The Bad Guys / hulking scary murder-beasts / pretty difficult to play correctly
Jem'Hadar
- they will kill all of your people and destroy all of your ships and leave enough people behind to solve three missions while continuing to kill all your people
Founder
- the game's best/only good infiltrators. Really
the faction to play if you want use the infiltration rules and cards. Their morphing tech is cool, too.
Vorta
/
Reward from the Founders - Dominion that largely stays in the Gamma Quadrant, thanks very much
"The Dominion has endured for over two thousand years, and will continue to endure long after the Federation has crumbled into dust."
- Buyers and Traders / step 1: acquire
profit / step 2: spend profit to acquire victory without all that silly risk / also this is the faction that, for weird reasons, ended up owning all the meta policing in the game
- honestly, TNG Ferengi are probably the single
dullest faction in the game. They used to be very good, because their central card was broken-stupid-good. Then they got nerfed down
hard, losing most of their central card AND several other key cards, so they suck now. But they were always dull as paint, duller even than
.
- these guys are neat. Terrible but very nifty. The
Rules of Acquisition cards allow them to do a lot of interesting stuff. Unfortunately, they have a very easy time
acquiring Latinum but not enough powerful ways to
spend that Latinum, and they're riddled with other weaknesses like bad ships, awkward supply lines, and big skill holes. But the potential for them is enormous, and they don't play like anyone else.
- they can't stand on their own, but
Ferengi Gas Trap +
Secondary Market is cool enough to tempt anyone running an all-property Ferengi or
deck.
"You've restored my faith in the 98th Rule of Acquisition: 'Every man has his price.'"
Unstoppable Cyborgs / unbelievably powerful / unbelievably difficult / are you even playing the same game as everyone else?
- "baby's first Borg"; a version of Borg that an experienced player can build and run without an advanced degree; some of the best speed solvers in the game.
"You can't outrun them. You can't destroy them. If you damage them, the essence of what they are remains. They regenerate and keep coming. Eventually you will weaken; your reserves will be gone. They are relentless."
Gangland Brawlers / they're like Klingons but in the Delta Quadrant / sects matter / needs development
[Project Viking spoilers redacted, with reluctance; let's just say that they will be getting some much-needed mechanical flavor in the future]
Tanks / their flavor is supposed to be hunting down powerful prey to fuel their wins / their actual flavor is that they have more skills + attributes than anyone in the game and can solve missions super-fast if played right
Humans Figuring It Out / great personnel / weak ships
Time Travel
- Temporal Benfactor + George and Gracie + Phoenix + Visit Cochrane Memorial + Temporal Almanac etc etc
Shuttlepods
- you can build around Launch Bay, Shuttlepods, and Explore New World for a unique way to play
MACOs
- unique-feeling but
blazingly fast solvers
"It's been a long road / getting from there to here..."
Logicians / slowing the pace of the game / skill-cheating
Power
- use
to slow your opponent... and take advantage of his weakness
Wisdom
- use Syrannites and Only Logical to solve missions fast... if you are very confident and pretty smart
Courage
- something with Espionage; I've still never seen this played and am not really sure what its deal is.
"Logic is the cement of our civilization, with which we ascend from chaos, using reason as our guide."
Revolutionaries / they will make themselves a big nuisance to you if you don't contest their territory / they become a real threat if you do contest their territory / you sure that's the choice you wanna make?
- the canonical
faction
- really all about using
Macias to get Maquis of all property logos into play
- has anyone gotten this to work yet? I so liked the idea.
"They've travelled out here to the back of the beyond and built homes out of the wilderness. Now maybe the Federation can turn their back on them, but I can't."
Psychotically Evil Empire / power through discards / cannon fodder
- the canonical
faction
- kind of like the Mirror Universe Maquis; good at hiding, good at irritating; but not too much staying power
- The Emperor Tests (
Assert Authority) and/or the true, insane apotheosis of
's sacrifice-your-own-men-to-win philosophy: No-Hand Starfleet (with
Watch Dog)
"Carelessness with the equipment cannot be tolerated. Your agonizer, please."
Overly Complicated Politics / I'm sorry I to this day have never been able to care about
, even when I've played them / apologies to KCA players; I'm sure there's some substance there that I'm too prejudiced to recognize.
(whatever meat the KCA has, it's in the set
Crossover, not in the original set, Mirror Mirror)