We've All Been the Scarecrow: The Genius of Death Wish

Voyager's second season has been a much better bag than I recalled but there's one episode which for me still rates in the show's top ten.

It's also been a LONG time since I've doen an episode retro-review and there was no better opportunity than this one.#

Death Wish brought Q to the Delta Quadrant and after his fleeting visit to Deep Space Nine I seriously thought this was going to be car-crash Star Trek from start to finish. Luckily I was utterly wrong and it turned out to be probably my favourite Q episode of the whole franchise.

I could argue that Q Who was just as powerful or that Tapestry kicked ass but looking at either of those stories, Q acts as a vehicle for a bigger story be it the unveiling of the Borg or the impact of Picard's unfortunate meeting with a Nausicaan knife. Death Wish on the other hand is a pure Q story that actually packs a punch and makes a point.

With not just one Q to contend with it could be seen as overkill but this avoids falling into the near-slapstick of Q-Less or the rather lacklustre teacher/pupil relationship that we saw in True-Q. Death Wish has a heart and a soul and perhaps even more so let's dive in - grief it's been a while since I've done one of these....

Freeing an errant Q is never going to be a clever move but Gerritt Graham - last seen as a Hunter in Captive Pursuit over on Deep Space Nine is very understated and airs a surprising amount of humility in comparison to De Launcie's arrogant, omnipotent super-being. De Lancie's Q holds a relationship with Janeway here that harks back to the more playful elements of his sparring with Picard in the earlier The Next Generation seasons. It certainly works better than his meeting with Sisko as that pairing was pretty brash and resembled the immoveable object and the unstoppable force.

While there is a serious point to Death Wish there are the diversions within the episode that make it sparkle with the power of Q from start to finish. The chase from the beginning of the universe, via a Christmas tree or the disappearance of all the male crew couldn't occur in any other Star Trek story and suggest that not all Q are created equal - which in essence is what the episode is all about and there are some that have more than one independent thought. Graham's Q is more understanding and much less manipulative than his long-serving counterpart, maybe representing what Q could have become if they hadn't become so passive.

Death Wish manages to weave not just a very moral Star Trek issue which Gene Roddenberry would have been proud of but also tips in a few nods for dedicated fans and followers of Voyager since Caretaker. There's Q's tease of returning the crew to Earth should Janeway decide in his favour which was one of the glaringly obvious ways they could have made the trip back. Fortunately it's handled in a manner befitting the personality of Q. 

But one of the draws here is the appearance of one Commander William T Riker. Unexpected but blatantly a ratings pull it could have been anyone at all but bringing in a recognisable face was a solid sure-fire winner and means that Frakes turns up in everything except The Original Series. The court scene involving Riker, Sir Isaac Newton and Woodstock electrical worker Maury Ginsberg (played by Maury Ginsberg!) is fitting and a little fun at the same time when we see how Graham's character has influenced their lives. Equally compelling and one of my favourite Voyager scenes is the explanation of the Q Continuum. 

Never seen before or again it's "dumbed down" for Janeway and Tuvok as well as the viewing TV audience to the infamous desert road gas station filled with silent, uninterested Q's who have been there and done that, travelled the road and yes, even been the scarecrow. This scene perhaps more than any other matches the two Q perfectly with great verbal sparring and retorts as Graham remains calm and De Lancie bites.

However what makes this an absolute killer Q episode is Gerritt Graham's second Q. A total counter to De Lancie's outgoing, sometimes offensive, childish, egotistical god-figure, Graham underplays the role and is almost apologetic for his existence as a Q from the start - and he isn't too hot on the old powers either, initially removing all the men from Voyager. Of all the "other" Q's we meet played by actors such as Suzie Plakson and Corbin Bernsen, Gerritt Graham easily steps into second place with his compelling portrayal. 

His demise at the end, while fitting, is still a surprise as even as the minutes ticked by I expected him to be let off the ship at an inhabited planet or flee Voyager in a borrowed shuttle. Having De Lancie's Q involved and finally realising that he's lost his supreme "Q"-ness was a great decision. The problem from that was both The Q and the Grey and the last ever Q episode, Q2 were undeniably rubbish.

Death Wish isn't a mad episode, it isn't grossly dark or Q at his maddest yet there's a story here from Michael Piller's son, Shaun, which is one of the best the show arguably produced in seven years and definitely produced within its first two seasons. I never tire of this one which does carry a weighty conclusion and is one of the more cerebral and tasking episodes that Voyager and maybe any Star Trek produced purely because it deals with a tender subject head on. 

