The Nebula Class: Eaglemoss XL USS Bonchune

Debuting in TNG's fourth season, the Nebula Class would be the first new Federation starship design to grace TV screens since the arrival of the Galaxy Class USS Enterprise in Encounter at Farpoint.

While it is a blatant reworking of the Galaxy Class itself, the Nebula Class would undergo several minor reworkings over its time on screen across TNG, DS9 and fleetingly VGR with the alterations here coming from one of the versions visible during DS9's sixth season.

Ok. Obvious one out of the way from the off, those windows ain't aligning perfectly. I know you expect it however, wise move is that most of the windows apart from the ones at the very edge of the saucer are all decalled on meaning there's no errors there at least. ON the underside, the deflector "squares" are all over the place but thankfully it's underneath.. Lesson learned? I doubt it.

Honestly though, the heavy saucer section of the Bonchune is gorgeous. The aztecing is sharp, lifeboat markings are in the right place and generally line up with the raised hull sections as they should. The ship registry is more than legible with a clear red outline on the numbers - it's all seemingly falling nicely into place here isn't it?

It really does have a great finish which leaves you head-scratching why the D wasn't updated after this. Anyway, we have the more sensible sensor pod at the back rather than the  AWACS monstrosity that was attached to the USS Phoenix or the mini-nacelles of the Melbourne. 

What I have noticed with this one though is that there are some little paint scuffs and flecks which I've not noticed as much elsewhere. However here along the edges of that triangular rear pod there are a couple. These stand out more because of the light base coat underneath over a darker green/brown segment. 

That said, the pod itself is well detailed with a large amount of grille work plus some very nicely painted up RCS thrusters. Also on the pod, something that I would never have seen or expected replicated - the ship registry and United Federation of Planets script. It's a minor detail but one that onscreen you may never have really seen. Minor kick here is that some of the gold detail has been misaligned and is 50% grey. I would also really like to know the significance of the numbers along the grille edges.

Even the connecting neck section between the pod and hull has been meticulously detailed up with some distinct panel work to the rear and again, the inclusion of a tiny ship registry. The Bonchune feels so very complete because of these touches. The painting in some places (especially around the pod) isn't at Eaglemoss' best yet there's something satisfying about the end result. God, even the fact that my sensor pod is sitting at an angle hasn't put me off.

The distinct aztec over the duck egg blue paint finish continues into the engine pylons. So distinctly reused from the Galaxy Class, the finish is incredibly clean and precise. This isn't shock, it's acknowledgement of a really good job. The use of translucent sections for the grilles and bussard collectors was a standard requirement here and would have made left the model a little flat but hey, they're all in there and look great.

One great touch is the precision job that's been done on the main deflector. Even though this is underneath the ship, the colours don't bleed and each ring of the element is clear to distinguish.

The problem does however lie with a good chunk of the ventral section of the secondary hull because, apart from the Starfleet pennant and the horizontal phaser beam, the alignment of windows and the cargo doors to their physical locations is criminal. The cargo doors are horribly all over the place so if you're displaying, stick this on a low shelf so you'll be looking down on her rather than up. OK, this means you don't see the lovely deflector but it's a price you'll have to pay to appreciate the finer parts of the Bonchune. Honestly, look at the emergency warp core eject hatch and that pennant and you'll see that the aztecing doesn't line up. It's not central and it bugs me to the ends of the earth. 

The accompanying magazine takes a let turn and focuses on TNG's The Wounded. Stepping more into the background of the episode, it discusses more around the prominence of O'Brien, the arrival of the Cardassians and Captain Maxwell than the Nebula Class. There is of course some page space dedicated to the development of the class and the use of the models onscreen both in space and as props.

Final line here; the Nebula Class manages to excite and disappoint with the simple flip of a hull. The top is gorgeous, clean and almost perfect aside from a few tickles that are more than likely issues of mass production. But then the underside of the ship just tosses that good will aside for some inexcusable misses. Is she worth a punt? Yes, but probably when there's a good Eaglemoss offer on because you might be upset at forking out the current price for an XL.

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Return to the Nebula: The Official Starships Collection Issues 156 and 157

If you had your fill of Class variants then you might want to look away.

Eaglemoss' 157th issue of the Official Starships Collection drops a third Nebula Class offering following on from the USS Honshu (issue 23) and the USS Phoenix (issue 112). But what more can you give from this Galaxy Class kitbash? 

The biggest difference with the USS Melbourne is the removal of the rear sensor pod to be replaced with the smallest warp nacelles you've ever seen although a closer inspection reveals that Eaglemoss have stepped up the quality on this variant in a significant way. Apparently it's a prototype y'see - and one that surpasses it's earlier siblings.

The Melbourne has the highest level of detail on any Galaxy Class type saucer. It's a marvel and, as I've repeatedly, repeatedly said it shows how the machining and finishing of the models has simply become better and better over the course of the last few years with many lessons learnt.

