DECIPHER.com > Star Trek > Expansions > Reflections 2.0

Desperate Measures

by Matt "Captain" Kirk

The dream deferred of a top-level deck for Maquis players may finally be coming true. After receiving only marginal support with Security Drills in Fractured Time, Reflections 2.0 finally gives Athos IV the game-breakers it needed to be seriously considered in metagames everywhere. No longer just an annoyance, Maquis players will be able to dictate more directly the course an opponent will need to follow to win. There are still some problems with the Maquis, most notably their sluggish personnel progression. While Klingon solvers should still be able to consistently start attempting on turn 5, the Maquis will have to rely on their new and old tools of guerilla warfare to survive.

"He launched three stratospheric torpedoes at the planet and spread cobalt diselenide throughout the biosphere... The Cardassians are already evacuating."

Biogenic Weapon will be the card to watch out for when facing a post-Reflections Maquis opponent. With the unprecedented ability to lock out any one mission and fairly simple requirements to meet, it's hard to imagine a Maquis player not taking advantage of this devastating tool. Brute Force, Treat Plague Ship, Investigate Maquis Activity... the possible targets for the Weapon are limited only by your appraisal of your opponent's priorities. Biogenic will also improve mid-game Stir Crazys against double-headquarters decks, forcing your opponent to complete both planets before attempting their space (or vice versa). Santos, Squad Leader will also allow you to change the Weapon's target by destroying the first copy to boost his attributes by two in a mission attempt (while also filling some skill gaps and having Leadership for Tamal).

While you are putting the fear of the Prophets into your opponents with your new doomsday weapon, Maquis Raid will be doing most of the hard work when it comes to your Maquis mission attempts (what a concept!). The caveat in using this event is that you will have to let your opponent cheat past some of your dilemmas before the Raid will let you cheat around your opponent's dilemmas. This isn't as much of a concern for Maquis decks, since you'll need two [Maq] ships to play it in the first place (Smiley, anyone?). And while you're playing ships, your opponent will be playing personnel and running out to attempt his missions first. With all the events that Maquis use, you will want to use the Big Three from Necessary Evil: Tsiolkovsky Infection, Whisper in the Dark, and Formal Hearing. These skill-intensive dilemmas will play for very cheap, and most likely require your opponent to add skills or fail the mission.

Finally, the Reflections 2.0 'theme' card for the Maquis is Shankar, Maquis Soldier. This third [Maq] Officer encourages you to dust off For The Cause, since all three Demilitarized Zone missions state "you cannot complete this mission..." if a [Maq] is present. Yes, there are really only three Demilitarized Zone missions so far: Evacuate Colony, Intercept Maquis, and Investigate Maquis Activity. Pretty stringent, but his payoff is almost worth it. A partial Organized Terrorist Activities, without the loss of five points, and no removing a card from your opponent's deck. Still pretty brutal for your opponent on turn one.

And there are still two more Maquis cards in Reflections 2.0! Stalling for Time is a cheap event with a One-Upsmanship-type effect for personnel only. The interesting thing about this one is that it has its effect in your Play and Draw Cards segment, allowing you to bounce an opponent's personnel, and possibly send it back to the deck with Reide, Organized Terrorist Activities, or Shankar. Strength for Our Struggle is the first pure Maquis cheater interrupt, and not real exciting. For my money, I'd rather use Maquis Raid to get any skill, rather than doubling ones I already have. But this could come in handy against Founder Trap or Secret Conspiracy when you need loads of extra skills. But of course, your Romulan and Dominion opponents will usually be stocking Urgency to dissuade you...

All in all, the Maquis are back in a BIG way after Reflections 2.0. A sample of their new and much improved possibilities is as follows:

Athos Base Operations v2.0

Missions:
Athos IV
Evacuate Colony
Intercept Maquis
Investigate Maquis Activity
Study Cometary Cloud

Dilemmas (44):
2 Aftermath
1 Back Room Dealings
2 Center of Attention
1 Dressing Down
3 Equipment Malfunction
1 Final Adventure
2 Formal Hearing
1 Full Security Alert
2 Gomtuu Shock Wave
2 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
3 Harsh Conditions
1 Maglock
1 Magnetic Field Disruptions
1 Mr. Tricorder
2 Murder Investigation
1 Personal Duty
1 Racial Tension
2 Rogue Borg Ambush
2 Secret Identity
2 Talosian Trial
1 The Clown: Bitter Medicine
1 Timescape
1 Triage
2 Tsiolkovsky Infection
2 Unknown Microorganism
2 Urgency
2 Whisper in the Dark

Deck (60):
2 Biogenic Weapon
2 Crowd Control
2 D'Arsay Archive
2 Deploy the Fleet
3 For The Cause
2 How Would You Like a Trip To Romulus?
2 Machinations
2 Maquis Raid
2 Unexpected Difficulties
2 Stricken Dumb
1 Amaros, Earnest Vanguard
1 B'Elanna Torres, Creative Engineer
1 Cal Hudson, Attaché to the Demilitarized Zone
2 Chakotay, Freedom Fighter
1 Leyton, Chief of Starfleet Operations
2 Luther Sloane, Man of Secrets
1 Kalita, Maquis Pilot
2 Kobb
2 M'vil
2 Macius
2 Michael Eddington, Noble Hero
2 Miles O'Brien, Smiley
2 Rebecca Sullivan, Resistance Fighter
2 Reide
2 Ro Laren, Maquis Sympathizer
1 Santos, Squad Leader
2 Shankar, Maquis Soldier
1 Tamal, Technician
2 Thomas Riker, Defiant Leader
2 Guingouin
2 U.S.S. Defiant, Stolen Warship
2 Valjean
2 Xhosa

The Maquis trademark mechanic has always been making the opponent return cards from hand to the top of his/her deck, and it is no different in this deck; Reide, Ro, Shankar, and the Defiant will all deplete your opponent's hand. You will need For the Cause, obviously, and your main threat comes from a Romulan player stocking Far-Seeing Eyes. Luther Sloan, Kalita, and M'vil help a bit in this department, clearing out point-scoring events like Prejudice and Politics or Getting Under Your Skin before they can become a problem. Shankar and Santos fill out the Maquis skill matrix nicely, but still leave notable gaps in the Acquistion and Telepathy columns. Crowd Control should keep a rein on decks still relying on one-cost personnel (Aftermath will also help in that department). Wait until you've got at least three ships to Deploy the Fleet for 15; two-mission wins become much more possible. Other than that, keep as many events as you can on the table to reduce high-skill dilemma costs; remember, Maquis Raid will be your ticket into quick and successful mission attempts. Enjoy the ride!

November 29, 2004