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Galen: Jean-Luc Undercover
02/99 - Kevin Coleman
A six skilled non-aligned personnel (Archaeology,
Computer Skill, Treachery, Leadership, Navigation and Music) that can fit into
almost any deck, Galen is a great card, indeed (after all, he is Jean-Luc Picard).
Galen's combination of Leadership, to initiate battles, and Computer Skill, to
take over Ops, are perfect for decks based on commandereering stations. Being
a non-aligned Science personnel, Galen can be played directly to a Science Lab!
Galen's Navigation can be helpful in or against those dreaded Bad Lands decks.
While his Treachery skill can be useful in most Romulan and Cardassian decks.
If you're playing with the "one per universe" rule then you could play Galen simply
to prevent your Federation or Borg opponent from playing Jean-Luc Picard or Locutus
of Borg, since they are all the same persona.
Despite the fact that Galen's restriction box does not alllow him to work with
the Federation affiliation, he can still be a great asset in a Federation deck.
With the "Persona Replacement" rule, you can have your Jean-Luc Picard go undercover
by swapping him with Galen.
Why would you do that, you ask? I'll tell you: The first reason is simply to commandeer
your opponent's station. If your Picard and Federation away team occupy Ops, but
with no computer skill, swap Picard with Galen and take the station.
Report Galen to a Science Lab and then have him help dock a ship on a station
with his Computer Skill.
If you're playing a Federation treaty deck, say Federation/Klingon, then Picard,
as Galen, can lead a Klingon away team to capture the station and then commandeer
it with his Computer Skill. For an even greater insult, play a Baseball interrupt
and score 20 points.
Is the Borg trying to re-create Locutus by playing Assimilate Counterpart on your
Jean-Luc Picard? Well then, simply leave Jean-Luc on a planet and swap him with
Galen on your following turn. Now when Picard becomes Locutus, the Borg player
will not be able to play Assimilate Homeworld of Earth because Galen is not a
federation personnel. In addition, the Borg will not be able to benefit from Picard's
Officer-Classification, Diplomacy x2 skill and Honor skill, which the Borg can
greatly take advantage of.
Another way to baffle your opponent with Galen is in conjunction with the Impose
Order mission. If your opponent uses this mission and only leaves a single personnel
on the surface because you cannot attack him with Feds, Picard can go undercover
to do the dirty work! Beam down Jean-Luc Picard with a Phaser Rifle; your opponent
should look very confused at this point. Next turn, swap Picard with Galen and
initiate a battle. With his Phaser Rifle, Galen becomes a brutal Strength 9 and
should win the combat. Finally beam down an away team with an Officer and steal
your opponent's 35 points! The best part about this trick is just to see the look
on your opponent's face!!
I am constantly discovering new "sneaky tasks" for Picard to go undercover for,
and I'm sure there will be more combinations in future expansion sets.
Combos:
Galen + Science Lab + Ops (take your opponent's station!)
Jean-Luc Picard + Assimilate Counterpart + Galen (Thwart the Borg!)
Jean-Luc Picard + Phaser Rifle + Galen + Impose Order (Force planets into the
Federation in the name of "The Picard"!)
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