Mirror, Mirror (InQuest)
Mirror, Mirror is an article by Michael Mikaelian and Jason Robinette in InQuest #39 (July 1998, pages 44–48). It presents eight crossover cards mixing the Star Wars CCG and the Star Trek CCG.[1]
MIRROR, MIRROR
InQuest shatters the barrier between the Star Trek and Star Wars CCGs with eight crossover cards
Crossovers are cool. Okay, well not the Star Trek/X-Men stuff. That was just a really stupid idea. But with one company holding the rights to both the Star Wars and Star Trek CCGs, blending the two hottest sci-fi properties seems like a natural fit. Of course, before Decipher could plunge into creating new cards, they'd need to come up with some new rules, like they do with each expansion. If they ever decide to give it a try, we've got a few thoughts on how to mix the two...
BY MICHAEL MIKAELIAN AND JASON ROBINETTE
THE FINAL FRONTIER
Is the Great Barrier the final frontier? Nah. That was cut out of Star Trek cannon for the same reasons you'll never see Wolverine on an episode of "Voyager." Er, at least we hope not. Transported to a galaxy far, far away, Picard and company find a new frontier to explore—and a new enemy in the Empire. In the Star Wars CCG, the Federation has some very potent characters and starships, as well as quite a few new rules explaining how to integrate the Federation into your Light side deck:
Federation: Federation characters are a new character type, and do not count as Rebels or Aliens. Federation characters may not participate in a battle you initiate unless you have a Leader or a character with ability > 3 also involved in the battle.
Soong-Type Androids: These very rare droids have several special abilities. They are immune to Restraining Bolt and purchase. They may, however, be stolen using other methods. Whenever an interrupt, effect or device targets a Soong-Type Android, use its armor instead of its ability. Soong-Type Androids may never count as the "highest ability character."
Transporters: A group of characters moving to or from a starship equipped with a transporter may "beam up"—or "down"—for X Force. X = number of opponent's starships at same system. Beaming is an unlimited move. Whenever characters beam to or from a starship, that starship's armor is reduced to 0 until the end of the turn.
As a whole, Federation characters have some nice abilities. For one, most are as powerful as their Rebel counterparts, if not more so. Plus, cards like Scanning Crew and M'iiyoom Onith have no effect on Federation characters, since they aren't Rebels or aliens. However, the Federation's finest really shine when it comes to their individual abilities.
JEAN-LUC PICARD
The captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and -E and a victim of the Borg is an experienced traveler through space, time and even other dimensions. Picard's strongest quality is his ability to lead. He always seems to get the best results from his crew,and keep them alive through every adventure. It only makes sense that he would protect your forces in a space battle, demonstrating his incredible head for strategy.
Though each crew member enhances the Enterprise, Picard truly makes it a juggernaut, second only to the Executor. When piloted by Jean-Luc alone, the Enterprise has a power of 8, four points of ability, and is immune to attrition < 4. His game text makes this the least amount of attrition you'll have to suffer, and give Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin one more destiny they'll want to cancel every battle. With Picard on the Enterprise and Captain Han in the Millennium Falcon, there are few places for the Empire to hide.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DATA
Look out IG-88, here comes the biggest droid to ever grace a Star Wars card. Not only is Data more powerful than the aforementioned assassin and bounty hunter, he's the ultimate protection from character weapons, and cards like Gravel Storm and Trample. Except for lightsabers, Data protects your characters almost completely from weapons like Boba Fett's Blaster Rifle and greatly increases their odds against the dreaded Light Repeating Blaster Rifle.
Unfortunately for Data, his protection doesn't extend to himself. Being a droid presents its own set of problems for him too. Even though Data is immune to Restraining Bolt and purchase, he's not immune to Look Sir, Droids, Trample or Gravel Storm. To keep these from being a problem, you could always play I Have A Bad Feeling About This, moving it to a more difficult target, made even more so by Data's presence.
LIEUTENANT WORF
After a few seasons of getting his ass whupped by practically everyone who set foot on the Enterprise, Worf wised up and learned how to put up a fight. Now he's the one kicking ass and taking names. And his card is no different. Thanks to Worf's security background, he's got incredible game text. Like Picard, he has a defensive ability and adds something special to the Enterprise.
Unlike Picard—and more like Data—Worf's game text affects battles at his site. As a matter of fact, Data and Worf make a really hard-to-break combo. While Data protects your characters from weapons fire, Worf makes sure you never suffer attrition—that is as long as you have enough Security Personnel (Red Shirts) present.
Travelin' through warp ain't like dustin' crops, but with Picard, Data and Worf on the bridge it's a piece of cake.
