Klingon linguists have succeeded in getting the technical specifications for an unusual vessel:
The Tama's uses:
Good Combat Attributes: The Tama has the standard 7-8-9 attribute distribution of a "generic ship-of-the-line," but it has a unique distribution, with Weapons highest, Shields next, and then a low Range. These attributes are great for combat--the ship can absorb hits fairly well, hits hard, and has reasonable (if not spectacular) speed. Needless to say, Tama is at its best in a planet deck, where its low Range is offset by low spans. The attributes also offer an interesting opportunity--Borg-hunting with Non-Aligned personnel! With Tallera to attempt affiliated missions, and Samaritan Snare to be attempted even without her support, Non-Aligned Borg-hunting becomes a definite possibility. The Husnock Ship can also be used to Hunt, but its suffers from even worse Range than the Tama. The Tama allows one to get around the spaceline to complete missions reasonably well if Borg-hunting fails to pan out; the Husnock Ship makes movement a struggle.
Frills, Frills, Frills: Tama has several handy "special features." First and foremost is Captain's Log benefits, from no less a character than Dathon, a popular character in his own right. Like Terix, the Tama gets Log benefits from personnel worth including anyway. Also interesting is the Particle-Scattering Device, which allows one to play one of the more annoying cards in ST:CCG, the Particle-Scattering Field. The Particle-Scattering Field is not a favorite in most players' decks (see Mot's Useless Card Review #30 for a more in-depth look at the Particle-Scattering Field), but unlimited deck sizes mean that the card can be included without forcing one to pass up another, perhaps more generally useful, card. Of course, the Tama's low Range can make it difficult to catch up to and trap an Away Team, so the Particle-Scattering Fields' usefulness is, as is indicated by the fact that it earned Mot's attention, questionable. All in all, however, the Particle-Scattering Device is probably better than the ubiquitous Tractor Beam, if only for the surprise value.
Easy To Crew: Tama's low staffing requirements make it a superb ship for many tasks. It can fight the ships-of-the-line one-on-one with only two personnel (which means that more of their personnel are tied up in battle than yours). It is the only ship capable of Borg-hunting on its own which requires less than three personnel to staff. "So what? You'll need at least four personnel to activate the Naiskos!" Ah, but what if something goes wrong? Suppose a squad of Rogue Borg, led by Crosis and following Lore's instructions, arrives aboard ship and starts to slaughter your personnel. The Rogue Borg only need to kill two personnel to stall you on most ships (one on the Future Enterprise), but on Tama they have to kill two. although it seems a thin line, that extra leeway can mean the difference between a lost game and a victory.
As with all ships, however, Tama is less than perfect:
Bad For Mission-Completion: The Tama's low Range can make it difficult to get around the spaceline, especially if there are many planet missions. Overall, a mission-completion deck should probably stick with ships with a Range of 8 or 9, minimum.
Final Analysis: Tama is, without a doubt, a good ship in a combat deck, and could serve admirably as a Borg-hunter (where the Kurlan Naiskos would make up for its poor Range). However, mission-completion decks should probably leave this ship in the binder.
Next week: The Spacedock dreams of the I.K.C. K'Ratak.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Feel free to e-mail Phalanx
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