Formation of the Fleet: Welcome to Attack Wing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Funko Goes Next

When Entertainment Earth's email landed this week I almost didn't read it.

Glad I did though as they anounced the latest Funko Star Trek figures which are slated for a March 2015 release and I for one can't wait.

Already we have the original crew with an Orion Slave Girl, a Klingon and an Andorian (no Khan?) but from next year you'll be able to step into The Next Generation era with the Picard crew and they are simply brilliant.

Picard, Riker, Data, Geordi, Worf and Troi all receive their very own vinyl figures but at the moment there's no Dr Crusher or Wesley which we think should be a special double-pack. Clad in their third season uniform variations (Troi in her season four and onwards grey onsie) from the show these are just begging you to part with some cash and can be pre-ordered now. La Forge and Troi are actually my favourites here as they do offer something a little varied in style. But for me it's the non-crew additions to this release which really excite my Trekdar.

First up there's the armour clad Klingon with a Worf-like countenance (if a bit more grey in the beard) holding his bat'leth and ready to do some honoury stuff.

However, all of the above are eclipsed by the Must Buy Locutus (or Lo-CUTE-us) of Borg. Trekdom everywhere probably skipped a heartbeat when they saw this one. The outfit is superbly screen accurate including that "red dot" laser and the armature piece. This one could be the best recreation in the Star Trek vinyl figures range to date - sold out on preorders? Probably. We've included some large images of the announced range below for you to enjoy. I have to ask if we'll see a Romulan soon in this range as I suspect a Ferengi and a Cardassian will be staples of the Deep Space Nine release that would be the obvious choice next (Garak please!). 

The new The Next Generation range are available for pre-order now from Entertainment Earth HERE. Go on, order the set.

Trek Three Seeks Alternative Direction

Orci Out.

According to a few sites (Entertainment Weekly, Deadline, Slashfilm, TrekMovie....etc etc etc) he has left the building and that this is music to fans ears but I'm not so sure.

Orci's career has had a fair few twists over the last few years; helping to revitalise the Star Trek franchise being (to us) the most important, turned down the high profile Mighty Morphin Power Rangers reboot to stay with the USS Enterprise and stopped working with Alec Kurtzman on movie projects which made it clear he had very easily made his bed.

At the moment there hasn't been any reason forthcoming for his lightning-quick departure from the project slated for a 2016 release but why would fans, as suggested elsewhere,  be rejoicing at this news?

It might be through dissatisfaction with the way in which Abrams and those associated have taken the franchise since it's 2009 return to cinemas, choosing to slide into an alternative universe and take some, erm, liberties with the source material. The 2013 sequel wasn't exactly what a lot of people were hoping for with its retreading of the Khan story but having Orci step down might initially seem great news but it does suggest there's more going on behind the scenes than we are being told. From what we can gather it appears that the production is in some of Development Hell with the team working on it being let go last month as issues over the screenplay continued to rage (more on that in a bit).

Loosing a director and someone who has been onboard since the reboot launched under Abrams  throws everything into the air once again since it can't be too long until shooting is due to begin. It doesn't fill me with faith that the vision for the third movie is in steady hands ar any level. Orci had, at the least, some idea of where the new take on the franchise was going and that could (for better or worse) be lost in the ether. Is it that perhaps with Abrams departure/defection over to the Dark Side activate alarms that Star Trek isn't the hot property that it was seen as five years ago? One to step away from now it's lost it's figurehead and chosen another path because he openly admits he prefers Star Wars? All I can say is that I hope it's his own choice and not a big kick out of the door.

Doesn't fill you with hope for the future of the movie series though and I seem to recall Robert Orci wanted the director's chair for Star Trek 3 when JJ vacated it so either he's been forced to go or there's greener grass somewhere else (the Dark Side perhaps with his former master?). Rumour is that there would have been some time travel element to Orci's third take in order to bring Shatner and Pine together (possibly) as the Vulcans attempt to change history and restore Vulcan to the timeline (Dark Horizons) however I was more inclined to believe stories of the Klingon war. If it is the case that they are looking to edge into temporal territory is this some sort of admission that blowing up Vulcan, while visually stunning and a proper mid-digit salute to the Prime Universe - was something of a short-sighted error?

