The Official Starships Collection: USS Prometheus XL Edition

Originally surfacing as part of the first wave of the regular Starships Collection, the USS Prometheus was a highlight of those early issues.

Following the up-scaling of the USS Equinox it was therefore only a matter of time before the prototype vessel made its way into the XL line - does this mean that a USS Dauntless isn't far off?

Size might be the blatant difference here but there is more when you scratch the surface (metaphorically please!). 

Just from a cursory glance it's more than apparent that Eaglemoss have completely reworked the paint scheme. Toned down from the dark grey with even darker highlights, the new Prometheus slips between a grey and a duck egg blue. The emboldened sections of the hull, most prominently the phaser strips and also some panelling towards the nose almost seem to have been tone shifted down to the colour of the smaller original edition's hull colour. On the nose we also have a blue-coloured deflector dish that was previously omitted. Another small detail picked up and corrected!

This is a huge improvement that means all of the highlight, differentiated panels, hull lines and aztec paint are more subtly worked in. The lifeboat hatches too have a more distinctive hexagonal shape which was unique to the Prometheus and on the XL they do stand out a lot more. On the smaller edition these hatches blended in with the darker paint job far too easily. 

Am I going to rat on the windows? Absolutely because it wouldn't be a ship review without mentioning all that horrid misalignment work. Now that was one thing the original did manage to get right since the window slits were just painted on rather than being lined up to certain hull recess markers. 

Talking of changes, to the sides of the top hull section there are four horizontal "road bumps" and on the new edition these have been matched into the hull colour rather than lightened. Again, great touch and it makes the XL feel much less of a patchy, blocky experiment and more as a single craft. 

Tonally you can see that there have been some reductions in tones, around the bridge for one, but also an increase with the spine of the Prometheus receiving a lot more attention both in colouring and detail. The registry too is much more legible with a sharper border and slimmer black centres.

There is some unforgiveable slippage when it comes to the colouring on the impulse engines to the rear of the primary hull which wasn't present all those years ago on its smaller predecessor and bizarrely the removal of the darker highlights near the shuttlebay also works against the finish. The second point there is understandable since there's the reduction in tone across the whole ship.

Only a couple of darker panels on either side of Engineering and also the shuttlebay door itself remain and its at this rear point that you can spot that this isn't just a copy and size-up but a new mould. Running under the front edge of the door is a new seam that shows the landing strip to be part of the plastic underside rather than the metal upper piece.

It is though, a huge step up from the regular version and any self-respecting fan needs to have this XL on the shelf. Even the engines - which do suffer from you seeing the fitting posts inside - just look great, tipped off with their glowing red bussard collectors. The deflector dish to the front is perhaps a little dull and lacks that hue you see on screen but that's acceptable given the impressive finish to the rest of the ship. 

Comparing the underside of the primary hull is a bit of a revelation. On this larger edition the subtle aztecing does stand out a lot more and it doesn't feel like an afterthought. Even those chiselled ends to the phaser bank just add to the enhancements here and are alluded to in the pocket size magazine also included in the box.

One huge, stupidly annoying gripe though to complete this one, the stand is terrible. Using the same fit as the original, the weight of the front of the Prometheus here is significantly more and it spends all of its time with the nose dipping to the floor. I suspect the stand was just scaled up with no real problems considered but I wish it had been redesigned.

The magazine covers through the standard design process work plus more information around some of those slight changes to the phaser strips ad lifeboat hatches that are actually present on the ship. It does however feel like a bit of a rerun of the original issue, covering Message in a Bottle once more. Fortunately this does spin off into the Voyage Home section detailing Voyager's contact with the Alpha Quadrant after the Prometheus' appearance.

This is a brilliant and deserved XL edition with a good weight to it and fantastic upgrades to the small first version. Cleaner, sleeker, better decalled and with a much more screen accurate finish, even down to the min-nacelle on the top, I'm a big fan. This one's going next to the Equinox right now.

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The Next Wave: Attack Wing 15 is Experimental

June's Attack Wing expansions have arrived and after a week of getting to slam them through their paces, let's look at the results...

As usual there are three diverse ships to add/subtract/mix and match with your existing fleet(s) although how many of us have been gagging for the Bajoran scout ship Ratosha may well be the biggest mystery of the year.

