To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the Holodeck Adventures expansion set.

PICTURE: The eyes say it all. That bewildered expression is loads of fun and quite representative of Mark II's personality. Gets the score to 3.7.

LORE: Grrr. Shortened lore. The EMH translation is a little redundant by this point, but okay. The last sentence isn't too bad, kind of cheeky really, but don't tell me he's eccentric, tell me HOW he's eccentric. Cuz he didn't seem so eccentric to me. Somewhat neurotic, maybe. Eccentric doesn't seem to be the right word. 2.5 from me.

TREK SENSE: Let's not bring The Doctor into this, because he's not your average EMH Mark I. Comparing Mark II to the universal EMH, we'll find him to be a bit better. To the Medical is added Biology or Exobiology. The program is still unable to use both at the same time, which isn't a big deal for a hologram only used on rare occasions, but given the way the Doc was built up, I'd almost say the 2 universal EMHs were too limited in design. As with the Mark I, there can only be one per ship or outpost, cuz that's apparently all the computers can accomodate (nor is more holographic medical staff needed), but you could have a Mark I and Mark II on the same ship. That's problematic, because the Mark I was retired when Mark II came online. Other differences include a longer loading time (no downloading) because there's more information there, and enough flexibility to have him join Away Teams (though Mark II seemed unwilling to get out of sickbay). The first ship to use the Mark II was the USS Prometheus, so he reports there for free. Same attributes as the EMH Program (Mark I): The low Integrity is still strange on a Medical personnel, but where the previous model was belligerent, driving his attribute down, Mark II is a coward. May still be a bit low. Cunning's fine, though he acted a little more stupid than that. Same for Strength, should have been lower because he's strictly a non-combattant. This would have been a good personnel to boost with the Doctor, but we're already maxed out on text space. In my opinion, doesn't really do the concept justice, so a 2.6.

STOCKABILITY: The USS Prometheus (Federation version) would naturally feel the urge to use this hologram because he reports there for free, and indeed MEDICAL and Biology/Exobiology are excellent skills. But the Feds have plenty of strong contenders in that area, and most aren't limited like a hologram. Even compared to the supposedly inferior EMH Program, Mark II doesn't look THAT good. Sure, there's the extra skill, though the either/or thing just takes up text space, and he can join Away Teams (it's gonna take a Mobile Emitter or Holo-Projectors, of course), but the Mark I can download from hand, suspending play. That's actually a better effect. After all, the Mark I ALWAYS reports for free through this download, not just on the Prometheus. The limit of one per ship or outpost (Outpost with a Holodeck Door if you want him activated) is the same. For Federation universal MEDICAL, I think we can do better, and with Assign Support Personnel/Mission Specialists, we can get them as easily - or MORE easily - into play. Even Gegis can do better to help the Ferengi Alliance. Panning the EMH 2.0 with a score of, oh yeah, 2.0.

TOTAL: 10.8 (54%) Compare to the EMH Program's 13.5.

PICTURE: A pretty standard bust shot, with the cranberry shirt popping against that darker background. Jellico's not as mean as in other scenes, but it's not a bad shot. It's just not an especially interesting shot is all. A 3.1.

LORE: Yet another matching commander of the USS Enterprise, but it's a useful tidbit. I like the "take-charge" qualifier. The second phrase explains the special download, and the last is especially good, taking care of his leadership style pretty efficiently, and uses his "get it done" catch phrase, which contrasted so nicely with Picard's "make it so". An excellent 4.6.

TREK SENSE: Officer/Command icon/Leadership is a given for a ship captain, though to be fair, I have to mention that he wasn't as familiar with the Enterprise as Picard was. Of course, his take-charge attitude quickly made the ship his own, so I won't argue with the matching commander status. Negotiating an armistice requires Diplomacy, and he used it on the Cardassians again in "Chain of Command". Stellar Cartography allowed him to find a Cardassian fleet in the McAllister nebula. His visit to Main Engineering pins down his familiarity with that particular field/classification. One skill missing is Navigation. Titan's Turn and all that. Maybe that was too far in his past. After all, Geordi still managed to recommend the black-listed Riker to Jellico for a Nav mission. Now, the armistice he signed is a Treaty of sorts, but not a collaborative one as represented by the card. And it really didn't happen in the present day. That's why I would have liked to see something more interesting here, something to do with his command style, or else the ability to hose the Cardassians somehow. The download is boring and dépassé. No problems with the attributes though. They show a smart man, well trained but of a certain age, and an ethical Starfleet officer who is nonetheless not that nice a guy. It's not that there's something wrong with the design, it's just so uninspiring. Just a 3.5, I'm sorry.

STOCKABILITY: Sure, he's got good skills, and if for some reason playing a Federation/Cardassian deck (Klaestron Outposts, etc.), he's a good backup for the Treaty (you'd want to seed a first copy, and use the download in case The Devil takes it away), but in the Federation, even good personnel need good reasons to be included in a deck. For example, why Jellico as matching commander of the Enterprise rather than Picard? I'll tell you why: ENGINEER. He can download the ship via Construct Starship. From there, Ready Room Door COULD get you a relevant Picard, but Jellico's got enough to compete. ENGINEER is better than Music, that's for sure. Of course, he's got less Diplomacy (but it's still there). Between all his stuff, he's got a little something for both space and planet missions, and of course, he helps out in Enterprise decks. 3.5 should do.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) Still no Picard.

PICTURE: Ekoor's expression says it all, and his pose is dynamic against that bronze background, which somehow gives him more valor. He's centered on, but not a slave to, that strip in the back. Good composition, effective color palette (even if it totally clashes with the Cardassian template), but still an unknown Cardie, generating less interest. A 3.5.

LORE: Took a while for him to catch on, didn't it? I think he represents well all those collaborators that dared call themselves patriots only once the tide had really turned. It seems like the lore explains the game text, but don't be fooled - it's not that easy. "Resistance" has a function, so that's a bonus. Anyway, some interesting stuff here, and a 3.4.

TREK SENSE: When I first saw him, I thought, hey, a security detail leader that can come with his own Security detail through his free reports. But that's not what the lore says is it? No, he was PART of a JEM'HADAR security detail. That doesn't inspire Officer, Leadership, Command, or the reporting of free universal Cardassian soldiers. Heck, is very late conversion to the Damar's cause hardly even invites Honor. Of course, we have to imagine him AFTER his conversion, because he's described as a former [Dominion] soldier. Ok, he was high up enough in the Cardassian ranks to BE an Officer/Command personnel, and had enough Leadership to make other Cardassians (universal soldiers in this case) follow him (the free reports to his location) once his Honor had finally kicked in. One problem remains: Shouldn't he also have Security from his "former" life? He looks like a universal, but he's unique, that's not an issue. The attributes are only an issue insofar as the Integrity follows the same reasoning as his Honor, but otherwise are fine. I think we can explain him well, but the rest of the design isn't in the service of that explanation. 3.3 here.