For now we can only speculate over the news which broke yesterday. Edgar Wright, who visited the set of Star Trek Into Darkness and got to direct a teeny tiny piece of it is being touted as the potential replacement. When I heard this I was filled with excitement but then does he have a good enough understanding of the franchise? His directorial credits are immense including the brilliant series Spaced as well as turns with reboot Scotty actor Simon Pegg in the Cornetto trilogy (most recently The World's End). You can't deny he has the talent but would he be a good fit for such a high profile movie. I remain unsure even though I was impressed with Scott Pilgrim Versus the World however that's not even in the same high stakes league in my eyes.

If Orci has been forced out it's a shame for the writer/director although in a few weeks or months we'll be rejoicing or berating the choice of his replacement and in a year and a bit we'll get to see just what their labours have produced - and rejoice or berate that as well.

For now there's a vacant chair and a ticking clock. Star Trek 3 has to - HAS TO - be ready for 2016. I suspect a replacement will be rapidly placed to ensure this happens.

Which side do you ally to? Happy he's gone or concerned where the franchise could now go? Let us know below.

A Psychological Edge in New Voyages' Mind-Sifter

We've waited. Oh god have we waited for this.

Back on January 1st we were presented with the impressively overdue (by a few years) Kitumba and were promised that, come February, we would also see The Holiest Thing which was previewed at the close of that story.

February came and February went as The Holiest Thing was pulled at the last second, ripped apart and is still being put back together as the team were not totally happy with the result. We got a short snippet with the Enterprise receiving some experimental warp engines and Lieutenant Arex at the navigation station but aside from that, it's been quiet.

Actually that's not accurate because 2014 has seen the New Voyages (not Phase II anymore?) film and produce Mind-Sifter. So, 11 months after Kitumba and they're back with several new faces and a very different take on direction in an episode that is, in keeping with The Original Series, out of sequence.

The original story was written by Shirley Maiewski as part of the fanzine Showcase in 1975 before being reprinted as part of the New Voyages fan fiction series from Bantham Books. Regarded as one of, if not the best story of that series, Executive producer (and former Kirk actor) James Cawley always wanted to film it as part of his continuation of The Original Series and finally, nearly 30 years after speaking to the late author about his vision, it's here in it's originally intended glory, unedited.

Mind-Sifter is not what I expected from New Voyages at all. Effectively forgetting that little teaser from earlier in the year the style of the show has changed significantly. There's a lot more atmosphere in the first few minutes and feels as though the show has stepped it's game up to a new level. Brian Gross' introduction as Kirk is a little text-book, leaving him facing away from the camera until the last second of the teaser and for those who haven't been following the progress of the episode you'd be left wondering just who this guy was and why he was the focus of the pre-titles sequence.

New Kirk

Overall Gross' Kirk is a fresh interpretation, avoiding being a copy of his predecessor, James Cawley (who makes a cheeky cameo as a hospital patient believing he's Elvis) nor is it similar to Shatner or Pine. He's much more youthful, not as edgy perhaps as other Kirks and at times I felt he didn't portray the fearlessness I expected from the supposed greatest captain in Starfleet but given the nature of his experiences for three months that's not all too surprising. I doubt we'd be singing and dancing following repeated Klingon torture. When facing the mind-sifter there appeared to be a most un-Kirk-like terror in his eyes which didn't seem right but I'm reminded by exec producer James Cawley (comments below) that Kirk has been undergoing repeated torture for a while however the dialogue around this scene and subsequent on Gateway do suggest this is Kirk's solo meeting with the mind-sifter device hence my thoughts.

When faced with a romantic situation it all seemed both a little uncomfortable and more than a shade rushed. I found it hard to accept Doctor Hamlin would become so quickly infatuated with a patient and one with no history as "Jim Doe". It's still early days for Gross in New Voyages but I'm not convinced that this young Kirk is a fit for the show as he does not give off the air of someone with the presence that Kirk requires to command the respect of his crew. Again though this is a first opinion based on Gross not portraying Kirk as Kirk and instead spending most of the episode out of character in the 1950's. I suspect my opinion will be different after The Holiest Thing which might have benefitted Gross more as his first onscreen appearance proper to establish his captain credentials. Yes, Kirk has experienced a whirlwind relationship before (Edith Keeler) but in Mind-Sifter I have to note that this isn't Full Kirk once more and would such an apparently experienced doctor in such a hospital be this easily swayed? Surely she would be extra cautious if the patient is seemingly OK?