One day I'd love to chat to John De Lancie about this episode. Voyager did Q a lot better justice in one episode than Deep Space Nine managed. It's a shame they wasted further opportunities so frivolously and this would be the last great Q episode in Star Trek history.

Was Death Wish as good as I suggest? Is it one of the best Q episodes from Star Trek?

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Shuttles Collection 1: Updated 24/04/22

Aaaaah Germany, how we envied you when it was announced that for a bit more dough you would be able to receive four shuttlecraft models.

Then how psyched were we in the UK to discover that these shuttles would be packaged up for us in one box and available before Christmas. The price was a little higher than expected but with a cunning code there was a decent discount and through the postal service they came (on the second attempt so thanks to whoever nicked my first set).

Presentation-wise it's a bit woeful with simply a shiny cardboard sleeve holding the four regular-sized shuttle boxes together. The magazines come loose inside the sleeve and every expense has been spared for your £75 if you paid full price. NB: The sleeve was upgraded from set two onwards!

Let's start as we should, right back at the beginning and the Galileo from The Original Series. Introduced mid-season meaning that Sulu had to freeze his ass off in The Enemy Within since the transporter was broken, the Galileo was a box with warp engines, nothing more or less made by AMT to satisfy the series and give them a model to flog.  In its mini form here Eaglemoss have done a great job reproducing the flat, simplistic lines of the craft as well as the signature rear landing leg and tiny twin warp nacelles.

Impressively the nacelles even have translucent bussard collectors which I was surprised to see on something of this scale although they did manage it on the Antares too. Including the Galileo is a bit of a must for this set especially with the recent (from issue 50 onwards really) inclusion of ships from the 1966-1969 classic series. I really do appreciate the finish here, the plain paint job and I have to say it's a brilliant - if expensive - reproduction and one that I would say is essential to any collection. Build-wise there's very little to complain about and even moreso to laud given the smaller scale. There were no bad joins, uneven surfaces, scuffs or cracks anywhere. The fit together was seamless and right across the hull there's nothing to scoff at. Even the transfers - again, teeny, are well applied.

Its probably the most famous of the lot especially with the original being recently restored plus of the four it has the more distinctive livery which is carried on every surface. While there isn't as much surface tech as the ships from the later series, the landing strut and rear engine structure on the hull are well realised and incredibly clear. There's also the solo entry door on the port side but for me it has to be that retro pennant which really stands out here. 

The only real grumble I have with the pack is the equally shrunk down magazines you get with each of the craft. At least there are four but each has just two pages devoted to the craft before the final two pages are covered with a reproduction of the lithograph LCARS image which is included in the box as a separate item! It does seem a waste of space which could have been devoted to filming, design or even episode appearances a la the main series of issues.

The stand you get with the ship is generic to all four with the sticker on the bottom being the only indicator of which came out of which box. To be honest the stands are a bit iffy given that they are just a flat base which doesn't clip or secure the shuttle to it. In three of the four shuttles they sit flat anyway so stands aren't a necessity (the Voyager Type-9 does have a slight list to the nose) but do add to that "model shelf" finish if you will.

The chunky Type-6 from The Next Generation has been a favourite of mine since I first caught sight of it in the series' technical manual back in '91. A more robust and functional design than the flared and over-compensating '80's child Type-7 used more often in the earlier seasons of the show it carries both the surname of a good friend of mine plus helped Scotty get away from it all at the end of Relics. Evidently Eaglemoss thought that its chunkiness needed some reinforcement as this is the heaviest of the quartet. 

Mine does have an annoying mark on the starboard hull plating just above the "...1-" point of the ship registry (you can just see it in the picture above) and some scuffing on the portside by the window as well as a generous finger print in the transfer so thanks for that. Unusually too is the point that the underside is rendered in metal while the top - and by that I mean everything above the centre line - is in plastic. The nacelles too are in plastic allowing Eaglemoss the chance to plumb in the warp exhausts in translucent blue.

Comparing her to the magazine cover, the engine markings, hull surface detail and decals are all spot on but what it does lack is a certain texturing of the hull that the image alludes to. Perhaps not aztecing as with the Enterprise-D for example but maybe a brushing of dirt here and there would have lifted the finished item just a little.

Saying that, you have to be a fan of grey, grey and grey if you're adding these to your shelves since all four are, well, grey since they are all Federation in origin.