Here the surface aztecing is flawless; the paint tones subtle and the lifeboat hatches cleverly shaded darker on one side to add a sense of depth to the surface. This saucer is all metal with some very distinct and ingrained panel lines emanating from the central island. The paint application means that the lines are very strong and Eaglemoss have avoided washing out the result. 

The saucer also carries four very distinctive yellow transporter pattern emitters but as with the window alignment it feels that these are just ever so slightly out by a fraction of a  millimetre. What makes up for this is the excellent marking on of the windows around the very edge of the elliptical primary hull and the near-perfect registry that adorns the dorsal side. It's neat - both as in cool and good.

As for further colour, there are the four RCS thrusters (tiny yellow dots!) at the edges of the hull and two postbox red impulse engines at the back. These do look a tad out of place being bright and red an' all but it does make the whole ship "pop" thanks to this and some other detail touches.

Leading out and down from the saucer section is the cobra neck here partially hidden away due to the sweeping arms of the warp pylons. Eaglemoss have covered the patchwork body here with the familiar aztecing and phaser banks.This plastic section then feeds directly into the twin warp nacelles hanging down under the hulls. These sections also seem to show off the aztec paintwork more visibly as does the unit connecting the ship to its mini nacelles.

These are a carbon copy of the larger pair with Eaglemoss even managing to fit all four with translucent bussard collectors and warp grilles plus Federation pennants. What I have noticed is that the colouring of those pennants, particularly the smaller ones on the upper mini nacelles is misaligned in the oval behind the delta. On the trio adorning the underside of the Melbourne this isn't as obvious but is still present.

I was also disappointed to find that one of these upper nacelles had paint marks on it from the black detail blobbed at the back of the engine units. That noted, the fit of the small nacelles as well as the unit attaching them to the hull is well built and without any huge gaps. Overall, I can't offer anything but praise for the construction quality here - easily the best of the three Nebula's.

Flipped onto her back there's immediately the awareness that the aztec pattern is missing. It's a single grey shade right the way across the underside of the Melbourne and that includes the secondary hull and the nacelles as well as the saucer. Panel detail lines remain as does the moulding of the captain's yacht at the centre and the multiple lifeboat hatches.

Thing is that the windows are awful. Moving away from the misaligned colouring to the hull indents, the Melbourne has the lit and unlit window slits out of alignment with each other. Somehow the larger square recessed windows are spot on in their gaps but the lined paint ins are horridly out of sync. 

Eaglemoss has managed to decal in the cargo bay hatches on either side of the yacht and also towards the underside front of the secondary hull perfectly but everywhere you look the windows just don't line up even on the engineering section. It's bloody annoying.

The pennants are slightly better here with the red of the ovals only a teeny bit out of place. The deflector dish painting also needs to be noted here. Again a big improvement over the years with both Galaxy and Nebula classes featuring on multiple occasions. The orange/blue combo is well executed and the hull in the recess bearing some very clear lining.

There are more evident signs of the construction methods on the bottom most prominently towards the rear but it's one line on a very well built replica. Y'see that's the gripe. The build is great, even dropping in a tiny tractor beam, strong colours and  very stable "back end" service pod but it's typically let down by that failure to attend to the detail that's plagued the collection since issue one.

As with all the Nebula variants the stand slides around the warp engine pylons from the back making a solid display pose for the ship. 

The magazine's a decent read too, explaining the reasoning behind the mini-nacelles, the fact there were two different USS Melbourne's at Wolf 359 and some of the variables through the Nebula Class. 

Following up, there's a double page on Ed Miarecki including the work he did restoring some of the original models used on the show including Deep Space Nine itself. Ed's work on the show is then covered in more detail with a selection of his models detailed over subsequent pages. 

It's a bit of a "best of" issue with the Rules of Engagement article then listing out key battles throughout Starfleet history from Azati Prime and the near destruction of the NX-01 The Ultimate Computer to Wolf 359 to the retaking of Deep Space Nine in Sacrifice of Angels plus a lot more. Issue 157 certainly covers a lot of ground in its pages offering a sprinkling of information. Most of it is generally in universe and already known but the Ed Miarecki 

The month's second starship - and a fresh design for the collection - is the Cardassian freighter Groumall. 

Best recognised as the ship commanded by the fallen-from-favour Gul Dukat n Deep Space Nine's fourth season, the freighter is one you might have expected to see a lot earlier in the series.

Carrying a dusty yellow paintjob from nose to engines, the Groumall finds itself with panel highlights striped across its forward pincers as well as on the stumpy cargo pods which cover its surface like the plates of an armadillo. I'm not a huge fan of the paint on this one as towards the front and the aggressive forked nose the detail of the hull surface seems to be lost in the colour.

The further you go back, the more the paint seems blotchy with the brown and grey highlights appearing fuzzy-edged and again, as with the Melbourne, ever so fractionally out of sync with the raised panel points it's supposed to be aligned to. The white window details are bang on to the edges and must be part of a separate painting process so no quibbles there however it still feels like a rush job.

