My STAW hacking has nearly wound up, because basically, I have almost no cards left to cut and paste (real cuts, real paste, no tech talk here!).
The Kelvin timeline pack is interesting, well more frustrating really.
The ships are physically bigger and more powerful than their standard timeline equivalents (as in the biggest Federation ships in the game), their stats read like late TNG battleships and they are fast, so mixing them in with the other Feds is not a choice.
I did ponder a USS Vengeance-like cross over, the model is actually big enough to dwarf the TOS Enterprise like in the movie.
You get the whole crew as double sided cards, so a real win, very thematic and adds to the hectic, “always options” feel of the films.
The Klingons do not, but their actual presence in the movies was limited, so fair enough.
The upgrade cards are thin and some are a stretch, the Feds not even getting a single Elite Talent for their several captains with a slot, but that is easy enough fixed, I have raided a bunch of cards from my other discarded Mirror packs, the ISS Avenger, Dauntless, Regents Flagship etc, and some mainstream Fed and Klingon packs.
I also added another Klingon captain, Krell from the TOS set with a suitably mean looking Klingon face and the Somraw Commanders ability.
You get two named Klingon ships drawn from canon and two generics, and two Fed generics and two named ships, but they are both the Enterprise (which could also have been a double sided card!?), so as it comes, your second ship has to be a base ship with reduced stats and no special ability.
I had a spare Excelsior card (think I have bought this one five times!) from a recent clearance grab and as one captain option in the Kelvin set is Sulu, I could not help myself (although Pike or Spock probably make more sense).
The Enterprise only has two Crew slots for seven of the best and most fun Crew cards out there, so this means more can be in play, but choices still have to be made. With a second TatV set coming, I may even add an Enterprise-B to this set.
The Klingons get the Kreechong, a bit of a mash-up name. I wanted to use the Somraw again, but the name text came from the Somraw Captain card and was a little big and the Mirror Starship name plate was quite wide.
I was low on ship abilities, as in-almost nothing left, but I had the Enhanced Hull Plating card from the Mirror Avenger, and as I had added that upgrade card to the Kelvin set, it made for a lucky coincidence.
I now have to track down a 4 Shield icon from my last orders coming (A third Vulcan faction pack, the Aj’Rmr, “Yesterdays Enterprise” OP, Turret Terror OP, 3rd Wing Attack Ship, Trap Travesty OP, a huge OP card pack, a second These are the Voyages pack* and a D’Kora card pack). Should be ok.
I now have (if House Rule 1** is applied), enough to make a 130pt Federation fleet.
The problem is, two full strength Federation ships are too much for the Klingons.
Being a split in the timeline already, I thought that maybe I should look to the other races that tend to jump around a bit, this being modern Trek after all, where set timelines are only a suggestion.
Species 8472 come from fluidic space and can potentially connect with any universe and time. Four 38 point named ships are tough for any faction, even the more powerful Kelvin Feds, so a great opponent and scenario base.
Potentially 5 of these. Nasty.
This led to The Borg, also capable of jumping around time and space like race assimilating Daleks. A first contact scenario with the Tactical Cube 138 (acting more like a scout) vs two Federation ships?
I then added the Tholians, who appear in TOS, Enterprise and it’s Mirror episode (with a Constitution class) and are mentioned in other periods, are not a stretch at all. They are weak, but six of them vs a lone Enterprise, maybe coming to the aide of a stricken generic?
Then this;
What if the Kelvin Enterprise had to track down an unknown threat near Romulan space and came across one, then two Drone ships creating havoc? These are slow but agile and tough (maybe too tough for the Enterprise era). This has a slight third movie vibe, with a small and agile semi-swarm vs a single big target and flips the usual Feds vs the Behemoth role. The Romulans could have tried this trick against any period Feds. The models are some of the best STAW has and in their home time line, they are a power house.
Ed. I have bought two more drones and will run them as a 4 ship faction-less, unnamed independent “drone” force of unknown origin (could be Romulan, might not be?).
My “Q” pack has some interesting bits like the World Eater.
Finally, this “thought bubble”. The Krenim from Voyager, who are strong, especially in numbers and bend time and space by inclination, sometimes badly. What if a Kelvin Enterprise was drawn into their failed experiment or, they by choice or error send a small fleet to the Kelvin timeline?
These can also pose a threat to a hastily allied Federation/Klingon alliance if needed.
Suddenly the Kelvin set has some legs and some adversaries that are often a tough fight for other factions, maybe the strong Kelvin fleet can pull something out?
My intention has always been to keep the original cards and ships intact as bought (unless they became officially redundant, like the early Voyager or NX-Enterprise cards), adjust points totals and then make each time and faction limited set as self sufficient as possible with the left overs, be they hacked cards or simply repeats.
*Wizkids had a sale ok! In can make another named Constitution class, the two “red” early Vulcan ships add to my rebel fleet, a Vulcan civil war spin-off I have been pondering based on the events of the last series of Enterprise and the Nebula will flesh out that class, not sure of the name, but USS Kuvak, Soval, T’Pol or another Vulcan sounding one makes sense. The TatV pack has the useless gold ships, so thickly painted I don’t think I can re-do them, what a waste, but over 100 cards, some of the Elite Talents alone can and should be spread far and wide, the Kelvin set in particular!
**House rule 1, applied in low ship count games is that Upgrades can be bought beyond the Upgrade bar limit, but a ship may only have Upgrades up to their bar active at any one time. A Captain may buy more than one Elite, a ship may have several Weapons etc, and sometimes even the same Captain or Crew member may be bought more than once for the same ship (obviously). but the following applies;
If an Upgrade is disabled, it may not be re-enabled if it is not active. No disabling while it recovers. Time tokens also stay in place on disabled cards (but this is also flexible).
If a duplicate Crew or Captain card are disabled or lost, their fate is shared by all their shared cards. This is basically the rule for the Kelvin set anyway and I usually sleeve them back to back. The benefits of multiple Crew Upgrades are mitigated by their actual abilities being cost balanced like any other.
A point limit may apply (usually the ship cost), which is usually plenty, but stops tiny ships getting massive upgrade hits.
If a card adds something to the ship’s capabilities, it leaves with the card, such as an extra active Crew or Tech slot. You do not loose the Upgrade, just the ability to activate it.
You use the Captain skill of the currently active Captain.
If a card contradicts any of this (like Kirks multiple Elite Talent play), either amend the rule or do not play the card or the House rule.