Hydran War Cruiser Question

wedge_hammersteel · Post by **wedge_hammersteel** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:04 pm

I have two Hydran War Cruiser mini's. One has two parallel lines on the nose like this:

" | | "

and one has 3 that look like this:

"| |"
" | "

Is that just two different sculpts or is there a reason for the difference?

Thanks.

The Master · Post by **The Master** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:17 pm

The one with 3 marks has Fusion beams the other helbores. I am assumeing same as DD

Brigman · Post by **Brigman** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:12 am

I think that's right. I can't honestly recall. I don't have that many Hydran CWs.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:21 am

I got nothing (since I only have a token Hydran fleet). I was figuring Tony would chime in with his expertise (and a joke about the "low-down, methane breathing, trashcan looking...")

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:43 am

Tony'd in Chicago this week at a training seminar and doesn't have access to his books or minis for research and doesn't want to post erroneous information gleaned from his admittedly, somewhat faculty recall skills.

The Master · Post by **The Master** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 2:21 pm

SFB Rule books. Biggest uglyest heavyest in the world. Do not leave home with out!!!!!! also great for working on pecks!

wedge_hammersteel · Post by **wedge_hammersteel** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 2:36 pm

To all: thanks for the help.

To the Master: Thanks for the pics. Its a good thing I didnt trade off that mini. You cant have too many mini's.

The mongol pic is a little different than the mini as the mini has the single mark on the nose with the double marks behind.

The Master · Post by **The Master** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 2:55 pm

Wedge

See if the one with three has a spot for a third engine. It might be a NCA based on your description. Don't have pic's of everything (*&^R&%) .

To truly ID you might have to go to one of the big S's

SWO_Daddy · Post by **SWO_Daddy** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:23 pm

Comparison picks...

CL

CW

NCA

SWO_Daddy · Post by **SWO_Daddy** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:26 pm

Once upon a time, the NCA was not built by adding a "ridgeback" to a CW. Originally, it was described as a "widened" CW. I didn't feel like trying to cut a CL mini in half lengthwise, but this was my original kitbash stand-in for the NCA:

Dan Ibekwe · Post by **Dan Ibekwe** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:58 pm

In the beginning...

...or at any rate, in SFB circa 1982, there was the Hydran New Light Cruiser.

This ship was a cut-down Ranger with *two* FA Fusion Beams (and six fighters) and was named the Horseman. There was a fighterless two-Hellbore variant called the Traveller.

These ships are what the original Starline 2200 and 2300 mini represents.

Horseman class NCL HMS Falchion

Problem was, they were a bit too useless even for the reviled Hydrans; they normally lost half their main armament early on in any battle, and rarely troubled the scorer even when intact.
So they were superceded by the Hydran Medium Cruisers (Mongol [F] and Tartar [H] classes).

Compared to the earlier Light Cruisers these ships had a modest hull stretch, slightly more power and *three* heavy weapons. Hydran SFB players abandoned the NCLs with a shudder and except for the various Light Tactical Transport, mine warfare, commando, escort et. c. specialist versions they faded into a well deserved obscurity.

When the Starline 2400 range was released earlier this decade, the old Horseman mini was warmed over with a third gun and re-issued as a Medium cruiser.

Mongol-class CM HMS Alacrity

The Horseman & Traveller are the Hydran equivalent of the Fairey Battle (or the Douglas TBD for you colonials).

Some uses for old CL models...

Iroquois (Fast) class cruiser HMS Integrity

NSC HMS Brilliance

LTT HMS Vitality

(Edited with extra added spaceship porn)

Brigman · Post by **Brigman** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:44 pm

Those are some nice Hydrans, man. Well done.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:07 pm

An excellent history lesson. Very well done!

In the context of Federation Commander, the only "Hydran War Cruisers" are the Medium Cruisers Mongol and Tartar. The Horseman and Traveler (aka Horse & Trailer) are not in the game, for the reasons mentioned above.

Also, the Fast Iroquois will be a bonus ship for Hydran Attack.

Dan Ibekwe · Post by **Dan Ibekwe** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:14 pm

Also, the Fast Iroquois will be a bonus ship for Hydran Attack.

Excellent!

Thank you both.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:19 pm

I miss minis posts on the legacy board, but I'm glad we have so many different folks posting pictures here. It's really great to see so many different takes on the "stock" paint schemes. Everybody manages to put their own stamp on it.