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

PICTURE: Proud and happy to see Captain Kirk aboard his ship, the expression gets it right, though there's little to be done with the rather ordinary background. A good, but not stand-out 3.2.

LORE: Ferris Bueller's Day Off anyone? Or how about Spin City? The actor's two best-remembered roles get a lot of Easter Egging here, and it's a jolly bit of fun. The first phrase has two jokes in it, really, the first being that Ferris Bueller's Cameron's father was a rich big-shot, and the second explaining his incompetence at the start of Generations. In other words, how could THIS GUY become captain of an Enterprise? Second phrase takes a break from the jokes to give us matching commander status. The next part is an inside joke about Spin City, on which show his character dealt with reporters for the mayor, and the last bit is a more obvious reference to Ferris Bueller. Best of all, it doesn't contradict anything we saw. Easter Eggs sometimes go a bit over the top, but in this case, someone without knowledge of the references wouldn't scratch his or her head at anything. A strong 4.6.

TREK SENSE: Ok, well, Officer is standard for a starship captain, and Diplomacy was on show both with reporters and the special VIPs that came aboard the B. Honor, I can see in the way he deferred to the better captain in an emergency. He showed the proper respect, if nothing else. Can't say the high Integrity goes against that grain, but I found him a little too doubtful about rescuing the El-Aurians to actually let him have such a high score. Cunning's dead on, though perhaps unkind. And now the waters get choppy. Security and high Strength? Really? Would a security-conscious commander take his ship out without the proper equipment being installed? I don't see it. Same with Geology, which just seems tacked-on. Under par with a 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: Just another random collection of skills for the Feds, which makes it hard to really give him a pass. When building your Fed deck, you have so many options that you could include him as you fine-tune missions and personnel, but in general, he's just ok. OFFICER/SECURITY is nice, sure, and all the skills have a use. But are they rare for a Fed? Nope. In a CF-only deck, they all get a little more useful, but not overly so. In an Enterprise deck, he's of course the matching commander of the Enterprise-B, and can do all the usual matching commander tricks. It's not a bad ship once you get past the first turn, but the drop in attributes after being reported is a little annoying. Still, Captain's Log and Plaque make it a 9-9-10 ship once everything has been "installed", and 7-7-8 before that. Bah, a plain 3.

TOTAL: 13.3 (66.5%) Sometimes, it's all about the lore.

PICTURE: I'm a little disappointed actually. The costume has some impressive details, but the ambassador's small size in the frame strips him of presence. The background bringing out the powder blue of his jacket can't be helping either. I would have preferred a shot from ST VI, where the gray in his beard lent him a little more dignity. Here, can't go for more than 2.7.

LORE: We quickly go over his role, concentrating almost exclusively on what happened in ST IV (as a response to ST III). What I really like is the last part, which in a roundabout manner, tells us about ST VI's Khitomer peace talks (which he attended). The name is from the movie novelizations, but not very interesting. Sounds vaguely like "comrade", but I don't know it it's on purpose. Overall though, this is a well written and wry card. How about 3.6?

TREK SENSE: An Ambassador would be a VIP, yes, and Diplomacy would be key to his work. He quoted from interstellar law, so the Law skill also seems relevant. As for Archaeology... Maybe his attire prompted it (quite ornate), but I don't see that in either of his film appearances. It feels completely tacked on. His applause at the end of ST VI might have told us that he was open-minded and perhaps Honorable (hey, he wasn't one of the conspirators), but I'm not sure what else he could get. Integrity portrays him as a bit bloodthirsty, but still reasonable. Cunning and Strength are equally appropriate, showing a Klingon who uses his head more than his brawn in his line of work. Bah. Nothing to raise this effort above 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: At 3 skills and one of the least important classifications, Kamarag is neither a mission specialist or support personnel, nor is he skilled enough for non-CF decks. Law might save him, but a number of CF Klingons have it too. In fact, if you look at Colonel Worf, you'll find all three of his skills and more, plus much better attributes. That is not good news. Archaeology isn't a big Klingon priority, and Diplomacy is very common. Kamarag really needed a little more oomf, and he doesn't have it. I guess he's a more common Klingon Lawyer than the big guns like Col. Worf, Chancellor Gowron and Chang. Small comfort as I settle for a 2.

TOTAL: 10.8 (54%) No standing ovation here.

PICTURE: Terrible make-up and wig, yes, and the usual blur you might associate with red lighting, but I like its campiness. Further, it may not look like it, but another Klingon has been CGIed out of the shot. Good match on the background guys. Maybe I'm in a good mood or something (though I don't feel any different), but a fun 3.2. You can't say it isn't distinctive.

LORE: Well, the card starts off without properly acknowledging universality, but it gets better from there. The designers have used his failure to properly help deal with V'ger as a joke, and a way to give him a totally off-movie specialty. To me, funny, and unimpeachable. Again, fun at 3.5.

TREK SENSE: What we know is that Karnog was indeed a Science officer (at least, he was the scanning officer on the Amar). He was a Staffer all right. And I'm not surprised at his universality, since he was so non-descript. We have to believe the lore about the planetary sciences specialty (translated as Geology here), but it's not a stretch, not after THAT performance. It's a performance that'll also give him low Cunning. The Integrity's a bit high for a time when the Klingons were baddies, but they're played as victims in The Motion Picture, so there's nothing essentially wrong with it. Shows there were honorable (if not Honorable) Klingons even if we didn't know it at the time. Strength's on the level of the affiliation. Like I said, pretty unimpeachable. 3.8 here.

STOCKABILITY: Look, mission specialists need not play with their micro-affiliation thanks to the downloading properties of Assign Mission Specialists, so Karnog can offer his Geology to non-CF Klingon decks, and in fact, should. The big reason to use mission specialists is for the extra points on all your missions, and the Classic Film Klingons just don't have enough of them to make it worth your while. The Klingons as a whole, however, are a different matter. They have plenty and can recoup some of the points they might miss out on while they're out battling. The fewer the missions for them, the better. And Geology is a rare specialty all around, a first for the Klingons, but none too common elsewhere (I mention this for Treaty decks). Karnog can easily bring Agricultural Assessment and Colony Prep to 40 points with the help of Zetal (they've got the SCIENCE, but you'll need some SECURITY), and Mining Survey to 50 (this time, with Kromm, all classifications are covered). To fine-tune your mission specialist deck, you'll need as many options as possible. In a straight CF deck, well, there isn't a lot of either Geology or SCIENCE, so a universal in those fields wouldn't be spit on. Attributes are generally good, especially if you play Lower Decks (obviously). 3.5 should do nicely.

