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

PICTURE: There's always fun dissonance in seeing your favorite characters in period clothes, especially the aliens, but otherwise, this is a rather gray pic, despite the bloom of flowers on one side. It's ok, but Garak's a little too frumpy for 007. A 3.

LORE: Good quote tying in very well with his special skill, but because of space constraints, there seems to be a word missing in the sentence before it. Namely, a "that" after the word "Bashir". Syntax is still correct, but rushed. Naming the Secret Agent is, of course, useful for game purposes, and the persona is also a necessity. We've got a 3.3 here.

TREK SENSE: Garak has made a career of knowing when to leave. That's how he survived the Obsidian Order, his stay on Romulus and his exile in the Bajoran system, I suppose. He described this ability in "Our Man Bashir", in the guise we see him in here. What I especially like is that, while other Holodeck versions of a persona seem goofy and out of place on the bridge of a ship or a mission attempt, Mr. Garak could be Garak in any situation where he feels it's time to quit. He's a Civilian and Non-Aligned, unattached to any service or affiliation. A self-made exile, if you will. He's got Treachery, so that he can backstab whoever he needs to to get away. And he's got that great special skill, which allows him to convince his crew or Away Team that it's time to go. It must be justified by the death of a colleague, but that's only fair. He couldn't convince Bashir, but then, who died? Mona Luvsitt isn't a real person ;-). Attributes can be compared to the baseline persona: He's got the same self-serving Integrity, a little less Cunning because he should be coming up with solutions instead of running away, and the weakness this shows also costs him a point of Strength. Well done. Covers both the holo-persona AND Garak the survivor, and we're only sorry to see no other skills on him, nor a way to quit in other circumstances. Reaches a high 4.5.

STOCKABILITY: Mr. Garak is a great, all-affiliations personnel to bring on a mission, not because of his skills (which are few), but because of his way out of runaway dilemma combos. You know the ones I mean: They start out with something that knocks off personnel without asking for requirements, thereby forcing you to plunge into the next dilemma with key personnel filtered out. If that "filter" was a kill (Flash Plasma Storm and The Clown: Playing Doctor are examples), then Mr. Garak can stop the whole thing before you lose more personnel. Excellent! Since Plain Simple Garak plays with the idea of persona-replacement, let's do so. You send HIM to those missions (now ould be a good time to use a Scan of some kind, or Ocular Implants), and if the dilemma encountered is a requirement-less killer, turn him into Mr. Garak to get out of Dodge. If the dilemma targets him, go for Elim Garak. It's nice to have options. His skills aren't much, like I said, but they will work in a War Council deck (giving him cool 10 CUNNING and allowing him to report for free to a Neutral/NA Outpost - card draws may come later). He's also one of only two non-holo personnel to report or download via Noah's Mountain Retreat. Jolly good show. A 4.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Coward or not, they still call him Mister.

PICTURE: The precocious-but-sweet Naomi Wildman gets a very sharp and colorful picture. Her eyes match her outfit, and the spotty gold in her straps matches her hair and forehead make-up. Part of her extended family is in the background, but the bright splash of the fruit next to her reminds us of her most important adoptive parent, Neelix. A very nice pic for her, and a 3.7 for the pic.

LORE: Maybe it's because she's so young, but the lore is mostly about her extended family. Her crossed species tells us about her biological parents, with Samantha Wildman making an apperance a bit later. We also hear that she's being raised by the entire crew, which includes, in succession, her mom, Neelix, Seven and Captain Janeway. Each relationship is described differently, which is very good. I think I can give it a 3.7 here too.

TREK SENSE: There's really no dispute against Naomi being a Civilian Youth, and though she IS precocious, they did well to avoid turning her into a Wesley Crusher with a ton of skills. At her age, she wouldn't really have time to get the kind of training a Starfleet officer has. The special skill is a fair way to do it instead. While she is on her birth-ship Voyager, she may learn from any member of its crew. She's an "official assistant" if you will, and her helping with the first-listed skill of a personnel seems to double that skill. The first-listed skill, I suppose, is the personnel's specialty, and what he or she would teach her most naturally. There are a lot of problems with this ability of course, like the fact that Voyager's crew in the game may be far from the crew on show. Not really that bad, but if allied to the Kazon or Vidiians, would you let Naomi intern with one of them? How about the bigger skills? For example, how does she turn Tom Paris' Navigation x3 to a x6? How about Stadi's Empathy or Vorik's Mindmeld? Those can't be taught, can they? And I'm just sticking to personnel that were on Voyager on the show here. And why only the first skill? I'm sure we can find instances where her mentors taught her more than that. So we've got to call the skill more conceptual than anything else. On to the attributes... Integrity's relatively high, but she had a good heart and a fair bit of courage for her age. They respect her age by giving her somewhat low Cunning (still allows her to be precocious), and the Strength really is a child's. Despite some of my misgivings, a good effort at 3.5.

SOCKABILITY: Naomi Wildman is a niche personnel that is really only useful aboard the USS Voyager, but for DQ Feds, it's an excellent ship, eminently boostable. If her mom, Samantha Wildman, is already aboard, she can even download Naomi, no problem. The little girl's function is largely to boost the already inflated skills of Voyager's crew. Think about it: You can already use Spatial Scission to double a personnel's entire being, and with Naomi, double each copy's first skill. Do you really need Navigation x12? Well, you could still have it. There are other DQ Fed personnel with a first-listed skill at x2 who could now have x4 (The Doctor, Mortimer Harren and Samantha Wildman herself, for example). Many DQ Feds and Non-Aligneds have a second classification at the start of their skill list, which is great too. It certainly gives extra power to your crew in mission solving (protecting Naomi's important though, maybe with a bodyguard). Whatever happens, her skill is limited to space missions. You don't take her down to a planet. It's not like her Youth and attributes are all that important anyway. What's here gets her a 3.5.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) Good kid.

PICTURE: Nicki's just struck a match on his nose, which is iconic enough, but there's too much in the way for the pic to work, in particular, those arms coming out of the background (some ladies are hiding there), and the bright lamp overwhelming the bottom of the image. Fun, sure, but badly served by its composition, so only 2.9.

LORE: Fun and quirky writing. I don't know if they did it on purpose, but there are three body parts on the card in all - nose, brow and arms - though on that last one, I'm not entirely sure Nicki was meant to be an arms dealer just because he had a concealed weapon with him. Useful, but strained. The idea that he would be an infrequent patron might come from the fact he wasn't featured in every chapter, and indeed, we never saw him anywhere in "The Big Goodbye" (the episode), but know he was in the story thanks to a console close-up in First Contact. Good enough for a 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Nicki has the skills you might expect from a mob boss. Leadership to command the goons, and the old Treachery/Greed combo. He would be a Civilian, sure, and the download of a Tommygun is perfect. After all, he brought it into the restaurant. The low Integrity matches his Treachery, but allows for loyalty to the family. Cunning's a high average, allowing him to survive in his line of "business", and we could say the same about his Strength. The line of business itself is a problem to me, however. An arms dealer? First, that's debatable. Second, it's the one thing on here that doesn't work within his holographic life. The skills are all timeless enough that it doesn't matter if he's programmed to be from the 1930s, but the things an arms dealer does are outside the holodeck. How does he get his hands on a Breenzooka? How does he use a Rule of Acquisition during times of war? The rest does work, so only down to 3.5. Can't really complain.

