Cochrane's Bird Flies Again: The Official Starships Collection Issues 64 and 65

Another new starships post within a week? Yes sir it is and this time were back on regular issues.

This time we're sticking close to the "early days" with both ships pre-Kirk. Starting us off is the iconic Phoenix from First Contact and a model that really should be one of the best in the collection hands down. It's one we've wanted, waited for and finally received but I'm a bit disappointed. 

What? Yes, I'm disappointed because I genuinely don't think this is up to the standard I was expecting but let's talk about the package as a whole and not just my gripes.

Firmly gripped amidships by the stand, the Phoenix is very light and well-balanced for display, modelled with the warp engines deployed as though about to take her momentous flight. The hull is in keeping with the "salvaged" vision of the movie missile with its surface wrapped with indents and raised sections of metalwork seemingly on every facet and displaying a wonderfully haphazard patchwork effect. Starting at the nose, the bubble windows are painted straight onto the hull in black making them one of the few things that isn't on point and seems out of place against the rest of the bumpy hull detail.

The great bit about the Phoenix is just how much there is packed onto the silvery-metallic hull and likely makes it one of the most accurate ships in the collection as far as panelling goes. That extends all the way down to the super-impressive rocket engine construction at the end/bottom of the Titan V missile. In both the upper plastic and lower metal the detail of the intakes, piping and rocket assembly is spectacular especially in the limitations of a small scale model. 

Comparing her to the images within the magazine it's clear to see that Eaglemoss have nailed this one when it comes to the physical aspects of the Phoenix even down to the red highlights dotted across points of the hull. Truly it's a masterstroke in diecast building and at the price it's a steal BUT I still have a few issues that have actually put me off the premiere warp ship.

There's a glaring seam line down the starboard side that's more than obvious and most of that gap is exposed in the very plain warp engine bays that line either side of the Phoenix. The other big issue I have is to do with those warp nacelles as the ones on mine are wonky as hell. One points slightly up and the other slightly down as well as neither lining up horizontally to the hull or each other. I've had a few tips given on how I might be able to realign so I'll update as and when I attempt that!

The build of the nacelles themselves is very good even if they are out of kilter. Eaglemoss have stuck in translucent bussard collectors, blue warp coils and even off-white exhaust "golf balls" in these two very tight tubes. The surface detail on them is also just as good as the rest of the hull although the white finish on them and the belly of the Phoenix does look a bit washed out and could do with another coat - a minor grumble in comparison to nacelle alignment!

My final point is that the much touted and referenced phoenix which Zephram Cochrane's painted on her hull is conspicuously missing. There's not a sign of the fated bird anywhere to be seen even in the views within issue 64 and it's a horrible omission I didn't expect (update - the phoenix wasn't painted on the ship in the movie so the Eaglemoss craft is actually screen accurate in that respect).

The Phoenix does demonstrates some wonderful advances in modelling due to the overwhelming evidence and attention to detail presented here but it's the bits hat are missing that do niggle with me. Don't get me wrong, it's a great ship and an essential purchase but I get a feeling that it was a bit rushed and things were overlooked and certainly quality control wasn't a high priority. She's also very clean and (I know, picky) but a bit of good old dirt weathering around the exhausts would have stepped it up a little.  

Y'know I just look at her and feel that it's not quite what I hoped. Perhaps my standards are a little too high or maybe it's because the last few issues have been that damn awesome that this feels like a dip in quality.

Once you've analysed every inch of the Phoenix you can turn your attention to the magazine. Oddly devoid of the usual ship identification the cover photo is a perfect match to the ship model. There are some top-notch images in here of the ship from all angles but the text for the profile section is very easily skippable if you're familiar with First Contact and even the plan views add very little fans will not already know.

The big hitter for issue 64 has to be the Designing... feature. Fortunately running over four pages it breaks down the history of the ship in the real world as well as providing some rarely seen images from the creation process and a great shot of the reactor assembly that needed to be scratch built. Luckily the production team had a real Titan missle to work with and redress so there's a lot of info on how that all came to pass. 

One section that might entice people into buying the recent book on Costumes covers some of the choices around the outfits designed for the Enterprise crew during their away mission to 21st Century Montana. If you've read the book it is, again sadly, not going to blow your mind with new background but keeps the magazine in line with the ship and the eighth Star Trek movie (which of course is the screen appearance).

Right, gripes over and onto the Xindi-Aquatic Cruiser. I had a bit of a head-scratch because it's backwards on the magazine cover and I wasn't sure if I had her the right way for a few minutes.

