To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the Premiere set.
Some of the cards have been corrected in the Beta Set.

PICTURE: Oooh, a pink planet... bleh. Shines like a bright beacon in space, yet there's a secret installation there? What I would call an inappropriate choice of image. A 1.5.

LORE: Well, first off, I can't find Devora in any of the Star Trek reference materials, so I'll assume it's an invention by Decipher. The name must be derived from the ship Devoras, just to give it a Romulan feel. I object to the ship somehow being named after the planet (if it is) because it makes no sense. Why name a ship after a planet in a region of space you don't control? (The Neutral Zone belongs to neither of the frontier powers.) And if the planet is important enough to inspire a ship's name, it makes little sense that you could covertly put a station there. At least, the lore itself mentions the Neutral Zone, placing this one in the region and allowing it to fit nicely in PNZ decks. Too bad regions hadn't developped earlier as the now accepted Region format isn't in effect. A lame score slightly upped by the regional classification to 2.5.

TREK SENSE: About the Neutral Zone region, while I don't dispute that the NZ should be considered a region, it just doesn't work as one under the current Region rules. Look at the others: the Solar System, Cardassian and Bajoran regions are all one system. The NZ (and Demilitarized Zone) are a group of systems. When it comes to flying Interceptors through, it doesn't make sense for the Neutral Zone locations to be considered short-range. It's a big buffer zone. That aside, the mission itself is clearly Romulan in nature and well worth the 35 points. In cooler times, an extra benefit related to spying on the Federation could have been added. As for the requirements, an ENGINEER is required to build the facility (just as with actual facility cards), Leadership to implement secret orders and Treachery simply because it is spying. So above average at 3.7.

SEEDABILITY: PNZ decks still have a certain use. Use only one region and you're sure of having your missions all grouped together. Patrol Neutral Zone in particular lands you a lot of points easily when you do this. Because of cards like Balancing Act and The Big Picture, you of course might not want to risk playing all PNZs (all space), so you need a couple of planet missions in there. Covert Installation is one of those (Iconia Investigation is the other). Its requirements are pretty easy for some sensible points. Treachery is found on a lot of Rommies, and neither ENGINEER nor Leadership are too rare. In fact, Sirol can do the mission all by himself! And it'll be hard to steal to boot (just one affiliation icon). A very useful 4.4.

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) The common mission I had so many of, it became my favorite proxy (simply write the title of the card you need in the pink circle). Glad to see it passes on grounds other than that.

PICTURE: At first sight, lame, but look again. Just looks like a large purple planet, right? I may hate that particular color, but there's more here. For one, it's a covert mission, and so it's covered in shadow. A pattern Decipher respects more or less on its espionnage jobs. Second, look at that shadow closely. You'll notice a lighter patch in the middle of it. Where the scoutship broke the cloud cover when it crashed? Deliciously subtle, but still kind of ugly. A 3.6.

LORE: Being in Federation territory, we can see why it would have to be covert. It's pretty simple other than that. regular lore score of 3.

TREK SENSE: A Romulan only mission (of course) with some high stakes (can't get caught), but not by that much (only a scout ship with a small crew) worth its 30 points. The Span of 4 goes to its being behind the border, but still close to the Neutral Zone (less than half a light-year). The mission is kind of muddled other than that. Leadership is a fluff requirement that can be applied to any mission. Here, maybe the crashed crew need to be debriefed, or coordination of efforts is especially difficult. Diplomacy supposes a Federation presence at the planet. Yes, Tomalak had to negociate with Picard on this one, but in optimal circumstances, the mission should remain COVERT. It clearly is not. The Cunning is probably required to overcome the transport problems associated with the planet's dangerous electromagnetic storms. Skills that could have been required include Treachery (covert activity), Transporter Skill (didn't exist yet) or even Navigation (eluding the Feds, and orientation on the planet). This would also have been a perfect opportunity to put a transporter ban on the mission, but alas, the game hadn't evolved a way to land shuttles yet. A mission like this should have opened the door right there and then. The basics are fine, but the meat is terrible. A 1.9.

SEEDABILITY: Being Romulan only, it's inherently hard to steal. The skills are real easy to get too. The points just don't cut it though. With little to really carry this one over the bar, you're going to have to be using AMS to even consider it. You're better off with 35+ pointers to get to your 100 points with 3 or fewer missions. The span doesn't encourage speedy mission solving, and it's not even in the Neutral Zone. Its one redeeming value is that it's immune to Assimilate Planet while being very easy to solve. Not fodder quite yet at a 2.9.

TOTAL: 11.4 (57%) Don't you just hate reviews of Premiere missions? ;-)

PICTURE: Competent, but lacking in color to say the least. Crosis is a good looking Borg, but there's really nothing to make him stand out. Composition is slightly unbalanced. A 2.9.

LORE: Pretty decent lore actually. I like it even though there could have been an extra sentence on there. It's unfortunate that there's plenty of leads given that aren't followed in the game text itself. Still a 3.2.

