Empok Nor
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| Empok Nor |
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For my first review in this series on cards that most impact the Klingon affiliation I have chosen to do the one I believe is the second best card for Klingons and the best card all around that doesn't have an affiliation icon. So let's take a look at Empok Nor.
I am sure most of you can think of several ways you can use this nearly forgotten station of the Cardassian Union no matter what affiliation you are from. My feeling is that this card should have on the side indicating the station is fully operational the colors of the Klingon Empire. But before I get to that let's take a look at how other affiliations can use it.
Let's start of with the Bajorans as I have a soft spot for them. This will be short as I think they benefit the least from Empok Nor. Empok can be used if you are worried that your opponent will use Garak's Tailor shop on you but that is about the extent of uses. You are probably better off using Deep Space Nine. Bajoran's have to seed it during the dilemma phase so they will always be guaranteed that a Cardassian opponent will be out of luck if they wanted to use Terok Nor. Especially with Sisko 197 Subroutine there is no reason for them not to use DS9. Empok Nor would take up a seed slot which is better used for something else. Also Bajorans can't Process Ore so there isn't much need for a second station. I recommend that you try to commandeer Empok Nor if your opponent seeds it, otherwise stick to DS9.
Cardassians also have no reason to use it. Cardassians have access to Terok Nor and the universal Nor which has no limit to the number you can seed. If you want to double ore process use two universal Nors. It will take you several turns to get both up and running as it is. You won't need the extra headache of trying to commandeer Empok. You may have better luck trying to beat your opponent to Empok Nor when he seeds it by using Sleeper Trap. Be careful doing this though as a well prepared player can easily get around this dilemma if he is planning on using Empok Nor. My recommendation is to stick to the universal Nor and not mess with Empok Nor.
The Borg have no use for Empok Nor either. Borg can't seed it as it is not of the Borg Affiliation. Even when an opponent uses it they can't commandeer it and they can only assimilate it as part of Assimilate Planet or Assimilate Homeworld. The Borg basically ignore Empok Nor as such things are irrelevant.
The Dominion might try to use it as they have some uses for it. First off the Dominion can Process Ore. Empok Nor is there way to have that without having to rely on our opponent. Secondly the special download you get for Empok Nor when it is commandeer is very useful. You can download to Security Office a Jem'Hadar Disrupter and Disrupter Rifle. If you can get a couple of Founders, one with Transporter skill, you can do a lot of damage to your opponents personnel. With access to Strike Three and two Founders with Transporter Skill and Invasive Beam in you can frustrate your opponents plans while you build your personnel to attempt missions. Your founders with probably have strength of about 13 or so and can start taking out personnel at an outpost. Oops your opponent can do little more than report personnel to be killed. This taken into consideration it still takes a while to get the Dominion up and running and you still have to get a ship with a couple of founders to the Alpha quadrant and then get Process Ore up and running. This will take a while and you still can't report or download personnel with gamma quadrant icons to your Empok Nor. Probably your not going to want to mess with Empok Nor. While your working on getting personnel to the Alpha Quadrant you may loose it to an opponent not wanting you to have the Nor for your Dominion to use. As I see it the benefits don't outweigh the risk and the time it would take to get it up and running.
The Federation can certainly take advantage of some of Empok Nors benefits. Currently it is the only reliable way for the galaxies good guys to get a Nor. The ability to download personnel is something to look seriously look at and they have two personnel that are AMS with computer skill, Reginald Barclay and Christopher Hobson. Having two gives you some versatility, one is an Engineer the other is an Officer. Chris well help get lots of stuff in play on the first turn. Team him with Benjamin Maxwell and you can download an Admiral with Going to the Top. Get Admiral Riker, download an Enterprise and you still have another personnel you can play maybe Tasha with a good draw or a Q-Tent and Friendly Fire won't be a problem. Want to Visit Cochran Memorial after you have commandeered, well go with Barclay. Unfortunately the Federation cannot make full use of Empok Nor. You can't process Ore and the best ships for a Fed armada can't be reported or downloaded to Empok. One solace here is that you can download the U.S.S. Bozman, U.S.S. Defiant U.S.S. Sutherland, U.S.S. Stargazer and the U.S.S. Pheonix as well as a Nebula or two. So you could have download an armada but you still need to staff them with two personnel per ship. I have never tried such a Federation armada but it might be worth go. Empok Nor greatly benefits the Federation but you just cannot make full use of all that Empok Nor has to offer. My recommendation is to use it if for no other reason than to get the ability to download the personnel you need to overcome dilemmas especially if you combo it with Full Planet Scan or Scan and these days who isn't using them with all of those really nasty combos.
The Romulans also have a lot to gain using Empok Nor. They too have matching personnel with Computer Skill in Palteth and access to no other Nors without relying on your opponent to seed one. Unlike the Federation they can Process Ore and take advantage of the personnel download. Romulans on as a whole have better skill mix on their personnel which makes the download that much more effective. Palteth is also an Engineer so you can be processing ore on turn three. Commandeer on turn one. Download Process Ore to Ore Processing Unit on turn two and you are in business. There is just one little flaw with the Romulans and Empok Nor. Outside the Cha'Joh/Sisters of Duras there are no ships that the Romulans can download to Empok Nor with matching commanders. Any attack fleet the Romulans will want to build will require D'deridex ships and they all need 3 personnel to staff meaning you will have to use Docking Pylons. Still the Romulans make out better since they can Process Ore. If you are playing Romulan you may want to consider using Empok Nor. You have a lot of benefits to take advantage of. However in my opinion you can't take advantage of Empok Nor's full potential.
