Drawn Out Game? Attack Wing: The Animated Series Faction Pack, Part I

If the Borg weren't exciting enough for you then this should get those fires burning.

Wizkids have already pulled the unexpected with the Kelvin Timeline pack just over a year ago but now they're gone and spun in another brilliant move to keep the game alive with a foot into the little explored/mined Animated Series from the mid-1970's.

Featuring the USS Enterprise, Starfleet are fairly heavily outnumbered with three opponents included here in the form of two Klingon and one Romulan D7 Battlecruisers. 

Packaged as resplendently as ever, the Faction Pack also comes with the usual array of tokens, dials, stands, upgrade cards and missions to be able to launch a new group of ships into the game straight from the box (as long as you have the Starter Set!).

Starting out, let's tackle the USS Enterprise. Costing two points less than the "regular" version, this ship still carries up to four Crew ]and a Weapon slot plus the standard Actions of Evade, Target Lock, Scan and Battle Stations. It also has three dice for attack, one for defence and four hull and three shield points which again matches the previous version. 

Aside from the point difference of 20 here to the 22 of the original the Enterprise can repair up to three shields as it's Unique Action. This will keep you going for a much longer game through the ability to rebuild the ship. 

The generic Constitution version removes two Crew slots and a shield point plus that Unique Action for a 16 point cost. Without the features of the legendary starship though, this one does seem little more than cannon fodder.

As for movement, it's fitting given the ship's point in the timeline that she tops out at speed four with full banks and turns at speeds two and three. One's forward and banks plus forward and banks at two offer green maneuvers. At least for the sacrifice of speed she can turn a bit however there s a noticable absence of reverse so you'll only be boldly going forward. 

Captaining the USS Enterprise in animated form can be either James T Kirk or the first commander of the legendary starship, Robert April. Both cost five points, bear a skill factor of eight and have the chance to field an Elite Action.

Usefully, Kirk lets you place a Scan or Battle Stations token next to your ship and perform the Action on a Crew card as a freebie. The chance to play a Battle Stations and then something else does take some pressure off your ship and brings in even more defense than just one die.

Robert April can be fielded as an Admiral as well as a Captain. As a further benefit, April will up his skill to nine if he's put in command of a Constitution Class starship. April will also take one for the team so to speak, allowing you to transfer any Time Tokens on one of your Crew upgrades aboard his vessel to be transferred to him. As part of the Action, you can then use April to "activate" that Crew member's Action. The chance to transfer Time Tokens is very useful. Double-hitting with a decent Crew upgrade in less turns than expected could well spin the game around and means the chance to utilise a feature potentially while n opponent is still within range.

Five new Crew cards will help fill out those four slots on the USS Enterprise. Stalwarts Spock (four points), Christine Chapel (three points) and Montgomery Scott (three points) are joined by their animated buddies, M'Ress (three points) and Arex (two points) with Sulu and Uhura oddly absent from this line up.

Spock provides a storming opportunity to cripple the enemy by spending an in-play Scan token attached to your ship so that an attack cannot be defended against nor can you be stopped from attacking. It's one more element to make the seemingly underpowered Enterprise a real force to be reckoned with in this game.

Scott does what you would expect with his card being disabled to repair up to one Hull and one Shield point on your ship, again increasing your chances of survival. Chapel is well worth using in conjunction with virtually any Crew upgrade that needs disabling since she can herself either be disabled or Time Token-ed to remove either a Disabled Token or all Time Tokens from your chosen card. I love the point that there's no specification that it's like for like or which you have to do with this - it all depends on your strategy - do you need that upgrade next go or are you prepared to wait?

Then we have two classic Animated Series characters. M'Ress is another that could line up nicely with Chapel as she can remove a Disabled Token from a Crew card when there's a Scan in play. This isn't specified as an Action either nor does it lead to discard or disable meaning that you can utilise her again and again. 

Arex is perhaps not quite as useful but still could be effective if you're moving later in the Phase. He gets disabled to allow you to change the type of move you're performing as long as it's at the same speed as the one you revealed on flipping your Maneuver Dial.  It is also specified to be a white or green move to qualify.

