Siskoid's Rolodex...................Voyager (7)



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

 

#2300-Organ Theft, Objective, Hidden Agenda, 10 points, VOY

-Seeds or plays on table. Once each turn, your Vidiian may use a Vidiian Harvester to "steal organs" from any non-[Holo] personnel present (except an android or shape-shifter). Discard victim; you may report two Vidiians (or download one) and, until end of your next turn, your Vidiians may ignore The Phage. If victim belonged to opponent, you may discard objective to score points.

PICTURE: If a face was taken, other organs probably were too (some that are more important to sustaining life, hopefully), so this is an appropriate, if creepy - not to say disgusting - image. The composition is on the haphazard side, with bright foreground elements, a distracting flare and various colors not working together. A weak addition to the collection at a below-average 2.9.

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

TREK SENSE: The Vidiians had one overarching goal, and that was to steal organs to sustain their people's lives a little longer, at least until a cure for the phage could be found. It's not something they advertise, so the Hidden Agenda aspect is credible. To steal organs, a Vidiian uses a Vidiian Harvester on any personnel with organs. Holograms, androids and shape-shifters have no useable organs, though I think they may be missing the boat by not stealing from shifters. The key to the phage could be found in the unstable protoplasm. Be that as it may, it wouldn't be the same kind of operation, so we'll let it go. The victim is killed, quite naturally, and its organs are passed off the Vidiians in dire need of help. These Vidiians can now be reported. A particularly important Vidiian could get priority on the organs and be downloaded instead. Overall, the organ harvest helps alleviate The Phage. You can sacrifice your own personnel for its organs, of course, but since that's easy, no points would be scored. If the victim was an opposing personnel, then you'd score points for accomplishing the goal. 10 points is ok, especially given other rewards, and they're only awarded when you finally discard Organ Theft, so when the "mission" is declared complete, no matter how many victims that was. It's the mechanics of the card that let it down, since they are incredibly fast and loose. Why only one personnel harvested per turn, even if you have multiple attack parties and Harvesters? Why is the attack always successful, with no resistance? How do the organs get to those who need it fast enough? They don't have to report to the site of the harvest at all. How does on victim stave off The Phage for all your Vidiians in play? Why aren't points linked to the number of victims? Are Vidiian victims' organs as good as fresh alien ones? These many questions without answers reduce the score to its current 3.3. Still a good story-telling tool.

STOCKABILITY: The Vidiians have comparatively few missions, so could be in the business of completing this objective for points, but it does a little more than that. In a very real sense, it can kill (discards, actually, so a victim couldn't saved with Genetronic Replicator, for example) an opposing personnel without initiating a battle (or before doing so). Thanks to the Boarding Claw, Vidiians can find themselves on an opposing ship just as well as meeting an Away Team on a planet. Harvesters are quite easy to get at, being downloaded by two personnel and reporting for free via The Vidiian Sodality. Successfully doing so can net you 10 points, protection from The Phage (admittedly not a big fear unless your opponent knows you as a frequent Vidiian) and either 2 reports or 1 download (as limited by Shape-Shift Inhibitor). That adds great speed to your Vidiian deck, either downloading a personnel you really need, or reporting two personnel in addition to any others you've already reported (including MEDICAL freebies from the Sodality). If that's more important to you, you can keep the objective in play instead of sending it to the bonus point section. Forgetting the points, you can also use this on your own personnel, either 1 for 1 (download) or 1 for 2 (reporting). Free personnel, especially non-Vidiians (you can even Assign cheap NA Mission Specialists), make great victims to get your own Vidiians into play, though you can just use the card to manage all-Vidiian resources as well. The Hidden Agenda icon is just a cherry on the sundae, possibly surprising your opponent with this attack (though if you have Vidiians in play, I think he or she might figure it out). A powerful card with many uses. It's up to you which ones are part of your greater strategy. A 4.5.

TOTAL: 14.27 (71.33%) A good score, if not an outright steal ;-).

#2312-Paxim, Personnel, Non-Aligned, universal, Delta Quadrant, VOY

"Talaxian commander of a squadron garrisoned at the mining colony on Prema II. Tom Paris enlisted his help to reclaim Voyager from the Kazon-Nistrim in 2373."

-OFFICER, Navigation, Astrophysics, Exobiology; Command icon

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

PICTURE: A pic taken from a viewscreen, it's not very dynamic. On top of the Talaxian "look", which is what it is, the background is on the chaotic side, with the yellow from a panel seeming to merge with Paxim's temple. Dark on dark on the other side. It's ok. Just unremarkable for an even 3.

LORE: Universality isn't acknowledged, and though you almost think you'll get a matching commander, you actually don't. Reads fine, with everything we actually know about him, I'm sure, but again, just an ok 3.

