02.1999

A six skilled non-aligned personnel (Archaeology, Computer Skill, Treachery, Leadership, Navigation and Music) that can fit into almost any deck, Galen is a great card, indeed (after all, he is Jean-Luc Picard).

Galen's combination of Leadership, to initiate battles, and Computer Skill, to take over Ops, are perfect for decks based on commandereering stations. Being a non-aligned Science personnel, Galen can be played directly to a Science Lab!

Galen's Navigation can be helpful in or against those dreaded Bad Lands decks. While his Treachery skill can be useful in most Romulan and Cardassian decks.

If you're playing with the "one per universe" rule then you could play Galen simply to prevent your Federation or Borg opponent from playing Jean-Luc Picard or Locutus of Borg, since they are all the same persona.

Despite the fact that Galen's restriction box does not alllow him to work with the Federation affiliation, he can still be a great asset in a Federation deck. With the "Persona Replacement" rule, you can have your Jean-Luc Picard go undercover by swapping him with Galen.

Why would you do that, you ask? I'll tell you: The first reason is simply to commandeer your opponent's station. If your Picard and Federation away team occupy Ops, but with no computer skill, swap Picard with Galen and take the station.

Report Galen to a Science Lab and then have him help dock a ship on a station with his Computer Skill.

If you're playing a Federation treaty deck, say Federation/Klingon, then Picard, as Galen, can lead a Klingon away team to capture the station and then commandeer it with his Computer Skill. For an even greater insult, play a Baseball interrupt and score 20 points.

Is the Borg trying to re-create Locutus by playing Assimilate Counterpart on your Jean-Luc Picard? Well then, simply leave Jean-Luc on a planet and swap him with Galen on your following turn. Now when Picard becomes Locutus, the Borg player will not be able to play Assimilate Homeworld of Earth because Galen is not a federation personnel. In addition, the Borg will not be able to benefit from Picard's Officer-Classification, Diplomacy x2 skill and Honor skill, which the Borg can greatly take advantage of.

Another way to baffle your opponent with Galen is in conjunction with the Impose Order mission. If your opponent uses this mission and only leaves a single personnel on the surface because you cannot attack him with Feds, Picard can go undercover to do the dirty work! Beam down Jean-Luc Picard with a Phaser Rifle; your opponent should look very confused at this point. Next turn, swap Picard with Galen and initiate a battle. With his Phaser Rifle, Galen becomes a brutal Strength 9 and should win the combat. Finally beam down an away team with an Officer and steal your opponent's 35 points! The best part about this trick is just to see the look on your opponent's face!!

I am constantly discovering new "sneaky tasks" for Picard to go undercover for, and I'm sure there will be more combinations in future expansion sets.

Combos:

Galen + Science Lab + Ops (take your opponent's station!)

Jean-Luc Picard + Assimilate Counterpart + Galen (Thwart the Borg!)

Jean-Luc Picard + Phaser Rifle + Galen + Impose Order (Force planets into the Federation in the name of "The Picard"!)

By: KEVIN COLEMAN