Caveat Emptor: A Buyer's guide to Romulans

Last time I wrote a buyer's guide to Klingons it seems to me that it is a good idea to do the same for the other factions. Romulans also benefit from the inclusion of one of their ships in the starter set, and I as with the Klingons they benefit from a good captain in the starter set in the form of skill 7 Toreth. The Khazara has a nice named ability but the generic D'Deridex isn't great, and the D'Deridex as a ship in general needs serious work. The other problem that Romulans have is that a number of expansions are good for only one card, and you end up having to buy multiples of them in order to be competitive. So what I'll try to do here is to highlight the expansion packs that are good because they contain multiple cards that can be useful for a variety of reasons, packs like the Prateus and the Apnex have one great card, a few semi-useful cards and then the ship themselves aren't great - but if you are attempting to be competitive at a fleet pure venue, you may need multiples of ships lower down this list.

The first place I'd go after the starter set for Romulans is the Valdore. The ship itself is good, although not game breakingly awesome the way it used to be, and  it comes with Donatra, who is a good second captain to go with Toreth. Tactical officer is another good card that really boosts attack dice efficiency.

The recent Haakona expansion is another one worth looking at early on. Taris and Mendak are both good captains (Mendak particularly) and the Romulan Security Officers is a good crew option, as is Romulan Helmsman. Even the weapons upgrades, Disruptor Beams and Disruptor Pulse, are worth having and help to make the D'Deridex ships better (not amazing mind you). The only less useful cards are Romulan Sub-Lieutenant and "Make them see us!".

One of the expansions that you only buy for 1 or 2 cards is the Scimitar expansion. The Scimitar itself is so good that it's almost worth buying 2 just so you have the option of running double scimitars. Outside of the ship itself, the only one really worth having is full stop. Shinzon is nice from the perspective of high CS, but I just don't rate his ability with regards to Elite Talents, since he effectively costs 10 SP.

The next choice may be somewhat controversial since as a ship it is very much a finesse piece: the Drone Ship. Most of the upgrades in the pack are specific to the drone ship itself, and the captains themselves have to be other of the two from the pack. Having said that, the ship's ability itself is pretty good and the stat line isn't bad either. I encourage people to buy this ship just to see what it can do, since it is fun to fly.

The RIS Apnex is another ship that requires some finesse to play, but is well worth investing in. The generic ship is the ultimate support ship platform, at only 12 points and with minimal effort can become a good minelayer too. Mirok is a good mid/low level captain, and the crew upgrade, Varel, is one of the key pieces for an attack cancellation build. Well worth the investment for one, and possibly multiples since the generic tech upgrade Interphase generator is the key card in making cloaked fleets work.

Depending on how good you feel they are, and I'm currently* of the opinion that they aren't as great as some people seem to think, you seemingly need to get the Praetus just for cloaked mines. In fact, if you like cloaked mines get at least 2, if not 6 or 8 or 10. Captain Valdore is useful, although suffers from low CS.

The Gal'Gathong is a fun ship, especially since the advent of Time Token Torps, since the named ability is great when combined with the action economy that Time Torps offer. Romulan Commander is a good but not great captain whilst romulan officer and Decoy aren't all that useful. Centurion is a little overcosted, but can become brilliant in cross faction play, especially since it provides captain protection against the likes of Gul Madred and Tantalus Field.

The Vrax is a good ship, and I own two myself mainly for the torpedoes and bridge officer, but outside of this there is little need for it, except maybe as a second ship to pair with the Valdore, although the Scimitar fills that role well. 

I'm skipping over the Pi for now since it has only just been released and I don't know how good it is, as I don't yet own one and haven't tested its mettle in battle, but suspect it might just sit here.

The Vo is a nice platform for a support ship but expensive in that role and there is literally nothing else in that pack that I have ever used competitively. Avoid unless you are being a completionist.

Finally, one of the worst expansions in the game is the Talveth. I have used the named ship on one occasion (3 tech slots) but apart from that the only card worth using is Admiral Jarok, whose ability is a nice one. So many of the tech and talent upgrades on this ship are limited or expensive, so don't feel you must have one. Could easily swap places  on this list with the Vo.

Again, I'm not going to list prize or blind booster ships, but the Vorta Vor and Belak are worth getting, as are the Aj'rmr and Avatar of Tomed, but not worth chasing for big bucks.

So my final order of purchasing Romulans would be:

1. Valdore

2. Haakona

3. Scimitar

4. Prototype 01 drone ship

5. Apnex

6. Praetus

7. Gal'gathong 

8. Vrax

9. Vo

10. Talveth

Again, just my opinion and other people may have different ideas, but were someone to ask me what to buy next for Romulans, this would be my list.

I'm not Picard