Picard: Absolute Candor

No lies, total truth all the time without exception. 

Such is the way of absolute candor as embraced and preached by the Romulan Qowat  Milat nuns now residing on Vashti. I’m sorry... what?!

Ok, ok, calm it down.... let’s take this slowly....

A part of Picard’s Starfleet past, Vashti was the final world the former admiral visited before he was recalled to Earth following the Synth attack on Mars. Now he’s returning to this world enroute to FreeCloud, Jean-Luc is looking for support from the fighting nuns in his quest.

The first few episodes of Picard have focused heavily on the setup, the steady introduction of the main cast and a split story focus between Earth and the Artifact. 

We’ve seen the effects of the Mars attacks, how Jean-Luc has changed over the years since Nemesis and how Starfleet itself has altered over time. While the pacing has been steady, this week’s instalment for the most part felt slightly slower however what it did well was the deep dive into Romulan society. The nearest we’ve ever been to seeing inside their society before was during Unification with Face of the Enemy and later Nemesis opening up any real sense of what was going on behind the walls of the secretive empire. 

Absolute Candor probes further and for the first time in a long while and certainly in Picard, we have one of our best examinations of the Romulans ever. Their society has changed drastically in recent times so their pain and dislike of ‘aliens’ especially Picard-shaped ones is fairly understandable. 

Chabon has successfully painted a distressing picture of a crumbling society trying to pick itself out of the ruins and feeling cast aside and abandoned by the Federation who seemed to be there to assist. But its more than just a hatred of anything non-Romulan because we also get to see facets of their society not previously explored. The nuns for example are an intriguing addition to the universe much the same as the heavily ret-conned Boreth Monastery from Discovery.  

The concepts of binding to another with qalankhkai are fascinating and this is all tying into the threads of mystery emanating from the second half of the episode focusing on Soji. The Romulan mythology introduced last week is further played on returning Professor Ramdha to the screen as well as pulling up the question of just what happened to both her and the other crew and passengers on the Shaenor which was assimilated. What exactly happened to cause such critical mental damage to the Romulans alone? 

Absolute Candor also makes it very, very clear that Narek and Narissa are both very aware of Soji and of what she is capable. Their limited screentime however does little to expand their characters and in relation to this thread, Narek definitely needs fleshing out.

We have, of course, assumed that they would given the events of episode one however it has not been verbally disclosed by Narek until this week. Oddly there's no Hugh popping up around the Artifact and most of the action there does feel like filler perhaps only to reaffirm the relationship between Narek and Narissa - are they actually related or is that more brethren terminology for Tal'Shiar operatives.

Elnor is a bit of a strange one. His initial appearance suggests another facet of Picard that has changed with him willingly spending time with a child and one on whom he had a major impact. Older Elnor is still seemingly enamoured with Jean-Luc choosing to follow him on his apparent lost cause. This whole warrior nun thing seems to have got the trolls in a right frenzy. Why can’t this be an element of Romulan society? Its a culture we barely know and there are bound to be more pieces yet to come.

The Romulans themselves really are the core of the episode. Their continued xenophobia and hatred for Picsrd comes to a head if not for some of the Enterprise captain’s meddling leading to one of Star Trek’s most graphic moments since the Dexter Remmick's head exploded in Conspiracy. Elnor’s involvement in this part of the episode emphasises his role in this - the muscle and a trusted confidant of Picard. 

Up on the La Sirena we have Rios, Musiker, Jarati and the ship’s tactical hologram repelling an attack from a local gang leader. Nothing immediately might grab you with that but in keeping with the appearance of the Emergency Medical Hologram last week, not only is there a Tactical version but also a Hospitality one too. Certainly for Santiago Cabrera this is giving him a lot of opportunity to stretch his acting muscles in these varied personalities. Does he have some kind of inability to really connect with anyone other than himself?

The ancient Romulan Bird of Prey is a great touch, marking only the second appearance of the ship in the franchise (as long as you don't count the remastered The Enterprise Incident) and looking pretty neglected after a fair few years. The CG team have however done a sterling job to bring back this classic complete with the iconic hull patterning!!!