The third shuttle, from Deep Space Nine is one which only appeared from the end of its sixth season and fleetingly in the seventh replacing a rather cumbersome shuttlepod which we had only seen a couple of times anyway (The Search, Part II). It's another great design and one which totally flipped the way we look at Star Trek shuttles in the same way that the designers broke the mold with the ship that carried it, the Defiant.

Instead of the standard hull with dropped-down nacelles, the Chaffee has its warp engines fitted into the top and rear of the craft making for a more streamlined and combat-ready support ship. Of the four this has to the be the one which is the most impressively detailed. The hulls on both the Goddard and the Galileo do bear the plating lines as does the Chaffee but in this instance the engine pod is two-tone painted with the warp reactor clearly visible along with some very nicely aligned Starfleet decals around the edges. Even on the top the paintjob has managed to highlight the raised and lowered areas of the hull without any horrible streaking.

Flipping her over the detail continues to be evident on the underside with more components clearly painted up in contrast to the grey, smooth hull. It's a grand job and one that I've liked a lot. 

Finally there's the instantly replacable (!) Voyager Type-9 Shuttle. So good that they built the
Delta Flyer in fact. But anyway, here is the smallest of the four special additions but that doesn't mean there's any degradation in quality. 

With a heavier metal upper hull it's the only one that really needs to rest on the stand since the weight pulls the front down over the shorter nacelles positioned far to the rear. Labelled up as the Cochrane (Shuttle 4), the paint job on mine does appear a little thicker than anticipated with not as much plating and surface detail definition as there is on the Goddard or the Chaffee. The nacelles still have a good finish to them with the translucent side panels in place and the Starfleet pennant adorning the top of each. 

As a pack it is very, very impressive if tainted by the high price. Rumour has it that there will be another shuttle set in the future. My guess is that this would include the Galileo from The Final Frontier, a shuttlepod or the Type-7 from The Next Generation, the Deep Space Nine shuttlepod from The Search and maybe the Enterprise version too.  (NB: Only one would be in set two but all four would eventually be included) That would give all the series a shot and include all the favourites. I even suggested in a previous article that there could be a third, alien shuttle set however the announcement of the Goroth Klingon shuttle from Bounty indicates that those might well be included in the main range - let's keep fingers crossed for the Romulan shuttle from In the Pale Moonlight then (which it was!!!)

I have to grit my teeth and say that, ignoring the price, Eaglemoss have provided just what fans will want, an excellent, well made and solid four shuttle set that does everything it needs to. These are original, unique and probably the best shuttle reproductions to date. Having the Defiant shuttle in there is a big bonus to us Deep Space Nine fans but the highlight has to be the Galileo with its retro styling and function over look. Well done to the collection, a real winner (especially if it was half the price). 

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20 Down with Attack Wing

The double release of waves 19 and 20 this month has meant a bumper Christmas for UK Attack Wing players.

Wave 20 has given us a second Federation and Romulan addition but we've also dropped in a new Delta Quadrant ship too.

First to the USS Hathaway. A Constellation Class ship featured in the penultimate second season The Next Generation episode, Peak Performance, its crew is made up of very familiar faces and it makes a nice "companion" ship to the recently released Ferengi Marauder Kreechta which was also in the same story.

Worth 22 points, the Hathaway has the standard Evade, Target Lock, Scan and Battle Stations actions along with slots for one Tech, one  Weapon and two Crew upgrades. Stats-wise there's a good three in attack, a single dice for defence, four hull points and three shield points. As way of a unique action, the ship lets you perform a free action from the four listed but it does incur the usual Auxiliary Power Token.

The model itself is, frankly, a let down. It's a teeny little ship and I would have hoped for something a little bigger seeing as there are other not-so large ships that have decent sized miniatures. The paintwork is ok here and not that all-encompassing silver that seems to find its way on to all the Federation ships of recent months.

Topping out at a speed of four, the Hathaway has every option available at speeds two and three, only forward and left and right banks at one and a single straight reverse which is unusual for a Federation ship. Both that reverse and the hard port and starboard at three are red.

Keeping in line with the episode, William T Riker is your new captain option and is a decent addition as he provides an extra boost to those underpowered starships in the game. When attacking or defending against a ship with a greater hull value than yourself, Riker adds an extra die to your roll. He's also bearing a respectable skill of seven and an average cost of four. Definitely a strong option to consider on those 20(ish) point starships.

