BRAD'S COMMENTS:  More commonly termed an "attack ship" in the Trek universe, this insect-like vessel is the smallest of the Dominion-force ships, first seen in episodes of ST:DS9.  That infamous first encounter was a wake-up call for Starfleet--indeed, the entire Alpha-Beta Quadrant expanse--much like the Borg.  As with the Borg cubes, the Dominion's Jem'hadar war craft employ terribly puissant weaponry, combined with superior shielding, making the first encounter between a Starfleet capital ship and the Jem'hadar a decidedly one-sided affair, in favor of the Jem'hadar!  Though diminutive in size compared to Starfleet's best (at that time, the Galaxy class) this little ship was able to dispatch the Starfleet ship with relative ease; combining superior maneuverability, shield-penetrating beam weaponry, and strength of numbers to overwhelm the U.S.S. Odyssey, destroying that Federation ship and sending Starfleet packing back through the Bajoran wormhole.  Later seasons of ST:DS9 would reveal even more impressive Jem'hadar vessels, from a cruiser larger than a Sovereign, to a mammoth battleship larger than a Romulan D'daridex warbird.  But like the original Constitution Class from ST:TOS and the Klingon D-7, also from ST:TOS, the Jem'hadar "attack ship" set the standard for all Dominion military ships, and is also (arguably) the most ubiquitous.
     I've approached this ship with caution.  Regardless of its official designation in the Trek world, in game terms I liken this ship to the Defiant, which has been previously designated as a destroyer.  Lacking the raw size or muscle of its larger brethren, the Jem'hadar destroyer beats you in groups, with speed and superior technology.  One on one with a large Federation ship the destroyer is still a feisty competitor, but will ultimately succumb.  In small squadrons, however, the Jem'hadar destroyer is a match for anything in the Klingon, Federation, or Romulan inventories.
     At first glance this might not seem to be the case, but consider the following: all official material suggests that the "Polaron Beam" can penetrate Alpha/Beta Quadrant shielding without losing effective power, while the Jem'hadar destroyer's own shielding is resistant to normal Alpha and Beta Quadrant weaponry.  I've added some unique rules (seen below) detailing the specifics of this advanced Dominion technology, and I hope they play well, adding a new twist to the traditional sequence of combat.  Throw in the fact that the Dominion equip some of their destroyers with missile weaponry purchased from the Karemma, and you've got perhaps the single best small fighting ship in the Star Trek universe.

* Denotes completely hypothetical model number and stats, devised by Brad R. Torgersen.
^ Next to the Borg, the Dominion fighting force is the most formidable yet encountered by the governments of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.  As we see from early episodes of ST:DS9, even the smallest of the Jem'hadar war vessels possesses superior shielding and weaponry when compared to the finest Starfleet has to offer.  Now, in gaming terms, this presents a dilemma.  Making the shields of the Dominion impervious to Alpha Quadrant races eliminates the Dominion ships as viable playing pieces--they could last forever on the battlefield, against opponents of any number or potency.  Just the same, it seems clear to me that the Dominion ships do have superior shielding.  Rather than simply over-inflate the raw maximum shield power, or the power-to-point ratio, I have chosen to improve the Dominion shields with an unusual twist.  When attacking a Dominion craft, the attacking player must make one additional dice roll, assuming his strike roll yields a hit on a shielded side of the Dominion playing piece.  If that side is unshielded, then don't worry about it.  Apply damage as normal.  But if the side is shielded, then the attacking player rolls a ten-sided die (or a six, or a four, or a twenty, it does not matter) to see if the shot had any effect on the Dominion ship's shielding.  An even number means the strike does full damage.  An odd number means the strike has been deflected totally, with no loss of shield strength.  This means an attacker has a fifty percent chance of getting a solid hit--which I think somewhat reflects the fighting action seen between Alpha and Beta Quadrant warships, and the Dominion fleet.  Especially in the early phases of contact, when the Alpha and Beta Quadrants are still unsure of what they are up against.
** The Polaron Beam weaponry presents an inverted version of the shield problem, in that the Dominion weaponry seems capable, on occasion, of totally penetrating Federation or Klingon shielding regardless of how much energy is dumped into the shield generators.  As with the Dominion's superior shields, presenting the Dominion's superior beam weaponry in a game setting is problematic.  Making all Alpha and Beta Quadrant shielding porous to polaron beams is unfair, I think, so in order to reflect the polaron beam's potency while still affording an opponent some protection, I'm introducing another dice roll.  Any player being attacked by a polaron beam gets to roll a ten-sided die (or four, or six, or twenty; as with the shields, it does not matter) and if the result is an odd number, that player's ship's shields have no effect and damage is taken straight to the ship.  It's important to note that, in this case, the shield power is not reduced!  The shield is still up, at whatever power it happened to be at during the strike.  The polaron beam has simply passed through the shield, and has hit the hull directly.  Now, if the die roll is an even number, the shields are in full effect, and the polaron beam damage translates directly to the shield power.

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