"Starguard 1/1200 ships compared to GZG/Brigade?" Topic

I've had a DIY Traveller fleet project in mind for a while, using GZG and Brigade UK ships for the most part (the official Traveller ships are smaller and limited in types), but I am curious as to whether people think Reverisco's Starguard 1/1200 ships will fit in with GZG and Brigade?

Star-Range lists all three as "squadron scale", but looking at some of the pictures and measurements for the Starguard ships they seem a bit big, some of the fighters seem more like the 1" fighter scale used for dogfighting.

I do like the classical shapes of the Starguard ships though, so I don't want to write them off without asking.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Chris,

I'll see if I can scare up some photos of Starguard! ships next to some GZG ships later this week.

You are correct about the fighters such as the Imperial Terran Wasp and Colonial Gnat: they are 1" fighter scale so they're great for games like Silent Death, but not much help for Full Thrust.

That being said, the rest of the Starguard! line are in the same rough size range as ships you find from GZG and Brigade. The Rep-Com Armed Merchant ship will work for a heavy freighter with full atmospheric capability, while the bulk of the cruisers and battlecruisers will do OK for Traveller ships such as DDs, frigates, etc, with the Federation Stonewall Jackson being a fairly large model in that it has a substantial wing area and would work in Traveller for a heavy cruiser perhaps. The Amazon Needle Ships are another good one that has a Traveller feel to them IMHO, and they come with separate belly packs so you can tinker with how you configure them to suit your needs.

Again, I'll have to try and get some photos up, but right now my schedule is fairly heavy…

Hope this helps!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Thanks Leland, pics would be great, but what you've provided helps. My remaining concern with the bigger classes of ships now is whether the viewports and other greeblies would look out of scale vs. GZG/Brigade.

I play SD too, so they could always be re-purposed I guess.

Chris

You are correct about the fighters such as the Imperial Terran Wasp and Colonial Gnat:

On the other other hand, some of the 'ships' look like fighters, and some of the fighters could pass as small ships.

The ships seem a bit bare to me, but Tin Soldier's vision is a smooth ship is just that much freedom for a good painter.

It's us ten-thumbed that need greebles for base-and-dip goodness.

Stylistically, I fear the GZG may seem the odd men out, and I love 'em!

What else are you considering?

Doug

Brigade and GZG are a scale/stylistic match from my experience and what I've seen, so between them they give me the most scope and there are some ok proxies. The Third Imperium seems to be all the over the map on design styles (e.g. the Fighting Ships illustrations), so no one faction will work entirely for them. No Tigress proxy though :-(

While the Starguard stuff is cool and has some of the Traveller vibe, if it doesn't work it doesn't work.

I have some odds and ends from Irregular that should work, and my FLGS once sold off their Babylon 5 ships for $2 USD a pack and I bought them all. As it was the end of their stock it was mainly the lesser known B5 races, so I can slip them in too and only the keeners will cry foul.

I also haven't looked around Shapeways yet to see what's out there, some of Irrational Design's stuff could work.

Chris

It would be nice if Marc gave someone the Okay to do some stuff via Shapeways. From the contact I have had with B.I.T.S. and Ad Astra the line seems dead. With all the people who love Traveller in all its forms am surprised there is not stuff out there.

I agree Charles, I would very much go for official stuff if there was enough of it. I was on Ad Astra's site today, and there seem to be fewer pics than before, and a lot of dead links, so we seem to be going backwards not forwards.

I just want a Merc Cruiser and a Tigress the rest I could fudge.

A Reviresco Federation Battlecruiser Stonewall Jackson class repurposed as a heavy gunboat for Silent Death:

This is a fairly substantial model that could be mounted on two flight stands as a Warhound rather than a single stand as a heavy gunboat.

The top two minis in this next photo are Imperial Terran Wasp fighters. They're perfect as single seat light fighters for Silent Death:

USO_kguw/U0eacR7_aGI/AAAAAAAABV8/4IE2Dzw6Keg/s1600/Erickson.TokugawaStandIn3.jpg"picture

This next ship is the Eli Heavy Raider, which is a bit longer than the original NAC Heavy Cruiser model IIRC:

Again, as soon as I am able later thus week, I'll hop over to our storage unit and fish out the container I've squirreled away the bulk of my Reviresco starship minis in and shoot some pix. The line is quite extensive, really, with lots of potential for adaptation. The smooth hulls are not just easily converted with a paint brush. IMHO the smooth hulls allow for the attachment of gun turrets, gun blisters, etc. to add more character to the models as one sees fit. The smooth hulls also make the use of decals all the easier, so there is something to be said for these Old School starship minis.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Thanks Leland, nice paintjobs!

Thank you, X! They *can* be a lot of fun because they're so clean and straightforward…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

OK, as promised (if a bit late), here's a blog entry with some size comparison shots of some of the Starguard! universe ships with examples from Silent Death, Irregular Miniatures, and an Entomalian battleship from Monday Knight Production:

link

Hopefully this kludged together collection of ship photos will answer everyone's questions regarding how the Reviresco ships stack up next to other manufacturer's wares.

I hope I can quickly locate my GZG ships whatever worm hole they're currently hiding in, but I think that the samples I diff manage to drag out into the open will give everyone a good idea. If/when I find those dratted slackers of my Kra'vak and NAC fleets, I'll add a new comparison shot entry – promise!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Thanks Leland, this helps a lot, much appreciated!

Glad to help! BTW, I just relocated my GZG Kra'vak heavy and light cruisers: would you like me to add a comparison shot to the same blog entry?

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Sorry for the late response Leland, it was a long week at work and I didn't check in here much. That would be great if you could get the Kra'vaks up against the bigger Starguard ships.

Cheers,
Chris

So let it be written, so let it be done! Give me a day or two, as I just returned from an unscheduled "vacation" at the local hospital…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Thanks Leland, hope you're ok! The pics can wait, health is important!

Chris

Chris,

I'm doing much better, really. T'was a nuisance rather than an existential threat thanks to 21st century medical technology…

I'll see about getting a pic or three up later today. I found my Kra'vak light and heavy cruiser models, a Superior Miniatures/Monday Knight Production Mace battle station, and I've some assorted Reviresco and SD:TNM minis handy, so I'll add a couple of group shots to the original blog post, and alert you on this board when I put them up, so keep an ocular sensor peeled this way for my heads up!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Are these Starguard rules available from UK sources ?

Alas, no, only directly from the publisher, however they *are* available in PDF form if that'll help:

link

Here's the publisher/manufacturer's FAQ page:

tin-soldier.com/qa.html

Hope this helps!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net