Say does anyone remember Superior Models? No?
They made a line of spaceship mini's (amoungst other things) back in the late
70's. They also published a simple miniature game for their space mini's
called: Starfleet Wars. Their line represented 5 different fleets. Their
"supergalactic dreadnoughts" were 5" long! (I have a picture from an OLD
dragon mag).
One day I was at a local hobby shop. I paused to look in their
"Please-pay-me-a-dollar-so-I-can-get-rid-of-this-stuff" box. I found
book 2
of starfleet wars in there. This is just an expansion. I called them
last spring, April or May, and I asked them about the availablity of Book 1
for starfleet wars. They said they didn't have any in stock, but they were
thinking of reprinting the game, and making more of the mini's. They
put me on a list and they said they will send me book 1 if they publish it
again. So far I haven't heard anything more.
> Say does anyone remember Superior Models? No?
Ayup. Ah gots a few. :-)
> They made a line of spaceship mini's (amoungst other things) back in
And early/mid-80s; that's when I discovered them.
> They also published a simple miniature game for their space
Best I have is a couple of carriers. ~4" long.
> One day I was at a local hobby shop. I paused to look in their
Got their number handy by chance??
I used to have the main rulesbook, but...when I moved back in '88 I had my
stuff in storage annnnd...mice got to it (among other things). Was more nest
material than rulesbook after that. :-(
Mk
> At 05:27 PM 1/9/97 -0500, you wrote:
> Best I have is a couple of carriers. ~4" long.
I never bought any, but the picture in the dragon mag. certainly looked
impressive.
> :Got their number handy by chance??]
Certainly! The back of the book said: Superior Models inc, Claymont, DE. So me
and my late dad (he was alive then, I'm ok now) got on the internet, and
looked em up on one of those address search engines. It came back with:
Superior Models, Inc. 2600 Philadelphia Pike Claymont, DE 19703
(302) 798-0291
I called em up and asked. (By the way: my mother informs me that was June
26,96)
Gosh I love the internet!!!
> I used to have the main rulesbook, but...when I moved back in '88 I had
> Donald Hosford wrote:
Yes. I have a few of the Terran ships and would be very interested in finding
any of the ships.
> They made a line of spaceship mini's (amoungst other things) back in
The fleets included the Carnivore, Entomolian, Terran, Avarian, and I think
the Aquarian. The supergalactic dreadnoughts were huge! - like you
stated. The quality was usually very good with little to no flash.
> One day I was at a local hobby shop. I paused to look in their
Lucky fellow!
> I called them last
Last year a friend of mine contacted Superior as well and they said they did
re-release them about a year ago in pewter, but they did not sell well
so they dropped them again. I think if they marketed the ships better so folks
like us knew about it they wouldn't have such a problem. If they are
planning to re-re-release the minis please keep us informed! I would
very much like to get the tons of minis they made that I do not own yet. 8)
BTW, how can I get on their mailing list?
Also, my favorite old line is the Stardate:3000 series from Valiant miniatures
produced way back when as well. Most of the Terran ships had a saucer section
at the front followed by a modular body with detailed plumbing and big engine
pods. The alien ships usually had a tubular design with trumpet looking
exhausts. I own several of the Terran ships, but none of the alien ones.
Anyone with any knowledge of where I could find these minis for sale, please
let me know.
> At 08:11 AM 1/10/97 -0500, you wrote:
I never bought any, but I allways thought they looked good.
> The fleets included the Carnivore, Entomolian, Terran, Avarian, and I
That expansion includes a listing of all of their ships....It is interesting
to compare the various fleets togather.
> BTW, how can I get on their mailing list?
Well when I was on the phone with them, She asked me if I wanted to be on a
list to receive book 1 if it gets printed again....And I said YES! So
I think you just call them, and ask.
> [quoted text omitted]
I've got the Entomalian Super Galactic Dreadnought painted up pretty well, 7"
long and about 16 ounces!
----------
From: hosford.donald[SMTP:hosford.donald@email.acd.net]
Sent: Friday, January 10, 1997 12:20 PM
To: FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Superior Models, Inc
> At 08:11 AM 1/10/97 -0500, you wrote:
I never bought any, but I allways thought they looked good.
> The fleets included the Carnivore, Entomolian, Terran, Avarian, and I
That expansion includes a listing of all of their ships....It is interesting
to compare the various fleets togather.
> BTW, how can I get on their mailing list?
Well when I was on the phone with them, She asked me if I wanted to be on a
list to receive book 1 if it gets printed again....And I said YES! So
I think you just call them, and ask.
