Three Posts in One - FOAN, Cold War Danish, and Star Trek Attack Wing

Well this is a bumper post to bring you up to speed on what I have been painting recently.  With my 6mm Moderns another army done and another started. Star Trek Attack Wing Gets a new piece of terrain to fight over. So on with the posts.

Fate Of A Nation 6mm Israeli's

With the purchase of the rules, I have started looking into making up some Middle East Armies on the cheap, re-purposing some of my Nato and Warsaw Pact vehicles.  With a new purchases arriving, meant that some Danish Centurions which were actually Scotia Israeli Centurions became Surplus and were available for re-allocation.  Also after a bit of routing through the boxes I found some Davco M60's and a few GHQ M113's. Giving me the following forces:

FOAN Israelis

 I can either field the Centurion 105's in two under strength companies or one full strength company. With a Mech Platoon and a Mech Mortar Section making up the core formation troops.

Scotia Models Israeli Centurions

I have had the Centurions for a few years now and did not realise at the time that they were Super Centurions with the updated engine decks.  Originally assigned to my Danish force (Ops - Some of the Danish colours are still visible) I am pleased how they came out, and it also goes to show how much detail that on the miniature.

GHQ M113's

 The Mech Infantry Platoon is a little under strength, only being 4 Sections strong. Comes in at 10 points and for another point another MAW AT stand can be added.

H&R M125's and Scotia Jeeps

Additional support is given by the Mech mortar section of two M125's, and a Sayer Platoon of four Jeeps giving that Spear head option to the list.

Davco  M60's

Additional armour support in the form of the M60's, gives the force a little bit more firepower. Soon there will be additional support from some Ground attack aircraft and 105mm Howitzers, which I have recently found hiding in a box. I also plan further reinforcements but that will be a few months off yet.  But first I need to sort some Arab forces out first.

Cold War Gone Hot - 1985'ish Danish Landjut Forces

Cold War Gone Hot to paraphrase another Blogger. My 6mm Modern forces have been brought up to speed with the near completion of my Danish Army.  When I first started out in moderns back in the early 90's, my first purchase was a box of the bring and buy stand for £10, full off vehicles painted up as Israelis. Lots of Merkava's, Centurion's, M113's, RAM recce, and Soltam Artillery.  So much that I could not only make up the Challenger 2 army list, I had enough over to make another army, which became a Danish army.  As time went by this became a full strength list with 4 Centurion Companies, 4 Leopard 1A4 Companies, 4 Mech Infantry Companies, 2 Motorised Companies and the Recon Company. In the Late 90's I sold this army off as I was short of money and have regretted it ever since.  When my interest in Moderns resurfaced I started to reassemble my Danish, which was featured in an earlier post.

This is how you last saw my Danish Forces.

Recently H&R released some new models and among them were some M41 DK and Centurion DK, which I had to have.  The re-purposing on the current Centurions to an Israeli army gave ne the excuse to but the missing companies.  I originally had planned three companies but scaled back to two.  So my Danish is 95% complete and is only awaiting a few more vehicles, but atthe moment it looks like this:

 As you can see I still got to re-base them (I've ran out, so need to buy more). I have redone the Green which looks a little bit more like pictures I have seen.  The total force consists of two Jutland Tank Companies equipped with Leopard 1A3 and two Zealand tank companies equipped with Centurion 105mm DK. Two Mechanised companies and a Motorised company give infantry support, whilst Reconnaissance is supplied by a RECCE M113 platoon and the Close RECCE Squadron equiped with M41 DK.

 The HQ Centurions are old H&R models from which have survived from my original army. THey are old Mk13's which I had snipped of the search light.  Again the HQ's are based for numerous rules.

The two Centurion DK Companies now make the army start to feel unique.

 The New H&R model of the Danish Centurion is really nice. The detail is superb as shown in the pictures above and below. The model also comes with a .50cal HMG to fit to the turret roof, but I ran out of super glue and was starting to find them too fiddly, so they went onto my parts draw.

 

 The two companies of Leopard 1 A3's are from H&R and allow me to form a Jutland formation.

 The three infantry companies allow me to field either an Infantry Formation or support one of the Tank formations.  M113's are a mix of H&R and Scotia.  The Motorised company is equipped with Bedford RL's and a MAN Truck with a command Land-rover. I wanted to give the Danish a feel of the mixture of vehicles that they used.

