To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the Necessary Evil set.
#2236-Battle Lust, Event, Cost: 3 /NE/
-Assault; Maneuver; Plays in your core.
-Order: Destroy this event to begin combat or an engagement involving your Jem'Hadar. If you win, randomly kill an opponent's personnel involved. If that personnel costs 1, randomly kill another opponent's personnel involved. Repeat this until you kill a personnel who does not cost 1.
"The Klingon will to fight pales in comparison to our own."
PICTURE: The Jem'Hadar
have so much Battle Lust that they'll even fight each other! Well, that's not
really the point of the card, but having only Jem'Hadar on the card isn't off
the actual point either. The close-up on the clash of arms does give it a
confusing composition however, and nothing's too clear here. The aesthetics have
it, and the card scores a 2.8
LORE: The Jem'Hadar arrogance shines through, and it's even cool commentary on
the game. The Klingons were on top of the heap when it came to battle, but the
Jem'Hadar certainly gives them a run for their latinum. This card's effect in
particular... A fun 4.
TREK SENSE: Though I might have left this as an Assault, and not a Maneuver,
since engagements are less immediate and more technical. I don't see Battle Lust
coming out of a space battle. As an Assault though, it's really cool. First, it
kills a personnel, that's fine and quite standard. But if that was just a weenie
(Cost 1), it was easy to kill, and the Lust takes your Jem'Hadar to kill again.
And again and again, as long as you're killing weenies. Weenies are usually
non-unique "redshirts" who would buy the farm easily on the show,
while more costly personnel would put up more of a fight and stop the advance of
the Jemmies there. Of course, there are "mains" that cost 1 (such as
dissidents or evil Data), and there are personnel that cost more than 1 that the
Jem'Hadar should make short work of, like foggy old scientists, etc. But as a
rule, higher cost personnel should do better in battle just as a plot point. You
don't kill off guest stars too easily, just the extras. As a Maneuver, it
doesn't work as well. Casualties on a ship aren't really a function of Jem'Hadar
Battle Lust. It's all too removed and doesn't work. As for the Cost, it shows
that you need to work yourself up and expend a lot more energy when doing all
the massive killing. Too bad about the Maneuver stuff, it keeps the card down at
3.3.
STOCKABILITY: A Costly Assault/Maneuver card, but a potentially powerful one
against those ever-popular weenie decks. There's a strong incentive to using
very cheap personnel to speed up reporting and have more counters for ships,
events and card draws. The very cheapest are what this card wants to go after.
Your Jem'Hadar are strong enough (or have powerful enough ships) to win most any
battle. Once that's done, you get a kill. Good, but a pretty standard reward.
But if that was a Cost 1 personnel, bang, you get a second kill. Another weenie?
Yet another kill. And so on until random selection kills a higher-Cost
personnel! You might wind up with a single kill (but not of a pure weenie), or
you might wind up killing an entire crew. It's the kind of card you use against
certain decks, though if you have counters to spare, you can still play it
knowing you'll only get away with the one kill. You can even make it cheaper
with the free No Escape if you've damaged an opposing ship already. The Dominion
has many cards that allow for battle (more if they team up with the Cardassians
at Terok Nor), but against a certain kind of deck, this can be reeeeeal nice. A
4.
TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) And adds to the meta-game to boot.
#2247-Beverly Crusher - Chief Physician, Personnel, Federation, Cost: 2, unique, BC /NE/
-Human; Biology, Exobiology, 2 Medical; Command icon; TNG icon
-When this personnel is stopped by a dilemma, you may take a [TNG] personnel from your discard pile into hand.
"My feelings about my husband's death will have no effect on the way I serve you, this vessel, or this mission."
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 4
PICTURE: Something of a lion's mane on Beverly here, and the background is pretty horrid, as is often the case with TNG pics. To make matters worse, she's a little out off focus. And yet, good sympathetic expression, and something about the haircut works well with the idea of "season 1" TNG characters. Only 2.9.
LORE: Way back when I picked up the Siskoid handle and started doing "A Siskoid By Any Other Name", I was a big supporter of a Season 1 series for the TNG cast, presenting weaker, slightly off, versions of those mains, with 1st season looks and attitudes. Had to wait a long time, but here they finally are. One thing they have in common is a very generic subtitle. Dull on the surface, but great in context, since at this point, we don't really know the characters (any better than the actors, in some cases) beyond their post on the ship. It's even more gauche than Chief Medical Officer (which was taken), like before terminology was set for TNG. As for the lore, they went for an introductory speech by Beverly, truly from her first coming onboard. Plus, it's about her deep commitment. Good stuff, garnering a 3.6.
TREK SENSE: As far as skills go, she reads a whole lot like the original Beverly from 1E. She's a top doctor (2 Medical) with all the related skills (Biology and Exobiology). She's in charge of medical department, so the Command icon applies (she was also able to command the ship later). The TNG icon is, of course, not in dispute. Earlier in her career, she hasn't racked up the big résumé yet, so costs less than the other (movie) version. The special ability is medical in feel, being a personnel rescue from the discard pile (TNG-themed, no less), but is a little muddled. She gets stopped by a dilemma, and a dead personnel returns to life, though not active duty yet. Where's the relationship between the two? The idea seems to be that she's stopped because she has to work on some medical problem, which in turn saves a personnel we thought was dead (but only in stasis?). It doesn't really work. Attributes have her with an above average Integrity, but not so high she can't go over Picard's head (as in "Suspicions"). Her Cunning and Strength suit her fine, given her level of training, etc. Where does that leave us? I'd say at 2.8 for the fuzzy ability.
1E TREK SENSE: As with all 2E personnel, we've got a problem with using cards that require classifications - she has none. That, and the low attributes. Here's she too dumb and too amoral. TNG-icon personnel can only be backwards-compatible 2Es, limiting her special ability bizarrely. After all, isn't 1E Jean-Luc Picard a TNG personnel? Can't be saved here though! Drops Bev to a 2.
STOCKABILITY: The Season 1s are a cheaper alternative to the Premiere (Nemesis) versions of most TNG mains. But are they worth saved counter? In Beverly's case, she only loses Programming (a common enough skill) and of course, has a different special ability. The whole Medical package is evidently good, and to reprise something from the CMO review, dilemmas like Bleeding to Death, Disgraceful Assault and Tsiolkovsky Infection are all related to this package (with DNA Analysis and Recurring Injury specifically requiring a personnel with 2 Medical) and there are missions like Aid Clone Colony, Medical Relief, etc. Where Bev would differ from CMO to Chief Physician though is the way she can rescue dead personnel. CMO does it by discarding a card from hand to save a just-killed personnel and sending it to the top of the draw deck. Chief Physician's ability is less costly (no discard, and no card draw counter to pay off), but certainly more difficult to control. Bev needs to be stopped by a dilemma for it to occur (or the entire crew must). You can't all that easily plan that. But when you get the rescue, it's cheap and easy, and you can go through the whole discard pile for what you'd like. That's still quite good, but when you're about to lose a key personnel, you might rather have the other Beverly present. Also, this ability only covers TNG personnel, so no Earth-icon or Non-Aligneds, sorry. She may be an interesting way to retrieve personnel discarded on purpose (for Security Drills, for example). She's good, but not as good as her future self. Makes it to 3.6.
1E STOCKABILITY: With the Federation not forced into separate affiliations, they have a TON of double-MEDICAL personnel to choose from. Cost also isn't an issue. CMO is also backwards-compatible, and her special ability is as excellent in 1E as it is in 2E. Chief Physician's is less so, especially with fewer TNG-icon personnel expected. It's a nice little Res-Q-type thing, and getting stopped is easier at self-seeded dilemmas (maybe for Sarjenka's points), but that's about it. I think you'd do better with another Beverly in her spot. How about 3.3?
TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) Manages 2% better than CMO.
1E TOTAL: 11.8 (59%) But 3% less than Premiere Beverly (half a percent less than FC Bev).
#2259-Biochemical Hyperacceleration, Dilemma, planet, Cost: 3 /NE/
-Consume: 2. (Your opponent places the top two cards of his or her dilemma pile face up beneath this mission.) Randomly select three personnel. They cannot use their skills while facing this dilemma. Unless you have Biology, Geology, and Medical or 2 Security and Strength>38, those personnel are returned to their owner's hand.
"I was looking right at him and he - then he just wasn't there."
PICTURE: As someone goes hyperfast, he seems to disappear, which is what
we're seeing here. The effect is ok though primitive, but the background gray
wall really kills the picture. A wide boring expanse supplemented by the back of
a head. A 2.3.
LORE: Not high art, but it does the job, especially in the game text's context.
The title goes on for a bit long though. A 3.
TREK SENSE: According to Trek Sense, Consume dilemmas represent multiple
dilemmas, and that's why 2 dilemmas are placed as overcome under the mission. So
is this true of Hyperacceleration? Maybe, but it's not as obvious as A Royal
Hunt. There's the mystery of the Hyperaccelerated villains, the bomb they set,
crewmembers disappearing, and the race to find a cure. It's a whole episode for
the show, too long to be a single dilemma. I also get the feeling that
thematically, a lot more time is "consumed" by the acceleration, but
thankfully, the keyword doesn't need that lesser justification. So here's what
happens: Three personnel are given "speed water" and are
hyperaccelerated. They effectively disappear from the crew and cannot really
cooperate with them. On the show, they still could, of course, and it's true
here are well. They may still use their attributes. It's unfortunate that
Strength is the only attribute in play, because Cunning might also have allowed
you to leave messages to your crew or something like that. Not that big a deal,
I suppose. Now, unless the dilemma is overcome, the speeded up personnel return
to owner's hand. I have to disagree. Either because of cellular disruption or
old age coming up fast, they should die. Returning to hand makes no sense.
There's also no effect related to the hijacking of a ship, but that's because
it's a planet dilemma. That in itself is hard to justify. Yes, the accelerated
terrorists must come from somewhere, but they don't board the ship here. Are
there even accelerated terrorists, you ask? Well, Consume isn't supported unless
there are. The first set of requirements for the dilemma ignore them, more or
less, with Biology, Geology and Medical all used to figure out there's something
in the water supply and how to return crewmen to their normal speeds. But the
second set is very much about fighting the hyperaccelerates with Security and
Strength (even your speedy personnel can get in on that action, fighting them on
their own terms). Finally, I'm fine with the danger factor (or Cost). Ok, so we
have many debatable elements here, and an unclear focus, driving the score down
to a 2.
STOCKABILITY: At Cost 3, I wouldn't say it's cheap, but with the effect and
difficulty of the requirements, it's a bargain. That's why it's balanced by the
Consume mechanic. When you play this dilemma, you lose 2 dilemmas from your
dilemma pile, dilemmas you'll never get to pull and use, barring any dilemma
manipulation. Think about that when designing your deck. It also makes future
mission attempts here easier, as if more dilemmas had been overcome already
here. But it may be a small price to pay, when you consider that this card first
takes out 3 personnel from the crew, and then requires you to overcome it
without that trio. The first set of requirements requires 3 skills, 2 of which
will often be found on the same personnel. If the 3 accelerated personnel had
those skills, they may be in trouble. In the second set of requirements, those
personnel may use their Strength, but the target number is still pretty high
(39+) and there's the 2 Security to think about. If it hits, the three personnel
in question return to their owner's hand, speeding them out of the mission
attempt. Good luck for the rest of the run. After that, they have to be played
again (read: paid for again) to the HQ (read: need a ride). Definitely worth the
balancing act at 3.9.
TOTAL: 11.2 (56%) The flame that burns twice as bright...
#2271-Biological Distinctiveness, Event, Cost: 1 /NE/
-To play this event, you must command three [Borg] personnel. Plays in your core. Each of your [Borg] personnel is attributes +1 for each personnel on this event.
-Order: Place a personnel you command but do not own on this event.
"The thousands of species assimilated by the Borg have each by their own small measure brought the Collective a step closer to perfection."
PICTURE: The neat and creepy opening effect from First Contact. Love this shot, though I wish we could also see some drones above and below. And with Picard looking very distinctive among the drones, it's a great visual representation of the card's title. A hot 4.5.
LORE: Not a quote, but does an amazing job of explaining the game text. Plus, I'm starting to wonder how many card titles can be culled from the Borg voice's first contact speech. Can and have! But that's an exercise for another time. For now, a nice 3.6.
TREK SENSE: When a title is straight out of the Borg handbook, it's gotta be cheap to play. Assimilating cultures is what they basically do all day. Making use of those assimilated people is second nature (and here, Cost 1). The idea, well explained in the lore, is that by dissecting an assimilated personnel's Distinctiveness, it brings the Borg closer to perfection. That perfection is entirely tied into their attributes here, which is a failure of vision. There's probably no way to really add a "distinction" to the Collective. Each personnel card is different, and there's no way for the rules to cover something this vague. Even if the added knowledge would add to Cunning and Strength (in battle, for example), why would Integrity rise? Then again, the ethics of many worlds probably poisoned the Collective, which is what led to Unimatrix Zero. The mechanics of placing personnel atop the event also means the assimilated personnel are effectively useless as drones. The basic idea is great, the rules just can't deliver a truly sensical effect. A generous 3.
STOCKABILITY: Another reason to assimilate personnel! Since the Borg have average attributes across the board (the drones at least), an event that boosts all those attributes is a welcome addition to the Collective's toolbox. The catch is that it requires your Borg to assimilate personnel. There are many ways to do this, some quite effective. You might already be doing it to get unstoppable personnel from Borg Queen/Perfectionist, or for those harder-to-find skills, to overcome dilemmas with Knowledge and Experience, or most probably to score points with One With the Borg. Nothing's stopping you from scoring those points AND placing those scoring personnel atop Biological Distinctiveness. You're still commanding them, right? Of course, you can only raise your attributes by +1 each turn, but that's not a major hurdle as you're going through dilemmas. With attribute totals so important in 2E, this gets a 4. This is one event you don't want nullified (all assimilates must go with it).
TOTAL: 15.1 (75.5%) Has not yet reached perfection.
#2283-Bleeding to Death, Dilemma, planet, Cost: 3, BC /NE/
-Unless you have Biology and 2 Medical or 2 Honor and Integrity>30, randomly select a personnel to be killed, then place this dilemma in your core. At the start of each of your turns, place the top card of your deck on this dilemma. When you complete a mission, all your cards here are shuffled and placed on top of your deck, and then this dilemma is removed from the game.
PICTURE: We know this soldier did die from his wounds, so it's a good representation of this idea. A simple, but effective composition, with good expressions on the actors. Visually a little dull, however. An ok 3.3.
LORE: None. The title's nothing special either. As I've explained before, I'm forced to give it a 0.
TREK SENSE: A mix of sensical and conceptual, I do respect the ideas here, but we'll see how they do. The actual dilemma has a personnel dying from wounds incurred we don't know how exactly. Take it as either a result of the previous dilemma, or a simple fall, etc. There's a sensible Medical solution, of course. The other solution places us more in the field, and has Honor personnel of irreproachable Integrity getting the wounded personnel to a doctor somewhere. "We're not leaving you!" Where this one fails is that no one is stopped effecting this rescue. Nor the wounded personnel in either case. Once Bleeding to Death hits the core, it heads into conceptual territory. From there, it makes your DECK bleed. It hemorrhages a card per turn until you complete a mission, and then the blood gets transfused back into the deck. The idea is fun, but the whole way in which your "blood" behaves makes no sense beyond mechanical necessity. Nor does the disappearance of the dilemma from the game. It's all very arbitrary. Since it's a deadly concept, I have no problem with the Cost/Danger Factor. That all leaves us at an under par 2.2, I'm afraid.
