Being a look back at cards from the Star Trek CCG, and what I thought of them back when they were fresh and new... in EPISODE order. Our first Ferengi-affiliation card and it's a ship...
PICTURE: As good as any Marauder pic - I think they're fine-looking ships, too bad we never saw too many after TNG. Nothing remarkable or incisive about the universal model, though it does look like it's got teeth at this angle. Hits 3.4.
LORE: Well, it's all pretty basic until you hit the last line... and that one's great! I love the winks at Ferengi attitudes that pepper the lore in the Rules of Acquisition expansion. Obviously, these guys would wince every time a disruptor battery would limit the amount of cargo space on their ships. May also be why we didn't see many of these in later years. A 3.9.
TREK SENSE: As a match to a Galaxy-class vessel, the Marauder does deserve similar attributes, special equipment and staffing. Similar, but I wouldn't necessarily say identical. The unproven Holodeck, in particular, may not be that good an idea on a ship that's already got "minimal cargo space". And it's not like the Ferengi have any holograms to put aboard (and no Treaties to share them with others). We know the Ferengi have holo-technology from Quark's holo-suites, but there's no other proof. It's not blatantly wrong, but I would have liked something more to do with their mysterious weapons or something (a special download of the Plasma Energy Burst maybe). Ho-hum... 3.
STOCKABILITY: That's a mighty big ship, and one you can download via Spacedoor, or seed via the Ferengi Trading Post. Then, it's just a matter of staffing it quickly by any means necessary, and there's nobody like the Ferengi for quick reporting. Whether they do it through conventional means (AMS, Quark's Isolinear Rods, Defend Homeworld, etc.) or more Ferengi-specific ways (a nearby Quark's Bar, for example, which makes the ship dockable at the Nor later in the game, usually in combination with Ferengi Conference or Brunt's Shuttle ferrying personnel to it). Though the Ferengi don't find battling as profitable as the Klingons or Dominion, this ship is still pretty good at it. Two Tactics can specifically be used with it, including the more powerful Plasma Energy Burst with its debilitating EM bursts. No matching commander though, so none of those necessary (these days anyway) attribute enhancements. I'm less enthusiastic about the special equipment. The Tractor Beam will find use in combination with the various shuttles, but the Holodeck is virtually useless without any Ferengi holograms. I say "virtually" because there are Non-Aligned holos and you could always Bribe the Feds to attempt and solve Tarchannen Study which REQUIRES a Holodeck, but that's it. A good ship that adds to the Ferengi's already considerable speed, but not truly "their speed" (if you'll pardon the pun). A 3.6.
TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) The baseline "turtle" does okay for itself.
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