Psychological matters aren't anything new for Star Trek with episodes such as Frame of Mind, City on the Edge of Forever (which it's very similar to in many ways) and a chunk of others but here in Mind-Sifter it's coupled with Klingons and time travel which certainly aren't three elements that I would select to focus on in one episode. Saying that this isn't really your typical Star Trek episode harking back not only to the Kirk/Edith out of time relationship of City but also to the "missing Kirk" explored in The Tholian Web. 

The scenes between Spock and McCoy and McCoy and Scotty are perhaps the most well written and acted amongst the regular ensemble. Both conversations easily draw your mind to those in the season three episode where Kirk is in dimensional drift and the crew are in mourning for their lost captain. The scenes of reflection are poignant but given the situations they have experienced previously, I didn't buy into it at all. OK, so the passage of time since Kirk's disappearance might be a big factor why they finally call it in but I can't see why some of these conversations would not have happened earlier. One disappointment is that we don't get to see the Kirk/Spock/McCoy relationship fully explored with the two new arrivals.

Anyway, I feel like I'm picking at the show here and that's not fair. There's a lot of positives here and for the most part I enjoyed it, let me tell you. The plot itself is straight forward - the Klingons want the location to Gateway and therefore access to the Guardian of Forever which has led them to kidnap Kirk and drag the information from his mind before casting him into the past, apparently in a total state of delusion.

In effect that moment where Kirk spirals into the past signals a very different turn for the episode with the Klingons playing second fiddle for the remainder of the story and barely getting a look in. Kor, played by Clay Sayre is, as with Kirk, played very differently to the interpretation set out by the original actor (John Colicos). That Kor was much more playful, more calculating and maybe a little more human. This Kor is far more ruthless and very goal focused. There isn't a bigger picture here and the Klingon commander only has one objective. I suspect Colicos would have at least given the indication of something larger behind the scenes whereas we never appreciate the reasons for his actions in Mind-Sifter.

The filming of the scenes aboard the USS Enterprise and those on the planet surface with the Guardian are standard and shot for shot keep within the feel of the original series but the print feels cleaner, more precise and just a lot more on the money. There's much less of the amateur fan feel to Mind-Sifter than I even felt watching Kitumba and it's good to see that fan funds have been put to good use - one thing though is that the audio track has a terrible echo when we have any sound stage scenes and is made very obvious when shooting is taken outdoors.

Past Affinities

The biggest piece in Mind-Sifter has to be the scenes set in 1958. These open the show and dominate a large part of the hour long episode. The filming style here is a lot less rigid, there's more room to play and those location shots outside the hospital only reinforce the improvements that New Voyages has made since it's initial episodes a decade ago (check out the location work on those first two episodes for comparison). The scenes of Kirk's initial commitment to the institution and his later beating are very unnerving and effectively shot with out of place background dialogue and blurred camera work to maximise the disorientation.

What I can say is that Brian Gross does a fantastic job within the scenes set in the 1950's. It's not perfect and I did have to think twice on some occasions as to whether his actions were in character to Kirk but to his credit, Gross manages Kirk's different mental states exceptionally well from a calm, rational captain through to the edge of apparent insanity and pain. His romance with Rivkah Raven Wood's Doctor Hamlin is quick off the mark (as already noted) considering where his mind has been for five week in the hospital and I don't buy the speed of it nor the nature of their friendship given the time span. Keeping it as a friendship would not have wrecked the story as a tinge of romance wasn't a necessity; Mind-Sifter would have survived otherwise.

Those 1950's scenes do crackle with a sense of cringeworthy accuracy in their portrayal of the hospital, silent, forboding and impossible to leave. The brutality Kirk experiences at several points (and not just from the Klingons) are some of the strongest and most emotional powerful New Voyages has attempted and they should be commended for their efforts to give something of an insight into the system as it was. 

