Cards are Dealt: Hirogen and Borg Attack Wing Expansion Packs

At the same time that the Federation Attack Fighter pack arrived, there were another two card expansions waiting in the wings.

Providing a new slant on the Hirogen Hunting Vessel, this Independent faction card set includes not just the cards but the tokens to supplement your Attack Wing game - just make sure you have a Hirogen ship before using since this pack doesn't include the movement dial or card (nor the ship or stand for that matter). 

Totalling a cost of 22 points, the vessel attacks with four, defends with two and carries a hull value of three and raises four shield points. The additional slots here are well-mixed with two for Tech, two for Weapons and one for crew - which sort of makes sense since Hirogen vessels usually only had a commander and one other on board; nice touch Wizkids if that was intentional.

The Action bar has the standard Evade, Target Lock, Scan and Battle Stations features available while the unique action works when the ship doesn't succeed in an attack. Effectively it's something for nothing with the defending ship being Target Locked and the attacking Hirogen craft receiving a Battle Station token. Good move which means even the worst turn could end up with a positive result.

The generic version of the ship loses one shield point and a Weapon upgrade as well as the Unique Action for a cost of 18 points - still a decent ship even with some teeth removed.

Captaining this new vessel offers two alternatives with the Hirogen Hunter costing more (four points) and packing a skill of five. A reusable card, it allows Tractor Beam to be used as a Free Action as long as it is equipped to the same ship. The Hunter also has the option to add on an Elite Action. Surprisingly Idrin, the named captain, costs only two points with a skill of three. During the Activation Phase Idrin can be Time Tokened to remove disabled or Time tokens from either Tech or Weapon upgrades attached to the same ship. He too can add on an Elite Action of which there are two included with this card expansion.

Beta Hirogen kicks off the two new Crew cards. Costing three points he's worth the punt given that he increases the Captain Skill by one and doubles up on Scan tokens whenever one is played on the ship he's equipped to. I really like this one due to its double use and benefit to the overall playability of the ship - especially if you're fielding Karr from the Alpha Hunter pack.

Donik, a character from Flesh and Blood, is also damn useful as he stops any upgrades fired from a Secondary Weapon arc having any effect on your ship. This is a MUST to equip and rules out being hung out to dry with torpedo attacks launched from the backs of many a ship. His cost of just two points for such a huge blocking move is a steal - I'd have doubled the price for this one.

Ok. We mentioned earlier the Tractor Beam card and now let's get to it. It's one of the two Tech upgrades provided in this expansion and costs a rather appetising three points to equip. Activated in the Action stage of the round, Tractor Beam has the bizarre ability to swap the green and red maneuvers meaning that green moves would incur an auxiliary power token while the red ones won't. Active at ranges one and two this could well slow down potential prey and leave them in range for that one further turn. 

Stealth Mode (three points) allows your vessel to perform a Sensor Echo move even if not cloaked at the cost of two Time Tokens. A nice defensive move for a pack which is very offensive in it's nature and does allow the player a chance to regroup if necessary.

Talking of offensive capabilities it's perhaps a shock to find that there is only one Weapon upgrade included with this card expansion. Subnucleonic Beams costs three points and operates at ranges one and two. Acting with the same four dice as the Primary Weapon in the pack, it lets you fire and then disable as many Crew upgrades on the opponent's vessel as there are uncancelled Damage or Critical Damage icons. A double hitter here that could take out some potential big guns and clever combos. It will incur two Time Tokens however which limits its activity during the game.

Optronic Data Core functions as either a Weapon or a Tech upgrade (hence the question mark emblem) and can be used as a free Action at the cost of three Time Tokens OR it can be disabled to remove a disabled token from another "?" card attached to the ship. Now, I wouldn't think that second one will happen very often so you're probably not going to be using this card very often!

Closing out the set we have two Elite Actions. The first, the three point The Lone Hunt, is active at ranges one and two but only if there are no other friendly vessels within that zone. It's notably neither disabled or discarded and so can be reused over and over giving your ship an additional die in attack - and I always have a fear of five dice rolling ships which could make this one more than a handful given the other useful upgrades included here.

Last up is the four point Relics which can only be attached to Karr or a Hirogen Captain (isn't that the same thing?) and has two stages to its use. The first part sees you drop a Mission Token onto the card for each time you make a successful attack (once per round) up to a maximum of three tokens. These can then be spent during the Activation Phase to perform a free Action from the ship's Action bar. Fairly useful but not quite as dynamic as the other features in the pack and I'd pick The Lone Hunt over this one every day of the week.

With no Mission cards in this pack we can jump straight across to the other card expansion pack - Queen Vessel Prime aka the Borg Octahedron. As part of the Borg faction this is one of those ships that you love to play given its firepower and capabilities but is an absolute b*****d to take on because of those exact same reasons. This pack will only solidify your thoughts further.

