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. Let's talk Klingons. Klingons?! Doesn't look it! Oh, did I spoil a 55-year-old episode for you?
PICTURE: Fuchsia? It must be a TOS card! ;-) Actually, this card does pretty well for itself despite that sarcastic comment. There's a good color scheme at work, with the greenish gray found in the background, the suit and the five o'clock shadow. And that dark polka-dot patch behind Darvin can almost be seen as a mismatched shadow alluding to his being something other than he appears. A lot of respect for this choice. A 4.
LORE: Shortened lore often has trouble keeping its head above water. In this case, we get several titles for him. Not so redundant, this emphasizes that Darvin is living a dual existence. A 3.6 it is.
TREK SENSE: Definitely a Klingon infiltrating the Federation, that icon, and the others all make sense. Not any kind of commander, he's nonetheless had more training that any "assistant", so Staff is fair. And being from the 23rd Century, so are the TOS and AU icons. As an infiltrator, Treachery is a must, and I think it's fair to say he was probably in Klingon Intelligence, the Empire's little seen spy service. His specific sabotage was poisoning some grain, so Biology is perfect. His cover is quite Civilian, again, no problems. The special ability though, may be a bit too open to work properly. Let's see: On Station K-7 (where he worked), when a Klingon or Federation personnel reports (which means, I guess, he's either got someone to report TO or ABOUT), you get to draw a card. It all works until you get to the actual reward. How exactly does spy work translate into more resources? Well, in some cases, I see how it might - giving you the upper hand in negotiations, that kind of thing - but card draws can get you a lot of different stuff, much of which wouldn't work in this context. This isn't terrible mind you, just a little conceptual. And attributes? They look great. Integrity 3 represents his infiltrator status and unforgivable (though accidental) murder of hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent tribbles ;-). Cunning 6 shows how easy it was to expose him. And I think the tribbles also proved how wimpy he was for a Klingon (Strength 6). Gets him to a 4.
STOCKABILITY: A Klingon with an infiltration icon? You don't say. Once again, Federation security is breached, and this time, by someone who can use Klingon cards (though unfortunately not Honor Klingon cards) instead of shape-shifter cards as extra support. With that icon, you can report him to the Office of the President, or, with Homeward, simply to Earth. There, he can provide half the mission's requirements (not counting the Espionage card... too bad there aren't any Plans of Klingon Intelligence in the game). The other half can easily be provided by mission specialist Atul. Treachery and Biology will both be useful since they're found on many Klingon missions, but aren't quite as common as Diplomacy, Honor or Leadership (the last of which he can get with Defensive Measures). Among the infiltration cards you might want to have a look at including Dial Martok for Murder even if Arne's STRENGTH is pretty poor (still goes up to 10 of course), because as an AU, it can be effectively jacked up with Devidian Foragers for 2 clean kills. Add Council of Warriors for some extra points from this maneuver. Note too that he can't be exposed as easily as past infiltrators because he isn't impersonating anyone specific. Back to reporting: sure, you can report him as an infiltrator the usual way, but you can also report him to an AU or TOS ship via Crew Reassignment, and then there's Deep Space Station K-7 at the Sherman's Peak time location. There, he can report for free, and even infiltrate a Federation crew from there (since both the Klingons and Feds share living accommodations here). More than that, every time you or your opponent report an aligned card (be it personnel or ship), you get a card draw. Just through your own reporting, you can get as many as 3 card draws in a single turn without doing anything special (normal card play, free card play, TOS icon ship download). If your opponent is also running a TOS deck, say, Federation, you can get as many as 4 more (if they throw in a Lt. Sisko reporting for free to Captain Kirk). Ok, all of this won't (and can't) happen every time, but turn upon turn, you can get a LOT of card draws, and better deck management. On the bad side, the classification and attributes leave a lot to be desired (other than low-attribute rewards such as passing In the Pale Moonlight) and he can't use classic TOS equipment to any good effect. I say either use him as an infiltrator or as a card drawing engine by just leaving him to rot on K-7; elsewhere, he might be a liability. A 3.8.
TOTAL: 15.4 (77%) A good score for the one TOS Klingon who has a good reason not to look like a Klingon (lookin' at you, Kras!).
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