That's not the biggest offender with the Groumall though as the join lines are barely concealed. At the nose there's a visible gap with a seam then running all the way across the top of the freighter hull right to the engine block at the rear. The "over" side to the left if you look from the top is metal front to back including the engine block while the left "insert" also runs the length of the craft with identical detailing. The paint is also flaked around this central join line and while it's great that the freighter has a worn look, it's obvious that construction has caused the superficial damage.

The rear engine block is one solid piece of starship with two thirds of it being metal. Once more emblazoned with the brown and grey highlights, it also carries, on both sides, the emblem of the Cardassian Union. Unlike the CG ships of the Enterprise era it has a much more angled and simplistic finish avoiding any intricate piping works or fiddly recesses such as with the Klingon Freighter last month. 

Also to the rear are the two large, vertically parallel engine units. Slat painted red with a grey surround, the look is very effective and the lower piece is utilised as part of the grip for the display stand. The detailing is well presented with the red restricted to just the exhaust points and there's no bleed into the surrounding hull works.The side impulse engines are uncoloured and almost nondescript. A bit if translucent plastic work here would have done wonders but the tight space and multiple colourings of the hull potentially make that too fiddy. The surface markings do exist but blend in unnoticed to the browns and greys.

Turning her over the Groumall is almost identical to the top with the one distinction that the wings to the rear (attached to the engine block) are now pointing up (think about it...). Note as well that the blue paint for the square details on these rear fins is vertical on one side and horizontal on the other, failing in any way to line up with the raised hull detail. It's a bit of a facepalm move to not even attempt to get them the right way. Ok, these squares will be hidden underneath but many a discerning fan will be checking every inch when they pull it out of the box on delivery day.

The issue 157 magazine details the uses of the Cardassian freighter with the clear focus on the Groumall's voyages under the command of the disgraced Gul Dukat including its final mission and secretive upgrades. There's some excellent CG to just highlight the flaws in the model because, well, the pics are that good. Of curse we also have some shots from Return to Grace. The detail of the images in the mag do appear a lot cleaner and crisper than the finished product as though it were new off the production line. 

Designing the Groumall calls in John Eaves and his cracking art which oversees the evolution from something very Cardassian to something not so Cardassian and the reasoning behind it.The Groumall does carry a lot of the traits that fans will see in other freighters from the franchise and even the story behind it belays that it was the direction Higher Powers wanted it to show.

Finally it's all wrapped up with a Cardassian flavour discussing The Rise of Damar under the expert guidance of actor Casey Biggs. The relevance of the character here was that Return to Grace marked his first - fleeting - appearance in the series. Biggs relates the key moments from that episode right through to his role as a figurehead leader to inspiring the Cardassian resistance. 

I really, really want to love the freighter but the detail and build of the USS Melbourne is a light year ahead of it. The Groumall is a key part of the Deep Space Nine story and certainly more visible than the Nebula Class prototype yet the very visible joins and some less than aligned paint features grind the gears.

Cardassian fan or one for the Nebula? What's your choice and thoughts on this month's starship pairing?

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A Change of Pod: The Official Starships Collection Issues 112 and 113

Sense of deja vu?

Yes as this month’s ship releases from Eaglemoss contain something new - and something of a variation on a theme. 

Stepping up at issue 23 is the USS Phoenix. It was the first variant of the Nebula Class starship to recognisably appear on screen after the wreckage of the USS Melbourne in The Best of Both Worlds, Part II. We had our first encounter with the Nebula Class in the form of the USS Bonchune back in issue xx and just on a cursory glance over there’s one clear difference in the form of the AWACS style sensor pod. 

However, it would be wrong to skate away a review based purely on changing one piece so let’s see if this has received any other updates since we last unpackaged a Nebula Class.

The first difference to notice is the slightly darker paintwork that's coating the Phoenix and in turn means that the brilliant aztec paint scheme really stands out on the hull. Every inch is covered, even in those hard to see niches under the saucer and around the sensor pod. Being a little darker seems to benefit the overall finished product here but the similarities between the two Nebula class vessels are very strong too, perhaps moreso than the differences.

All the windows are in the precise alignment and colours as the Bonchune and that's applicable right across the whole of the hull both primary and secondary. The detail of those windows, the phaser strips and the lifeboat hatches all contrast cleanly against this darker hull tone plus someone has taken more time to print up the ship registry. It's a more crisp decal with very defined red edging and black alpha-numerics.

The smooth hull top also includes the distinctive Galaxy Class-style bridge module and shuttlebay structure which draws your attention towards the rear. However we'll get there first because I want to make a special mention of the underside of the saucer for this one. For some inexplicable reason it's missing the ship registry.

Now the Bonchune has it and the magazine blatantly shows the Phoenix has it (even in the episode stills) but somehow it's not made it onto the finished product here.The whole of the underside is, as with the top, absolutely identical to the earlier release with some of that now cringe-worthy misalignment of windows that is expected with every metal hull.

