully staffed Cube into an inhabited quadrant as early as turn #2! As soon as you have a Scout ship in hand, you can report it to the end of the spaceline, where there's a space mission with a self-seeded Borg Cube. The Scout and its small crew are destroyed, but you get to make a massive download on the next turn: a Borg Cube and 7 drones! (On the same turn if you con your opponent into disagreeing that the Borg destroying the Borg is cool and Parallax him.) That's a great headstart. It's not that easy to accomplish however. Retask is a rare card that you my not own in multiples, so getting it from the get-go could be difficult. And multiples won't very useful, though the card makes a primo probe result for Borg objectives. Q's Tent has the same problem in that since it's a terrible probe, you don't want very many in your draw deck, so that doesn't up your chances of an early draw. That said, a Borg Cube download later in the game can still be a powerful tool, especially against armada decks, some of which may be Borg-hunters who seeded their own Borg Ship dilemma and intend to destroy it. A Multiplexor among your downloads can really turn that Ship into a nightmare. The big bad wolf in this case is the crippling Computer Crash. At least, that Borg Ship can do some damage by itself until the Crash's countdown wears off and you can slap Retask on it again. And with Q the Referee, it's too easy to get a Temporal Vortex to make the Ship disappear for three turns. If suspending your action, this may cause you to lose the Retask and your card play. A big bad card, but too many things could go wrong. A 4.2.

TOTAL: 16.7 (83.5%) I had the pleasant task of reviewing this one.

PICTURE: Some kind of cast picture, since Wilkins was never seen in the film (certainly not this clearly), it suffers from a couple of bugs. One is how bright the table top is, making the okudagrams on it look like alien squiggles. The other is that Wilkins looks like a giant. It's either his proximity to the top of the frame, or how small the the warp core looks from this angle, maybe even his posture. Regardless of all that, the card is crisp and clear, and attractively colored. Maybe you even think the bugs are cool. Maybe *I* do. A 3.2.

LORE: Once you get past the universality acknowledgement (which is iffy - I don't like the simple "scientist" for a science "officer", it's just not the same thing, compare with T'Pan for example), you get right into a rehash of one of the funniest lines in First Contact. I can practically hear Picard's under-enthused "wow" at the end there. Very funny re-use of the script, at least enough for a 4.1. (One bug: the movie said cubic METER, not centimeter.)

TREK SENSE: See that list of things Mr. Wilkins apparently found? Well, that's what Stellar Cartographers check for. Given the semi-invented lore, invented name and even, in a sense, invented picture, there's very little we know about this guy. But with what Decipher's told us, it makes perfect sense for him to be a Stellar Cartography mission specialist. That, of course, infers Science. The uniform would confirm the Staff icon. And the Stats? They look good enough for his affiliation and classification. He's even more "typical" than many other universals on account of his having NO real presence in Star Trek. Good stuff, though on the boring side. A 4.

STOCKABILITY: Feds have more than 150 personnel, and out of all of those, only 9 of them have Stellar Cartography. There are about the same number of missions the Feds can attempt that require Stellar Cartography. And who's gonna help you pass Navigational Hazards if you don't stock one? The main advantage Wilkins has is that he's a mission specialist, so he can be downloaded via AMS, and can score extra points at those 9 missions. His STRENGTH is nothing to cheer at, and he can be a target of Unscientific Method because Stellar Cartography missions are prime targets for it, but the other stats are good, and you can always boost him with Lower Decks (useful in AMS decks). Straight and simple here: a 3.5.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) See what good Lore and Trek Sense can do?

PICTURE: Now this is a beauty. There's really a lot of deatil, especially on the ship being "salvaged" (though in the film, the ship was most likely being hit by a "killer" tractor beam in the battle). You can actually read the registry number: NCC-1451. Not sure about that third digit. This was probably meant to be the Bozeman, since it's the right class, and only really old ships have 4-digit registries. Unfortunately, the Bozeman is supposed to be NCC-1941. Close, but no cigar. A tiny anomaly, so a tiny point deduction. I really admire the fire in the warp nacelle, for example. Nice splashes of color. The only real flaw is that the whole right inch of the picture is wasted space. A still impressive 4.2.