Also to save on a bit of set design, Picard has commandeered Rios' holodeck to build his study from the vineyard house. This maintains an air of familiarity and reassurance. If we recall this might be because of Jean-Luc's gradually deteriorating mental state. Might this be a sign of Picard needing a comfort zone for his first trip into the great beyond for a decade? Could Rios himself be a hologram and not actually know it? Is he a physical construct of the La Sirena main computer? Great character, very fast development and brilliantly entertaining.

Ok.. and finally... how can we discuss this episode without that last line? A totally ruined guest appearance if you ask me, thanks to including Jeri Ryan in the opening credits but still, amazing to see Seven of Nine back in Star Trek...

You owe me a ship, Picard...!!!

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More Excelsior? - The Official Starships Collection Issues 158 and 159

Blurring the line between bonus and regular editions, issue 158's Excelsior concept might well be seen as a pathfinder rather than an abandoned idea.

Conceived in 1983 for the third Star Trek movie, this second Nilo Rodis-Jamero design retains a few of the hallmarks of the first version seen in issue 152 while also being different enough to warrant an edition all to itself.

Opening up with the expected saucer section, the USS Excelsior Concept II steers more in the direction of the USS Prometheus than the Enterprise with a slender secondary hull and four spiky warp nacelles to power her on. The length of this one is considerably shorter than the Concept I with the large saucer section sweeping straight into the engineering section which is a feature that would be recognised more some 12 years later with Voyager and then the Enterprise-E.

The saucer itself is well detailed with a light grey given more depth with a two darker greys used to raise hull panels against the paler base colour. It also has a more familiar pair of red decals curving around the primary hull as they would on the later, final version, broken by the black lettered and red bordered ship registry (see Assimilated Voyager you can have red letter edging...). 

The increased number of phaser banks (three up to five) for the Excelsior Class are also marked prominently in yellow as are the reaction control thrusters at the saucer rim. The metal saucer deflector grid isn't lost under the triple colour paintwork and is pretty clear all the way across. One thing that does appear a little different to the final version is the width of the central island including the bridge module. It's a lot wider with a less defined blue/grey paint scheme around the edge. 

The bridge itself appears much larger and there are a good amount of subtle hull mechanics around it and back along the spine-like centre piece equally defined by a pair of red stripes. Now while the final Excelsior and the Enterprise would have their impulse engines mounted at the back of the saucer, the Concept II has a huge oven-shaped quad-exhaust port unit dominating the rear third of the top of the ship. It's a big lump of tech and very noticeable with its fiery red slots one of the first things you seem to notice.

The detail of the metal work and painting are great with the definition of the engine section to the hull marked out with a darker grey and with the impulse engine sweeping up and out from the back of the ship. Stabbing out from the hull and more like wings than pylons, the metal gives way to four inserted plastic warp nacelles. Their blue insets for the warp grilles gives them some form of design lineage to the movie refit USS Enterprise but the form is quite different with a more rounded finish to the front and then sweeping to pointed rear points. Also take a look at the pennants on the warp engines here - a stylised and never used Starfleet design that has so far only turned up on this model. 

On the underside the most significant link to the final design is the drop away hull with the segmented blue panelling in front of the "outboard" deflector dish rather than behind it. Actually the bottom of the Concept II has a lot of the look of the underside of the final Excelsior with the dual torpedo launcher and the rear hull design swung round to face forward. 

Again its this detail which makes these rarities well worth the punt and I'm loving how the secondary hull has a familiar feel of the NX-2000 yet manages to still be incredibly unique. Eaglemoss have included docking ports and a range of windows on this droopy engineering section which is capped to the rear with the largest shuttlebay door ever. It's absolutely massive stretching the whole height of the secondary hull and bearing the serrated edges to indicate the clamshell opening akin to the Enterprise.

