Siskoid's Rolodex.......The Motion Pictures (2)



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

#1470-Colonel Worf, Personnel, Klingon, AU, CF, TMP
"Warrior of low political standing. Father of Mogh. Forced to represent Kirk and McCoy at their trial. His reputation was improved when their innocence was later proven."
-OFFICER, Diplomacy, Law, Honor, Archaeology, Astrophysics; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 8, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 8

PICTURE: There's something very... leathery... about this personnel. It's not just the clothes, it's even his forehead (I guess the Mogh/Kurn/Worf/Alexander trademark ridges come from Worf's grandmother's side, eh?). That's fine. It gives the card a certain look, and makes Colonel Worf look enough like a different character that you don't wonder if he's a version of the Worf persona. The Klingon in the corner is a minor distraction. Let's say 3.4.

LORE: There's some interesting stuff here, mostly about his standing before and after the show trial. It's a likeable 3.4.

TREK SENSE: What do we know about Worf's granddad? Well, we know he was a Colonel, which acounts for his being an Officer with a Command icon and high enough Strength. We also know he defended Kirk and McCoy in a trial, and that acounts for Law, Diplomacy and Honor (combined with high Integrity, and I think, the requisite Cunning). He truly did his duty, risking his reputation considerably to give those prisoners a "fair trial". Well, as fair as it could be under the circumstances. The other two skills weren't showcased in the movie. Archaeology could be an attempt to explain that skill on Mogh. An interest of the father rubbing off on the son. Astrophysics, however, is very near the opposite on the scientific scale. It's the little unexplained inventions that cost points. A 2.9.

STOCKABILITY: Hey, he's a big CF Klingon with 5 skills, none of them bad (especially the rarer Law). They're either good for dilemmas or missions or both. Archaeology means you can pass him through the Guardian of Forever for card draws. High attributes too. And face it, it's cool to use him along with his descendents (3 more generations!). There aren't many especially appropriate missions (Krios Suppression, I guess), Colonel Worf reads more like support for all different types of missions, both planet and space. As such, I gotta give him a 3.5. Good, but somewhat redundant.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) The family got more important with time.

#1480-Commander Chekov, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"Over the years, Ensign Chekov's distinguished career would include many promotions, and positions as acting science officer, security chief, navigator, and first officer."
-OFFICER, Navigation, SECURITY, Astrophysics, Biology; If on Starship Enterprise, it is WEAPONS +2; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 6

PICTURE: Chekov returns to active duty after having his brains eaten out in Star Trek II. He looks weary and a little gray. Is this the best pic they could find for him? It's a clear bust shot, sure, but he's not at his best. Consequently, a 2.8.

LORE: It's always strange to refer to a younger self like this for persona purposes, but it has to be done. In any case, what follows is great fun, since Chekov DID hold many positions in the films, probably because he and Sulu were a bit redundant on the show, and he couldn't be the "young rookie" anymore. Makes me wonder if 2E will eventually make versions of the mains for each film. It would certainly work with Chekov! Pavel Chekov - Reliant First Officer/Pawn of Khan (ST II), Starship Thief (ST III), Russian Spy (ST IV), and so on. But I digress. A fun 4.

TREK SENSE: On the show, Chekov was an Officer adept in Navigation who sometimes took Spock's place at the Science station. He did this too in the movies, but the focus was more on tactical and Security. So he's still an Officer, and could never forget Navigation, but the big Science skill has been turned into specific scientific fields: Biology and Astrophysics, which he used to inspect planets as potential Genesis Project sites. The Bio's for inspecting the planets themselves, and the Astro is to understand the basics of Genesis itself (though you'd think the Marcuses would have the skill if that were true). In any case, we don't know he was all that knowedgeable, but given prior experience at Spock's station, I'm guessing it's ok. And back to the new focus on tactical, the Ensign's Range boost to the Starship Enterprise is now for Weapons. The Command icon is also new, and it's a must for a first officer. Not as hot-blooded as he used to be, his Integrity has gone up by one since his Ensign days, but he hasn't gotten any smarter (aside from a lot of one-liners, he may have been the least useful member of the cast) or stronger (inexperience now replaced by age as the factor holding him back). Good, though not particularly original, I'll give him a 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: Another Starship Enterprise booster, you can have him on the OS version, adding to Lt. Sulu's WEAPONS +2 to get the ship to +4 (9) before any other enhancements, or use him alone on the CF version for WEAPONS 8. Of course, nothing's stopping you from reporting Captain Sulu there and switching him to Lt. Sulu for the +4. Similarly, that's how you would quickly get Commander Chekov aboard the OS ship, by downloading/reporting Ensign Chekov there and making a switch later, perhaps after you're done with moving and don't need the RANGE boost anymore. Note that either version can solve Agricultural Assessment. When it comes to mission solving, the Commander (hehehe, just reminded myself of the movie Trekkies) offers two classifications, which indeed, many CF personnel do, and a combo you'll also find on John Harriman (oy vey!). Still, between that and two excellent dilemma-busting skills, you should find room in your CF Federation deck, especially if you have the Starship Enterprise. A good little 3.7.

TOTAL: 14.6 (73%) Coincidence of the week: Same score as the mirror Chekov.

#1490-Commander Rand, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"After an early career aboard Enterprise, Yeoman Rand desired greater duties. She soon returned as transporter chief, and was later Excelsior's communications officer."
-OFFICER, ENGINEER, Transporter Skill, Biology, Leadership; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 4

PICTURE: It's Rand alright. That thing in her hand gives her as secretarial a look as she had on the Starship Enterprise, which is fine. The background is entirely too jumbly though, featuring stickers, panels and signs we'll frustatingly never be able to read. Keeps her around 3.2.

LORE: I like that it mentions her role in the first film as well as the sixth, and that maybe being a Yeoman wasn't so challenging after all. Meaty enough for a 3.6, though the lack of her first name anywhere is somewhat disappointing.

TREK SENSE: Now at communications, she's an Officer, but also has Engineer as per her stint as transporter chief (which also accounts for Transporter Skill). If we follow the logic set forth by Uhura, in any case, Engineer is part of the com officer's toolbox. So is Computer Skill, or so I thought. It's missing here. Biology makes it in, but I'm not sure if getting the captain's tea for him really counts. I'm gonna go ahead and say she gets the skill from coordinating emergency operations during the ecological disaster seen in the fourth film. Flimsy, but there it is. That coordination, her current rank, and her motherly attitude toward Tuvok in "Flashback" seem to account for the Leadership and Command icon. Mmm, okay. Can't say the skill list really grabs me, but let's do the attributes now. As a Yeoman, I doubt she'd have such high Cunning, but here it's fine. Integrity could have been a little higher even, but reads fine too. Strength may be a bit high for an older woman who spent her younger years waiting for Kirk to rescue her, but it works given her current build. Nothing wrong, but everything's a little... off. As in, it's fine, but not spectacular. I'm gonna go with 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: A collection of good skills and ok attributes, Rand reads like a better Captain Styles to me. Similar skills, but the more useful Biology and Transporter Skill replacing Physics. Fed personnel have a particular hurdle to overcome, namely that there are so many of them, you really need an edge to be included in any given deck. It's good for striking the exact skill pool you want with missions and potential dilemmas, but that only gets your score so high. In that respect, Rand has a dual-classification and no useless skills. Fine. In a CF deck, she's of course better. There, her skills are better as well as rarer. Taking all situations into account, and given the current absence of her baseline version, we'll hand her a 3.2.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) If it has to be 2E (we'll see), Yeoman Rand will probably be the more useful card.

