Battlestar Galactica Fleet-Scale Project and Starfighter Shipyards Review

Cylon fleet

So... this is the kind of project that starts off with a vague idea and quickly gathers momentum. For a long time, I've been a fan of "fleet scale" space gaming. Massive space cruisers, snub fighters darting everywhere, laser bolts creasing the blackness of space, etc. Battlefleet Gothic, Full Thrust, and latterly Star Wars Starship Battles have been the rulesets of choice.

So after having amassed reasonably sized fleets of ships from the Star Wars universe, I thought it might be fun to give another milieu a go. When a chance came up to acquire some metal and resin Battlestar Galactica ships in a trade I jumped at it. And they sat in a box for a year.

However, the spirit recently moved me to get at this project, and so orders were duly placed to Starfighter Shipyards and Studio Bergstrom to get the fleets into fighting trim. Models arrived quickly and were painted even more quickly, so we're ready to go!

Raiders!! These little beauties came from Studio Bergstrom and like all of Andrew's models, come out of the bag perfectly formed and ready for the paintbrush - no flash and zero defects.

The models were primed with black spray, grey parts were basecoated Mechanicus Standard Grey and heavily highlighted with Administratum Grey. The whole model was washed with Nuln Oil, then the black parts drybrushed with Mechanicus. Engines were lit up with Temple Guard Blue and they are ready for the table!

There were a few "Nu-Raiders" included with the trade. I'm not a huge fan of the look but in my "First Cylon War" battles they may appear as prototype interceptors. They were painted Leadbelcher and washed with Nuln Oil.

The heavy Raiders (Bergstrom calls them "Tarantulas" I think) were painted in the same fashion as the regular Raiders.

The fighters were based on standard GW 25mm slotless round bases. I drilled two small holes in each base, then inserted a dressmaker's pin (cut to length) up through from below. The head of the pin gives the superglue something to "bite" on under the base, and the sharp end of the pin is superglued to the underside of the fighter. Bergstrom's models have a relief cast in the bottom for this purpose. They're actually reasonably sturdy on the bases :-)

On to the capital ships... as noted above, I got these from an outfit in British Columbia called Starfighter Shipyards. Their website states that they've acquired Ravenstar Studios' line of BSG models and will also be re-releasing Hangar 18's range once they've been remastered. Obviously good news for BSG fans who have been looking for the Ravenstar models!

My entire collection of Cylon capital ships are from Starfighter so this will also serve as a mini-review of part of the range :-) First off, this is the "Hydra Light Cruiser". An OK ship but not my favorite from their range as the surface detailing is not quite as cool as the other ships (you'll see).

They were kinda crusty around the edges and I was too lazy/impatient to do a ton of cleanup work. I like them but there are way better Cylons in the Starfighter range. Grade: C+

Now THIS is more like it... the Cylon "War Destroyer". Note the surface detailing is way more intricate than the Hydra's. Each model comes in two parts - the main saucer and a tri-form piece that slots in the bottom.

This ship really fits my idea of the Cylon aesthetic. Casting is a bit manky but ehhhh... it's an unlicensed resin model so whaddaya expect? Grade: A.

Cylon "Medusa Destroyer". Another one-piece casting with excellent detailing and a very Cylon look.

Grade: A.

This is the Chimera Command Ship. Even though it's not as super-detailed as the Medusa and the War Destroyer, the slightly cleaner look works for me on this ship. It's a two-piece model with the saucer and "mushroom cap" cast separately.

Grade: B+

Here's the "Terror-Class Battleship". It's a large six-piece model: the "arms are all cast separately. This example wasn't an amazing casting and the resin was quite brittle, the arms needed some carving to fit as well. Still, it looks pretty cool and that's all that matters in fleet scale ;-)

Grade: B

Finally, we have the Basestars... the iconic piece of Cylon hardware. The BSG version of the Imperial Star Destroyer!

(Traditionally the Basestars were deployed in squadrons of three, so of course I had to get three!)

The Basestars, as well as all the other Cylon capital ships, were basecoated Mechanicus Standard Grey (are you sensing a theme here?) and drybrushed Administratum Grey, then washed with Nuln Oil.

