To see the cards themselves, check out this Card list for the Rules of Acquisition expansion set.

PICTURE: The green and red are as good here as they were on Bodyguards, and it's a good, clear picture of everyone's favorite liquidator, smug as always. I can't help wondering if there wasn't a cooler pic available though. Maybe have him come out of a closet? Still good (despite that somewhat distracting square of light on the right) at 3.4.

LORE: The telegraphic style usually afforded recurring characters is helped along by a string of adjectives that describe Brunt fully. The sentence after that is pretty funny too. The rest works, even if it isn't particularly inspired. A 3.6 here.

TREK SENSE: As a government official, he was bound to be VIP, and though he's only a liquidator, that might be the top rank in the FCA because we've never seen him have any real superiors. Unless "commissioner" is higher, and it sounds like it is. FCA x2? A doubled "intelligence" skill is usually reserved for the leader of the organization. Brunt is the best at what he does, of course, but x2 just doesn't concord with what other personnel have been given. After all, he doesn't have a Command icon or anything. The double Treachery however, I have no problems with. He IS a snake. Navigation: He has his own shuttle and pilots it himself. Law: He seems to know all the tax codes by heart. Greed: A Ferengi trait he certainly shares in. Computer Skill: Always with the PADDs, and he's investigated Moogie's records for example. And since the Writ of Accountability (which won't score high on the Trek Sense meter, but that's not important here) is an FCA form, it's a natural download. He would have been a great target for a "reports anywhere skill" (or to any Ferengi) à la Sloane, but alas, there's no room for it. Attributes? All sound about right, especially the thoroughly despicable Integrity. A good effort worth a 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: A seminal Ferengi personnel, he's also being used by non-Ferengi players! Bottom line, it's the Writ of Accountability relationship. That incident requires an FCA personnel (which he is) AND he downloads it! Writ is a powerful counter (TOO powerful) to a number of abusive strategies, so getting it into play can be vital. Since downloads suspend play, you can get the card DURING a proscibed action, catching your opponent with their proverbial pants down. Nasty in the extreme. Some players will even seed a Neutral Outpost just to be able to report their lone Brunt there (Nors and Trading Posts can also be used, among other things, but the best thing might be Brunt's Shuttle reporting with crew at Empok Nor). Aside from that, the Ferengi will get a boost from all those skills. FCA will allow Krozh (a bodyguard) to report to him, give him Leadership through HQ: Defensive Measures, allow him to be downloaded with Writ (so he can download another?)... and at x2, he'll be all you need to complete Espionage Mission and pass Ferengi Bug. Treachery, Navigation and Computer Skill will all see fair use in Ferengi mission solving, and those skills have many uses too. Law is a rare skill (on 3 Ferengi, all unique and rare) and required of some dilemmas. The VIP allows him to report for free at the Tower of Commerce, as well as pull a couple of other tricks (including being bought by the 1st Rule). He can use a few Rules of Acquisition too (though don't try the 47th!), and is the matching commander of his own shuttle, bringing that tiny ship to 9-6-9 Plaqued and Logged. Not a fighter, but a pretty good shuttle! (Especially given its special skill.) The INTEGRITY is cool for In The Pale Moonlight, but not for attribute totals. The other skills are Ferengi standard, not bad, but not great. Powerful because of Writ, but a good personnel otherwise too. A 4.8.

TOTAL: 16 (80%) It helps when everyone wants to use you. (Must be a Rule of Acquisition.)

PICTURE: Lots of colors and matching earrings highlight this Vegas showgirl's card, and some players might enjoy her... how would Quark say it... her brains. There's an odd shadow coming across her face, but the overall gaudy flavor of the picture really puts us in the right mood to accept the rather elaborate headdress (or is that supposed to be her hair?). A good-looking 3.5.

LORE: The stuff about Omag is priceless, and when it comes to a nameless character without so much as a line, that can really save a card. Where they took "Calandra", I'll never know (how do they make those decisions anyway?), but the appelation "Omag's girls" was definitely her working name. The first sentence is clearly invention to support the game text, but it's not bad invention. It goes with the rest of her, including what can be divined from the pic. I will take off a few decimals for not mentioning universality though. A good effort worth its 4.

TREK SENSE: Universal? Calandra is typical of "Omag girls" all over the quadrant, meaning that she's your standard Non-Aligned female accompaniement. Obviously, she has to be a Civilian. Young attractive women are often given the Youth skill, and though you almost have to ask why a kid like Alexander and a woman clearly in her twenties like Leeta and possibly Calandra here are lumped into the same age category, it's pretty standard for the game. Her invented lore confirms her two next skills. Music because she's a singer. Medical because she's a nurse. While neither are supported by the episode, you could say her duties include tending to Omag's health as well as supplying entertainment. Works for me. The special skill makes her the perfect escort for those fat and rich Ferengi DaiMons, like Omag, boosting their attributes. The connection makes sense, as does the cumulative nature of it (Omag had more than one "girl"), but the boost itself may be questionable. Was Omag's Integrity really affected positively by having buxom young women around? Well, if the girls are actually more than accessories (which might boost Strength), giving advice, smoothing tempers over, etc., it could make sense. The attributes look fine, with an Integrity that would allow for the DaiMon boost, but still permit her to work for one. The Cunning is fair, but not so high they would easily find more rewarding employment. And the Strength may be a little low, but these girls aren't trained for war, they're trained for love. Despite the invention, Calandra is a frank success at 3.9. Restricting things to DaiMons may have been a mistake (excludes a guy like Kivas Fajo, for example).

STOCKABILITY: 10 DaiMons (including the NA Bok) should be enough to warrant the inclusion of Callandra in your Ferengi deck, possibly in multiples. Indeed, the Ferengi are, in general, low on both INTEGRITY and STRENGTH, so Calandras will help with attribute totals. As for specific DaiMons, they have better attributes than the norm, though a few aren't strong enough to pass Maglocks or moral enough to get by a Firestorm. Of course, all those Calandras are a liability as well, with their minuscule STRENGTH and not so hot other attributes. That means you should probably make use of Bodyguards or other personnel management techniques to keep them from being killed if using them to make your Ferengi battle-savvy. Added bonus: Omag can download one, and he does need the boost. As for skills, the MEDICAL is certainly useful, though the other skills aren't so great. Risa Shore Leave should be a snap with her, all you need is a Federation CIVILIAN to make it work. In your Ferengi deck, I recommend either using Jake and Nog as her date (I'm sure they wouldn't mind), or Bribing Risan officials to allow your Ferengi to attempt it. They've got some *great* CIVILIANs, unlike the Feds. Great support for the Ferengi, and only fair support for the others. Stands at 3.8.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) At least, I think she deserves it, though I might have been influenced. ;-)

PICTURE: This could easily have been a dreary room, but no! The red in tha airlock provides a splash of color, and the crates are varied enough to entertain the retina. The now-familiar checkered boxes are way in the back, and more colorful crates are in the foreground. The Cardassian ribbed architecture even helps the composition. Just a set shot, but a nevertheless classy one. A 3.4.

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

TREK SENSE: First, there are many Cargo Bays on a space station, so making it universal is correct. They're all in the Docking Ring too. As for the game text, well, personnel report to Nors just like outposts, but at specific places. The Cargo Bay is where Smugglers, Acquisitors and Non-Aligned pilots assemble. That's not bad, since they would have business being docked where they could pick up goods, though NA Navigators is too broad a category to be all that acceptable. For example, you really think Galen or Krohz would be making cargo runs? Morn, on the other hand, seems perfect for this, meeting each requirement. The idea of downloading them rather than reporting them is on the mechanical side, so I'm not sure it helps or hurts the card. The big thing with this card is the "cargo run", so let's get to that. You need a ship that would make these kinds of ventures, so that's freighters, transports and any Ferengi ship (cute), and the run entails bringing a non-hand weapon equipment card to this location from another facility. Supposedly, you picked it up from there and are bringing it here. We're not accepting hand weapons because that would be illegal (though the inclusion of Smuggling would seem to indicate we were into that, and besides, maybe the Feds don't like that, but most Nors belong to the militaristic Cardassians). The reward for these "missions" is based on how far the equipment's come. Really? How odd. I've heard of paying for quality and quantity, but I don't see how PADDs manufactured in the Gamma quadrant are any more prized than those made right next door. (Buy domestic!) Of course, imports cost more, but why import when you can replicate it here. The reward is calculated in Gold-Pressed Latinum (of course) or trade (represented by card draws). The other limit of once per specific equipment isn't so good either, since it's an artifical game limit. There's no reason you wouldn't want to import more Ketracel-White to your Empok Nor, for example. The limits are what kill the card for me, but the biggest point drop probably comes from how the price is calculated. The economy of the future again, eh? Just a 3.

