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

PICTURE: Though the green lighting is too harsh on Voyager Borg cards, the sickly yellows here take attention away from it. Between the antique color scheme and Mezoti's breast plate, there's a gladiatorial feel seeping in, and since she's Defense/Security, that's not a bad thing to see here. A fair dead-on pose, with another Borg child in the back almost distracting us. A 3.4 should do.

LORE: As a unique drone, she's not described in the ID/Task/Biological Distinctiveness format (I think 7 of 9's lore makes a mistake in keeping it). "Immature drone" is a fun way to get us to Youth, her species is given in numeral as well as name, the mention of her persona as an irrelevant designation is fun too, and we get a little something she did in the episode. The Borgisms balance out the lack of special format, and she gets a 3.9.

TREK SENSE: An immature drone, Fifth of nothin' is a Youth, no doubt about it. Her tracking Harry aboard the defunct Cube establishes her as a Defense/Security drone. You can't argue against Computer Skill on a Borg drone, and in this case, we did see her using some consoles. As for Biology, it's not as definite, but most of they young drones had to take care of the neonatal drones to rebuild their Hive. The task seems to have been Third and Fourth's, but they all pitched in. The special skill's effect is a wide open one that probably won't hold up under scrutiny though. By recalling Borg-only cards to your hand, she basically makes the Collective reconsider its current objective or strategy (incidents). That's the Queen's job isn't it? By including events, she's more than A Change of Plans on two legs, she can also make Implants disappear! In the young Hive, she helped in decision-making, and did turn to Seven when First would not, but we're a little in the realm of the conceptual (though I'd have liked to see it even more conceptual - I don't really see the "trail of cards" from the lore in here... well, I guess she "picks them up" as she sees them). It even begs the question as to whether the Borg children would be allowed to service the Collective like other drones. Attributes are the same as those of any universal Defense drone, and I'm not sure that's appropriate. She's immature, so how can she be as developped as a mature drone? Especially in the Strength department. Good skill list, the rest is bit open-ended. A 2.4.

STOCKABILITY: There is no A Change of Plans interrupt in the Voyager environment, so the effect has been partially transferred to Fifth (aka Mezoti, not that you can legally switch versions). She can't download you another Objective card when to return the current one to your hand, but at least she gives you the option of changing current objectives. That's a good effect, especially when your opponent turns the tables on you and makes the ship you wanted to assimilate disappear in a Temporal Rift or to buy time when Harnessing Particle 010 (switch over while scouting for something else). Maybe use a card one way, then recall it to play another way (We Are the Borg and Resistance Is Futile are good examples). Letting an opponent believe you're doing one thing, then switching to another after he's built up the wrong defenses can also be fun. Fifth doesn't just recall Objectives though, but also Events and Incidents. Is that useful in any way? Not always, but in some cases: We Are the Borg can force you to make card draws unless you report personnel for free, and you may not want to run to the end of your deck quite yet, but that's pretty much it unless you count switching an event played on a specific drone to another drone by passing back through your hand. So many Borg cards have not been made "Borg use only" that I fail to see the real use of this effect. As a mission scout, she's a good little Defense drone, with very useful SECURITY, Computer Skill and Biology. All are excellent. Youth can't be said to be excellent, of course, but the Borg only have those kids to get past I Hate You without Adapting, make use of Ooby Dooby, or survive a Vulcan Stone of Gol. All in all, she'll mostly be used as an every-turn A Change of Plans, and that's good for a 3.8 here.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Not fifth, but that would have been a great coincidence.

PICTURE: A little too much shadow in this pic, and an unconvincing breastplate are what jumps out at me here. The brain-to-arm plug is interesting, and the background is nicely Geiger-ish, but that's about it, cuz otherwise, it's an unremarkable 3.

LORE: Though most of the space is used to tell the story of "Collective", we do get some good adjectives going to describe this young punk. No problems, though perhaps not as fun as Fifth's. I'll go for a 3.2.

TREK SENSE: An immature drone, he'll have to be a Youth, and all that irrational hostility gives him Treachery to boot. Like many of the other Borg kids, he's got Biology because his concern was for the neonatal drones and allowing them to survive the cube's shutdown. As for Navigation, the cube really does need someone to pilot it now that all the adult drones are dead, but I'm not sure it's especially appropriate for First to do it. After all, he's a Defense drone, not a Nav one, as his battle-related special skills (and demeanor) indicate. Not a big problem, but not as sure as the rest. He's the self-styled leader of the group, but lacks Leadership. They eventually chose not to follow him. Yet, he allowed the kids to attack the Voyager crew, so there's a special ability granting him battle initiation powers against intruders aboard "his" cube. And how did mere kids get the jump on trained Federation personnel? He used his Defense subcommand abilities to boost their fighting power (probably through tactics), which turns into a Strength boost for Borg in battle. I would be surprised if he had that effect on adult drones of course, and one wonders if the Collective would even keep him around. He's a defective aberration after all. Being an immature drone, I'm also concerned about his attributes being the same as those of mature drones. Really, his Strength should be a little lower, and his instability might very well have occasioned a lower Integrity. Settles around 2.6.

STOCKABILITY: First's two special skill are a good reason to include him. First, even with the newly-restored transporter shields on Borg vessels, the Collective can still be prone to intruders walking onto its Cubes to cause mischief, usually looking to kill your Queen. Some will stay aboard and lie in wait until you play her, like a really safe Leck, really preventing you to do so. First allows you to attack that personnel, well, first! And with all your Borg at +3 STRENGTH to boot. That's 8 to 10 STRENGTH, but other cards can make the bonuses add up to higher. On planets or opposing ships, First's STRENGTH boost will still function, giving some teeth to your Borg in case they are attacked, or if some card has allowed to initiate battle themselves (like Gowron of Borg). Youth isn't too useful in mission scouting, but not useless (your Interlinked Hive could make use of Ooby Dooby, for example, or pass I Hate You more easily). Treachery is getting more and more copy, and First can share that too with the Hive. Navigation and Biology are just more standard, very useful skills. So overall, you've got a good personnel here, especially if you mean to be more aggressive. Enough for a 3.9.

TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) Those Borg kids are really running the Collective's average down.

PICTURE: I really like the lighting from below (the campfire). It's atmospheric without being creepy, giving 4 of 9 the right pathos to go with his confused and pitiable expression. It also allows us to see a large amount of detail on his Borg armor and implants. The green leaves behind him are a more natural source of Borg green, better for not being cast on the drone's face. Thumbs up on this one, I give it a 3.8.

LORE: Not a bad ID tag for a Computer Skill-type drone, and probably a necessary function of the secondary adjunct. We don't get much out of the "task", if we can call it that, so that's a disappointment, even if it matches 7 of 9's. The species number should have been enough without the unhelpful "Humanoid", no? This one falls short of the usually exacting Borg standards. A 1.7.