U.S.S. ENTERPRISE-D
Flagship of the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise is the best in its class. Like all Galaxy-class starships, it has immunity to attrition when piloted by Federation pilots, although it does have an extra point of protection. Likewise, its power is 5 instead of the usual 4. These differences are small compared to those that the right crew make. When fully manned by Picard, Riker, Data, Worf and Geordi it is power 13, armor 8 and hyperspeed 7. All this and it's immune to attrition < 7! And if someone you don't want to fight ever attacks you, you can use 6 Force to cancel the battle.
EXPANDING THE EMPIRE
If Emperor Palpatine discovered a gateway to another galaxy, one rife with interstellar conflict, do you think he would just sit back and watch? Heck no. As soon as the Empire found new territory available for the taking, they'd pack several of their best officers into a Star Destroyer and send them out to do battle. Other than a slight miscue at Yavin, Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader were a solid team, and the Dark side can always use the aid of a swine like Boba Fett.
In the Star Trek CCG, each of these characters—as well as their ship—would surpass the power of most of the existing Star Trek cards. Like the Federation crew joining the Light side, there are several rules governing the use of Imperials in the Alpha quadrant:
Imperial: Imperial forces must attack any Rebel ships or personnel present at the same location. Battling Rebels does not cause Imperials to be 'stopped,' but they may not battle again that turn.
Bounty Hunter: At the end of any battle at this personnel's location, you may capture one opponent's personnel discarded during the battle.
Alter: Counts as Guramba. May probe to cancel an event. Event canceled.
Sense: Counts as Empathy. May probe to cancel an interrupt. Interrupt canceled.
Control: Counts as Mindmeld. May probe to cancel a just played doorway. Doorway canceled. You may probe until successful. For each probe, that opponent scores X bonus points. X = number of probes in the attempt. For example, if you attempt to cancel an event, after your first probe, your opponent scores one bonus point. After the second, they score two additional points. If you probe six times, that's 21 points!
With these basic rules in place, the Empire can put forth some outrageous characters and ships, the likes of which even the battle-hardened Klingons may learn to fear.
DARTH VADER
What can we say? Vader is THE man. He's got one of the most powerful Star Wars cards, and his Star Trek card is no different. His skills are very impressive, and the download of his lightsaber means that some away team is going to get hurt. Badly. It lets him mortally wound an opponent in away team combat if his strength is higher than theirs, which means many personnel will fall before his blade.
The most popular deck will most undoubtedly use Intermix Ratio with Vader to semi-safely counter your opponent's cards...Just don't let them get rid of the Ratio or you'll lose! Another strong use of Vader is in an all-planet missions deck, along with Roga Danar, Zon and Bossk, to form a major groundpounding beat down. Though you may take a hit from Balancing Act, who cares? Nobody's going to mess with you planetside, and you can even start a Colony. Combine Darth Vader with Dark Anger and... Need we say more?
GRAND MOFF TARKIN
Let's face it. This guy is just plain creepy. Still, if his Star Wars card wasn't so good, people probably wouldn't give him much thought. His Star Trek stats are generally average, but his special dilemma-canceling ability can be very useful. He's a good guy to have around when you come across a nasty dilemma such as Strict Dress Code.
Also, Imperial spies allow you to use any espionage cards as your own. Many of the Romulan space missions are worth a lot of points, and speaking of points: With stats like Tarkin's, it's a wonder he doesn't have green blood and pointed ears.
DEVASTATOR
By far the largest ship introduced into the Star Trek CCG, this thing sure lives up to its name. This ship differs from the regular Star Destroyer in that it requires one less staffing icon, has one more power, and it possesses the TIE Support download icon. For those of you who haven't seen it, TIE Support is an interrupt that adds 5 to the power of any Star Destroyer on which it's played. Don't forget to load up those astromechs, because there's nothing better than their cumulative range bonuses—except perhaps adding on a Captain's Log as well.
It's also worth noting that the mighty Star Destroyer is only the second ship that can come out of a Borg Ship attack undamaged without the aid of other cards.
So be it...Picard! The Dark side rocks in any universe.
BOBA FETT
Boba Fett is the biggest, baddest bounty hunter in any universe... Just don't mention the Sarlaac. Boba's exobiology means that he can help you get past the dreaded Coalescent Organism. His other skills are impressive, but his bounty hunting takes the cake—as well as your opponent's personnel.
Boba Fett's weapons are many, and their power is great. His rifle and wrist rockets add to power, while his turbo projected grappling hook allows him to capture two personnel each turn. Interrogating prisoners is so... old school. Instead of getting points for their release, you can play bounties on personnel and receive points for their capture!
See also
External links
- Inquest Gamer Partial Collection, Internet Archive (file inquest.039.-.july.1998.-.exodus.preview.lq.pdf)
References
- ↑ Michael Mikaelian and Jason Robinette, "Mirror, Mirror", InQuest #39 (July 1998), pp. 44–48. Scan: Inquest Gamer Partial Collection, Internet Archive (file inquest.039.-.july.1998.-.exodus.preview.lq.pdf).