Spaceships. . . Red Alert

 

Red Alert - Commands and Colors "in space" - is a fun game scaled at the "fleet action" level. It is not dog-fighting in space. The game works at the fleet level; I envision it more like a computer display showing the relative positioning of the individual spacecraft while compressing the vast distances in which the actual ships operate. But with cool spaceship models instead of the computer.

 

The two factions in the game are very generic - the Commonwealth and the Confederation. I am buying/building spaceship models in 1/2500 scale from the early Star Trek universe, Star Trek: Enterprise to be more precise, to replace the faction resin models from the game. Pre-Federation, to start, centering on the Earth-Xindi War. The Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites join Earth (Federation, here we come!) when the Romulans are discovered behind the Xindi attacks. Later on we'll get the Klingons involved. Yeah, I'm playing fast and loose with canon.

 

One ship will represent one unit, instead of multiple ships per unit in the game as designed. Losses will be tracked with a D6 - "Moonstone" designs from Chessex that complement the stellar background - (think "shield strength") instead of removing multiple models. The clear model stands from Litko show off the stellar mat (fabric mat from the defunct Cor-Sec Engineering) while also enabling "template movement" a la Star Trek: Attack Wing if a hex-less version of the game is ever warranted. Or any other rules - like Star Trek: Attack Wing - that use individual ship models for that matter.

 

The Earth "Allies" start with the NX-01Enterprise, an AMT model kit I built. It is a Destroyer in the Red Alert world. The "Aztec" decals on the model really add to its appearance. You can see how well the unit markers from the Red Alert game display on the model stand.

 

 

The Vulcans provide the largest Allied fleet.

 

If you didn't want to use the game markers on the ship stands, it's pretty easy to see the difference in size of the various classes: Destroyer on the far left, Cruiser in the middle, Battleship/Dreadnought on the far right and Fighters at the bottom. You can see the NX-01 model at top for size comparison.

 

The Fighters are from Studio Bergstrom. They are inexpensive metal castings with good detail and come in a great variety of design styles.

 

The Surak class Cruiser is an Eaglemoss model I just adapted to fit onto the magnetized flight stands. I actually have 3 of these.

 

The Destroyers started life as Star Trek: Attack Wing models of the D'Kyr class starship; I removed the auxiliary craft docking and repainted. I have three of these, as well. Not canon at all, but the design works. . .

 

 

The actual D'kyr Battleship is a 1/2500-scale Bad-azz resin model I built. It's very large so will need a bigger mat - 5-inch hexes - to live comfortably among other models.

 

 

It is a beautiful model that assembles easily, if one knows how to build resin kits, and was fun to paint. I layered three different colors of spray paint to get the base color I wanted; Deep Red, Cinnamon and Copper. I then hand painted details, the warp ring lights and the raised paneling.

 

Next up is the fleet from Andor, the Planet of Ice. The Cruisers are Eaglemoss models of the Andorian Kumari. The Destroyers are a bit of an experiment using metal castings from Studio Bergstrom. The castings come from a line obviously designed with the Kumari in mind, but without any "Aztec" decals or stencils to exactly match the Eaglemoss "paint" I used decals salvaged from other 1/2500-scale aftermarket decal sheets. The Fighters are again from Studio Bergstrom. 

 

Last up are the Tellarites, from Tellar. The Cruisers are from Eaglemoss and the Fighters from Studio Bergstrom again.

 

There will be more updates as I build more spaceships. 

 

 

 

Still Boldly Going. . .

This is my new 1/2500-scale Enterprise NX-01. I bought the new AMT/Polar Lights kit of all the Enterprise versions just to get this new little model - and more importantly, the new nearly-full-coverage decals - even though I have all the individual kits already. Guess AMT knew its audience. . .

The "Aztec" decals just rock, and really bring the models to life. Here's a shot of the NX-01 alongside the AMT model Reliant, a later "movie-era" Federation starship in the same 1/2500 scale, photographed on my Cor-Sec game mat.

Note: if interested, you can see how I am adapting the 1/2500-scale models to the Star Trek: Attack Wing game system in some of my earlier posts labeled Star Trek.

