Invasion ships unboxing - Dindrenzi

Oh yes, it's now the turn of the Zenian League, and the mighty Dindrenzi!

So the first thing to note about the Dindrenzi Planetfall Naval Division is that it only comprises 6 ships, making it the lowest ship count of all the boxes (especially compared to the Sorylian 10 ship haul!). Three of these ships, however, are large class Capitals, compared to the Large/Medium combos in the other boxes.

Ok, so opening the box and spilling resin onto the table, the first thing to note is that less ships does not equal less parts - you've a large number of substantial pieces in the set. Let's work up from the smalls...

Also having a typically Dindrenzi small squadron size of just 3 ships, the Scuta comes in about half the size of a Secutor cruiser. It's a chunky little ship, but again, very Dindrenzi.

The detail on the Scuta and the moulding is fantastic - once again there are some amazing feats of moulding, and I know I say it almost every time with SGs models, but they seem to break any standards (that they themselves have set) of moulding with every release. Great job!

The next ship up (and it's a BIG step up!) is the Castra Assault cruiser. This is a monstrously sized ship - as big as a Cataphract, in fact. It uses the standard heavy cruiser engine components, a large central hull and then four drop-cast container add-on pieces. 

The final ship in the PND lineup is the mighty Legion Assault Carrier.

This is a HUGE ship, which is both an obviously classic Dindrenzi design yet also fresh and interesting. It's an eight part model, with a top, bottom, two rail pieces, two flight peg pieces and two engine pieces (though mine only shipped with one). The way it has been sectioned is very clever, though it will definitely require pre-painting before assembly to get the most out of it I feel.

As you can see there are three locating lugs in the top hull which align into three troughs on the lower piece, making accurate fitting of the hull pieces much easier. You can also see the detail that's been moulded into these top and bottom inner hull pieces.

Test-fit together these align very nicely. Don't glue these pieces together expecting to be able to just bolt the railgun pieces onto the sides though, as they actually "lock" into place, slightly wedged between the two. This will make it slightly trickier to put together, but should result in a much more robust tabletop mini, which is again commendable and forward-thinking from SG - more on this below.

So here are the railgun pieces, which are actually handed - they're not the same piece duplicated - another point of note but easy to spot if you look at them with more than a cursory glance.

And here's one in place (again, just test-fit, no glue here). Looking from the rear you can see how the pieces lock together;

The railgun pieces are actually open to the sides where they join the main hull as well, so you get to see detail inside...bear in mind if you're thinking of skipping internal painting!

So there we have the Dindrenzi release, a really nice set of unique models that I'm sure will find their way into many players fleets - invasion or not. The Legion is a fantastic looking ship, and looking over the stats (which will be another blog entry), it's a versatile and useful ship in many scenarios. The clever way in which the model has been split is also very interesting, as is the modular nature of the Castra - I could definitely see other versions of this hull on the cards.

Invasion ships unboxing - Sorylians

Completing the Kurak Alliance are the Sorylians with their Bastion fleet...

I especially like this set because it's different in composition to the others - and that actually raises another point here, the way that they're all named factionally is nice too. It ties the factions to their fluff more and makes the release feel less cookie cutter in my view. Anyway, let's get to the models.

Ten ships for the Sorylians, more than any of the other factions. This goes with their existing fleet compositions, with large squadrons of smalls.

This time I'm going to start with the rather gorgeous Amentum battlecruiser, a vessel that has both the largest number of parts of any of the invasion ships, and which is also one of the best looking. It has three drop-on pieces for the engines, three for the invasion canister things (you can see one placed at the chin of the model above) and a standard flight stand peg insert - 8 parts, 2 ships, 16 components in total

After that is the Katar

Slightly smaller than a standard Falcata, the Katar is a single-piece resin ship (plus flight stand insert), in stark contrast to the Amentum

It is no less gorgeous, however!

Finally the Corvus Frigate - probably the weakest design of the set (it has a difficult job compared to the other ships!).

Even so, it's still a beautifully moulded single piece.

Another point I haven't made with any of these ships so far is how well they are moulded - flash is almost non-existent, and where it does occur it is flimsy and easily dealt with. Moulding pour inserts are likewise simply removed and clean up well, and are generally located in sensible places. 

Sorylian players should be very happy with this release, and I can see Amentum's being used as non-Planetfall ships and to proxy for the Hasta for those that don't like that ships particular aesthetic.

Invasion ships unboxing - Terrans

Next up in the Invasion ships release are the Terrans, with their Charter Enforcement Fleets.

I've covered the main points of what else is included in the Aquan blog post, so I won't repeat myself here, but instead concentrate on the ships themselves, and here they are.

So you get eight ships in total...let's start with the Nadir Frigates

These are similar in size to a Terran Armsmen Frigate. and they share many common elements, which is great as it ties in very well with the fluff and really gives the impression that this is a ship that has been developed in conjunction with or adapted from the standard Frigate.

So here you can see the rear of the ship is identical to the Armsmen, the engines etc all standard, and then the main changes start to come in the front two thirds of the ship. This is also very apparent from underneath;

The front is also completely different, with a short runway (Aerial Helix, perhaps?) and hanger entrance etc. Overall it's a very flavourful ship for this theme.

Next in line is the Horizon Assault Cruiser. This is a slab-hulled ship, unmistakably Terran and with design cues from many Terran sources.

The last ship in the set is the Solar class carrier

This is an interesting ship, the fluff mentions Hawkers extensive involvement in its development, and that comes through in the model - the elevated bridge/viewing platform is very Hawker-esque, but otherwise there are again many familiar Terran cues, so it really does feel like a co-developed design. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Overall, these continue the theme of the Invasion ships in the prior blog - some interesting designs with beautifully moulded detail. Any Terran commander would be proud to field them I feel!