TREK SENSE: Paxim makes a bad universal in that he's too high-up. As the only Talaxian besides Neelix, he should have been typical of his species. Instead, he's... what, typical of Talaxian squadron commanders? Are there a lot of those? Didn't seem like it (though the destruction of their homeworld may make them the best way to survive). Anyway, for a guy that leads an entire squadron, you'd think he'd have Leadership. Officer and the Command icon will have to do, I guess. Navigation helps him guide the fleet, if not really "lead" it. Astrophysics is a skill somewhat related to Navigation, which could be used to hide ships in nebulae, etc. Whatever. Exobiology seems to be there because he helped someone from another species against a third species. Not sure that should count. As is, we have no proof of the two last skills. He did pledge help to Voyager, so his Integrity is above average. Cunning too, which is good for a commander. Strength's just above average, as he's a military man, but not too high since Talaxians aren't great warriors. Out of focus as a universal personnel, they play fast and loose with his design throughout. Manages a 2.7.

STOCKABILITY: At 3 skills, he can't be Assigned, nor does he have enough to really warrant his inclusion. Solid attributes, though none stand out. Skills good for support on both planets and in space, and in demand too. Too bad there aren't more of them. The best of staffing icons, but no matching commander status. Is he to be used just to keep Neelix safe from Hate Crime? Good skills for the DQ, and Lower Decks would make him potent in the attributes department... I just don't see how he's really necessary to any deck. An average 3.

TOTAL: 11.7 (58.5%) Just short of true average.

#2324-Penk, Personnel, Non-Aligned, Delta quadrant, VOY

"Norcadian entertainment producer. Arrogant. Corrupt. Abducts aliens from all over the sector and forces them to fight in the Tsunkatse matches."

-CIVILIAN, Acquisition, SECURITY, Treachery x2, Greed; SD Any other card that has "Tsunkatse" in title or lore; Command icon

-INTEGRITY: 2, CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 5

PICTURE: Interesting lighting on the Fu Manchu-style Penk, and though they are a bit distracting, the fighters behind him produce an atmosphere not unlike that of a boxing gym. A better than average 3.5.

LORE: Certainly has a unique job description in Star Trek, and his story is told thriftily and effectively, but those two free-standing adjectives... While bonus points go giving the same description found on Brunt (they were played by the same actor), it's a little silly to use "corrupt" here. An FCA official - yeah, it might be an issue. But it just doesn't ring the same way in Penk's case. Still, the joke is worth the 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Ok, so this guy basically kidnaps people, and forces them to fight, sometimes to the death, for the pleasure of the masses and his own profit. Low Integrity, double Treachery, Greed are all indicated, obviously, as is Acquisition. Security helps make sure his fighters don't escape. He commands a ship (according to that vessel's card), but he's no Officer. He's a businessman, so Civilian is closer to the truth, and the Command icon provides the necessary staffing anyway. When he used his special download, he's either just captured a new fighter, or presents an experienced one, or it's just a way to keep him with his ship. We never got anything better for a Tsunkatse mechanic, so he doesn't download match styles or anything. Nothing too complicated. Cunning fits a villain that has come upon such a lucrative idea, while his Strength would have him hide behind his fighters or weapons, but still has him relatively fit. I'm sure other skills could be justified (especially on the ship-running end of the equation), but there's really no problem with what there was room to include. A strong 4.

STOCKABILITY: He reads like a Ferengi, and in fact would work well with them if they came round to the Delta Quadrant (or vice-versa, perhaps with a Micro-Wormhole) and their Rules. The ones that don't key off the Ferengi are all covered, in fact - the 33rd, 34th, 35th, 47th and 75th can all apply. The exact skill pool has some interesting card interacts in addition. Being Treachery/SECURITY makes the brig a good place to download any number of "punishment" cards, for example. Treachery x2 alone gives him access to Protection Racket, dismisses Inside Collaborators when encountered, protects from Sabotaged Negotiations, and gets you a hand weapon with The Art of Diplomacy. His special download can get you one of many battle-ready personnel, The Pindari Champion the most powerful among them (pairs first and has STRENGTH 15). Since he's an ultra-rare, you might have better luck getting the Hirogen skill horse Hajur, or the Tsunkatse Ship. Yep, Penk is the matching commander of that ship, and it's got some nice attributes to start with. Plaqued and Logged, it reaches 10-12-13. He can report aboard directly, as can his 2 fighters, if it's out first. It's kinda disappointing that Penk can't report a lot more personnel, but it's not like they you can use the download more than once. And while Penk can do a lot of nifty tricks, he's not a great mission solver with his specialized skills. Only the CUNNING is interesting attribute-wise, even better with War Council, but I think you'll use him for those strategies he can put into motion: Rules, brigs, battling and matching commander-assisted ships. That gets us to 4.

TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) Hey, there's a Jeffrey Combs in each quadrant!

#2336-Prevent Annihilation, Mission, planet, Federation/Non-Aligned/Cardassian, Delta quadrant, VOY

Rakosa V: Stop malfunctioning Cardassian warhead from attacking defenseless, highly populated planet.