TREK SENSE: I'll get to Rogue Borg Mercenaries in due time, but as for Crosis, there are some things that just don't jibe. He's a Rogue Borg, but cannot play as one, for one thing. That is, if he's with Rogue Borg, he counts as one himself, but he can't attack alone. As for the doubling effect, we've often seen leaders boost personnel with them. Doubling seems a bit much though (Trek sense-wise) since the rogues aren't in the Collective anymore, Crosis can't be supplying any kind of strategic enhancement through everyone's minds (unless they form a tiny Rogue collective - an oxymoron, I know). Lore also doubles the Rogues, but through inspiration. Does Crosis do the same? Never underestimate the power of fanaticism, he even doubles himself. Other than that, well, the lore talks about capture, but the game text doesn't. Too bad. And are there some of us who think Rogue Borg could have been Personnel? They certainly could have been an interesting micro-affiliation. Looks like a 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: The real strength of Rogue Borg is in the way they can be abused. That is, they make great stoppers. Throw one, at interrupt speed no less, at your opponent's ship at the start of their executing orders phase to stop the entire crew. They kill the lowly Rogue, but are automatically stopped. Crosis is a tool to be used for the other Rogue Borg strategy: actually battling and killing enemy crews. Indeed, you'll need a Crosis if you're actually planning on doing some damage. The problem has always been that, to be effective, you had to wait for a fair number of Rogues to come into your hand before attacking anyone with them. Their low strength in low numbers make them unuseable otherwise. And the new personnel battles rules just made them weaker as pairing off made them more vulnerable. With Crosis and Lore in play, you actually have a chance. One Rogue plus Crosis will start you off at 16 STRENGTH (8 apiece), so a small group can be just as effective as a larger one. If you clean up a ship, you can actually commandeer it with Lore Returns and have some fun. Very complicated for not much payoff you'll notice, but it might be interesting for a Federation player who reported Lore to some neutral location to get himself an attack ship free of any battle restrictions. For stunt decks only. A 2.8. And did I mention that the game text must be one of the least elegant in the game?

TOTAL: 11.3 (56.5%) I wasn't expecting much.

PICTURE: The Entity really is a beautiful thing, and this shot of it in space, while lacking the violence of its tearing up the countryside, really shows that off. I've gone on record often enough saying I hate these particular colors, but personal bias can't affect a score, not in this case anyway. The effects in the middle of the creature are a little blurry, but otherwise, it's cool. A 4.

LORE: Gee, sounds like a newspaper headline. A big fat bleh on that one, as I don't see why they couldn't put the articles on there, especially with room to spare in the lore box. At least explains the dual nature of the dilemma with economy of words. Let me be as thrifty and give no more than a 1.9.

TREK SENSE: We've seen the Entity attack both planets and ships, so it works quite well as a space/planet dilemma. The ways to overcome it even differ whether you're coming at it from space or from the ground. Excellent. This would have been a great candidate for a moving dilemma (à la Borg Cube) by the way, and it's really too bad it didn't turn out that way. The Entity is a real mass murderer, killing an entire crew or Away Team, but it could have been more fearsome if designed to fly on its own power. At a space mission, a ship's shields will protect you, as seen on the show. Anything in the 7+ range will do. In other words, freighters will bite the big one, but major starships will be fine. Again, supported by the episode. Music can also be used to destroy it. I think that should have been an AND rather than an OR here, as you can't send it high pitched notes if you're dead. And that's quite a leap by the way: only a musician can send the right note? Come on! Any science personnel worth its salt can do this sort of thing, and there's really no evidence that Picard, with his flute playing, could have done this sort of thing. Note that the Music requirement may mean the crew is communicating with the Entity rather than destroying it, but that's still a little outside the perview of your casual cello player. On the ground now, Science and Medical will rid you of it. How? Beats me. Judging from the show, a cave laced with the right materials will protect you from the blasts, but you'll otherwise be disintegrated. Even your very best doctor can't do anything for you there. I think Geology would have been a much better requirement. And as for the 5 bonus points, since an entire episode (almost two) dealt with the Entity itself, I can see meeting/destroying it would be a goal worth those points. A lot of problems, but a good effort. Gets a 2.9.

SEEDABILITY: The thing about dilemmas with point boxes - either they should be incredibly easy to pass so that you can self-seed them, or they should be insanely hard so that you can remain confident your opponent will never get his hands on the points. Where does Crystalline Entity stand? Well, in the first category of course. MEDICAL and SCIENCE are common classifications. You never leave home without them, really. And for self-seeding, go for the space option which only requires a ship with SHIELDS greater than 6 (I can't believe you'd solve missions from anything smaller). There's even an OR. Well, they're really giving too many chances. But wait, two things have come out since Premiere that enhance the Entity a great deal. One is Lore from the Fajo Collection, whose mere presence in play will double the Entity in every way. That means: SHIELDS>12 OR 2 Music, 2 SCIENCE and 2 MEDICAL, and 10 bonus points. That's better bonus points if you want to self-seed, but make sure you have the necessary personnel (classification-lending equipment will probably be of help here). But finally, you can make this a true blue dilemma, especially in space. Only the Feds and Klingons really have a large number of Music personnel, for one thing. Few crews will have 2 with any regularity. As for the SHIELDS option, they've got to be as high as 13 now! Without enhancements, that's not going to work out too well. (I remind you - because it's such a self-seeder, we've forgotten - that the effect is total annihilation of a crew/Away Team!) The second advancement in the Entity's quest for power is the new space battle system. You see, even without Lore around, that SHIELDS option can become more difficult, because a damaged ship (i.e. a ship with damage markers on it) probably has weakened SHIELDS. So that 6 isn't so far-fetched anymore. Still, I'd stick with Lore to do real damage. Keeps growing in strength... a 4.1.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) Its lore made it dive in the early sections, and then Lore made it rise again towards the end.

PICTURE: Despite the terrible color scheme, it's a very nice-looking planet. There may be a problem with the position of Mintaka, the star, though. From that angle, we probably wouldn't be seeing so much of the planet. Is it a binary system? I don't think it is. A 2.5.

LORE: Extremely short and to the point, this lore does make a difference between what a starship would do here and what a more permanent team would. Your crew's just helping. Still, they could have given more details. No higher than 2.9.

