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

PICTURE: Seems like a perfectly fine image of Chakotay as a Maquis right? Well, it's not really him! He's a hologram from Tuvok's "Worst Case Scenario" holoprogram! So let's just say the pull is a little inappropriate. Aesthetically, it's just a normal head shot. A 2.3.

LORE: We're so used to have this backstory happen in the past that the present tense is a bit off-putting, but it really pinpoints this version of the Chakotay persona's place in time. Fairly well told at 3.3.

TREK SENSE: When Chakotay commanded a Maquis cell (takes care of those icons), he was squarely operating in the Alpha Quadrant (takes care of the lack of a quadrant icon). He's a Leader, sure enough, and as much an Officer as could exist in such an organization. He pilots his ship, so Navigation is warranted, and as he showed by joining forces with Janeway, has always acted with Honor. He's admitted to always being interested in Anthropology, but the Maquis lifestyle doesn't really give him a lot of opportunities to use it, so only x1 here. Gone are Archaeology (for which he had even less opportunity) and Diplomacy (the Maquis are terrorists, after all). Instead, we find an attribute boost for Maquis personnel. Works well enough too, given that he inspires a great deal of loyalty in them. They'll fight harder for him, but also comport themselves with more integrity and thoughtfulness. There's no change in attributes between this version and the one serving aboard Voyager, and I can't really counter that even if they could reasonably have dropped Integrity or Cunning, or upped Strength (or rather, dropped the other Chakotay's Strength). Works out very nicely at 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: For fans of Voyager who nonetheless want to play in the Alpha Quadrant, this card allows you to report a Chakotay there, one who can be switched for the DQ version later (no affiliation problems since they're both NA) regardless of quadrant. They have pretty much the same skill base: the fairly common OFFICER/Leadership/Navigation combo with the not-so-uncommon-either (and somewhat less useful) Honor and the rarer Anthropology. Switching to the other version only nets you an extra Anthropology (very good) and Diplomacy (restoring him to DipHoLe status). Even the icons and attributes are the same. Of course, if playing with enough Maquis, the Captain here can be put to greater advantage than his bluer twin: +2 to every attribute is pretty nice, especially in the STRENGTH department. He captains the Liberty to which he may readily report. Captain's Log and Defiant Dedication Plaque make the small vessel 10-9-9, which isn't bad, and it may be seeded to the Delta Quadrant directly (at the Array) where Captain Chakotay can be downloaded through Ready Room Door. Taking him and the Maquis to the DQ is a nice idea since there are enough NA missions to go around, and he too can use Ancestral Vision. If using this Chakotay, there's no real reason to opt for switching to the other during a game since they're so similar, but that's up to you. He'll get better as the Maquis get more stuff to do, but still hits 3.9 today.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) What, there weren't any good shots of him in the pilot?

PICTURE: An interesting pic even if we can't see who she's looking at, it flies by the 2-color palette (gunmetal gray and pink). The pink is what's fun because it makes her more "feminine" than any other Klingon woman. Bows in her hair, lipstick, jewelry... she probably spends a lot of time in the mirror. Given that she was a double love interest, I think it's a hoot. A fun 3.6.

LORE: One of the best done romantic involvement-related lores, it even gives us pet names! No explanation of invented skills, but all the romance stuff (her real backstory) is gold. Another fun one at 3.8.

TREK SENSE: Used mainly as a Klingon bimbo, none of her skills were really shown, not even her classification. Well, that's not completely true. As part of a friendly Klingon crew (and she was VERY friendly), Honor makes sense. Exobiology is no doubt taken from her interest in inter-species mating. As long as we're giving her Exobiology, why not the related Medical? And Archaeology? Relates to the episode in a roundabout way, in that the Voq'leng is an ancient ship, and its crew is chasing a legend. Honor/good Integrity works well enough, and the low Cunning goes hand in hand were her bimbo personality. Oh, and she seemed strong enough, just ask Neelix. Lots of invention, but it's not unjustifiable. A 3.

STOCKABILITY: If using the Voq'leng to roam the Delta Quadrant with your Klingons, you'll probably use every single member of her crew. The DQ Klingons don't double up on skills much, so each one has something the others don't have. For Ch'Regha, it's mainly MEDICAL (always always useful) and Archaeology (not so much, except for a Salvage Operation), though being a second Exobiology shouldn't be overlooked as it's a useful dilemma buster. I'm not saying you won't need support from NAs or support personnel, but support personnel would require another card to be seeded/played. Home Away From Home can be downloaded by the ship, so that's not an issue, and having a Staff icon, Ch'Regha can be played for free. So, just how useful is she in the Delta Quadrant? Well, there aren't a lot of Klingon missions over there, but she helps with a small number of "Any crew may attempt" missions too. You can definitely give her something to do at all 6 of your missions and still leave room for your other Klingons. Note that she's one of only 2 Klingon females in the DQ, so that's gotta be worth something, at least to the discriminating thematic player. A must for running competent Klingon Honor decks abroad. Hits 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) Mostly good fun (notice I didn't say "good CLEAN fun".) ;-)

PICTURE: Very, very nice. The nebula is so dense, it actually absorbs light in places, making the whole phenomenon kind of eerie. It's got a definite center and lots of detail throughout. A winning 3.9.

LORE: Quite well told, but the location designation sounds like it was made for a universal mission (which indeed might have helped its Trek Sense). The word "nebula" does have its uses, so that puts the score at 3.4.

TREK SENSE: With a name like "dense nebula", this location could well have been universal, and that could have helped it. I mean, if this is the nebula from "Flesh and Blood, Part II", it's near Hirogen space, but quite far from Kazon space. Even if we agree not to make it universal, there's an error in the fact the Kazon icon is present. The Klingons had a ship in that general area (as seen in "Prophecy"), but the Romulans are more arbitrarily used. The 4 affiliations mentioned all share the trait of aggressivity, so they might be interested, but there's too little context for them to go out of their way to Corner an (unknown) Enemy's Ship. That said, the rest of the card looks pretty good. One ship cannot easily "corner" the one hiding in the nebula because of the spatial problems (the ship could come out of the end opposite the one you'r hiding). The solution is to require enough ships to amount to at least 16 Weapons. Big ships with enhancements could do this alone, which is a little anomalous, but possible. You'll need Leadership to coordinate all these vessels, Stellar Cartography to chart the nebula and Navigation to maneuver to the right position(s). Some kind of tactical (Security) skill might also have been useful, but isn't present. There's also a question as to whether Navigation would be required on supplemental vessels as they have to get into position too, but charting courses for all ships could also be done from the attempting ship alone. The long Span makes sense if this nebula is a hiding place (it should be far from the main spacelanes). And the points? Well, I don't know who this enemy is to be worth so many points (the Children of Light in the episode), but since nothing is done with them except "flushing them out", 40's a bit steep. Especially with those easy requirements. Requirements work out fine, but most other elements could be improved. A 3.3.

