Very cool! Don’t think I’ve ever seen that one.
2270-2290s Gaming Minis (Including obscure designs!)
- Thread starter Norsehound
- Start date
In my earlier post that should have read that the TMP version of Pleiades appeared in Warp Factor Three, not "TNG".
Work shifted to other areas (working on a rules refresh), but there are other models I can feature, like all the originals. I'm going to call out my Constellation.
TNG kinda... went over the top emphasizing how much of a clunker Picard's former command is. I've always regarded the TMP-era ships with a sort of majesty... like giant, elegant birds made of steel and designed with geometric perfection. The pearl hulls weren't overstated. Even the Miranda's aberrations in the sensor pits is more of a stylistic quirk than something defining. All the TMP ships are icons of an amazing age of starship design.
The Constellation of TNG became the used car 60 years down the road with so many aftermarket additions it is (at risk of being hyperbolic...) an insult. Just as intended. Deliberately designed to trash the fantastic TMP design lineage to show up the organic putty designs of TNG. Bleh.
But I thought the Original Constellation didn't have to be this way.
NX-1974 uses the same FWGs that powered the Enterprise (the clubbed derivatives would come later), and she's also sans the bulge pods at the rear of the saucer's underbelly since I didn't see these additions being necessary. Since this is long before the greebles were added (as additions in the 2350s to enhance the class in a hurry), she's much more streamlined, standing next to her stablemates in a way that doesn't make her a very sore thumb.
If it were my choice I'd have NCC-1017-A be the next Constellation... but here we are.
My Take: The Transwarp project was the greatest, but most divisive, technological leap of the 2270s and into the 2280s. Hesitant to place the entire future of starship design on an unproven technology, Starfleet's R&D began advancing designs for the next evolution of Heavy Cruiser without considering the major advancements and technologies being integrated into the Excelsior. She was the conservative wing's approach to the future within Starfleet, and while she eschewed Transwarp technology and the gen 1 LCARS interface, she was innovative by switching to a quad-nacelle pattern. Typically overlooked because of the costs involved, new studies revealed how stable the quad-nacelle format was at high speeds and warranted a study. The replacement Constellation (never constructed due to diverted resources) was re-designated as the prototype for a new class. The name was bestowed to honor both men of the Decker family.
As the Excelsior sputtered and failed in Transwarp trials, the Constellation program was shining with promise. Though the Excelsior, in virtue of her larger size and capability, would become Starfleet's cruiser in the decades to come, the Constellation was a very bright spot in the future of the Star fleet. Dependable, reliable, and fast, she effortlessly slipped into support duties and positions being left open by the decommissioning of so many 2260s support ships. The class faded as more Excelsiors were built, until ultimately they were second line vessels by the 2330s. Sudden conflicts with the Cardassians, and a panic induced by the Romulan attack on Nerandra III, saw all of the mothballed Constellations receive a "Frankenstein" refit to bring these cruisers back up to performance standards. They would continue by virtue of their unparalleled shuttle and cargo carrying capacity, which was still unmatched for vessels of their size, until the last ones were decommissioned in the 2380s.
TNG kinda... went over the top emphasizing how much of a clunker Picard's former command is. I've always regarded the TMP-era ships with a sort of majesty... like giant, elegant birds made of steel and designed with geometric perfection. The pearl hulls weren't overstated. Even the Miranda's aberrations in the sensor pits is more of a stylistic quirk than something defining. All the TMP ships are icons of an amazing age of starship design.
The Constellation of TNG became the used car 60 years down the road with so many aftermarket additions it is (at risk of being hyperbolic...) an insult. Just as intended. Deliberately designed to trash the fantastic TMP design lineage to show up the organic putty designs of TNG. Bleh.
But I thought the Original Constellation didn't have to be this way.
NX-1974 uses the same FWGs that powered the Enterprise (the clubbed derivatives would come later), and she's also sans the bulge pods at the rear of the saucer's underbelly since I didn't see these additions being necessary. Since this is long before the greebles were added (as additions in the 2350s to enhance the class in a hurry), she's much more streamlined, standing next to her stablemates in a way that doesn't make her a very sore thumb.
