Card Extra

Primitive Culture from Kathy McCracken (01/1998)

With 7 OR's, this classic wall dilemma presents more ways to get past it than any other. The catch is that almost every one of them is affiliation-specific, and two can't be used yet at all. Vorta and 4 Jem'Hadar clearly is the method of choice for the yet-unseen Dominion affiliation, while 2 Obsidian Order must wait for the likes of Elim Garak and Enabran Tain to appear. 6 Klingons or 4 [Def] Borg are about as specific as you can get; even the Federation can't muster that many Klingons. But while any 6 Klingons will do, or any 4 [Def] Borg, the Romulans can barely pass this with their present total complement of 2 Tal Shiar.

The remaining three sets of conditions present multi-affiliation possibilities, however. While Acquisition and 2 Greed is obviously the key Ferengi option, the non-aligned Kivas Fajo can pass this dilemma singlehandedly. 3 Vulcans will be easiest for the Federation, but Tallera, T’Shonra, Solkar, and Sevek are all non-aligned and may be used by any non-Borg affiliation. And finally, it is possible for any affiliation (except perhaps Borg) to come up with Anthropology and CIVILIAN.

Combos:

• Primitive Culture + The Higher... The Fewer + Cardassian Trap: Drain your opponent of a few points, then trap one of his personnel. There's an excellent chance of at least one of the Away Team being unique (except for Borg, in which case the Trap becomes another wall dilemma). If you're worried about Empathy (especially against Romulans), throw in Empathic Echo before the Trap.
• Primitive Culture + Bendii Syndrome + Alien Parasites: With Vulcans available for everyone, you have a good chance of lowering the AT's INTEGRITY enough to trigger an Alien Parasites infestation. Or, if your opponent uses Kivas Fajo to pass Primitive Culture, his utter lack of INTEGRITY will be no help at all. And a Romulan Away Team with Major Rakal and Telak won't do much better.