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The introduction of the Borg into the Star Trek Customizable Card Game generated a great deal of excitement. Unfortunately, it also generated not a little confusion as players began to work out the applications of the special skills possessed by Borg personnel. Although the game designers put a great deal of effort into making the skill descriptions as clear as possible, the small size of the skill box requires some terse wording. More importantly, Borg personnel's special skills partake of some general skill rules and terminology that players sometimes forget to apply to the Borg. This course explains the meaning and use of the Borg personnel's special skills, one by one.
There are a few important terms that you need to fully understand in order to appreciate the Borg's special skills.
Collective. Your collective consists of all your Borg in play.
Hive. A hive consists of all Borg at a single spaceline location (whether on ships or planetside).
Regular skill. A regular skill is a skill expressed in one or two words. A list of regular skills is available in the latest Glossary (s.v. "skills, selecting").
Special skill. A special skill is a skill expressed in a sentence or independent clause.
Note: Following Decipher's practice in its rules supplements and other rules documents, Borg drones are listed here according to their identifications, not their numeric designations.
Annexation Drone (Eight of Eighteen). "Where present, allows your transporters to beam through opponent's SHIELDS." Your Annexation Drone on your Borg ship allows you to beam through any opposing SHIELDS. Your Annexation Drone on your opponent's ship or facility allows you to beam your Borg off of that ship or facility.
Antitoxin Drone (Eight of Fifteen). "May download Borg Nanoprobes in place of your normal card play." Note that you must use this ability at a point in your turn when a normal card play is otherwise permissible. You cannot use this download once you have advanced to the "executing orders" phase of your turn. You cannot use this download in lieu of card plays other than your normal card play (for example, those generated using Delta Quadrant Spatial Scission).
Assault Drone (Eight of Nineteen). "Where present, your Borg are each STRENGTH +2. (Cumulative.)" An Assault Drone benefits from its own special skill. Only your Borg present with an Assault Drone benefit from the STRENGTH bonus; simply being in the same hive or collective is insufficient. Each Assault Drone provides its own bonus, so a group of three Assault Drones provides a total bonus of STRENGTH +6 to each Borg present with them (including themselves).
Astrogation Drone (Eighteen of Nineteen). "While on your ship, RANGE is +1. (Cumulative.)" Only the ship carrying the Astrogation Drone benefits from the RANGE bonus. Each Astrogation Drone aboard provides its own bonus, so a group of three Astrogation Drones provide a total bonus of RANGE +3 to the ship carrying them.
Augmentation Drone (Eleven of Eighteen). "Where present, your implant cards play for free and may be 'reabsorbed' (placed beneath draw deck) if discarded." In order to play for free, your implant cards must play on a Borg present with your Augmentation Drone; simply being in the same hive or collective is insufficient. In order to be "reabsorbed," your implant card must be discarded from or with a Borg who is present with your Augmentation Drone as the discard process begins. An Augmentation Drone that is being discarded cannot "reabsorb" implant cards played on itself.
Bareil of Borg. "While on your ship, WEAPONS and SHIELDS +4 against (Baj)." Only the ship carrying Bareil benefits from the WEAPONS and SHIELDS bonuses. Bareil's WEAPONS and SHIELDS bonuses are applicable against Non-Aligned ships carrying (Baj) personnel, because such a crew constitutes a Bajoran force.
Bio-Med Drone (Eleven of Nineteen). "Once every turn where present, may 'reabsorb' (place beneath draw deck) another of your Borg just killed." The target Borg must be present with the Bio-Med Drone to be reabsorbed; simply being in the same hive or collective is insufficient. A Bio-Med Drone cannot reabsorb itself, but a second unaffected Bio-Med Drone can reabsorb the first Bio-Med Drone if just killed where present.
Borg Queen (both versions). "When reported, selects any skill; may change skill at start of each turn." The Borg Queen may select only regular skills, not special skills (see above). Should you fail to select a skill for the Borg Queen when you report her, her selected skill simply remains undefined until the start of your next turn. Should you fail to announce at the beginning of your turn that you are altering the Borg Queen's skill, she has the same regular skill that she had during your previous turn.
Borg Queen (First Contact). "May download A Change of Plans or a Borg drone in place of one card draw." Any time the rules or a card play direct you to draw a card from your draw deck, you may invoke the Borg Queen's skill and download A Change of Plans or a Borg drone. There is no arbitrary limit to the number of times per turn you may use this skill; you are not limited to using this skill with your end-of-turn card draw. Note that you must use the Borg Queen's ability at the precise time when the card draw would otherwise have taken place. You may not use the Borg Queen's ability to download in the middle of your turn in anticipation of the card draw at the end of your turn.