TREK SENSE: Only the Federation really has these purely scientific interests, so it stands to reason they'd be the ones here. The span puts the planet a little out of the way, outside of the main spacelanes. The points are a little high for what can be gained here, as well as the actual difficulty of the mission. The requirements themselves are okay, within a certain context. Anthropology is a given, but the other two seem to indicate there has been a problem with the science team. Why else would you need battling ability (a leader) and Strength? Aid observation? They're lookin' real hard... The lore and title just don't match up here. It would probably have worked better with multiple Anthropologists and maybe SCIENCE. An off-center 2.6.

SEEDABILITY: The Federation only has about a half-dozen Anthropologists, but one of them is a mission specialist (Darian Wallace). Along with one of the Leadership specialists (Maxwell, Satie or Kolrami) and a team of strong personnel (you can get to 30 easily enough), that could mean an early 50 point lead. If your outpost is at Mintaka III, even sooner. In any case, it's a fairly easy mission that can't be stolen without an Espionnage card, and worth, relatively, a lot of points. Gets a 3.7.

TOTAL: 11.7 (58.5%) Almost makes it despite being repeatedly attacked by yours truly.

PICTURE: I've always found the Cytherian likeable, but the picture always falls a little short of my memory of it. His expression is way less joyful than it should be, and the "center of the galaxy" on the viewscreen behind him lacks the grandor seen in the episode. I do like the composition of the image, with the soft golden locks of the floating head going well with the gold frame of the screen, and the purple nebula going with that jewel in his forehead. I'm giving this one a 3.6.

LORE: Brief, but to the point and certainly in keeping with the game text. I really can't find fault with it, but there's no real innovation either. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: I wish there was more, but there simply isn't. What DOES work is that it is indeed a space dilemma (you need a ship), and should be worth the 15 points. It's quite a feat to make first contact with a race like this. Now, the rest is unfortunately hogwash. Yes, the crew (or some member of it) is certainly compelled to reach the Cytherians, but the method used is unlike anything seen on the show. These guys live in the center of our galaxy, so far away in fact, that they have to give, however temporarily, a ship the ability to bend space to get there. The far away center of the galaxy certainly isn't the end of the spaceline (which exists in known space) and the ships going there, do so using normal RANGE. Seeing the episode in game terms would mean the ship was "stopped" for a certain amount of turns while one crewmember was altered toward brilliance. Then, it would "snap" to the center of the universe, a location akin to the Delta Quadrant Borg Outpost, off to the side of the spaceline. The card oversimplifies this and subverts Trek Sense almost entirely, so I give it a 1.7.

SEEDABILITY: A Wormhole's best friend, it's a key dilemma in cheesy field trip strategies. Have your opponent encounter it (and there's no listed way of avoiding it), sending a ship on a wild goose chase, and making sure the points are never scored by relocating the ship to parts unknown (a time location or other quadrant). Since the ship can do nothing else, it's pretty much stalled away from home, its crew trapped in their singlemindedness. Even without "parts unknown", stalling a ship should be possible in other ways. Simply setting it back from its target at intervals could be enough, and sending intruders aboard opens the possibility of eliminating Diplomats if you're playing with Q-Nets. The ship may very well be destroyed before it ever gets the 15 points! But since it IS worth 15 points, you may want these for yourself (plus, it eliminates the risk of your opponent having the right counter cards, like AU Doorway or Operate Wormhole Relays). Again, a Wormhole or speed booster could be your best friend. If you don't want to lose the use of a ship for the time it takes, you can always redshirt with a shuttle or other cheap craft. For this kind of thing though, a tiny (3 short-span missions) Gamma quadrant works best. Wormhole yourself there and attempt a mission. Cytherians? And the end of the spaceline is only 4 RANGE away? You could score 3 15-pointers and get the rest with the missions themselves. And that's as close as a card extra as I've ever come. Still widely used after all these years - a 4.7.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) Not much Trek Sense, but a whole lot of power.

PICTURE: This is the basic Romulan warbird, no bells, no whistles, no frills. And unfortunately, that means no drama. The angle reveals the "inside" of the warbird, there's a little protrusion or module there I didn't know existed, but other than that, it's pretty dead in space. I still won't dump it... it's an average 3.

LORE: Not much here! A kind of comparison chart and no more, and there was space and opportunity to DO more. Ah well... it'll have to settle for a 2.4.

TREK SENSE: The basic D'deridex is obviously universal and, since it's much larger than a Galaxy class, but really the equivalent, it deserves the same staffing and similar attributes. Or does it? Warbirds are supposed to be substancially larger than Galaxies so would probably require more staff. The universal Galaxy is 8-7-9 to the D'deridex's 8-9-7. The Federation is bigger on Defense, the Romulans on offense. Specific ships may vary. Often mentioned to be slower than the Enterprise, the D'deridex is perhaps a notch too fast here. The Cloak and Tractor Beam are both supported. No other special equipment would be. Makes sense, but isn't particularly imaginative or interesting at 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: What can I say about universal ships like this? Well, the big birds have big stats, but also big staffing which hinders speed. Still, if you're going into battle, you can't be using dinky shuttles and scout ships. The problem with basic models is also that they rarely have matching commanders. But this one does! Yep, the otherwise useless Tomalak (the regular one) can put this one up to 10-12-11, Plaqued and Logged. The Romulans are a great affiliation to Ready Room Door with. Since the D'deridex is universal, you can download it with Spacedoor, then download its commander to it, and maybe a couple of Staff icon mission specialists to fill out the crew. Crewed Warbird on your first turn! Let the rampaging begin. It also shares  abilities with the unique warbirds - a nasty Cloaking Device, a Tractor Beam for dealing with Scows, taking in shuttles and Scouts, etc., and the ability to stage a Romulan Ambush. In our current playing environment, I'd get some SHIELD enhancements, but otherwise, it's a fit ship. Because of the combo mentioned above, a 4.4.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) When you start putting cards together, it can produce some niiiiiiiiiice effects.