TOTAL: 14 (70%) The Klingons have come a long way since the 60s, but I'm glad we didn't see them too much in the 70s :-).

PICTURE: Khan is as sly as ever here, and the earthy tones are good, but the background of the Botany Bay is just too baroque and distracting. The slight fuzziness doesn't help things either. Khan loses presence from it all, and if it's one thing that shouldn't be compromised in Khan's case, it's presence. Doesn't go above a 3.

LORE: Abbreviated because of he restriction box, they limit themselves to the events that made him a movie villain. The mention of "genetically engineered" is appreciated, but makes me miss the fact that there's no way to use that in 1E. Good motivation. It just doesn't quite elevate the card to the required level. Still better than average at 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Quite a number of things to address here! Ok, I have to start somewhere, and the classification bugs me. How small can a society be before its leaders can no longer be considered VIPs? Khan from TOS, sure. Khan from the ST II? I dunno. An exile and renegade, he should either be Civilian like the rest of his group, or an Officer because he commanded a ship and was, after all, a military leader on Earth. It's not outright wrong, but I feel it could still be fine-tuned. Speaking of his leadership skills, the Command icon is absolutely dead on, of course, and the Leadership skill itself a must. Again, though, I would propose a change: The sheer charisma of the man warrants Leadership x2. In TOS, this was clear just from the way he handled McGivers. In ST II, he gets questioned (he's off the deep end, after all), but his group still follows orders. It would also make him a charismatic match to Kirk. Of course, Leadership x1 isn't wrong per se, and I could easily take the other point of view. Khan had a hold on the past-obsessed McGivers, but not anyone else in Starfleet. The fact is: he WAS questioned by Joachim, etc. Am I gonna straddle the fence like this throughout the review? As I see the issue of the restriction box come up, I'll have to say "maybe". I don't see anything wrong with that restriction, since the Feds are the good guys and Khan is a bad guy. It's just that other bad guys in the game rarely get the same treatment. A short list of NA baddies reveals Bok, The Albino, Raimus, Etana Jol, etc. Other NAs could be bought, but are iffy in the sense that the Feds probably wouldn't want to work with them (Martia, Altovar, Penk, etc.), and some have SEEMED to work with Feds, only to betray them (Jo'Bril, Barry Waddle, Sharat, etc.). Khan fits in the first category, definitely, and warrants the restriction, but there is just no standard for this. Maybe NAs should have been divided in two (good/bad). After all, though Ceti Eeled personnel will work with Khan, why won't the Terran Empire? They're like-minded, aren't they? Would have saved on restriction box space too. Now, Khan's little war against Kirk and, by extension, Starfleet, is represented in the special skill. He wants/needs access to Kirk, and is willing to stonewall Federation mission attempts until he gets his wish. In the Ceti Alpha system, he prevented Reliant from completing its survey mission. He later prevented the Marcuses from completing their Genesis experiments. Bring Kirk to Khan, and he'll quickly forget about stopping the mission, and at the same time, Kirk can complete a mission under his nose (if only to spite him). If we're all in the same time period, the revenge scheme will play itself out with fatal results thanks to the Nemesis icon. A sensical match-up (and I like the color, just like Khan's heart), but you gotta wonder why it won't work on other versions of Kirk. Wrapping things up now... Treachery x2 and low Integrity is called for, of course, with the slight bump in Integrity being due to loyalty to his people. Computer Skill is there because Khan learned quickly how things worked on a ship using a computer console in "Space Seed", and seemed to work them fine in ST II as well. His genetically engineered mind and body give him high Cunning and Strength. Hard to gauge his overall Trek Sense, but there's a lot more good than there is bad (and the bad wasn't all that bad to begin with), so 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: The cornerstone of any Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold strategy, Khan will nevertheless be useful in other situations. But starting with RIADBSC, this objective allows you to score 30 points per turn for doing nothing but having Khan and The Genesis Device on the USS Reliant (which he commands) AND allows you to report Khan and his cohorts (who name him in their lore) to report to that ship for free, a ship, might I add, that was downloaded by RIADBSC in the first place. It asks you to sacrifice all other personnel at the end of your turn, but you can keep anyone in play by playing Ceti Eel on them, which again, requires Khan's presence. This can be done to your own personnel (even Feds who normally don't work with him), but it can be used to "assimilate" opposing personnel too, which makes Khan a very dangerous man indeed. Where present, he's got a whole bag of tricks. He can drop a Ceti Eel on you, he can throw you out an Airlock (probably will with those attributes), kill with I Do Not Take Orders From You!, and he's a tough one to beat in personnel battle because of his STRENGTH (he initiates with Leadership). If you play your cards right, you could take out as many as 4 personnel with Khan alone! Against the Feds, there's even more. His very presence at a mission means it cannot be solved (attempted yes, solved no) unless they do away with him (aww, those darn battling restrictions) or have any Kirk handy. Watch out which one is used though, since Khan can discard Admiral Kirk with his Nemesis icon (I recommend a Wajahut/Reliant relocation). Of course, that's a double-edged sword, so be careful. A Kirk will also halve RIADBSC's points, grrrr. The high level of Treachery opens up a few strategies, like Protection Racket and The Art of Diplomacy (for weaponly goodness), and saves him from Sabotaged Negotiations and Inside Collaborators. Sure, RIADBSC is a tough round-the-corner strategy to pull off, especially when your opponent sees you attempt it, but even outside of that, Khan can do a LOT of damage. A strong 4.5.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) I would really love to see a TOS version (in 2E, obviously).

PICTURE: The cherry reds of this pic contrast with the usual Klingon red and aren't unpleasant. His hair seems to disappear into the background though, but that's the only real Flaa (sorry, couldn't resist) to an otherwise fine card compositionally. A 3.3.

LORE: His role in ST V is briefly, but adequately touched upon, with a qualitative adjective to round him out a little more. The last sentence is the real jewel though. We get to know what General Korrd sentenced him to, which is funny in and of itself, but Todd Bryant also played another Klingon in his Star Trek career. Can you guess which one from the menial duties mentioned? In Star Trek VI, he was the translator at the trial. And thus, that line in the lore. Not that the designers are inferring that these were the same characters, just drawing a parallel. A very good 4.5.