If it were my choice I'd have NCC-1017-A be the next Constellation... but here we are.
My Take: The Transwarp project was the greatest, but most divisive, technological leap of the 2270s and into the 2280s. Hesitant to place the entire future of starship design on an unproven technology, Starfleet's R&D began advancing designs for the next evolution of Heavy Cruiser without considering the major advancements and technologies being integrated into the Excelsior. She was the conservative wing's approach to the future within Starfleet, and while she eschewed Transwarp technology and the gen 1 LCARS interface, she was innovative by switching to a quad-nacelle pattern. Typically overlooked because of the costs involved, new studies revealed how stable the quad-nacelle format was at high speeds and warranted a study. The replacement Constellation (never constructed due to diverted resources) was re-designated as the prototype for a new class. The name was bestowed to honor both men of the Decker family.
As the Excelsior sputtered and failed in Transwarp trials, the Constellation program was shining with promise. Though the Excelsior, in virtue of her larger size and capability, would become Starfleet's cruiser in the decades to come, the Constellation was a very bright spot in the future of the Star fleet. Dependable, reliable, and fast, she effortlessly slipped into support duties and positions being left open by the decommissioning of so many 2260s support ships. The class faded as more Excelsiors were built, until ultimately they were second line vessels by the 2330s. Sudden conflicts with the Cardassians, and a panic induced by the Romulan attack on Nerandra III, saw all of the mothballed Constellations receive a "Frankenstein" refit to bring these cruisers back up to performance standards. They would continue by virtue of their unparalleled shuttle and cargo carrying capacity, which was still unmatched for vessels of their size, until the last ones were decommissioned in the 2380s.
All right, had a bit of time and I wanted to do one of the wonky comic ships.
My Take: Tellarite Shipbuilding and ship designs was hitting a peak by the early 2270s, a remarkable change from the preceding century where Tellarites traditionally purchased starship designs from others. The Throg class was not the largest Tellarite design in the 2270s star fleet, but it was one of the most prolific. Designed as a large destroyer (or very light cruiser) the Throg was built with an emphasis on speedy patrol duties and durability. They made satisfactory core-regions patrol vessels, able to assist in emergency efforts thanks to a predominant crew makeup of Tellarites. While the Throg wasn't armed with a ridiculous amount of photon torpedoes (as Andoran designs often were), it had a punch from dual launchers. The launchers also has slight modifications to fire other payloads, such as scientific packages or (it is rumored) commando marines in drop capsules.
One highlight of the class was the presence of a Throg in starbase during the infamous theft of the Enterprise in 2285 (The Waloeg, NCC-2196) . Rumor has it that Captain Gorgh, an admirer of Admiral Kirk, deliberately obfuscated his response to the all-hands summons to stop the Enterprise from leaving spacedock. The ship departed dock too late to intercept the Enterprise, but did assist the U.S.S. Okinawa and her trainee crew in towing the Excelsior back to spacedock.
A thing I'm going to do with some of these oddballs is assign them to the other races and give them other names. We have far, far too many ships assigned to human terms and historical notes... kind of giving credence to Azethbur's criticisms of the Federation.
My Take: Tellarite Shipbuilding and ship designs was hitting a peak by the early 2270s, a remarkable change from the preceding century where Tellarites traditionally purchased starship designs from others. The Throg class was not the largest Tellarite design in the 2270s star fleet, but it was one of the most prolific. Designed as a large destroyer (or very light cruiser) the Throg was built with an emphasis on speedy patrol duties and durability. They made satisfactory core-regions patrol vessels, able to assist in emergency efforts thanks to a predominant crew makeup of Tellarites. While the Throg wasn't armed with a ridiculous amount of photon torpedoes (as Andoran designs often were), it had a punch from dual launchers. The launchers also has slight modifications to fire other payloads, such as scientific packages or (it is rumored) commando marines in drop capsules.