#1500-Commander Uhura, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"Though over time Lt. Uhura accepted promotions and transfers, she seized each chance to return to Enterprise. Got to play for a captive audience on Nimbus III."
-OFFICER; Once per game, may capture all male Away Team members present; Computer Skill, ENGINEER, Music; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 3

PICTURE: I like it. She's at her station, though of course, there are a number of places in the movies where she isn't, which would still have been interesting ("This is fantasy" being one of them). There's excellent contrast between the cool colors of the background and card frame and the the warmer hues of her uniform and complexion. Her trademark earrings are here, and her expression is a pleasant one. I'd say this is a 4.

LORE: The captive audience stuff is a cool wink at her nude scene in Star Trek V, also immortalized in 2E by The Moon's a Window to Heaven, and helps explain her special skill. Fair enough, but the first sentence doesn't work as well for me. It just doesn't seem like she was off the Enterprise that much. She accepted one transfer that I know of, in Star Trek III, and that was part of the plan to take McCoy to Genesis. Talking about promotions seems to be a good way to work in the OS persona name, but it creates a mistake here. Uhura had some cool moments in Star Treks III, IV and VI that could have been exploited instead. The Nimbus III joke is the only thing keeping the lore afloat at 2.8.

TREK SENSE: We know from the Lt. Uhura card that the communications skill package is Officer, Engineer and Computer Skill, and these are naturally still here. We don't see her pilot the ship in the films (Navigation was a rare occurence even on the show), and she's lost her Youth with the passage of time (though don't tell her her career is winding down). Music, she still has, as shown off in a special musical number performed on Nimbus III, which is also the source of the special skill. Just like she does there, the skill allows her to enthrall an all-male Away Team (I see Ferengi falling for this) with some song and dance (and perhaps some geriatric nudity) and then pull out a gun on them to capture the whole crowd. Plays a bit fast and loose, since Vulcans might not fall for this, nor would Hirogen or Jem'Hadar, but she's resourceful enough that she'd find a way to do this in an alternative way. Of course, if she can find alternatives, why limit her "audience" to males? The B-players in Classic Trek only ever get one moment per movie (maximum), so she can only do this once per game anyway. As for attributes, time has only reduced her Strength by one, and she certainly isn't as fit as she once was (lost the six-pack for one thing), I think she actually got tougher with age. In the 60s, female roles were too often those of damsels in distress. In the 80s (and the movies), Uhura was a much stronger character than on the show, so should at least have kept her 4. Winds up at 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Who says the Federation can't run a good capture deck? Commander Uhura certainly helps out in this regard by capturing an entire male Away Team, no matter its size, once per game. Some affiliations are female-deficient and make tempting targets, and all you really have to do is weed out the females with dilemmas (Female's Love Interest in particular), stop the Away Team so it doesn't board its ship again (Mission Debriefing usually does the trick, though a wall dilemma is probably better - mkight I suggest Matriarchal Society?), swoop in with Uhura and capture the whole crowd. Since male personnel often have more STRENGTH than female ones, assault teams might be all-male, so Uhura can capture the whole lot of them when they invade your ship or attack your Away Team. Will your opponent recover from his 10 Jem'Hadar being in your Brig? Don't want to think big? All you want is one captive to Interrogate, Torture, etc? Ok, use Male's Love Interest to relocate a lone male to a planet and get Uhura to sweep him off his feet. Skill-wise, while there's never been much call for Music, it can be helpful in some ways, and the OFFICER/ENGINEER/Computer Skill combo certainly is. As for switching from the Lieutenant to the Commander or back again, a combined OS/CF deck using the two versions of the Starship Enterprise might see you using the Commander until she uses her special skill, then switching to the Lieutenant who has better skills. The option is there at any rate. A good personnel whose true usefulness may depend on the gender mix your opponent is using. A 3.7 should do.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) The Lieutenant was in the top ten though.

#1510-David Marcus, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"Gifted scientist. Like his father, often bends the rules. His impatience was Project Genesis' breakthrough and downfall. Proud - very proud - to be Admiral Kirk's son."
-SCIENCE, Biology, Computer Skill, Physics, Geology; You may use The Genesis Device on your planet here
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 9, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: The background is blurry enough to have the main object of the pic draw all our attention, yet you still get that he's in a laboratory environment. A lot of David's seriousness and mistrust come across, and his hair is somewhat reminiscent of his father's movie-era weaves. A 3.6.

LORE: A lot of nice stuff from his two movie appearances. The first phrase is simply a brief context, but nevertheless true. The second was shown in ST III when we learned he used proto-matter to solve some problems with the Genesis Device, which paralleled him with his famous father, Captain James T. Kirk. Then there's the irony of the breakthrough becoming the downfall of Genesis. Great stuff. And finally - it's not my favorite line, but hey - we have a paraphrase of his final scene in ST II after he's learned or his parental origins. Good job! 4.3.

TREK SENSE: How do you come up with the Genesis Device? Since it restructures a planet to bear life, Biology, Physics and Geology all make absolute sense. The matrix has to be programmed into the machine, so Computer Skill is there too. If he was that "gifted", he might have gotten a x2 in there somewhere, or another Science, but having such varied fields in your skill box may be enough. Plus, he had help from his mother. Oh, and his Cunning's pretty high. The special skill allows him to use (or "test") the Genesis Device even if the Federation is usually restricted from doing so. A sensical way to work around the limitation. In a sense, his presence sets the time period to BEFORE it became banned technology (of course, the CF era is necessarily in the game's past, sigh). The nature of the character makes a tragic accident that puts a mission at 0 points quite possible. Integrity's enough for him to give his life for Saavik, while still "breaking the rules". Strength is way too high however. Or was that pitiful struggle with a Klingon warrior enough to warrant it? I say thee nay! Everything else is well done however, so he hits a 4.1.

STOCKABILITY: You've got a very complete SCIENCE personnel here, great for those kinds of decks, whether you're going for planet or space missions. There's actually more incentive to send him to planets because of The Genesis Device actually. First, to acquire it, then to place it atop a mission to double its points. That Geological Survey was never worth so much! ;-) One note on the Device: May I suggest putting it aboard a Cryosatellite (maybe with David here)? That'll make the acquiring mission your space, and with any luck, the doubled planet will get you to 100 points. There's also the idea of making David evil and allowing him to destroy or double your mission's points then follow that up with No, Kirk... The Game's Not Over to destroy all opposing cards there too. Don't step on our lawn! The Feds can use nasty tricks too! And with his many skills and high attributes, he'll help out with the mission attempt(s) as well. A strong 4.5.

TOTAL: 16.5 (82.5%) Same as Jake and Nog - it pays to be the son of a main character! (Tell that to Alexander.)

#1521-Demora Sulu, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"Daughter of Hikaru Sulu. Helmsman of the Enterprise-B. Shocked but pleased, James T. Kirk declared: 'It wouldn't be the Enterprise without a Sulu at the helm.'"
-OFFICER, Navigation, Exobiology, Stellar Cartography; If on any Enterprise, it is RANGE +1; Staff icon
-INTEGRITY: 8, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: Taken from the moment when she meets Captain Kirk, it looks like they just put her up against a wall and took her picture. Something at the helm during the crisis might have been more appropriate, I dunno. A fair shot of some of those Enterprise-B consoles though. The buck stops at 3.

LORE: Some of the necessary details are followed up by a sweet line from Generations. I know it's probably not meant to come off that way at all, but it's an interesting double-entendre when you remember Mr. Shatner was originally quite vocal against Sulu becoming captain of the Excelsior. Maybe Kirk shared his feelings, eh? Movies are full of good lines, and the shift to mostly quotes in 2E was foreshadowed in The Motion Pictures. It certainly helps this card get to 3.5.