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

TREK SENSE: While assimilating places and things are clear Borg objectives, I wish they could have found a way to make Salvage Starship for everybody. After all, it's something everyone could do, and if you look at the card squarely, it's net effects are those of assimilating a ship, that is, adding its distinctiveness to the Collective. It's all very blurry, as if they'd split Borg objectives too finely. Regardless of the title, some of it is well crafted. Hidden Agenda: I guess you never know what the Borg are up to. You have to target a space mission where a ship was destroyed, since, after all, you need a ship to salvage, right? And I really like how Wolf 359 (Secret Salvage) is included, since that place is ridden with ship husks. Minor problem with this: isn't a ship destroyed at a planet location just as salvageable, or are we so close to the planet it would have burned up on reentry? Medium problem: the location must not have already been scouted. Hey, why not, except that it would unbalance the game? There's really no reason a ship couldn't be salvaged at your Gateway location. Major problem: the ship you go grab in the discard pile doesn't have to be the same ship that was destroyed there, and indeed, with Wolf 359, never will be. How do you explain that? Even 3 Span is a long way to drift! I do like how you get to grab a destroyed ship though, and add its special equipment to all your Borg ships. That's the part that really works. The probe results are also well designed. Defense represents your ability to take what isn't yours, while Navigation is about finding the spacehulk in the first place and supplying the Engineers to refit your Cubes. Not as strong as a lot of the others, but no real problems (note that I could have probably justified Commincations too). And 30 points? Salvaging a ship actually worth 5 points more than assimilating an entire planet??? Yeah, right. Not very good overall, though I like the basic dynamic. A 2.7.

STOCKABILITY: Pretty useful actually. At 30 points, it's the second highest point value for a Borg objective after Assimilate Homeworld, so that 2 of these and a Homeworld assimilation equals 100 points with 3 objectives only. If you Stop First Contact first, and play Population 9 Billion - All Borg, following up with a single, now 60-point, Salvage Starship will win you the game with only 2 objectives (well, I'm not counting Stop First Contact as one). It's also a way for the Borg to score points from destroying ships. You first try to Eliminate Starship, then Salvage it. That way, 1) you can use the very same location as a target for scouting, and 2) you can be sure there's a ship to grab in your opponent's discard pile. Just interested in the 30 or 60 points to finish the game? Seed Secret Salvage and probe there. It's really not any harder than Establish Gateway (2 good probe icons) and'll get you 5 points more. And as a cool little bonus, whatever ship you destroy will get you its special equipment on all your ships. That's not always that great, mind you. Holodecks will be useless, and you'd have to really know your opponent well to be able to make use of Invasive Transporters, Particle Field Generator or Energy Dampener since they require other cards you'd have to stock to be any good. Borg objectives make Invasive Transporters unnecessary anyway. Long-Range Scan Shielding is a fairly weak piece of equipment. Tractor Beam, the one you'll get most of the time, is already on your Cubes, but it adds it to your Scouts and Spheres. Is that much of an advantage? Well, aside from the funky ability to play russian dolls with Scouts, not that much. If you're using a lot of Scouts, you probably not going for Eliminate/Salvage Starship anyway. Cloaking Device is the one you want, common in two affiliations, so it's a way of getting the thing without Tomalak of Borg. What Tomalak DOESN'T give you though, is a Phasing Cloak, and if you're lucky enough to get that, no one should be able to get your Cube's bonus points. There's also an off-chance that you could destroy the USS Pasteur and get its MEDICAL. Can't be shared through Interlink Drone, but an extra skill per ship is worth that at least. Like I said, it's just a bonus, and it's hard to use any special equipment to its fullest because you'd have to stock bad probes to do so (Engage Cloak, etc.). Speaking of bonuses: note that a salvaged ship cannot be Palor Toffed by your opponent. It stays gone. Just the points make this one superior at 4.5.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) Definitely not a piece of scrap.

PICTURE: Basically a visual pun for a title which has very little to do with android hands, it's got a nice color scheme (love that plasma!) and a strange look to the hand. Data's hand here almost looks like a prop hand, artificial, and by a strange trick of the light, webbed. I don't care much for the webbing, but the rest is appropriate. A 3.8.

LORE: While it describes the picture, it does nothing for the game text, which would have been nice. Actually, I sorta see how "out-with-organic-skin" equals "out-with-extra-cards", but it's tenuous at best. A 1.6.

TREK SENSE: Well, strictly speaking, there's no Trek Sense here. There is, however, a conceptual idea, but it's pretty thin. "Hand" is a game term, and "Scorching" it, though an idea taken from the film (that specific image), is all about discards, another game concept. It gets conceptual if you see excess cards as the human skin on Data's arm, but that premise is real flimsy. For Trek Sense to be satisfied, you'd need a concept that would make affiliations with too many resources on hand return them to the assembly lot or to the future. It just doesn't work, and the immunity to Amanda Rogers isn't very relevant either. Since it's an "outside the universe"-type effect, I suppose we shouldn't be able to affect it with "in-universe" stuff like Amanda. As low as a 0.3.