SEEDABILITY: Very, very easy requirements for that big 40-point bounty. Leadership/Navigation/Stellar Cartography is a combo only found on 2 personnel, and they're not form the Delta Quadrant (General Krimm and Ixtana'Rax, either of which could work with the Kazon through just The Collective), but finding 2 of these 3 skills on the same personnel is quite frequent. The hard part's actually having 16+ WEAPONS at the location. Armada decks can apply their numbers to mission solving, of course, but even the bigger will need more than Captain's Log to boost their WEAPONS to that level (no non-Borg ship has natural WEAPONS higher than 12 at this point). Kazon can fairly easily launch an extra vessel from a Warship to get more WEAPONS present though, and so may be in the best position to solve this mission. The long Span will be advantageous for decks using big ships in any case, since these often have the RANGE to overcome this. As nebula, it can be used with a variety of abilities, from Ensign Tuvok and Hawk to Riker Maneuver and Isabella (not many Youth personnel among Vidiians and Hirogen, eh?). It's also one of 4 places Borg can seed or play a Transwarp Hub. And hey, the Hirogen only have 3 missions specifically made for them. I guess I'd use it myself if I were a hunter, but eeech, it's not Fair Play-protected. Those 40 points are juicy enough to ignore the more difficult aspects of the mission. A good 3.7.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Looks good, looks good.

PICTURE: A cool and creepy special effect, Seven getting her Implant taken out makes for a classic image. We also see hitherto unseen places where her Borgness shows. That's all fairly interesting and worth 3.6.

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

TREK SENSE: Ah, the famous Cortical Node Implant, which does so much for Seven of Nine on Voyager! Obviously, it belongs on a Borg, and freed Borg need to keep it to survive. It has two functions according to this card (which doesn't strike me as an "Incident", but how else to fit in all that game text, unless you make the functions incidents/objectives?): "transferring data" and "regulating implants". Transferring data can only be done by a Communication Borg (makes sense) and related to data from a Borg Data Node. Downloading the data is equated with drawing a card, which is a purely mechanical construct and poor in Trek Sense. That it cannot be turned into a download even takes away from its thematic value. Data may equal resources in some cases, but that random card draw could turn out to be nothing you'd imagine would be contained in a Node. Regulating implants works much better. Seven was often able to alter her abilities through her Cortical Node (sometimes with the Doctor's help, sometimes without it, but suspending the game is a bit quick either way). The Implant allows her (and other Borg) to alocate energy from one "system" to another. From Strength to problem-solving ability (Cunning) for example. My only question is: What system does Integrity represent? "Regulating implants to offer maximum ethical behavior!" Well, we're talking about the Borg, and the subcommands are each tied to an attribute, so maybe Integrity represents better Communications ability. Yeah, maybe, but you know, Seven had to work on her social skills for real, no regulating allowed. Truly an imperfect card, though I tend to like it when game effects are put into quotation marks as it adds to storytelling. A 2.6.

STOCKABILITY: Decipher certainly took its time in producing more Implant cards, but here they finally are. The Borg can download this one to a Borg in an Assimilation Table, or report it for free to 11 of 18 (the Augmentation Drone) who also allows it to be recycled into a deck rather than discarded (upon the death of its target Borg, in this case). But it's not just for Borg affiliation personnel. There are indeed a number of Non-Aligned former Borg in the Delta Quadrant that can work with anyone and use the Implant. If the Borg (in the Collective or freed) in question has a [Com] icon (more than a third of the Borg affiliation, and 6 NAs), it can use a Borg Data Node to draw an extra card once per turn. The Borg can't use it to convert it into one of their many downloads, but getting the Node in the first place shouldn't be a problem since 11 of 12 downloads it. For freed Borg, the Node isn't as useful (it's basically a Long-Range/Life-Form Scan), but throwing in card draws certainly makes it a better deal. The other function can be used by Nav and Def Borg too, and allows them to play around with their attributes. Considering that Borg have easy to remember attributes, changing them around when Yuta turns up may be an advantage, but it's not the only one. Indeed, any dilemma that requires certain attributes can be manipulated with the Implant. In personnel battle, what could be less useful than Integrity? Shunt 2 points to STRENGTH for an extra +2. Communication and Navigation drones can double as Defense, and Defense drones could boost themselves to 9. And you can do the same thing with freed Borg whose stats are less predictable, giving, for example, your Seven of Nine STRENGTH 11 in battle (suspending play to do so if you were surprised by your opponent). Gives the Borg (and freed Borg) a little more flexibility (it allows them to pass In the Pale Moonlight, for example), and the card drawing engine is easy to get into play. A good 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.73 (68.65%) Probably doesn't cover everything Seven made it do though.

PICTURE: Janeway as a Borg looks more sad than creepy, but since she wasn't REALLY assimilated, maybe her presence on a Borg-only Implant is a little inappropriate. Be that as it may, the focus of the card is the Implant itself which IS in the center of the image (more or less). The composition, with its half-face, is mildly interesting, though the green and brown color palette is just this side of dreadful. A not-very-memorable 2.7.

LORE: So much techno-babble, this HAS to be a Voyager card. In all seriousness though, the lore does a fair job of explaining the Implant's function and operation. It's a square 3.

TREK SENSE: The Transceiver Implant is probably the first thing you remove from a drone when you sever its ties to the Collective. That's why you won't be able to play this thing on former Borg. Borg use only is the only way to go. Now, Implants as Events or Incidents seems to be the standard, but it just feels weird to put these pieces of equipment in that category. I accept it as a game necessity, but I thought I'd mention it nevertheless. Ok, so what does it do? Well, it receives and interprets directives from the Hive mind. Interpretation per se is represented as a boost to Cunning. Fine, but here's the problem: Wouldn't every drone per force be outfitted with this Implant? Maybe the Event is that the Implant is activated or stimulated you say. I'll indeed have to go with that, though it's installation on an Assimilation Table would seem to contradict that perspective. To continue, the reception of directives is represented as a download of a Borg Objective or a discarding of the same. Makes a lot of sense, and since this is routed through the Communication subcommand, Com drones are the ones to get these "orders". At least there's part of this card that unquestionably works. Makes it a 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: Yay! Another Implant to download at an Assimilation Table (Voyager's Borg Queen can also download it) or play for free/reabsorb at 11 of 18's location. But is it useful? The CUNNING boost clearly isn't much, certainly not enough to use you card play on, though 11 of 18 should fix that. Still, if a PADD adds +2 CUNNING to every one present, and we've chosen to very seldom use THOSE, what are CTI's chances when it only boosts one drone (yep, no Counterparts or Queens). Thankfully, it has another function, one that works only on Com drones. That pretty much means you'll only be giving Com drones a CUNNING boost. It allows you to download or discard a Borg Objective. Now, isn't that what A Change of Plans is for? In fact, doesn't A Change of Plans do this better by allowing the download on the same turn as the discard (and the option to save the removed objective in your hand)? Maybe, but there are other factors to consider. One is that a Cranial Transceiver Implant, once played, is always on hand (it's even doubtful you'd stock more than one if you can keep the drone protected), no need to fish it out of the deck (not that that's difficult to do with A Change and your Queen). It's a bit better probe card too. Another is that A Change of Plans does not exist in the Voyager-only environment. Since these reviews take into account the whole of available cards, that doesn't hold much water (I'd rather see some kind of reprint, than "same effect, just a little different" cards like this - if it's gonna be the same card, just fess up to it). Still, we can't deny that flexibility when it comes to objectives (you don't want to be stuck with one that has become nigh impossible to complete), but this card's redundancy sinks it a bit. A Change of Plans did get a 4.8 way back in my first week, but this card gets a little less - a 4.3.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) Tough to judge a card that's redundant, but copying an important effect.

PICTURE: While I never liked the Hirogen out of their helmets, Davar walking through the streets of provincial France has the right attitude. He's observing his prey from the corners of his eyes, and that prey can even be seen in the background. The background frames him relatively well (though it is a bit jumbly), and the uniform is mostly in focus. A better than average 3.5.

LORE: We get his story, along with an interesting qualitative "reckless". Well told, though universality is far from acknowledged, and the Nazi uniform is left mostly unexplained for the uninitiated. That's a 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Dividing Hunters into classifications must not have been an easy task. For example, where does the episode show that Davar is a Scientist? The best I could come up with was that he participated in the scenarios as part of overseeing the experiment. Unfortunately, he never seemed to like the idea much at all, and got out as soon as he could. His Science-related skills don't do much for me either. You've got Archaeology, which could be tied to the idea of operating in a simulated past era, but again, he really wasn't into it. Biology is a good skill for all Hunters though, even if they use it to kill rather than heal. Treachery? You won't see me rail against this one. Karr seemed a rather noble character compared to this aggressive hoodlum. But the middling Integrity? I suppose his loyalty to the Hirogen way of life could have mitigated the damage incured by betraying his Alpha. It's obvious he didn't have Karr's foresight, so low Cunning is dead on. High Strength, of course, is a staple of the Hirogen species, though 8 is low for them. I'd agree with it from Davar's stature though. As far as universality goes, I suppose he's meant to be representative of Hirogen who fell in with Turanj(?). Hard to say, and without more explanation, the icon is a bit jarring. All in all, not the strongest of efforts at 1.9.

STOCKABILITY: There are few Hirogen missions, but none of them require his skills, nor does Hunting Group. "Any Away Team/crew may attempt" missions are another matter, but more difficult to protect. Dilemmas require SCIENCE (with Treachery, he beats Unscientific Method) and Biology, but Treachery isn't as common, and Archaeology is completely absent. And the stats are pretty low, even the STRENGTH when you compare him to his brethren (enough of which have his skills). Doesn't look too good, does it? Well, he's the only non-holographic universal source for those skills (including SCIENCE). So if you need a cheap back-up for this stuff and don't want to use holograms, he's your man. He just slides in at 3.

TOTAL: 11.5 (57.5%) Getting what he deserved.

PICTURE: My favorite of the 3 Deanna Trois (cards going by that same title, I mean), the smile does a world of good. Deanna was always more interesting when she was having a good time than when she was "emoting" or whatever. The buildings in the background kind of look like the miniature models they are, but they make for a pretty different interior from what they've used us to. A likeable 3.5.

LORE: Barclay-related cards need to be tongue-in-cheek at least a little bit. Here, there's putting Reg on the same semantic level as the entire Enterprise. He's always needed more counseling than other crewmembers! The romantic involvement with Riker is alluded to in Voyager, though you can consider it a little bit of Insurrection before TMP came out. One thing I'm glad of: chocolate isn't mentioned. Man, I really thought Voyager ran that into the ground! Nothing TOO flashy, but well done at 3.6.

TREK SENSE: Deanna's skills are as they should have been in Premiere (and First Contact), though I keep questioning the Officer classification for counselors. Their blue uniforms hint at Medical even if I accept the difference between docs and shrinks. Anyway, what's been missing from other versions of Deanna's persona is Anthropology. Since there's no Psychology skill, I think Anthropology, the study of humanoid cultures, could allow for an understanding of humanoid behavior. Even if I don't try to fit psych skills in there, she demonstrated Anthropological skill in "Darmok" and First Contact (to name only a couple of instances). Diplomacy is what she helped Picard with the most, and she's the original Empath. The FC version's Navigation was never really warranted since her one turn at the helm resulted in the destruction of the Enterprise-D saucer. Staffing the Enterprise-E, she retains the E-E icon, but doesn't suffer from the icon's basic problem - that it should, but doesn't, include at least the Staff icon. That's because her special skill is yet another fix for the E-E icon, this time making all E-E personnel get Command as well. All E-E icon personnel usually have Command anyway, so I don't think that's overstepping boundaries. My only question is: Why does Deanna have this ability? The only reason is that she's the only E-E personnel to make an appearance in Voyager, and this came out in a run of Voyager-only releases. I undertand the practicality, but it's nonsense. Finally, we have the attributes. The 1-point drop in Integrity from her former selves hardly makes sense for someone who took time off even from her vacation to help a patient (Reg, who should really have been the subject of her special skill, instead of having E-E personnel apparently blubbering to her about their lost Command ability). Maybe it has to do with her threatening that dabo girl who seduced Barclay? She gains one point in Cunning, which is fine with me. Voyager made her more professional than most Next Gen outings, I guess. And no change in Strength, where none could have been justified. Really, the attributes didn't need to be changed at all. While I think Deanna is finally "fixed", that special skill is a costly add-on. A 3.3 here.

STOCKABILITY: There are currently 6 versions of Deanna's persona, and they're all very close to one another. Using one over another is just a question of one of her skills and a special skill/ability, but there is a way to use more than one in an efficient way. This Deanna still has the always useful skills of Empathy and Diplomacy, but adds Anthropology, which is rarer than FC's Navigation, but nonetheless pretty useful. With the right Treaty, New Contact becomes very easy, and she helps with such dilemmas as V'ger and Photonic Energy Being. All of that can be accomplished with the similarly-skilled Commander Troi, though (one can always be a back-up for the other). As for her special skill, it's a better fix than Crew Reassignment for that darn E-E icon, making all E-E personnel in play Command instead of Staff. If you want to report her (and them) directly to the E-E, you'll probably still be using Crew Reassignment, but if you aren't, the Event may be a waste of resources just for staffing issues. Still, the FC Deanna has a generally better special skill, so while on mission attempts, you might switch her to that version. You won't be needing staffing at all times, after all. The Premiere Deanna may be used as a support personnel to report directly to a ship somewhere, only to be switched with one of her "sisters". Durango has a different skill list, but would basically support Sheriff Worf and other Deadwood cards. In a more multi-cultural deck, there's Major Rakal and The Trois, though the former has little to add to a Federation deck, and the latter requires another personnel for the switch. I can't really recommend her over FC Deanna, and the special skill has no value in the Voyager-only environment (though her Empathy might be welcomed), but I can see her being useful in some decks. A 3.2.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Of the 3 cards with that title, scored the best.

PICTURE: Though one of the more attractive Hirogens (without a helmet that is), Decaren seems to have a kind, concerned expression, which wasn't really his attitude on the show. That, plus what looks like a wool sweater, takes away from clear and well-composed image. Despite all this, the shot is taken from Decaren's sudden intuition about where the holograms were hiding as he looks at the astrometrics screen. A hunter at his best, you might say, and also the defining moment for the character according to Decipher-friend and Decaren actor, Vaughn Armstrong. Hey, you got it from thr Hirogen's own mouth. A 3.5.