Both this and the underside of the saucer continue the multi-shade colour scheme from the top with the primary hull also carrying a prim and proper two-tone blue ring recessed into the bodywork. This is one more feature that made it into the onscreen Excelsior, completing the design alongside the standard striping and registry. The build quality of the ship is superb. Join lines are barely visible and there's a lot of surface detail at every point. It feels like a complete design and for your money you do get a decent sized ship that fills out the packaging. 

The mix of plastic and metal works well and even that odd little outslung deflector dish on the bottom of the secondary hull is secured well.  In the magazine you'll be strapped to find much to go on with the first few pages skipping any kind of information on the ship and dealing solely with new CG images before turning to focus on the work of Nilo Rodis-Jamero across the franchise from The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home and The Final Frontier.  It's split into two pieces - one dealing with Rodis-Jamero's background and then a second, larger article looking more closely at his work, sketches and influence on the Star Trek universe. A strangely sparce read for this one however the model is definitely the star of the edition much more than the background material. 

Next - and from one classic to another with a flashback to 1988 and the Batris freighter from The Next Generation's first proper Klingon story, Heart of Glory. 

The Batris doesn’t have the same flair as the Excelsior Concept II bearing a much more singular and basic design. More rectangular, the Batris is much more functional with a series of cargo pods slung underneath the main hull for easy loading and unloading. 

The most exciting part of the design might well be the pointed nose before it develops into a series of straight lines but what the Batris lacks in design inspiration it makes up for in its detail. The brown hull is tipped with a striking red stripe to the front also bearing a series of alien markings at the lower edge and then windows on the second, upper half of the marking.

The brown base coat is broken and scuffed right across the hull which provides a sense of age to the ship as well as a feeling that it’s been battered about in space hauling cargo from here to there. Even the brown coat has a second tone to it emphasising that well worn impression. On top of that we then have a series of greyed call outs across the upper hull which are themselves weathered to match the fading hull colour. 

There’s a lot going on with the hull of the Batris beyond just an impressively aged paint job. The detail in the mechanics attached to the surface are really rather good from grilles to piping to panelling, it’s all here and perfectly displayed. There’s no real definition between the cargo pods and the main hull but that paint job is such a wow you do sidestep it a bit. 

In fact that worn hull wraps right around the hull and into every crevice and there's a lot to take in even on the bottom. This is one of those models which feels complete from every angle and doesn't have a straight, uniform finish along the central axis. Even to the rear the three large engine units look like they've taken a battering over the years - ok, at least on the hull-coloured sections - the middle exhaust rods do look fairly clean!

There's some real character to the Batris and the multitude of surface depths, colouring and combination of materials works exceptionally well for such a bland design. Admittedly there is some slight misalignment of the windows and striping on the nose however it's not as glaring as we've seen on many a Federation starship over the years of the collection.

It's odd but I am quite drawn to this one and the fact that the hull is so delicately executed. The stand grip too is one of the more functional, gripping the hull at the rear of the underslung cargo pods and providing solid balance to the Batris for display.

The issue 159 magazine recounts the brief onscreen lifespan of the Talarian freighter but what does become clear even from the first few pages is how different the model looks to the CG of the magazine. 

On the page the Batris is a lot cleaner, crisper in its finish and has lost a lot of that characteristic weathering but it has picked up a lot of surface detail. It is very apparent once you line the two up that there is some definition missing from a considerable amount of the surface technology but the sheer amount of it that's crammed in probably works against making that detail well executed and distinguishable through the paint scheme. 

The nose detail especially seems lost with the panel definition washed out against the precision CG and the plan views reiterate just how much has been lost under what could be some fairly uneven paintwork...

The magazine does cover off Heart of Glory and the role in which the errant Klingons play. Turning the page actually reveals a whole section dedicated to discussing why and how these foes of Kirk and the original USS Enterprise were brought back to The Next Generation when originally there was no intention to see them again. 

An interview with the late Maurice Hurley fills the back six pages for the issue detailing his work on the first two seasons (mainly season one and the Borg) and the stresses and strains of running The Next Generation as well as writing several scripts for it during those early years.

