Topic: Klingon K-T5 Assault Transport Tug for SFC 1

[Panzergranate]

This is a model of a miniature intended to be a Klingon T6 tug back in 1983 at the Bi-Annual South Dorset Wargaming Society convention along with a F5 frigate and a D6 / D7 battlecruiser. I also bought a Federation DD and BC. These models were so small that they were intended to replace the counters in the SFB game and be in reasonable proportion to the ADB game map hexes.

I still have all those miniatures and all the models apart from the tug. As the T6 tug design was changed at some point in the eraly 1980's, the model I have no longer represents it. It does, however, look more like a predecessor.

So armed with a magnifying glass, micrometer and a computer I've modelled it exactly as it looks right down to the non-S-Graph engines. This is how the actual miniature looks both in SFC 1 and as a SFB gaming piece.

This has been a very desireable project for myself for many years and I've had to wait until I had acquired enough skill to undertake it.

I've had to use Atrahasis's pods as no other Klingon pods looks so good.

I did four versions of the K-T5 both with and without the pod plus a K-T5T fleet battle tender version with spare warp nacelle carrying mounts in loaded and unloaded versions.

I set up a Bot on Bot match in Free For All with the K-T5 up against a Federation Horizon class cruiser and sat back to spectate. A typical action from "The Four Years War" just prior to TOS. The pictures are taken from the match.

 

[Starfox1701]

Good work man

[Terradyhne]

your original T-5 model looks much like a smal version of the C-5 fast dreadnought, with other/smaler nacelles and other bridge section

[Panzergranate]

I must asmit that there are similarities.

The boom shaft looks similar, but so does the one on the stock Taldren Klingon freighter and the bridge as well.

Was the C5 out in 1983?? My last ADB rule set was the 1988 Volume III Commander's Edition, on which SFC is closely based.

Is there an SSD for the C5?? When was it introduced into SFB by ADB??

I'm cheecking out the miniature tug through the high powered magnifier as I type this. The engines are only 2/3rd the size of those on the F5 frigate, when compared. They also have different tail ends to that of the C5.

The hangar is wider and does not overhang the hull. This is not an omission on the part of the miniature's orginal creator as the D6 / D7 miniture has the correct overhang on the hangar.

The impulse drive on the tug is different to that of the C5.

The wings and secondary hull are dead flat across and not sloped at the wing ends.

The tug has a prominent rectangular underbelly section which I can't see on the C5.

There is no centre warp on the tug boom. Bearing in mind I used to play SFB at wargames clubs and conventions, back in the 1980's, I've seen the model of the C7 by the same creators and the centre engine was cast onto the miniature, so it isn't missing on the tug, if it was intended to be the C5.
   
Over the years of owning the miniature I've often looked at it and reckoned that, with larger engines plus a third under the boom, it would make the basisi of a good capital warship or better still, a carrier.

I'm sure that it was Skytrex who made the miniatures. I've only ever played in SFB games over here that either used counters or these miniatures. Everything in SFB was provided as miniatures back then and looked the same as what we expect Gorns, Lyrans, Kzinti, Feds, Klingons, Romulans, Orions and Andromedans to look like in SFB. Now the models are a lot larger and the tables need to be larger to play on.

I've always played as Klingons. My first ever game was commanding one of two F5B frigates running interference to keep a Fed DD from sneaking around the flank of our forces and I fired only one shot in the whole game at extreme range, which missed. We did our job though and saw the Fed DD off.

The next game saw me replacing the player commanding a D7K who was supposed to be covering the ass of a damaged C9 during some SFB campaign. In true Klingon fashion, his team sacked the player captain of this ship for being to cautious / cowardice and not engaging or harrasing Fed CVA, 2 x CA, 2 x NCL and 3 x DD that were coming around a large gas giant.

I assumed command and my orders from the team's admiral were, "Do something to hold them up and cover the C9's escape.
 
Whilst cleaning up the blood of the former Captain's chair, I decided it was a good day to die and the best way to achieve this was to launch an insanely crazy attack head on, fly through the middle of the formation and focus all weapons onto one of the CAs.

I made it through a firestorm with the shields surprisingly still good. They must have expected me to fire at the CVA because when I pulled an S manever during the next successive impulses, the CA I targetted had no general of specific shield reinforment so I chewed a new one. I managed to take out all the weapons, warp, impulse and just about everything on the CA leaving it dea in space. I survived being hit by everything as they fired most weapons at me as I approached the formation and I'd reinforced the front shield with every spare unit of power I had. On the 32nd impulse I was only one hex from being out of range of the Feds and had 6 x warp, 2 x hull and 1 x Bridge boxes left....  then the CVA fired at me and a salvo of proximity fused torpedoes took me out.... Dying like true Klingon warrior and in a manner worthy of a Klingon ballad or two.

Meanwhile the crippled C9 made its escape along with its escorts. I'd saved the day!!

After that I was invited to play more games with the SFB group. All that was over 25 years ago but good games stick in the mind, whether sports, computer, console, paintball or wargames.... we tend to forget the bad ones.

[Starfox1701]

You know the feds made a bad mistake. They should have poured on the speed and burned you down with there combined phasers. It wouldnt have taken much damage to leave you unable to keep up and fight and then one of the CA's could have finished you off while the rest ran down the DN. Good reargaurd action man.