LORE: No real episodal context (he's from "Flesh and Blood"), but there's still a lot to like. Chief among these is the description of his hunter's psychology, both insightful and well-written. Another good thing is giving him a ship to command, though I have to wonder if it's the right one. Didn't he command a Venatic Hunter? Not sure, that might have been Netek, but overall, I'll give him a 3.5 here.

TREK SENSE: I can believe Alpha-Hirogen should be highly skilled and have high STRENGTH, but are all those skills proven fact? Officer and Leadership go with being an Alpha, that much is sure. Anthropology can be explained in the same way it turns up on Rituals of the Hunt: it's all about knowing your prey. The Diplomacy, Honor and high Integrity are there because he worked with Janeway and Voyager, but since his attitude toward the holograms was merciless, I'm not sure I'd have made a big point of it. Still, he was certainly nicer than his Beta Gann. Science and Physics go hand in hand, and I suppose we saw them used in conjunction with tracing the Venatic Hunter's trail. Yeah, ok, it all works fairly well. Nothing too original, and some of it may be exaggerated, but a 4 is warranted.

STOCKABILITY: I don't need to convince you that Alpha-Hirogen are important to that affiliation. Thankfully, they are also pretty good personnel, with large skill lists and various perks. Decaren offers a good OFFICER/SCIENCE package, pretty much dividing his skills between the two archetypes. All skills but Honor are fairly well represented on dilemmas and missions (he helps out on all specifically Hirogen missions), including Hunting Group, and Anthropology in particular can be used to "know your prey" and fully utilise Rituals of the Hunt and gain the target's skills. As an Alpha, he can also use a Talon to put an escort on the walls with Relics of the Chase. And still as an Alpha, he can report for free through Hirogen Hunt, and allow any Hirogen than mention him in their lore to also report for free. Right now, that would be Donik (who allows holos to report to his location), Gann, and Harkan (the only one with a conservative skill list). And let's not forget his Hunting Vessel, a universal (Spacedoorable) ship that can Ready Room Door Decaren into play early (if free plays are too slow for you) and that can be boosted to 9 / X+3 / 12 attributes with just Plaque and Log. Those WEAPONS will read at least 10, plus armada bonuses. Decaren's own attributes are really good too. An excellent 4.4.

TOTAL: 15.8 (79%) Alphas are gonna do well here.

PICTURE: The Vidiians are so deformed, you can actually get away with CGIing one of them to make a new one without people noticing. Dilanus is such a creation. He used to be Sorum, but his bone structure's been warped (that, plus Maleth's been taken out of the background). Pretty convincing actually, and though the palette's limited, the compositional lines are fairly dynamic. With points for a good CGI job, I give it a 3.9.

LORE: All invention, though based on actual Vidiian extras, we start out with acknowledgement of universality and go on from there. The last sentence is fun if syntaxically convoluted. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Being a CGI construct, we'll have to look at lore and the Avery III base to see if he makes sense. Engineer is a good classification for a maintenance worker, but adding Science isn't supported by any information we have. Vidiians are a scientifically advanced race, so it's not that far-fetched, but there's just no evidence either way. Security would have fit him better since he was assigned prisoners. Stellar Cartography is even worse as he wasn't even serving on a ship. SC has nothing to do, as far as I know, with Avery III's medical research project(s) or mining operations. From the mention of tunnels, we know he shouldn't get any Geology, but what is basically an opposite science isn't necessarily indicated. Treachery is the only supportable skill, with the way his prisoners think of him. That Treachery is helped along by low Integrity, while the other attributes are fine, maybe because we just wouldn't know how he was rated in those areas. Staff icon fit this universal worker. Not quite sensical given what we've been told. A 2.2.

STOCKABILITY: All his skills, including the ENGINEER, appear on exactly 4 Vidiians each. How's that for balancing an affiliation's skill pool? All skills are also included on other universals, so he's not the only one available, and none of his skills appear on strictly Vidiian missions except SCIENCE ("any may attempt" and Non-Aligned missions are another matter, but are tougher to protect). Two classifications is very good, and those two particulary, and you'll find a use for the other 2 skills, especially Stellar Cartography, but he's basically your standard universal 3-skill Vidiian (i.e. no perks). A fair skill-and-classification provider worth 3.6.

TOTAL: 13.1 (65.5%) A fun discovery while indexing Where's That Picture From?

PICTURE: The resigned expression is good for him, but the pic is pretty dull overall. A 3 should do.

LORE: Two things of interest here. Firstly, it's refreshing to meet a Hirogen who isn't a hunter. And second, I hadn't really thought in those terms before reading the lore, but yes, the Children of Light ARE his creations. "Children of Donik" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it? It's good, it's good. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Some good stuff. He had a young voice and short stature, so it's easy to believe he was a Youth. A technician would be a Staff icon Engineer. He programmed holograms into borderline sentience, which surely deserves Computer Skill x2. He was willing to leave Hirogen society to help his creations, and was friendly to the Voyager crew, making him a candidate for Honor. Physics and holographics can be closely associated, but while Physics is a Science, I'm not sure the second classification is deserved. I'm trying to come up with something he did on the show that isn't covered by Science or Computer Skill, and I simply can't. Sure, he used the scientific method, but that's not usually enough. The special skill allows him to create (report) the Hirogen holograms he actually did help create. And the attributes look fine to me. One questionable skill for a lot of correct ones, he's a strong 4.

STOCKABILITY: I'm afraid Donik's hologram-reporting ability isn't very useful unless you don't own a copy of the Olarra. After all, it allows holograms to report aboard all by itself. If you don't have the Olarra, or have to change ships due to some damage, well then, Donik suddenly becomes a key player in your Children of Light deck (so long as you keep them in Hirogen mode) using the universal Venatic Hunter. His skill pool may well make him a better choice for that than Holodeck Door. To get him out as quickly as possible, he mentions Alpha-Hirogen Decaren in his lore, so could use Hirogen Hunt to report for free if his Alpha is in play. And far from only a reporting mechanism, he's got some nice skills. Youth makes him the only Hirogen who can pass I Hate You, and twin classifications are great (those two in particular). And speaking of useful, how about that Computer Skill x2? Computer Skill is consistently useful in multiples, and is definitely required for Quark's Isolinear Rods (so you have him in hand to report for free) and Ferengi Ingenuity (what is it with Ferengi and Computer Skill x2?). Physics and Honor do show up in more regular fashion now, and are welcome as well. Note that he doesn't really help with Hirogen-specific missions, but does with dilemmas and "Any" missions like Establish Home Planet (though with no bonus for holographic attempts). He has good attributes, but is more vulnerable that any other Hirogen in personnel battle. There's enough here for a 4.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) Not a hunter, but good nonetheless.

PICTURE: The white light behind him kind of has the look of a transporter tube, so at least subliminally, the card is unified in theme. The drone itself is ok, with a slight blur, but a good, edgy angle. I'm gonna say 3.4.

