Hacking It With Cybernetics

by Sean O'Reilly (jono1701@prodigy.net)

As in any expansion, there are cards in Holodeck Adventures that don't fit into the theme. This time one of the subsets of the expansion regards the skill of Cybernetics. Once Holodeck Adventures is released, the old "built-in" rule that allowed you to report one android for free for each personnel with Cybernetics present will be gone. Replacing the rule is the new incident, Cybernetics Expertise, which can seed or play on the table.

So why is a card that could potentially take up one of your valuable thirty seed slots better than a built in rule? Simple. The card has three great functions while the "built-in" rule has just one. You can still play an android for free for each Cybernetics personnel present as in the past. However, the second function gives you the flexibility to report "on the run." If you have a Cybernetics x2 personnel in play you are allowed to then play androids directly to that personnel's location. And the best function of all is the third one. If you have an android in your discard pile, once per turn you can discard a card from your hand to retrieve any android in your discard pile.

Let me take a more in-depth look at the latter two functions of the Cybernetics Expertise card. In a deck built around androids, you will want the flexibility Cybernetics x2 gives you by being able to report two androids for free directly to the personnel that has the skill at that level. However, through Holodeck Adventures only Dr. Soong from the Fajo Collection has Cybernetics x2 printed on his card. There are a few ways to download the good doctor into play early in the game: to the Science Lab at a Non-Aligned Empok Nor; to the Establish Relations mission after solving it; with a "Wow!" probe via Visit Cochrane Memorial; or using Vic Fontaine's special skill when your personnel are stopped by a dilemma.

Another way to get a Cybernetics x2 personnel out quickly is to use the Reflection Therapy objective. Play the card on any Cybernetics personnel to change any one of their skills to Cybernetics. One example involves the Romulan Telak from Q-Continuum. He can be downloaded on your first turn using Defend Homeworld. Then play the Therapy objective on him to change another of his skills to Cybernetics – voila! instant Cybernetics x2 personnel. Or are you in the Delta Quadrant and not playing Romulan? Download B'lanna Torres from Voyager into your hand first turn using Quark's Isolinear Rods. Surround her with some treacheous personnel and then (again) use Reflection Therapy.

On to Expertise's third function. Res-Q can be nullified by Kevin Uxbridge while Nanoprobe Resuscitation can be prevented with an Amanda Rogers... that leaves the third function of Cybernetics Expertise as the safest way to retrieve androids from your discard pile. Personnel are discarded most often because of dilemmas and battle, but believe it or not you can benefit by intentionally discarding your androids and then retrieving them at a later point. Most collectable card games are won by having a greater card advantage than your opponent. Cards such as The Power, Renewal Scroll, and Mutation allow you to discard one or more cards from your hand to draw some from your deck. So it might be worthwhile to discard an android to gain card advantage early in the game and when you need the android later to pass a dilemma or solve a mission you can use the Expertise's third function and get it back.

The other part of the Holodeck Adventures Cybernetics "subset" involves the androids themselves. In fact the set has the highest number of 'droids since Q-Continuum way back in 1996. Five androids are in the set: the universal Cravic Unit 122, Pralor Unit 3947, the universal Pralor Unit 6263, and the two Non-Aligned versions of Data (Carlos and Sherlock Holmes). The two universal androids are exactly the same: each is an OFFICER and has the skills of Leadership, Computer Skill, and Navigation with attributes 5-7-10. You would probably not want to play with both Cravic- and Pralor-type androids in the same deck (and definitely not in the same Away Team) since they are nemeses of each other. As I stated earlier, B'lanna Torres has the skill of Cybernetics which will help you build a Delta Quadrant Cyber deck quickly – useful against the likes of Vidiians, Kazon, and Hirogen who all enjoy to boarding your ships for various reasons.

As for the new Datas, both Carlos (downloadable with Quark's Isolinear Rods) and Sherlock Holmes (downloadable with Holoprogram: 221B Baker Street) are usable with any affiliation and don't necessarily need to be found in Holodeck deck to be useful – though it helps. There are various reasons to include these new Datas in a non-Federation deck: they're both CIVILIANs (can you say Colony deck?), they both make All Threes your choice, they each have STRENGTH of 12, and both give you unique special skills not found on any other cards in the game.

So now that you know how much better Cybernetics decks are post-Holodeck Adventures, it's time for you to get all your androids out and say "hasta la vista" to your opponent. Oops, not that android!

December 14, 2001