STOCKABILITY: Nicki the Nose is a good hologram for Ferengi to use, certainly, since he's got the Treachery, Greed and arms dealership required of many Rules of Acquisition, though of course, he can help other affiliation run a mock-Ferengi strategy. He can initiate battles too, though you need to Disable Safety Protocols to let him personally kill other personnel (his STRENGTH's not bad). The Tommygun download is appreciated though it may really be a weapon to Tent. I mean, it's stun effect isn't bad at downsizing an opposing Away Team, but the big hologram erasure effect won't be required very often. Aside from the Rules, being an arms dealer has another use: reporting a Breen CRM114 (though someone else will no doubt go planetside and use it). Being a hologram isn't necessarily a plus here, though being Non-Aligned is certainly good. Settles around a 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) The Dixonites unfortunately don't all get a bonus from The Office Holoprogram.

PICTURE: The colors and shadows are real splotchy here, and Nirok unfortunately comes off as blurry. He seems to have a certain pride in his heritage, but the image is overwhelmed by poor reproduction values. A 2.4.

LORE: First, his basic role aboard his ship, and then a nice little history of his family. Kind of sad that he's descended from the captain, but is only chief of security. Hopefully, Kohlar is his cousin ;-). That last piece of business adds good flavor and elevates the score to a 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Being stuck in the Delta Quadrant, living on a generational ship, I guess everyone has to be good at a little bit of everything. That's the only way I can explain his extremely disparate skills. Security is the only thing we know should be there. The rest seems harder to justify, though Astrophysics and Navigation can be married to allow the Voq'leng to hide behind anomalies, etc. from their enemies (the ship had to survive for 100 years). Exobiology, for its part, can be used to deal with alien species you plan to have personnel battles with. So it works, though perhaps a Command icon could have been given him instead of a Staff, seeing as he IS a Chief, and maybe just out of respect for his ancestor. No? Ok. Strength could also be seen as a bit low for a Security Klingon, but you have to remember these Klingons were victims of a degenerative disease. He could easily be weaker than normal. His Cunning is low, which certainly explains why he wasn't entrusted with the captaincy, though he seems to have a lot of varied skills for someone this dumb. I see nothing wrong with his Integrity. Overall, a 3.5 would be fair.

STOCKABILITY: Ok, so if you're playing a Delta Quadrant deck with the Voq'leng and Home Away From Home, no DQ Klingon will go unused. Nirok has only 3 skills, but that's still more than mission specialists and support personnel you'd bring in from outside the quadrant to help out instead. His skills are all good, and the variety is an advantage (all his skills can see use in the Delta Quadrant). And hey, he's not so instrumental that you'll care that much if you discard him for 5 points at Establish Settlement. Attributes are fair and steady. There's nothing incredibly impressive here, but he's good at what he was designed for. A 3.4.

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) Passed up here too.

PICTURE: From this angle, the Olarra looks very different from the universal Hunting Vessel, but that's not a bad thing. The ship is shown flying away, perfect for a stolen ship full of fugitives. I mostly enjoy the streaks of colored light from the warp effect, for this bright "ship of Light". They manage to tell us something about the crew, so a strong 4.1. Both templates work, though the Hirogen is perhaps a bit deeper.

LORE: The lore is competent, first giving us the reason it can be Non-Aligned, then a matching commander. I'm glad holo-enslavers other than the Hirogen were mentioned. Extra points for the ship class, however, which may well have been chosen based on the Olarra rather than the Hunting Vessel itself. "Light" Cruiser? I enjoyed. A 3.7.

TREK SENSE: If we go by the Stolen Attack Ship, then the Olarra shouldn't be Hirogen at all, except that this time, the ship was stolen by personnel who have the Hirogen icon. Just as they can work with Hirogen "pre-liberation", the ship can be staffed by non-holo Hirogen in that period. The ship WAS equipped with holo-emitters (Holodeck) and staffed with holographic personnel to be used as space-bound prey, so it all works. If your holograms have escaped, the ship can be Non-Aligned. I don't totally agree with the special ability though: Hirogen holograms should be able to report there, being in the database and/or being holo-Bob until called upon, but holos from other affiliations should be liberated first and not start on the ship. Sure, you might say that the Olarra's been cruisin' for a while, and that's acceptable. Just not telling the whole story, is all. Staffing is different from the universal Hunting Vessel, replacing one Staff icon for a Command. Hirogen are all trained for the hunt, but only some holograms are programmed to command a ship. Works, but it gets slim once you put actual Hirogen aboard. There are also differences in attributes. Range is a point higher because it's a fugitive ship trying to stay ahead of the hunters. Weapons is technically 2 points higher and Shields 1 point, and I guess that's all to give the hunters a good fight. They souped up a ship so it could give them a run for their money. Overall, it comes off as acceptable, but often questionable. A 3.1.

STOCKABILITY: Well, there's nothing stopping the Hirogen from using this ship without any holograms, and they might given the higher attributes. Doesn't beat out Loggable Hunting Vessels or the Venatic Hunter, but it's respectable. In heavy hologram decks, or straight out Children of Light strategies, then the Olarra's special ability comes into play. Serving as an outpost for holos, you need not return to your facility to pick them up, not solely depend on support personnel. Note that Donik can offer up the same ability on other Hirogen ships. But here, Iden acts as matching commander, possibly Logging and Plaquing the ship to 10-12-11 levels, plus adding the usual other tricks. Since the Hirogen have other means of using their holos, the best use of this ship is in Non-Aligned mode, using Children of Light to pick up holos from any affiliation and quadrant. If Iden is on the Olarra, then CoL can be used to capture holos at a damaged ship at this location (I suppose you have to damage it). A pure hologram deck can be tough to run (you have to make provisions for planet missions, for example), and dangerous (too many ways to hose hologram-only crews), but if you're gonna do so, perhaps with a couple of flesh and blood personnel to cover the staffing, then the Olarra is a very good ship to do it with. To get it out, use the Hirogen Outpost/Hirogen Hunt/ship download chain. A niche card, to be sure, it gets handed a 3.5.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) Somehow the same as the universal model.

PICTURE: This is probably the only shot in the whole of Star Trek where we can see more than one Ferengi getting Oo-Mox, so it's well chosen, and the general opulence also works in its favor. Totally gaudy, it's a Ferengi card alright. Busy, but the composition works. A 3.4.

LORE: Bringing the Ferengi bestseller into it was a stroke of genius. It's funny in and of itself, plus gives the writer a chance to mention to various - and ridiculous! - Oo-Mox "moves". And I never thought I'd see the word "erogenous" on any card. Oh, a 5.

TREK SENSE: The only real conceit here is that it affects all Ferengi males in play simultaneously, no matter where they are at the moment. No females need be there, but that's fine, they can be offstage. No, what's strange is the simultaneous part. Ok, once you get past that hurdle, the rest isn't bad. First, there's the turn where Oo-Mox is practiced on them: they are quite reasonably stopped by this. Then for the next couple of turns (the countdown), our Ferengi friends are on a high. They are in a better mood, think better, and feel stronger. The doubling of skills is a bit more suspect than the attribute boost, but not entirely so. It's all part of "thinking better" as well as working harder. So there's an initial deduction for the range of the effect, but the rest makes Oo-Mox as important as it seemed to Quark and friends. The conceptual conceit keeps it at 3.

