The most recent release here are the System Wars invasion fleets, and I'm going to start with the Aquans today.
So the box is exactly what we expect from SG, but this time it comes emblazoned with a banner declaring the System Wars booklet. Opening the package, we again see the familiar layout of resin in bubble wrap bags and accessories in ziplock bag - and once again it's a pretty full box!
Setting all this out...
So in addition to the resin and accessories, you get the System Wars Phase 1 supplement booklet and an A5 sheet of pre-cut generic defence platforms and 2 planets. Now let's look at the resin!
If you're expecting a weighty haul or resin ships, you will not be disappointed! you get 9 ships, 4 tokens, microdice and flight peg insets. Invading a planet is a dangerous business, and these ships are hardy, which translates into models as big! Here's the Antiarchi frigate with an Isonade cruiser....
It's a lovely tadpole of a model....
...and the detail is fantastic - I especially like the "roe" underneath together with the rotary pod launcher...
...with it's little mouth at the front! Very cool.
Moving onto the Assault cruisers;
Again, it's a big, chunky ship compared to the stiletto of the Isonade, with some great detail, including deep incuts...once again Spartan have done an astonishing job of moulding these ships.
Again, detail on the underside is good, and this ship is apparently male....!
Lastly we move onto the Nectridea...
Now this is a really interesting ship - one of the best designs I think in this release (and there are a HEAP of good designs!).
It's got a heap of design cues from prior ships, but its also got some unique elements. It's unmistakably Aquan, anyway.
Underneath are more of the "roe", pus some very nice looking iris bay doors.
The ship is chunky and has a similar launcher thing at the front. Moving onto the booklet now...
This is a typical Spartan product, nicely produced and a nice bonus to the boxes.
It includes three main elements - the Planetfall Rewards table for playing linked Firestorm and Planetfall games (more on this in another future post);
...Four Invasion missions...
...and a commander for each of the core races - hopefully we will see more artwork like this.
Interestingly, no stats are present in the book, either for the ships or on how to use the Commanders - these are all available on the Downloads section of the SG website, however. This is a nice way of doing things, since you have a nice shiny book for reference, but stats can be kept up-to-date and errata'd easily through the on-line stats.
The last element is the card scenery;
This is double-sided, so you can choose your planet colour, and includes four "defence platforms". This is a nice addition since one of the scenarios calls for Defence Platforms, and if you don't have any this allows you to get right into it...no forcing you to buy products you don't want from Spartan!
Overall, this is a really nice set and a cool addition to the Firestorm Universe. the models are exactly what you'd expect from Spartan, and the addition of the System Wars booklet provides a very fluffy experience.
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