Siskoid's Rolodex #117 ... Siskoid ... [3/13/99 11:07]

[Siskoid's Rolodex offers spot reviews of all the cards judging them by their less tangible qualities, searching for the elusive perfect card: their picture/graphics, lore, Trek sense and stockability. Each on 5 points (so on a total of 20). Mondays, I do Premiere. Tuesdays, AU. Wednesdays, Q-Continuum. Thursdays, First Contact. Fridays, DS9. And Saturdays, Premium cards. Sundays, I back-end the Premiere set from the Zs. It's so darn big, I do it twice! (At this rate, I should be done sometime in the next 4 years.) Comments always welcome.]


#117-Add Distinctiveness, Incident, Borg use only, Hidden Agenda, X points, Premium
-Seeds or plays on table. X varies, where X=number of skill icons on personnel you've assimilated as drones. Also, if you are behind by 40 or more points, once per game you may open a sealed First Contact expansion pack. Play or place in hand any or all non-seed cards in that pack (non-Borg cards are assimilated or stolen, as appropriate), then place the others out-of-play.

PICTURE: Real creepy. I don't know who makes the best zombie - the drone with its pasty skin and skeleton's rib cage, or the zonked-out crewwoman being led to someplace she can add her distinctiveness at. The lights of the corridor and arm-to-shoulder composition create real movement in the image. A very good 4.1.

LORE: N/A (score will be adjusted accordingly)

TREK SENSE: Great title by the way. So, what is "distinctiveness". Well, as afr as the game is concerned, "distinctiveness" is everything that makes a personnel different from another (and is relevant to the Borg). That would mean a personnel's skills. And since adding distinctiveness is one of the Borg's goal (and where there's a goal, there are points to be earned), it makes perfect sense to be giving out points for those additions to the collective. After all, Counterparts give the Borg 5points per skill dot, why not the rest of assimilated society? The second function is less deserving. It's fun, don't get me wrong, but somewhat wrong-headed. The first component is that you are required to be at least 40 points behind your opponent. Why? Game balance, of course, but that doesn't translate into Trek Sense. Next, it entitle you to (once per game) open a sealed FC pack, retrieve the 9 cards within, placing all relevant cards into your hand, as they are, assimilated (for Federation and NA personnel and ships) or stolen (for non-Borg equipment). Conceptually, this would represent the Borg adding the distinctiveness of a stray vessel or landing party. Problems: Why couldn't your opponent use those resources if they "existed" in the universe before then? How do Borg personnel, ships et al. figure into this, especially if they have the Delta Quadrant icon? What about unique personnel already on the table? The feature is all "Add" and no "Add Distinctiveness". Whimsical, but hurts the Sense score. A 3.7.

STOCKABILITY: Just about the only bonus points the Borg can go after, so it's quite worth it. It's not a whole of points (a mission specialist will only be worth 1 point, for example), but it can, in the right circumstances, offset the low point values of Borg Objectives. Since most are worth 25 points, Borg will usually have to complete four. That's a lot compared to your opponent's two or three missions. Do it right: Assimilate Homeworld for 40, Assimilate Counterpart for (let's be reasonable) 25, and a regular Planet Assimilation for another 25. Now, you're only missing 10 points. Notice that you got the chance to battle your opponent's personnel to grab a Counterpart. Throw in a lot of Talon drones and even Assimilation Tubules, and those points are yours. If you play your cards right, you don't even have to grab that great of a Counterpart. The second function isn't one I plan to see a lot of, but it's not a bad one. If you're 40 points behind (which may well happen if your opponent is playing a speed deck and you're stalled trying to staff your Cube in the Delta Quadrant), you can open a pack of First Contact and grab everything Borg in there, assimilating everything that isn't. Even better, you can play those cards right away! Given that there are very few seed cards in the FC expansion, you should easily be getting 5-9 usable cards in one swift move. What I really love about it, is that Add Distinctiveness doesn't discard after this function, meaning that personnel assimilated automatically will give you Bonus points, just like those you had to work for. Not necessary, but can be very useful... a 4.6.

TOTAL: 16.53 (82.67%) Enhanced First Contact has some beautiful, well-designed and powerful cards to offer, especially the Incidents. Look for more high scores in that category.


COMPARISON CHART

Adapt: Negate Obstruction - 18.4 (92%)
Assimilate Homeworld - 17.33 (86.67%)
Airlock - 17.3% (86.5)
Add Distinctiveness - 16.53 (82.67%)
Assimilate Counterpart - 16.53 (82.67%)
Alter Records - 16.5 (82.5%)
Alas, Poor Queen - 16.5 (82.5%)
Darmok - 16.4 (82%)
Assign Mission Specialists - 16.12 (80.6%)
Admiral McCoy - 15.7 (78.5%)
[...]
Zibalian Transport - 7.1 (35.5%)

Siskoid (distinctive enough?)