It's a good read to understand the control that Gene Roddenberry had on the show and how things developed under Hurley and would later take massive steps under Berman, Piller and the rest.

Loving the Excelsior concepts? Want more freighters and service vehicles? Let us know below!

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Firm Footing: The Official Starships Collection Bonus Edition

After the flight and attack versions of the Klingon Bird of Prey, the third and final - Landed - option was inevitable.    

For all intents and purposes it's exactly the same mould that was used for issue 3 and then altered with wings swept down for the later attack edition and both were featured in the run of regular issues. However collectors wishing to complete their trio of Birds of Prey will now need to invest outside of the standard collection as the final Klingon variant has been released as a bonus edition.   

Truly there's very little to say about this one that hasn't already been said on the reviews of the previous two editions so this might be rocking in as the shortest starships review of all time. What i can say about the service with this one is that while it arrived merely 24 hours after ordering it did arrive damaged but was replaced within 48 hours by Eaglemoss, no questions asked (although I did send some pics through as proof).   

The swept up wings and landed position is something we've only experienced on this craft twice in The Search for Spock and the subsequent The Voyage Home movies. The detail on the ship body and the upswept wings is absolutely the same as the previous editions and the only new addition is the pair of landing feet added to the bottom of the hull.   

The tragedy here is that both on the cover of the magazine and on the ship itself there is no indication of where the feet retract into meaning that in both instances it looks like they have been roughly slapped on to the Bird of Prey as a bit of an after thought.

Maybe they have but the weighting in the craft is absolutely perfect which means that you can do away with the black base and clear plastic clip and display this model as it was meant to be - on its own two feet. All that's missing is a landing pad at the foot of Mount Seleya.

The detail on the Bird of Prey itself is faultless on the upper side with the same weathering effects in full bloom but the bottom does leave a little to answer for and not just because of the "add-on" landing gear. It's still a bit too clean and empty of features that goes right against how the rest of this classic ship looks. If you do compare you might be able to tell there's a bit more dirt on the bottom of this one but not by much.

It's 100% a completist ship with only the wing positions of the three variants being different and as of time of writing you can now buy all three options in one handy box. This is one that fan demand...demanded...and got and rightly has ended up as a special rather than a regular issue because subscribers might have been a little narked to pay for this one again after the cruise and attack position variants dropped in.

Note too that the issues with the detail on the folding front plates of the wings have still not been resolved either even after several email conversations with Eaglemoss directly.

The magazine is actually a really good piece of reading even if you do think the Bird of Prey cash cow has been milked dry. Giving a skant overview of the already extensively covered ship, we move into The Great Bird of the Galaxy which covers the design and creation of the craft for The Search for Spock and includes some early storyboard and sketches of what could have been. Also in here we have photos from the original build and photography work that was done of the Bird of Prey for the third Star Trek movie.

Inside the Bird of Prey talks about - and shows - what the interior of the ship might have looked like as well as explaining why the bridge ended up looking the way it did plus some background to Lord Kruge's snarling pet. There's a brief - but good - segment on the creatures created for the Genesis Planet as well as how Kruge's death was filmed  before closing out the bonus magazine with the imagining of landing the Bird of Prey in The Promised Land.

It's a magazine well packed with information about the well-used Star Trek ship and how it made it to the screen. Definitely one of the best and most impressively illustrated volumes to date in the collection as a whole.

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Conceptual Preview: Upcoming Bonuses from Eaglemoss

Whether through pure over-exuberance or an out of character technical error (!!!), Eaglemoss have now revealed the next few bonus editions set to come our way in the latter half of 2018 and the start of 2019.   

Now I'm probably more excited about these handful of announcements than the regular issues and when we explore further its easy to see why.   

1. USS Voyager Concept (Rick Sternbach)

Looking quite different to the sketches and models we have seen over the years this is what Rick Sternbach ultimately envisaged his Voyager design to be. There are distinctive Voyager sections in there with the most prominent difference being the shape, size and placement of the warp engines. I would have preferred to see the model version translated over to the collection in the future but for now this is great! Apologies to the Collection for borrowing their photo since this is about as accurate as we can get to the finished item.

