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

PICTURE: Though there is some blurring on the saucer section, this is a very nice ship image. The Enterprise-E itself is good-looking with those funky (I used to say "goony" but got used to them) warp nacelles and its gunmetal hull, but it's made all the more dynamic thanks to the nebula from Patrol Neutral Zone, an actual Hubble photo capture. And it actually has real lighting instead of the usual stark lights of most model pics. A strong 4.5.

LORE: A little telegraphic, in the style of most bridge crew personnel, though it could have been more fluid since all the information comes from a single movie. A couple of commas couldn't have hurt. All the elements are true (even being the 6th in the line, since the new/original Enterprise was not a 1701 ship), but they're not always that interesting. A couple dates... length of the hull... blah. And if really WERE optimized to fight the Borg, why keep it on the side-lines in First Contact? Unless all new ships are automatically optimized in that fashion (makes sense), and if so, why specifically mention it? To explain the game text, I know, though with the Borg focus of the expansion, it really didn't justification. So I'm a little disappointed. A 2.9.

TREK SENSE: The E-E follows the Enterprise series in upping all attributes by one from the previous ship in the series. The Enterprise-D was rated 9-8-9, so this one is 10-9-10. And those stats fit too - its charging to the rescue seemed very quick indeed, the Weapons were certainly up to par, and it proved to be a very tough ship in both the films it appeared in. The Holodeck was shown in First Contact, the Tractor Beam is standard issue. The Weapons boost against the Borg is more or less explained in the lore, but that's never said outright in the film and every advantage the ship has against the Collective is represented by another card (Jean-Luc Picard, Weak Spot). The staffing is the biggest problem though. This big flagship has no need of any Command personnel! Well actually, since all the E-E icon personnel are bridge crew who would all be rated Command anyway, that's not so bad. What is, though, is that it makes this ship somehow "special", like no one can be trained to staff it except the FC bridge crew. Yeah right. On the upside, the icon's presence coupled with Crew Reassignment boosts storytelling by placing the right crew aboard the right ship. Internal problems in the game allow this ship to co-exist with the Enterprise-D which is also anomalous. Can only give it a 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: It's a powerful, not to mention cool, Federation ship with one Achilles heel - its staffing. Its requirement of not one, but two E-E icons, icons only found on 6 unique personnel, severely undermines your ability to staff it. Crew Reassignment helps by allowing E-E personnel to report directly to the ship, say, if you lose one on the way, but you'd still have to get such personnel into play early. Picard can Ready Room Door to it (and boost the ship to 12-12-13 with Plaque and Log), but the others will have to wait their turns (not even a SECURITY to download via Defend Homeworld). You can download them via various sites at a Nor, but the ship can't report there, so you'd have to shuttle to it at some point. Not very handy. Its Weapons boost will only work against the Borg, perhaps a little more frequently appearing since The Borg expansion came out, but it'll also handle the Borg Ship dilemma which may be seeded by any player. Borg hunting is fairly lucrative using this ship, but if using the dilemma, beware of Writ. As an Enterprise, it can benefit from Wall of Ships, be downloaded by it and Admiral Riker, but they just haven't yet made the E-E icon useful enough yet to make this staffing a bargain. Sadly, a 3.

TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) And I reviewed this on the very night I saw the new Enterprise show for the first time.

PICTURE: A kind of reversal, since we don't see the Beam-In, but instead someone being caught unprepared by it. Since every beaming card has turned out relatively boring (you can't see the characters too well), it's a nice change of pace. A lot of pressure is placed on Inge's frozen expression, but it does the job. It's well acted enough. Some blurring, but that increases the suspense and sense of action. A 3.5.

LORE: Inge Eiger is named for a fifth time in history (the others are in the film's credits, the FC novelization, the Encyclopedia, and on her own card; she was not named in the film itself), but I don't think it works particularly well. It's tongue-in-cheek where the rest of the card went for drama and suspense. I'm also puzzled by the terms used to denote a Borg Sphere. "Borg sphere" didn't work? Also, "refugees" makes the Borg a little too harmless in my opinion. A 2.6 here.

