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: Tasha's kid sister gets a welcome action pose which happily detracts from the terrible style of the set (pink?!?). The printing method used in Premiere doesn't reproduce the blueish purple of her bunny suit, but the composition is well-grounded, with the verticals being anchored by the solids at the bottom. As high as a 3.7.

LORE: Bare bones. Sure, we knew Tasha would be mentioned, but "once betrayed" is kind of weak as far as story details go (how many times was the Enterprise going to get betrayed by her anyway?). The only thing that would make the card more boring would be to add a date on there. As is, terminally average: 2.8.

TREK SENSE: Ishara's not part of the Federation because Tasha's colony certainly wasn't a member (not with the civil rights violations going on there daily). Tasha left and made something of herself. Ishara... didn't really. She's a Civilian, certainly, but one that can use computer consoles and the like, and that's the Staff icon. I suppose she's young enough to warrant the Youth skill, and she did betray Data and the Enterprise, so Treachery's there too. When your two skills are Treachery and Youthful impatience, it's a wonder they call you a support personnel. Anyway... I think she sort of got jipped on the Integrity, since she had a good heart somewhere in that chest of hers (sorry to bring attention to it), but was caught in the midst of something she couldn't control. Inversely, though she's tough, an 8 is the human maximum, and I don't think she quite qualifies. Close, but certainly not as strong as Kirk, Sisko and the like. Cunning sounds about right, not so high that she COULD control her situation, but high enough that she could trick Starfleet officers. The attributes leave something to be desired, but I think a case can be easily made for the rest. Enough for a 3.2.

STOCKABILITY: As a support personnel, any non-Borg affiliation can use her, in any quadrant, thanks to Assign Support Personnel. You can report her directly to ships or even download her. Would you want to? Youth isn't exactly the most useful of skills (though players afraid of Crystalline Entity might be interested). And Treachery is either rare in an affiliation, or very common, which is reflected on that affiliation's missions. So the Treacherous Romulans, Cardassians etc., don't need the support from the Non-Aligned clan, while the more honorable Feds will use the few they have (which isn't that small a number since Mirror, Mirror) and not require even MORE Treachery. Further, there isn't a real lack of affiliated support personnel with either skill (Neral has the same skills with a slightly better classification). She might find a home in younger affiliations, but they can probably get it all elsewhere. Her fairly good attributes just don't help her out of her 1.8.

TOTAL: 11.5 (57.5%) More binder fodder from Premiere.

PICTURE: J'Ddan at the drumhead tribunal is a good looking image. On one hand, he's got a unique style what with his Starfleet insignia and coveralls. On the other, the background's fuzzy molecule motif reminds us of the information stored in those amino acids he carries around. And the green on the card? That's the Romulan connection. An excellent convergence of elements for a clear 4.4.

LORE: The way it's phrased, universality doesn't just go unacknowledged, he actually sounds like a unique individual. His story's there, but the space left could have been used for something on the investigation, etc. A rather blah 2.7.

TREK SENSE: If I start with the basics, well, J'Ddan really shouldn't be universal unless there are a LOT of these treacherous Klingon scientists. I'm sure it's not the norm. And making him unique would have allowed for other Trek Sensical customizations. Among these, the affiliation. J'Ddan is Klingon by species, working with Starfleet, but in actuality a Romulan agent. That would have allowed for an interesting blend of dual-affiliations coupled with some infiltration icon. Maybe a Romulan with 2 infiltration icons? Or a Kli/Rom with a Fed infiltration icon? Something like that. As for skills, they're sound enough. He was Treacherous, yes, and his storing information would require some kind of biology. They chose Exobiology, probably because that was his field of study on the Enterprise. Makes sense. The low Integrity fits well enough, with low Cunning for getting caught and relatively low Strength for being a wussy scientist among the warrior race. It's the basics that ruin it and keep him at 2.

STOCKABILITY: Though a Klingon Honor deck is more coherent, Klingons can also be built around Treachery, especially when using the Mirror or OS kind. They've got more than a dozen potential missions, one of which being Secret Salvage II with its built-in outpost, though they usually have to share them with other affiliations. J'Ddan will fit well into that deck archetype, being a support personnel and all. His skills aren't too common on Klingon support, and the SCIENCE/Exobiology combo is good for dilemmas too. With his 6 CUNNING and Treachery, you won't lose him to Unscientific Method easily either. Universal Klingon sources for all his skills don't exactly grow on trees for that matter. So a good source of all 3 (if we count the SCIENCE), but of course, lame attributes. I can see this being a 3.4.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) Good thing the picture's good.

PICTURE: I don't care if that's James Cromwell under there, this big prune-head is incredibly deficient in necessary contrast. He seems to just melt into the background. If it wasn't for that, the pic'd be at least competent, if a bit dull. The buck stops at 1.7.

LORE: Short, but not particularly sweet. There was lots of room to spare, and it could have been used to flesh out the card a bit more, give more generic examples for one thing, perhaps tie it better to the game text. As is, it judiciously uses the word "uncover" which does a little of that, but it's much too brief. Only a 2.4.

TREK SENSE: Deck manipulation cards are basically conceptual and have a lot of work to do to convince me of their Trek Sense. Jaglom Shrek is meant to inform you of your opponent's doings (the Romulans, in the episode's case). He does this by allowing you to peek at your opponent's draw deck, which represents that opponent's future, in a certain sense. Well, he is some kind of psychic seer? Selling information about current conditions would be more sound, so seed cards, perhaps, or Hidden Agendas would have been better targets. Still, the "future" is planned for (deck construction) so he could learn about these resources somehow, but it seems more the purview of a spy than an informant. Representing the effect with a very specific character also creates problems, since Voyager would have no contact with this Alpha Quadrant Yridian, for example. Is he really the only game in time? That you don't have to trade something for the information isn't a problem however, since the Enterprise got stuff out of him by force rather than latinum. So the concept kind of works and is worth something like a 1.8.

