Not long ago, I reviewed Holistic's original version of Noble Armada. Despite my positive view of the Fading Suns line as a whole, Noble Armada just didn't make the cut in my book. I felt that $55.00 was pricey for the game's contents and I didn't like the rules. That said, Holistic has released a newer version which I look forward to reading more about. In the meantime, let's look at Ships of the Line.
Verbatim from Holistic's site, Ships of the Line contains "Classic Noble Armada spaceship miniatures and other materials for use with the Noble Armada Expanded Edition rulebook or any spaceship battle game. Includes 32 plastic spaceship miniatures and stands, four 20-sided dice, four 17x22 hex map playing surface pages, and 240 counters! Compatible with Fading Suns roleplaying."
Extra dice, hex maps that work just as well for other game systems (Silent Death fans out there should have their radars tuning in) and excellently detailed ships are a really good deal. If you figure just the ships alone, you're paying about a buck and a quarter apiece.
There are three factions represented in the ships. Hawkwood ships (think House Atreides from Dune) have 3 different designs, 2 smaller fighter-looking ships and a larger ship that could serve as a sleek freighter or a corvette (there are four of each design). Decados ships also come in three comparably sized designs, also with four of each design. The remaining eight ships are League (continuing the Dune analogy, think of the Guild): 4 fighter-ish and 4 very decidely non-aerodynamic freigh carriers.
I won't go into the details of the political factions in the game because they have no bearing on the spaceship minis. Those inclined to learn more about the various houses of the Fading Suns universe are invited to check out www.fadingsuns.com for more information. It's an entertaining world in its own and I wouldn't do it justice especially since I'm drooling over these starship minis.
My personal suggestion for folks who aren't fans of the Noble Armada game is to pick these up for your other games. The Decados ships are bat-wing looking deals that function nicely as Klingon ships or Kilrathi (for anyone who ever wanted to play Wing Commander on the table-top). Likewise the Hawkwood ships fit the bill of a federation type design or maybe even Confederation (again with the Wing Commander). The remaining League vessels work well as fighters and boxy-Volvo-ish freighters for protecting in convoy scenarios.
For folks with starship rules already in their library, Ships of the Line could be the new alien menace you need to shake up your campaign. I am notoriously cheap, but I think this is a great deal for anyone who's into spaceship combat games. Three thumbs up!
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