Borg Queen (The Borg). "May download any [BO] Event or Interrupt card in place of your normal card play." The [BO] icon applies to both "Event" and "Interrupt" (the Borg Queen cannot download just any interrupt). Note that you must use this ability at a point in your turn when a normal card play is otherwise permissible. You cannot use this download once you have advanced to the "executing orders" phase of your turn. You cannot use this download in lieu of card plays other than your normal card play (for example, those generated using Delta Quadrant Spatial Scission).
Complink Drone (Eleven of Seventeen). "May seed (limit one) face up at your outpost." The "limit one" restricts the number of Complink Drones that you may seed at your outpost. You may subsequently bring any number of Complink Drones into play by other means.
Complink Drone (Eleven of Seventeen). "Nullifies all Computer Crash cards in play." The nullification applies to Computer Crash cards played by either player. This also effectively prevents any Computer Crash card from being successfully played, because the Complink Drone would immediately nullify it.
Connectivity Drone (Eleven of Twelve). "May download Borg Vinculum here in place of a card draw." Any time the rules or a card play direct you to draw a card from your draw deck, you may invoke the Connectivity Drone's skill and download a Borg Vinculum. There is no arbitrary limit to the number of times per turn you may use this skill; you are not limited to using this skill with your end-of-turn card draw.
Countermeasure Drone (Fifteen of Seventeen). "May download one Adapt card in place of one card draw." An "Adapt card" is any card whose title begins with the word "Adapt." Otherwise the Countermeasure Drone's skill conforms in all respects to the Borg Queen's downloading skill (q.v. above).
Cyber Drone (Five of Eleven). "Wherever [Com] Borg present in same hive, may prevent your Borg from being placed in stasis." Where present, a Cyber Drone meets its own requirement for the presence of a [Com] Borg. A Cyber Drone does not prevent its ship from being placed in stasis, nor can it cure stasis once the stasis has begun.
Fifth. "Once each turn, may return to hand one of your [BO] Incident, Event, or Objective cards in play." The [BO] icon applies to each card type listed; Fifth's skill has no effect on cards that do not bear a [BO] icon. You may only use Fifth's skill once per turn, regardless of how many copies of Fifth you have in play. Using Fifth's skill constitutes "executing orders," and advances you beyond the card play phase of your turn (if applicable).
First. "May initiate battle against intruders." The permission to initiate battle applies to First and the Borg present with him only; other Borg in the same hive, but not present, cannot participate in the battle. Likewise, the targets must be intruders aboard your Borg ship.
First. "Your Borg present are each STRENGTH +3 in battle." First benefits from its own special skill. Only your Borg present with First benefit from the STRENGTH bonus; simply being in the same hive or collective is insufficient. First's STRENGTH bonus is not cumulative, so two copies of First present together still yield only a total of +3 to STRENGTH. First's STRENGTH bonus applies only during battle; it cannot be used to help overcome dilemmas or for other purposes. First's STRENGTH bonus can be combined with other drones' STRENGTH bonuses (e.g., Assault Drone, Sentinel Drone).
Four of Nine. See "Heuristics Drone."
Gowron of Borg. "Once per game, allows his hive to initiate battle." The permission to initiate battle applies to Gowron's entire hive, no matter how the Borg personnel in that hive are distributed among ships, planets, and facilities.
Gowron of Borg. "While on your ship, WEAPONS and SHIELDS +4 against (Klg)." Only the ship carrying Gowron benefits from the WEAPONS and SHIELDS bonuses. Gowron's WEAPONS and SHIELDS bonuses are applicable against Non-Aligned ships carrying (Klg) personnel, because such a crew constitutes a Klingon force.
Guard Drone (Four of Eleven). "While on your ship, SHIELDS are +2. (Cumulative.)" Only the ship carrying the Guard Drone benefits from the SHIELDS bonus; simply being in the same collective or hive is insufficient. Each Guard Drone aboard provides its own bonus, so a group of three Guard Drones provides a total bonus of SHIELDS +6 to the ship.
Heuristics Drone (Four of Nine). "Once each turn, may place one drone present beneath draw deck, then download another." The drone placed under the draw deck must be present with Four of Nine; simply being in the same hive or collective is insufficient. Because Four of Nine is unique, you may only use Four of Nine's special skill once per turn, no matter how many copies of Four of Nine you have in play.