STOCKABILITY: While getting a look at your opponent's draw deck, at interrupt speeds no less, sounds like a great effect, possibly giving you a heads up on a number of strategies and dangers, it's lost some of its power since downloading made the scene (but not that much). Now, once you've looked at your opponent's deck, he can just download something and shuffle his deck, making the information about what cards were next useless. Of course, you still have the information about what cards are in the deck, but it really depends on the individual player's memory as to what can be retained. Players with a little less mnemonic skill were given to just checking the first 10 cards or so. Being able to quickly analyze the deck is a good tool when using this card, that's for sure. What does the presence of such and such a card mean strategically? It remains a powerful card though it has a couple of disadvantages: One is that it can't be downloaded in any way so that you might get it real late in the game. Stocking multiples might not be too efficient since once you've seen the deck, you've seen the deck. Tent maybe? The other is the 20-second limit which again depends on a player's memory. Working in radio, I happen to think 20 seconds is an eternity (professional deformation), but some might not think so. In any case, you'll know for sure if they have a Writ (unless it's in Q's Tent, ack!). A 4.

TOTAL: 9.9 (49.5%) It's almost like cheating.

PICTURE: The slight blur on this image isn't very noticeable, and the pose and gun of the lantern-jawed Romulan get him into his role as security well enough. A competent 3.2.

LORE: You call that lore? The mention of Tal Shiar tends to lead to confusion, and that was the best part! So spartan, it doesn't even mention his universality, or justify anything but his classification. All it really does, is shy away from where his likeness was pulled from in the first place. A poor 1.1.

TREK SENSE: Did you know this guy is actually from "Future Imperfect"? So where's his Barash icon? Nowhere, so let's ignore this aspect of him. From the lore, we get that he's a Security personnel, and being so nondescript, I guess he's universal and a Staffer. While his looks may make a possible Youth, you gotta remember that he used to be in the Tal Shiar. Now I don't know about you, but anyone who had "former" employment probably isn't a Youth anymore. The Geology's not explained at all, and isn't even related to Security training. A wink at his origins, seeing as Barash's holodeck was in a cave? Cute if true. And I guess a former member of the Tal Shiar would not be considered to have the skill, huh? The network of contacts is gone just like that, as is access to certain files, the special authority granted the origanization and whatever espionage skills they might possess. Well, access and authority, yes, but the rest, I'm not so sure. Just look at Elim Garak, for a similar situation where a personnel was granted an intelligence skill even if a former agent. Of course, a "kid" like Jaron wouldn't have the same level of power as a player like Garak, so I'm inclined to agree with the absence of the skill here. Of course, the precedents established by the game don't jibe with this vision: former captains count as present matching commanders, former kais count as current kais, etc. As far as attributes go, the very high Strength makes sense given classification and the picture of him with a disruptor in hand (of course, the disruptor doesn't actually exist there). Cunning and Integrity are about Romulan-normal. A couple of thematic (but unproven) notions don't get this personnel card out of a 1.

STOCKABILITY: A universal support personnel which such high STRENGTH cannot be ignored by Romulan players. With Lower Decks, he's got 11 STRENGTH! Great for personnel battle, as a SECURITY, he should have little trouble at least stunning most personnel, and using Captured on them, if that's your strategy. A whole army of these guys can be assembled, reporting to your ship(s) at any location thanks to Assign Support Personnel. As mission solvers, Jarons aren't as good though. Youth has never been an important skill, even if 3 Romulan missions require it (they are easy discards at Investigate Legend, for example), and at least 3 other Rommie support personnel have it. Geology's better, appears on many more missions and dilemmas, and on fewer other support personnel. It's all about trade-offs. Would you rather carry Thei's OFFICER/Physics or Jaron's SECURITY/Youth/slightly high attributes? A semi-solid universal then at 3.4.

TOTAL: 8.7 (43.5%) I can understand they didn't have a lot of places out of which to pull Romulans in the old days.

PICTURE: When you have an entire series to choose your pic from, it better be a good one. The close-up of Picard is certainly well-chosen. It's from "The Best of Both Worlds" when he first sees the Borg Cube. As we now know, this episode would lead to his assimilation as Locutus, which would have repercussions as far as TNG's second movie. A meeting with destiny, if you will. Since there are no real flaws to take away from this, I'll call it a 4.5.

LORE: This telegraphic lore is okay, but not perfect. For example, repeating a personnel's name in the lore is just wasteful. Otherwise, while the sparks don't exactly fly, they've got a number of details here. His birthplace, his artificial heart, his love of Shakespeare (boringly written - the phrase, not the plays) are all mentioned. To explain his many skills/interests, they used the phrase "Renaissance man", which is a good way to do it (and something of an understatement). A good level of detail, and add to that matching commander status for a ship (the USS Enterprise). Going for a 3.9.

TREK SENSE: Picard is a good captain (Officer/Command/Leadership) who's mostly proven himself on diplomatic missions. I don't think the x2 is overrating him at all. He's been trusted by the Klingons, which certainly can account for his Honor (even without all the selfless acts). Archaeology is one of those "Renaissance" skills, something he was always interested in, according to Richard Galen, and picked up more seriously later. Another hobby of his is Music, in particular the flute (after "The Inner Light"). Finally, we have Navigation which was also quite in evidence. Picard piloted his own shuttles often enough, and recounted being a helmsman in his younger years (we all gotta start somewhere). The only series captain who actually followed the Prime Directive religiously, Picard gets very high Integrity. Totally deserved, and no one's better for making righteous speaches about sentient rights. He's a thoughtful man, so the Cunning certainly sticks, but isn't really a fighter (no matter how much Patrick Stewart begged for action scenes). He's still a competent opponent, so the 6 is fair. No flagrant omissions and no borderline additions, just the skills that you were sure Picard would have, which isn't an obvious thing to do with a character that's gone through 7 seasons. The only skill missing would be Law, which was invented only later (too bad 'cuz there was room for it). Still good enough for a 4.7.