Let's edge backwards now because the loud and screaming difference in the Phoenix is the sensor pod. While the Bonchune's wedge pod was connected to the hull with a single vertical beam, the Phoenix has two struts with one connected to each opposing edge. The wedge pod on the older model came wonky and by a tragic it-fell-off-a-shelf moment it broke and I was able to realign more precisely. Here the AWACS pod is nice and straight, equally balanced on the double struts and is wonderfully detailed. The surface has the aztec paintjob plus the Starfleet pennant as the icing on the starship cake.

The shape is a clean oval and sits atop a slot in piece which means Eaglemoss can nail out variants of the Nebula Class for years to come with whatever rear pod they want to slot on just as with the "real thing". The attachment block is, well, blocky and clearly the add-on piece here. It links down onto the secondary hull which is taken from the Galaxy Class and stuck right under the elliptical saucer section. Please note that the sensor pod also sits perfectly straight as opposed to the wedge which, before it crashed, was at a slight angle, pointing more starboard than central.

Even though it's pretty dark under there, Eaglemoss have still detailed the hull with the aztec pattern plus the windows again are identical to the layout on the Bonchune. One thing that does appear wrong are the pylons both in their shape and the finishing touches. Take a look at the photos of the original and you can see that the front should have a curve to it rather than the straight edge that is here. Again the structural error is one not corrected, it seems, from the first version. The clear answer for keeping it the same is production cost - but why if we know it's wrong and flippin' obvious on the magazine cover?!

Anyway...the nacelles are nicely finished again as previous with the translucent bussard collectors and engine grills although there's a rather wobbly feel to the whole engine assembly from the pylons down which sharply contrasts to the solid-as-hell saucer directly above. They are both well finished with the aztec paint job and the pennants but the springiness in them is troubling. Stand position still uses the nacelle grip but the stand is a better fit together and this one doesn't lean anywhere near as much as the Bonchune does. Good fit, very secure and a definite shelf-hugger.

The accompanying 16 page handbook tumbles us into The Wounded alongside some episode shots and those lovely new CG renderings which each ship in the series receives - and which show up a multitude of sins depending on which item you believe. The majority of the ship overview does relate to the incident televised plus a little background on the function of the ship, crew complement and basic armaments. A lot of this has already been used for the Bonchune but I already have to say I prefer the Phoenix as a finished model. The plan views do line up pretty well alongside the ship and even manages to keep the registry inaccuracy in place so at least the two do agree with each other this time. Production Design on Season Four deserves SO much more than a double-page spread in this magazine. 

Two sides doth zero justice and we get a few design pics that many will have seen before and nothing groundbreaking. It feels like filler and should have been treated as much more. Instead we have an overview of the fourth season which takes up six pages. Weirdly this also seems to have been tragically undercut and could we have lengthened either article out to eight pages and scrapped the other? More info on either topic would have been good but both end up very top line and skate over any real detail. You just can't cover 26 episodes that quickly nor can you explore the design of the 24th Century in a couple of paragraphs. Great topic ideas for the mag but poorly explored.

Over to issue 113 and a ship I would be hard-pushed to recognise in any of its various incarnations especially this one from Voyager; the Lokirrim Warship. As with the Bajoran Freighter/Smuggler's Ship, this one has been through the model workshop blender a few times across Deep Space Nine, Voyager and finally Enterprise in multiple altered forms. The shape we have here is from the last season of Voyager and the episode Body and Soul.

Now I’ll be straight, the ship is gorgeous which is annoying that this one-off is such a great finished product because I’d have to be guided to the episode to have a clue at recognising its rakish hull and sexy arsenal. On the positive side the detail is truly Eaglemoss at the top of their game and this is one to really experience in the flesh.

The hull is a mix of bronze, copper and grey sections with each of the colours helping to highlight a piece of the ship. At the front the bronze prongs surge forward from the main shell, bringing you back into the winglike craft. They lie either side of a central habitation/command/engineering unit marked out with cabin lights that are as always not aligned to their flippin' recesses. Get's boring to write after 113 issues but keep it coming Eaglemoss, I'm sure we can last that line out to 130 at least.

The central hull piece has a couple of raised units which appear to be photonic weapon ports with a purple toned slit-like opening as the business end. These ports also appear to the front of the wings, at the tips of the tubular (standard) weapons on the wings and also on three openings on the belly of the beast which would suggest this is very heavily armed. One thing; the shuttlebay door is painted up in a very bright white (right on the nose) which shows up precisely nowhere else in the accompanying magazine or any of the images. It could have done with being toned down a few shades as it does scream at you in comparison to the paint work on the whole of the rest of the ship.

As we head further back along the hull the copper/bronze paintwork mixes together giving an orderly but patchworked effect with venting, recessed and raised hull tech detail. If you actually look at this ship as a whole there are a lot of really neat techniques used in the building work. There are the slots within this metal upper hull at the front and to the rear, the accurate detailing of the purple photonic weapon ports we just mentioned and some stunning aztec paintwork on the underside that at first you might not spot. There's a lot of things that have been learnt, I would think, from earlier issues and attempts which might be why we are now seeing some of these more fiddly and curve-ball models coming into the collection.