Carrying a six Attack, zero Defence (and why would you need that...), eight Hull and seven Shield points, the diamond ship costs a stinging 42 points with slots for two Borg, one Tech, one Weapon and two Crew. Standard Actions for the Borg are Target Lock, Scan and the ever popular Regenerate. If all that's not enough, the unique Action for the pack means that this one could well be virtually unstoppable since the End Phase of each round can see you add a Drone token to the Captain. Now, stupidly that doesn't specify up to the starting amount...? Could you go over?

The generic version of the Octahedron loses that vague unique action plus a Shield point and a Crew upgrade slot to rock in at a 38 point cost. 

The Tactical Drone starts out with a Captain skill of six and if there's an enemy ship within ranges one or two during Combat then spending a Drone token will allow you to add a Battle Stations token to your vessel and therefore give you a smidgen of defensive possibilities. While this is a good card the lack of defence overall for the Borg is a significant challenge so always go in prepared - even if it costs!

First costs four points to the Tactical Drone's three and starts out with the same six Captain skill as dictated through the number of Drone tokens assigned to it. His functionality is much more attractive, allowing you to spend a Drone to remove two Time tokens or one disabled token from any upgrades on the ship - this will have you back up and running at full tilt almost every round.

This pack offers up four Crew upgrades which are a mixed bunch to say the least. Neonatal Borg adds a further Crew slot to the ship and also lets you fill Tech or Borg slots with Crew. For a two point cost it does provide a lot of flexibility on a Borg ship so you can pick out the very best opportunities. Mezoti (also two points cost) nullifies the effect of a Crew upgrade being used against the Borg ship and is discarded once it's been effectively deployed. As a suckerpunch to the enemy ship the Crew upgrade used in the round is then disabled and its effects cancelled out. Having this ability in your stack will definitely improve the longevity of your time in the game and is another sterling defensive move to have available.

One and Second both cost four points to get aboard your vessel. The futuristic One from Drone is discarded after use and causes Shields to be disabled rather than destroyed for each hit. No shields however and it's pointless to use as there is no effect. Another chance to add some defensive options to the Borg fleet. I'd be more tempted to stick this on the Sphere or the Tactical Cube where there are a higher Shield totals and give yourself even more time to make the killer blow.

Second is a costly card and that's being easy on it. For four points you get to perform a free Action, drop four Drone Tokens onto this card and remove the existing Captain. Second then becomes the Captain. For the chance to use a free Action this comes across as massively OTT but then you think about it - if you've used up all or most of the Drone Tokens off the existing Captain, this gives you another four goes so y'know what - it IS worth the risk!

Only one additional Weapon upgrade in this set and trust me, with six in Attack you don't need much more. Tractor Beam (not the same as the Hirogen one) fires at ranges one and two with the same number of dice as the ship's Primary Weapon. For the whopping five point cost you expect fireworks and this does deliver - to a degree - and there is more risk and gambling than actual certainty since it switches Critical Damage hits into the ability to steal Tech or Crew upgrades from the opponent regardless of defensive status. 

It's a big cost and quite a chance to take although there's no stipulation of when you can play this card either before or after your roll to attack. Nor does it specify if you equip the stolen upgrades to your ship even if they exceed the points limit you may have imposed. Little bit vague again from Wizkids and this certainly needs a little clarification going forward.

There's also a singular Tech upgrade slipped in here in the form of Technological Analysis for four points. Active at all weapon ranges it leads you to discard a Drone token to then remove a Battle Stations, Evade, Scan or Target Lock from the target opposing ship. Useful if only to take the punch out of your opponent’s attack or render them a little more susceptible to retaliation. 

Last up is the solo Borg upgrade; Threat Analysis. Costing a minimal one point, this allows you to disable this card with two Time Tokens to be able to play Battle Stations. What’s the great thing? Well the Borg ship here can’t play this for its Action bar so this provides both an offensive and defensive advantage particularly if things aren’t going too well. 

The Elite Action included costs two points and is entitled Neural Transponder. This card seems to be an enforced Action as whenever a Battle Station, Evade, Scan our Auxiliary Power Token is played then the card is discarded and any  friendly ship at ranges one or two receives the same token as long as one isn’t already there. It’s a bit wishy-washy as an upgrade so you can use your points more wisely elsewhere. It’s likely to be the weakest card in the pack where there are much stronger cards for a slightly higher price. 

The Borg pack seems to be very average in the style and type of upgrades included for your already overpowered fleet. The Hirogen pack is one of my favourite expansions, possibly one of the best packs in the game. There's lots of new spins on gameplay in here and gambles to select just the right upgrades to make the most effective ship. This has made me want to get hold of more of these card packs as there seems to have been a bit of thought outside of the Attack Wing box that we haven't seen since initial launch. Definite thumbs up for these and fingers crossed there are more in the near future - but let's see those Borg and Animated Series packs first please...

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Singular Propulsion: The Official Starships Collection Issues 118 and 119

Here we go with a hectic month of delayed specials, specials delayed until next month and finally two regular issues that have left me a little needy. 