STOCKABILITY: A counter to some strategies, Scorched Hand will be useful against anyone using card drawing engines to get at all their good cards as soon as possible, or want to smack down a bunch of personnel or ships (like with Red Alert or Space-Time Portal), or even those involved in card management. You can't be sure you'll hit all the good cards when you do this, but if an opponent's deck is focused enough, there's a good chance it will. Traveller: Transcendence/Kivas Fajo-Collector, Rules of Acquisition, returning a ship via Space-Time Portal, Visit Cochrane Memorial, Dabo, cargo runs and even ore processing are all such engines, many of them popular. Let them get to 13 cards and they lose all of them to the bottom of the draw deck. It's not as efficient as, say, the discard pile or out-of-play, but what are ya gonna do? At least it can't be nullified by Amanda. You can also force your opponent into a 13-card position, especially if he keeps himself in the 12-card safe zone, in a couple of ways. The Traveller and Kivas Fajo work just as well on your opponent as they do on you, and it's not like you'r really giving your them extra cards, you're really taking them away. Choosing the right time to do this may be a question of recognizing visual cues from your opponent's face. Poker faces are an advantage for things like this. Another way is to take control of your opponent's ship (Ktarian Game or Neural Servo) then returning it to owner's hand (with all hands) and scorching ship and crew into the nothingness from which they sprang. But wait, there's more. Scorched Hand can be downloaded, suspending play, by It's Only a Game when your opponent draws three or more cards, even from the discard pile! So one interrupt can be used more than once against a cheese-meister. Even Computer Crash can't stop it. And with Q the Referee, it becomes a [Ref] icon card, making it downloadable (suspending play and immune to Crash) for any reason. Q the Ref also has the ability to recycle your Scorched Hand if your opponent just isn't using these kinds of strategies, so it's less of a waste if you stock it. You can always get rid of it (or cue it for later) and draw another card. These last additions have made it a good 4.

TOTAL: 9.7 (48.5%) Any card this conceptual is gonna get burned under Trek Sense.

PICTURE: A splicing of two images, right? Not quite, that CGIed Borg Scout Vessel is all original (but looks too much like circuit boards slapped together for my tastes), and not the same as the one of the ship card. The Romulan Scout however, IS the same (yawn). Well done on the composition (the Romulan ship points the way) and the two affiliations' common green also helps the card. A 3.7 here.

LORE: Well done, especially for a concept that's pure invention as far as the filmed material goes. That whole "harbinger of trouble" stuff reads pretty well, and everything is rationalized adequately. Another 3.7.

TREK SENSE: Space/planet? The look and concept would dictate a space-only dilemma, no? Well, the fact is, planet missions always include "space" (orbit) where ships can exist. Since this dilemma is represented by a ship, and doesn't require another ship present as a target, it makes sense to allow it at planet missions. I really like the idea of downloading an actual ship (as opposed to having a dilemma that merely acts like a ship) with a small crew (they're only scout ships) to the location, truly creating an "Encounter". Scout ships are a good choice for this because they can more easily be expected to be, well, anywhere, going far and wide like they do. And since different affiliations may, at any given time, have different agendas, they in no way feel obligated to attack. They can just scout the area, see that it is occupied, and leave. The only problem we could mention is that the ship seems to come out of the blue. How? Well, it's no different than ships reporting to facilities where they clearly weren't built. Space is a big place, and the spaceline doesn't represent it all. Why only universal personnel aboard? Well, since no one really kept track of the ship, it must not have been staffed by "bigger lights". There is a way to find fault with that thinking, so I'll keep the score at a still very high 4.7.

SEEDABILITY: Right now, all affiliations have access to scout ships (at the very least through Non-Aligned cards, so this dilemma can fit in any deck. For the Bajorans, that means a ship with its universal matching commander already aboard, and if Captain's Log is already in play, that's a competent 8-7-7 vessel. Seed Scout Encounters all over the spaceline and supplement your Bajoran armada with support craft. Borg Scout swarms will likewise like this dilemma and can use it to "move away" and scout a space location. If this very mission is a scoutable location, well, its dilemmas have already been weeded out! Or you could beam a drone over and cause other kinds of trouble. The Klingons only have the unique (and shared) Cha'Joh, but it's got some of the best Scout stats in the game. Start off with a small staff, then download the Sisters of Duras over there with Ready Room Door for a real powerhouse! And it cloaks in the meantime! The Romulans are the best served in this area, with three different scouts, including the Cha'Joh, the Pi (which also has a matching commander) and the universal Scout Vessel. The other affiliations will just have to use the Flaxian Scout, which has a Non-Aligned matching commander, but doesn't force you to download NA personnel. You can report cross-quadrant if you like. Note that anyone (except the Borg) can make a great combo with Scout Encounter and Quantum Singularity Lifeforms - stock a Romulan vessel just for that occasion and place everybody in stasis. A great way to make THAT particular dilemma work. It's a fair back-up for Outpost destruction too, since it reports personnel without the need for one. A universal ENGINEER can rebuild your Outpost, no problem. And as I mentioned not so long ago, it's a good way to get SECURITY personnel to a location where you've seeded Extradition. Download universal Ferengi Taar just before a Ferengi Attack, and it's doubled! Gee, while you're at a planet location, check if the ship has very many people in it. Could be real safe to attack it, eh? Or how about beaming down to attack the Away Team? Universal Yint can put a Disruptor Rifle into your hands to help! There are a lot more ways to employ the right personnel appearing at the right place at the right time. A cool 4.2.

