| |
DECIPHER.com > Star Trek CCG
> Tenth Anniversary > Timeline
> 2000
The History of Star Trek CCG: The Trouble With Tribbles
|
May 10, 2004
The first expansion to utilize the original Star Trek series revolved
around one of the most popular episodes, The Trouble With Tribbles, and
the Deep Space Nine spinoff, Trials and Tribble-ations. Pre-constructed
Federation and Klingon starter decks made it an entry point as well as a
sealed-deck base product. And you could even use the Tribble cards to play
a separate Tribbles CCG!
|
Released
|
August 9, 2000
|
|
Design Team
|
Bill Martinson (lead), Tim Ellington, Evan Lorentz, Chuck Kallenbach, Jerry
Darcy
|
|
Product Configuration
|
141 cards (1 UR - 54 R+/R/R* - 44 U - 40 C - 2 P)
11-card expansion packs (1 R - 3 U - 7 C)
30 expansion packs per display
60-card preconstructed starter decks (Federation and Klingon) (1 P - 2 R
- 57 C/U)
12 starters per display (6 Federation - 6 Klingon)
Rulebook with collector's card list in each starter; also included rules
for the Tribbles CCG.
|
|
Press Sheets
|
11x11 card sheets
|
|
New Mechanics
|
Tribble side deck. Hero of the Empire timeline disruption.
|
|
New Rules
|
Rules for Tribble side decks and use of tribbles (breeding, carrying, beaming).
Cards "native to a time location timeline" no longer were required
to report to that time location if in play.
|
|
New Features
|
 11-card
booster packs. New card types: Tribble and Trouble. New side deck: Tribble.
New icons: Original Series, Mirror Quadrant (appeared in Sherman's Rock
game text). New special ship equipment: Energy Dampener. Downloadable tactic
cards.
|
|
Highlights
|
First Ultra-rare card since Alternate Universe. First time location and
new timeline disruption mechanic since First Contact. "Tribble-ized"
cards in starter decks. Six different flowpack
images. First cards with collector's info (card number and rarity). Tribble
cards could be used to supplement a separate boxed Tribbles
CCG.
|
|
Packaging
(click image to see more)
Expansion Icon
Original Series Icon
(formerly Starship Enterprise icon)
|
Factoids
- A fly-in playtest for The Trouble With Tribbles was held in early February
2000. For some cryptic comments on the playtest to compare to how the
set turned out, check Major Rakal's report, Testing
Tribbles and Time Travel.
- The "reprint" Federation and Klingon Outposts in the starter
decks reflected the errata issued long before by adding the word "Outpost"
to the card title (previously, "Outpost" appeared only at the
bottom of the card as the card type or – later – facility subtype)
and the universal symbol before the title, as well as updating the game
text to current standards.
- The Tribble and Trouble cards that made up the Tribble side deck were
the last new card types to be introduced to Star Trek CCG.
- One of the central characters of the original The Trouble With Tribbles
episode, merchant Cyrano Jones, unfortunately could not be made into a
card. Although a card was developed, it proved impossible to get the necessary
approvals from the actor's estate.
- Why was there a run on 1 Tribble cards during the playtest, and what
does making change have to do with Tribbles?
How did the preview Captain Kirk's left-side Starship Enterprise icon
turn into a right-side Original
Series icon? What were the Breen
before they were Dominion? Get the full stories in Evan Lorentz's series
of articles about the development processes – including a "lost"
Breen article with no link on the website (until now).
Notable Cards
In The Dominion expansion, a mysterious "Referee" icon appeared,
with a rules supplement note that it would be developed in a future set.
More cards with the icon arrived in Blaze of Glory and Rules of Acquisition.
Finally, in The Trouble With Tribbles, came the card that dveloped the icon:
Q the Referee. Suddenly a ton of magic bullet cards became instantly accessible
without having to use a ton of seed slots. This game-changing card was originally
planned as a premium in an Enhanced Q-Continuum product that underwent some
development but ultimately was never produced.
When the U.S.S. Jupiter came out as a premium in Star Trek: Armada, it
promised the download of a card named Chain Reaction Pulsar. This is one
broken link that didn't stay broken for long, appearing as a Tactic card
in The Trouble With Tribbles and usable with a lot more than the Jupiter.
  
Dr. McCoy (with a kick-butt special skill) was selected for the first Ultra-rare
since Alternate Universe's Future Enterprise, as a tribute to actor DeForest
Kelley, who had passed away the previous year.
Links
The Trouble
With Tribbles Expansion Page
Card list HTML
| PDF
Pre-constructed
starter deck list (PDF)
Reprinted
cards with Tribbles and errata
Spoiler
list (PDF)
Rules supplement PDF
| HTML
Tribbles CCG Rules
(PDF)
|
|
