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. We end the first season with a card from its finale, Operation - Annihilate!
PICTURE: I like the colors on this one, always have. You get the reds, blues and golds of Starfleet uniforms, and the greens of surrounding bushes. It's also made me notice how terribly crude the flying jellyfish (or pancakes) really are. I mean, they were always terrible pieces of rubber tied to wires, but here you can plainly see the red veins drawn on the things, possibly with a felt-tip marker. Hilarious. At this distance from the characters, they appear much clearer than close-up shots pulled from the series, and the stances are all excellent. A well-framed 4.
LORE: Following that list of victimized planets, is it right to call these things "Denevan"? Otherwise, it's a good effort, with lots of backstory, but no solution, offered. That's a good way to approach a dilemma. Warrants a 3.4.
TREK SENSE: We basically get the Parasites attacking half the Away Team members and killing them outright, unless they, or someone else, shoot the creatures with a phaser, disruptor or Borg gun-arm (the phrasing on this last one implies that the Borg can't defend themselves if attacked, only save another Borg from harm). To me, that tells only half the story however. For example, what happens to the Parasites after the initial attack? They are apparently all killed offstage, or are sated and stop attacking. Since their weakness was bright light, there should be a "cure" for them of some kind which is missing from the game text. The attack is well staged however, though other hand weapons might have been considered, only focused light beams (particle weapons) really make a dent. A 3 for what's here.
SEEDABILITY: A strong killer, a weaponless Away Team will be cut in half by it. Leading up to the dilemma with weapon-removers like Common Thief is quite natural here. You'd also want to wall it off to make sure the biggest Away Team possible encounters it. Large Away Teams are less likely to have an appropriate number of hand weapons present than smaller ones (considering that a 4-personnel Team only needs 2 hand weapons to disregard the dilemma), and will suffer the most casualties. You might think the Borg have it a little easier since a third of their personnel have the [Def] icon (a bit more actually), but random selection might do you a favor and select them, thereby rendering their defense useless. Not surgically precise, but quantity rises above quality. At least 4.6 here.
TOTAL: 15 (75%) Part of a new, more powerful breed of dilemma.
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