TREK SENSE: Officer/Leadership/Command icon, all are standard on a captain. Not on the side of the angels, and in fact an opportunistic loose cannon, Greed and Treachery also make a showing, as does low Integrity (at 4, he's still doing things partly for the glory of the Empire). Anthropology could be based on the joke in the lore, setting him up to be a fair translator for later, or it could have something to do with his knowledge of Kirk's career, really something from another culture. Biology, I'm not so sure. Tacked on? Not impossible, given the Klingons' view of medicine, but unproven from the film. Cunning's not TOO high, which is good because he was rather easily put down. Yet, it allows him to follow Kirk's course well enough. Strength is typical Klingon. A couple of elements are more iffy, but a generally well done card here, if not very daring. A 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: A large skill list that would certainly help fill out a CF-only Klingon deck. Each of his skills makes an appearance on some other CF Klingon, of course, and he reads like a cross between Kruge and Chang... with one exception: Greed. He's the only Greedy CF Klingon. Of limited value, but a full complement of skills is usually a good thing, and in a strict theme deck, it would give you access to such cards as the 33rd Rule of Acquisition, Latinum Payoff and Bribery, not to mention a mission like Cargo Rendezvous. He's also the matching commander of the IKC Chontay, which, Plaqued and Logged, gets up to a respectable 8-10-9, the best available WEAPONS for a CF ship, only matched by Kronos One (which has better attributes overall). In non-theme decks, well, his 5 skills still make him interesting, in the Sisters of Duras mold, but with different "scientific" skills. I'd give Klaa a 3.6.

TOTAL: 15.1 (75.5%) His lore went a long way.

PICTURE: Terrible Klingon make-up, but not all that apparent from this angle. He looks fairly noble actually. The linework above him make the card dynamic, and I like how the red light reflects off his armor like that. A surprisingly good 3.5.

LORE: First, we acknowledge his universality, and then tie him to his actual captain. And then, something magical. The last sentence may as well be about Dr. McCoy and his relationship to Kirk. The tone is still Klingon, but it still relates the little known crew of the Amar to that of the Enterprise. Evan Lorentz (Mot the Barber), the designer of the card had this to say about it:
"I was definitely trying to relate this guy to McCoy, and I'm glad you picked up on that. The reason I was doing this was kind of silly, though: My "favorite" sequence in Star Trek: The Motion Picture is during the section where the Enterprise passes through the V'Ger cloud. McCoy comes up in the turbolift to stand and watch the visual effects playing out on the screen. He stands there for about 3-4 minutes, and then, without having spoken a *single* line of dialogue, gets back in the turbolift and leaves. Apparently, he just came up to watch. So, when watching the opening sequence with the Klingons, I see this one guy come up and stand beside the captain's chair. He stares at the viewscreen, watching the pretty stuff happen, and doesn't speak a *single* line of dialogue before the ship is destroyed. I reasoned he *must* have been the ship's doctor, and planned the card accordingly. :-)"
Fine stuff at 3.8.

TREK SENSE: A typical surgeon, the Medical and Biology are naturals, and I readily accept the Staff icon. Klingons don't exactly put doctors at the top of the command list, no matter how friendly they are with the captain. Honor is also a good trait for a physician, and in his specific case (forgetting him universal nature for a second), his loyalty to his friend also warrants it. And Archaeology? What's that doing here? Well, I think it's part of the overall joke. What might an Archaeologist dig up? One answer is: "Bones". A subtle addition to the link drawn by the lore. Kind of odd for a "typical surgeon", but fun stuff nonetheless. Integrity may seem low for an Honor personnel, but the way he gives his opinions borders on the disrespectful. Cunning and Strength are ok given skills and species. I'm not really docking his score for the delicious Archaeology, so he goes as high as 4.

STOCKABILITY: As I've often said, 3 skills isn't as good as 4 (obviously) or even 2 or 1 (because of Assign possibilities). Still, nothing on Konmal is useless, and the attributes are fair and easily boostable. Honor will easily fit in a Klingon deck, being featured on many missions and various verb cards. The Klingons also have a fair amount of MEDICAL missions too, and not that many MEDICAL-classification personnel. In fact, thanks to Archaeology, he can complete Plague Planet all by himself. He also helps out at the tough Hunt for DNA Program. Klingons aren't well known for their Archaeology decks, but they can pull one off. In a pure CF deck, you won't find a lot of personnel with his skills (except Honor) - only one other instance of each, in fact - so he's the universal that fills the void. Makes himself useful enough for a 3.4.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) One of the better McCoys ;-).

PICTURE: A one-armed Klingon makes for an unusual image, though being small in the frame and having a dull gray background, it loses some of its power. Still a good 3.4.

LORE: Universality is established in a sentence that also slides in the useful "bodyguard" and "High Council" keywords. Gorkon is first mentioned only obliquely (I don't like it because his name seems to appear too late, like in reversed apposition). Great last sentence, which sheds light on matters, as you wonder why the Klingon couldn't either get a new arm thanks to 23rd-century medicine, or else why he didn't commit suicide because of some warrior's code. A rather good 3.5 then.

TREK SENSE: Ok, so we've got a universal High Council Security guard, so we can vouch for classification, icons and keywords. He was in the transporter room when he was shot, so it stands to reason he has the skill. Since a world leader would be at his most vulnerable when beaming, it makes sense a bodyguard would take care of the trip. Honor seems sound as he would be part of an "honor guard" and would have to be trusted with very important lives. The stunt he pulls in court sort of undermines that (and the high Integrity), but I guess he truly believed Kirk had something to do with Gorkon's death. Leadership, well, I'm not so sure about. Bodyguard isn't too far from "lackey" or "henchman", and he's got the Staff icon to prove it. On the other hand, the secret service does have authority over other agencies, and High Council members' personal guards might have Leadership over less well-placed warriors. The relatively high Cunning probably makes him "one of the best" to be selected for his very special duty (which he was terrible at, it turned out), and the Strength takes note of his missing arm. But wait a minute! Are all "typical bodyguards" missing a limb? That's ridiculous! Even if you say that Kor'choth has low Strength because he was basically useless in the firefight where he lost that limb, that still shouldn't spread over to other High Council guards. Maybe he should have been unique. Something of a toss-up, but enough anomalies to warrant a 2.8.

STOCKABILITY: Telok and Thopok are good bodyguards, but both are unique. Kor'choth is not, and what's more, he reports for free at The Great Hall. He's thus easier to sacrifice for A Fast Ship, and though his STRENGTH is really paltry for a Klingon, that won't stop him from protecting VIPs and CIVILIANs with Bodyguards. He can even sort of protect himself by dictating the order of the combat pile and putting himself at the end if you so choose, because he has the requisite Leadership. (Note that simply being SECURITY/Leadership opened up Bodyguards to him, he doesn't need the keyword.) Honor is never a bad thing in a Klingon deck. And Transporter Skill remains one of the rarer skills to find. Aside from his awful STRENGTH, very good attributes. All you really have to contend with is an AU Door to allow him to report, especially if you want multiple copies floating around. In a thematic CF deck, of course, he becomes even better (the only bodyguard, for example). The perks are what allow him to rise to 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Imagine him with TWO arms!

