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It's been a while since I've had any sort of project worthy of noting on Dakka. Recently however, I have begun to play a game called A Call to Arms: Noble Armada by Mongoose Publishing. It is a space navy game based on the Fading Suns RPG universe, a grim-dark imagining of the future of humanity. It is several millennium in the future, and humanity has gone through several ages of expansion throughout the galaxy before settling back into a "Dark Age" of sorts. Sounds familiar, right? However, unlike 40k, Fading Suns focuses heavily on the true feudalism, with the spotlight on nobles and the parts they play in this galactic space opera.

So the only form of interstellar travel is through Jump Gates; massive monoliths scattered amongst the stars. A keycode passphrase is required to use this ancient technology predating mankind. Once discovered, however, these keycodes provide the neccessary information to activate the Jump Gate to connect to one of its brethren in another part of the galaxy.

Ships are a rare commodity: the technology used to build them is jealously guarded by a corp of engineers, and each Noble House has a different method of shipbuilding (not to mention trade secrets). For example, House Decados is universally known as the house of deceivers, and their ships are one of the few vessels capable of stealth technology. However the resources needed to commission a ship are vast, and thus interstellar vessels remain at a premium. Many ships are ancient and kept running only by the enigmatic corp of engineers (the same recluses that jealously guard technological secrets) by the passing of knowledge from master to apprentice. Most commoners do not know how to use technology as simple as a personal computer. This sheds a light of mysticism on technology.

Equally mystical and feared, the religions of the galaxy melded to form a Unified Church. This church was formed out of desperation... the suns are dying. Stars are fading out of the universe far before their time, for reasons unknown to man. Many believe the apocalypse is upon the universe, and the only way to be saved is to repent your sins. This church wields nigh-unmatched authority, and their Inquisitors are rightly feared as they seek out the heathen and the sinner.

So, you get the gist of it. If you read the fluff, it is strikingly-similar to the 40k universe. I find it a bit more mature, as the cartoonish caricatures of the GW game are absent from ACTA: Noble Armada. The focus is on the Noble Houses and the political intrigue of the newly formed Empire.

Ok, but enough rambling. You want pictures.


I bought two starter fleets to start with, House Hawkwood and the House Decados (both $24 each on ebay, including shipping) and the PDF version of the rulebook for 17 dollars.


House Hawkwood



House Decados


I also ordered some models from Ground Zero Games (a UK company, and the designers of the Full Thrust space combat game) from their NSL range, which I will be using for counts-as either House Hazat or House Li Halan (I haven't decided yet which rules suit my perceived version of fluff). Essentially, I plan to use similar fluff to the Mass Effect universe, which I appreciate as truly "Sci-Fi" with their well-described theoretical technologies. They make some really awesome looking ships, and I quite like the hexagonal base design, as it makes 45 degree turns quite easy


(Picture from The Colour of War blog http://colourofwar.blogspot.com , used without permission. Please contact me if you are the owner and wish this image be removed.) This is a pretty good example of some of the great-looking ships offered by GZG games in the NSL range.

Don't be put off if you are an American buyer. Although GZG is based in the UK, I had my package in my mailbox within 9 days of ordering (including weekends). Shipping was very prompt, and the conversion rate from pounds to dollars was easily handled by paypal.

I am putting the models together in a few, and I'll post shots when they are completely assembled. I am also constructing a new gameboard for space naval games out of MDF, and will post any terrain projects I complete as well.

Stay tuned!

So today is my first update... My son's 4th b-day party went off without any hitches, so I'm thankful for that. I got some work done on my NSL fleet, so here's some pics of the progress so far:

EDIT: Full detailed process is on my blog, link provided in my sig.