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| Siskoid's Rolodex #371 ... Siskoid ... [11/21/99 12:19] |
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[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). I successively do Premiere, Alternate Universe, Q-Continuum, First Contact, Deep Space 9, The Dominion, Blaze of Glory and finally some Premium card. Comments always welcome.]
#371-Bat'leth, Equipment, BoG "Traditional blade weapon of the Klingon warrior. According to legend, the first bat’leth, or 'sword of honor,' was forged by Kahless the Unforgettable some fifteen centuries ago." -Each of your Klingons present is STRENGTH +2, and in each battle one of them may mortally wound one adversary they just stunned. (Cumulative.) PICTURE: Much better than a prop shot, I'm glad they chose a "bearer" for the Bat'leth, and one of the most honored Klingons in the Empire too - Koloth. The colors are a little lame in the background and the image is slightly blurry, but I still give this one a 3.5. LORE: Definition, translation, origins. Good stuff at 3.5 again. TREK SENSE: Okay, so it's a hand weapon like many others (+2 STRENGTH, cumulative), so it has the same problems as others of its ilk - are we to understand that one Bat'leth gives everyone a bonus? or that one card represents a batch of bat'leths, and in multiple, Klingons are wielding more than one sword? This issue stands unresolved, and is even less sensical with melee weapons than it was with disruptors and phasers. Of course, with only Klingons being able to use the Equipment, we skip around the problem of "anybody can press the trigger" inherent in many other weapons. Bat'leths are all about skill, and most outsiders can't use them effectively (good thing we have a Klingon Jadzia, or else I'd be screaming). Of course, I can't argue with the bonus to STRENGTH (that's what weapons are made for), and the new stun-to-mortal wound conversion is cool, as there's no stun setting on a sword. We've often seen Klingons use a move that knocks someone to the ground and only then does the bat'leth come down for a killing blow. Why can only one from the war party kill a stunned man? Is that to say there really is only ONE Bat'leth? Here, the cumulative would make sense. But not in the other case. Okay, hits a 3.3. STOCKABILITY: One more hand weapon the Klingons can report to Empok Nor, among other places, the Bat'leth can't be used by Non-Aligned or allies under Treaty, but CAN still be used by Klingons otherwise affiliated, like Worf and K'Ehleyr. The bonus is your regular +2, but you also get a nifty stun-to-mortal wound option that'll kill you more personnel for your military budget dollar. Since Klingons are pretty strong (and you add a +2 for each sword), you'll usually be able to stun a large portion of the enemy. Ooops, they're dead. Well, one is dead for every Bat'leth you have present. For solving missions and passing dilemmas, the +2 to STRENGTH is just as useful as Disruptors, but only if you left the NAs at home. It's also necessary for the real easy universal mission Bat'leth Tournament, and counts as a hand weapon for a number of cards. And it's downloadable by two cards, Blood Oath and Koloth, for even easier access. I'd include it in Klingon decks for flavor alone if it wasn't this good. A 3.9. TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) Good for Klingons attack party decks mostly. COMPARISON CHART Echo Papa 607 Killer Drone - 15.2 (76%) Assimilation Table - 14.2 (71%) Bat'leth - 14.2 (71%) Anti-Matter Pod - 12.7 (63.5%) Cardassian Disruptor Rifle - 12.6 (63%) Bajoran Phaser Rifle - 11.5 (57.5%) Bajoran Phaser - 10.3 (51.5%) Cardassian Disruptor - 9.8 (49%) I.P. Scanner - 8.6 (43%) Cardassian PADD - 7.7 (38.5%) Bajoran PADD - 7.2 (36%) Dominion PADD - 4.4 (22%) Siskoid (sot of honor) Tomorrow on Premiums: Tau Ceti blues. |
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Siskoid's Rolodex #371 ... Siskoid ... [11/21/99 12:19]
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