-ENGINEER x2 + Leadership x2 + Computer Skill x2 OR B'Elanna Torres

-Span: 4; 40 points


PICTURE: Rakosa V looks like a beautiful, Earth-like world, though we see its dark side here, a sign of things to come. Speaking of things to come, I tend never to notice it, but isn't that the dreadnought heading for the planet? That small, brown and yellow object on the lower right? Practically ominous. A cool 3.7.

LORE: Simple and to the point, I like it for what it is - clear mission objectives. We understand the stakes well. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: Seems like this shouldn't be a planet mission unless there's a reasonable chance of stopping the dreadnought from the planet surface. Didn't look like there was from the episode though, and B'Elanna Torres, while able to do the mission alone, had to go aboard the missile. And in reality, "planet" mission is a misnomer. It actually means "mission to which you must beam", and in that sense, Prevent Annihilation IS a planet mission. After all, you can't solve it from the ship. But since the actual events of "Dreadnought" where staged from Voyager, seeing the planet there can be confusing, and it otherwise acts as a planet you beam to. Verdict: Works, but is somewhat iffy. The affiliations that can attempt include the Feds, ever the galactic good samaritans. They are also more likely to think it's their responsibility since the missile is from the AQ and was sent off-course by the Maquis. Non-Aligned may cover Maquis, or personnel native to the area. No real connection to Rakosa V, but at least, these might be enlisted to help (the Think Tank, for example). The Cardassians, for their part, are probably more interested in salvaging the dreadnought for later use! So if B'Elanna Torres isn't with you (just, plain B'Elanna won't help? Is she too Maquis to care?), you'll need good levels of Engineer and Computer Skill to get the thing to veer off, auto-destruct, or just get back under your control. Leadership could help keep the population calm, or the Away Team itself motivated to help a neutral planet. Yeah, that's ok. The points are totally in keeping with saving an entire world's population and/or getting your hands on this piece of military hardware. Long Span can be explained by the dreadnought being off course, after all. It checks out when you explain the underlying truths about the game. A 3.7.

SEEDABILITY: A rather easy 40 points, truth be told. The DQ is ripe with solid ENGINEER/Computer Skill-related missions you can build your deck around. The skills aren't hard to come up with. An ENGINEER Leader with Computer Skill can be doubled by DQSS. Non-Aligned personnel give any non-Borg affiliation entry to the mission. And if you have the very good personnel B'Elanna Torres (also NA), it gets even easier. A strong 4.1.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) A perfect fit into many DQ decks.

 

#2348-Prison Break, Mission, space, Any crew may attempt mission, Delta quadrant, VOY

Akritirian space: Locate secret alien prison facility and rescue wrongfully incarcerated crew members.

-Diplomacy + Navigation + Computer Skill

-Span: 4; 30 points; May seed up to two [DQ] personnel under here.

PICTURE: A really nice shot of the prison satellite from "The Chute"! Lots of detail. It would have been really funky and cool if it'd been a shot of Paris and Harry in that little window, but this is fine. A 4.

LORE: A two-pronged mission, it makes some interesting story assumptions, like stating your personnel's innocence (well, even guilty Romulans wouldn't feel obligated to alien justice systems and would consider they crew "innocent"). A fine 3.5 that carries things over into Trek Sense.

TREK SENSE: An interesting mission because you can actually seed your incarcerated crew there. The implication is that, if you start out in the DQ, they've been captives since before the game started; and if you start out in another quadrant, they're aboard and captured offscreen. This can happen to any crew, and like I said under Lore, they're always at least "innocent", though I think some affiliations would be less hung-ho about saving their captured fellows, especially without an Honor requirement. Speaking of those, they're pretty flimsy! Diplomacy has you talk (perhaps distract) the Akritirian authorities. Navigation helps you find the prison and escape its defenses. Computer Skill opens the door. It's all so easy! Too easy. Needs some x2s, Security, I dunno, SOMEthing. The longer Span is fine, since it makes the prison harder to get to. Points are ok, since it's a relatively personal mission. Might even have been less since you can be rewarded with up to 2 personnel. Though I appreciate the extra game text, the mission just doesn't do enough with the standard stuff. A 2.9.

SEEDABILITY: Hard to beat those easy requirements since they're the three most common skills EVER, and will be found in every deck, often in abundance. A few personnel even have all three. 30 points isn't much (though some affiliations can boost that with mission specialists - especially since they're not quadrant-specific with AMS), but 2 seeded personnel can make the mission worth it. You'll have those easy requirements out in no time, can solve the mission, and then basically have the effect of downloading 2 key mission solvers (or other strategy) that early in the game. Any crew can use it, so better protect it with Fair Play. A good start to any DQ mission-solving strategy. Hits 4.3.

TOTAL: 14.7 (73.5%) Nothing broken here.

#2360-Quinn, Interrupt, -5 points, VOY

"Member of the Q who felt immortal life had become futile, meaningless, and unendurable. Lobbied to be made mortal so he could commit suicide and upset the Continuum's status quo."