TOTAL: 16.3 (81.5%) A pleasant find.

PICTURE: Like a lot of Picard pics in First Contact, way better than his personnel card itself. There is some question as to whether a picture of him on the bridge sensing the Borg would have been more appropriate than his waking from a Borg nightmare, but given the lore and possibly the exact expression on his face, this one is probably better. I like how his background is the same greenish-gray hue as that of the counterparts. Certainly creates a kind of mindscape to what is essentially a non-personnel head shot. A 3.6.

LORE: Since brevity is the soul of wit... A simple line works nicely in a movie-based expansion since a movie usually has a number of memorable lines, but one might have liked an explanation for Trek Sense purposes for this effect, especially with a picture that reveals very little about the card's function. I still like it, but it isn't that efficient. A 3 here.

TREK SENSE: Has your personnel Sense the Borg and allows it to react appropriately. Well, in theory. Fact is, the card does not require a personnel that was once assimilated by the Borg who could have that kind of connection to the Collective (there just aren't enough of them), it doesn't require a personnel at all! If the "Sense" can be taken even as a deep space scan or something, well it still has other problems to overcome. For example, the Borg can use the card themselves even if the borg card reported is their own! Why, of course you can Sense the Borg, you're it. Just seems odd. And the rogue cards (Borg Ship and Rogue Borg Mercenaries) AREN'T part of the Collective, so Sensing them like Picard is doing here just won't work. Remember, he didn't "hear" either Hugh (who was severed from the Collective) or Lore's Rogue Borg at all. So that part's flawed. What about the "reactions"? Sensing the Borg actually reads like "Knowing the Borg" ("No one understands them like I do. No one can.") because it gives you those kinds of "insider information" anti-Borg cards. Weak Spot and Borg Neuroprocessor are prime examples. That works despite showing the title to be a misnomer. Hugh is a counter to the Rogue Borg cards (including the Ship), but can he really be brought in at a moment's notice when the Borg are detected? He's not as easy to reach as those others. Ready Room Door is actually the most sensible since it downloads preparations that could be used by anyone, including everyone that doesn't have a direct line to the Borg Collective. Captain's Orders, matching commanders, all of those could and would be brought into action if the Borg entered your space. Various problems drop this one to a 2.3.

STOCKABILITY: If you ARE facing a Borg opponent, and you can't ever know for sure you will unless you agreed to it (and I've lost EVERY First Contact game where I agreed to play the Borg and my opponent, the Feds), then this card can play very much as it reads, as a kind of reactionary counter. Opponent reports a Cube, you grab yourself a Weak Spot (downloading to hand according to errata) to help in any future battle. She reports a drone, you get a Neuroprocessor and find out what the next Borg objective is. Against non-Borg opponents, you can also work your sixth sense magic against Rogue Borg, definitely easing  anti-pinging defenses. So there, you can download Hugh (or Neuroprocessor) to destroy RBMs or to go undetected before a Borg Ship dilemma. Indeed, with FC Picard, simply set off the dilemma and download a chain of interrupts to pass it right then and there. When reacting with this card, that version of the Picard persona will prove invaluable, allowing you to stock Sense the Borg in your Tent in case the Borg do make an appearance, not in your draw deck where it may just sit uselessly. Ah, but the trick isn't to use it reactively but proactively! To make great use of the card, play the Borg cards yourself! The counters won't do much there, but Borg Neuroprocessor can be used to check out any Hidden Agenda, and Ready Room Door... whoah, now that's a useful card. I failed to mention it, but with a lot of these in your deck (or the same couple ones over and over, since it can go back to the top of your draw deck), against a Borg deck, you can download a Doorway most every turn. If you ARE Borg, you can sense yourself, and download a matching commander (Locutus or the Queen) or a Captain's Order card real easily. When not dealing with a Borg opponent, might I suggest using RBMs to set off Sense the Borg, downloading yourself Door and (insert card here) even during your opponent's turn? Captain's Log and matching commanders at the flip of an Interrupt can really turn the tables on an oncoming armada, for example. Most Captain's Orders boost either ships or crew, or help report them, or hide your ships from fire by landing them. As a side-effect of your download, your opponent's crew is stopped. RBM counters don't punish, they kill or invalidate the Rogue. Who cares? What are you waiting for? Start sensing. A hand full of Senses and RBMs can be a wonderful thing to get all the cards you need out. A surprising 4.2.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) All over the map.