LORE: Annexation drone? Do you really "annex" ships? Space sectors, yes, ships not so much. While the idea of keeping drones in alphabetical order no matter how you read them (designation or identification) is a cool one, I think it must've been hard work coming up with relevant names in The Borg expansion. The Task does a good job of separating him from his FC double, 2 of 11 (see below). A 3.

TREK SENSE: Well, the special skill is the same as 2 of 11's, but he's from a totally other subcommand. Where the Transport drone was more interested in shield harmonics, the Annexation drone sees beyond that and helps take down shields to assimilate ships. As such, a Defense subcommand suits him better (in fact, in my 2 of 11 review, I said Transport drone should have been Defense on account of his skill). Transporter Skill is still a must given the special skill, which allows your Borg to do what they've often done in Star Trek: beam through opponent's Shields. Because 8 of 18 is so interested in assimilating ships, Computer Skill is added to the list. It will allow him to take over the ship's systems once he's aboard. And Security? It's part and parcel of the Defense subcommand and works fine here. A better effort than Transport Drone, but not by much, and I would have liked to see a nuance in the special skill. A 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: If using all possible cards, it doesn't have to come down to either 2 of 11 or 8 of 18, you can use both. A little ENGINEER here, a little SECURITY there... If you ask me to compare them though, I'd say they were pretty much equivalent. ENGINEER is just a tad more useful than SECURITY, but 2 of 11 lacks the Computer Skill, which in turn, is a pretty common skill. Thumbs up for including the very skill needed for Assimilate Starship on the same drone that allows probing there. Navigation subcommand is better at staffing ships, but Defense is better at dealing with dilemmas. Neither has something on the other, and it'll all depend on what else you put in your deck. If in the Voyager-only environment, then you have no Transport drone to allow beaming through SHIELDS - 8 of 18 is your guy. Sure, there's no Assimilate Counterpart in the DQ, but assimilating personnel aboard a ship (and that ship for that matter) still works, for Assimilate Species, for example. Unfortunately, no Sabotage drone in Voyager-only, so that's one trick less than before. Still, the drone is about worth the same as its FC counterpart: 3.9.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) Half a point better than that other leading brand.

PICTURE: I love those red flares produced by Borg laser sights, and this one works very well. The skeletal Borg is also appropriately creepy. And you must consider that 8 of 15 was pulled out of a montage as Riley Frazier and friends share memories with Chakotay, and that a second flare was digitally removed from the image. You'd think this was an actual, non-manipulated scene. Good work worth 3.9.

LORE: Antitoxin drone, eh? Given the Task, it works. I'm not sure how I feel about yet another "Adapt" in a drone's task however. I'm either sick of the repetition, or find it a great in-joke based on Seven's proclivity for saying it. I'm gonna say it's a competent effort at 3.3.

TREK SENSE: 8 of 15 represents the segment of the Collective responsible for protecting it from viral and chemical agents. It does this by injecting/modifying/activating Nanoprobes, as represented by its download (of course, the Nanoprobes do more than fight infections, they are also a weapon). To do this, the drone also requires basic knowledge of biological systems (Medical) and an analytical sense of alien agents (Exobiology). A push could have been made to put Biology and/or Science in there - they would all have made sense - but I have no particular problem with the choices actually made. One choice that does deserve scrutiny is that of making the drone part of the Defense subcommand. I agree that it defends the Collective from specific dangers, and that the Nanoprobes can be used more aggressively, but there is a discrepency between this and other Medical-related drones, which have traditionally been part of the Communications subcommand. Think of it this way: A Com drone would be skilled at transmitting toxin information to the entire Collective and its active Nanoprobes. But Defense works too. They could have gone a number of ways, but I can't really argue against the road taken. Shall we say a 4?

STOCKABILITY: The Borg only have 5 MEDICAL and 5 Exobiology to their name (Queen and Interlink not withstanding), which is about standard distribution. But both skills are extremely useful against dilemmas, and so you'd do well to have enough of them. Furthermore, finding them on a Defense drone rather than a Communications drone (note that there is another MEDICAL Def drone, 4 of 11 - Guard Drone) simply expands your options when it comes to using Activate Subcommands, Awaken and We Are the Borg (as well as in considering subcommand icons for passing certain dilemmas, as Defense is slightly more useful in that regard). And then there's the download, not a special download mind you, one that takes the place of your card play, so you can't go suspending play to get Nanoprobes at exactly the right moment. No matter, the equipment card will stick around for when you do need it, and 8 of 15 is a Defense drone that can use it to assimilate stunned adversaries. Since you can specifically download the drone using a variety of means, downloading the card that'll kill off those nasty 8472 dilemmas may be key to your survival too. Strong enough for a 3.9.

TOTAL: 15.1 (75.5%) Another strong showing for the Collective.

PICTURE: While 8 of 18 comes off as a pretty standard "drone manequin" shot, it does have a couple of things going for it. One is that some CGI work was done on it - removing Janeway from the right-side background - and I really like the reflective nature of the drone's eye implant. Not only does it draw attention to something from his game text, but the "monocle look" is cool in its own right. The set pieces on the left look like molded plastic, which they probably are, and make the composition uneven. So you have a 3.4 here.

LORE: The ID and Task go together well enough. What more can I say? A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: 11 of 18 actually makes a better Cyber Drone than 5 of 11 does! That drone had nothing very cybery except the Cybernetics skill, but 11 of 18 actually deals with cybernetic Implants. Groovy. So what does he do with them exactly? Well, he reports them for free, which means he has access to them at all times and can install them as part of his function. He may also recycle them if destroyed (discarded), as when an Implanted drone is killed, though it may take a while for them to be repaired or regenerated (they go to the bottom of the draw deck). Very smoothly done. Cybernetics is still there, of course, and the implanting procedure is considered part of the Medical field. Pretty flawless. 11 of 18 follows in the tradition of Medical drones being in the Communications subcommand, and I can't really see him in the other two. Some Implants regulate drones' link to the Collective, and that's communication, right? High marks of 4.7.

STOCKABILITY: Well, Cybernetics isn't very useful for the Borg because they have no androids, but I can see two uses for the skill, especially in combination with 11 of 18's MEDICAL. One is passing Borg Servo, which should only occur when facing another Borg opponent or when running through one's own dilemmas. The other is using Extraordinary Measures to keep death at bay for a personnel just killed. It could buy you time to grab another Queen or whatever. MEDICAL, of course, is more useful than that, being one of the better classifications/skills. You don't need me to preach about its utility. Now, for the special skill. The Augmentation drone allows your Implants to report to drones present (including his selfish little self) for free, or recycle them into your deck when they get hit by a nullifier or by the death of their drone. So what if it's the bottom of the deck: the bottom is never the bottom for long when you download as massively as the Borg do. What are these Implants? Cranial Transceiver boosts CUNNING and allows for Objective downloads and discards (à la Change of Plans); Ocular Implants allows you to look at dilemmas and Away Teams, and has gotten a recent Current Rulings boost by broadening the definition of "present"; and the Cortical Node Implant modifies attributes and gets you card draws. All good stuff. Does the Augmentation drone actually beat out the Assimilation Table's Implant downloading ability? Not really, though the Table has no real use in scouting, nor is it as safe to use (Equipment is vulnerable, and any Implantee would be destroyed along with it). In the Voyager-only environment, of course, you don't have access to the Table. I gotta give it a 3.6.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) High, but still middle-of-the-road for the Borg.