Anticipation Factor: 5/5 

2. Bird of Prey landing position

You asked and it's arrived. Sensibly outside of the main line of issues which already contain two versions of the iconic Klingon starship.  No question whether or not you’d add it to the collection and I keep fingers crossed that this time the underside will receive some of that missing surface detail that has plagued the other two incarnations.

Anticipation Level: 3/5

3. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F Odyssey Class

I've barely touched the world of Star Trek Online but this one is sure to be a sellout and while i will get it, it will be the first edition I have no real association with as part of the collection. The lines look stunning and there's more than a slight similarity to the USS Aventine. Nice to see Online get recognised and could be the first of several ships from the game if it's a success.

Anticipation Level: 4/5

4. Bonaventure Class

A concept designed to link the NX to the Constitution Class it wasn't actually the Bonaventure I was expecting. This one is particularly gorgeous and first came to light on the Ships of the Line calendars. Lots of design calls to both types of ships and a classic ‘What If’ concept from a popular Star Trek graphic series.

Anticipation Level: 4/5

5. USS Altair Voyager Concept (Doug Drexler)

One I didn't realise was originally conceived as a potential USS Voyager, the Altair also graced the pages of the Ships of the Line books and calendars. A major break in design from the standard expectations of a Federation starship, the wing-shaped primary hull is very out there and inspired from Doug Drexler. Distinct and unique, the Altair is a ship we may never have expected to see.

Anticipation Level: 4/5

6. USS Voyager assimilated

We’re going all out on Voyager aren’t we? The third of the bonus editions in this list returns to familiar TV ground with the starship covered in Borg technology from Scorpion, Part II. With this one, the other two concepts, the original and the armoured version from Endgame you could fill a shelf just with Voyager...

Anticipation Level: 4/5

Simply a jaw-dropping selection that comes from the fringes of the TV series and from the great drawer of concept designs. Tragically the concepts are more exciting to me than the regular issues we know are planned but this is one of the brilliant things with the collection in that it throws some stunning curve balls every so often - the Wolf 359 fleet, the Phase II concept, USS Titan or the Mirror ISS Enterprise - its what has made the Official Starship Collection so appealing.

Which of these announcements are you most interested in?

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Three Eras for Attack Wing Wave 23

Attack Wing Wave 23 dropped rather suddenly and I wasn't expecting it.

With 21 and 22 only just coming out, I was thinking there might be some breathing space but here we are looking at three new arrivals which cover three very different periods of Star Trek history. It's also the first wave since 19 to comprise of a Federation, Romulan and Klingon trio (in that case Delta Flyer, IKS Rotarran and the RIS Talvath science vessel).

Taking them in time order means we get to go Romulan first with the IRW Jazkal. It's a 22nd Century Bird of Prey with those vicious forward-sweeping warp nacelles but, alas, only an optional cloaking device and no rear firing arc.

Decked out in a fetching metallic green, this miniature game piece is astoundingly eye-catching with only a couple of darker highlights on the nacelles to indicate the warp coils. Wizkids attention to detail here is cracking with some beautiful panel work on a tiny playing piece. It's also well-crafted and potentially one of the nicest game ships I've seen them produce since the very beginning. I actually think the paint job works wonders on this one.

Just another note, I realised this time (and probably missed it last time) that they are no longer including Target Lock tokens with the sets. I'd also consider reducing the number of Time Tokens in the near future as mine seem to be multiplying.

So to the first set of new cards and the Jazkal rocks a rather surprising 14 points out of the box. OK so this is the Enterprise era but woah that's almost Solar Sailor territory. Carrying two for attack and in agility the Bird-of-Prey has only three hull points and no shields so putting this out against the Borg is probably a big no-no. Standard actions here are Evade, Target Lock and Scan with slots open for one Tech, Crew and Weapon upgrade. If you do utilise the Scan action then the ship cannot be targeted by an Elite Action and any Weapon upgrade that attacks allows you to add a defence die - so that'll be one then. Seeing as how you're starting low, even the generic version of the class is at 14 points but sacrifices not just a unique action but also Scan and your Crew upgrade slot.

