Showing posts with label Ground Zero Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ground Zero Games. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Full Thrust Phalons Revisited

Following up on my earlier Phalon miniatures gallery post with a few more images that I thought might be helpful.  While all of these ships appeared in the big group shots in the gallery, some better close-ups of the newer post-Fleet Book 2 sculpts certainly can't hurt, and it may be easier to judge relative sizes from the comparison images here.

These are the FT-825 Sliith-class fast destroyers, who don't even have an image at the GZG store.  Really quite fond of these, in large part because they really stand out from the rest of the range thanks to their lean, sleek design.


There are suggested stats for these and the other "late arrival" Phalon ships over on Dean Gundberg's invaluable Full Thrust Fleet Resource site.  I had some input on them, and if I were to do them all over again I might beef the Sliith up a bit.  They are willowy by Phalon standards but look well-armored for their size and are a bit bigger than I gave them credit for back then.  


These are the FT-835 Greeth-class heavy destroyers, although ironically the suggested stats (based largely on the model size) rate them as considerably smaller than the old FT-805 Dinth-class destroyer (which is pretty chunky, and manages to pack in a small plasma bolt launcher).  


I suppose we could have rated these as a little bigger as well, but erring on the side of caution never hurts.  As it is, they're the largest and most capable of the "pure pulsar" ship classes.


And lastly we've got the FT-815 Gruuss-class attack cruiser.  Mine came with an unfortunate (and rare) casting defect that led to their being two sets of suggested stats, with the A version reflecting the model better and the B based on my model.


At 90 and 97 mass at least we weren't stingy about rating this hefty ships.  There were also a pair of logistics ships (one about heavy cruiser size, the other at least half again as large) but sadly I never bought any.  Dean did stat them up for his FT Resource site, though.  The lack of Phalon weapon options makes them some of the nastiest civilian ships a pirate could ever face.  Most freighters have a Beam-1 or two, tops.  The Phalon equivalents carry an all-arc pulser and a plasma bolt launcher.  For "self defense" you know.


Next we have a nice size comparison shot of the five classes of Phalon cruisers, pr as they call them, Warriors.  From left to right we have the light, medium, and heavy cruisers, the battlecruiser, and finally the attack cruiser.


They maintain a nice shared aesthetics while also being pretty easy to distinguish at tabletop distances - at least if you know what to look for.


Even with five classes of cruisers to pick from, after seeing the Sliith I kind of wish we'd gotten a similarly-designed "fast cruiser" as well to serve as a leader for pursuit groups.  Something long, lean, and mean would be a nice variation on the usual theme.  


A similar group shot of the battleship, battledreadnought, and superdreadnought Great Warrior classes.


The battleship is reasonably stable on a 30mm base (although I'd have used a 40mm if I'd had them back then) but the larger ones are on 60mm bases.


These are the closest to "fragile" that any Phalon mini gets, as those little pink "caterpillar legs" are separate pieces and I did occasionally have to reattach one following rough handling or a bad table bump.  Still, if you deepen their socket a bit and maybe reinforce with some putty it's not a major concern.


Always been kind of surprised that Jon never sculpted a third variety of dorsal weapon pod beyond the "gun" and "hanger" options.  Sure, Phalons are pretty much a two-weapon fleet anyway, but having an obviously different pod might have been a good opportunity to add something new.


Speaking of hanger pods, here are the two carriers, corresponding to human light and (very) heavy classes, as well as the three types of squadrons employed by them.  The Vaan interceptors are on the left, the Nith multiroles in the middle, and the Tuus heavy fighters on the right.


You can tell the age of these images just by the fighter stands.  Jon retired those old metal "spiders" ages ago in favor of acrylic toppers, which I'd rate as a significant improvement.


Those orifices might well be thrusters, but I prefer to think of them as landing bays.  Even the gunship versions of these hulls would have some ship's boats and shuttles to deal with, but on carriers they'd connect to much larger internal spaces dedicated to fighter servicing.


With only two carrier classes the Phalons don't have as wide a variety of options as many human fleets, but when a carrier does show up you know it's bringing a lot of fighters to the party - either four or eight squadrons of them.  No dinky escort carriers here.


Finally, here's some more shots of the two customized capital ships I kitbashed over the years. 


Nothing particularly fancy here, mostly just swapping out the existing prow (which takes some serious cutting work) with the aft hull of a cruiser or battlecruiser that's had its own prow removed and the scars rebuilt with some putty.