One highlight of the class was the presence of a Throg in starbase during the infamous theft of the Enterprise in 2285 (The Waloeg, NCC-2196) . Rumor has it that Captain Gorgh, an admirer of Admiral Kirk, deliberately obfuscated his response to the all-hands summons to stop the Enterprise from leaving spacedock. The ship departed dock too late to intercept the Enterprise, but did assist the U.S.S. Okinawa and her trainee crew in towing the Excelsior back to spacedock.
A thing I'm going to do with some of these oddballs is assign them to the other races and give them other names. We have far, far too many ships assigned to human terms and historical notes... kind of giving credence to Azethbur's criticisms of the Federation.
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Weird and wacky but, maybe fun?
I love that you're giving these one-off designs some life. =)
I like rarities, one-offs, and the overlooked. Especially when there are so many ships of my favorite Trek period that are passed up.
Anyway, it's time to talk about this monstrosity.
This design appeared in multiple comic installments: as Commander Agorra's Romulan cruiser, and again as Admiral Jaricus' flagship. Since it shows up in more than one installment, as two distinct vessels under two different commanders, it's technically more visible in comic canon than the FASA Z-1.
I kinda resisted doing this cruiser for a few reasons. Foremost it's not really a Romulan design.. it's pretty clearly a hackjob of a klingon vessel that's trying to look something like an ancestor of the D'Deridex. While the D'D is a good design, I don't like how it's essentially replaced the TOS Bird of Prey as "The Standard" of what Romulan ships look like (As much as the Enterprise defines starfleet). Part of the reason I lean heavily into the FASA designs (and can appreciate many of the KA ones) is that they avoid this very thing.
But I couldn't get around avoiding this ship forever, so here it is. I kitbashed parts off my K't'inga since it seems very obvious by the sources that that's what it's derived from.
My Take: Through the 2260s the Romulans had been beholden to others. With the Praetor's pride destroyed in 2266, the Romulan's technological inferiority to the Federation was made evident. An alliance with the Klingons to gain better ships resulted in exchanging valuable cloaking technology for second hand warships and picked-over civilian vessels. The proud Romulans, with no other option, were forced to bow their heads and accept these handouts. When the Hem'Quch seized the Imperial council the new Emperor found no use for guile and ended the alliance with the Romulans in the early 2270s. One of the final shipments of aid sent to the Romulans were parts for the new K't'inga class cruisers- which the Romulans had paid for with an exchange of a working prototype attack vehicle (which the Klingons would copy to become the infamous Bird of Prey).
Desperate to field working cruisers the Romulans cobbled together six ships with the spare parts and a few other technological additions gained by the Klingons, resulting in what they dubbed the Auroto-class. Fortunately, the Romulans had learned much from working with the Klingon designs and by the time Ael t'Rllaillieu was crowned Empress in 2276, new designs were taking wing. The Auroto-class ships were quickly sidelined, a position which enabled them to fall into the hands of opportunistic sub-factions within the Empire that plotted independently against the Federation (such as the El'curo under Admiral Jaricus, and the Tal'Shiar). The class persisted sometime into 2320s, the last of them was destroyed in 2322 during the War of the Tals.
Anyway, it's time to talk about this monstrosity.
This design appeared in multiple comic installments: as Commander Agorra's Romulan cruiser, and again as Admiral Jaricus' flagship. Since it shows up in more than one installment, as two distinct vessels under two different commanders, it's technically more visible in comic canon than the FASA Z-1.
I kinda resisted doing this cruiser for a few reasons. Foremost it's not really a Romulan design.. it's pretty clearly a hackjob of a klingon vessel that's trying to look something like an ancestor of the D'Deridex. While the D'D is a good design, I don't like how it's essentially replaced the TOS Bird of Prey as "The Standard" of what Romulan ships look like (As much as the Enterprise defines starfleet). Part of the reason I lean heavily into the FASA designs (and can appreciate many of the KA ones) is that they avoid this very thing.
But I couldn't get around avoiding this ship forever, so here it is. I kitbashed parts off my K't'inga since it seems very obvious by the sources that that's what it's derived from.