1E TREK SENSE: Pretty much the same can be said here, I think. So the same 2.2.
STOCKABILITY: Costly for a dilemma that only kills one personnel, but it does have other effects. Judging from the two possible sets of requirements, Feds and Klingons might have less trouble with the dilemma, but weeding out the right personnel with Triage or Forsaken (against huge crews, that one) for example, or some proper dilemmas combined with Overwhelmed, will yield better results. As they stand, the requirements aren't all that hard to come up with. Once it has hit, not only does it kill a random personnel, it also goes to work in your opponent's core. Once per turn, it steals the top card of his or her deck, only releasing its load when that opponent completes a mission. Depending on your dilemma strategy, that may not cause much trouble at all, or could be very annoying. You want to delay the completion of any mission for as long as possible, and hope that the held cards were important to your opponent. A lot of uncertainty to be sure, but you might get lucky. Somewhat middle-of-the-road then, at 3.3.
1E STOCKABILITY: Obviously, combos
will differ here, but it's hard to weed out Honor, and INTEGRITY is generally
higher in 1E's more virtuous affiliations. Again, the Klingons and Feds have
little to worry about. Getting rid of MEDICAL personnel will be easier with the
accessible dilemmas, but you'll always have that second alternative to worry
about. With the so-called "evil" affiliations, you'll probably get
more hits than in 2E though. The stolen cards are probably more annoying in 1E
too, since it's an environment much more dependent on downloads (what if the
card isn't in your deck anymore?) and doesn't provide card draws on demand. In
2E, you can always pay the counters to grab all those cards as soon as they go
back to the deck. Oh, and Cost is irrelevant here. Minor differences, yes, but
enough for an upward adjustment to 3.5.
TOTAL: 8.8 (44%) Scored like a 1E Doorway/Objective/Incident, this would have been 58.7%. Still no passing grade.
1E TOTAL: 9 (45%) Here, it would have just passed at 60%.
#2295-Bochra - Loyal Centurion, Personnel, Romulan, Cost: 2, unique /NE/
-Romulan; Geology, Navigation, Officer; Staff icon
-At the start of each of your turns, if this personnel is at an opponent's incomplete non-headquarters mission, you may spend 1 additional counter during your Play and Draw Cards segment.
"No wonder your race is weak. You waste your time and resources on defective children."
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 6
PICTURE: Really rather dark, but a striking image nonetheless, with Bochra seeming to slither across the frame like a reptile. The background stripes add to the composition's horizontal framing, and the disruptor makes him more dynamic and dangerous. A cool 3.6.
LORE: A nasty jab at Geordi that reveals a lot about the Romulans as a people, and is in contrast with the bond Bochra and Geordi will eventually form out of necessity. Harsh, but quite good. A 3.5.
TREK SENSE: A Centurion is an Officer alright, though I guess equivalent to a Starfleet Lieutenant if we go by the Staff icon and Cost. His survival on Galorndon Core may belie some expertise in Geology, but since he crashlanded on that planet, Navigation may be premature. Well, if they can give it to Troi ;-). Bottom line, he piloted a craft, so deserves the skill. Circumstances forced him into collaborating with an enemy more than a sense of Honor, but even without the skill, a high Integrity is appreciated. He needed that help, so would have a hard time justifying a higher Cunning (never mind the piloting snafu). As for Strength, it's a little low for a Romulan soldier, though we only ever saw him in a weakened state, so it's difficult to say. Same as Sisko is nothing to be ashamed of. That incident on Galorndon Core is what the special ability is all about as well. Thematically, it's in opposition to At an Impasse, which is pulled from the same episode. Taken alone, we have to assume Galorndon Core to be a Federation mission in 2E (the former Covert Rescue is not yet part of that environment), because Bochra's ability works only if he's at an opponent's mission. How the additional counter is procured would have to depend on an opposing personnel helping Bochra get home or whatnot, but that's a rather conceptual explanation. You "borrow" the energy from a Bob on the planet (what about space missions?). I'm afraid I can't go higher than a 3 here.
STOCKABILITY: Bochra has some skills and above average attributes, but perhaps he is best used by dropping him on an opposing planet to get the extra counter to spend. He may even act as a lure for opposing personnel wishing to either bump him off or complete the mission under his nose. Either way, the Romulans can boost their counters a great deal if they add Infiltrators and Undercover Resource, and The Perfect Tool can be used in combination with Brainwashing. This strategy could make your dekc very fast indeed, speed being a little lacking for the Romulans. We Are Back boosts his Cunning as far as his own mission-solving goes, but though none of his skills are bad, that's just not where I'd use him. The start of something good at 3.5.
TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) There's more to the Romulans than hurting their opponents. There's helping themselves too.
#2307-Brainwashing, Interrupt /NE/
-Capture; To play this interrupt, you must command three [Rom] personnel.
-Order: Lose 5 points to reveal an opponent's hand. Choose a personnel that you do not command and place him or her on your headquarters mission. (You now command that personnel.)
"...La Forge was conditioned by the Romulans - a process referred to historically, and somewhat inaccurately, as brainwashing."
PICTURE: The 1E Brainwash pic was one of the best in the entire game, really cool and dramatic. Brainwashing doesn't even come close, though I appreciate the effort of taking something else. We're not witnesses to the Brainwashing itself, but rather to an end result. Even so, the brainwashed Geordi doesn't succeed here, which doesn't inspire confidence. Between the walls and the Klingon costumes, the color palette stays pretty neutral (read: dull). Not as cool or appropriate as the original, I'm slapping it with a 2.5.
LORE: Something of a definition, Data-style, not forgetting to mention the Romulans in there. Good, if not superlative, at 3.3.
TREK SENSE: Well, technically this should be a Punishment card, but it overextends itself by also capturing the personnel to be brainwashed, instead of conditioning an already captured personnel. In fact, it doesn't even wait for the target personnel to enter play, grabbing it from an opponent's hand directly. This means that whatever personnel is Brainwashed, it was conditioned at some point in the past. This isn't what happened on the show, with Geordi already in play, taken, then returned, if you will, but it's not excluded. The personnel is simply grabbed before reporting, and the unseen agents doing this also bring back information on the player's entire hand. As an interrupt, there's no Cost in counters, but there should be one. Instead, it's been turned into a cost in points. This technique can be seen as "money" spent behind the scenes instead of directly into play, and is often associated with effect "cheats". (Here, several steps in the usual capturing scheme are somersaulted over.) Taking command of a personnel would seem the obvious effect, but Geordi was also turned into a sleeper agent, or infiltrator. No mention of that, making Brainwashing too much like assimilation (and why waste time bringing the new recruit to Romulus?). As far as only giving this to the Romulans, they were the ones behind it in "The Mind's Eye", even if the Cardassians and other powers would technically not be unable to do the same. So overall, we have an incomplete picture on the one hand, and a card that does a little too much on the other. Evens out at 3.