Always meant to use the battlecruiser prow in another kitbash, but as luck would have it the part went flying when I clipped it off and wound up going down a heating vent.


I presume the current residents of that old apartment are still living with the thing in their ducts somewhere.  Every now and then I feel the urge to go ask if they ever found it, and then I remember that I am not actually a crazy obsessive person fixated on a tiny piece of metal that would be very difficult to explain to your average person.




Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Full Thrust Custom Pirate Cruiser "Anarchist"

This kitbashed figure last appeared in the pirate gallery post over here, but since then I've recovered the original background story and stats via the Wayback Machine so I'll give it a showcase of its own.

One of the most appealing things about the Ravager Rim Raider pirate ships is the jury-rigged nature of their ships, which really lends itself to unique kitbashes and conversions.  So, when I got  slightly defective ESU escort cruiser (quickly replaced by GZG, I might add) that sheared in half just in front of the aft hull, I decided to try my hand at some styrene sculpting.  Turns out the style of the existing Ravager designs is fairly easy to capture and after a little work I had a fine new medium cruiser for my fleet.

For anyone wondering, the ship's name is a nod to my Star Fleet Battles days, a game which features a similar salvage job involving the Hydrans getting their hands on the rear end of a Klingon cruiser following a mutiny, with the resulting vessel known as the D7H Anarchist.


Ravager Rim Pirate Cruiser Anarchist


The pirate vessel calling itself "Anarchist" began life as the Oriskany-class escort cruiser Grigori Wu.  The vessel was lost in action during a confused battle between NAC, ESU, and Sa'Vasku forces, and her fractured wreck was left adrift in space when the surviving ESU forces withdrew from the combat zone.   


At some point thereafter a group of Rim-dwelling "entrepreneurs" recovered the ship's relatively undamaged rear section and sold it to local warlord Dominic Faro, who used it as the basis for the latest addition to his fleet.  The irony of employing an ESU ship (or at least part of one) against its former masters was especially appealing to Faro, who had served as an ESU colonial director prior to the outbreak of the Xeno War.


The Anarchist has been involved in several convoy raids and pillaging expeditions against isolated colony worlds and mining outposts, and is currently subject to a "Destroy On Sight" directive from the Chiang Military District High Command for its role in the destruction of the 177th People's Population Reallocation Squadron.


The stats below use the optional rules for variable numbers of hull rows found over here.  Six rows is as fragile (and cheap) as it gets, and reflects the Anarchist's status as a salvaged wreck that's had a whole new front end welded to it by a bunch of dodgy space pirate mechanics.

Pirate Cruiser Anarchist
TMF 68
NPV 201 / CPV  179
Thrust 6 q 3 q
FTL q
2 Fire Controls qq
4 Class 1 Beam Batteries (All Arcs) qqqq
2 Class 2 Beam Bateries (F/FS/FP) q (All Arcs) q
2 Class 2 EMP Beams (F/FS/FP) qq
1 Needle Beam (F) q
Cargo Bay (Mass 4)
Six-Row Hull 20 (4/4/3/3/3/3) - 4 crew units, one every 5th box
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Saturday, April 18, 2026

Full Thrust ESU Custom Builds and Game Stats


Kamchatka-class Battle Carrier

These custom ESU ship variants were originally posted to a long-defunct site belonging to an old employer of mine, but the Wayback Machine and the fortuitous find of some some old images has let me bring them back from oblivion.  Most of these are extremely simple kitbashes that anyone could do if you want to add some added variety in your ESU Full Thrust fleet.  The basic models that were used here are still available through GZG over here, although the fighters have been replaced with new, remastered versions.

You can see the the stock builds (and a few rogue images of these kitbashes) over at my main ESU gallery

 

ESU Pankov-class Strikeboat Tender

While officially designated as support craft for the ESU Frontier Exploration Program, the Pankov class armed tender is more often encountered in combat roles than in scientific ones.  Rather than supporting squadrons of far-roaming scouts and survey vessels, they provide repair and replenishment facilities for the increasing numbers of Cossack-class strikeboats employed in the fleet.  Built on a heavily modified Nanjing escort carrier hull, they retain the full armament of their parent class but trade the carrier's hanger bays for extensive fueling and maintenance equipment specialized for servicing smaller vessels.

