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"!)

Common Q Dilemma
+/- X points

Aefvadh! How about something for your Q-Continuum?

Opponent takes one personnel present (random selection) into custody (as a captive) unless you "post bail" by transferring X points to opponent, where X = the number of [red dot] icons in that personnel's skill box.

It's easy to think of dilemmas, events, and interrupts as affiliation- neutral as long as they don't say "If a Romulan ship is present..." or "Plays on a Klingon...". But the differences are often more subtle than that. Just how many of those little red dots can you expect to find on a random personnel card?

Mandarin Bailiff + Interrogation in Q's Tent: If they won't post bail, get some points anyway. Mandarin Bailiff + Major Rakal: 3 Romulan skills, only 2 dots. :)

Jolan tru,
Major Rakal
Tal Shiar

The Flash!
From Jason Winter : Q@decipher.com
December 1996

Strategies and tips for successful Q-Flash play

So, you got all those neat cards with a Q icon in the upper left hand corner and have no idea what they're supposed to be used for. Here are the two most basic instructions:

1. Get a copy of the Q-Continuum rules sheet. They're available on this web site, as well as from our EmailBack system. You can send mail to EmailBack@decipher.com with the subject QCRULES and you'll get them in a few minutes.
   
2. You cannot, in any way, play these cards from your hand. The only place you can put Q-Icon cards is in your Q-Flash side deck, and they only way they may be played is via this side deck. If you do manage to get one in your hand (with a Palor Toff, for instance), you still can't play them.

Ok, let's assume that you've read the QC rules sheet and you have those two basic rules down. The next question is "What do I put in there?" At first, just like with any card, you'll be tempted to put in multiples of cards you want to be sure of. But there is an extra complication with the Q-Flash.

A Q-Flash (meaning one instance of encountering a Q-Flash seeded like a dilemma) follows the same duplcation rules regarding multiple dilemmas. As you know, if you find the same dilemma more than once underneath a mission, the duplicate is discarded without effect. The same holds true for Q-Icon cards. If you encounter the same one more than once in one Q-Flash, the extras are discarded, and that's a "wasted" card. But if you really want to make sure that card comes up, you'll want extras. And you don't want to run out of cards either. A few general suggestions:

1. Go with about 10 Q-Icon cards per Q-Flash you intend to seed. This will keep your deck reasonably small while making sure that you won't run out.
   
2. Look for cards that enhance your deck strategy. Capturing decks can benefit from the High Sheriff of Nottingham and Mandarin Bailiff. Combat decks should look at The Issue Is Patriotism or Military Privilege (but never Into The Breach!). If your opponent plays a speed game, slow him down with Q's Planet or Subsection Q. The "Eliminator" deck features Penalty Box, Frigid and Guilty -- Provisionally. And, for sheer annoyance factor, load up your deck with Scottish Setters, You Will In Time, Penalty Box, and Lemon-Aid.
   
3. Stock about one of your "vital" cards for each 5 cards in your Q-Flash. Thus, if you are playing with a 30-card side deck, you would want about 6 of your main cards. Now, you're assured of getting one just about every time your opponent hits a Q-Flash, but you won't have much duplication.

Now that you know what to put in your side deck, the only remaining question is where to put the rest of your Q-Flashes. Since they work best when your opponent has many personnel, try setting up a combo involving a dilemma that requires many personnel. "Wall" dilemmas that require high attribute scores, such as Hologram Ruse, Shaka, Hidden Entrance, or Malfunctioning Door are good choices. Seed your Flash first, so that they will first encounter the dilemma. They will have to beam down a large Away Team to overcome it. Once they do, they'll be forced to continue and will be hit with the Q-Flash with at least five or six people in the Away Team.

That concludes our basic lesson on the Q-Flash. These strategies should get you started. In fact, I've only played a handful of games with Q-Flash side decks, so maybe you'll be able to suggest a few things I might have missed!

A Peek Inside Q's Tent 

Jenice

    Picture this game scenario: it's your opponent's turn, and they say one of the following phrases, either "tent choice" or "tent random".  Before you ask, they're not talking about camping equipment, they're attempting to play one of the most useful cards in all of STCCG.  It's a doorway card known as a "Q's Tent", and it comes from the Q-Continuum expansion of the Star Trek Customizable Card Game.  This card has three main uses, each of which will be discussed in this article.

    The lore on the Q's Tent card says the following: "Place one atop Q's Tent side deck (up to 13 different cards) during the seed phase.  Q's Tent is now open and in play."  What most players do when they stock their Q's Tent is put various kinds of cards in there in the hopes of being able to get them into play later on in the game.  Another popular strategy using the Q's Tent is stocking it with "downloadables", cards that can be downloaded via other cards.  An example of a "downloadable" is the Starfleet Type II Phaser, a card that be downloaded by the Tasha Yar Alternate personnel card.  Other good downloadable cards can include any personnel that can be downloaded by the Assign Mission Specialists objective card.

