A Cube, By Any Other Name

by Paddy Tye, First Edition Creative Manager

13th January 2020

A classic borg cube, with it's seven staffing requirements, has always been quite slow and bulky to get moving (without help). When designing TNG Borg, we wanted a more nimble option - something which wouldn't take until turn 3 just to staff it! Staying within the confines of TNG, we didn't have the luxury of characters like Seven of Nine, with her ability to meet multiple staffing requirements. Instead, we looked in more detail at that first initial encounter with the Borg from Q Who?

On reflection, that first cube the Enterprise encountered was not quite the the all-powerful menace that we knew from Best of Both Worlds, or First Contact. With a couple of phaser blasts, the Galaxy Class vessel had blown chunks out of the massive Borg structure. An impressive feat not seen in later episodes or films. As the Borg learn through assimilating new technologies and cultures, when they first encountered the U.S.S. Enterprise, they lacked the experience to fully counter the unfamiliar Federation weapons and shield technology. However, by the end of that episode, the Borg had learned enough about these new Alpha Quadrant foes to adapt!

So in designing a card to represent that initial Cube from System J25, while still a significant threat, we decided the value of the Weapons and Shields should be lower than that classic 24 / 24 benchmark used on that original Premiere dilemma. As a result of lower stats, we could also reduce the costly staffing requirement you associate with those high weapons, and reduce the bonus points offered for destroying it. This meant players would be able to get the ship moving more swiftly.

We also gave this cube an added bonus - the ability to repair itself - as seen in the episode - and represented here by a special download of Regenerate. Beware though - you can only use this ability if already damaged!

This cube also uses the same "Identification" as Locutus' Borg Cube, which means that you can use this ship on its own (as per a They Will Be Coming deck, where you start with a single cube in play) with a seeded Federation Flagship: Recovered to swap out between the two if you get destroyed by a dilemma combo. You can also keep your Continuing Mission intact as they're both TNG property logo!

Time to go forth and consume as much resources and technology as you can!

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