Indeed, the metalwork to the rear of the Lokirrim Warship has all sorts of ups and downs and cutouts to keep your eyes entertained but I actually think the most impressive piece here are the wings.

Sweeping out majestically from either side of that central hull pod, the drooping wings carry some of that heavy arsenal both on their main surface and also on the winglets that sprout from their ends. Forged in the same single piece of metal that forms the topside of the ship, the winglets are very strong with zero movement at their tips and no movement either at the slim attachment point to the main body of the ship. In fact all of the extremities are secure on this one and they're all metal so the fragile rear-clip stand won't need to be a massive concern for shelf-fall damage.

The underneath is just as beautiful as the top. Now, remember I'm usually used to lauding praise on the "one-off's" from Enterprise that came from the minds of the CG department and you can see here that those later years on Voyager were definitely the starting point at creating such amazing digital models. 

Again there's that melding of the bronze, copper and grey elements across the surface. The bronze is the dominant space-frame colour as on top but it benefits massively from that toned aztec finish as well as a lot of callout hull elements that aren't present on the other side. There's something very insect-like about the bottom and I found that I was likening it to a wasp or a bee with some of the cross-hull markings and those two forward-thrusting prongs.

As noted there are three more of the protruding ports which look like weapon emitters equally spaced in the centre of the craft and dotted with the copper paint work. The most significant difference is the placement of the engine and its exhaust, running from just past halfway along the hull right to the back. There's no colouring at the exit point but the styling is really nice and it does feature some more tonal finishing and copper/bronze detail to bring it to life.

The only section of this one to be in plastic (aside from the stand of course) is a central arrow piece that slots into the underbelly of the Warship. The melding of the two pieces is near perfection with the plastic piece fitting exactly - and flush - into the hole. The paint job between the parts is also exact with some spot on alignment of some of the callout panel sections that are placed right across the ventral section. 

Ok, to the magazine. In the first section we are told more about the Lokirrim society and its distrust/dislike of photonic (holographic) lifeforms than we are about the ship itself. The Warship gets a few paragraphs while the people get about a page and a half(!). The CG images here make you realise that the model actually is a pretty good representation but they also point out that the ship itself is much, much more finely detailed than the finished product. Eaglemoss have done a sterling job however but there is so much that isn't quite up to where the CG images indicate it should be.

Second section in here is dedicated to the other guises by which the Lokirrim ship managed to photo-bomb its way into more episodes of the franchise at all sorts of angles and under all sorts of paintwork and appendages. Some of them you'll spot right away but there are a couple where it was hiding away in the corner. Not a ton of text here and more a chance for some sharp shots from various episodes to make you think!

Closing out is, linking to the Doctor's role in Body and Soul, an interview with the man behind that hologram, Robert Picardo. A great interview with a ton of questions I wish I'd asked when I met him for this site it's six pages of insight into the background of Voyager that's a good sit down read and thoroughly enjoyable.

A good month once again for Eaglemoss with two great models. I much prefer the Phoenix to the Bonchune and the sensor pod is extremely well finished and brilliantly more stable than the weapon wedge. Definitely love this one even though it's just an update. The Lokirrim Warship is an utter pleasure and might just pip the Phoenix as the better of the two releases. It's uncluttered and simplistic construction accompanied by the wealth of surface detail makes it a real, unexpected winner. Not one I would have recommended to get when it was announced but, surprise, surprise, I was wrong. Again.

Next month we are expecting another one from Wolf 359 with the vertically nacelled Challenger Class and one from the Enterprise data banks in the shape of the Tellarite Starship.

USS Phoenix or the Lokirrim your favourite from the month? Is it worth doing another Nebula variant?

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Keeping it Fluid: Star Trek Attack Wing Wave 18

After the mixed bag of key races we received last month, September has introduced some really interesting dynamics to the Attack Wing mix.

I'll be honest, one of those evaded me until I sat down and read the cards properly but y'know what? This is a pretty neat trio and a lot better than I expected.

Box number one opens up to give us the USS Phoenix. A simple redress (physically) of the USS Sutherland OP prize from a while back which left me a bit grumbly because the flippin' sensor pod is wrong (OK, I'll stop going on about this now Instagram followers!). But hey, as I always say it's about the cards not the model...Honest.

The model itself is decent enough and is following the more recent trend to render Federation starships in silver rather than paint them up in a light blue wash. It works a lot better and the hull detail really does stand out. However, my saucer is out of kilter with the rest of the ship and sits at a slight angle to the right (check my video for a better look). The warp engines also seem to point in different directions to each other. Both of those issues do detract from the overall effect with clean painting, saucer detail of phaser strips and lifeboat hatches and a degree of "dirty" weathering. In comparison to the Enterprise-D model, the saucer is slightly larger and is a much better finish than the starter pack vessel.