SEEDABILITY: Cargo runs are an excellent card management system that can be used by anybody who lays claim to a Nor. Actually, you can always dock at your opponent's Nor, but you may have to have the Cargo Bay ready in case he has one. With a cargo run, you can get extra card draws or, if playing with a lot of Latinum, some of those (note that you can make a run with THAT equipment once per game, it's a nice little circle, especially since Latinum can be used to buy more equipment). Latinum can be used for even more resource management using a variety of cards from Rules of Acquisition. Setting up two Nors and flying in between them the entire game isn't unheard of, and low Spans are favored, as are fast ships. For ships, you have a number of choices, with most possible ships running around RANGE 7, and few, like Quark's Treasure and the Xeopolite Freighter, at 9. The Bok'Nor's a pretty good choice since it'll allow you to run hand weapons as well as the more mundane (and less used) equipment. After all, a lot of people use hand weapons, but few carry PADDs, right? Make sure you have Smugglers aplenty. Make the most out of your equipment! A Weapons Locker can play at the Cargo Bay, so you could get those weapons right where you need them. Another card that affects cargo runs includes Kasidy Yates' ability to add 2 cards to the reward, bringing it up to 3. But I don't even use the Cargo Bay for that myself (not a very good businessman), no, I like to use it as a great stepping stage for commandeering. The personnel that report there don't need to be matching or compatible, so if your NA Navigator has Computer Skill, you're in business. That includes Kalita, Galen, Danderdag, Barry Waddle, Jaheel and Nick Locarno. But if you want an aligned personnel to lend its affiliation to the station (whether Empok Nor or another), you'll have to go for a computer-using Smuggler or Acquisitor: Lapuza for the Bajorans, Ishka and Quark for the Ferengi, and D'Ghor for the Klingons. Not many, I admit, but downloadable, which is better than most reporting text. It's a good place to report personnel adjunct to your Quark's Bar on a technically Bajoran or Cardassian Nor. You'll probably see cargo runs mentioned in a number of Rolodex reviews, that because it's opened up a bunch of new strategies for players. A plus at 4.3.

TOTAL: 14.27 (71.33%) Took an idea and ran with it.

PICTURE: A lot of nice things here. The "Center of Attention" is Quark, and not only is he at the center of an intersection of guns, he's also seen through a circle which makes him that much more of a target. The only thing actually hurting this card is the bar of light on the left which looks like a stray disruptor blast and is pretty distracting to the central composition. Essentially good stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised if the concept for this card started with the pic. A 4.1.

LORE: Are you the type of personnel who laughs or that groans at an outrageous pun? I'm the kind that does a little of both but mostly the former, and that'll help this card. "Made him quite a hit", yeah... in the organized crime sense of the word! Clever lore throughout, with a descrition of an episode that might not be really mentioned otherwise. Hits all the right notes, from putting "inherited" in quotation marks to alternating "Morn" with "the Lurian" which makes the text breathe better. A superlative 4.9.

TREK SENSE: It all rides on the opponent's choice principle which here states that one personnel is actually chosen to be the Center of (deadly) Attention, but it has to be someone who could have crossed your "dilemma people" (the "former partners" who are to carry out the execution), so someone with the bad traits of Treachery or Greed. Preventing the "hit" requires either lots of Security (4!) because remember, there's more than one assassin. If you only have one Security, you could stop one or two, but not all of them. Another way to do it is with your own hand weapon, but to figure out how to outwit the assassins, you also need 37+ Cunning. Since that can only come from multiple personnel, I guess they immediately figure the target is to be bumbed off, I dunno. No real problems, but that one's inelegant. The last way to pass the dilemma might cause problems. Sure, Quark was the one originally targeted by this dilemma and he obviously survived, but surviving a dilemma is very different from nullifying it, especially when Quark may not be the target personnel. The way I figure it is that Quark always has his fingers in the wrong pies and automatically would be the target of the dilemma, but his luck keeps him from getting killed (as per the episode). Convoluted, but works for me. Still, that may not be self-evident. Finally, I have to mention that the space nature of the dilemma makes less sense than its planet nature. I just don't see the riffraff of the universe climbing aboard your Jem'Hadar Attack Ship, for example, and not getting stopped at the airlock. Mostly positive at 3.6.

SEEDABILITY: Suffers from its limits, but not too bad a dilemma. Firstly, its possible targets, though a very nice opponent's choice, are limited to Greed and Treachery personnel. Not exactly a Federation hoser! The Klingons won't have that many either, depending on the deck archetype, but of course, the other affiliations are fair game. The Borg? Might be automatically stopped (that's worth SOMEthing), but the dilemma discards anyway. Lead in with a strong Treachery requirement like Q Gets the Point or maybe Dangerous Liaisons, and you can be sure to have a hit (and a choice, since those require multiple Treachery). None of the Greed dilemmas are particularly effective here though. The other limit is that there's more than one way to solve the mission. It's one of the rare dilemmas to ask for SECURITY in large numbers, which WILL be good against many affiliations (but not the Dominion), but the other out is too easy to assemble - hand weapons are a common thing and everybody's got CUNNING. You should welcome large Away Teams/crews since it's opponent's choice, but you can't because they can beat the dilemma with 5 or 6 personnel. The combo shuold probably include an equipment killer. Finally, passing it with Quark (sorry, ANY Quark) is merely a cute little bonus. The Ferengi will probably be using him, as might the Klingons, so that's one and a half affiliations that might be immune depending on the actual make-up of a personnel group. Better than average at 3.5.

TOTAL: 16.1 (80.5%) You could make it central to at least one dilemma combo.

PICTURE: Somehow, this may turn out to be my favorite Chula picture. First, it shows off Chula's boardgame nature by having us see it from the top. What's more, the grid looks like a Chinese checkers layout, adding to that illusion. Visually, the gold walls are very nice, and all the triangular patterns make it even more ornate. There's something akin to a fabergé egg here. A more abstract picture than we're used to, very refreshing. A 4.8.

LORE: Well said. Simple and to the point. No bells. No whistles. Collect them all. A 3.

TREK SENSE: A lot of conceptual elements, and some of them work, but the basis for Chula dilemmas themselves is problematic. I just can't imagine people playing Chula all over the spaceline, and in short spurts, since all the dilemmas won't be seeded together. I'm almost imagining a single Chula dilemma that refers you to a Chula side-deck, from which you meet the specific challenges, à la Q-Flash. But as is, it's not the best dilemma grouping of all time. But for Crossroads specifically: The use of a probe is interesting, since the characters are looking for something in the maze. Drawing the probe card though, I'm not sure what to think exactly. Sounds like game mechanics to me, and game mechanics only. The interesting probe result features icons that all have something to do with Chula in some sense. It's a game, and the Referee icon works in that context. The Barash icon relates to the imaginary world of Chula. The game sprang from the Wadi culture of the Gamma quadrant. And it's Quark's [Ferengi] greed that got the crew into the game. It works on some level, and I imagine that drawing one of those probes is what sends you to the next shap. "Otherwise" is the dead end. But it all breaks down after that. The penalty makes little sense. Going to the next shap should send you barrelling into the next dilemma, but it stops 2 personnel of your choice. What, you choose 2 personnel to NOT have found the correct path and stay behind? Maybe that's it. If you only find a dead end though, your opponent selects one personnel to be stopped. What, suddenly we're just following one personnel and its dead end? Why is it opponent's choice (unless the Wadi are cheating)? Like I said: Either everyone's stopped, or nobody is, or there's always a filter, or something. Cute at times, but I can't go over a 1.8.