STOCKABILITY: The Romulans aren't Cardassians - they don't have numerous options when it comes to capturing opposing personnel. A Punishment card here would have been of very limited use, but as a Capture card, it really does both. It sidesteps the brig entirely, and the reporting phase too, sending a personnel directly from its owner's hand to your HQ, right under your command. At interrupt speeds, yes, but it does cost you 5 points, and you better hope your opponent has personnel in hand. You'd get a sneak peek at that hand, sure, but at an inflated price. A mission-solving strategy geared at getting you a little more than 100 points will yield the extra points you can spare, or you can try for bonus points, such as those afforded by Getting Under Your Skin or Security Sweep (not bad ways to know that a personnel is about to enter the hand, and an immediate way to pay for its Brainwashing) or The Tides of Fortune. To make sure a personnel is in a hand, inspect it first with Taris, Toreth and/or the Khazara. No fuss, no muss, really. The effect itself is three-fold: Your opponent loses a personnel before it can even be played; you get a personnel and all its abilities to use; and you report that personnel for free. From there, you can use The Perfect Tool to boost your counters each turn, for example. Mileage may vary, of course, but it's not a bad trick in the Romulan arsenal. Enough for a 3.7.
TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) Less than Brainwash had gotten, despite its added "ing".
#2319-Broca - Grovelling Lackey, Personnel, Cardassian, Cost: 3, unique /NE/
-Cardassian; Archaeology, Engineer, Officer, Transporters, Treachery; Command icon
-Legate; Order: Discard a card from hand and reveal an event from hand to download a copy of that event. You may do this only once each turn.
"But I've done everything you've asked! I tell you, I'm loyal!"
-INTEGRITY: 4, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 5
PICTURE: Good colors, but perhaps too much shadow and an odd expression and angle on Broca. I think it's fine without loving it. I suppose the profile could suggest he's nodding, and he's definitely a yes-man. A 3.4.
LORE: The subtitle is pretty contemptuous of him (fine by me!) and the quote just goes along with all the groveling. A good 3.6.
TREK SENSE: First things first - Broca isn't loyal to the Cardassian Union, he's loyal to the Dominion. So why isn't he a Dominion personnel, or at the very least, a Terok Nor personnel? (This is a major problem I have with the Terok Nor "affiliation": it doesn't really cover the Dominion/Cardassian alliance.) That said, I totally agree that he should have Treachery, but not that his Integrity should be a "loyal" 4. He was actually a traitor to his actual affiliation. Broca was a Gul (Officer) picked off the street (so he may be too Costly in that sense) and made Legate (Command icon). Yeah, no Leadership for this puppet. He's just an average guy, according to the rest of his attributes, that the Dominion could easily control. As for his three other skills, some are taken from the 1E version, but nothing's changed since then - they still have no justification. There's nothing there Broca actually used on the show during his short appearances. They're not even really related to one another. And the special ability? I had to take the time to get my head around it, but it's pretty much a thematic thing. He's a yes-man. The ability has you showing an Event to download a copy of that same Event. Basically, it's like his Dominion masters expecting X from him, so he delivers X. The discard is simply a cost to pay for the download. Like I said, thematic. There are a lot of problems here, and it doesn't help that his special ability isn't more literal. A 1.7.
STOCKABILITY: Broca's unrelated skills are a help exactly because they're so all-over-the-map. An Engineer/Officer hybrid with Archaeology and Transporters and Treachery. He offers tidbits to different situations that way. Attributes are incredibly average. Legates share all their abilities with Guls, so they aren't necessarily any better, but I do have to mention that they can make use of Comfort Women, For All Our Sons and Ari just the same. As for the special ability, it may seem a little mystifying, because at the cost of some discard, he downloads you an Event... you already have in hand! Well, some Events are useful in multiples, and if you're going to use one up, might as well have another copy to play to replace it. This may be true of Assault and Maneuver cards, or in a capture strategy, Capture and Punishment cards (to score consistently with Prison Compound to name a single possibility). Or maybe you just want to keep "Observers" in your hand for card manipulation. There are plenty of Events to must be destroyed to have their effect. Not a great ability, but one that can boost certain strategies, certainly. As such, I don't think he's too costly. Manages 3.6.
TOTAL: 12.3 (61.5%) An odd duck in any edition.
#2331-Broken Captive, Dilemma, space/planet, Cost: 2, BC /NE/
-Your opponent chooses one of his or her captives. Unless you have the skills on that captive, all your personnel are stopped.
"Praetor, this is the man known as Sloan. Unlike the doctor, his mind is quite susceptible to our data retrieval methods. Under questioning, he has confirmed much of what the doctor and the senator have told you."
PICTURE: A good choice, even if the color palette is necessarily gray, though Sloan is sadly out of focus. Some varied background elements keep us interested. A solid 3.4.
LORE: What Koval is saying in the pic, basically. Follows the title well, but without any surprises. A 3.
TREK SENSE: Interesting thematically, but as you'll see, it doesn't always necessarily translate well into Trek Sense. The idea is that your opponent has broken one of your personnel, and that personnel has spilled the beans about your mission. Now, how that mission relates to that opponent isn't clear, but let's say he or she comprises that mission for you (warns the natives, sends opposition, whatever). Here's where it tends to break down. The captive's skills are now a requirement. Why? The captive has knowledge pertaining to each of its skills, so the opponent can disrupt each of those aspects at the mission. Except that mission may have nothing to do with one or more of those skills. Maybe it takes its cue from the word "confirmed" in the lore, as in, you have to confirm the captive's skills. Fun, but uses fuzzy logic. The Danger Factor is ok, though would really depend on the importance of the captive. A universal ensign knows less than a captain, after all. I like it, but it can't possibly go higher than 1.8.
1E TREK SENSE: The only difference is that the Cost of the card can't be used against it here, so there's a small bump to 1.9.
STOCKABILITY: For capture-friendly affiliations (the Cardassians in particular, but also the Dominion and Romulans), this is an excellent, and not too costly dilemma. Not only have you stolen a personnel from your opponent and all its skills, you then ask that player to come up with all those skills if he or she doesn't want all personnel present to be stopped. Let's just say that player doesn't have the advantage there. Further, if you have more than one captive, you can tailor the requirements to suit what's left of the crew at that point in the mission attempt. Quite nice, though obviously, not for every affiliation. A 4.
1E SEEDABILITY: 1E has a few things more going for it. First, there are more affiliations that can make use of the card, since Captured can work for anyone, and unaffiliated dilemmas do too. And because there are capture-related dilemmas, you can build a combo that'll get you the captive before personnel hit Broken Captive. Now Would Be a Good Time and Impressive Trophies make it YOUR selection, for example, and would be good partners for this dilemma. I'm guessing personnel with specialty skills will be popular captives, personnel with Miracle Worker and Cantankerousness, for example, but even Section 31, Guramba, Barbering, and Cybernetics. Unfortunately, it's redshirtable and has no staying power. So a one-time stopper, but one that can be made more or less fool-proof. Let's call it a 3.7.
TOTAL: 12.2 (61%) Well, hard to come back from that Trek Sense.
1E TOTAL: 11.8 (59%) There's some nice stuff for 1E still coming out.
#2343-Captain on the Bridge, Event, Cost: 1 /NE/
-Plays in your core. You may play a Commander that corresponds with your ship aboard that ship. When you do, he or she is cost -1.
"I'm becoming better acquainted with my new command, this Galaxy Class USS Enterprise. I am still somewhat in awe of its size and complexity."
PICTURE: Picard walks onto the bridge at the start of "Encounter at
Farpoint". Exemplifies the title, while also making it a historical choice.
Not too interesting visually, but at least appropriate. A 3.2.
LORE: From Picard's very first captain's log. Since the card doesn't give the
ship or Commander a performance boost, I'm ok with his perception of everything
as new. (Compare to Captain's Log, where being Commander means knowing every in
and out of your ship, for example.) A cool enough 3.4 with a solid title.
TREK SENSE: Captains (AKA Commanders) should be on their corresponding ships.