Featured in the fourth season episode of The Next Generation, entitled The Wounded, the Phoenix was our first look at a new ship class since the Galaxy Class Enterprise in the pilot of the show. What we got was a mega kit-bash from the behind the scenes team that became a bit of a favourite over time. Here in Attack Wing her stats do place her firmly middle of the road. Only a couple less than the Enterprise-D and two more than the Defiant. Packing four dice in attack, one in defence, four hull and four shields at least you have something to work with if a little poor defensibly. The Phoenix can carry two additional crew and weapon upgrades and a single tech upgrade when maxed out. Her maneuverability, giving you virtually every turn in ranges one to three plus a four ahead, is complimented with the unique ship ability to change your maneuver after selecting it on the dial but before moving. However, it can only be for one at the same speed (ie a three turn to a three straight) and does incur the penalty of an auxiliary power token, Does mean you could get yourself out of trouble if you're running a high captain skill and can see what everyone else does before you do.

Captaining the Phoenix is Benjamin Maxwell. A commander with a skill of six and an SP of four. Aligning with his love of kicking enemy ass, Maxwell offers the chance to re-roll one of your dice when making an attack with your secondary weapon. (Admiral) Haden is your alternative named captain (the pack of course comes with Generic Captain too for zero cost and no ability) with this expansion and his upgrade is similar to the Flanking Attack we saw with the Vrax in Wave 17 in that you can hit a ship that doesn't have you in it's forward firing arc, gain one attack and lose one defence die that round. Certainly the benefit of sticking him as an admiral will be huge and I can see this ability getting a lot of use across the board.

The solus Elite Action here is Prefix Code. A true classic from The Wrath of Khan it allows the player to disable two shields on an enemy ship in range one to two. It does cost you an auxiliary power token but it could let you get through to those important hull points and get rid of your opponent a little bit sooner.

In the weapons cards this time there is the obligatory Photon Torpedoes this time using the time token feature to re-enable the secondary weapon and Quantum Torpedoes. The former will convert a Battle Stations result into a critical hit while the more expensive Quantum option will add a damage point on as long as you hit your opponent. Both roll with five attack dice and work at the two to three range. Pretty standard so far on the weapons but the two cards that spice things up here are the Arsenal and Aft Torpedo Launcher upgrades. With Arsenal you add two further weapon slots to the ship plus the card takes one of your time tokens when you are re-enabling meaning you can "reload" one full turn faster. Very nice, reusable and only four Squadron Points. The rear firing arc is missing from the Phoenix which makes the Aft Torpedo Launcher useful straight away BUT the big piece is that if you couple it with Photon Torpedoes you're only restriction to firing it is not within the forward firing arc. This upgrade will go in any of your slots on the ship and certainly adds a new flavour to the ship. Imagine coupling this with Haden's ability to target a ship that doesn't have you in its forward firing arc - you could potentially end up rolling six in attack.

Moving on to the tech here and there's just one addition to the game in the form of High Energy Sensor Sweep. Disabling an active shield on your ship allows you to perform a free Scan action and combining it with the high offensive capabilities of the Phoenix will make this a hard ship to take on since it'll help reduce the opposition's chances of deflecting your firepower.

Let's not forget our two crew possibilities with the Phoenix either with Terry and Elizabeth Lense. Neither actually served on the Phoenix nor was either even in The Wounded but hey, who cares... Lense costs just one point to remove a disabled token from one of your crew or tech upgrades (but not weapons which is odd considering the offensive capabilities being pushed here) and replace it with time tokens. She is a discard but not a great cost to do so. Terry on the other hand is a four point throwaway to disable two shields and repair one hull. While it might take off a critical damage action, I'm not sure if I'd rather have two shields instead and last a little longer.

Finally alongside the standard Additional Rules cards the mission this time is The Wounded and sees the Phoenix taking out a series of Cardassian outposts before the Enterprise shows up (eight turns to do it) while avoiding obliteration from the Dominion floozies. 

So to the second ship and while you might think that the Phoenix is offensive, the Bioship Beta is very offensive. Attack Wing players tend to grump a lot about the Borg and their super-abilities which make them nigh-on invincible however Species 8472 are perhaps another matter entirely. This second retail version of the vessel from Scorpion slams a huge six for attack, two for defence with five hull and six shields. It might not pack a rear or 360 degree firing arc but it's an absolute beast topping out at 38 points just for the ship itself.

You also have the benefit of Regenerate amongst your standard actions which allows the player to top up your hull points one per round. She also carries three tech slots and two weapon slots and the unique ability to cancel one damage result during combat at the cost of receiving an auxiliary power token. Once again this shows how difficult it may well be to take this vessel out of the game given its properties.

The Bioship tops out at four but gives you every maneuver forward at two and three but there's no tight right and left at speed one plus there's an all important 180 turn at three. As to the generic bioship, you'll lose a weapon slot and a shield to reduce the cost to 36.

