"At last: Starships with big guns" Topic

Found these a little while back. I have to say these look great. About time we had some starships with nice sized guns. Well done Brigade Models for putting real guns on your ships.
link

Nice, but wasn't there a company that sold 'big gun' sprues to attach to any ship?

Now where are the radiators to get rid of the heat.

Studio Bergstrom has a whole line of inexpensive turrets.

Nice design. I do wish that makers would leave some areas on their ships "un-greebled" so that we customers can put number/faction decals on them without major hassles though.

I would LOVE to be able to put some nice big UNSC decals on my UNSC ships from GZG for example, but it's not really practical due to the excessive raised detailing everywhere. :(

That's not a spaceship with a "big gun". HERE is a spaceship with a "big gun"!

link

Wrong.

THIS is a spaceship with a 'big gun':

No, that's a Big Gun with a spaceship on it.

Worked for the A-10…

I would LOVE to be able to put some nice big UNSC decals on my UNSC ships from GZG for example, but it's not really practical due to the excessive raised detailing everywhere. :(

Have you tried the decal setting solutions? The results can be pretty amazing.

Doug

Even bigger guns:

If you want your spaceships to have battleship guns the best bet is to look for the Star Blazers miniatures. The Yamato (Argo) herself is an obvious sea going ship in space but the other ships are more spacecraft like and most all of them have BIG GUNS! Exceptions for some of the ships that don't have gun barrels, but some of them have BIG MISSILES instead…

elsyrsyn, Yes, I have some experience with decal solutions, but all those raised areas leave the decals all messed up. Having some decent-sized blank areas would be nice, and make life easier for me.

I guess I could file off some greebles to get blank spaces, but that's a fair bit of work to get it right.

HERE is a spaceship with a "big gun"!

Once again, somebody has to drop the GW bomb…

And, as with my gf just after college, that's TWO big guns…

Doug

Check out the Nova class from Babylon 5.

Once again, somebody has to drop the GW bomb…

Yes, but that is from Space Fleet. Back when GW games were fun and affordable.

"Big guns?" Ask and ye shall receive:

link

Gonna have to do an update, as I've added some new capital ships to the fleet…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

I have a few starblazer ships. Yes they do have big guns. :-)

Leland,

I want to play at your house.

And here I've been looking at trawling through the 1/350 scale superdetailing kits for usable guns&etc…

Maybe I should just raid Leland's house!

Maybe I should just raid Leland's house!

*We* have a *Yorkie.* Therefore, I can already see how such a raid would end:

YouTube link

Now. If you want your own such fleet without risking death from vicious, sharp, pointy teeth:

link

And of course, there's the new series to consider:

link

Oooh, shiny:

link

At 180 yen, one cannot beat the price points…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Looks like it gets better:

link

link

link

It says Mecha Colle Garmillas Warships… "warships," as in *plural…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leland, don't post those links!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodbye, money!

Resistance is futile, Martin! Submit and be assimilated!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

About 25 ships with shipping about 60usd.
If only away to drop 2k in shipping.

Have you started these up in SD?

Maybe I should just raid Leland's house!

*We* have a *Yorkie.* Therefore, I can already see how such a raid would end:

However, I know the spot where all dogs turn into putty in my hands. It might take 30-45min to get the dog to walk up to me and sniff a hand, but once that happens every single dog whines like their very own master is leaving when I do. Something about magic ear skritches…

I suppose there's always plan B: Get invited for a massive game of Silent Death or some other starship game!

Have you started these up in SD?

As soon as I can claw my way out from under the academic Augean Stables, I will begin to run Silent Death games at the local Game Kastle down in San Jose. I will also be posting stats for the classic SBY Gamelon warship model (its a 10k ton DDG):

hlj.com/product/BAN61259/Sci

A nasty piece of work I've dubbed the Great White Shark.

As we delve deeper into 2014, I'll be posting assorted ship stats on the Metal Express forum for these handy little models. They're a cheap and cheerful way of getting some very handy escort vessels on the tabletop.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

I suppose there's always plan B: Get invited for a massive game of Silent Death or some other starship game!

Which would be the safer proposition, as our Yorkie is like the penguins from Madagascar, only worse (ie., psychotic, with advanced SOCOM knowledge of firearms and explosives).

Our dawg just ain't right in the head…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

About 25 ships with shipping about 60usd.
If only away to drop 2k in shipping.

Ouch! Where in the multiverse are you that shipping costs so much for such lightweight wares?

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

From the cart at the link you had.

Loaded in 25 or so 180y ships, was 4800 plus 1960 for shipping.

Really? Under three dollars a kit is a deal breaker?