Jeff Bond is also impressive as McCoy' very impressive. The nuances of the doctor and his way vocal delivery is great throughout with his double-acting with Spock another high point of this unsual episode. Their work together at the close of the story does seem hurried but Brandon Stacey and Bond do gel and their sparring is effective and well-written. Not only that but McCoy's memorial speech is a great piece of dialogue only tripped up by having Uhura sing Amazing Grace straight after. Oddly the strains of the song over Kirk fighting  with the Klingons and Spock listening in, unwilling to attend is hauntingly brilliant - again the visual direction cutting between the three elements really is a step up from what we've seen in New Voyages before.

Brandon Stacey does have a lot of meat on his part this time not only getting to switch Spock into command gold but placing him almost into an opposition role with the crew of the ship once he accepts his field promotion and ends the search for Kirk. He is accepted and their trust allows for events to unfold later in the episode and for Stacey to add a lot of elements to the part, conferring with McCoy and taking a chance to save the captain. 

Having Stacey onboard for Mind-Sifter was essential since both Kirk and McCoy have been recast. For fans of the show his return has provided a key anchor point in the central trio and a valued sense of continuation which has only been maintained by the inclusion of this actor as well as Charles Root as Scotty. It's been a year of major upheavals as casts go but these two stalwarts turn in great performances here although I think Stacey is the most watchable person in the whole cast this time as he seems to peel back a lot of Spock layers from start to finish.

Reading this assessment back, it's hard to say that this is a stroke of genius or that it's bad. It has moments of pure brilliance but then there are points which could have done with a little polish up. On a personal note I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless of these points because it was so different to anything that New Voyages has done and is a step in a direction that Continues has not chosen. A while back I said that New Voyages should be worried about the rise of Vic Mignogna's show and I have to say I was wrong. 

These are two unique beasts taking markedly different paths and ways of storytelling. Both are incredibly well made and I can watch either for a ton of reasons. With this release, New Voyages has maintained its place in the pantheon of fan-made productions and can easily be ranked among the best without any fear of reprisal. James Cawley and the production team can be immensely proud of delivering an episode that challenges, creates unease and places our favourite lead characters far outside their established comfort zones.

With this release out on the expected deadline day my faith in the show has been heartily restored. They have done something brave, unique and outside of the norm. Their benchmark for "good" has been lifted to a new level and while not every element here gets a thumbs-up I can't say it's been a disaster, nor has it been bad or even average. Mind-Sifter has worked to show the show's new found capabilities, their awareness that technology has changed and that there are more ways to bring us into the story than static camera angles and a few bars of incidental music. 

Cawley and associates have made a bold step and an announcement that New Voyages is here for the duration and can produce top quality every time - and on schedule. Mind-Sifter might not be to everyone's taste but it's a bold move and one that I think has paid off. Maybe the biggest test is yet to come when we see if their decision to pull The Holiest Thing for a total rework was the right move for the sake of that quality...

Mind-Sifter is available now at the New Voyages website.

Screencaps with kind permission of Star Trek: New Voyages.

Thanks also to James Cawley and Brian Gross for their comments below.

Did you like this new take on the classic fan fiction story? Let us know below!

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Whose Line is it Anyway?

Way ahead of it's publishing date we've been granted access to the brand new, updated Ships of the Line.

Like refitting the Enterprise for The Motion Picture, this book has made a vast jump (in number of pages at the least) since it's first edition back in 2006. At the least it's had an upgrade on the cover - more ships and a shift in tone from blue to red; it's double the length too, meaning our postman had to have an extra session at the gym this week. However, double the length does not mean double the value - it means more, more, more.

For those of us that poured over the original book back in '06 and then collected the calendars (missed a couple but please forgive me), this lies in perhaps some dangerous ground. If you did get all the calendars over the past few years then you'll not be looking at anything new, rather you'll be viewing smaller images of shots that have graced January to December on your wall but (positive point) without the interruption of each month's days. I could never understand why you couldn't have put some form of notes section on the calendar to make it a bit more useable.