Riker also provides a slot for an Elite Action and in the case of this expansion Improvise which lets your cowboy your ship to better an attack. Disable the card plus any number of upgrades to re-roll that amount of dice for attack or defence. Note that there's no maximum set (one or two) so this could be very useful on higher powered ships in your fleet. Having no limit could be a game-changing ability too and costs five points to apply.

Ok, to your trio of new crew and first up we have Geordi offering a cost reduction for all your Tech upgrades off the bat. Disabling the card also allows the addition of up to two die to your defence role determined by how many Tech upgrades you choose to disable. Now with Improvise as well this gives you a lot of opportunity to boost your defences on a ship that, here, only has a single die for defence. Why there are two very similar cards is a bit odd since you're more likely to take Improvise over La Forge.

For the second time in as many waves we have another Worf. This time an early version of the character costing five points. Again a defensive option, Worf forces your opponent to roll one less attack die and cannot spend any Battle Station or Target Lock tokens as part of the offensive. If the attacker has the Scan token and wants to use it against you they won't be able to either meaning you can roll your full defence. Nice to have this as a disable rather than a discard as I can see a lot of mileage in its operation if you're facing someone who likes to take full advantage of their Action Bar.

As with the crew of the Hathaway that Riker picked in the episode, we also have (and I think this is a first) Wesley Crusher. Now we've seen cards giving his sort of action before but in this case there are a lot better specifics over what and how this card operates whereas in previous instances there's been some "give" in terms of interpretation (see Cryogenic Stasis on the T'ong for instance). With Wesley you can choose up to three Federation Tech upgrades at the start of the game, each with a cost of four points or less and stick them under this card. To use one of the three during the game you discard the Wesley Crusher card and can deploy the feature even if it exceeds your ship's restrictions.

You can only use one of the three you originally pick therefore but this gives you a lot of flexibility during the game to adapt to the way events are going. I like the fact that this is very specific over how it operates and that it's four points max per card not four points in total. I'll apply this rule elsewhere.

Beyond this motley crew however there's not a great deal to the Hathaway. There's the complimentary Photon Torpedoes card with Time Token rules and finally a lone Tech upgrade in Warp Jump. Odd that in an expansion that is so focused on that technical side there's only one new feature in that area. It's also a move we've seen several times in that it allows you to remove the ship from the field of play and stick it back anywhere you want outside of range three of any other vessel and devoid of any applied tokens. Once more there's a cost of five points for Warp Jump but I think this is the first time such a feature has been available on a Federation ship. The most recent two iterations were on the Dauntless and the Krenim Time Ship. Additional bonus on this one that it's not locked to a particular ship or class of ship so I'll be fitting the Defiant out with it next time...

This expansion does feel a bit tired and Warp Jump could have added a lot more, perhaps even allowing your ship to appear at two points at the same time with some kind of game mechanic that an opponent firing on it has a 50/50 chance of hitting the "right" version.  I'd have liked to have seen more jury-rigging and temporary upgrades perhaps with the Hathaway to reflect its mothballed/haggard nature in the exercise.

The other huge shame is that the mission is a virtual duplicate of the one from the Kreechta Ferengi vessel which appeared in Peak Performance. It is more precise on using the Enterprise-D with Picard in command as your second Starfleet ship but other than that it's the same premise even down to the inability to use weapons against the Ferengi for five rounds. Lost chance to do something outside the box but it keeps the pack specific to an episode and a ship and I can see why they've chosen that route.

Second for unboxing is the Kazon-Halik Raider. Honestly I don't know how much use this is going to see as it's currently my lone Kazon ship and it's not classed as an Independent which is my preferred faction at the moment. It's a nippy little craft with exactly the same moves set as the Hathaway except that it also carries the come about 180 turn at speed three.

In the case of the model it's pretty decent and still one of the few small versions of the Raider available since Eaglemoss have yet to add it to their official line-up. 

The stats are fairly flat across the board with two in defence and attack with three for both hull and shield totals. You can upgrade her with two Weapon and two Crew slots with Evade, Target Lock and Battle Stations as your Action Bar options for a squadron point total of 20 points.

Seems pretty reasonable for the flat stats which gives you a little of everything in all areas for once. For reference the generic version of the Raider costs 18 points and loses a Weapon slot plus one shield.