My Take: Through the 2260s the Romulans had been beholden to others. With the Praetor's pride destroyed in 2266, the Romulan's technological inferiority to the Federation was made evident. An alliance with the Klingons to gain better ships resulted in exchanging valuable cloaking technology for second hand warships and picked-over civilian vessels. The proud Romulans, with no other option, were forced to bow their heads and accept these handouts. When the Hem'Quch seized the Imperial council the new Emperor found no use for guile and ended the alliance with the Romulans in the early 2270s. One of the final shipments of aid sent to the Romulans were parts for the new K't'inga class cruisers- which the Romulans had paid for with an exchange of a working prototype attack vehicle (which the Klingons would copy to become the infamous Bird of Prey).
Desperate to field working cruisers the Romulans cobbled together six ships with the spare parts and a few other technological additions gained by the Klingons, resulting in what they dubbed the Auroto-class. Fortunately, the Romulans had learned much from working with the Klingon designs and by the time Ael t'Rllaillieu was crowned Empress in 2276, new designs were taking wing. The Auroto-class ships were quickly sidelined, a position which enabled them to fall into the hands of opportunistic sub-factions within the Empire that plotted independently against the Federation (such as the El'curo under Admiral Jaricus, and the Tal'Shiar). The class persisted sometime into 2320s, the last of them was destroyed in 2322 during the War of the Tals.
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Ahh.. I remember that one from the Excelsior/Enterprise team-up story
All right, from the bad to the good.
The Romulan Z-1 "Nova" is one of the several distinct designs of the FASA lineup (Next to, IMO, the White Wind and the Bright One) and the heaviest of the FASA Warships. She was so popular the craft became one of the few fanon ships to cross into other media (Featured by depiction and referenced by name in the DC comics, issues 34, 35, and 36). There are more of them, and they appear in more panels, than the aforementioned Klingon Kitbash Romulan Cruiser, but do not appear again. The Romulans have at least seven of these cruisers they used to stop the Excelsior sometime in 2285. One of these was the Ill-fated Predator.
This finishes off "the Big Three" I had scoped out for this game. With all expansions available from the 2270-90 era, you can progress through the ranks over several sessions to command one of these monsters near the end of the campaign. Federation Excelsior, obviously, is the next star cruiser for the Feds. The Klingon L-24 is the bruiser that serves as a roving embassy and advanced wartime phalanx when the Klingons are ready to spring their invasion. The Romulan Z-1 is a cloaked space supremacy warship conducting clandestine missions and with enough power to decloak and wipe out a standard Enterprise-class heavy cruiser. Both the Z-1 and L-24 would feature in the last expansion, The Final Reflection, allowing the game to come to the brink of war and fight the opening stages.
My Take: Growing confidence in Romulan Shipbuilding and star techniques saw advances leading up through the 2270s. As their new home-grown designs were showing promise, the Senate approved of a new, powerful battleship to match those glimpsed within the Klingon Empire. News of the Federation's Excelsior program also helped convince Empress t'Rllaillieu to approve of the construction, though she was adverse to taking war directly to the Federation. The result was quite a remarkable vessel in spite of the fact that Romulan Engineers had not constructed a vessel this large before.
The Z-1 was a very formidable battlecruiser. Featuring the largest stable Quantum Singularity engines yet produced by the empire, and fitted with cutting-edge cloak technologies, the Z-1 at the time of her launch was the largest starship capable of a full cloak. Seven of these ships were constructed, and they were quickly favored by the Romulan Imperial Guard- the Tal Praiex. All seven of these initial cruisers were responsible for Intercepting the Excelsior in an unauthorized border crossing.
The Z-1 served with distinction for decades, with many of their kind continuing to serve the Tal Praiex into the War of the Tals.
