Again, to repeat: this column is not intended as a comprehensive review of the entire game, but just a brief overview of the various factions of the Babylon 5 CCG. By taking this approach, I hope to keep this feature interesting to the casual reader. I also don't have enough cards yet to know what every single ones does, or its impact on play.
The Minbari characters are not quite as well-known as, say, Earth's. I'm neither a casual viewer not a hard-core fan. However, without the descriptive/flavor text, I wouldn't be sure who Ashan, Hedronn, or Kalain were. Still, Delenn, Lennier, Draal (the John Schuck version),and Shal Mayan (the only other female Minbari presented here) are recognizable faces. The starter decks also include a generic Minbari Agent, Aide, Telepath, and Captain.
Other Minbari characters you can find in starter decks include Neroon, Warleader Shakiri, and Lovell. Du'kat is currently unavailable.
Of importance to the discerning Minbari is the fact that the characters are identified by clan: Warrior, Religious, or Worker. The majority are of the former two. The Religious caste members tend to be better at Diplomacy. However, even Warrior and Worker caste Minbari are usually better diplomats then Leaders or Intriguers. Hedron, listed as a Warrior Caste member, actually has no Leadership.
Minbari characters are also listed as to whether they are Gray Council members or not. This is important for several cards, particularly. Approval of the Gray. This Minbari Win Aftermath lets you promote any Council member to your Inner Circle. This can save you vital time and effort, since it neither has an Influence cost nor requires an action.
The Minbari character's primary strength is Diplomacy. Delenn is the best starting Ambassador of the batch. Lennier can help to enhance this further, and he can take damage for Lennier to avoid her being Neutralized. Promote Lennier to your Inner Circle ASAP so he isn't discarded.
Unless you concentrate heavily on obtaining uncommon and rare Minbari characters, getting good Leaders in play can be difficult. Minbari fleet strength helps to compensate to some degree, but the Minbari don't have nearly the military power one might expect.
Minbari are relatively weak in Intrigue. They can compete, but it's not a particular strength of theirs.
The Minbari are the only race other than the Humans who start with a telepath. He's not bad, and his special ability (rotate to reduce all of a character's attributes by two) can be very useful. The Minbari can use cards like Vorlon Enhancement to kick up their psionic ability considerably. Latent Telepath will give a Minbari character enough telepathy to boost their rating up to an impressive 15.
That brings us to the Minbari's main strength: their connection to the Vorlons. In the starter deck there are several Vorlon-related cards, and many more can be found elsewhere. We'll look at it a little more below, but generally it is the key strength of the Minbari, since their military Leaders are hard to get and Earth's diplomats tend to be better.
Minbari's fleets are, on the average, the strongest in the game for any given race. They can be further augmented by Stealth Technology cards. However, that strength comes at the cost of higher Influence to support. This can mean a relatively long amount of time to build up an empire if the Minbari pursue the military option.
Minbari has their homeworld, the standard starting Location (rotate to gain one influence). It also has the highest starting military strength (25). Between that and the Minbari fleets, you shouldn't have to worry about losing your homeworld. The only other location the Minbari have is the Minbari Protectorate, meaning they have less total locations than any other race.
So what strategy should Minbari players follow? They can do well in Military or Diplomacy, but other races are superior to them. What the Minbari need to take advantage of are their Vorlon connections. You may wish to borrow Lyta Alexander from your Earth starter deck and add her to your Minbari deck. She's a Neutral, and her support cost is modified by the number of Vorlon marks you have. Give her a Vorlon Enhancement and watch the sparks fly. Add other cards that rely on Psionic ability.
Kosh Naranek is also invaluable to the Minbari. He can give you "temporary" Vorlon marks, which you can then purge to pay for the heavy- duty Vorlon-related cards.
Shal Mayan is the secret weapon of the Minbari starter deck. For five Influence, she can ready any other character by rotating herself. This can let you bring someone like Delenn back to participate in a second conflict.
Power Politics and Servants of Order are both good starting Agendas, while Order Above All is a good choice later in the game, particularly if you are boosting the Vorlon's influence to start a Shadow War. Finish the War doesn't seem like a good agenda to this author: you can maintain a near- constant state of war with Earth, but this isn't very useful until you get your fleets and few leader-types mobilized.
Generally, a mix of Diplomacy and Military conflicts, augmented by Vorlon- related cards and telepath ability, is the Minbari path to power. While the Minbari have no single strong ability, this means they tend to be a low-profile target. Rather than contest with the Narn militarily, or the Humans diplomatically, they can take sides while pursuing their own, subtler agendas.
Overall, the Minbari lend themselves (appropriately enough) to a subtle
approach. They can try pushing for a Shadow War, or take a quieter
path to power. They are versatile, but at the cost of no great strength
relative to the other Races of the game.