TREK SENSE: As a way to evacuate Borg from a destroyed ship (the next step after Launch Portal), it would certainly have worked. As a dilemma, it's a little stranger. First off, there need not be a Borg vessel, destroyed or not, for the drones to beam in. Second, it's only drones, and it's clear the Queen likewise beamed over. Now be that as it may, if the Borg can beam aboard a ship undetected, there's no need for them to only do so when their ship blows up, so an Away Team of 4 is not a problematic number (too low for an evacuation). Rogue Borg no doubt have the same beaming capabilities as the Collective, so again, their presence is fine. I like that they don't attack right away, making their presence Undetected for the moment. Nullifiers don't make the Beam-In detectable, or else the download would not occur, they make the entire Beam-In impossible. Shelby would do this thanks to her knowledge of the Borg, tuning shields to the right frequency so they couldn't beam through them. Problem with this: what kind of shields is she erecting on a planet if the dilemma is encountered there? The 4 Security would have similar shield experience certainly, or might be the guys who 1) detect the Beam-In, and 2) destroy the drones upon arrival. Problem with that: no drones actually die and go to the discard pile, and it's all a little too pat concerning personnel battling (not considered an attack, for one thing). As a dilemma, it doesn't work quite as well as it could. A still original 2.

SEEDABILITY: A Borg dilemma, that, thanks to its mention of Rogue Borg, can be used by anyone. Well, for anyone, it's a good supplement to RBM strategies (except pinging), since it downloads a certain number of them to a ship without having to have them in your hand. RBMs cannot legally play on a planet, but by seeding the dilemma at one anyway, you can taregt the possibly empty ship in orbit. Win a quick fight there, and take over, stranding the Away Team, with Lore Returns. Pretty workable this way. For the Borg, it's a great way to get drones aboard ships for one of a number of uses. You can get them into position for Assimilate Counterpart without the need for a Transport Drone. You can set up Assimilate Starship. You can just start assimilating with Talon Drones, adding to your forces and points (with Add Distinctiveness). You can reduce a ship's RANGE (and catch up with it) by downloading a Sabotage Drone there. You can allow your non-Fed opponent to attack you, then immediately retalliate with a close-by Cube. On planets, it used to be a good way to start scouting attempts with more than one personnel. Since The Borg, that isn't a problem anymore. Still, you can use the dilemma to get drones in proximity to assimilatable personnel on planet surfaces, and this without an objective to allow you to be there. Requirements are not so easy to come up with. Only the Feds can use Shelby normally, and though a support personnel, still not the most popular of gals. And 4 SECURITY is more reasonable, but also a high number to ask for, especially at the bottom of a combo. Enough here for a strong 4.

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) Nice to give it broader appeal.

PICTURE: One of the few images created from whole cloth by Decipher for this game, it looks like a drawing, but it's a fine effort nonetheless. The statue is as described by Geordi (though I would have thought the sculptor wouldn't have been so honest about Cochrane's ragged fashion sense), the lawns look freshly mowed (nice details), and there's one of each Starfleet uniform color looking on, with an Engineer gold appropriately closer to the monument (the blue figure is probably a child, and not a Medical/Science officer though). The trees were no doubt pulled from somewhere, but the rest was painted on (if I read my graphics softwares correctly). A neat 4.5.