STOCKABILITY: Remember when Picard was the only personnel with 6 skills? You no longer have to be quite that level of icon to get 6 or more these days, of course, so how does this Premiere card hold up? Well, 6 skills is still 6 skills. Sure, Music has a limited use (though Ressikan decks and various missions and dilemmas are always options), but the rest are pretty useful. A double Diplomacy allows Picard to go though Q-Nets like butter and supply a lot of the skill toward beating various dilemmas and solving missions. Honor and Archaeology aren't in demand as much, but you can build your decks around the skill(s). Navigation and Leadership are old stand-bys, and the attributes are great. Of course, there isn't very much here you can't find elsewhere, just not in this configuration. Of all the early personnel built like this, such as Ian Andrew Troi, Jack Crusher and William T. Riker, Picard remains the better man. Let's not forget everything that's NOT in the skill box, after all. He can specifically pass Drumhead as if he had Law. He's the matching commander of the USS Enterprise (boosted stats: 11-11-12), a ship that can use Wall of Ships and The Emperor's New Cloak to boot. He also commands the USS Stargazer (10-10-9 with boost). His persona also has a large number of versions. Ok, 2 of these can't work with the Feds (well, it's possible to turn him into Galen somewhere, but Locutus is right out). The others vary in usefulness, but are generally good. You've got the ultra-rare Dixon Hill (a powerful mission solver who also enables Carlos' special skill), the FC Jean-Luc Picard (switch for access to a couple downloads) and 2 dual-personnel versions, one with Beverly and the other with Data (with additional Romulan icon). All of this adds flexibility to the personnel, though the last two require you to play with other mains. Is the original the one to use? Once your FC version has downloaded its cards, yes. Dixon Hill just doesn't have the dilemma-passing power the original did. A 4.2 should do.

TOTAL: 17.3 (86.5%) Somebody finally beat Data for #1 Fed personnel!

PICTURE: The sexy and provocative pose suits this character whose role was that of a love interest in the show. Having her off to the side is interesting compositionally (the black space follows her gaze) and the bluish background makes her gold suit and hair stand out. It's a fun 4.

LORE: Her relationship with Data is of course the main gist of the lore, but I can't help but think it was mishandled. That last line for example, is a rather boring detail to bring up. I would have gone with something about the amount of pressure to apply to her lips, or that she was always attracted to cold men. The wasted space might even have been used to talk about her a little more - that she worked in the torpedo bay, for example, or what her musical instrument of choice is. Heck, it would have been cute to say she felt alienated or something as a reference to her role in Alien Nation. What's there is competent, sure, but a little disappointing. A 2.8 from me.

TREK SENSE: Working in the torpedo bay is more tactical/Security than it is Engineer, so she wears the gold suit for that service. But how is that associated with Stellar Cartography? Maybe it has to do with guiding systems, though I would have used Navigation or Computer Skill for that myself. So I'm not sure. Music, of course, is shown in the episode, and part of her attraction to Data came from their playing in the same quartet. What's missing from the card is glaring however (all due to the simpler mechanics of Premiere, of course). Had this card been made today, it would boost Data in some way, and might even have a special download for Photon Torpedos. Similarly, I can't believe a guest star like this only rates as a support personnel. As for attributes, Integrity's your basic Federation 7, while Cunning 6 makes her a little flighty and perhaps unable to control her relationships. Fair enough, though you'd think Data would aim for someone a bit closer to him intellectually. The Strength of 5 is perhaps a bit low for a Security personnel, but you have to remember she wasn't a guard, more of a technician. Again, disappointment is registered: a 2.3.

STOCKABILITY: Jenna's got some interesting skills for a SECURITY personnel, but only Stellar Cartography is really that useful. That's unless you're running a Ressikan Flute deck that would like to have as many classifications on hand as possible (never a bad thing). She would still not be alone, as another easily-reported female support personnel has both SECURITY and Music: Obarakeh (not to mention non-support personnel like Miles O'Brien from Fajo and Tuvok). She's not the only support personnel with Stellar Cartography either, but she is the only Alpha Quadrant native with both that skill and a SECURITY classification. All depends on your deck's needs. Are there missions you can build around her? Nope. You can't even find missions that have a combination of two of her skills for the Feds. That limits her usefulness quite a lot, setting the score at no more than 3.

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) We're due for an updated version.

PICTURE: Uncredited actress, but she's kind of got a Molly Shannon with a knot in her panties-look going, but it's actually Patricia Tallman of Babylon 5 fame. It's intriguing on that front, though it's basically your standard bust shot, with part of the background much too bright for the rest of the pic. Oh, a 3.

LORE: Re-creation, perhaps. Holographic re-creation? I think not. With that much room to spare, they could at least have padded these sentences with necessary articles or something. No context either. Sigh. No better than a 0.4.

TREK SENSE: Terrible. This is a singularity life-form from "Timescape" having taken Romulan form. I don't know just how they could take humanoid form, and perhaps it is as constructs of photons and force-fields, but even if that were so, they don't obey the same laws as true holograms. They didn't need a Holodeck to exist for example, nor could they be properly deactivated, I don't think. They certainly weren't Romulan affiliation, weren't universal and carriable in every warbird's database. It's all nonsense. If this is a singularity alien, then even the skills are dubious, unless it really is a re-creation of an actual crewmember (but where was the real Jera?), in which case, these could be her skills. Youth would go by her looks, and the Medical-related skills would be pulled by her presence in sickbay (the frozen scene where Beverly's being shot, oh, and the same actress was Beverly's stand-in double). I can't even comment on the attributes since we don't know what we're really dealing with here. Is she an alien? The mirror of a real Jera? A hologram representing an alien representing Jera? Whose attributes are those? The aliens seemed to be victims, so her actions would not have gotten her such low Integrity, for example. Anyway, a poor 0.8.

STOCKABILITY: The Romulans don't have very many Holodecks, though this situation has gotten better in more recent expansions. Now, the Prometheus can be added to the Decius, or Holodeck Door can be played on any ol' ship. When the card was printed, you pretty much had to employ the Husnock Ship or Holo-Projectors to use the two Romulan holograms. But was she even worth using? Not particularly - two skills didn't amount to much. Today, she's a support personnel, which would allow her to report directly to a ship with a Holodeck (without Holodeck Door, natch). The Romulans have relatively few MEDICAL personnel, and about the same number of Biology personnel. Both are very useful however. Ironically, Youth appears on many more Rommies, but can be used with less than a handful of missions, and about as many dilemmas. That's a terrible skill to stick her with considering that she already isn't that great. All I see this being useful for is planting Holo-Projectors (current game text) on Investigate Legend and discarding a couple of cheap Jeras there to meet the requirements. She IS the only support personnel with Biology they have, but the need for a Holodeck may make Dr. Nydom (who also has MEDICAL) or Etana Jol (with Romulan-friendly Treachery) better choices from the NA camp. With the Children of Light, she'll serve as a good MEDICAL, but she's still a none-too-crucial 2.6.