Probably one of the first model versions of the vessel which could usually be found ferrying just about anybody from Bajor to Deep Space Nine, I can only think players will be wanting to buy a few of these to go alongside their Bajoran interceptor(s). A low squadron points starship (18), the Ratosha won't get you anywhere at pace but with your options for this faction fairly limited you're going to be stuck with very few other places to go. That low total does mean that an "average" 40 squadron points per ship is going to get you a tidy amount of upgrades which you might want to choose from the accompanying pack.

Options for captain come from the season two trilogy opener in Deep Space Nine including scheming oik minister Jaro Esso, Colonel Krim and his right-hand man Day Kannu plus the usual cannon fodder commander if you're running a little points heavy elsewhere. Jaro has the advantage of being a low points captain (1) and can flip to become your Bajoran admiral if the need takes you. His feature reflects his duplicitous nature as you discard crew upgrades for the sake of extra defence. A nice twist on the character taken into the game by WizKids. 

The more expensive Krim captain card (4) is more forgiving allowing you to add one more crew upgrade to your roster and allowing a re-roll of a defence die. Both these two offer defence options with Krim being my preference and providing a longer term strategy. Day Kannu however is better if you're prone to taking the offensive allowing you to choose the result on one of your attack dice but does mean you acquire an auxiliary power token for the honour. It's a toss up which one to use but that will depend on your leaning in the game. I would be more tempted to boost your defences since there are only three hull points and two shield points between you and oblivion.

Before you skip to the next ship though, it's definitely worth considering the additional features here. Often those smaller ships carry some abilities that larger ships only dream of - or may never need. With the Ratosha the emphasis on defence continues through the pack. Provisional Government stops you attacking an in-range ship and in turn stops them from attacking you. Potentially this could allow you to get very close to a desired target and unleash your full final attack before getting obliterated if there's anything getting in the way.

There is also the Bajoran Militia upgrade (and I thought I had a duplicate card at first) which boosts the total number of attack dice dependant on the number of these cards attached to the ship. Probably a good call to only have two at the most as you'll be wanting to use one of the other upgrades to give yourself a bit of flexibility.

More Than Meets the Eye allows you to scan even if you already have a scan token allocated to your ship thereby reducing the number of defence dice your opponent can roll by two instead of just one. This plays to your minimal offensive capabilities only having two attack dice to roll if you're going by the basics. If you're not then it's likely you've added Assault Vessel Upgrade to your scout ship which can be used as in a tech, crew or weapon slot. This will boost your stats allowing three attack dice for attack and raising the shield value to three at the cost of only four squadron points. Given the ship value it's easy to see that a lot of the included upgrades would be easy to slot in. Tragically though you'll only have a maximum of three crew upgrades to use on this vessel which might mean you deploy some of these over on an Interceptor.

Closing off the expansion is the mission piece based around The Siege from season two of Deep Space Nine. Set up as a standard two player game, it sees a minimal Federation force take on the advancing Bajorans leading to either the local militia taking control of the station or the Starfleet team capturing its opposition. Why the planet token is used as part of this I'm not certain - it may just be there as an obstacle to slow the Bajorans down but in principle this seems to be one of the easier missions for a non-Federation faction to win.

Second up there's one for the warrior in you with the Klingon Ning'Tao Bird of Prey. Firstly I can only layer praise on WizKidz for their incredible recreation of the B'rel class ship, easily trouncing the last version released as Chang's Bird-of-Prey. The colours are more vibrant, the detail much more clearly etched and just so you can tell them apart, this one has the wings dropped for attack.

As with the Ratosha she's another low value ship with moderate maneuverability but is a very "average" Klingon ship One thing that does distinguish her is the choice of five captains which come with her. Alongside Martok (who can also act as an admiral but is a lower rating than the version included with the Negh'Var), there's Worf, the usual generic Klingon should you need to save a few points and two versions of Kor. 

I don't recall another Attack Wing ship offering up this many captains nor two versions of the same character and they are significantly different given their age gap and experience. Younger Kor from The Original Series' Errand of Mercy has the higher score and allows you to re-roll attack dice determined by the amount of non-disabled crew upgrades you have however the Deep Space Nine veteran includes one of the most bizarre moves ever - a card which forces opponents to attack the specific ship he is commanding. Great to help the remainder of your fleet regroup or escape I would think but don't count on the Ning'Tao surviving. 