SEEDABILITY: The ultimate filter/wall series, Chula now brings us Crossroads, a filter with a probing element. Now, the nice thing here is that it always hits. You're assured at least one stopped personnel, and you might get two. If the probe results come up, and though they look like a strange bunch of results (the Ref icon is becoming more and more common, Barash remains a very off-chance result, Gamma quadrant will certainly show up in Dominion decks, and Ferengi in Ferengi decks), they've got a fair chance of doing so, it stops two personnel. That's a heavy loss usually, but the player facing it gets to choose which ones are stopped. I can see the GQ-heavy Dominion relaxing at those words, since it means they can keep their Ketracel-rationing Vorta with the Away Team or crew, but the tighter the deck, the more useful every single personnel will be. If the probe results don't show up, you still stop one personnel, and this time, it's your choice. If you know your dilemma combos, you can do more damage with a single specific filtered personnel than two your opponent selected (and expect this to be the most frequent probe result). Great up to now, huh? There is a disadvantage though: your opponent gets to keep the probe card, so that means that by using this dilemma, you gave him a free card draw. But if you see that as a fair trade-off for a sure-hit, and possibly the chance to look through your opponent's personnel (that opponent's choice) and finding out just which skills, or Yuta numbers, to hit, by all means, seed this one. No killer, but still a 4.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) The high Picture score and low Trek Sense even out.

PICTURE: Though in a sense close to Crossroads, this one's a miss for me. The gold here just looks very yellow and doesn't mesh well with the totally mismatched purple and light red. There's too much blank space on the card, and Sisko just winds up looking like a stiff manequin. The symbol in the center of the door is quite undecipherable. I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world, but it's pretty uneffective. A 2.5 which nevertheless manages to look more like a dilemma than several other Chulas.

LORE: Just another way to say the same thing Crossroads did, really. There's something fun about the words "virtual labyrinth", since the Chula game seemed to be some kind of virtual reality. "Arbitrarily" is also a good choice of words, because the Chula dilemmas really do add that touch of randomness to dilemma resolution. Those elements are enough to bring this "repeat" to a 3.6.

TREK SENSE: Chula dilemmas all have the same basic Sense weakness. Encountered in bits and pieces, like this, and all over the spaceline, you gotta wonder how all these characters are getting themselves into a Gamma quadrant game, and why they aren't playing full ones. But let's say they have, and they're facing the Door. How's that aspect of the game match up? Hard to say. I guess it's true to its nature in providing a totally arbitrary way of opening the door. That whole little thing with attribute numbers has nothing else to offer here, except maybe that 21 is a classic gambling number. Nullifying the Door by discarding a Doorway card from hand (actually, putting it out-of-play) has some conceptual merit - you open the Door by juxtaposing an open Doorway on it. But in actuality, there's really no way to use a Temporal Vortex, Transwarp Network Gateway or Q's Tent to do much of anything to a Chula door. It's plum silly. Conceptuals usually get low scores here, and this one's no different. A 1.8.

SEEDABILITY: It all boils down to how easy it is to scrounge up a total of 5 or 21 with 2 attributes from 2 personnel. The 5 is possibly going to be hardest, but it's possible using 2 low INTEGRITYs, or matching a low INTEGRITY to one of the old geezers' STRENGTHs. Doable, but given that low-attribute personnel may be liabilities, they might not even participate in any mission attempts. The 21, on the other hand, will require some very strong or smart personnel to get there (as in, a 10 and an 11, Jem'Hadar STRENGTHs, for example). Either that or attribute-boosting equipment. Since hand weapons are pretty much standard these days (PADDs still aren't), this will probably be the most oft seen passing method. That said, how can you make this dilemma more effective? Easily. There are a number of dilemmas that target personnel with low attributes (Firestorm comes to mind for INTEGRITY) to get rid of the possible 5s, and some that target equipment (like Common Thief) to get rid of the STRENGTH boosters. Most affiliations will then have trouble meeting the 21. And the poor Borg, with all their 5s and 7s won't be able to pass it at all! They'll either have to Adapt, or place out-of-play an essential Transwarp Gateway maybe. This may be the only choice for any affiliation of course, if they just can't pass the dilemma with normal requirements. Will you really give up a Q's Tent? Nasty choices, and those Doorways on the table can't even help you. Regenerate and Ore Processing might get some Q-Flashes into your hand, but not everyone uses the Continuum. Likewise, a Battle Bridge side-deck won't always be accompanied by Battle Bridge Doors used from hand, or an AU strategy with AU Doors in hand. There's just not enough call for it. Could be a nasty surprise, but not insurmountable. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 12 (60%) Two pluses out of four ain't bad.

PICTURE: This swirling mass of clouds makes for a very cool - and original -  mission pic. The colors are subtle, and the peaches continue at the top of the card like some kind of soft lighting. Odd thing though is the electric blue to the card's left. It's inconcruous here, but matches that of the swirling clouds on Investigate Rumors. In fact, you can almost align the two cards. Odd, but doesn't affect the score much, which is 3.6.

LORE: Not a nebula, this gaseous cloud must be like dozens of others, and if elements inside them can be used in weapons construction, then these places must be like volatile mines. Interesting objectives. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Like most universal missions, this one suffers from not being playable in other quadrants, especially with a Dominion icon on there. Stands to reason that the kind of mission would be universal though, with ships going around taking samples just in case the next volatile element is the new TNT. I don't really see why the Klingons, Bajorans and even Feds (in war-time) couldn't do this mission, except maybe for them, it couldn't be universal. The good guys don't look for weapons just for their own sake. To Collect the Sample, you need a Scientist of course, and someone with Astrophysics ability. The sample comes from an astrophysical phenomenon after all. This is just a collection mission, not analysis, so I understand why there are no other scientific skills (Astrophysics is good for finding the sample, but not studying it). Transporter Skill is required to get it out of there. Finally, you have a choice of either Smuggling or double Treachery, indicating that this mission may be illegal or unethical in a way. You obviously don't want your enemies to know about the cloud's weapon value (or else they'd mine it too), so you try to hide it with either of those skills. Span looks fair, but points do and don't. On the one hand, it's only collection. On the other, the requirements are pretty hard. A danger to associate with the volatile nature of the sample would have been nice, but I'm not really griping about this. A very good, straight effort at 3.9.

SEEDABILITY: Transporter Skill is the rarest non-Jem'Hadar requirement here (since Smuggling has an alternative), but looking through the cards, it's often matched with other skills required here, like with Astrophysics, SCIENCE or Treachery. In fact, a good support personnel to send here is Daro for the Cardassians with his Astro/Transporter Skill combo. Of course, SCIENCE/Astrophysics should be easy to get, so there are plenty of ways to save on the number of personnel required. That's just it though, with a couple of rare skills (though those affiliations aren't lacking in Treachery), it may not be worth the 30 points. Of course, the rarity of the skills compensates for the large number of affiliation icons, to reduce stealability. You really have to plan ahead and include the right personnel. With a universal mission, that may mean including more than one copy to boost skill redundancy. Matching those with another space mission that has similar requirements may be the way to go. Mission specialist options are only open to the Romulans and Ferengi and may enhance the mission's appeal. For those counting, that's 35 points for the Ferengi (with Mordoc), and a worthwhile 45 for the Romulans (with Parem, Selok and Tomek). Not too impressed, but has value: a 3.3.

TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) Comes out on top despite my many reservations.

PICTURE: On par with Chamber of Ministers with its small yet distinguishable figures, this pic's interesting especially for the amount of detail visible on it, like those embossed Romulan eagles on the wall. There's something strange about having Starfleet personnel present in the picture (in the leftmost chair, see?), but it all seems part of the "inquisition"-like nature of the place. I'm less enthused by the slight angle to the lower left, but it's so slight, it can't hurt much. A fair 3.4.