That's just story sense. Kirk doesn't command the Defiant, he commands the
Enterprise. Captain on the Bridge, then, is incentive to tell the story right by
playing Commanders to their rightful ships. Since that Commander is expected to
be found there, he or she may play there directly AND at less of a Cost. You
don't need to track him or her down, so to speak. And since this is natural
assumption, the event's Cost is likewise low. If I have reservations about this
card, it's that multiples can be used without justification. That you can report
an off-affiliation personnel to a ship (say Thomas Riker to a non-commandeered
Defiant) and have that personnel cooperate with others there takes a little more
work to explain as well, though it's not strictly impossible (they were
prisoners til then, etc.). A simple, but strong 4.4.
STOCKABILITY: Many ships have Commanders, and there are a variety of tricks that
can be done with ship/Commander combos, so it may be useful to use Captain on
the Bridge to lower the Cost of these often costly Commanders AND to report them
directly to their ship without need to return to HQ. If you're stocking more
than one copy of a Commander as insurance, this is a good way to replace that
Commander when it is killed, without losing a step. So my Data/Commanding
Officer only costs 4 to play on the Sutherland now, instead of 5? Yes, but the
Cost can be driven down further by using more than one copy of Captain on the
Bridge! A Cost 2 Federation Data? A Cost 1 Picard? Yep. Note also that the card
means you can report off-affiliation Commanders for use in the "wrong"
decks. Kudak'Etan on a Federation Defiant, for example. A cheap, little card
that should go in any deck that will use more than one ship Commander. I'll say
4.2.
TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) The kind of card you want to "call out" the title of
when you play it.
#2355-Caught in the Act, Event, Cost: 2 /NE/
-Capture; Plays in your core.
-Order: Stop two of your [Car] personnel present together with an opponent's personnel at a non-headquarters mission to reveal the top card of that opponent's deck. If it is a personnel that opponent does not command, place him or her in your brig. (That opponent now commands him or her.) Otherwise, the opponent draws that card. You may do this only once each turn.
PICTURE: A couple of Cardies grab Rom coming out of a Jeffries tube. A bit
dark, but good central composition, lots of energy, etc. Going for a 3.5.
LORE: None, which always disappoints me. Unless the title is really cool, this
category gets a 0. And the title's just standard fare. Ah well...
TREK SENSE: This event has some interesting implications. It basically ascribes
motivations to personnel still in the draw deck! In the scenario presented here,
our 2 Cardassians (gotta have the strength and perception skills that come with
numbers) are already in the presence of opposing personnel. They don't trust the
other side, but there's a truce of sorts. More watchful than usual, they then
the find a personnel not where it should be, hidden on top of the draw deck, and
they capture it. We don't know what it was doing there as it hadn't even
reported yet (plausible deniability), but it was no doubt working against
Cardassian interests. That's enough for these paranoid folks. If the top card
isn't a personnel, there's still a personnel working behind the scenes, except
it escaped detection and bought its side some kind of resource (thanks to time,
money, information or simple diversion). Very elegantly played! There's even a
clause to prevent personnel already in play to have their clone captured. Cost
is fine. The only thing I find remotely off is a mechanical conceit. HQs are
much too sacrosanct in 2E, so there's no capturing personnel there (not that
there's much reason to beam there if you're the opponent). Shouldn't security be
higher there? The pictured scene does correspond to an HQ, after all. Also, by
never being discarded for effect, the card makes the Cardassians' paranoia a
little too justified. Still a very high 4.7.
STOCKABILITY: A cheap enough Capture card that holds a certain risk. Caught in
the Act might give you a captive before it ever gets a chance to be useful to
its owner (i.e. before it is reported), but it has a better chance (unless
personnel really outnumber other card types in a deck) of giving your opponent a
free card draw. Yours is the better reward, but that risk is still very real.
You also need to have a couple of Cardassians with opposing personnel to make it
work, which takes work unless they're coming to you for battle or somesuch. You
need help "probe-rigging" to make it count. Dilemmas like Hired Muscle
and Unexpected could get a personnel there. Attacks of opportunity against
certain opponents is possible: For the Sisko and Lasting Peace (Bajorans/DS9),
Conscription (fellow Cardassians), Sickbay (any), and Discreet Inquiry (DS9
Feds), etc. It doesn't really beat out Political Leverage or Arrest Order, or
even Well-Crafted Lure, but it's got some interesting aspects to it. A 3.2
because of the risk involved.
TOTAL: 11.4 (57%) Almost bounces back from that null'n'void Lore score.
#2367-Cave-In, Dilemma, planet, Cost: 1 /NE/
-Consume: 1. (Your opponent places the top card of his or her dilemma pile face up beneath this mission.) Unless you have 2 Engineer and Transporters or Geology, Officer, and Strength>35, randomly select two personnel to return to their owner's hand.
"Anij, stay with me. Help me find the power to keep you in this moment..."
PICTURE: Plenty of choices for this one in Star Trek history, and while I don't dislike this scene from Insurrection, it has less impact than seeing the actual Cave-In or people digging themselves out of it. I suppose there's a tie-in with the game text with the 2 isolated personnel cards... I'm really of two minds about this one. A bit dark, all in all, I'm giving it a 3.2.
LORE: Consistent with the picture, it relates poorly to the game text. Here, I find less to praise, though the line is perfectly sound. A 2.8.
TREK SENSE: Consume dilemmas represent multiple dilemmas, which is why extra dilemmas are placed under a mission "overcome", or at least, that's the theory. Would a Cave-In really do that? I guess there's the survival aspect as well as the digging out. Meh. Not as sharp as some of the others (like A Royal Hunt). The Cave-In has a weird effect too. The two trapped personnel are sent back to hand. Not killed (Anij pulls through) and not stopped (even for a length of time), but sent back to hand. That means they must be reported again at HQ. So they get out eventually, just not in time to continue with the mission attempt (though those helping to find them aren't stopped, they just leave them there), and they are definitely not "kept in the moment". Fuzzy. Requirement options include a way to beam the personnel out of the cave (2 Engineer and Transporters) and more physical digging - Geology helps you not cause any further Cave-In, Officer coordinates the effort, and Strength is the actual physical labor. The two-pronged dilemma suggested by the Consume keyword doesn't quite register, and further, the Danger Factor is too low. I'm afraid this one only gets a 2.3 despite an original take on the concept.
STOCKABILITY: Though it doesn't kill, sending personnel back to hand is a major delay, especially if you manage to hit high-Cost personnel. They have to be re-reported at HQ, which means they cost counters and a ship must go and pick them up. In an event, that's two personnel weeded out of the mission attempt. And all for a Cost of 1! Well, there is the consumption of another dilemma in there, but it may well be worth it. The requirements are fairly steep, depending on who they are required of. The first option has the fairly rare Transporters in it, and should be victim to a combo with another Transporters dilemma and Overwhelmed. The second option requires a fairly large amount of Strength, though the skills shouldn't be too hard to find. With the right combo, this will be effective, though not deadly. But at a price that's reasonable. Break out The Dreamer and the Dream for more. A 3.6.
TOTAL: 11.9 (59.5%) Almost made it to that "moment".
#2379-Chance Observation, Interrupt /NE/
-When your [Rom] personnel is facing a dilemma, reveal the top three cards of an opponent's deck and make that personnel attributes +1 for each non-event card revealed. This effect lasts until the end of that dilemma.
"Serve me faithfully and you will be rewarded. Keep those lovely eyes on Commander Suran."
PICTURE: Donatra doing a little bit of spying. It's a good pic, if dark, made more interesting by the grid like barrier in front of her, somewhat matching the pattern on her uniform. A fairly good 3.4.
LORE: Not too bothered about the game text, it strays from it quite a lot, but it's not a bad order to spy on someone, personalized to Donatra. Good enough for a 3.1.
