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. Coming of Age gave us four cards, starting with a mission that got an early correction (both presented)...
PICTURE: Most 2-player game missions are beautifully illustrated, and this one is no exception. The two spheres even seem to be having a rendezvous of sorts. And while the planet was never actually seen, the extrapolation looks good. The further a planet is from its star (and this one's a "IX"), the less hospitable it tends to be. The gas giant shown here fits the bill, with the actual trading center probably set on that yellowish moon. Good job! A 4.
LORE: Mission lore is always kinda boring, but I will say that the mission works well here for what little is known of Beltane IX (a major commercial center). And since there's nowhere else to say it, this card has one of the strangest typos in STCCG history: ENGINEERING? Sounds like a Site, not a skill. Of course, it's been errataed since, but if you were playing "by the book", you couldn't possibly solve the mission with the first string of requirements. Somebody sleeping on the job? A 3 in all.
TREK SENSE: First, the Ferengi really should be included among the affiliations able to attempt the mission. That they didn't exist back then, is neither here nor there. In fact, I find it kind of odd that the Romulans and Feds use the same trading center. There are really two possible requirement strings, the first for Feds and good Klingons, the other for Romulans and bad Klingons. The first one presupposes that, as seen in many episodes, the cargo is somehow hazardous in nature. Why else would Physics and ENGINEER be needed? Add to that the desire to make a fair and honorable trade (the Integrity), and you've got a Blue/Red mission. The other string (Red/Green) represents those who want to make an unfair trade, who perhaps want to cheat the receiver - Greed, Treachery and the Cunning to pull it off. While these make sense, they're not very specific. Discarding equipment, etc. could have made the card much closer to the truth. So not bad, but not great either. Having nothing to say about the Span and the point value, I'll go right to the score: 3.1.
SEEDABILITY: Eminently stealable with easy requirements, all three affiliations will have no problems going after its 35 points. Dangerous to use, then, and there are plenty of similar missions that are more affiliation-specific. Still, it's an easy 35 points. Scores 2.6.
TOTAL: 12.7 (63.5%) Shares a number of characteristics with other 2-player game missions: nice design, unimaginative game text and easy points.
Comments