PICTURE: One of the first digitally manipulated images in the game, Darian is resituated atop the Federation Outpost card. He may have served numerous positions aboard the Enterprise, but here he's pictured at base. The picture, unless I miss my guess, is from a computer screen "file" in "Eye of the Beholder". Fake and jarring - a 2.4. Check out another shot of him on Thought Fire.

LORE: The lore mentions him serving at numerous posts aboard the Enterprise. That's because the actor, Guy Vardaman, was a stunt man and background extra on all seven seasons of TNG, so he got to appear as a variety of crewmembers. Significant appearances (usually as a nameless crewman) include helping to assemble Lore in "Datalore", flying the ship in both "The Wounded" and "The Hunted", and finally getting the name Wallace in "Descent" where he was finally a security officer. His first name is from that computer screen in "Eye of the Beholder" (if you say so, Encyclopedia, I am your slave). The joke is slight, but it's there. Representativity/universality is also mentioned. An okay 3.

TREK SENSE: Well, this certainly missed the mark! If it had come out today, no doubt the jack-of-all-trades aspect would have made it into the game text, probably giving him a changeable skill à la K'chiQ. As it is, we're left to wonder if this guy learned anything from his holding numerous positions aboard the ship. Maybe he was so incompetent at everything he did, he was quickly passed off to an unsuspecting department? Doesn't hold, since he was there for a full seven years! Nobody that incompetent would stay aboard the flagship that long. Where's the Navigation? The ENGINEER? The Cybernetics, even! We're left with his last known post, Security, and a skill that has very little to do with that: Anthropology! Current rules even make him an expert in that. Learned about different cultures by hopping from department to department? Doesn't hold water in the least. And why doesn't he have a Staff icon? He's exactly the kind of guy who can hold any staff position! Attributes are just a mix of almost random numbers, as per his universal status, but Cunning is too low for an Anthropologist, and Strength too low for a Security. Dreadful at 1.6.

STOCKABILITY: Assign Mission Specialists can't get you any other SECURITY at the start of the game if you're playing Feds. He's the only mission specialist in the lot. Anthropology will nab you extra points on only a half-dozen missions, if even that, but these include the already point-heavy monster, Symbiont Diagnosis. Few dilemmas require it, but it's not a common skill either. Grab a Kathleen Tonell. She may be AU, but her CIVILIAN will completely pass Primitive Culture. When the Feds had little in the way of SECURITY, Darian made perfect sense. Hey, he was universal! He's not the only boy on the block anymore though. A 2.5.

TOTAL: 9.5 (47.5%) A total botch.

PICTURE: A great picture. While at first glance only one of those straight shots of a personnel sitting at ops or conn, the pic actually brings into focus what made Data so endearing. The shot is taken from the end of "The Offspring", the show in which Data came the closest to being human, sans emotion chip no less. His daughter Lal dies and he goes right back to work, in android fashion. But look at that expression on his face. The sadness is palpable. The picture speaks volumes about Data's true pathos as a character, striving to be what he cannot possibly become, and succeeding in ways he can't even realize. A straight shot that is nonetheless a turning point in the character's life: a 4.9.

LORE: Telegraphic lore like that of many personnel cards (especially the bridge crews), it's saved by the last line which is just sweet. It refers to the time Data indeed lost his head in 19th century San Francisco (see the card Data's Head), and to the famous song with a similar title, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". Cute, and brings this one up to a 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Well, Data could have any number of skills, and what he doesn't know, he can learn quickly, but the card has a limit as to the number that will fit in a game text box. The guy at ops is an Officer, fair enough (especially Picard's Number 2). His Engineering skills have been very helpful to Geordi on a number of occasions. The double Computer Skill is due to his initmate knowledge of computer systems as well as his ability to work databases at superhuman speeds. His Musical instrument of choice is the violin, though he can play other instruments as well. The other two skills are some sciences at which he excels. Anthropology, Stellar Cartography, Cybernetics, Geology and more could have been added on there. There's no realm of human knowledge that Data doesn't have access to. His Integrity is high, and could have been even higher since he doesn't often lie and has a pretty strict ethical subroutine. The Cunning and Strength are both way up there - a computer mind and a machine body. A fair representation, though necessarily incomplete. Deserves a 4.

STOCKABILITY: Data may be one of the most useful Federation personnel when it comes to mission solving and dilemma resolution. And with Lore's Fingernail, he can actually be used by most anyone. His collection of skills include the Ressikan-friendly Music, the rarer Exobiology and Astrophysics, the battle initiating OFFICER, the all-purpose ENGINEER and a double dose of the very useful (for Commandeers and more) Computer Skill. He's like Wesley, but a little more attuned to planet missions than space. And that's not all! The attributes are sky high. He won't often lose a fight, and his STRENGTH and CUNNING totals are double those of many other personnel. Don't forget his android status which will get him through a number of dilemmas (the ones that target androids aren't seen all that much, because they are so specific), help him survive being thrown out an Airlock, allow him to use Nerve Pinches and Headlocks in battle, stop the Paxan Wormhole from relocating his ship, and more. Data specifically can nab the nicely pointed Investigate Time Continuum, a mission that's hard to steal. Being matching commander of the USS Sutherland is an added bonus. He also has a persona in FC Data, in case you need a Fractal Encryption Code, but the FC persona isn't as useful. It's got the less useful Enterprise-E icon, a dangerous nemesis icon and fewer skills and total attribute points in exchange for a an ok (but not always useful) download. No, the original, the classic if you will, is still the best. A 4.4.

TOTAL: 16.7 (83.5%) Just as I had predicted, the Premiere Data comes out ahead.