Species 8472 bring a generic zero point costing captain option to the table as always but their main pilot carries a skill of eight and lets you re-roll one of your blank results during combat. Fortunately there's no need to disable the card to use this ability and should the Bioship this pilot is on be destroyed (bear with me here) you can jump ship and put him onto another craft in your fleet. This is very similar (if not identical) to the ability carried by the Borg Queen.

The Species 8472 Elite Action in the expansion this time is Telepathy and allows you to change your maneuver before you move. It's a hefty cost of four points for a one shot discard and with the power of the ship anyway it might not be necessary. You can use your points more effectively elsewhere.

We have two weapon upgrades to discuss this time and it's good that neither involves the word "torpedo". The less horrific Biological Weapon does bear a pic of Harry Kim gungified and also reduces your attack role from six to five but if it hits you not only score the usual damage but you get to discard a crew upgrade for each Battle Stations result you roll (max of two). It does cost six points to tack onto your ship. I do like it but nowhere near as much as the stupidly powerful eight dice attack of Energy Blast which only has the spending of a target lock as it's sole condition. A one hit wonder it's a heavy priced discard at eight points but hey, if you're up against it this is going to make a big difference and really nails home the fact that you want to be taking these guys into battle if you know you're facing off against Borg.

In line with the significant three tech slots, Bioship Beta's expansion packs in four options;  Electrodynamic Fluid gives you the option for multiple use either to be disabled and allow a sensor echo side-slip action or be discarded and perform a second maneuver with a top speed of three. Nice to have the options and goes with the flexibility of the ship to go wherever it wants. Costing an equal five points is Biological Technology and activating this provides the chance to gain more attack or defence dice by spending mission tokens that you place on the card once per round. Basically it's a weapons recharge allowing you the occasional extra bit of "umph" to make a crucial attack. Imagine using this in conjunction with Energy Blast....

Both of those upgrades cost a steady five points while Fluidic Space and Biogenic Field cost six. Very similar to features we've seen on the Krenim Timeship and the USS Dauntless, Fluidic Space allows you to remove your ship from the playing field and place it back anywhere in the game outside of ranges one and two of any other ship. One note here is that it doesn't say to remove any tokens you might have attached to the ship as it does on other ships that can perform a similar move. It is of course a discard given the huge benefit it could bring.

The Biogenic Field on the other hand is something you can keep using as it provides an additional defence dice to the ship and three if it's the Borg taking pot-shots.If you are attacked by an enemy upgrade it even provides the chance to defend and roll a Battle Stations result to counter it. Again you get to use three dice against the overpowered cyborgs.

I have to say that the mission with the Bioship is superb. Placing a one-on-one scenario with Species 8472 already without shields and suffering one hull damage is a really good twist to the usual format and means the enemy player stands something of a chance at winning. It also offers an unusual away team opportunity I've not seen thought out in this way allowing you to win the game off-ship. Good thinking outside the box Wizkids, I hope we see more of these in the future.

So to the final ship of Wave 18 and most likely the smallest playing piece to be released to date (I suspect the Delta Flyer will be marginally bigger); Quark's Treasure. It's an utter curve ball of a ship and I wouldn't be throwing it straight into combat before completely understanding some facts about this minute expansion.

Two points is the standard across attack, defence, hull and shields here with just two crew and a single tech upgrade meaning you're not going to be putting this Ferengi shuttle on the frontline of your offensive anytime soon. The generic shuttle option will drop a shield point and a crew slot for 14 points.

Costing 16 points the shuttle will bookend two more powerful ships and only has the Scan and Evade options in it's actions bar. However, there's no penalties for any crew or tech upgrades you place onboard which makes up for something. In fact the unique action box for Quark's Treasure has a second feature letting you ignore the auxiliary power token requirements on both the Docking and Launching actions included with the ship. Unsurprisingly she's not a fast mover with a full range of maneuvers at speeds one and two but only a forward step at three. I wouldn't think you'll be letting her stray too far from the main fleet - if at all.

For such a teeny tiny ship you get a silly three choices for captain (plus Generic Ferengi zero pointer) with Brunt your strongest candidate for the top job with a Captain Skill of four. Instead of allowing you to change your attack results during combat, Brunt makes the opposing ship re-roll one of its attack dice. Plus Brunt will allow you to use the Grand Nagus Elite Action even though he doesn't have the Elite Action emblem on his card. For reference the Grand Nagus card is a brilliant fleet action allowing all Ferengi ships in range one to three to immediately perform an additional green maneuver. If ever there was a typically Ferengi action in the game apart from nicking stuff, being slimy has to be a close second.  

Quark, on the other hand to Brunt, does carry the emblem but only has a skill of three. He's also a bit of a sacrificial lamb, as he stops a ship at ranges one or two from attacking you at the cost of tossing all your upgrades overboard and means you can't attack or, in fact do anything apart from move.