As with the cards we noted on the Ratosha, the game's creators have cleverly worked little character traits into the way their ability plays. Sticking with the Klingon way, Martok offers better attack at the expense of defence. I'd personally use either Kor here instead of Martok who has a more effective card with the Negh'Var. Worf acts to give a nice balance to your options with the Ning'Tao, allowing additional defence dice but meaning your ship gains a weighty auxiliary power token.

Having five options for captain with this set means there's only one crew upgrade included here and that's Darok, another veteran who allows you one chance to use a free option before he's discarded. Me thinks that you might not be using a lot of the cards from this set on a regular basis given the less than stellar line-up however the features do make it quirky and could well offer a real thorn in the side of anyone trying to take on your Klingon masses.

Photon Torpedoes comes "as standard" it seems and then there are the pack-specific elements. In this instance Inverse Gravition Burst is a pretty great addition. While it is single use it does offer the chance for you to regroup by hitting every ship within the 1-3 targetting range. Another upgrade in keeping with the Kor theme of the expansion is Long Live the Empire!. The feeling you get from this set is that using any of the cards is tantamount to gaming suicide (as I said, keeps with the Kor theme) since you can add up to three attack dice to your attack but automatically you take hull or shield damage for each additional dice you used.  The final upgrade option is Strafing Attack which allows you to attack two in-range vessels regardless of whether they are within your firing arc. 

If you like your episodic missions then this one places you into something of a Kobayashi Maru moment with the ship taking on a more powerful Dominion force. In the space of four phases you'll need to stay alive or destroy the opposition which isn't so difficult since you don't have to worry about auxiliary power tokens and get an additional two defence dice. I won;t get chance to properly work this one through as I've yet to obtain any Dominion ships. If you have played it out, let me know how it went!

The Ning'Tao is not an obviously powerful ship from her stats nor does she have the quick boost option that comes with the Ratosha but the single use upgrades that you do have to use here or with another Klingon ship do offer late chances to change the tide of the game. I'd be more tempted to place them all into one basket and use the Bird-of-Prey as it seems she was intended - to draw fire and make a mess which the remainder of your fleet can clean up if it gets destroyed. On a final note, interesting that they choose the Ning'Tao ahead of Kruge's ship from The Search for Spock....

The big draw from Wave 15 though has to be the USS Prometheus. Model collectors can stand down as it's not the best replica with a rather blocky paint job that's in the same league as the Enterprise-E but I can say that the nacelles are all in parallel alignment. Good work on the mould but a "better try next time" on the finishing.

However as I'm fond of repeating here, it's not about the model it's about the cards and my lord is this a cracking addition. Offering maneuverability equal to the Intrepid Class as well as a number of tactical upgrades and superior stats, it all comes at a cost with the Prometheus draining a hefty 30 squadron points before you even consider beefing her up. That maneuverability does have its advantages since the ship's extra action allows a bit more evasion or repositioning but only if you've used a 1 or 2 in the activation phase of the game.

Coming back to reality a little there are three captain options with USS Prometheus which line up with Message in a Bottle from Voyager's fourth season. First there's Judson Scott's Romulan hijacker, Rekar who adds an extra attack dice to a secondary weapon (which you then have to give up). I'd suspect he's going to end up in your Romulan fleet rather than sticking with the Prometheus unless you're free-playing the game and ignoring factions.

Your second command option is The Doctor. Costing one squadron point he offers the chance to increase your captain skill from two up to ten but it is a gamble which will leave you with an auxiliary power token either way. I suppose this does reflect his lack of command experience/knowledge so if you do pick The Doctor (and I wouldn't for any ship) then your future is in your hands. However he is better than the standard non-action bearing Captain Keogh who fleshes out the set. Why they've included the Odyssey comander I'm not sure.

Your crew options in this expansion are limited to Romulan Hijackers which means you'll not lose out by attaching Romulan upgrades to a non-Romulan ship. Brilliant! So you can technically end up with the Prometheus or any Federation ship (for example) crewed by the secretive race. It also gives the benefit that if you're not near a friendly ship you can disable this upgrade and add an extra attack dice. 

Unsurprisingly the EMH Mark II appears as either a crew or tech upgrade. As with The Doctor he's not an amazing addition but that keeps with the inexperienced feel of those two medical crew-members. His target lock feature does disable an opponent's crew upgrades though so it's not that poor. 