PICTURE: An ok pic, though less a warden here than someone doing Chang's dirty business. The fur epaulettes make for an unusual costume, even if the snow is clearly fake, and the gun gets a a little lost in the darker colors toward the bottom of the card. Nice, cool background. Just a little bit of blur. Amounts to a 3.2.

LORE: The lore on Koth (the name is from the script) first gives us his job at the "aliens' graveyard" (same actor who played Ira Graves - seems to always have something about graves...), but the second sentence is richer. It refers to his two first scenes, and intimates that he really enjoyed those moments. A likeable 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Running a prison would be a Security job, and the running of it would make the Command icon obvious. Since it's basically a mining camp, Geology is also natural. Treachery comes into play because he's working with Chang to assassinate his own prisoners. Exobiology is a little less satisfying, even if he DOES work around many different aliens all day. The presence of the skill tells us you can learn a lot from watching aliens fight, but common sense might beg to differ. The special download is excellent however, since evidently, Klingons do have Forced-Labor Camps. That card technically locks out Klingons from using it, but what is Rura Penthe except just that? Koth sets things aright and even sets up the Camp for you (given his age, he might have been around when Rura Penthe was first established). Integrity is relatively high for someone with Treachery, but this tells me he thought he was working for the good of the Empire, and out of loyalty. A cruel, but loyal, man. The relatively low Cunning is perfectly acceptable for this brutish man who let Kirk and McCoy escape and almost blurted out the identity of the Klingon conspirator as it was happening. Strength's a little low, no doubt because of his age. A very good effort, with even the Exobiology respecting the game's rules for skill attribution. A 4.4.

STOCKABILITY: Koth will obviously work well with a CF deck, reporting to its ships and more easily filling skill holes, but his special download gives a little something to regular Klingon decks as well: Forced-Labor Camp. After all, Ligos VII (Distress Mission) is a Klingon mission, and the Objective converts its requirements to 2 skills Koth has. How efficient is that? If you play the Camp on some other planet, make it a Geology mission, as Koth has it (I would suggest Colony Preparations or perhaps even the easy Relief Mission). Granted, the Klingons aren't the most obvious to run capture strategies, but escorting captives to the solved Camp will give them extra card draws. Outside of that, his skills are all good without being gamebreakers (Treachery is less interesting than Honor, for example), and the attributes are paltry. For giving the Klingons a new avenue to explore, Koth gets a 3.4.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) He can keep his job another few decades.

PICTURE: It's hard to see Mark Lenard under there, but that's him! The primitive Klingon make-up stands up here a little more than on the background extras, though there a clearly wig problems. Still, it's got dramatic lighting and an aggressive full-on angle. Good enough for a 3.2.

LORE: Interesting name, in that it is an anagram of Sarek, the seminal Mark Lenard character, the palindrome of which was already taken by the Romulan Keras. Matching commander status on the Amar is useful if plainly told, but the next sentence holds a lot more interest. It extrapolates a personality and reputation for him based on his short scene. Good stuff, and somewhat ironic given his fate. A very good 3.6.

TREK SENSE: A mixed bag, really. Being captain is represented by the usual Officer and Command icon. No Leadership, though he seemed to lead a group of ships. His being rash and ruthless is represented by low Cunning, and perhaps by the 6 in Integrity. See, the rest of the Motion Picture Klingons point to an Honorable crew, so he's a good guy, but ruthless. As long as we're on attributes, an 8 is perfectly fine for his species and position. His investigation of V'ger shows up as Stellar Cartography and Astrophysics, and maybe by the special skill. That skill is odd because it boosts Shields on Classic Film ships, but none of the Motion Picture Klingon ships survived V'ger's assault, so is the boost really that appropriate? And how does he extend that ability to ships he's not on exactly? I suppose, being rash, he's still not suicidal, so ships under his command are equipped for his combat/exploration style. I can fit it in, but it still seems a little glib. As for Medical, I have no explanation. Again, we might say that he's learned to deal with his own rashness by, in this case, learning how to fix the wounds he and his crew might have incurred on one of his plunges ahead. (Medical to cure his "rash"?) Straining under the weight of justifications, I'm going no further than 2.5 for Trek Sense.

STOCKABILITY: The Klingons in general don't have a huge number of good MEDICAL personnel, so Krase might make it into a deck just on that basis, adding other skills to that one (good for space missions mostly), but in a CF deck, he'll be more at home. After all, that's where you'd be most likely to use CF ships, including the IKC Amar. He's matching commander for that ship, which, Plaqued and Logged, comes up to 9-9-11 (add Ch'dak to make the RANGE 10). That would be triple 9s if he didn't have his special skill, which won't just cover his own ship, but all other CF ships at the same location. This will work even if on a planet mission, extending the boost while it's in orbit. That SHIELDS boost certainly helps bring the CF-era ships to the standards of the 24th century, giving them more of a chance against tougher opposing ships. In a CF deck, you also have less of all skills, so he's more useful that way too. Definitely to be included in a CF deck, I give him 3.6 here.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) Three-way Treaty, Sarek, Keras and Krase and some Parallax Arguers anyone?

PICTURE: A good looking K't'inga-class ship, with good coloring and texture (movie-quality and all that), not that the K't'inga is all that good-looking a ship class in the first place. It's probably the funny hat that does it in. Anyway, here's Kronos One coming at you for a rendezvous. A 3.4.

LORE: Getting a matching commander helps the lore, and I do like how the rendezvous is called "fateful", but the rest of it is nothing special. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: This is the Klingon flagship of the movie era, but I'm a little surprised at its attributes. They are WAY higher than the universal K't'inga's (+2 Range, +1 Weapons, +1 Shields). Now, I don't really dispute those attributes per se, since this was probably the most advanced ship of its class we ever saw, but perhaps that should have been worth more staffing. Special equipment is fine, of course, and the download is natural enough. As the most important ship of the fleet, there's no one from that time "too good" to be found aboard. Because the attributes aren't as justified as they ought to be, no higher than 3.

STOCKABILITY: Easily the most powerful CF Klingon ship, Kronos One has better attributes than any other K't'inga, and with Chancellor Gorkon aboard, it can be further Plaqued and Logged to 9-10-10. That's if you don't boost it even more, say with General Chang, Ch'dak and/or Krase. And it's no harder to staff than any other CF ship. Just one personnel, and that one personnel can be downloaded aboard (how about Brigadier Kerla, so that he can then download the matching commander?). The ship can even report for free at Camp Khitomer if you're using the Time Location, and have your CF personnel report aboard via Crew Reassignment. If running a Klingon CF deck, I don't see any reason not to use Kronos One (unless, like me, you don't have a copy). A 3.7.