Opening up the first of the two we return - once again - to Wolf 359. It combines elements from the Galaxy and refitted Constitution Classes into the most compact Starfleet ship in the fleet.  Comprising of three elements - saucer, neck and engine, the Freedom Class USS Firebrand is pretty much devoid of intricacy or delight with the simplest of builds. 

The saucer itself, the top half of which is metal, carries five phaser strips around its elliptical hull rather than a single curved bank. Reflecting its simple and hurried origins for a graveyard scene, the Firebrand has this aura of being almost unfinished with the aztec paint scheme coming across as more dirty than a subtle two tone paintjob. I might also have this feeling because the one I got sent has some rather obvious glue marks to the side of the saucer which you csn clearly make out on the photos. 

The registry is similarly sketchy and although this will never make my favourites list, the fact that it seems incomplete does well to reflect the scene it was used for as well as its preparation for that moment. This was never something that was going to be at the forefront of the show but due to popular demand its now HAD to be there and Eaglemoss have done the best they can from fhe less than perfect source material.  

The saucer is smooth to a fault with only the five phaser banks and an almost missable bridge module to break up the plain surface. Note that there are no panel lines in play, only painted on white and black windows for more sporadic detailing. The bridge module itself barely rises above the hull and is finished with the thin slit of a shuttlebay to the back.

Turned over,  the now trademark metal/plastic border ring is very evident, running about midway round the centre of the primary hull. There are again five phaser banks marked out with three larger to the front and two smaller to the back. As with the top bu not mentioned, each bank does have red trimming at either end - something present on all these The Next Generation era ships. 

There's one more thing to this one because it has a very unique central feature in the shape of a whopping great phaser cannon. It makes the Firebrand more than memorable because its such an unexpected piece of tech to see bolted onto Starfleet vessel. 

That underside is still smooth and azteced but fortunately whoever put it together managed to avoid spreading their gluey fingers onto a second surface.

Down the back now and the borrowed neck section from a Constitution Class Starship is quite the angular contrast against the more curvy lines of both the saucer above and the warp engine below. The window detailing is all in place which is one thing that I find can be missing when it comes to these models. In this case there’s enough room to get them blobbed on and given the distance between the saucer and the engine it would have been obvious if it hadn’t been.

Right at the base of the neck section is a very familiar feature in the shape of a photon torpedo launcher. Resting on top of the engine might not be the safest place to fire high explosives from however it’s painted cleanly and clearly so from an accuracy perspective we have to let it pass. From a logic perspective this is utter madness!

Finally at the base of the Firebrand we have that single warp engine. Bearing all the hallmarks from the Galaxy Class, Eaglemoss have managed to squeeze in both the blue translucent warp field grilles and the crimson red bussard collector giving that much needed depth to the simplest of starships.

The nacelle is well decalled with ship registry and minor tech style callouts which breakup the uniform Starfleet grey overcoat. At the bottom you might also spot a small grey blob thats hanging down. If you’re a little confused I totslly understand because this, if you look closely at the magazine cover, is a tiny navigational deflector. Given the size of this item on the model i can see why it isn’t painted.

Given this is one of the smallest Starfleet ships from the whole collection I’m actually amazed at how seemingly overpowered and overarmed this thing is with multiple phaser banks, that idiotically big cannon and a low-placed torpedo bay. I think the Defiant might have had less weapons...

Issue 118’s magazine gives skant detail on the background of the Freedom Class noting only is main features , the likely heritage of its parts and its role before Wolf 359 as well as its part in the fateful battle. The plan views show how close the model is to the ‘real thing’ plus highlight some of the fiddlier features that have not been coloured due to their size such as that deflector and the torpedo tubes. 

Adding to your library of reference for the fourth season of The Next Generation, we have an interview with series writer Ronald D Moore on his contributions to the show with a strong focus on his stories including Family, Reunion and Redemption, the latter two being part of Moore’s work to revamp and update the Klingon Empire. The next four pages are given over to another key member of the behind the scenes team that made The Next Generation into the show it was, Michael Piller. For me he is the most significant player in the story of the show and the way in which Star Trek developed through Deep Space Nine and into Voyager with its tight storylines and focus on character.

Next to tick off the list is the Hirogen Holoship and it’s the second part of that name which sends chills down my spine. Remember the Federation Holoship from Insurrection? Y’know, the one that looked like a cheap TV remote control? Well upon hearing that we would be seeing this one from Voyager’s seventh season two parter Flesh and Blood, I started on the flashbacks to that review. 

Tragically they do have one thing in common - they’re both pure plastic models. The Federation block was two pieces painted and slapped together but here the luck that the Hirogen has a bit more flair to their starship design has saved what could have been another dire result.

The Hirogen Warship from issue 51 (yes, that long ago!!!) was a decent enough ship and as I start to be more selective on what’s displayed, it still remains out as one of the better craft produced. The Holoship likewise is a good representation being a little more streamlined than its more aggressive cousin. 

The paint scheme is instantly recognisable as being Hirogen with that gold and brown pattern playing out across the whole of the model. First impressions are that it’s a decent build with some nice minutiae to get engrossed with so let’s dive a bit further in.