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

TREK SENSE: Pretty amusing actually. The Memorial obviously goes on Earth, and makes the perfect seed card since it must be there before the events of the game. The Borg can't abide individualistic monuments, so they take it down when the assimilate the planet. Because Cochrane is every Engineer's hero, they are the ones that can probe here (make the most of the experience). Well, not every Engineer, only the humans, since he's only responsible for OUR access to the stars, not other species. The Engineer must also be unopposed. It cannot gawk at the statue with enemies present. And the probe results are really cute! Oooh! Aaaaah! Wow! These coming from truly inspired personnel (we'll get to the last in a bit). The actual results of the probes are really mechanical in nature (mechanical... Engineers... get it? oh, kill me now) and so don't really conform to Trek Sense. An Engineer can be inspired to draw a card (if the Engineer works overtime to get a ressource out, well, he never actually leaves Earth to do it), to play a card (makes a little more sense in the above context) or download a card (a combination of the two, with the first's problems tenfold). An unimpressed Engineer forces you to discard a card instead, and again, there's no real reason behing it except thematically. I like the probe icons though! To get the first level of inspiration, you need either Federation (Starfleet guys automatically love Cochrane) or an Objective (they come specifically to see this). To get to another level, it's either an Event (perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity) or an Interrupt (really takes your breath away). Even more? These are more disappointing - a Fajo Collection icon (ok, yeah, the product was "wow"), and Equipment... to me, the cheapest of all card types. Maybe not to Engineers though. For the delicious "I thought it'd be bigger", you need to pull Non-Aligned (the Engineer might be a human who'se turned his back on the Federation and its heroes) or a Doorway (um... I came, I saw, I left and slammed the door behind me?). How much of this was designed, and how much I thought up, we'll never know for sure. Still, though its effects are outside of Trek Sense, the setup is great, the probe icons are well chosen thematically, and the text is written with humor. Feels like a generous 4.1.

SEEDABILITY: Any card with a counter (or I should say limiter) has to be a powerful play aid. And it is. Before It's Only a Game, players would simply drop a human ENGINEER on Earth and probe every turn for card draws, card plays and downloads (of ANY card!). If you had no NA cards or Doorways (not too hard to achieve, especially for the personnel-heavy Feds), you never discarded. Throw in probe rigging strategies, and you can even control if and when you probe (simply peeking at the top card in a variety of ways achieves this). Your opponent HAD to oppose you on Earth, or else your powers went unchecked. It's Only a Game has taken a bite out of this ability, requiring you to use a different ENGINEER each time (different versions of the same personae need not apply). That's keeps it in check, but since ENGINEER is a very useful and common ability, you'll still get your money's worth. With Reginald Barclay (FC), you can double the card's powers, allowing you to draw 2 cards, play 2 cards or download 2 cards (watch out you don't discard 2 cards), but with It's Only a Game, only once. Hey, think of it this way, maybe It's Only a Game isn't part of your opponent's arsenal (ahh, these metagames we play). With Zefram Cochrane, you don't have to limit yourself to seeding the card, or seeding it on Earth for that matter. The Non-Aligned Zefram allows you to play it mid-game, on any planet he is present. So you can have it on your well-protected homeworld, or in a well-protected location, maybe in another quadrant. But is it only useful to the Feds? Well, principally, sure, but other affiliations sometimes have their own (the Klingons have Jodmos), or can use a couple of Non-Aligneds (Dr. Soong, Amaros, Professor Sisko, Lily and Cochrane, and others, including lots from the Delta Quadrant). A little trickier if It's Only a Game is in play, but still doable. And a good way to overcome the limit is to drop some Engineering equipment on the planet and have those human OFFICERs, SCIENCEs, etc. visiting one after the other. A staple which hasn't gone bad yet at 4.6.

TOTAL: 17.6 (88%) Oooh! Aaaaah! Wow! Well, could have been higher.

PICTURE: The Lander has that Encounters of the Third Kind/E.T. quality which it really should have, so I'm not at all disappointed that we're only seeing its underside. It's a Lander, and it's landing. I also like how, at first glance, it's just like other ships cards, with the ship against a dark background, but when you look closer, you can see the trees of Montana. A very sharp 4.2.

LORE: Short because of the restriction box, but they've economically put all the information we need. It sets for posterity the exact time of First Contact, and gives the ship a matching commander, plus comments on the design. Also cool is that the ship's class isn't "Vulcan Lander" too. What it fails to do is make any mention of universality, speaking specifically of the FC lander. Still enough for a 4.