TOTAL: 13.3 (66.5%) So why would they misspell Qo'noS on their flagship? ;-)

PICTURE: Kruge gets a good confident pic, though I do find it a bit overlit. It does gives us a chance to look at his costume, but the image isn't very artful at all. Solid, but disappointing when it comes to a character that had so much screen time. A 3.3.

LORE: In the first phrase, we get an easter egg, as Christopher Lloyd has played Uncle Fester in the Addams Family movies, as well as Star Trek's Kruge. The second part is more plot driven, but uses his own words. Fun stuff at 3.6.

TREK SENSE: So we get the usual Officer/Leadership/Command icon combo... Indisputable, as is the Treachery and low Integrity in this time of villainous Klingons. The other two skills seem to be linked to the Genesis Device, which would require both to understand, though I'm not entirely convinced Kruge had this understanding. It's not explicitly said. The Physics might as well be another easter egg, this time referring to Lloyd's Doc Brown character in "Back to the Future". They're sensical, but unproven. Kruge has his own agenda to think of, his own little objective, and it's well covered by his special skill. Essentially, he wants the Genesis Device. If he has it (it's on his ship), he's worth the points. There are problems with this, like the fact that stepping off that ship (while remaining in control of it) makes you lose the points. However, since he wants it to eventually reproduce it, using it should make you forfeit the points. He was outwitted by Kirk, so his Cunning should be below his 9 (and is), but was just about a match for him physically (Strength 8). A couple of iffy things, and you drop to a 3.4 here.

STOCKABILITY: Kruge has the usual OFFICER/Leadership/Treachery of one subsection of Klingon personnel, together with some fairly useful, scientific skills and some fair attributes. Biology'll be good against Aphasia Device and the like (here not tied to a MEDICAL personnel), and Physics comes up fairly often on Klingon missions. He's also the matching commander of a ship, the HMS Bounty, which, in Klingon mode, he can raise to reasonable 9-9-9 levels with Plaque and Log. Oh, and there's his round-the-corner strategy, which simply requires him to have The Genesis Device aboard his ship to score the 15 points. I shouldn't say score, since he's only "worth" those points and can lose them. That's ok, just don't separate Kruge and the Device, and keep away from opposing ships coming to disrupt your plans. The Cloaking Device may well be enough to keep you safe, though Disruptor Overload is something to fear. The Genesis Device will have to be acquired, of course, or else Starry Night will. Either way, another strategy you can use is to have Kruge and Khan team up. With Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold, and the Device on the USS Reliant, you start 30 scoring points each turn. After the initial mission (say 30-35 points) and 2 turns (60 more points), you'd have 90-95 points and would have to wait yet another turn. But not with Kruge's extra 15! Makes that strategy a little faster, but you will need a Ceti Eel to keep him from discarding. Also, beware Intermix Ratio and The Big Picture. In other situations, using The Genesis Device may well be advantageous despite the 15-point bounty, since doubling a mission's points could net you more than 15 points. That takes a bite out of the special skill, really, making it slightly redundant. Overall, we've got a good personnel, but relegated to a niche. A 3.5.

TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) "Get out! Get out of therrrrrrrrrrrrrre!!!!!!!!!!"

PICTURE: A very pretty image with the Ba'ku planet in the background, the blues of both oceans and rings bringing out the natural, fish-like (or perhaps more whale-like) qualities of the ship. Anyway, a pretty 3.8. Keep putting those ships into context instead of black starfields.

LORE: The name of the ship, invented for the purposes of the card game, is an anagram of Salieri, referring to Amadeus' rival composer, played, like Ru'afo, by F. Murray Abraham. I'm unmoved, but there you have it. At least it's interesting. As for the lore, it's short and basic, though the base of operations stuff is an interesting notion, and the matching commander is useful. Nets a 3.3 in my book.

TREK SENSE: In the back of my mind, I'd always thought of the Li'seria as a Son'a Battleship. It's not (and doesn't look the same), it's a Son'a Warship. Ahh, warship. Kind of fudging on the ship classes, maybe, but it follows the Dominion model. So the warship here is smaller than the universal Battleship, and has correspondingly weaker attributes, and fewer staffing requirements. And yet, if this is the HQ for the entire race (hmm... Son'a reporting would have been nice), why not protect it a little more? Did it really seem weaker than the so-called Battleships? I'm not convinced. Otherwise, the Li'seria plays a lot like the Battleship, with the same report-carry-launch capabilities for the Son'a Shuttle and same restriction box. The Shuttle stuff makes sense, since these shuttlecraft would be found aboard the ship, though, as I've said, I'd have liked to see a lot more reporting ability if this is to be a kind of flying homeworld. The restriction box is one of those that forces you to obey the storyline and really have Son'a aboard a Son'a ship. It's theirs, after all. Being Non-Aligned, it could be staffed by others, but the technology is distinct enough that it would be hard for non-Son'a to fly it and battle with it as effectively. I'm game for all that. The ship's true importance wasn't acknowledged, and that's where it'll lose points, though what's here certainly isn't bad. A 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: If you're using the Son'a, you're probably trying to Collect Metaphasic Particles. The download chain is this one: Get either Ru'afo or the Li'sera, then download the other either through Ready Room Door or Construct Starship. Ru'afo downloads Injector Assembly One (reports to the location of the ship), which in turn downloads Collect Metaphasic Particles. Ru'afo has all the skills required, and completing the Objective gets you plenty of perks in addition to Insurrection's points. You don't NEED the Li'seria to do this, but it rivals the Son'a Battleship's attributes when Plaqued and Logged (how does 11-11-11  sound?) and can make use of Isolytic Burst too. It gets the same RANGE boost in the buffer zone you create around Insurrection with copies of Analyze Radiation, and it may also report, carry and launch Son'a Shuttles, which can in turn, download Transporter Drones that give your Son'a good capturing abilities. All for one less staffing. Just make sure you really are using the Son'a, as opposed to only Ru'afo, since you don't want to lose a personnel, and find yourself with 6-5-5 attributes. An excellent 4, well built for what it has to do.

TOTAL: 14.5 (72.5%) We'll just have to wait to see what the other Son'a ships can bring in, but I doubt they'll do better.

PICTURE: A funny moment, and the uncertainty and frenzy is well shown in the tipsy camera angle. A bit bottom heavy, you do still notice the books, which is what's important. A 3.4.

LORE: Quoted from that very scene, as is the peculiarly verbose title, it works. Another competent 3.4.