PICTURE: A distinctive close-in headshot, I tend to like it at first glance, but dislike everything but the drone's head when looking deeper. There's just too much visual garbage in the background to score any higher than a 3.

LORE: Connectivity drone isn't a bad ID, even if it seems a little forced. His interlink task is easier to understand than the Interlink drone's. I like it better in any case. About 3.3.

TREK SENSE: What else has to do with the Borg interlink? Data Nodes and the Vinculum, that's what. Both gadgets contain and/or transmit information to the Collective to be shared by all Borg. The obviously Com subcommand 11 of 12 monitors and maintains these Equipment cards, downloading either of them through his special skills. That implies he builds them somehow, but their effects might be dormant before he activates them. Hey, he may also build them, though I expect the Vinculum would be part of every ship already (because it is a separate card, it does represent an activated effect however). The Vinculum is a bigger and more complex piece of machinery, so doing so in place of a card draw is sensible. While the Data Node has no cost, it does seem odd that the drone can download as many Vinculums as it wants, but only one Data Node. Anyway, the Computer Skill can certainly allow him to monitor and program these doodads, and Engineer is for the maintenance part of his task. Biology is the odd one. If it's meant to represent the links that must be made with biological elements of the Collective, I would rather have had Cybernetics regiment the interface. If it has to do with his part in dissecting drones for the Queen in "Unimatrix Zero", then why not make the drone all about that sort of thing? Well, in a sense, it is, since he was checking to see why those drones weren't connecting well. Modem problems indeed. Ok, so that works out pretty well. A 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: There is no Interlink Drone in the Voyager-only environment. Instead, we have the Borg Vinculum which does something similar. You can get the Vinculum in record time with 11 of 12's download, useable as many times as you want so long as you sacrifice a card draw to get it. As a special download, only one instance of 11 of 12 could have used it, but here, one or more Connectivity Drones can download Vinculums to as many of your ships as you want Hives. The special download he does have, like Borg Vinculum, requires a [Com] drone to use (11 of 12 stoically obliges), and allows him to download Adapt cards and/or peek at crews or the top card of any deck. Good for dilemma solving, personnel battle, probe rigging and good old-fashioned spying all at the same time. And he's not just a downloading machine: He's got some pretty good skills, including the excellent ENGINEER, the very useful Computer Skill and the oddly placed, but no less useful, Biology. That odd skill combo is actually a surprising boon, a little of 2 worlds. Because of his link to some especially useful cards, he gets a 4.1. If you have access to an Interlink Drone as well, maybe a little less, but with actual skills on there, he may actually be more useful.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) I'm starting to think it helps drones' Trek Sense not to have any real backstories.

PICTURE: While the FC version of this card was cluttered, this one's positively chaotic, and not in a good way either. I don't know what I'm looking at 90% of the time. There's a planet, a couple Cubes, and a ship that's alien but nonetheless has Federationish features being destroyed, but the composition is real messy. There's just too much happening in such a small window, and pretty colors alone do not a high score make. Only 1.5, especially considering the vast material available in Voyager.

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

TREK SENSE: No changes, not even in wording, from the original version, but the Voyager environment does shed new light on the Objective. See, I used to find it strange that the Borg would ever consider a ship important enough that they would drop everything to seek it out and destroy it (rather than assimilate it, for example). Enter Voyager. That ship was enough of a thorn in the Collective's side that it could deserve this treatment. The Collective might also go after 8472 vessels this way (even if that's not possible in the game). The probes and their results haven't really changed however, and they've always been mostly good. On a Borg icon, you do what they do best - turn the ship into wreckage, which may be salvaged normally. The Borg aren't a wasteful affiliation. On an AU result, they make an AU effect take place: a Temporal Rift is opened, probably due to the warp core breaching. There are problems here. One is that such phenomena shouldn't be a common occurence (they may not be with the number of AU cards available to your Borg in the Voyager environment), and the other is that the Rift could be played elsewhere on the table entirely (and probably would be). The explosion of the ship could also cause damage to another ship present, as represented by a Borg-only result. That's fine, and because the Borg are so tough, they aren't among the targets. The Borg-only icon suits this point of view. Look, I gotta go higher than last time, so a 4.

STOCKABILITY: While the ability to circumvent attack restrictions in the case of a single ship is always excellent for the Borg, the probe results are going to be less interesting in the Voyager-only environment. No Salvage Starship, no Temporal Rift, and fewer armadas. Actually, the possibility of damaging another ship present at random is a bit better when dealing with a ship duo, rather than a larger fleet. Target Voyager, but also damage the Delta Flyer, see? The problem will be getting the right icon to come up. Probe rigging should be in your plans, because you have a better chance of getting the Borg icon, which will allow you to download a card you don't have access to. In the Voyager-only environment, you won't get a lot of AU results, if any, so "Energy distortion" is unlikely anyway. Of course, that's all moot if you have access to everything, which is usually how I look at these reviews. Then, it may become Salvage Starship's partner (points scored at the end of the cycle), etc. No change from the previous score of 4.3 given the Rolodex's focus, but wouldn't have gotten very much less in the aggressive Voyager environment (maybe 3.9 or 4).

TOTAL: 13.07 (65.33%) Down a couple points because of the pic.

PICTURE: The heavy shadows almost give him a malformed, earless head, but for sheer evil, there's nothing like squinting. I'm being facetious here, because the Equi-Doc's closed face is appropriately opposite to the real Doc's open one. I like the blue columns of light in the back, but it all works much better on the Federation bordered card than it does on the NA. That gold border eats up all the atmosphere the card tries to generate. At its best (Fed blue), it scores 3.6.

LORE: The story as we know it, with nothing about what happened during "Equinox" itself. It's ok without being too sharp. No more than a 3.