TREK SENSE: The apple didn't fall far from the tree, as they say. Demora shares her father's interests when it comes to Navigation and the related Stellar Cartography, but the designers went one step further in giving her Exobiology. Perfectly acceptable. Comes from having alien plants around the house when you were growing up. To show she's her father's daughter even more, she adds to any Enterprise's Range. The bad word here is "any" because she couldn't possibly be as good helming a future Enterprise, could she? And as far as these things go, I'm a bit surprised they didn't give her Youth. On to the attributes: They all seem fine for an upstanding young "Starfleet brat", so no further comment. Some good extrapolations, but also a couple of flaws. Comes in at 3.4.

STOCKABILIY: Enterprise decks will want another Sulu now, if only for completeness' sake. It's just another +1 to RANGE, but it crosses over to any Enterprise, so she could help staff any of them. Even if you're just sticking to the CF era, she's still got three possibilities (the B, the A and the Starship), all of which could stand to be boosted since they are older, slower ships by our standards. She's also got good attributes and excellent skills that are all often required by dilemmas and missions alike, Exo for planets and the rest for space. A good 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.4 (67%) I'm sure her father's proud of her no matter what.

#1532-Dmitri Valtane, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"Excelsior science officer. Monitored the 2293 disaster on the Klingon moon Praxis. Unknowing host of a parasitic memory virus. Thinks Vulcans need to relax."
-SCIENCE, Stellar Cartography, Geology, Computer Skill; Staff icon
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: Being from the Voyager episode, Valtane looks a little more worn that he did in Star Trek VI, but not enough to make a noticeable difference. The console behind him, the one apparently unable to confirm the existence of Praxis, gives a real "Stellar Cartography" feel to his job (especially the screen to his immediate right, with planetary orbits). Good, simple color scheme. The uniform does look like a Santa Claus outfit from this angle though. Good for a 3.5.

LORE: The first two phrases are from Star Trek VI, and the last two were revealed in "Flashback". All fine stuff, I especially like the last personality quirk. 3.6 here.

TREK SENSE: He's a Science officer alright, and his skills reflect that. The whole Praxis incident points to Stellar Cartography for monitoring the Klingon system (plus, cataloguing gaseous anomalies was the Excelsior's mission), and Geology perhaps for determining is was a moon that blew up in the first place. Computer Skill is always safe on Starfleet personnel, no less so here as he's pictured with his computer console. 7s for all attributes... I'd only wonder at the Strength, since it seems a bit high for a Science guy (sounds like an Offspring tune). Other than that, no problems here, though a special skill of sorts might have been nice. Ah well, 3.7 it is.

STOCKABILITY: Valtane suffers from being a simple 3-skill personnel, though I guess there are a lot of 4-skill personnel that have some near-useless skill like Youth and aren't as good. Good SCIENCE profile, with skills for both space (Stellar Cartography) and planet (Geology) missions. Computer Skill is good in any circumstance. No flaws in the attributes, and the triple 7s are great for Royale Casino: Slots. The trouble with a personnel like this is that the Federation has many many many mission solvers, so it's hard to win a slot in a deck. Choice of missions is usually key (Chart Stellar Cluster seems to be the closest match), but a Classic Film deck might use him. He's good SCIENCE, even if his skills aren't particularly rare. I'd spring for a 3.3.

TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) Gee, shouldn't he have a Russian accent? ;-)

#1543-Dr. Chapel, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"Soon after her first five-year tour of duty aboard the Enterprise, Nurse Chapel earned a medical doctorate. She later accepted a post at Starfleet Command."
-MEDICAL, MEDICAL, Biology, Archaeology, Computer Skill; Staff icon
-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 3

PICTURE: Chapel in the dark is certainly dramatic, but I would have expected something from The Motion Picture where she actually did medical stuff. I do like the colors coming out of the darkness, and that big 59 just works so well with the look of Classic Films cards. Many of them have those model car letters and numbers on them. An original take and it looks good, though not necessarily the most appropriate. A 3.4.

LORE: Getting the persona isn't as difficult as on some others, a problem that could have been alleviated in all cases by naming OS personnel by their full names instead of ranks. The pic is explained by the second sentence. None of it is especially interesting unfortunately, so just a 3.

TREK SENSE: If a nurse is Medical x1, stands to reason a doctor is Medical x2, right? Well, it doesn't always work out that way. Is Chapel as good as McCoy? It's hard to say given the onscreen evidence in the movies. In ST IV, she isn't even doctoring! I don't know what she does at Starfleet Command exactly, but Computer Skill seems an acceptable way to represent it. Biology and Archaeology are both from the OS version. The former is Medical-based, the latter is part and parcel of her degree in medical archaeology (mentioned in Nurse Chapel's lore). Whatever you say, Mr. Roddenberry. Attribute-wise, 7s are pretty standard on Federation professional types. Her Strength drop is brought on by age, but I'm not sure it's deserved. OS females were always damsels in distress anyway. By the time of the movies, they should have GAINED Strength, not lost it. And what, still a Staffer? According the her Encyclopedia entry, she actually DIRECTED emergency operations at Starfleet Command. That qualifies her for a Command icon, doesn't it?  I'm far from enthusiastic about the design, which is, at best, lackluster. Only 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: Yet another super-MEDICAL for the Feds, and she isn't even the only CF, what with Dr. McCoy around. I'm not sure we needed her. She could wiggle herself into a MEDICAL and/or Archaeology deck, but I don't see any of her skills as being too difficult to find or particularly noteworthy. Persona replacement could offer a trick by which you report Nurse Chapel for free to CF Dr. McCoy and then switch her to get a better skills package. Not much, I know. 1E Feds have unfortunately grown fairly redundant, and that's gonna cost her. Just a 3 (still a good MEDICAL, after all).

TOTAL: 12.2 (61%) A big yawner.

#1554-Dr. Gillian Taylor, Personnel, Non-Aligned/Federation, AU, TMP
"20th-century marine biologist. Helped Admiral Kirk safely bring George and Gracie to the 23rd century, where she then signed on aboard a Starfleet science vessel."
-CIVILIAN; May exclude George and Gracie from any personnel battle or random selection here; Biology, SCIENCE
-INTEGRITY: 8, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: Though the incredulous look suits her, the pose makes her eyes go buggy and her chin double. Kinda froggy (she's in an ITALIAN restaurant, not a French one), she's not put in the best light. Still appropriate for a 3. As usual, the Federation border is the better of the two, though gold highlights are to be found in the pic as well.

LORE: The story is told efficiently, no problems here. The lore even seems to explain most, if not all, of the reasons behind her skills, affiliations, etc. A better than average 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Dr. Gillian starts off as a Non-Aligned 20th-century personnel, but after jumping ahead some 3 centuries, she easily joins the Federation in its exploration efforts. She's a Civilian, even in the future (no Starfleet commission for her). As a marine biologist, Science and Biology are right down her alley. Now, I must mention my discomfort with Science not being her classification. There's never really been a consensus on personnel cards, but I think using Civilian as a fallback position when the personnel can't be placed anywhere else is best. She's a scientist first, no? Since we can't see her using a Medical Tricorder, for example, maybe Civilian is better in her case. (Though she probably learned how while she was [Fed].) The special skill is thematically good, but impractical to say the least. Yes, she is very motivated to protecting her whales, but how is she excluding them from personnel battle or random selections like those of dilemmas and damage markers? (How they are "present" at a personnel battle is another mystery, but one for another day.) Those are two really big targets that Dr. Gillian can't possibly hide or move easily. A bleeding-heart liberal animal lover (not that there's anything wrong with that) like her deserves high Cunning. Her Cunning goes with her job and open mind. And she could take care of herself enough for 5 Strength. Basically, it's the special skill that does her in. Just 2.6.