PICTURE: They certainly enhanced this shot of a far-away Vulcan, as might be attested by the dark linework in his face. That's well done compared to the purplish-blue "garbage" inside his cloak, shadows blown up but not cleaned up. That's the only real flaw in a pic that has a certain richness of color both in the foreground and background. The angular Vulcan architecture looks pretty cool. A 3.5.

LORE: Aside from the fact he was on Solkar's survey vessel, everything about "Sevek" is invention, including his name. None of it is beyond reason however, since the role given him is that of a surveyor. I'd say Decipher didn't overreach on this one. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: A pre-Federation Vulcan naturally can only be Non-Aligned, but would obviously deserve an AU icon and the Mindmeld skill. His expertise (according to the lore) would also make him a natural Biology and/or Geology personnel. A Staff icon would also work here. What doesn't work however is the Medical classification. Oh, it goes with Biology, and the survey vessel's gotta have a doctor, but this guy is pegged as a scientist (Science anyone?) both specifically AND in his areas of expertise. Sloppy. What's also sloppy is the really lame Cunning for a scientist and a Vulcan. These guys are really brainier than that, even if we're talking about hundreds of years in the "past". No real problem with the other attributes, but that's not any real comfort. Dives to a 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: He's no Vekor, but he does have his uses. A sensible MEDICAL for the non-Federation affiliations, with two very good dilemma-busting skills, Biology and Geology. The Mindmeld's a bonus that will help with very few dilemmas, but could be used to add skills onto him with Vulcan Mindmeld. The AU icon isn't really a problem and could actually let you to report him to your AU ships. One ship he can report aboard though, and without Crew Reassignment, is the Vulcan Lander. Sevek can report aboard, then use his Geology to solve [universal] Planet by landing the ship. That's a real easy one. Other than that, well, he's a fair Non-Aligned, with at least one skill that doesn't match his classification (more resistant against well-placed filters) and the ability to use Vulcan support cards (one of 5 NA Vulcans). Add the Bajorans' sudden need for good NA AUs to staff their Bajoran Warship, and you reach better than average. A 3.7.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Does well for a background character.

PICTURE: Wow, is this the pic you expected when you saw the title in the FC card list? That must be the fake-out of the century! So, a clever pic-to-title juxtaposition, but what else? Not that much, actually. The image hinges more on the moment the line from the lore was spoken than anything else, and is probably more interesting visually (eyes in a composition usually make it stronger) than just that shot of the broken ships from just before. I'll give it that. A fine 3.5.

LORE: Explains the pic, and certainly gives us a good line from the film (not even the only one from that great scene), but it has very little to do with the game text. As such, I can't give it more than 2.8.

TREK SENSE: We're definitely in conceptual territory here. Wall of Ships (as yet unrated) is pretty conceptual itself and nullifying it makes sense as per the picture. That's the same Wall with its ships all broken. The other effect potentially every ship on the "wall" (read: in play) by suspending their enhancements. Cute, but totally conceptual. I mean, is there anything that would actually kill Captain's Log bonuses, Bynars Enhancements and Plasmadyne Relays all at the same time, on both sides of the table? Nothing I can think of short of Q's intervention (which this isn't). Even the concept takes a hit when you consider that a "shipwreck" wouldn't dictate enhancement "suspension", but rather "nullification". I'm not sure there's even a "wreck" here. An undecipherable 1.6.