Arex will at least provide a chance to get yourself out of the way and could be well used in conjunction with Chapel or M'Ress should you end up in a critical situation.

Along with these more than welcome Crew additions, the set offers up one Weapon upgrade (twice!). Full Power Phaser Barrage costs a hefty five points and is good to use at ranges two and three. Taking the Enterprise as the base ship, this card would mean that it would roll five dice in attack just to begin with. If there are two uncancelled Damage and/or Critical Damage you get to roll another THREE attack dice to add to your already decent roll. 

Hold up - because not only does this give you a potential eight dice attack from a Constitution Class ship but it's only limited by Time Tokens and NOT a disposal. In three turns this could be active again. Now, if you could add in a Target Lock for a re-roll...?

Even if you don't use this card with a Constitution Class vessel, the uncancelled element will still operate and the enemy ship will also receive an Auxiliary Power Token which in turn will have effects on future rounds. This is a behemoth of a card - who wouldn't add this one?!

The first of two Elite Actions is Legacy of the Name which can only be attached to a Unique Named ship and can effect an Evade or Battle Stations as a Free Action with the penalty of three Time Tokens. If it's the Enterprise (and there's no specific version) then ANY Action can be completed as a Free Action which would mean that this could be very effectively used alongside Full Power Phaser Barrage by activating a Target Lock and all for the cost of three points to your fleet!

One more thing with this pack...Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Ok...this is a long winded one so here we go. Costing thee points and effective only at range one, Mudd gets disabled so that you can use his Love Crystal feature. This means that you can place a Crystal Token onto two Crew upgrades on an enemy ship.

Cleverly mixing in the Mudd element from The Animated Series, Mudd's reference card details that if one of those upgrades marked with the Crystals are disabled, the person who placed the token gets to disable another Crew upgrade of their choice - the same applies in the case of Crew upgrades discarded or disabled with Time Tokens utilising those features on another Crew card. 

With no faction penalty for equipping him, Mudd is a fine nightmare of a card to add to your ship since his actions will inflict double the trouble and prove just as annoying as the original character was in his three classic appearances (yes, I'm including The Animated Series).

With the second half of this pack review we'll be focusing on the Romulan and Klingon options plus overall impressions of how the pack plays out.

Enjoyed this article? Why not like and share to spread the word!

Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

Find us on Tumblr

Out and About with The Escape Artist

The Short Treks have reached their end with the return of one Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

Now I never "got" the character back when he was played by Roger C Carmel thanks to the poor attempt at humour that surrounded the two episodes in which he appeared but the reinvention of the role from Rainn Wilson has been eye-opening and fantastically watchable in every way. 

To be graced with 15 minutes purely on this individual is more than welcome in a story directed by Wilson himself and written by future Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan. It's absolutely spot on, giving us a much lighter instalment and spinning off in a new direction. If there's something to be said for these bites of Trek its that each one has had a very distinct identity with, ironically the two featuring characters away from the main cast probably being the strongest.  

Captured by a Tellarite - yep, we’ve delved into The Original Series canon again - Harry Mudd is on his way into the hands of Starfleet for a substantial bounty. As the story develops we see how he has used the approach several times on other parties with, you would guess, some modicum of success.  Fortunately the more humorous aspect of the narrative is subtlety downplayed and there's a noticeable absence of comedy incidental music which usually confounded an event in a Mudd episode. Wilson is just as loud and cunning as before in the role with the Tellarite captain, a Klingon, the Orions (rather shocking!) and another undetermined alien bounty hunter all playing supporting roles as we explore his murky past and difficult situations. 

The script is rather sparkling and of the four this is the one which seems to have the most life and spring to its step. Wilson's energy as Mudd leaps off the screen reinforcing just why he was such a big part of season one and therefore deserved this return to the Star Trek universe. Gifted with a silver tongue he might be but it's pretty much the same routine every time!

The trouble with The Escape Artist doesn't come from the bulk of the story which works very well but from the ending. While it is a playful twist which does also tip the hat to I, Mudd, it all doesn’t make a whole heap of sense when you put it together. If these were androids given just enough programming to fool his captors for a short time where are these flashbacks coming from? Are they indeed flashbacks or are they instances of other replicas of Mudd being captured and taken to Starfleet? 