TREK SENSE: The Chance Observation must've taken place prior to encountering the said dilemma, because our target Romulan spy uses whatever information it discovered there to help it overcome the present danger. That information is represented by 3 cards off the top of an opponent's deck, and each non-event there adds +1 to each of the personnel's attributes. Makes it stronger, smarter and... more ethical? I don't know, maybe the Romulan knows how to fake it. Why not events? Well, I think that's tied to this card being an Interrupt and the Observation being quick. You can't observe a whole event take place. You saw a ship, a personnel, something that happened at Interrupt speeds, etc. Of course, there's probably no link between the dilemma and the cards revealed, but this works on a thematic basis. I generally like it, and give it a 3.5.
STOCKABILITY: For no Cost, this Interrupt does 2 things during a dilemma. 1) It shows you 3 cards from the top of your opponent's deck, and 2) for each non-event, it boosts all of one Romulan's attributes. The latter is a minor effect (only for the length of the dilemma), but one that can potentially put you above the required line. Well, maybe not when looking for a total (though as much as +3, which isn't bad), but it may help with individual attribute requirements (Meaningless Modifications, Your Moment Is Fading, The Moon's a Window to Heaven, etc.). The former is more than a bonus effect, since the Romulans can really make use of the information gathered. Prevent the draw of those cards with At an Impasse. Know if it's advantageous to use Romulan Intelligence Network, Holographic Hoax, Security Sweep, Insult or Diplomatic Masquerade. Get information for Sensing a Trap. Of course, a lot of cards allow your Romulans to look (and even manipulate) your opponent's deck, so Chance Observation isn't the only tool in the kit. As an Interrupt though, it's quick and dirty. A good 3.5.
TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Upper average, but well within the Romulan theme.
#2391-Collateral Damage, Event, Cost: 3 /NE/
-Assault; Maneuver; Plays in your core.
-Order: Destroy this event to begin combat or an engagement involving your Jem'Hadar. If you win, randomly kill an opponent's personnel involved. That opponent discards cards from the top of his or her deck equal to that personnel's cost.
"There's method to their madness. They're inflicting considerable damage on the Klingons."
PICTURE: A fearsome little armada of Jem'Hadar attack ships, but with their
small size and grayish colors, they're not as cool as they would be in movement.
The various positions help make the pic dynamic, but the lack of inflicted
damage shown takes away from the concept. A mere 3.
LORE: The game text, as we'll see, is rather in line with the title, but I wish
the lore itself did more to tie itself to that concept. I like what's here, but
it doesn't help explain the game text enough. A bit better still, at 3.2.
TREK SENSE: From the pic and the kamikaze tactics invoked, this could have
simply been a Maneuver, but Jem'Hadar could blow themselves up in Assaults too.
They're crazy, those ones. The point of the attack is to destroy an opponent's
resources while making it seem like you're just killing personnel (the
methodical madness). I like the idea, but it's an entirely mechanical conceit
that those resources would be from the top of the discard pile, and that their
number would be tied to the killed personnel's Cost. There's also not enough
"madness" to the card, with no Jem'Hadar sacrificing itself in the
battle, etc. The Cost in counters to inflict Collateral Damage is high enough to
take those sacrifices into account, but it's not as satisfying as your losing
actual cards in the deal. Still, it's built on a sound and interesting idea, so
it gets as high as 2.5.
STOCKABILITY: Jem'Hadar (and thus, the Dominion) have access to a number of
battle cards, but being aggressive, they may stock a number of them. Cards that
are both Assault and Maneuver give you a little more flexibility, though they
are usually a little more Costly. In this case, you get a single kill if you
win, but depending on who is killed, that personnel's owner will have to discard
0-5 cards from the top of his or her draw deck. This can be annoying, and in a
Terok Nor deck, Kotra could be used to gain points as well (if a personnel is
discarded). Chances are, though, that you'll only kill someone costing 1 or 2,
so it doesn't seem that bad. Against weenie decks, Battle Lust is a lot more
effective. Otherwise, it really depends on what you want to achieve. Not bad,
though perhaps a bit less useful against the discard-pile-using Bajorans. At
least you get a kill. A 3.5.
TOTAL: 12.2 (61%) It's conceptual feel sort of sinks it.
#2403-Counterinsurgency Program, Dilemma, space/planet, Cost: 2 /NE/
-Your opponent discards any number of event or equipment cards from hand and names a skill (except Acquisition, Intelligence, Law or Telepathy) for each one. Unless you have those skills, all your personnel are stopped.
"Seems we've tripped some kind of automated security program the Cardassians left."
PICTURE: Really cool! It looks like Dukat is directing the automated beam. He's especially cool with his coffee mug in hand. If there's anything wrong with the picture, it's that the security system is in a corner, and perhaps not that clear. Still a 4.
LORE: Fine, and directly links to the picture, but no fireworks. A simple 3.
TREK SENSE: Divorced from its Cardassian origins, but that can be justified. After all, who doesn't have any kind of automated security system in the 24th century? (And throwing away cards does have a Cardassian flavor.) However, I have a hard time believing that such a thing could cause a problem aboard your own ship! Having this on some planets also strains credulity (when dealing with primitive or savage worlds). This thing on the show was very dangerous and deadly, so I'm equally surprised at its low Danger Factor (sorry... Cost). The requirements? Complex. First, you spend resources to set up the Counterinsurgency Program. Events are the trigger, Equipment cards are the blazing guns. Conceptual, but a good representation nonetheless. (Note that this ties the dilemma to your affiliation, so that the mission is suddenly attempted on your soil, or to affect YOUR plans.) On the show, the targets were non-Cardassians. The dilemma does not dictate an immune species, however, but a list of skills (one per discard) that act as requirements (or creates an immunity). It doesn't really work, since a automated system can't really distinguish between skills (the 4 excluded actually include Intelligence which MIGHT have been relevant), and you wind up with a security system that might require Diplomacy, Treachery, Medical and Anthropology (technically). And far from being deadly this time around, it now only stops personnel. If the pic had shown the crew trapped in the ore processing plant, at least... I like its originality, but it just doesn't work within the confines of Trek Sense. Sadly, only 0.9.
STOCKABILITY: You're good at keeping track of skills? Counterinsurgency Program can be an excellent combo finish, as you can ask for almost any skill. The Cost is only 2, but there are also discards to worry about. Events are quite frequent in your hand, and Equipment less so. But if there's one skill you note is missing from the total (after other dilemmas have weeded out personnel, after all), you only need to discard one card and name that one skill. Why would you ever discard more? Well, you can rack up the number of a single skill, if, for example, the crew has 2 Exobiology, but not 3. Or you could use it as insurance against personnel using skills from outside themselves (the discard pile, for example). Maybe the Bajorans would like to use this to set up In the Pah-wraith's Wake, and don't mind throwing away Events. Yes, there are skills you can't name, as this foursome is usually rarer than the others, but depending on the affiliation, a player might have trouble coming up with Treachery, or Honor, or Transporters. Giving you lots of control, though you need to keep discardables in your hand (ahh, Necessary Evil), it manages to get a 4.
TOTAL: 11.9 (59.5%) By missing on Trek Sense, it misses its target.
#2416-Crosis - Fanatical Lieutenant, Personnel, Non-Aligned, Cost: 2, unique /NE/
-Borg; Exobiology, Officer, Programming, Security, Treachery; Command icon
-For each event you command beyond the number of events an opponent of your choice commands, this personnel is attributes +1 (limit +6).
"I was like you once, without... feeling. But the One helped me. He can help you too."
-INTEGRITY: 3, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 6
PICTURE: I like it. The almost grayscale color palette perfectly captures the look and feel of TNG-era Borg, and the elaborate tubing on the right keeps it interesting. Also note the other rogues in the background, giving weight to his subtitle. A good 3.6.