LORE: Well, it sort of disses Office of the Proconsul, doesn't it? "No, *this* is the *real* Romulan Headquarters." Everything but the tone looks in order though, and is generally better than Office of the Proconsul's "this guy, on this date.." format. A 3.4 as well.

TREK SENSE: A *second* Romulan HQ? Well, I don't really have any problem with it, since multiple facilities may be used for government, military and intelligence operations, so co-existence on Romulus is fine. I don't think we'll get a Starfleet Headquarters seeing as Office of the President is pretty potent, but that's beside the point. The Continuing Committee is something that's above the Senate apparently, on which the Proconsul sits. Since that's Neral, he gets to report here for free. I'm not entirely sure all Tal Shiar personnel should though. Some of those guys are lower than others on the totem pole, aren't they? Of course, Decipher's given the skill to some powerful individuals, including Colonels and Senators, who would deserve admittance. Maybe the Committee does a lot of overseeing of its populace, and so get reports from the Tal Shiar all the time. I can find something that works, even something that works in the context of the episodes, but the shows were always more ambiguous than this. I'm not against, I'm just a little wary. This HQ just seems to suffer from arriving second. For example, if it's "the final authority", why can't HQ cards play here for free? (Because Office does that, and two per turn would be pushing it, but that's neither here nor there.) No problem with the Shields - they're the usual high 44 for warlike affiliations. The play (instead of seed) option is also suspect since this would be an established authority from the game's outset, yet I can forgive it. After all, the Star Trek people sprang it on us pretty late in the game. Play = reveal existence of. Ends up around 3.3.

SEEDABILITY: Face it - the Romulans got short-changed in the HQ game when they got Office of the Proconsul. It allowed free reporting of only 10 personnel, and that included such useless luminaries as Pardek and Alidar Jarok. The Continuing Committee only offers 8 personnel (not 8 more though, as a couple are covered by both cards - Vreenak and Neral), but at least Tal Shiar is a very useful skill! Ok, no HQ cards, but it's not like I'm recommending you use just the Committee. No, by all means, use both it and the Office for a potential of two free card plays per turn (plus you regular card play). Three possible cards per turn is nothing to sneeze at, and you thought the days of Red Alert were over ;-). All you need now are ships, so a third facility (an Outpost) with Spacedoor on it might get you that as well. Ths ships just have to go pick up the free personnel (since you can't play an Outpost on your homeworld). Whether you use both HQs or not, if you've got the Continuing Committee in play, by all means center your deck around those free Tal Shiar, with the right missions, some capturing tools (and a Brig somewhere), and Plans. Fixes the Office of the Proconsul somewhat, but at the cost of another seed slot. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) Let's take a vote! ;-)

PICTURE: Wow, the Dabo wheel looks pretty enticing bathed in golden light like this, as if it were made of latinum. We don't get too many details from this shot, but it looks like the symbols on the inside of the wheel (equivalent to roulette's numbers) are in Ferengi script. That's a cool detail I hadn't really noticed on the show itself (and it's one of the cool things about card stills). I do think the card concept might have been better served by a crowd of people actually playing, maybe even winning and screaming "Dabo!" Still a decent shot at 3.7.

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

TREK SENSE: Well, bring the game of Dabo into THIS game does take some doing, and there are a lot of expected "conceptuals" here, but there's a good try throughout. So, bit by bit: First off, you need Quark's Bar to play it on since this is where Dabo is actually played. Seems to me other Ferengi facilities might have these as well, but nothing we've seen yet. In any case, this is much better than a "play on table" kind of thing. You need a personnel there to play it, and Quark, as the house, cannot play himself (though absurdly, a dabo girl can... maybe she's off duty). And like in Dabo (and other gambling games), you get to "wager" something. Unfortunately, that something doesn't make real sense. Cards from your discard pile? That stuff's gone! Latinum, I could understand, but destroyed ships, dead personnel and "spent" interrupts just don't convert well to money (the Amanda/Kevin restriction is just for play balance too - unless you think it springs from the pun that Amanda was played by Olivia D'Abo). I do like that you can wager different amounts though. You probe (spin the wheel) and hope for the best. The possible results indicating a "win" are pretty cool. Equipment is the weakest, ostensibly, it's there just because the Dabo wheel is a piece of equipment. Event, better, is because, if everything goes according to (Quark's) plan, a win SHOULD be an event, a rare occurence. And the skill dot? Well, while Quark would no doubt try to have you believe that Dabo is actually a game of skill, the icon looks like the ball that spins round and round on the wheel. Ingenious to be sure. If you win, this is translated into points (a goal, that of winning, has been achieved). On a loss, the wager is placed out-of-play (hey, it was already discarded), but this means the "house" wins. The house is whoever controls the station AND has Quark present. I'm not sure you should have to have control over the station, as long as your Quark was present to "control" the Bar (he's the actual "house"), except this doesn't work too well if both players have a Quark present, so I see the need for the clause. When the house wins, you either get money (Latinum) or resources (card draws), which is a little like skipping a step (you really get Latinum but immediately buy something with it). You get these rewards for each dabo girl, which can only be explained as your running multiple Dabo wheels. Except shouldn't they each get a probe? There are tiny unanswered questions, like how the game can be played without the "house" being present, but they can be justified fairly easily. A remarkably well-designed conceptual card, so much so, it ain't that conceptual... a 4.

STOCKABILITY: If you like bonuses of all kinds, this is a marvelous incident. You'll need Quark's Bar on your Nor, but from then on, it's pretty easy to make it work. See, since dabo girls and Quark can all report to the Bar, having personnel present isn't hard at all. What's more, those specific personnel can be downloaded there in place of your normal card play. Yes, specific personnel downloads: Quark and Leeta would be ideal. He acts as the house, and she spins the wheel. But waitaminnit, don't I have to play the wheel? Leeta downloads it, remember? She can act as the spinner AND the dabo girl, meaning that you're always in a win/win situation: a standard win gets you 2-6 points; a standard "loss" gets you at least one card draw or Latinum download. As you get more dabo girls in your hand, play them for free at the Bar, and jack up the number of draws/downloads proportionately. You don't have to do it this way - Ops will also download the incident to Quark's, and other personnel can do the spinning. As for the wagering, well, why NOT get rid of cards in your discard pile if their usefulness has run out? Every turn, you can try your luck, getting rid of cards (since they are either placed out-of-play or in the bonus points area). Cardassians processing ore might use gambling to tighten their recycling and not get useless cards back into the deck, same for Bajorans using the Shrine, or anyone else planning to Regenerate. Watch out though: you may be tempted to wager dilemmas which have definitely become useless once passed. Well, this opens you up to Writ of Accountability if you "win", since it counts as "scoring points from your own dilemmas". Many players might not realize this, so if you're nasty, you could always let them do it and throw the Glossary in their face afterwards. Your opponent can also use this card, so watch out, and with a [skill dot] icon in there, any personnel card will score a "win" which will NOT get you any card draws or Latinum, not to mention the also common Events and Equipment probe results. And certainly don't lose control of the station - it won't keep you from wagering, but it certainly won't make the situation win/win. Another possible obstacle (and way to fight this card): a seeded Altonian Brain Teaser at the Nor's location will kill the bonus points. Probably a must for Quark's Bar decks, especially if you want to use lots of Latinum, and it's not like you're not gonna use dabo girls with this site. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 15.73 (78.67%) Dabo!!!

PICTURE: I'm sort of lukewarm about this one. On the one hand, the perspective is a unique one in the game, and it's got to usual rich colors found on many Quark-related cards. But on the other, it's almost too baroque, shadowy in some places, entirely too bright on top of Quark's head, and it's hard to see much of anything (some of everything, but not all of anything). I like and I don't. Simultaneously. 2.7 seems to be the number I'm going for. Less than three because the Dangerous Liaison isn't really the mercs, but Rao Vantika himself (not pictured).

LORE: Cute title and a lore that explains adequately the dangers associated with this dilemma. Pretty good at 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Very interesting work if nothing else, but it's not "nothing else". The idea is that to continue the mission, you sort of have to make a deal with the devil (à la Strange Bedfellows, if you will). Now, it's just a wall, so I don't know where the "fatal mistake" mentioned in the lore comes from, but apparently, there's no way to complete the mission objectives without making such a deal. Cool stuff, and especially generic, which is good. Okay, to MAKE that deal, what does it take? Treachery would seem to be a natural here, and Acquisition to bribe the Liaisons. This is the one that makes the most sense, but seems a little muddled. If you have the Liaisons with you in the Away Team (say, 3 Treachery personnel), would this dilemma ever occur? Sometimes, the Dangerous Liaisons have been made at the Outpost, you know? The nullification with Recruit Mercenaries (starring the same individuals in the picture) uses a similar idea, but with a better effect. Since you don't get any mercs from the card, it really only makes the Liaison then doesn't stock your Away Team with new personnel (after all, nothing says you're *hiring* those Liaisons). The other two requirements are even more muddled and both have something to do with Rao Vantika. It seems that rather than making a deal which would pass the dilemma as it is understood above, this other part sees the dilemma as those Dangerous Liaisons not allied with you, but rather making a move *against* you. Vantika himself has a kind of nemesis in Ty Kajada for example, and she can foil his plot. Without her, a couple of Scientists to figure out his mind switch trick and a couple of Security people to catch up to him, can do the job. This thing's a two-headed monster with some good ideas, but it's really divided against itself. A 3 which could have gone much higher.

SEEDABILITY: An unusual wall that requires a large number of skills (or a specific personnel) and is space/planet is a welcome sight. There are four ways to pass it, but neither are overly simple, as you'll see in the following breakdown: First, there's the Acquisition + 3 Treachery. Now, most affiliations are fair to good in the Treachery category except the non-Mirror Feds, but the Acquisition is the real pearl. That skill is only found on one or two personnel per affiliation (none for the Romulans or the Borg) except the Ferengi. There are four Non-Aligneds to help out, thank heaven. Ty Kajada, the one-personnel solution, is a dual-classification support personnel, probably due to see more action now that support personnel have been enhanced, but you won't just stock her in case this dilemma turns up. Chances are, if you pass it with Ty, it was just a happy coincidence. Dropping Recruit Mercenaries likewise won't be an oft-seen occurence. You have to be in a real hurry to waste that card if you do have it. Wait a turn, download the Treachery, Acquisition, SCIENCE and/or SECURITY you need to pass the dilemma (or even Kajada) and move on. You'll get extra personnel for your troubles. But what about the -10 points, you ask? Well, weren't you ready to lose those points when you stocked it in the first place? The SCIENCE/SECURITY requirement is thus the easiest to come up with. With good personnel, someone should have little trouble getting past this. Of course, that's if it's just a stand-alone dilemma. In combos where you weed out Treachery (via the low INTEGRITY personnel that has it) and SCIENCE, Dangerous Liaisons becomes noticeably more effective. And note that a good mass killer following this one will find targets since aside from the Ty Kajada solution, your opponent will probably be sending either a good number of personnel, or a smaller number of above-average personnel. Some good stuff here: 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) I did appreciate the Recruit Mercenaries wink to Trek Sense.

PICTURE: The planet where it rains all the time better have had constant cloud cover! But I do like that patch of clear skies, funnily enough, over an ocean. It gives the planet a little more character and doesn't go against what we've seen of Ferenginar. A cute 3.6.

LORE: Mentioning that it is a homeworld is always a plus for players who aren't well-versed in Trek lore, but the text is otherwise problematic. For one thing, it makes explicit mention of a personnel in the game - Zek - but without explaining how the mission can be completed if Zek is elsewhere on the spaceline. The last phrase "beware enemy patrols" isn't represented in the mission requirements, so seems utterly superfluous. I'm afraid this one's gone very wrong: a 1.8.

TREK SENSE: The question to ask is who would need to send a message to the Ferengi? Well, the Federation, while not really allied with that government, have been friendly with them in DS9, and with Nog as emissary, this works. Nog, after all, would be the perfect choice since his grand-moogie has a relationship with the Nagus. The Dominion HAS had dealings with the Ferengi through the Karemma, and the skills indicate this species (being an envoy is obviously a VIP/Diplomacy function, and Acquisition is required simply to speak the same language), but this doesn't stop Jem'Hadar, Vorta and Founders from participating, and this seems wrong. In those cases, I don't think the message would be a friendly one. As for the Klingons, they've shown nothing but distaste for the Ferengi, and I sincerely doubt they would be sending communications other than a shot across (or through!) the bow of a Marauder. I don't even think Quark Son of Keldar makes the perfect emissary since he was only briefly part of the Klingon Empire, and barely tolerated. That particular option is particularly forced. The 4 Span is a bit far considering Quark travels there relatively quickly from DS9, but the points, I think, are dead on given the simple nature of the mission. A problematic 2.9 here.

SEEDABILITY: First, it's a homeword, so on the one hand, it'll be appreciated by Borg looking for 40 points and the chance to keep FCA personnel (and Writ) off the table. On the other, it's where your Ferengi can put their Tower of Commerce! As if they couldn't already report lots of people via Quark's Bar and Brunt's Shuttle (and a few other cards), this HQ gives them free access to more than 20 personnel (many of them dual-aligned, a couple of them FCA, and a few able to download some more personnel). If that wasn't enough, HQ cards also play for free here, and while there are a few of HQ cards that aren't that great for the Ferengi, they have one that is all their own: Ferengi Credit Exchange. Plus, Orbital Weapons Platforms and Secure Homeworld are good for everybody, no? Oh, and it should be pretty easy to meet Secure Homeworld's requirements with the lot you can play for free. It does so much, it's a great setting stage if you decide against using the Nor. As a straight mission, it can be solved by a single personnel no matter which affiliation you use. The Dominion should use Hanok, though (and this next part is true of all the affiliations) they could use multiple personnel (that is, an Acquisition personnel with a VIP/Diplomacy, NA if need be). The Federation has Nog, and he can report to the Tower, not for free, but still. All he has to do is change affiliations and attempt the mission. Same goes for Quark Son of Keldar for the Klingons, and he DOES report for free! A mission where your requirements simply report directly? Nooooo problem. When you add the fringe benefits, like Artifacts scored under Starry Night, Defend Homeworld, and especially Latinum-Equipment conversion, you see why I'm giving this one a 4.4.

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) When it rains, I guess it pours.

PICTURE: Being lighted from underneath is a sure way to look spooky, and the blue light used here works well on his skin tone and costume, and matches his background to boot. The Jem'Hadar in the back are consistent with his abilities. Though not particularly attractive (hey, he's an ugly Vorta), it works: a 3.6.

