Hydran Stinger Miniatures

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jmt
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Post by jmt »

Scoutdad wrote:
djdood wrote:I was actually referring to a similar (but different IIRC) concept that SVC has teased about on the other board. But, yeah it is something along those lines that holds multiple small craft/missiles on one base and can be incremented.
Now I remember the ones your talking about. I hex base with 6-individual mounting pins, one at each of the 6 the apexes. Drones / Plasmas / Fighters / Shuttles / PF's / etc. could be placed on the mounting pins in any number from 1 to 6.

Or, taken the other way... drones / shuttles / plasmas / PF's / etc could be cast with mounting lugs/pins underneath and the base could have receiving holes instead. Any number of items could be inseted into the holes... and the number could even be changed during play, if the holes and mounting pins were constructed properly.
Babylon 5: A Call to Arms etc. uses these for fighters - 6 star furies to a plastic hex base.
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Post by Scoutdad »

djdood wrote:I was actually referring to a similar (but different IIRC) concept that SVC has teased about on the other board. But, yeah it is something along those lines that holds multiple small craft/missiles on one base and can be incremented.
Something along the lines of thse perhaps?
Image

I can't remember who did these, but I think it was either Aaron Staley or Xander Fulton
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Scoutdad
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Post by Scoutdad »

jmt wrote:Babylon 5: A Call to Arms etc. uses these for fighters - 6 star furies to a plastic hex base.
Yep, just found them. they are on listed as ACTA Fighter Bases on their web store. And at only 60 cents apiece, I think I'll be ordering a bunch... unless SVC intends to produce a similar product. After all, I rather dance with the one that brought me... :)

Actually, most of the bases in the photo above look like the B5 ATCA fighter bases.
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Shadow
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Post by Shadow »

Ground Zero Games from the UK makes some 6-fighter (or whatever) bases that are pretty cool. The stand is a hex base with one pole in the center, then it has a 6-armed flight stand that sits on top of the pole. I couldn't find a picture of it on their website, but if you go to their site and download/view their catalog (a PDF), I believe there is a picture of it in there, or one of the supplements to it.

They're what I use for fighter groups, though there is no indicator or room for a die.
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Post by defurusu »

Those Stingers are very cute! How big are they compared to the Hydran ship miniatures?

That said, we always found the disparity in scale jarred a bit too much when we played (say) B5W with minis, which we did a lot. What we ended up doing was using the counters for fighters, even if we weren't using the smaller ("fleet"? - it's been a long time) scale minis for ships.

In principle, I like the idea of a base which holds the correct number of fighters - or drones for that matter - for all to see. I just never liked the six-holed bases. I think it's fairly desirable for the fighter minis to be elevated from the base, a bit like aircraft would probably be supported by a wire if you were playing a 300th scale WWII/moderns battle. If the ships are an inch or more above the table, I think it looks a bit naff for the fighters to be at ground level, as it were.

More work for the customer, I guess, drilling to mount this way, the difficulty currently in my mind is regarding the base - something like packing foam or even Oasis (the stuff used in flower arranging, don't know if the brand name is the same outside the UK) seems ideal at first but is it durable enough to last more than a couple of battles? If not, is it cheap/easy enough that doesn't matter?
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Post by Scoutdad »

defurusu wrote:Those Stingers are very cute! How big are they compared to the Hydran ship miniatures?

More work for the customer, I guess, drilling to mount this way, the difficulty currently in my mind is regarding the base - something like packing foam or even Oasis (the stuff used in flower arranging, don't know if the brand name is the same outside the UK) seems ideal at first but is it durable enough to last more than a couple of battles? If not, is it cheap/easy enough that doesn't matter?
#1) I'll post a photo of the Stingers along side a Ranger or a Paladin this evening, to give a comparison. If you can't wait, the "elite-scale" bases used for the single Stingers are 5/8" across and the multi bases are ~1 1/4" across.