STOCKABILITY: If you're playing Ferengi, this is a pretty powerful mission-solving card. Ferengi are mostly male anyway, and this will double their skills and add 2 to all their attributes for 2 workable turns (they are stopped the first). Good for missions, but also to make double-skills for Cybernetics Expertise, I Do Not Take Orders From You, Ferengi Ingenuity, etc. The trade-off is that those personnel cards can't do a thing on the turn you played Oo-Mox. You might keep enough females and Non-Aligneds to run the ships, get the males to where they need to be next turn. Another trade-off of sorts is that the card affects even your opponent's personnel, so that in a Ferengi-vs.-Ferengi deck, you'll be helping them as well (and hurting them with the "stop"). Evens things out, but if you're fast and prepared enough, you might still come out on top. Multiple Oo-Mox cards will keep your personnel boosted after every break they take, and if no one interferes with the Ferengi's massive personnel reporting chains, those breaks won't be major. Balanced, but what's there is potent. A 4.

TOTAL: 15.4 (77%) Reader discretion is advised. ;-)

PICTURE: It's the original Founder Homeworld getting the crap kicked out of it by both Cardassian and Romulan phasers and torpedos. The effects are ok, and the Romulan viewscreen is fairly unusual, but the step back it makes us take leaves colder than a more immediate image. Certainly above average at 3.2.

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

TREK SENSE: Obviously, this card was going to allow your ships to attack landed ships and planet facilities, it's just a matter of just how it does this. First, this is considered too "evil" for the Federation, and I don't disagree, but the wording does cover the OS Terrans who really would do this sort of thing (and have). Actually, Feds CAN use Orbital Bombardment on a Non-Aligned ship, their ethics not transferring over. Rather bizarre, isn't it? There's a Weapons hike against facilities only, which I suppose means they are specially set to... what? Liquify bedrock? Whatever it is, it affects facilities, but not landed ships. Ships are smaller targets, which may account for it as well. One good thing is that landed ships cannot return fire, which is as it should be. That's all battle-stuff, but if your ship hasn't battled this turn, it may alternately target an Away Team and possibly kill two of its members (allowing for an appropriate counter-attack next turn). Since these targets are even smaller, you have to successfully probe (with sensors, I imagine), and the [skill dot] icon is a good choice since it's almost exclusively found on personnel cards. Anomalies for this scenario include never hitting any of your personnel present with said Away Team (maybe in a just-ended personnel battle), and the lack of damage to (or protection afforded by) the facility or ship in which the personnel may be standing. Casualties are a fine form of damage, but suddenly, Shields mean nothing. The basic idea is of course sound, but a lot of the small bits don't quite hold up. A 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: It's perhaps odd that while armadas have been curtailed so that they can't easily destroy a facility and lock a player out of a game, they still came out with Orbital Bombardment. Well, you always could target a planet facility, but now you get +4 to WEAPONS when doing so. Maybe some really big, enhanced ships can now get away with such a move without the need for what we'd call an armada. Colonies and Terraforming Stations would be in trouble, certainly, but it's harder to dent a Headquarters. The better use, then, is for shooting lurking landed ships. They think they're safe, but they're not, and they don't get a retaliatory shot. Even if your opponent doesn't land, Away Teams will still go down to planets. A simple Mission Debriefing can strand them long enough for you to fly to their location, and at the end of your turn, probe to kill two opposing personnel. Or maybe you were already there waging personnel battle on that Away Team, and win or lose, you pick off some of the remaining personnel with Orbital Bombardment. Skill dots should be relatively easy to find as they're on all personnel cards. All affiliations can use this despite the Federation restriction, as I mentioned above, by using a Non-Aligned ship to do the dirty work (as long as you're covered as far as attack restrictions go). I don't really worry about Assimilate This as a counter, since it's always been way too specific to get into decks very often, but it can happen. Orbital Bombardment offers a lot more incentive to Tent it than Crosis or Build Interplexing Beacon. And the nullification also costs you 10 points. That risk factored in, we've got a 4 here.

TOTAL: 12.93 (64.67%) The Founders DID survive this attack.

#2110-Praetor Neral, Personnel, Romulan, HDA

"Neral is the president of the Continuing Committee and Praetor of the glorious Romulan Star Empire. Has not aged well under the mantle of leadership."

-VIP, Leadership x2, Treachery, Diplomacy, Biology; Adds SECURITY to each of your Tal Shiar personnel; Command icon

-INTEGRITY: 3, CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: First, what I like. I like the detail on the Praetor's costume, managing a Romulan look separate from the military uniforms we've seen before. The imposing angle is also good for the head of the Star Empire. What I don't like? Well, the colors, for starters, clash against the rest of my Romulan cards, not that I want to see pale yellow and powder blue together anywhere else anyway. From below, Neral's forhead ridges look too pronounced, and not quite like those of a Romulan. And out of context, that Romulan letter looks a lot like a latin "G"! Too many distractions for more than a 3.

LORE: As we say in my corner of the woods - tordant! (Pronounce it in either French or English, we do both.) The first sentence is simply a statement of his position, though well written, with that self-aggrandizing "glorious" in there. The second kicks it into high gear by trying to explain how the Youthful Neral seen in Premiere/TNG could be this much older man in the present day/DS9. Reads like a Marvel comics "no-prize", and is a great deal of fun. Right up to a 4.

TREK SENSE: We might as well ignore the original Neral card (though they are versions of the same persona) since that was a Trek Sense failure. The Praetor is the leader of the Star Empire (before Nemesis, at any rate), and so a VIP/Command/Leadership personnel. Double that Leadership since he heads an entire affiliation. Diplomacy is also quite useful in his position, and it WAS under his leadership that the Romulans joined the Alpha Quadrant alliance against the Dominion. Still, he's not to be trusted, and Treachery is also part of his make-up. What of the Biology? Well, maybe there are once again ties to torture here (the Tal Shiar connection), but it could be a long-standing interest since his dabblings with Vulcan reunification, as well as with Koval's medical condition. The special skill plays into his presiding over the Continuing Committee, which is responsible for Tal Shiar activities. In wartime, he's amped up Romulan security, resulting in Tal Shiar all gaining Security. They should all have been trained in such matter anyway, and this may represent their simply being more alert. Attributes are fine, Integrity taking a drop from the expected 4 possibly because of the distrust in the Romulans' own government (though it still seems a bit treacherous). Cunning and Strength are at proper levels for position and species. A couple of iffy decisions, maybe, but an excellent special skill, and everything is way better than Premiere's effort. A 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: The Romulans are known for getting few personnel in each affiliation, but these usually count for a lot. Case in point, the Praetor. His skills are fine, with the double-Leadership being quite good against dilemma and mission requirements, Treachery is THE redundancy-friendly Romulan skill, Diplomacy is common but not bad, and Biology is never quite common enough in this affiliation. Attributes are good except for INTEGRITY. And you can conceivably report/download the Premiere Neral to a ship at the mission you want him with Assign Support Personnel, only to switch for the Praetor. But where he actually excels is in a Tal Shiar deck (Plans, D'deridex Advanced, Flaxian Assassin, Holding Cells, etc.) where he'll add SECURITY to each such personnel. A brilliant match, since both he and they may report for free at the Continuing Committee. With that extra SECURITY, not only will they patch a certain hole in Romulan classifications, but they'll also be finely tuned for Captured and Extradition. Those Tal Shiar that already had SECURITY are now SECURITY x2 (Koval and Telak). Being Praetor doesn't get him through Executive Authorization, but being "president" does! So it's all good. Gotta give him another 4.1.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) Oooh, very near the top!