PICTURE: Deanna Troi is a beautiful woman, and here pictured in her classic aquamarine dress, with nicely matching headband, but I still like her better in uniform (with the brown hair and highlights). I admit, THIS is how we saw her for most of the series' run, and she, quite appropriately, looks like she's been crying. Or someone else has. Either way, the right pic for the right job, though it's not that interesting. A 3.7.

LORE: All this telegram is missing is the STOP at the end of every sentence. It's very workmanlike, though her affinity for chocolate is mentioned. There's also her two species, the term counselor (which should make it to a reporting card some day) and her relationship to William T. Riker (more Trek specific than "romantically involved with"). Not bad, just, again, not great. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: As a psychologist, I might have put her in MEDICAL (like Karen Lowes), but she's also a bridge officer, passed her officer's exam, and I just can't see her working the Genetronic Replicator or even a Hypospray. So Officer it is and the Command icon makes more sense than the Staff (she can't really staff a ship, come on) because she did pass the test. She's an Empath, and a x2 representing full telepathy, only a single instance of the skill, actual Empathy. Her basic functions seem to include Diplomacy, going to conferences, working with ambassadors and, sensing the emotional status of opposing factions, advise her captain in diplomatic negociations. But where's the Anthropology exhibited in "Darmok" and other shows? The game text box lacks a lot of imagination, almost as if they didn't know what to do with her. The attributes are fair, with high Integrity being at a premium, Cunning high enough, and Strength in the lower numbers. Stiffling a yawn, I give this one a 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: Who uses two-skill personnel? Listen, there's nothing Premiere Deanna Troi can do (except supply a very common Command icon) that FC Deanna can't. They have the same two skills (with FC Dee getting two more, including a special skill), the same exact attributes, and the same exact name. And since neither can exist simultaneously with the other, your Empath of choice (I assume, the reason you wanted her in the first place, since Empathy is a good dilemma solver). FC Deanna Troi will solve First Contact (the mission) alone, persona-switch with Major Rakal at Diplomatic Conference, fit in your theme deck, and count as a counselor if and when that becomes relevant just as well as this one, and perform a number of tricks more. A mistake: 1.

TOTAL: 11.1 (55.5%) It's about time the two-skilled personnel were made into double mission specialists or something ;-).

PICTURE: A pretty standard pic taken on the beige bridge of the Enterprise-D. Devinoni (what kind of a name is that anyway?) has a nice contrasting suit, but his five o'clock shadow's a little strong for the 24th century. Slightly grubby (and more than slightly boring) at 2.9.

LORE: Again, pretty basic. We get species and romantic entanglements as usual (though "had a dangerous liaison" is a little spicier than the usual), plus a little background. His involvement in the Barzan Wormhole negociations is glossed over too quickly in the process. An even 3.

TREK SENSE: Okay, well, as a high-price negociator for hire, I guess he counts as a VIP, and requires a de facto Diplomacy. Empathy apparently can't be split down the middle to x½, but he seems to have enough for it to count. And Treachery... I guess Deanna Troi wrote up the report ;-). He did employ deception in his dealings, at the very least hiding his empathic sense from everyone involved. The Integrity is also representative of this, the Cunning shows him to be quite... um... cunning, and the Strength is equivalent to a wuss of his caliber. I think the Cunning is a bit overrated, but this is otherwise fine. Pretty clear-cut across the line, without any real bells and whistles - a 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: The reasons to stock a Non-Aligned Empath are multi-fold. While the Federation has plenty of telepath/empaths, the other affiliations usually don't have any (with the exception of the Romulan Major Rakal), who's going to pass Cardassian Trap for the Bajorans? Staff Gomtuu for the Cardassians? Complete New Contact for the Klingons? (Answer to that one: K'chiQ.) Cure Reflection Therapy and Frame of Mind for the Dominion? Or pass all those Empathy dilemmas? Most affiliations need the NA empaths, of which there are six. So where does Devinoni Ral fit into those six? The two Letheans have more useful classifications and skills. The others are all VIPs, many of which have Diplomacy. Maques trades the less useful Treachery for a better second level of Empathy. Ves Alkar is almost a clone of Ral, with weaker attributes, and a strange advantage/disadvantage. Tarmin has that special ability, but little else. I'd say Dev comes in at #4, not great, but not terrible. He'll fit in well with a redundant Romulan Treachery/Diplomacy deck, lending support to Rakal. My feeling is, he deserves a 3.4.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Troi found him to be a bit of a dud as well.

PICTURE: Of all the D'deridexes we have, this is the most static. It's just sitting there, where others are either flying, firing or simply dramatically angled. The harsher lighting also softens up the ship and makes it less dangerous. A weaker 2.3.

LORE: Just the basic story plus a matching commander for the bird. That last bit of info gives a little boost to the otherwise lackluster lore, and NO, the fact that Mendak is referred to as an Admiral here does NOT make him one for use with Office of the Proconsul. Sorry. A simple 3.1.

TREK SENSE: It's pretty much the basic D'deridex, with all the same good and bad (all sensical except for too-low staffing, and slightly elevated Range). Where it differs is in the attributes. +1 Range because it's part of an escape strategy. Weapons -1 because, after all, it never engaged the Enterprise. +1 Shields maybe because they had to stand her off anyway. You don't send a weak-shielded ship across the Neutral Zone. The matching commander is Mendak, as seen in "Data's Day". It fits, but nothing too original. Enough for a 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: The Cloak, the Tractor Beam, the Romula Ambush capability, the high stats for high staffing... we're used to that already. How is this unique warbird any better than the universal (which is reportable through Spacedoor?). Well, its RANGE is better, and so is the universal Achilles' heel, SHIELDS. It's not as good on WEAPONS though. Compared to the rest of the Romulan fleet, it's on the fast side, which is good, and its stats are well balanced on the whole. The matching commander is one of those not-so-great 2-skill personnel, just like the universal's Tomalak, but with a better skill selection. And since Romulan matching commanders are unique, you can't have a bunch of Tomalaks on the spaceline. The Romulans are great with Ready Room Door because all their big ships are Plaquable and Loggable. So Mendak reports for free after all (heck, he downloads!) and his ship can become an 11-11-11. Pretty good. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) Not the best D'deridex available.