Also in line with the Hathaway there's one captain expansion plus the usual in-box generic zero cost/one point skill. Surat costs three points and levels out with a Captain Skill of five. Given that the Raider only has three features in its Action Bar it's no real shocker that he lets you use the Scan token although there's a twist that it will mean receiving an Auxiliary Power Token if your ship doesn't have a Tech upgrade onboard.

Notably Surat doesn't have the Elite Action emblem and in line with that there isn't an Elite Action card here... Although seeing as other packs have had tech slots and no tech cards that's not saying a lot. 

For crew you get Kazon Guard and Lorrum with both costing four points. Kazon Guard lets you drop an Evade even if there's one already assigned to your ship. No ship can carry two of these and it is a one-shot discard. Pretty standard action there while Lorrum takes a brilliant spin on your main attack letting you roll a number of attack dice equivalent to the Squadron Points of one upgrade on the target ship (maximum of four). and you will have to discard the card. A decent chance to double the power of your primary weapon but a shame it's not reusable under the Time Token ruling.

A trio of weapon upgrades come with the Raider. Costing three points is Aft Torpedo Launcher. In comparison to a standard torpedo it's not as powerful, only using four attack dice and doesn't provide conversion of Battle Stations to damage and in the case of the Kazon version it can't be fired from your forward firing arc. It emphasises the lesser technology of the Kazon against the other Delta Quadrant races and the Federation while still enhancing the ship's meagre offensive capabilities.

Taking some of those missing torpedo abilities is Photonic Charges. Using the Time Tokens feature it drops an Auxiliary Power Token onto the target as long as there's at least one uncancelled Damage or Critical Damage result left. Good that there's a little bonus off the extra attack dice used on the attack (three) at a reduced range of one or two. Plus it doesn't require a Target Lock to be used nor is it a discard or disable. Thirdly there's the low costing Variable Yield Charges.  However with this one and in a similar vein the the Borg's Tractor Beam and Cutting Beam you'll need to have Photonic Charges aboard your ship.

Variable Yield Charges is in itself an upgrade for that upgrade turning a three dice attack into a four dice offensive but it does incur the wrath of the Auxiliary Power Token. I like the concept of being able to build up features on your fleet. A few more of these "super bonus" upgrades in the future would be great and if they could be linked back to other features on older ships it might make some lesser bolt-ons more favoured.

The final card from the pack uniquely doesn't use any of the upgrade slots available but gives a nod to a line of dialogue from Mortal Coil. Unremarkable Species makes the Kazon Borg-repellant. Assimiliation Tubules won't work on their upgrades and this feature allows the Kazon to roll two extra defence dice against the cybernetic lifeforms. At a cost of five points this is a must if you're choosing to face the Collective decked out in Kazon kit. I'm not sure who would actively choose to do this as I don't think in the long game it'll make that much difference to the outcome!

The pack mission comes off the back of the second season cliffhanger Basics with the Halik Raider tasked with eliminating the Nistrum-controlled Federation starship and a Kazon raider before they in turn destroy the colony on Runara IV. For once it's not a direct line from the episode and takes into account a theoretical situation rather than retreading episodes or, more tragically as we've seen in recent packs, retreading scenarios we've already played. Might even convince me to purchase another Kazon ship and have a pop.

Last in Wave 20 and the third retail Fighter Wing after the Federation Attack Squadron and the Cardassian Hideki Fighters is the Romulan Scorpion 4 set. Based on the attack fighters from the Scimitar in Nemesis, the model is a three-pronged stand carrying three very small and barely recognisable ships that are, individually, even smaller than the Delta Flyer. There's no detail on these three mini-blobs but you can, if I'm honest, just make out their shape. Just wish they were a bit bigger - suppose we'll have to wait for Eaglemoss for that!

So to the pack and for me this was my first fighter squadron. At 24 points it's mid-range but doesn't come with the usual set of Weapon, Tech and Crew upgrades. Instead it has its own set to choose from and you can pick a maximum of three.  The fighters can only use the Target Lock and Evade actions as standard but they aren't to be discounted if you take a closer look.

The other big differences to a "standard" starship are that they can only attack at ranges one and two and the way in which their stats are utilised in play changes as they take damage. Significantly the Captain Skill decreases as they take fire meaning you'll be moving earlier and shooting later (starts with a six).

The Scorpion 4 squadron can re-roll all blank attack results if it's performed a Come About manoeuvre and there's not the touch of an Auxiliary Power Token to make it any less attractive. Talking of manoeuvres, the squadron can push a top speed of three with a full range of motions at two and three including Come About although at three it will drop an Auxiliary Power Token onto your ships. 

We'll take the upgrades in line with their costs starting with the two-pointer. Reconnaissance lets you use the Scan action at the cost of an Auxiliary Power Token while three-pointer Thrusters lets you improve a revealed green manoeuvre by one speed point although it is a single use card. Being low cost these two will be tempting but you only have three slots to fill (two if you go for the generic squadron which costs just 20 points instead of 24).

At four points, Support Ship is your lifeline and definitely one to equip as it gives you a "last stand" option instead of destroying your final Squadron Token. Cover Fire allows you to increase the number of defence dice by the total of your primary weapon value and Cloaked Fighters does exactly what it suggests by name but does restrict your fighters to a speed of one.

What I appreciate about these four point upgrades is that there are no discard or disable restrictions meaning they can be used again and again and enhance your fighters for the long term rather than a single hit. It's one more thing that distinguishes the fighter squadrons from regular ships and has made them enticing for players to use.

The final four point card offers Torpedo Attack at ranges one and two. Upping the attack potential to four dice it can be fired forward or aft and does incur the use of Time Tokens to reactivate the feature. Certainly a reduced power photon torpedo this doesn't allow for any results to be converted for additional damage.

The final two cards from the Scorpion 4 expansion are five point blinders to deal that extra bit of damage on your probably larger opponent. Focused Strike is a classic allowing you to discard the upgrade to draw three damage cards on inflicting critical damage and pick which one of those you wish to hand to your opponent. A nice opportunity to pick the worst eventuality and hinder that Klingon fleet a little more.

The final card is Hidden Formation which works in conjunction with Cloaked Fighters. Adding the Sensor Echo feature to the squadron it does limit you to only side-sliding by speed one rather than a maximum of two. It can either be retained and used as a standard Sensor Echo or handed in to perform a second Sensor Echo as a free action. It gives you options if nothing else but there is a sense that some of the actions here would be standard on ships of the same point value and you could end up using a lot of points just to ensure you have the core basics provisioned on the squadron. There are a couple of nice options but outside of Focused Strike and Cover Fire you are plumbing in "normal" extras.

One good point though - the pack mission is 100% original. Advanced Assault creates a Dominion War scenario instead of playing out something linked to Nemesis and has the fighters accompanied by another Romulan vessel taking on three Jem'Hadar ships with the ultimate aim to deploy your forces to a planet to counter an invasion.

Please, please let this and the mission from the Kazon ship show that the upcoming waves will have unique missions to play through rather than episode retreads and that we might get some more single player options too.

Of the three it's the fighters which are my personal choice this time round adding another dimension to the Romulans and something out of the ordinary series of large class ships that tend to fill out each wave.

Talking of upcoming waves actually there were some announcements over the festive period indicating that we will be seeing a 25th, 26th and 27th waves (pics at bottom) and one other item at minimum.

Wave 25 includes the Romulan D-7 IRW Algeron, the Klingon Vor'Cha Class IKS Devona and the teeny Federation Type-7 shuttle Einstein. Wave 26 will offer the first new retail Galaxy Class starship since the starter pack with the USS Venture along with a new Borg Assimiliator 87 (same design as the ship from Descent) and Attack Wing's first Xindi ship, the Reptilian Warship. Finally with Wave 27 there will be the Oberth Class USS Yosemite, a third Valdore Class warbird with the IRW Jolan-Tru and the Xindi Aquatic Shp Calindra.

Perhaps the most exciting thing for Attack Wing in 2016 though will be the Weapon Zero Xindi sphere which will be debuting in the next few months. According to the information that is so far available it will be larger than the Borg Tactical Cube but smaller than the oversize Borg cube, measuring out at around four inches in diameter. It will be the most powerful game piece from the Enterprise era by far although how anything from that period will be able to stop it is another thing.

Which are you looking forward to adding and which are worth avoiding? Are you planning on adding Weapon Zero?


Wave 20 is available now with all ships recommended to retail at £11.99 each. You can track down your local stockist HERE

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2016 - Things to Watch in Year 50

Whoo hooo! Here we are, the final post of 2015 and in our now annual fashion, here's my thoughts on what 2016 - the 50th anniversary of Star Trek - will bring...

Looking back at my predictions at the end of 2014 I got a couple right. There was a trailer for the third movie, we had Green Lantern crossovers in the comics and we got confirmation that the Enterprise-A would make it into the Official Starships Collection. As for 50th anniversary announcements there were very little - a cruise, a special - oh and the news that we'd be getting a new TV series. Talking of anniversaries there were a few hookups of the Voyager cast celebrating 20 years but with the imminent 50th I think a bit of shine was taken off this event.

In regards to fan series, Star Trek Continues smashed it out of the park, bringing two new episodes to the screen with The White Iris and Divided We Stand, both of which were excellent stories. We're still waiting for The Holiest Thing from Star Trek: Phase II/New Voyages which only produced Mind Sifter in 2015. A story produced for an anthology many moons ago, it was a very different spin that brought Brian Gross to the show as the "new" Kirk.

The novels from Simon and Schuster did indeed head into more singular territory after the five book The Fall  series but we did get the third and fourth Seekers stories but the big hitter this year had to be Sacraments of Fire taking us back to Deep Space Nine. In terms of reference the long awaited Costumes book landed and was without question one of the best tomes to come out of the franchise since the Deep Space Nine Companion. Saying that I also think a worthy note has to go to the Captain Kirk autobiography "edited by" David Goodman if only for the note that I stormed through it on a weekend (now there's an endorsement). One final point from 2015's want list -  can we get Deep Space Nine in HD sorted this year?

While not everything did come to fruition,  what were my Star Trek highlights of 2015?

In terms of Some Kind of Star Trek I posted our 400th article and celebrated three years in existence. I managed to chat to Garrett Wang, Starships Collection master Ben Robinson and Larry Nemecek (and fanboyed out both times). The Starships Collection delivered the Enterprise-C plus the magnificent ECS Fortunate and has gone from strength to strength improving quality on the models every issue. Shame the customer service isn't as good as the build quality. Oh and there was that rather adventurous 30 day challenge in October.

One final highlight is having some fantastic and loyal readers and friends who have shared, commented,  written and on occasion hacked a few posts to bits for me when  it wouldn't quite work so thank you to all of you including: my wife, Melissa, for putting up with my constant Trek talk, my son Joshua for knowing all the starship classes on sight at age 3, my Dad for indulging me, Rob Gibson,  Damien Devlin,  Tiffany Groves,  Chris Groves,  Aaron Gallo, the Engage Podcast, the Geek Podcast, Mark Thwaite, Matt Goddard, James Patrik, Nils Walter Khan, James Rye, Dan Adams, Dan Foster, the team at Star Trek Anthology, Tim Hitchin from Esdevium, Rhedd Lewis, Kate Barber, Paula M Block,  Mark Cushman, Una McCormack, James Swallow,  Wil Ross,  David Limburg,  Katie Postma and Elicia Basoli from Disruptor Beam.  If I've missed you off I'm soooooo sorry but your help has been much appreciated in the last 12 months. 

So that brings us to 2016. What can we expect from the biggest anniversary in Star Trek history??? What are going to be the big things I can guess at? 

1. Star Trek Beyond

After a trailer that made it look like The Expendables rather than Star Trek we are promised that the finished product is more in line with the ethos of The Original Series than the miss-hitting Into Darkness. Simon Pegg has aired his views on the action-heavy Beastie Boys blasting 90 seconds we received a couple of weeks ago. Without question we'll be getting a few months of trailers, posters, (viral campaign?) and a lot of other promo work ahead of the July release. Am I excited? Yes because it's Star Trek on the big screen. No - because it's Star Trek on the big screen and we know what happened last time. There's a lot of promise from Pegg but having spotted the Enterprise getting obliterated AGAIN my level of optimism did diminish. For now though, I remain on the fence but other events in the world of fan films may also have a more direct and financial effect. More on that shortly.

2. The TV Series

Is this actually bigger and more important news than Beyond?

Twelve months from now we will be in a total frenzy. We will know the cast, have probably seen the ship, know the plot of the pilot and most likely the number of episodes in the first season. In fact we'll be weeks if not just days away from the premiere of the first new Star Trek series since Enterprise launched in 2001. The bad feelings already coming from fans when not even a frame has been shot is just ridiculous. How you can pass judgement on a show that's not been made is crackers. How big will this be? I don't know. I think it will have a huge audience for the pilot even if that's just because of the way in which CBS are planning to show it but I'd like to kpee fingers crossed that this is the dawning of a new age for the franchise in it's 51st year.

