Taibak Takes On: U.S.S. Defiant ... Taibak ... [3/20/99 18:45]

*Tal Shiar Warning: Contains reference to info on Blaze Of Glory mentioned on Radio Free Decipher. If you don't want to read the small, enclosed spoiler, slight though it is, run.*

Aefvadh!

I know it's been a while, but I've been busy. Thanks to the mental salvation provided by Spring Break, I finally have time to crank out another issue of TTO. And now, my first issue by request...

U.S.S. Defiant

Federation ship
Defiant Class
NX-74205. Built to battle Borg. Recomissioned to oppose the Dominion. First ship to test ablative armor and quantum torpedoes. Captained by Benjamin Sisko.
Command, Command
Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam (may not carry ships aboard except shuttlepods).
RANGE:8, WEAPONS:10, SHIELDS:9

The long awaited Federation warship itself. While still a fine addition to the growing Federation fleet, a second look reveals that in many ways it loses some of its shine.

First off are those two command stars. While usually that won't be a problem in your average Federation deck since just about every decent Federation personnel and their grandmother seems to have a command star, with Wesley, Scotty, Bashir, and the FC Bridge Crew being the notable exceptions. However, there are times when getting that second command star can be a pain. The underrated U.S.S. Nebula requires only a command star and a staff star to staff. The loss of two points of WEAPONS between the Defiant and the Nebula isn't that big a deal since battle isn't a part of the overwhelming majority of Federation decks out there, while the loss of one point of SHIELDS being easily overcome by a Plasmadyne Relay, or Metaphasic/Nutational Shields. Still not convinced? Bear in mind that a large number of the Federation grunts don't have a command star, but do have staff stars. If redshirting in space is a fundamental part of your Federation space strategy, the Defiant is slightly too hard to staff with expendable personnel. Runabouts, and even Nebulas, Excelsiors, Oberths, and Mercenary Ships can be more useful in that respect.

Unquestionably, the area where the Defiant shines is in battle. While more feasible than ever, battle is still a somewhat limited strategy for the Federation as it requires either luck or a higher level of deck commitment than a Bajoran or Klingon battle deck. You either need to get lucky and have your opponent play Borg, play Klingon and be using Admiral Riker, or play Dominion and be using Admiral Leyton. Or, you can use the Triple Treaty to eliminate battle restrictions, but lose access to Q's Tent and the Q-Continuum. Blaze Of Glory potentially makes the Triple Treaty's prohibition on side decks more troublesome because of the battle side deck. Plus, a lot of players overlook the possibilities of a Runabout armada. The K'Vort theory of economics lets the Runabouts shine in battle, and the Rio-Grande even has Sisko as a matching commander! Conundrum works, but it's a one shot deal and can easily be passed if you have a fairly good sized crew aboard. Incoming Message - Attack Authorization is also tough due to the lack of quality Federation personnel with Treachery. Memory Wipe works but, like the Message, is limited to one ship only.

The Defiant's special equipment also limit its usefulness in certain decks. The Cloaking Device isn't that big a deal, IMHO, since there's very little one can actually *do* while cloaked. Plus, judging by all the questions that have been floating around about Engage Cloak and Tachyon Detection Grid, the Grid may be making a comeback. The Tractor Beam is nice, but unless Radioactive Garbage Scows are a part of your opponent's strategy or your own it won't see much use. However, the Defiant lacks a Holodeck. If you're using lots of holos, a Galaxy or Nebula class ship is a much better deal. Plus, it won't help you at all if you're trying to solve Tarchennan Study (or for that matter, Test Propulsion Systems), a vastly underrated Federation mission, IMHO.

There it is. The Defiant is in many ways one of the best Federation ships out there, but it isn't exactly the end all and be all of the fleet. The often overlooked Runabouts and Nebulas can do more or less the same job at a fraction of the cost.

Taibak