PICTURE: I always like it when mediation translates as multiple planets (or planetoids) on a mission card. Look here: the big planet seems to be to be mediator to its two moons. I'v always been confused as to which episode this was supposed to be because the shot was also used in "Final Mission" (Peliar Zel is really from "The Host"), and the colors aren't too interesting, so a 3.3.

LORE: Your standard mission lore. Going for the average: 3

TREK SENSE: It's a diplomacy mission at its most basic. Diplomacy and a reasonable amount of common sense and integrity. The Feds are the big peace-makers of the quadrant (apparently, of ANY quadrant) so, are the ones to solve it. The points and Span are the game's average. All I can say (while stiffling a yawn) is that maybe "Any Odan" could replace an attribute requirement, just for flavor you understand. Again, a 3.

SEEDABILITY: The same way the Romulans have an Archeology/Treachery redundancy in their missions and personnel, and the Klingons have the same with Honor, the Federation excells at Diplomacy. Without going to the Non-Aligned well, they have close to 30 Diplomats, one a mission specialist, many in multiples, and lots of them big guns like Picard. They have 13 missions (more since some are universal) that require that very skill, a good mix of planet and space locations, and many with very few requirements beyond the Diplomacy. If you're looking for speed and skill redundancy, you might want to include this staple mission. You have other choices, but this one has only one affiliation icon and is as easy as they come. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) We got tired fast of pulling missions like this in the old days, but many of them are still useful.

PICTURE: Though the disruptor looks like a plastic toy and the electricity is a little hokey, this rare shot of a weapon in the process of exploding is an interesting, and appropriate, one. Appropriate to the card title anyway. Eye-catching. A 3.6.

LORE: Short and not at all appropriate, or is it? Is this card about equipment blowing up, or about blowing up equipment with "disruptor bombs"? The answer will astound you! Well... not really. It'll just sink the Trek Sense score. I'm not too impressed in this category either. A 2.5.

TREK SENSE: Unless I missed errata, this thing doesn't play on facilities. So disruptors don't overload on Nors, unless they're an opposing Away Team's equipment? Hmm, odd. Other than that, we really have to ask ourselves what's going on here. If the card is meant to symbolize equipment blowing up, malfunctioning, or, in the case of melee weapons, breaking, then it sort of works. A phaser malfunctions and blows up, say. The thought of a PADD with sparks flying is too silly to bear, so I'm understandably putting malfunctions in there. But a Medical Kit? What, they can't open the lunchbox? Gold-Pressed Latinum? Turns out to be fake? The fact that Artifacts are also included into the mix is iffy too, since Orbs aren't likely to explode, the Sword of Kahless probably wouldn't break, etc. Of course, the card title and lore do a poor job of explaining the card in this fashion. The way they make it sound though, a disruptor acts as a bomb that destroys the equipment. The question here is: why doesn't that hurt personnel standing around or holding it? Where does the bomb come from? Are ships that badly guarded? And there's aboslutely no reason why this card should have a random element without this silly bomb theory. A lame-o 2.1.

STOCKABILITY: The Amanda Rogers of Equipment cards, Disruptor Overload is about as useful as Equipment cards are. And these days, they are becoming more and more useful. Missions and dilemmas requirering them, stronger and better Equipment, more Artifacts used as Equipment, and Equipment that's necessary to survival like Ketracel-White. See the possibilities? Give your dilemmas a greater chance of hitting by destroying that necessary hand weapon or IP Scanner before an Away Team encounters it. Lower points on Kressari Rendezvous. Kill a PADD before you play "Crimson Forcefield". Have the Jem'Hadar go wild by nixing their stash of Ketracel, or pigeon-hole the Ferengi by invalidating their currency. Protect youself against personnel battle. You don't want to find yourself on the wrong end of a Bat'leth, believe me. Don't forget it also destroys many Artifacts, including the Orb of Prophecy and Change used to fix probes by some players, and a couple of destructive hand weapons. A good counter at 4.5, but impaired by that damned random selection.

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) A lot of problems, but still one effective piece of cardboard.

PICTURE: A little light in the color department, but as far as computer screen displays go (and we didn't really have a choice since such phenomena are invisible), it's okay. A little blurry, but at least you can read the planet's name. An even 3.

LORE: Short and sweet. Or not so sweet. Kinda boring really. An uninspired 2.

TREK SENSE: Don't get your tights in a bind about this not splitting Rikers in twain. That didn't happen to anyone else, so it's not common to all Distortion Fields. It did make transport difficult though. It had an intermitent effect on the show, just like here, though the gaps in the Field's operation were years apart, not turns. Different Fields for different planets? Maybe. But inaccurate. And why the mention of Pattern Enhancers when that card already mentions its effect on distortion fields? It makes sense, it's just redundant. A no-brainer at 3.8.

STOCKABILITY: As far as pollution goes, this one's pretty destructive. Play one on any given turn, then another on the next, and voila! There's always an active (face up) Distortion Field on that planet. Hope your opponent has landing/lift-off capability. The best place for this is either on a planet you mean to protect (either yours, which you will land on, or your opponent's, which is too lucrative to let him put his hands on), or on a lovely ground facility. It'll keep personnel from beaming to your Colony (with The Emissary in place to secure reporting, of course) or from beaming CIVILIANs to your opponent's. Better yet, surround an HQ with Distortion Fields and you've trapped a number of good personnel, or forced them to report somewhere else. Until recently, the fact that it played at slow event speed hampered it a bit, but with Scanner Interference, it's suddenly downloadable. Yee-haw! Still ways around it (Kevin, landable ships, Pattern Enhancers), but one of the better stalling cards. A personal favorite at 4.