TREK SENSE: Without really understanding his Task, it's hard to gauge 4 of 9's Trek Sense. Heuristics does suggest Computer Skill, and thus, the Communications subcommand. It might also suggest diagnostics, so perhaps drone repair, and that could give us both the Medical skill and the special skill. Of course, the special skill is more about recycling drones into other drones, but that's not outside the Borg "medical" sphere. See, you change the programming and a couple implants on a drone, and you could conceivably make it into another drone. I'll buy this about universal (read: interchangeable) drones, but unique drones are another matter entirely. Activating/deactivating separate drones could be an explanation (in fact, the one given in the card extra), but is not as satisfying. It does solve some problems however and makes sense in the context of unimatrix zero one (from where the Queen Awakens drones). And the Honor? We have to remember that the "of Nines" retained some level of individuality after being cut off from the Collective, enough to be freed later on. That said, 4 of 9 was a nice kid underneath the rubber suit, perhaps one worthy of the Honor skill as he cared for his parents (according to his resurging memories, and detailed on the P'Chan card). That caretaker role also helps explain the Medical, perhaps better than any Borg task, but was 4 of 9 really that much of an individual as a drone? Fast and loose at times, he nonetheless works out pretty well. Enough for a 4.

STOCKABILITY: A much cheaper source of Borg Honor than any of the Borg Counterparts, Four of Nine also offers the excellent MEDICAL and the common-but-useful Computer Skill. That Honor can be used not only to overcome some dilemmas which were in need of Adapt cards before, but can also be used with Ancestral Vision for card draws. His Communications subcommand is also good because it interacts with a number of Borg-related cards such as the Cranial Transceiver Implant, Adapts, Nanoprobe Resuscitation, Borg Data Node, Borg Vinculum, and plenty more. You can get a little more resource manipulation (drawing, downloading, cycling, discarding, probe rigging) than with your basic Com drone though... with that special skill. With it, you can switch any drone present with any other drone in your draw deck. You don't even lose the "discarded" drone, it goes to the bottom of your draw deck, from which you can pull it again using 4 of 9. When you figure that he can turn a lowly universal drone into an "of Nine" or Borg child, you can see how much this might enhance your strategies, especially when it comes to more resource manipulation (which doesn't often have anything to do with the drone's location - perfect for this guy's "present" limitation). Mister Heuristics gets a strong 4.3.

TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) Suprisingly still in the lower tier of Borg personnel.

PICTURE: I was never really impressed with the Hirogen face make-up, but the side and back of the head are pretty unique, and we get a good look here. Doesn't tell us much about Gann though. Good composition and color though, so 3.3.

LORE: This Beta's belligerence is well represented by his clashing with no less than three other personnel (two of them can allow him to report for free thanks to being mentioned), but he has an epiphany in the end. Well written and even dryly funny. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Gann's no Alpha, but a Beta comes pretty close in Strength and Cunning. His Integrity shows us how he could eventually respect the Voyager crew (I guess my own Integrity is less than 6, nyuck, nyuck). A Beta can still have a Command icon, but wouldn't have Leadership or Officer. No, he's Security, which is a good classification for a hunter. His skills help him in the hunt, and especially in the kind of tactics used in the hologram hunt. Navigation helps track prey, Astrophysics can be used to use anomalies to hide your own presence (or recognize hidden prey), and Transporter Skill helps you board a ship. Biology would be a hunter's ability to evaluate and dissect prey, and he'd have that, but being after holograms now, he's also got the equivalent Computer Skill. Works for me, even if he doesn't necessarily use each one in his appearances. A 4.2 for no mistakes.

STOCKABILITY: 5 skills is excellent, especially since the Hirogen are a small affiliation (especially when you decide not to use the holograms because they require too much card support). Somehow, he's still not much of a mission solver, but that's because the Hirogen have so few missions. Dilemmas are another matter of course, since all his skills will find use in passing them. All skills are relatively rare when you have a small affiliation, and he provides plenty. Attributes are good too, and no Diplomacy to lose when using the Hirogen Disruptor Rifle to make himself 6-9-13 (!). Hirogen Hunt allows him to report for free if Decaren or Netek are in play (both are Alpha-Hirogen), so he probably will be. Hey, he's a good personnel, perhaps more so during space missions (from his skill selection). I can see myself giving him a 4.2 a Gann... I mean, again. ;-)

TOTAL: 15.2 (76%) In the top three (of four) ;-).

PICTURE: Close-up shot. Not extremely crisp, but okay. The dumbfounded expression suits him. A 3.

LORE: Tells the story well enough and slips in "Mastermind" in quotation marks for fun. Ferengi are the perfect affiliation for the designers to kid like this as even their most brilliant plans have a tendency to fall apart when they meet our Starfleet boys and girls. That extra fun gets the score to 3.6.

TREK SENSE: He's a DaiMon, so an Officer with a Command icon. His reprogrammed Barclay's hologram, so he needs Computer Skill. That plan called for him to get Voyager through a geodesic fold, represented here by Science, though I guess you need lots of Physics or Astrophysics to pull this off. Yeggie and Nunk, his two partners, do have some of the skills required to pull the whole thing off, but I'm not convinced they have them all. Moving right along, the whole idea to sell Seven's nanoprobes is well worth both Greed and Acquisition. Because he was able to take control of a Federation hologram, he got his special skill. I think it works fine: He knows how to intercept/steal/copy holograms and reprogram them to work for/with him. Now, I don't think the Delta Quadrant was "at this location" exactly, but maybe the geodesic fold created that kind of proximity. Well, not really. A full blown skill for Gegis would have been to allow him to turn holograms into intruders, etc. He's got that selfish, will-commit-atrocities-on-enemies kind of Integrity. The low Cunning is too low however. Sure, the Ferengi are pretty stupid sometimes, but he did manage a number of feats, such as sending a girl to Barclay, the fold, etc. As for Strength, well, it's hard to say if it was this high. Not like there was much military action in "Inside Man". Overall, I'd say this card's heart was in the right place, though it falls a little short of the character. 3.4 here.

STOCKABILITY: A strong OFFICER (goodbye Maglock) with a very useful second classification, the always good (if common) Computer Skill. Acquisition and Greed are both here, giving him a good range of Rules he can use, and of course, they're great for Ferengi missions and objectives. And speaking of Rules, mentioning Nunk, he can recycle his associate or himself in exchange for equipment, cards or a ship with the 6th. Yeggie can do it too, with either Nunk or Gegis. And of course, there's the special skill: Gegis adds the power and skills of any hologram you care to use. The Ferengi don't have any of their own (there've always been NAs that could be used by Ferengi), yet they have Holodecks on their Marauders (and Holosuites right next to Quark's). The hic, of course, is that Gegis must remain at their location for them to mix properly, and also, that they don't become compatible with Ferengi ships (so never mind what I said about Marauders' Holodecks). It's NA vessels from here on out. Holograms as a "species" can be useful mission solvers because they don't really die as often as flesh and blood personnel. But are there aligned holograms that are especially useful to the Ferengi? Most of the cool abilities are on NAs anyway, no? Kejal would get you Holo-Projectors, I suppose, and the various Doctors (EMH, ECH and Equinox) have excellent skill bases, but otherwise? Chief O'Brien maybe, if you're running a capture deck. Otherwise, it's a lot of support personnel and mission specialists (well, that could come in handy). Aligned personnel could save you Bribery money in allowing mission attempts matching their affiliation. It could be complicated to keep many holograms at Gegis' location anyway, so using his ability for just a couple of key MEDICALs, for example, could be an asset. He's matching commander for the Trullux, and able to Plaque and Log it to 10-9-11, removing the disadvantage of weak WEAPONS, but its Holodeck won't house affiliated holograms as discussed above. Though the special skill isn't too important, he's still a good overall personnel. Scores 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) Middling across the board.