This slimline starship has a slightly insectoid look to it starting right at the front. Those twin antennae only have a little flexibility in them but then they aren’t the only appendages to be aware of on this ship. 

The front probes lead back to a bullet shaped forward hull section. Here we have some basic hull detailing with grooved bodywork and a distinct bridge module sitting right at the top. Compare the model to the magazine and you can see that the CG emphasises the slight variation in tones between the panels on the hull, keeping instead to a single gold colour for the whole surface. From the bridge there's a raised section of hull which runs the length of the ship to the central, main engine at the rear. Stop when you see the two grill-finished dome structures because these are clearly not the correct colour versus the show or the plan views in the magazine. They have a more red tint to their finish while on the model they are rendered in the same gold as the rest of the hull. This error also covers the two similar structures on the underside.

Now this ship has a pretty clever build to it with a top and bottom half placed together and with a join hidden away thanks to the brown/gold wing formations that extend along the sides. Top and bottom these protruding pieces have some raised detail but then have some more spindly appendages sweeping rearwards. Also that paint scheme - it has an incredibly slight hue change dependant on the right light meaning it's not quite the solid colour you initially believe it to be.

I'm actually surprised that Eaglemoss have decided to keep these rather flexible aerials on the model as usually they are omitted because they are harder to reproduce although maybe their equipment is offering better results these days, I don’t exactly know. 

The hull is solidly built and evades the need for a particularly detailed paint job by adding a ton of surface detail, ridges and call outs. The biggest of these features of sorts have to be the horizontal fins that hide that central join but there’s also two extremities that seem to act as shields to the outside two of the three engines (the warp engines). As you do look towards the back, the panelling on the main hull becomes less and contrasts to the increased detail on those side fins. The grey/gold combination almost has a camouflage/worn effect to it and unusually it's not symmetrical left to right. For me that's a really great feature on this ship and something that's not often seen in this mass produced collection. That uneven nature gives a more hand-finished feel to the Holoship although some of the grey seems to have bled over onto the orange dotted sections to the rear of the craft just ahead of the engine exhausts.

I do have to correct myself because if you are paying attention to the Holoship you'll realise I've messed up - it does have a metal section that runs inside the craft and can only be seen at the back in the form of the central engine. That weight also cleverly helps to balance the model when it comes to slotting the impulse engine exhaust into the rather unique stand which grips only that protruding piece of the Holoship - might not be the most secure fitting ever by the way.

On the bottom the central panelling pattern is identical to that on the upper side and it also carries on the two slight golden shade variations in the paint. One difference though is that the detailing on the top of the two (outer) warp engines is a darker orange shade than the slots on the top which have a more yellowed finish to them. It's a minor touch but as with that non-symmetrical grey paintwork on both sides of the fins but it's these things which make it a bit different as does the tiny etched detail that circles the forward section in a slightly orange band.

Challenge with this one though is that it's not very exciting as a single episode Hirogen craft. It's barely memorable from the back end of Voyager and is overshadowed by its smaller warship version that played a part in season four of the series.

Opening the issue 119 magazine gives us a recap of the Flesh and Blood story in quite a lot of detail and with very little focus on the ship itself. Eaglemoss follow this up with the plan views which highlight just how different the hull finish could have been and how the warp engines bring life to the hull through the orange vents that are under the engine carapaces.

Robert Blackman then explains the design and varied build process for the Hirogen armour and how it changed from the fourth to the seventh season which shed a lot of weight for the actors to have to carry. Finally - and well worth the admission price alone for this issue - is a six page interview from Bryan Fuller about his involvement with Voyager which was conducted just after the show finished in 2001. Covering stories including Flesh and Blood as well as The Raven, Barge of the Dead and Mortal Coil, it discusses Fuller's time on the show through the latter stages of its journey.

So, yet another very average month from the Halls of Eaglemoss which adds to the legendary Wolf 359 fleet and puts some more meat onto the bones of the Voyager range within the series. I've not found either of these ships to be that incredible. They both offer some nice features but each month I find with these single appearance ships that I do want for more. Fortunately next month we are going to get that with the arrival - finally - of the USS Bozeman from Cause and Effect and also the Xhosa from Deep Space Nine as used by Sisko's other half, Kasidy Yates.

I'm geinuinely excited by the prospect of both these ships much more than I have for a while since the Bozeman is such an iconic part of The Next Generation and one of its most important episodes.

How do you feel about this month's ships? Is the Freedom Class a winner? What's your thoughts on the Holoship?

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State of Independence: Lone Starships in Attack Wing

With Wave 19 delayed due to some issue in the US, we've got a barren month when it comes to new Attack Wing expansions.

As it happens I was looking to expand my Independent fleet and added in two older ships to the numbers. Choosing which wasn't too hard as I'd heard some good things about both the Vidiian Fina Prime and the Hirogen Hunter.