STOCKABILITY: A good Officer for Maglocks and battle in general, with good attributes if a so-so skill list, but you want him for his special skill. Universal SECURITY Cardassians report to him for free. That's free reporting, wherever Ekoor is standing. No returning to your outpost or Nor to bulk up you assault teams in search of captives (the very strong Dakol is quite recommended for this). There aren't that many universal SECURITY personnel to choose from, but a few of them have three rather than 2 skills, so you couldn't order them up with Assign Support Personnel/Dominion War Efforts. It's not all about assault teams either, look at the range of Cardassian missions. Bioweapon Ruse requires 3 SECURITY (but Ekoor will have to stay on the ship, cuz he has Honor), so does Intelligence Operation, Protect Shipment 2 (here, Ekoor supplies Leadership), and  half a dozen more require just one. Mentioning "resistance" in his lore means he can report to Rusot if that's where you want to send all those free personnel afterwards. A helpful 3.8.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) An interesting nondescript Cardie.

PICTURE: Very distinctive behind bars, it seems like it wouldn't be appropriate to do this to a personnel card, but with Prisoner Exchange as a download, it actually fits neatly. Imbued with the same sense of fun as the episode it comes from. A 3.7.

LORE: A lot of nice things in this one. First, the eye stops on "Bozeman" because we're so used to it being a ship in Star Trek, but it was indeed a town long before then. Anyway, the over-the-top description of him as an outlaw is entertaining. We then have a family tie, and they use period language to get it across economically. Finally, there's an explanation as to why he looks like Data, with a cute moment mentioned. Springing for a 4.2.

TREK SENSE: I'm game to make out-of-control holograms Non-Aligned, because they no longer "belong" to whatever affiliation created them, that's fine. Eli Hollander's an outlaw, so Treachery is a must, but I would have liked the gunslinging to show up perhaps as Security. He's a Civilian, yes, but it seems like a cowboy has all the makings of a Security personnel. He does make using Security impossible for opponents where present, which isn't really the same. It basically means he occupies the Sheriff(s) with his shennanigans. In the show, he needed to be guarded once captured, so it probably stems from that. Really, I'm a little surprised they didn't give him some kind of card manipulation ability based on his lore, but I probably would've come down hard on it. Back to the card: He was the object of a Prisoner Exchange, so it may seem like a natural download, but you gotta remember that if he's actually a captive, he can't use that download. Ooops. On to the attributes: Low Integrity matches the Treachery. Physically an android with high Strength, he didn't have a positronic mind to match and was quite the idiot (low Cunning). Can't see myself giving more than 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: CIVILIAN/Treachery isn't much use on mission attempts, though the high STRENGTH is a little better there. No, you're gonna stock Eli for his special skills. Or are you? He seems to mostly counter capture decks, with his special skill making sure you're never on the wrong end of a Captured card (unless opponent still has more hand weapons), or if that fails, and if you're capturing personnel too, download Prisoner Exchange to get your cards back. As a hologram, he makes a good battler - high STRENGTH, deactivation rather than death if he fails - but you need to Disengage Safety Protocols to mortally wound with his android strength, and you'll need a way to get him off the ship unless you only want to use him against intruders. If he was at all meant to counter Holoprogram: Deadwood by taking out Sheriff Worf and Deputy Rozhenko's SECURITY, I'm afraid he'd have to be with them on the holodeck for that to work. No, Frank Hollander's actually the one that takes care of Deadwood. The SECURITY nullification skill could still be used to disrupt mission attempts, so long as you've got Holo-Projectors on a planet to keep him solid, but overall, Eli isn't that useful. A limited 2.5.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) He's no Data.

PICTURE: Good color contrasts (if a bit garish), and I'm glad to see that gavel-ball. The arbiter's expression is one of contemplation of a new point, bordering on exasperation. It suits her, but I would have liked to see her truly annoyed. A 3.6.

LORE: Great character, and pretty good lore to go with her. "Wry" describes her well in a sentence devoted to "the facts". The last sentence is fun because she wanted the hearing to be as expeditive as possible. She had no time for long arguments  (though apparently plenty of time for 4-hour recesses). It's fun, but not as fun as it might have been, being too veiled for my tastes here. A 3.5 nonetheless.

TREK SENSE: An arbiter would be a VIP with Law x2, as per other judges like Makbar. They know the law inside and out, and can even MAKE law. As for her two other skills, I can only guess they went and got an arbiter that would have some background in the case at hand. Why would she have Medical and Anthropology otherwise? Maybe they chose the judge based on some kind of expertise 1) with biological matters (what is the legal state of a symbiotic being) and 2) with dealing with other cultures (in this case, a motley group of human, Klaestron and Trill participants). I'll buy the Anthropology more easily than the Medical, though there you could say she's kept herself healthy at her age through medicinal practices of her own. As you get older, you get more and more interested in health issues. She was shown to be impartial and neutral in all things, so the high Integrity works. A thoughtful and quick-witted woman, her Cunning is likewise high. Finally, she's real old, so low Strength would apply, but not a decrepit 1. 2 is just fine. I think it's safe to make her a 4.

STOCKABILITY: There's absolutely no reason Law x2 is better than Law x1. There's just never any call for more than one instance of Law on any card in the game. It's still a rare skill featured on a few dilemmas, and you'd want to have it along. Mission-wise, the Bajorans might only be interested in Feldomite Rush or 2E's Amnesty Talks, which isn't much. Other Lawful Bajorans: First Minister Shakaar and Odo. Eeech, not much call for Els Renora if you've got those two in your collection. The relatively few MEDICAL personnel of Bajoran conviction make her more interesting, and both it and Anthropology are fine skills for attempting missions. Plus, INTEGRITY and CUNNING are very good. The low STRENGTH might force you to protect her with Bodyguards though (of course, with all the Bajoran attribute boosts available, she's probably not stuck at 2). I'm afraid she's a little limited to be a really good personnel, so only 2.6.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) Matches scores with a couple of other memorable Bajoran women.

PICTURE: I know it's hokey, but I've always liked the multicolored tubes of the Emergent Life-Form. I like it better flying through space, but the dilemma kind of has to show it in the process of controlling your ship, and it does. Shades of Install Autonomic Systems Parasite, it's got a busy composition only helped by the spash of colors. A rather plain 2.8 unfortunately.

LORE: The syntax is a little crowded (like I should talk!), but otherwise presents the problem well. A 3.

TREK SENSE: The Emergent Life-Form boards your ship secretly, and takes it over! Its only goal: to find the particles it needs to grow and survive, so it uses that control only to move around looking for those particles. It won't attack other ships, beam personnel, or anything like that. It'll only stop when it finally finds what it's looking for, which has been determined to be about 3 turns (the countdown icon). A bit of a cheat, but not an impossible one. There is a way to figure out what the creature wants before then and help it out (perhaps even creating the particles yourself), but you need a Holodeck to communicate with it just like on the show. If you have the Holodeck, I still say you'd need a certain amount of Cunning (at the very least) to figure out the obtuse puzzle the creature presents. Be that as it may, once you have the answer, a couple Engineers and Astrophyics will get you want you need. Those skills allow you to find or create the particles more readily. There's a lot of storytelling here, and I'm happy to give it a high 4.4.