STOCKABILITY: The whales, if you choose to use them, offer up a 15 point bounty, as long as they're on Earth. They come into play on Earth already, via the Cetacean Institute Time Location, but only score points when they are brought forward (another Earth TL could provide a safer haven, of course). Ok, Dr. Gillian Taylor is a native of that TL, and can report there too, protecting the whales from personnel battle (or on a ship, from random Casualties) that would do them in, along with your 15 points, at whatever location they wind up. Round the corner protection, if you will. Or are you using the whales as part of your crew or Away Team? What, just to nullify the Whale Probe? Gillian would protect them from SOME dilemmas at least, but they need only for the Probe to come to them for nullification to occur. No need to take part in the mission attempt. Of course, she does provide useful SCIENCE, Biology and fair attributes, and can be used by most anyone thanks to that NA affiliation, but I wouldn't really do so unless George and Gracie were in the picture. And even then, SHE's not immune to personnel battle, so killing the whales may just take a turn longer than expected and that's it. Lame I tell ya, lame! A 2.

TOTAL: 10.9 (54.5%) Part of a pretty minor strategy.

#1565-Dr. McCoy, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, TMP
"Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy. Retired from Starfleet in 2270, but returned a year later on Kirk's request. Retired again in 2293 - and would again return."
-MEDICAL; Twice per game, may take topmost personnel of discard pile into hand; MEDICAL, Exobiology, Biology; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 8, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 3

PICTURE: Drawn from the end of ST VI as McCoy's last movie scene (well, since "Encounter at Farpoint" predates ST VI, it's his last scene, period), I don't think it's that appropriate aside from that. Sure, the special ability may or may not be taken from this film (see below), but he looks kind of goofy here. Not fierce enough, I don't know. Furthermore, there's that Tactical panel behind him (staying within the overall CF look), which really isn't his bag. I like the little Enterprise though. Won't go over 3.

LORE: We've got his full name, and since he's got the same title as his OS self, no need to write something for his persona. It's a whole lot about retiring and coming back, even winking at his return to help launch TNG, and that was a theme in the films, but a little unsatisfying. An odd thing to focus on when you think of everything he did in the span of 6 movies, including carry Spock's katra around, call 20th-century doctors names, and spend some time on a Klingon prison moon. Cute, but again, something's missing: a 3.4.

TREK SENSE: The Medical x2-Biology-Exobiology package is old hat by now, no sense in really discussing it. The difference between the CF and OS versions of McCoy is that this one has 1 Exobiology less. Why? On the one hand, there are more aliens aboard the Enterprise than during the series. On the other, he didn't know a thing about Klingon anatomy and some would say (Klingons mostly) he bungled Gorkon's CPR. Old age? After all, Decipher also decided to cut one Cunning point from his attributes. I agree that a lot of movies played him more for laughs than the series ever did, but I'd have thought experience brought more wisdom. (The final insult is that by the time he's an Admiral, it'll have dropped to a positively dumb 6.) The 2-point drop in Strength is more sound, but perhaps a bit much. He was still vigorous, and survived a long walk in arctic conditions. One boon brought on by age is the conversion of a Staff icon into a Command icon. In fact, I think the OS version should have had that Command icon already. Call it a fix. The special skill may be based on ST VI, where he resuscitates Gorkon for all of 30 seconds, but that's scarcely a rescue. It's more akin to ST III (it must be both, because it's twice per game), allowing Spock to come back from the dead, especially since Spock had to retrain (go to hand) before reporting back for duty. My only problem with that interpretation is that Captain Spock already has that ability on his own (AND Fal-tor-pan reproduces the effect). And just how is McCoy doing this with non-Vulcans (that's accepting the idea that any other Vulcans would use him as a katra repository)? Let's combine the two then: If Gorkon had been a human or other known race, McCoy would have saved him. Of course, there's the matter of his not having to be anywhere near the personnel's death/discard. An interesting notion is that the special skill is thematically based on his retirements (leave the game twice and come back), but while that may have inspired it, it doesn't actually do that with McCoy in the game. Ok, I'm again on the fence. I understand what they were trying to do, but it doesn't quite gel into the complete picture. A 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: MEDICAL decks have a large pool of super-MEDICAL to choose from, that's for sure. This version of McCoy, perhaps the only one you have access to given that the OS McCoy is ultra-rare, basically has Beverly Crusher's skills (no other x2s), but with others of his kind, it'll hinge on his faction and/or special skill. First, if running a CF deck, it's obvious you would use him. The ships allow him to report or download easily, Camp Khitomer may allow him to report for free, etc. None of the perks of the OS icon though (in particular, with Classic equipment). In any deck, the special skill may be of interest. Just lost a personnel? Twice per game, such a personnel could be returned to hand. In a CF deck, that personnel would have the CF icon, possibly allowing it back aboard your CF ship with Crew Reassignment. Of course, it has to be the topmost personnel, so manipulating the discard pile might be in order for personnel lost before McCoy was reported, for example by taking other cards out of there (All Threes, Palor Toff, Fire Sculptor, Mutation and Nanoprobe Resuscitation are all ways to do this). As far as persona replacement goes, OS and CF mains can be good at this because even their ship can do the switch, bringing the relevant staffing icon with it. The ultra-rare McCoy is of course the better one, especially for mission attempts, but switching him temporarily to CF McCoy a couple times a game to rescue discarded personnel isn't a dumb idea. As an aside, Nurse Chapel still reports for free if in play for some extra MEDICAL help. A strong special skill keeps him at 3.9.

TOTAL: 13.7 (68.5%) Something of a disappointment.

#1576-Dr. Tolian Soran, Personnel, Non-Aligned, 20 points, TMP
"El-Aurian refugee 'rescued' from the nexus in 2293 by the Enterprise-B. Spent the next 78 years obsessed with finding a way to return, no matter the cost."
-SCIENCE, Astrophysics, Stellar Cartography, Treachery; Worth points while placed under The Nexus; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 2, CUNNING: 9, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: Soran looks good here with multiple shadows dancing on his face, and the cool blue-gray of the background matching his outfit (as well as contrasting rather nicely with the gold template). His expression is resigned, amused, fierce and cruel all at once, and the Klingons in the back aren't too noticeable. A good close-up worth its 3.7.

LORE: I like the "rescued" in quotation marks, since he really didn't consider it a rescue, and his goals are plainly stated. Too bad there's no relationship to A Clockwork Orange though. Looks like a slightly cheeky 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Here's an example of a civilian scientist being given Science as a classification over Civilian. Not all cards agree, but I certainly do. Especially when someone's given their entire life to scientific pursuits like Soran. Of course, it was all to find the Nexus. Astrophysics is required to shut down a star, and Stellar Cartography to track the Nexus. Treachery and low Integrity are required to allow thousands of people die so he can get into a redirected Nexus. His building a missile to destroy the aforementioned star may require Physics or Engineer, but there's just no room. Chalk it up to high Cunning. Able to beat on Picard, he's got reasonably high Strength for his age (but what age is that really?). The Command icon is a little more of an issue. He managed to boss some Klingons around, but I didn't get that the Sisters of Duras were doing any of his dirty work for reasons other than their own (greed and a chance at revenge). Finally, there's the special skill: Points represent accomplishments, and Soran's personal mission is to get to The Nexus. It was important enough to him to destroy star systems, so 20 points isn't too high a booty. If he comes out of The Nexus, the points are lost again. Works great except for being necessarily incomplete and that odd Command icon. That keeps him at 4.