TOTAL: 6.8 (34%) Not only the lowest Romulan score, but also the lowest Personnel score to date.

PICTURE: Jo'Bril has shows off an interesting and detailed costume design to go with his equally interesting (if Nerf-like) make-up. The background is tinted as his costume is, in purplish gray, and those bright flares to the left remind of his mission through a star's corona. Not bad at 3.5.

LORE: Blah. With that extra line of text available, they could have given us a few more details on, for example, Jo'Bril's resiliance and/or faked death (he even survived an autopsy!). But no, what we get is ok, but partial (attempted theft? what about murder?). Anyway, a disappointing 2.8.

TREK SENSE: Speaking of disappointments, Jo'Bril's surprising knack for surviving lethal radiation and subsequent ability to place himself in suspended animation would have made an interesting special skill. Alas, those weren't quite in vogue yet in the Premiere set. He was murderer and thief, so Treachery, Greed and low Integrity are, of course, a must. But he was also a scientist interested in shields that could protect a ship in a star's corona (his actual bag was solar plasma reactions), so Astrophysics and Physics are also a must (and the Science equally defensible). He test-piloted the shuttle in "Suspicions", so why no Navigation? He's a smart one, though not smart enough to come up with Metaphasic Shields himself, so he's a point less Cunning than Dr. Reyga. He's a couple points higher in Strength though, and has to be to overpower Reyga (plus general toughness). A Command icon? Not sure anything above Staff was warranted. What did he command exactly? The Federation shuttle Justman? Not a very rigorous design at 2.6.

STOCKABILITY: An Alpha Quadrant Non-Aligned SCIENCE personnel with 4 skills and no staffing problems. Useful? All depends on your affiliation's deficiencies (or what it wants even more of). Jo'Bril will work well with Ferengi, for example, due to Treachery and Greed. Not only do his skills figure on Ferengi missions (including Physics and Astrophysics), but he can be used in combination with a couple Rules of Acquisition. He's very well suited for missions like Purchase Moon that are Ferengi-only, but also for wider efforts such as Collect Sample (brings 3 skills to bear on that one), Acquire Illicit Explosives and Cargo Rendezvous. There are no Alpha Quadrant NAs with a skill pool even close to his, half-way between Greedy Ferengi-ism and Romulish space-mission solving. So a useful enough personnel as back-up for a couple of deck archetype, or to helps out with certain dilemmas (including Unscientific Method, appropriately enough). A 3.5 here.

TOTAL: 12.4 (62%) Hey, he managed to get killed by Beverly Crusher, only a death blow from her son would be more humiliating ;-).

PICTURE: K'Ehleyr's a striking woman, and I've always liked that broach of hers, which borrows as much of the Klingon symbol as it does the Starfleet insignia, but I find fault with the ultimately too sallow color scheme. Is there an olive green filter thrown over the image? I gotta say that hurts the score, but I'll still give it a 3.1.

LORE: Telegraphic and ultimately, boring, even if being an Ambassador is an advantage for a Federation personnel. Yeah, real blah. A 2.5.

TREK SENSE: K'Ehleyr's an Amabassador (VIP, Diplomacy) and a good, if forward-thinking, Klingon (Honor, high Integrity). She seemed capable enough, technically, so I'll easily grant her that Staff icon, and might even have gone as far as Navigation (could that probe/torpedo be piloted?). As knowledgeable as she was about Klingon politics, Anthropology should have been part of the package, and at least a point more in Cunning. She was quite a good adviser. Strength seems fine, enough to mate with Worf at any rate. What hurts most here isn't the few missing skills, not really, it's that such an important character gets so little to do. Had she been made post-Premiere, she could have boosted Worf and Alexander (even downloaded the latter), fake-commanded the Enterprise with Worf, countered Duras or arrived via probe (or does Assign Support Personnel simulate this enough for you?). I don't rightly know, but I do know she deserved more than support status. A disappointing 1.5.

STOCKABILITY: Diplomacy and Honor should be able to find space in a Federation deck, but since they have a LOT of those skills, the advantage of reporting a support personnel with them directly to a ship won't be that important. Likewise her ability to report for free to the Office of the President. Feds who'd like to use Klingon Honor cards would do well to include her (and her family), and she might smooth things over in a Fed/Kli Treaty deck, but I'm not sure that's reason enough to take her out of the binder. Nice attributes going to waste here... A 2.8.

TOTAL: 9.9 (49.5%) Note that she's not the only cool or important Federation character to get the shaft.

PICTURE: The red "V" in the back makes for an interesting composition, and the full regalia on his sash can be perused with interest, but the contrast is a bit off, his face pretty much disappearing into the light fixture. We'll blame it on the printing, I guess, and give it a 3.2.

LORE: High Council Leader has some use in the game, but not as much as Chancellor, which is what he really was. The "prior to Gowron" makes him a thing of the past, which contradicts the wording of most cards (they usually put a character in his or her present). The Arbiter thing is fine, but they could have said so much more about K'mpec. Bit of a shame, really. And a 2.7 from me.

TREK SENSE: When the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire (call him what you will) is classified as a support personnel, you know the character's been slighted. Certainly, he was a VIP and a Leader, and yes, Diplomacy was certainly among his skills. That can't be denied. But where's the rest? Had he been made today, we might expect Law and a special download (from the lore, of Arbiter of Succession), but those weren't available in Premiere. Deadly dull, isn't it? And I would have thought this kind of situation would have prompted special skills sooner. Honor should definitely have been part of the package, at the risk of being a lot like Gowron (who in fact, deserved even more skills). Since he was a bit sickly at one point (well, he was being poisoned), I might have lowered the Strength more, but in the game, he probably wouldn't be dying, and an old Klingon still has a lot of vitality, as we've often seen. Other attributes fit fine. A lack of foresight that created this one can't be worth above 1.8.

STOCKABILITY: He reports for free to The Great Hall and passes Executive Authorization, but lacks the little extras afforded to a Chancellor. He reports directly to your ship with Assign Support Personnel, but brings a couple of real common skills to the table. New Contact, Seek Life-Form and Investigate "Hole in Space" will all make use of his two skills, and he's easier to get to a ship in need than Governor Worf, Gowron or K'mtar. Of course, there are other Diplomacy support personnel, and other Leadership support, and sometimes with better classifications. He'll still help with common requirements, but again, those skills are very common in the Empire already. Giving him a flagship to command might have helped, but as is, he's no more than ok at 2.9.