The Romulan Z-1 "Nova" is one of the several distinct designs of the FASA lineup (Next to, IMO, the White Wind and the Bright One) and the heaviest of the FASA Warships. She was so popular the craft became one of the few fanon ships to cross into other media (Featured by depiction and referenced by name in the DC comics, issues 34, 35, and 36). There are more of them, and they appear in more panels, than the aforementioned Klingon Kitbash Romulan Cruiser, but do not appear again. The Romulans have at least seven of these cruisers they used to stop the Excelsior sometime in 2285. One of these was the Ill-fated Predator.
This finishes off "the Big Three" I had scoped out for this game. With all expansions available from the 2270-90 era, you can progress through the ranks over several sessions to command one of these monsters near the end of the campaign. Federation Excelsior, obviously, is the next star cruiser for the Feds. The Klingon L-24 is the bruiser that serves as a roving embassy and advanced wartime phalanx when the Klingons are ready to spring their invasion. The Romulan Z-1 is a cloaked space supremacy warship conducting clandestine missions and with enough power to decloak and wipe out a standard Enterprise-class heavy cruiser. Both the Z-1 and L-24 would feature in the last expansion, The Final Reflection, allowing the game to come to the brink of war and fight the opening stages.
My Take: Growing confidence in Romulan Shipbuilding and star techniques saw advances leading up through the 2270s. As their new home-grown designs were showing promise, the Senate approved of a new, powerful battleship to match those glimpsed within the Klingon Empire. News of the Federation's Excelsior program also helped convince Empress t'Rllaillieu to approve of the construction, though she was adverse to taking war directly to the Federation. The result was quite a remarkable vessel in spite of the fact that Romulan Engineers had not constructed a vessel this large before.
The Z-1 was a very formidable battlecruiser. Featuring the largest stable Quantum Singularity engines yet produced by the empire, and fitted with cutting-edge cloak technologies, the Z-1 at the time of her launch was the largest starship capable of a full cloak. Seven of these ships were constructed, and they were quickly favored by the Romulan Imperial Guard- the Tal Praiex. All seven of these initial cruisers were responsible for Intercepting the Excelsior in an unauthorized border crossing.
The Z-1 served with distinction for decades, with many of their kind continuing to serve the Tal Praiex into the War of the Tals.
The only one I recall is the Orion Wanderer (or was it the Lightning?) seen on a flashing monitor screen.
Was there more that I missed?
--Alex
There was the Federation Lotus Flower neutronic fuel carrier. And a Provider class ship, although that one was from the Spaceflight Chronology, not FASA.
I seem to be on a bit of a Romulan Kick. I decided to finish up the last of the (IMO) Interesting 2270s Romulan ships. The Winged Defender.
I decided to model it with the wings down. I know just about everyone else (Including the official schematics) depict the wings being upright for cruise position, but my first experience with the Winged Defender was seeing that same magazine ad everyone else did that showed off the range of FASA trek minis. In it, the wings are down.
I also decided to depict the cannons in a folded upright position. With the cannons folded and the wings up, the Winged Defender can assume a landing position (something it shares with the BoP prototype the Romulans gave to the Klingons). Wings down, cannons up is a battle position to show the smallest cross-section. Cannons down is an option for surface strafe attacks and planetary bombardment, but they're too easy to shoot off in ship to ship battles.
My Take: Following the loss of the Praetor's Pride to the Enterprise during the 2260s, Romulan Shipbuilding struggled to produce superior craft even to the estimated Federation capabilities. Though the resultant "Hawk" series was artfully constructed, compared to the Klingon D7s, Hawk-series ships were inefficient, expensive, and over-engineered. As Klingon ships populated the Romulan Navy, the Romulan Shipbuilding industry imploded. In the early 2270s, new Romulan designers emerged from the ashes and began producing new designs. The first cruiser design to see promise was the V-30... the prototype spread its wings as the Klingons withdrew their support from the Romulans, and as Empress t'Rllaillieu came to power.