STOCKABILITY: He's a good SCIENCE'n' Treachery Non-Aligned personnel (safe from Unscientific Method), with skills (and CUNNING) useful for missions and dilemmas, a good staffing icon, and not a bad STRENGTH for his classification. He's also an El-Aurian, which allows him to report aboard the USS Enterprise-B regardless of its location. Where's Guinan? only affects him if a Guinan is present AND your opponent stocked this in his Q-Continuum side-deck. I wouldn't worry about it. As for the special skill, he offers a good reason to stock The Nexus. 20 points for a round-the-corner strategy is excellent, especially when all you have to do is plop Soran on a planet (or sacrifice a ship) and wait for The Nexus to get there. Ok, so The Nexus is dangerous to your cards, but when you're only 20 points away from victory, so what? An outpost on the end of the spaceline and The Nexus starting at the other gives you plenty of time in many situations (remember that The Nexus will also be interfering with opposing cards) and using Where No One Has Gone Before or something sends Soran in early. You can always send an ENGINEER to The Nexus with Soran so that you may rebuild your outpost after it is destroyed, though ENGINEERs in play need not have been destroyed at all. Lure of the Nexus may interfere with your strategy by saving Soran's ship (or another, even your own) from destruction and relocating all personnel in the Nexus to that ship. Your own copy of Lure can prevent Soran from leaving for a short while, but you better win on that turn. Not that he wouldn't try again. But in fact, there's no reason to believe a player who wasn't himself using The Nexus would think to stock Lure of the Nexus, so I wouldn't worry. For 20 points in the bank (though not without its possible hold-ups), I give him a 4.

TOTAL: 15.1 (75.5%) The main villain of a film, after all.

#1587-Duj Saq, Event, TMP
"Klingon for 'land the ship'. Though K'Vort-class ships were larger and more heavily armed than the B'rel design they were based on, only the 23rd-century original had this ability."
-Plays on table. Your B'rel-class ships may each use 1 RANGE to land or take off once each turn, and report on planets that have matching affiliation icon. (Captain's Order.)

PICTURE: A great fx shot for the time, the bird-of-prey looks great in the Vulcan's golden light, and the spotlights add a lot of drama. A dynamic 4.4.

LORE: The title has that Klingon flavor (mmmm, blood), but we do get a translation. The rest of the lore talks about design differences between B'rel and K'Vort-class ships, which muddles the point a bit. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Plenty of landing cards, but nothing before this that would have allowed the HMS Bounty (or Klaa's bird-of-prey) to land as they did in the films. Here it is. Using part of their Range, B'rel-class birds (smaller than K'Vorts) can land and take off. Furthermore, they can report landed on planets with a matching affiliation icon. I don't mind the reporting feature, a fine alternative to reporting docked at a facility, but the locations are suspect. I mean, most locations with a matching icon are missions you must go to, not places where you actually are. In fact, one's homeworld isn't a viable place to build your B'rel. It's the very same problem I have with Outposts. Finally, "land the ship" sounds like a Captain's Order to me. No objection at all. The one mistake keeps the card at 4.

STOCKABILITY: Though some cards have made inroads into affecting landed ships, it's still a viable way to protect both ship and personnel from unwanted attacks. The Klingons having no shuttles or ships with no staffing icons, have been limited to the Cha'Joh for their landing needs, which is scarcely worth stocking 2 cards (Launch Portal/Engage Shuttle Operations). Duj Saq is more up their alley: HMS Bounty, IKC Chontay, IKC Kla'Diyus (fires cloaked), they can all not only land, but also report directly to a planet with a Klingon affiliation icon. Duj Saq is easy to bring into play with Ready Room Door, so you need not wait. These ships are bigger and stronger than any Hidden Fighter, but of course, we're not talking about a download here. Bypassing a facility also means you can report the ship to another quadrant if that's where you want to use it. Crew Reassignment'll get your CF Klingons aboard. Note that the Feds and Ferengi also have access to B'rel-class ships. For Feds, it's just the Bounty, and probably not enough to stock this card, but the Ferengi's is universal. Imagine that fleet of yours getting reinforcements right from the planet below (just beam crew aboard as soon as it reports). The Klingons could do well with this, so a 3.8.

TOTAL: 15.3 (76.5%) And here I thought we didn't need another landing card.

#1597-Engine Imbalance, Dilemma, space, TMP
"An improperly balanced warp drive system poses a serious hazard. Even a minor misalignment can propel a ship into an artificial wormhole."
-Place on ship. It may not "fly by" a location without stopping, and its RANGE is exhausted each time it moves. Cure with 2 ENGINEER, Computer Skill, and Physics.

PICTURE: If I'm not mistaken, this is a refurbished fx shot from the special edition dvd of The Motion Picture, and as such, it looks great. The darkened ship in particular. A hearty 3.7.

LORE: The first part goes with the title, and the second with the picture. And though the specific example pictured happened in TMP, I've never heard of it happening anywhere else (though we know the Intermix Ratio is important). That'll become a Trek Sense issue. Here, we've got ok lore at 3.

TREK SENSE: Forget about the wormhole, because it's got little to do with the Engine Imbalance. The intermix ratio becomes unbalanced, and this causes Range problems, naturally. Whether you're thrown into a pointless wormhole or not (no, really, what was its dramatic purpose?), the ship basically stalls. Start, stop, start, stop. I'm thinking engineering staff should be monitoring things more closely, and usually do, so why no requirement to keep it from happening. Well, I guess the cure is a requirement of sorts, but it isn't preventive. Ok, Engineers aplenty are needed, but Computer Skill too (the imbalance was caused by a computer malfunction) and Physics (because the ratio is between matter and anti-matter, Physics concepts). See how I avoided making the Physics about the wormhole? The stalling idea is a good one, and I'm not gonna penalize the card much for taking its picture from what could perhaps have been a different dilemma altogether. How about 3.5?

SEEDABILITY: 2 ENGINEER, Computer Skill and Physics is a hardy batch of requirements, but they can be found on the  über-ENGINEERs. Personnel that can fix Engine Imbalance all by their lonesome? Data and Geordi (dual), Geordi Laforge (either), Miles O'Brien (BoG), O'Brien Founder, and many more with a simple piece of Equipment. These skills are so important to the game, the cure'll usually come in the form of only 2 personnel. Of course, you can lead in with ENGINEER attackers like Make Us Go. That helps. And of course, while the Federation has the advantage, many other affiliations will have greater problems with this. While it's on the ship, we might as well call it crippled. RANGE is effectively cut to whatever the next Span is. A single mission. That's horrible not just for mission attempt options, but also in pollution decks, where stopping on a particular mission can really hurt you. Borg Ship dilemma anyone? Gaps in Normal Space is another favorite, it really can't be avoided except by not moving at all. But this card isn't just a dilemma, it's also an Interrupt. Yes, by dropping the Target Warp Field Coils damage marker on a ship during battle or dilemma ship damage, you can download Engine Imbalance on it (perhaps with some appropriate casualties thrown in, like those of Evasive Maneuvers or Photon Torpedo). Way better than waiting for your opponent to stumble onto the right dilemma combo, it gets a proactive 4.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) I just wasn't that sure it all fit together.

#1607-Fal-tor-pan, Event, TMP
"Vulcan refusion of the body and katra. The ritual was performed successfully for the first time since ancient legend between Leonard H. McCoy, son of David, and Spock, son of Sarek."
-Plays on table. At any time top card of your discard pile is a Vulcan personnel, you may place it here. Personnel here may report to the planet Vulcan as if from your hand.