TOTAL: 10.6 (53%) Didn't do as well as Duras or Gowron. Replace him! ;-)

PICTURE: Good composition with the Klingon "dagger" in the background. K'Tal is imposing as would befit a Klingon VIP. The blurring is mostly due to Premiere's printing process, I gather. A decent package at 3.4.

LORE: Just the facts, m'am. Only one of those facts deserves mention here, and that's the High Council which allows K'Tal to report for free. Nothing too interesting otherwise, this is a 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Self-evident, I guess, that a Klingon member of the High Council who was basically a good guy (in relation to our TNG heroes) would have VIP, Diplomacy and high Integrity. The low Strength may have something to do with his advanced age, but does the Cunning also follow the same logic? 5 is very low indeed, and I'm not sure K'Tal was such a nitwit. I don't even think a Cunning 5 personnel could have any kind of longevity in the Klingon High Council. He's been "sitting behind a desk" long enough to lose any kind of staffing icon, I'm on board with that, but the card may be judged more by what's missing than what's there. A guy who mostly stays on-planet does not exactly correspond to my idea of "mission specialist", and there was an opportunity here, with his presiding over a "coronation", for an interesting special skill or two. As is, you've got an important government official who doesn't pull his own weight. Dull and short-sighted, K'Tal gets a 2.5 here.

STOCKABILITY: The Klingons are fully loaded with DipHoLes, and thankfully, they have the missions to go with those skills. So K'Tal will be of use on more than a dozen Klingon missions, filling the Diplomacy spot for 5 extra points. Cloaked Mission, for example, couldn't be more geared toward mission specialists. Other interesting missions in this vein include Krios Suppression and Pegasus Search. And while there are more than one Navigation and Honor mission specialists in the Empire, K'Tal is the only Diplomat of the bunch. It's a bit too bad the VIP isn't more useful, and that his attributes are so pitiful. He can report for free to The Great Hall, which could save you an Assign Mission Specialists download if nothing else. For MS decks, a must. As for his score, a 3.5.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) A bit dull, but still useful.

PICTURE: That's Entertainment Tonight's John Tesh under that Klingon make-up, even if you can't really tell (it was part of a publicity stunt for TNG on that show, which, like Star Trek, is produced by Paramount/ViaCom), and his statuesque pose works well for him... and is it a coincidence that you can make out both an E and a T in his forehead ridges? I also like the ribbed structures behind him, they add to the overall composition. A classic image (maybe because I've got dozens upon dozens of copies) at 4.2.

LORE: Well, the name of the character is fun enough, but the rest is pretty standard. There's room enough to make him a "holographic re-creation", which is usually the phrase used in these cases, but the lore deviates from that. Why? Another anomaly is the alternate spelling of "painstik". Hey, I prefer "pain-stick", but other cards disagree. I also don't think it was necessary to make this be a re-creation of a guy who perfected stick use in some way. It's just too much. It's not the heavy-handed easter egg in the title that will save the card from a 1.6.

TREK SENSE: Basically a non-speaking part, we'll have to look at the lore to see what he should be like. And it, at least, explains his classification. If he worked on painstik technology, he would need to be competent in that field. The buck stops there however. Stellar Cartography? It fits neither the lore, nor the show! Anthropology and Honor for participation in a ceremony? Sure. A Klingon Painstik download? Yes, if it had been possible in Premiere. Music as an easter egg regarding John Tesh's neo-classical music career? It would have worked in a ceremonial context, but then again, have you ever listened to John Tesh's music? Music x¼ maybe? ;-) Actually, Stellar Cartography is such an easter egg given that Tesh worked for Entertainment Tonight, a show that follows the stars, the Hollywood stars. Cute, ok, but doesn't translate that well to the character, especially when that's all you give him. As for attributes, you don't need to be too smart to poke people with a painstik, so the hologram need not have been programmed with more than a 5. 5 Integrity may be a little humano-centric, because dealing out pain here is in an honorable context, but I see where they were going with it. Strength 6? Doesn't look quite right from stature, weapon handling, ruthlessness... I'd have gone for at least a 7. And the score? A none-too-hot 2.2.

STOCKABILITY: Stellar Cartography helps out on a fair number of Klingon missions (and solves Study Stellar Collision entirely), and a mission specialist in that field can be of real benefit. As a hologram, you'll have more trouble beaming him to a planet, but let's just say there are few planet missions that require Stellar Cartography (but they exist, like Avert Danger). From the safety of a ship, then, K'Tesh can add points to Chart Stellar Cluster or Survey Mission. But what ship? Indeed, the Klingons have few Holodecks, being limited to only the hardest to staff ships in that regard. Holodeck Door solves that problem, but is is worth it for the few holograms the Klingons have? K'Tesh and Fek'lhr are pretty much it, not even a Child of Light to call their own. So unless you want to use some Non-Aligned holos (and there are admitedly plenty to choose from), a Holodeck isn't the best investment for the Empire. Still, Stellar Cartography isn't that common for the Klingons, but no less useful in mission attempts, and he's their only mission specialist ENGINEER. Could be a cheap download for you. Gonna call it a 3.

TOTAL: 11 (55%) Lucky to get this high.

PICTURE: Why was a Klingon captain given the soft lense treatment usually afforded Kirk's dates? The printing process really doesn't do the image justice. It's unfortunate because he's got a good expression, and the lighting is interesting. Slightly sub-par at 2.9.

LORE: Yawn. The single sentence does not testify to the personality exuded by this Klingon. It's just a basic context for figuring out which episode he was in. Not even made matching commander for a ship. Deadly dull at 2.3.

TREK SENSE: As a ship commander, Officer/Leadership/Command icon makes absolute sense. Navigation was used to get to Romulus without being detected. That's it!?! I always buck at captains being made "support personnel", and I'm sure if K'Vada was made today, he'd have an interesting cloak-related special skill (at the very least a special download for Engage Cloak). Here's to seeing him in 2nd Edition. As for attributes, the Integrity seems a bit high for a Klingon with no Honor. That, plus he was pretty intolerant of the Federation personnel he was ferrying. Cunning, on the other hand, is way too low. 5 is outright stupid, which I don't believe he was. He was in command of a ship and his mission was a success, both of which require a bit more in the smarts department. Strength is fine, but given his toughness and size, could have been a point higher. I'm really not impressed: 1.9.