TREK SENSE: It's a Lander, so it can land, and of course, has no transporters. It's from a time before the Federation (AU/Non-Aligned). Those are the non-debatable issues. As for the rest... Well, the staffing is very interesting as well as sensical. In the absence of any actual affiliation at this point in Federation history, it keeps players honest by forcing them to still have Vulcans aboard. And incentive too, since Vulcans may report aboard. Now, that usually means said personnel were aboard already, but are merely called up to the bridge ("reporting for duty"). I would submit that only the FC Vulcans should actually be "already aboard". Who's with me? I find more fault with the attributes. Oh, not with Weapons, which at 1 may as well be the lasers that have become irrelevant by the 24th century, but with the two 7s. I mean, how could this 21st-century survey vessel have better Range and Shields than the 23rd-century Starship Enterprise? The Range is especially ludicrous when you think that it takes one seventh of it to land (though Range might be a little exponential). So you see, while I appreciate many of the card's features, it's far from perfect. A 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: A quirky little ship which allows most any affiliation to land on planets without the need for another card to grant permission. It's universal, so can be Spacedoored, and staffs itself no matter where it is by reporting Vulcans (the only staffing ingredient) directly aboard. Among these Vulcans, Solkar acts as matching commander, upping attributes to 9-4-10 Plaqued & Logged. And if you don't have him in hand for a simple report action, you can download him there with Ready Room Door. Most Vulcans are pretty good on skills too (except for the almost wasteful Mindmeld on each of them), and the Non-Aligned ones in particular (if you're not using the Federation). Sure, the ship has no transporters (has to land), and it's definitely not made for fighting (at least the WEAPONS can be boosted), but it's an easy little way to solve Planet Mission (with Geologist Sevek) or keep a ship safe from anything but a Breenzooka in the Neutral Zone (to name only missions that came in the same set). It's native to 2063 Montana, so can be reported there and landed to stop Stop First Contact. A good 3.7.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) Lands just about right.

PICTURE: Glitzy except for the blue at the bottom, this set shot could have something going for it at a larger size, but you can't really make out the ships that well. Tighter focus might have swept us up in the model armada's flight, but here, there's just too much dead space. A disappointing 2.3.

LORE: Not bad, though I always find that finger-pointing at the pic ("This exhibit...") is a clumsy way to write lore. The tradition is well explained though, and even older ships of the line apparently did it. A 2.7.

TREK SENSE: This is one major conceptual card. The Wall pays hommage to the various incarnations of the Enterprise, so the card does the same by boosting those ships. Think of it as reverse logic. The Wall exists BECAUSE those ships all became legends; they are not legends (boosted) because you constructed the Wall. Of course, that reasoning only goes so far. Downloading ships, for example, is ludicrous, especially across space and time. The boost to attributes works better in the context set up above, but being cumulative, you'd be hard pressed to say just how legendary these ships really were. Tiny things like the Wall playing on the table rather than on an Enterprise don't help it any. Conceptuals only take it to 1.

STOCKABILITY: A card that only boosts a small selection of ships? Is it worth it? It really depends. The Federation currently has 6 Enterprises (Future, Starship, ISS, -C, -D and -E), of varying sizes, staffing and power, which could make up the entirety of your in-deck fleet. With an appropriate number of Walls in your deck, you could download these whenever you needed them (perhaps more than one at a time using Admiral Riker and/or some Time Location game text). Does cost you a card play though. Once they ARE in play, you'll be playing Walls to boost their attributes. The Future Enterprise may not need it, but the [OS] Enterprises might. Each ship has a matching commander so they can really become powerhouses. The main problem is that for each +1 you want to add (admittedly, across the board to each attribute), it costs you a card play. It's slow going. Unless one of the 3 Enterprises we haven't gotten yet has a special download for the event, I don't expect to see it get any better on that front. Plus, not only can it be Kevined, but Shipwreck also nullifies each one in play. So for being Federation-only, very specific, and slow to play, I'm only giving it a 3.4.