#2123-Pralor Unit 3947, Personnel, Non-Aligned, Delta Quadrant, HDA

"Automated Personnel Unit built by the Pralor. Found adrift in space by Voyager. Abducted B'Elanna Torres in the hopes she could build more androids of its kind."

-ENGINEER, Computer Skill, Astrophysics, Geology, Navigation; Staff icon; Nemesis icon (gray, right-facing)

-INTEGRITY: 5, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 10

PICTURE: These robots have always made me think of those from Dr. Who's "Robots of Death", which is a good memory, though they are not as beautifully designed. 3947 (note the secret number hidden in his name) is shown in engineering, which suits its classification. Background's nice, and he's (it's) a little creepy. Signing off on a 3.4.

LORE: I wish Pralor lore were clearer about their status as androids, but what's here isn't bad. There's a certain poignancy to the last sentence, for example, and for gamers, the neuter pronoun acts as a punchline. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: 3947 IS an android, as a detective will find out by perusing other such Automated Personnel. They're all built the same, that is, they all have the same attributes, though they may be programmed for different things. All have the same brain (Cunning) and body (Strength), and they're all involved in the same stupid war (Integrity). For its part, 3947 was programmed as an Engineer, and none of its skills betray that function. Navigation is perhaps less important to Engineers, but he did make off with B'Elanna. Its interest in building new androids comes off as Geology (metalurgy) and Computer Skill (programming). The Nemesis icon represents the Cravic-Pralor war, showing that either side would destroy the other (personnel and ships) given the slightest opportunity. The icon here points to the right, traditionally reserved for the good guys (the "side of right"), and in this case, while no side actually is, at least B'Elanna was friends with this Unit. No real problems, though no suprises either, which would have been nice for the only unique among this android type. A 4.

STOCKABILITY: In the DQ, there aren't a lot of androids to choose from. Cravics and Pralors are pretty much it. But since the two are mutually exclusive because of their Nemesis icons, you have to choose a side. Pralors thus come out ahead, indeed, BECAUSE of 3947. The Cravics only have the universal 122, pretty much a copy of the Pralors' 6263, which makes staffing the Cravic Warship decidely one-dimensional. 3947 offers a little relief from that with, drum roll please, an ENGINEER with Computer Skill. Those are the two most important skills in the Delta Quadrant, and also give the Pralor Warship (or really, any ship 3947 is on) full Divert Power capability. The other 3 skills are cool too, and no attribute is a liability either. The high STRENGTH is, of course, excellent, especially to defend yourself from tough Hirogen, etc., and is an android staple. Throw in Cybernetics Expertise, and you've got a quick way to report these guys (DQ Cybernetists to contact are B'Elanna Torres and Orum, and Dr. Soong can report 3947 out of quadrant). Being a neuter also makes it immune to certain dilemmas. The Nemesis icon seems more of a danger than a boon since, as I said, the Cravic Units are less interesting. Basically, a Cravic Unit would be used to discard opposing Pralors to prevent an opponent from passing one's android-related dilemmas or whatever. Goes both ways, of course, but there's a better chance of a lone Cravic gunman discarding your precious Pralor Warship and all aboard. A better chance, but perhaps not that high either. Does well even as a simple skill horse: 3.7.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) The only other Pralor to follow soon.

#2136-Pralor Unit 6263, Personnel, Non-Aligned, universal, Delta Quadrant, HDA

"Standard Automated Personnel Unit built by the Pralor. Its creators were annihilated when they tried to shut the androids down after reaching peace with the Cravic."

-OFFICER, Leadership, Computer Skill, Navigation; Command icon; Nemesis icon (gray, right-facing)

-INTEGRITY: 5, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 10

PICTURE: Very bare bones as far as the background goes, but it fits in with the machine theme. Those things are pretty spartan themselves. 6263 is a little out-of-focus, and more than a little dull, but some of this being appropriate keeps it afloat at the 2.4 level.

LORE: Not much here about 6263 itself, but the story of the Pralor and Cravic races is there and not uninteresting. It takes the back door in giving the card android-status (as well as a neuter gender). Possibly confusing. Overall, 3.

TREK SENSE: The Pralor and Cravic robots (androids) are all the same, built the same, and in the same situation (eternal war with one another). That said, it's fitting that Pralor Unit 6263, the "typical" Pralor Unit, is exactly the same as Cravic Unit 122, the "typical" Cravic Unit. Both are top-of-the-line Units that command a Warship. That last feature explains the Officer, Leadership and Command icon. Computer Skill is a standard android skill, and Navigation is useful for shipboard functions. Loyalty to one's masters tempered by fighting an insane war accounts for the middling Integrity. That stupid war and relatively primitive computer brain (compare to Soong-types) play into the average Cunning. A sturdy frame gives us the high Strength. The Nemesis icon shows us that one side would gladly destroy the other at the first given opportunity. They are so evenly matched, a lone android would even know how to destroy a Warship. How can I give 6263 less than 122? I can't. The same 4.4.

STOCKABILITY: An android type for the Delta Quadrant (where android-related dilemmas may be used outside the Voyager environment), the Pralors are generally better than the Cravic. Yes, 6263 is equivalent to his Cravic counterpart, but he's also got 3947 to help him out, making Pralor Warships more than one-note. After all, every skill here is extremely common, and you can even get higher STRENGTH among many races in the Delta Quadrant. So while you could conceivably report three 6263s aboard your Pralor Warship (for total staffing, and maybe for free with Cybernetics Expertise), you only need one to command it, and a 3947 can help fill out the skill pool with something else. The Warship, by the way, can be raised (Plaqued'n'Logged) to 9-13-12, which is excellent. You must watch out for a Cravic Nemesis icon that could discard the ship and all aboard, a good enough reason for a player to include a lone Cravic Unit. 3947 is a better Unit if you just want one DQ android, but for a player that wants backup, 6263 is worth 3.4.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Still 1% under his Cravic twin.

#2149-Pralor Warship, Ship, Non-Aligned, universal, Delta Quadrant, HDA

"Part of the large armada left behind by the now-extinct Pralor. Commanded by Pralor Unit 6263."

