Enterprise-E Relaunched - A Design Story

”Hold your course, Mister Hawk. We must follow them back...” -Jean-Luc Picard, First Contact

Long before there was a TNG or DS9 icon to differentiate Federation groups from one another, there was the Enterprise-E icon. More than just a faction icon, it was a staffing icon, replacing the Command and Staff icons on the Bridge Crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E.

Unfortunately, when these personnel were released in 1998’s First Contact expansion, they were a mess. They were difficult to use in a generic Federation deck because they lacked a regular staffing icon. As time went on, their power declined even more: Most had a special download, but outside of Geordi La Forge, none were particularly interesting. Add to that the fact they had no free report mechanic, and these mains were relegated to the binder.

It was decided to throw the Enterprise-E group a new toy during the planning for Shades of Gray. There was a broken link on the William T. Riker from Chain of Command, so we designed a number of card ideas to jump-start the deck.

The problem was, the better we made this tool, the more it needed to be out on turn one... which meant that CoC Riker had to be either seeded or downloaded. One version of Federation Flagship: Renewed was a complicated cycle of discarding to download any Enterprise-E personnel (Riker), so he could special download another copy of Federation Flagship: Renewed, then you’d have your play engine in place. In another version we asked the players to seed a Spacedoor, use a card play to download a universal Sovereign-Class ship (U.S.S. Sovereign), use Bareil or Secret Agent Julian Bashir to get the '45 Dom Perignon, download the Enterprise-E, then play a Ready Room Door to get Riker and the play engine.

After much (well-deserved) wailing and gnashing of teeth, we went back to the drawing board. A light bulb went off.... We hit upon the idea that Federation Flagship: Renewed would be a draw engine, and a new card - Federation Flagship: Relaunched - would be the play engine.

Once we were detached from Riker’s download, we rebuilt this play engine from the ground up. What did we want to accomplish? A free play, directly to the ship. What about the ship? We decided on a download of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E in the seed phase. How about the staffing problem? Get three Enterprise-E folks together and they can meet a Command icon. Now... how do we keep the Enterprise-E deck from becoming a Federation All-Star deck, with First Officer Spock, Admiral Riker, Dr. McCoy, and none of the actual Enterprise-E personnel?

The answer was a strict limitation. If you have any Federation cards that don’t have the Enterprise-E or First Contact Expansion icon in play, Federation Flagship: Relaunched will evaporate. Too harsh? Perhaps, but the Enterprise-E folks - now collectively known as the TNG Movie era - get a new version of a familiar face in this set: Worf. He has many of the skills that this Federation sub-group are short on. (Some of you may have already seen the preview version; you may have a chance to win one at a release event!) Expect more personnel to be added over time who will either get an Enterprise-E staffing icon or some other way of mixing in.

And they can still pair with another affiliation via treaty. And there's a pair of close-knit non-aligned groups that are a great match, both thematically and via gameplay.

The last finishing touches on Federation Flagship: Relaunched were the outpost requirement and the damage on the Enterprise. After all, you are repairing the ship after Picard called for “Ramming speed!” in Nemesis. If your opponent isn't stocking a Battle Bridge, you may get off without a scratch.

There's one other use if you are so inclined. Federation Flagship: Relaunched can be used to get a U.S.S. Enterprise-E into play for any deck. Download Picard's ride, and even if it gets damaged, you can then seed a Holoprogram: Historical Poker Game. Or grab the other U.S.S. Enterprise-E (U.S.S. Enterprise-E, Federation Envoy) and get some bonus points for doing missions.

Dig through your binders! Pull out those unused First Contact personnel with the blue template! Relaunch the Enterprise! And Expand Your Power in the Universe!