[FT] B5 miniatures

I'm rather happy about the Fleet Scale minis I received, but looking at AOG's
page brings up a question.

How well do the current miniatures scale for FT? The up and coming B5
miniature looks slightly larger than an FSE SDN, which is what I would want
for a full size space station. Now, what I'm using for scale is the hex base.
Does anyone know if they are using the standard size hex bases?

> On 29-Sep-99 at 09:04, Roger Books (books@mail.state.fl.us) wrote:

Clarity.:( By B5 I meant The Babylon 5 space station.

> I would want for a full size space station. Now, what I'm using

there's a small, B5W mailing list only sale going on for the first batch of
prototype Fleet Scale minis:

        BW-412 Hyperion (3 per blister)
        BW-413 Vorchan/Demos (4 per blister)
        BW-404 Primus (2 per blister)
        BW-420 Olympus (3 per blister)

they're all $9.95 per pack, and I got one of the last of the Olmympii
blisters. Emailing address is agent1@agentsofgaming.com, other info is as per
www.agentsofgaming.com on the mail order page. Shipping was $2 for 4 blisters
(1 each).

I'll report to the list when the minis come in.

Scale-wise the Fleet figs should compare a lot better than the older,
display minis. A quick romp with a ruler reveals (for the current, larger
figs):

the Nova and Omega are about 4.5"
the Centauri Battlecruiser is 2 7/8" long and 3" wide

I'm thinking smaller would be better :-)

FWIW, a PuddingWorkshop battleship is just a touch longer than an AOG Omega
but is heftier (much) in the stern assemblies (battleship got back?), it's
more than twice the price but is better cast and detailed, and assembles
better without heavy work (to get the keel straight on the Omega takes work).

that's two opinions, $0.04 please

> At 3:35 PM -0400 9/29/99, Phillip Atcliffe wrote:

On Wed, 29 Sep 1999 09:02:31 -0400 (EDT) Roger Books
> <books@mail.state.fl.us> wrote:

> I'm rather happy about the Fleet Scale minis I received [...] <

Well, I've only seen the Fleet Scale fighters, which are not too far
removed from GZG's own fighters in scale -- slightly bigger, but not
excessively so. They're quite finely detailed, but you pay for it --
7.50Stg for 18, compared to 2.85 for the same number of the equivalent
GF types. I also don't particularly like the big ring-stand, and the
stand mounts on the underside of each fighter is much too chunky for my taste.

> [...] but looking at AOG's page brings up a question.

> How well do the current miniatures scale for FT? The up and coming B5

If you're referring to the original non-Fleet Scale minis, then they're
fairly large in FT terms. Scale is not constant, either, so EA "corvettes" are
bigger than "destroyers", which in turn are bigger and more powerful than
"cruisers" (of course, that could just be the result
of JMS's not-great grasp of naval terminology... <g>), and the classes
don't carry across races -- thus, a Centauri destroyer is more like an
FT/modenr DD in comparison with other classes, unlike an EA Omega. Most
of the bigger ships require two stands for stability.

The stands themselves have hexagonal bases that are the "usual" size (i.e.,
the size of standard plastic bases that come with GZG and other companies'
minis).

All in all, I'd say that the original B5 minis do best on a big table using
1MU = 1" or bigger.

Hope this was what you wanted to know.

Phil, who really _must_ get down to painting more B5 stuff....