TOTAL: 9.4 (47%) I think I've seen this card more often in "how fat can you make a ship" puzzles than in actual games.

PICTURE: A very nice FX shot from a movie that's full of them. The detail on the Cube wall is great, the explosion is spiffy, the colors are balanced, and the only thing that isn't up to par is the phaser blasts which are a little more fake-looking. But that's really nit-picking, and the image deserves a 4.2.

LORE: More on the specific than the general, the lore is nonetheless well-written, and makes the point is has to make. A good 3.4.

TREK SENSE: It's telling that the card plays on a targeted ship, since it's the one that should have the Weak Spot (they could have used a "at start of battle" type of formula, but this is more relevant). The card imitates events from the movie in requiring more than one ship to target said ship and fire on it. We're all aiming at the same spot. There are two possible reasons your strategists would choose that spot. One is that Shields are weaker there (about 4 attribute points weaker), and the other is that the various Shield enhancements either do not cover that area, or else are disabled if you hit there. I think it works fine, even if the actual Shield minus is somewhat arbitrary, and even if other situations (like a single ship finding a Weak Spot, not that it worked for the Valiant) are not covered. There is also little explanation as to how personnel-driven Shield boosts are eliminated, but I imagine those personnel simply made modifications that are simply nulled (their presence does not, after all, have a supernatural effect on Shields). As a representation of a specific tactic (if not Tactic), it gets a 4.5.

STOCKABILITY: As ship attribute enhancements dictate more and more the outcome of space battles, I don't see Weak Spot disappearing from decks. It's a great aid in destroying Borg Cubes, those big Delta Quadrant warships and highly boosted flagships, and may just allow you to keep a small defensive armada, without dedicating your deck to it. A couple of easily-staffed ships can actually do damage to a bigger ship this way, or even destroy it as its SHIELDS drop to a natural 4-9 (from 8-13). You can even destroy that Kurlaned ship that's rampaging through the spaceline, and that's a much appreciated ability. Indeed, while -4 SHIELDS to your opponent is only like each of your 2 required ships getting +2 WEAPONS, removing ALL enhancements is equivalent to a controlled Target Shields tactic. It'll eliminate SHIELD boosts from Captain's Log, Metaphasic and Nutational Shields, Wall of Ships, Multivector Assault Mode, Plasmadyne Relays, VR Headset, Service the Collective (and pre-made Counterparts), to name a few. It will NOT,however, eliminate boosts to DEFENSE, so Tactics will still have an effect, as will Ablative Armor. In those cases, reducing SHIELDS by 4 is still your best option. Against the Borg, there is a further bonus, that of being downloadable by Sense the Borg. An even better combo is Taregt These Coordinates which gives an extra damage marker if you use Weak Spot. An excellent bonus. So to recap, still a useful card, though newer enhancements seem to be bypassing it more and more, and somewhat redundant with Target Shields in the mix (though really not). A good battling tool at 4.1.

TOTAL: 16.2 (81%) Nothing weak about it.

PICTURE: The film images are so much clearer than their television counterparts, especially with the better printing we've been getting since First Contact, so this Riker is sharper, more detailed and uses a better color palette. Both his cards have him facing the Borg, but the FC version is less of a defining moment. For the movie, something dealing with repairing/staffing the Phoenix would have been better, but they couldn't have had him in uniform then. A strong close-up nonetheless for a score of 3.9.

LORE: While dealing with the events of the movie, it also places those events in context by mentioning his defeat of the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds", cool since the special download will come from there. As a time capsule of the character, it works well, avoiding the telegraphic overdrive of the Premiere version. A likeable 3.8.