Either way it doesn’t quite compute. Sipping jippers or not, these recreations are just too advanced in some respects but then totally downplayed in their abilities by the conclusion. If you do step over this bit of the script its incredibly enjoyable and makes perfect sense that Mudd would want to divert attention away from himself to continue his nefarious activities.

Of the Short Treks this is probably number two in my list with Calypso still being the one to beat and also being one of Discovery's best moments to date. The news is that the Short Treks tag will be living on with the second animated show - but could it be used on all the new series to add in extra bits here and there and expand that galaxy we talked about the other day even more?

With Short Treks the Kurtzman stable can experiment with different characters, reuse sets (which they did in abundance with The Escape Artist, Calypso and Runaway) plus add new angles to existing characters, do things that can remain unconnected to the main shows but still be canon and, as demonstrated here, be successful and not be a Starfleet episode in almost any way.

Was The Escape Artist your sipping jipper or something else? Best of the four? Let us know below and if you've enjoyed the read, why not share us!!!

You can check out the other Short Trek reviews HERE

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

Add us on Tumblr

Short Treks - But Not For the UK?

So how are the fans in the UK going to get their next fix of Discovery?

News from the CBS fold is that the four 15 minute “Short Treks” will not be landing on Netflix leaving followers of the show to miss out on these tasters to keep us engaged until season two drops in 2019.

Focusing on Tilly, Saru, Mudd and Craft, the four bite size instalments will be released once a month giving new insights into each character. 

Now whether or not these four pieces will dovetail into the second season I don’t know but if they do and Netflix isn’t going to carry them then that means the UK - and potentially every territory outside the US - won’t be getting the full Discovery experience. 

Starting just next week we will have Runaway featuring Tilly encountering a mysterious visitor on the Discovery. The trailer released today seems to show a cloaked alien female character trashing the mess hall while Tilly ducks for cover with some sort of red goop also involved. The brief 26 seconds of footage doesn't give much to go on apart from the mess hall carnage but at least it means this isn't just a big media conspiracy and it's really going to land....! 

Then it's Calypso on November 8th centering on Craft played by Aldis Hodge. Now this is a totally new character and the only one of the four Short Treks that does so. We will find Craft awakening in an unfamiliar sickbay, trying to survive with only an AI interface for company. 

Certainly the much-advertised Saru short has been widely anticipated since it will give more information on the first officer’s homeworld as well as just who or what the predator species that stalks the Kelpiens is. Entitled The Brightest Star it will take us back to Saru's early life and explain the path that he has taken. This will air December 6th with the final piece, The Escape Artist premiering January 3rd 2019 and centering on Harry Mudd attempting another con in a very dangerous place. I would think that will be a month before season two hits Netflix given the way these have been planted going forward.

I think these little teasers are a great addition to the franchise to build up to the next season of stories but will removing them from UK access prove to be a bad move? I doubt that it will stop fans from finding and downloading them via that wonderful thing called the "internet" because where there's a will there's a way but does holding it back suggest something else?

Might this be a taster to see how Star Trek is accessed by fans when it isn't on Netflix with the potential thought that the now in early production Picard series won't be heading to the online service? 

It's just a random thought that popped into my head today but might this be a test of the waters to see if there might be other ways to more successfully market Star Trek's newest shows overseas that will profit CBS more directly?

I'll leave that one right there for now...

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Clear as Mudd

I'm challenging myself.

I must be because why the hell would I want to write something about one of the characters that infuriates me the most with Star Trek?

An individual that I hold with the same distain as Vedek Bareil, Lwaxana Troi and Voyager's character assassination of Q?

Because Harcourt Fenton Mudd is where it all started for me. Now I can stand a decent Star Trek comedy episode and who can't stomach The Trouble with Tribbles just once more? But there's a time and place in which Star Trek's more light-hearted moments work but in relation to Harry Mudd it couldn't be further from the truth.