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) I like it, maybe you don't.

PICTURE: Ooh, look at all the pretty colors! The picture was taken from "Where No One Has Gone Before", when the Enterprise, under the Traveller's power, warped uncontrollably to another galaxy. I sometimes wonder why this was the icon chosen to represent Premium cards. It's nice and distinctive alright, but are Premiums meant to represent "distortions" in the rules or in the expansion schedule? Maybe. I'd like to know what the designers were thinking. Doesn't affect the score in any case, which I squarely place at 3.

LORE: They really went all out, didn't they? At least it gives more of an explanation for Trek sense than the picture does... The title is the kind of thing that will keep this card from becoming a special download. ;-) A 2.5.

TREK SENSE: Let's immediately put the "snapshot" on the shelf, since the Traveller's moving the ship has absolutely nothing to do with the game text, or almost none. Let's concentrate instead on the lore, which talks about time effects being cause by spatial distortions (space and time being connected in Einstein's space/time continuum). The card allows a ship to encounter such a distortion and, while the rest of the universe proceeds apace (one turn per player, execution of orders limited by "stopping" and Range), this ship (and attendent Away Teams) has a little more time. Time is distorted in this instance so that a crew can accomplish twice as much as another in "normal space/time". The warping may be due to the ship's warp core itself, so I'm not too concerned about this not being played on an entire spaceline location, but there are other concerns. For example, if the ship is surrounded by the distortion, is the planet-side Away Team? If the answer is yes, what about opposing Away Teams at the exact same place? Or on a Nor, if that's where the Away Team is? Temporal mechanics give me headaches too... At least, the current rulings specify that this creates an extension of your turn, and not a hiccup extra turn during your opponent's, which supports the above theory. In good conscience, can't go above a 3.6.

STOCKABILITY: In the old days, before FAQs and Current Rulings, we used to give our ships extra moves during our opponent's turn all the time, which was useful, but led to more and more debates on the timing rules. These days, the card is a bit less useful, but where speed if often the issue, restoring your ship's RANGE or unstopping its Away Team can prove beneficial. Maybe hedge out your opponent at a crucial moment. For example, perhaps you want to get far on the spaceline, and don't want to stay at a vulnerable position while your opponent has her turn. Finish a mission now rather than later, etc. For those who like to play with Alien Parasites, it can give you an extra move with your opponent's vessel, and twice as many chances for mischief. It unstops an Away Team that just failed Q while the Sheliak are beating down. It unstops Away Team(s) that have beamed in invasively to an opponent's ships and need to get back on their ship to get back to their White. It give a ship that extra range to get away from an impending armada. Or if you need to get in an extra attack this turn against your opponent you can distortion and put some good tactics on their ship/facility. It can be used to shed a Cytherians faster. It'll unstop you after a lone RBM comes calling. There are a hundred reasons to stock this one. My thanks to fellow CCGer Sirna Kolrami for pointing out only a small sample, but a generous one nonetheless. Saved more than one player on the tournament scene. A 4.8.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) Finds its way in most of my decks, somehow. Can't be because of the lore.

PICTURE: A profile with a large space following the character's gaze is not something that's common in this card series, so this one's pretty original, and well-lighted to boot. Doesn't convey much of anything about the character however, keeping this one at 3.9.

LORE: You wouldn't know from the lore, but Divok is from "Rightful Heir", the cloned Kahless episode, in which he received a vision from Kahless. To make him truly universal, they've kept to the basics. The Tribble bit is a delicious piece of invention, especially pre-"Tribbles and Tribble-ations"! Great fun! Boosts the lore to a 4.

TREK SENSE: Well, following the lore, Divok indeed deserves to be universal, be MEDICAL and have Biology (worked on his own species). As part of his episode, it makes sense that cloning Kahless would require those two skills. The Youth must be derived from his looks, though I have a hard time determining some Klingons' ages (this one included) from looks alone. Indeed, would a young pup be included in such a secret and demanding project as re-creating Kahless the Unforgettable? Receiving visions as he did, he really should have Honor too. Nothing good or bad about the attributes or staff icon, except that Cunning is low in the context of the episode, but not in that of the lore. A mixed review, so a middling 3.

STOCKABILITY: Well, the Klingons used to have few MEDICALs, but that's no longer absolutely true. And too bad Divok has one too many skills to be a mission specialist. As he stands, he has a useful classification and two so-so skills. The things is, the Klingons, for some strange reason, have many MEDICAL/Biology missions, including Plague Planet and Medical Relief which Divok almost entirely solves. The Klingons are low on that skill to boot, so the universal (and cheap!) Divok can be useful. Youth is a little less useful, but is just as rare (rarer if you won't use Toral, and who would?). Good STRENGTH for a MEDICAL too, an attribute that often proves a liability. Divok's not a bad little card, but fairly limited. A 3 again.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) Unexpectedly high. Must be the Tribbles.

PICTURE: An ugly puss, ain't he? Ethan Phillips in the role of a Ferengi, and an angry one at that, looks like anything BUT a doctor, but that's the Ferengi for you. The card's high on gray and not especially interesting at 2.9.

LORE: Farek's universality is worked into the text, and then we get a whole tirade about his taking control of the Krayton. Unfortunately, that's not enough to make him a matching commander. Does lend to confusion though. And I would have thought he commanded the Krayton longer than Data did the Sutherland... 2.8 here.