SEEDABILITY: Seeing as not all ships have Holodecks, this could be hard to get rid of. Oh, it's available to everyone via Holodeck Door, but decks that don't use holograms won't use the card (or ships with prefab Holodecks). Even those that do won't bother holodecking all their ships (especially smaller ships like shuttles). So you hit one of these without a Holodeck (or following a damaging dilemma/Breen Energy-Dampening Weapon damage marker combination) and you get control of the ship's RANGE, pretty much. You can simply spend it all leaving the ship useless and stranded, but the best idea would be to send it into danger. Gaps in Normal Space are great, Black Hole is pretty harsh too, or you could just lead the lamb to your armada or Borg Cube. You better hurt the ship quickly, because the dilemma goes away once the countdown ends. Even if the ship has a Holodeck, the dilemma isn't quite cured. The player needs 2 ENGINEER and Astrophysics, which is pretty standard as far as the skills you need to pass dilemmas, but is still a heavy requirement. ENGINEER hosers apply. What you do once you get control of the ship's RANGE is up to you, but that flexibility is what makes the dilemma worthy of a combo. A 4.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) It'll grow up to be big.

PICTURE: A beautiful planet that looks made of marble. Great caramel color too, and the light hitting it makes it an appropriate "Home of Light". Excellent as far as these things go: a 4.

LORE: Doesn't miss a thing. The poetic "Home of Light" appelation is there, the holograms specifically come from Hirogen facilities, and the idea of "helping" makes the mission more generic. A well done 3.6.

TREK SENSE: Right off the bat, what I have trouble with is who can attempt this mission. Anyone? Would anyone help found a hologram colony? Kazon? The Hirogen themselves? The reason it is this way is to allow any hologram, from whatever affiliation, to do it themselves. There's even a large bonus for completing the mission just with holograms. After all, the objective may be somewhat important to a flesh and blood affiliation, but it's everything to the holos. Though note that a single "meat-puppet" (sorry, I should say "organic") lowers the points back down, so the holos are ever subjugated to organic will. But while I wouldn't begrudge holos of any affiliation to come here, I just can't believe all organic affiliations would see this as a mission. Non-Hirogen holos would help, as per the Doctor, so perhaps the mission could have been Hirogen with assistance from holo-only being allowed, but then the hunters could have attempted the mission as much as their prey. And a fully holo mission would have been impractical. It's hard to get out of that particular brown paper bag. The requirements, on the other hand, are fine, with Leadership helping coordinate the effort and keep the holograms together despite programmed-in cultural differences. Then, it's up to the Engineers and Computer Skill personnel to set things up a bit like the holo-village in "Shadowplay", download the holos into a planet-side systems, etc. The Span of 4 makes sense given that the planet was a kind of Shangri-La that had to be reached. Everything but attemptability works fine, so still a strong score of 3.9.

SEEDABILITY: Obviously, the real points here are to attempt with an all-holo Away Team, but that'll require you to play Holo-Projectors right on the planet. Children of Light wouldn't be a bad idea either, since it'll allow all holos to mix and cooperate, giving you the chance to glean even more points from this mission. How? Well, Dr. Leah Brahms adds 5 mission specialist points. It also gives you lots of latitude in using the special skills introduced in Hologram Adventures. Iden downloads Children of Light anyway (and has the requisite Leadership AND commands a ship that can get you there). For the Holo-Projectors, Kejal can download that, plus has ENGINEER and Computer Skill. 55-60 points that require some set-up, I agree, but it could be worth it, and the next mission could be a lucrative space mission, where the holos can exist without an event card, and where a second mission specialist like K'Tesh or Tomek could be of use. For non-holographic teams, this is an easy Delta Quadrant mission that could be worth playing for a quick 30 points. ENGINEER and Computer Skill is the bread and butter of the DQ, and it'll fit right in with your others, especially when playing Feds (calling B'Elanna Torres, calling B'Elanna Torres). It should be protected from theft, of course, but not a bad mission at all. Certainly useful in a hologram theme deck. Lands at 3.7.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) Plenty of Light in here.

PICTURE: Ezri, the Trill with an exta spot, is as cute as ever, though her hair's a bit poofy here. Her uncertain expression pretty much describes her usual demeanor. Background... blah. I must say there's not much to say here. Don't see why I'd go higher than 3.3.

LORE: Like many mains, Ezri gets the telegraphic treatment. Species, job (a little misleading since she was soon station's counselor, especially if her relationship with Bashir is evoked), number on the Dax host pole (and persona), that's all pretty standard. Romantic involvement too. The spacesickness and unprepared joining stand out as more original. Being all over the map like this, I won't go above 3.

TREK SENSE: Ezri's a mix of various hosts, combining her own skills, Curzon's Diplomacy and Jadzia's Science. Diplomacy's useful in counseling anyway, and she's always had Jadzia's knack for general sciences, so it's all good. There's a lot of Ezri in her too. Anthropology is a counselor's skill, and Officer the right classification. She's got physical, but also mental Youth (a mix of insecurities and enthusiasm), because the host personalities aren't well integrated. And Geology comes from her family working the mines. Though she avoided that fate, she was trained for it before joining the Academy. Her lower rank makes her a Staff icon personnel rather than Jadzia's Command. She's got the same Integrity: a good person who nonetheless can break the rules at times. Having the symbiont makes her smarter than otherwise she would be, but not as much as Jadzia on account of her confusion. And her diminutive size and lack of martial arts training in this particular body give her reduced Strength. Now, she's not Jadzia, but "Ezri Dax" couldn't possibly exist without Jadzia dying first, an event that has Ezri report for free. Fair enough, but the persona replacement rules do lead to young Ezri becoming Jadzia. That really shouldn't be. It's a problem with the game's basic mechanics, and the only real one with the entire card's design. Holds her back to a 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: A long time coming, it's perhaps too bad that Ezri's just a collection of skills in an affiliation that has every combination of skills under the sun. You really have to work hard to be worth something to the Feds. OFFICER/SCIENCE is a good classification combo, and all the skills but Youth are very useful. She's got a lot to offer Symbiont Diagnosis (4 elements, in fact, 5 if you count the CUNNING), but it's a mission with just too many requirements to be worth it. When using Jadzia Dax, she'll report for free once that root version of the persona dies, but that's a small consolation. It does mean that you can switch between the two versions at will. Jadzia has a much better skill list, but if you suddenly need Diplomacy, Geology, OFFICER or, god forbid, Youth, you can do the switch. If Jadzia ever dies, well, you have Ezri in your hand, so you can report her for free on the next turn. Don't forget that there are plenty of other versions of the Dax persona to fool around with, including Lt. Dax (though better with OS strategies) and Professor Honey Bare (you need a Holodeck, but the special skills are interesting). Vedek Dax and the Klingon Dax will only really work with Treaties. A collector card, but I'd be hard pressed to use Ezri over Jadzia. A 2.5.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) 2E won't have that problem with persona replacements OR with waiting so long for an Ezri.

PICTURE: Looks great! O'Brien looks very dangerous all in black, and the perspective puts that gun right in our faces, larger than life. Good details on the eye-patch with its embossed bird of prey (if you'll excuse the expression). An excellent 4.4.