-Warship Class[1 Command, 2 Staff] Tractor Beam; Your Pralor Units may report aboard; Attributes all -3 unless Pralor Unit in crew; Nemesis icon (gray, right-facing)

-RANGE: 7, WEAPONS: 10, SHIELDS: 9

PICTURE: While the Cravic Warship is more in bronze and the Pralor equivalent in grays (as per the androids aboard), the Pralor Warship looks bigger and more imposing. That doesn't mean it doesn't look like some kind of space station more than it does a ship, however! The gear shape on top is appreciated, but the bulky design doesn't garner much more than a 3.1.

LORE: I like this better than the Cravic Warship's lore, as its story is better told. The matching commander is also a plus. In all, a 3.3.

TREK SENSE: These large ships have lasted decades and remained formidable warships, so the attributes look good - high Weapons and Shields, with slower Range (it's not as important, and shows the ship's age). Being so large, I understand the high staffing needs, and a vessel usually run by androids would probably be very different from one run by humanoids, making the attribute drop if a Pralor Unit isn't aboard quite sensical. I'd have trouble reading binary code displays too. Since the Units basically live aboard their ships, they may report aboard. The Nemesis icon represents well the war between the Cravic and Pralor factions (and pretty much prevents Cravics from serving aboard). The ships on both sides are evenly matched (exactly the same), so the one with "initiative" may well wind up destroying the other. A lone Unit could destroy a Warship because it knows the design so well (it's on the inside anyway). Hey, the same as the Cravic Warship at 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: Though identical to the Cravic Warship, right down to the abilities of its matching commander, the Pralor Warship is the better of the two because that side has 2 possible Units to populate it, not just one. That one Unit is definitely lackluster, just as 6263 is, but at least there's the ENGINEER 3947 to report aboard too. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same, with excellent attributes able to rise to 9-13-12 with 6263, a Plaque and the Log. A Cybernetics personnel could conceivably allow the Units to report for free. You do need at least one if you want to make use of the high attributes. There's really no reason to use a 4-7-6 ship that requires 3 staffing icons. Ultimately though, there's still a lot of risk to using this ship. With all the possible boarding action in DQ decks, a Cravic Unit could end its turn aboard and discard the ship and its entire crew. It's less likely that your opponent will send a Cravic Ship after you, since it's not the Warship of choice. The limits placed upon it make the use of DQ androids aboard others' ships more likely. Manages a 3.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) To the Cravic "clone's" 12.2.

#2162-Primitive Humanoids, Dilemma, planet, HDA

"Humanoids inhabiting a desolate planet captured Neelix and Kes while the two crewmen were searching for food. The cave-dwellers particularly liked Kes' golden locks."

-Unless 2 Leadership and Anthropology present, place two Away Team members (random selection) with dilemma atop mission until solved (or planet assimilated).

PICTURE: An interesting pose for the Primitive, somewhere between an accusation and a "get those golden locks". Color palette's simple, but has depth (it's a real outdoor location). And on the make-up, I think it's interesting that these guys had a vaguely Kazon look. After all, we've seen tons of human-looking species in our own neck of the woods, makes sense that a gene pool similar to the Kazon can be found in THEIR space (Star Trek logic, at any rate). A 3.4 here.

LORE: Very, very specific to the story of "Basics", though the title is a lot more generic. It's well written, and has some fun with the Humanoids' motivations. An above average 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Some civilized planets will probably not have Primitive Humanoids, so there's a potential anomaly there, but the effect's not too bad. Essentially, these guys capture 2 of your Away Team (that have strayed from the others). They don't become captives that can be brought to a Brig, because the Primitives don't work for an affiliation. They are held on the planet somewhere instead (not killed, because the Primitives are more curious than dangerous), until the mission is solved or the planet is assimilated. The latter case is reasonable (there's nowhere more to hide and the Primitives have been assimilated or eliminated), but the former holds little justification. Perhaps whatever Study yields answers to the personnel's whereabouts. Maybe the planet has been subjugated (re: assimilation above). Maybe the diplomatic stuff has them released. I suppose there's always a potential justification. Two captives does give a lot of credit to the Primitives however. What if they're armed with phasers or disruptors? They should make quick work of these guys. The requirements don't even address a violent solution. In "Basics", the crew had had their weapons taken away, but on a standard mission, this will rarely be the case. The requirements, by the way, work like this: Anthropology allows for communication with the Primitives, and 2 Leadership makes them obey you're authority. If there is violence here, it's of the intimidation type. Leadership could also be useful for keeping the Away Team together so that no one strays, but then Anthropology wouldn't be part of the equation. I've got a lof of reservations about this one, so just 2.5.

SEEDABILITY: Not unlike Alien Abduction, this is a dilemma that filters personnel more harshly than the common filter. If the requirements aren't produced, then 2 personnel are placed under the mission until it is completed. You might even have fun combining the dilemma with others of its ilk like Alien Abduction and Make Us Go. The real trick, of course, is to end the combo with a wall that's extremely hard to overcome (fool's errands like Cytherians aren't really available on planets, sadly, as I wouldn't count on Alien Parasites). As long as the mission remains incomplete, the personnel will be trapped. This is of course predicated on the dilemma hitting in the first place. The requirements aren't difficult, but they may require 3 personnel. If you filter, kill and capture the right personnel beforehand, you could make it work. Your choice dilemmas would indeed be your friends here. Against the Borg, it would be cool if they were trying to Harness Particle 010 there, since the objective doesn't assimilate the planet, but drones (the likely captives) are easy to replace, so... A contender, it gets a good 3.5.

TOTAL: 12.6 (63%) Primitive Society scored much higher (71%), but I like to think those were a more advanced people.

#2176-Professor Honey Bare, Personnel, Non-Aligned, holographic, HDA

"Seismologist replaced by an image of Jadzia Dax. Built the lasers Dr. Noah planned to use to destroy the world. Romantically involved with Secret Agent Julian Bashir."

-SCIENCE, Geology, Physics; SD Rescue Captives; May play Volcanic Eruption as an event at her location

-INTEGRITY: 5, CUNNING: 9, STRENGTH: 4

PICTURE: Dax is pretty even with glasses (it's a total myth that spectacles make you less desirable, of course), but what's nice here is the retro computer/machinery behind her. A cool, appropriate set. A cool 3.6.

LORE: The mention of Secret Agent Julian Bashir is what's really important here (for game purposes), but it reads as convoluted. Less so for the mention of Dr. Noah. The rest does a good job of telling the story and putting the persona name in there. Bah, a serviceable 3.

TREK SENSE: Is it acceptable for the secret agent program holograms to be versions of the DS9 personae? Mostly yes. It IS their bodies in a sense, but without their minds attached (so NA). Persona-switching means it's a little too easy to duplicate the accident however. As for deactivation vs. death, though it was feared they could be killed while incarnating these roles, there was no actual evidence this would happen. The one true hic is that they HAVE to be version of the DS9 personae, when clearly, these characters should exist in their real (pure hologram) form. That all said, there's also the usual problems associated with holos from "game worlds": We have to wonder if their abilities would carry over to mission situations when you have to take them out of the holographic environment. So while her seismologist's Geology and Physics would probably carry over well enough, I don't think the rest would. She downloads Rescue Captives because she freed Bashir from the death trap, but that was more a function of HIS seductive skills, and there's no real way she would be in such a situation in the real world. And while in the holosuite, she was responsible for the giant laser that could create volcanoes, how is she creating Volcanic Eruptions in the real world? Well, maybe ship phasers can bore the right holes based on her knowledge, but there's no need for a ship for this to work. Thematically excellent, mind you. Her middling Integrity shows someone who didn't try very hard to resist Noah's plan, went along with it, but wasn't so on board she couldn't betray that plan. Her Cunning is high because she's a foremost expert in her field (though Geology x2 should probably indicate the same thing). Dax' vitality is there in her Strength, but all her fighting skills have been removed. So where does that leave us? How about 2.7?