TREK SENSE: It's in the title that he's a Doctor (thus, MEDICAL). And it says in the lore that he's a Ferengi (i.e. Greedy). As a "representative", Farek is universal. If he could take command of a ship, he must have Command status. Everything's coming up roses. Now, for the problems. Obviously, Farek should be Ferengi and not Non-Aligned, and I don't think such a minor character will ever get an orange persona à la Gul Madred. Secondly, he's a Greed specialist. Greed specialist? Now, I admit we're talking about the Ferengi here, but that's one of the mission specialities that don't make much sense. Even saying that it makes him a specialist in exploitation, that has some pretty wide latitude when you look at all the different situations Greed is used in. Also, note the total abscence of any Medical-related skills like Biology or Exobiology. The Integrity is a bit low for someone who respected the Ferengi Alliance's ideals more than his DaiMon. Cunning is okay for a doctor. And Strength, while Ferengi-ish, could have been a notch higher since he commandeered a vessel. (If I didn't mention his not being matching commander in the face of the lore, the reason is that I don't think all those "occasional" commanders like Data deserve the status in the first place.) A low 1.9 here.

STOCKABILITY: Okay, a Greed mission specialist should work well with Assign Mission Specialists, right? Sure, Farek can be brought in at the beginning of the game, and by anyone, even the newer affiliations who have no mission specialists of their own, but pre-RoA, there were only 3 missions that required Greed, none of them high-pointers. Sure, an armada of shuttles piloted by Fareks can go and solve the four universal Planets you need to win, but there's got to be a better way to get a victory. With RoA, Greed personnel are more interesting, being tools that work well with such things as the Rules of Acquisition, Bribery, etc. Note that there aren't that many Greed personnel in the non-Ferengi affiliations (although plenty of Non-Aligned Greed). RoA also supplies four more Greed missions, so it's not a bad choice to make Farek play with his own people. Two Fareks at Military Checkpoint makes that mission worth 50 points! And those universal Market Research missions could be going at 40 points a pop (that's without any other specialists). He's probably the best "suit" for the 47th Rule of Acquisition, since no one has less than one skill dot. And MEDICAL's a good classification at any rate. Attributes are a bit of a liability... Farek scores a 3.7.

TOTAL: 11.3 (56.5%) I've got the Premiere blues...

PICTURE: One of the better color-coordinated cards in the Federation corner, the blues and turquoises make for a nice match. Otherwise, this pull from a video screen is only slightly blurry, and there's not much drama here (except that of a father's concern for his son and wife). But what the heck, it's Ben Vereen in Star Trek drag! Gotta be worth a couple of decimals. A 3.5.

LORE: Family relationships and job resumes make for pretty boring reading. And his full name WAS given on the show, on Geordi's bio on a screen in "Cause and Effect". It's Edward M. LaForge. So dull it drops to 2.5.

TREK SENSE: Looks pretty solid. He's a noted specialist (says it right there in the lore) in Exobiology. It's a good mission specialty, and it's all he's known for. Also makes him Science, and the Staff icon is fair. Kinda sad for Geordi, when you consider that other dads (like Mogh) have almost legendary status and a full load of skills. The attributes are all okay, but could have been higher all around, except the Strength which seems about right. Nothing really special, but really, no mistakes. A 4.

STOCKABILITY: As a mission specialist, he can be reported through AMS, and then go on to score bonus points at the half-dozen or so Federation missions that require the skill. The Feds can make use of Exobiology easily, and that's without counting the growing number of dilemmas that require it. SCIENCE isn't too bad either. He's one of many SCIENCE-classification mission specialists, but at least his skill is unique (in other words, not Physics). Too bad he's not universal, one of those missions asks for a double dose. Attributes are nothing to cheer at, but the score stays at 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) So, when do we get Geordi's mom?

PICTURE: Leah is a lovely woman, even though she has odd tastes in clothes. What I especially like is how the two Leahs are looking in the same direction with pretty much only their expressions being different. The real one is skeptical, this one is totally committed. Love it. And the blueprint of the Enterprise in the background is a good tie-in to the woman who designed the ship. Giving it a 4.1.

LORE: Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Just the words the real Leah didn't want to hear! It's ridiculous (as are all of Geordi's romances) and a great idea to put on here. A 4.9. At least.

TREK SENSE: While I don't dispute that a ship designer essentially IS an Engineering mission specialist, I think that the fact that there are two Leahs should have opened up the possibility of different skill lists (especially with one a universal, which ensures duplication). But a hologram is more limited, so I'll take this one at par, and blast the other one when I come to it. Other than that, she has the usual universal icon grafted to all the holos (every grid can use the program). Her attributes show high Integrity which, because of her devotion, could have been even higher. She's very Cunning, smarter than Geordi because she DID help him with a problem he couldn't overcome. Her Strength is very low, because she was such a lamb. She's one point of Integrity and Strength down from the real Leah, which just goes to show that re-creations aren't as good as the real thing (though it appears to be as smart). A little uninspired, so only an average 3.

STOCKABILITY: Engineer decks work great with ENGINEER mission specialists, and the doc here is universal. So even a Repair Mission can use 3 of her for a +15 bonus. And while you can't download two of the same specialists with AMS, you almost can here, downloading both Leahs. Makes for very focused decks. And there are plenty of ENGINEER missions for the Federation to use. Plus, she's a hologram, so can't die in most cases, or even be sent away by a Love Interest. I wouldn't worry about erasure too much since most affiliations have no holos, holo-hosers aren't used much. Her two first attributes are pretty good. The Strength is pitiful though, but again, she can't really die. Not bad, a 3.8.

TOTAL: 15.8 (79%) The first couple of categories charmed me, but the rest left me a little cold.

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