LORE: I like it when the personnel's role in his or her episode(s) is well explained AND there's room more flavorful text. In this case, the last sentence really reads well. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Being in charge of a prison camp makes this Vorta Security where others are usually VIPs, and the Command icon is, of course, a natural. The double dose of Treachery and low Integrity are because (aside from being a villain) he allowed Jem'Hadar to fight, maim and/or kill the prisoners. Archaeology is a mystery though. I could have believe Anthropology from getting to know prisoners of different cultures, but this... no clue. And what about that special skill? Whenever a Jem'Hadar soldier (that is to say, a non-Youth Jemmie) reports to him, he gets you more resources to play with. I guess he really knows how to use Jem'Hadar for good effect. But the ability is a little vague for our purposes, since his management of Jem'Hadar actually included wasteful activities such as the little fight club in the basement. Jem'Hadar who are first assigned elsewhere then reshuffled to his unit don't seem to help, and in any case, I don't see how they can cause card draws at all. No problems with the Cunning or Strength, but the rest isn't tip top. Something to do with capturing might well have been better (like allowing Jem'Hadar to battle your captives). A 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: Well, of course the Dominion has plenty of SECURITY personnel already, but this one isn't addicted to Ketracel-White. In fact, he rations it. In decks with few Jem'Hadar (where you don't want to ration anything), he and the universal Lam will surely be of use for that particular classification. Of course, he's best used WITH Jem'Hadar since having them enter play at his location gets you extra card draws, always useful to get your hands on more stuff. And you can get this card drawing engine on the first turn with Defend Homeworld. While the obvious answer would be to keep him an your outpost where personnel normally report, that would be a waste of his other skills. The best idea is to have the Jemmies report to him on the move, that is, on a ship. Two ways of doing this: One is with the Jem'Hadar Birthing Chamber, getting yourself a card draw when the Young Jem'Hadar turns into an adult. The young one reports for free, and multiple Chambers get you even more card draws. And since those card draws can get you more Young Jem'Hadar, that's a vicious circle that works in your favor. If you'd rather report unique Jem'Hadar, then I recommend using the Dominion Battleship and Crew Reassignment. The ship's [KW] special staffing icons will get your Jem'Hadar directly to this mobile base, and again, get you card draws. Deyos also has a double dose of Treachery which makes him one of three Dominion personnel that can use Protection Racket to manipulate your opponent. The Archaeology is rare in the Dominion, but not that useful mission-wise. He can of course use it in combination with The Guardian of Forever, but so can others, including Anthropologists which are more numerous than Archaeologists in the Gamma quadrant team. I'd say he helps a great deal with smackdown, but isn't limited to that kind of deck. A 4.3.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Daylight come and me wanna go home...

PICTURE: As good as any Marauder pic, as I think they're fine-looking ships (too bad we never saw too many after TNG). Nothing remarkable or incisive about the universal model, though it does look like it's got teeth at this angle. A fair 3.4.

LORE: Well, it's all pretty basic until you hit the last line... and that one's great! I love these winks at Ferengi attitudes that pepper the lores in Rules of Acquisition. Obviously, these guys would wince every time a disruptor battery would limit the amount of cargo space on their ships. May also be why we haven't seen many of these in recent years. A 3.9.

TREK SENSE: As a match to a Galaxy-class vessel, the Marauder does deserve similar attributes, special equipment and staffing. Similar, but I wouldn't necessarily say identical. The unproven Holodeck, in particular, may not be that good idea on a ship that's already got "mininal cargo space". And it's not like the Ferengi have any holograms to put aboard yet (and no Treaties to share them with others). We know the Ferengi have Holo-technology from Quark's holo-suites, but there's no other proof. It's not blatantly wrong, but I would have liked something more to do with their mysterious weapons or something (a special download of the Plasma Energy Burst maybe). A ho-hum 3.

STOCKABILITY: That's a mighty big ship, and one you can download via Spacedoor, or seed via the Ferengi Trading Post. Then, it's just a matter of staffing it quickly by any means necessary, and there's nobody like the Ferengi for quick reporting. Whether they do it through conventional means (AMS, Quark's Isolinear Rods, Defend Homeworld, etc.) or more Ferengi-specific ways (a nearby Quark's Bar, for example, which makes the ship dockable at the Nor later in the game, usually in combination with Ferengi Conference or Brunt's Shuttle ferrying personnel to it). Though the Ferengi don't find battling as profitable as the Klingons or Dominion, this ship is still pretty good at it. Two Tactics can specifically be used with it, including the more powerful Plasma Energy Burst with its dibilitating EM bursts. No matching commander though, so none of those necessary (these days anyway) attribute enhancements. I'm less enthusiastic about the special equipment. The Tractor Beam will find use in combination with the various shuttles, but the Holodeck is virtually useless without any Ferengi holograms. I say "virtually" because you could always Bribe the Feds to attempt and solve Tarchannen Study which REQUIRES a Holodeck, but that's it. A good ship that adds to the Ferengi's already considerable speed, but not truly "their speed" (if you'll pardon the pun). A 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) The baseline "turtle" does okay for itself.

PICTURE: It makes sense that the transport version of the D'Kora would place its emphasis on the back hull, since that's where the cargo would be stored. From this angle, the ship also looks like it's heading for a cargo rendezvous. Unfortunately, that didn't mean they had to sacrifice scale. The turtle shying away from us should be the same size as the Marauder, but doesn't look it. Too bad. I like it, but there was more to show here. A 3.3.

LORE: Far from as interesting as the Marauder version because of the lack of any real humor, but the details are appropriate. I'd say a competent 3.2.

TREK SENSE: The show never made a distinction between a Marauder and a Transport, and I'm ready to believe the invention's Decipher's. But if the lores of both ships are to be believed, this version sacrifices the raw power of the other in favor of cargo space. Well, cargo space doesn't translate to much (the semi-useful "transport" category) compared to what was removed from the ship. They took out the Holodeck (of course), some engines, some Shields and plenty of Weapons. Why Range though? As far as transporting goods, that's not where I would have made cuts. The staffing is appropriately lower, but still proportional to the size of the vessel. The card makes sense, it all boils down to your agreement or disagreement with the exact attribute cuts. As for me, I think they're okay, but not necessarily well justified. A 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: As far as Ferengi strategies are concerned, this is a better ship than the bigger, tougher, Marauder. Think about it: the Ferengi thrive on speed, and this ship is more easily staffed than the Marauder. That comes in handy when you seed the ship at the Ferengi Trading Post and want it staffed on the first turn. Assign Mission Specialists will get you two personnel, not the three required by the Marauder. The lower staffing also allows it to report to your Quark's Bar's Nor via the Docking Ports, from where you can launch an early cargo run, no problem. You'll also need the Transport if you want to solve the 40-point Deliver Supplies, a rather easy mission since the Ferengi have plenty of CIVILIANs. The low attributes got you down? Well, it can be targeted by System 5 Disruptors, turning it into a stronger, but more vulnerable 7-9-6 ship. It doesn't count as a Transport anymore after that, but it really doesn't need to be - all Ferengi ships can be used on cargo runs or Supply Routes. If you're lamenting the loss of the Holodeck, you must be living in that alternate universe where Decipher realeased Holodeck Adventures. Face it, the Ferengi aren't really warriors. Let them play the way they were meant to, quickly and underhandedly. A 3.9.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) This is one turtle that's not being left behind.

PICTURE: Pretty funny with some welcome splashes of color, especially against the drab Ferengi uniform. That looks like a painting in the background (is it?), but I can't tell of what. The whole pose with the molecule is unusual and fun, especially on a Science personnel. A cool 4.

LORE: Invented name is odd, but Ferengi-like enough. Universality is acknowledged in the first phrase, though slightly clumsy in its composition. Then comes his slight role in the episode "Rascals". Lurin's name is important for reasons we'll discuss under Stockability. And we wouldn't have a complete experience without a mention of Crusher's molecular models from the pic. I'm amazed to see that she actually has these lying about to tell you the truth. Haven't seen any since my chemistry classes in high school, and that was in the 80s... the 1980s. Kinda silly for them pre-quantum theory models to pop up in the 24th century. Just an observation. The lore gets a score of 3.8.

TREK SENSE: Well, this is mostly invention, since we have no real proof beyond his childlike fascination with molecular models (or maybe he think's it's some kind of 3D writing, Ferengi script is arranged similarly) that he would be Science. In fact, guard duty suspiciously sounds like something for Security personnel. Then again, he was pretty bad at that, so maybe Lurin didn't have as much room for a crew as he would have liked on that B'rel-class ship. But based on the lore which fills in the details (and, I suppose, must be believed), it's still hard to swallow anything other than the Science, Staff and universal icons. Medical? On what basis? Decipher seems justified in putting it there just because the models justifying his Science belonged to Dr. Crusher, a Medical personnel. Eeech. He doesn't just get the skill, it's his mission specialty! I don't dispute that a specialty in medecine is possible, especially for a Scientist, but again, did he really seem that bright? Cunning 8? I really don't see it. Most of the Ferengi in that episode were idiots, Borts was no different. 8 just isn't high enough for him to be some kind of mad savant that gets distracted by little things, if that's what you're thinking in his defense. The other attributes are better, though the Integrity is probably based on his Medical, so flawed from the source. I have too many reservations to give more than 2.3.