TREK SENSE: First off, he's got the nonsensical Enterprise-E icon, of which I've spoken before. It somehow makes him unable to Command or Staff more primitive ships that, until just a year ago, he was still working with. He needs another card to reinstate those abilities. So that's marks off right there. Comparing him to his Premiere version is the easiest way to go, seeing how he performs in the specific 2063 situation, as well as seeing the changes of the intervening few years. Well, since Premiere, he's doubled his Leadership. I've always thought of him as a strong leader, especially in tactical situations, but the Leadership x2 skill is an extreme one. World leaders have multiple Leadership, and so does Captain Kirk - leaders that are blindly followed you could say, or that inspire extreme loyalty. Riker's worthiness is up for debate in my opinion, especially considering Picard's single instance of the skill. Borderline (even if you believe, as some do, that the extra Leadership is there because he directed the movie). He keeps Diplomacy (convinced Cochrane), Honor (definitely a good guy, though he did stun a drunk Cochrane) and Music (not really in evidence I'm afraid). I wonder why Music makes it, when it was cut from most other FC personnel, while Navigation was cut, when he helped staff the first warp flight. It ties into Ooby Dooby making him not like the rock music, but he was more the hotshot pilot than he was the trombone player, wasn't he? Priorities seem off. The special download is a good one, since Anti-Matter Spread was definitely his strategy, but it has nothing to do with First Contact even if it is an anti-Borg tactic. It's something that could have gone on the earlier version of the persona. Better late than never? As for attributes, the intervening years have made him smarter (CUNNING +1), but nothing else. Sounds fine to me. It's unfortunate that on the whole, there's a lot of questionable thinking going into Riker's re-design. Can't go over 2.8, sorry.

STOCKABILITY: The original Riker was a deep disappointment, offering only a collection of skills we had plenty of already. There was nothing there that couldn't be had elsewhere, better packaged. This Riker is a definite improvement. We still get the common OFFICER, Diplomacy, Honor and Music, but the Leadership x2 is more useful than the former Leadership/Navigation combo. Many dilemmas and missions require exactly 2 Leadership (or more). This Riker also has a useful special download for ship battle situations. It's best against the Borg Ship dilemma, where Anti-Matter Spread reduces WEAPONS to a more surviveable 16, but against less CUNNING opponents, it may be even more potent at -1 WEAPONS per personnel with CUNNING 7 or less (Klingons, Kazon, Borg Cubes, etc. should take a dive). Since Premiere, Riker has also become a little more useful in that he is a rare nullifier of Q-Type Android, so can protect your personnel from that Q-Dilemma. A little better on attributes as well. His Achilles' heel is the E-E icon, which might make him reportable to the Enterprise-E via Crew Reassignment, but requires that card or the newest Deanna Troi to staff anything else. Unless using the -E as your main ship, his icon won't hold up. Staffing isn't something you really think about until you don't have it. All in all, Riker went from "totally unnecessary" to a more decent "useful in some situations". For the personnel-heavy Feds, that's not always enough. A 3.4.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) The original barely grazed the passing score.

PICTURE: While the make-up and hair is much better than in Premiere, I don't buy the earth tone background from the assault team briefing. The card's a little too dark, and it's not a particularly important moment for Worf in the film. He looks a little tired. But it's at least average at 2.9.

LORE: The first sentence is actually from Generations, with the rest explaining his presence in First Contact. How dull is this? We can all appreciate matching commander status on the strong little USS Defiant, but Worf was the #3 character in the film (after Picard and Data) and there should be plenty more to say about him. "Bravest man Picard's ever known"... "gets spacesick"... "told the Borg to shove it"... "wears a mek'leth down his pants"... whatever! This only reaches 2.4 because of its functional usefulness.

