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So we have the Venture Preview.

(http://www.startrek.com/article/attack-wing-wave-25-u-s-s-venture)


Ship - USS Venture - Never anything to complain about in the Galaxy stateline 4/1/5/4. The Ship ability is good too. Personally I like things that encourage more ships on the board People complain about the Galaxy dial, it's turns are clunky, but it has plenty of green and the federation have several cards to avoid Aux tokens, plus the Venture has a Tech slot so you can always borrow a Vulcan Power Grid


Captain - Donald Varley - The Federation didn't really need another free action Captain. However it is pretty fitting for Varley, he didn't really do much else on the Yamato. Also at skill 4 he isn't very intimidating. If the designers are going to toss out another free action Captain Scan is probably the most balanced. BS are too good for free, TL can be just as good, an Evade is essentially an extra shield a turn, and all Scan enhancers require spending more points. I would like to see other Factions get some more of these before the Federation gets their 3rd. The new Gowron and Livianna are a step in the right direction, so lets home some more quality is on the way.


Elite Talent - Galaxy Wing - It is a very thematic card, however I have a loathing for 5 point discards. I only see this card seeing play during much casual or OP play. I see this one being used in larger games. Big fleet battles, such as the one that comes with new Cube or my large 1000pt battles. Other than that it isn't going to be worth the points and an action to give 1 or 2 ships a one time +1 attack. Now if you have a large game with 3+ galaxies in a group, it may be fun just so you can say "Galaxy Wing focus fire on..."


Weapons - We have standard time token torps, nothing new there. Now Additional Phaser Arrays has some potential. On a galaxy this is ok, but on a Prometheus or a an Excelsior with some phaser upgrades it could be really useful.


Tech - Maximum Warp - This seems a little pricy at 5 points, but at least it is a disable and not a discard. It could come in handy if your move left you right in front of an enemy. I see it's biggest use in keeping people from trying to lay mines on turn 2. You could have a Prometheus or Intrepid class move what amounts to a 9 move (6 + 1 for the base + 2 = 9). Another card that has very situational uses. Not overpowered and could come in handy in the right scenario.

Tech - High Capacity Deflector Shield Grid - 5 points is a lot for a discard but if you start stacking this with Torres from the Delta Flyer and a few others you could have a ships that will really tough to crack. Expensive but tough.

? - Computer Core - 5 points to fill either a crew or weapon slot, adds a tech and as an Action you may re-roll 1 die. This card is laughably bad Systems Upgrade knocks this out of the park. Very disappointed that WK made Computer Core instead of just making a retail release of Systems Upgrade. I would let anyone proxy Systems Upgrade before seeing them waste points on this.


Overall the Venture is a decent pack. Some playable cards, but nothing over powering. More than anything I am interested to see who is the generic captain. I picked up my copy the other day, but I have been out of town for work so I won't be able to open it until I get back Oh well it gives me more to look forward to when I get home.

Too many 5 point discards in this pack.

I like the Venture's ability, as it requires a little teamwork to pull off. The maneuver dial on a Galaxy isn't nearly as bad as some Dominion ships. Plus it has a pretty sweet white five.

After that... well, Wizkids does it again. They give us some awesome, great cards (Systems Upgrade) that came on a hard to get prize ship. To throw a bone to those who didn't manage to get that prize ship, they give us... Computer Core. :/

I pretty much agree with all the points you made Mr. S. Baldrick! I was just about to post a review of this pack myself and you beat me to it.

I was hoping when I saw the name that I wasn't familiar with initially (I assume that is the Galaxy that gets blown up in the kamikaze Jem Hedar attack?) that it would be a new sculpt but no such luck as it is a Galaxy repeat. :(

I just picked this ship up today - the metallic paint job is a little weird. It worked for the NX and Thunderchild, but just looks strange for a Galaxy ship.

I also agree on your points. Though my experience comes from playing X-Wing, it really seems on Galaxy Wing ought to be a 3 point disable card. At 5 points discard seems like it only might be something to consider if you are running 3 Galaxies - and in that case, points would still be spent better elsewhere.

It almost sounds like the high point cost is an attempt to put some things "back in the bottle", but with things like System Upgrade, the horses have already left the barn.

I don't mind the metallic paint job. It is growing on me. I do prefer the light blue Galaxy model that came with the starter set. However it is nice to have both.


On Computer Core, 5 points is just insane. It takes up a crew or a weapon slot. Eric Motz from the Pegasus is a better choice for 2 points if you are that desperate for a Tech. If you are hard pressed there is also Torres from Voyager. There are also a couple Fed captains that add a Tech, Picard from the E and Tuvok from the Delta Flyer. For anyone even thinking about using this card I would recommend just track down a copy of the Hood. It does go around $40 on eBay, but there are lots of good cards in there.

I feel like most of the cards that we are taking issue with would be playable and worth taking if they were just a few points cheaper. I mean, Computer Core as a 2 point upgrade would be worth it, High Capacity Deflector Grid at about 3 points sounds balanced, Maximum warp at 2 or 3 points... these cards would actually see use. I feel like 5 points is a touch steep for a disable, but seeing as it's a Federation card, action economy is such that its not exactly a lose.

All in All, I would have to agree its a decent pack.

Agreed. I feel a lot of cards recently need a point or two shaved off. It would be nice if the designers could balance things a little better without up turning the tables for the Federation. Feds don't have it as bad as everyone else but even for them some of the points are out of wack. Klingons suffer from this more then anyone else. They have a huge stack of 5 point discards that would be awesome at 3 points, but alas.