U.S.S. Equinox
by Evan Lorentz (mot@decipher.com)

As seen on the show, the U.S.S. Equinox crew resorted to very different methods of trying to get home than the crew of U.S.S. Voyager. In the game, the Equinox can become the centerpiece of a very different kind of Federation deck.

One major asset is its tremendous RANGE. All you need is any "Equinox personnel" in the crew, and the ship's RANGE instantly rockets to 11. Among Delta Quadrant ships, it can only really be beat by loading up U.S.S. Voyager with all the Bio-Neural Gel Packs it can handle. True, there are several ships with matching commanders you can use with the Defiant Dedication Plaque, but then the Equinox also has a matching commander in Rudolph Ransom. In short, the Equinox has the run of the Delta Quadrant spaceline (and can also be an asset in any other quadrant if you find a way to get it there.)

Perhaps even more appealing is the ship's dual-affiliation status (shared by all personnel with "U.S.S. Equinox" in their lore). If you find the Federation attack restrictions too limiting, you can simply change the ship's affiliation to Non-Aligned, then initiate battle (provided there aren't still Federation personnel in the crew). For that matter, the Equinox doesn't even have to be part of a Federation deck. The ship and her crew will mix with anybody in Non-Aligned mode.

Combo:

U.S.S. Equinox + Caretaker's Array + Home Away From Home: Start the game off with the Equinox as your featured ship rather than the Voyager. Be sure to include plenty of Equinox personnel so you can start using that beefy RANGE early.