STOCKABILITY: The current playing environment not only offers a multitude of ways to enhance your ship's attributes, but also ships that automatically get attribute bonuses in certain situations or against certain opponents. Most ships coming out today have a matching commander that allows for the +2/+3/+3 of Plaque and Log. Really, even shuttles and runabouts can now be upgraded to a medium cruiser's level. So say you want to go into battle? You're not just facing a ship, you're facing all the upgrades that have been done to it. Bynars? Kurlan Naiskos? Plasmadyne Relays? Captain's Log? Nutational and Metaphasic Shields? System 5 Disruptors? Tactical Consoles? Battle Bridge Doors? Test Propulsion Systems? Sphere Encounter? Counterparts? Data's Head? Phase Cloak? And of course, guys like Martok or the Astrogation drone? Bonuses tend to add up! It may just be for a turn, so limiting a ship's RANGE won't slow it down for long, but look at when it can be played: at the start of a battle. Opponent attacks with a ship (or ships) hopped up on bonuses, you play this card, and suddenly the odds are evened. It kills your enhancements as well, but hopefully you're playing with a naturally tough vessel. The Borg will especially like this interrupt as a Borg-hunting hoser. Boosted ships hungering for your ship's bonus points are in for a surprise when they're Shipwrecked. Lowered WEAPONS means they can't hurt you; lowered SHIELDS means they won't survive a hit from you. And of course, this'll work whether you're playing Borg or just the Borg Ship dilemma. The Fesarius could be an option, but there's not as much incentive to attack it. Another enhancement it can suspend is Wall of Ships, but it can also nullify it outright if that's your wish. The +1 boost across the board isn't much, but the card is cumulative (though event-speed). Shipwreck doesn't just nullify one, but all of them. (Watch out: even your own.) You would also use it to prevent a download of an Enterprise. Against the Feds, that may be a real option since most, if not all, of them are good ships. There are 6 of them now, so an Enterprise deck is quite feasable. Stock it for the first function, and use it for the second in a pinch, I say, but rather defensive all in all. A good 3.7 for those among us running scared (especially the Borg).

TOTAL: 11.6 (58%) Not a total loss by any means.

PICTURE: Ehh... There is just so much wrong with this image, I can't give it a "thumbs up". First, there's the chaotic nature of the background - large metallic cylinders, green lighting and a brownish back wall that melds uneasily into Data's clothes. Then, there's the fact that the gun is offscreen, so that we have to take it for granted those puffs of smoke are shots. Plus, look at Data's head. It looks ridiculously small, like a wooden dummy's or something. No sir, I don't like it. A 1.2.

LORE: I like the last sentence which makes for an à propos conclusion, but it always annoys me when the words "Away Team" are given the capitilization treatment. In the game text, sure (though they never say "Crew" so I don't get the point), but in the lore... A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Your personnel get shot at, and your opponent actually chooses who they'll be firing on. Since you can't kill androids with bullets, it has to be a non-android. If an android IS there, then it "stops" to deflect (absorb?) the bullets. Not all androids will do this though, only Security (it's their job) and Officers (their sense of duty? Maybe it's just to explain Data's involvement). Even if you buy the whole sequence of events, you have to wonder at some of the arbitrary decisions. Like, if a Soong-Type Engineer knew it was impervious to bullets, wouldn't it try to protect its party? Maybe Security personnel are a little more alert, but that Officers are too may be something of a conceit. And would Lore throw himself in front of a bullet? The other odd thing is that all appropriate androids are stopped, not just one, which begs the question as to what kind of attack this is. More than one machine gun? Magically the same number as there are androids? And if I'm speaking about bullets, it's because of the pictured situation, but also because androids aren't quite impervious to disruptor fire. Stun settings, yes. Your usual aggressor species settings, no. That's why I would call for an AU icon on this dilemma. I mean, if the Antique Machine Gun has it, then its effects should too, n'est-ce pas? A sound premise is marred by a couple of details. A 2.9.

SEEDABILITY: A filter/killer combo, Shot in the Back is almost sure to weed out one useful personnel, either temporarily or permanently. If your opponent has the correct type of android, that android - usually a pretty powerful personnel type - is stopped. Actually, they all are. That won't usually be that many however since the number of android OFFICERs and SECURITY is pretty limited: various versions of Data, Data's Body, Lore and Ruk, plus whatever Soong-Types have been converted to the appropriate classification (possibly even Lal). But these are usually used to fill classification holes in the affiliations, and those holes, which might sometimes include SECURITY, hardly ever include OFFICER. But if there are more than one? Stops all of them in one fell swoop. If not present, and this is where this dilemma succeeds where many other android dilemmas fail, there's still an effect: you get to choose who dies, so you still weed out an important personnel (just make sure it IS important, that's all). You can't target an android, so really, the only way to avoid this dilemma is to encounter it with just non-OFFICER, non-SECURITY androids. Not a likely occurence. Now, in combos, you can lead up to it with android      stoppers/killers so that you're assured a kill, but following it up with android requirements will just delay the inevitable. The androids will rejoin the Away Team on the next turn. It's really up to you to tailor the follow-up to whatever personnel you choose to die. A good specific killer is worth its 4.1.

TOTAL: 11 (55%) There were a couple of poor elements here, so I had to shoot it down.