PICTURE: Redder than most Hirogen, which might have been evocative of Tsunkatse's brutality, but they all look the same to me. Without the armor, he even looks weaker than most, when clearly, that isn't not the point. Why not a more action-oriented shot from the Tsunkatse ring? A missed opportunity, and only 2.8. In any case, the deeper blue of the Hirogen border is the better of the two versions.

LORE: First sentence has fuzzy syntax cuz it sounds like Penk was on his son's first hunt, not Hajur. The second features the word Tsunkatse, which helps in the game (though not as much as was once promised). The last sentence goes for the plot, but is nicely ambiguous. He wanted to end his captivity with his own death. More good than bad at 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Hajur is basically Penk's prisoner, so if he was an Alpha, Beta, or whatever before, he's just a Civilian now. That contrasts with his Command icon, which seems retained from his former life. I'll believe the Leadership in that sense, because it's not something you lose, but if you're no longer in a position to give orders on a starship, you shouldn't have more than the Staff icon. But that's all ambiguous thanks to the dual affiliation icons. So far from Hirogen hunting grounds, and totally out of the hunter/prey system, he's Non-Aligned. But you can't really breed the Hirogen out of a hunter, so he's still Hirogen. After all, wouldn't he rejoin his people as soon as he was out of there? And his Command icon would be restored then. Yet, there's not a trace of Officer on him for that occasion. This is the basic problem of dual-affialiation cards: the personnel shouldn't be exactly the same for both versions. Skill-wise, he was good at taking care of injuries, both his own and others'. Scores him Biology and Medical, though Exobiology could have been appropriate too (he was the only Hirogen there, after all, so all his "patients" were Exos). Anthropology is likewise a natural, because he was constantly exposed to other cultures. Geology and Archaeology are linked skills (digging-based), but I don't really see them in the character. If I could remember the stories he told Seven, maybe I'd come up with something. I can't. Integrity had to be high enough, and I even miss Honor being on this card. Cunning is very high befitting such a thoughtful hunter, though he WAS captured, wasn't he? He had to have formidable Strength, and he does. A Tsunkatse Seven should have equal or more Strength though. We might never find out. Between affiliation madness and skills designed to help his affiliation more than suit his character, I'd have to call him a still good 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Because he's dual-aligned NA, this Hirogen allows any affiliation to make use of Rituals of the Hunt since his Anthropology allows him to add his prey's skills to his already long list, as well as capture that prey using a Hirogen Talon. Heck, he can also make use of Relics of the Chase to do his capturing, or use it to place a trophy on the wall. Again, no matter who he's playing with. Great list of skills too, with MEDICAL being a stand-out making up for the lame CIVILIAN. Leadership allows him to attack using that very nice STRENGTH, thanks. Biology, Geology and Anthropology besides are excellent mission and dilemma solvers. Archaeology is better on missions than on dilemmas, but isn't all that terrible. Cross-checked with his own (small) expansion, Leadership is pretty common already, while Geology, Anthropology and Biology are fairly represented. Rare however are MEDICAL and Archaeology, the former, quite important. CIVILIAN is unique to Hajur among the Hirogen, but is it really useful? The Higher... the Q-er is a big problem? Probably not. Excluding him from battle with Bodyguards would be ridiculous given his fighting abilities. Well, best I can do is report him for free as an NA with War Council, giving him extra CUNNING to boot, and I guess overcome Primitive Culture. Oh, and the Kurlan Naiskos, but I'll need a Non-Aligned VIP too. Those aren't bad. The excellent skill list and usefulness to more than one affiliation are key to getting him his 4.2.

TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) A good Hirogen, but a better Non-Aligned.

PICTURE: I really like this picture. The green background isn't the usual fare, and puts our Hirogen somewhere new. The red warpaint has always looked better than the white or yellow varieties and gives the right color accent to the image. And the helmet without face-mask is just so cool. Good hunting expression as well. It's a 4.

LORE: Universality is acknowledged, and "mentor" is more interesting than "teacher" or "trainer". The specifics follow the episode and don't neglect to mention his Alpha, which is useful in the game. Well written for a 3.5.

TREK SENSE: The typical trainer of Hirogen would need 2 basic skills to teach hunters about prey, and they're here. Anthropology tells us about our prey's habits, and Exobiology about their physical capabilities and weaknesses. Hunting and tracking may well be associated with the Security classification. Trainers like this could indeed be thought of as support personnel, and the Command icon still suits them since they make decisions for apprentices. He might be missing the Leadership skill though, depending on where you see him in the organizational tree of Hirogen society. Alphas and Betas may be the only true leaders. So it all works fairly well, and I really don't have anything against the attributes. No frills, but a 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: Harkan is a universal support personnel with a good classification and 2 excellent skills. Not just for dilemmas and/or missions either (though they are pretty common in the affiliation), no, for being a hunter as well. Both his skills are required of Hunt Alien, one of the few Hirogen missions. He can also "know his prey" with Rituals of the Hunt, adding a prey's skills to his own thanks to his Anthropology. He can report for free if Decaren is in play thanks to Hirogen Hunt, and downloaded via Assign Support Personnel if you'd rather do it that way. No flaws in the attributes either. Harkan can thus supply your Hirogen hunting party with skills they regularly need, and do so in a jiffy. This is balanced by the fact that his skill package IS pretty common. I'll go as far as a 3.6 because of the perks.

TOTAL: 15 (75%) I'm glad my namesake from those Decipher articles gets a good score, but I didn't plan it that way.

PICTURE: Despite the CGI work (Seven removed from foreground and background extended using a later part of the scene), the harnessing machine is pretty boring. You can sort of tell there's something happening inside, and the cool blue is relaxing, but it's a very static shot. A dull 1.5.