TREK SENSE: Worf avoids other FC personae's problems by not having an E-E icon. Of course, he wasn't part of the Enterprise-E's regular staff. Since he was security chief on the -D, he's become Officer (on DS9), but I feel always kept the Security. Not only did he try to do Odo's job at first, but in First Contact, he took over at tactical and led assault teams. Unfortunately, Security was not reshuffled into his skill box. He loses Diplomacy in favor of Leadership, and that's fine. On the one hand, his new Officer status, command of the Defiant and general attitude would warrant the inclusion of Leadership, and with the tense FC situation, the shipside characters really didn't practice much Diplomacy. Too bad Mek'leth wasn't a card back then, because it would have worked beautifully here. The move on the ship's hull is exactly how I envision hand weapon downloads. Assimilate This makes sense too, since it is his line, and all 3 cards to nullify would be things he'd be able to destroy in one way or another. Attributes? The only change from the Premiere version is +1 Cunning, which is much closer to what Worf should have had all along. Not perfect, but works well enough at 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: The original Worf wasn't much to cheer at. After all, he couldn't even lead your Away Team into battle! But this Worf can, though at the cost of more useful skills. SECURITY is rarer and better than OFFICER, though Leadership and Diplomacy are more or less neck-and-neck. Add slightly better attributes and a special download, and you're in business. Assimilate This is a pretty specialized counter, so it works better as a special download from a Q's Tent. Don't pollute your hand and deck with something so specific. Where Worf is present, you could use the interrupt to weaken a Rogue Borg attack (bah, we have plenty of RBM counters), cut off the Borg's last ditch attempt to disrupt the timeline (but that's a rare occurence), or protect your planetside resources from Orbital Bombardment (ahh, much better). Still, not the most versatile download. Actually, where this Worf will find his niche is as replacement matching commander for the USS Defiant, especially with Sisko being able to command other ships. Sisko can download the ship with Construct Starship, to which this Worf can download with Ready Room Door. Of course, Clone Machine gets you more Benjamin Siskos. There's plenty of persona shuffle to be done if you want to use multiple Worfs, including reporting him with Defend Homeworld as Sheriff Worf (the best of his SECURITY guises compatible with the Federation, and switching him as his ship becomes available, etc. As usual, a great source of STRENGTH and Honor for the Feds, but he's still not a must-have. A 3.4.

TOTAL: 12.6 (63%) The original Premiere version had scored 11.9.

PICTURE: Looking up at the stars is an ideal posture for this sf hero, though the almost closed eyes are a little odd. I do like the dark, textured background and the distinctive expression on his face. A cool enough 3.6.

LORE: A good effort. His achievements get enough space (though "to OFFICIALLY make contact" would probably be more accurate), and there's enough room for his more interesting quirks/interests. Good choices, leading to a 4.1.

TREK SENSE: 2063 (AU) humans count as Non-Aligned since there's no Federation in this time, as we have discussed before. The Command icon is a little strange though, given that he'll be putting his OCD icon to work staffing the Phoenix, not the Command (to cover Staff). Modern Feds might be given to obeying his commands out of hero worship, but the buck stops there, and a Civilian from 2063 Earth is not going to be able to command a modern starship, and certainly not a Klingon, Romulan or Cardassian one. The OCD icon itself is a little suspect, as discussed in the Phoenix review, but a simple way to force players to put Cochrane aboard his creation. You simply wouldn't be taking rides with the craft unless it was Cochrane's historic flight, and it's a flight, according to the film, he HAD to make. And he couldn't take off without the OCD, so that makes a natural representation of the concept. The breakthrough he made is the obvious reason behind his double Engineer, though you would be right to ask if he would stack up to a modern Engineer. Would he be Engineer x3 if he was born in the 24th century? I wonder. In any case, I don't really like the idea of making him a Civilian at all. Sure, he's not attached to any service, but if Dr. Soong (for example) can be a Scientist first, then why would a professional Engineer not be an Engineer first? Civilian is really just a default classification for someone in a field not represented by the other classifications, or so I would posit. Cochrane's other skills include Computer Skill which would have been required to make simulations, though it's not something we see a lot of in the film. Astrophysics isn't in evidence much at all, despite his having a telescope. Where, however is the Greed (money!), Navigation (to pilot the Phoenix back) or Physics (though other people probably made the warp theory breakthrough)? The special skill is a little absurd, since it imagines Cochrane making first contact on another world, as if the Phoenix actually could get to one (well, Mars, certainly). Or perhaps Cochrane's visit to another planet has him do something historic there as well, and the natives quickly build a monument. Could be, but is still strange. Cochrane's low Integrity made him run from his responsabilities when the going got tough, but his managing to do the right thing might have been worth a point more. No real problem though. Neither are there any with Cunning and Strength which seem sensible enough. The entire card isn't that sensible though, and I must give it the poorer 1.9.