Tick list if you're reading this, Mr Kurtzman - space, final frontier, continuing voyages, Starship Enterprise. Job's a good 'un.

3. Fan Series

I have zero doubt that Continues will wow us all once more with Come Not Between the Dragons which is due Spring 2016 and for the last three years I have always flown the flag for both that webseries and Phase II however I'm very, very excited about three other projects that we'll be seeing more of in the new year. 

I could note Renegades too but after the first one I'm somewhat sceptical and reserve judgement until a more suitable time. In terms of the other big hitters we've seen fizzle a bit, maybe one day we'll hear more from Equinox and Captain Pike but for now there are a few which are gathering pace and interest.

First there's the much-hyped Axanar which will finally make its long-awaited appearance, we need to address Axanar. I had hoped we'd be getting some more footage but recent events have potentially sealed its fate for 2016 as the production team swap the bridge of the Ares for the law court. I hope there is an amicable solution to this which will shone favourably on both parties. For the moment though fans seem particularly anti-Paramount and CBS which could have implications on both Beyond and the 2017 series. However, will anyone outside of the hardcore fandom actually give a monkies and boycott "official" Star Trek? (thanks to +JamesRye for that point).

Second there's Horizon that will launch in February and finally there's the high concept Anthology set to explore three different aspects of the franchise. We're probably going to see Challenger and maybe early work in Mother in 2016 and I know how much passion and work the team is putting in. Must do a review of that trailer very soon... Good luck to all!

4. Merchandise

To say there's going to be a lot is the most stupid thing I could write but well, there will be. There are a couple of items I'm really looking forward to seeing. The Megabloks USS Enterprise looks far superior to the buildable version of the Into Darkness flagship. In terms of a model, the Weapon Zero game piece for Attack Wing has gone top of my "must have" items as both a keen player and collector. In terms of novels, I think that the next in David R George III's Deep Space Nine series, Ascendance, will be a must-read this year after the way in which he left us all hanging at the end of Sacraments of Fire.

On a side note I'm also looking forward to hearing the new soundtrack to Beyond from Michael Giacchino. His work on Into Darkness was easily the best thing about it and I don't expect to be blown away by any of the merchandise that will be associated with Beyond unless it's very, very special.

And finally, for the first time in 15-odd years there will be a brand new, updated edition of the Star Trek Encyclopaedia. Covering the whole history of the franchise it's more than overdue since the last edition only just covered Voyager let alone Enterprise. Can't wait for its arrival.

5. First Contact Day

Maybe a little Brit-centric this one but 2016 will see possibly one of the best Star Trek event lineups in the UK EVER (exception of Destination of course)  at this fan funded convention. Here we go; franchise actors Garrett Wang, Robert O'Reilly, JG Hertzler, Aron Eisenberg, Nana Visitor, luminaries  Larry Nemecek, Doug Drexler, Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch, Renegades' John Carrigan, Babylon 5's Claudia Christian, authors  Una McCormack, James Swallow... Oh and we'll be there too alongside media partners Star Trek Risa, Visionary Trek,  the Geek Podcast,  Trekzone and the Engage Podcast.  Three days of total Trek out in Telford. Book NOW. For those on other continents it might be the 50th Anniversary cruise or the Las Vegas conventions which will be floating your starship in 2016 but for us on this side of the water, this will be the biggie.

6. Timelines 

I cannot wait for this. Having been granted a short chat with exec producer Rich Gallup and following the story as Timelines has developed this is sure to be the Star Trek game of the year. Play virtually any character in numerous versions from across the franchise on board one of many ships and make the game what you want it to be. It's different,  it offers a ton of options making no two games and no two players have the same game.  Gowron as your doctor?  Sisko as ship's counsellor? Intendant Kira as your bartender? You can Make It So.

Graphically there seems to be nothing else close in the mobile gaming sphere even though Trexels gives you space and one on one combat to a degree. Watching the character, ship and mechanics evolve and be revealed has been really interesting since this team genuinely appear to have listened to fans and garnered a lot of information from their testing process. Timelines is as near to "the real"  thing as you'll get on a phone or tablet anytime soon and I believe this could mark a big change in the way Star Trek games have to be produced in the future. We won't accept second rate!

Let's just keep our fingers crossed there's no game to accompany Beyond after the last travesty and that the arrival of Timelines in January is everything we could hope for.

So there's my six things to watch out for in 2016. What are you looking forward to? What will your highlight of the year be?

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