Federation Commander

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

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

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...")

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.

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

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.

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

Comparison picks...

CL


CW


NCA

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:

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So they were superceded by the Hydran Medium Cruisers (Mongol [F] and Tartar [H] classes).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)

Those are some nice Hydrans, man. Well done.

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.

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

Excellent!

Thank you both.

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.