TREK SENSE: There haven't been many situations in Trek (other than Enterprise) where speaking an alien language has been important. There's the pictured scene, of course, the Children of Tama in "Darmok", the Jarada greeting, and the Skrreeans in DS9 spring to mind as well, so it DOES happen. Call it a cultural thing, or perhaps a malfunction/limit of the universal translator. The way it works is that you would get a delay until you could understand all languages involved. The way this delay is calculated is a bit twitchy, though I respect its thematic/conceptual aspect. See, it says that no matter what, there's a one-turn delay, but you add a turn for every attemptability icon for which you don't have a representative present. The idea is that if the icon is there, then the natives probably speak this language (or their overlords do), but that can be nonsense. Why would you need to speak Dominionese at Reignite Dead Star? Or 4 Alpha Quadrant languages at Acces Relay Station (which is Dominion-owned)? In Diplomacy or Acquisition-type missions, it can more easily work, and certainly in any Espionage attempt, but the purely scientific missions, not so much. Just because there's an attemptability icon on a mission doesn't mean that language is spoken there (Dominion on Betazed? Federation-standard on Mintaka III? Klingon on Romulus?). And what's with the obligatory one-turn delay when you're in your own Region, on your own world, etc.? What's not getting through? As for the requirements to avoid the delay altogether, Anthropology has long been associated with linguistics, so that's fine. Exobiology is meant to represent knowledge of alien species that might help you make the sounds they make, but it's iffy here. Diplomacy might have been a better second skill. Fun and original, but too many problems to rise above a 1.8.

SEEDABILITY: As long as you weed out Anthopology and Exobiology from the Away Team or crew, this could mean a minimum 1-turn delay on a mission attempt. That's excellent, and you just know that you're gonna seed it where there are the most attemptability icons. There's usually an icon that's covered (that's how they attempted in the first place), but a 3-turn delay would often be the norm, and it could go as high as 5 turns. Might as well never return to the mission then. An odd self-seed perhaps, but if you fear your opponent's theft of a mission (one not covered by Fair Play, for example), you just make sure you have the skills to pass Linguistic Legerdemain, while your opponent may be further hosed by not having the matching personnel at all. Treaty decks might have an easier time of it. Note that this will be harmful to redshirt strategies, if they're still out there. Of course, that's if it hits. Anthropology and Exobiology are very important skills, yes, somewhat rarer than others, but by no means usually absent. And they're not easy to specifically weed out. Because of the easy requirements, it can't go too high, but still a valiant 3.5.

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) Am I making myself understood? ;-)

PICTURE: A simple bust shot from the helm, but the sleepy expression is gonna be borne out in the lore and skills, so it's quite adequate. A little fuzzy, and fairly standard TMP stuff, but kind of funny as well. A 3.3.

LORE: Don't know where that inhuman-sounding name came from (it's in the script, so it's not Decipher's fault), but the lore has tons of good stuff (not among them mention of universality). Why is he "conservative"? Because he's the guy who told Sulu "She'll break apart!" to which the good captain answered "Fly her apart then!" On of my favorite moments in Star Trek VI. Man, this guy MUST live in the shadow of Sulu something fierce. The greatest helmsman that ever lived, and he's posted on his ship, where he serves "adequately". Very funny stuff, and I've gotta go with as much as 4.5.

TREK SENSE: I guess he's a typical CF-era helmsman, but the matrix for it is Lojur. There's some of the stuff you'd expect, like Navigation (x1 if you please!), the Staff icon, and Officer. What Transporter Skill is doing there, I can't really tell you. In a sense, it gives him a reason to be merely adequate at the helm - he came up from another post. Other than that, there's no reason for it here. His lame attributes send him up as less courageous than the norm, a guy who has less vision. This is well sold in the picture, where he's got dull eyes and a weak chin (the lore ain't too flattering either). I'm dropping a 3.5 on him.

STOACKABILITY: A support personnel with the rarer Transporter Skill, but the ultra-common Navigation, and very lame stats. Thing is, the Feds don't have another support personnel with Transporter Skill, so as long as an AU avenue is available, Lojur could be used even outside CF decks to provide the skill to a ship in a pinch. That's his niche, but the rest of him makes me want to get the Transporter Skill some other way... Objectively, I guess what he brings deserves the average 3. :-P

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Manages better than "adequate".

PICTURE: Kirk and Picard's shared hobby I guess fairly represents the Lure for them, especially in an idyllic setting such as this. Composition-wise, there's an interesting mirror effect going on (if a bit stiff), which may as well relate to the two choices on the card, staying and leaving. A 3.4.

LORE: Does a good job of explaining why people stay in the Nexus (especially since The Nexus card has no lore to offer this up). Nothing flashy, but good stuff, and an interesting title. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: The first effect really does talk about the Lure of the Nexus. In this scenario, a personnel that has a reason or chance to leave does not for one full turn (during which, I imagine, it plays out its fantasy until it's done). Very simple. The second effect is more about leaving the Nexus than staying in it, and we'll have to take the lore's word that this has "forever changed" them (no actual effects on said personnel). The effect more or less corresponds to the saving on an El-Aurian ship at the start of Generations. The ship is pulled out of the Nexus (though here, no outside help is required, and it saves the ship as well as the crew), and the people that were already in the Nexus are pulled out of it forcibly. That's what had happened to Soran and Guinan: they were really IN the Nexus, and now must suffer the Lure of the thing for the rest of their lives (if we want to patch in the title). I don't mind the two ideas sharing one card, but the second effect has a lot of execution problems. How is the ship saved exactly? How does it get as far as an adjacent location? Is it reasonable - given onscreen evidence - that people in the Nexus that are not part of its crew should be relocated there as well? Or this whole thing about turning back time, with one personnel returning to a moment when the ship had yet to enter the Nexus and thus keeping it at an adjacent location? That opens up a whole other can of worms, paradoxical worms! Thematically ok, I can only give it 2.7 here.

STOCKABILITY: Only to be used if you seeded (and even planned to release) The Nexus, Lure's second function has a lot of promise. Sure, it can be used to simply save your ship from destruction at the hands of a passing Nexus, but it can do so much more. You could ALLOW your ship to be about to be destroyed so as to snatch up opposing personnel already trapped in the Nexus (possibly with some of yours). Hopefully, your ship/hand is equipped with high STRENGTH or an Airlock or Captured, etc. If by some chance they played Soran, he's worth 20 points while under there, so ripping him out of The Nexus is a good thing. If YOU have Soran under there, and they try to Lure you out this way, you can use Lure to keep them in. The first effect can also be used to simply keep ANY of their best personnel in The Nexus when they try to pull them out and relocate them to any planet or TL. Just a turn (a full turn), but that's still a delay that could hurt. If you have the card in hand by next turn, you can keep Luring that personnel until the point is moot. So a good mix of defensive and offensive strategies to tack on to your Nexus, I'm going with a 3.7 here.