STOCKABILITY: Professor Honey Bare reports for free to any Holodeck (or downloads to it) if Noah's Mountain Retreat has been played there. With all the Daxes available, the Feds, Bajorans and Klingons can also discard Honey Bare to download the Dax of their choice. While this is one way of getting some mains out very early, Shape-Shift Inhibitor may cramp your style quite a bit. In any case, Honey Bare isn't a bad personnel to keep in the game as is, with a small, but tight, useful skill list (Mining Survey fits very well, for example). Good CUNNING too. In addition, she can download a card to rescue your personnel taken captive, suspending play to do so, even as some "punishment" card is about to hit the table. Her ability to turn Volcanic Eruption into an event is a very dangerous one for your opponent, as you may play one on every opponent's planet mission that doesn't have a facility (so long as you bring Honey Bare there). With a smart stopping strategy (with dilemmas, Mission Debriefing, etc.) this wittles down Away Teams something fierce. Flexible, in that she may be used to different ends, she gets a 3.6.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) All over the map with this one.

#2190-Professor Moriarty, Personnel, Non-Aligned, holographic, HDA

"Sherlock Holmes' enemy. Accidentally made sentient in 2365. Built a simulation of the Enterprise and its crew."

-CIVILIAN, SCIENCE, Leadership, Computer Skill, Treachery; Once each turn, you may place an additional personnel under Holoprogram: 221B Baker Street

-INTEGRITY: 5, CUNNING: 12, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: The lush Victoriana of other Baker Street cards is here and appreciated, though Moriarty's big personality deserved a closer shot. As such, an average 3.

LORE: Brief to fit more game text, it's pretty bare bones. Sherlock Holmes needed to be mentioned of course, but the relationship is unfortunately underplayed. His two episodes are alluded to to put his abilities into context. But it's all quite dull where it should have been a lot more fun. Just 2.5.

TREK SENSE: For once, we have a period hologram that can interact with the real world of the ship, avoiding many of the sense problems this usually causes. He's a Civilian, of course, a criminal working on his own behalf, but is also a scientist by training. He was made to be a mental match to Data, so his Cunning is the same brilliant level, smart enough, in fact, to learn Computer Skill intuitively. Had he been a 24th-century character, it would easily have been x2, since he was able to reprogram the holodeck in a very convincing way and once took over the ship's systems (no staffing icon?). Treachery is part and parcel of his master criminal nature, but his Integrity isn't too low. Once he'd become sentient, all he wanted was the right to live, and even wanted to extend that right to his lover. Leadership's the skill I have trouble with. I agree that he was a classic charismatic, but who did he lead exactly? The special skill ties in with "Ship in a Bottle", his second appearance, wherein he created an Enterprise-D holoprogram to make a couple people believe they were out of the holodeck when they really weren't. Moriarty reprises this tactic here from his holoprogram home of Baker Street, placing additional personnel under the incident, turning them into holograms, just like Geordi (for example) turned out to be a holo in Moriarty's simulation. You just don't know who's a holo and who's real anymore. The only thing I didn't speak to was Strength, which I think is fine for his size, age and vitality. Not perfect, but well done: 3.8.

STOCKABILITY: A hologram that any non-Borg affiliation may use, Mortiarty offers a nice amount of skills and sky-high CUNNING to your (mostly) space missions. Nothing rare, but SCIENCE at least complements the less useful CIVILIAN, and the Treachery means he can't be deactivated by Unscientific Method. Treachery with Computer Skill means he can use Airlock, and he can certainly toss a lot of people off the ship by comparing his CUNNING to theirs (a lot more foolproof than working it with STRENGTH). Then, there's 221B Baker Street. Moriarty can download to it just like any other Sherlock Holmes-related personnel, but if played or seeded on the table, you can use it to create new holograms by placing copies of the personnel you want to play (or already in play) under the Holoprogram. Why would you? Well, to make important personnel unkillable and merely deactivatable (though also erasable). It also makes them directly reportable/downloable to Holodeck doorways. And if Regina Barthalomew is with your Mortiarty, the new holos all report for free. You have to dedicate your deck to that kind of thing, not only with support cards like Disengage Safety Protocols, but also with multiple copies of key personnel. A universal under Baker Street could create a cadre of identical holos, and DQSS could also give you more bang for your buck (though that means a third copy of every potential holo). Moriarty's own effect on Baker Street is that you can now put 2 personnel per turn under the incident, jump-starting the process all the faster, and allowing for Regina's free plays that much quicker. Even if you don't mind the Baker Street stuff (and you may, it's a quirky strategy), Moriarty has a nice selection of skills and attributes, that allows for more mainstream strategies. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) Not quite Data's match.

#2204-Q's Fantasy Women, Q-Event, 5 points, HDA

"My good fortune is your good fortune."

-Plays on a male present (opponent's choice) until any Q-Flash. If he helps you solve a mission, opponent scores bonus points. Discard event.

PICTURE: A little revealing for a family game, though who am I to complain, right? Other than the buxom beauties at Worf's arms, the card suffers from the usual dark beige color scheme, which fails to inspire. Good composition though. Objectively, a 3.4.

LORE: The title lacks a certain something, and the lore seems barely connected to it. It's in the lore that we'll find the game text's justification, however, so it serves a purpose. Relatively devoid of wit, it gets no more than 3.

TREK SENSE: Mostly thematic, and it tries to follow two themes at the same time. The first is that of the Fantasy Women, having the card card play on a male Q chooses to "help". The other theme is that of sharing good fortunes (from the lore), and that's achieved by having Q's player score bonus points if the male helps solve a mission. It succeeds at neither very well. Sharing the fortune should be because the Women helped in the mission attempt, which they don't. Indeed, they should be distractions rather than help. The quote is also subverted since it meant that Q's fortune was also Worf's, but here, the male personnel's is Q's. There might be something interesting in this Q-Event having been printed as a Q-Dilemma as some might say companionship starts out as an Event and ends up a Dilemma. But that's not really part of the equation, is it? With Fantasy Women is a silly bit of business worth no more than 1.6.

STOCKABILITY: Though an Event, it may create a dilemma for your opponnent encountering this Q-card. You select a personnel, and if that personnel helps solve a mission before your next Q-Flash, you score 5 points. It's up to you to make sure it's a personnel instrumental to the mission, and you're limited to males. Your opponent may not think 5 points is much and could let you have them. Great! If not, however, they may remove the personnel from the Away Team or crew, reducing their chances of solving said mission. Then again, there are no doubt dilemmas between the Away Team and the mission, so the targeted male may not survive to score you points. And of course, you only get your points if your opponent succeeds, and you don't want him or her to do that, do you? A minor effect, then, but still a good 3.2.

