Big Space Nine Attacks!

Let's welcome back Dan Adams to give us the heads up on one of the Attack Wing oversize pieces - the instantly recognisable Deep Space Nine. Needless to say, I want.

When Wizkids announced that they would be giving out a giant sized Deep Space Nine to each winner of their “Dominion War” Organised Play Event, it was inevitable that the model would be available at retail. 

Although the amount of original models has grown since the game debuted, a good majority of Attack Wing ships are made from the same moulds used in the earlier Heroclix lines. The cost of setting up the production process, and the availability of the prize version on the secondary market meant that Wizkids would be foolish not to bring out the station at retail.

So, what comes in the box? 

For a start, we get the station itself, faithfully reproduced in plastic. The model is big. The station is 33cm across, and about 20cm high.

The detail is gorgeous, from docking pylons down to the windows on the habitat ring. The paint job, while not as popular as the prize ship version, is still very respectable. If anyone is massively unhappy with the paint job, they will repaint it. My only complaint is that where the docking pylons have been glued into place a tiny speck of glue is visible. 

Due to the thing’s overall size it’s very difficult to transport to tournaments. However, as a model in its own right, it’s highly respectable and is something that I would display, regardless of if I used it in my games or not.

So, what else comes in the box? Well, we get a manoeuvre dial. Unlike the prize Deep Space Nine, you can move this station and therefore it’s tournament legal. In the suggested tournament format, none of your ships can exceed 50 points. However, as Deep Space Nine has a base cost greater than, you can put up to 8 points of upgrades on there. This development is a tad limiting. But “dreadnought” builds have been a problem.

How does it move? Like a one-legged Targ with heavy shopping. Its highest speed is two forwards, which is a red manoeuvre. Effectively it's saying that you have to use auxiliary power to move the station. In the pilot episode, Kira has O’Brien move the station closer to what they would discover was the Bajoran Wormhole. The move is stressful, and requires familiar Starfleet Technical Jiggery Pokery, polarities to be reversed, power to be diverted and so forth. So effectively this is authentic

Even the moves are different. Normally, a ship “leapfrogs” the template. Deep Space Nine crawls along it by putting your chosen manoeuvre between it and another template, moving the chosen template, and pushing Deep Space Nine along the gap. I’ve probably failed to explain it, but it means that the station just makes a 1 forward, not 1 + the size of its base. 

It has a brand new move, the rotate mechanic, and the template is included in the pack. Effectively, the station can rotate 45 or 90 degrees. Finally, as one would expect from a space “station” you can choose to remain exactly where you are which is a green manoeuvre. 

In a combat situation, the station can fire range 1-3 from each of the docking pylons in a 90 degree arc or at range 1-2 it can also fire 360 degrees from the base of the model.

You’ll note from the above illustration of the manoeuvre dial, that it has four factions’ logos. This means that you can play as Deep Space Nine, which is dual faction between the Bajorans and Federation, fitting nicely into canon. We also have the Dominion logo, signalling that you can indeed use the model as Terok Nor. The fourth logo is independent. There are no independent ship cards or base in the box, but the prize version of Deep Space Nine came with an independent version of the base, effectively the generic version with no special powers. So, if you own both the prize and retail versions, you can use the dial on the independent version of the station. 

Where this version differs (for the better) from the oversized Borg Cube is that this station comes with a nice little selection of a captain and crew cards, as opposed to just the one Locutus card and one ship card in the Borg model. . 

So, what do the cards do? 

Firstly, you have Deep Space Nine. The station has a defensive capability you disable up to two shields in order to get a defence dice for each. Terok Nor is more aggressive. Effectively it gains the full 360 fire arc at range 1-3, for one less attack die. So, the Dominion version is guaranteed to be able to shoot from any angle. 

If you have participated at your local gaming store’s OP1 or OP6 of the Dominion War you should have been given a cardboard Deep Space Nine token, along with 2 ship cards as participation prizes. You are allowed to use that version of the ship card with the model, giving you the ability to fire torpedoes without disabling them. 

The crew of Deep Space Nine are represented, along with a couple of guests with eight special cards. 

