Welcome to the Spacedock!

Klingon troops assisting in the cleanup from a battle at Earth have sent back word of an unusually powerful Borg vessel:

Queen's Borg Cube

Identification: BORG CUBE

Task: Assimilate human homeworld by direct attack, Earth date 2373. Borg Queen commands.

Comunication Subcommand Icon, Navigation Subcommand Icon, Navigation Subcommand Icon, Defense Subcommand Icon, Borg Icon, Borg Icon, Borg Icon.

WEAPONS and SHIELDS +3 at Earth. Your Borg personnel and equipement may report aboard. Tractor Beam.

Delta Quadrant Icon, Point Box (50)

Range 9 Weapons 24 Shields 24

The Queen's Borg Cube's advantages:

Once More Unto The Breach: Of course, the first thing one tends to notice about that Queen's Borg Cube is the startling Weapons and Shields. These attributes *scream* battle--and justly so, for there are few ships that can stand against the Queen's Borg Cube's wrath. Only the Husnock Ship can avoid a "direct hit" (although the Edo Vessel may be able to avoid being shot altogether). Even cloaking is no protection--the Tachyon Drone can reveal the presence of hidden ships. With Range sufficient to catch most spacegoing vessels, the Queen's Borg Cube is one of the ST:CCGs foremost combat ships.

Doors Once Closed to You Will Be Open Once Again: The Queen's Borg Cube's Range is not only useful for catching victims. That Range of 9 can also be used for a more conventional purpose--rambling about the spaceline. Range 9 is high enough to permit the Queen's Borg Cube to get around in a hurry even on spacelines loaded down with PNZs and other high-span locations.

Download to Me, Report to Me, Just Staff Me, You Borg Player You!: Although the Queen's Borg Cube's staffing requirements can seem daunting at first, remember that the Borg have the most options available to them regarding how to get personnel aboard their ships. In addition to reporting personnel at an outpost and picking them up or Devidian Dooring them into position, the Queen's Borg Cube has a truly marvelous frill--the ability to report drones directly to the ship. With the many ways a Borg player has at his or her disposal to get drones in a hurry--Activate Subcommands, Awaken, Masaka/Kivas/Queen, etc.--the Queen's Borg Cube's staffing requirements become somewhat less fearsome.

Why, the Queen Looks Positively Frilly!: Not only can personnel report to the Queen's Borg Cube, but so can Borg equipment (specifically, the Assimilation Table needed for Assimilate Counterpart). In addition, the Queen's Borg Cube has the ever-present Tractor Beam and gets Captain's Log benefits from the Borg Queen herself (although this ship has less need than most for such enhancement). The Queen's Borg Cube also benefits from a bonus to its already substanial Weapons and Shields while at Earth--perfect for Assimilate Homeworld.

Often overlooked in Borg decks, Ready Room Door is useful here--with a few RRDs, one can download the Queen (usually Step #1 for a Borg player) to the Queen's Borg Cube and then download Captain's Log to deal with Nutational Shields or some such. Use multiples of the Queen's Borg Cube so that it will be drawn and the Queen can be downloaded to it--remember that one will probably only need one Cube, so why not be sure to have the best? Further RRDs could be used to download such items as Yellow Alert (to provide some small measure of protection against Yuta--YA and a few Assault Drones can make matters *very* confusing), so one can stock multiple RRDs in the deck without the additional copies being wasted.

Another important, but often overlooked, frill is found on a completely different card--the Borg Sphere (and the Queen's Borg Sphere). The Spheres are, for all intents and purposes, Range 5 shuttlecraft with a built-in Engage Shuttle Operations and decent-if-unspectacular Weapons and Shielding. By moving the Queen's Borg Cube and then disgorging a Sphere with your Borg, one could cover 14 span in one turn--much of the spaceline if both players are using planet-heavy decks! In addition, the Sphere protects the Cube (and vice versa), since it can be abandoned in favor of the other ship if the ship one attempted from comes under the effect of Theta-Radiation Poisoning or some other ship-specific dilemma. Simply attempt the mission from the Sphere, complete your objective, and then return to the Queen's Borg Cube (safely a spaceline location away) when the task is completed.

Of course, all is not rosy with the Queen's Borg Cube:

"Pardon Me, My Queen, But Why Do We Have a 'Kick Me' Sign on the Spinward Facing?": The major problem with the Queen's Borg Cube is the problem affliciting all Borg vessels to one degree or another; a point box that rewards the opponent for destroying the ship. The point box on the Queen's Borg Cube is particularly unpleasant; if one's opponent destroys one's ship, they are halfway to winning! Of course, decks capable of destroying the Queen's Borg Cube are few and far between; with the diminished popularity of the Kurlan deck, and the continued less-than-usefulness of the Armada deck, few opponents will be able to take advantage of that point box.

One Thing at a Time!: The Queen's Borg Cube also suffers from two important limitations on its seemingly supreme military might. First is the restrictive Borg rules of engagement; the Borg must use the Eliminate Starship objective to attack enemy ships, and they can do nothing else while using Eliminate Starship (so no attempting the odd mission for a few points or attacking targets of opportunity on the way). In addition, the Queen's Borg Cube's Weapons are often ridiculous overkill; 24 is enough to score *two* "direct hits" on a K'Vort. Unfortunately, the Multiplexor Drone is needed to split the Queen's Borg Cube's Weapons into more manageable chunks--and if you do not engage in battle, the Multiplexor Drone winds up being less-than-useful.

Final Analysis: The Queen's Borg Cube is, for the Borg, the only way to fly. The Queen's Borg Cube has better Range than most Cubes and a matching commander central in the vast majority of Borg decks, as well as all of the advantages shared by all Borg Cubes. In addition, its few disadvantages will rarely be exploited. In all, the Queen's Borg Cube deserves its place at the head of the Collective's fleet.

Next Week: The Spacedock boards the next vessel to come through the nearby Transwarp Network Gateway, the Borg Scout Vessel.

The Spacedock would like to thank Mot the Barber for bringing the "Sphere-strategy" to its attention.

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