Sunday, November 25, 2018

Full Thrust PAU heavy carrier Unity

 
I've always been a fan of Full Thrust's default setting, generally known as the Tuffleyverse.  It's not a very fleshed-out universe compared to many game worlds but there are enough teasers scattered throughout the two Fleet Books and the various future timeline notes to really get your imagination going.  The Tuffleyverse is very open to customization, reinterpretation and head canon.  Plenty of room for custom fleets and scenarios without worrying about someone telling you you're doing it wrong.  Is it a little silly with some of its factions and future developments?  Sure, but it was written way back in the 90s and never really intended to be all that serious.  As a background to push minis around it's just about perfect for me.   

 
So, why all the gushing about a decades-old game setting that was little more than an afterthought from the author to justify scenarios?  Well, today's post is a bit of Tuffleyverse history showcasing how you can take minis from almost any range and plug them in to the universe without a real struggle.  Let me introduce you to the Pan-African Union heavy carrier Unity.

 
The Unity began service as an ESU Chairman-class assault carrier during the later days of the Second Solar War.  The initial production run consisted of six ships, with four out of a second run of six more ships completed by the war's end.  The class was never particularly successful, suffering three outright losses during combat and having a fourth ship so badly damaged that it was scrapped as unrepairable.  The remaining six completed ships were put into fleet reserve by 2161 where they remained until the outbreak of the Third Solar War in 2165.  Only two were brought back into service at that point, the remainder having been largely stripped for spares.  Both were lost in action by 2171, by which point new carrier doctrines and construction standards were coming into place in the ESU military.  

 
In 2172, a diplomatic agreement led to the sale of many ESU fleet reserve ships to the PAU in exchange for their assistance in the ongoing war.  The ship that would become the CVH Unity was delivered by FTL tug to the PAU shipyard facilities off the Grand Mountain colony where refitting and refurbishment began.  The original Chairman-class had sported a fairly heavy mix of missile systems as well as a moderate fighter complement, and suffered from a drive system that had never managed to perform quite up to design specifications.  The ship was delivered without offensive weapon systems, although it did retain its extensive defensive weapons array.  The PAU refit installed a ventral hanger bay in place of the former missile magazines which greatly improved fighter handling operations, upgraded the engines and inertial compensators, and strengthened some main structural supports.  The result was a specialized heavy carrier with no real offensive weaponry but better handling and a larger fighter complement. 

 
The ship was commissioned as the PAU SS Unity in 2173, the name being reference to both PAU "United Africa" internal politics and the loose alliance they'd formed with the ESU.  It served throughout the remainder of the Third Solar War with fair success, avoiding close action while providing fighter support to multiple combat operations.  The start of the Xeno War found her in the Sol system on a diplomatic mission.  By the time the PAU was ready to join in UNSC-led defensive efforts against the Kra'Vak, it had become apparent that offensive carrier tactics worked poorly against the alien foe.  As such, the Unity was held in the core systems on convoy escort and defensive patrol duties.  During the Siege of Sol she (like many specialized carriers) served as mobile bases for the waves of planetary fighters committed to break up Kra'Vak assaults.  In one notable action her flight crews managed to service 320 fighters over the course of a six-hour engagement.  Fewer than 30 survived to be evacuated to the Omega Defense Line on board the Unity afterward. 

 
TMF 161
NPV 409 + fighters / CPV 563 + fighters
Thrust 4
q 2 q
FTL
q
Level 1 Screens q
1 Fire Control
q
1 Area Defense Fire Control q
6 PDS
qqqqqq
6 Class 1 Beam Batteries qqqqqq
6 Hanger Bays
qqqqqq
Hull 36 (9/9/9/9) - 9 DCTs, one every 4th box
qqqpqqqpq
qqpqqqpqq
qpqqqpqqq
pqqqpqqqp

 
There's been some discussion lately about giving different factions special rules to differentiate them more.  I'm not a huge fan of the idea, but here's an idea if you want to go along those lines.
 
The Pan-African Union Military Star Fleet emphasizes carrier tactics and has a long tradition of training fighter crews who can best be described as "unusually enthusiastic" about their jobs.  Cults of personality often form around established aces, and flight corps recruitment numbers are excellent.  While the technical end of their training is solid the final results can be more than a bit erratic as pilots often compete for kills.
 
To represent this, when using the optional Fighter Pilot Quality rules from More Thrust, if you roll a 2-5 "normal" result, you must reroll the die once and take the second result instead.  This greatly increases the odds of getting an Ace pilot - but it also increases the odds of getting a Turkey group.  