This leaves us with the Klingon's. You might be thinking that they make out about as well as the Romulans do. Well let's take a look at what my people can do with Empok Nor. First off like the Romulans, Klingons can Process Ore. They also have lots of AMS personnel that can allow you to start process ore right away. Gorath, Kromm, Kle'eg, Atul and K'Tesh all can activate process ore although you will need something to project K'Tesh's image into Ore Processing Unit. But what about the Computer Skill? After all Klingon's don't have a matching AMS Computer Skill personnel. However they can use Narik who has computer skill and as long as a Klingon is in the away team when Empok Nor is commandeer you still have a Klingon Station ready to process ore. All you need is to team up one of the 5 AMS personnel I have listed. I recommend Atul as will help you get by Garak has some issues as he and Narik have cunning of 7. Kromm works well if you use Mining Survey for your mission to seed Empok Nor at because of the need for Physics. Also there is another way to get Computer Skill on the first turn. Download Mercenary Vessel using a Spacedoor then Tent for a Ready Room Door and then download Baran to his ship. You are probably using him anyway, as he is a good source of Exobiology and Archaeology for the Klingons. He also fits into a matching commander battle deck. Baran is a good backup for Computer Skill in case you loose Narik. Actually Baran fits in with other affiliations for all the same reasons he does with Klingon. At any rate with these two you can still commandeer Empok Nor on turn one, download Process Ore on turn two and be up and running on turn three. On top of all this which alone makes Empok Nor worth including in your deck you have the ability to download many more ships than other affiliations. Klingons have 4 ships with matching commanders that can be downloaded to Docking Ports at a Klingon controlled Empok Nor. I.K.C. Pagh, I.K.C. Hegh'ta, I.K.C. Rotarran, the Cha'Joh and as many universal K'Vorts as your heart desires and you get the benefit of having a quick way of getting Martok in play for another +2 Weapons on each Klingon Ship. Now the real kicker you can have an armada with weapons of 47 to 50 by turn 6. How is that possible? Well let's take a look.
Turn one: You need to either play one of your ships with a matching commander or download the Mercenary Vessel. With a little luck you will have either the Pagh or Hegh'ta as both Kargan and Kurn have Computer Skill. Tent for a Ready Room Door and play it to get the ship in play's matching commander. Take Atul and Narik to Empok Nor which you have kept close by seeding your Klingon Outpost with Spacedoor within 7 span of Empok Nor. Dock at docking ports and proceed to Ops. To overcome Sleeper Trap have a Computer Crash seeded as Sleeper Trap says may download. This dilemma is still discarded even if they can't download. To overcome Garak has some issues send Narik to be dilemma bait. With Cunning of 7 there are very few personnel in your decks he will be killing with all those matching commanders. You'll just have to wait out Friendly Fire if you hit it and Narik's loss here won't be that bad. If you commandeer don't forget you can download sites and equipment. If you do use them put them in your tent, you are going to need the Ready Room Door that is on top of your draw deck;-).
Turn Two: Assuming Empok Nor is yours. Download Process Ore to Ore Processing Unit as your card play. Move Atul to Ore Processing Unit and Draw a card. You now have the Ready Room Door back in your hand.
Turn Three: Process Ore. Download the I.K.C. Rotarran to Docking Ports as your card play. Play Ready Room Door to download Martok to his ship.
Turn Four: Process Ore. Guess what you have the Ready Room Door back in your hand. Download the Cha'Joh as your card play and play Ready Room door to download the Sisters of Duras to their ship.
Turn Five: Process Ore. Well what do you know you drew a Ready Room Door again. Download the I.K.C. Hegh'ta as your card play. Play Ready Room Door to download Kurn to his ship. If you have a ways to go to a target or there is an easy mark with shields of 32or less launch and start moving in for the kill.
Turn Six: Process Ore. Can you believe your luck your drew a Ready Room Door again. Download Captain's Log and protect it with the Ready Room door if you like. At this point even if you have had to use the Mercenary Vessel you have weapons of 47. Attack and destroy Outposts, ships and anything else you see as a threat. With a little seeding luck you just finished off an outpost and are ready to move on to that HQ if one is in play.
This first time I did this an opponent he stared in disbelief. When he realized how it was working he all but surrendered because there was nothing he could do as he only had one ship in play that he could staff before his outpost was destroyed.
Now that you see how it works you know why I believe that Empok Nor gives the biggest and most benefits to the Klingon Player. No other affiliation can do what I just laid out for you. They all have access to different parts of it but no one else can do it this way. Hopefully for you Klingon players I have giving you a new way to play your favorite affiliations. To those of you who have never tried Klingon's because you thought they were not fast enough maybe you have enough appreciation for them to give them a try.
Qapla'!
Koloth
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Koloth. This page last updated on May 23, 1999. |
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