TOTAL: 12.9 (64.5%) A niche card, it's lure is not so strong overall.

#2111-Maltz, Personnel, Klingon, AU, CF, universal, TMP

"Klingon serving under Kruge. Prefers to work the night shift. Captured when his ship was commandeered. Prepared to die for this dishonor. Kirk saw otherwise."

-ENGINEER, Transporter Skill, Astrophysics, Geology; Staff icon

-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: Good detailing on John Larroquette's Klingon costume, which has different do-dads than most others. The expression is dull however, and the diffuse, lollipop background is a total mess. I'm frankly bored, and can give no more than a 2.4.

LORE: After a typical opening phrase, we get a fun easter egg. John Larroquette played a D.A. in the hit sitcom Night Court, in which he (obviously) also worked the night shift. Cute. After that, his meager story is told with some humor, as much as the scene itself in ST III. A totally endorsable 4.1.

TREK SENSE: Eh... Maltz WAS the guy in charge of beaming Kruge and company to and from the Genesis Planet, but that only confirms his Transporter Skill. Engineer may be reverse-engineered (heh) from that, though he was also in charge of scanning the damaged Enterprise. Ok then. Astrophysics and Geology may be relevant to the Genesis Planet, but did Kruge really include him on the bridge because of that skill package? Seems thematic rather than sensical. Staff icon's fine, since he only took "command" of the ship after all the real leaders were dead or gone. The mention of dishonor would seem to indicate he had the Honor skill, but that's left off (because Kruge was a bad guy?), though high Integrity remains. He's none too smart, just by his exchange with Kirk, so the 6 in Cunning is fine. I'm ok with the Strength too: a not-very-violent Klingon. Works ok, but not really sharply focused in design. A 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: CF decks-only, I'd imagine. It's getting harder and harder to rationalize using 3-skill personnel, when 1 or 2 skills nets you special Assign cards, and 4 would just be better. Well, sometimes, that fourth skill is Music or somesuch, so let's look a little closer... Well, as far as Klingon ENGINEERs go, he's really not too bad. They have few such Klingons with 4 or more skills, and cards like Bo'rak are pretty specialized anyway (Cybernetics and Klingon Intel aren't everyday skills). Maltz has all-useful skills, including the rarer Transporter Skill. The last two are especially good against dilemmas. CUNNING's lame, but the attributes are generally fair. In a CF deck, he's a better mission solver than Woteln, so I guess he's the best pure ENGINEER of the era. In a wider Klingon deck, he's still useful, though could stand to have a little more. A 3.4.

TOTAL: 12.4 (62%) So a little Law would have been too much egging? ;-)

#2124-Mark Tobiaston, Personnel, Federation, AU, CF, universal, TMP

"Communications officer, fully rated on Excelsior-class ships. Linguistics expert who has authored an analysis on similarities of the Vulcan and Romulan languages."

-ENGINEER, Anthropology, Exobiology; Staff icon

-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 6

PICTURE: The look on Tobiaston holds one's interest in that it is rather unusual (I guess Harriman's leadership qualifies as "surprising"). The look of the card is otherwise in line with other TMP cards, dark with video screens for color. Manages 3.2.

LORE: Not really respectful of his universality, especially in the second sentence, but that's never a big point. Two inside jokes are more interesting to talk about anyway, and both are related to this actor, Thomas Kopache, playing a number of roles in Star Trek. Indeed - and I thank my friend Red Hedgehog for collecting this information - his name combines the names of three characters he's played: Mirok, Tos and (Kira) Taban. Furthermore, the lore about Vulcan and Romulan languages plays on the idea that he's played both those species (the first two names). It's interesting stuff, and fits this era, as evidenced by the Linguistics Legerdemain dilemma. A neat (if a little obscure) 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Communications officers in the past seem to be Officers with at least some competence in Engineering, at least if we go by Uhura and Rand. So why make him simply an Engineer? Well, maybe it's another in-joke, seeing as he played "Engineer" in TNG's "Emergence", yet another role for Mr. Kopache. Not that I disapprove of the classification as a set of abilities for a com officer, it's just not what we're used to. His two skills are totally in keeping with his invented backstory, since he can use both to compare and contrast languages (part of which includes biological knowledge of mouth structures, etc.). Icons are fine, though he's not really sold as a universal. The skill set doesn't really argue against it though. Integrity is Federation-standard. Strength's ok too. I might fight for an extra point in Cunning, however, based on his field of study (he even published). Mostly ok at 3.2.

STOCKABILITY: An ENGINEER support personnel with a couple of unusual skills more often found on SCIENCE and MEDICAL, Tobiaston could keep those skills alive while such classifications get purposely filtered out. That's pretty good, and he's easy to report whether it's to a CF ship or elsewhere thanks to the appropriate Assign card. Eclectic list, so he's better against dilemmas than missions. Attributes aren't hot, but there are no true weaknesses there (and Lower Decks can boost them). In a CF deck only, there are fewer choices, and he more readily makes the cut. Overall, a 3.4.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Hey! Better than Mirok at least (12.1)!

#2137-Martia, Personnel, Non-Aligned, AU, CF, TMP

"Chameloid prisoner on Rura Penthe. Helped set up Kirk and McCoy in exchange for a full pardon. Her powers of shape-shifting, though great, take 'a lot of effort'."

-CIVILIAN, SECURITY, Treachery, Exobiology, Anthropology, Greed

-INTEGRITY: 4, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: A good clear shot of Martia, with sparkling, dangerous eyes and a cigar in her hand. I also like the feathery earring, which goes with the feathers in her hair. Feathers, fur... that all creates a shape-shifter mystique. Daubs of color help in making this more than just another cave shot. A strong 3.6.

LORE: Species, location, and backstory, those are all fairly standard. The last sentence makes an attempt at describing her powers (perhaps as opposed to other shifters'), using a very brief quote from the film. Nothing great, but all certainly acceptable. A 3.1.

TREK SENSE: Some type of criminal even before she became an inmate, there's no reason to believe she was ever more than a Civilian. Treachery and Greed are obvious choices given this line of work. Security has been seen on personnel that are adept at EVADING Security in the past, so she deserves it too. Her two other skills help her mimic other species (we saw 4 forms, 3 species in all) both in biology (or actually, Exobiology) and in mannerisms (which requires Anthropology as a substitute for psychology). The latter, for example, allowed her to mimic Kirk quite well. Integrity's a bit high for someone this selfish - I don't get the feeling she was doing any of it to benefit the Brotherhood of Aliens (a 4 usually indicates some kind of loyalty to one group, with total disdain for all others). Cunning's about right, and Strength too, I suppose, though mileage may vary depending on the form she shifts into. That's why we have The Guardian, I guess ;-). Only one note of disagreement in the whole thing - and I would still have liked something more distinctive for her, like some kind of effort mechanic - I'm giving her a 3.9.