STOCKABILITY: K'Vada turns out to be a fairly poor support personnel for the Klingons. Both his skills are quite common, and even show up on other support personnel, as well as together on some key Klingons you might well be stocking (Governor Worf, Martok, even the Regent). Together, they only appear on one Klingon mission in the Alpha Quadrant: Pegasus Search (yep, not even Cloaked Mission). In the DQ, since he CAN report there with Assign Support Personnel, there's Corner Enemy Ship. I'm not saying Leadership and Navigation are not useful, but being so common, you have to consider the source. If K'Vada doesn't bring anything more to the table, you'll be getting those skills somewhere else. Sure, he's got good INTEGRITY, and he'll pass Maglocks (CUNNING is paltry though), but I can't recommend him outside of sealed deck play (where a recommendation is useless, you play with what you get). A 1.7.

TOTAL: 8.8 (44%) Certainly deserves better.

PICTURE: A great shot of Kahless the Unforgettable (actually, Kahless the Clone) with bat'leth. The pose is classic, but I do think the soft focus lense is a bit ridiculous. That, and the inset Klingon to his right (actually behind him), makes this look like a kitschy graduation photo. That said, the pose and composition are strong enough to warrant a 3.8.

LORE: The lore doesn't forget to make him Emperor, but is otherwise unremarkable. Something mythical about the true Kahless might have been interesting too. A 3 as is.

TREK SENSE: Only nominally Emperor - the Council has the true political power - Kahless is still VIP and would wield at least some power, just enough for a Command icon. No Leadership for him, perhaps because too many Klingons mistrust his origins. The Honor x2 isn't a problem though as Kahless was the father of the whole Honor thing and proved to be a decent guy in "Rightful Heir". Plus, he was more than conversant in Klingon tradition, something the Honor skill has come to mean in some circles. But that's it? Well, the clone didn't do much else, and was a man out of his time so might not have been versed in any 24th-century skill. Fine. The super-high Integrity goes with the Honor, and even in DS9, was said to oppose Gowron's unjust war against the Cardassians (that no one listened is further proof of the clone's lack of Leadership, I guess). His Cunning is pretty low because he was confused about the modern world and would later be turned into a "puppet king". One of the proofs of his being a fraud was that he lost a fight to Gowron, so his Strength can't very well be as high. Gowron's got a 9, so this Kahless as an 8. Though the spare skill box is a disappointment, you can't really argue with what's there. A 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: The Klingons have way too many Honor mission specialists - 6 in all! - so a VIP (bad classification) with Honor x2 (which doesn't give you +10 to solve that Honor mission) isn't necessarily a bonus. Nor does it seem that important to grab this mission specialist either through AMS, Going to the Top (as Emperor) or report him for free at The Great Hall on that basis. The super-high INTEGRITY is nice, but not a big Klingon weakness. Kahless' saving grace may come in the guise of the Sword of Kahless. This Artifact not only makes Honorable Klingons present STRENGTH +3, but Kahless himself +10 (7 more)! That pretty standard 8 becomes a whopping 18 on a level playing field with Fek'lhr (who, because of the Sword would also be at 18). With his Sword, Kahless may also not be killed in personnel battle. Sure, he wouldn't be mortally wounded with that high STRENGTH, but he might have been selected as an end of battle casualty. Basically, this allows him to go in battle alone against any number of foes without fear of dying because he lost the overall fight. Well, you'll need to either give him Leadership somehow (Mot's Advice/Reflection Therapy?) or lend the support of a leader to initiate such battles. While your Sword is out, might as well attempt some Bat'leth Tournaments. The universal mission is worth 35 points if you use the Sword there (40 if you use AMS). It's all about combining cards, but remember that the Sword must be acquired, which takes some time. Thankfully, once found, you won't have to wait for Kahless to show up given the various reporting means open to him. Speaking of such means, AMS should allow him to report to the Delta Quadrant, where his Honor and INTEGRITY can be put to use working for Ancestral Vision. Puts him at 4.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) The real one would no doubt do better. He's divine!

PICTURE: Huh? Why use the female Odan, barely seen on the show, instead of the male Ambassador Beverly fell in love with? I know I could put that under Trek Sense maybe, but it goes to the pic too, doesn't it? There were more interesting shots of the male Odan. This hurt bust shot is ok, but you're left wondering: "Who is this?" And before anyone says they chose the female Odan because she was left alive at the end of the episode, just look through your collection and count the number of Personnel that died on the show. I'm not really going to penalize the card for the different Trill make-up. I'm just glad this isn't what Jadzia and Ezri had going. A grayish 2.8.

LORE: Had this been a male Odan, we could have learned something about his mission, his likes and dislikes, etc., but we now have to devote an entire line to the gender switch, or else suffer the slings and arrows that lores like the Mirror universe Ezri's attract. The word "Ambassador" has some use, so I'll throw in a little extra, but this turns out to be a rather dull 2.8.

TREK SENSE: The card makes a leap of faith that this host will choose to continue being an ambassador, but with the track record Odan showed, it's not a big leap. Someone in that profession is definitely a VIP, but you might have expected the famous Odan to have more than a single instance of Diplomacy. Perhaps the new host must suffer a period of adjustment, or else Diplomacy is reduced when the people you negotiate with don't recognize you (it happened in the show). Still, how about being a diplomat for multiple generations? Doesn't that count for something? Computer Skill makes as much sense as anything. It's a standard 24th-century skill that fits almost anyone. Bleh. I can think of more applicable skills for a long-lived Trill. His/her "love conquers all" attitude and diplomatic streak gives Odan very high Integrity, I agree. The Cunning and Strength seem fine from what we saw on the show. One thing that's been forgotten (hey, by the DS9 people too) is that, according to this episode, Trill cannot safely be beamed. Odan can beam anytime she wants however. DS9 has the excuse that a different host-type was used (spotted rather than ridged), so maybe that's it. STCCG has no such excuse. Really not what an Odan can should look like, and thus only a 1.2.