While the crew upgrades are so-so, you're more likely to be adding the Prometheus to your fleet thanks to its tech and weapon options.  There is of course the usual photon torpedo card but with the experimental twist that using it with this ship adds a further dice to the attack.  Ok so now to the big stuff. 

Regenerative Shielding allows shield repairs and can be reused while Tactical Prototype lets players perform an additional evade, scan or battle stations move which emphasises the ship's better movement options over most of its peers and competition. 

Ablative Hull Armour is one of the nifty quirks of the pack and costs a not insignificant 7 squadron points. Hang fire though because it's advantages are more than clear with that high price. Applicable only to the Prometheus Class, it allows an additional three hits to your ship and converts all critical damage to normal damage. Surely this is a stunner of an option which will increase your lifespan in the combat zone and would be ideal to couple with some snazzy maneuvering. 

Finally though there is the Big One. Multi-Vector Assault Mode not only gets its own rule card but also its own token it's simply that awesome. Fairly obviously this is only available for the Prometheus Class. While the model won't spontaneously split into three sections it does give you a 360 degree firing arc with eight attack dice at the cost of disabling the card and a target lock. Better still - it's reusable and will surely cause havoc with your opposition.

When it is activated the ship does have limited movement and also reduces your defence by a dice but as with cloaking, you can keep it active for as long as required and won't be taken off at the end phase unless you decide to do so.

There's also a fantastic mission to take her out on which initially places the experimental ship in the hands of the Romulans before having the Prometheus reclaimed by The Doctor. The idea is to defeat your opponent and of course there will be a benefit to whichever side has control of the Prometheus.

By far the Prometheus is the most impressive and fearsome ship of the trio released this month and will definitely be part of my Federation fleet going forward including some of the great features it's brought to the game. Multi-Vector Assault Mode is potentially one of the strongest add-ons available to Federation players (aside from Voyager's Transphasic Torpedoes). The chance to rebuild your shields too is an enticing addition especially when coupled with the high maneuver score of 6 which will get you out of a sticky situation very, very quickly. It's a decent trio if truth be told with some nifty little features also present on both the Ning-Tao and the Ratosha. Certainly Klingon fans will be happy with the arrival of Kor (twice!) and perhaps some more Klingon-esque moves. My dad will be happy to slide it alongside his existing fleet and attempt to give me a further kicking - but then he's not seen the Prometheus so I doubt he'll stand much of a chance against the might of Multi-Vector Assault Mode. 

Where the Bajoran ship is aiming I'm not sure since we only have two vessels available for this faction in the marketplace right now. The Bajoran Solar Sailor is due but as a trio it's not looking like a serious force to be reckoned with. I can only suggest that the Bajorans might be amalgamated into the Independent faction to offer some chance of a win.

A great range of ships for June with three more great options due next month with USS Dauntless (first ship where you don't have to start with a captain!), USS Pasteur and the Ferengi Marauder. Good news too that we have info on every wave up to January now.  

Now you can also have a look at the cards and ships in more detail with these short video reviews we've posted up to our YouTube page

Managed to get hold of a Wave 15 ship? How are you using them and what tips do you have?

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From Start to Finish: Official Starships Collection Issues 24 and 25: Xindi Insectoid Ship and USS Prometheus

A different slant to this month.

For a start it's Saturday morning as I'm writing this and occasionally the month's releases are dropped off by the postal service ahead of the shelf release on the following Thursday so why not have a quick forward think before they (might) arrive?

We got a preview of the two latest releases this week on startrek.com and we've seen the ships ever so briefly in the recent Behind the Scenes video we discussed but aside from that and the usual slot on Entertainment Earth, these two have been kept fairly secret.

Going on the sole Enterprise release thus far, the NX-01, I'm expecting the Xindi vessel to be particularly impressive. It was a later CGI creation from the final televised show and should reflect the later advances in computer construction. I love the design of this craft - it's different, quirky and betrays a very different approach to design than anything so far in the series.

The USS Prometheus on the other hand is likely to be one of the more fiercely debated releases. A massive fan favourite since it's appearance in Voyager's Message in a Bottle, the prototype starship has to be a winner due to it's prominence and unique features. Taking a look at the early shots on startrek.com you can see the good level of detail but I hold out until I've got the ship in hand. Notably it doesn't look that big which does concern me but again, might look totally different in reality.

And on the following Wednesday they arrived...