STOCKABILITY: Want to probe at Visit Cochrane Memorial, but don't want to use Earth? Cochrane is the personnel to use. First off, he's a human ENGINEER that can use the objective at least once himself. Secondly, he allows you to play VCM on any planet where he is present. Being Non-Aligned, he can be used by any non-Borg affiliation to do so, and I'm sure all of them will find a double-ENGINEER a worthy personnel to stock, VCM or no. Computer Skill and Astrophysics (heck, even CIVILIAN sometimes) are useful too. He's the matching commander of the Pheonix and required to even fly the thing (that OCD icon is found nowhere else), so he's part of one of the ways to combat Stop First Contact. Only he can acquire the ship and fly off into orbit with it. While the Vulcan Lander may be easier to do, it's less costly to stock a useful dual-ENGINEER in your deck and report him to Montana Missile Complex if need be (as the Phoenix enters play from outside the game) when your Borg opponent plays the Time Location. Already out? Space-Time Portal can put him back into your hand. Just for the 10 points, Zefram can build the Pheonix with Construct Starship easily enough. As a footnote, Ooby Dooby stops him. There's a strong incentive to use him with various affiliations, including the timeline-disruption-wary Federation, so a 4.4.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) Still waiting for an OS version.

PICTURE: A handsome instrument to be sure, its form in inherently dynamic though the background looks more like a painted canvas than a forest sky. A little dark, so 3.3.

LORE: Bold, inspiring, idealistic words... followed by a return to Earth and the truth about the great "hero". Funny, à propos, and a good way to fit the telescope into the scheme of things. Not strong on explaining game text, of course, but I still give it a 4.

TREK SENSE: The Telescope was a bit big, but can no doubt be folded up and transported like equipment. It's an artifact though since it's pretty old by "today's" standards, and belongs to a famous person. The AU icon, as on Antique Machine Gun, isn't quite sensical. Yes, we encountered the object in the past, but it wasn't an artifact then, just equipment. By the time it becomes an artifact (indeed, is acquired in an archaeological dig), it belongs to the present (non-AU). I will buy the effect though. You plant the Telescope on a planet, look through it, and get to see what's at any space mission next to your planetary location. This includes dilemmas, and many of them would be visible in space like a Crystalline Entity or Astral Eddy, though others are less detectable like Nanites, or totally invisible like Drumhead and Hull Breach which do not exist until your own ship is there. You may also glance at personnel cards aboard a ship there, but it's ridiculous to think they were all standing at a porthole at the right time, facing the right way and holding up their equipment (even if the Telescope can see things in that much detail). So a little more conceptual that you would suspect at first, which brings us to 3.2.

SEEDABILITY: Here's a scan card not affected by Scanner Interference! It'll only help you for space missions adjacent to a planet location (where the 'scope must be), but can be used again and again for both "Scan" and "Long-Range Scan" (simultaneously even). It can be put in play with Starry Night, so need not be necessarily "acquired", as long as you can report AU cards (not any real problem in the seeding phase though). Try to optimize your chances of using it by alternating the spaceline between space and planet missions. Regions are not your friends if used by opponent, but could help YOU achieve this balance. Scans are excellent cards, but tempered by balance. The Telescope gets around some of this. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 14.6 (73%) First Contact thus ends on a good note.

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