4800y ~ $47 USD
1960y ~ $19 USD

$66 USD/25 = $2.64 USD apiece

The smaller quantities I was looking at doubled the price with shippage, and I was thinking 'tickled pink'.

Costs so bad almost everything is sold out. March Restock, but when?!?!?

Can't everyone see how terrible these costs are? Stop buying!

*ahem* Sorry. Will take my meds now.

Doug

Doug,

you're not losing it. The Yen has been taking a beating versus the dollar, so timing matters too on the exchange rates.

I just placed a preorder for four of the new Bandai Mecha Colle Garmillas Ships, and after doing some digging I found out that they're going to be the Garmillas Destoria class light cruiser at the very least, if not two ships in one box as the use of the plural in the title implies.

Either way, new tooling, new ship, or two ships, I win by ordering four of 'em at circa 1300 yen puts shipping…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

…you're not losing it.

Oh, NOW you're overreaching! ;->=

Doug

Thanks for mentioning the new Bandai sets Leland. My HLJ search is set up for Yamato, not Yamato 2199. Doh! I never would have found these if you haven't mentioned them.

I do hope they are some smaller ships to be the equivalent of the 2 per box DDs from the old Bandai line.

Did you notice that the 33 pc box is back in stock as well and that it has three new ships? From the pic it looks like the round command carrier, some kind of smaller garmillas cruiser (maybe the one in the new 2199 box?) and some blocky thing I don't recognize.

Dan,

you're welcome! I suspect that there *may* be some two-fer kits like the original series if the "Bandai Mecha Colle Garmillas Ships" set I preordered is any indicator. I did some digging on anime fan sites and what I *was* able to find out is that this set in all likelihood will be the smaller of the new Garmliias cruisers:

Now the listing is in the *plural,* so I am wondering if there's going to be two of these lil' critters, or if this will be a scaled down and simplified version of the two ship cruiser set already being offered in 1/1000 scale:

A quick check of HLJ's site before I posted this reply still doesn't show any images of what may be in the set, so you're guess is as good as mine right now. The Yukikaze kit in the same series is only being shown as a 3D render at the present time, and again, no indicator as to whether or not there'll be any extras ala the original mini kit series, so we'll just have to wait 'n see:

link

And of course, the lead ship in the new series is the Yamato Herself:

Concerning the new bundled release of the original mini kits, The round ship is the command module/Smite ship from Domel's command vessel, while the object in front of it is the fire control grip for the teleportation system Domel used to move his fighter strike groups into position over the Yamato:

The blocky thing is IIRC the Cosmo DNA mechanism, while the other new kit added to this bundle is the Black Tiger fighter. All the Garmillas/Gamillas/Gamelon ships present were there from the first issue of these kits back in the day, being different vessels from later installations of the Yamato saga.

Speaking of new kits, the 1/1000 scale model of Domel's flagship looks like it's going to be one Helluva beast:

One cannot beat the price of the original mini kits, and IMHO sometimes all it ever takes is a different paint scheme to get the job done:

No school like the Old School of starship armada recruitment…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Ahhh, I see. The other ship I thought was new is the original battleship. (Okita's flagship)

Those new 1/1000 kits look tempting, but as I recall are a bit pricier than the little Bandai kits.

However, Domel's flagship looks amazing.

The new 1/1000 scale kits are indeed pricier, but you get multiple ships in a set, plus extras. The quality is off the charts as well, as fine as the best plastic kits currently available.

I have the Garmilas Ship Set #2. The S-Type battleship is a highly detailed BEAST, while the two missile destroyers are a bit longer than the old mini kit cruisers, but again, the detailing is a quantum leap beyond the originals, and are perfect to use as destroyer class warships in Silent Death, or as capital ships in another system. The battleship is so nice, I am going to find a way to use it on the table, as it is too vicious and nasty, just bristling with weapons for me not to!

There's also a bonus kit in the set, a 1/144 scale Garmilas tank, just the right size to use as a drone/AI AFV for 15mm wargaming.

The best looking value for the money I've seen so far of all of these new sets is Garmilas Ship Set #3, which comes in a hair under $30 USD USD includes a battlecruisers, two 1/144 scale Garmilas fighters (15mm air support assets, anyone?), and the Dimensional Submarine. No less tempting and coming in at a hair under $25 USD USD for the set is the second of the United Nations Cosmo Navy Fleet offerings, which has two cruisers and two destroyers, a perfect starter squadron for starship wargaming IMHO. Add the first set to this which includes the battleship Kirishima, and you've got a formidable task force to use for starship combat games.