-Thrice per game, nullifies an interrupt or event just played or revealed (even a Treaty), unless immune to Kevin Uxbridge or Amanda Rogers.

PICTURE: Bah. An interrupt that looks like a personnel card, and with nothing special about its picture. Good expression on him, but the line in the background ruins the composition, making your eye fly right out of the frame. A dull 2.5.

LORE: A good enough take on Quinn's story, but what does it have to do with the card's effect? As such, a severely lacking 2.

TREK SENSE: A Q can do anything, and many of the ones we've met have been good at interfering with mortal plans. That's the extent of this card's concept, really, as there's little to link the effects to Quinn's actual plight. Decipher just needed a magic bullet for the Voyager-only/Warp Speed environments. By all rights, he should be only like Q2, ruining the Q-Continuum's plans. As is, he puts a stop to various effects, which is gauchely related to his opposition to the Q, though he's under the same restrictions the equally godlike Kevin Uxbridge and Amanda Rogers are. Surprising that he would destroy Treaties, since he seemed like a nice guy/entity. He's tired of it all, so the effort costs points. His briefer lifespan leads to a "thrice per game" limitation. Some elements fall into place, but it feels very contrived. A 1.8 should do.

STOCKABILITY: Quinn is Amanda Rogers, Kevin Uxbridge, The Devil and Q2 all wrapped into one, with built-in limitations so that he doesn't become abusive. His creation made sense for the Voyager-only environment, but he's different enough to bear comparison with other bullets. There's no actual limit to the number of times you can use Amanda, Kevin, et al., but they do tend to suffer from hosings at the hands of Ref cards. On the other hand, Quinn can only be used 3 times per game at the cost of 5 points, but he's a one-stop shop for any nullifiable event or interrupt (including Amanda, Kevin, etc., and another Quinn). No hosings such as those provided by The Line Must Be Drawn Here (you're already losing 5 points) or Oof! Quinn IS vulnerable to Amanda though, so hosing that card in return could be good insurance. Since those points are "bonus points", the Borg don't suffer that loss, making it an excellent card for them, albeit a bad probe. Magic bullets are powerful effects. In Quinn's case, you're limited to using it only when it counts because of the built-in failsafes. Fair enough, but it does keep the card at 4.5.

TOTAL: 10.8 (54%) Designed to be useful, but not with enough though to the rest.

#2372-Rabek, Personnel, Kazon, universal, Delta quadrant, VOY

"Kazon-Nistrim physician. Typical of personal attendants often retained by a first maje. Seska did not find his abilities particularly impressive."

-MEDICAL, Exobiology, Physics; Staff icon

-INTEGRITY: 7, CUNNING: 6, STRENGTH: 8

PICTURE: If I like this menacing "doctor", it's that it gives us a chance to see the old hydroponics bay. The biological aspect of the room makes this appropriate for this character, and it's unusual on the cards we have. A 3.4.

LORE: The sect was a given, of course, but the rest is better than your usual universal, especially with the jealous Seska stuff. Pretty funny. A 3.5.

TREK SENSE: A "typical" Kazon physician, he's got the right classification, but I'm not the proper Biology. Exobiology allows him to work more on aliens, but Seska wasn't impressed with his skills, so I guess it was a comment on his knowledge of Kazon biology that miffed her. Physics might help with radiation treatment, no doubt a frequent occurrence for a space-faring people. The skills are ok, if not dead on. High Integrity makes him loyal and also betrays a certain professional empathy. With Cunning and Strength, we see he's still a thug, a combat-ready field medic. Pretty much follows the Kazon pattern, and a 3.5 here.

STOCKABILITY: The only MEDICAL-classification Kazon in the entire affiliation, I guess he's your universal pointman when it comes to that skill. He's definitely better than the other universal, Ril, in that respect. A support personnel, there's an Assign card that helps him get into play. Further, being part of one of the most popular sects means The Kazon Collective can help too. Exobiology and Physics are both excellent skills, the latter being on a large number of Delta Quadrant missions. Good attributes too. Bottom line, he's quite necessary as a universal MEDICAL, a classification the Kazon lag in, and that's the basis for high relatively high 3.8.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) His specialty saves him from being unimpressive.

#2384-Radioactive Garbage Scow, Dilemma, space, VOY

"The Malon civilization produces over six billion isotons of industrial by-product every day. Their freighters haul away the toxic waste and dispose of it in other regions of the galaxy."

-Place on spaceline here. Mission cannot be attempted where present. Ship with Tractor Beam and 2 ENGINEER can tow scow.

PICTURE: Though the effects are clearly superior to the original version of this card from Premiere, the pic's a bit of a mess. In freeze-frame, the green gases look like flashes, the design of the ship is strange, and the planet surface is radiant and out of place. Just seems like there are three elements vying for our attention, and we're not quite sure what each of them is trying to say. I'm gonna go for a 3.

LORE: This is fine text on the Malon (I'm kinda sorry we never got any actual Malon cards in 1E). But while fitting the ol' Radioactive Garbage Scow dilemma into the Voyager environment is inventive, I'm not sure it's such a tight fit, not for that game text. But for the lore's part, it works. A 3.4.