    The lore on the card continues with this: " OR Stock in deck and use as follows: Once per turn, play to take a card from tent into your hand, either your choice (discard doorway) or random selection (place doorway on top of your draw deck).  Must show card to opponent."   When you draw a Q's Tent from your draw deck,  it can be used in two important ways.  If you choose the "tent choice" part, you can take any card in the Q's Tent into your hand.  That's good because you can take any card you need that's important to your game strategy.  For example, if your opponent has a Horga'hn in play, you could "tent choice" for The Devil, the card that can nullify a Horga'hn.  On the other hand, if you decide on the "tent random" option,  the action is a bit different.  This time you just pick a number from 1 to 13 (or however many cards there are left in the Tent) and you take into your hand whatever card matches with the chosen number.  That's also good if you don't really have a preference as to what card you get when you use a Q's Tent card from your hand.

    Probably the most important sentence in the card's lore is the last one: "Draw no cards this turn."  That is extremely important to remember because many times people forget that and draw a card anyway.  The best thing to do in that situation is wait until near the end of your turn before you play the doorway.  A good example of doing this is playing a Kivas Fajo-Collector card (an event that lets you immediately draw three cards) before using the Q's Tent so you get to draw the cards before you're not allowed to.

    The Q's Tent doorway card can be very vital to your deck when you play STCCG...who knows when it will come in handy?  Hopefully, next time you play and see (or hear) your opponent play a Q's Tent, you'll better understand what the card is all about.

By: Kathy McCracken
Major Rakal (majorrakal@decipher.com)

Aefvadh! Let's take a look at a mission that looks like a real loser.

Rare Space Mission
Fed/Kli/Rom/Non, 15 points, Span 3
ENGINEER + Discard one Equipment card
Federation must attempt mission if present.

"Rhomboid Dronegar Sector: Respond to distress call from Pakled ship."

So what good is a 15 point mission? One that makes you discard something, and anyone can do it? And they had the nerve to make it rare!

Well, that little line of text under the mission requirements gives it away: like the Pakleds, this is primarily a nuisance to the Federation. But there are other ways that good Imperial citizens of both types can use this. Read on.

Obvious use: stall a Federation opponent. If they miscalculate and have to stop there, they must attempt the mission, facing dilemmas and Q-Flashes for a possible gain of only 15 points. I say possible, because a good Fed deck should have lots of ENGINEERs and MEDICALs, and isn't nearly as likely as Romulans or Klingons to be using typical equipment. To make it even more of a nuisance, leave an Anti-Matter Pod there.

How to get your Federation opponent there:

• Paxan "Wormhole" (relocate their ship if no android aboard; not so good since they probably have Data).
• Real Wormholes (drop them right on it).
• Subspace Warp Rift (they can choose between getting their ship damaged, or having to try the Snare). Requires strategic placement.
• Gaps in Normal Space (choose between getting someone killed, or the Snare). Requires strategic placement.
• Birth of "Junior" or Baryon Buildup to reduce their range till they can't get by without stopping.
• Or how about a really simple one--park your non-Fed ship there and play a Hail as they try to get by.

Dilemmas to Use: Anything that won't stop the crew, because if they get stopped they can leave on their next turn. Good candidates: Tarellian Plague Ship + REM Fatigue Hallucinations, Bendii Syndrome, Frame of Mind, The Higher...The Fewer (makes the mission even less worthwhile), Yuta, Nitrium Metal Parasites, Quantum Singularity Lifeforms (with a Romulan ship parked there). Or how about just a Borg Ship? A Q-Flash will also work if you're careful not to use Q-Continuum cards that stop the crew.

Not-so-obvious uses for Imperial citizens: Your opponent is not likely to load this with tough dilemmas. Feds won't want to chance getting stuck facing their own hard dilemmas, or worse, a Q-Flash; and no one will think it's worthwhile to do much booby-trapping of a lousy 15-pointmission. And Romulan and Klingon opponents aren't likely to spend their time trying to "steal" it. Plan on an expendable equipment card in your deck.

- "We are smart. We look for dilemmas. Dilemmas to get us points." Seed your own point dilemmas to make it worthwhile to do. Barclay's Protomorphosis Disease + Cosmic String Fragment + Nanites gives you a 40 point mission. Note that it has a yellow affiliation bar--your non-aligneds can do this one alone. - Easy mission for a Cryosatellite.

Or, use it as a decoy. If your opponent reads this review and does load it with dilemmas, that's fewer dilemmas for the missions you really planned to do.

The Major's Combos:

Samaritan Snare + a Fed opponent + Hail

Samaritan Snare + the listed point dilemmas

Jolan tru,
Major Rakal
Tal Shiar