PICTURE: This is the drone the Nitpickers' Guild calls "Pager-Face", the reason being his ocular implant's shape I suppose, though his coming under their attention is due to his repeat appearances (see below). A good choice for the Quantum Drone? Not in my opinion. He was always seen in a Defense capacity (attacking the crew), and more than once! His youthful features may make him more endearing (and thus, less aggressive) than other drones, but that's just not the case. Doesn't look bad, but has no real background and isn't altogether appropriate. A 2.4.

LORE: Good drone "name" (identification), and though short, his task is interestingly described. I like it, and give it a 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Once you accept the fact that the Borg are no doubt interested in parallel universes - hey! gotta get at those pre-fab counterparts! ;-) - you can get deeper into this card. Science and Physics seem to be integral elements of its function, but Navigation is more iffy. As a Navigation drone, it makes sense, but why a Nav drone rather than a Com drone? The answer lies more in the function of the downloadable Alternate Universe Door relating to keeping Transwarp Gateways open than anything else. In that sense, it works, since that would be the drone's true function (never mind "Analyze"). As for that download, 6 of 11 can use its research to close typical AU phenomena, including Temporal Rifts and Subspace Schisms. Creating openings in the space/time continuum apparently gets you to the other side of a Q-Net or reopens closed Transwarps, Q's Tents, etc. The shortcomings here belong to the AU Door proper, but after that big Temporal Vortex splash, I have no doubt the Borg are into this kind of thing as well. The drone further needs a ship's resources to make this work (i.e., the ability isn't absurdly internal) and those resources cost you a card draw. Sensible. The universal icon is standard on drones, but particularly effective on this personnel card (more effective than on ANY other personnel, from ANY affiliation). You see, Pager-Face was the drone that died and died and died in First Contact. It kept being resurrected for later stunts. Case in point, the image is taken from the first hand-to-hand battle, where 6 of 11 gets killed by an Android Headlock. Later on, he's one of the two drones that get shot down by Dixon Hill on the Holodeck. He also bites it on the outside of the deflector dish and I think at least one other place. Truly universal! The usual caveats apply as to a human (or former human) having a Delta quadrant icon, but if he was assimilated at some point, brought to the DQ, then returned via the Queen's Cube, it could work. A good showing, all in all, and a well balanced special skill: An even 4.

STOCKABILITY: An excellent drone, especially if your opponent somehow divined you were going to play Borg (maybe that obvious "something of something" handle). The special skill gets you a card that can help your Borg out of a number of impasses. Q-Nets: Borg don't have Diplomacy without a counterpart or a Queen - not as readily available in swarm decks. Subspace Schism: Not used so much, but you might not want your Queen to be discarded upon being drawn. Temporal Rift: Annoying to everyone, but even more to the already slow-going Borg (plus, it doesn't discard the AU Door). Revolving Door: Most importantly, it reopens Transwarp Network Gateways that have been closed by a Revolving Door stranding your Cube on the wrong side of the universe. Of course, it'll also reopen a seeded AU Door you need to report your counterpart and your Q's Tent. The AU Door not a good probe? Well, on the one hand, consider that if you're stuck behing a Q-Net or in the Delta quadrant, you won't be doing much probe in any case, and on the other, it's a viable probe for Eliminate Starship, getting you one of those annoying Temporal Rifts for yourself. In other news, the three regular skills are also quite good, and along with Hugh (I'm sorry, 3rd of 5) is one of the only drones with three of them. Physics is now seeing use in dilemmas (and he's one of only three Physics Borg, and the most accessible given one of them is Seven of Nine), but Navigation and SCIENCE are more frequently required. SCIENCE in particular is only found on three drones, and 6 of 11 here is the most viable of them (Cyber Drone is limited and Complink often stays at the outpost). I must say, I'm impressed. A 4.3.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) The drone stepped into the quantum leap accelerator and... vanished! (Sorry, stuck in a temporal rift...)

PICTURE: Though appropriately taken from an act of sabotage (i.e. the business on the deflector dish), the close-up is also a bit INappropriate. My reasons? It takes away from the personnel's Borg-ness by 1) de-emphasizing the implants and 2) giving a face to an essentially faceless affiliation. That said, it's still a nice pic, especially that creepy ocular implant filled with that looks like blood. The slight nitpic aside, this is a 3.8.