Not content with him being inflicted on us the once with Mudd's Women, we were subjected to I, Mudd the following season and then again with the Animated Series' Mudd's Passion. Jesus H Christ could we not be spared from this?

I have no beef at all with the actor Roger C Carmel who took control of the character for all his live action and animated outings in the '60's and '70's but the stories were awful and are some of the most cringe-inducing works of Star Trek ever. People might complain about the Kelvin Timeline or how Discovery will kill Star Trek but they seem to forget the original take on the character and I for one still find them episodes I would willingly skip.

For some unknown reason when it comes to characters with some form of Irish connection as is hinted at with Mudd's accent, the writing staff seem to chuck all reason out of the nearest window and horribly dumb down our neighbours. I refer you to Up the Long Ladder and the even more disgraceful Fair Haven and all matters relating to them. 

So to Mudd and the idea behind him seems to be fairly sound however he comes across as a bumbling idiot that somehow has the mind of master criminal or a wheeler-dealer dependent on the scene and the situation. 

My problem with The Original Series is that aside from the magnificent The Trouble with Tribbles I find the comedy aspect of the show to be lost on me by a fair margin. It just ain’t - nor was it ever - funny. I find that in most respects Star Trek as a franchise falls flat when it comes to comedic scripting because the writers are so focused on a more serious and relevant story that stays true to their characters (I do reserve a special place for The Magnificent Ferengi).

Carmel's Mudd makes Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise look dumb. His methods are pantomime, his reasoning lax and his expectations high for such questionable actions. In Mudd's Women the use of the Venus drug (and later the placebo version) covers up a bad deal that he hoped would stay concealed until well after the deal is done. He also travels by an alias that the Enterprise computer repeatedly sees as false under questioning. It's all a bit bumbling but even then, the twist around the looks of Mudd's women is suitably dark even if the rest of the story is lighter-hearted. Hell, could it get any more obvious than beauty being only skin deep?

Now step forward to 2017 and we have a new Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Thing is, this one in no way pisses me off. In fact it's a new dawn for the character and one that makes him more realistic and believable than that of Carmel.

Appearing first in Choose Your Pain this is a younger, less Irish stereotype and seemingly more calculating Mudd. While the older Carmel Mudd involves himself in tomfoolery and frivolous activity this version, this earlier version, is more devious, more controlled in some respects although that mischievous air still exists. Watch for example his "relationship" withe the bug, Stuart or his blatant disregard for the welfare of anyone but himself when it comes to choosing his pain.

Harry in I, Mudd was equally selfish seeking to replace himself on the android planet with the crew of the Enterprise and make good his escape but his over confidence there as with later during the repeated timeloops of Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad is his downfall as the crews of the Enterprise and laterly (or earlier?!) use his own methods and tools against him to bring about his comeuppance. 

Rainn Wilson offers some of the ham that made up the bulk of Roger C Carmel's portrayal but makes his version that much more layered. While he's still not bothered about doing the right thing by anyone other than himself and his own skin, Wilson's Mudd seems to have more to lose and is striking deals anywhere to save his own skin. His older self however seems to play it a little closer to the edge with perhaps less certain results. 

Carmel was suitable for the time and just as Discovery has "grown up" for 2017 so has the character of Harcourt Fenton Mudd. I did think it was an odd choice to bring into the latest iteration of the franchise but bizarrely Kurtzman, Sullivan and co have made it work and work in the finest of ways because you can buy into the real tragedy of the character especially when you see the conclusion of his second Discovery appearance. Carmel offered a charismatic rogue but without the darkness and hint of malice that you can see in Wilson's take. The latter will give up anything for his own survival and preservation but perhaps 

In both cases from Choose Your Pain and Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad it feels that nothing can go wrong for the trader. How could he possibly come out as the loser when he has the apparent backing/ear of the Klingons either as his captors or as his potential buyer for the Discovery?

He is also a lot more driven and vengeful than in his later, The Original Series years with a desire to defeat and destroy Lorca for leaving him to rot in the Klingon jail cell. His encounters with Kirk may be less angered because of age and wisdom but it feels as though he underestimates Kirk while at the same time being portrayed as less intelligent than the revamped Discovery version who is able to deceive and take down a Crossfield Class starship by learning and re-learning more about the craft during multiple timeloops.