Movement is getting fairly generic too recently with the Jazkal packing exactly (and I mean exactly) the same set of moves as both the IKS Amar and the USS Montgolfier packs in this wave; maximum of four speed with a full set of turns at three and two, forward and the banks at one plus a red 180 Come About at three. I'll save talking about those again and just refer back to this paragraph for the rest of the wave. Very disappointing set and I would actually have liked to see the Jazkal slower but with a full range of moves at speed one.

Captaining this green goblin of a ship is Vrax. A stern little Romulan, he costs a budget two points for a skill of three. While he is inexpensive, Vrax does allow you to pop the Reman Bodyguards upgrade on your ship for two points less than its cost (five) and you can do so even if it exceeds the ship restrictions on upgrade slots. Bonus. There is of course the generic captain (this time the phased Romulan from The Next Phase in The Next Generation - erm...really?) and just a single Elite Action to add to your pack.

Destabilized Relations costs five points and offers a tactical advantage if you're having a shot right at the edge of your range. If the ship you're aiming for has a friendly ship within range two of it, the target ship rolls two less defence dice. A big opportunity if ever there was one but I still feel that this ship will see limited flight time with its diminished stats unless you're playing a specific game of Enterprise era combat.

Crewing the Jazkal is Nijil, another slightly less stern Romulan who actually costs more than the captain. He does add a second Tech slot to your bar and reduces its cost by one point. Note that the upgrade has to be Romulan however. Secondary to that, Nijil and one of your Tech upgrades can be disabled to provide an additional defence die. Very useful given your starting points and essential to be used with the Scan feature noted on the ship card.

In a rare appearance the Reman Bodyguards crew card lets you trade the card in for the benefit of increasing your primary weapon attack by one die and reducing the opponent's defence by the same number. A cunning little move and one worth adding to any ship in your fleet given the advantage it offers even against the Borg since there are no restrictions. Five points definitely well spent there.

Your singular Weapon card in the Jazkal expansion is Disruptor Banks and it's not just a renamed Photon Torpedoes before you say anything. Yes it does incur the Time Token penalty (three) but it can also be discarded if needs be to force the enemy to roll two less attack dice when you're in their sights. I like the twist here. Double feature cards always seem to excite me a lot more because it. Disruptor Banks can be used up to range three and charges your attack from two to three die at a cost of four points. Again, a fair deal for a double bubble.

Finally and almost the elephant in the pack is Prototype Cloaking Device. Conspicuously absent from the ship cards, its addition as a bought feature reinforces the more simplistic nature of the era. Costing four points the Tech card has to be disabled but it can be used as a Free Action even without Active Shields. However, due to its unstable and basic nature there is a hitch in that you have to roll an attack die when you cloak. A Battle Stations result will cause one point of hull damage. Yucky luck on that which again makes me not too keen on the Jazkal as a part of my fleet.

Non-Romulan ships can use the cloak but it'll cost nine points and when active you can also activate the Sensor Echo feature.

Closing out with the mission we Escape the Minefield in a two player game which sees two 50 point Romulan ships chasing a 35 point Federation ship through floating explosives. A neat scenario where the Federation player has two things to worry about in order to win and survive.

Second and taking us forward from Enterprise into the classic movie era is the IKS Amar which has the notable fact that it was the first starship to be seen in The Motion Picture and welcomed the arrival of the "bumpy forehead" Klingons that paved the way for their look for decades thereafter. Now in the past I've lambasted the model-makers over the K't'inga Class because either the bridge module has been aligned correctly or the warp engines have been the wrong way round. 

I'm not sure what they're drinking at Wizkids this month but this model is a big improvement with all of the issues fixed and a sexy new paint scheme to match. I did fear we might get a translucent cruiser but those can be set quickly aside. I really like the work here. It looks clean, well painted and "realistically" presented in more franchise-relevant colours not some of the bright shades we've seen in their "pimped up" attempts of the last few waves.