LORE: I like the way it describes Secret Agent Julian Bashir as a problem, though that name's a bit long (but required to work with this theme's other cards). Persona placement isn't as inspired, but okay. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: These holographic versions of the DS9 crew have gone through the Trek Sense wringer a number of times already. They're holographic "personalities" and ability pools that use the actual persona's real body, so they deserve to be versions of those personae, and being out of control, Non-Aligned is fine by me. What doesn't work as well, is that killing them simply deactivates them, unlike what was feared on the show (though no proof was put forward that they would actually be killed if something happened to them in the holosuite). That can pass the test. The other thing is that persona replacement rules make this accident a bit too easy to duplicate. Some of these problems could have been fixed by allowing these characters to be independent from the DS9 personnel. After all, they existed as is, without the persona, before the accident, didn't they? Falcon is a hired assassin, translating as a Security personnel with Treachery. Makes sense. Meticulous criminals have the same skill package as the Security personnel trying to stop them. Since killing is his thing, mortally wounding an adversary can earn you points. It's his little mission. Dr. Noah would basically use a killer like Falcon for a single purpose, and then send him on his way. So you may choose to earn the points and end it there (pay the bounty), but that makes Falcon leave (to the bonus points area). You can keep him on the payroll, but I'll bet he'll be asking where is money is every so often. The odd sort of "honor among thieves" exhibited by James Bond villains keeps his Integrity at 4 rather than lower. After all, he was loyal to his employer. Cunning's low because he's basically a one-note holosuite character, and one that can be defeated by a champagne bottle. Strength's his better attribute, of course, but I'm wondering if his gun shouldn't have been factored in as part of his holographic matrix. Could've been a tad higher. Overall, a good effort that scores 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: Falcon has few skills, but you could do a lot worse than a SECURITY/Treachery. First, it's great to download punishment cards for personnel in your Brig. Throw in War Council and Emperor's New Cloak to make him even more useful. Of course, his real reason for living is to mortally wound someone, get out of the game, and retire with 15 points. A lot of points for something that doesn't look too hard to do. Well, you still need to 1) involve him in a battle, which isn't as easy for a hologram trapped on a Holodeck; 2) Disengage Safety Protocols; and 3) boost his STRENGTH beyond that less-than-stellar 7 (hand weapons should easily do it, of course). He can report to Noah's Mountain Retreat, where indeed, you can switch him with any version of Miles O'Brien as a download (you need Transporter Skill there, and be compatible with Feds). So you can always double back and go for a mission-solving win if you find no opportunity for assassination. Or you could have Miles OBrien already in play and turn into Falcon toward the end of the game for a few round-the-corner final points. A good switch when your ship is boarded by intruders. In any case, he IS a Miles, so Falcon can nullify "Pup". Go figure. 2E may bring a new wrinkle to Falcon if it ever makes use of the Assassin keyword on a backwards-compatible card. For now, Falcon's useful in specialized decks: a 3.5.

TOTAL: 14.9 (74.5%) Here's to seeing more Assassin stuff in 2E.

PICTURE: Though the color palette and background are fairly dull (you'd think the holodeck would have been a nice place to get away from the gray and beige once in a while), it's a good action shot, with Leech coming off more scared than whoever he's pointing his gun at. There's a sense of danger, but I like how dinky he looks, from his size to that of his gun... even his tie and wristwatch look silly on him. A 3.6.

LORE: He's labeled as a Dixon Hill character to start with, and then we get justification for his special download, though that's also a little joke about how if one character appears, the other can't be too far behind. The last sentence gives us events from the show, but is less interesting than the rest. All in all, how about a 3.5?

TREK SENSE: You know, I'd much rather holograms were affiliated with whoever created them, like Einstein and the Children of Light, but when holodecks go wrong, and holograms turn on you, they might as well be Non-Aligned. Felix Leech is a Civilian, as most minor thugs would be, and he has no standard skills. From the way he handled his gun, not even Security, I guess. Holding people at gunpoint, he keeps them from using their classifications. You know, like, "Don't move doctor!" Why a personnel can still use, say, Geology or Mindmeld is beyond me though. Or a special skill. It's a very odd skill focus. You probably couldn't keep me from being a Civilian if you had the biggest gun in the world. We then have a special download that makes some measure of sense in the holographic universe. Since holo-novels are scripted, one character may well herald another's appearance. And in this case, there is further a trigger for Leech's boss to show up. The trigger should be for Redblock's interests to have been attacked (Leech then finds the attackers and summons Redblock), but it's made conceptual by turning Redblock's interests into the player's. The special skill thus loses points by virtue of going far afield of the holodeck. I have fewer problems with the attributes. He's got low Integrity (smarmy and ruthless), low Cunning (stupid and one-dimensional) and low Strength (if he didn't have that gun, wouldn't last a second in a fight). I like the ideas that drive him, but their conceptual slant keep him at 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: Anyone may use Felix Leech, and that anyone should probably do so in conjunction with Holoprogram: The Office of Dixon Hill. That Incident will download Leech, in turn allowing him to download Cyrus Redblock as soon as you've been attacked. Cyrus then may request the "item" for points or free card plays AND give a free kill to all your "murder" dilemmas. Once that's over and done with, you might try to put his other special skill to use, but that's not necessarily an easy thing. You have to look at how suspending classifications can actually hinder your opponent to get a real feel for the skill. Putting Leech in an away team with a Mobile Emitter might keep OFFICERs from acting as leaders in a battle against you, but they surely have other Leadership available, no? Having him in an assault team might keep SECURITY from turning into Bodyguards, for example, but again, nothing great (plus, he's got low STRENGTH and can only kill with Safety Protocols Disengaged). Your best bet is actually to put Holo-Projectors on an opponent's planet, and drop Felix there to hinder any Away Team's mission attempts. Classifications are an important part of passing dilemmas in particular, or you could make sure to drop Leech on a mission that requires classifications mostly (OFFICER in particular, isn't often in a skill box). A hologram can't really be killed, but I guess you have to keep him "attached" to a ship. Feds who can't initiate battle against him would be most affected. He's a rotten mission solver himself, and is mostly useful as a tool to get a quick Cyrus Redblock. No more than a 3.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) Oh, I get it, he leeches classifications out of personnel.

PICTURE: I don't know about this one. The Data Net isn't a great graphic though it does the job, with the usual Ferengi style of writing running like a web (just try to find the fine script in their contracts). However, everything surrounding the graphic is rather lame. Beige wall, strangely two-tone carpet, and Quark standing there like he was giving a bad Powerpoint presentation. A dull and awkward 1.8.

LORE: Now that's more like it. If you're gonna put the word "Ferengi" in a card's title, you better play around with the notion in the lore. Reasonable usage fees? Essential for the serious entrepreneur? The hyperbolic "Galactic" in there? It's all good. How's about a 4.5?

TREK SENSE: Eeech, rather conceptual, isn't it? I guess it's meant to represent currency exchanges (cards in hand vs. new cards) or some kind of investment or purchase, exchanging resources in hand with new resources from the draw deck. Of course, the Data Net is hard to navigate, and so you need Ferengi skilled in exploitation to really succeed. That's Greed, but I don't see why Acquisition isn't considered. It's much more of a "skill" than Greed is. It also has to be unique Greed personnel (so Dr. Farek isn't really an issue, but Bok is), since it's hard even for a Ferengi to make it in the cutthroat business world. But there's no real relationship between these personnel cards and the resources discarded and drawn. For what's here, I can afford to give maybe 0.8.