PICTURE: Though watching an old Vulcan hag concentrate isn't my idea of a good time, there is an interesting optical illusion on the card. The sigil on the pillar above McCoy looks like Spock's katra escaping from the Doctor's head, about to rejoin its true body. Aside from that, the colors are vivid, and the shapes (pillars and costumes) speak the same language. Still, the pic leaves me cold. Dull symetric composition, dull solid color blocks... The good stuff mentioned above gets a 3.1.

LORE: A translation from the Vulcan, the fact it had only been performed in myth before this incident, and the very formal "sons of"... It all workd for me. A fine 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Performing Fal-tor-pan doesn't require a high priestess like T'Lar, though perhaps priestess B'ob can do it, and if T'Lar IS in play, she can download the card for the same effect (but she doesn't have to be on Vulcan). The ritual basically resurrects a Vulcan (most discards are deaths), first placing it on the event (on the ritual table), then on Vulcan itself (where the ritual is actually performed since the mission is Observe Ritual). That's all well and good, but just how are all these Vulcans coming back from the dead? Spock's case was a very special one, requiring his body to be regenerated. This card makes it a common occurence, not even discarding after its first use. Absurd. Even more so when you consider that T'Lar questioned Sarek's logic about attempting it in the first place. The mechanics of it are ok without being impressive, but the concept just isn't in line with Trek reality. Drops to a 1.1.

STOCKABILITY: Vulcan decks can be built that would benefit from this card, but otherwise, don't bother. If you are running a mostly Vulcan deck, the event can resurrect any of them lost to the discard pile as long as they're right on top. A pile of dead Vulcans can be brought back one after the other as long as they follow each other in the discard pile too. See, you take one and put it on Fal-tor-pan. It is now "any time", and another Vulcan can be placed on the event. The problem is now to report them normally to Vulcan (and only Vulcan), which allows reporting, but not reporting for free. So it's a bit slow-going, and though some Vulcans (like various versions of Spock) are great personnel, wouldn't stocking multiple copies be a bit easier and cheaper to pull off? Amanda Grayson offers a cheat for a couple of the better personnel. T'Lar does download the event, saving you the cost of playing it (even suspending play to immediately save a Vulcan), but I have yet to be sold on Vulcan-only decks as anything more than an interesting theme. Providing a recyclable personnel for Crell Moset's special skill could be one way to go. Forcing personnel discards at no real cost with Kal-Toh is another. The limits imposed on this event make it less useful than, say, Res-Q, but you can find uses for it. A 3.3.

TOTAL: 11 (55%) The Motion Pictures unfortunately sounded the death knell of the game's first edition.

#1617-Gallatin, Personnel, Non-Aligned, TMP
"Ru'afo's first officer. Once the most vengeance-minded of the Son'a, recent time with the Ba'ku - and a persuasive Federation captain - has softened his hatred."
-OFFICER, Anthropology, SCIENCE, Computer Skill, Honor, Transporter Skill; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 6

PICTURE: Good close-up where you can really see the sadness in his eyes. He's no Ru'afo, that's for sure. The blue background is pretty plain, but not unattractive, and it does play with a similar color in his eyes. Splashes of color on his shoulder also help the composition. A 3.5, I think.

LORE: Although I would have liked to hear his Ba'ku name in there somewhere, it's really well done, especially the way they insinuate Picard into it. A well-written 3.8.

TREK SENSE: A first Officer who had his hand in pretty much all the Son'a's pies, so his skills reflect everything they did in the movie. There's Science for tapping the planet's rings, Computer Skill to program the holoship, and Transporter Skill to forcibly remove the Ba'ku from their world. Honor comes up because he turned against the evil Ru'afo in the end, and because it took a while, the Integrity isn't as high as most Honor personnel, but better than Treacherous ones. Anthropology is the least applicable, perhaps stemming from leaving the Ba'ku culture to explore the galaxy way back when. Cunning's ok, and Strength is fair (low for his size, but let's not forget the Son'a are a ill). No problems, nor anything innovative here. A 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: The Son'a are a small faction with their own little strategy, Collect Metaphasic Particles that makes them complete Insurrection, but also gives them (and your other personnel) other bonuses. It's not very hard to put in motion, but where does Gallatin fit in the equation? I'm not sure where. His skills aren't required for it (only his species), and well, any Son'a can enable Son'a ships' stats, etc. His many skills do make him a good dilemma passer for any affiliation, and certainly for a Son'a-dominant NA crew, though no missions really pop out and say "Gallatin". Two classifications, the ever-useful Computer Skill, the rarer Anthropology and Transporter Skill, no low attributes, yeah, he's good. Just not particularly necessary. A 3.4.

TOTAL: 14.6 (73%) Good, but somewhat forgettable.

#1627-General Chang, Personnel, Klingon, AU, CF, TMP
"Chief of staff serving the High Council leader. Conspired to assassinate Gorkon and ensure no peace in his time. Fond of Shakespeare, particularly in the original Klingon."
-OFFICER, Leadership, Treachery, Anthropology, Law, SECURITY; SD To Be Or Not To Be; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 2, CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: I don't know why OS Klingons look so different from TNG Klingons, but General Chang seems to be the missing link between them. He's distinctive by his understated ridges and beard. The colors in the image are rich, and the textures interesting. There's a lot of detail on the broach he wears (though unfortunately, we still can't see the Klingon affiliation icon on each of the eye-patch's studs. As for the exact pull, this is during the special dinner where Chang spouts Shakespeare (and Hitler), so it's well chosen. A strong bust shot at 3.6.

LORE: The story's told well, with nice flourishes pulled from the film. "No peace in his time" is from something he said, and of course, there's the insult to Kirk about Shakespeare being better in the original Klingon. Great stuff, plus the useful mention of the High Council. I'd say that hits 4.1, despite the lack of any Sound of Music reference.

TREK SENSE: General Chang commands his own ship and is in the Klingon government. Officer, Leadership and the Command icon are pretty much set. He was in charge of the Chancellor's Security and knew more than a little about tactical systems. He acted as prosecution attorney in Kirk's and McCoy's trial, so Law makes it in. Treachery... do I need to spell it out for you? He conspired to kill his own Chancellor as well as the Federation president. Certainly supports his low Integrity too. Anthropology goes to his knowledge of Shakespeare and ability to quote from the Bard's plays and sonnets freely. Speaking of Shakespeare, he downloads a line from Hamlet, To Be Or Not To Be. It gives him the chance of reliving the epic battle where he managed to damage both the Enterprise and the Excelsior, but also one where his own ship got blowed up good. Since he can't be the aggressor, that specific download's a little strange, but it's certainly thematic. His high Cunning works for his memory as much as his tactical skill, but I might have given him a little more Strength. Sure, we never see him fight anyone hand to hand, but I'd imagine such a great Klingon warrior would have a little more than a 7. No really noticeable errors, so an excellent 4.3.