TOTAL: 11.2 (56%) And so falters a long Star Trek tradition of Fantasy Women.

#2218-Quandary, Q-Interrupt, -5 points, HDA

"It's so unlike you, Jean-Luc, to have a sense of humor. Especially about getting stabbed through the back. So if you had to do it all over again?"

-"Restore" one personnel from your discard pile (there may not be a version of the same persona in play) and shuffle into crew or Away Team. Opponent then selects one personnel (random selection). If it is not "restored" personnel, discard it and lose points.

PICTURE: Not sure young Picard really looks anything like Patrick Stewart, but that's him in a striking image. The startled expression on his face takes away from the violence of the situation, and the white background is lovely in the black Q-card template. A strong image at 3.8.

LORE: The Quandary (note the letter that begins the word) is posed inside Q's quote, and it's always nice when the ol' omnipotent being laughs at Picard's expense. A cool enough 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Q can do anything, create any effect in this game, but we're holding him to reproducing his actions from the show. So what happened on the show? In "Tapestry", Picard died due to artificial heart failure. He was "restored" to his life only after getting a chance to play "It's a Wonderful Life" and choose another path. In the game (and it gets rather thematic here), you place the personnel back with its crew or Away Team (it makes no difference when it was discarded, which isn't in line with the show) and shuffle those cards. Pick a card. If the card isn't the same personnel, then the restored personnel changed its fate and managed to become a lowly Lieutenant (j.g.) in a dead end department. I can see why you'd lose 5 points for taking the safe road, but the game goes a bit farther by killing the chosen personnel. If I had to guess, I'd say that someone else died in the restored personnel's stead and is eliminated from the timeline. If you pick the restored personnel, then it's like with Picard: He chose to retain his history and Q saves his life. Being mostly thematic and somewhat convoluted, it can't do too well, but it's still a very interesting story. Manages 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: Your own Quandary when deciding to use this card or not in your Q-Continuum is that you're Res-Qing an opposing personnel from the discard pile. Your opponent even gets to choose which one, so you can bet it'll be a good one. In exchange, you most probably get to kill another in exchange. Best possible Res-Q vs. random selection? Doesn't seem like a fair trade necessarily (Elim's a help). Opponent also loses 5 points (unless Borg, of course), which is SOMEthing. Point attrition strategies are few though and might not really hurt a deck unless it's going for an exact 100 points (which does happen). And there's a chance that the restored personnel will be picked at random (chances drop the bigger the crew is), and you get no effect at all. Q-cards come in squadrons (as many as there are personnel present), so this is just one of many effects from the single Q-Flash seeded. Still, it seems to helpful to your opponent, and not enough for you. It'll still play havoc with the mission attempt, but you might come to regret it. A 2.4.

TOTAL: 12.3 (61.5%) That's my A for this Q.

#2231-Regina Barthalomew, Personnel, Non-Aligned, holographic, HDA

"Adventurous 19th-century countess. Fictional character inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stories. Romantically involved with Professor Moriarty."

-VIP; If with Professor Moriarty, copies of personnel under Holoprogram: 221B Baker Street may report for free

-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 4

PICTURE: A beautiful picture, rich in color, with an antique-looking background and a soft lense for good measure. The latter isn't just a Star Trek tradition dating from TOS, it also makes the countess a little unreal, tying in perfectly with her being a hologram. And for all its softness, there's an impressive amount of detail coming through, just look at the broach. An artful 3.8.

LORE: While there are countesses in Sherlock Holmes, Regina is a Star Trek creation in that style. That's mentioned on the card (useful for 221B), and I do like that she's described as "adventurous". The rest is a little less than adventurous however, with the same old romantic liaisons, etc. Not much meat, so just a 3.

TREK SENSE: Giving a hologram representing someone from a bygone era skills is often problematic, so they haven't done so here. Case in point, the remaining VIP classification: How is this applicable in the real world of the missions? Would she really be in a position to act as ambassador at Diplomatic Conference? In the world of Sherlock Holmes, yes, there I agree she would be a VIP. No real problems with the attributes though. Her above average Integrity makes her a moral compass for Moriarty. Her Cunning shows some cluelessness, although do leave questions about Moriarty's tastes - their Cunnings contrast wildly. Strength has her as a vivacious, adventuresome woman. The special skill ties in with her native Holoprogram, and her love, but the nature of that tie is dubious. Why allow holographic copies of non-holo personnel to report for free? They key is Moriarty. That effect is his doing, making copies of real personnel to create the illusion of no longer being stuck in the holodeck. If she's with him (as here), she allows him to work faster. She's helpful and inspiring to him. As credible as any attribute boost between romantic interests then. She's treated more like an event than a personnel, and the personnel stuff doesn't all work, so a mild thumbs down, if you will, at 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: Some of these holograms really are a lot like events. They may have attributes and classifications (often just VIP or CIVILIAN), and maybe even a token skill here and there, but a lot of them read like events you have to report to your Holodeck. So it is with Regina. She's the kind of personnel you'll report (or download) to 221B Baker Street's location and leave there to work her magic. You have to keep her with Moriarty, who has some mission solving power, but on a ship, they'll always be together. They need only be together during the personnel reporting portion of your turn anyway. A copy of the Holoprogram on the table can take personnel and turn copies of them in play into unkillable holograms, reportable to Holodecks, etc. You can usually place one card on 221B per turn. With Moriarty in play, you can place two. With the Countess, all of those newly created holograms report for free, giving them an extra ability, an extra reason to be hologriphied. It's a quirky strategy that works best with universals and maybe DQSS, and you have to dedicate your deck to it, but if you do, the Countess is a must. Marginal, so a 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) Same as Moriarty! They WERE made for each other. (And when I say made...)

#2242-Remember the Alamo, Interrupt, HDA

"Miles O'Brien's fascination with the famous 1836 battle led him to create this massive scale model. Kira and Worf teased him about his toy. Molly noted she let him play with her toys."

-Randomly kills an opposing personnel in a personnel battle you just lost (limit once per battle). OR Once per game, plays on a planet to randomly kill a SECURITY personnel.

PICTURE: A good shot of the model, with the gravity of a real war with O'Brien's expression, and the idea of protecting your family. I was a bit surprised that these Alamo enthusiasts used colored army men, and was expecting something more like the model at the real Alamo, with gorgeous soldier reproductions and puffs of smoke on the ends of the guns, but it adds a nice color element here. A rather good 4.

LORE: The model appeared in a number of episodes and to me, it was a herald of bad things to come (I was sure DS9 would be destroyed by the end because of that darn thing). An almost personnel-like lore works well as a result, with various attitudes and episodes expressed. The last two sentences are very cute, and justify putting Molly in the pic, but putting "her" in italics would have made the joke work better. As is, you gotta read it a couple times to get the right inflection. Lovely title, of course. Minor quibbles aside, this gets a good 3.7.

