Traveller Starships from Foreven Shipyards

In the run up for this years TravellerCon/USA convention, I ordered some classic ships from Foreven Shipyards, a Shapeways supplier of licensed Traveller ships.

This year's TravellerCon theme is the Vargr, the genetically uplifted canines often referred to as "the Wolves of Space", so imagine my delight when I realised that Foreven Shipyards offered a Vargr Corsair ship in 1/1000 scale.

Personally, I've never cared much for the Vargr. In our classic Traveller campaign of my youth, there was always one fringe player who insisted of playing one, and it usually made the session feel "off". Certainly, his character was not allowed on the settee. The irony of this year's theme is not lost on me.

All models displayed on a 1" grid.

Vargr Corsair

The ships are very nice - they are also, in some cases, rather pricey. This is due in some part to the materials in use, as well as the manufacturing process. Still and all, worth every penny.

Also ordered was a set of four Gazelle-class Close Escorts and a March-class Type R Subsidized Merchant.

Gazelle-class Close Escorts

In each case, the classic lines of the original artwork is faithfully reproduced, making these models a joy to behold. Cast in Smooth, Fine Detail Plastic, the detail is excellent. One thing to watch for is there seems to be a lengthy curing time for the plastic. I'm not sure how long, except to say that the models have a slightly tacky feeling, except for two models I purchased in October of 2018. I have had some 15mm Rhodesian Alligator APCs that had to sit atop the hot water cistern over the winter before the Smooth, Fine Detail Plastic lost it's tack.

Type M Subsidised Merchant

Flight stands were ordered from Litko, at the suggestion of the model maker.  I had a bad experience with them in the past, but Litko seems to have improved on both delivery time as well as customer service. My complaint with the execution is the post pieces have not been cut straight.

The idea that a company with "Aerospace" in its name making Out-of-Tolerance parts is rather droll....Ω

Tears for Arusage - Redux

This past TravellerCon/USA, I needed a Traveller-themed miniatures game for the Sunday morning slot, and decided to give "Tears for Arusage" another go.

To prevent the game from descending into the bogged-down slug-fest from LAST TIME, I took a page from DirtSide II and assigned objective markers to various spots in the encounter zone. These represent abstract victory conditions met, so even if a side didn't recover all four missing nukes, it might be possible, through reconnaissance, to find clues where the nukes might be.


Unfortunately, Player #1 (Dan - Condor Legion) took a lucky (or unlucky) hit on the first turn, and it threw his game off permanently.

PWND! Condor Legion debus and take cover:
the card disk is mortar searching fire.

Player #2, Beta Quandrant Security (aka The  BQS Mercs aka David) won the initiative and deployed their weapons team (mortar) and disabled the Legion's leading APC, incidentally scoring 2 - 3 casualties as well.


The surviving Legion decided to debus ("Call the shop!) and take cover beneath the ornamental-yet-sturdy Vilani-built fortifications. They also were "suppressed".

This is StarGrunt; naturally they were suppressed.




Player #2 (David) had his BQS mercs occupy the housing block and motor pool. A simple quality roll would activate an APC (originally abandoned by the Viliani withdrawal and virtually identical to the Legions vehicles. The objectives (4 abandoned nukes) must be exited from the table on a vehicle.

David kept his mortar team behind the ramparts and used his officers as artillery spotters - not very accurate, but effective in keeping the pressure upon the Legion.

Centre: the Khikkei/Vilani Cenotaph, while at top, the
2nd Legion Squad occupies a block house.

Turn 3 - 4: As an additional stroke of undeserved good luck, the BQS Mercs found one of the missing nukes in the back of a salvaged APC.

Jammy B*ggars.

Meanwhile, the Legion commander decided to debus his troops from their TL10 mortar-magnets and move to cover, while using the APCs (armed with single .30 cal MGs) as infantry support.

Condor Legion troop occupy the missile silos - are the
warheads still there?

The Legions gambit was pretty effective, in that his two APCs, aided by unexpected reinforcements (more on that in a moment) tied up the BQS Mercs long enough to recover two nukes.


Unfortunately, both Legion APCs were destroyed/disabled by RAM grenades or the LAG AP rifle of the weapons team.

The arrival of a Condor Legion recon team in TL10 air/rafts did cause some trouble, as they arrived on the rear flank and immediately threw fire on the mortar team.

The mortar and accompanying security dashed into a nearby block house and returned fire - suppressing the recons.

At this point, as we were running out of time, the Condor Legion player conceded the game.


Post Game Thoughts:

Rough game for the Condor Legion. Due to an error (third person) in setting up the map, the Legion was given an extended approach, while the BQS Mercs arrived on board and "Bobs yer uncle!" they were in cover. This doesn't mean Dan had to drive straight down the road, but, to his credit, he was acting according to his briefing, in that no opposition was expected.

The objective markers did help a bit in preventing a huge "pit of suppression" at the silos, and I will use these again in the next re-fight.

I think Dan's counter-attack was more-or-less sound, and if he hadn't lost the first APC, he could have carried off at least 2 - 3 nukes and won the game.

The Beta Quadrant Security Mercs also had a slight quality advantage, being Veterans to the Condor Legion's Regular status. This gave them the initiative advantage about 2/3rds of the time.

Rules, no matter how well written, can't compensate for bad luck....Ω