STOCKABILITY: More card manipulation madness, this time for the Ferengi only. Almost 20 Ferengi-affiliated personnel have Greed, so you could conceivably use this card to discard a poor hand to draw many more cards. With the Ferengi so big on download chains and free reporting, there's bound to be a pile of stuff that can used right away before your opponent gets his hands on Scorched Hand. Greed personnel are easy to include in a Ferengi deck anyway, thanks to the skill's presence on Ferengi missions and Rules of Acquisition. Can't be doing this with Frools, but still. To get rid of a hand that has nothing for this stage of the game, or else after depleting your hand with all those downloads and reports, FFDN can turn that loser hand into gold-pressed latinum or simply replenish one that's been depleted. The Ferengi being the most likely to drain their hand, this is a useful 3.9 for them.

TOTAL: 11 (55%) Talk about fluctuations from category to category!

PICTURE: Looks good. The old west look is classic, especially since this Hollander looks less like Data than his son by virtue of the moustache. Great hat. Westerns are all about hats. And the saloon background is minimal but effective. Love the pose too. A 3.9.

LORE: Not unlikeable. "Bad guy" in quotation marks, "pa" for father, these are some good old west references. The last sentence explains the hologram's Strength. I could see giving it a 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Like I've said before, I don't mind out-of-control holograms being Non-Aligned instead of their "owner's" affiliation, but I have to say I find it strange that Frank Hollander could be used by the Klingons, Cardassians, etc. in this form. Even if they managed to get their hands on the Deadwood program and characters, would Frank really be in android form? That was caused by a singular accident on the Enterprise, and really required Data, didn't it? Well, we could imagine a bunch of B-4s out there, or Lore. Yeah, could be. I'm not enthusiastic about the justification though. Skills work well however. An outlaw would be a Civilian, but he could have Security too, since being a thief often requires the same abilities. Plus, it allows him to use Captured, and that's something he did on the show by capturing Alexander. He's the Leader of his outlaw gang. And well, yeah, he's Treacherous and would have low Integrity to match. In the Holoprogram, things were pretty black and white, and he wears a black hat. Correspondingly, the Integrity is WAY low. As the main bag guy of a program, he offers some amount of challenge in the form of 8 Cunning. That's ok, though holograms from more "primitive" cultures maybe shouldn't be that smart? A minor quibble. Strength is Data's of course. That's a copy of his body after all. As for the special skill, he suspends the Deadwood Holoprogram. What does that mean? Many things. For one, it would prevent Sheriff Worf and Deputy Rozhenko from reporting. That's a mistake, I think. He's the reason they would show up! The Span boost never made sense so suspending it is fine by me, though has no Trek Sense meaning per se. The Security requirement for battling likewise. Finally, he can stonewall Sheriff Worf's attempts to pass Security dilemmas. This isn't bad, him being the Sheriff's nemesis, but it doesn't stand up that well. Overall, more good than bad at 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: Holographic "androids" are great at battling thanks to their high STRENGTH and deactivation rather than death, as long as you play Disengage Safety Protocols, but they have mobility issues. What good is a fighter if it can't get off your ship and your opponent doesn't play the intruder? Still, if you want to invest in a Mobile Emitter or Holo-Projectors, Frank has the Leadership to initiate that battle, and the SECURITY to use his special download to capture an opposing personnel. His son Eli Hollander is his perfect partner there because he basically suspends opposing SECURITY so you'll always have more than the other side. On the off chance that your opponent uses Holoprogram: Deadwood, moving Frank to its location will suspend its game text. This will return the mission's Span to normal, allow you to do battle at will and prevent Sheriff Worf from overcoming your SECURITY-related dilemmas, or even report there with his Deputy. You can't trust Deadwood to be part of the game though, so that skill could be wasted. He's not a bad addition to a capture deck, but he may need excessive support to work well there. Some might use him as "any Data" to enable an early All Threes, downloading him via Defend Homeworld. A 3.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Again, no Data.

PICTURE: I always thought Garren was a female, but it doesn't say so in the lore, and now that I look closer, he may just be a pipsqueak. Hard to say. I do like the big gear in the back with the green (Romulan) highlights, though the large control sphere in the foreground overpowers the card a bit. And if you're wondering about that gray strip on the right, it covers a Starfleet hologram that was in the shot, conveniently removed through CGI. Garren looks like he or she is hiding, which make him/her/hir more Romulan in attitude. Overall unimpressive, but not bad. The Hirogen deep blue border is better than the Romulan green one by following the same color palette while making the highlights more visible. A 3.

LORE: Well, aside from not telling us the gender, for once something I have a hard time telling, I like how they've justified the Hirogens' use of the species. We didn't see any ship-to-ship simulation on the Hirogen holodeck, but it's a more than fair extrapolation. A likeable 3.5.

TREK SENSE: One problem with all the Children of Light (a minor one though) is that, in this case, Garren is Romulan first, and Hirogen second (an asterisk appears on the card number of the Hirogen version). But no Romulan has ever even seen Garren. At the same time, they fled their Hirogen masters, and maybe should be... Non-Aligned? Or is that how they reverted to their "true" affiliation, as a default? The skills are sort of explained in the lore. Universal Romulan holograms were programmed with Science, a skill that can be tied to cloaking technology, sure. Along with Geology, I suppose that could make a good tactical combo not reliant on Security: hiding behind planets, or in magnetic fields, etc. Navigation is more obvious since these were used in ship-to-ship simulations. Seems like I have to do a lot of work to justify a simple support personnel, hmm... Garren has the low Integrity of a Romulan (though not that low since he/she wasn't shown to be Treacherous... or shown much at all, but you know what I mean), good Science guy/gal Cunning, and ok Strength. These check out. I think it gets away with a 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: The Romulans have Holodeck technology on very few of their ships, and few holograms too. The large selection of Non-Aligned holograms with a variety of special abilities may actually make Holodeck Door a worthy addition to a deck, so in those cases, a holographic support personnel like Garren might show up. Garren's a mixed bag as far as skills go, because while SCIENCE and Navigation are mostly for space missions and will require no further holographic support, Geology's mostly a planetary skill. The only space mission that requires it is Mining Survey (which also requires her SCIENCE), and no space dilemmas ask for it at all. The Romulans are a big enough affiliation that they don't really need the skill support that much, but the Hirogen might, though there's even less for Garren's Geology to do there unless you're packing Holo-Projectors (certainly if you're playing a Children of Light deck, you will be). Ok, but not great at 2.7.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) Basically a filler for the Children of Light.

PICTURE: Harath looks a little strange, mostly due to lighting, but that big Hirogen "gear" in the background looks just Cardassian enough (curvy and spiky) to make it work. Simple, but striking, though the color scheme is a little one-note. Even the border colors meld into the pic (and there's not much difference between the Cardie and Hirogen ones, the color-blind among us won't see one at all). Ends up at 3.4.

LORE: Universality is explained well, and then we get the reasoning behind using prey modeled on the Cardassians. I really like this. It's got flavor not just for the Children of Light, but for the whole Cardassian affiliation as well. A strong 3.7.