STOCKABILITY: A Federation support personnel with 2 of the most common, but necessary, skills in the game could be useful or it could be redundant, according to what else you have in your deck. Still, someone you can report directly to a ship, or even download there in a pinch, can help back-up your most prized abilities. The female gender and high INTEGRITY don't hurt either. In fact, she's better as an easily-reported back-up, and I wouldn't really use Office of the President to report her for free unless the mission I was attempting was my homeworld's (well, Secure Homeworld). Still, as an Ambassador, she can do this. She's also a joined Trill, which has only one use: helping solve Symbiont Diagnosis. Now, ok, she's got one of the required Diplomacies, but hey, that mission is way too hard to be really worth it unless you go at it with all guns blazing (i.e. mission specialist points and more, for a one mission win). If you do attempt it, and lose your Dax, an Odan can come in handy. Of course, it also makes her vulnerable to Palukoo. Also, it should be noted that the Feds have plenty of Diplomacy and Computer Skill support personnel (just never the two skills together), and that her VIP is just about the worst classification among those. For the few times you might use her, an average 3.

TOTAL: 9.8 (49%) Maybe 2E will rectify the situation.

PICTURE: There's a little color burn on this extreme close-up, but you can't tell me Kargan doesn't look fearsome. The quintessential angry Klingons shot, it gets a good 3.5.

LORE: Pretty dull. Aside from the basic context from "A Matter of Honor" and matching commander status for the Pagh, there isn't much here. Yet, there was room for it. Just a 3.1, mostly for the m.c.

TREK SENSE: As captain, he's an Officer with a Command icon. He governed with the principles of Honor even if he was a little paranoid about the Federation (maybe the Integrity's still too high at 7). Computer Skill? Why? There's no real reason. It's just a skill that's easy to justify in the 24th century. And that's it? No Leadership? He even inspired the loyalty of Riker (for a while). Post-Premiere, I'm sure he would have allowed a Fed to mix with his crew or something. None of that here. To make matters worse, we get a captain who's also a "support personnel". Seems like the two are mutually exclusive terms. The rest works, however. He was indeed the matching commander of the Pagh, he was pretty dumb in not believing Riker about the Enterprise's intentions (and allowing himself to be tricked by him - "hold this" indeed!), and was a big burly Klingon who ruled with force (high Strength). It's just not enough to get a passing grade. Only 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: With rather low SHIELDS, the IKC Pagh wouldn't be my first choice for a ship, not when the DS9 birds-of-prey are usually better, and the universal K'Vorts more useful for armadas. Its matching commander makes it a 10-10-9 ship, and is easily reportable as a support personnel, and that may be both their saving graces. What does he have to offer as a personnel otherwise? Well, Honor is a big skill for Klingons. The more you have, usually the better, as much for completing missions as for using Klingon-specific cards. There's only one other Klingon support personnel with Honor, and that's the holographic Fek'lhr (which is good for Kargan). Of course, there are plenty of Honor mission specialists, and the skill is ultra-common, so reporting an Honor personnel mid-game at your ship is only worth so much. There are 2 other Klingon Computer Skill support personnel, each useful for its own reasons (Morag and Daval), but not that much more than Kargan. The skill is another common but useful one, and again, covered by a mission specialist, which may be the easiest way to get the skill for a first turn commandeer of Empok Nor. Kargan's high STRENGTH also helps. I'd say that, like any support personnel, his usefulness depends on what you need to back up in your deck. Since his skills are very common, I don't think they really need to be backed up that much. How about a middle-ground 3?

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) Time for a new version of Captain Kargan.

PICTURE: Though the colors are more dull than vibrant due to Premiere's printing process, this isn't a bad pic, especially thanks to the interesting costume and matching silver hair. Gives Kell resonance and a score of 3.4.

LORE: The details are there and a little more. The "more" is basically a mention of the High Council, which allows him to report for free at The Great Hall. I'd say, oh, 3.3?

TREK SENSE: Had Kell been made today (well, a few months ago, today he'd be 2E), he would at the very least have been dual-affiliation. If not Kli/Rom, then totally Romulan with an infiltration icon. The lore's pretty explicit about that connection. Speaking of connections, an outright, on-card, link to either Brainwash or E-Band Emissions would have been included too. As is, we get a VIP (yes, sure) who's a Treachery mission specialist. Does that sound right? Well, Treachery can be equated with espionage, so sure, he's a spy. Still, I can think of other skills for him, like Diplomacy for example, that don't show up here. Ok, one last look at attributes, then we score it. Integrity should be this low for a Klingon to work with the Romulans like this. Low Cunning doesn't quite do it for me though. The operation he was involved in didn't work out, but he was still very duplicitous and an older (some might say wiser, by default) character. The Strength is fine for a Klingon senior, I guess. Don't think much of this one, so just 1.7.

STOCKABILITY: Klingons are not likely to run capturing/infiltration strategies, but if that's your interest, there's Kell. Oh, by himself, he doesn't do much, but he does protect E-Band Emissions from nullification, protecting your Brainwash and the extra infiltrator status afforded captives. As a mission specialist, he can be downloaded at the start of the game to protect that card if seeded. There's always that. Oh, he's easy enough to report between AMS and the free report at The Great Hall, but how much use will he be in your standard Klingon deck? They're more interested in Honor, no? Well, there is a fair segment of the affiliation that has Treachery, so a deck can revolve around them (possibly in a Treaty with the Romulans). About a dozen Klingon (or "Any") missions require the skill (and would benefit from his +5 mission specialist bonus), though a few of them offer alternatives for which there are more specialists available. And the attributes? What attributes? They're terrible! So in mission specialist strategies, Kell could find a place. It really depends on your mission selection. Otherwise, he's a bit of a fish out of water. I'll level him out at 3.

TOTAL: 11.4 (57%) Eeech, that's only as much as a Targ.

PICTURE: Kevin Uxbridge is somewhere between concern and dementia (it's the ol' flashlight-under-the-chin trick!), which pretty much explains his motivation for nixing Event cards. Composition keeps us grounded in his eyes. Just eerie enough to be effective at 3.5.

LORE: Reads like a personnel card, and as such, is a failure. There's nothing to explain the card's effects other than his being omnipotent, which is almost a throwaway here. Add some clumsy syntax to the deal, leave room for more, and you're left with a low score of 1.7.