Edited by Star Trek aficionado Doug Drexler and writer Margaret Clark, for those who have the original edition you'll have that very real sense of deja vu for the first few pages which are a carbon copy from the first edition. The initial Enterprise section does have a lot of earlier pics and only after page 40 does it really add more weight to your reason for buying Ships of the Line. Pierre Drolet's Top Secret, based around Storm Front from the prequel's fourth season is one of the less clinically CGI images that are presented here. Koji Kuramura's Tactical Simulation adds a Tholian touch to the proceedings and the detail on the ships' hulls is exemplary. These ladies and gents are THE top Star Trek artists around and each creation is accompanied by a text section from Star Trek legend Mike Okuda explaining the "in-universe" nature of what we're seeing. 

Big Screen

The movie entries lean towards The Motion Picture including Jim Hibbert's almost sketch-like San Francisco which stands out due to it's more sketch-like presentation of the reborn 1701.and offshoots from The Wrath of Khan focusing on the Reliant in works from Alain Rivard and Tobias Richter but unless you checked out the names of the artists for each I think you'd find it hard pressed to tell the work of one from the other. Both artists do have other, more impressive entries through the book but the similarity in CGI does make it difficult to differentiate however magnificent their finished visions. 

The variety is fantastic although not in any linear fashion with episodic snaps out of order or placed alongside non-canon scenes which, in a few cases, don't make total sense. Both The Next Generation and The Original Series (now I'm even writing them out of order) are the best selections here with the Deep Space Nine line third and surprisingly varied. Why there are four images from The Doomsday Machine yet little else from the rest of the classic 79 concerned me. That episode is a brilliant hour of TV but others deserve some space here surely? Also, one thing whch is apparent is that some images have been removed, notably the docking scene of the Calypso returning to the Enterprise-D. This in turn means that having both the '06 version and this book is the only option if you want all the pictures.

There are a fair number of Defiant and Runabout shots (more than the station it seems) in that Deep Space Nine selection which gives little page space for anything not aligned round them or the station itself. Nor are the Voyager shots super-inspiring relying heavily on the title vessel and also being exceptionally short in comparison to the other series featured here. The same actually goes for the movies selection which appears oddly bland. The images which tote a sub-heading of There Will Always Be An Enterprise oddly contains very few shots of ships called, believe it or not, Enterprise and those that do are not that great. Even the work of movie designer John Eaves or ILM here fail to lift this opportunity to explore the NCC-1701-E above the average.

Hold that thought though because we do get many more shots of non-canon vessels than before; the Aventine gets two shots, the USS Golden Gate (cover star of the 2015 calendar), the USS Planck and the Balmung make appearances however these do highlight the omission of the popular USS Titan and also the now easily omitted (could be a licencing matter) JJ Abrams universe. The inclusion of the recently designed real world vision, the IXS Enterprise and the ECV Enterprise are welcome but once more, very samey in their presentation. The decision to tackle these varied starships is wonderful and certainly one of the best choices for this selection.

Variations on a Theme

These grumbles do tent to be more aimed at the editing of the book rather than the quality of the images. I would have liked less CGI and more paint, pastels or pencil works and it does seem with this book that the variation in technique and vision is more closed than it was in the original edition with only two or three of the pages truly thinking outside the box and attempting something different. In those cases they were already included in the '06 book. Don't get me wrong, the work here is precise, detailed and impressively visualised but there is a "samey" feel after the 60 or 70th page. It's the content of that image which keeps it fresh and not the way in which it is produced.

So where does this leave us? In a bit of a quandry actually. We've waited a long while for an expanded edition of Ships of the Line which would cover the expanded choices included in the last eight years of calendars.It is an enjoyable read, a visual feast if you will and one you can pour over for some time to examine the techniques used by the artists or just to the enjoy the different scenarios chosen however it does feel flat, almost a misfire that is let down by being an update which doesn't really bring any new interpretations to the table. Nor do there seem to be enough non-Starfleet creations here for fans of the alien contingent. Fans will be clammering for this book when it goes on general sale in a matter of weeks and I know a few people linked to Some Kind of Star Trek are already looking forward to its arrival. As an anthology it works perfectly, condensing the calendar series into a more managable tome that will be seen as a must have library addition yet there's no big exclusives, no pictures only found here and the annual offering does have (occasionally) brilliant real-world pictures such as filming of the USS Enterprise model for The Original Series splashed across it's centre-fold but those are left out of the print here. This does make Ships of the Line a teaser for the calendars but overall, we know it's still a great purchase and one I'm more than happy to have in the collection.