LORE: Gives Crosis some motivation, the lore goes right to the word Fanatical in the subtitle without making it sound too fervently religious. Once again, good. A 3.4.
TREK SENSE: The rogue Borg finally make it as personnel! Certainly an improvement from the old scheme! Ok, so Crosis himself in an Officer in Lore's little hierarchy, which I guess is right, and the Command icon allows him to command the other rogues. That's more or less accurate, since he wasn't the very top of the chain, and I wonder if he could really command a Non-Aligned crew of non-Borg. Still, given the rogue Borg ship, such staffing should be included somewhere. He's a soldier for his cause, so Security makes sense, and being destructive, Treachery would seem to fit too. Programming in natural for the Borg, rogue or not, but you have to look harder for Exobiology. I suppose it could be a carry-over from his pre-assimilation days, or more likely from the Collective, but in "Descent"? Not sure. Since the various rogues all came from different species, it could thematically sound, or you could include Geordi's torture as a concept that required Exobiology (even if he didn't carry it out himself). The special ability would have to be conceptual, since it relates to events that may or may not be related to Crosis' situation. Basically, if he knows that his side has the upper hand (we've got more events than you do), he's stronger, smarter, but - and this is always weird for villains - more ethical. Conceptually ok, since the rogues were a bit shaky about living as individuals. It acts as a kind of insecurity. Or possibly, it could be that as he amasses experience as an individual, he becomes a fuller person, less under Lore's control. But then, what's with comparing your "experience" with another player's? Attributes have the necessary low Integrity, and Cunning that shows a computer mind still learning to think for itself. Strength might've been higher because of the cybernetic parts though, not that I'm saying the Borg are especially effective fighters. I guess it's better than a drone's 5. The Cost is ok, but seems to make rogue Borg more "common" than they should be. As for the score, the iffy nature of the special ability keeps our boy Crosis at 2.9.
STOCKABILITY: Event escalation is one strategy born of later expansions, and certainly, each Event in play has its use already. Cards like Crosis further enhance an Event's usefulness by triggering extra effects (this also makes cheap Events more interesting, even if you DON'T use their game text). In Crosis' specific case, it boosts his attributes, and we all know how important attributes are in 2E. Of course, it does depend on your having more events in play than any opponent, but if there's no escalation on the opposing side, you're golden. You can even use Crosis with any affiliation, so his ability can key off the same thing the Romulans use to Escape Detection, or that the Ferengi use for Veiled Threat. Having lots of Events, destroying other players' Events, it's all fair game, and adds to his mission solving power (even if the cap on attributes is a whopping 9-12-12). In addition to that, he's got 5 skills and the best staffing icon available. The skills are mixed enough that he'll be useful at a variety of missions too. Great price too. A sound 3.9.
TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) A vast improvement over the original concept.
#2429-Data - Loyal Brother, Personnel, Non-Aligned, Cost: 1, unique, BC /NE/
-Android; Astrometrics, Biology, Engineer, 2 Programming, Treachery; Command icon
-At the start of each of your turns, you must discard an event from hand or stop this personnel.
"In a quest such as ours, sacrifices have to be made. It is regrettable. But the greater good must be served."
-INTEGRITY: 3, CUNNING: 9, STRENGTH: 10
PICTURE: This smug, evil Data has a great expression, and is surrounded by the rogue Borg that were loyal - as he is - to his brother Lore. The gold, red and black of the template play beautifully with those same colors from the image, and so we have an excellent 4.2.
LORE: Self-serving words, with irony weighing heavy on the word "good". The subtitle is very much in the same vein. Since it speaks of a necessary evil, this was a good first card to spoil for that expansion. That theme still resonated in the quote. A good 3.4.
TREK SENSE: Data is Non-Aligned and has turned his back his roots as a Federation personnel (and yet, can still cooperate with that affiliation - he probably shouldn't). Why? Because his brother (also NA) is manipulating him, confusing him, with an emotion chip broadcast set to "bad". That confusion brings Data's Cunning down by 1 and his Integrity down by 3. Now he's able to torture his best friend Geordi (Biology and Treachery are a big help). Throw in Astrometrics, Engineer and 2 Computer Skill, which are part of his usual make-up. The Command icon may be iffy now that he isn't working on the Enterprise, but he did have authority over the rogue Borg, so ok. To keep him under control (whether Lore or someone else is doing that), you must discard an event from hand. This is a conceptual cost that represents Lore's efforts. It passes muster, I suppose. Without it, Data is argumentative or simply uncooperative (stopped). This is supposed to help justify the low Cost here, but while that works in terms of balance and stockability, Trek Sense is a harsher master. One of the very few Soong-type androids? I don't care if he's turned bad, I can't believe having him on your side would be so easy to achieve. With a few too many plot holes, we're down to a 3.2.
1E TREK SENSE: Here, he really should have a Restriction box. Also, Strength is subpar for an android (though you may believe the heavier hit on Cunning), and he has no classification to speak of (though if it would have been Civilian, we're not missing much. The rest reads the same, though now, Cost is no longer a problem. Still, the rest of the conversion sinks him to 2.7.
STOCKABILITY: Necessary Evil indeed! Here we have a very useful Android (immune to certain dilemmas) with 2 very high attributes and an excellent pool of skills (including double-Programming) at a Cost of only 1!!! And he'll work with anyone! Ok, let's calm down, since there is a catch. If you want him to do anything over the course of a turn, you need to discard an event from hand at the start of that turn. I guess if he's just being taken to a mission location, or while you're waiting for other cards to come into play, you don't waste the event. But it's easy to envision a turn during which you have no event, but really need Data! Ah well, that's the way the circuit board crumbles I guess. So this is immensely balanced, but I think it's more in Data's favor than not. If he's gonna score you points, an event might be a good sacrifice. Other cards can then come in to rescue, recycle or otherwise use that discarded event (think of In the Pah-wraith's Wake, for example, or Ressikan Flute). A deck heavy on events and event manipulation will find a way to keep Data/Loyal Brother aggressive. So 3.8 here.
1E STOCKABILITY: Thanks to persona swapping, Data/Loyal Brother can circumvent his "special ability". On any turn where you wouldn't need his skills and attributes and so wouldn't want to discard an event from hand, you can switch him for the equally NA Sherlock Holmes or Carlos without losing the use of a personnel card. Loyal Brother can return on the next turn if need be, and with the sacrificial event in squarely in hand. Feds need not apply, since they have their own versions of Data that have plenty of skills and high attributes. There's no sense in using this one instead. But if you're stuck with the holo-personae, they just don't have the same skill power. Speaking of skills, we should note Astrometrics, which can be one of 2 skills (changeable each time you re-report the persona). Computer Skill x2 can beat a good number of dilemmas, and download Data to hand in the first place with Quark's Isolinear Rods. He's got the Treachery to lend Lore a hand with whatever affiliation of bad guys he's running with. The attributes aren't quite on the 1E Datas' level, but they're still high. Hello Airlock! There's still the matter of obligatory discards that doesn't sit well, so again 3.8.
TOTAL: 14.6 (73%) Hard to keep in line, but very good if you manage it.
1E TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) He's still a Soong-type android, so useful.
#2442-Data - Pinocchio, Personnel, Federation, Cost: 5, unique, BC /NE/
-Android; Astrometrics, Engineer, Exobiology, Officer, Programming; Command icon; TNG icon
-When you play this personnel, name Anthropology, Navigation, or Physics. This personnel gains that skill.
"I am superior, sir, in many ways. But I would gladly give it up to be human."