The Vidiian ship (Wave 10) is one of the biggest - and ugliest - ships to come out of the game. It's also the only version available currently as the Starships Collection has still to slot it into the running order. It's certainly wide but size isn't everything and it's a shame that having a larger surface area doesn't make it any better than the other expansions. The paint scheme is very blocky, very basic and has an uncharacteristic shine to it that I wouldn't have placed on the Vidiian ship. It's an odd design and there's definitely nothing else like it in the Star Trek universe - and in Attack Wing there's certainly nothing similar in at least a couple of features.

Weighing in with 26 points, the named Fina Prime packs three in attack, two defence, five hull points and three shields with the option to add in two weapon and two crew upgrades. As standard for a lot of Federation ships at least the Vidiian vessel can perform Evade, Target Lock, Scan and Battle Stations as standard actions. The Battle Cruiser unique action will force an opponent at range one to lose a shield token at the price of an auxiliary power token. A nice way to bring those shields down a little quicker and get to the hull. The generic version sacrifices one of those shield points and a crew upgrade to bring the ship point total to 24.

Being a battle cruiser there's a top speed of four but with most options at speeds two and three plus a handy 180 turn that will cost an auxiliary power token. With some of the options here that choice of maneuver over speed is an advantage we'll talk about later.

The Fina Prime pack does disappoint in one way however; it's one of the slimmest we've had in the whole range. There are only two captain options provided and one of those is a generic Vidiian for your Independent faction. The Vidiian Commander will cost four points with a skill of seven and enhances your attacks with the Grappler or the Hypothermic Charge or performing the action on the Boarding Party card. If you're playing any of these features he's a must for your ship, making great upgrades even more usable.

There are four crew alternatives to choose from though bringing back at least one familiar Vidiian from Voyager in the form of Denara Pel. Continuing the trend of the Commander, the ship and some other features, Pel offers close-range benefits with a ship at range one losing a crew upgrade at the cost of the Vidiian. One thing though, if you're grappling then it becomes a disable rather than a discard. Certainly one to use if you're facing a Federation opponent with their crew-heavy craft.

Sulan, who fans will remember from Faces as the Vidiian who captured B'Elanna, is your next crew card. Again his ability is at range one and allows you to discard a crew upgrade on your opponent's ship but if you're using the grapple feature you can also disable another two crew upgrades on that target ship. His increased cost over Pel shows that this is a stronger card but at least here you have the option to spend a bit less for a similar feature in Denara Pel. Third crew selection here is Dereth, a Vidiian taken from Phage in Voyager's first season. An organ harvester in the episode, Dereth operates here as a safeguard feature, allowing you to disable an opponent upgrade should they try and affect any of your upgrades. Nice that it's not a disable or discard card so you can keep on using it as the game progresses.

The Fina Prime expansion definitely conjures up a lot of problems for Federation players with those three crew options alone but the fourth, the more costly Vidiian Boarding Party card action is a killer. It is very situational, meaning that the target ship for this attack must be uncloaked, in range one and have no active shields before you can even think about using it. However it provides a four attack dice roll and for each damage or critical damage hit rolled a crew upgrade gets removed from the target ship. Effectively you could shut a Federation ship down completely in one move. Even worse is that if grappling this can be used as a free action so you can prep if the target ship decides to retaliate (although what with...).

The ship comes with nor has slots for any tech upgrades so you're pretty limited beyond those crew-upgrade-slaughtering crew upgrades to just two weapon options. Hypothermic Charges attacks with the same number of dice as your primary weapon (three) but only operates at range one to two. So why use it? Because it ignores your opponent's shields and goes straight for the hull, potentially providing some much welcomed critical damage to key systems. If there are shields active then the big news is that the attack lets you re-roll any number of dice. No target lock required here but you will need to disable the feature to use it.

To the final card here and the biggest unique point in the set which is Grappler. Again attacking with just the three dice and at that extremely close range one, you need to disable the card to take advantage and if you successfully inflict one hit through a regular attack then you get to lock on. Once this happens, the opponent ship, while it carries the red grapple token, attacks with one less die and defends with one less. It also can't move faster than two but if at the end of the Activation Phase it's moved out of range one to the Vidiian ship then the link is lost. During the Combat Phase the grappled ship can get out of the hold by rolling two damage or critical damage results using the same number of dice it would for a primary attack. Phew. Lot to remember there but quite specific to be able to be able to kick that one off in the first place.

There is a single Elite Action with Fina Prime; Decisive Orders that allows an attack dice re-roll (up to two of them) if your target ship has no active shields. It's a discard for four points so I'd be more tempted to leave it out or look at other options from other Independent ships. The mission here does come from a classic Voyager episode in the form of Deadlock. The Vidiian ship has to start with the Boarding Party card upgrade fitted while the Federation ship has only 35 points to start off with an additional 25 points of upgrades "sideboarded" for the mission. The Vidiians win if they either destroy the Federation ship or get to employ the Boarding Party card successfully. The Federation player wins by destroying its opponent or escaping with three or more mission tokens collected.

