Playtest Fleet: Mauridian Expeditionary Forces (v.0.5.4)

Mauridian Expeditionary Force

The pictured fleet is another one of Xtreme Hobby’s Cold Navy Fleets, the Mauridian Expeditionary Forces. (Click to enlarge.)

Like the TRN, the Mauridians had casting issues. You can see them on the capital ship in the center of the formation if you zoom in far enough. It’s just aft of the turrets.

I’ve got them grouped as a strike group and an escort screen. The strike group is in back, and consists of two Ba’Rada, two Ven’Tara, and a Gal’Ethon. I won’t bother with their names, because they’re horrible puns. The four in front are Ba’Negva class escorts.

Despite the casting problems, and the fact that I like the design aesthetic of the TRN better, the Mauridians paint up much better, primarily because the pinstriping naturally moves from front to back, increasing the “swooshability” of the models. Good models should be swoosh-able.

Ravenstar Studios also currently owns the Mauridians, and casts them now in resin. I’ve got three of their Vel’Naveg missile cruisers (destroyers, in Jump War) in my queue.

The fleet was the least expensive of the first playtest, because the original box came so heavy on escorts, and light on ships of the line. They played with crew attributes we referred to as the clones, after Xtreme’s fictional history: Discipline d10, Initiative d6, and Gunnery d8. Clones turned out to be a better-than-average line, which balances the lightness of the force.

With the change to the d10 rules, clones has gone away, and these are the current playtest values:

Class        Type      Cost Hull Shd PD Arm Thr Over 
-----        ----      ---- ---- --- -- --- --- ---- 
Ba'Negva     Escort    70   1    2   1  7   12  18 
             Weapon    Grd Str Range Arcs 
             ------    --- --- ----- ---- 
             Lasers    E   4   12    L/F/R 
             Mines     -   4   -     -

Class        Type      Cost Hull Shd PD Arm Thr Over 
-----        ----      ---- ---- --- -- --- --- ---- 
Ba'Rada      Escort    58   1    2   1  7   12  18 
             Weapon    Grd Str Range Arcs 
             ------    --- --- ----- ---- 
             Lasers    E   4   12    L/F/R 
             Spine     E   1   12    S

Class        Type      Cost Hull Shd PD Arm Thr Over 
-----        ----      ---- ---- --- -- --- --- ---- 
Ven'Tara     Destroyer 316  8    2   2  7   5   8 
             Weapon    Grd Str Range Arcs 
             ------    --- --- ----- ---- 
             Lasers    D   4   12    L/F/R
             Lasers    D   2   12    F
             Fighters  -   12  -     -

Class        Type      Cost Hull Shd PD Arm Thr Over 
-----        ----      ---- ---- --- -- --- --- ---- 
Gal'Ethon    Capital   688  16   2   1  7   3   5 
             Weapon    Grd Str Range Arcs 
             ------    --- --- ----- ---- 
             Lasers    C   6   18    All
             Lasers    C   12  18    L/F/R
             Fighters  -   12  -     -

Maurice’s fleet consists of the following:

• 1 Gal’Ethon: Gal’Efors
• 2 Ven’Tara: Ven’Tril and Ven’Tur
• 4 Ba’Negva: Ba’Nadade, Ba’Ned, Ba’Nal, and Ba’Nana
• 2 Ba’Rada: Ba’Room and B’Racuda