Major Rakal's Romulan Review #71
03/13/99
Aefvadh! For a long time, players wondered when the Romulans would hit the magic number of six skills for a single personnel. The Federation had Jean-Luc Picard, the Klingons had Mogh, the Bajorans had Kira Nerys and the Non-Aligneds had Galen and even a seven-skilled Lore. The Sisters of Duras didn't quite fill the bill (two personnel with four skills each on one card don't quite make an eight-skilled Romulan). But he's finally here, in The Dominion expansion, the first true six-skilled Romulan...
SENATOR VREENAK
Romulan Personnel, unique, rare
Integrity 7, Cunning 8, Strength 5
V.I.P.: Diplomacy, Tal Shiar x2, Anthropology, Leadership, Law, [SD] Any Romulan treaty
"Vice-Chairman of the Tal Shiar. Secretary of the War Plans Council. Key Romulan senator for over 14 years. Negotiated non-agression pact with the Dominion."
Vreenak has a host of useful skills. Diplomacy and Leadership are required for plenty of missions and dilemmas, passing Q-nets and the like. Too often I've been stuck at a Shaka with only one Diplomacy in my Away Team, because few of the available Romulan diplomats were generally useful enough to warrant a slot in my deck; with Vreenak on hand it's much more likely I'll be able to pass it.
Anthropology has tended to be an overlooked skill because until recently it was useful to the Romulans for only one mission (although a 40-point one) and as a secondary way to pass a couple of dilemmas, and because the available Romulan Anthropology just wasn't very good for anything else. The addition of a second 40-point Romulan mission (Intelligence Operation) requiring Anthropology makes this skill suddenly appear much more useful, especially when found on a personnel who has so much else going for him. And don't forget that there are a number of Klingon and Federation missions requiring Anthropology as well; with Vreenak's Tal Shiar skill allowing you, with Plans of the Tal Shiar, to play Espionage cards for free, you can easily build an Anthropology deck around this man.
So far, Senator Vreenak is the only Romulan source of Law skill. Now you can fit Extradition into your Romulan capture deck, nullify Framed for Murder and overcome Vendetta. The first personnel with Tal Shiar x2, Vreenak is perfect for Espionage Mission (and three others), as well as enabling those Plans espionage decks and HQ: Defensive Measures attacks on a Romulan opponent.
If you like treaty decks, Vreenak is a must-have. His special download gets you one treaty download per game, plus he lets you play the Romulan/Dominion treaty for free. If you take advantage of theseedability of the Romulan/Cardassian treaty, you can have three treaties in play without ever using a card play.
Don't overlook his attributes. INTEGRITY of 7 is very rare for Romulans, and his lack of Treachery means you can boost him to 8 with D'Tan. His CUNNING is above average even for Romulans; only his STRENGTH is lacking, so take care to keep him out of battle at all costs.
He's easy to get into play, too. Report him to Guest Quarters on any Nor, report him for free at the Office of the Proconsul or download him to a facility with Going to the Top. In fact, I can't think of a single reason *not* to include Vreenak in any Romulan deck.
The Major's Combos:
- Senator Vreenak + Plans of the Tal Shiar + Espionage Mission: To solve this mission you need an Espionage: Romulan on Federation card and Tal Shiar x2. Senator Vreenak gives you both in one convenient package.
- Senator Vreenak + Major Rakal + New Contact: Always tempting at 40 points, New Contact seldom made it into my decks because the Anthropology was so hard to get. With Vreenak you have no reason *not* to have Anthropology around, and he even has a decent backup in Ruwon. Add Major Rakal for Empathy and you ahve an easy 40 points.
Jolan tru,
Major Rakal
(Kathy McCracken)
Star Trek CCG Intelligence Officer and Tal Shiar Agent
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Major Rakal's Romulan Review #71 ... Major Rakal ... [3/13/99 19:43]