TREK SENSE: Just like Amanda Rogers, we've got a powerful being who's a little sensitive to mortal doings for having lived among us. Just as with Amanda, there's no doubt Kevin Uxbridge could nullify more than one card type with his powers (the Husnock, for example, were personnel), but a card that could nullify anything would be grossly overpowered. He couldn't really do that anyway, or else he would have re-written history to spare his colony. That Husnock attack was an event (or Event, if you like), and that's why the card type was attached to Uxbridge. Yet, he was unable to stop that event. Maybe it was an Incident?.. Whatever the case may be, he's altruistic and would tend to set right what your opponent has made wrong. Maybe those Bynars Weapon Enhancements helped kill his wife, maybe he can't stomach a particular Rule of Acquisition. Not that all Events are evil however. What did that Drought Tree ever do to him? We could attribute almost anything to such a powerful being, but the generic nature of the card keeps him from getting higher than a 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Events usually have long-lasting effects, and some of them are pretty gosh darn useful, so why not use Kevin Uxbridge to pull them out from your opponent's feet? Many strategies depend on Events, like Captain's Log, capture cards like Brainwash and Interrogation, Computer Crash, Espionage, Fajo's Gallery, War Room, Invasive Beam-In, Metaphasic/Nutational Shields, Rules of Acquisition (though they may be protected by the Scepter), Mission Debriefing, various Borg downloading cards, and many others. Artifacts that play as Events can also be targeted, so that takes care of Kurlan Naiskos, for example. Taking out a player's advantage, whether in battle or otherwise, is an excellent ability. Of course, many Events are immune to nullification, by Kevin or otherwise, but they are usually cheese-containers. Still, you sadly can't touch We Are the Borg, Klingon Civil War and Dominion War Efforts. Kevin is so strong in any case that more and more limiting agents have come into the game since his appearance so as to drastically lower his score here. One of these is The Line Must Be Drawn Here, which incurs a 5 point loss to anyone Kevining a card, cumulative! If that wasn't bad enough, Oof! also incurs a -5 penalty and furthermore places your Kevin out-of-play. It's not just Q2 and Rishon Uxbridge protection anymore! (And you can't wager Kevins at Dabo when you realise you can't use him in the traditional way either.) At the same time, powerful Events have been phased out in favor of Incidents and Objectives, both untouchable by Kevin. And he's been replaced by a more balanced, and potentially less costly, interrupt: Quinn. Is that all meta-game? It's a little more than that, I fear, so Kevin currently stands at 3.9.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) Much less than Convergence, if you can believe it.

PICTURE: While the early printing process sabotages all the contrast on this one, I basically like what they tried to do. The warbird looks very alien as we stare down it maw, the disruptors firing make for a action-packed change of pace, and the perspective isn't one we're used to. Hey, I'll go as high as 3.5.

LORE: Just the facts, m'am. The basic story from the episode, right down to that boring ol' date, and mention of the matching commander. That last fact is useful and elevates out of the dull zone. Scores 3.2.

TREK SENSE: The only difference between the Khazara and the baseline D'deridex is an extra point in Range. Given that the ship crossed into Federation space, it could be said that speed was an issue for this ship during that mission. Whatever. It's fine, but this shows how important it is to differentiate ships more in the upcoming 2E expansions. A 3 (i.e. no objections, but no design stand-outs either).

STOCKABILITY: The Rolumans have lots of matching commanders, so Captain's Log and Defiant Dedication Plaque work well for them. They'd work a little better if most of those ships weren't so demanding on the staffing question, but there you have it. The Khazara is a good mission solving ship because of the slightly hightened RANGE, and it doesn't skimp on WEAPONS either. With Toreth aboard, the attributes can be taken to 11-12-10 (11-13-11 with Velal in play), which is good, even if Toreth isn't otherwise a key player. Having to use her is actually the worst selling point for this ship. 3.4 should do it.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) A lot of D'deridexes seem to be stuck around that number.

PICTURE: A cloudy planet with the sun rising in the background (a sort of revelation springing from the research?), a bit blurry, and certainly unremarkable. The rising sun takes it above average to 3.1.

LORE: A dull title gives way to okay lore. No problems or anything. A 3.

TREK SENSE: This is a review of the corrected beta version of this card. Black-bordered Premiere had it attemptable only by the Romulans and not the Klingons. Well, the reason the investigation is reopened is that Worf wanted to know if his father had really betrayed his people. Why would the Romulans even be interested? Presumably, the Romulans know full well who the traitor was because he was helping them (daddy Duras). The Federation, Worf's affiliation, would be much more appropriate here. What's required is loads of Honor for the Klingons to face the music and accept they were wrong about Mogh, or at least for the House of Mogh to accept dishonor in order not to throw the Empire into shambles (it takes Honor to accept wrongful dishonor, isn't it ironic?). Especially Honorable Romulans might open the investigation to give the truth to those concerned, as they weren't involved and might have contempt for their Treacherous government's actions. That gets them into the game at least. Computer Skill searches the records (this is how evidence was actually uncovered in the show). And then Treachery... What? In the same batch of requirements as Honor x3? I'm guessing it's used to sweep the evidence right back under the rug because it's too dangerous. An odd one, but we can make it work. Events from Star Trek VI lead me to believe that the Span's a bit long here. Seems the slower CF ships could get there cross-quadrant fairly easily. A minor point. As for the points, they're a bit high for what is Worf's personal agenda and for uncovering information that is then hidden again. No more than a 2.9, and that's pretty much only for the requirements.

SEEDABILITY: Khitomer Research's new lease on life came with The Motion Pictures because it's associated with the Camp Khitomer time location where CF cards may report for free once per turn. Not much of a lease, but there you go. CF Klingons time-traveling to the present should be able to cover the requirements. CF connection aside, this is a good planetary companion for Wormhole Negotiations in mission specialist strategies, in particular for the Klingons and their multiple Honor specialists. Using 3 of the 6, plus Kell and Kamok, you've got yourself a 60-point mission. Not bad at all. So Khitomer didn't really need that new lease after all. Not particularly recommended for Romulans though, but could misdirect your opponent during the seed phase into thinking you're playing one Empire when you're playing another. The Romulans currently have enough Honor personnel to pull it off. Scores 3.8.

TOTAL: 12.8 (64%) Not what Khitomer is best known for, of course, but TNG was Premiere's only design avenue.

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