{"id":4074,"date":"2021-01-03T14:47:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T18:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angrypiper.com\/?p=4074"},"modified":"2021-01-04T12:06:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T16:06:07","slug":"star-trek-iconic-villains-and-some-heroclix-repaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/angrypiper.com\/?p=4074","title":{"rendered":"Star Trek: Iconic Villains and some Heroclix Repaints"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Four posts with no miniatures? This will not stand! Let me fix that…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, I usually focus my attention on my “side pile”<\/a>, i.e. those unfinished and partially-painted miniatures that have accumulated off to the side of my workspace over the course of the year. Some have been primed, others basecoated; some have just a dab or two of color on them from when I squeezed out a bit too much paint and didn’t want to waste it. There they indefinitely sat, clogging my workspace and staring at me accusatorily; until finally, a few years ago, I made the conscious choice to clear the workspace. It’s worked out great. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, well…I didn’t do that last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I painted a LOT of Star Trek miniatures in 2020; both Modiphius miniatures and Heroclix repaints. Since I started playing Days Gone <\/em>last month, I simply haven’t had the motivation to paint as much (funny how most of my hobby dry spells coincide with periods of video game obsession). But I only had a few Star Trek miniatures left, and I was bound and determined to get them all done by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have succeeded. First up: the Heroclix repaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I picked up these Heroclix to supplement my Modiphius Romulans<\/a>. They’re not perfect, because I didn’t remember what paints I used way back when; but they’ll do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next, I did the same with these Klingons. Everyone can use more Klingons<\/a>, and I have plans for these guys…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sadly, I only managed to get my hands on two Heroclix Cardassian soldiers. I repainted the TNG<\/em>-era brownish uniform to DS9<\/em> black, since I like it much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next, some Ferengi salvage crew, and Daimon Bok. These miniatures are obviously based on the early TNG <\/em>costuming, which was…well, pretty fucking awful. Don’t believe me? Here’s what the Ferengi uniform was on TNG<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yikes. I’m guessing most of the show’s first-season budget was blown on special effects, because that looks like medical scrubs and cheap carpet. Dig those fur booties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, the last of the Heroclix: I did a couple of TNG character repaints: Geordi, Worf and Lt. Barclay; as well as a couple of generic TNG-era Starfleet crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I repainted Mugato<\/a> and some Talosians, as well as a whole bunch of generic Starfleet crew for the TOS<\/em> era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Moving on, I finally finished the last Modiphius set: the Iconic Villains. I have a lot of opinions about this set, and let’s start by saying I would never have bought it if I didn’t find it on Amazon for an obscenely low price (like $18 or so). The truth is, I didn’t need or want most of these miniatures, and I think there were a lot of better choices available for the “iconic” Trek villains. Let’s go through them, best to worst. These are my opinions, of course…your mileage may vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First: Locutus, Lore, and the Borg Queen. All of these are solid choices for iconic villains. What’s more, Modiphius made a Borg Collective<\/a> miniature set and the Next Generation Bridge <\/a>crew and TNG Away<\/a> team, which makes them easy to use in a miniature wargame or for their Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game. I have no issue with any of these. Love them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next: Gul Dukat. He’s a great sculpt, and my personal favorite villain in all of Star Trek; so of course I’m happy to have him. The problem is that Modiphius hasn’t done the Deep Space Nine<\/em> station crew yet, and also hasn’t done any Cardassians (both of which I’m DYING for); so, he’s of limited gaming utility at the moment. Still, he’s Gul Fucking Dukat, and he’s holding Sisko’s baseball, so I can’t complain too much; although it would be really nice if Modiphius made those other sets soon. In the meantime, I think they could have included a villain that would better compliment the sets they have already released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next: Q, in his judge’s robes. As far as iconic villains go, Modiphius would have been remiss not to include Q. BUT: why would you need a Q miniature? Q can do anything and is pretty much invulnerable and omnipotent. I get I’m nitpicking here. Star Trek Adventures is a roleplaying game, and anyone using miniatures for that purpose may have need of a Q miniature simply to show where he’s standing at any given time. But it’s not like Q needs to worry about things like difficult terrain or line-of-sight. He doesn’t need to worry about cover saves. He’s Q. Like I said, Modiphius kinda needed to include him, but the miniature is of limited use in a game setting, particularly a wargame. Also, although the judge’s robes are cool, I would have liked to see him in a Command uniform. But that’s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next: the Gorn Captain. Calling him an iconic villain is a bit of a stretch to me. Also, since he’s the only Gorn miniature made by Modiphius (kinda like Gul Dukat is the only Cardassian), unless you want to replay the classic TOS<\/em> episode Arena<\/em>, there’s no point in gaming with him. Meh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, for some inexplicable reason, Modiphius decided to include two Star Trek movie-era villains: General Chang, and KHAAAAAAAAN!!!!. Why they did this when they haven’t released the movie-era TOS<\/em> crew is frankly baffling to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As for General Chang, he’s my least favorite miniature in the set; not because he’s a bad sculpt, but because I’m at a loss as to why he’s here. Sure, he was the bad guy in Star Trek VI<\/em>, and he was ably played by Christopher Plummer, and he’s a Klingon. And…I got nothing else. Who the hell was asking for a General Chang miniature? Again, the fact that he’s from the movie era and Modiphius hasn’t released any movie-era miniatures makes his inclusion perplexing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n