TREK SENSE: We know that an EMH left on for too long deviates from its established programming, and that allows for differently skilled EMHs. The evil Equinox Doctor, for example, doesn't have the extra Medical and the Biology x2 his Voyager counterpart holds. For the small humano-centric crew he had to service, the single classication Medical should be enough. He's got the Exobiology x2 to conduct his experiments on the Ankari Spirits, and the Computer Skill to manage his own program. Where the good-hearted Doc gave himself Music subroutines, Equinox Doc had his ethical subroutines removed. That wiped his Integrity totally and gave him Treachery x2. Maybe that's too evil? I mean, he was still loyal to the Equinox crew! Still, someone incapable of moral judgment (artificially, in this case) could be capable of anything, which is what we would accuse Kivas Fajo (the other No Integrity personnel) of. I do like the special downloads, mostly because they eloquently represent his natural dychotomy - being a doctor who WILL do harm. He might heal you with the Medical Kit, or he might just as well shoot you with the Phaser. His Cunning and Strength match the Doc's, of course. As for the dual affiliations, the Equinox crew is a more acceptable use of this design than Voyager's Maquis personnel. They are a Starfleet crew that nonetheless works outside the usual protocols. So they might join up with Voyager as Feds, then go the way of rebels when their unethical behaviour is discovered. Oh, and too bad they didn't want to make this Doctor an infiltrator to exclude the machanic from Voyager. Still, an excellent 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: The Equinox gang (along with the ship) is a perfect addition to any non-Borg DQ affiliation's complement of personnel thanks to the NA icon. They'll work with anybody, and in enough concentration, easily steal Federation missions in the DQ. They report aboard the USS Equinox with Home Away From Home too. The Equinox Doctor is a good source of Exobiology and Treachery, as well as a good MEDICAL (all greatly required from missions, and Computer Skill isn't bad at all either). Non-INTEGRITY can't be boosted and certainly doesn't do anything to attribute pools. Of course, those skills are difficult to use at planet missions unless you use Holo-Projectors or the Mobile Emitter. Too much hassle to really be worth it? After all, he can't download the Emitter to make himself Away Team-ready. Well, if it's MEDICALs that can beam down, simply download a Medical Kit and turn all your OFFICERs into MEDs. Get boarded? (Not unlikely in the DQ.) Maybe a sudden STRENGTH boost thanks to a Phaser would help. You can only get one of the two, so choose well. For AQ play, he'll report for free to Lewis Zimmerman, perhaps as a cool Treachery x2 Fed with good skills and a holographic nature. For Hirogen Children of Light, he can report to the Olarra as an NA and act as their resident MEDICAL. That NA icon goes a long way, and with his good skill list, he winds up at 3.9.

TOTAL: 14.6 (73%) And we'll see how well The Doctor does later.

PICTURE: Once again, I must applaud Decipher's digital work, because this image never actually appears on the show, just as the original version of the card never appeared in First Contact. And I also applaud the fact that they made it sufficiently different from the original by using a Probe instead of a Scout, and green light instead of blue, according to Voyager's design ethic. I can't see myself giving as high a score for this version though, because the Probe seems to be going into the Gateway sideways, almost like it's burning up doing so. Not looking quite right doesn't take away from the achievement though, and I give it a high 4.4.

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

TREK SENSE: No change from the original except in exact wording, Establish Gateway still works great. The Borg would have to do this kind of thing to maintain and build on their Network, and this task would be rather tedious (25 points sounds right). It has to be at a space mission (though universal Space can't be probed, which is anomalous) because a planet's gravity well might disrupt the Gateway. Once the sector is cleared of all problems and opposition (dilemmas), you open a Transwarp Network Gateway there (download it) and another objective (the Borg always have something to do). If no TNG available for a download, it creates a problem with the card's title, but not with the probe result. Clearing a sector may have been the real objective here. Probe requirements are simple, but for fine too: You must either get Communications, which is responsible for coordinating the effort with the rest of the Network, or Navigation, because Transwarp is a means of travel. 4.7, just as before.

STOCKABILITY: I originally gave this card a 5, and if anything, The Borg introduced some cards that make it better still. Against an Alpha Quadrant deck, it'll allow you to be everywhere at once. Just get there using a seeded TNG, then Establish Gateway at regular intervals to have an open door for any ship at or near another TNG, or reporting to your Transwarp Hub. Even in the DQ (or GQ or MQ), this will work fine. And it's an easy one! Com and Nav should be an easy probe, especially with all the TNGs you've got sitting in your deck (the Nav icon appears on it). A great way to get a Borg Cube up and ready is to Retask the Borg Ship dilemma, and the only way to trigger your own is to scout a space mission. You'll need Establish Gateway for that. Now, scouting your opponent's cleared missions isn't recommeded because of Access Denied (which nullified the objective) and Feedback Surge (gives your points to your opponent). Similarly, you better protect your own space missions with Fair Play, Sphere Encounter, Beware of Q, etc. because once cleared, they may still be attempted by your opponent. May make juicy bait to get your Sphere Encounter to pay off though ;-). And finally, there's the new Network Drone, 9 of 12, which allows you to reprobe when at first you don't succeed at Establishing Gateway. It's never been so easy to expand your power in the universe. Still a 5.

TOTAL: 18.8 (94%) These are the bread and butter of many a Borg deck.

PICTURE: A nice pearl of a planet, quite idyllic from here. Two things strike me. One is the sun on the horizon, indicative of the new dawn rising for the DQ Klingons. The second is the face hidden in the dark night of the planet. It's probably an odd artifact from duplicating some part of the planet seen on the show to complete the globe. Don't see it? Look closely: dark pouchy eyes, a flat nose and a sad mouth with a big lower lip. I'm looking too hard, you say? Could be, could be. The pic's worth a good 3.5.

LORE: First off, I love "Planet in Grid 622". Pretty original. The Klingons wouldn't name it until they got there, right? Anyway, the lore itself is good, though maybe they should've dropped "this world very much like Qo'noS" since the planet looks nothing like that homeworld. It's closer to Earth or Bajor, i.e. no green cloud cover. That keeps the score at 3.2.

TREK SENSE: There are two ways to accomplish this. First, the Kuvah'Magh can lead the DQ Klingons to this world as was prophesied. That's Miral Paris, though of course, she'll be an AU adult version by the time she's a card. Still, it doesn't matter how old the Kuvah'Magh is when she leads her people to the promised land - they've been waiting for ages anyway. Voyager (and, in fact, Kohlar as well) rather used the first set of requirements. This entails opening Diplomatic relations with the Klingons, using their legends and culture to convince them of this Settlement's appropriateness (Anthropology) and, of course, gaining their respect (Honor). Because Voyager was part of the effort, and probably because the Kuvah'Magh is a Fed, the Federation is allowed to attempt this mission, perhaps with the Klingons present conceptually. 30 points seems little for this epic quest until you factor in the extra points from discarding DQ Klingons (the Voq'leng crew). In other words, for Klingons actually moving here (and thus leaving the game, though they might cycle back), it IS epic: as much as 55 points! For Feds or Klingons from the Alpha Quadrant, helping these pioneers is thanks enough. Umm, you really think B'Elanna wants to move here? Everything else checks out, though Stellar Cartography probably should have been a factor to finding this world. Then again, it's an Away mission with your personnel already having found it. You're just checking out if it's where you wanted to go. I still think being the destination of a quest, the Span should have been a bit longer. Ah well, mostly well done at 4.1.

SEEDABILITY: There are 8 DQ Klingons, counting only one version of B'Elanna. As a DQ affiliation, it's probably going to ally with Kazon, Vidiians or Non-Aligneds, but his mission is the perfect game ender for them or any of their allies. I mean, discard 5 Klingons here, and it's worth 55 points. Can you say 2-mission win? And the mission can be solved by a single personnel too. No, I'm not talking about Miral. Kohlar has all the necessary skills. You can also parcel it out, although they are few and far between on the DQ gang itself. Wanna go crazy? It shouldn't be too hard to get mission specialists to the DQ no matter their native quadrant: Throw in K'Tal, Kathleen Tonell and any of a number of Honor specialists, and that mission could be worth 70 points. Without Klingon support, the Feds can discard B'Elanna (she's too good not to be cycled later though, or else use more than one in your deck) and do the mission specialist thing to get 50 points for it. That's not bad either, and it's enough to be worth 4.1.