 For the Mech companies, I had originally used for the Anti-tank section M151/TOW's but later found out that they used Land-rovers mounted TOWs. As no suitable model was available I did some quick modifications and ended up with four converted land-rovers.

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 The Close Recce Squadron equipped with H&R new M41DK further enhancing the uniqueness of the army. The Squadron is still missing its Recce Jeeps that should be in the post to me as I type. I have gone for H&R open topped Iltis, again this is to represent the different vehicles the Danes use.

 H&R M151/TOW form the Divisional Anti-Tank Platoon.

AOP/MOPS using various vehicles. The Dodge is a nod to the various Dodge's that the Danes use, along with the Land-rover and Iltis.  Further support is awaiting in the wings to be painted in the form of M109 Howitzers, Towed 155mm Guns, Air support and a section of M150/TOW.  I am really happy how this army ahs come out and really like the colour scheme which I used Reflective green with a slightly under 1/3 Yellow added.

STAR TREK ATTACK WING

STAW gets a new piece of scenery. The K7 Space station.  Now gives some of the Original series ships something to fight over.

Star Trek Attack Wing Fleets

As I said at Christmas I caught the Star Trek attack wing bug, I think I am truly on my way to catching up.

Star Trek attack wing collection.

 Now I suddenly realize seeing this picture that my collection is quite small compared to the overall amount of ships available.  The center piece of my fleets is the magnificent DS9, very under-gunned and perhaps like the Borg was Nerf-ed.  My Borg fleet started with a tactical cube which I happily purchased for its going price not the stupid price some people on E(vil)bay is asking for.  Most of my fleets are the normal named ships except for two of them, the keen eyed people amongst you will notice, Boks Marauder and the Klingon B'Moth. Both OP prize ships, both got at reasonable prices.

With DS9 I will have to get the Dominion. I will get Voyager but not the Kazon of Species 8472, I will also not be getting the Vulcan's just yet  My newbie bad purchase of the alternative universe has me at somewhat at a dilema as to whether to use them in the main game or keep those as a seperate universe full stop, we shall wait and see.

Live Long and Play Lots
J

Micro Art gaming mat & Star Trek attack wing

I have just purchased a new3'x3' gaming mat from Micro Art as to play X-Wing and Star Trek attack wing on. Although I already have a decent space gaming cloth with covers most of my table, I needed something to define the smaller gaming area required for my now two core space games, which tended to use a 3 feet squared area.

After looking on ebay, I saw the one below, there are several others available but this was the cheapest, at £27 with free P+P I though t it was a steal.

The mat comes rolled up in a long tube like bag, which is a very nice touch, although the stitching is stronger than the material, which rips easily, so I just discovered.  The Mat is of a rubber design and is awesome (Que Lego people singing "Every thing is awesome"). I think this mat is going to make a big difference to our games, not only is it easy to carry, just roll it up and put it in its bag, the rubber grips the table and does not slip. The visual impact of this mat on our games is going to make it look a whole lot better. One slight down side is that the plastic bases of our ships can slide easily on the printed surface.

Micro Art Space Mat

Mat on table.

Star Trek attack wing: Test game

Having now got the Star trek bug, I have now expanded my fleet with a few OP prize ships, one of them being Bok's Marauder. So I decided to do a Enterprise Vs Bok game.

Boks marauder chasing the Enterprise.

With both ships totaling 40 points, Enterprise with Picard and Photon Torpedoes, whilst the Marauder was maxed out at 39 points with Bok, a crew member, Photon torpedoes and the thought control.  Bok and Picard headed towards each other at speed, Both ships first attack was with phasers, both ships loosing a shield.  The Enterprise tried to get round the marauder  but Bok countered and managed to fire torpedoes, unfortunately for Bok he missed, but the Enterprise took off another shield.

As the movement dials were placed Bok used the thought control and adjusted  Enterprises coarse, turning it towards the table edge, with Bok moving a slow ahead.

Enterprise running out of space , Literally.