Firstly we have another version Captain Sisko. Nicknamed “Hulk” Sisko by some of my friends, Sisko’s initiative rises one point each time he is hit ending in a maximum of , effectively becoming more dangerous with each point of damage that he takes. If that wasn’t enough, if Sisko’s ship is in arc of two or more ships, he gets an extra defence dice against them.

In tournament play, cloaking devices can’t be put on space stations, but if you are able to mix factions, you can put the Romulan upgrade T’Rul on a ship that uses a cloaking upgrade (instead of a cloak option on their action bar). T’Rul, portrayed by Martha Hackett appeared in the search as the Romulan official assigned to monitor Federation use of the Defiant’s Romulan cloak during the ship’s debut episode The Search. We never saw T’Rul again, but in the game she’s very useful. As well as giving you an extra tech slot, she lets you use your ship’s cloaking device upgrade without disabling it, thus making cloaks much more viable. If that wasn’t enough. Cloaked ships can choose to trade 3 attack dice in exchange for a free evade token. 

T’Kar is a Klingon Card, based on the Klingon mercenary portrayed by Tim Russ, that helps to capture the station during season two’s Invasive Procedures. Much like the episode, he allows you to discard one of an opposing ship’s crew, and disable the rest. The drawback is that he is highly situational (your opponent mustn’t be cloaked and cannot have any shields, you have to drop your shields) for the points value I don’t think he suits the Klingon style. 

Everyone’s favourite plain, simple tailor makes an appearance as a Dominion card. Garak is another card that has three great effects. Firstly, he can be disabled to get an extra evade result to a dice roll. Secondly, you don’t pay a faction penalty when assigning Garak to a non-Dominion ship. Thirdly, he brings an elite talent slot. Very good for four points. 

Garak’s regular lunchtime partner, Julian Bashir makes an appearance as well.. Effectively Bashir can take a disabled token from a Tech or Crew upgrade, allowing you to use its ability as a free action in that turn. 

Odo is part of the independent faction in this game. As a Star Trek purist, I would put him in the Bajoran faction, especially since there are no Bajoran upgrades in the pack. Odo allows you to decommission an upgrade on an enemy ship, and if that is a crew upgrade, you get to perform that as a free action, effectively letting Odo impersonate them. 

Odo’s foe, Quark, lives up to Ferengi values. He allows you to bring a weapon with a cost of five or less onto the field, meaning that instead of paying five points for something, you are just paying Quark’s base cost of 2. A nice ability in cross faction environments. 

Rounding off the pack, is the holographic crooner Vic Fontaine. Like Voyager’s Doctor, and the Equinox’s EMH, Vic counts as either a tech or a crew upgrade. If something is going to affect one of your crew, roll two defence dice, if your luck’s in, the crew effect is averted. I imagine the dice roll reflects Vic’s Vegas setting, while the crew protection represents the effect he has on morale. 

None of these cards are a must have, but they certainly have their uses depending on what builds interest you. 

So, how does it play in tournaments? Well, with eight hull and eight shields it can take a pounding, but not for as long as you might think. The station has no evasion die, so its hull and shields will be quickly worn down by enough good, sustained attacks.. The firepower is a tad disappointing, with just five die. Again, this is quite consistent with the fact that the station was originally a mining station. I would have included an ability along the lines of “Thoron Fields” that make the station’s arsenal more impressive, at least temporarily. 

That being said, the station can be used effectively. I’ve used it in a tournament, and despite facing ships that can easily tear the station apart, I won two out of my three matches. Opponents can often be intimidated by the huge station. Its base presents an obstacle to enemy ships too. The fact that it can choose to move, or remain where it is adds for an interesting dynamic. Scotty from the The Original Series' Enterprise is an effective upgrade on this ship. Likewise, if you are using the Dominion, the named ability on Terok Nor allows you to overcome the limitations of the stations fire arcs. 

Overall, I do recommend this purchase. The £75 asking price may be high, but is still cheaper than the playmates toy from 1993 (currently going for £86 on eBay) and the AMT model (£131). Plus, my copy was from my local games retailer, who offered 10% of the asking price, and many other retailers offer similar discounts I understand. While nowhere near a sure bet in tournament play, it can wield entertaining results, in casual play the only limitations are what you apply to it. Although only Dominion and Federation have version of the station, crew from the “core five” are represented here, so there are respectable upgrades to be had. 

