The Problem with Klingons

After writing about the “breakout” expansions for both Dominion and Romulans I set to doing the same for Klingons. I went through the release schedule expansion by expansion and tried to figure out exactly where Klingons had become a viable competitive faction in fleet pure environments. The trouble is, there hasn’t ever been an expansion that fills in the holes for the Klingon faction. In fact, many of the expansions have given the Klingons more of the same. Herein lies the problem with Klingons.

Starter Set-

Maht’h’a, Nu’daq, Konmel, Klag, Advanced Weapons System, Photon Torpedoes, Tractor Beam

Not a bad haul for Klingons in the starter set, certainly viable and when played against the other Starter set ships perhaps even a little overpowering. The Maht’h’a, Nu’Daw and AWS are all serviceable cards that gave the faction early on the feeling of being the “Cloaked Alpha-Strike” faction.

Wave 0-

Gr’oth, Koloth, Krell, Sabotage, Korax, Projected Stasis Field, Magnetic Pulse, Photon Torpedoes

Negh’Var, Martok, Gowron, In’Cha, Drex, Klingon Boarding Party, Tractor Beam, Photon Torpedoes

Some very good additions to the starter set for the Klingons here, Drex gave access to Battle Stations for offence whilst Martok provided Action Economy. Projected Stasis Field was the Faction’s first ‘trick’ whilst In’Cha, Magnetic Pulse and KBP all had their uses. The problem with klingons doesn’t seem immediately apparent, but is already setting in, Tractor Beam is a repeat card.

At this stage of the development of the game, my fleets looked something like this:

1^st Klingons:

I.K.S. Maht-H'A [Starter] (28)

Nu'Daq [Starter] (3)

Total (31)

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Martok [I.K.S. Negh'var] (5)

Drex [I.K.S. Negh'var] (4)

Total (35)

I.K.S. Negh'var [I.K.S. Negh'var] (30)

Gowron [I.K.S. Negh'var] (4)

Total (34)

Fleet total: 100

Wave 1-

Kronos 1, Chang, Gorkon, Once More unto the Breach, Kerla, Stex, Photon Torpedoes, Concussive Charges. 

There are some nice things here, notably OMutB and Concussive charges, but nothing that fundamentally changes the faction. Klingons still rely upon the cloaked alpha strike. Given the cards already available at this point, there is nothing that was released with the Kronos One that would alter my choice of build.

Wave 2 –

Koraga, Worf, Kurn, N’Garen, Alexander, AWS, EM Pulse, Photon Torpedoes

Worf, N’Garen and Alexander are all good cards that would instantly receive consideration to enter my lists, trouble was that Worf was a better, but similar Nu’Daq whilst N’Garen was a carbon copy of Drex with Alexander being very similar. This expansion did change the content of my build, but didn’t really affect the play style.

2^nd Klingons:

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Worf [I.K.S. Koraga] (3)

N'Garen [I.K.S. Koraga] (4)

Total (33)

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Martok [I.K.S. Negh'var] (5)

Drex [I.K.S. Negh'var] (4)

Total (35)

Negh'var Class [I.K.S. Negh'var] (28)

Gowron [I.K.S. Negh'var] (4)

Total (32)

Wave 3:

Somraw, Somraw Commander, Klingon Honor, Bu’Kah, Tactical Sensors, Shockwave, Photon Torpedoes

Whilst Bu’Kah is a nice enough card (Repair 2 Hull as a discard as long as you have performed a green manoeuvre) there was nothing in this expansion that changed the way I built Klingons at all. Everything stayed the same.

The Prize Ships:

Ch’Tang, Martok, Synon, Secondary Shield Emitters, Barrage of Fire

For a while, Barrage of Fire and the Ch’tang itself were potentially great ships. The 3 Hull of the Ch’tang made it weaker though, thanks to the advent of Borg, and Barrage of Fire was Worf’d. Nothing in this pack that makes me want to change my list.