Enterprise fired and took down the last shield on Bok's marauder and causing one hull damage, in return Bok whittles the Enterprise's shields down to nothing.  The Enterprise can now only do three maneuvers to get out of trouble, sharp 3 left or right and reverse.  Bok closes the gap with a 1 ahead and so Picard opts for a sharp 3 left and actually this where the game should have ended as the Enterprise overlaps the playing edge by 3mm and should have been destroyed by the fleeing the gaming area rule. But I play fair and nudge the ship back away from the Final Frontier. So now needing to do a green maneuver to get rid of the auxiliary power token from the 3 hard left. Bok trying to stay behind the Enterprise decides not to use his maneuverability to his advantage and chooses a maneuver that accidentally puts the marauder on a collision course with the Final Frontier.

Bok would need to do a reverse course next turn but unfortunately for him, Enterprise fives its aft phasers getting 4 hits, 2 of which are critical, Bok's helms man tries in vain to avoid the phaser fire, but the ship is vaporized in one hit.

Ops... With 4 hits Boks marauder vaporizes.

Star Trek Attack Wing: DS9 game.

DS9 in Cardassian hands, escorted by Cardassian ships takes on the might of the Federation and Romulan empire.

I bet he can't get the dice to land like that again.

Cardassian ships about to be obliterated.

DS9 explodes due to a combined barage from 3 ships, who then go on to blow each other up.

Star Trek Attack Wing - Waves 1 to 9

I have 13 off these including the Starter set.

Star Trek Attack Wing

Starter set components.

For Christmas I treated my self to a starter set of the  Star Trek Attack Wing along with a bunch of the ships.  The first surprise I got was that even though the rules are very similar to the Star Wars X-Wing rules,  the game is not by Fantasy Flight but Wizkids... Hmmm

First impressions
I love the planet you get and I noticed straight of the bat that there was a Move 6 and turn 4 speeds.  The Ships are painted or cast in basic colours without any shading. The cards are of a poor quality and the printing leaves a lot to be desired.

Ships from the starter set lack detail and markings.

Playing the Game
Playing the game is simple if you have played X-wing previously. The rules are not as straight forward and are vague in places.  In the main the ship stats are gun heavy with lots of shields and hull points.  Using crew cards is a must and each ship comes with stats for a named ship; for example you get the USS Enterprise NCC1701D and stats for a Galaxy Class ship.  Captains are the same, you get a named character or a generic one.
You need to think about how you are going to pimp your ship more in that you need to pick a captain, additional crew (who do various things from repair shields to disabling enemy cards) and Photon torpedoes (Yes they do not come as Standard) and other tecky stuff.
As said the game plays like X-wing but does not feel like X-wing.

Final Impressions
I am a bit late coming to this game, but it will make a nice addition to the quick games I have for when friends come round.  The quality of the cards and models is of such poor quality compared to X-wing that it feels cheap and nasty.
Some of the images that Wizkids use show nicely painted and detailed models with the correct markings/names where applicable, but that's not what you get.

Additional Ships
I purchased with out thought numerous additional ships, now I regret not do more research.
You get to pick ships from all off the franchises, you can even get a DS9 station. SO you can pit Kirk in the USS Enterprise NCC1701 Vs Picard in the USS Enterprise NCC1701D if you want.

Each ship comes with new crew cards and Tech cards along with any special rules you need for that ship. The nice touch which is what I feel X-wing is lacking is that you get additional themed mission cards with the rules to play that mission, so you can actually match up ships for combat.  The painting on the ships leaves a lot to be desired and is good to messy at best, I am in two minds whether to shade the ships or not, we shall wait and see, time will tell.

For Example:

The trouble with tribbles.

Above is the USS Enterprise NCC1701 and  IKS Groth (Although it should be grey) wich the latter comes with the special rules for Tribbles, This is one of the matched pairs games we are going to play.  Below is my next matched pair which is the USS Enterprise NCC1701A Vs  USS Reliant. Both ships come with character cards from Wrath Of Khan. 

Wrath of Khan matched pairs, showing the lack of detail.

So you can match ships from Star Trek Enterprise, Star Trek the Original Series, Star Trek Next Generations, Deep Space 9 including the alternative universe vessels, and Voyager.  As previously stated there is a DS9 station available and soon a Borg cube....   I am sorely tempted.

Looking at E(Vil)Bay there are numerous vessels available from a monthly subscription and various competitions/events which command silly prices.  Wizkids is renowned for its collectable games and peole are treating this as a collectable game, I have seen some special edition ships going for £60 or more...  I don't think so, who you trying to rob!

All in all I am hooked on another game system, BUT I do not think its as good as a Star Wars Tie Fighter Swarm.