Maquis Redux: Ro Laren

"I think her only regret was that she let you down."

For far too long, Trek players had to endure the heavy sigh of Ro Laren, Maquis Sympathizer. While she had valuable skills and a standard attribute set, her being the only Bajoran affiliation Maquis member (until the Virtual Tabor was released) always put her out of sync with the rest of the freedom fighters. From a thematic standpoint it made sense that she should not be piloting (staffing) a Maquis ship alone, however, it was frustrating in game play. Traditionally, Maquis have struggled to solve missions as efficiently as other affiliations, which ultimately made her game text useless slop. Even virtual cards that enhanced reducing an opponent's hand size hardly made Ro Laren an exciting choice for a deck. With the eventual release of the latest Virtual Set by the Continuing Committee, Tacking Into the Wind, MS-sufferers have a new Maquis femme fetale choice: Ro Laren, Apologetic Defector.

I, and many others, have been calling for a Federation Maquis affiliation Ro Laren for years now, whether publicly or privately, and this version rocks. As has been suggested by others, the elements of design seem to be a combination of what both appealed and worked with the MS-version and the Virtual Ro Laren, Headstrong Ensign, and the thematic flavor of the character's identity crisis (where do her loyalties lie?) in the Star Trek episode, Preemptive Strike. In addition, several recent Maquis themed decks have crept away from what was considered their traditional home turf, Region: Demilitarized Zone missions. I certainly have (in favor of easier to solve missions) in an effort to avoid Modified Wins. AD-ness looks like a concerted effort to reenergize the DMZ for game play. Perhaps the mysterious Cosette AD commands will have a similar effect. So...

+ =

As has been suggested by others, AD's game text allows for some clever Event retrieval (when completing a DMZ mission), so traditional Maquis disruption cards (Organized Terrorist Activities, Stalling for Time), as well as some others (Ohhhh! Nothing Happened!) may get additional game play. Secret Identity will most certainly have a new targeting choice in AD. Her cost, staffing icon, and attributes all remain the same, and reasonably so. What I am most excited about though are AD's skills: Anthropology, Leadership, Navigation, Security, and Treachery. Anthropology. Now my decent Integrity Maquis, such as Chakotay and Tamal, are slightly more protected from dilemmas targeting this skill. In addition, Maquis have a slight improvement in attempting some non-traditional Maquis missions, such as Secure Strategic Base. Losing MS Programming is hardly bothersome, considering Pitching In (Maquis have an abundance of Leadership and Security) and Picking Up the Pieces are still popular in several tournament locales, so having AD ignored is awesome. Her skill set remains perfect for DMZ missions when combined with For the Cause or the Javert.

What AD does for Maquis is that she creates more options for players, while MS was more of a hindrance or an afterthought (unless in a Bajoran Treachery deck). Again, if the Cosette turns out to be a standard Maquis ship, additional Maquis builds may be improved, such as Deploy the Fleet and Maquis-inspired engagements. All of the elements put into the design of Ro Laren redux have come together well.

Faux-quis: Captain Style

"Captain's log, supplemental."

I love reading about and playing against different twists to the Maquis experience.  I appreciate the fact that not all Maquis-style decks are cookie cutter or identical.  Due to their functionality, there are certainly some core cards that almost "always" make an appearance in a Maquis-themed deck (i.e. a Cal Hudson, Thomas Riker, etc.), yet Maquis players can build their decks with different mechanics.  Generally speaking, a standard Maquis deck will be centered around "hand disruption" and to a lesser degree, "play counters/deck/event disruption."  However, from time to time an innovative mechanic can find its way into a Maquis deck, and it can be glorious!

On June 4th, 2011, during the Kevin Reitzel Bounty tournament, I had the sincere pleasure of playing against one such innovative Maquis deck (see it here).  Matt Kirk (CaptMDKirk) laid out his Athos IV, followed by four Region: Neutral Zone missions.  Having explored some deck ideas centered around low-range Condor-class ships "patrolling" NZ missions, I was excited to see what Matt's Maquis would do.  The fact that I was playing a new Romulan deck added some additional flavor the game play as well (traditionally, my Romulan decks have favored poorly against Maquis).  Matt and I each spent our first turn 7 play counters on ships: he with his U.S.S. Defiant, Stolen Warship and me with the almighty Soterus.  Unfortunately, my Romulans were not up for engagements, but the U.S.S. Defiant would soon be full of surprises.