Formation of the Fleet: Welcome to Attack Wing

I failed at Star Trek Online. I hate parting with money for a supposedly "free" game which takes ages to get anywhere, uses a ton of disk space and relies heavily on "pew-pew" tactics.

OK, I applaud that actual Star Trek cast from The Next Generation and Voyager are getting involved with the storylines but it all ends up in the same shooty actions and I became fairly bored pretty quickly. Sorry Online but you failed to ignite my passions for online gaming in every aspect. Deleted. I won't be going back.

Which led me into looking for something else to float my Star Trek gaming boat and I ended up going back to something that I'd sniffed around a while ago; Star Trek Attack Wing. A few people might scoff and suggest I've just exchanged pew-pew on the laptop for pew-pew on the tabletop but hear me out and then you can fire all the shots you want across my bow.

Back in t'day I wasn't adverse to a bit of roleplay gaming from the likes of Games Workshop but with the passing of time these things get boxed and stored in the loft. Attack Wing does have similar attributes, a free-playing game area of any size (be realistic though), free movement, a ton of features for each ship and that all important range ruler.

I've toyed with the idea for a while and then with some birthday money I took the plunge and purchased the Starter Pack. I got a good deal on it so I recommend hunting around and even managed to add in the USS Voyager expansion for not much more than the set would have cost me on its own at full retail price.

For a starter box it's packed solid with everything you'll need to get running the first part of your likely-to-expand-rapidly fleet. There's the Galaxy Class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, a Klingon Vor'Cha Attack Cruiser and a D'deridex Class Romulan Warbird which means two or three player games can be run from day one of your gaming investment. Besides the ships the box contains one Rules of Play book (including some very useful introductory game steps), a chunk of push-out tokens and a couple of decks of cards.

The ship models are very basically detailed and scanning over the internet a fair few people have pimped them up to their full, correct visual specification. The promo images for the ships do make them out to be vastly more detailed than they are so just be aware before you buy. However, that taken into account, it's behind the scenes and at the edge of the board that the real magic happens. Each ship gets attached to its own little base carrying a firing arc and basic stats as well as its own captain token before being placed into the gaming arena ready to start.

Let's look at the pile of tokens first though. We're already mentioned the range ruler, there are several different movement pieces and then you're into more interesting territory with Captain tokens, ones for mission objectives, others for disabling ship features, others for indicating raised or lowered shields, whether you're using auxiliary power...there seems to be a token for just about every eventuality within the Star Trek starship realm here which makes every encounter unique and more about playing your cards right. The movement dial (pictured) is a clever little device to make sure no-one tries to cheat and avoid conflict. Forunately movement isn't as super easy as selecting a number and direction on the wheel. Each ship has movement limitations that can affect its actions and some move in different ways to others. for example the red right angle with the 3 here means that the Enterprise would be on auxiliary power and lose the chance to use an action in this round. It's a beautiful idea well executed. One other thing to note is that the Captain tokens are horribly tight to fit into the base of your starship. They do get bent quickly as the card is thicker than the gap into which it fits so you might want to either photocopy or hunt some spares out on eBay.

The cards are just as important, perhaps moreso tactically, as your movement and choice of when to attack. Each round of the game takes four stages - Planning, Activation, Combat and End - everyone plans, everyone chooses where they're going and then enters the third phase which is where the cards come into play.

Each player can choose a certain number of ships upgrades (not including their captain card) which will allow them to do certain things during play - maybe once or sometimes repeatedly. It could be allowing a secondary weapon to fire twice, firing a more powerful weapon, cancelling any previous round effects, enhancing shields - you get the general picture.

So how does it play once you've popped all the tokens from their card mounts, set your ship up and established who's commanding the Galaxy Class Enterprise and who gets the Klingons and Romulans? 

At first it's best to follow the guide and try the introductory game. I played my step-daughter and got a whooping with the D'deridex Class Warbird. Shields were down and there was no going back. However once you step past the very basic starter game it gets a lot more interesting. More factors come into play, you appreciate the maneuverability of each ship (which can be significantly different) and just what can push it to breaking point. Shields and hull damage become a lot more significant as damage cards get dealt with successful hits through your defensive grid take an effect on your ship's abilities.

