Cargo Runs Reshape the Quadrant

by Matthew Zinno, Staff Writer

14th June 2014

Some people will make no-treaty decks for using Defending Their Homes. Some people will make no-facility decks for using Not So Demilitarized. I decided to see what else is out there for Maquis, and came up with a Cargo Run deck.

By using seven regional locations, we should get a lot of control over placement of the missions and the facilities, to set up a good cargo run route. My plan is to put Deep Space 9 at the Bajoran Wormhole (downloaded in doorway phase by The First Stable Wormhole), with Relocate Settlers (with nice short span) next to it. The various missions of the DMZ should be nearby as well; your ships and personnel can report there, thanks to They Call Themselves the Maquis.

Cargo runs should take equipment from the Bajoran Outpost at the far end of the DMZ, across the DMZ and Relocate Settlers, to DS9 with its Cargo Bay. Kasidy Yates (and yes, that's the one from the Rules of Acquisition expansion) should be played early, to get extra draws from the cargo run. You can even download her to the Cargo Bay, and We Need You Here saves your card draws for the turn. And once she's made her lucrative run, she can pop over to The Celestial Temple, and then back to her ship -- getting around the "walking rule" which usually delays cargo run decks.

Equipment for the cargo runs can come from special downloads on many people. One you'll want early is Morn (who, like Kasidy, can download to the Cargo Bay without losing your card draws). He can drop off his GPL for the cargo run, and then hang out in Quark's Bar for card draws. Later, he can trade that GPL for another equipment, such as the Plasmadyne Relay which will make the runs go even faster. Two personnel (who both report for free) can download Kukalaka, and Shankar can download something too.

Several ships are available to make the cargo runs. You'll usually start with the Xepolite Freighter, which can be downloaded by Spacedoor. If you get Kasidy on the S.S. Xhosa, then use Commander's Office to download Defiant Dedication Plaque for a range boost. Once the Calondon comes out, then Shankar's downloaded gun can be smuggled by that ship. All of these can play for free at the Docking Ports.

The deck includes Deep Space 9, as it must have a Nor in order to have a Cargo Bay, but it does not seed Ops. Though this loses some flexibility in being able to report personnel to the station and being able to download to sites, it gains protection from being commandeered (unless an opponent stocks their own Ops just for this purpose). However, you can still download to the Cargo Bay, and although that card says that you would then give up the rest of your card draws for the turn, We Need You Here lets you ignore that. I've already mentioned that Kasidy and Morn can be downloaded here, but there are several others as well, in case you find a need to dial for those skills. And if you do find it safe to play with Ops (for example, against a opponent), We Need You Here can download it from the Q's Tent.

Besides the personnel who can report to the Cargo Bay, most of the personnel in the deck are free plays. (There will be more of these after they're revealed later this month.) Some are unique personnel, who can play for free to your DMZ planets due to They Call Themselves the Maquis. Leeta (and Quark, though he's also Maquis) can report to Quark's Bar. The rest have "Deep Space 9" in their lore, so Here By Invitation lets them report for free at the appropriate sites on DS9. Now, some of those "DS9" personnel in this deck are OFFICER classification, so you might risk downloading Ops in place of a card draw first. Colonel Kira is the facility commander of the station, so Here By Invitation will let her download a copy of the objective that's in the deck; Benjamin Sisko fits that description as well, plus he has an icon which will give you more draws at The Celestial Temple.

But it can't be all draws and plays, though these are considerable. At some point, you'll need to attempt and solve missions. Three of the missions are straightforward (but note that Colonel Kira does not count as "Kira Nerys" for Relocate Settlers); though the three in the DMZ might seem difficult until you look closer. Investigate Maquis Activity and Assist Damaged Vessel both have requirements that have you avoid the , which are so common in this deck, and Intercept Maquis isn't even attemptable unless you have personnel. Fortunately, the Maquis have For the Cause, which grants the ability to attempt all of these missions, and can "ignore" a single requirement, which for those first two missions would be the "no " requirement. (Technically the requirement isn't ignored, it's replaced -- but it's replaced by an alternate which should be rather easy for this deck.)

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Decklist

This deck is legal in the following Card Pools:

• Complete

This deck is legal in the following Rules Sets:

• Open
• Revised
• Warp Speed

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

• Three Stops Me
• Highlander
• The Sky's The Limit

Hide Deck Stats

Dilemmas
Total Dilemmas		18
[P]		5 (28%)
[S/P]		9 (50%)
[S]		4 (22%)

Draw Deck
Total Draw Deck		35
Event		1 (3%)
Incident		2 (6%)
Objective		3 (9%)
Personnel		23 (66%)
Ship		5 (14%)
Time Location		1 (3%)

Seed Deck
Total Seed Deck		30
Dilemma		18 (60%)
Doorway		4 (13%)
Facility		2 (7%)
Incident		5 (17%)
Objective		1 (3%)

Q-Tent Side Deck
Total Q-Tent Side Deck		13
Equipment		4 (31%)
Event		3 (23%)
Incident		2 (15%)
Interrupt		2 (15%)
Objective		1 (8%)
Site		1 (8%)

"Outside the Game" and/or Seed-Phase Downloads
Total "Outside the Game" and/or Seed-Phase Downloads		2
Doorway		2 (100%)

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

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

Traits
Card group
Bajoran treaty		1
Captains Order		2
Federation treaty		1
Dilemma group
MEDICAL-related dilemma		3
SCIENCE-related dilemma		3
Equipment group
hand weapon		1
phaser		1
Mission region
Bajor Region		2
Demilitarized Zone Region		4
Mission trait
Asymmetric mission		1
Personnel gender
Female		9
Male		14
Personnel group
Deep Space 9-related personnel		8
The Circle-related personnel		1
U.S.S. Enterprise-related personnel		1
Personnel trait
Arms dealer		1
Captain		3
Colonel		1
Cook		1
Dabo Girl		1
General		1
genetically enhanced		1
Infiltrator		1
Nurse		1
Shakaar Resistance Cell		1
Support Personnel		3
Thief		1
Trill with symbiont		1
Ship class
Freighter		3
Ship equipment
Cloaking Device		1
Long-Range Scan Shielding		1
Tractor Beam		4
Ship trait
Federation ship		1

Icons
Expansion
		1
Faction
		15
Infiltrator
		1
Special
		1
		1
		5
		2
		1
		6
		1
Staffing
		11
		8