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, 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.
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 and two generics, drawn from canon, and two Fed generics and two named ships, but they are both the Enterprise (which could also have been a double sided card!?), so your second ship has to be a base ship with reduced stats and no special ability.
I had a spare Excelsior card from a recent clearance grab and as one captain option is Sulu, I could not help myself (although Pike or Spock probably make more sense). The Enterprise only has two Crew slots, so this means more can be in play.
The Klingons get the Kreechong, a bit of a mash-up. I wanted to use the Somraw again, but the name text came from the Somraw Captain card and was a little big.
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”, Turret Terror OP, 3rd Wing Attack Ship, Trap Travesty OP, a huge OP upgrade pack and the D’Kora card pack). Should be ok.
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 assimilating Daleks. The Tactical Cube (acting more like a scout) vs two Federation ships?
I then added the Tholians, who did appear in TOS, Enterprise and it’s Mirror episode (with a Constitution class), so 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 Enterprise had to track down an unknown threat near Romulan space and came across 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 big and an easy target and why not? The Romulans could have tried this trick against any period Feds.
Finally, but this is a “thought bubble”. The Krenim from Voyager are strong, especially in numbers and bend time by inclination. What if a Kelvin Enterprise was drawn into their failed experiment or, they by choice or error, sent 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, up against a faster and stronger fleet.
*In can make another Vulcan 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.