Hang on - escape? Yes, because you're in a subspace divergence which either damages the ship or removes an upgrade each round. However all those upgrades off to the side represent the alternate reality ship (just like the ep!) which you can use to help and that comes at the cost of one of your eight mission tokens. If you can escape with at least three still on board then you've successfully negotiated the situation.

The second ship I acquired was the Hirogen Alpha Hunter from Wave 11. A lot smaller model but actually much more impressively detailed given its size. The golden colouring is well done but size does mean that any more precise detailing is lost. The pack is a lot thicker than Fina Prime and the ship more primed for attack and to take more damage than the Vidiian cruiser although its SP is identical at 26. 

Offering four dice in attack, two for defence along with a hull value of three and four shield points, the Hunter carries the standard four actions of Evade, Target Lock, Scan and Battle Stations plus its unique action allows you to perform the Sensor Echo action as a freebie even if not cloaked. On top of that there are two tech, two weapons and a crew slot to fill if you're looking to max her out. 

As with the Vidiian Cruiser the Alpha Hunter can hit a top speed of four and is blessed with a full range of movement at speeds two and three plus that key 180 turn. That's actually the only move that incurs the dreaded auxiliary power token so in comparison to those Vidiians it's not quite as restrictive. If you're choosing the generic ship version it will cost a shield point as usual plus one of your weapon slots for 24 points. Still a slightly better option than the Fina Prime perhaps.

As for captains there are two decent choices alongside the generic Hirogen card. Topping the stats with a skill of eight and a cost of five points is Karr, the commanding Hirogen from Voyager's The Killing Game two-parter. Unusually he offers two Elite Action slots as well as the ability to re-roll two attack dice every time you go into battle. If Karr's skill is higher than the opponent's captain you get to gain an attack die at the beginning of the phase.Truly a stupidly powerful card and one I just have to use even at the cost.

The Alpha Hirogen, represented by the hunter from Prey, allows conversion of a blank into a damage result. He's also able to use an Elite Action with a captain skill of six and a cost of four. With all those Elite Action slots flying around in this pack, WizKids do offer three choices to fill them with. Full Reverse allows you to change your revealed move to a one or two maneuver backwards without incurring an auxiliary power token. It's a cool one to mix up the Activation Phase but it does rely on you second or even third guessing your opponent to make it work. Costing a few more points but again allowing you to change your maneuver and receive a free Battle Stations action should an enemy vessel end up in your forward firing arc after you move. It plays more to the aggressive tendencies of the Hirogen than the retreating Full Reverse. 

The third and final Elite Action is Stalking Mode and is again a discard. Used as an Action, it reduces an opponent's captain skill by two points and gives you an additional attack dice . While the card might be discarded, the effects last for the duration of the game which will come in very handy and could work well to reduce the potency of an enemy capital ship. A very useful card well worth the five points it'll cost to equip it.

The Alpha Hunter includes just one crew upgrade with Turanj who lets you add another weapon slot to your bar and will allow you to discard your captain card if his/her skill is below four to add in an extra attack dice. Turanj then becomes your captain with a skill of seven. Very unusual feature this one and I don't recall seeing anything similar in the rest of the expansions I've experienced. 

As for weapons, the Hunter packs the usual Photon Torpedoes card utilising a target lock for five attack dice and the conversion of any Battle Station results to critical damage. The second, Subnucleonic Beam, inflicts normal damage but for each hit which is uncancelled you get to disable one of your opponent's crew upgrades. Costing an additional five points if used on a non-Hirogen vessel, it operates at range one to two. Certainly seems that there are a lot of extras in these Independent packs which are there to cause Federation players a whole ton of problems.

Finally thee are two tech upgrades Sensor Network takes its line from Message in a Bottle, letting you take a peek at an opponent's proposed move and then adjusting yours accordingly. Nor can your opponent change their move. Definitely works to help capture your prey or alternatively evade that attack. Last of all there's Monotanium Armor Plating to make sure you stand a half-decent chance of lasting the game. While it doesn't increase your hull or shield value it may stop opponents gaining a target lock if you can roll at least one Evade on two defence dice. It's able to be used everytime someone attempts that action and if they have managed to get a lock on you can disable the card to remove the effect.  Costing three points it's well worth the spend as I find target lock is an often-used feature that kicks you in the teeth over and over either for re-rolls or photons so having a defence against it is an enticing addition.

The Worthy Prey mission included here sees the Hirogen chasing an enemy ship (I'll be using Species 8472 I think) and for each round the Hunter attacks it receives one mission token. If the enemy is destroyed the prey is deemed worthy by rolling a number of dice determined by the amount of mission tokens collected. Deem it not worthy and the Hirogen lose.

OK - so how do these packs really operate? Fairly well. I have yet to really work the Hirogen pack properly but the Fina Prime ship was pretty decent against the Klingons. However, getting into a suitable position to use the Grappler card was near impossible without incurring a vast amount of damage. An Independent fleet definitely gives more variation to your game than with just a "standard" Federation fleet however it's quite an adjustment as I found when I was totalled by that Klingon squadron. What I lose in manoueverability I gain in upgrades and it's a delicate trade-off here. I think I still have some way to go to perfect it and will probably switch out either the Krenim Timeship or the USS Dauntless for the Hirogen Hunter. Trial and error, readers, trial and error!

Both ships are recommended to retail at £11.99 and you can find your local Attack Wing stockist HERE

Fan of the independent faction? Which are the best upgrades Squadron Points can buy? What should I be avoiding? 

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Where it all Began: Official Starships Collection Issues 50 and 51

We are here. The legend,  the Big One,  NCC-1701.

We're talking The Original Series here not movie refit and a model that I know Ben Robinson has seen as a real labour of love.

Have they succeeded in meeting our expectations?  Well here we go....

Painted out in the grey that fans will be familiar with from pictures of the original model currently undergoing restoration she is,  as I expected, very plain. The models from the 1960's were indeed very simple and straightforward. Detail was minimal and hey,  this is a show that won't go beyond the decade.... No need to get too technical.

All the weight with this one is in the saucer with the secondary hull and nacelles all in plastic. Just be warned that you might end up with some scratches on the paintwork as the stand clasp for the ship is very tight at the rear of the saucer. The surface of the Constitution Class vessel is very, very plain. If you're thinking there are going to be panel lines, radial edges branching out from the centre of the saucer, then you're going to be disappointed. It's absolute basics with the Enterprise. The only significant details you are going to see here are the registry numbers on the nacelles and saucer and the Starfleet pennants. Anything you've seen in CG or Deep Space Nine can be ignored since this is The Original Series pure.

There are a few highlight markings around the impulse engine and on the underside of the secondary hull but that's it. Ben and the team really have gone back to the beginning here and gone simple. This is as realised and as delivered to the studio for filming. I can understand what he meant by being concerned how the entries from The Original Series would come out because they are devoid of the usual intricacies that we are used to from Voyager or Enterprise. 

The light details on the secondary hull are painted straight onto the plastic so there's no concern over alignment in that respect. However the metal saucer windows don't quite match to their molded indents. It's very hard to notice since the size of them is quite small and when she's on your shelf you won't even notice.

The nacelles are pretty impressive on the Enterprise with translucent bussard collectors and the various vents and exhausts very precisely painted and parallel. Their fit to the pylons isn't a totally snug fit but again given the scale of this legendary ship, you have to look past and see the whole picture rather than the tiny imperfections.

One thing that will continue to be a disappointment is the deflector dish. A few weeks back we knew that it was going to be an issue as Ben revealed it would be from a clear plastic rather than a solid plastic painted bronze. Now the problem is that the deflector has actually come out more a shade of orange than it is bronze. It's still a nice result, a clean finish to the front of the ship but the colour is, well, wrong. There are also some "iffy" joint lines on the secondary hull, especially on the port side on the Enterprise I received this week. There are some small gaps and the way it's been put together sectionally is not what I expected.

For the cost it is a spectacular model and certainly the best I've seen at this scale. I find myself torn because it's such a massive model in terms of lore and you really don't want to point out any of the challenges with the end result. You can tell there's a lot of love poured into the ship and the level of superb simplicity that oozes from the box when you open her for the first time. 

As you do look through the accompanying literature, you do tend to glance back a fair bit to the model and then back to the pictures for comparison and it's difficult not to be a little disgruntled - but remember that a lot of the images are remastered with higher detail and are not from The Original Series in its original format. Looking at those images and the photos of the original ship you realise just how subtle/non-existent those markings were and that we've been greatly affected by later Star Trek's attention to detail and minute that it looks "wrong"  when actually this is as spot on as you could anticipate.  

I think Ben and the Eaglemoss team have, given the high levels of anticipation over this one,  delivered a solid,  high level result. It might not be perfect (and I know one reason why but can't say just yet) but it's as near as goddammit possible given all of the factors which influence the collection. Is it one of my favourites? Without question.

The issue 50 magazine won't fire any new info at the average fan. It is, like the model, very much back to basics covering a very broad backstory of the ship from April through to Kirk (ignoring The Motion Picture and beyond) before turning towards towards the design process as recounted from Matt Jeffries. Fans will have seen a lot of these sketches before but they are well presented here and there is a coloured drawing I don't recall seeing before. The views don't quite match up with the model given that the shuttlebay doors are a different colour and there is more hull detail but it gives you a good idea of how much design and graphics have come since the original Enterprise first took flight.

Making the NCC-1701 doesn't reveal any huge facts we didn't already know but it's great to be reminded of some of the changes that were made not only between The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before but between that second pilot and filming of the main series itself.

Closing out the issue are the On Screen moments - exceptionally hard to pick as I would have selected two totally different ones - probably The Doomsday Machine and The Tholian Web but it was always going to be a difficult choice!

Once you're over the high of owning a magnificent replica of the USS Enterprise, you'll be unpacking the Hirogen Hunter and issue 51. Voyager models haven't been that impressive so far and trying to remember specific alien vessels from the show has left me head-scratching a bit. There's the Dauntless, the Malon Export Vessel, the Borg Sphere(ish) and the Species 8472 Bioship are the only ones I could recall. After a quick list check they were the only ones, period.