Let's tackle issue 24 and the larger of the two ships first. The Xindi Insectoid ship comes in one of the biggest boxes to date alongside the Bajoran solar sailor. I was gutted to find mine arrived in two sections but a blob of glue easily solved that and you'd never tell it came in a less than totally assembled form. As we saw in that behind the scenes video, this one is BIG and it does benefit greatly from having a larger surface area to play with which has a great deal of lined hull detail marked out but that's just the start.

There's some weight behind this triple-pronged warship which is, unbelievably, only the second full release from Enterprise and every bit as detailed as the first. The NX-01 from issue 5 is one of the best and this new starship is raising the bar on the level of detail found on alien craft. I may go as far as saying that it's in my top three.

Designed with a crab-like structure in mind, there's no official up or down with the Insectoid vessel which is emphasised by its near multiple lines of symmetry also meaning it was viewed in just about every angle possible during flight.  She does benefit from being one of the later craft committed to screen and thus more advanced CGI development which is displayed here in the Eaglemoss miniature. 

The hull itself is deep grey in colour,  the surface is punctuated with clear blue engine segments and lighter grey and blue panels with an overall deadly and striking appearance from bow to stern. There are minimal clear segments, only in the nose pieces and a touch on the arms. She is reassuringly solid and one of the less bendy products which always eases your tensions when first dropping them onto the display stand. Even more satisfying is the fact she sits well on the stand which attaches to the rear of the hull and lower two fins. 

Remember though there's no fixed up or down here and even in the magazine the vessel is shown sitting in in a variety of angles.The rear of the Insectoid craft is marvellously detailed with a lot of intricate angles and appendages which all fit closely together and mirror the CGI images in the accompanying literature perfectly. 

I love all the curves, line and edges here from both John Eaves design and Pierre Drolet's CGI model which was a slight evolution from what was signed off. I'd recommend dropping by Pierre's site to check out the "real"  article alongside his rendering of the NX-01 and Borg cube among other Star Trek and sci-fi creations. 

Sticking with the Xindi though and although not a big fan of that adversary or the show,  I'm mightily impressed with the result from Eaglemoss and look forward to issue 26 which will feature their third Enterprise release,  the 22nd Century Tholian warship. I already have high expectations for this one.

I'm also going to stop second guessing what will be in the magazines from this month on. I anticipated pages of Xindi general background but instead the content is more refreshingly focused on the Insectoid sub-species. My relatively inferior knowledge of Enterprise meant this was a good,  concise reminder and a kick to rewatch those later years at the very least. 

The monthly ritual of giving the in-universe blurb and exclusive artwork might not lead into aspects of filming since this ship was only ever real on a computer screen but instead covers the story of its digital evolution and also the origins of the Insectoids and how they were brought to the show. A lot is given over to the episode Hatchery which focused on both the race and the ship but as I've not watched it for some time I didn't mind - it's one of the best canon sources for the Xindi. One issue with this issue(!) is the lack of labelling on the plan views of the vessel. I'd suggest this is an oversight but for casual fans they may be wondering where all the advanced engine tech is housed or the weapons ports are fixed.

Moving on, issue 25 is one of those big payouts; USS Prometheus. Easily winning award for biggest gimmick in Star Trek history with the fantastical multi-vector assault mode,  it's sure to be out of stock for some time. 

The Facebook page reviews of both the Xindi and Starfleet vessels have been high on praise and it's well founded. We've already said that the Insectoid vessel was a winner and this prototype is also superb. I was concerned that after seeing the shots in promo photos and on the behind the scenes video that this would be small and far from up to standard. As you can see this was totally unfounded. 

The upper primary hull is metal while the rest is in plastic. With the nacelles being shorter than other Starfleet ships in the series they are less pliable and for once they are all evenly spaced and we'll constructed. Every issue is getting better and better but here we have one of those ships that really got the fans talking. Aside from Voyager this was the first time we'd seen another Federation starship and was our first glimpse back into the Alpha Quadrant proper. 

The design and features blew up away and while we can't separate this model into its three distinct sections without hefting her out of a first storey window, the result will satisfy any collector or casual fan of the show. Don't be worried about there being any possibility of the Prometheus doing a midnight swan dive as the stand is a mid-body fit and snug enough that she won't be going anywhere.

Hull detail is spot on with all windows, hatches, shuttle bay and phaser strips in their right place. In fact there are a lot of windows marked out on both hulls. If we look back at previous models there has been a bit of a disconnect between the detail on plastic and metal but again, over time, this seems to have been addressed and here the whole ship comes together as one piece rather than the metal being a higher quality finish as with the movie refit USS Enterprise for one.