The selection of your crew and therefore your upgrades becomes pretty important and as I get further into playing and collecting my fleet I'm sure it'll become more evident that certain abilities are better against certain opponents. I'm thinking of going for pure Starfleet versus Klingons however I know that there are a couple of ships outside that remit that look rather tasty. The Galaxy Class ship doesn't have to be the Enterprise either given that there's a blank card to which you can assign your own standard - USS SKoST perhaps?

As to the upgrades, each ship has different strengths and weaknesses at this level too with certain crew providing unique features which do have some relevance to their position on the ship. Geordi's are more inclined to propulsion while Riker's have a line into command. Then there's getting to grips with firing arcs and weapon power depending on your target distance and all sorts of bits I probably haven't tackled. Out of the box you don't get to play as a full fleet due to the number of ships but you can see from these three that selecting the right ones will be key to your successes. I think from conversations I've had with another recent disciple of Attack Wing who's purchased the Breen warship that it has some kind of super weapony thing. I suspect that Chang's Bird-of-Prey has the ability to fire while cloaked. It's on the To Buy list of course.

Attack Wing has been out for a while now with the current expansion wave into its ninth cycle with one a month, containing three new ships, planned right up until at least June 2015. This month saw the arrival of Wave 10 including the Vidiian starship, the Regent's ship from the Mirror Universe and the Cardassian Hideki Class squadron. So far I've only acquired the Starter Set and one USS Voyager. If you're wondering why I've not mentioned that one, I want to talk about it separately so that's my next piece on Attack Wing sorted. I've grabbed an image here which also shows Wave 11 which adds the Federation fighters, Romulan drone from Enterprise and the Krenim warship from Voyager.

For this time though let's round off the discussion on the Starter Set. It's a good deal and means that from the off you're able to play with a maximum of of three players. I get that there's some similarity to Star Trek Online here in the fact it's space combat however at least I can sit and face the person I'm playing and have a chat at the same time rather than facing a computer screen for another ten hours.The in-game variations are endless through the ship upgrades (choose your crew carefully) and the captain as well as in your choice of ship - or ships because your fleet will be growing. 

Next time I want to talk about the Voyager expansion pack and it's impact on the starter set and also it's unique features which make it one of the stand out add-ons...

Started on Attack Wing? How are you finding the game and what are your ships of choice? Let us know which ones to watch out for below!

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What's Inside the Enterprise?! (and some other merchandising)

Where's the loo??? Is that the warp core? What's inside the saucer?


Created by the team behind Dragon Models' Project Cutaway line and available NOW, this plastic, fully painted model of the original TV series Enterprise uses transparent pieces to reveal the detailed interior of the ship that started it all. Measuring 18 inches long (good size that) and with a metal display base it also has the lovely RRP of $174.99. A bargain of course(!)

It looks awesome from every angle on these photos and I suspect Diamond Select Toys have got a winner on their hands no matter the cost.  Having not seen the finished item face to face I can't comment on the quality, scale or detail contained within but I don't think fans will be disappointed. An A, D and E variants must surely be coming at some point if the market takes this well enough? It's certainly unique and goes a bit further than the posters we saw in the 1990's of the A and D which were included in the boxes for AMT models (blast from the past). It just shows you how far technology has come in the last 20 years. I would have liked to have seen a bit more detail on the saucer pics as it just looks like it's showing the internal structure and corridors and not what's in the rooms. Warp core takes up a bit of room though, doesn't it?

Just to indulge for a second, I had both of these on my wall at home and the detail was beautiful. I hope in some ways these get re-released at some point as they were some of the best images created for the 30th Anniversary in 1996. I suspect a project might be to delve into their past a bit more and see if we can find out who was responsible for putting them together. (both images from memory alpha). Out of the two I preferred the "A" poster as it was easier to see all the finer points of the ship with less decks to fill up the image. It included a great little drawing of the bridge, the shuttle and even the never-seen saucer landing legs! I recall spending a lot of time crawling over both to spot the minor details and things that were drawn in to find - transporter rooms, backup control rooms...the loo....

Also released this week were the packaging images for the new Minimates range of figures. We've talked about these extensively before so I'm going to just include the pic for reference - at least it'll help you spot them quicker on the shelves after launch in June 2013.

