MillenniumCon wrapup (and loot!)

The convention was four days this year (Thursday-Sunday), but I ended up sleeping in and not making the final day of MillCon. I'm sorry I missed out on some pickup games of Melee/Wizard and the other Sunday morning events, including the flea market. 

But that doesn't mean I left the con empty-handed--while browsing the dealers room, I scored this massive collection of 6mm MAATAC* vehicles for the eponymous "intergalactic wargame of great armored fighting machines" from Superior Models.

There are well over a hundred castings in this lot, which I got for a very generous price from the vendor, a local gamer and publisher of Miniature Review blog. As a nice bonus, he threw in some Starfleet Wars minis (at upper right). These MAATAC units cover four of the Five Powers, so I will still need to purchase a few Avarians to round out my collection of Aquarians, Carnivorans, Entomalians, and Terrans.

But first, I get to paint some of these! A nice find at a great gaming convention.

*Multifunctional Armed & Armored Tactical Attack Computer

Ten years and a thousand posts

Ten years ago today, Super Galactic Dreadnought saw its very first blog post, a nostalgia trip back to my youth and the influences that would shape my gaming. As you can tell from the name of this blog, I was enamored of the Starfleet Wars line of miniature spaceships that I saw in a magazine ad way back when. 

When I started this blog, I was a couple of years into my personal gaming renaissance--a return to regular miniatures and roleplaying after a decades-long drought caused by work, various moves, personal issues, and then law school. Those were great times, as I started playing D&D in a local campaign, met regularly at the local game store for some wargaming, and was in the middle of amassing my collection of spaceship minis.

This was reflected in my blogging--I had posts about games, posts about miniatures, posts about sci fi and fantasy. The output was pretty steady the first couple of years, with 200+ posts when I was in the zone. My posting frequency eventually dropped off, however, to just a few dozen a year for the past few years. That infrequency isn't for a lack of gaming, though--up until the pandemic, I was gaming weekly with a group of local players and running games at MillenniumCon on a regular basis. A lot changed over the years, with moves and job switching, but I think the main thing was that playing so often filled the void that blogging previously had done.

The year 2010 was a much different time, and back then I couldn't have imagined the current events we're living through in 2020. Now, with COVID-19 closing game stores and cancelling conventions, I'm reflecting on my blogging. The numbers worked out nice, and I was able to make sure that my 1,000th post occurred on the 10-year anniversary of starting Super Galactic Dreadnought. I have more than 220 followers, and this blog has over 2,500 comments (not counting spam). I want to thank all of y'all for reading and commenting. I'm thrilled that I can provide inspiration to other gamers, just as so many have inspired me. Here's to more blogging and more gaming in the years ahead!

Ace space base Mace in place

I finally painted this Mace-class space station that I purchased some time ago. It had been sitting on the work table for awhile, so it was nice to get something done.

This Terran base is from Monday Knight Productions' Galactic Knights range (originally the Starfleet Wars line from Superior Models). It was a simple paint job: Spray black, drybrush in metallic black, metallic gunmetal gray, and metallic silver. If you look close, you can spot a dab or two of color here and there.

You can never have too many space miniatures, right?

Of frog demons and space stations

A couple of recent purchases arrived in the mail this week, and I thought I would share them with you:

First in my mailbox was What Ho, Frog Demons!, an adventure for old-school D&D by my buddy Chris from the Hill Cantons (read more about this product on the blog). I don't think our tabletop group did much more than march past the pre-publication version of this dungeon, and the book itself has a lot more packed than even the campaign players saw, with some great art. My favorite is Preved!, the War Bear who likes to shout his own name.

I also received this Mace-class space station for the Terran fleet from Monday Knight Productions. This will make a nice objective for the next time I play a game of Starfleet Wars or Galactic Knights, and I'm looking forward to painting it up.

Anyone else get anything cool lately?

Enter ... the Enterprise

I recently grabbed a Star Trek Deep Cuts mini by WizKids: The Enterprise herself--or at least a Constitution-class Federation heavy cruiser. Of course, this is the refurbished ship from the movies, not the vessel from the original series.

Even though the miniature came primed but unpainted, I gave it a base coat of flat black before drybrushing with medium gray, light gray, and titanium white. While the paint job may not be up to Starfleet specifications, I think it came out great for my gaming purposes.

You see, back in the '70s, there was this awesome vector graphics arcade game called Space Wars. It was a player-versus-player setup, where each person controlled a spaceship. One was a triangular craft (which I decided was from the Vega system), and the other had a familiar shape, as seen in the lower center.

Image from this page at Biltronix.

I decided I can use the Trek ship to play a tabletop version of Space Wars. And I already have a suitable black-and-white mini for the Big E's opponent, one of my Terran stellar destroyers from Galactic Knights (and before that, Starfleet Wars).

As you can see, the two ships provide a reasonable approximation of their electronic counterparts on the game mat. Now I just figure out what rules to use for a one-on-one spaceship battle. It needs to use vector movement, to emulate how the ships moved in the arcade game.

Or maybe I will just use it as a special ship in my Galactic Knights scenarios. It might be fun to see this Federation ship boldly go through a battle between the Terrans and Entomalians.

Starfleet Wars eBay find

You may be thinking, "What's he doing, blogging about a spaceship game after all this time?" but I haven't abandoned that aspect of my hobby. And on that note, I have to share my latest eBay score.

In addition to the Starfleet Wars rules and expansion booklet, both in great condition, I received a laminated quick reference sheet. It also came with the original envelope and a pad of starship record sheets. In the days long before home computer printers, or even easy access to a photocopier, these record sheets were a necessary game component.

