The Bajoran Affiliation

With the Deep Space Nine expansion set, there are a lot of questions as to what the set contains, what it's based on, and so forth. We hope this article will answer some of those questions by taking a piece of the set to concentrate on: the Bajoran affiliation.

Why the Bajorans?
To some people, the Bajorans seem unexciting. One person on the bulletin board even asked, "The Bajorans? Do they even have any ships?" Of course they do! The Bajoran freighter, for example, is seen in every episode in the credits. They have at least four other ship classes, three of which are in this set.

Thematically, the Bajorans have a lot going for them. Their devout nature gives them an advantage in using Orb artifacts and other symbolic Event and Interrupt cards. Their experience gained during the Cardassian occupation gives resistance fighters bonuses in battle. The concentration of the show around the Bajorans gives them a lot of flexibility in card selection (especially missions), and their proximity to the wormhole grants easy access to the Gamma Quadrant.

Designing the Bajoran affiliation was a challenge, because they are so flexible. The end result is a pleasant mixture with something for everyone; some cards tuned for battle, some cards with great skill selection for attempting missions, and some cards for theme decks. Undoubtedly, some of the themes will be powerful and popular, especially in tournaments. The best decks will include a balanced mixture, able to adapt to any circumstance.

What's Cool
Deep Space 9 itself, the station which the show is centered around, is a Bajoran station. By using the seedable Federation/Bajoran treaty, for example, the station can be made available to other affiliations. The station provides ways of reporting cards, conducting forays to solve missions and return to file reports and pick up other crew members, and to perform some interesting deck resource management such as recycling cards. For all of these reasons, Bajoran decks will often make use of Deep Space 9 as a base of operations.

During seeding, missions in the same region of space are inserted next to each other. This gives the Bajoran affiliation an advantage because of the five new missions in the Bajor Region. Often, your opponent will seed missions so that your missions are not adjacent, since increasing the distance will often increase the time it takes for you to solve them. A Bajoran deck which uses three or more Bajor Region missions will not be as susceptible to this strategy.

Bajorans have other mission selection advantages in the Gamma Quadrant. Because most of these missions are solvable by the Bajorans, and because of the proximity of the wormhole, it will be natural for Bajoran Gamma Quadrant foray decks to develop. It can take a bit more time to travel back and forth between quadrants, but using new objective cards in this set grants a return on this investment by giving extra points and card draws. (Also be sure to check out the Wormhole Navigation Schematic interrupt which speeds up wormhole travel).

Finally, the Bajorans have some great new "mains." These characters are definitely personnel to have!

Hot Cards
It's tough trying to be selective and not choose the entire set for a "hot" list. Every single card, especially the rare cards, has its appeal. For these reasons, making a list for the Deep Space Nine expansion set is extremely subjective. Ask again tomorrow and you would probably get a different list! Nevertheless, here are some of my favorite cards, for you to look for in your own starter decks and expansion packs:

Anara

universal personnel with Transporter Skill.

Bajoran Civil War

downloads personnel to fight with, and also allows your Bajorans to attack opposing Bajorans.

Bajoran Interceptor

a universal ship that is RANGE 9 within the Bajoran Region - and it has built- in landing capability!

Bajoran Wormhole

most of the Gamma Quadrant missions are solvable by the Bajorans, and this is the most efficient way to get there; it also happens to be in the Bajorans' back yard.

Bareil Antos

excellent mix of skills.

Deep Space 9

need more be said?

Duranja

Bajoran spiritual flame that grants bonus points.

HQ: Return Orb to Bajor

objective that results in extra points, card draws and an Orb artifact.

Kai Opaka

protects Orb artifacts from destruction (there are two in this set, along with the Orb of Prophecyand Change found in the 1st Anthology, with more to come in future sets).

Kira Nerys

flexible mix of skills and a keystone for the Bajorans.

Mysterious Orb

artifact that allows you to relocate your choice of your opponent's personnel to the far side of the galaxy.

Odo

this changeling helps in a number of ways, and introduces a brand-new skill to the Star Trek CCG!

Orb Experience

interrupt that allows you to look at literally any card in the game.

Renewal Scroll

an event usable only by the Bajorans, allowing extra card draws.

Rinnak Pire

a universal matching commander for any universal Bajoran ship.

Shakaar Edon

this resistance fighter boosts the STRENGTH of all Bajorans.

The Walls Have Ears

allows you to report Odo without taking up your card play, and directly to an opponent's ship.

By: Sandy Wible
Game Designer
Star Trek Customizable Card Game
date: 24 June, 1998