Looking to purchase Ships of the Line? What are you looking forward to?

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The Official Starships Collection: Issues 34 and 35: Logic and Honour

Bless you, Enterprise for I have praised your ships every single time but it couldn't last.

It's not the show's fault, it's not Eaglemoss' fault but the huge Vulcan Surak Class that looks gorgeous on the small screen is potentially the dullest entry into the series to date. The refit Enterprise might have had "one" or "two" faults but at least it was interesting to look at. Here we have a stick with a ring, end of.

To be fair to Doug Drexler it does homage one of the designs Matt Jeffries came up with for the USS Enterprise of The Original Series but in miniature it doesn't pack quite the same punch.So before I launch into a design tirrade let's be fair. There's not a lot Eaglemoss could do about the design and I would think the conversations might have gone along the lines of "Well that's going to be an easy one..." in direct comparison to any meetings about the complexity of the Narada.

So let's talk about the recreation work in the model. Well, it's pretty accurate but due to the scale it does suffer from being a solid slab of one colour only broken up slightly with the lights of the decks on the ring-to-stick connecting section. It certainly evokes the pure and simple nature of Vulcan logic in every surface and shadow - it does the job it was designed for and nothing more. But here in the collection that's not necessarily a good thing. Even the red plastic impulse engines are sadly swallowed up in the reddy hull and the shadows of the tapered tail. Hull detail on both the metal and plastic sections can't be faulted. Plating lines are clear, the exhaust from the warp ring is very evident but being so think it suffers from not having a clear blue section to emphasise the drive.

The stand clipping is, as with the Runabout and Hideki last month, very, very tight and attaches to the already super-thin warp ring. Just heed the advice and go gentle. Nor does my stand fit together flush, meaning that my Vulcan starship has a slight lean to the bow or stern depending on your preference.

I can't fault the Surak Class on detail and delivery nor can I knock Drexler for the thought behind the design but for a tenner in the UK it doesn't feel like you get a lot of starship for your money and I do know people who are actively avoiding this one. There's something lost in the translation from screen to 3D model here and no-one is really to blame. I suspect given a bigger canvas the engine detail, the internal lighting showing through the windows and the luminescence of the warp ring would all be more prominent but here it just doesn't work that well.

Saying that, Enterprise does deliver a whammy with the 22nd Century Bird-of-Prey. While the Surak Class retains that simple approach, the Klingon raider takes the totally opposite line which actually makes this pairing very effective for comparison of two of the franchise's key races. Openly armed to the teeth with wingtip cannons (not identical you'll note), nose cannons and a huge mega-cannon on the under-belly it's not likely this would be leading any carnival parades. Echoing the earlier design (but actually the successor) of The Search for Spock ship design that became a Star Trek classic it has been effectively de-evolved. 

Aside from the extensive arsenal the surface of the ship is covered with ducts and cabling demonstrating a more primitive design process but the hinge mechanism and impulse engine placement remains the same as it would in the later B'rel and  K'Vort Classes. One challenge with my model is that the warp engines on top of the impulse engine housing are wonky; noticably wonky and may get broken off and reset as might have happened with the equally wonky sensor pod on the Nebula Class earlier this year.

The metalwork is almost submersed in a shell of plastic, making up only the central body, wings and neck sections of the Bird-of-Prey with the tubing and engines all in the lighter material. Nicely though all the surfaces are well detailed with the underside weathered and exposing bare metal. Having this worn finish is a big winner here and something that I'd like to have seen on other models (refit Enterprise with battle damage?) and as with all Enterprise models, even the Surak Class it's the precision finish that really makes this an attractive offering. 

Placing it alongside the magazine images (not the best and quite few and far between) it's very screen accurate and while I'm not going to start counting hull plating lines it has everything you would expect to see. Placing her alongside the later Bird-of-Prey just shows how much of a homage the Enterprise design was in every facet and then makes you question why the 22nd Century version is smaller - but that's a lesser complaint as this is a great, faithful reproduction and one every Klingon fan should be snatching up in an instant. Indeed, this is the fourth starship of the Empire after the Bird-of-Prey from Issue Three, the K'Tinga from Issue Seven and the Vor'Cha from Issue 20 - has it really been so long since we had a Klingon ship? 