The only grumble might be in the lack of detail on the underside of the primary hull but then this will be a CGI accurate recreation so I'll pass over that pretty quickly. As with the Insectoid ship, the marked out hull plating is excellent and looks superior to the images in the magazine - and that has to be a first. 

The hull detail including the "docked" nacelle atop the primary hull, is exceptional and definitely rivals Eaglemoss' best work from the preceding issues. The joint lines are clean between metal and plastic, everything is properly sealed together which  should negate any negative reactions from fans.  I suspect Eaglemoss are always a little cautious when the big name ships are released -  any of the Enterprise variants or the Thunderchild for instance - but with the USS Prometheus they have created one that will be sought after. I might even suggest a three-piece special would be a winner for the future but for now this is just awesome and I can't enforce how important it is that you go and buy this one when it hits shelves in a couple of weeks. To check the UK release dates, drop by our post here.


Ok - so to wrap up let's skip through the magazine for regular issue 25. It's great - again. There's lots of pics of the ship separated both from Message in a Bottle and newly created for the collection. Bot only that but there's also Rick Sternbach's detailed drawings of the three components and the fully assembled ship which were used to create the CGI model. 

The background on the Prometheus is a bit limited to it's one major appearance (yes, I know it was in Endgame) but that hasn't stopped Eaglemoss before with ships such as Dauntless or the Bajoran Solar Sailor, nor has it here. The special feature is, as you would expect, the multi-vector assault mode (titled as Ship Separation) which also briefly covers some of the internal features we didn't get to see on screen but were indicated by designer Sternbach. In fact those design details take over six pages of the slim magazine but they are worth it. 

Rick Sternbach's work is stunningly drawn, revealing the way in which the prototype was intended to be five composite sections and accompanied by the thought processes of how the Prometheus was just about the most advanced and experimental ship we ever got to see. In a way it's a clever thing we have with this month's releases since one is almost from the earliest era we saw on TV and the second from one of the latest. 

While it's not the magazine we buy this for, it is well worth the read and to collect just for the always mesmerising design-and-build sections. Subscribers have already made it clear that this is one of the must-haves of the collection - definitely make it one of yours.

Another brilliant month's worth of additions to the range and so many more to come. With Issue 26 we'll also be exactly ONE YEAR into the collection - hasn't time flown ladies and gents....???

Next month we'll be seeing two Enterprise releases with the Tholian webspinner and the Romulan Bird-of-Prey.

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The Finest of the Fleet: The Makings of a Great Starship

Should we rate Starfleets ships by the amount of firepower they pack and how big the explosions they cause are? In my opinion; No. There are better ways to measure a great craft and thanks to reading a recent piece on What Culture, I think I'll take up the challenge and have a look...

The article in question, while massively overusing the word "badass" did make me think of a couple of things as I clicked through the pages. While I have mixed feelings about the choices on the list, it got me thinking about what makes a great starship? Is actually being "badass" such a great thing when referring to Star Trek which, fundamentally, is supposed to be about exploration, seeking out new life and boldly splitting infinitives for five years (or three if you get axed)?

What makes a starship something that you look forward to seeing on the screen in an episode or a movie? Is it firepower that makes them memorable or is it something they did or were involved with that makes them simply awesome.  I've run down some examples to help me along the way to see if we can access the greatest starships in the history of the Federation (that we know of).

Straight away lets get back to our roots as there can be only one "great" design if we're honest with ourselves. That honour has to go to the original Matt Jeffries designed Constitution Class vessel that took the crew through 79 episodes of The Original Series. It's the design that influenced everything after it. The basic principles would be revamped in the movie era Enterprise as well as the later Excelsior, Ambassador and Sovereign Classes, to some degree the Galaxy Class and even in the style that formed the basis of the USS Vengeance in Star Trek Into Darkness. Of course JJ Abrams would have the original updated as the central vessel for the 2009 reboot just for good measure proving just how important that style was to the franchise.