Wilson's Mudd is more calculating, devious and self-obsessed/dependant than his older self and unless there's some massive revelation coming in season 1.5 or 2 I can't see how these two can be reconciled as the same character.

The Wilson Mudd fits the darker tones of Discovery perfectly and I have to now admit that the ending of Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad and the reintroduction of Stella is a stroke of genius. In I, Mudd the character was verging on unbelievable even if it was an android recreation that Harry had most likely accentuated all of her character traits. Katherine Barrell is nothing like her older mechanical interpretation, besotted with the rogue trader but yet seeming to have a hold on him that frightens Harry to his very core. Is her demeanour here a show? Probably is and it also echoes a trait of Mudd's from his The Original Series in that his outward persona is about 95% bravado hiding a deeply insecure core once he is without control of a situation.

In fact, watch back on all four occasions we have encountered Mudd in live action Star Trek and once the situation is diffused he seems to lose the plot and become subservient or out of personal control. In this way it's nice that there are at least some parallels between the two interpretations of the character almost 50 years apart.

In Discovery, Mudd has become much less the one dimensional comic villain and more a fragment that contributes to the whole of the ongoing Klingon arc. His role will probably be explained more in the next half of the first season but already we have a character who does not seem to have been fully opened up. His skills in these "earlier" years are apparently much more impressive than those during his two head-to-heads with Kirk and the Enterprise and I think it suggests that Mudd is a certifiable genius who has just chosen the wrong path. After all he can communicate with bugs, has a clear photographic memory allowing him to continually absorb more information as he learns how to operate Discovery and is a clever negotiator since he managed to be freed from a Klingon prison; in no way do I think he escaped just because of the difficulty encountered by Lorca and Tyler when they made their attempt.

Will Discovery explore some of the elements listed on his file as shown (above) in Mudd's Women? Certainly that psychiatric treatment intrigues but was it before or after what we have seen in the latest series? 

Rainn Wilson is, for me, the stronger version of the Mudd character in Star Trek. It feels more developed and so it should. Back in the 1960's this was a one-off villain of the week but now in 2017/18 he's a fully fleshed out part of something bigger and those pink flannel shirts just won't cut it....

Star Trek Discovery returns in 2018 - read our full series of episode reviews right here to bring yourself up to date.

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Mey-er Be Khan Again?

When I think I've seen the most stupid thing the internet has to offer around Star Trek and then it pumps out another.   

Seems there's some thought out there that Nicholas Meyer might be working on a Khan Noonien Singh series that would take place following on from the Space Seed story from season one of The Original Series detailing his survival on Ceti Alpha V. The other strand to this rumour was that this was being prepped should Discovery bomb as an immediate replacement.   

Now I think we can eject that latter consideration faster than a critical warp core but the former might hold some stead. Meyer and Khan are intrinsically linked thanks to his directorial and six-day rewriting skills that turned out the Star Trek masterpiece which is The Wrath of Khan. Thanks to him a one episode villain from The Original Series is as well known as Kirk, Klingons and the USS Enterprise, so much so that he was rebooted for Into Darkness.   

Here's my beef with this idea and there are a few slices to work at. One; is it too soon to be thinking of another Star Trek series when Discovery has yet to air and gauge audience reaction. Two; Won't a Khan series be a little restrictive? Thirdly; Khan - again?   Latter day Star Trek always took a few years to introduce a new show with Deep Space Nine coming six years after The Next Generation debuted, Voyager two years after Deep Space Nine and six months after The Next Generation ended and Enterprise went solo the TV season after Voyager came to an end. 

There's always been spacing, a good spread but two running almost simultaneously might not be a great move. We do know that Meyer is working on a new Star Trek project but it needs to give Discovery time to gestate before launching to the audience. It might work as a one off six or ten episode mini series and that could be a further way for the franchise to expand. 