Out of those only the Dauntless really grabbed me and that might have been because it's one of my favourite ships and episodes of the show. The rest were OK but not in my top ten.

The Hunter is probably the best alien vessel from the smattering we've had from Voyager. I'd even go as far to say that with the high level of detail it is the best starship produced from Voyager. There must have been some superb reference materials for this one.

A heavy entry to the collection, the ship has a large amount of metal in her with the plastic sections seemingly blending straight into the central section without a hint of a seam anywhere. The seams really are well disguised within the structure of the ship aside from the one under the nose but from a machining point of view this has to be one of the finest examples of what the factory can produce for the collection.

It's a polar opposite to the USS Enterprise in detail with every surface marked out precisely against the original model. There are a few lit/glowing sections which are far too small for replication on the model but it's understandable why these are omitted - cost, difficultly, probable endangering of eyesight from being so small to fit... the usual.

What gets me here though is that there are some really tiny markings in Hirogen that the factory have reproduced - just check out the underside of the ship on the pylons connecting the warp nacelles to the hull and on the sides of the nacelle cowling (those bits are in red on the plan views). They are very faint but definitely there - go and have a look and compare. Even the small etchings around the central section are reproduced and coloured - amazing. I spent a good while with the ship and pics side by side and was blown away by what has been achieved here. Just as with last month's ECS Fortunate, the Hunter is one of those ships you can pour over for hours, looking at every surface, nook, gun turret, indent and panel line. Each time you do there's something else that will catch your eye and draw you in.

As usual I do have one "however" moment and here it's the engines. The three grey/silver exhausts at the rear are just too clean and a little too "plasticy". There is evidence on the central sections of space weathering and it could have done with eeking onto other parts of the model. I know this is probably down to cost, production etc but it's a little bit of a shame given the echelons of brilliance that the rest of the ship climbs due to the evident focus on detail. I love the arcs of the nacelle covers, the horns, the abrupt angles, all of which we get here in abundance.

I actually think, after looking at the pics in the magazine that there could be even more detail on the Hunter but the scale here limits what can be done. The CG images too make it look like there are a lot more shades and colours across the whole surface of the vessel however this is still, as noted, the best Voyager entry to the series to this point and I suspect it will be a hard one to beat. She's not pretty to look at but she ticks every box you would want from a model in this collection and then some. I do think the Hirogen were the best baddie Voyager encountered and I hope Ben can push beyond the confirmed 90 to give us the larger Venatic Class ship from Flesh and Blood.

Top and bottom here, the Hunter is great from every angle and I'm really happy with how she's turned out (as you can tell). The rear position stand fits nicely and she's secure with the slight lean to aft. Totally well-presented. Only making her bigger would improve on this one and add more textures, rails and microscopic details. In my opinion, a perfect model.

So to the literary addition for issue 51. There are a few fuzzy screenshots in here but they run alongside some nice reference shots of the Hunter in CG, running lights an' all. The overview focuses more on the race as a whole rather than an episode synopsis which makes a change from recent editions although that was more due to the fact they were ships from single episodes. Even the plan views seem to have a few more notes than usual this time around.

Rick Sternbach takes us on a tour of the design process for the ship which seems to have been formulated quite early on with the sphere and spire concept showing up straight away. It is a much more aggressive shape than we had seen before and influenced by the internal designs produced for the Hirogen arc during Voyager's fourth season. The final piece turns towards other Hirogen vessels seen in Flesh and Blood so the title Designing Hirogen Technology is a little misplaced. It's a good read though, explaining how the race evolved for its final appearance in the last year of Voyager. I'm a big Hirogen fan so being able to look at the designs for their lesser known and rarely seen ships and base is a real pleasure. Just makes me want to get to that final year of episodes in my rewatch a little bit more!

Rounding out with a pick of Hunters and Prey for the On Screen appearances, this is a great companion piece to one of the real highlights of the series so far. For those of us who like to take a few pics of the models this one is particularly photogenic. Lots of good angles and light reflections to play with!

Issues 52 and 53 are due up next with the Centaur Class from Deep Space Nine and the Klingon Attack Ship from Enterprise taking centre stage. HOWEVER before that, there's a couple of articles you might want to check back for...

This week we're celebrating the 50th issue of the collection not just with this review but with two other pieces:

• Perfect Ten - fans of the collection and friends of SKoST talk about the best models so far.

• Chatting to Ben Robinson - I have an EXCLUSIVE interview with the man behind the collection including some great insights into the ships and a few hints of what we might expect.

So keep checking back this week or link up with one of our social media platforms to keep up to date with all of our articles. While you're at it, why not let us know your thoughts on the two latest issues from the collection?

You can also see our short review of the USS Enterprise on our YouTube channel.

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CHECK OUT OUR REVIEW OF THE USS PROMETHEUS FROM ATTACK WING OVER ON YOUTUBE