OK. So the models are fairly detailed, another solid duo from the Enterprise staple but for us info digesters the magazines offer some more insights into what I think is a series of Star Trek that the collection has really opened up and explored. Travel back a few years and Enterprise is the only show that never received a companion book let alone a tech manual (neither did Voyager although you can buy one from Rick Sternbach on eBay). With this collection a lot of data from the earlier shows has already been covered but with Enterprise it does feel like a breath of fresh air because it is unfamiliar.

Sadly both the Bird-of-Prey and the Surak Class start off with the tried and tested ship overviews which do act as episode appearance guides with fleeting insights to the nature of the ships "in universe". It also took me a moment to realise that the picture of the Vulcan starship created exclusively for the series and on page 4 and 5 is a rear facing view, not the standard head on shot. The episodic pictures used in the magazines aren't of the best quality which means that the CGI recreations done for the collection really stand out and in some cases with the Surak Class look better than the finished, underwhelming, model. A familiar tune with these intro sections is that they start off really positively, relating material about the ships, their design, configuration, power - and then spirals into key events from the show which in both cases here did help me remember what their relevance was since I've not watched an episode of Enterprise for some time. 

With the Surak Class starship I'm assuming it's supposed to be the red version but that looks about ten shades brighter in the magazine with most photos focusing on the browner coloured adaptation of the design. Even the three-view pages opt for the latter as their colour of choice. There's great detail on these images though if we put that colour variance aside and comparing them to the associated model shows that these have been carefully crafted. If only this precision and detail had made its way into some of the earlier editions!

Both ships magazines include that key reading section on their design and following these stories is fascinating reading especially when you understand the process behind the Vulcan ship's eventual form. Not to sound too harsh this month but the magazine for Issue 34 is probably a lot more exciting than the centrepiece starship and that's bonus pointed with the subsequent pages exploring the creation of the CGI model. This also goes some way to appeasing fans who had dropped onto the Facebook page sometime to discuss the variations in the size and colour of this ship and whether or not there were too distinct classes. Seems that was never the intention and Drexler's original, lower resolution creation was spruced up a few degrees for better close up work. Eaves design and drawings on the other hand aren't too dissimilar to that of one Pierre Drolet's work on a suggested design for the Bird-of-Prey in Star Trek Into Darkness. Not surprising considering he worked with Eaves on the fifth TV series.

Either to avoid duplicating material or simply because we can't get enough Klingon stuff, the Bird-of-Prey magazine does delve into the mysteries of the warrior race this time, diverting away from being a wholly Enterprise offering and touching on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine for its sources. Not a massively in-depth piece but one that might offer up some questions about the Klingons and their development which is nice to see. 

Rounding out both 34 and 35 are the standard key appearances and in the Bird-of-Prey magazine we do get a couple of shots of the next edition which will be the eagerly awaited Oberth Class. While the model shot does bear the legend of the USS Grissom the closeups below are marked up as Admiral Pressman's former ride the USS Pegasus from The Next Generation's final season. I did a bit of a head-scratch at this one but I would think we'll be more likely to see the Grissom and have a chunk of references to the Pegasus along with the Tsilkovsky among many others that appeared and were blown to bits.

That's another month down and along with the Oberth Class next month we'll be receiving yet another Enterprise addition with the release of the Andorian cruiser. If you want to catch a glimpse of these and some of the other models coming up including the Enterprise-B and the Klingon Raptor. Notably there's also a "Klingon Patrol Ship Vehicle and Magazine" slated for a June 2015 release. Now working out that that has to be the special from Into Darkness it would suggest UK subscribers could expect her arrival in February as the Vengeance is down for a March 2015 release (four month trail). Could she be turning up at the same time as your adapted Excelsior Class perhaps?

Just a thought to end on. 

You can find out more details on the Official Star Trek Starships Collection by clicking the link to the left and dropping over to the site now and even subscribe.

What did you make of these two new Enterprise model releases? Better or worse than you expected? Drop a comment below or join us over on our social media platforms!

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