We know Fuller had an anthology concept for Discovery originally but this might be the evolution of that.   Over the next few years Meyer might be developing an anthology of series based on Star Trek guest characters exploring their stories further (cant you just see that Garth of Izar story happening....?!). 

A Khan one would definitely be a popular choice to kick off such a series but its the content which is then the issue. After six months Ceti Alpha VI exploded and "...everything on this planet was laid waste..." to quote Khan himself. This would mean that should the story be taken beyond that point its going to be focusing a lot of time on a group of people sitting in cargo carriers from a DY-100 sleeper ship.   

Khan will always be a fascinating character in the franchise, even when messed about with for Into Darkness - as a side line i have a friend who watched this for the first time with only exposure to the 2009 film previously and absolutely loved every minute of it. Perhaps proof that Khan is a villain for all times.   

Having Khan as a replacement series ready to go if Discovery flops just cant be right. I cant think of a worse idea nut it does work as a side line one off although fans of the expanded literary universe will probably grumble when it goes against the series of books which documented that whole period. Just be thankful (for now at least) that Discovery isn't obliterating the whole universe developed by writers since the end of Nemesis.   

I just don't see how a Khan series would work long term. There can only be so many episodes of him brooding, reading Moby Dick, brooding some more, feeding his Ceti eels and dealing with soap-opera level issues amongst his superhuman collective that we could deal with i think. For me it just doesn't work unless its got a restricted time frame and number of episodes as a companion series to Discovery. 

Hey, Meyer might not even be working on a Khan series - he might be looking at a show that parallels events in Discovery for example in another part of the quadrant. Then there's that third point. Khan - again. Yes, he is superb and highly regarded character in Star Trek lore who is often referenced in every frame of the franchise but a fourth appearance may further dilute the power of the character.

For example, take a look at the Borg. The more that we saw of them the more I believe they were neutered and their power and impact with the audience was reduced. They were overused and the same might now be turned to Khan. Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan are excellent. The former establishes a fantastic villain and one who is a clear match for Kirk while the movie sequel is without question the pinnacle of the Star Trek movies and one of the greatest stories ever told in the whole of the franchise. It is probably my go-to comfort movie and has been watched more times than anything else in my collection.   

Khan is, you could say, a safe bet, a security blanket but isn't Discovery using enough of those already with the inclusion of Sarek, the Klingons and Harry Mudd? Isn't Meyer better going in a totally new direction and, dare i say it, somewhere no one has gone before? We know the mixed success that reboots can bring given how well 2009 was received and performed versus the dire reaction to the re-imagining of Khan's story for Into Darkness. Cumberbatch is a fine actor but sadly he ain't Ricardo Montalban...he hasn't got the pecs for it at the least.  

Using Khan again suggests that the franchise would rather play it safe and retreat to familiar ground than go out there and explore. Need I note that Discovery is itself exploring an event previously mentioned in The Original Series and in an area of the franchise's 23rd Century history that is already well packed with material. We all know what happened to Khan so do we need to revisit it? Probably not but what other characters might benefit from a mini-series? 

If we keep it focused to those around The Original Series there are a few that jump to mind. First there's the obvious Harry Mudd option and given his nine episode inclusion in Discovery this could well be set up for Mudd to go put on his own (perish the thought...although I have some more on this shortly). What about that Gary Seven series that was backdoor piloted with Assignment: Earth? How about a series looking at the story of Cestus III and the Gorn pre-Arena?    

I think that might make an interesting spread but it might change perceptions of the original show and retread already established lore. I would hope Meyer is working on something totally new - maybe something from the 'lost era' after the launch of the Enterprise-B and before Encounter at Farpoint. Surely there are a few flashpoints in those intervening years that could do with some more exploration? I'm convinced that whatever this project of Meyer's that is confirmed as being Star Trek related but not linked to Discovery will be of the greatest quality given his (limited) track record. Ok it might only be three entries now but we will get to see more of his input during season one of Discovery which we know now is up to completing the script for episode 13 of the planned 15.   

Ultimately would another turn on Khan be an error? I strongly say yes. Time to loosen the reins and let this new team take the franchise forward on TV truely into new territory?

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr