Major Rakal's Romulan Review #13: Royale Casino: Craps

(03/10/1997)

Aefvadh! Feel up to a little gambling? How about a game of...

ROYALE CASINO: CRAPS
Uncommon Planet Dilemma, AU Icon, 7 Bonus Points
Show a personnel from hand. If CUNNING = 7 or 11 OR opponent cannot match your number, win points. Otherwise, opponent wins points.
"An away team from the U.S.S. Enterprise was trapped in the illusionary Hotel Royale until they won enough money in the casino to buy the bank and their way out."

Two ways to use this: for your opponent to encounter, or for yourself. Like last time's Vulcan Stone of Gol, this is another affiliation-dependent card, but this time we're looking for specific numbers instead of something "greater than" a cutoff. Let's see who fares best.

Federation:

• 29 personnel, including 9 uncommons and 17 rares, have 7 or 11. Looks like they have a good chance of winning this one. Next most common number is 8.

Klingon:

• Only 2 uncommons and 3 rares have 7, no 11's. The Klingons aren't likely to be able to pull one out of the hand. Most common numbers are 5 and 6.

Romulan:

• 8 commons, 5 uncommons, and 3 rares beat the house. Although that's not as many possibilities as the Federation, it might be easier to hold back a duplicate common than for a Fed to hold back a bridge crew. Remember, it has to come from your hand. Next most common number is 8.

Non-aligned:

• Only 3 commons and 4 uncommons win here with a 7 or 11 in your hand. Next most common number is, again, 8. But wait, there's one more winner, even though his CUNNING is 5 and this one you don't want in your hand. Mickey D., who "automatically wins Royale Casino sidegames, if present." That means he must be in the Away Team that encounters the dilemma.

So how will each affiliation fare, encountering this dilemma unexpectedly? The Federation and Romulans both have excellent chances of winning, as long as they haven't Red Alert-ed all their personnel onto the table. The Klingons don't have much hope. Use this one offensively only against Klingons, or other opponents who normally use Red Alert! But it's imperative to be prepared by keeping a personnel in your hand with 8 CUNNING (dead easy for Feds or Rommies, a Klingon will need to hold a non-aligned), or a 5 and a 6 if playing against Klingons (easy for Feds and Klingons, hard for Rommies without a non-aligned), because if they don't have the requisite 7 or 11, you need to be able to match whatever they can produce. (If they have no personnel in hand, you win the points by default.)

To play it for your own benefit, of course, you want to seed it last, so you will encounter it first. (Follow it up with a Sarjenka, so you can choose to be stopped for another 5 points and abort the mission attempt, if desired.) You can then either deliberately hold back a key CUNNING 7 personnel (feasible for Romulans and Feds), or do the simple thing, pull Mickey D. out of your Q’s Tent and play him before you attempt the mission.

BTW, since the personnel you show is not in play, his CUNNING is unaffected by PADDs, Lower Decks, or Yellow Alert.

The Major's Combo:

• Royale Casino: Craps + Mickey D. + Sarjenka + Parallax Arguers. 17 easy points is pretty cool, I think.