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Ok so my dad is a massive trekkie of epic nerdly proportions but a gamer not at all. He has bought models of the Enterprise and such like in the past but not really found anything particularly good. I wonder if the Star Trek attack game might spark his interest somewhat and thus entice him to play as well as collect the little ships? Or would the scale difference annoy someone who isn't a gamer? Also, the crappy pre-paints worry me a little - I'm not sure how much aptitude he has for re-painting them.

I was thinking of buying him the starter set + an expansion pack of some sort just to see what he thinks. What say you? Are the models as bad as they look or better in the flesh? What would be a good initial first purchase for someone who has never played a game other than Monopoly or suchlike in his life?

You could build him a set, for him and you to learn together.

Work out which faction he likes, pick a second faction for you and I'll get back to you with a model/toy list to build for better scale.

Let me know here and I'll source some stuff. I've been at the resourcing stage for wife's fleet and mine for some time, as we want a better looking force each than wizkids put out.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
You could build him a set, for him and you to learn together.

Work out which faction he likes, pick a second faction for you and I'll get back to you with a model/toy list to build for better scale.

Let me know here and I'll source some stuff. I've been at the resourcing stage for wife's fleet and mine for some time, as we want a better looking force each than wizkids put out.

Problem is, he is at the other end of the country so it isn't going to be a regular thing - I just thought I would present the material to him and let him have at it. I don't suppose he will start playing much but he may well be piqued enough to collect the minis if they are reasonable enough or easy enough to paint.

The ones I've seen aren't rubbish, they all benefit from at least a wash/wash and highlight to bring out their best.

OK so what would be a good addition to go with the Starter set? I have literally zero interest in Star Trek so I know nothing - I just need to approach it from my dad's perspective; you get an Enterprise in the starter set right so I'm guessing a Klingon ship or something as an additional expansion pack? From the perspective of someone who might want to play but mostly wants the models to look at.

It would depend on his likes and dislikes for series.

Does he like vintage Kirk n co, Picard and the NG team, the DS9 series or Voyager? What about Enterprise?


Does he favor different races?


Basically, you get a ship each from 3 factions in the starter, Feds, Klingons, Romulans. It might be prudent for him to build two fleets, Feds and, say, Klingons. Everything has a point cost, so look to provide two reasonably well matched ships to go with the boxed set, or even three, adding in the romulans additional ship.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
It would depend on his likes and dislikes for series.

Does he like vintage Kirk n co, Picard and the NG team, the DS9 series or Voyager? What about Enterprise?


Does he favor different races?


Basically, you get a ship each from 3 factions in the starter, Feds, Klingons, Romulans. It might be prudent for him to build two fleets, Feds and, say, Klingons. Everything has a point cost, so look to provide two reasonably well matched ships to go with the boxed set, or even three, adding in the romulans additional ship.

Christ, feth knows. I will get him the starter and see what he thinks about that!

hah hah hah

You can't go wrong with getting him the starter. Nice thing is that he doesn't have to paint them at all as they come prepainted. It's not the best paint jobs in the world but it's ok.

Was he watching Star Trek back in the 60s, with Kirk and Spock, or was he watching Star Trek more recently in the early 90s?

The starter set has some of the earliest models they've made, and thus some of the worst. If you knew which faction he liked, we could recommend some of the better minis for those factions.

Redeemer31 wrote:hah hah hah

You can't go wrong with getting him the starter. Nice thing is that he doesn't have to paint them at all as they come prepainted. It's not the best paint jobs in the world but it's ok.

Was he watching Star Trek back in the 60s, with Kirk and Spock, or was he watching Star Trek more recently in the early 90s?

He has been watching from the '60's right through to today so all incarnations and flavours

BobtheInquisitor wrote:The starter set has some of the earliest models they've made, and thus some of the worst. If you knew which faction he liked, we could recommend some of the better minis for those factions.

Well, I think getting him an Enterprise of some sort and a Klingon ship would be a good start - can't go wrong with that.

Well, then I guess a starter set it is. It's a shame that the Romulan ship is the best of that bunch. The Klingon ship won't look too off to anyone who hasn't taken a close look at the original (its proportions are way off), but the Enterprise is missing some important detail, like 2/3 of the shuttle bays, the phasers, etc.. The ships will definitely work as game pieces, so the starter is a good idea. If he's into models, though, they might not wow him.


The Attack Wing Reliant mini (assuming it's the same as the Tactics mini, which it should be) is one of the best Federation ship models in the game. For the Klingons, the Tactics versions (available somewhat cheaply from Miniature Market and other places) of the Battlecruiser/Groth/Kronos1 and the Bird of Prey are very good, but the STAW minis are stripped-down for some reason. If your dad likes to paint, the boardgame Starfleet Captains has unpainted Tactics versions of all the minis, which means the better Klingon ships and better Defiant. They can be swapped with a bit of cutting and gluing onto the Attack Wing bases if he prefers for the models to look their best.

I'm just throwing that info out in case it makes any difference.


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PS: Does he have any of the Star Trek Micromachines? If so, what does he think of them?

I have to suggest get ships from the movies. Those seem to be what most classic fans like. The Reliant, Excelsior, Kronos One, the Bird of Prey (the retail name escapes me right now), and the refit Enterprise.