The Basestars look great - easily the best models in the Cylon fleet. Superdetailing on the hull and all over really translate well on the model. In fact, I suspect that the master may well be a commercial model from Konami as this is suspiciously well-done...

In any case, the Starfighter/Ravenstar ones are just outstanding and really capture the essence of the Cylon empire. Grade: A+

Of course there's no point painting a bunch of Cylons if they don't have a rag-tag fleet to chase around the galaxy! So I added a few smaller ships from Starfighter Shipyards (noted below) and painted the capital ships that I suspect are Ravenstar but whose provenance is really unknown. On to the ships...

The Vipers are again from Studio Bergstrom and they are great. I went heavy on the Mark I's as to me, they are the iconic BSG Vipers and as noted, I'm representing the "Thousand Yahren"/First Cylon War, mostly.

The paint formula is a basecoat of Mechanicus Standard Grey, highlighted with Pallid Wych Flesh and White Scar. The stripes are applied with Mephiston Red, then the ship is washed with Nuln Oil. Finally, cockpit and thrusters are picked out with Temple Guard Blue.

Here are some Mark II Vipers that we'll say would appear near the end of the TY War. I'm not as big a fan of this design but they're still pretty neat.

Raptors are included in the fleet too - regular (left) and missile (right) variants. These are basecoated with Steel Legion Drab, highlighted Zandri Dust and washed with Agrax Earthshade. Cockpit and thrusters again Temple Guard Blue.

Capital ships! This is a Hunter-Class Lightstar. I left off the dorsal pod as I thought it looked silly. Painted, as all the other Colonial capital ships, with a Mechanicus Standard Grey basecoat and gradual highlights of Administratum Grey and AG mixed with White Scar. No washes on these ones :-)

Thrusters are Temple Guard Blue. Grade: B+

These are two of Starfighter's Mebd-Class Escorts. Four-piece models (hull and three drive pods), they were decent castings that assembled easily. Grade: B+

Oooooh, here we go! This is a large Battlestar (I think it's a "Bane-Class"), distinguishable from the others in my fleet by its double-stacked hangar bays. This will give some substantial in-game effects regarding fighter launches (of which more later...)

Really quite a nice model, all resin and very crisp.

I also have three of these - Titanium Series die-cast "Pegasus" models. These will represent the "line" Battlestars of the Colonial Fleet. They're great models - mostly metal and quite heavy and well-detailed.

Here's a resin ship of some kind. Can't find it on the Starfighter website but it looks like it could be a Ravenstar sculpt.

Some rag-tag ships along for the ride. At top and left are Goliath-Class refinery ships from Starfighter. The others are from Ground Zero Games and come from my Star Wars collection.

Here's a handy size comparison of all the ships in this post.

And finally, top-down views of the fleets in all their glory:

Cylons - by your command

Colonials - by the Lords of Kobol!

Now, I have to figure out what rules to use for these ships in a game. I'm thinking of our old standby, Star Wars Starship Battles, as they're familiar to the guys and with our house modifications, give a fast-playing and enjoyable game.

The ship stats should be relatively straightforward. I'll treat Vipers like X-Wings, Mark II (heavier) Vipers as Y-Wings, and the Mark VIIs as A-Wings. Cylon Raiders will be TIE Fighters, Heavy Raiders will be TIE Bombers, and the Nu-Raiders will be TIE Interceptors. The capital ships I'll work out as I go, although Basestars and the Bane-Class Battlestar will have Fighters 4 (meaning they can launch 4 squadrons (bases) of fighters per turn) and regular Battlestars Fighters 2.

The only thing that's missing are rules for the missiles which seem to fly everywhere in BSG battles. However, I reckon I should be able to puzzle something out for that.

In any event, stay tuned for the eventual battle report and thanks for persevering to the end of this post :-)

Yu Jing - Imperial Service Judge

Finished the "Dragon Lady", a 32mm scale High Value Target figure from Corvus Belli, for the sci-fi skirmish game Infinity. This example is an Imperial Service Judge from the Yu Jing faction.

From the Infinity rules:
"The HVT (High Value Target) represents a non-combatant character belonging to the enemy side and placed on the game table as the target of Classified Objectives.

The deployment of one of these models is compulsory for both players, as their presence and interaction with other models in-game has consequences for the achievement of Classified Objectives when playing scenarios."

