Starfleet Wars

Monday, April 1, 2013

Military Miniatures USA Catalog 2006 - Galactic Knights

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

How to fight like a Bug

Now for some advice for the rookie Entomolian commander. The Entomolians have many strengths and weaknesses. It is easy for a new player to see all the new grav weapons and suicide fighters and forget the Entomolians' disadvantages. The more cynical player will see the lack of shields and ECM and wonder how they can survive. Exploiting the new weapons while keeping your ships intact can be a real trick. Here are some tactics you can try as you see fit. Remember, none of these work in all situations, and some can be risky as well.

1. If your opponent is playing the Avarians, keep your ships about eight to ten hexes away from them. They will not be close enough to use railguns (with a 6 hex range) and you will be close enough to use your ships' grav guns.

2. If you have more HPBs and PLBs than the opposing force, stay back at long range. If your opponent closes, he or she will probably have to face you at medium range where you can blast them with grav guns.

3. If your opponent is Terran, and has equal or greater number of long range weaponry, close to medium range as soon as possible. You will suffer damage quicker, but you will cause far more. Especially if at least a few of your ships have heavy grav guns.

4. Use the Roll Ship Markers often. Your ships will tend to suffer far more damage on one armor facing than the other. Remember to roll your ship, or turn your facing, to protect the vulnerable side.

5. Entomolians ships suffer very little effective damage (such as lost systems) in the first turn, sometimes even the second one. Use this to your advantage. Send as much damage as you can with a ship while your armor is getting chewed up, then withdraw it before suffering hull box losses.

6. If you are using Standard Rules, attack with your Stinger Missiles as soon as possible. This will provide a much easier target. If you win initiative, you will be able to use your missiles before they are destroyed, no matter how many weapons or fighters the target ship has.

7. When using Command Rules, send the light fighters in as one massive attack. Even a few hits can be devastating, even to an enemy super galactic dreadnought.

Source: Entomolian Fleet Book

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Galactic Knights Packaging

Friday, March 8, 2013

How To Beat The Bugs!

The Entomolians fight a very different battle from the Terrans and the Avarians. Many players feel overwhelmed fighting a force with grav weapons which ignore shields, the main advantage Terrans and Avarians have for defense. However, the Entomolians are not invincible. They can be beaten just as easily as any Terran or Avarian ship. Here are some tips to help you face the insectoid aliens. Keep in mind that none of these tactics are perfect. As always, each game can be unpredictable, and each move can have a counter-move.

1. If playing Terran, try keeping your force at long range. Drift backwards if you have to, but make the Entomolians take time to get to you. At that range your shields can stop much of the damage from hitting your ship at all. Every time you roll equal to or under the Entomolian ship's profile will at very least eat away armor.

2. Concentrate your fire as much as possible. This is always a good tip, no matter what the opponent. It is even more effective against Entomolians. When attacking a large ship such as a dreadnought, it will be difficult to punch through for layers of armor to hit the ship systems, even at short range. You may do enough damage to seriously cripple an Entomolian ship, or at least hit its grav gun.

3. If you are playing the Avarians, use your high maneuverability to your advantage. Maneuver to avoid the grav gun arcs at medium and short range. Also maneuver to hit the damaged armor facing, even if the Entomolian ship rolled to protect it.

4. Keep a light ship one hex behind your most valuable ship when in medium range. This will protect your capital ships from the worst damage from missile attacks and light fighter suicide strikes on your unshielded rear. The missiles are far more likely to raise your profile, and the light fighters can do much more damage. The combination of the two can be lethal even to super galactic dreadnoughts.

5. When playing Standard Rules, target Entomolian light fighters when they are still out of attack range. They can be the most dangerous elements on the board.

Source: Entomolian Fleet Book

Monday, February 25, 2013

1989 Belle Haven Perth Pewter Starfleet Wars Collections

Perth Pewter started as a sub-division of Superior Models in 1975. Many of the figures from Superior's ranges were released from Perth Pewter in the form of pewter collectibles, such as the 1989 Belle Haven Starfleet Wars Collection.

John Carter started his Company around 1973 called, Superior Models Inc. It was mainly a Hobby Company, making Models of World War II submarines and surface ships. He also did quite a bit of contract work for other companies. Then in 1975, when Pewter was becoming quite popular, he started a sub-division of Superior Models Inc. called, Perth Pewter Designs and Collectibles. In the beginning, most of the Perth Pewter Designs were created by the Artist James Lane Casey, Ron Spicer, Ray Lamb, and John Dennett.

Since Perth Pewter was originally a sub-division of Superior Models, Some of the items will have the Superior Models Logo along with the artist signature on the bottom of the item, while other items will have the Perth Pewter Logo along with the artist signature on the bottom. Some items will even have both the Superior Models and the Perth Pewter Logo on the bottom. The Original Owner, John Carter, did not find it necessary to immediately change the Logo from Superior Models, on the bottom of the items, over to Perth Pewter, even though he was selling the items under the Perth Pewter Name. Nor did he change some of the items from Superior Models over to Perth Pewter on the bottom of the Item. So, even though some of the items may say Superior Models on the bottom, they are very much authentic Perth Pewter Items and signed by the artist that created the design.

An informative transcribed interview conversation with one of the developers and son of renowned artist Ron Spicer, Scott R. Spicer takes us along the fascinating journey about the development of the Starfleet Wars miniature line. This can be found here on Desert Scribe's Super Galactic Dreadnought Blog.

Some products from the Perth Pewter line are still being offered from Armiks Fine Collectables. Their inventory of the items are extremely limited and there is no chance of new inventory as the Belle Haven line has been closed for many years now. Perth Pewter is still in business though they are now a division of Medieval Productions. A history of Perth Pewter and galleries of many of their figures can be found here at the Sorcerer's Library. These fine products were also sold by Game Masters as "Finished" Starfleet Wars starships for the science fiction collector.