The true strength of Matt's deck came from his utilizing Captain on the Bridge, U.S.S. Defiant's matching commanders (six of them... there should be at least one more via Captain Nog, and why did Decipher fail to give Mirror Defiant any matching commanders?!), and the hefty Captain's Log.  De-staffing Matt fell short due to CotB's ability to report folks directly to the ship, as did random selections of dilemmas faced at space missions (I watched a tough break for Kevin as Matt's Faux-quis crew politely ignored multiple dilemmas).  I enjoyed seeing Big Cal "recruit" Dax, Sisko, and Worf to allow Matt's supplementary Maquis disruption cards to enter the mix (Stalling for Time), and the deliciously devastating Biogenic Weapon.

Once BW landed, I knew that I realistically could hope only for a modified win at best, or a small differential due to having already lost twice on the day.  At that point, I was genuinely pulling for Matt's Maquis to score a full win, despite my throwing everything I could at him to prevent that - I'm a firm believer in being challenged in every game.  Although NZ missions have relatively low requirements for solving, the skill set requirements are diverse enough that many Maquis and Faux-quis are hampered.  Unfortunately for the Maquis, my dilemmas held them off long enough for time to be called, and a modified win to be issued to Matt.  The elusive belle called "Full Win" haunts and tantalizes Maquis players... yet the allure of capturing her is too exciting to be denied.

Maquis Fashion: Chakotay

"Damage report!"

Chakotay needs a new look.

After a spirited discussion and subsequent investigation held in the Continuing Committee chat room a few weeks back, it was discovered that the Maquis still lacked representation among current Virtual Promo cards.  While it could be argued that B'Elanna Torres, Straightforward Engineer could qualify as both satisfying Maquis and Voyager sub-Federation representation, I feel that both groups are being shortchanged.  Yes, BETSE certainly needed an alternate image from her Red Skull-look, and her new Starfleet uniform definitely looks "fresh," but Chakotay needs some work!

The Maquis are fashion victims.  Yes, the Federation abandoned them fend for themselves against the Cardassians, but what's the point of warfare without a bit of style?  No, there won't be a Kardashian clothing boutique opening on Athos IV any time soon, but a little Project Runway never hurt anyone...

Chakotay, Freedom Fighter could benefit from an alternate image.  I have never been satisfied with many of the screen captures used by Decipher for 2E Maquis personnel.  Thomas Riker, Defiant Leader and Tuvok, Undercover are exceptions and the vast majority of 1E Maquis personnel images are stellar.  CFF however is an example of a personnel image that is "too busy."  CFF is a fantastically designed card that is ruined by a dull image.  While it is nice to see Tuvok in the background I find the overall CFF image to be lacking in intensity.  I want my Maquis to look roguish, passionate about their cause, and rebellious.  I don't want them to look confused ("Duhhh..."), sitting on a demonstration massage chair, and wearing a jacket made of beef jerky and Slim Jims.  Ro Laren in a Lady Gaga meat dress?  Yuck.

Technological advancements have been made in screen capture and photo editing software since the Energize expansion set was released.  An alternate image and attractive foil shine would make a Maquis leader look fierce!  For example, this guy:

You see?  It is time to give the freedom fighter his due.  It doesn't have to be as absurd as a Just For Men commercial, but CFF needs to look "hip" - not look like he needs a hip replacement.  While we're on the subject, let's jazz up the Valjean too.  CFF's ship is actually a great image of the Condor-class in action, but "39" is the new "19" and we all want to say our vehicle of choice has a rebuilt engine, don't we?

Show some VP love to the Maquis because the genial geriatric TNG have enough already.

Will, Pat, and Sam walk into a bar...

"....I set an implosion device that destroyed the freighter Bok'Nor."

William Patrick Samuels causes a mind implosion inside my skull.