STOCKABILITY: A shape-shifter for your CF deck (she'll fit equally well with either Feds or Klingons), she allows you to use that card subset (basically, Flight of the Intruder, In the Bag, Strike Three, The Guardian and You Dirty Rat) without leaving that CF icon behind (for Crew Reassignment and staffing purposes). Aside from that, she's also a SECURITY/Treachery combo for anything untoward you want to do in your Brig. CIVILIAN does make her compatible with War Council, while SECURITY may be used to report her with Defend Homeworld instead. She's got a couple of good scientific skills, including Anthropology, which enables card draws through The Guardian of Forever (she may start at a Time Location). If not in a CF deck, she'll fit in well with the Ferengi. Plenty of neat tricks, and for nastier affiliations, is a better choice than Anya or Salia. A potable 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.4 (72%) Hope that covers it.

#2150-Mas'ud, Personnel, Non-Aligned, AU, CF, universal, TMP

"Specimen of late 20th-century genetic engineering, sworn to live and die at Khan's command. Studied the effects of the Ceti Eel while trapped on Ceti Alpha V."

-CIVILIAN; May download Ceti Eel to place directly on adversary he just stunned; Biology, SCIENCE, Geology; Staff icon

-INTEGRITY: 4, CUNNING: 9, STRENGTH: 10

PICTURE: Pulled from a group photo of the Ceti Alpha V family, Mas'ud seems to have been airbrushed to the point of looking like a painting or plastic doll. Better than a blurry grease spot, but still a little weird. I appreciate the work done and won't go below 3.

LORE: "Specimen" used to signify universal? I like the originality. The rest is well-written too. That last part is an invention, but a sensible one, which ties into his special skill. A good 3.7.

TREK SENSE: Typical of Khan's men, or at least those interested in Science enough to take a peek at the wonderful gift of nature known as the Ceti Eel ;-). Is there anything beyond those genetically-engineered intellects? Science is coupled with Biology to study the Eels, and Geology because the only habitat on Ceti Alpha V is sand. None of Khan's crew were anything but Civilians, but they do have a Staff icon to help them fly a ship (though Reliant really only needs the CF icon). Loyal to Khan, but on the side of bad anyway, that's a 4 in Integrity. Cunning and Strength have been genetically enhanced. The special ability makes him an Eel wrangler, which works ok, but I wonder where he puts the Eel that he can produce it during a battle. At least he waits for you to be stunned before shoving the creature up your ear. I guess my objection is to the download itself. Takes us to a still quite good 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: Khan decks may center around Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold, which discard any personnel not either in league with Khan (like Mas'ud) or who have a Ceti Eel placed on them. RIADBSC also allows Mas'ud (any number of him) to report aboard the USS Reliant for free. But for that round-the-corner strategy to work, you need to solve at least one missions to acquire The Genesis Device, so Mas'ud has good skills and attributes to help. Even without Revenge, he's a good choice for using Ceti Eel simply as a cheap "assimilation" technique. Khan's crew should be good at battle with that high STRENGTH, and Mas'ud definitely shouldn't find it hard to just stun someone. Multiple Mas'uds means you can very easily empty your deck of Eels, as you take command of all opposing personnel in sight. Throw his also-universal compadre Sarod into the mix and you can get card draws out of each Ceti Eel. A nice little combo that does a fair job of balancing out the disadvantages related to some Khan strategies. A 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) A tightly built faction, the Khanites are all pretty potent.

#2163-Matthew Dougherty, Personnel, Federation, TMP

"Conflicted admiral under orders from the Federation Council to oversee the Ba'ku relocation. Dislikes working with Ru'afo, but will do it for the Federation."

-VIP; Scores 10 points if helps complete Collect Metaphasic Particles; Leadership, Treachery, SCIENCE; Command icon

-INTEGRITY: 5, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: Smarmy as ever, it's an appropriate shot of Dougherty, but I can't say much beyond that. Fairly ordinary then, at 3.1.

LORE: You know when the character's name is an easter egg of sorts? Well, Decipher's not the only one in the business of doing this. Paramount is too. Anthony Zerbe has actually played a Dougherty before, in The Molly Maguires. Is the admiral a descendent of that character? The lore makes the point that Dougherty is conflicted, driving at it twice. Does a good job of it, all in all, and doesn't neglect to mention he's an admiral for purposes of other cards (avoiding the potentially confusing title of Vice-Admiral, which is what he actually was). A fairly good 3.4.

TREK SENSE: To start off, he threw enough weight around to warrant Leadership and the Command icon, but he should have been an Officer instead of a VIP. Admirals can be either, but Dougherty is no desk-hugger - he was in the field. The other vice-admiral in the game, Nechayev, is an Officer. Being conflicted about what's being done to the Ba'ku, his Integrity isn't driven too far down by his Treachery. Conflicted or not, the ends do justify the means for him, and he does stuff he shouldn't be proud of. Forced deportation is something I know about quite well, being an Acadian, and I do think it's a form of ethnic cleansing. To get this assignment, he needed a general background in Science, fair enough, and the assignment is so important to him (it has to be if he's gonna justify it), that he scores extra points if it is completed. The 10 points are the Federation's share of the success (and rewards). His Cunning is reasonable for his background, and allows for bad judgement. Strength's ok for a Starfleet officer of his age and build who would lose a fight against Ru'afo. So aside from the classification, he's fine. A 3.5.

STOCKABILITY: Collect Metaphasic Particles is worth 45 points if Dougherty lends his Treachery to the effort, which may or may not be easier than completing Insurrection with mission specialists. That strategy can make the mission yield 50 points, but CMP gives your personnel a number of boosts: +2 STRENGTH, Youth and the ability to unstop themselves. CMP with the Feds should include Dougherty for sure. Otherwise, well, he's got the rare Fed Treachery that you'd often have to go outside the quadrant for, and though VIP isn't great, he makes up for it with SCIENCE (and he's shielded from Unscientific Method). As an Admiral, he can report for free to the Office of the President and download via Going to the Top. Attributes are just ok. Rather a niche personnel, CMP is still cool enough to warrant a 3.5 here.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) How many points does it take, Admiral, before it becomes good enough? A thousand? Fifty thousand? A million?... Oh, sorry ;-).

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