Ships of the Line is Tournament Legal

by Ross Fertel, Wall of Ships

18th August 2023

The latest set for First Edition, Ships of the Line is tournament legal today, ready for Worlds in Yorkshire. If you have been diligent with your searching, there are still some cards that were unbeknownst to you until last Friday, despite your best searching of social media, videos and puzzles.

For one, the text of the 48^th Rule of Acquisition was revealed, but not the fact that it is a Rule. Using this, if you have The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, you can put extra copies under your deck to draw a card or download a Rule to your Nagus.

broken link of sorts is closed with Versatile Vessel: Applied Science allowing you to add skills to your Nebula or Science class or scout ships. There are some great skills available as well; Geology, Stellar Cartography and Astrophysics are all staples. The best part is that the ship cannot be stopped by cards that target personnel, keeping it safe from several dilemmas though it can only be used in space. You are able to reselect the skill one each turn for maximum benefit. These skills are not rare but there is a way to buff up your crew. Note that although the ship has but one skill, it does not qualify as a mission specialist!

On its face, Monitor Traffic does not seem all that exciting, but there are some ways to make it better. Most obvious is being able to seed Border Checkpoint, which will let you get some extra draws though it is limited to once per turn and you have to use a high span mission to get your ships in play if not being your base of operaitons. Tellingly, the mission does not sport the Federation attemptability icon, but the skills are easy for the five printed affiliations to get. Note that the points are pumpable by mission specialists, so you might not simply be scoring the thirty points.

Looking at the ships themselves, your vedeks are ready for the Assembly Transport. Vedeks will probably not make up the entirety of your deck, but there are some heavy hitters in that subset. This ship will be a great for other cards that require the presence of vedeks to solve the mission or a site dedicated to the entirety of Bajoran clergy. The deck is already out there but this will make it better.

If you look at the coming next blurb on the cover sheet, you will know that next generation Cardassians will be getting some cards in the next set, but there is no reason to hold off on the Type-2 Galor. For one, it is universal and the requirement for the weapons boost is not that hard to do given how easy it is for Cardassians to get a captive. The skills are not that far off from the subsequent version of the ship, but the bonus is easily attainable if you are so inclined.

It may seem as though the next generation faction of the Federation is the last group that should get a ship, but you would be wise to recall Workhorses of the Fleet. The U.S.S Ambassador will not trigger a free play, but it will give you a larger ship to play with, the biggest in terms of staffing icons. The attributes have been debated on the forums, but Workhorses lets you boost them right up.

The Pequod adds a lot to the Hirogen fleet with better range but worse shields than the universal version, presuming no others are around. The gametext makes it easier to go around shooting all sorts of dilemmas with the self-controlling icon, a good number of which have point boxes. Add in a commander bonus plus It Must Be Destroyed! and you have twenty weapons at your disposal to hunt them down. Obsession will turn out even more for you to get for around the corner strategy in making up for missing points.

On a more personal note, we finally have a set called Ships of the Line. There is a series of calendars licensed from Star Trek bearing that name and it is good to see that honored in the title. Plus, I can stop recommending it for possible card titles.

Ships of the Line is tournament legal as of today. This set would not be possible without the efforts of Playtesting, Rules, Creative, Proofreading, Programming and Art. Download it today, along with the Rules Supplement. You can make a donation and get a shiny new donation badge.

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