STOCKABILITY: Ferengi have far fewer mission specialists (3, 4 if you count Dr. Farek, and you probably should), but they are no less important. Think of it this way, start-of-game AMS download gets you two different specialists. You have at least that. Furthermore, a classification as lone skill is a very nice thing to have. MEDICAL missions can become more profitable thanks to Borts, and might I suggest partnering him with Qol? His Exobiology should find its way on some of the same missions. After that, start Bribing your way through all the necessary missions! Borts' two classification are both useful for dilemma-passing too, and the Ferengi's small number of MEDICALs means he'll be extra useful (especially as a start-of-game download). Attributes are lukewarm, but not bad (except for the usual lame STRENGTH). Ah yes, and then there's the Lurin connection. That particular Ferengi is a favorite target of the 6th Rule because he's named in all his stooges' lores. So you can use copies of Dr. Borts to download Equipment, Ships or draw up to three cards. You don't lose him since he goes to the bottom of the draw deck, where you could download him again with other Assign Mission Specialists cards, then 6 him again, etc. And Lumba doubles ALL his skills ;-). MEDICAL x2 is pretty good actually. One of the best specialists out there at 4.2.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Top-ranked despite his being a lowly character.

PICTURE: Though this Jem'Hadar shares a background with a couple other non-descript Jemmies, he's in much better focus than they are, and more interesting too. In fact, this is an odd Jem'Hadar to look at, looking more like a caricature of the rhino-ish species than an actual one. Is the head more rubberized? Does it have less paint/make-up? I do like it, but it looks... rendered somehow. A cool-lookin' 3.5.

LORE: With otherwise-affiliated universals, you can always invent fun details like they play the chimes or something, but with Jem'Hadar, they don't have much of a life beyond being a soldier. That doesn't leave much here. "Representative" supports his universality, his breeding explains his lack of a Gamma quadrant icon, and his rank doesn't do much of anything. His assignment somehow doesn't jibe with the pic, since I thought that background was from Quark's. It wasn't? In any case, a boring 2.4.

TREK SENSE: Tagging skills to a Jem'Hadar extra isn't exactly tricky, since they all appear to have been born full-grown with their training, but there are still mistakes to be made. Security makes perfect sense for guards such as this, and while neither Astrophysics nor Engineer have much of anything to do with that job, they're useful for staffing Attack Ships (someone HAS to fix the ship, but the Astrophysics is less viable). Honor is a quite relevant Jem'Hadar skill, but Decipher dropped the ball by giving him only 6 Integrity. I mean, Honor should be worth a little more on that front. Cunning goes with his other skills, and 9 is a normal Jem'Hadar Strength. No problems with the various icons, which have all been adequately explained. A 2.9 only.

STOCKABILITY: ENGINEER seems to be real big with the Alpha Jem'Hadar, turning up in more than half of all cases, but it's a very useful skill, and in combination with another classification, even better. Astrophysics is rather rare in the Dominion, and only available on Gamma quadrant Jem'Hadar except in this case, so right there, Edan'Atal will be useful to a speedy Alpha Dominion that tries to bypass the Gamma quadrant as much as possible (with Alpha Jemmies and ships, infiltrators, Breen and Birthing Chambers). He also represents the only Alpha quadrant Honor they have (though the skill is less useful than the others). Not a support personnel, but 3 skills on a universal is quite good (especially when one of these is a classification). Good attributes too. Reignite Dead Star and Study Plasma Storm should be on your list of half-completed missions, as should Protect Shipment. He compares well to the similar Duran'Adar hitting just about the same level of usefulness: a close 3.7 here.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) A close pass for "Big Head".

PICTURE: A bit heavy on the soft lense (sorry, sorry), or else some kind of odd filter because she looks painted on, or maybe it's the background... I'm not sure what, but something's strange here. Some have laready mentioned her "one nostril". It's not that she only has one, it's that one of them is pretty obvious compared to the other. A slightly less than average 2.8.

LORE: Rank and post are both covered, but is there really any use in specifying that she's a female. It's usually pretty easy to tell gender on a human, and if the image is somehow missing from your copy, here's a hint: she's called ELIZABETH. That point aside, the rest of the card gets high marks. She's best known as Bashir's medical school rival (the one who came in first in her class to his second), and that's in there. The last sentence is the real clincher though, since she didn't make Bashir's stupid mistake of mistaking a fiber from a nerve (or vice-versa, whichever). It's a great little piece of lore that brings her up to a 4.2.

TREK SENSE: A doctor of Bashir's general rank, she mirrors his Medical classification and Staff icon. But since her mission is a very different one - namely, studying mosses on deserted worlds IF she's lucky - the rest of the skill list will look very different. Oh, Biology's still there, those mosses are biological in nature of course, but she adds Science too. Studying those things aren't really medecine, now are they, so Science makes a lot of sense. What doesn't though is Physics. I can see how Medical personnel might have the skill - radiation therapies for example - but nothing's really been proven in Lense's case. Personally, I think Geology would have made more sense. I don't understand the low Integrity either, especially for someone in her profession. She didn't snub Bashir on purpose or anything! I suppose the rationale might be that she doesn't get much use out of her bedside manner, but she seemed to have genuine empathy when speaking about Bashir's research. Nope, doesn't work for me at all. The Cunning is very high but isn't as high as Bashir's of course. Even though she beat him in school, he was holding back so as not to have his genetic manipulation discovered, remember. 9 serves her well anyway, I think. 4 Strength? Sounds about right for a young Federation female doctor (I'm sure that's exactly where 4 stands on the Strength chart). Some pitfalls, unfortunately, so down she goes to a 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: She would have been a good personnel when all you had to worry about were ENGINEER and MEDICAL dilemmas, but with SCIENCE coming into its own, she makes a better one. You won't find Physics on many MEDICAL, and that has to count for something if you want to keep MEDICALs at a premium, but would like a better mix of skills. Biology is still an important skill, as long as Aphasia Device remains such a popular dilemma anyway. Very good CUNNING. Well, she's as good as any dual-classification card, but unfortunately, nothing really takes her over the top, which is often required when assembling a Federation deck since they have so many options. She'll still be interesting to players who strategically choose their personnel, but will be passed up by more casual deck-builders. A 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) And she thought she could choose her own assignment ;-).

PICTURE: Those escape pods have always looked like grand pianos to me, but that doesn't play against them, not at all. No, my reservations are mostly about the color scheme - I never noticed the yellow in the pods, and the Earth looks dirty more than anything else. Still, the sheer number of pods is what makes it dramatic. A 3.5.

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

TREK SENSE: Emergency Evac doesn't replace Escape Pod, it simply helps it along (sometimes fixing its Trek Sense). After all, the Evacuation must precede the Escape. There are three separate uses on here, but right off the bat, I've got to say that the Hidden Agenda icon is just there for game mechanics, since there's nothing secret about having an escape system on a ship. Its interrupt-like qualities do require it to be flipped rather than played because it is an incident (start-of-turn card play). One good thing about this card is that it fixes Escape Pod so that facilities are also covered. If ships have a means of escape, I'm such a space-bound facility does too. Of course, HQ or Colony escape pods are a little ridiculous (especially since they wind up in space), but what're you gonna do? That's really the second function, and though something important like the pods could be on a different computer system, shouldn't that be a download that COULD be prevented by Computer Crash? (As opposed to non-technological stuff like a Bat'leth.) Still, since the Evacuation is usually followed by an Escape Pod, the download IS a natural. Abandon Ship also creates a situation where personnel go for the hatches, and that's interestingly covered. Not only is such a ship covered by the other functions (including using Escape Pod) which is very sensible, but as an Evacuation, ALL personnel may be placed under the dilemma. You can also, just like in First Contact, drop the Escape Pods onto a planet present. There was really no good reason why an Escape Pod couldn't be landed, so this function does it instead. A lot of nice fixes gets this card a 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: Yes, a very defensive card, and like I always say, why go in thinking you're gonna get creamed? But in this case, it's a fair defense against armadas which like to blow up your facilities. Emergency Evac provides a way to save the personnel aboard  and even land them back down on a planet present where any ENGINEER can rebuild the Outpost. If no planet is around (and you can't really count on one if it's a ship being destroyed), you can download Escape Pod instead, and no Computer Crash can stop you. This may in fact be a desirable option if opponent's Away Teams are around to pick off your survivors. Personnel aboard Escape Pods cannot be interfered with (i.e. attacked). While you may think that the Abandon Ship function will turn up less frequently, it may in fact be used more proactively. Sure, if you encounter the dilemma, you might use Emergency Evac to put all personnel underneath it, thereby preventing the remaining personnel from facing the other dilemmas alone and unprepared. You might seed your own Abandon Ship somewhere just to face it yourself when your ship becomes quarantined (Aphasia Device is still a pain). You just have to evacuate the personnel, then pick them back up with another ship. Ships that report to any location like the Enterprise-C or, to some extent, the T'Ong are perfect for getting personnel back before they are captured by enemy crews (the big danger here), and you might even prefer using Space-Time Portal to report a ship rather than taking one back into hand (no need to re-report). Actually more useful than if it was just a kind of strategy counter. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) Can you believe that's still the bottom half for incidents?