TREK SENSE: There's no real reason to dispute the skills here, nor any to celebrate them. There's no evidence on the show for any of them. Actually, from what we know of the Cardies, it's surprising to find a male in the Sciences. Of course, it's a hologram, so the Hirogen may have taken liberties or made mistakes in programming it. Computer Skill may be appropriate for self-maintenance. Integrity is fine, being a mix of loyalty to the Children and the Cardassians' innate deceptive nature. Harath was programmed with high Cunning to be as unpredictable as possible, and Strength worthy of prey. I've mentioned my problem with the dual-affiliation nature of Hirogen holograms before, and it's the same here. Harath is Cardassian first though he's never encountered real Cardassians before. he probably wouldn't be found on Cardassian holosuites. At the same time, he's rebeled against the Hirogen and is no longer really part of that affiliation. Still, we can accept that he starts out as Hirogen "property", then reverts to his truer nature (Cardassian) later. A 2.7.

STOCKABILITY: There are no Holodecks on Cardassian ships and few holograms besides, but Holosuites can be seeded on Terok Nor, and well, there's always Holodeck Door. Why use the card for so few holograms? How about to use the excellent Crell Moset? It'd be a shame to get a Holodeck for just one card, so how about an easy-to-report support personnel as well? Harath fits the bill, and his skills are good at space missions more than at planetary ones, so you needn't worry about further holographic support. Astrophysics, SCIENCE and Computer Skill are all useful, and he's got good attributes (which nevertheless can't be boosted by Lower Decks). The Cardies do have other support personnel sources for his skills, flesh and blood ones. In a Hirogen deck, he'll bring more Astrophysics and SCIENCE, two skills that are rather lacking in the affiliation. And with the Children of Light, you basically need all the personnel you can get. An ok 3.

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) Pretty routine.

PICTURE: In contrast to the original version of this card (with errata), the pic actually shows exactly the piece of equipment referred to in the game text. The dark blue colors are those of the Hirogen/Children of Light palette, and the Projector's light is mirrored in the wall fixtures. Of course, it's all a little lost in the cargo bay. Wasn't there a shot of this on the planet? It would have worked even better. And yes, this IS a reuse of the Artificial Intelligence prop and would be used again as the drill bit in "Civilization" (Enterprise). As is, a 3.

LORE: Some facts from the episodes, but nothing too exciting. Tells the story and that's it. A 3.

TREK SENSE: Holo-Projectors as a technology is wider than what's described here, including the effects of a Holodeck as well, but in the sense that this is a planet-bound Holo-Projector as seen in "Flesh and Blood" and "Shadowplay", it works as is. You have the big Projector on a planet, and hey, holograms can exist there. Simple as that. However, I would have liked to see the card be made into an Equipment card, since it was obviously carryable (it's on a ship in the pic). There didn't seem to be a whole lot of installation required either once they beamed the thing planetside. One puzzling change from the original's game text is that Kevin Uxbridge is now ready to wipe it off the face of the planet. The way I've worked out the puzzle is that the card no longer represents a technological development, but an actual thing, a thing holograms can use to invade a planet. So that change works out, and only the Equipment/Event dilemma remains to keep this card at a 4.

STOCKABILITY: When this card came out in Premiere, it allowed you to beam your holograms down if a ship with Holodeck was in orbit (don't ask me how, we're out of Trek Sense now). Later, it was errataed to simply give all ships a Holodeck. With Holodeck Adventures, Holodeck Door now did this (and more), so they needed to errata the card again. To make sure the Children of Light could use it in the Voyager-only environment, they re-issued the card, the one we have here, and this time it plays on planet missions and allows holograms to exist there. Errata isn't the word exactly - this card was completely rewritten twice. How does it stack up now? Well, not as good as the original, but better than after the first errata. Obviously, a hologram-based deck would need these to attempt planet missions, and since you wouldn't want to get caught by The Big Picture, you'll need to do so. Don't overdo it, stick to space missions as much as you can, but still stock some Holo-Projectors to get you to those missions. The Cardassian/Hirogen/Child of Light hologram Kejal can download the card, so it should be easy to get out once you have her. She can even be downloaded herself for quick access through a discarded Holodeck Door. The game slows down when you need to play more than one Projector during the game though, so its frequent use, say to cut-and-switch on a mission, or to use your holograms as an assault team, could be harder. Still, with some of the special skills that have come out of Holodeck Adventures, it might be worth it to force your opponent into the corner of the holodeck, as it were. And between Children of Light and the large number of new Non-Aligned holograms, all non-Borg affiliations can now rationalize the use of this support card. Currently set at 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) No new errata planned, so this should be a final score.

PICTURE: The TNG yellow and black grid is a little campy, granted, but it's way more dramatic than Voyager's gray surroundings. So it's quite lovely to see the doors from the inside rather than from the beige corridor of the Enterprise. Looks great with the bleed, don't it? A 4.4.

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

TREK SENSE: The "Door" represents two things really. The first is a Holodeck itself, as in the first function. The second is as the activation of a program as in the other two. First things first though, let's look at Holodeck installation. Ships, outposts and headquarters are covered, but not stations. This keeps Holosuites viable for Nors, but should it really exclude Holodecks at Colonies? "Shadowplay" comes to mind here. As for ships, I don't think shuttles and such should have been covered. Thanks to the idea of Holoprograms that play on ships, this isn't just a matter of installing holo-projectors. It's a true-blue Holodeck. In cases where this works fine (larger ships, outposts and HQs), I heartily agree that holograms should be able to report aboard. Indeed, why can't holograms report directly to pre-installed Holodecks? Well, the door just isn't open (i.e. a program isn't activated), but you can play this card on a ship with a Holodeck already, fixing the problem. Activating a program (playing a Holodeck Door to "out-of-play", basically) can bring a Holoprogram into play, or a specific hologram. Here, we include Barash-icon cards, though their programs don't really exist in any known ship database. Why "out-of-play", by the way? Programs aren't wiped as they are activated. The final function has you keep a program active, thus preventing a hologram from being deactivated, but just one. Again, this is unsatisfactory. Why just one? We're not talking about preventing erasure, which might require some work at the arch here. A lot of problems means 1.7 in this category.

STOCKABILITY: So you want to use plenty of holograms, perhaps those nifty NAs with big special skills, but your affiliation doesn't really have ships with Holograms? Holodeck Door will fix you right up, and you can even seed it on a ship that's seeded too (or an outpost, obviously). This is especially effective for DQ affiliations who don't have holograms of their own (Hirogen excepted). The card also allows holographic personnel and equipment to report directly to the ship, so it's a better target for the doorway than an outpost or HQ are, though if you want your holos defending your facility, you'll need one here. Nothing's stopping you from playing the Door on a ship that already has a Holodeck, simply to allow holograms to report there. Like I said, strictly for hologram-intensive decks. You can also use the card to download specific Holoprograms, holograms and Barash cards. Doing this with Holoprograms can be key to making those cards work (see such reviews), and they aren't covered by Shape-Shift Inhibitor (though of course, the holograms they download are). It may be good to download some holograms early, like those that have spaceline-covering effects (like Cyrus Redblock). Barash cards? Not so much, sorry. Certainly not worth sending a card out-of-play at any rate, so always make sure it counts. Preventing deactivation of a single hologram may not be worth sending the doorway to the discard pile either. It better be a very important hologram. After deactivation, the hologram can always return next turn, you know. On Outposts, it's a good place to play '45 Dom Perignon to turn universal Spacedoored ships into uniques. Overall, some effects are weaker than others, but we can't dismiss the card's use in holo-decks. Of course, how viable ARE those decks? A bit card-intensive, so I'm gonna go with a straight 3.

