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. Moving right along to The Galileo Seven, the story spawned a trio of cards, including our first piece of Equipment...
PICTURE: This shot, taken from "The Galileo Seven", is as good as any, or better since it's an action shot rather than a prop shot (deadly especially for action-related hand weapons). We don't get much detail on the gun, but the pose is worth it and well composed. Identity of mystery shooter: Lt. Gaetano, who gave Spock so much trouble. A good 3.6.
LORE: I think "Classic Hand Phaser" would have been more in keeping with TOS terminology, but I do like the lore. The last part is a fun tidbit I already knew, but is cool nonetheless. Oh, and the crossover into the next century, while true, will cause problems for the card in the next category. A well-engineered 3.4 otherwise.
TREK SENSE: A lot of little details to cover. The first is what I just mentioned above. If the same model was used until the start of the 24th century, then Movie icon personnel should also be able to use it, and it should be able to report to their location. Only the Federation may use it, not even Non-Aligneds personnel here, which is as ridiculous as ever, since it's really just a matter of pressing the trigger. I accept it for reporting reasons, and I agree it works better without the NAs grafted on there to make us question that reportability issue. But since a hand weapon IS relatively simple to use, the OS icon-only limit is harder to swallow. You mean Riker or Worf couldn't figure out where the trigger was? The addition of Security into the mix is an interesting one, and one I'm glad they committed some ink to. After all, there are no Security PADDs or Security Tricorders (although I don't think these would be impossible looking at Odo's activities) or Security Kits (nahhh). Hand weapons were always dedicated to those Strength boosts and never tried to include the personnel classification most likely to use them. Well, they still don't, not really, but put a Phaser into someone's hand, and they can act as Security. Makes sense, though my feeling was the classification included more than just guarding doors or battling as a skill package. Hand-to-hand fighting, security locks and procedures... none of that would require a gun, nor would a gun help there. The choice of who to give it to (leaders) is sound though, since those are the personnel who can already initiate battle. They know a little about battling already (the tactical aspect), and could easily be turned into Security personnel. A 3.5.
STOCKABILITY: OS Federation decks (including Terran decks) will need hand weapons just like the rest of us. Yes, they can already use the modern equivalents, but the Classic Phaser is a better weapon for them. It gives the same cumulative STRENGTH bonus that the modern Type II does, but adds SECURITY to all your OFFICER and Leadership personnel. When you're working from a smaller personnel pool, every extra skill comes in handy. Terran decks even have the ability to ignore attack restrictions so they can use hand weapons more aggressively. In a mixed OS deck (Organian Treaty), you'll need a Federation personnel present to enable the card, but all OS personnel present will benefit from it, regardless of affiliation. If we stick to the Federation, I count a dozen OFFICERs (5 are Mirror, 1 is "modern") and Mr. Scott as a non-OFFICER Leadership personnel. He even downloads the Phaser specifically, as does Security Chief Sulu on the other side of the looking glass (he makes himself SECURITY x2). First Officer Spock might also use his special download for a weapon. Aside from the downloads, like any OS card, it has free report ability on K-7. Summing up, with the current situation of only 4 OS SECURITY Feds (3 of which are Mirror personnel), you'll definitely want a way to add SECURITY to your OS Away Teams. This is the way to do it, giving you a STRENGTH boost to boot. A good 3.8.
TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Why are the older models better than more "modern" ones?
Comments