LORE: Attenuate? Funny. Darkly understated like a lot of Borg cards. The appelation "Sabotage Drone" is sensible too. A good 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Sabotage seems a pretty aggressive function, so the Defense drone subcommand is appropriate here. Computer Skill would surely be used to sabotage a ship (especially the Weapons) and Physics perhaps to mess around with the anti-matter and propulsion systems (the Range). As for the sabotage itself, well, it's not that bad being a small point deduction in two categories. What, no Shields? I'd think that would be the first thing I'd sabotage given that my Cube is already impervious to most ships' Weapons, and makes use of the faster Transwarp technology (ideally). Small comfort that the drone has to be aboard the ship. The non-cumulative nature isn't really warranted either. Simply 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: While sabotaging an opponent's ship may be something lots of affiliations might enjoy doing, the Borg shouldn't be that keen on it. After all, their SHIELDS are way up there and have little to fear from conventional WEAPONS. Reducing RANGE is more annoying to the victim, but still... Is it really worth it to go through all that trouble just for that when Baryon Buildup has the same, but cumulative, effect? What trouble? Well, you'll have to get the Sabotage Drone aboard that opposing ship, and that'll require either a Transport Drone or something like Undetected Beam-In (unfortunately, the attributes can't be lowered mid-way through a mission attempt). That's fine if you're gonna be Assimilating Starship anyway, but that's far from the best Borg objective (no points). Oh, you might want to offset a Borg hunter's many attribute bonuses when he comes for your Cube, but the -2 won't necessarily make the required dent, and certainly won't protect Scouts or Spheres that well either. Still, he's more annoying that a simple drone just standing there, so if your opponent decides to bump him off, you have a reason to counterattack. As for the skills, you can never have enough Computer Skill I guess. And while Physics is probably better handled by Seven of Nine or the Quantum Drone, the skill is scarce and suddenly a dilemma requirement. You know what? The least useful Defense drone at 2.5.

TOTAL: 12.6 (63%) An inferior piece of dronemanship.

PICTURE: This is the drone that keeps passing in front of Picard while he navigates the Borged part of the ship in First Contact. The pic's basically okay, with perhaps the justification for its artifact-related ability in its armor-like exosuit (it has an antiquated look), but I don't appreciate the shaft of green light smothering the image to the left. That big distraction makes this pic worth a 3.2 only.

LORE: "Survey Drone" isn't a bad tag, but it could mean so many things, you'd think they'd have found something more archaeological for this guy. As for the lore itself, it's among the shortest, but the neologistic term "exorelics" is worth the price of admission - "artifact" just has too many humanoid connotations for the Collective to use it, I guess. A fun 3.4.

TREK SENSE: The normal Borg drone trappings are fine, even the Delta quadrant icon is unimpaired by the drone's former species. From the lore, I guess this drone (or maybe we should say "drone type") is the one that discovers artifacts and assimilates them into the Collective. After all, if these have fancy powers, why wouldn't the Borg be after them the same way they're after more contemporaineous technology? That particular ability is represented by the special skill itself: once an objective has been completed at a location, if it is present, it may acquire (earn) any artifacts present. The ability simply echoes that of the more normal affiliations, replacing mission completion with objective completion. The justification should be the same, namely that you can't start digging until all the dilemmas have been cleared, including the unspoken dilemma which is the mission objective (or just plain objective in this case) itself. That makes sense as do the attendent skills of Archaeology (of course) and Geology (to know where to dig and how). The only place I see a problem is with the subcommand icon. Navigation? Communication (of information) maybe, but Navigation just has no bearing on this card. Drops it down to a still-high 4.

STOCKABILITY: First and foremost, Survey Drone's usefulness is going to be based on artifacts' usefulness to the Borg. Many artifacts are simply irrelevant to them: Cubes are already as powerful as a Kurlaned ships and don't readily have all the classifications on hand; Ressikan bonus points are irrelevant; and then there are those artifacts that are species-specific or generally weak. But then there are those artifacts which are either must-haves or very powerful in the hands of the Collective. Case in point: Cryosatellite remains the best way to get the AU counterparts into play. Orb of Prophecy and Time lets you rig probes! And how about that Saltah'na Clock to turn your Cube into a killing machine without any battle restrictions? Survey Drone will definitely want to be around to grab those. Artifacts seedable at space locations are definitely better than planet ones (so always put one on that Cryosat) because 16 of 19 MUST be present when the objective is completed. Except you can't beam down any more drones once an objective is completed, so you'd have to risk the drone in the scouting attempt. Everyone's always at risk in space, so it doesn't matter as much. Also, you could report him after the objective was completed, nabbing the artifacts sitting on top of the mission before your opponent would sweep in to get them for free. You'll want Survey Drones along in any case just for their Geology however. Only the unique 3rd of 5 also has it, yet it shows up on some bad dilemmas such as Seismic Quake (ouch) and Odo's "Cousin" (break out the Adapt). Archaeology has no dilemma-busting power whatsoever so neither Locutus nor the Survey Drone may make use of it.  We're still waiting I guess. Since it circumvents a Borg rule that you'd often want to do without, at least a 4.2.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Another good FC design.

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