HVT's can be secured, scanned, spotted, inoculated with noxious compounds, retro-engineered, their cyber-brains can be hacked, etc; loads of fun!

Someone online complained about how most people didn't paint their HVT's. He said that this figure should rather spur you to your best efforts, since it won't change much from game to game, though the composition of your fighting force will.

Mostly painted in oils, with some Citadel Washes. I painted the dress mostly in Cadmium Red oil paint, highlighting with Cadmium Scarlet. Again, I went with a darker palette for her skin tones.



The resin base is from Dragon Forge Design. It was finished with Vallejo washes and weathering powders.





For her sun parasol, I went with more of a Japanese theme, freehand painting cherry blossoms falling from branches. The parasol is 17mm across.



Group shot with my other Yu Jing figures.



In-game shots:

Yu Jing from Operation: Red Veil

Infinity: The Game is a sci-fi skirmish game that "simulates combat and special operations in a Science fiction environment created by Gutier Lusquiños of Corvus Belli. The games aesthetics are largely inspired by Manga, particularly the work of Masamune Shirow...Unlike many tabletop games, the rules for Infinity are freely available for download..." (from the Wikipedia entry)

After collecting Infinity figures for a couple of years now, after Christmas I finally got my act together and started painting a force from one of the four (!) factions that I own.

These seven 32mm scale figures represent about half of the contents of the Operation: Red Veil boxed set, which contained 14 (or, in my case 15)  figures representing the Yu Jing and Haqqislam factions. (RE: Yu Jing: "The whole of the Far East, united under the banner of what once was China, has produced an integrated, but heterogeneous, oriental culture.") 

I split the box with Conscript MikeA (who got the Haqqislam and special forces operator figures). These boxed sets are great values, giving introductory rules, dice, templates, a play mat, and cardboard fold-up terrain, in addition to the figures.

These Yu Jing models are a balanced force of light infantry (3 Zhanshi armed with combi-rifles), one medium infantry (a Tiger Soldier Hacker, with a rifle/flamethrower combo), two heavy infantry (a Zuyong with either a combi-rifle or a multi-rifle, plus a pair of breaker pistols; and, a Hsien with a heavy machine gun and a fancy sword), and an Operation: Red Veil exclusive figure, a Ninja Hacker (with a silent, tactical bow, and another fancy sword). A good description of each model and its use in the game is located here. Note that over half of the figures are female. Neat touch.

Modeling:

The models are beautifully sculpted, with great anatomy and posing. The one downside to these models is their fragility. The arms are tiny, and the legs only marginally less so. I pinned all the figures to Dragon Forge "Tech-Deck" resin bases. I affixed a 1/4 inch rare-earth magnet to each base, to help transport the figs in a metal box; no rattling around!



For painting, I started with my usual Zenithal highlighting, airbrushing white over P3 black primer, Most of the major colours were laid down with successive layers of Citadel Washes. The faces and details were painted in various oils.

The bases were finished using various Vallejo washes and weathering powders. The dark grey lines represent the front 180-degree facing of the model, a requirement for the game.

Below, a group shot, sitting on a metal medical instrument case:



Three Zhanshi, light infantry. I painted the flesh darker than I usually do, to help show the figures' Asian background. The purple hair is pure anime.





Below left, the Hsien heavy infantryman; love the sculpting of the flowing tails of the coat. Below right, the Zuyong Terra Cotta Soldier. Very, very nice rendering of powered armour. Maybe my favourite sculpt of the set.





Below left, the Tiger Soldier; she's a jump trooper who's also equipped with an Assault Hacking Device. Below right, the Ninja; she is equipped with therm-optic camouflage (invisibility!) and a Killer Hacker Device. Hacking of computers, telecomms, devices, and even certain other people is an important part of the game.






In Action:

Had my first game with them against Derek at the Legions Maxximus game convention. They also garnered me a gold medal at the 40th (!) annual Manitoba Model Soldier Society show and competition, run concurrently.

The following are photos of various games I used them in over the last little while.






Below, two photos of Scott's terrain, at the Rest Lounge game day.

More Alpha Legion - Headhunter Squad

Elite units seek out fearsome foes in my...er...kitchen....