Firing a four in attack, one in defence, four hull points and three shields it's a breath of fresh air in comparison to the Jazkal and man, would I love to see those two head to head (bit one sided?). The Amar has the usual loadout of Evade, Target Lock, Cloak and Sensor Echo plus two Weapon and two Crew slots for a respectable 24 points. Why choose the Amar? Well, she allows you to drop an Evade token if you fail to make a successful attack and hey, that's happened a lot especially against my Dad. Problem is that he's usually playing as the Klingons which means I'll never get a shot at using this.

As per previous versions the standard K't'inga loses a shield and a Crew slot plus the unique action for 22 points. Note also that standard movement formation I mentioned with the Jazkal.

Captain here is Barak as played by Mark "Sarek" Lenard in the movie. A rather torrid three points for this captain's skill and a lowly cost of two which is not in keeping with the majority of the Klingon command options and did surprise me a little. His action is fairly useful but it does mean unusually chucking your captain away to gain an additional die on your Photon Torpedo attack. No note of what happens to your captain skill should this take place. Quick note too that Barak does not have an Elite Action medal on his card nor is there one included with the Amar.

I've berated other expansions in the past for their propensity to avoid using "generic" crew cards but in this one we get three (must be making up for the last few waves). The two point Klingon Navigator lets you ignore your chosen manoeuvre during the Activation Phase and choose any other with a speed of three or less but it will be treated as a red manoeuvre and the crew card will be discarded. It's a bold move and really one that will only pay off if your captain skill is a lot higher than Barak otherwise you'll be pre-empting others and that might be counter-productive.  Linked with a captain skill of seven or above this could be effective in pulling the right move at the right time against a lesser opponent. With Barak it's just finger in the wind guessing.


For three points Klingon Helmsman is also a discard but lets you perform a Come About at either speeds one or two. Not one we see very often - if ever - and offers the chance t put some distance between you and a pursuing craft before turning to blow her away. 

Luckily this isn't a Klingon exclusive card if you're a fan of playing mixed fleets although it will cost five more points (eight) and can't be put onto a ship that can't already do the Come About move. Finally there's Klingon Tactical Officer who helps out when it comes to bettering the battle scores. Costing three points, this crew option is only a disable but lets you spend an Evade token to convert a Battle Stations into a damage result. Very unique and would work well with a captain or feature that offers Evade as a free action during the Activation Phase.

All three of the crew upgrades in the IKS Amar pack are well thought out and very different. It seems the levels of imagination really picked up this time round. Even the Weapons cards have a new spin with Stand By Torpedoes as a bolt on feature to the now-standard Photon Torpedoes included here.

Stand By Torpedoes can be disabled instead of using the Target Lock which effectively gives the chance to use that on your primary weapon straight on the next turn and fire off those five dice for Photon Torpedoes. For just three points its a good card to have ready if the chance for a double assault comes to hand.

After the one player mission disappointment of the Bajoran Solar Sailor, the Amar handles the first encounter with V'Ger from The Motion Picture a heck of a lot more successfully. Instead of straight copying the scenario included with the refit movie Enterprise pack, here you get to command three Klingon ships as they attempt to scan a strange oncoming entity. The plan is to scan the entity and then do a runner but once you attack/scan it gets to fire back and the amount of dice it can use dependant on distance to your ships ranges up to 12! Very excited to try this out asap and I'll let you know how it plays out.

Third and finally, bringing us to another movie and the battle sequence at the beginning of First Contact is the Sabre Class USS Montgolfier. The wah? OK, this is a non-canon, totally made up ship and the first time this type of vessel has been available in retail. The Yeager was an OP prize some time back but for those of us who rely on hitting the shops, this is our first time of getting to grips with the chunky little craft. I'd seen some stuff which indicated it had a shoddy paintjob but that wasn't to be. I'm not a lover of the metallic silver Federation ships seem to be coming in these days but it does mean they are a little more interesting than the bland (but more accurate) duck egg blue for example. The model is a little clunky and oversized against some of the ships which are supposed to be bigger than it by some distance but it's OK and certainly playable.