 
The Unity miniature comes from Brigade Models' CDSU range, and is to date the only Chinese ship to get the 3D remaster treatment.  It's a well-made model with a mix of resin and metal components that fit together very well.  I suggest leaving the "flying bridge" part off till you finish painting so you can get at the inside of the "tunnel" and the detail there.
 
 
The fighter brood illustrated here are also from Brigade Models, this time from their Neo-Soviet range.  The "spider" flight bases are from Ground Zero Games, although these are the older metal version rather the new acrylic ones they now sell.
 
 

 
 

Friday, November 23, 2018

J. Carter's Guide to Barsoomian Wildlife

Another nostalgia post showcasing the White Apes of Barsoom from the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  These particular figures are made by Bronze Age Miniatures, who are currently running a sale till November 30th.  Timely that I stumbled on these old photos right now, eh?
 
The web store listings are here:  http://bronzeagemin.com/sci-fi/  These are older paint jobs from half a decade ago or more, but I think the paint jobs still show off the sculpts to good effect. 

 
There are three poses, and they're based here on steel washers.


 
It's been a while, but if I remember correctly two of the three poses are multi-part castings with the third being single piece.  No idea which is which after all this time though.



 
Aside from the obvious use in Barsoomian gaming, they'd also work well as D&D Girallons, alien wildlife from other settings, weird post-apocalyptic critters, or (in 6mm scale) as small kaiju.



 
As you can see, they're good sized minis and well cast.  Also really, really cheap right now.  I'm off to order some more Bronze Age Stuff.  If you any kind of ERB fan you probably ought to as well, these are just part of his Barsoomian-inspired catalog.

Monday, November 19, 2018

Full Thrust Kra'Vak Fast Cruisers

Following up on some feedback on yesterday's post, I'm presenting a couple more suggested stat blocks for the new sculpt Kra'Vak range.  These are both "fast" cruiser variants that sacrifice some combat payload for insanely powerful advanced drives.  They may not be terribly powerful but they sure are hard to catch or avoid.  In cinematic play they can wind up pointing in all sorts of crazy directions, while in vector play they're almost unmatched at controlling the range and approach angle.  
 
 
UNDIA code name KAPOK-F
 

The tri-engine KAPOK-F is a real oddball amongst the Kra'Vak heavy cruiser variants, sporting quad light K-gun mounts along with a massively overboosted gravitic drive array.  The design's role appears to be as an escort hunter and commerce raider, although UNDIA analysts have noted their use as flanking forces in large fleet actions as the Siege of Sol heats up.
 
 
TMF 81
NPV 319 / CPV 334
Thrust 8A
q 4A q
FTL
q
2 Fire Control Systems
qq
2 Scatterguns 
qq
4 Class 2 K-Guns  (Front)
qqqq
Advanced Hull 25 (9/8/8) - 5 crew units, one every 5th box
qqqqpqqqq
pqqqqpqq
qqqpqqqp
 
UNDIA code name KRAIT-F
 

A blindingly fast light cruiser design, the KRAIT-F is a very offensive design with twin medium K-guns and fantastic engine power, although her defensive weapons are quite weak for her mass.  Primarily employed as a fast raider and flanking unit, the class is a terror to human merchant shipping and has been involved in several refugee convoy massacres.


TMF 61
NPV 230 / CPV 254
Thrust 8A
q 4A q
FTL
q
2 Fire Control Systems
qq
1 Scattergun 
q
2 Class 3 K-Guns  (Front)
qq
1 Class 1 K-Gun (All Arcs) q
Advanced Hull 16 (6/5/5) - 4 crew units, one every 4th box
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pqqqp

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Full Thrust Kra'Vak Heavy Cruisers

 
With the recent release of updated sculpts for the Kra'Vak fleet the range now has no less than three new heavy cruiser hulls.

 
Each is a unique design, and two of them break the common "two big guns" theme of the fleet as a whole.

 
All the new sculpts are intended to supplement the older range, and may represent new wartime construction, or the arrival of forces from War Families that weren't previously involved in the fighting, or a combination of the two. 
 
In the suggested stats below I'm going to go with the assumption that these are at least partially new construction and show a response to human tactics and weaponry.  All of them use three-row "advanced" hulls from the UNSC playtest article, which help keep their expensive drives and weapons online longer during battle without making them more difficult to outright destroy.
 
 
UNDIA Code Name KANJI
 
 
The KANJI class sticks to the common Kra'Vak standard of mounting two large K-guns on weapon outriggers, in this case twin K-3 mounts.  However, it also devotes a large amount of payload mass to multiple small K-gun turrets, giving it unmatched all-arc fire in a fleet that otherwise concentrates heavily on narrow front arc shooting.  KANJIs skimp on defensive scattergun mounts and have less raw firepower than her cousins but they offer no safe approach angles for attackers to exploit.
 