TOTAL: 14.9 (74.5%) Another good place to die (eventually).

PICTURE: Janeway being disintegrated by her own phaser rifle may be a dream come true for some viewers, but it's just that - a dream - since this is holographic fantasy. Though it's interesting, it's not satisfying aesthetically. The composition is unbalanced, leading the eye astray, and the ceiling pads just seem to float without purpose. There's the feeling that it should do better with its odd angle and kewl fx, but it's one of those cards I can never remember what it looks like. 2.9 from me.

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

TREK SENSE: On the whole, I'd have to say this card thematically uses the picture/title as a metaphor, and should not be taken literally. In the picture, Janeway's weapon backfires on her and destroys her when she wanted to destroy her enemy. Similarly, the card mentions a number of situations, and has them backfire on the abuser of such situations. A Borg opponent who targets your, presumably cleared, space mission scores points for you! A player who discards dilemmas with shortcuts likewise sees those dilemmas go right back under the mission, but this time, his shortcuts have been expended, and he loses points for using that card too. Can these events be seen more literally as being caused by an actual "Feedback Surge"? No. There's no dangerous energy that can backfire in a Senior Staff Meeting (unless you count Worf), but the adopted plan could indeed backfire and leave the dilemma intact. Ajur and Boratus might cause the very events they're trying to prevent with their knowledge of the past (it's a common paradox). Dilemmas that take out dilemmas might not be what they seem: Q has been known to change his mind, even on purpose. None of these have anything to do with any kind of feedback, but at least, they justifiably backfire. The points involved basically tell us that a mission's points, at some level, are tied to how difficult the mission is, including its dilemmas. We know this isn't true, because a mission is worth the same whether it's cleared or not, but this card changes the rules a little. If you avoid dilemmas somehow, either with an Establish Gateway theft or dilemma discarders, you lose points, points these dilemmas might have been worth had you actually encountered them. What kind of accomplishment is it to bypass all dangers? In the case of Establish Gateway, however, that Borg opponent might steal it WITH dilemmas still under it and still be penalized. As for the icons, the Hidden Agenda is somewhat bogus, but seems to derive from the fact the pictured Janeway didn't know her rifle had been sabotaged. Ok, but I fail to see exactly how this works with the situations described. The Referee icon is there because this is a cheese-fighter. I think we all agree that stealing your completed missions for easy Borg objectives is a cheat, as is destroying your precious dilemma combos. The lesson: Never mind the pic and title, it works as a "backfire" card for some specific (but related) strategies. From highly conceptual, it works its way to 3.3.

STOCKABILITY: With The Borg expansion, we get a a Voyager-only Collective that has to be countered/balanced, so also balancing cards that attack strategies that were already under control in the full environment. Feedback Surge starts out by countering the space mission steal of Establish Gateway as Access Denied does in the full game, but better, in my opinion. While Access Denied nullified any Establish Gateway objective on your missions, Feedback Surge innocently stays flipped down as a Hidden Agenda, and then suddenly takes away those easy objective points from your opponent's pool and gives them to you (that's probably twice you score points here). Kind of like Robin Hood, isn't it? The new 9 of 12 helps probe for Establish Gateway making the whole enterprise very easy, so it needed to be well balanced. Now, the Borg will have to start by encountering your dilemmas if they want to complete the objective. If your opponent isn't using the Borg, you might cycle the card back using Q the Ref, or possibly use it against a dilemma discarding tactic. Ajur and Boratus not only destroy excess dilemmas, but they shuffle dilemma combos as well (or did, or will, or will again, depending on when you're playing... and I'm not even talking about time paradoxes). You can't help that last effect, but you can re-seed the lost dilemmas right away. Same thing for a card lost to Senior Staff Meeting, or to passing one's own Q (no more Q-bypass). And each time one of these offending cards is used, your opponent loses 10 points per discarded dilemma. Ouch! Q in front of, I dunno, 5 other dilemmas is a real stinker. If opponent doesn't have the requirements, rearrange the spaceline. If she does, flip or download Feedback Surge and it's -50 points for her! Important to the meta-game, it also packs quite a punch and could even be lucrative for you. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 13.73 (68.65%) Hope I didn't repeat the stuff from my own card extra here.

PICTURE: I always look at that pit under his eyes as if it were his actual eye, but that's my problem. There's a definite color palette at work, between Fennim and the background (which highlights the character rather well). My only beef with the card is that Fennim is a bit low in the frame. My television experience tells me his eyes should be at three quarters of the screen, not at half as it is now. Of course, you gotta get that long head in, so... A 3.4.

LORE: While being a member of the Think Tank is useful in the game, it's always disappointing to get a "humanoid" without a species name. Come on Paramount, issue a statement! The second sentence is pretty much what Kurros told us about him. I do think there was room for more, a descriptive adjective maybe. Stands at 3.

TREK SENSE: All the Think Tank personnel are Science, but their specialties differ from one another. If Fennim cured the Phage, that certainly explains his special skill, which very naturally protects your Vidiians from the disease, but also the double dose of Medical and the Exobiology. The odd thing about the special skill is that the disease is "uncured" if he ever leaves play. I wouldn't put it past the Think Tank to keep the Vidiians in the dark as to the exact formula for the cure so that they could sell medication to them every few years though. As for the Anthropology, it's another scientific skill that can easily be part of his tool box, but I don't know if we really saw that on the show. The Think Tank is always dealing with new species, so it's of definite interest to the group. Their only motivation is scientific curiosity (and hoarding stuff that helps satiate it), so Fennim gets a self-centered 4 Integrity. He's also incredibly smart, of course, and as for Strength, we don't know enough about his species to tell if 6 is too much. On the one hand, he's only a scientist (not combat-oriented), but on the other, he seems to have an exoskeleton. Arguably excellent at 4.4.

STOCKABILITY: Thanks to the Think Tank, the Delta Quadrant has a number of hot Non-Aligned SCIENCE personnel, especially good for mission-solving. Some are even good candidates for importing to the Alpha Quadrant. But not Fennim. No, it's obvious that Fennim works best in a Vidiian deck, where he's meant to protect your personnel from The Phage (although, from your own use of the card too). Of course, the Vidiians are only one of many affiliations, and a card that only possibly affects one affiliation is not very likely to be included in anyone's deck. Still, if your opponent had some foresight, you'll be glad to have Fennim along to prevent the interrupt from killing your Vidiians at the start of mission attempts and personnel battles. Organ Theft already helps with this, but not permanently. His MEDICAL x2 and Exobiology add to skill redundancy in the affiliation regardless. Note that between those, SCIENCE, Anthropology and the high CUNNING, he'll offer fine support to ANY affiliation, not just the Vids. And he'll allow you to staff the Think Tank Ship, a great vessel for mission solving because of its enormous "leave me alone" SHIELDS. So while the rest of the Think Tank is better at overall SCIENCE, Fennim's main power is the Non-Aligned MEDICAL x2. Enough here for a 3.9 even with the often wasted special skill.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) I'd have liked a round-the-corner strategy for these guys.

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