TREK SENSE: Here's where it falls apart. The original card has its problems, but the game text more or less reflects the solution to the dilemma, with Engineers and Tractor Beam sending the Scow into the sun. But Malon Scows (in addition to being DQ only, though they might travel quite far) are manned! Not only should it be placed on the spaceline, it should also be able to move by itself. Its requirements should include provisions for the crew, whether that be force (Strength/Weapons) or Diplomacy. Even Transporter Skill and Treachery might be in order. The one thing that's been fixed in the change-over is that it matters less that this is a space dilemma. The original endangered a planet, so seemed more of the space/planet variety. It seems less of an issue for the Malon Scow, despite a planet being shown in the picture (it's an uninhabited gas giant). The idea that a Scow stops mission attempts because of the radiation levels is still good, though it seems the Medical guys should have a say. In any case, what works for an automated Scow doesn't necessarily work for a crewed version. Or are we just tractoring dumped waste? If we are, I think we'd need a lot more skills than this too. Might manage 2.5.

SEEDABILITY: Most ships with staffing have a Tractor Beam, and ENGINEER is one of the most common classifications (especially in the Delta Quadrant), so the Scow is probably towable. Be that as it may, it nevertheless stops the mission attempt cold, and the ship must move to another location, and then return to the mission. A big waste of time. Though it's not part of the Voyager environment, unlimited games can still make use of Destroy Radioactive Garbage Scow to blow up a Scow and kill all personnel not on a ship at its location AND reduce the points of the mission there (retroactively if need be). That may cause you to trigger your own Scow, just so you can tow it to an opponent's planet mission or facility before blowing it up. So even if the Borg, who don't attempt missions, aren't stopped by it, they can still suffer from its destruction. The only thing protecting a player from DRGS used to be Thermal Deflectors, which doesn't see that much use, but now there's Containment Field, a Referee-icon card that not only nullifies DRGS, but also makes you lose points for using it. Ah well. Still a good pollution card, though you don't want it towed in your way. With Containment Field ruining the party, the card gets a 3.7 (guaranteed stopper).

TOTAL: 12.6 (63%) And the original hasn't been scored yet (Premiere is one loooooong set).

#2396-Ready Room Door, Doorway, VOY

-Once per turn, plays to download to one of your ships its matching commander (draw no cards this turn) OR to download one Captain's Order (Captain's Log, Lower Decks, Yellow Alert, Senior Staff Meeting, or any card so marked). After any use, discard doorway; place it atop your draw deck; or place it atop one of your Captain's Order events to protect that event from nullification.

PICTURE: Oh my. This is pretty bad, with Janeway looking more like a stand-in than Kate Mulgrew herself. She's tiny in that doorway, giving off absolutely no feeling of authority. The gray wall is dull and lifeless, with the computer column on the left barely making it in (though it's a nice bleed). I didn't think the original from First Contact was perfect, but it at least had a richness of color. A very poor 1.

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

TREK SENSE: Clearer game text, but no Trek Sense difference. It still a great help to storytelling that a matching commander should go on its own vessel, so getting it there (walking from deck/Ready Room to the bridge) is a fine way to do it. You draw no cards as an equivalent as a mechanical penalty I don't really have a problem with, nor do I see the point (the equivalent penalty would be that it takes the place of your card play). The second function has your captain order something from the seclusion of his or her Ready Room, downloading a Captain's Order card. This is fine, though it hurts that you don't need a matching commander or even a Command icon personnel to do so, nor even a Ready Room (which would be absent from a shuttle, for example). Heck, you don't even need a ship! The upgrade of 4 cards to Captain's Order status has been discussed before, but to recap: The captain may call a Senior Staff Meeting, assign personnel from the Lower Decks to more key positions, squeeze some extra juice out of the ship, and call out a Yellow Alert. They all check out, though Yellow Alert's presence highlights Red Alert's absence. Finally, Ready Room Door can be discarded normally, or placed on top of the draw deck (captain keeps on reflecting) or be placed on a Captain's Order to protect it from nullification, turning the captain's word into law. It's all still quite good at 4.3.

STOCKABILITY: If anything, since First Contact, there are a lot more matching commanders than there were. Even universal ships have multiple commanders. That makes RRD an even more important tool in putting personnel aboard ships, whether just to staff them or to give them extra boosts (Captain's Log, Plaque, but now also 2E stuff like Mission Accomplished). This card would usually turn up in combination with a Spacedoored ship, for example. Armadas of course warrant the inclusion of multiple RRDs, but its secondary functions also give it a reason to exist in multiples in a deck with fewer ships. You need multiples to make sure you draw it, but once your matching commander out, how about downloading Captain's Log instead? Make It So downloads the RRD for this function, and if the omnipresent Log isn't your thing, there's more to choose from: Tactical Console, Mission Debriefing, Blue Alert, Divert Power, Crew Reassignment, Duj Saq, etc. The events among them can then be protected from nullification with placing RRD over them, and seeing as strategies may very much hang on these, that's a good thing. Alternately, you can put the RRD back on top of the draw deck, to be used again, until all your Orders (or matching commanders) are out and about. Better than in First Contact's day, it's a 4.7.