It's a brilliant concept that also brought about the transporter to avoid landing her among other things. It was the backbone of Starfleet throughout The Original Series (namely because it cost less to reuse the model or buy kits from AMT) and survived a few fairly lethal encounters. Whatever generation of Star Trek we're watching there's always something in the styling of a Starfleet vessel that brings you back to the beginning. Impressively the upgrade that the class received in the movies made it even better many would argue, confronting even more serious threats from the Reliant and Khan and later a cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey. Inside the style of the bridge reflected the slightly militaristic direction of The Original Series and the films where reds and whites were replaced with metallics and greys - with the exception of Star Trek V which looked as though the Enterprise had jumped about 75 years of decorating evolution. A true classic and an icon of science fiction. There's one in the fleet museum y'know (Relics) so it must be important!

While it is physically similar, the Excelsior Class we first saw ready for field tests in The Search for Spock is truly one of the landmarks of the whole of the franchise. While the Constitution Class bowed out in The Undiscovered Country "The Great Experiment" would become the 24th Century workhorse as the Constitution Class had in the 23rd. It would show up in numerous episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine as well as three movie appearances. The last of these, with some additional bodywork, would be as the Enterprise-B. Altered so as not to damage the fabric of the original Excelsior model, this silhouette would  only appear again in the Deep Space Nine episode Paradise Lost as the USS Lakota. 

Minus the controversial transwarp drive it turned out to be a pretty decent starship and hinted at the shapes of things to come with its larger, more streamlined hull and advances in technology. In her day the Excelsior Class was the sign of the future and the first in the chain to link the designs of The Next Generation to The Original Series.

Staying with a theme, the Enterprise-D chalks up on my list not because of its design but because of its purpose. The shape of the ship harks back to the classic saucer, secondary hull and nacelles that both the Excelsior and Constitution classes displayed but they were flying in more hostile times when the threat from the Klingon Empire and other species was a lot more severe. Times changed and the Galaxy Class reflected this. The smoothed styling belayed a certain calmness in the fleet but inside was the clear distinction that made this a seminal Starfleet craft. Reflecting the more explorative and apparently less dangerous nature of The Next Generation, families were now onboard and the ship was designed around more luxurious desires and requirements. Effectively a spacebourne city where its crew wanted for nothing it mirrored the time in which it was designed in the real world - the 1980's and the affluence of the period. Fitting that it's replacement would be a much more compact battleship as the 1990's evolved and in the Star Trek universe the threats that appeared to have faded away returned and new ones arrived. 

The Galaxy Class was limited in numbers. According to early reports and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual there were only six constructed but over the years we would see more than that number in the battle scenes of Deep Space Nine alone. To date we've seen Enterprise, Yamato, Odyssey, Venture, Challenger (Timeless) and there must be a Galaxy somewhere. According to Memory-Alpha there are 10 Galaxy Class ships in the battle to retake Deep Space Nine featured in Sacrifice of Angels which suggests the initial six were supplemented at some point with another batch of at least seven. Looking back, the class was far from perfect, suffering shield failures, dodgy holodecks, warp core breaches and three of the class ended up destroyed in the space of seven years - and if it was such a safe universe with a ship for exploration filled with husbands, wives and children for the long journey ahead why would you need to make it separate in two and have a Battle Bridge? Would you want your kids on here given the safety record?! 

Anyway, it seems that the realisation that families in space was not a good idea with the Galaxy Class vessels used to act as lead ships for battle groups in the Dominion War. This belays that they could easily be switched to different roles however their styling continued to announce that this was not their best suitability. A factor that the Sovereign Class clearly mirrored in its more military, minimalist, family-free concept. The reason for omitting that class? It's an evolution of form and also the Sovereign Class never really had anything unique about it in the big scheme of things - and can you recall ever seeing a second ship of this class on the screen?

The Constitution Class is a great because of its classic and influential design, Galaxy Class opened up the path to long exploratory missions but if we were to look back at the blog which inspired this piece, I would have to agree that the USS Defiant is definitely a "badass" - and I promise that's the last time I'll use that word here. Simply an awesome ship that went against every single concept of design and form that the Enterprise of the original show had laid down and started from scratch. It was compact, heavily armoured, fast, overgunned and overpowered and built for war. Cleverly a line of dialogue in The Search, Part I covered that minor issue, noting that the Defiant had been built to counter the Borg threat and had been mothballed once it had passed. It's firepower was soon on show and totally different to anything before. 

