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. Keeping with the Klingons, our main dude shows up in the next sequence - Arrival to the Genesis Planet and capture of the Grissom team...
PICTURE: Kruge gets a good confident pic, though I do find it a bit overlit. It does gives us a chance to look at his costume, but the image isn't very artful at all. Solid, but disappointing when it comes to a character that had so much screen time. A 3.3.
LORE: In the first phrase, we get an Easter Egg, as Christopher Lloyd has also played Uncle Fester in the Addams Family movies, so is hate is "festering". The second part is more plot-driven, but uses his own words. Fun stuff at 3.6.
TREK SENSE: So we get the usual Officer/Leadership/Command icon combo... Indisputable, as is the Treachery and low Integrity in this time of villainous Klingons. The other two skills seem to be linked to the Genesis Device, which would require both to understand, though I'm not entirely convinced Kruge had this understanding. It's not explicitly said. anyway. The Physics might as well be another Easter Egg, this time referring to Lloyd's Doc Brown character in "Back to the Future". They're sensical, but unproven. Kruge has his own agenda to think of, his own little objective, and it's well covered by his special skill. Essentially, he wants the Genesis Device. If he has it (and it's on his ship), he's worth the points. There are problems with this, like the fact that stepping off that ship (while remaining in control of it) makes you lose the points. However, since he wants it to eventually reproduce it, using it should make you forfeit the points, no? He was outwitted by Kirk, so his Cunning should be below Jim's 9 (and is), but was just about a match for him physically (Strength 8). A couple of iffy things, and you drop to a 3.4 here.
STOCKABILITY: Kruge has the usual OFFICER/Leadership/Treachery of one subsection of Klingon personnel, together with some pretty useful, scientific skills and some fair attributes. Biology'll be good against Aphasia Device and the like (here not tied to a MEDICAL personnel), and Physics comes up fairly often on Klingon missions. He's also the matching commander of a ship, the HMS Bounty, which, in Klingon mode, he can raise to reasonable 9-9-9 levels with Plaque and Log. Oh, and there's his round-the-corner strategy, which simply requires him to have The Genesis Device aboard his ship to score the 15 points. I shouldn't say score, since he's only "worth" those points and can lose them. That's ok, just don't separate Kruge and the Device, and keep away from opposing ships coming to disrupt your plans. The Cloaking Device may well be enough to keep you safe, though Disruptor Overload is something to fear. The Genesis Device will have to be acquired, of course, or else Starry Night will. Either way, another strategy you can use is to have Kruge and Khan team up. With Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold, and the Device on the USS Reliant, you start 30 scoring points each turn. After the initial mission (say 30-35 points) and 2 turns (60 more points), you'd have 90-95 points and would have to wait yet another turn. But not with Kruge's extra 15! Makes that strategy a little faster, but you will need a Ceti Eel to keep him from discarding. Also, beware Intermix Ratio and The Big Picture. In other situations, using The Genesis Device may well be advantageous despite the 15-point bounty, since doubling a mission's points could net you more than 15 points. That takes a bite out of the special skill, really, making it slightly redundant. Overall, we've got a good personnel, but relegated to a niche. A 3.5.
TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) "Get out! Get out of therrrrrrrrrrrrrre!!!!!!!!!!"
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