Of all the Star Trek franchises to date, I find the Enterprise series the most enjoyable to re-watch. I like the way most all of the traditional foes were handled, including the Vulcans - who were foes as often as friends - in the early heady days of warp-capable human space venturing. The humans were refreshingly human, too; a little dirty and more complicated. So it would figure that my flirtation with Attack Wing starts in the Enterprise-era. Eaglemoss is helpful, here, as well, as some of their models are close enough to 1/2500 scale to be used. For example, here's a shot of the Eaglemoss Andorian Kumari and the Vulcan Ni'Var.

 Here's the Romulan Bird-of-Prey Praetus with the NX-01 again.

And finally, here's a shot of the Enterprise-era 1/2500-scale starships with their actual Attack Wing counterparts, to show the difference in size and relative scale between the models.

Now the reason for the "Blah Blah Blah" tag. . . 

I come to Star Trek first and foremost because of the starship design, and I want to play games with cool models. Even though I am not a physicist, I still had to get over the whole "immensity of outer space" scale thing (check out my earlier post about being in different cities with our little 1/2500-scale models, still in phaser range). Battles will/may be fought from hundreds of thousands of miles apart and at computer-calculation speed. Then there's the whole debate about weapons use at warp speed. Not much fun on the table-top and maybe not even fun on a computer screen! So I rationalize our table-top game as the way a computer might visually simulate the battle, with the relative scale and positions of the combatants altered for the participating humans to make the few necessary critical (and cinematic) decisions. At least until humans themselves become altered by space travel into something altogether different than our current versions. . .

Next up, French and Indian War terrain: Woods 3.0!

See ya!

 

Repaints and Romulans

I'm getting ready to varnish a unit of John Jenkins Connecticut Provincials, and so needed to paint new uniform colors onto a pair of Sergeants and Officer. Thought I'd take the opportunity to share these, and a couple others who've gotten new uniforms.

On the far left is an officer of the Virginia Provincials, in his original uniform scheme of blue coat with red facings, in the process of getting his new base. To his right is the same officer in the uniform of the New York Provincials, drab coat with buckskin waistcoat and trousers. To his right is the most recent addition to the Connecticut Provincials, in red coat with yellow facings.

On the far right is the original Sergeant of the 60th Royal Americans (a unit with a fascinating history) in red coat with blue facings. To his left is a Sergeant of the Virginia Provincials (his officer is on the far left) in opposite colors: blue cost with red facings. And to his right is one of the new Connecticut Provincial Sergeants, in red and yellow.

Here is the Connecticut unit with its new officers, awaiting their protective varnish. . .

And now some Romulans for my 1/2500-scale Star Trek: Attack Wing project. I bought a Waclawski model of an Enterprise-era Romulan Bird-of-Prey, then after a bit of research discovered the Eaglemoss models were the same scale.

So I added two to my small but growing collection of 1/2500 scale Star Trek: Attack Wing models.


Here is one of the models set up for play on a Cor-Sec flight stand I configured to work with the Star Trek: Attack Wing stands that support the Ship ID and Captain tokens from the game, next to an actual model from the game.

Bigger is cooler : )

See ya!


 

In space no one can hear you scream "Wagons ho!"

This is a close-up photo of my new "space" mat from Cor-Sec Engineering. I bought the 80" x 60" size as a basis for my enlarged 1/2500-scale StarTrek: Attack Wing project - or whatever I end up playing. Says Cor-Sec:

Our mats are printed on heavy fleece. This synthetic fiber allows for a durable and vibrant mat. The colors are not shiny like vinyl mats.  It is 100% Polyester. It doesn't fray and can be folded or machine washed. They can be transported easily and hold up to heavy use.

The mat is very light-weight, the printed color is vibrant and the edges are folded and "hemmed" for durability.

So why Wagons ho?! I got a new wagon. The new Conestoga wagon from John Jenkins Designs. It's very cool (can an 18th-century wagon be cool?) with a complicated bit of hook and chain harnessing for 6 horses. It will be very complicated to "move" during a game so it may become part of a set-piece terrain unless I figure out a way to base it with horses that is functional and looks good. Might be a tall order. . .

And. . . if you happen to live in the Twin Cities, you are invited to play Muskets and Mohawks with us at The Source this Saturday afternoon. No experience necessary : )

Happy Father's Day!
 

Star Trek. . . on the Floor?

The "Game Room" at Castle FusterCluck is actually more of an "Exercise Room" - or dojo - at the moment, but at the end of one my workouts I caught myself just staring at the mats I put on the floor. . .

. . . and seeing starships!

Still not even close to the actual scale, but gettin' there! And I get to play on the floor : )