#2) Battelgroup Cinninati uses a similar method for expendables. They have boat-shaped pieces of extruded, poly-styrene (pink board and blue board insulation foam). They call tem, aptly enough - plasma boats or drone boats. There plasma topedos and drones are mounted on long, dress-makers pins. Whenever a launch occurs, they simply stick the correct number of pins into the "boat". It would be easy enough to adapt the system to shutles and fighters.
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MightyCthulhu2
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Post by MightyCthulhu2 »

I'm new to FC, but I've been pouring over the minis and I really like the hydrans. I'm hoping to pick some up at Origins.

I only have the Academy rules, so I'm wondering.

1) Do the Hydrans have special rules that are printed elsewhere?
2) Where do I find the ship cards for the hydrans?
3) what are these stingers? Have ship cards been released for them?

Thanks!

PS: I live near Cincinnati OH, How do I get intouch with Battlegroup Cincinnati?
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Post by TJolley »

MightyCthulhu2 wrote: 1) Do the Hydrans have special rules that are printed elsewhere?

2) Where do I find the ship cards for the hydrans?

3) what are these stingers? Have ship cards been released for them?
1. Booster 0, Updates in Communique 17 (Free Download): http://www.starfleetgames.com/fccc/login.php
(free to set up an account if you don't have one.

2. Booster 0 and some of the later Captain's Logs 32-33-34-35..don't have them with me to verify.

3. Fighters! They are armed shuttles. They can be very nasty if you get too close. However, they are fragile.
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Post by MightyCthulhu2 »

Thanks, I'll have to order booster #0 from my FLGS tonight!

I checked out the downloadable TOCs for CL. They don't list which ships are included. If anyone can shed some light on this I'd appreciate it.
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Post by junior »

There are no Hydran ships in CL35. There are Hydran ships in CL34. I'm not sure about the other listed Captain's Logs, but the Communique posted right after the relevant issue of Captain's Log should have mention which FC ships are included.

Also, one or two issues of Communique should have Hydran ships as well.

Stingers don't have their own ship cards. Instead, they're included on the cards of the ships that carry them. So the Dragoon included in Booster 0 includes three stingers on the squadron scale ship, and two on the fleet scale side of the card. Fighters cost ten points each, and are not included in the points value listed on the ship card (though the only time they shouldn't be included in a battle is in an "historical" battle where they weren't available for some reason).
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TJolley
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Post by TJolley »

All the Captain's Logs ships are Fleet Scale versions
CL 33:
Mongol CM

CL 34:
Hunter FF
Knight DD
Lord Bishop CC
Paladin DN

Both Fleet and Squadron Scale

Communique 17:
Dragoon CA
Ranger CA

You definitely need Com17, as the Hydran fighter rules were extensively updated
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Post by Scoutdad »

MightyCthulhu2 wrote: PS: I live near Cincinnati OH, How do I get intouch with Battlegroup Cincinnati?
I'd recommend going to the Commanders Circle (the link is located on the frontpage), registering, log-in, and then go to "Find Players".

Search for players in Ohio. 2 or 3 show up in Cinncinatti. I'd bet one of those email addresses can hook you up.
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Post by djdood »

One thing to be aware of MightyCthulhu2 -

All of the Hydran (and Lyran and ISC) ships and rules that are out there right now are kind of demo or playtest versions. It's why they are strung through so many different places (Booster 0, Captain's Log, give-aways in Communique, etc.).

The "real" ships and rules (which may end up not being any different at all) are going to be published in future FedCom product(s) ("Distant Kingdoms" seems to be the name that is likely).
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Post by junior »

djdood wrote:The "real" ships and rules (which may end up not being any different at all) are going to be published in future FedCom product(s)
Classic case in point of ships that changed during playtest is the Fleet-Scale Gorn Battlecruiser, which had its torpedo configuration changed. There was initially some debate over how fleet scale torpedo layouts would look, and the Booster 0 Gorn BC didn't follow the philosophy that won out.
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Post by TJolley »

Yea, make sure you ignore the Gorn ship, and use the Lyran and Hydrans in the latest Communique's to goof around with.
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