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

TREK SENSE: While other affiliations will implement the Omega Directive in response to an Omega Particle, the Borg want to Harness it instead. It's the closest the Collective comes to having a religion because they believe the particle to be perfection itself. Information about the Omega Particle is rare and classified, and certainly the Borg would keep their plans about the thing a secret (or Hidden Agenda). Being a primary objective, it probably should have been seedable. I don't like that Harness Particle 010 can download Omega Particle. Vice-versa (as per the Particle card itself) is fine, because you respond to the particle's discovery, but the opposite? Well, maybe the Borg are trying to create the particle, so the Harnessing objective actually comes first. Yeah, ok. The Borg wouldn't allow anybody to disrupt their experiments, so the objective makes Omega Particle immune to Kevin Uxbridge. Well, sorry, but if Kevin wanted to counter the Borg, I don't think he'd have any problems. This kind of thing is right down his alley. The need to scout a location is a bit strange, but it represents HP010 as a kind of mission, worthy of dilemmas. I just assimilated a planet and can't conduct my experiments there though? HP010 is a big deal, so nothing short of a cubeload of Borg are required to witness and analyze the results. It also plays up the risk the Borg are willing to take to complete this objective. If probed successfully, perfection is achieved: The Particle is discarded (as the card represents its dangerous qualities), and then all your Collective's subsequent objectives are worth twice the points. Basically, it means the Borg are so self-satisfied, they need to complete fewer objectives to win the game. Nebulous. Is a planet better assimilated now that they're using Particle 010? Maybe. The probe icons are all Borg fare (the Queen's enigma and the workhorse verb cards of the Collective), plus the Omega Particle IS an enigma to the Borg, it's their main objective, and is responsible for many disastrous incidents. 30 points seems like a paltry reward for what is their greatest achievement though. I know the points are sort of commuted to other objectives, but that's still troublesome. My justification to fix both this and the previous point: Information keeps coming in about the perfect particle over time, scoring points for this one more than once. A lot of work required, so just 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: A Population 9 Billion for the Voyager environment, Harness Particle 010 is a lot easier to complete, though perhaps riskier. The Omega Particle allows you to download the objective, though if you have the objective first, you can download the necessary Particle with it. Either way, Omega Particle is safe from Kevin. The obstacle here is that you really want to complete this one first, but it isn't seedable. Why first? Because that's how you reap the most rewards from it. 30 points now, of course, and then all subsequent objectives are double points. For a 2-objective win, you'd need a second objective worth 35 points or more, which I'm sorry, means only Assimilate Homeworld. It's not an option in the Delta Quadrant, and it can be a pretty involved process even in the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants (a bit less with prefab Counterparts). So supplementing your two objectives with Add Distinctiveness, for example, may be necessary, or else you just fall short. There's another hic: If you don't successfully probe quickly, the Omega Particle explodes taking your ships and personnel present with it. And since you need a staffed Borg Cube present, that's a substantial risk. You could get stonewalled by dilemmas or even have a hard time probing (rigging is key here). Incidents and Objectives should litter your deck (especially those with other good probes such as subcommands), but the enigma icon is an off-chance kind of thing (from one of those Queens you stocked). To get out of this, start clearing a mission with another objective, then change your plans once the coast is clear. Just a quick and dirty download of Omega Particle to blow something up, then A Change of Plans? That could work too. Isotope Drone does provide an extra bonus for completing the mission in the form of a +2 attribute hike for all Borg, and it's cumulative. Now that's pretty potent whether you care about the points or not. We've got enough for a 3.6.

TOTAL: 10.67 (53.33%) Borg cards consistently do well, but this winds up at the bottom of the pile.

PICTURE: Too bad about the blur, because that's quite the hand cannon! But the shiny mess that is the Hirogen armor makes it hard to understand just what you're looking at. Good colors, action shot, neat weapon... Still winds up with a 2.3.

LORE: The differences between this Rifle and other Equipment cards like it are well set up here, and I do like the mention of the weapon's length. Could have done without the reference to monotanium though. This kind of techno-babbly thing is why I found Voyager so "monotanous". Groan all you want, this is still a 3.4.

TREK SENSE: As with other hand weapons, there's the matter of the Rifle offering bonuses to all Horogen present, but at least it doesn't cover non-Hirogen present like others do. In fact, while I wondered why a Starfleet personnel couldn't just grab a Klingon Disruptor and fire away (onscreen evidence says they can), Hirogen guns are unwieldly to say the least, so yeah, fewer personnel should be able to use them. The question of how many weapons exist to a card isn't answered of course. Nor do we know how a Hirogen could fire a number of these at once.The differences between this Rifle and others boost the score however (in fact, why shouldn't each hand weapon have its particularities?). It's a more high-powered gun, so the boost is +4 rather than +2. You need that to take down Species 8472. There's also a built-in scanner that acts like a tricorder or PADD to boost the Hirogen's Cunning at the same time. Great stuff. And the part about losing Diplomacy due to the weapon's unconceilable intimidating properties is still dead on. I have to give it a high 4.2.

STOCKABILITY: You wouldn't think the Hirogen needed more STRENGTH, but that +4 boost is quite welcome, especially when it comes with a further +2 boost to CUNNING. Their principle Objective, Hunting Group, requires a combination of the two attributes totaling more than the target mission's points x3. That's often going to be in the 60+ range, and with a Rifle present, each Hirogen present brings +6 more to that total. The Hirogen holograms don't have as much STRENGTH to start with, so using a lot of them means you need to bring them up to speed. Going after prey also requires STRENGTH. Karon can download the thing, and he's an Alpha too useful not to stock. Your only real worry here is that you'll need Diplomacy at a planet mission and won't have it because of the Rifle. No biggie, just have NA personnel there with Diplomacy. They can't use the hand weapon at all, so they'll be unaffected. Problem solved. I wouldn't want to face a Hirogen assault team armed with even ONE of these. A 4.1.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) And not given at gun-point either.

PICTURE: Great atmospheric shot in some sort of moonlight, with bright flashlights on the guns, and the Hirogen armor glistening. Great poses too, a dynamic composition and some depth to the background. The only flaw in my opinion is that white wisp in the left foreground. Otherwise an excellent 4.3.

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

TREK SENSE: Title sounds like an Objective, but the game text plays like an Event/Incident. Basically, hunting season is open, and we find out what that means to the Hirogen. First, they're more likely to get a Hirogen ship, a copy of this card (second effect) or Rituals of the Hunt (targets the specific prey) than any other resource. Explains the download in place of card draw function. Alpha-Hirogen lead the hunt, so they come into play smoothly and easily (for free). Alternatively, that Alpha already in play calls in any other Hirogen he's "related" to, or any ship for that matter (lore being the indicator). The Alpha doesn't have to call that card to himself however, and rightly so, he should be able to deploy personnel elsewhere. The Hirogen are a very nomadic race after all, their space stretching out quite far. Not as easy to believe in the case of ships, as they're usually named in connection to matching commander status, but not impossible, I suppose. Oh, and why only referenced in the reporting card's lore and not the Alpha's himself? Balance so that they don't report a Hunting Vessel fleet for free? The second effect has our Hunters taking the hunt to a ship. Using damaged Shields as an access port, they may beam over to that ship. Works, but a Battle-Bridge side-deck does throw a wrench in the works, as a ship may be damaged without its Shields being affected. Not a problem in the Voyager-only environment, but I don't limit my reviews that way. Transporter Skill as a requirement would have been nice too, seeing as this is usually required in such instances. Generally does a good job of setting a Hunt into motion, so a 4.1 is indicated.

