So... my Captains game has been a bit of an adventure. While I have an original IP setting now and that's moved forward, my brain couldn't help tinkering with some core mechanics and re-starting development. Then it proposed a demo version of Captains for 1 player TNG play and suddenly I have a rules set and card deck in progress.
I also have minis.
Since I wanted to feature a new era in a new thread, here it is.
--------------------
While I rail a lot against TNG ship design personally... most of my bitterness is directed at how swiftly and completely it shoved my beloved TMP style off the stage (and colored it as 'obsolite junk'). I seem to have a fascination, though, with early TNG style. While everyone's quick to embrace the First Contact designs and Voyager Era, I find myself continually looking back at the Wolf 359 designs and early TNG uniforms to wonder what that era was like.
So, this thread is about gaming minis post Trek 6 through to Deep Space 9. It's the scope I would have covered in the TNG version of the Captains box for my game. This thread is for pure minis though.
To get rolling here's a timeline of all the ships I have so far. White is TMP, grey is FASA origin, Salmon is my own alternate universe take, and beige is TNG origin. I won't rehash the TMP models, that's been done elsewhere.
This thread, as before, I'll be showing off my mini models and presenting my lore take on them.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I'll get started with one of the oddballs, the Royal Sovergin from FASA.
My Take: For close to forty years, Starfleet had been seeking replacements to the venerable Excelsior, which by the 2340s had been going strong for decades. Though the design was adaptable and flexible to the needs of Starfleet, the spaceframe was constructed with older methods (and so vulnerable to certain stressors). It was also resistant to certain technologies, and the legacy systems from its transwarp-supporting origins continued to spark ire in the minds of fleet designers (eventually resulting in the Obena class subvariant almost a century later to serve as a new basis).
The grandest attempt to replace the Exclesior came in the 2350s as part of the "Galaxy Program" of designs- dubbed the Royal Sovergin.
Even on paper the design is simple to understand. In essence, the Royal Sovergin is the Excelsior seen through the lens of Galaxy Program technologies. Even the Excelsior's original ambition of being a battlecruiser to the rest of the fleet was maintained, and she was suitably armed with the latest phaser technology and heavy photon torpedoes. When launched, the Royal Sovergin was championed with great fanfare as the next workhorse to Starfleet. There were even whispers of designating the next Enterprise as a Royal Sovergin, as the Galaxy-class had yet to finish the design phase.
In the end the Royal Sovergin's glory was left... unstated. Only a handful of the ships were built before the design was paused. It was said that time was needed to evaluate the class, but a second flight was never followed up upon. Starfleet, meanwhile, approved continued upgrades to the nearly ancient Excelsior-class ships in service- costing only a fraction of what was necessary to procure a Royal Sovergin. In the end the class was limited to a dozen ships.
All of them served with distinction up until the Klingon and Dominion wars, providing much-needed relief to the fleet in time for the anti-borg fleet of the 2370s to mature and enter the field. One of the early Casualties was the U.S.S. Nagato at Wolf 359, serving as the flagship for J.P. Hansen. The ship was completely destroyed when the Borg cutting beam penetrated the M/AM tanks, a tactic which accounted for the complete vaporization of many ships in the Federation fleet.
I also have minis.
Since I wanted to feature a new era in a new thread, here it is.
--------------------
While I rail a lot against TNG ship design personally... most of my bitterness is directed at how swiftly and completely it shoved my beloved TMP style off the stage (and colored it as 'obsolite junk'). I seem to have a fascination, though, with early TNG style. While everyone's quick to embrace the First Contact designs and Voyager Era, I find myself continually looking back at the Wolf 359 designs and early TNG uniforms to wonder what that era was like.
So, this thread is about gaming minis post Trek 6 through to Deep Space 9. It's the scope I would have covered in the TNG version of the Captains box for my game. This thread is for pure minis though.
To get rolling here's a timeline of all the ships I have so far. White is TMP, grey is FASA origin, Salmon is my own alternate universe take, and beige is TNG origin. I won't rehash the TMP models, that's been done elsewhere.
This thread, as before, I'll be showing off my mini models and presenting my lore take on them.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I'll get started with one of the oddballs, the Royal Sovergin from FASA.
My Take: For close to forty years, Starfleet had been seeking replacements to the venerable Excelsior, which by the 2340s had been going strong for decades. Though the design was adaptable and flexible to the needs of Starfleet, the spaceframe was constructed with older methods (and so vulnerable to certain stressors). It was also resistant to certain technologies, and the legacy systems from its transwarp-supporting origins continued to spark ire in the minds of fleet designers (eventually resulting in the Obena class subvariant almost a century later to serve as a new basis).
The grandest attempt to replace the Exclesior came in the 2350s as part of the "Galaxy Program" of designs- dubbed the Royal Sovergin.
Even on paper the design is simple to understand. In essence, the Royal Sovergin is the Excelsior seen through the lens of Galaxy Program technologies. Even the Excelsior's original ambition of being a battlecruiser to the rest of the fleet was maintained, and she was suitably armed with the latest phaser technology and heavy photon torpedoes. When launched, the Royal Sovergin was championed with great fanfare as the next workhorse to Starfleet. There were even whispers of designating the next Enterprise as a Royal Sovergin, as the Galaxy-class had yet to finish the design phase.
In the end the Royal Sovergin's glory was left... unstated. Only a handful of the ships were built before the design was paused. It was said that time was needed to evaluate the class, but a second flight was never followed up upon. Starfleet, meanwhile, approved continued upgrades to the nearly ancient Excelsior-class ships in service- costing only a fraction of what was necessary to procure a Royal Sovergin. In the end the class was limited to a dozen ships.
All of them served with distinction up until the Klingon and Dominion wars, providing much-needed relief to the fleet in time for the anti-borg fleet of the 2370s to mature and enter the field. One of the early Casualties was the U.S.S. Nagato at Wolf 359, serving as the flagship for J.P. Hansen. The ship was completely destroyed when the Borg cutting beam penetrated the M/AM tanks, a tactic which accounted for the complete vaporization of many ships in the Federation fleet.
