Greetings, and welcome to the Klingon Empire’s Spacedock, the center for research on all manner of spacegoing vessels. The very first craft to come under the scrutiny of the Spacedock is a powerful vessel from an alternate reality; the
First, the Fek’lhr’s good points:
Excellent attributes. Range 11 is found on no other card, and is bettered only by the ultra-rare Future Enterprise and U.S.S. Pasteur. Such range allows its commander a remarkable amount of freedom in determining where to go and what to do, especially on space-heavy (and therefore span-heavy) spacelines. Weapons 9 is as good as the standard "battle" vessels--I.K.C. Bortas, Haakona, Khazara, and the Husnock Ship all come to mind--and make Fek’lhr a highly useful vessel in combat. Also useful in combat is Fek’lhr’s Shields of 8, which provide respectable (if not spectacular) protection.
Useful features. Fek’lhr is equipped with a cloaking device, which is useful for avoiding combat, especially with the ever-popular Borg Ship. The cloak can also protect Fek’lhr from such annoyances as Hails, ensuring that Fek’lhr gets there on time, every time. The tractor beam is of limited use, since Ship Seizure is an extremely weak card, but at least provides Fek’lhr with the capability to move Radioactive Garbage Scows. The real prize here, however, is the holodeck. As one of the few Klingon ships with a holodeck (I.K.C. Chang being the other), I.K.C. Fek’lhr allows a Klingon player to use K’Tesh and the hologram Fek’lhr aboard ship. This has some use now; K’Tesh is useful in the missions that require Stellar Cartography, and Fek’lhr provides Honor and Treachery (can we say, Wormhole Negations?). With the advent of First Contact, the Holodeck will only become more valuable; Those Strength 15 Fek’lhrs are a marvelous deterrent to boarding actions.
Easier to crew than it may seem. At first, that Command star, staff star, and two AU personnel may seem a bit steep. In particular, those two AU personnel may seem like a tall order. However, the Klingons have many AU personnel that you shouldn’t be without:
K’mtar: A Diphole with respectable stats--remember Wormhole Negotiations?
Governor Worf: With five skills, dual classifications, and double Honor, this is a character that no self-respecting Klingon deck should be without. Of course, it might be advisable to reserve Governor Worf for the I.K.C. Chang so as to garner Captain's Log benefits on that vessel.
Mogh: Six skills. Is more necessary?
Ja’rod: Another dual-classification personnel with valuable skills.
K’chiQ: Arguably the most versatile personnel in the game, K’chiQ also deserves a place in any Klingon deck.
Add to this list useful Non-aligneds such as Garak and Thomas Paris, and the point is clear. Most Klingon decks will already include a significant number of AU personnel, making it easy to operate Fek’lhr. Crewing Fek’lhr becomes especially simple when using a Cryosatellite--with three AU personnel, you can lose one without being stalled!
Crewing the Fek'lhr becomes even easier with the I.K.C. Chang. A single AU personnel off the list above, a commander, and someone to run the consoles, and Fek'lhr is off and running! Of course, a total of two personnel is still needed; one for the Fek'lhr, and one for the Chang. However, this is still not at all a terribe burden--one is getting two ships for the AU requirements of one!
Of course, I.K.C. Fek’lhr isn’t perfect:
No Captain’s Log. That’s right--no Log. Ever. Even if the commander of the Fek’lhr were released (a challenge, since he/she was never even mentioned), the Fek’lhr’s stats don’t improve. That means that the Fek’lhr’s combat attributes (Weapons and Shields) can be bettered by other Logged ships, such as Bortas, Maht-H’a, and K’Vorts such as Pagh and Hegh’ta.
It is a ship you cannot afford to lose. Ignoring the fact that it is tied forthe title of "best basic attributes of any Klingon ship"--an excellent reason not to lose it in and of itself--the Fek’lhr’s crew requirements make it an "all the eggs in the basket" ship. Why? Well, a commander, a crew personnel, and two alternates are needed to go anywhere. An additional alternate or two would be handy to ensure that dilemmas do not stall the ship, and an additional commander would be handy for the same reason. That’s a grand total of six or seven personnel right there, the majority of the personnel for some decks (especially Borg Hunters). That means that the ship becomes *so* valuable, that it is almost too risky to use--the loss of the ship, or even the stalling of the ship, could well mean the end of the game. Of course, much of this can be circumvented by using the I.K.C. Chang to reduce the AU requirement, reducing the "minimum safe crew" to a perfectly manageable 4-5 personnel.
It is easier to stall than most. The loss of one or two AU personnel will leave the ship unable to move, and since it’s a ship you can’t afford to lose...
Final Analysis. I.K.C. Fek’lhr is a useful ship for the Klingons, featuring the best stats of any Klingon ship and a Holodeck. However, its unusual staffing requirements make it a risk, as does the fact that it can require that one throw one’s whole deck into it. Overall, a useful ship if one has a backup plan to rescue a stuck crew (bring on the K’Vorts...).
The Spacedock would like to thank Mark Sidloi for pointing out several I.K.C. Fek'lhr-I.K.C. Chang issues.
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