TOTAL: 13.33 (66.67%) Took a major hit with the Picture!

#2409-Reinitialize Warp Reaction, Mission, space, Any crew may attempt mission, Delta quadrant, VOY

T-class gas giant: Collect radiogenic particles from the rings of this gas giant to restore full warp efficiency.

-Astrophysics + Physics + (SCIENCE OR ENGINEER)

-Span: 4; 35 points; Restores solving ship's RANGE used this turn.

PICTURE: This is the planet from "Good Shepard" (the Delta Flyer used to be in the shot), and it's really quite beautiful. A combination of Jupiter and Saturn in a part of space full of dust. The system's star is quite a ways away, but also in the frame. And hey, those rings inspire velocity. A very nice 4.3.

LORE: Total technobabble, but that's from the show. Still, there's not much of an explanation on how this is all supposed to work. Sorry, but a pretty dull 2 as a result.

TREK SENSE: I guess your engines are drained (if you say so, they seemed to be working fine throughout the game), so you're going to attempt this mission. Could happen to anyone, so it is open to anyone. And if you succeed, there's more than the points in it for you (they're fine, I guess), there's also a restoration of the solving ship's Range. Seems sensible until you remember that the mission was actually accomplished from the Delta Flyer, but to restore the Range on Voyager! Oops. We're in a conceptual place anyway, since expended Range is more a question of time than of energy (i.e. how much distance can a ship cross in X amount of time). The requirements are appropriately technobabbly, and all are fine, though passing through saturnine rings might have warranted a little Navigation. Ah well. Span's fine - everything's a little far in the Delta Quadrant, and if you were any closer to civilization, you would refuel elsewhere. I appreciate the bonus game text, but it doesn't quite work. A 3, but no more.

SEEDABILITY: This is a nice mission to include in your Delta Quadrant deck. 35 points are standard, but good, and the requirements are incredibly easy to come up with, especially if you're using a number of ENGINEER-related DQ missions. The best part of that skill redundancy is that when you solve this mission, your ship regains its RANGE, so it can go and attempt another mission with those same skills. Barring Mission Debriefing, it doesn't even have to be adjacent (which might be all you can afford without the RANGE restoration). Plenty of personnel can supply most or all of the skills, and some affiliations can even dig in with mission specialists. I'd call it a very cool 4.2.

TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) A bad bout with technobabble leaves this mission on the average side.

#2422-Rekar, Personnel, Romulan, VOY

"Seized and commanded the USS Prometheus. Planned to deliver it to the Tal Shiar. Didn't anticipate the resourcefulness of two Starfleet holograms."

-OFFICER, SECURITY, Treachery, Exobiology, Leadership, Geology; SD Commandeer Ship; Command icon

-INTEGRITY: 5, CUNNING: 7, STRENGTH: 8

PICTURE: That guy who played Joaqin in The Wrath of Khan (Judson Scott) returns as a Romulan and I do like his exasperated expression. The background is of course Starfleet, but with enough screen elements to keep it interesting. And he's in the big chair, again appropriate. Not major, but quite decent at 3.4.

LORE: We start with a justification for the special download as well as for matching commander status, all wrapped into a few words. From there, we get the plan from the episode, but also a nice acknowledgement of the Doctors parts in this. A good and useful 3.5.

TREK SENSE: Rekar was the Officer who managed to capture the Prometheus (Commandeer Ship certainly comes from that idea). Though I agree that he should be Officer/Leadership/Command, it's always a little difficult to believe some of these matching commanders. If you've commandeered an alien vessel, do you really know it well enough to allow for the various bonuses that come with it (including RRDooring to it)? Treachery comes with the territory. He's not actually with the Tal Shiar, but he is Security. That infers some contacts I suppose, but was also required of his endeavor. Exobiology gets rid of the Prometheus' crew (know your prey). Not sure about Geology, but it's not so out there. Integrity's a bit high for a Romulan with Treachery, especially since a 4 would have kept him loyal to the Empire, which is all he needed. Romulans usually have high Cunning, and his is competent, though low enough to have the holograms get the better of him. Strength's a-ok. Overall, a fair effort that's not without its raised eyebrows. A 3.4.

STOCKABILITY: Rekar has 2 classifications, 6 skills in all, and a useful special download. Of course, he doesn't have the Computer Skill that download needs, but you can Subspace Transporter a Computer Skill Romulan aboard an empty ship at his location and trigger the SD. Nothing to it. He's got his own ship, and it's a powerful one: The USS Prometheus. High attributes that can be Plaqued and Logged to triple 12s, and the unlimited download of Multivector Assault Mode, which may raise those attributes to 12-17-17 in battle! Treachery decks will like him, and he's not affected by Firestorm. Nice stuff for planet missions when he wants to step off his ship too. Reaches 3.9.

TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) A strong addition to the Star Empire.

#2435-Research Phage, Mission, planet, Non-Aligned/Vidiian, Delta quadrant, VOY

Avery III: Conduct genetic research on lethal virus that destroys Vidiian cellular structure.

-Vidiian + MEDICAL x2 + Exobiology x2 + SCIENCE + Physics OR Think Tank personnel

-Span: 2; 40 points

PICTURE: A nice and distinctive planet, it's a bit splotchy and haphazard (like a Vidiian face), and incorporates some Vidiian colors as well. A good 3.5.

LORE: I wonder if the planet's name has any connection to Avery Brooks who plays Sisko? It sure sounds English for a planet in the Delta Quadrant, or is it an actual star charted from here? Not too up on my astronomy, I'm afraid. The lore itself is fine and complete, but not flashy or clever. A 3.2.

TREK SENSE: An obvious Vidiian mission, NAs have been included to allow the Think Tank to work its magic. It's probably natural that the Vidiians would contract out to Non-Aligned "mercenary" scientists. We know the Think Tank managed it, so that possibility is included. We're not curing it here, just doing Research, so no need for that Think Tanker to be Fennim, or for the card to nullify The Phage. The Vidiians have to make use of a more important facility though, with Medical, Exobiology and Science all obvious needs. Physics deals with radiation, so it makes sense too. If having a Vidiian is obvious for that affiliation, the requirement is there for non-Think Tank NAs. They have to be brought in by a Vidiian who has access to the planet's research facilities, and besides, it helps to have an infected personnel to work on. This is a vital mission for an entire species, so 40 points makes sense. The Span is a bit short, but I can't argue with that really. Early Voyager adventures are in a more crowded part of the DQ, and tend to be closer together. Makes a very strong showing at 4.5.

SEEDABILITY: One of very few specifically Vidiian missions, it offers them a high point value for what are pretty common skills for them. They should find it pretty easy. Another way for any affiliation to complete it is to use a Think Tanker, all of them excellent SCIENCE personnel. Nothing stopping the Vidiians to do the same either. With the Think Tank, the mission would always require a Vidiian anyway, so it's the only real NA way. Easy 40 points, and one of the few real options for an entire affiliation. A strong 4.5.

TOTAL: 15.7 (78.5%) A top 10 mission.

#2448-Restock Supplies, Mission, planet, Any Away Team may attempt mission, Delta quadrant, VOY

Planet Hell: Search for fuel and food sources on this world with an inhospitable atmosphere.

-Geology + Anthropology + (Biology OR cook)

-Span: 2; 35 points; Transporter Skill required to beam up/down here.

PICTURE: A disappointing little gray ball, it neither looks like anything would grow on it or particularly hellish. I guess it's meant to be a cross between the two ideas, a mix of gray and green. Meh, a 2.5.

LORE: A number of mission objectives and obstacles are mentioned in one short sentence. Efficient, and you gotta love a planet name that'll get censored on the Decipher message boards ;-). Also, that's the name given by cast and crew to that rocky cave set that we see in every other episode. Nice to see it get a card. A 3.3.

TREK SENSE: I like it when mission locations have special properties. In this case, the atmosphere makes beaming down dangerous, so you need someone who knows what they're doing (i.e. has Transporter Skill) to cut through the ionization or whatever. Cool, though how does that work when the Transporter Skill personnel is on the planet itself? It's the requirements I'm not so sure about. You look for food sources using Biology (is this or that edible?) or with your cook (a clever use of this "skill", I thought), that's fine. Geology seems to be used for finding fuel sources. Yes, dilithium crystals are a mineral substance, but some kind of Engineer might also have been called for. Instead, we get Anthropology. Anthropology? There's nothing in the mission objectives to indicate this would be useful. That lizard baby thing? Not much of a culture or psychology there, I'm afraid! Let's just say I could've done without this requirement, as the alien was basically the dilemma in the episode and not part of the mission per se. An important mission for survival in the Delta Quadrant, the points are at an appropriate level, and when you're running low on supplies, you run to the nearest planet, even if it is inhospitable. Ergo, the short Span. Enough clever touches here to give the Trek Sense score buoyancy. A 3.7 despite the requirement problem.

SEEDABILITY: Neelix has everything you need to complete Restock Supplies, and he's Non-Aligned to boot. 35 easy points, so long as you have Transporter Skill in the crew or Away Team. Even without Neelix, there are plenty of DQ personnel with the required skills, and you can even find other cooks if you don't want to use Biology (but why put too much effort in getting Riker or Mr. Brunt to the DQ - at least Saldin starts there - when Biology will do?). The special game text makes this a fairly good place to hide out from organ harvesters, Kazon pirates and Hirogen hunters, but Transporter Skill, while rarer than most skills, isn't that hard to come up with. It's not a GREAT place to hide out. The game text also means you could be the target of ENGINEER-related dilemmas trying to off your Transporter Skill personnel and strand you on the planet. The Vidiians have MEDICAL Transporter Skill, so they might be a good affiliation to try this with, or else use landers. Short Span for quick fly-overs and the possibility of Parallax Arguers to reward your award-winning recipes round this mission out. A strong 3.7.