The new Empress decided to test the capabilities of these new ships against the Klingon Hem'Quch, as the new rulers of the Klingon Empire were proud, obnoxious, and drunk on victory from seizing the reins of power back from the Quch'Ha. Precisely one year after the Klingon Emperor parted ways with the Romulans via an insult-laden dismissal, fifteen Winged Defenders, along with other vessels, crossed the Klingon border under an advanced cloak and crippled trade centers and freighters with targeted strikes. While the Hem'Quch, as always, were quick to claim victory and cited vicious losses against devious foes, in truth the Romulans were only interested in a non-lethal sting that would inconvenience the Klingons. The economic damage against the Klingons was staggering to their economy in exchange for only two damaged Romulan vessels. This raid of the early 2270s is thought to be a contributing factor to Praxis' ultimate over-mining that would have consequences two decades hence.
The Winged Defenders would serve the Empire well, becoming a stepping stone to independent Romulan shipbuilding as more and better designs were starting to be fielded. Off the back of the Winged Defender came the White-Wind class cruiser, which was a much more refined craft that took longer to develop. Though the latter design lacked the heavy-hitting Plasma bolt cannons of the Winged Defender and the planetary landing capabilities, ultimately, the White Wind would outlast the Winged Defender. The last of the "Vengeance Eagles" was destroyed in the War of the Tals, in a suicide attack ramming the battleship Imperial-Hawk.
I decided to model it with the wings down. I know just about everyone else (Including the official schematics) depict the wings being upright for cruise position, but my first experience with the Winged Defender was seeing that same magazine ad everyone else did that showed off the range of FASA trek minis. In it, the wings are down.
I also decided to depict the cannons in a folded upright position. With the cannons folded and the wings up, the Winged Defender can assume a landing position (something it shares with the BoP prototype the Romulans gave to the Klingons). Wings down, cannons up is a battle position to show the smallest cross-section. Cannons down is an option for surface strafe attacks and planetary bombardment, but they're too easy to shoot off in ship to ship battles.
My Take: Following the loss of the Praetor's Pride to the Enterprise during the 2260s, Romulan Shipbuilding struggled to produce superior craft even to the estimated Federation capabilities. Though the resultant "Hawk" series was artfully constructed, compared to the Klingon D7s, Hawk-series ships were inefficient, expensive, and over-engineered. As Klingon ships populated the Romulan Navy, the Romulan Shipbuilding industry imploded. In the early 2270s, new Romulan designers emerged from the ashes and began producing new designs. The first cruiser design to see promise was the V-30... the prototype spread its wings as the Klingons withdrew their support from the Romulans, and as Empress t'Rllaillieu came to power.
The new Empress decided to test the capabilities of these new ships against the Klingon Hem'Quch, as the new rulers of the Klingon Empire were proud, obnoxious, and drunk on victory from seizing the reins of power back from the Quch'Ha. Precisely one year after the Klingon Emperor parted ways with the Romulans via an insult-laden dismissal, fifteen Winged Defenders, along with other vessels, crossed the Klingon border under an advanced cloak and crippled trade centers and freighters with targeted strikes. While the Hem'Quch, as always, were quick to claim victory and cited vicious losses against devious foes, in truth the Romulans were only interested in a non-lethal sting that would inconvenience the Klingons. The economic damage against the Klingons was staggering to their economy in exchange for only two damaged Romulan vessels. This raid of the early 2270s is thought to be a contributing factor to Praxis' ultimate over-mining that would have consequences two decades hence.
The Winged Defenders would serve the Empire well, becoming a stepping stone to independent Romulan shipbuilding as more and better designs were starting to be fielded. Off the back of the Winged Defender came the White-Wind class cruiser, which was a much more refined craft that took longer to develop. Though the latter design lacked the heavy-hitting Plasma bolt cannons of the Winged Defender and the planetary landing capabilities, ultimately, the White Wind would outlast the Winged Defender. The last of the "Vengeance Eagles" was destroyed in the War of the Tals, in a suicide attack ramming the battleship Imperial-Hawk.
Do you plan on giving these models more color or are you limited by your printer’s monochrome resin output?
The Winged Defender and T-10 Bright One are supposed to have quite colorful highlights, IIRC.
The Winged Defender and T-10 Bright One are supposed to have quite colorful highlights, IIRC.
