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. Once the Ferengi ARE playable, Ferengi Attack becomes equipment...
PICTURE: While the pink sky has got to go, and the Ferengi are more than a little indistinct, the whip is dynamically used. A pretty cool action shot instead of a boring prop shot. The haphazard (alright, downright messy) composition keeps it at 3.4.
LORE: Mentioning it as a "hand weapon" outright would have been dull without the nicely qualitative "unconventional". The game text gets explained, as does, in a way, the reason why we rarely ever saw Whips after the first season of TNG. It's not canon or anything, nor is it anything but vague, but laughing at Ferengi is always in vogue, and I like what they've hinted at here. What's YOUR favorite idea of what those accidents were? A cool 4.2.
TREK SENSE: This hand weapon never killed anyone onscreen, so the stun effect makes a lot of sense. What don't are the regular issues associated with hand weapons. The one card representing any number of Whips is a problem, what with the stun function only working once per turn (per Whip). So is there only one Whip after all? I can see the bonus being shared by a couple of Ferengi, one hiding behind the other, but one Whip to 10 Ferengi works the same way. I remain unconvinced. The cumulative nature of the weapon is also in doubt, especially with the Whip being so difficult to wield. Imagine a Ferengi with a Whip in each hand. And it gets even more ridiculous when you imagine that same personnel with more than two. The idea that it IS difficult to wield is represented by the fact that only Ferengi may use it, excluded NA personnel. Agreed. There's more than just a trigger to find here. If these things really are that hard to handle, they don't really show it beyond that limitation though. Ferengi Civilians, for example, might have been forbidden to use them too. Hand weapons never really do well in Trek Sense, and even the good stuff here can't make the card rise above 2.8.
STOCKABILITY: Ferengi can certainly use a STRENGTH boost given that they're not the kings of that particular attribute. You wouldn't expect them to be aggressive attackers, but they do have incentives to be that way, like the 34th Rule of Acquisition. After each attack, you can download a couple of Gold-Pressed Latinum, which you can then trade in for downloading another weapon, making you even deadlier in future attacks. Not only does the Whip give each Ferengi +2 STRENGTH, but it also allows you to stun one adversary per battle, no matter its STRENGTH (per Whip). With enough Whips, you need not fear even the toughest of Jem'Hadar. Either you surpass them in STRENGTH already, or if not, you just stun them. What's good for offense is just as good for defense, and the Ferengi are usually pretty easy targets for aggressor species. It's certainly better than a Disruptor, but you might throw one in (if you need Diplomacy) or a Rifle (if you don't) just to be able to use Phaser Burns. It allows you to kill two stunned personnel, hehehe. They're not as universally required as disruptors or phasers, but they can still be dumped for points at Kressari Rendezvous. The Ferengi aren't weak, not when they can buy the right hardware. 3.8 for this one.
TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) Unwhippable!
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