Siskoid's Rolodex #132 ... Siskoid ... [3/27/99 11:31]

[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. Saturdays, The Dominion. And Sundays, Premium cards. Comments always welcome.]

#132-Admiral Leyton, Personnel, Federation, DOM
"Chief of Starfleet Operations. Misguided paranoid. Faked evidence of impending Dominion invasion and urged Jaresh-Inyo to place Earth under martial law."
-VIP, Leadership, SECURITY, Treachery; Allows your cards here to initiate battle against [Dom]; Command icon
-INTEGRITY: 5, CUNNING: 8, STRENGTH: 8

PICTURE: Leyton looking noble in defeat. He's obviously hurt, but refuses to renounce his choices. A good pic of him, if only a headshot. A 3.6.

LORE: Pretty good, all of it accurate. I'm not sure I like the phrase "misguided paranoid" though. Things are never that black and white. Note that "Admiral" in the title makes him reportable at Office of the President and by Going to the Top. Points will be attributed for that, bringing the total to 3.2.

TREK SENSE: There are two types of Admirals. The Fleet Admirals get to be OFFICERS, the desk jobs go to the VIPs. And Leyton is a desk jockey, no argument there. The rest of skills make sense too. Leadership since so many people were ready to follow him (I would have given him a x2 given the nature of his orders). He gets SECURITY because he is so security-conscious. Treachery... well, do I have to draw a picture? His special ability giving him carte blanche to attack the Dominion with any ships present works but, like most of these skills that let the Federation attack, is balanced in such a way as to defy Trek Sense. His beef is against the Dominion, true, but why can only cards "here" commit to the attack? Because only Earth was affected by his scheme? First, if the Federation and Dominion are at war, we don't need the excuse to have them battle. If they're not at war (as the battles restrictions would seem to imply), then Leyton's plans lead to it... and is war only going to be fought on the homefront? According to the episode, Leyton should even be able to attack the Federation itself! No mention here. The attributes are fine with Integrity at a middling 5 (he thought what he was doing was in the interests of Federation citizens, but the means left something to be desired), Cunning a Romulan-like 8 (came up with the plan) and Strength at a high 8 (not sure about this one, though he's pretty tough for an administrator). A 3.6.

STOCKABILITY: His mix of skills is unusual, most of it less than useful in solving missions and overcoming dilemmas (except the very good SECURITY). VIP will work with a number of cards, including letting him dock at or report to a Nor. Treachery can work with VIP on Attack Authorizations, or alone on mission theft. Leadership lets him initiate attacks. And his special ability, while only useful if your opponent plays the (for now) less than popular Dominion, lets him capitalize on it. A Federation battle deck in which Leyton, Kirk and Admirla Riker figure has a good chance of hitting SOMETHING. He reports for free on Earth with the appropriate HQ and his attributes are good. Another advantage (of sorts) is that a Dominion infiltrator bears his likeness. One of the good reasons to employ this kind of personnel is to remove the offending infiltrator when he or she shows up on your ship. All the infiltrators make excellent personnel for the Dominion, but with Admiral Leyton, you can report to Earth's Office of the President, expose Leyton Founder (who can, and probably did, report to Earth) and attack him right then and there with his special ability. Specialized, but not a bad apple: 3.9.

TOTAL: 14.3 (71.5%) Can't wait to see how the Leyton Founder compares. Gut tells me he'll do better, though.

COMPARISON CHART

Adapt: Negate Obstruction - 18.4 (92%)
[...]
Anti-Matter Spread - 14.8 (74%)
Captain's Log - 14.8 (74%)
Assimilation Tubules - 14.7% (73.5%)
Barclay's Transporter Pobia - 14.7 (73.5%)
Android Nightmares - 14.6 (73%)
Aldebaran Serpent - 14.5 (72.5%)
Admiral Leyton - 14.3 (71.5%)
Abandon Ship! - 14.2 (71%)
Assimilation Table - 14.2 (71%)
Assault Vessel - 14.1 (71%)
Brainwash - 14.1 (70.5%)
Wormhole - 14.1 (70.5%)
[...]
Zibalian Transport - 7.1 (35.5%)

Siskoid (misguided but not paranoid)