 
I see the class as a direct response to human ships flanking Kra'Vak fleets one too many times.  Massed K-1 guns are not a way to win battles, but they do offer some response to getting outmaneuvered.  That shouldn't happen all that often in theory, but in practice it tends to be the direct cause of many Kra'Vak defeats.

 
TMF 81
NPV 327 / CPV 342
Thrust 6A
q 3A q
FTL
q
2 Fire Control Systems
qq
2 Scatterguns 
qq
2 Class 3 K-Guns  (F)
qq
5 Class 1 K-Guns (All Arcs)
qqqqq
Advanced Hull 25 (9/8/8) - 5 crew units, one every 5th box
qqqqpqqqq
pqqqqpqq
qqqpqqqp

UNDIA Code Name KAYAK

 
The KAYAK appears to be an upsized variation of the older KYLIE class, employing the same triple K-3 weapon mount.  The design combines excellent high-efficiency firepower with solid defenses, albeit at a fairly high cost.  Like most Kra'Vak ships her firepower is almost solely front-focused and she remains vulnerable to standard flanking and evasive tactics. 

 
The tri-gun Kra'Vak design has always been one of the better choices when looking for lots of bang for your buck, and the KAYAK is a nice step up from smaller version.  It's a solid choice for any fleet, but has all the same weaknesses of more traditional designs.  No broader arcs here, and while the advanced hull helps it keep shooting for longer it does drive costs up further.

 

TMF 81
NPV 330 / CPV 345
Thrust 6A
q 3A q
FTL
q
2 Fire Control Systems
qq
5 Scatterguns 
qqqqq
3 Class 3 K-Guns  (F)
qqq
1 Class 1 K-Gun (All Arcs)
q

Advanced Hull 25 (9/8/8) - 5 crew units, one every 5th box

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pqqqqpqq

qqqpqqqp
UNDIA Code Name KAPOK
 
 
The KAPOK class mounts four lighter K-2 guns on her weapon outriggers, each with gravitic field tuners that allow them far wider arcs of fire than traditional mounts.  She also mounts augmented fire control systems that allow her to target three enemies at once, a fifty percent increase over most cruiser hulls.  The design has slightly less offensive firepower than some of her cousins but has far less trouble lining up shots and is better at engaging multiple small targets.

 
I see this oddball design as being a response to human use of massed strikeboats and corvettes.  Fighters are suicide to fly against scatterguns, which has forced the "attrition unit" role over to small starships and system defense boats.  These tiny targets present a problem for the usual twin-gun Kra'Vak designs, but masses of K-2 guns are decent counter.  Note that this design uses the "rotated" alternate firing arcs that you see in some fan designs, so all the guns have 120 degree firing arcs centered on the front.  That covers the arc from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock for those of you who remember what an analog clock face looks like.  The field of fire comes off the left and right hex faces rather than the vertexes.  

 
TMF 81
NPV 339 / CPV 354
Thrust 6A
q 3A q
FTL
q
3 Fire Control Systems
qqq
3 Scatterguns 
qqq
4 Class 2 K-Guns  (Front 120 degrees)
qqqq
1 Class 1 K-Gun (All Arcs) q
Advanced Hull 25 (9/8/8) - 5 crew units, one every 5th box
qqqqpqqqq
pqqqqpqq
qqqpqqqp

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Full Thrust Ravagers Out Rim Pirate Fleet

Poking around some old files and I stumbled across my old pirate fleet.  Long since sold on ebay and a bit dated since they were photographed in 2013 and painted at least a year before that, but still worth a share.  I should really go back and revisit the pirates as a faction, they do lend themselves to creative modeling.  The models are mostly from Ground Zero Games with an extra cruiser kitbashed from the back end of an ESU escort cruiser.

https://shop.groundzerogames.co.uk/full-thrust-starships/ravagers-rim-pirates.html



 








Monday, November 5, 2018

Moongrunt Peoples' Space Force Combat Task Force

Quick gallery post showcasing the Chinese Peoples' Space Force from Ground Zero Games' Moongrunt range.  I did post for the US side of the range ages ago but forgot to add their opponents in the First Lunar War.  The original post is here:
 
 
This is actually the second largish group of PSF stuff I've painted up not the figs from the old teaser, but the color scheme's basically the same and there's still a decent selection of the range to show off.  All the infantry figs are here, although I'm missing some of the vehicles.
 
These models are available unpainted from GZG here: