So, I'm a New/Old First Edition Player, Deep Space 9 Edition

by Maggie Geppert, Vice Chairman

14th November 2017

When I first took command of this post, all I wanted was to be somewhere else - anywhere but here. But now, five years later, this has become my home, and you have become my family. And leaving this station, leaving you, is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do -... - No victory can make this moment any easier for me. And I promise, I will not rest until I stand with you again, here... in this place where I belong.

                                                                                    - Benjamin Sisko from “Call to Arms”

In this series, I will show off some beginner level decks that people have sent to me.  Today’s deck is Bruce Parrish’s Combined Task Force deck.  Apparently, it’s rather difficult to find a beginner-friendly [1E-DS9] deck, simply because Deep Space 9 (the show) was all about the station.  In First Edition the station is complicated by rules about Sites on Nors.  Therefore, I have elected to take a look at a deck featuring Deep Space 9 personnel but doesn’t include a Nor.  It does feature a new piece of tech not previously covered in this series, a Treaty.

Missions

If I were analyzing a Second Edition deck, I would label this one as dual-headquarters.  It has both Espionage Mission for Earth and Expose Covert Supply for Qo’nos.  Oh, wait.  There’s another Qo’nos – Launch Military Strike.  Bruce says this is here to fill in skill gaps with mirror Klingons.  It’s also useful because you may get out an Emblem card when you seed the mission.  In this case this deck goes with Emblem of the Alliance.  I assume both of the HQ: Secure Homeworlds are meant to help you complete the two Qo’nos missions, as Klingon Intelligence can complete Espionage Mission.  I see Investigate Alien Probe for a nice low-span mission, as is Investigate Probe Origin.  Finally, I spy a built-in Klingon outpost at Explore Black Cluster II.

Other Seeds

The most important non-dilemma seed card here is likely Reshape the Quadrant. This incident gives all your DS9 property logo personnel and ships the [1E-DS9] icon and allows you to download Combined Task Force.  First off, this incident allows you to download Treaty: Federation/Klingon, so all your personnel may mix and cooperate.   It also allows one of those personnel to play for free each turn.  Oh, and it lifts the attack restrictions on your Federation personnel while slightly restricting the Klingon ones.  So, CTF is kind of a big deal. Crossover is here to allow your personnel report to the Alpha Quadrant.  Study Divergent History is here as a nice little draw engine.  Finally, you should get out Defend Homeworld with Tribunal of Q, then use Defend Homeworld to play Regent Worf for free plays with the Emblem.

This is a battle deck, so Tactics will come out from the Battle Bridge Side Deck when a battle is initiated.  The Tactic most here is Evasive Maneuvers, which allows you to take out an Astrophysics personnel.  Then you can hit them with The Cloud to damage their ship and make battle even easier.  He says a favorite combo of his is to use Outpost Raid if his opponent is using a Mission II (which has the built-in outpost and follow it up with Theta Radiation Poisoning.  Please note that this combo doesn’t appear in this iteration of the deck, but does show up in earlier versions.  Most of the rest of the dilemmas are chosen to maximize carnage, like “God” or Rules of Obedience.

Draw Deck

Since this deck is a battle deck, the most important thing is to get out ships and lots of them.  Hidden Fighter will get out the U.S.S. Rio Grande or U.S.S. Orinoco.  You’ll need to use Establish Landing Protocols to get them off the planet.  After you get those out, try to get the I.K.C. Rotarran and the I.K.C. Ning’tao.  With those two ships and Martok, you have a formidable fleet that only require four personnel to fly it around.  Another fun tidbit in this deck is Temporal Investigations, which will let you draw a card if an opponent plays a [1E-AU] personnel to the Alpha Quadrant.  It also gets you Dulmer and Lucsly.

What I’ve Learned from This Deck

Battle is fun!  Wreak havoc and eventually get around to solving some missions.

Discuss this article in this thread.

