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Friday, September 17, 2010

The 523rd Survey Squadron: Sagan's Sideshow

Here it is! The full squadron, complete. The only thing left to do is paint the tiny pips at 60-degree intervals around the bases. These ships are incredibly easy, fast and fun to paint; it took me longer to prepare the bases and construct the ships than paint them. Rip, do you have anything to add?

"Dammit, I love this squadron! That's about all I have to say about that, though I am particular to your photo of the attack from head-on -- what I like to call Marduk View. So, boy, when you gonna find me some Imperial ships to launch torpedoes into?"

Hehe, as soon as I can, Rip. I'm waiting for the Class 3 and 4 ships to be released, so that the 523rd has something a bit more challenging to go up against. Note, the radar dish on the Class III was made from a piece of greenstuff that I rolled into a ball. I let it cure and then cut it in half. A piece of brass rod and done! With the other half I made the dish for Aunt Sally (the Class II with the large dish offset from center of the nose. You can see her fourth from left in the foreground of the third pic below.)

Here is the entire squadron in review flight. Note, while in review in front of fleet command, the squadron would not be carrying torpedo pods on the Class II ships. 

Here is the squadron in attack formation, what Capt. Sagan so lovingly calls, "Marduk view."

The core of the squadron, Class II "torpedo" boats.

Command Flight of the 523rd. Strongman is flanked by Fixer and Bagman, along with a contingent of fighters.


Another view of Strongman. Notice the transmitter on the top of the fuselage.

8 comments:

  1. Love the paint jobs and these miniatures look so nice. I have to ask what makes this game so much different than other fleet games besides the style of the ships.

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  2. The play is simple, with no book-keeping and a nice little initiative mechanic (faster ships move last but fire first).

    It almost feels like Wings of War in space. That's not how it plays, just how it feels.

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  3. Thank you for the quick response.

    I know the main focus of the game is fighter scale ships but the Class 4 look pretty big. Are they supposed to be bomber size?

    I see they have rules for space stations and such. Any rules for space monsters or the potential for working an actual warship on the board?

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  4. No reals for space monsters (yet?) But as easy as the rules are, it's probably enough to create your own.

    Yeah, the large ships are more like large bombers. There is nothing "Star Destoyer" size, though there are rules for a Zenithian (saucermen) mothership (including a scenario) as well as for making space fortresses, space stations, armed asteroids etc. So I could see the potential for much larger ships- though they'd be next to impossible to destroy (unless you had rival vessels, or LOTS of torpedoes, or a ventilation shaft and one torpedo.)

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  5. A couple of things:

    1. Not sure if the scale/sizes match, but these might work (scroll down - there are photos for some of the pieces.

    2. There should be a real cash prize for the first person to paint a War Rocket squadron with Flying Tiger imagery.

    3. I'm not really familiar with fleet games in general - the 'no book-keeping' got my attention - can you suggest a good link for a newbie?

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  6. Very nicely done, vibrant and aggressive looking paint job! Forgive my ignorance but who is the manufacturer of these minis & where do you find them?

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  7. That is one impressive fleet ! Really good paintjob and basing.

    Just discovered your blog and I like what I see ! ;-)

    Grtz
    Andy

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  8. Sven: War Rocket miniatures and rules can be found at Hydra Miniatures -- http://www.hydraminiatures.com/

    Scott: Those beasts look nice. A little small -- at least for what they're named. A "destroyer" is just a touch smaller than a War Rocket Class 1 fighter (judging from the base the creature is mounted on). Still, those would work nice for some smaller space monsters.
    I almost ALMOST went with the Flying Tigers paint job, by the way. Almost. Glad I didn't try it, on my first go, at least.
    I couldn't suggest anywhere specific spots for a newbie. Hydra plans on starting a forum for War Rocket, hopefully sooner than later. You might try this thread over at TMP which talks a little more about War Rocket: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=206730
    This TMP thread also has a little bit about the game: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=206853

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