STOCKABILITY: Hey, General Chang is a great CF Klingon. He has a wide skill list for that faction, and can even fit in easily in a standard Klingon deck, though not one based on Honor. The Treachery bias still has enough missions to work with, and Chang comes off as much better than Duras or his Sisters. Law is a rare skill that's nevertheless important. Leadership may be a bit obvious on an OFFICER, but it is nonetheless useful (just look at those engagement cards backwards compatible from 2E). Anthropology is a sweet skill for a personnel from another time location, since it means he can use The Guardian of Forever to travel and draw cards. SECURITY is a great second classification besides. If you forget about the Time Location, he can still report for free (given an appropriate Doorway) to the Klingon HQ because his lore mentions the High Council. Also lore-related, he's a General, so can pass Executive Authorization. He's also the matching commander for a very special ship, the Kla'Diyus, which can initiate battle without decloaking (so safe from rettaliation). CF ships are a little weaker than normal ones, so the Plaque and Log boost would be welcome, making the bird-of-prey a more comfortable 8-9-8. There are other advantages of course, like Make It So and Ready Room Door. In battle, he can also download To Be Or Not To Be (or really, long before the battle). There are a number of ways to force an opponent to initiate battle, and sometimes they don't need any coaxing. When that happens, To Be Or Not To Be can damage all ships present, which is great fun against an armada. Your own ship also gets damaged, of course. What's useful here is that Chang can suspend play to download it as the battle starts, ready to be triggered after it. So no Event card already in play to dissuade your opponent from attacking when you send your little shuttle sacrifice into the arms of that armada. A lot going for him, so a 4.5.

TOTAL: 16.5 (82.5%) Wow, competition for #1 Klingon.

#1637-General Korrd, Personnel, Klingon, AU, CF, TMP
"Once-renowned military strategist exiled to Nimbus III by the High Council. Released the pain of his dishonor when Sybok enlisted his help in the search for Qui'tu."
-VIP, Leadership x2, Diplomacy, Physics, Navigation; May work with Sybok, St. John Talbot, and Caithlin Dar; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: Korrd is trying to drown his dishonor in alcohol here, with the bottle and cup in front of him, and the rest of the bar behind him. The apathy in his face marks the chararacter, and the costume is distinct from any we've seen. A stiff composition and slight blurring keep the card at a still fun 3.4.

LORE: A number of useful elements, like being a General, and mentioning Sybok and the High Council, are surrounded by interesting facts, like the reason for his pain and the name of the Klingon's Sha Ka Ree. A likeable and useful 3.7.

TREK SENSE: A strategist turned diplomat, he's a mix of both. Being a General first gives him doubled Leadership, Navigation and a Command icon, and being an ambassador gives him VIP and Diplomacy. Physics, I'm not exactly clear on, but it could be used by a tactician to good effect. Korrd's stuff was required reading at the Academy, so he must have been quite talented. But that's just it: past tense. Dishonored and sent to the back-end of space, whether an ineffectual drunkard or worse, a follower of Sybok, would he still have as much Leadership? It's debatable, given that Klaa did respect him. Similarly, if Korrd has been exiled, would he really report to The Great Hall as the mention of the High Council allows? Personnel cards aren't always snapshots of a character at a specific point in its life, but often are. It's not always easy to reconcile all the skills as belonging to the same era. The special skill works in that he did work with the Federation and Romulan ambassadors, and then with Sybok. In essence, the skill confirms that he's released his pain and is part of Sybok's little pilgrimage. Unless you don't use him that way... See what I mean? Dishonored, but having his pain released, his Integrity's on the rise again. His Cunning isn't really that of a brilliant tactician, but it may be dulled by Romulan ale or Sybok's mind tricks. Strength's ok for a Klingon warrior of his age and size. A 3.1.

STOCKABILITY: Though General Korrd can be used in a Klingon deck (or CF Klingon deck), he was clearly made for  a Release This Pain strategy, or else that special skill is only wasted space. Without Sybok, Korrd will still be able to report for free at The Great Hall, or pass Executive Authorization. Leadership x2 is an excellent skill, with Diplomacy, Physics and Navigation being common, but useful skills. Still, nothing you can't get from other Klingons. With Sybok, he's an ally that basically already has Release This Pain played on him, so he would allow Sybok's NAs to attempt Klingon missions. That's assuming you can't make the X on The Discovery of Sha Ka Ree be worth 10, of course ;-). In such an endeavor, Korrd is a necessary companion, like St. John, J'Onn and Caithlin. You really don't want to convert too many personnel to your cause before attempting that mission. During the attempt, Korrd has some good skills to contribute, with Leadership x2 being the most useful, and Physics and Navigation perhaps appearing less on planet dilemmas. No real flaws in the attributes. He gets 3.4.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Possibly the best of the Nimbus III ambassadors.

#1647-George and Gracie, Personnel, Neutral, AU, 15 points, TMP
"Two humpback whales, male and female, raised in captivity on 20th-century Earth. Gracie is pregnant."
-George: ANIMAL; Nullifies The Whale Probe at this location
-Gracie: ANIMAL; Worth points while on Earth; May enter play only at Cetacean Institute
-INTEGRITY: 6+6, CUNNING: 3+3, STRENGTH: 3+3

PICTURE: That's a beautiful shot of the whales with sunlight peeking through the water's surface, made all the better by the Neutral black border, which matches the dark depths of the ocean. It's not strictly from Star Trek IV though. It's from a "Making of" documentary called "From Outer Space to the Ocean", no doubt something they didn't use in the film but was part of the image bank supplied to Decipher by Paramount. The documentary aired on television when the film came out, but it can now be found on the DVD, leading to my mentioning it here. A magestic 4.4.

LORE: Yeah, ok. Pretty standard stuff. Species, genders, habitat, Gracie's pregnancy... A 3.

TREK SENSE: Obviously, the biggest problem here is that the whales are a personnel card. A ship might well be modified to carry the biggest personnel of all, as we saw in ST IV, but shuttles? How about having them accompany Away Teams? Or finding themselves captured and in a Brig somewhere? It's ridiculous. That said, at least they're Animals, so they can't go around  staffing vessels, using equipment, etc. Not only being native to the 1980s (Cetacean Institute), but having no choice but to report there at least makes them a little more "grounded" (if you'll pardon the expression) in their own habitat. You won't have whales reporting to any old facility. Splitting the skills between the two of them is perhaps strange since both sing, the ability that nullifies The Whale Probe. Hey, where's the Music skill? Come on! If only males sing, then I appologize. The fact that Gracie is pregnant does mean that she deserves to second skill - points for the promise of repopulating the oceans with humpbacks. Since whales become extinct sometime in the 21st century (probably early on), bringing them to any point in time after that, including Montana Missile Complex, nets you the points. Attributes are an odd mix. That the whales are identical is fine, though there would probably be differences between the genders (anyone know of any relevant research?). Integrity is always difficult to gauge in Animals, but 6s would seem to fit the humpbacks: they were friendly, but concerned with their family's survival. Their Cunning is the highest of any Animal, actually matching that of the dumbest humanoid personnel (Mr. Homn, Batrell, Danderdag). I don't have a problem with their getting 3s, even if I do question those humanoids getting the same. Strength may seem absurdly low for such impressive creatures. After all, one hit from a tail and you'd probably be out for the count, but what they have in brute strength, they don't in battling ability. During a battle, they're probably in a tank. But if they are, why do they have Strength at all? This one doesn't have a satisfying answer. The skills make sense, but George & Gracie just don't make a convincing personnel card. Problems could have been avoided by making the card an Event or Incident. Efforts to make it work do make the score float up to 1.9.