Stores carrying Star Trek: Attack Wing will host tournaments for players to challenge each other for dominance of the Alpha Quadrant. Players will collect a participation prize each month as well as compete for a new playable ship that will only be offered via the Organized Play events. The player with the best record over the six-month event will be bestowed the title of Fleet Admiral and awarded a special grand prize at the end of the program.

Two more bits of "stuff" for you take a look over in the next few days. Firstly there's Hero-Clix. Now at initial glace it's a kids' game but what does make me a little bit more interested is the ships that are involved. Already in production, there's now a special event called Star Trek: Attack Wing coming online. The six-month storyline Organized Play program focuses on  the Dominion War from the Deep Space Nine timeline and looks like a lot of fun (big kid mode engaged).

Pre-orders are now being taken for the Star Trek: Attack Wing Starter Set and first eight expansions packs that launch this August at GenCon 2013. At the event players will be able to experience demos at the WizKids booth as well as limited tournaments to get a first look at the game.

Under license by CBS Consumer Products, Star Trek: Attack Wing utilizes the FlightPath™ maneuver system featuring pre-painted miniatures of iconic ships from the Star Trek universe. Players can assemble their fleet and customize ships with different captains, crew, weapons and tech upgrades.

Now this is where is gets a bit more exciting for fans as the Star Trek: Attack Wing Starter Set includes the USS Enterprise-D, a Klingon Vor’cha-class cruiser and Romulan D’deridex-class ships (featured on the poster above) as well as a rulebook and all the components needed to play. After that initial set up, there are further releases planned with the first eight expansion packs of two each of Federation, Romulan, Klingon and Dominion faction ships leading the charge. Anyone know if these are available in the UK? I just want the ships!

The upcoming release of another item might just help contain my Inner Trekker and give me the ships at the same time however. The Eaglemoss Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection which launches in August 2013.

If you register through the website you can get yourself a free trial of the product which gives you access to view the first issue for a limited time and then choose whether to buy or subscribe. I might be tempted to have a look over the first issue (priced £1.99) and get the Enterprise-D but once the price hikes up to £5.99 for issue 2 and then higher for each subsequent issue I'm not sure if I would be able to justify purchasing this regularly. It might be one of those where only specific ships influence my purchase along the run of 65 magazines promised.

Taking a look at the pages available it appears like a cross between the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and the Star Trek Factfiles. Blatantly timed with the release of Star Trek Into Darkness this is going to be aimed towards the younger, newer fan market rather than the more seasoned fan as the content doesn't appear that "technical". The preview images are heavy on full colour pictures and low on text but it's more about the model and the quality that they can produce on a fortnightly basis. I look forward to seeing the result in a newsagent near me soon. Upcoming issues (two through five) promise the refit movie Enterprise, Klingon Bird of Prey, Romulan Warbird and the NX-01 from, of course, Enterprise.

If you pre-order then there's a plethora of goodies you'll get alongside the first few issues - binders, Enterprise-D dedication plaque, Borg cube (not full size), a digital copy of the magazine and, probably the best bit, a model of the Enterprise-D from All Good Things... resplendent with third nacelle. Oh, and you have the chance to win an iPad mini.

Eaglemoss are doing a good job with the presentation of the website and the offers to get people onboard ahead of launch but I would personally rather wait and get a better idea once it's had a first issue release as it could all be hype and I've seen this kind of publication before with Bond cars and all sorts of promotions. Certainly all the pre-launch material makes it look super-tempting for new, moderate and hardcore fans and I will endeavour to provide a review of the first issue when it's launched for the budget price of £1.99. No doubt office desks across the land will be adorned with miniature USS Enterprise models from August. While there is that sense of caution I am intrigued as to what will be on the shelves in two months. If Eaglemoss are reading, can you make sure there's every version of the Enterprise, Defiant, Voyager, Prometheus and Dauntless....!

giantfreakinrobot.com

One thing I can say is that their customer service team are on the ball. I've had some issues logging in but Arlene from Eaglemoss has been very helpful throughout the process...shame I still can't get into the trial section however.

Enterprise and Minimates images courtesy of Diamond Select Toys
Star Trek: Attack Wing images courtesy of NECA/Whizkids
Star Trek: The Official Ships Collection images from Eaglemoss