Interlink Drone (Nine of Eleven). "Allows all Borg in this hive present with a [Com] Borg to share skills. Each such Borg has every shared skill at its highest level." Only regular skills are shared; special skills are not shared. Where present, an Interlink Drone meets its own requirement for the presence of a [Com] Borg. See the First Contact rules supplement for a detailed and clear example of the application of the Interlink Drone's skill.
Isotope Drone (Nine of Fifteen). If you have completed Harness Particle 010, all your Borg in play are each attributes all +2. (Cumulative.)" The Isotope Drone confers its benefits whether it was in play when you completed Harness Particle 010 or came into play later. The special skill is cumulative, so each Isotope Drone in play provides its own bonus. All of your Borg in play, regardless of their location, benefit from the Isotope Drone's skill.
Locutus of Borg. "While on your ship, WEAPONS and SHIELDS +4 against (Fed)." Only the ship carrying Locutus benefits from the WEAPONS and SHIELDS bonuses. Locutus' WEAPONS and SHIELDS bonuses are applicable against Non-Aligned ships carrying (Fed) personnel, because such a crew constitutes a Federation force.
Multiplexor Drone (Nine of Seventeen). "When on your ship during battle, that ship may use total WEAPONS against X different targets, where X=number of [Def] Borg aboard." Only the ship that carries a Multiplexor Drone benefits from its special ability. Also, while a Multiplexor Drone gives your Borg the ability to fire at multiple targets, it does not grant them permission to fire at any targets. Such permission must be secured from another source, such as your current objective or your opponent's prior attack. (For more details on battling, consult the Borg Battle Directive.)
Network Drone (Nine of Twelve). "If present where probing for Establish Gateway, once each turn, you may discard probe card to probe again." Your Network Drone must be at the spaceline location targeted by your Establish Gateway to allow reprobing. Because the Network Drone is universal, you may reprobe once per turn for each Network Drone at that location.
Procurement Drone (One of Eleven). "May 'steal' unattended Equipment cards present." An "unattended" equipment card is one with which none of your opponent's personnel are present.
Procurement Drone (One of Eleven). "May download any one [BO] Equipment card in place of one card draw." Except for the type of card that may be downloaded, the Procurement Drone's downloading skill conforms in all respects to the Borg Queen's downloading skill (q.v. above).
Purification Drone (Seventeen of Eighteen). "While on your ship in the Delta Quadrant, it is RANGE +2. (Cumulative.)" Only the ship on which the Purification Drone is present receives the RANGE bonus, and only when the ship is in the Delta Quadrant. Because the skill is marked as cumulative, each Purification Drone aboard a single ship independently contributes a RANGE bonus to that ship.
Quantum Drone (Six of Eleven). "When on your ship, may download one Alternate Universe Doorway in place of one card draw." Except for the type of card that may be downloaded, the Quantum Drone's downloading skill conforms in all respects to the Borg Queen's downloading skill (q.v. above).
Sabotage Drone (Six of Seventeen). "Once every turn, if on a ship, may reduce RANGE or WEAPONS by 2 until end of turn. (Not cumulative.)" Only the ship carrying a Sabotage Drone suffers from the penalties. The penalties are optional, so the drone's controller must declare whether or not the penalties are in effect. The default state is that the penalties are not in effect; they take effect only when you declare that they do. The Sabotage Drone's skill is not cumulative; however, if you have two Sabotage Drones aboard a ship, each one's skill has full effect if each drone chooses a different ship attribute to affect. Thus, two Sabotage Drones may not reduce a ship's RANGE by 4, but two Sabotage Drones may reduce a ship's RANGE by 2 and its WEAPONS by 2.
Scout Drone (Six of Thirteen). "Immune to Thine Own Self." If the Scout Drone and a second drone are alone on a planet, Thine Own Self can still be played to affect the other drone (assuming that it is not another Scout Drone). The Scout Drone's immunity does not extend to other drones, nor does it nullify Thine Own Self.
Scout Drone (Six of Thirteen). "If present when your Adapt: Negate Obstruction is nullified, you may place it beneath draw deck." "It" refers to the Adapt: Negate Obstruction card that was nullified, not to the Scout Drone.
Sentinel Drone (Six of Twelve). "Where present, your Borg are each CUNNING +1 and STRENGTH +1. (Cumulative.)" Only your Borg present with the Sentinel Drone gain the attribute bonuses; simply being in the same hive or collective is insufficient. The Sentinel Drone benefits from its own bonus. Because the skill is marked as cumulative, each Sentinel Drone present independently adds its bonus to each Borg present.