STOCKABILITY: George & Gracie have one real purpose, and that's being part of the Star Trek IV round-the-corner strategy. How's that work? You report them to the Cetacean Institute time location (they in fact download there), then bring them forward in time somehow to get the 15 points. You don't "score" them though, they are "worth" points while on Earth, so you must keep them there. If you don't do this until the end of the game, those 15 points getting you to 100, you might want to have Dr. Gillian Taylor around to keep the whales out of personnel battles, but once she herself is dead, the whales would be next. Bringing them forward to Montana Missile Complex instead of Espionage Mission could also protect them from marauders, since they'd have to time travel off the main spaceline to kill your 15 points. If The Whale Probe has been released though, having them in the "present" means they'll nullify the dilemma when it gets to Earth. That may be good or bad depending on who released the Probe and which direction it's going in. The fact George and Gracie nullify the dilemma isn't enough to recommend making them part of your mission attempts though. They have no regular skills, ANIMAL being useful in very few cases (whales eat Palukoos and Voles apparently), can't staff ships, can't use equipment, and don't even have good attributes (though they have the equivalent of 12 INTEGRITY). Or do you think having both genders in the same card is a bonus? That's what Beverly and Will are for. The 15 points aren't too hard to get, but do require a level of card commitment that may not be worth it in the end. The whales' lack of versatility also plays a part in my giving them only a 2.

TOTAL: 11.2 (56%) Hey, and I'm an animal lover!

#1657-"God", Dilemma, planet, TMP
"'This starship. Could carry my wisdom beyond the Barrier?... Then I shall make use of this starship... bring it closer, so that I might... join with it.'"
-Unless two Away Team members each have INTEGRITY>7, place on mission; destroys one ship here (opponent's choice). You must have a ship here to attempt mission.

PICTURE: The fake god looks like his head is balancing in the end of a stick, in large part because the composition has him standing on his beard. I do like the white and blue ghostly effect, but not the actual object of the card. A less than godly 1.8.

LORE: Already in The Motion Pictures, Decipher was itching to use quotes as lore (after all, movies generally have memorable lines), and this kind of thing would become the standard in 2nd Edition. I think we get the gist of the dilemma through the quote, and it's the very thing that made Kirk ask what kind of "god" he was. It's also fun to have a quote on one of the few cards whose title is also between quotation marks. A 3.6.

TREK SENSE: "God" doesn't really destroy your ship, but by joining with it, he turns it into something else, something you can't use. The effect is the same: you lose the ship. If more than one were present, he'd choose which one. Probably should be the one with the highest Range, but who can really understand such a being? Your high-Integrity personnel can renounce this "God", because they presumably can't be corrupted by his influence. Why two? Well, probably because it would be hard for one personnel to stop his or her entire crew from giving their ship away. Teamwork goes a long way, and it's something high Integrity tends to represent. The final question is: Why do you need a ship there? We know that "God" wanted a ship, and attracted Sybok and his followers to Sha Ka Ree for that very reason. But the dilemma might be anywhere on the spaceline (as long as it's a planet, since that's where these guys, if indeed there is more than one, are imprisoned), even a place where there's already a legitimate mission. "God" would seem to exert more influence if there is no ship, telling the Away Team to go get one for him. They obviously find him out later (or don't need to, and the ship is gobbled up). Besides, you need the ship to fire at him and destroy him if you want to go on. But the fact the card remains on the mission requiring a ship to be present at all times is a little harder to reconcile. Some good story-telling in there, and a 4 on the Sense-o-meter.

SEEDABILITY: 2 INTEGRITY 8+ personnel in an Away Team isn't even all that obvious for Federation personnel, so never mind the more treacherous affiliations. One high-INTEGRITY Cardassian, maybe. Two? Doubtful. And ways to boost INTEGRITY are far less common than for other attributes. That means you have a good chance of destroying a ship with the dilemma. If there's more than one, such as with ships traveling with armed escorts, you get your pick. And it really doesn't matter if the ship is landed, docked or even your own (say you want to kill your own personnel for round-the-corner scoring reasons). And your opponent MUST have a ship here. She can't just drop an Away Team and keep flying. That means that the dilemma can act as a wall, requiring a ship to be present. If the Away Team must re-attempt, they might make sure they have the INTEGRITY with them, so you might want to lead with Crisis, which forces your opponent to already have a ship in orbit, and one with personnel aboard to boot! That way, when you destroy the ship, you take some personnel with it. Since it must be an OFFICER, and many OFFICERs have high INTEGRITY... You get the picture. Against the Borg, it's just gonna be a couple Defense drones, but the vast majority of Borg have low INTEGRITY, and the prospect of destroying a Borg Cube with a simple dilemma is, shall we say, mouth-watering. The wall then remains, requiring a ship to be present even if the first was destroyed. So the stranded Away Team must wait for a replacement vessel. It is nullified by What Does God Need With a Starship, but that's not too scary. An excellent 4.7.

TOTAL: 14.1 (70.5%) Not a real god, but a real dilemma.

#1667-HMS Bounty, Ship, Federation/Klingon, AU, CF, TMP
"Bird-of-prey captained by Kruge on a covert mission to the Genesis Planet. Stolen and commanded by Admiral Kirk; re-christened with historical irony by Dr. McCoy."
-B'rel Class[CF] Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam (cannot carry ships aboard)
-RANGE: 7, WEAPONS: 6, SHIELDS: 6

PICTURE: A shot of it on Vulcan or in Earth's atmosphere would have been cool, especially since they chose to highlight its Federation tour of duty of its Klingon (with the title at least). Instead, we get something from its stalemate with the Enterprise while Kruge was captain. Unfortunately, that makes this bird-of-prey look just like a dozen others. (I don't think think one border color is necessarily better than the other.) Can't go above 2.5.

LORE: Two matching commanders, making the lore suffer from the burden of using as many different words to mean the same things as possible. I do like the rechristening story, though I don't see why the semi-colon was necessary. Telegraphic lore usually takes us across the history of a personnel or ship. It didn't have to be associated grammatically with the Admiral Kirk phrase. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: A B'rel-class bird-of-prey in Star Trek IV, I have to say I found it to look much bigger in the space battles against the Enterprise in Star Trek III. But if it's gonna be called the HMS Bounty, it's clearly more a ST IV ship than a ST III one. The title doesn't cover both versions either, so seeing Kruge's name on the matching commander list may seem strange, but we really do have to ignore the title when considering this card. We don't know what Kruge called it, but he's a more convincing matching commander for it than Admiral Kirk is. Kirk wasn't aboard long enough to get the bonuses in my opinion. Then again, Kirk IS a legendary captain. Another small point of contention is that it's a Federation ship first, the Klingon border being the variant. Chronologically, that's wrong. Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam and no shuttle bay, that works fine, as does the single staffing icon. Looking at other B'rel-class ships, I see it's got one point more invested in Weapons, and after all, it was evenly matched with the Starship Enterprise. It's meant to be faster than that ship, getting to the Genesis Planet, Vulcan and then Earth quickly enough. Nothing really cool (too bad, it played a great role in ST IV), but everything important checks out. A 3.9 because of the details that don't.

STOCKABILITY: Both the Klingons and Feds, in particular CF ones, can use this ship to good effect. The Klingons will put Kruge aboard (Ready Room Door, perhaps), a good personnel with ties to a lucrative Genesis Device strategy. The Feds, on the other hand, will use Admiral Kirk, who's a good personnel with an interesting card management special skill. Since he's a version of the Captain Kirk persona, you can switch to the OS Captain Kirk to download its Captain's Log to make the ship a very good 7-9-9 (9-9-9 if you throw a Plaque in). Not bad for a CF ship requiring only one staffing icon. Kruge will have to get the booster cards some other way, but the result's the same. Kruge could even use Ch'dak to add another point of RANGE, and Krase to add 2 more to SHIELDS. It's a rare Cloaking Device for the Feds too. A fun ship for the CF lot, but those with downloads are a little more useful, though of course Crew Reassignment'll turn the ship into a reporting station for Classic Film personnel. Clocks in at 3.5.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) Mutiny!

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