TOTAL: 12.13 (60.67%) Eeech, weakest Doorway yet!

PICTURE: Warm cranberry colors and plenty of detail, but y'know, it's just a set shot, so not very memorable. 3.1 for how cozy it seems.

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

TREK SENSE: Holoprograms play on Holodecks, fair enough, and I see no reason why something based on literature shouldn't be able to play on a facility as much as a ship, although you have to wonder why the Romulans would run it. Characters from the program can obviously appear here, but don't forget that more than half of them are flesh and blood personnel (in a manner of speaking cuz there's Data). The program can summon up a relevant hologram (download it) no problem, but characters played by real people maybe shouldn't come up so easily. The second effect means to represent the holo-reality Moriarty created in "Ship in a Bottle" I think. Basically, he fooled some members of the crew into believing they had walked out of the holodeck and were back on the ship, while actually in a holographic simulation of the ship controlled by Moriarty. In essence, the personnel you place under this card are "duplicated" by Moriarty (or just the computer of a malfunctioning holodeck) and may report as holograms from then on. This isn't completely out there, and though Moriarty is doing it from Baker Street, it can mimic the actions of Barclay, for example, who often used real people in his programs. Where it gets strange is when personnel already in play are suddenly revealed to be holograms, even to the point of being deactivated. The basic problem is that the card isn't played on a particular ship with holodeck in this case. Why would the entire spaceline ebe affected? In fact, shouldn't personnel duplicated holographically still exist as flesh and blood? I like the ideas, but the execution tends to falter a bit. A 2.6 and that's it.

STOCKABILITY: As a personnel-downloading card, it gives you access to 5 Non-Aligned personnel, 3 of which aren't holograms bound to the Holodeck. There's Sherlock Holmes (an android with hand-replenishing powers), John Watson (with hand-discarding powers) and Madam Pulaski (who could sometimes give you a +10 bonus to your mission points, but I wouldn't hold my breath). The 2 holos, however, actually play around with a copy of this card played on table. Professor Moriarty effectively doubles the effect, and Regina Barthalomew allows new-made holograms to report for free if she's with him. So how does this second ability work? Basically, it allows you to use duplicate copies of personnel you have in hand to turn your other copy or copies into holos, with all the advantages and disadvantages associated with that "species". On the upside, this makes them invulnerable to dying (deactivating instead) and few other cards (Organ Theft, for example, or Ceti Eel) and gives them a couple of support cards to use, but there are a lot of disadvantages, such as movement limitations (not too much trouble at space missions, but becoming an Away Team is a pain), no ability to kill in combat unless Safety Protocols are off, and vulnerability to a number of cards (Reactor Overload, Deactivation, Small Oversight, and now Lokirrim Vessel). You CAN discard the personnel under this card at any time to turn them all back into solid personnel, of course, so you could conceivably use Moriarty and Regina simply as a report engine for universals. Use a lot of duplicate personnel, store 2 under Baker Street every turn, and report their twins for free as soon as you get new copies in hand. When you're ready to unleash them on missions, discard the ones under Baker Street to fleshify them. A bit involved, and not very efficient, though Watson and Holmes plus a good recycling strategy can help get those cards into hand and into play at breakneck speed. We're looking at an intriguing 3.7.

TOTAL: 12.53 (62.67%) And I managed to do it without an elementary joke.

PICTURE: The sand in Deadwood is so bright as to be incandescent, and that's really interesting on a holo-card. It lends a sense of artificial reality to an otherwise pretty standard scenery shot, and reminds us that everything on the holodeck is basically made of light. The colors are also uncommon on STCCG cards, so I'm game to give it a strong 3.7.

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

TREK SENSE: Not very much, or really, mostly thematic in nature. First, there's no reason for this program to only be playable on ships, except, of course, for mechanical balance. I'm also left wondering how and why non-Federation ships would run this program, but I suppose if it interested a couple of Klingons and a Betazoid... Still, can you imagine Cardassians CHOOSING to play this scenario? Then, there's the matter of who can report directly to it: just the Sheriff and Deputy? Why? The Hollanders, as pure holograms, are natives more than any "player character" that has to walk in. Especially when those walk-ins are only arguably Non-Aligned. I mean, what is Worf doing on that Romulan warbird? Special invitation to play in Deadwood? And if you're including walk-ins, where's Durango? The main effect requires the Sheriff and Deputy to be there together (it's good they encourage this, since Worf was only there because of Alexander), but it's entirely conceptual and has no basis in reality. The span of the mission grows by as much as 4? How? Thematically, since X=the number of Security present, it's meant to represent the law as the only thing between chaos and order. "You gotta get through us", kind of thing. The law also keeps you from initiating battles unless you have the white hats outnumbered. And Worf can make an arrest, using his badge to get rid of a Security dilemma. None of this "outside the holodeck" action makes any sense, but thematically, it's cute. I'm afraid I can't go above 1.4.

STOCKABILITY: You already have an incentive to get Sheriff Worf and Deputy Rozhenko together in that Alexander scores 5 points when Worf stuns a Treachery personnel, and Alexander is a SECURITY personnel that boosts Worf's STRENGTH. Using Deadwood, you can report the two of them directly to a ship, but of course, you gotta get them in hand. Perhaps a Defend Homeworld download would speed things up. Cuz when you have them together there, your ship becomes an annoying obstacle in your opponent's way. First, it lengthens the Span of any mission it's at by at least 2 (Worf and Alexander are SECURITY), to as much as 4, making it more likely that opposing ships will stop here, and in any case slowing them down as they head to their missions. They might not be able to destroy you there either, since they must have more SECURITY than you do (so at least 3, but potentially many more) to initiate a battle. That's good defense. Finally, Sheriff Worf gets an additional ability here, that of nullifying any space SECURITY-requiring dilemma he encounters here (only one per turn though, but at least you don't have to nullify the first one out of the gate if it's weak or easy). Goodbye Trabe Grenade, Assassin's Blade and Center of Attention. Just picked three out of a hat, there are plenty more. Obviously, he doesn't get this bonus on planet missions, since he has to be on the ship to use it. There are two big disadvantages though. One is that Frank Hollander suspends the game text if he's at the location, but I'm not that worried about this. One personnel among many, he's not likely to be in your opponent's deck. The other is that the entire thing collapses if Sheriff Worf and Deputy Rozhenko aren't together aboard the ship. Sure, dilemma nullification and fewer battles initiated against you can keep them reasonably safe some of the time, but they're likely targets of non-SECURITY dilemmas. Reasonably good, but watch out for the mechanics that balance it: a 3.8.

TOTAL: 11.67 (58.35%) Not that popular a program.

PICTURE: A disappointing set shot really. Yes, the room is richly decorated, and you can see the Himalayas in the window, but it feels so cramped for what is meant to be the top of the world. What I'd have liked to see in the shot is the big screen with the world turning to ocean on it. A boring 1.7.