B’Moth, K’Nera, Qapla’, Kunivas, Tritium Intermix, Photon Torpedoes

As a blind booster this was a great ship, and a lot of the upgrades have medium utility. Qapla’ and Kunivas both help with damage output and Tritium Intermix is one of the better repair cards in the game. When the jump was made to 120 points all three upgrades would see some play –although at 90 or 100 SP there is nothing here to displace what the faction already had.

Wave 9:

Chang’s Bird of Prey, Chang, Kerla, Gorkon, The Game’s Afoot, Cry Havoc, Azetbur, Prototype Cloaking Device

It wasn't for almost another 6 months that the Klingons had anything to add to their arsenal from a retail release, and that came in the form of General Chang’s Bird of Prey. Chang himself is an interesting card that can have some applications, but he isn't good enough a captain to make me want to dethrone Worf, Gowron or Martok. Apart from that this pack only really offers Gorkon, not for his ability, but as the first Klingon Admiral.

Korok’s Bird of Prey, Korok, Warrior Spirit

Warrior spirit is absolute trash. Korok is okay and the Bird of Prey suffers the same problem as the Ch’tang - nothing worth adding here.

Pagh, Kargan, Phaser Array Retrofit

I know a lot of people like Phaser Array Retrofit, but I’m not the biggest fan. The Pagh also has a nice little ability and as a K’Vort class, doesn’t suffer the same issues as the B’rel class ships of low hull, but the stat split on a named K’vort 4-1-5-3 is worse than the stat spilt on a generic Vor’cha 5-1-5-2 for the same points. The interesting card here is Kargan, whose ability works really well with Drex or N’Garen and therefore becomes a replacement for Gowron in most builds.

3^rd Klingons:

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Worf [I.K.S. Koraga] (3)

N'Garen [I.K.S. Koraga] (4)

Total (33)

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Martok [I.K.S. Negh'var] (5)

Qapla' [I.K.S. B'Moth] (2)

Total (33)

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Kargan [I.K.S. Pagh] (4)

Drex [I.K.S. Negh'var] (4)

Total (34)

Fleet total: 100

AND

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Worf [I.K.S. Koraga] (3)

N'Garen [I.K.S. Koraga] (4)

Advanced Weapon System [Starter] (5)

Total (38)

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Martok [I.K.S. Negh'var] (5)

Fleet Captain: Klingon [Fleet Captain Resource] (5)

Defense Condition One [IKS Ch'tang] (0)

Alexander [I.K.S. Koraga] (3)

Tritium Intermix [I.K.S. B'Moth] (4)

Total (43)

Vor'cha Class [Starter] (26)

Kargan [I.K.S. Pagh] (4)

Drex [I.K.S. Negh'var] (4)

Projected Stasis Field [I.K.S. Gr'oth] (5) Total (39)

Fleet total: 120

Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking “Hey Dave, you’ve just spent 1000 words talking about Klingons and you;ve shown us some builds but you haven’t really said what the problem is?” and I get that. Klingons are a good faction, a fun faction, one that hits hard and has pretty fun manoeuvring. The trouble with klingons is that’s what they’ve always been like. Right from wave 0 they’ve always been hard hitting, manoeuvrable and with a few nice tricks. Unlike the Dominion, who have had a number of changes in play style caused by different expansions (Koronak, Reklar, Dominion Battleship and Cruiser), the Romulans (who were wholly transformed by the Haakona expansion after having been significantly altered by the Scimitar expansion) and the Federation (whose sheer number of expansions give them access to loads of different build options) the Klingons just seem to keep doing the same thing but better.

I know that there are other builds out there (Swarms etc) and I’m yet to explore the viability of the Ning’Tao expansion (the 3 hull worries me) and I still enjoy playing Klingons, I just wish there was something else to them, an expansion like the Koronak or Haakona that threw all of the old staid choices up in the air and made me re-think the entirety of my build. When half the cards in your list come from the first two waves, you begin to think that the faction may be getting a little stale.

I’m still not Picard,

D