I Must Not Fear - Fear is the Mind-Killer

by Tyler Fultz, Balance of Terror Assistant Designer

5th September 2014

One of the primary focuses of Balance of Terror is on the oft-maligned Deep Space Nine Earth HQ, or "ES9." Prior to the release of Jaresh Inyo in Extreme Measures, there were few reasons to choose it over DS9 proper or TNG Earth. The BoT designers (including myself) very much wanted to change this and make ES9 not only a formidable meta presence, but also give the HQ a thematic flavor that would differentiate it from the other Federation HQs. Charlie (our lead designer) will likely have more to say on this subject, but after a long debate, the team settled on using the Earth icon to represent some of the darker themes involving the Federation. The two-parter from Deep Space Nine, Homefront and Paradise Lost, was the obvious thematic setting with Leyton and his cronies plotting to usurp power from the elected government.

The centerpiece of the new theme for ES9 is Paranoia, a new unloaded keyword that can give you a powerful benefit on the cheap - but at a cost. Much as the citizens of the Federation had to balance their need for security with their freedoms, and so will you!

Below are some fun combos with the new cards and a deck that might help you express that nagging feeling that someone is watching you...

Lance Cartwright + Any Paranoia = Drop him to avoid a Paranoia penalty and then pump his stats with Sisko and Garak

A Treacherous Admiral + Power Loss + Luther Sloan = Unstop your DS9 personnel and then end the fake emergency with Sloan for more mission attempts.

A Treacherous Admiral + Power Loss + Promenade School or Martial Law = Stopped people earlier in the turn? Use them again!

Hollow Hospitality + 40-pt Missions = Feds have access to some excellent 40-pt strength missions. Layer Paranoia with Sisko and the Enterprise-J for some serious attribute bonuses.

Paranoia Events + 40-pt Missions = The combination of these two makes ES9 fertile ground for an Unfair Comparison dilemma pile, one of the more effective in the game.

Discuss this article in this thread.

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

• Deep Space 9/Earth Player
• Unbroken I

Decklist

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Dilemma Deck Total Dilemmas 41 Space 6 (15%) Cost 3 3 Cost 6 1 Cost 8 2 Planet 11 (27%) Cost 3 5 Cost 4 1 Cost 5 1 Cost 6 1 Cost 8 3 Dual 24 (59%) Cost 2 7 Cost 3 2 Cost 4 9 Cost 5 2 Cost 6 2 Cost 7 2 Total Dilemma Deck cost 177

Draw Deck Total Draw Deck 77 Event 36 (47%) Cost 0 9 Cost 1 16 Cost 2 6 Cost 3 3 Cost 4 2 Interrupt 3 (4%) Personnel 33 (43%) Cost 1 3 Cost 2 13 Cost 3 10 Cost 4 7 Ship 5 (6%) Cost 4 3 Cost 5 2 Total Draw Deck cost 154

Skills Count Skill # Missions # Personnel 1x 2x 3x Total Acquisition 0 1 1 Anthropology 0 4 4 Archaeology 1 1 1 Astrometrics 0 3 3 Biology 0 1 1 Diplomacy 1 8 8 Engineer 2 9 9 Exobiology 1 2 2 Geology 1 3 3 Honor 1 2 7 9 Intelligence 0 5 5 Law 0 6 6 Leadership 4 12 3 15 Medical 1 1 1 Navigation 0 1 1 Officer 0 13 13 Physics 1 4 4 Programming 1 9 9 Science 2 3 3 Security 4 14 4 18 Telepathy 0 0 Transporters 1 5 5 Treachery 0 6 2 8 Icons Count Icon # Personnel % Personnel Staffing Icons Command Star 21 63.64 % Staff Star 12 36.36 % Faction Icons Deep Space Nine 19 57.58 % Earth 14 42.42 % Original Series 1 3.03 % Temporal Icons Past 4 12.12 % Keyword Count Keyword # Cards Admiral 5 Commander: U.S.S. Bellerophon 1 Commander: U.S.S. Defiant 1 Commander: U.S.S. Lakota 1 Commander: U.S.S. T'Kumbra 1 Consume: 1 2 Decay: 3 2 Decay: 4 3 Decay: 5 1 Genetically Enhanced 1 Host 1 Paranoia 7 Region: Cardassia System 1 Region: Sector 001 1 Ritual 1