JUMPSTARTING WITH VIC FONTAINE

Please note that this article assumes that you are relatively familiar with Star Trek CCG gameplay, terminology, and abbreviations/symbols such as those used in the Glossary and Current Rulings. While beginners can benefit from this article, it is really more of a "toolbox" for intermediate players.

Vic Fontaine is one smooth singer, daddy-o. What a fantastic special skill: "May download a card if a dilemma just 'stopped' your personnel here (once per game per dilemma)." The challenge in using Vic's download is to maximize his effectiveness, and the best way to maximize his effectiveness is to accurately predict exactly when your personnel are going to be stopped. This jumpstart article describes several methods of jumpstarting with Vic Fontaine. Please note that all of these jumpstarts assume that you have a Holodeck Door in your opening hand, are rather seed-intensive, and depend on Q's Planet.

Husnock Module

This non-aligned module will work with any Alpha Quadrant deck as long as it contains one space mission with a [NA] icon. Seed a Husnock Outpost there with both a Husnock Ship and a Spacedoor. You'll also need Assign Mission Specialists, Assign Support Personnel, Defend Homeworld, and Temporal Micro-Wormhole. Your mission specialists need [Cmd] or [Stf] icons. Self-seed a guaranteed stopper dilemma (perhaps Altonian Brain Teaser) at your outpost mission, to be encountered first. On your first turn, use your regular card play to download a ship with the Spacedoor. It doesn't really matter what ship, as long as one of your mission specialists can staff it alone and attempt the outpost mission from it. Play a Holodeck Door from hand to download Vic Fontaine. Discard Assign Support Personnel to download Ty Kajada. Discard Defend Homeworld to download Anya, then special-download Salia. Download Dr. Telek R'Mor with Temporal Micro-Wormhole, discarding it if necessary to let Dr. R'Mor mix with your other affiliations later in the game. Staff the Husnock Ship with Ty Kajada, Dr. Telek R'Mor, and one of your mission specialists, with Anya, Salia, and Vic Fontaine aboard as passengers (note that the Husnock Ship has a Holodeck). Staff the little ship with your other mission specialist. Attempt your outpost mission from the little ship; your self-seeded dilemma will stop your mission specialist. Use Vic Fontaine to download Q's Planet. Your seeds there are (in encounter order) Armus--Sticky Situation, Punishment Box, and Dead End. Move the Husnock Ship to Q's Planet. Beam down Anya, Salia, and Ty Kajada. Anya is targeted by Armus--Sticky Situation due to her superior STRENGTH, but she is only stopped (not killed) because of Salia's Diplomacy and CUNNING; Vic downloads a card (choose based on what maximizes the effectiveness of the remainder of your deck strategy). Put Ty Kajada in the Punishment Box, stopping her; Vic downloads a card. Dead End stops Salia, and Vic downloads a card. Thus you get three Vic downloads on your first turn. Just make sure you use them efficiently. Of course, if your opponent seeds three cards at Q's Planet, you might not get all three guaranteed. There are always risks.

Federation Module

Although this is a Federation module, you'll need a space mission with a [NA] icon to pull it off. Samaritan Snare isn't a good choice because of the compulsory attempting, so that pretty much leaves Study Cometary Cloud. Seed a Husnock Ship at that mission, with both a Husnock Ship and a Spacedoor. You'll also need Assign Mission Specialists, Assign Support Personnel, Defend Homeworld, and a doorway allowing [AU] personnel to report. One of your mission specialists should be Dr. La Forge; the other needs to be a [NA] personnel (perhaps one of the dual-affiliation [Fed][NA] [DQ] personnel). Self-seed a guaranteed stopper dilemma (perhaps Altonian Brain Teaser) at your outpost mission, to be encountered first. On your first turn, use your regular card play to flip Spacedoor and download a [NA] ship that your [NA] mission specialist can staff. Play a Holodeck Door from hand to download Vic Fontaine. Discard Assign Support Personnel to download Ty Kajada. Discard Defend Homeworld to download Ruk. Staff the Husnock Ship with Ty Kajada, Ruk, and Dr. La Forge. Staff the little ship with your other mission specialist. Attempt the outpost mission from the little ship; your self-seeded dilemma will stop your mission specialist. Use Vic Fontaine to download Q's Planet. Your seeds there are (in encountered order) Odo's "Cousin," Punishment Box, and Dead End. Move the Husnock Ship to Q's Planet. Beam down Ty Kajada, Dr. La Forge, and Ruk. Ruk and Dr. La Forge meet the requirements for Odo's "Cousin," but Dr. La Forge stays behind, stopped, to investigate (and score 5 points); Vic downloads a card. Put Ty Kajada in the Punishment Box, stopped; Vic downloads a card. Dead End stops Ruk; Vic downloads a card. As with the Husnock module above, if your opponent seeds two or three cards at Q's Planet, you might not get all three Vic downloads guaranteed. You should at least get two, though, one being Odo's "Cousin" for 5 points on top of the download.

Ferengi Module

Seed a Ferengi Trading Post with both a D'Kora Marauder and a Spacedoor. You'll also need Assign Mission Specialists (download Qol and either Dr. Borts or Mordoc), Assign Support Personnel, and Defend Homeworld. Self-seed a guaranteed stopper dilemma (perhaps Altonian Brain Teaser) at your outpost mission, to be encountered first. On your first turn, use your regular card play to download a B'rel. Play a Holodeck Door from hand to download Vic Fontaine. Discard Assign Support Personnel to download Prak. Discard Defend Homeworld to download Ruk (be sure you seeded an appropriate doorway to let [AU] cards report). Staff the D'Kora Marauder with Prak, Qol, and Ruk, and transfer Vic's program aboard; staff the B'rel with your other mission specialist. Attempt the outpost mission from the B'rel; your self-seeded dilemma will stop your mission specialist. Use Vic Fontaine to download Q's Planet. Your seeds there are (in encountered order) Odo's "Cousin," Punishment Box, and Dead End. Move the D'Kora Marauder to Q's Planet. Beam down Prak, Qol, and Ruk. Ruk and Qol meet the requirements for Odo's "Cousin," but Qol stays behind, stopped, to investigate (and score 5 points); Vic downloads a card. Put Prak in the Punishment Box, stopped; Vic downloads a card. Dead End stops Ruk; Vic downloads a card. As with the Husnock module above, if your opponent seeds two or three cards at Q's Planet, you might not get all three Vic downloads guaranteed. You should at least get two, though, one being Odo's "Cousin" for 5 points on top of the download.