PICTURE: Those castles in the sky right out of the 1001 Nights looked good on their own card, but from farther away, with a blueish color palette, they look even better. I really like, for example, the blue gases which give direction and the illusion of a Route to the image. Nice CGI at 4.

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

TREK SENSE: Basically alternate mission requirements for any space mission targeted (seeded) by the acquisitive player, I have no problem with this kind of thing. There *is* something stiff about missions as a card type, in that there is more to do, for example, on Qo'noS than Exposing a Covert Supply. Establishing a Trade Route then, for some people, is the mission du jour at whatever space mission they might be at. Sure, there may be exceptions to this, but the objective basically holds up. So, how do you do this? The first step is wanting the profit a Trade Route might bring: Greed. Then, you need the appropriate ship to actually do a sort of cargo run proving the Route is safe and efficient: Freighters, transports and, of course, any kind of Ferengi vessel will do. Acquisition is obviously required, and in spades, because it takes real business savvy to set it all up correctly. The Cunning makes sense too, though the amount is a little arbitrary. The difficulty of a mission (if the points can be an indication of it) does not necessarily translate as the difficulty of an entirely different mission (well, objective) even if at the same location. Just look at Borg objectives which have point values and difficulties independent of the mission's original difficulty/points. The reward here isn't just points (though you get those too), which is interesting enough. No, instead, your business men build a Ferengi Trading Post and trade for a couple of equipment cards. Now, I have no problem with the equipment - it's one way to say the Trade Route is being used - but the Ferengi Trading Post... Well, what if you're not using the Ferengi to complete the objective? I know the facility can be used to report all manner of personnel, but only the Ferengi would build it, right? Obviously, you'd still need a Ferengi attemptability icon at the mission for the facility to exist, but there's still no guarantee only the Ferengi would use the card. One thing that's too bad is that once the mission is solved and the downloads done, the Trade Route has no effect on the game. More good than bad, but with a massive plot hole at the end: a 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: For the Ferengi, the advantage is obvious - as a newer affiliation, they don't have the same number of missions available to them. Establish Trade Route allows them to seed other missions entirely and solve them anyway. It's also a good way to insure skill redundancy, by making all space missions (potentially) the same as far as requirements go. The affiliation has a large amount of Greed and Acquisition anyway, and the Ferengi ship HAS to be present in any case too. Only the CUNNING presents any kind of problem, requiring between 20 and 120 CUNNING depending on the mission (and just how Greedy you are). The Ferengi have some very CUNNING personnel, but also a fair number of idiots, so it can be a challenge on that front. Of course, all you need is numbers as the skills are pretty well covered. Playing rather than seeding the objective could also hurt some dilemma combos that target the mission's requirements, as well as confuse your opponent as to which affiliation you might be playing. An extra bonus (where possible) is the Trading Post download which also enables you to download up to two Equipment cards. Now, these can be Latinum (always helpful to the Ferengi), or else any other kind of equipment, perhaps for a cargo run. If you're going the cargo run route, the downloads also provide a facility as a starting point. Of course, the Post has its risks, such as allowing your opponent's personnel to report there, but you'll never be without an outpost due to an armada strategy. Non-Ferengi may also use the card since the skills and ships exist sometimes in affiliations, sometimes in Non-Aligned cards. A mix of these can even make use of Ferengi Trading Post, so it's not impossible if you can get all the Acquisition (Jovis is a transport that downloads a strong Acquisitor for example). Another Ferengi speed card, but not necessarily exclusive to them. I'll go as high as a 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.93 (74.67%) Alternate missions aren't too bad a deal.

PICTURE: A very colorful picture! And one that does two thing in my mind: 1) Show off how "alien fruit" can be found in most any supermarket (especially the oft used starfruit - not show here - and prickly pear - bottom right) and 2) make the Bug kind of like a real bug sitting on a leaf (or here, produce). A very nice close-up with a workable composition, I give it a 3.9.

LORE: Pedestrian at best. While the information is accurate, I think using "Minister Shakaar" instead of the more obscure "Shakaar Edon" would have worked better, and that last sentence is stylistically weak. Sorry, a 2.8.

TREK SENSE: Interesting to say the least, the penalty for being bugged is to have to reveal your hand to your opponent for 3 turns. Conceptually, this is great right down to the Countdown icon, since whatever occasion you're spying on won't last forever. I say conceptually because there's no direct relationship between an affiliation's plans and its player's hand. This is because a hand would contain cards that are actually "outside events" not regulated or initiated by the affiliation. Decks that use more than one affiliation without Treaty would also cause problems here. That said, this is still pretty cool, and better done than some other spying cards such as Garak's Tailor Shop. To find the Bug and derail the spying effort requires triple Security and a tricorder or Odo and a tricorder. The tricorder is used to detect the Bug, though ANY tricorder may be a bit much. Would a Medical Tricorder actually be set to pick it up? That Odo may substitute for the 3 Security, to me, is just a sign that he should have been a super triple-Security in the first place. He's certainly single-minded enough about the law. 3 Security represented by 3 personnel is quite the sensor sweep, but at least I believe it WOULD be their job. 2 FCA somehow can substitute both the tricorder and the Security, but the reasons are a little hazier. The Bug being of Ferengi make, the FCA would be particularly informed about its specifications, but would that mean a hand search would be enough for them (they don't need a tricorder)? Nice to see a Ferengi requirement given the nature of the dilemma, but it seems a little relaxed to me. Does good, but with reservations, so a 3.6.

SEEDABILITY: Certainly different as far as the penalty goes, and will either save it or sink it. The uses of seeing someone's hand have been discussed since Alien Probe back in Premiere, but this is one card that can't be nullified by Kevin Uxbridge. Of course, it has several drawbacks: it has requirements that can be overcome, it's only put into play if and when your opponent encounters it, and it has a time limit. That's why I recommend you use as it was meant to: as part of a string of dilemmas. Yes, if encountered at the right time, it can be used to make sure your important card won't be nullified, or to get information for Telepathic Alien Kidnappers, Scorched Hand, Masaka, etc., but even when not encountered at the "right time", it can be used to quickly spot your opponent's current weakness which will come in handy when he faces your "opponent's choice" dilemmas. Gee, no ENGINEERs in hand? Only one left in the Away Team? You get my drift. Most of its powers will be incidental though, so be ready to improvise, but at the same time, don't count on it since your opponent might not even attempt the mission. The requirements are ok if not impossible. 3 SECURITY is a bit much (except for the Dominion), though you might also get an Odo (non-Bajorans can use the Non-Aligned version) from time to time. It's that tricorder that might be harder to dredge up. These are rather more useful than PADDs, but not as common as hand weapons. It all depends on an affiliation's classification weaknesses. The Ferengi probably won't have a lot of trouble coming up with the necessary FCA, but it's no given either. Really hit and miss according to each situation: a 3.3.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Some of the details were buggy.

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