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. The first time this meat & potatoes shot was seen was in "Conspiracy"...
PICTURE: The Federation Outpost may have one of the weaker pics for that card type. Maybe it's the Earth skies which are less exotic, but it's probably more due to there being no great building in focus on the card. Starfleet Headquarters, though not an HQ, is really off to the side and in shadow as tiny groups of people walk around an airstrip. This doesn't mean it generates no interest, though. What it sacrifices in dramatic flair, it makes up in detail - the craft being fuelled up to the left, actual people in the image, etc. There not being a very recognizable building may make it more universal (seedable anywhere), but it's still a ground facility where the rules state it should be in space. A standard 3.
LORE: I was gonna say Outpost lores are all the same, but that's not quite true. This one here doesn't list a homeworld, it says that Earth is merely a member. Of course, we know the whole truth, don't we? The rest is the same boring ol' lore, though. A 1.5.
TREK SENSE: The errataed Outpost game text (not shown here) is simpler but isn't really any better or worse with Trek Sense than the old one was. Now, like all Outposts, the original has some built-in problems. 1) Why can't you build one at home (i.e., on Earth, as per the rules)? Well, that's easier in a sense. It's what HQs are for. Except the pic shows us an Earth facility, where you're forbidden to play an Outpost. 2) They can be built in clearly hostile territory. Mission attemptability shouldn't mean Outposts can be built at a certain location. After all, how could the Feds actually build an outpost at Access Relay Station, a base in Dominion territory? And that's just one example. 3) How can a lone Engineer build an entire outpost alone? Some dilemmas require as much as 6 times that number of Engineers just to fix one shipboard problem, yet just one can build an entire facility? I don't think so. Non-problem areas are the Outpost's basic game function of reporting personnel, equipment and ships, deploying repair crew to FIX ships, and Shields that extend OVER ships. These here are set at 30, establishing a standard shield power for "peaceful" affiliations. Another 3 here, mostly thanks to the facility's basic nature.
SEEDABILITY: The Federation has plenty of other reporting options, so that it doesn't necessarily need the basic Outpost anymore, but it's still an old standby. Foregoing it, you'll have to use your Earth-based Headquarters (which allows opposing personnel to report and exposes you to Homeworld Assimilation), the Klaestron Outpost (which has dangerously low SHIELDS) or Crew Reassignment and plenty of AU personnel (but will you draw the Enterprise-C soon enough in the game?). In other words, there are ways around it (I've only mentioned a few, DS9 and Voyager have their own schemes, too), but usually, you'll seed or stock at least one copy. The Spacedoor only plays on an Outpost, not any other kind of facility, so that's something to keep in mind. Same goes for Assign Mission Specialists, Baryon Buildup and others. The SHIELDS aren't the best, but certainly aren't the worst. And the Feds have plenty of ENGINEERs around to build another if you lose the first one. A 4.5.
TOTAL: 12 (60%) Passing grade.
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