Well spring is finally here. Between that, and being busy with work (yay!) it has meant very little painting of late - certainly nothing like the pace driven by the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  But with the NHL playoffs on, I've been putting the brush to some more of the 30k stuff I meant to paint over the winter and another unit has been finished.  This a squad of "Headhunters" from the XX Legion, known as the Alpha Legion.

"Headhunters".  How charming! None of the Legions seem to have "Hope Ambassadors" or "Sun Sharers" as elite units, do they? Oh well...

Fancy armour and big guns...of course these guys would sneak around and "hunt" stuff, right?

Space Marine Legions are big, sprawling entities, with many different troop types and vehicles to choose from.  Among these is a "Seeker Squad", a notion of a specific squad meant to take out high-value or high priority target units or personalities. They have fancier bolt guns and some extra ammunition types to choose from. It's kind of silly, in that you would think troops tagged for that work would be smaller, sneakier sorts and not giant brutes with heavy armour...but hey, it's 30k!

These are resin conversion kits from Forge World, based on plastic Mark IV power armoured Marines

As usual the sculptors at Forge World really hit this out of the park - I love all of the ornate details, legion symbols, fancy bolt guns and particularly the amazing torsos and helmets - lots of optics, and several modified "beakie" style helmet

The Alpha Legion sort of takes the "seeker squad" concept to the next level with these "Headhunters".  The models are plastic Mark IV Marines with conversion kits from Forge World which make the armour quite ornate. I don't know how you sneak around the battlefield with that kind of get-up, but I really liked how they looked and very much wanted to add a squad to my Alpha Legion force.

Transfers from the Forge World decal sheet

Another view of some of the conversion bits

We await the arrival of whole new edition of the Warhammer 40k rules, so who knows what these fellows will actually do or be able to do on the table - not that I worry much about it.  I just look forward to getting them into a 30k game sometime this summer!

Horus for hope!

This more or less exhausts the initial group of Alpha Legion models I had assembled last fall...there are about 40 foot models and one dreadnought. They have no vehicles yet, so I might turn to that next.  But then I may also wonder towards the Burning of Prospero...I was never very keen on that part of the Horus Heresy story, but I have to say, following some suggestions from my friend Curt, I think it might fun. Who knows? Anyway, I hope everyone is having a decent spring, and enjoying any nice weather that might be available while keeping the paint brushes warm...

Alpha Legion Heavy Support Squad

Missiles anyone? Heavy support for the Alpha Legion

Blowing sh!t up in the 30th millenium is quite the task, one that Space Marine Legions take very seriously.  Often they rely on scary vehicle or whacky dreadnoughts.  For city-sized wrecking jobs, they have their friends in the Titan Legions.  But often a job you do yourself in the most satisfying, so when the foot-slogging elements of a Space Marine Legion want to blow something up real good, they deploy heavy support squads. Here is one such unit for my slowly-growing Alpha Legion collection, armed with missile launchers.

After all, why fire one missile launcher at something when you can fire five missile launchers at something, right? I love 30k :)

Unit sergeant with his whacky comb - love the Mark IV Marines!

Forge World shoulder pauldrons are wonderful

These are plastic models from the "Betrayal at Calth" box set, augmented with shoulder pauldrons and transfers from Forge World.  I really love the plastic Mark IV Space Marines and since I purchased too many of them, I ended up with enough missile launchers to outfit a whole squad. So I just went with it...

Decals from the Alpha Legion transfer sheet

What is extra fun about these particular sculpts is that they are a shout-out to the original "shark fin" style missile launcher from the Rogue Trader days! It is great to see these little shout-outs throughout the whole line of Horus Heresy figures from GW, and definitely adds to the fun for a nerd like me!

While I love the old RTB-01 plastic marines, I have to say these were a little easier to assemble...these kits are quite fabulous.

What is the target? Loyalists? Other rebels? You never know for sure with the Alpha Legion...

Ready for action on the table...

To achieve true Legion-era excess, this should be a 10-man group sporting missile launchers, but, insane as I am, even I only have so many plastic Mark IV Marine sets, so five will do for now! Plus, I'm sure these guys will be able to blow up all sorts of stuff with five missiles launchers, right??