STOCKABILITY: Playing Hirogen? You gotta use this. It's the equivalent of The Kazon Collective or The Vidiian Sodality, and in fact, can be downloaded by your Hirogen Outpost at the very start of the game. What's it do? Well, in place of any card draw, you get some handy downloads (and you can get multiple draws to turn into downloads, only limited by the Obelisk of Masaka). A first turn ship, Hirogen Hunt to play on it for its second effect (see below), and/or Rituals of the Hunt, which can be used to boost your skill base, turn your ship into a reporting station (take off and personnel and equipment will report there) and capture prey (discarding the incident, but you can easily download another). If that wasn't enough to recommend it, it also allows for one free play each turn, HQ-like. The excellent Alpha-Hirogen should come first, followed by any other Hirogen card referenced in their, or its, lore. Decaren gets you Donik, Gann and Harkan. With Idrin, it's only the universal Ranjen. With Karon, you can get Vurond. Karr: Takirac, Jorik, Davar, Jetarn and Turanj (lesser personnel all, but so many of them). Finally, with Netek, it's Gann (again), Konuric and the Venatic Hunter (finally a ship!). Takes care of most (but not all) hunters, and all you're missing, really, is the holograms. The second function helps out with real hunting, allowing your hunters to beam over to a damaged ship (you can do this yourself in ship battle or set up some dilemmas to do it for you) to then capture prey (Rituals of the Hunt or Relics of the Chase), get points for kills (Relics), or just plain decimate the opposing side (may we point you to our nice Disruptor Rifle and Talon aisle?). Landed ships aren't even safe, though of course, you'd have to damage them first (we also sell mighty fine Breenzookas). Even if you don't want to do any hunting (mission solving Hirogen deck? how dull!), you still need this incident to get your cards out, and it's not difficult to download in the first place. For the Hirogen, definitely a 5.

TOTAL: 17.87 (89.33%) A new high score.

PICTURE: The colors make it look a lot like candy, but you gotta be happy with an Outpost that does it right - it's actually in space as the rules suggest! The model is likewise good, with big domes for the holodecks and what are either docking structures or antenae meant to patch in with (or replace) the Hirogen's communications network. Turns out to be a 3.6.

LORE: Again, this card avoids the pitfalls of the standard Outpost card. It gives us a historical perspective, and puts the building of Outposts as part of that story, not as a boring stand-alone sentence. It also hints at Outposts which aren't really a place to live as much as a place to stop, refuel and rest. Gets to 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Clearly, with its Holodeck, it's meant to be a later-day Hirogen Outpost, i.e. post-Voyager. But without the communications network that Voyager ruined, would all Outposts now be so equipped? Throughout the very wide territory of the Hirogen? And are there that many Outposts to begin with? I was never sure if the Hirogen were strictly nomads living on ships before they turned to Holodeck solutions to their hunting drive. As with most Outposts, placement is an issue. As nomads, they often travel to their missions, but have Outposts there? It never turned out that way on the show. Not impossible, mind you, but would Hunt Alien actually be at an "uncharted" asteroid belt if an Outpost was there? Secure Station makes more sense though. As for the "Any may attempt" space missions, some are more clearly in Kazon/Vidiian space, but some Hirogen may be quite far afield of the usual hunting grounds, so I'm not really complaining, except in very specific cases, like Prison Break, where a Hirogen presence would be quite conspicuous. Can't really think of another. Building an Outpost after the game has begun is still as odd as always, with just one turn and one Engineer required. Like I usually say, he must be overseeing final details, but then again, wouldn't the Outpost be viable without it being looked over one last time by the "chief engineer"? Shields are higher than the high Outpost Shields for Alpha Quadrant military affiliations (Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans stop at 32). The Hirogen are pretty tough, yes, but any evidence that their Outposts would be more protected than others'? With the Borg in the area, it's not impossible, but it's again a matter of little evidence. Finally, let us mention the download of Hirogen Hunt, which makes sense because the Holodecks are used to simulate hunts, and the Outpost is the launching pad for real hunts. There's a few of the usual problems, but still a passing grade at 3.2.

SEEDABILITY: Seeing as you can report your Hirogen there, even the holograms, and it saves you from seeding Hirogen Hunt thanks to the download, I'd say this was going into most Hirogen decks. There aren't a lot of Hirogen missions to seed it at, but that's supplemented by the fact that 1) "Any may attempt" missions are fair game too, and 2) Secure Station is universal. The SHIELDS are adjusted for the relatively higher firepower of the Delta Quadrant, but if you do lose the ship, a few ENGINEERs (some high-profile like Idrin, Donik and Kejal) can help you out. Besides, once the game is under way, you should be reporting to ships anyway with Rituals of the Hunt (or on the Olarra, if they're less than solid). Since you can't seed Rituals (no prey to play it on), you better start things off here. A 4.5.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) When it's your only port of call...

PICTURE: Heavy blur on the Hirogen hand, but the blade remains sharp (pun not intended). Good shot of the wall and whatever doo-dads are on it, but it's not too necessary, is it? Still, I respect this card for the clean, metallic color palette. The glint of steel is efficient, and worth 3.4.

LORE: Wow. That's harsh and ghastly, and greatly in keeping with the Hirogen ethos. I say 3.6.

TREK SENSE: Follows the design of other smaller blade weapons, and not so much what's in the lore (though other cards help out, but we won't discuss them here). Only the Hirogen have been known to use Talons, and the size and style could be difficult for others to wield. The Strength bonus is standard for this kind of weapon, with the usual problems cropping up, of course (how does cumulativity work? how does one weapon boost all Hirogen present?). Being small weapons, they may be considered already on a Hirogen's person, so they report for free, and to just-initiated personnel battles. Works out to 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: Hirogen already have great STRENGTH in most cases, but holograms might want more (sending them into fights does require some work though). Good STRENGTH score or not, free hand weapons are perfectly welcome, whether you report them at the start of your turn or as a surprise at the start of a personnel battle. There's no limit to the number you might drop at the same time, and cumulativity will happily oblige. Idrin can download one if it's all too slow for you. He'll need it to use Relics of the Chase to place an escorted captive or a fresh kill in the bonus points area for points equal to the highest printed attribute. In conjunction with Rituals of the Hunt, a Hirogen can capture its prey with the Talon. Making it part of Hirogen strategies certainly takes it beyond the usual uses of a hand weapon (which, of course, still exist). An instrumental 4.4.

TOTAL: 15.3 (76.5%) Small affiliations with their own specific strategies need these niche cards.

PICTURE: Hogan's got some pretty dark eyes. Think he's seeing his own death at the hands (or mouth) of a giant eel? The background is of interest, splitting into two tones. Hints at his two sides, but not overmuch. As usual, the blue border version is better than the yellow, working better with the pic's highlights. For the deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, I'll go as high as a 3.7.

LORE: No mention of the Hanonian Land Eel or Hogan's ultimate fate at the bottom of its belly. Instead we get lukewarm backstory mostly from "Investigations". The last sentence makes a passing reference to "Basics", but sounds rather insipid. I would have liked to see something about his trying to replace Neelix in the kitchen, for example, or his part in creating Tuvix. I'm a little underwhelmed, so a plain 2.9.