TREK SENSE: There's nothing you can do with the model in a game, so, quite wisely, it's all about an Alamo-like scenarios. Desperate situation, odds against you, we're all gonna die, but let's fight to the last man anyway. There are two possible effects that are meant to remind you of the Alamo. In the first, you're in a losing battle (personnel battle, there were no ships at the Alamo), but you fight with desperation, killing a personnel on the other side with your last breath. Works ok. The second effect is extremely vague, killing a Security personnel (thematically, a soldier) on a planet (again, no ships). I guess we're putting that personnel in a siege situation, a historical one if we go by the once-per-game element. Sounds like an Event more than an Interrupt. This one's thematic at best, reducing the overall score to a simple 3.

STOCKABILITY: The first function of this interrupt can be used defensively when attacked by an overwhelming force on a planet or intruding on your ship. You lose a personnel at the end of the battle, but so do they (plus all the mortally wounded). I'd much rather use it offensively, however. You can send a sacrificial lamb to its death, killing a random personnel at that location in the process. Easy as pie, and all you really need is for that lamb to be a leader. Cheap universal Jem'Hadar or Hirogen could be good to mortally wound on top of that, getting you a couple kills in the process. Add Phaser Burns for real hilarity. Repeat as possible or needed by beaming down other solo guerrillas. The second effect can be used only once per game, but you could weed out a SECURITY personnel (randomly, unfortunately) at a planet mission you know has a SECURITY dilemma, or protecting a mission with Post Garrison, or reporting early via Homefront, etc. Get Remember the Alamo early, and it's goodbye to Deyos before he does some damage. Both defensive and offensive, this is a nice tool to draw. Manages 4.1.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) And remember it well.

#2254-Repair Memorial, Mission, planet, Any Away Team may attempt mission, Delta Quadrant, HDA

Tarakis: Recharge power cells of a monument built to commemorate a Nakan massacre.

-ENGINEER + Computer Skill + Honor x2

-Span: 3; 40 points; Personnel here are each attributes all -2.

PICTURE: Though it looks a dead rock from this angle, some white patches should be clouds. We saw the surface, and it had green woodland, so the pic is a little misleading. Still, it does inspire a land wounded by war. A 3, I guess. This is one of the missions where you wish they could have used surface pictures (like the memorial itself).

LORE: Good, but I think a motivation should have been included. And it doesn't really explain the lowering of attributes. If you've seen the show, you know. If not, it all seems very strange. Not sure we needed to see the word "Nakan" there either, it seems to only lead to confusion given the dissimilar planet name. A 2.8.

TREK SENSE: So the motivation is simple Honor (x2), because repowering the monument, despite the problems it causes, is the right thing to do. Engineer and Computer Skill do the actual work. Fine, though other motivations might have been possible, like Anthropology (a reason to be on the planet in the first place to experience the alien memories broadcast by the monument) or some way of destroying the monument (Strength, Weapons, etc.), which would have been a legitimate reaction to this thing. The reason I say all this is that it may be attempted by any Away Team, and I don't believe all Away Teams would react this way. The experience provoked by the monument might angle minds toward this solution, but that's not definite. Either change the requirements or limit the attempting affiliations. I'm also suspicious of the points, incredibly high for something that will have little benefit for the solving affiliation. It's an alien structure that you quickly leave behind. "Relevant", perhaps, but even Starfleet doesn't rate missions on some kind of "message learned" scale. At least this isn't one of those hazardous places that hold no inherent hazards (like the Typhone Expanse, for example). The monument's broadcast addles the mind and makes people face difficult moral choices. That's the attribute drop. Strength possibly shouldn't be included however. Span's fine. A good effort, but feels a little incomplete. Hey, still more complete than many. A 3.2.

SEEDABILITY: 40 points and some pretty easy requirements, especially for Feds, Klingons and Hirogen who are high on Honor. Heck, Ancestral Vision will pretty much dictate an Honor personnel in every DQ deck anyway. ENGINEER/Computer Skill is an incredibly frequent skill combination on Delta Quadrant mission, making Repair Memorial a very natural fit. The 40 points can even be boosted by mission specialists, depending on the affiliation. But there's the rub, eh? 40 points means Fair Play doesn't protect it, and being open to all affiliations really opens it up to your opponent. But with duelling quadrants, your opponent might not even come close to it. A calculated risk. Another balancing factor is the attribute drop here. No effect on the mission itself, but this is a magnet for attribute-requiring dilemmas, especially those that punish low attributes. Firestorm would a whole other class of personnel, for example. All of that drives down the mission's usefulness to a 3.3.

TOTAL: 12.3 (61.5%) Not monumental.

#2266-Rulat, Personnel, Kazon, Delta Quadrant, HDA

"Kazon-Nistrim bodyguard reporting directly to Seska. Instrumental in planning the assault to take Voyager in 2372."

-SECURITY, Navigation, Computer Skill, Geology; Your other [Kaz] SECURITY present are attributes all +1; Command icon

-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: Interesting and colorful, this pic has nice shadows and an intriguing angle. Don't think I didn't see the smoke coming from floor either. Its unusual elements save it from being just another non-descript Kazon personnel pic. A 3.4.

LORE: What little details could be gleaned from his appearance in "Shattered" (where is named and everything) is there, with room to spare. The word "bodyguard" is useful if debatable, but the rest is merely ok. No fireworks. A simple 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Not just a soldier, but the bodyguard assigned to Seska by Culluh (we must assume). That's Security, yes. He's more than that, however, since he has a Command icon. Is that right for a guy that reports to the real commander's non-Kazon girlfriend? Seems odd. They say he's instrumental to the assault on Voyager back in "Basics", which may be the source of Computer Skill (commandeering). Certainly, he boosts other Kazon Security personnel through directing their skirmish tactics (bringing us back to the Command icon). He inspires their Integrity and makes them both smarter and stronger. All fine, I suppose. Navigation is a natural skill for the nomadic Kazon, and I suppose Geology for their exploitation practices (did he help choose the planet in "Basics"?). Nothing truly wrong with the skills, they just don't inspire me to ooohs or ahhhs. Attributes any better? Integrity has him as loyal, which works for a bodyguard that is supposed to care more for his charge's safety than his own. His Cunning is below average, but that would be normal for a Kazon soldier. Strength is higher, but here, not that high. Why not? All too out of focus at 3.2.

STOCKABILITY: The last Kazon we ever got is a good enough one. In so small an affiliation, no skill is truly under-represented, especially the common ones. His are all found aplenty, which doesn't make them useless. It's just another incidence of each. Computer Skill is useful for Commandeer Ship after a little boarding action, for example. There's even another bodyguard, Corez, and he's universal to boot. Thankfully, Rulat has a special skill to supplement his relatively redundant profile. A +1 to every attribute on each other Kazon SECURITY present, including Seska and all those universal bodyguards. The thing about Bodyguards and Kazon... they have no VIPs and few CIVILIANs to protect! You can still use the card to pre-arrange the order in which your personnel fight (all with a +1 to STRENGTH). Of course, you could use the card to protect your non-Kazon VIPs and CIVILIANs, no doubt precious for their abilities if you decided to include them. I'd like his special skill more if the Kazon had a lot of attribute-driven missions, but there you go. They're not big on INTEGRITY and CUNNING, so they might like a little help against some dilemmas. We survived without Rulat and would have continued to do so, but he's pretty ok. A 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) My apathy may be part of the same phenomenon that's made the Kazon less than popular.

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