The phasers punched holes in the opposition from the first time she decloaked in anger and the Defiant also received quantum torpedoes to deal with whatever came in its way. There would be at least two other escort-class vessels seen in Deep Space Nine - the Valiant and the Sao Paulo which would be renamed as the Defiant when the original was destroyed by the Breen. It came close to an equally strong pummelling at the only encounter it ever had with the enemy it was designed to beat - the Borg. For me this is one of the ultimate starship classes. Unique, unusual and one of the selling points that made the third Star Trek series a cut above.

If we're sticking with unique, the USS Prometheus was certainly that. Featuring in just one episode of Voyager and also glimpsed in the final shot of the final episode of the final season of the same show, I would add it to the list of great starships because, like the Defiant, it pushed the boundaries. The quad-engines were nothing new because we'd seen them before on the Stargazer in The Battle during The Next Generation's first season and neither was the more elongated shape. Aside from the fact it managed to get stolen by the Romulans it's the only Starfleet ship that can split into three distinct vessels during Multi-Vector Assault Mode. The Enterprise-D could separate into a battle section and a saucer section lifeboat but these three ships were all controlled from the bridge of the primary hull. The bridge was somewhat spartan in comparison to other Starfleet vessels but additional sets were never the most detailed or "crewed" during the TV shows. The fact Message in a Bottle was one of the finest Voyager episodes certainly helped ensure that this would be a highly memorable ship that remains utterly unique across over 700 episodes. 

Talking of Voyager I begrudgingly have to add it to this list of the best starships in Star Trek's history. Why? It adapted. Over the seven seasons the Intrepid Class ship was stranded in the Delta Quadrant it underwent some serious modifications, gained a super-shuttle and got blown to smithereens more than once. Let's not forget that Voyager was a test bed for a lot of new technology including bio-neural gel packs, variable geometry (folding) warp engines which, apparently, meant that it could get away with going above that clumsy, plot-killing Warp Five Speed Limit and received the odd Borg upgrade along the way. Not only did the ship end up with Borg alcoves in a cargo bay but also used the technology to develop an astrometrics lab. The ultimate upgrade however had to be the ablative armour and transphasic torpedoes she received in Endgame. 

Small she may have been but Voyager did well to survive seven years in the wilderness and encountered situations that even a Galaxy or Sovereign Class ship might have cowered at. Add to that time travelling  the odd fleet of Borg cubes, being stolen or boarded and even facing off against another similar Starfleet vessel, the Equinox. Voyager actually hints at the future designs of Starfleet vessels (which the Equinox and Enterprise-E also indicate) - more compact, efficient, saucer and secondary hull directly connected without the "neck" section. Certainly more sleek than its predecessors but still able to pack a punch the Intrepid Class . Also it had the neat trick of being able to land which almost trumps the ability to separate into lots of bits. For adaptability there can be no question that this class and one lone ship in particular easily win. They probably also win the award for losing the most shuttlecraft ever.

So there we have a fairer selection perhaps - a legendary design, the workhorse of the fleet, the explorer, the warship the one-of-a-kind and the Boy Scout starship. Each includes features which mark it out against the rest and also are present in many respects in later vessels - especially in the form of the Constitution Class. These vessels in my opinion are the best examples of Starfleet design and operation across the whole franchise. I had considered adding the Steamrunner Class in here just because from a design point of view it's a complete break from anything else. No other ship even comes close to its design but aside from that and appearing in a few battles in the background it's not made its mark. Surprised I didn't include the NX-01? While it was "the first" it's design in the Real World was due to the nature of the original Enterprise of Kirk's era and therefore I skipped it. Sorry if you were looking for it!

I would have liked to include the Dauntless due to its quantum slipstream drive and just cool design but that wasn't really a Starfleet vessel (grrr) although it pretended to be. The Vengeance was a beast in every sense of the word and considering how much it was lauded it lasted barely an hour of screen time before taking a plunge to Earth. That's not good in terms of future development!

Again though you can see the design links which would "suggest" the Starfleet heritage of the Dauntless in her lines and even while stupidly big, angular and overgunned, the Vengeance is merely an adaptation of the alternative universe rethink of the original Constitution Class design. In comparison to the ships on the blog that inspired me, I think this is a better reflection of abilities, function and style rather than focusing solely on how much firepower a ship has which was not the point of Star Trek. Hopefully I have provided a good range of the "greats" and why they stand out above the rest.

So is there a class or ship I've missed that had a big impact on the Star Trek universe and deserves a place here? Is there one I've missed or is this a fair reflection on the various incarnations of the franchise?