This auction lot also came with a promotional pamphlet for SfW on glossy paper. While the front duplicates the rulebook cover image and the back lists the range of castings at the time the game was released, it's the inside of this sheet that's remarkable. ...

 

... A full-color photograph of the minis that existed at publication, painted in classic 1970s graphic style.

While this image is floating around the internet, it's cool to have a copy of the original publication, and in such great condition. I think I will put it in a frame and hang it on the wall of my game room.

A few of my favorite posts

With a few of my favorite starships.

I started this blog because I wanted to see more material about miniature starship gaming. I kept doing it (off-and-on) because I enjoy it. I'm obviously pretty happy with what I post to Super Galactic Dreadnought. Still, there are some posts that I'm especially proud of:

Interview with Starfleet Wars sculptor Scott R. Spicer

In order to learn more about the game and the minis I enjoy, in 2011 I emailed Scott Spicer, who worked with his father Ron Spicer to sculpt the Starfleet Wars models for Superior Models. Scott graciously responded with an essay about the creation of those fantastic sculpts that gave new insight into this line of miniatures.

In-depth examination of Starfleet Wars rules

I took a multi-part, up-close look at the rules that I had originally derided as too complicated. Turns out the game play is pretty elegant, and this review inspired me to run and play several games of Starfleet Wars, including a short-lived campaign.

Release of 5150: Star Navy rulebook

My very own  published starship combat rules, co-authored with Ed Teixeira of Two Hour Wargames. The Star Navy ruleset was the result of playtesting, revision, and more playtesting. I had a blast developing this game with Ed, and I'm really happy with how it came out. 

Running Holmes Basic D&D

I got to play the version of the game that introduced me to roleplaying--Dungeons & Dragons. I DM'd for a group of players who hadn't sat down for some good old-fashioned dungeon crawling for years--or even decades. I got to create and run my very own attempt at a megadungeon. Although it was only a few sessions, it was fun while it lasted.

Those are some of my favorites. Readers, what about you? Any posts on SGDN that really stood out for you?

More anniversary starship pics

As my weeklong celebration of Super Galactic Dreadnought's fifth birthday continues (previous pics here and here), have a look at some more photos of my assembled fleets:

This space station comes from the Battlefleet Gothic line of miniatures.

Another look at the iridescent Entomalian fleet. I still have some more of these to paint.

I like the details in this side view of my Terran Red Fleet.

But the ships look even more impressive from head-on.

I got lots of compliments on the paint job for my Shadow Fleet of ships from Garrison Miniatures.

Here's a detail shot of my Avarian fleet.

And a dramatic overview of the Aquarian starships.

I also have plenty of ships to comprise my Terran White Fleet.

The Capellan Raiders is my only fleet where I didn't do all the paint jobs. The two huge kitbashes (a gift from Don M) and the three Silent Death minis (via eBay) were already painted when I got them.

Here are some one-off paint jobs. I want to use these to run a roleplaying campaign where each character gets a ship.

Finally, the Flying Roadshow. I haven't used these in a game yet. Time to come up with a scenario ...

Hope y'all are enjoying these.

Blogiversary celebration continues

Thanks for all the kind comments on my five-year anniversary post. To continue the festivities, please enjoy some more photos of my various starfleets:

The pride and flagship of my Terran Red Fleet, the Victory-class Super Galactic Dreadnought.

Constellation-class Galactic Attack Carriers and a Formidable-class Galactic Battlecruiser from the White Fleet.

Transports of the Slannish Treasure Fleet (Star Frontiers and Stardate:3000 minis).

A Gryphon-class SGDN with Condor-class DNs and Nest-GACs form the backbone of my Avarian force.

The Carnivorans have their own SGDN, as well as a carrier and other capital ships.

Civilian transports came from the Star Frontiers and Stardate:3000 lines, with a few Citadel models thrown in.

The Aquarians have Stingray-class carriers with a Shark-class battlecruiser up front and a Leviathan dreadnought in back.

The Entomalian ships all have that distinctive insectiod look, including the Hive-class carriers and the Swarm SGDN,

The Flying Roadshow (Star Frontiers minis) is a combination acrobatic troupe and mercenary force.

The Vogon Construction Fleet is another mercenary unit with craft from a variety of sources.

Five years of Super Galactic Dreadnought!

This weekend marked the fifth anniversary of my blog (and like an idiot, I missed the actual anniversary date), which I launched with this blog post. So to celebrate, I amassed all my starfleets and took some photos. The group shot above is a little fuzzy, but I will be posting some detail shots in a weeklong celebration.

Meanwhile, here is a closer look at the fleets of the Five Powers--the original polities in the background for Starfleet Wars, the game and minis line that inspired me as a kid. I also had to share a closeup of my Terran ships, which are my favorite fleet, and the faction I started playing Galactic Knights with.

Thanks for reading Super Galactic Dreadnought, and stay tuned for more starship pics.

Super Galactic Dreadnoughts

It's been far too long since we've seen any Super Galactic Dreadnoughts for which this blog is named, so here are some photos of four of these vessels on maneuver near the Pleiades.

The red starship in the foreground is a Terran Transsolar Federation Victory-class SGDN.

That green colossus is a Gryphon-class warship from the Avarian United Worlds.

The iridescent craft is a Swarm-class Super Galactic Dreadnought of the Entomalian Empire.

And the yellow vehicle ready to pounce is a Polecat-class ship from the Carnivoran Republic.

I'm still missing one class of Super Galactic Dreadnought from the Five Powers: the Aquarian Alliance's Typhoon. The manufacture doesn't make these huge castings in metal any more--just resin. So if anyone knows where I can get myself a metal version of the Typhoon, please let me know.