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by Ross Fertel, Not a Klingon Smuggler (Wink, Wink)

26th April 2021

The major themes of Heroes and Demons are the Bak'u and Dominion affiliated Son'a. But there are other strong themes in this fifty-four-card set. Take the cards revealed today. A new Smuggler for the Klingon affiliation who brings life to a somewhat older decktype.

Tolian Soren has finally thrown it in with the Klingons. He wants to make planet missions easier, and he has a use for all those excess points you have accumulated through glorious conquest. Once it is clear you have an excess of points, might as well use some to get a few dilemmas under your planet missions. You have the natural low integrity you would expect from someone of this ilk, but there is also a natural double treachery and physics for skill sharing and dilemma busting, all for the cost of three counters. Plus, he is a smuggler. Until now, Smuggling has not really been in the wheelhouse of the Klingons, but that will soon change.

He joins an already impressive roster of Klingon Smugglers. We have the non-unique J'Dan and his rare/useful skills for one. Gonik is also non-unique and has an even better list of skills, though with a cost to match. You can mitigate that with a somewhat different cost. There is also Valkris, Loyalty Unshaken who makes downloading a riskier proposition, for your opponent at least; you can download to fill your heart's content. The current Klingon hexagon of Smugglers is rounded out by Koral, Dour Smuggler who gives himself a bit of a boost the turn you play him. Of course, there are also the Sisters of Duras at your ready.

The skills in play between these are: 2 Acquisition, 2 Archaeology, Astrometrics, 3 Engineer, Exobiology, Intelligence, 2 Leadership, 2 Navigation, Officer, 3 Physics, Programming, 4 Science and a whole lot of Treachery. Some of those can be boosted with multiple copies of the non-uniques, but this is a good pool to draw from.

Which missions come to mind with this selection of skills? Ariannus Passage, Loot Adrift Vessel is certainly a distinct possibility if you can muster some Biology, especially with a point value of forty. Barradas III, Plunder Ruins has long been a popular mission for Thieves and Smugglers and fits perfectly into their mission selection. Find some sort of Diplomacy to use with Signal for Rescue and the forty-five points are viable. Should you be able to find Security (which is not too hard with Klingons; it is very surprising that none of these personnel have a single Security between them) then Control Plague offers promise.

This deck is kind of taking shape already. This is not a complete deck, especially since there are no dilemmas that jump out yet, but the basics of a deck are there. This is without looking at Non-Aligned support. With the high value of multiple missions, Tallera, Covert Isolationist is certainly a welcome addition.

You will probably be seriously thinking about Smuggling Run to hit 'round the corner status on your path to victory and there are a whole slew of personnel that are ready and waiting to help you with have success with that strategy Kassidy Yates, Freighter Captain has eclipsed her other versions in terms of popularity as of late, but Kassidy Yates, Maquis Smuggler has a lot to offer this deck, enough to help make a two mission win possible, even with low value missions.

Of course, your opponent might not sit by patiently and let you score points all day. Cha'Joh, Sisters' Bird-of-Prey is there for your needs. An old ship with a middling weapons of six is not that much to get excited for but throw on a couple of Smugglers and you have a nice beefy ten. Shoot your problems away with impunity!

Klingon Smugglers have been around since the beginning of the game and while they are played a lot, they are frequently in your deck not because of that keyword. Smuggling Runs have long been in the domain of Non-Aligned and The Maquis with some Bajorans thrown in later, but these cards make the deck much more viable. Give them a try. There may or may not be some other cards in the set to push you in the directions as well, but you will have to wait patiently to see them a little later.

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