Greetings! This post is the first time I’ve done an article focused on Star Trek Attack Wing (STAW). Please let me know what you think! I am open to doing more like this one in the future, as STAW is definitely on the List of Things I Enjoy. So sit back, and prepare for an extra helping of Star Trek nerdery!
In this post, I take a detailed look at the USS Montgolfier expansion.
Background
The USS Montgolfier is a Federation Saber-class starship, which is a relatively small (about a third the size of the Galaxy class, similar in size to the Miranda class) vessel that made its debut in Star Trek: First Contact. Along with the Norway and Steamrunner classes, the Saber class was created in CG to flesh out the Federation fleet attacking the Borg cube at the beginning of the movie. As such, no physical filming model of this ship ever existed. The ship subsequently appeared in several of the battle sequences in DS9. Interestingly, based on the NCC numbers of Sabers seen on screen, the class actually predates the Galaxy class by some period of time. I have to admit to having a soft spot for the Saber; I think that of the three First Contact ship classes, it is easily the nicest looking. However, upon close inspection it is clear that the CG model is very simplistic, as one might expect from a “background” ship class. Particularly glaring is the very triangular-shaped secondary hull cross-section. If you are interested in more detail, make sure to check out the Saber episode of Trek Yards on YouTube.
The Miniature
The Mongolfier comes decked out in the new WizKids Federation scheme, which uses a dull metallic silver in place of the blueish grey that they used earlier expansion waves. Overall, I think the ship looks pretty good in this scheme, and does a reasonable job at replicating the look of the on-screen ship.
Details are done in dark grey, with red and blue used on the engines and orange on the navigational deflector. The painting of these details was mostly neat, though there was some sloppiness on my mini on one of the Bussard collectors. I am also somewhat disappointed with the navigational deflector; the mini has a flat orange paint, while there is clearly a blue oval on the CG model. However, this is a minor quibble, and something that could be fixed with a little modelling work. Comparing the STAW mini with the previously released HeroClix version, I think the STAW version looks much better. The HeroClix mini has a lot of odd red detail painting on it that was clearly supposed to be a darker grey than the hull, and this was fixed in the STAW mini.
The Stats
Here are the stat cards for the Montgolfier and the generic Saber class:
This looks pretty good to me; this ship is a clear upgrade over other ships in its price range, notably the Miranda and Reliant. The ability to switch target locks as a free action, along with the +1 shield definitely make the Montgolfier an appealing choice.
Crew and Upgrades
Here are the goodies that come with the Montgolfier:
Subspace Transmitter, Thruster Array, and Heavy Graviton Beam all look interesting, though they are probably only useful in limited situations. The Subspace Transmitter strikes me as useful for setting up combos with another ship in a fleet, while the Heavy Graviton Beam is clearly intended to be an anti-Borg weapon. However, if you are not playing Borg, the Graviton Beam doesn’t strike me as all that great. The Captain Quinteros’ repair ability seems like it could be useful, though the fact that it requries dice rolling makes me wary. Wes seems very useful to me, allowing your ship to perform an action in a pinch even with an Auxiliary Power token.
Overall
The Montgolfier is a worthy addition to my Federation fleet. As I already mentioned, I really like the design, and the new paint job on the STAW model looks much better than the older HeroClix decorating. Until next time!