The tremendous bang for the buck in miniature wargaming with starships is IMHO simply orders of magnitude over any other period or genre. A small fleet can be built up for pennies by kit bashing, and for a bit more than kit bashing but for a fraction of the cost of building a miniatures army by utilizing resources such as the classic Yamato mini kits, or even some of the newer sets that Yamato 2199 has now brought us.

As for that BEAST of starship that is Domel's flagship, I can see converting that brute into a 15mm alien assault lander or grounded escort ship with minimal effort. Resistance is futile.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

I like the way you think, Leland. And I will say, $30 USD is not at all bad for those kits. It's just a big jump from the $2 USD per ship I got used to paying for the mecha colletion ships.

By the way, I have 5-10 of all the original ships. That gives me enough of all the little "extra" ships that I plan to do up a 3-5 ship flight of each for Silent Death. :)

Now all I need to do is pick up the rules…wonder where I can do that…

Full Disclosure: follow the link under my signature. All you need for fighter combat is the Silent Death rulebook and a hex mat, ships either official or stand ins, dice, and copies of e ship display sheets (I put mine in plastic document protectors and use erasable dry marker pens to track damage).

If you've enough of the mini ships to use as one hex fighter flights (and that would mean IIRC Cosmo Zero and Black Tiger fighters), then t sounds like you're in a position to get started. I suggest a wing pair a side to get the feel for the rules, using Pit Vipers or Darts, then work your way up from there.

The core rules are really no more complex than Monopoly. The key is to learn the symbols on the ship display sheets. Once you've got that and the turn sequence down, you're good to go.

Larger two hex escort vessels are covered in the Warhounds supplement. Escort ships are larger, more complex, and can slow a game down especially if the players include someone who thinks they're at a no time limit chess game(!!!). I suggest that you master the fighter level game first, see if you like it, and then expand from there. Warhounds require a decisive mindset on the part of the players by their very nature, just like real world destroyer skippers if they're to be effectively used (and a game spoiled by becoming bogged down by too many large ships run by inexperienced players).

We are working on a larger scale ship combat system set in the Silent Death universe, which should hopefully be available for playtesting via the Metal Express web forum later this year. Escort ships will remain two-hex affairs, while gunboats and fighter tactical elements will be one hex as they are now, and cruiser and capital ships will occupy three hexes. The mechanics will remain essentially the same, just slanted towards the upper tier of starship combat.

Hope thus all helps!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Yes, Leland, I was aware of that. That's why the smily at the end.

One of my gaming buddies tried to get us to play SD ages ago, before the millennium rules came out. Most of the guys weren't fond of it due to random pilot skill and the lowest ranked pilot ending up at the front of a daisy chain with the best pilot never getting shot at.

We revisited it last year with the millennium edition and found we like it a lot. It's certainly on my to buy list, but well… you know how it goes…so many projects, so little time & money. Gamer A D D doesn't help.

The key is to learn the symbols on the ship display sheets.

For some reason, probably the big stumbling block for me. Hex maps bother me some, I suppose…

Gamer A D D doesn't help.

So say we all.

I finally tracked down a copy of Full Thrust, 1.0, and I've yet to read through enough to see how different. *shrug*

Have you tried Sails of Glory yet?

Doug

I've tried it and liked it, and may be playing it on Saturday, Doug. :)

Full Thrust is a VERY good game. As for Sails of Glory, if it's anything like Wings of War/Glory, then it's a VERY good game…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Yes, Leland, I was aware of that. That's why the smily at the end. grin

I see said the blind man (he said to his deaf wife as he picked up his power tools)…

One of my gaming buddies tried to get us to play SD ages ago, before the millennium rules came out. Most of the guys weren't fond of it due to random pilot skill and the lowest ranked pilot ending up at the front of a daisy chain with the best pilot never getting shot at.

We revisited it last year with the millennium edition and found we like it a lot. It's certainly on my to buy list, but well… you know how it goes…so many projects, so little time & money. Gamer A D D doesn't help.

I know that particular disease all too well. That being said, now get thee a copy of Silent Death: The Next Millennium!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Daaaaaaang, this is going to be pricey. Curse you, Leland, my wallet just got over the shock from all the Khurasan releases!

I'm really digging those fighters, too. They will look great next to the three X9 Ghosts from Macross Frontier!

Sorry, all. It was supposed to be an example of Gamer's ADD.

I've not tried it, but watching other playing, I suspect Sails of Glory is a winner!

As for FT, over and over, I revel in being a fanboy. However, it was by mere chance I came across a copy of the first edition. Just holding it succored my cultist devotion, but, for truth, I've yet to try playing it.

Doug

Lion, I *am* incorrigible…

And yes, those fighters are indeed very eye catching…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net