Zek is your third captain who can also double up as an admiral for your Ferengi fleet. Skilled at two, Zek is a bit of a feeble card, only letting you disable an upgrade on a ship at range one at the cost of disabling one of your own upgrades. Potentially it's one that might be of more use as the admiral action than a captain given that trouble could be elsewhere. 

Rom and Nog make up the Ferengi contingent for the expansion with Odo as a random Independent crewmember. I would have liked him to have been dual faction with the Bajorans especially with his ability to copy a crew upgrade from another ship at range one to three even down to whether it has to be disabled or discarded. It's a clever twist and in keeping with the character. Rom too keeps with his screen persona allowing you to repair up to two shield tokens as an action. Joy of joys too because there's no need to keep re-enabling this card or discard after a single use. Have to say this does make Quark's Treasure a much more playable ship since there are a lot of upgrades here to keep it hanging around in the game. Nog is also pretty useful even if it is a discard to force an opponent to roll two less die in attack. Only a cost of three points though and again another way to ensure the survival of the ship.

Inversion Wave is the first of two tech upgrades on offer. While it's not quite as forgiving as Fluidic Space, it does allow a total free move to any point within a radius of three at the cost of any active tokens and you do receive an auxiliary power token and have to discard on use. Certainly all the quirky upgrades with the shuttle make her a very unique playing piece. How appealing these choices will be to players more accustomed to Romulans or Klingons I'm not certain but at the least it's keeping Attack Wing fresh after 18 waves of expansions.

Cargo Hold only costs a point and adds two crew (and/or?) tech upgrades to the shuttle. I say and/or simply because it doesn't specify if they can be mixed or it has to be two of each only. For one point this is a good choice to add on since it will give you an additional four points to spend on extras. As with Cryogenic Stasis on the IKS T'ong last month though it, again, doesn't identify if it's a combined total of four points or four points for each upgrade. Being as it's a shuttle I would tend to lean towards the former.

Now you might have noticed that we've not mentioned the second Elite Action entitled Smugglers up to now so here it is. Somewhat wordy in its description, the card costs the same as Grand Nagus at five points and lets you steal a tech or weapon upgrade from a ship within a maximum range of three. However, the big twist is that it also plays into the use of the shuttle rules which are part of this pack.

As I said at the beginning of the piece, there's some new bits in this month's selection and the shuttle rules are the biggest thing by a mile. As with the new Borg rules, shuttles can only attack at range two and can be active or inactive. They also can't be equipped with a weapon upgrade costing more than three points if allowed and can only be included in a fleet where there is a ship with a hull value higher than four.

In reference to being "inactive", this is when the shuttle is docked with another craft. Yes, that's correct you can dock 'em. When docked they are removed from the board with all the upgrades and captain card placed under the docking ship's card and that ship in turn receiving an auxiliary power token. To dock the shuttle has to overlap the docking ship on it's move rather than the other way around otherwise it receives damage. Being docked also means you can swap upgrades between the two ships as an action during the game.

When launched each craft receives another auxiliary power token and the shuttle is placed within range one of the docking ship during the planning phase. It can then move about as normal. What isn't specified is whether the shuttle can only dock with the "Capital Ship" recognised by it's hull being greater than four. As I noted, the Smugglers card does include reference to the docking action as you can use the shuttle to steal upgrades however it can't use them and has to exchange them with the docking ship which can use them. 

How this new feature will play out and what use it will be should be fun to discover. I think you could use the shuttle to dive out and perform scavenging missions while your other ships tackle the battle side of the game and distract from your plundering actions. Can't wait to try it.

The final mission of Wave 18, called Smugglers, recreates the Little Green Men episode from Deep Space Nine as Quark, with Rom, attempts to deliver Nog to Starfleet Academy on Earth but also has a sideline to transfer some kemocite to a docking ship. Playing to the episode there's also a possibility of sabotage going on aboard the Quark's Treasure which affects the maneuvering of the ship and utilises Rom to cancel the effect. Ultimately the goal of the Ferengi player is to deliver both Nog and the kemocite while evading a patrolling Federation starship. Yet another nicely thought out scenario to complete the wave. Double points to WizKids.

OK so overall I think Wave 18 has to be one of my favourites to date. Each ship is distinct, each ship has some really great features and there's nothing anywhere near as precisely situational as we saw with Wave 17's trio. Here we have two extremely offensive ships with the Phoenix and the Bioship, both playing to very aggressive tendencies which will probably satisfy my thirst for obliteration and going out in a blaze of glory. Quark's Treasure is much more subtle and a playing piece that I think will take a while for players to master and understand how to use effectively. 

Perhaps she's something more useful in bigger games with four or more ships in your fleet where different plays might allow her a bit more running freedom. As I said I think she'll be good for quick runs out to steal upgrades but will need to have some serious protection which I believe you might be able to get from the recent Kreechta Marauder to divert fire - if not I'd perhaps look at the Ning'Tao for some of Kor's more suicidal actions that would benefit the shuttle.

Have you invested in Wave 18? What are the key pieces here and have you got any tips to use them well? Let me know!

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