After developing several ideas and receiving input from my fellow Maquis-lover, Chris Donati (Swisherfan), I decided to begin the Maquis Bastion blog with the worst Maquis personnel: William Patrick Samuels, Maquis Saboteur.  Sound judgment might indicate that the first blog should be strategy-based or even contain thrilling insights into how to construct a tournament winning Maquis deck, I simply cannot get over what a terrible Maquis personnel WPS is.  There is not a reasonable strategy involving WPS nor a current insight into utilizing him in a tournament-winning deck.  He is more likely to sabotage your deck than your opponent's deck.  Every affiliation in the Star Trek Customizable Card Game - Second Edition (2E) has a few terrible cards but I feel WPS is exceptionally awful.

At the time WPS was introduced to the game, from the Energize expansion (Set 2, card 2U132), the Maquis were a sub-Federation affiliation set that could be played via their own Headquarters (Athos IV).  This amounted to a third Federation affiliation icon (prior to the introduction of The Original Series icon) and a fun storytelling dynamic in the 2E game.  As one of the 15 Maquis-icon personnel introduced in the Energize set one might imagine that a personnel with as illustrious name as "William Patrick Samuels" would be fantastic.  William T. Riker this card is not.  Not even James T. Kirk had his middle name expanded!  Card titles are misleading.  Even a casual glance at WPS makes me gag.  You know that after-taste you sometimes get when you burp a little Italian or Mexican food back up your throat?  That is what WPS does to me.  Let me break down why.

WPS requires four counters to play.  FOUR?!  This is a huge sticking point for me especially with regard to how precious play counters are in a time-sensitive tournament.  If you are going to burn four counters on a single card it better be worth it.  WPS is not worth it.

WPS has a generic staffing icon and average attributes (4/6/5), none of which justify a counter cost of four.  Skills?  At the time, *Astrometrics, *Engineer, and *Treachery might seem reasonable, given the popularity of some dilemmas in the early sets.  However, as the game progressed all three skills are readily abundant among Maquis personnel and supporting Non-Aligned choices.  So did WPS's skills fill a Maquis skill gap?  At the time of Energize, certainly, yet a four counter cost for three skills is still steep.  Therefore, his game text must bridge the seeming chasm of irrational cost-to-functionality in WPS, right?

Wrong.  During your Order phase, WPS must be on a planet mission, where your opponent has an undamaged ship, and he can then be stopped to place a Damage card (from your hand, and therefore not a Dilemma card) on that ship.  During the release of Energize battle and interactive decks were still a rare sight during sanctioned tournaments when mission solvers typically ruled the day in the early game meta.  When I first encountered WPS, I thought "Wow, now I have a shot at blowing up ships!"  This idea seemed reasonable given the introduction of Amaros and the general cheap staffing requirements of Maquis ships in Energize. 

However, this strategy is uninspiring given that a) at their planet missions, an opponent's ship likely has few to no personnel aboard because they are grouped as an away team on the mission, and b) Maquis were still far too weak compared to other affiliations in a competitive tournament environment.  In essence, WPS was introduced when 2E game designers were still tinkering with direction Maquis could go.  What would the future of Maquis look like?  Scoring cheap points and mission solving were still weak due to Maquis personnel having significant skill gaps, almost below-average mean attributes, and no defensive or offensive game utilities they now possess multiple sets later.

So here we are in the "later" era of the Maquis.  Guess what?  WPS's game text is still vomit-worthy.  I have tried countless times to incorporate WPS into a deck and frankly he falls flat.  WPS nearly falls into a reactionary category, yet barely qualifies in the offensive category of deck strategy.  Does WPS have anything going for him?  Not really.  His card image is awful.  The only thing more tragic than his hair is his clothing.  The Deep Space 9 promenade lighting reflecting off his balding scalp is embarrassing.  The digitally enhanced Sark looks better.  Thanks to his backward compatibility, I have accepted that WPS was the design team's horrible prank played not only on 2E players, but 1E players as well.

Organized Terrorist Activities is the only justification for William Patrick Samuels appearing in any edition of STCCG.