Decklist

This deck is currently eligible for the following family or families of achievements:

• Federation/Klingon Treaty Player
• Three Stops Me
• Highlander

Hide Deck Stats

Dilemmas
Total Dilemmas		18
[P]		3 (17%)
[S/P]		9 (50%)
[S]		6 (33%)

Draw Deck
Total Draw Deck		58
Doorway		1 (2%)
Equipment		1 (2%)
Event		3 (5%)
Incident		6 (10%)
Interrupt		5 (9%)
Objective		2 (3%)
Personnel		34 (59%)
Ship		6 (10%)

"Outside the Game" and/or Seed-Phase Downloads
Total "Outside the Game" and/or Seed-Phase Downloads		33
Event		2 (6%)
Incident		9 (27%)
Interrupt		3 (9%)
Objective		1 (3%)
Personnel		2 (6%)
Tactic		16 (48%)

Seed Deck
Total Seed Deck		30
Dilemma		18 (60%)
Doorway		4 (13%)
Facility		2 (7%)
Incident		3 (10%)
Objective		3 (10%)

Q-Tent Side Deck
Total Q-Tent Side Deck		13
Artifact		1 (8%)
Doorway		1 (8%)
Equipment		2 (15%)
Event		5 (38%)
Incident		1 (8%)
Objective		1 (8%)
Ship		2 (15%)

Skills
Acquisition		2
Anthropology		7
Archaeology		5
Astrophysics		3
Biology		6
CIVILIAN		2
Computer Skill		5
Cybernetics		1
Diplomacy		8
Empathy		2
ENGINEER		8
Exobiology		5
Geology		3
Greed		1
Honor		9
Law		7
Leadership		15
MEDICAL		7
Music		5
Navigation		8
OFFICER		10
Physics		2
SCIENCE		4
SECURITY		7
Smuggling		0
Stellar Cartography		3
Transporter Skill		3
Treachery		6
V.I.P.		11
Youth		3
Rare Skills
Barbering		0
Cantankerousness		0
Guramba		0
Mindmeld		2
Miracle Worker		0
Orion Syndicate		0
Resistance		0

Skill			On # Missions	Skill Dots	Classifications	Total
Acquisition				2		2
Anthropology			1	7		7
Archaeology			1	5		5
Astrophysics				3		3
Biology			1	6		6
CIVILIAN					2	2
Computer Skill			1	5		5
Cybernetics				1		1
Diplomacy				8		8
Empathy				2		2
ENGINEER				4	4	8
Exobiology				5		5
Geology				3		3
Greed				1		1
Honor				9		9
Law				7		7
Leadership			1	15		15
MEDICAL				5	2	7
Music				5		5
Navigation			1	8		8
OFFICER			1	1	9	10
Physics				2		2
SCIENCE					4	4
SECURITY				5	2	7
Smuggling						0
Stellar Cartography			1	3		3
Transporter Skill				3		3
Treachery			1	6		6
V.I.P.					11	11
Youth				3		3
Rare Skills
Barbering
Cantankerousness
Guramba
Mindmeld				2		2
Miracle Worker
Orion Syndicate
Resistance
Intelligence Skills
FCA			1
Intelligence			1
Klingon Intelligence			1	2		2
Memory Omega
Obsidian Order			1
Section 31
Tal Shiar			1
V'Shar
any Intelligence				2		2

Traits
Card group
Captains Order		3
Capturing-related card		4
Dilemma group
Empok Nor-related dilemma		1
male-related dilemma		1
MEDICAL-related dilemma		5
SCIENCE-related dilemma		2
Equipment group
ENGINEER-related equipment		1
hand weapon		1
phaser		1
SCIENCE-related equipment		1
Mission region
Sector 001 Region		1
Mission trait
Asymmetric mission		2
Homeworld		3
Mission II		1
Personnel gender
Female		6
Male		28
Personnel group
Deep Space 9-related personnel		7
Personnel trait
Admiral		3
Ambassador		4
Captain		4
Chancellor		1
Cook		2
General		2
genetically enhanced		1
High Council		4
President		1
Support Personnel		2
Trill with symbiont		1
Ship equipment
Cloaking Device		4
Holodeck		1
Tractor Beam		7
Ship trait
Bird-of-Prey		2
Federation ship		4
Klingon ship		4
ship trait
No staffing requirement		2
Ship trait
Scout		1

Icons
Era
		2
Expansion
		1
Faction
		7
		1
Nemesis
		1
Quadrant
		7
Special
		1
		1
		6
		1
		2
		1
Staffing
		17
		14