Much bigger in "reality" than the Xindi-Insectoid fighter we had some moons ago but smaller as a model, the cruiser is a ship that will err into the realms of completist rather than casual collector. It's also the first Enterprise ship I've felt hasn't been that impressive. Yeah, we're having a good month aren't we?!

With squidy origins immediately evident, the majority of the hull is covered in a pseudo-organic two-tone grey blotch pattern with the edges of the ship lined with an appropriately aquatic shade of green. While the surface is well-defined and precisely coloured, it's the lack of transparencies evident across the ship and painted dark green here which let it down. I appreciate that the ability to fit tiny transparencies would be near impossible so we have to "make do" here. Strange too is the note that the edges of the ship in green on the model are nowhere near that shade on the images in the magazine suggesting that there was some colour editing before the ship hit the screen.

The underside doesn't continue the blotch paint work and instead shifts to a basic two shade grey finish topped off with the watery-green and dark green highlights. To be honest there's not a lot to look at on the underside apart from marvelling at the panel lines and the shuttlebay which merges into the hull rather too well. There's also the odd plastic bottom insert section to make up the plastic quota for this issue that also gives two near-translucent windows to the rear but these will be covered by the stand.

Ah yes, the stand. It's got to be one of the worst in the history of the collection. Not since the Romulan Warbird have I wondered as much if the ship will be performing it's own planetfall. It clips around the rear of the cruiser and needs a firm push to make sure it stays there. To be fair I'm not sure if the ship will go first or the stand snap due to the pressure of the tail fins pressing into the clips.

It's not a bad model per se but it is one of the least inspiring and does leave me wondering why we've had ships such as this ahead of the Kazon Raider, the Fesarius or the Suliban cell ship. It's not one I'd clamour for and is without question my least favourite of the Enterprise series so far. Is it the worst? No, but I can't think of many more that have been less exciting to receive or impressive to display.

Although I feel I've underdone it on the Aquatic cruiser, the magazine is a good read covering a subject - and a race - that we don't get to know a lot about in the form of the Xindi. My knowledge of the "villains" from the third season is fairly limited so gaining some background information was more than welcomed. The ship profile has thoroughly gleaned what it can from the show in regards to the vessel but it does stray into storytelling the events of the season it appeared in all too quickly. The Creating the Aquatics section demonstrates how the later show tended to push the boundaries in terms of alien species and utilise the ever-improving realms of CG to create new lifeforms from the frontier.

The very water-based nature of the Aquatics is addressed in John Eaves' design of their ships which initially appeared in the  Azati Prime episode as the Xindi prepare to launch Weapon Zero at Earth. This design section has to be my high point of this month's releases, stretching over six pages and filled with Eaves' sketches and recollections of the cruiser's creation. I just wish every issue had this section because it's the kind of thing fans love and I thoroughly enjoy getting to understand the process from idea to seeing the ship take flight on screen. Closing out we have the episode focus being Countdown and Zero Hour which ended the Xindi arc and the third season to boot.

Our next two issues are due mid-February and that'll see the USS Raven from Voyager and one more from The Original Series; the Klingon D-7 battlecruiser. For now, January has provided us with some nice ships but they just don't feel as stellar as the range we've been treated to in the last few months. Yes I am a bit disappointed because of the Phoenix more than anything but they are still a lot better than the earlier ships and at least one of these two is an essential for any collection despite it's "errors".

Where will the Phoenix be sitting in your collection? Is the Aquatic ship the weakest Enterprise model to date?

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Impossible Threat? Borg Tactical Cubes in Attack Wing

What’s worse than a Borg Sphere? A Borg Tactical cube! The armoured nightmare, making its only appearance in Unimatrix Zero, has actually received two versions for Attack Wing as Dan and Clive explain...

The first version, Tactical Cube 138, was released last year into retail and, while we only ever saw one cube on screen, Wizkids have released a second, Tactical Cube 001. This edition however was given to overall winners of their Resistance is Futile OP event. So let's take that retail version first. 

What is immediately apparent before you even open the packet is the size of the cube itself. Significantly larger than the standard ships but still a fair margin off the oversize cube, the Tactical Cube is a formidable and intimidating presence in Attack Wing and that's before you take a look at its features. The plastic base is also larger than normal to accommodate that armoured shell and increased size.

Weighing in with six attack and zero defence you might think that WizKids have made the Borg noticably arrogant (and overpowered) in their gaming form but with nine hull points and eight shield points to beat it certainly balances the fact that they can't stop an attack on basic ability alone. It weighs in at a colossal 46 points (more than every other ship bar the two oversize craft) so playing a 50 points-per-ship game doesn't give you a lot of room to move here so it's likely to be played in a one vs two (or more) scenario to even the odds.

As with all Borg ships the cube offers Target Lock, Scan and the vital Regeneration plus the unique feature that the Borg Ablative Armor upgrade in the pack costs three less points to equip. Along with that Borg upgrade you can add on three weapon, one tech and another Borg card to your ship. For smooth moves you have everything forward and at 90 degrees between speeds one and four plus reverse up to speed three which is certain to play a part given very few other ships can manage such feats. The higher end forward and back speeds do lumber you with an auxiliary power token but given your fire-power and upgrades there's not a lot you're going to worry about here.

If you're looking for a detailed model then I would push you more towards the recent Eaglemoss cube. Although a bit smaller it's a better replica with much finer attention to detail on the surface and, I suspect, a closer tie to the screen appearance. Leading your charge there are a couple of choices. At the head of that queue is the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson version).

What you need to appreciate with the Borg as we look at the captains is the use of Drones. Each Borg captain is assigned a certain number of Drone tokens at the start of the game and these can be spent during the game. It might be a free action or the level to which an upgrade can be effective but we'll come to each as we meet it on each ship. What spending a token means is that your Captain Skill decreases every time one is used.

So to the Queen because she allows you to spend one of those tokens to perform a free action. Also if the ship on which she is assigned gets destroyed then you can switch the Queen over to another Borg vessel in your fleet replete with her full compliment of eight Drone tokens. Starting with eight tokens the Queen costs a high six points but does have that amazing flexibility plus an Elite Action slot.

Your other option is to take on the Tactical Drone at a cost of four points and a starting skill of six. With this captain you can spend three of those tokens to maintain your target lock after it's been spent. Not sure how big an advantage this is compared to some of the other Borg command options and I'd rather spend another two points for the Queen.

The solo Elite Action is Assimilated Access Codes which comes at a cost of five squadron points and a discard. Up to three Drone Tokens can be used here to disable an equal number of enemy shields or you can flip a cloak token. Handy little upgrade but a hefty cost for one use when it would be cool to have it for a couple of goes at least. Definitely one for use against Romulans or Klingons I would hazard.

You kind of get the feeling this pack was designed with one thing in mind and that's more obvious as you only get one crew card, Four of Twelve, who, once more, is a discard for a more appetising two point cost. You'll need to spend one of those scarce Drone Tokens too if you want to remove an Evade, Scan, Battle Stations or, more enticingly, a Target Lock token from beside your intended victim. Considering the lack of defence on the cube this would be one to keep in the back pocket when things start to look a bit grim since it might mean the difference between escape or defeat especially if you can remove offending target locks.

Also solus to the pack is Self Destruct Sequence as your only Tech upgrade. Cancelling the chance to move or act it comes into play at the end of the Activation Phase once everyone has moved. You then roll the number of dice equivalent to your hull value (a staggering NINE in this case) which then damages every ship within range three. Nor can the enemy defend against this unless it has a Scan token assigned. Undeniably a huge endgame suicide move I guess this is a big decision especially if you're firing all nine results at each ship individually. Thing is the card doesn't specify if you need to split the result or not. I'd say not but heck it's not one many will walk away from.

The larger number of upgrades with the ship come in the Borg and Weapon upgrades (surprise, surprise) and if you're looking for inexpensive and reusable the best start is Borg Alcove. An Action card it allows you to add a Drone Token back to your captain but no more than the original starting number. No catch either and no discard or disable so you can effectively use this every single round and it only costs four points. Just have to wonder if you'll have enough slots/upgrades to utilise this properly. Secondly there's Borg Ablative Hull Armour. Additional defence plating is a bit of a recurring theme in Attack Wing with Voyager, Defiant and Prometheus being three ships I can immediately think of that carry the card or its near-as-dammit equivalent. Converting critical damage hits into normal damage will keep your cube going a bit longer without too many technical hitches and increases your shielding/hull by a further four points. Worth it for a ten point super-cost? Probably since your came might keep running a bit longer BUT you are taking a huge point hit for the feature.

The killer Borg Tractor Beam we first saw in Q Who makes a slicing appearance here and costs a large seven points but you don't need to disable or discard this either after just one round. Effective at the rather close-for-comfort range one there's no condition to its activation. If you want it, stick the included tokens next to your Borg ship and the target vessel. 

Notably it works against cloaked ships and disables two the craft's shields. Nor can shields be raised or a cloak initiated while the beam is active. But what else does it do? It restricts the enemy movement to just speed two and allows you to implement the stupid-weapon-of-total-destruction, the Cutting Beam. Now talking of huge costs with the Ablative Hull Armour, this takes eight points BUT you'll have to have the seven point Tractor Beam as well. This makes the ability to use this ten dice attack at 15 points all-in. Luckily it's "only" a disable and not a discard or there would have been blood and is an unusual two-card combo which relies on a high price. However, it's going to be ridiculously effective even if you are going to need to be at touching distance to use it.

Rounding out your Tactical Cube are two cards each with a six point cost and part of your Weapons choices. Borg Missile drops a four dice attack within range two but before you wonder why you would drop two dice from a primary attack for this, hear me out because this one is probably worth a shot. For each normal or critical damage result you get to slap an Auxiliary Power Token and obliterate an active shield plus there's no defence roll so you're almost guaranteed to do some damage. It's a fine example of how over-powered the Borg are in Attack Wing and certainly something to make them feared. I'd hate to run into a cube armed with this and that Cutting Beam - but considering the massive costs that's not very likely. 

Final Assault does equal your primary weapon roll with six dice and insists (yes, really) that you split the result between two or three different ships. Big revolutionary move allowing a double/triple attack on one shot. Worse is that if you play this on the Tactical Cube you get to use nine - I said NINE - dice to throw around. Blub. You're dead.

Closing the expansion is the Deliver the Nano Virus scenario which takes its lead from  Unimatrix Zero. While I don't enjoy that two-parter that much the mission is great to play as your Federation player hops on and off the cube to thwart the Collective. Having a two-on-one scenario is a must or the Federation player would be screwed in about four goes. Luckily having backup means there's a fair chance for success especially if you choose to play by the amended Borg rules which I did to see how they would work. For note I stuck the Thunderchild and the Defiant against it and won. Just.

So, Dan...what's the deal with this prize cube?

The second cube, the prize expansion, has a lot of cards that are themed around First Contact. Firstly in command is the Borg Queen, based on Alice Krige’s portrayal of the role. Like most of the Borg captains, she comes with a set number of drone tokens, the starting number (in this case nine) represents their Captain Skill.

You spend a drone in order to do the actions on the relevant card, thus reducing your Captain’s initiative. For example, this Queen card allows you to spend six tokens in order to disable two upgrades on an enemy ship. A nice ability, however, it’s fairly situational. You have to be in range one, and it maybe that the target ship doesn't have any upgrades to disable. Also, by spending those drone tokens, it does reduce the Queen to a skill level three, meaning that unless you have an upgrade that allows you to increase drone tokens, she will be a level three for the rest of the game.

Another upgrade is a Borg version of Data, representing our favourite android during the 0.68 seconds when he was tempted by the Queen. In this pack, he allows you to spend a token in order to disable a nearby captain and take a free scan action. A nice upgrade, and one that works very well with the Queen who has nine tokens to spend. The elite talent (command interface) lets you discard it to re-roll a single dice.

I don’t like this one as five points seems like a steep price for re-rolling a single dice once per game, especially when Interplexing Beacon lets you do much the same thing, but at range 3 for 3 less points and 1 to 2 tokens for 1 to 2 dice respectively. Finally, rounding out the pack is the Borg Maturation Chamber. This Borg upgrade allows you to regenerate all of your drone tokens. At six points, it is a bit expensive, but its nice if you need to get your Captain’s drone levels back up. Lastly, versions of the Borg Tractor Beam, Borg Cutting Beam and Borg Missile are included here. 

The ship itself allows you to discard your Borg upgrades to cancel opponents hits or critical hits. A nice ability for a last ditch situation, but if I were playing Borg in a situation like this, I would try to get away from my opponent and use the regenerate ability before returning to the fray. 

The ship physically differs from the retail cube in that it is made of translucent green plastic. It’s difficult to convey in photographs, but it looks different enough from the previous version. Online videos have shown many hobbyists breaking their Borg ships open and installing green lights in order to give their ships a green glow. While I would never dream of attempting this myself, this cube is probably more conducive towards that end. 

How does this ship play? Well, her high points cost puts her in the same bracket as Deep Space Nine, meaning that you get to put up to eight points of upgrades on there (if you're playing 50 points per ship), hence my unhappiness with the high cost of the various upgrades on here. 

The ship is further hampered in tournament play by changes to the overall rules that affect the Borg. Firstly, ships with a base 360 degree firing arc can now only fire at a maximum range of two. Secondly, the Borg movement mechanic has been changed so that instead of spinning and then moving, ships move then spin, meaning that a Borg Cube will usually only go backwards or forwards. 

Having run this ship in tournament play, I can confidently say that she is still a formidable beast. With 8 shields and hull she can take a pounding, and with six attack dice she can give them out too. However, with no evade, she won’t last forever...

There we have it - the two available Tactical Cubes. Horribly over-powered and under-defended but hey, at least it gives the other players a bit of a chance to win.

Borg fan? Borg hater? What's your stance with the Attack Wing behemoths?

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You're in Command: Star Trek Timelines

For the last two weeks I've had the fortune to be playing the beta version of Star Trek Timelines and this week it's gone live across the world!

For months we've been waiting for its arrival, to play this generation spanning adventure that we hoped would rock the Star Trek gaming world. So, after two weeks of testing and as it now drops onto the phones and tablets of Trekkies everywhere on iOS and Android, what do we really think? 

It's like no other mobile Star Trek game you have ever played. Fact.

I could just end the review there and leave you to download it but let's get a little closer and have a better taste of game play. Set aside Trexels, maybe even pause Online because here's something new and very close to the original material. 

At the core of Timelines we have a temporal anomaly which has brought characters and ships from different times into one place hence you can be fighting a Constitution Class in its original styling with a Constellation class ship one minute then having Sisko, a Hirogen and Uhura teaming up for an away mission the next. On one mission you're at Regula One, then in a heartbeat you're orbiting the Caretaker Array - yes, the possibilities and combinations truly are endless with Timelines via this wonderous plot device. 

Reed - slightly proficient in Command and Security. Rubbish at Medicine. 

As you progress through the game completing episodes or cashing in prize funds you'll gain additional characters who can join your crew and provide a healthy bundle of benefits. There are six distinct skill sets; Command,  Diplomacy,  Science, Medical, Engineering, Security and each character carries a combination of one or more of these abilities and at differing skill levels. Got it? Good, because each character will also have certain personality traits that will provide extra bonuses on away missions and help complete tasks more effectively. For example, Ezri Dax has the Medical skill but doesn't have the Doctor personality trait which could leave some paths through an episode segment locked until you have a suitable candidate (e.g. McCoy) but then you might need to level him up in turn to finish the job. One issue here is that the Train and Advance buttons don't respond to touch very well and require numerous "taps" to try and level up your character. Very annoying and something I hope is fixed soon.

Each task within the episode path will tell you if it's easy, medium or hard to complete for the characters you choose to fulfil the mission and that's the big winner for Timelines. You truly do have the chance to make each and every decision, learn from your mistakes, try different combinations and even replay multiple episode acts different ways and with different characters to collect all the rewards available. So far I've only had the chance to play though episodes focused on the Klingons/Augments and a second starring the Maquis/Cardassians/Bajorans but there's been a lot of variety just in these. Besides the action elements you also need to talk to the races you encounter to turn them into either allies or enemies and thus gain further reward through conversation choices.

In regards to the rewards they help level up the skills of your characters by providing then with equipment which can be either purchased one-off or will need to be built from components. That can take some time but you can buy them with the rare dilithium or with accumulated credits dependent on the pricing.

Constellation Class is your starter mode of transport

Levelling up can take a but of time when you start accumulating a crew and it'll keep you busy for a few hours at least -  need to get Promoted Sisko a phaser rifle? Well replay a story from episode one and you might find it....

In addition you can drop crew with required skill sets on diplomatic shuttle missions which will see them locked from standard play for a couple of hours but might bring back some needed component rewards and help with the episode you're playing. And why?  Because each shuttle trip takes you to a particular faction be it Klingons, Maquis, Dominion... And will help secure a faction's  victory which may get you some higher skilled crew. I was a bit picky here since the Dominion's homeworld is Xindus and the Hirogen have their "home" at Pollux IV?!

I loved getting new crew and finding how great or useless they could be. Hirogen Donik (from Voyager's Flesh and Blood), Promoted Sisko (The Adversary) and Desert Ezri (Shadows and Symbols) became firm favourites as did Commander Spock if only for his superior science skills that saved more than a couple of missions from going south. There were some duffers too; Cardassian Investigator Odo (Necessary Evil) was a poor choice with a low security score,  Simon Tarses from The Drumhead did little to set the world alight in medical or diplomacy but just seeing that they were included demonstrates the incredible attention to detail that had gone into the creation of Star Trek Timelines. 

Indeed there were a few moments of "Really...?!?!" when both Keiko and then Nurse Ogawa appeared or I realised that I could use clean-shaven Wil Riker in a more useful fashion. In my crew for the full game I now have,  finally,  some decent medical staff but my engineering skills are lacking. That and I now have two versions of Wesley.  Does someone hate me that much?! 

Oh and just so even looking at your roster isn't a dull affair each character has been loaded up with a few choice soundbites. Great for the first few hours but there's only so many times I could listen to Sisko bemoan war being the only hope before it got muted.

The images and detail that have gone into not only creating the look of each character and in some cases multiple versions of that character is just astounding and we have been teased that more will be coming in the future as the game expands and develops. I cannot wait to see who they add for the second release.

Perhaps there is one big failing with Timelines however and that comes in the form of space combat. Over the course of the beta testing there were two versions released. The first relied on a lot more planning and perception to defeat your enemy and progression would be determined by how much damage you received. The updated version was much more button bashing and a lot less skill requiring more patience to wait for a skill recharge than actually thinking of your next positional tactic to take out that rusty Bird of Prey. It is a big problem and one that is really crushing since the other aspects I've played as so damn good and immersive -  space combat is a bit of a slap in the face. That said it does seem ever so slightly harder in the "real" game now released so it seems there might have been some further tweaking before launch.

As with the majority (it seems) of games available in the mobile sphere, there is a paid element to this "freemium" product. Chronitons are your cash to open and play each episode segment and fully recharge (to 40) in about three hours with each "turn" costing between four and eight points so they do get used quickly. You can of course buy more by depleting your Dilithium supply but that too is finite and requires cold hard cash to replenish. Dilithium is the gold of the game and with it you can purchase better characters, ships and equipment from the Time Portal. Regular points acquired from the game will get you items but at a lower skill and star level (usually one or two star max while Dilithium can get you a five star character). 

Yes it's annoying when you run out of points and have to replay levels to build up skills or credit but that's the nature of the mobile gaming beast and there will be people paying for those skills as well as the VIP perks which also assist in your play. Also Dilithium is your currency at the Dabo Wheel where you can gamble some funds to receive a random item - no guarantees what it might be though!

It's also a shame because I didn't get chance to fight in anything other than a quad-engined Constellation Class nor did I get an opportunity to experience the feature of assigning crew to areas of your ship but I'm guessing there were some bits held back for launch to keep us all super-excited. Having a hunt around though there is a large diversity of ships too - Voyager, the D'deridex Class Warbird, a Maquis Raider, the HMS Bounty Bird of Prey, Defiant and many, many more each with it's own foibles available when you collect their schematics in the same way as equipment.

Due to the beta being updated I didn't have a chance to play the second style of space combat in PvP but I suspect it may have been better in its first iteration. Sadly in the second beta the Delphic Expanse story was locked which did limit my exploration a little although in the full version it is now back open. PvP is still "coming soon" however but at least I can add up some friends and level up a few times to stand me in better stead when it does come available.

There are just so many different facets and ways to play with Timelines that this is a game that is never going to be boring. I know there will be paid ways to increase your abilities and level up quicker but if we look past that to the essence of the product I think it's very clear to see that Disruptor Beam have done fans proud from every angle. I loved testing the game and in the fortnight I ragged the beta version it didn't crash a single time; not one and for that I give a decent amount of kudos to Disruptor Beam. 

If this game was built around the space battle concept it would be a flash in the pan and I'd be putting it down very quickly. Yes, this piece has its issues but it doesn't make up the majority of the game which is otherwise amazing. The return value is certainly there because I tend to be sending out shuttle missions with frightening regularity to help boost stats and get to the end of that next episode. Having Sisko with a Diplomacy of 70 is fine but I can't do anything when he faces a challenge with a level of 80!

Timelines, even with its glitches, is still the bar to which all future Star Trek mobile games will have to aspire and be judged by and at the moment it is the final playable frontier. 

So I'm off to play once more and if you happen to chance across Defiant's Cloak on your screen at some point, add me up and say "Hi!" (my DBID is 519739818684416.

What's been your favourite part of Timelines? What characters are you finding the most useful or is there a tactic you've discovered? Let me know here!

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Take a Look in the Mirror: The Official Starships Collection's ISS Enterprise

While not a totally new model, the ISS Enterprise special from the Official Starships Collection arrived this week.

TOS on the left, Mirror on the right

The original Constitution Class ship launched as the 50th issue (seems a long time ago now) but this marks the first web-shop direct special starship available to fans - and no, I haven't forgotten about the shuttles.

At the same price as a regular issue plus the delivery fee there's not really much to grumble about when it comes to the cost of this "M1" issue. OK, some might complain because we've effectively had this one already but there are some significant differences that make it well worth adding into your collection.

So let's take a trip back to a time before Deep Space Nine crossed over and brought us the Intendent, a time before we cringed at the idea of letting Quark loose on the Other Side in The Emperor's New Cloak and after/before Enterprise nailed it with In a Mirror, Darkly. A much simpler, more brutal time if you will...

First up there is the obvious name change from USS to ISS. It's not mind-blowing and is only a letter different but I can't remember the last time someone dared to produce it. But that's the smallest change as we also have a new set of Terran Empire world/dagger emblems in black emblazoned across both nacelles and at the front of the saucer.

Finally to the nacelles where the Mirror Universe ship has retained the bussard collector aerials and the grid exhausts to the rear in the style of the model as was for The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before. Sadly though the oversized deflector dish noted in the magazine has not made the transition into die cast.  Essentially this is the USS Enterprise from The Original Series and issue 50 with different engines and some restickering which means that deflector omission does sting a little bit. Had it been included then this would have been a perfect reproduction but I do feel a little chested since it isn't.  Add to that the point that the colour of the dish is also incorrect and therefore uncorrected from the issue 50 release. Damn. 

TOS on the left, Mirror on the right

As for build quality it is identical to its Prime Universe counterpart even down to some iffy seams on the port side. The stand clip for the saucer will need some filing down again as it's a tight fit and will scuff the dish at the rear.

Compared to the minimal shuttles magazines,  the "M1" issue is an excellent read. Missing out the standard ship views in favour of content (yes, actual content), it's a more than admirable companion to Mirror, Mirror.  Taking us through the details of the ship and the differences to the USS Enterprise, we also get a chunk of info into the Mirror crew, as well as the story behind the classic second season episode. There's more importantly a glimpse of what could have been if William Shatner and the Reece-Stevens had completed their Mirror Universe episode. This is the key piece in this magazine because it - allegedly - was tantalisingly close to happening in season four. Instead we got In a Mirror, Darkly which isn't a bad thing but that potential Kirk return remains a tempting morsel of Enterprise that could have been.  Well worth a note is the artwork here with some spectacular original images of the ISS Enterprise in CG and from the remastered episodes (which are getting some decent exposure recently in the main issues).

This special will not be for everyone since it does duplicate 95% of the 50th issue model but does have those little tweaks that will draw fans to it because it reflects not just the possible from the Mirror Universe but also the original design of the ship for the two pilots (If you are looking to a more detailed review on the main body of the model I didn't want to repeat myself so you can find that under the issue 50 review). To conclude, I'm pretty pleased with this as a package. Not too expensive, well presented and oddly under-marketed it's a completists delight if only for the minor alterations.

Added the ISS Enterprise to your fleet? Was it worth the purchase?

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Star Trek: The Flaws Awakened

I may have descended into cheese title territory but there's good reason.

I managed to see The Force Awakens on launch day -  actually at 11.45 pm so only just -  and knew I needed to talk about it as soon as the credits rolled.  However, I wanted to leave it a couple of weeks to avoid spoiling it for anyone and also to let the dust settle on what has been nothing less than a record annihilating run for the seventh movie.  What I want to talk about is how it relates to the current state of Star Trek. If you've not seen it, please click away now. I don't want to ruin the movie for you.

Initially I was surprised that the Beyond trailer didn't show with Star Wars here in the UK. Instead we got Deadpool, Independence Day: Resurgence, World of Warcraft and Daddy's Home. Whoop.

But as the closing theme boomed out and we start counting down to both 2016's Rogue Squadron and 2017's Episode VIII, there were a few issues that bugged me.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it even if I did think it echoed a lot of moments from the original trilogy especially A New Hope and I look forward to seeing it again. I loathe to admit it because it's got everything from the Millennium Falcon to cool new Stormtroopers, a booming soundtrack and even more. Thing is, JJ Abrams now has a lot to answer for when it comes to Star Trek. 

From the perspective of a Star Trek fan, The Force Awakens was a movie made with great love, appreciation and understanding of what made the original Star Wars trilogy great.  Abrams managed to keep his personal fan indulgence in check and produced a damn fine movie that did precisely what it needed to do plus banish some bad Binks memories. He should be proud not just of the box office takings but of the movie itself although I suspect Laurence Kasdan will have been very useful in the scripting department. 

But in the very way it impressed me and engaged me for two fleetingly short hours, in the back of my mind there was a sole, painful question; Why?

Why did JJ Abrams treat Star Trek in the way he did, even admitting recently that the plot of Into Darkness was full of holes and regrets as well as filling the two reboot. movies he made with god-awful lens flare? If he didn't appreciate the show and understood what made Star Trek great he should have stayed away and waited for the Star Wars gig. 

The way in which Abrams has honoured Lucas' 1977 vision, reproduced the signature scene wipes, memorable characters and the very essence of what made Star Wars great. A marvellous restoration job indeed sir and just what the Star Wars fans wanted. 

Go back eight years and JJ Abrams took Star Trek and did the opposite, instead of going back to its roots and the Roddenberry ideal, he chose to make it his own. I admit there had to be changes and it had to be brought into the present day but to be as drastic as Abrams was came as a jolting surprise to many although it did supposedly open up Star Trek to the larger mainstream audience who had steered clear for decades. Now in the case of Star Wars the damage had been done with the prequels and JJ came along to realign it with the fourth, fifth and sixth episodes and the ethos surrounding them. Funny to think that in the case of Star Trek he may be the one that has done the damage which Pegg, Lin and co are now trying to "undo" if you will (although we've all seen the trailer so I can't be totally convinced that's going to happen).

I suppose the issue is the size of the fandoms and the voice that each carries. In the case of Star Wars the fanbase is colossal and appeals to people of all ages although it was intended for kids. Star Trek on the other hand has had its moments of being incredibly pretentious and closing itself off from the general public. While we can say 'how dare he'  to Abrams for his remaining of the universe the box office takings plus the scores on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes and Box Office Mojo have to be taken into consideration. He has,  without question,  rejuvenated two franchises with stunning  box office success -  in fact if you plug in Mission Impossible it's three. 

It absolutely stings when you then look at Star Trek and see how shockingly Abrams appears to have toyed with the franchise if you're a fan of "Prime" storytelling. That said he did stick around for two movies rather than bowing out after just one as he is doing with the Disney-owned sci-fi series. But maybe the point is that while Star Wars has elements that appeal to all ages in its effects,  space battles and galactic mythology,  Star Trek doesn't or more precisely didn't until Abrams dragged it from the obscurity of that Enterprise finale into 2009 and here we are now waiting for a third installment which he will be producing. 

Much in the same way that no-one outside of the core fanbase will be affected or care about the legal wrangling over Axanar,  the general public will probably go and see Beyond in their droves because Abrams has done what has been required and the same is true of Star Wars. He gave back what was needed in that case while for Trek he opened it to the mass market and took out the deep and meaningful that turned many away. 

But let's drag this back to some sort of conclusion before I drift away into a clutter of words. It did feel that Abrams abandoned Star Trek after Into Darkness to follow his dream and you can sense what The Force Awakens means to him. It's a film where you feel for the characters, fall in love with a bowling ball droid and bathe in waves of legend and nostalgia without sinking in a sea of green-screen backgrounds. That emotional attachment and the connection to the characters is something which he did miss with the two reboot Star Trek's. NB: This is not me transferring my allegiance!

If Abrams had wanted to indulge just the existing fanbase for Star Trek he could have given them something full of intricate meaning and self-explanation but instead we got something nearer to a Flash Gordon serial and, possibly, Star Wars. I suppose that's actually why it hurts because The Force Awakens has been such a huge success and Star Trek becomes even more maligned and a "third wheel". Star Wars revitalisation has made Star Trek look very tired and its much smaller core fanbase very, very hard to please and whatever comes on the big screen and the TV screen via CBS will just not be good enough. At the moment thanks to JJ Abrams Star Wars says excitement, innovation and nostalgia while his vision of the Star Trek universe has tried to please the masses and tragically failed to invigorate the core fans - but then that might well have been the very mission statement he was provided when he took on the project and has delivered if that's the case.

There's still a lot of work to do and new hands and ideas may prove to be the light at the end of the tunnel both this summer and in January 2017. The problem is that by that time we will have Rogue Squadron and work on Episode VIII will be in full swing for Christmas '17 - will anyone really be interested in the Star Trek wagon as its wheels begin to roll? Will we have tired of the relentless Star Wars marketing machine? I fear to answer those questions.

Has The Force Awakens made you think about "switching" your flag over to the Dark Side? Are you loathe to admit that the new movie is actually damn good as a proclaimed Star Trek fan?