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 10, STRENGTH: 10
PICTURE: Like a lot of early TNG, this pic is blurry. Is the source of lesser quality, or what? Data's sad face is an ok expression, but not too interesting. The natural setting is really a holodeck recreation, commenting, if you wish to see it, on Data's own artificial nature. The top view gives the impression of us pulling this puppet's strings. For that metaphor, I'll raise the score to 3.5.
LORE: Riker's nickname for Data makes a great subtitle for the android, and these lines from their first meeting are just the ones that inspired that nickname. Well done! A 4.
TREK SENSE: The early-career Data can be best compared to the most recent Data/Aspirer to see how the android has changed. Well, all the same skills are there, though the designers have surmised that Data's Programming doubled. I'm not sure that's correct, but it may be a sly comment on how much less machine-like Data was in the first season. He's still an Officer with a Command icon (Lt. Commander at the ops station), still an able Engineer, and still programmed in various sciences, whether useful in space (Astrometrics) or on planets (Exobiology). But this is Data. He actually has much more information at his beck and call. Well, you can give him an extra skill when you report him to help matters, but this inflexibility short-changes him. He should be able to switch back and forth, or ideally, have all the skills he actually deserves. Instead, you have to decide which facet of Data you want in the game. Is he exploring humanity? Anthropology. Is he more scientifically-centered? Physics. Or is he just sitting upfront on the bridge? Navigation. It's an ok mechanic, but I'm really disappointed that it has little or nothing to do with the Pinocchio metaphor. Still waiting on a Data with higher Integrity, but at this point, though not affected by an emotion chip, he doesn't understand humans enough to truly be kind to them. Cunning and Strength are, of course, maxed out, and the rarity of these Soong-type androids makes their high Cost totally appropriate. Disappointed overall, Data still manages to score 3.1.
1E TREK SENSE: I could believe the early Data has lower Cunning, but Strength is more iffy, and Integrity is much too low here. No classification, causing the usual discrepancies. Compare him to the 1E Premiere Data, and you'll find the same skills except for Music (hadn't discovered the talent yet), again with Computer Skill dropped to x1. Astrometrics can become Stellar Cartography instead of Astrophysics, but I can believe Data would be good at both. The rest reads much the same. Attribute troubles bring him down to 2.7.
STOCKABILITY: You can only use one Data, but all of them have a large skill list and excellent attributes, definitely worth the 5 counters he costs. When compared to Aspirer, Pinocchio loses one Programming in exchange for a skill chosen from 3 possibilities. This should help you focus your deck much better, offering a powerful android for alternate mission choices. Navigation's a bit common, but the rest could be interesting. See, Aspirer's extra Integrity and Honor only activate during dilemmas, and as for Commanding Officer, he'll be most useful to non-TNG Fed decks, or when you play the Sutherland. C.O. Data has some interesting card manipulation tricks, but is less of a skill horse. Pinocchio remains a good choice for mission solving, though it all depends on your mission selection. All the Datas will do well in this category, I think, and he gets 4.2 here.
1E STOCKABILITY: Lower attributes, a larger number of versions for his persona, no useable classification (for equipment, etc.), and no more skills than the norm make Pinocchio less interesting in this environment. You still get a choice of skills when reporting him (two actually, since Astrometrics has a built-in choice), but the Feds have so many personnel with so many skills, it's hard to make a card stand out on skill pool alone. At least he doesn't cost any more than any other personnel (maybe less with Cybernetics). Only manages 3.7.
TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Comes in not far under Commanding Officer.
1E TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) Personnel are always more strongly affected by the 1E conversion.
#2455-Day Kannu - Field Colonel, Personnel, Bajoran, Cost: 2, unique /NE/
-Bajoran; Engineer, Officer, Security, Treachery; Command icon; DS9 icon
-When you win combat involving this personnel, score 5 points.
"You can let your engineers play with the machines. I'm sending out search parties."
-INTEGRITY: 3, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 6
PICTURE: That smug expression you just want to put your fist into is
excellent for Day, but there are a lot of distractions in the background, aren't
there? Maybe they're trying to sell the DS9 icon, I dunno. Still, a more
striking picture than 1E's version. Manages 3.4.
LORE: A good quote that presents both his impatience and aggression. A fun 3.5.
TREK SENSE: Well, first off, I don't agree that these Circle guys should be DS9
icon personnel. Would they really collaborate with the regular Niners? No. Did
they control DS9 long enough to really staff it? No. Just stepping aboard
doesn't usually count, so I don't get it. No problem with the Command icon,
obviously, nor the Officer. As a member of the Circle, he's got Treachery and
low Integrity. Definitely militarily-minded, he gets Security. Engineer is the
new kid on the block here and given the dismissive quote, I'm not sure it's a
tight fit for Colonel Day. The special ability cashes in on his aggressive
tendencies, making combat satisfying for him. The average Cunning and above
average Strength are good too. Cost is ok, since despite his high rank, he's
very much raring to go. He makes himself more available. One problem skill, one
problem icon. They keep him at 2.8.
STOCKABILITY: Three of what used to be classifications? These still come up more
often than any of the more ordinary skills. Treachery's got its uses too (in
Pah-wraith strategies, for example), including as a trigger for combat with Rash
Aggression. In addition to any other rewards the Bajorans might reap through an
Assault card, Day also gives them 5 points. Every time! He can use his abilities
in both Bajorans and DS9 decks. A good addition to aggressive decks, with a
brief, but useful skill list. I'll give him 3.7.
TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) Upper average.
#2468-Dealing With Pressure, Dilemma, space/planet, Cost: 3 /NE/
-Randomly select three personnel. Unless one of those personnel has an attribute>6, all three are stopped.
"No one here is going to die. The bridge will send a rescue party as soon as possible, so I want you to stop crying. Everything is going to be all right."
PICTURE: While there is humor to be derived from Picard being trapped with kids in a turbolift, the image for it really isn't strong. Picard himself is in a dark patch and not as clear as he needs to be. The kids are blurry, especially the one that almost looks like he's looking into the camera lense. The one on the right is completely obscured. It's pretty shoddy, getting a 1.
LORE: In command of children, we're talking about a different kind of pressure, making for an amusing quote. Imagine it married to a more normal picture with junior officers instead of kids. How about a 3.3?
TREK SENSE: The idea (never mind the pic) is that some personnel are ill-equipped to Deal with the Pressure of a mission attempt. If in a group of three (for our purposes separated from the rest of the crew by some circumstance), no one has either the smarts, the brawn or the courage to Deal (and give the others resolve), then all three are stopped, unable to make decisions, work together. They break down and cry. A fun idea, though a personnel with 6-6-6 isn't enough to stymie this breakdown. Really? Kira? Sisko? Riker? Picard as Galen? Maybe greater than 5 would have been more appropriate (if fairly useless). The Borg are particularly vulnerable to this, but again, do they really feel pressure? The Danger Factor (Cost) seems high for a psychological problem, but those are the problems that stay with you I guess. Your unit is only as strong as its weakest link, and some dangers come from within. So a nice idea, but let down by the numbers. Still a good 3.6.
STOCKABILITY: At a Cost of 3, you stand to filter out 3 personnel at random. All you need is for that random selection not to include any personnel with an attribute higher than 6. Weenie decks would probably be hit hard, as would the Borg. I think the Ferengi wouldn't do all that well either (only Zek can save them), the Feds might get hit 50% of the time, and the Romulans a bit more often than that. The Dominion seems largely immune however. Of course, Non-Aligned and Equipment cards can upset the balance easily. Starting with dilemmas that weed out a big gun or two might be in order, so that by the time the crew reaches the mission, there's no one left to complete it. Risky, as many cards from Necessary Evil are, it scores 3.5.
TOTAL: 11.4 (57%) Deal with it.
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