TOTAL: 13.2 (66%) Needs a bit more salt.

#2461-Restore Victims, Mission, planet, Non-Aligned, Delta quadrant, VOY

Talax: Attempt to restore civilians killed by metreon cascade weapon on the Talaxian moon of Rinax.

-SCIENCE x2 + Physics x3 + Transporter Skill x2

-Span: 4; 55 points; Talaxians may report on planet (for free).

PICTURE: Talax is beautifully rendered, and its moon (from the lore) makes a showing too (it has to). A quite picturesque 3.7.

LORE: Should it really be on Talax? The lore goes on to say the Victims to be Restored are on Rinax? Why not just make that the mission location, saving Talax for another mission? Weird dissonance. I do like that the mission is to "attempt" something, since succeeding should probably be impossible. It didn't work on the show. A mitigated 2.5.

TREK SENSE: The Talax/Rinax confusion carries over to Trek Sense, and you may remember that the necessary experiments were actually conducted aboard Voyager, possibly making this a space mission. It is Non-Aligned because it is really Jetrel's mission, or could be the Talaxians', or even the Think Tank's, all NAs. Of course, you now have every manner of mercenary going for it, and not all of them make sense (a weakness of all NA missions). I also have a problem with the high points for the mission. If all we're doing is "attempt" an impossible task, then those points are incredibly inflated. 55 is fine if we succeed, but I'm just not sure it's possible! If we allow that it is, then I'm not sure the requirements are hefty enough (a Cunning total would have been a great addition, for example). At least each skill is required in multiples with Science and Physics being obvious choices, and Transporter Skill necessary to rematerialize the victims (on the planet I guess, since that's the way the mission works, i.e. not like on the show). Span's fine (though in Voyager, everything was a bit closer together), and so is the use of the mission as a "homeworld" for the Talaxians. Badly focused at its core, its surface elements nonetheless work well. A 2.8.

SEEDABILITY: An obvious target for In the Zone, this huge mission can yield as much as 70 points with the right mission specialists! And for a 55-pointer, it's not very hard at all. A couple of SCIENCE personnel with Physics and you're halfway there. Sulin of the Think Tank has exactly that! Transporter Skill is the less obvious skill to double up on, but once you have it, it's on to those 55 points, and being NA, it's pretty easy for any crew in the DQ to use the mission. The Feds have all those Maquis and Equinox personnel, so they don't even have to grab hangers-on. The 2 Talaxians in the game, Neelix and (universal) Paxim don't have any of the required skills, but they do have the required affiliation to help anyone attempt this. Get a free Paxim here, then send down an Away Team to join him. With In the Zone, the mission could just be worth 50 points, but that's still an excellent amount, and you can use the extra that doesn't count toward winning to spend points on 2E "Necessary Evil" style cards. A strong 4.

TOTAL: 13 (65%) Some growing pains in the design phase, but a strong DQ mission.

#2474-Rettick, Personnel, Kazon, Delta quadrant, VOY

"Kazon-Nistrim serving under Culluh. Accompanied him at the Sobras conference. Received files from Jonas on Tom Paris' experimental transwarp flight."

-ENGINEER, SCIENCE, Computer Skill, Physics, Treachery; Staff icon

-INTEGRITY: 4, CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 7

PICTURE: One of the more handsome Kazon, to tell you the truth. The background provides some contrasting color, but makes the composition a little too haphazard. A fair effort at 3.1.

LORE: Mentions a couple of episodes, clearly justifying Rettick's unique status, I think. Nothing big, but enough detail to warrant a 3.3.

TREK SENSE: Rettick is loyal to his sect, but a Treacherous guy otherwise (skill and Integrity), using Voyager's own crewmembers to gather information that can hurt the ship. Computer Skill helps him communicate with Jonas illicitly. The rest of his skills are a fair speculation based on his possible ability to digest files about transwarp experiments. With all his skills, he deserves the Cunning. And the Strength is fair for a Kazon. I guess we don't really know enough about him to say things look wrong, but the inventions aren't particularly imaginative. A 3.5 should do.

STOCKABILITY: The Nistrim are one of the two sects ideally suited to The Kazon Collective's reporting effects. Rettick reports for free if Culluh is in play. He's got a sweet classification combo, plus Treachery (in the Kazon's mission palette), Computer Skill and Physics (both big in the DQ). There are a number of missions he'd be good at, including Acquire Technology (to stick only with Kazon-specific missions). Good attributes too, but it's those 2 classifications that make him an exceptional skill horse for his gang. A 3.7.

TOTAL: 13.6 (68%) Ahhh, he beat out Culluh. Tsk, tsk.

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