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

TREK SENSE: With the secret agent program, we always have to forget that the characters are incarnated by DS9 personae, because most of the time, they probably aren't. The attendent Holoprogram covers both situations though, and that's a good thing. First, in your usual circumstances, the program can be played on any Holodeck. The usual caveats apply: Would Romulans be interested? Cardassians? Garak made it clear that this was not his idea of an espionage program. In fact, once we're in a Holodeck not friendly toward the Federation, the appearance of Secret Agent Julian Bashir becomes suspect (as does that of Mr. Garak). Non-holos PLAYING the scenario aren't really native to it, and what they're doing on a Dominion Battleship playing games is quite questionable. The holos are another matter, this is fine as long as you forget they are versions of the DS9 mains' personae. The twists and turns of the scenario make the download option a natural. You're coasting along and then, wham! Duchamps makes an appearance, or Falcon, or Noah, whatever. They come out of the woodwork as they say. The rest of the card plays with the situation we saw in "Our Man Bashir", that of flesh and blood personnel being used by the Holodeck as computer-controlled puppets. The card allows your Transporter Skill personnel (it was their transporter patterns that were trapped in the holo-matrix) to pull them out of there and turn them back into flesh and blood personnel. Not what they did on the show per se, but a good way to handle it. The holo is discarded (only holos have the Dr. Noah reference) and the other version is downloaded. I think it works well except where all or most other Holoprograms fail. Achieves a 3.

STOCKABILITY: One of the better Holoprograms in my opinion, it's basically a reporting/downloading engine first for personnel with lots of special skills, and then for primary mission solvers. The holos it can download (reporting's fine if you have 'em in hand, but downloading's where the action is) are good, but their strategies can't always be used easily. But if Anastasia Komananov can't step onto an opposing ship to cause trouble, you can discard her to download any version of the Kira Nerys persona, and they're all quite good mission solvers. The same can be done with Honey Bare and Dax once Rescue Captives has been downloaded or a Vulcanic Eruption played. Falcon's assassination attempt not working out? Download a Miles O'Brien. Dr. Noah not pulling his weight capture-wise? There's a Benjamin Sisko on the horizon. Duchamps too has a battle skill that requires him to be present with opposing personnel. This is more card-intensive for holos because they aren't independent of holo technology ("Photons Be Free", indeed). But getting to download some excellent mission solvers at the very start of the game via persona replacement more than makes up for it. You'll find yourself stocking holos you don't need to grab flesh and blood personnel you do need quickly and easily. And the DS9 mains have a number of off-affiliation versions if you're not playing Feds. The Klingons are well served with Worf Son of Mogh, Jodmos and Dax, while the Bajorans have 2 Kiras, The Emissary and Vedek Dax. Anyone can also use the NA Worf from TwT. Now, let's not foregt the two non-holo personnel this card can download. Mr. Garak is a good mission solver because he can abort mission attempts after killer dilemmas, so getting him early can certainly be advantageous. Secret Agent Julian Bashir is the better personnel though. Good skill list, keeps your personnel present from being captured, yes, that's all excellent, but I'm talking about his download of '45 Dom Perignon. Seed the Holoprogram at your Outpost, Spacedoor a universal ship there, download Bashir, download the champagne, and then turn that ship into a unique vessel of the same class. Some ships can download some of their own crew, and Ready Room Door could get you the matching commander at interrupt speed. That's a quick start-up (only a couple turns), and you can then go further by getting those big DS9 mission solvers into play. Watch out for Shape-Shift Inhibitor making things more costly however. The Retreat still gets my 3.8.

TOTAL: 11.33 (56.67%) Top of the world, ma! (Well... not quite.)

PICTURE: The black and white template isn't as dramatic on an Incident card where there's naturally less color, but it's a nice touch nonetheless. The model (I'm reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail) looks hokey but real at the same, though don't stare at it too long lest you be reminded of something Freud once said. It's unusual for characters to be in Holopogram shot (in fact, this is the only time it happens), but it's not bothersome. They even lend some scale to the piece, and remind us that we're in a holodeck, with the Fortress just a wall projection. A cool 3.7.

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

TREK SENSE: The idea that it plays on a ship with Holodeck seems simple enough, but other than the way its effects work, there's no reason it shouldn't play on a facility, right? While this is Tom Paris' baby, there's no problem with ships other than Voyager using the program, since it might have been part of one of the many transmissions they sent Starfleet. Programs made in the Delta Quadrant are no doubt prized by the people at home. It might even explain why non-Federation ships would use it. The likes the of the Romulans might try to infer intelligence from it, while the Klingons would just be after a DQ-style fight (these people may or may not be disappointed). Back in the Delta Quadrant, the Hirogen had access to holographic material from Voyager and wouldn't be loathe to use it, and the computer was once stolen, so there's no telling who has Tom Paris' secret fantasies on an isolinear rod somewhere. That's what I call side-stepping a problem, and one that's inherent to all other Holoprograms. The personnel (and equipment) native to this program, and who may thus download here, are Chaotica, Lonzak, Satan's Robot and Arachnia. This last one is a mistake, in my opinion, because she's not a holographic personnel. Just like Captain Proton, the Mistresses of Evil, etc. aren't included because they are flesh and blood personnel (except the President of Earth, but he's still not usually native to this program) and only playing the parts of characters in these adventures. The rest is thematic rubbish. It stars Chaotica, so the effect may be opposed by Captain Proton. Cute. The idea that an opponent needs a holo personnel to attempt missions here seems born of the conflict between the photonic beings and Chaotica, when they had to bring in the President of Earth to parlay with them. Maybe you need Chaotica to spark the conflict and attack the photonics' dimension. It's a bit convoluted, since Captain Proton was indeed at this location at the time, and Arachnia seemed to do more to stop Chaotica than Proton. It all collapses in the end, but its heart is at the right place. A 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: This Holoprogram, like the personnel that inhabit it, is a bit like the 2E Romulans - it's meant to create obstacles for your opponent's personnel. If your ship is at an opponent's mission, and Chaotica is aboard (downloadable, in any case), and Captain Proton isn't at this location (how likely is that?), then the mission cannot be attempted unless a [holo] icon personnel participates. This is especially deadly at planet missions, where holograms aren't necessarily free to roam. Since most holograms are from Holodeck Adventures, if your opponent has one or more already, then he or she might have Captain Proton as well, so it wouldn't matter (he boosts all HDA personnel). But many players will not use holograms because they require so much card support. Dogging your opponent's trail with your ship may be the most difficult thing to do here, but if you're smart, you can corral him or her to your best dilemma combos. Downloading personnel can be costly if Shape-Shift Inhibitor is on the table, but you have only a few possibilities anyway. Chaotica's necessary to activate the game text, but his special skill also helps it: he can return an opponent's hologram present to owner's hand. You have to get him very close, perhaps with a Holo-Emitter, but once there, you can eliminate, albeit temporarily, the holo that would allow a mission attempt on his watch. You have to get him back to your ship pronto though. Beam down, zap, beam back up before he's stopped somehow. While you're doing that, bring Lonzak along so he can capture a female present, which is worth 10 points with Chaotica there (5 without). Arachnia is more of a stay-at-home gal, she lowers an opposing ship's SHIELDS if there's no female aboard, further motivating Lonzak, I'm sure. And for general battling, there's Satan's Robot, an Equipment card not affected by Shape-Shift Inhibitor. So there. Not unlike the Tribbles, someone using this card well could be very annoying. A 3.7.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Kind of in a gray zone.

< Previous 20......................................................................................................................Next 20 >