Pankov-class Strikeboat Tender
TMF 102 (includes 21 Mass dedicated to fuel tankage, ammo stores, and repair parts for servicing small starships, as well as some surprising decent "guest rooms" for their tiny crews to get out of their flying coffins for a short break between missions)
NPV 293/CPV 257
Thrust 4 
q 2 q
FTL q
Level 1 Screen q
2 Fire Control Systems qq
ADFC q
4 PDS qqqq
5 Class 2 Beam Batteries (F/FP/FS) q (F/FP/AP) q (F/FS/AS) q (All Arcs) qq
Repair & Resupply Facilities (treat as Cargo) qqqq
Armor 2, Hull 24 (6/6/6/6) - 6 crew units, one every 4th box
mm
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The mini below uses the main hull and side engines from the FT-239 battlecruiser, and the prow and tanks from the FT-262 fleet tanker, plus a bit of plastic tubing to make the aft replenishment couplings.  Simple little kitbash, and the ship has enough combat ability to make life hard for light raiders striking at a fleet supply convoy or group of Cossacks with empty missile racks.  The rearm/refuel/repair process is much too slow to complete during a battle, so the mass used for it is priced as for any non-combat equipment.  If you're playing a campaign you'd want to increase the ship's cost a bit to reflect its utility for rearming strikeboats between battles away from base.






ESU Kamchatka-class Battle Carrier

The Kamchatka-class battle carrier is a controversial design within the ESU fleet.  A "jack of all trades" intended to provide both gunline and carrier capability on a single hull, it performs both functions somewhat poorly for its size and cost.  The current admiralty favors more specialized and economical vessels and the class is likely to remain in strictly limited production for the foreseeable future.

Kamchatka-class Battle Carrier
TMF 142
NPV 489/CPV 465 + fighters
Thrust 4 
q 2 q
FTL q
Level 1 Screen q
2 Fire Control Systems qq
ADFC q
4 PDS qqqq
6 Class 2 Beam Batteries (F/FP/AP) qq (F/FS/AS) qq (All Arcs) qq
2 Class 3 Beam Batteries (F/FP/FS) qq
2 Fighter Bays qq
Armor 4, Hull 37 (10/9/9/9) - 8 crew units, one every 5th box
mmmm
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The mini below uses the aft hull and side engines of the FT-245 escort carrier, the prow of the FT-29 battlescruiser, and the dorsal engine of the FT-240 battleship.  The dorsal engine requires a bit of trimming to fit securely but it's a simple enough kitbash all in all.  The parts required are a bit of a chore to accumulate, though.






ESU Sheng Li-class Strike Carrier

Produced as a lower-cost alternative to the Changchun light carrier, the much smaller Sheng-Li retains a full four-squadron fighter group as well as respectable medium medium-range beam armament.  The design is derived from standardized hull sections from both the Khalinov and Changchun classes, but the resulting ship is overstressed by its weapons payload and plagued by "minor" engineering issues problems, making it much less resilient than most ESU vessels.

Sheng Li-class Strike Carrier
TMF 147
NPV 508/CPV 412 + fighters
Thrust 4 
q 2 q
FTL q
Level 1 Screen q
2 Fire Control Systems qq
ADFC q
4 PDS qqqq
5 Class 2 Beam Batteries (F/FP/FS) q (F/FP/AP) q (F/FS/AS) q (All Arcs) qq
4 Fighter Bays qqqq
Armor 4, Hull 36 (9/9/9/9) - 8 crew units, one every 5th box
mmmm
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The mini is created with a simple part swap attaching the FT-243 light carrier prow to the aft hull of the FT-240 battleship.  This leaves you with parts required to build the FT-241 battledreadnought, making this an unusually efficient conversion.





ESU Dewu Lo-class Light Battleship

Named for its chief naval architect, this class was built primarily in the Chiang Military District as an economical capital ship.  They are "light" only in comparison to the massive Khalinov class, and along with the Pobyeda battlecruisers they provide much-needed numbers to the ESU battleline.  The "light" designation also helped calm the Central Planning Committee on Earth regarding exactly what sort of empire-building was going on in the distant reaches of ESU territory, which is never a bad thing for ambitious colonial bureaucrats.