Seven of Nine. "May apply [Com], [Nav] and [Def] to staffing." The "and" means that you may apply all three staffing icons at the same time, contrary to normal rules governing the use of multiple staffing icons.
Second. "Doubles regular skills of other drones present." Second does not benefit from his own special skill. The Borg Queen and counterparts do not benefit from Second's special skill. If Second is present where skills are being shared, he doubles the "source" drone's skill, which is then shared at the x2 level.
Seven of Nine. "May draw a card in place of your normal card play." Replacement of your normal card play with a card draw must happen at the beginning of your turn, when your card play would normally occur. Other Borg personnel's skills may be used to convert this card draw into a download, based on their own game text. A common strategy is to use Seven of Nine to convert your card play into a card draw, and to use the Borg Queen to download a drone instead of using Seven of Nine's card draw.
Survey Drone (Sixteen of Nineteen). "May acquire artifact(s) if on same planet or aboard a ship at same space location." Before your Survey Drone may acquire an artifact at any spaceline location, you must earn the artifact by completing an appropriate objective there. Acquiring the artifact is considered to be part of resolving the completion of the objective.
Tachyon Drone (Ten of Nineteen). "Once each turn, if on your ship, may force one opponent's ship at same location to decloak." If you have multiple Tachyon Drones on your ship, each may use its special skill once per turn.
Tactical Drone (Thirteen of Nineteen). "While on your ship, WEAPONS are +2. (Cumulative.)" Only the ship carrying the Tactical Drone benefits from its WEAPONS bonus. Each Tactical Drone aboard provides its own bonus, so a group of three Tactical Drones provide a total bonus of RANGE +6 to the ship carrying them.
Tactician Drone (Three of Nine). "Once each turn, may place one card from hand beneath draw deck, then draw a card." Using Three of Nine's special skill constitutes "executing orders," and advances you beyond the card play phase of your turn (if applicable). Because Three of Nine is unique, you may only use this special skill once per turn, no matter how many copies of Three of Nine you have in play.
Talon Drone (Three of Nineteen). "Just after stunning an opposing personnel, may abduct and assimilate that adversary." Whenever your Talon Drone stuns an adversary in personnel battle, you have the option of abducting and assimilating the stunned adversary. If you choose to exercise this option, your Talon Drone and its adversary are immediately removed from the personnel battle and the adversary is immediately assimilated, undergoing the changes specified in the First Contact rules supplement. You may beam your Talon Drone and the new drone away if you wish and you have the means to do so, but both are "stopped." Note that you may not assimilate a counterpart in this fashion. (For complete details on personnel assimilation, consult the Personnel Assimilation Directive.)
Transport Drone (Two of Eleven). "Where present, allows your transporters to beam through opponent's SHIELDS." This drone's skill works against all opposing SHIELDS, whether projected from a ship or facility.
Transtator Drone (Two of Nine). "Once each turn, may discard a card from hand to place two bottom cards of discard pile beneath draw deck." Using Two of Nine's special skill constitutes "executing orders," and advances you beyond the card play phase of your turn (if applicable). Because Two of Nine is unique, you may only use this special skill once per turn, no matter how many copies of Three of Nine you have in play.
Transwarp Drone (Two of Nineteen). "When on your ship, may download one Transwarp doorway or interrupt in place of one card draw." A "Transwarp doorway or interrupt" is any doorway or interrupt whose name begins with "Transwarp." Otherwise, the Transwarp Drone's downloading skill conforms in all respects to the Borg Queen's downloading skill (q.v. above).
Unity Drone (Two of Seventeen). "Your Borg present with any [Com] Borg in this hive may add their CUNNING to total wherever there is another [Com] Borg in the same hive." Where present, a Unity Drone meets its own requirement for the presence of a [Com] drone. A detailed and clear example of the application of the Unity Drone's skill may be found in the Glossary (s.v. "Unity Drone"). Note that the Unity Drone's skill does not affect any Borg's individual CUNNING score, and thus has no effect on dilemmas like Hunter Gangs and Yuta, or effects like those of Anti-Matter Spread.
Xenology Drone (Two of Twelve). "If present where probing for Assimilate Planet, once each turn, you may discard probe card to probe again." Your Xenology Drone must be at the spaceline location targeted by your Assimilate Planet objective to allow reprobing. Because the Xenology Drone is universal, you may reprobe once per turn for each Xenology Drone at that location.
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