Lining up with three attack, two in agility, three hull and three shield points, the Montgolfier is a fairly bog standard mid-range Starfleet ship carrying the usual actions of Evade, Target Lock, Scan and Battle Stations plus one Tech, two Weapons and one Crew slot for 22 points basic. It does carry a cunning litte unique action that allows it to move your Target Lock onto another in-range ship during the Activation Phase. I'm impressed with this because there are times when something you have locked gets away and you can't remove the lock. This removes that obstacle and keeps you very much in the game.

Generically the Sabre Class ship loses that brilliant action, a shield point and the Tech upgrade slot to cost players just 20 points.

The issue I have with the Montgolfier is how much of a mish-mash this pack is when you get into the bones of it. The captain option of Orfil Quinteros was an officer featured in The Next Generation's first season episode 11001001 and was never seen with a captain rank. Somehow he's been availed of a captain skill of five for a cost of three points. Orfil lets you roll three defence dice as an Action and for each Evade result you get to repair one hull point. However that does in turn mean accumulating one Auxiliary Power Token for each point recovered. Useful to get you back into a strong place in the game but it will remove a lot of your options aside from move and fire.

Having avoided a Wesley Crusher option for many, many waves we now have a second in only a short period of time. The last was with the Hathaway but now this five point Wes has a double action option which makes him a darn sight more charming to players.

Considering that Orfil will be stacking up your Auxiliary Power Tokens and therefore stopping you from performing any actions full stop, deactivating Wesley will let you perform one of the standard actions from the Action Bar if that situation occurs. Even better his second option means you can use an Action listed as a Tech upgrade as a free action again if he's disabled. Wow - double disable? For five points? Winner.

Wesley is your only crew option but what a great one to have around huh? In the case of Weapons we have ol' faithful Photon Torpedoes for the standard five point cost and five die attack at range two to three plus a new option with Heavy Graviton Beam.

On first glance it's nothing special - three attack (same as the primary weapon) and only effective at range one to two. Look more closely at the detail though and you find that this one time use card reduces the defence of your opponent by one die but also is mega, mega, MEGA useful against the Borg, adding three dice to your attack nor can they defend against it.

How good is that? Maybe more effective on something like the Defiant or Voyager but heck this is a real game changer against the biggest elephant in the game. For a cost of four points this is a real must have if you're going against the Borg otherwise I wouldn't get too excited. Stick with torpedoes.

The Montgolfier also comes with two Tech upgrades. The three point Thruster Array allows you to perform a reverse one or two speed move with apparently no requirement to have any reverse motion already available. A nice to have but not an essential if you're point limited. Last up is Subspace Transmitter which lets you drop a Scan token next to both your ship and a friendly ship within range three. You are stopped from using Scan as a free action for the round. The card is a disable hence the five point cost but comparing its usefulness against the five points of Wesley Crusher it's a bit puzzling. Again a nice to have but not a big advantage.


The scenario for the Montgolfier is just as cobbled together as the pack which takes its leads from The Next Generation's first season on a ship from First Contact that actually never existed. This time its from Deep Space Nine as you fight to destroy an orbital weapons platform a la Tears of the Prophets and the battle in the Chin'toka system. In essence a standard two player "objective destroy" game. 

Sadly this really is the first pack where there hasn't been a consistent thread running through it and although this is a better wave overall the Federation expansion is a little bit deflating. Both the Jazkal and the Amar are superb additions for your fleets and I can see my Klingon-playing dad loving some of the features he'll be able to use going forward.

Almost a perfect return to form I would say with just a tinge of disappointment in some of the Montgolfier elements - really looking forward to seeing how wave 24 measures up.

Invested in wave 23? What did you think to the new arrivals in this "core" trio?

Wave 23 is available now with all ships recommended to retail at £11.99 each. You can track down your local stockist HERE

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