Dewu Lo-class Light Battleship
TMF 124
NPV 422/CPV 452
Thrust 4 
q 2 q
FTL q
Level 1 Screen q
3 Fire Control Systems qqq
ADFC q
4 PDS qqqq
5 Class 2 Beam Batteries (F/FP/FS) q (F/FP/AP) q (F/FS/AS) q (All Arcs) qq
3 Class 3 Beam Batteries (F/FP/FS) q (F/FP/AP) q (F/FS/AS) q
Armor 6, Hull 36 (9/9/9/9) - 7 crew units, one every 6th box
mmmmmm
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qqpqqqqqp
qqqqqpqqq
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The mini below is kitbashed out of the FT-239 battlecruiser and FT-240 battleship.  The two models share the same hull and side engines, and the Dewu Lo uses the battleship's dorsal engine and the battlecruiser's prow, with a bit of plastic tube to enlarge the central "gun barrel" a bit.  This leaves you with a main hull/side engine set, the battlecruiser's dorsal pod, and a battleship prow for your bits box.





Comparison shot of the standard FT-240 battleship (left), my light battleship hybrid (center), and the standard FT-239 battlecruiser (right). 




Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Full Thrust Phalon Gallery

 After finishing up last week's index of starship posts I came to the much-belated realization that I didn't actually have a gallery of Ground Zero Games' Full Thrust Phalon ships anywhere.  Probably did one many years ago and deleted it when I purged many old posts from before 2016, then just never got around to replacing it.  This sad state of affairs can't be allowed to continue, of course.

See, I used to own a lot of Phalon minis.  A whole lot.  Possibly more than the entire continent of Australia at one point, although that might have been a joke by the guys at Eureka.  Let's take a look at the collection when it was at peak strength.

Capital ships, from the humble battleship up to a customized dreadnought and superdreadnought. 


A hefty carrier arm with the attendant swarm of fighter craft.


Dizens of cruisers from light recon ships up to battlecruiser fleet defense ships.


Whole flotillas of destroyers and frigates of various types.


Clouds of light escorts and strike boats and tiny scouts.


They're all long since sold off to new owners, but I did manage to find some old images from back in 2014 when I made a concerted effort to record the fleet en masse for posterity.


How did I wind up with so many?


Well, Phalons are an older fleet, dating back to the 90s and the days when Geo-Hex had a license to manufacture and sell many GZG figs here in the US.


And I was working in a game store back in those days, with a healthy employee discount.


Between that and keeping and eye out for other stores choosing to remainder Full Thrust stock now and then, I was buying ships pretty cheap for  a few years there.


For whatever reason, the Phalons seemed to show up in disproportionate numbers in those kinds of closeout sales, and I've always had a hard time saying no to a bargain.


To be fair, apparently all three of the Fleet Book 2 alien races had a similar, ah, dearth of popularity, and showed up at discount more often than the human fleets.


I think I'd attribute that to biotech ships (whether Sa'Vasku or Phalon) just being less in demand than more conventional designs, and the first-generation Kra'Vak at least looking like the larger ships would be rather fragile on the table. 


At any rate, the local FT players that I gamed with most often agreed to split the xeno fleets between us, and I wound up becoming the area's Phalon Guy.


Not that I'm complaining, or I wouldn't have accumulated so many of them over time.


I was even happy to buy some of the new sculpts that came out in 2008 and 2009 even though I already had far more minis than I really needed. 


Never did get any of their transport pod ships though, and there's just the one lone Gruuss attack cruiser to be seen in a few of these images. 


Sadly, the Gruuss I got had a rare miscast around the weapon barrels, so it's not quite a stock model. 


I did pick a half-dozen of each of the new destroyer types, which I'm still quite fond of.


All of the new sculpts have suggested stats over on Dean "Star Ranger" Gundberg's Full Thrust Resource page here.


He's also got better close-ups of some of my own paint jobs on them than I do, including the "Gruuss-B" with the miscast and a good image of how it's supposed to look from the original news release for Salute 2008.


I had so many ships that I "expended" a few on conversions, like the "head swap" on the battledreadnought here where a heavy cruiser aft hull replaces the original prow.


The dorsal weapon pod got some mods as well.


I did something similar with a superdreadnought and a battlecruiser aft hull later on, but my close-up photos of the ship are still eluding me.  You can catch a glimpse of it way up in the first photo.  It's the lone ship in the purple paint scheme, and was meant to be the personal flagship/transport of the Oobah of Poom, the head of a major social/religious/economic faction within the Phalon Conglomerate.  I ran a few scenarios over the years where various navies were bent on killing or protecting the Oobah on his way to negotiations with humanity at Sol.