TREK SENSE: It all matches up, I guess. He was Maquis, and his thinking about rebelling against Janeway means the shift from Fed to Non-Aligned could happen anytime. He's only a Staffer, definitely an Engineer, and since he was at the transporters in "Tuvix", you could give him that skill. I can't rightly think of any other skill for him, but he wasn't always in the transporter room, leading me to question his mission specialist status. I also don't like the universal icon. With at least 5 episodes under his belt, he's distinctive enough to be unique. Integrity makes him a good enough guy, but one who could have selfish ambitions. Cunning and Strength are at an appropriate level for 1) an Engineer and 2) a Maquis fighter. Could have been more, but as is, gets another 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: Because he can be used as a Non-Aligned, he's a Transporter Skill mission specialist that can be used by any affiliation (including the transporter-happy Dominion). And there weren't any at all before. There aren't that many Transporter Skill missions in the game, but when using AMS, you'll want each skill on your missions to be covered. Outside the DQ, Collect Sample becomes quite viable, Mine Dilithium can go to 40 points, etc. In the DQ, you've got Restore Victims and the popular Liberation. Add a Maquis icon which can work with a few cards (and more to come in Energize), some better than average attributes, and the DQ's most requested classification, and you've got a potable 3.5.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) There are worse fates.

PICTURE: This asteroid field appears as is in a number of Voyager episodes. It's a nice piece of CGI, though a tiny 8472 figure on the main rock would have... well, would have rocked! While I keep looking for it among the detail, I'll leave you with a pretty 3.5.

LORE: The location may sound like a universal mission, but the prey is much too rare for that. Simple, but I like it, especially the bit about the creature being wounded (refer to the Strength>40 requirement... brrr). A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: This is a planet mission??? Well, in a sense, since the creature was on a really big asteroid, one you could step on, etc. If Mineral Survey can be a planet mission, so can Hunt Alien, right? Well, ok, but it might have been nice to have a space component too, for the stalking part of the task. I don't blame Decipher for abandoning space/planet missions in the Voyager environment, but it still had to be said. The Hirogen are, of course, the main hunters here. The Klingons and Kazon would be after the glory this would bring them, so they make appropriate attempters too. Vidiians, after the secrets of Species 8472's dense DNA would have been too, but were unfortunately left off. To succeed, you need Anthropology to understand the creature's psychology (they ARE sentient, after all), but also Exobiology, to understand their all-too alien physiognomy. Leadership is important because you want to keep morale up as you go up against this almost unbeatable opponent. Man, the thing is wounded, and you still need Strength over 40 to subdue it. Failing that, Borg Nanoprobes can be used to take it down, just as it was on the show. I will mention here that the level of danger of chasing after an 8472 is missing from the mission. Though the thing is prey, it nonetheless is almost a dilemma unto itself. We can only hope appropriate dilemmas will be seeded under it. No problem with the Span, though the points might be a bit low for such a prize. There are a couple of elements I disagree with, but a good effort otherwise at 3.9.

SEEDABILITY: Hirogen, Kazon and Klingons all have good STRENGTH, so this is certainly up their alley, though Borg Nanoprobes is an easier requirement. As for skills, Anthropology is something your Hirogen is likely to have (for Rituals of the Hunt), and the Alphas will have Leadership too. In fact, none of the skills are hard to come by for Hirogen players. Karon has all three! Kazon are comfortable with Leadership, but not as much with the rest. They'll be the least likely to come here. As for Klingons, all of it can be found in the DQ, but since they have so few DQ personnel, support from elsewhere may be needed. Loreva is the only applicable mission specialist (except for NAs, where Kathleen Tonell would be of use), unfortunately, but there're plenty of easily reportable support personnel that can help out. But while difficulty depends on the attempting affiliation, the points are a little low for the effort required. Only the Hirogen would ever consider this mission relatively easy, and therein lies its downfall. Well, still a 3.3.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) Strangely enough, the same as another mission I mentioned.

PICTURE: Some CG ships are so complex that I'd be hard pressed to do a quick drawing of them. The Breen Warship comes to mind, and then there's the Hunting Vessel. I could probably work my head around the Olarra as pictured, but the universal ship, from this particular angle, is hard to take in. Don't get me wrong, the amount of detail is nice, but there just seems to be too much in the way of doo-dads and pieces. A 2.7.

LORE: All interesting stuff, and much of it actually reaches the game text. But not all, as we'll soon see. The title isn't very evocative, but the lore does the job. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: This light cruiser is decribed as usually being staffed by only two people. This translates as two Staff icons, right? Well, this would be the first time, because usually, staffing includes invisible ensign Bobs, and ships with little crew have no requirements at all (like Runabouts and Interceptors, which often require two personnel). Hirogen controls seemed a little high maintenance, so the discrepency isn't that disturbing (and I ignore balance issues). It CAN hold more personnel than the shuttle-types (as per the Olarra), and indeed, has the Tractor Beam to prove it (a mark of ships that can hold shuttles). The idea of traveling in groups is well represented as a boost to Weapons for ships traveling together. The basic Weapons of a Hunting Vessel are set at 7 (seems reasonable), and that goes up by one for every other Hirogen ship present. Why? Because they are well suited to hunting, attacking and defending together. This would also work when milling around a larger Venatic Hunter. As for the rest of the attributes, Range is good, as after all, the Hirogen have a large territory to cover. And Shields are very high for a ship this size, but it's thanks to that targeting scanner scattering armor. It's just that much harder to lock on and hit them. The staffing does raise some eyebrows (well, I only have two to raise), but I like how Hirogen strategies were incorporated into the ship. Much better than worse at 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: The Hirogen have two universal ships, and this is the smaller of the two. At a baseline 7-7-9, it's still a pretty tough ship at only two Staffing icons, and it's quite boostable too. Actually encouraging armadas (tsk, tsk), the more Hunting Vessels you have together, the better their WEAPONS. Even a Venatic Hunter acting as support adds +1. And there's more than one matching commander for the ship: Decaren, Idrin and Karon, and all are excellent Alpha-Hirogen. They can each make a Hunting Vessel 9-10(+)-12, Plaqued and Logged. And it shouldn't be too hard to get all those cards into play. After all, the Hunting Vessel is universal, so can be had early through Spacedoor, making those Alphas only a Ready Room Door away. Don't need to use Spacedoor, since Hirogen Hunt downloads any Hirogen ship on cue in place of a card draw (again, and again, and again...). A tough little ship (little?!?) that gets 4.1.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) Nothing to compare it to though.

PICTURE: Though it looks better than OS-made D-7 battle cruisers, the shadows don't compliment it here. Neither do the unnatural-looking green nacelles. Won't go higher than 2.9.

LORE: The story is told in a likeable way, with an Alpha Quadrant hit for use with Home Away From Home. I'd say 3.3.

TREK SENSE: The Voq'leng may be a century old, but it is based in the present, so no AU here. Requiring a Staff icon to staff it may correspond more easily with the AU requirement of other examples, but a D-7 looks bigger than a K'Vort. How about a Command icon instead? These ships had Cloaks and Tractor Beams, sure enough. Home Away From Home is a perfect download for this particular D-7, since it became a generational ship. A 7-year mission isn't completely unheard of, but the Klingons were born and died on this vessel - a true home. Attributes are in line with the universal Battle Cruiser, but with one more point in Range. It got to the Delta Quadrant on its own power, so you won't hear any arguments from me. Aside from staffing, I think they did a very good job with this one: a 4.4.

STOCKABILITY: The Feds aren't the only ones who've cornered the market on Delta Quadrant tourism, there are the Klingons too. The Voq'leng is the ship that allows you to 'port another of your favorite Alpha Quadrant affiliation with a minimum of fuss. Since it downloads Home Away From Home (saving you a seed slot), all your DQ Klingons can report aboard directly, for free if they have a Staff icon (one per turn, at any rate). There are a number of DQ Klingons to choose from, including its matching commander, Kohlar, who can Plaque and Log it to more acceptable attribute levels (8-8-9). Morak, also in the crew, adds +1 to each of those attributes too (9-9-10). About half a dozen others (including an excellent version of the B'Elanna Torres persona), more than half of those universals, round out the DQ Klingons. Need more diversity? Assign Support Personnel and Assign Mission Specialists should get you more. While you wait for the attributes on the ship to go up, you might want to cloak. The Voq'leng is one of the few DQ ships that can, so take advantage of it. Do the Klingons belong in the Delta Quadrant? They don't have their usual strength in numbers there, but they have enough easy missions to score a standard mission-solving win, especially if reporting rather quickly. A deck can be made of it, so 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) Too bad they blew it up, eh?

PICTURE: Icheb's pic was pulled from "Imperfection", in which he got to play hero by saving Seven's life with an implant transplant. Good source. Icheb's got one of those angrily confused expressions he often sported, and is in a technological setting (we get to see a lot of Sickbay here). As usual, the cool Fed blue is better than the Non-Aligned yellowed "gold", but with the pic's actual colors, it comes out pretty much the same. A 3.5 for this appropriate pull.

LORE: Both his species (as Borg is considered one) are mentioned in the first sentence, pretty smoothly I think. Then we get his relationship with Seven fairly well summed up. And finally, the reason for his many skills (or one reason, since being tied to the Collective is also to blame). Looks like a 3.3.

TREK SENSE: I can understand why Icheb would be dual-aligned. I mean, at what point do you become a Fed exactly? He's a former Borg, isn't even from an Alpha Quadrant species, but was adopted by a Starfleet crew and is being taught by them. So ok, he's not really aligned, but at the same time, he's part of a Starfleet crew. Since Seven is also NA/Fed, I imagine he would work with her no matter what crew she was with, even the Kazon or Vidiians. He used to be a Navigation drone, so that icon stays. The former Borg still have implants that can make them do Borg-like things, so they need the icons. For example, they could probably commandeer a Borg ship and staff it. He's also got a Staff icon because he could staff Voyager. He's a Youth following Academy courses, so he's still a Civilian, but he's learned a lot of skills. Like other Borg, he's got an aptitude for Engineering and Physics. Putting many hours in Astrometrics, he's learned a lot about Astrophysics and Stellar Cartography. He even showed a special interest in the subjects when he met his biological parents. Having figured out how his implant could be given to Seven without his dying, Biology is also a fit, though if Cybernetics wouldn't have (mistakenly) been about androids, that would have been better. A good kid willing to sacrifice himself for his mentor, yet quite capable of disobeying his elders, he gets 7 in Integrity. He's a smart one, so 8 Cunning makes sense. But while I suppose his Borg nature could give him greater than normal Strength, I don't think it really fits what we saw on the show. While a skill list isn't as interesting as a special skill on recurring characters (Cortical Node Implant would have been particularly appropriate), I can't find too many flaws in the skill box here, so a 4.

STOCKABILITY: What's the point of a Fed/NA dual-alignment? After all, couldn't a totally NA Icheb still work with the Feds? The point is Home Away From Home. Icheb can report aboard Voyager (or Equinox, whatever floats your boat) as a matching Fed. For non-Feds, he becomes an NA CIVILIAN reporting for free through War Council (with CUNNING 10 even). It doesn't matter who he's working with, he's got a load of good skills. Youth is the least of them, but is rarer in the Voyager environment/Delta Quadrant so you never know. As for the rest, they're great mission and dilemma fodder, and ENGINEER, Astrophysics, Stellar Cartography and Physics are especially attuned to DQ mission requirements. And what about being a former Borg? Does that hold any weight? He can't be warned away by I Tried to Warn You, survives being thrown out an Airlock, can't be Impersonated, can fiddle with his attributes using the Cortical Node Implant, enables Borg Neuroprocessor if he dies at the hands of the Collective, gets you a more controlled download through Sense the Borg, gives Yeggie his download, shares his skills with One, gets a CUNNING boost from Riley Frazier, can be unstopped by Mezoti, and is immune to a bunch of cards (Q-Type Android, Risky Business, Blood Oath, Protection Racket, New Essentialists, Hate Crime, Hero Worship, Mission Fatigue and even Satan's Robot). Of course, it makes him a target of Reassimilate Lost Drone and Reactor Overload, and locks him out of a few cards (like Smoke Bomb). As for the Navigation subcommand icon in particular, it allows him to use Divert Power (even if he loses ENGINEER), and staff any commandeered Borg ships (except Cubes which cannot be commandeered). I won't be reiterating all this for every former Borg, of course, but you can see how they make useful personnel, especially when used together. A strong skill list and a good "species"? I'm gonna say 4.2.

TOTAL: 15 (75%) Good boy.

PICTURE: I've said before how disappointed I was by the Hirogen's full make-up, so I guess it's a good thing that Idrin gets it covered up by the gas mask. The focus on the eyes does make him a little sadder than I remember though. Background may be blurry, the lines work with his helmet and mask design. Good, if a little disembodied. A 3.6.

LORE: Lots of information on his personality, and we can easily recognize him as that really tall Hirogen thanks to the adjective "massive" (too bad it couldn't have been a constant feature for the species). There's matching commander status in there too. Quite well-written, though I kind of miss plot-oriented information here. A 3.6.

TREK SENSE: A big, mean Alpha-Hirogen, more a villain than many others we encountered, they've saddled him with both Treachery and Greed, as well as low Integrity. It's a reasonable assessment given his outlook on prey as prizes, not as honored "Tosk"-types. As an Alpha, he's an Officer with a Command icon, but no Leadership, since he hunts alone. Exobiology's a tool for slaughtering alien prey and putting their heads on the wall of his ship. Archaeology and Engineer work together here, because he was in charge of a relay station. These things were an ancient communications network not invented by the Hirogen, merely used by them. So the two skills are appropriate to running one. We know he had a Hirogen Talon, and it makes a fair special download. After all, it was the first ever seen, though of course, Idrin was the first Hirogen ever seen. Fairly Cunning, a 7 fits. His massive size, meanwhile, gives him massive Strength. In fact, no Hirogen is as strong. No problems at all, though a rather generic download, so 4.5.

STOCKABILITY: Alpha-Hirogen are the cornerstone of a Hirogen strategy, as they report for free when Hirogen Hunt is in play. They are required to complete Secure Station and their very own objective, Hunting Group. Most are also matching commanders for Hunting Vessels, and Idrin is no exception. Plaque and Log such a ship (Spacedoorable because they're universal), and it's a 9-10-12, IF it's not part of a larger group of ships (+1 WEAPONS for every other staffed Hirogen ship present). As matching commander, Idrin can download to one of these with Ready Room Door, use Make It So, etc. With Relics of the Chase, a Hirogen can capture stunned personnel, and if they have a Hirogen Talon, which Idrin conveniently downloads, they can turn their escort into points. With Idrin's formidable STRENGTH (+1 with the Talon), there are very few personnel he won't at least stun and capture. Now, I didn't even mention his large list of skills. It's actually not THAT great. ENGINEER and Exobiology (this last one required of Hunt Alien) are excellent, of course, but the three others are less useful against dilemmas. Still, the Hirogen have enough Treachery to select missions around the skill. He's the only Greed personnel in the affiliation, so you never know, you might need it. And he's got all the skills required by Salvage Operation. Useful in many ways, can turn up early in the game, etc. I give him a 3.9.

TOTAL: 15.6 (78%) Tiny Ron actually did a little better as Maihar'du.

PICTURE: This is how I liked the Hirogen - huge! Great scale here, with the closer hunter looking gigantic thanks to perspective. Despite their size, we can clearly see that Tuvok and Seven are tied up, representing the capturing effect of the dilemma. A bit busy in spots, and doesn't quite scream out "trophy", but enough for a 3.4.

LORE: A good bit about the Hirogen, although I'm not too sure about the expression "most unique", since unique is a binary state. Something is either unique or it isn't. There are no degrees. I know what they mean, but I'm gonna penalize them a bit. Or do they mean the "greatest number of unique relics"? A 2.9 in any case.

TREK SENSE: Hirogen hunters as a dilemma. That's fine, though shouldn't the Hirogen themselves be sort of immune to this? They don't actually hunt one another, do they? Since they're trained to take down physically tougher prey, Strength won't really help you (well, it probably should, but...). You need to outsmart your hunter(s) with lots of Cunning. Fair enough. Who are they hunting? Well, the most "impressive" personnel in the crew or Away Team, as represented by the number of skill dots on such personnel, the "best dressed", as the Ferengi would say. Makes sense, though of course, it's not always relevant. A personnel might be great prey because of its Strength or Cunning attribute, so the combination of the two may be cause to target someone. The hunter chooses, of course. Special skills don't seem to be an issue (they, in fact, often drive down the number of skill dots on a personnel.) Their prey is then captured, just like on the show. What happens after that is cause for concern, since the personnel never really become trophies, unless the opposing player IS playing Hirogen and Relics of the Chase. If he or she is not playing Hirogen, what's the captive doing in a Romulan brig? What were the Hirogen doing in the Alpha Quadrant in the first place? We have to consider specific dilemmas like this to be "types", "like" something, to fit them into Trek Sense. Seeded by a non-Hirogen player, maybe it represents a non-aligned bounty hunter of Hirogen-like caliber. Could work, though no text or lore supports it. When you look at it from that angle, you can accept it as a 4.1.

SEEDABILITY: While the Hirogen would love to get their hands on a personnel with high attributes to put on the wall with Relics of the Chase, any affiliation may use this dilemma to capture a strong personnel. It could be strong because it has many mission solving/dilemma passing skills (so always a good filter), or because it has high attributes. You have a choice between at least two personnel, often more if there's a tie in there somewhere. That's excellent, and only large Away Teams or crews with at least 51 CUNNING can pass it. With this dilemma, it's easy to target Quark, Data, etc. for capture. A good 4.4.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) The Hirogen are good personnel, but they make a nasty dilemma too.

PICTURE: That's Seven's creepy Borg's eye view of the Srivani pushing pins into Janeway's head. There were more gruesome or distinctive tortures, but this one really shows Janeway's fatigue, her tired look draws us in. A creepy but cool 3.6.

LORE: First off, I'm a bit disturbed by the usurpation of a DS9 episode title for a Voyager concept. When I hear Invasive Procedures, I think symbiont theft, something like that. Of course, they couldn't call the card "Scientific Method" like the episode, because that's already a card. As for the lore itself, it's got a bit of technobabble, but is otherwise fine, even if the game text isn't "fatal". Before I head into Trek Sense, I'll give a score of 2.5.

TREK SENSE: Srivani board your ship, and they certainly won't allow you to leave as long as they have experiments to conduct. Does this hold true to the show? If they were there for as long as they were, I'd have thought Voyager would have gone on with its business of launching the odd shuttlecraft, etc. But the aliens may have been among us for a while before we noticed anything, and if you know something's up, they sabotage your attempts to disembark. Fair enough. The effects on crewmembers were extremely varied, from boosting stress levels to changing genetic codes, but the effect on everyone here is more in line with Janeway's: losing a skill and lowering attributes due to her difficulty to concentrate, sleep, etc. Different procedures might produce these effects, but it's still far from Chakotay's benign make-up change, or from some of the more lethal experiments. These aren't really covered. Perhaps they happen, but to Ensign Bob only. Ok, how do you get rid of these mad scientists? Well, a Defense Borg will do it. Like Seven, they can use their ocular implants to detect and fight the aliens. The fighting part is why it's a Defense Borg we need, I suppose. But Seven wasn't able to do this on her own, she had help from the Doctor at least, so as a lone requirement, I think it's incomplete. The alternative is a Medical to detect the changes in the crew, some Cunning to figure out how to detect the aliens and a gun to strongarm them into leaving. Putting the Borg in there as an additional requirement would make the dilemma too difficult to pass, but it would make more sense. The whole thing's a little odd as far as timing issues go however. On Voyager, the crew suffered the effects and that's why they went about overcoming the dilemma. It's invisible, you see. But in the game, you start off overcoming the dilemma or not, and if not, THEN you feel the effects and are powerless to stop them (the aliens leave on their own once they're done, i.e. when the card counts down). Reading it as is, it seems like they learned their lesson on Voyager, and are now avoiding ships with Defense Borg, or Medical and hand weapons, etc. because they know they have a chance of being discovered. Not sure that's what they meant to do with the card, but an actually fairly sensical extrapolation from the show. In any case, too many details are wrong for more than a 2.4.

SEEDABILITY: A dilemma that reduces skill and attribute pools may be especially useful in the Voyager environment where personnel are hugely competent, and non-Fed affiliations often depend on a limited group of personnel to supply everything they need, but it's a good tool for creating dilemma combos in any deck. Following up with a dilemma that requires high attributes may be handicapped by this, or something that requires Leadership, since that is often listed first on a personnel. Opponent in the business of mix-and-matching 2E personnel in her 1E games? Go alphabetical with an Anthropology, Archaeology or Astrometrics/Astrophysics dilemma. The pain lasts 3 turns during which the crew can't cut and switch to a planet mission because they are under quarantine. It also cuts them off from other endeavors like boarding another ship, etc. Requirements are that easy to come by either. Defense Borg should pretty much keep the Borg affiliation safe, but other affiliations won't always have one on hand, even if most de-assimilates are Non-Aligned. In such cases, you need a combination of MEDICAL, CUNNING and a phaser or disruptor. Those decks that prefer the Bat'leth, say, over the energy-based hand weapons, will be out of luck, though MEDICAL and CUNNING will of course be present, unless you attack the Meds through earlier dilemmas. Note that lowered stats or not, not having these requirements stops the crew for that turn. It's no killer, but can delay a mission attempt, and as such, is worth 3.3.

TOTAL: 11.8 (59%) Now had Dax been in the picture... ;-)

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