> [quoted text omitted]
Donald Hosford
> Donald Hosford wrote:
> Say does anyone remember Superior Models? No?
Yes, they were my introduction to spaceship warfare a long, long time ago.
> One day I was at a local hobby shop. I paused to look in their
I still have the original rulebook, book 2, and the recognition guide for the
Super Galactic Dreadnoughts that includes background on the empires
and fictional stats of the SGDs. ALNAVCO was the sole distributor of Starfleet
Wars as I remember. SFW is a very simple game based on power unit allocation,
much simpler than even FT, but I think it sacrificed too much for simplicity,
for example ships could turn to any heading at any
time. I still enjoyed the game and spent hours looking at the pictures of the
ship minis. Being to young to afford one of every ship like I wanted, I do
have a Stellar Destroyer from each of the 5 empires that I received with the
deluxe rule set.
I was on ALNAVCO's mailing list for years and received numerous updates
and flyers on SFW, even some color ones, and I have some extras or could make
copies so if anyone is interested, let me know.
I do have a question on some of the ships If anyone else has this info.
The last two ships I received information on were new Galactic Dreadnoughts
(the size below the SGD) the Terran Valiant and the Carnivore Jaguar(?). The
Valiant was triangular like a Star Wars Star Destroyer as all other terran
ships but where the SD's bridge would be, there was a
second trapezoidal hull about a 1/3 the size of the main hull on which
more weapons were mounted on top. The Jaguar also has a secondary hull
mounted above the main hull in the same fashion.
What are the SFW stats on these ships? Can anyone help me? I have been
wondering this for over 10 years!
For the DSII players, Superior also produced MATAAC (?) which was a ground
combat game with the same background as SFW. You may want to call Superior and
ask about reprinting that game and minis as well.
Thanks for the info Donald, I will give Superior a call to get on their
list of those interested in reprinted SFW rules.
> Say does anyone remember Superior Models? No?
I certainly do, and I sure wish that I had hung onto them. In the process of
trying to cut down on the lead I had around the house I decided that these
things were the one of the things to go (I hadn't yet heard of
FT/MT
by 6-8 months). Sometimes I'm almost in tears when remember what I sold
at a game auction for somewhere around $120, lets see... there were something
like 7 or 8 Super Galatic Dreadnaughts, 12 or so Galatic Dreadnaughts, a
number of pieces that made up a modular star base, many different types of
fighters and CAP missiles, and at least 60 carriers, stellar cruisers, etc.
- not to mention all the rule books they had out. Darn it, if I had
just seen FT sooner... oh well thems, the breaks (now if only I could locate
the person that bought it all).
The thing about these figures were the similarity to some known starship
silhouettes like the Star Destroyer(tm) from StarWars and the Carnivorians SGD
that sort of resembled a BattlerStar from BattleStar Galactica. The other
interesting thing was noticing all the bumps and toolings in the
miniatures that must have come from the inner workings of watches -
pretty clever really.
> At 01:43 PM 1/10/97 -0600, you wrote:
> Yes, they were my introduction to spaceship warfare a long, long time
My introduction to space warfare was WarpWar from Metagaming. Even though it
is too simple for most things, it still has that special feeling for
me...
> I still have the original rulebook, book 2, and the recognition guide
> unit allocation, much simpler than even FT, but I think it sacrificed
> From reading book 2, I was able to discover many things about the game.
I
didn't know it had the "free" manuevering. But something I allways wanted to
know, What was the power allocation requirements for the Partical weapons,
tractor beams, and the CIDS? I have reexamined the examples many times. I know
the defencive and offencive factors you square the no. of factors to get the
Power factors... Just curious...
> and flyers on SFW, even some color ones, and I have some extras or
Generally...What do these flyiers talk about? Extra ships, new rules, ect?
> I do have a question on some of the ships If anyone else has this
> second trapezoidal hull about a 1/3 the size of the main hull on which
> more weapons were mounted on top. The Jaguar also has a secondary
Can't help you there. Sorry.
> Thanks for the info Donald, I will give Superior a call to get on
> At 12:03 AM 1/11/97 -0600, you wrote:
Those of us who do remember, should be carefull....Us semi-oldtimers
might be dating ourselves....
> Kevin Walker
> Kevin Walker wrote:
I wish I was that person who bought all those great minis for $120!!! 80
> Donald Hosford wrote:
> From reading book 2, I was able to discover many things about the game.
I
> didn't know it had the "free" manuevering. But something I allways
of
> factors to get the Power factors... Just curious...
Particle Weapons cost 5 power factors to reload per tube, the first shot
per tube is considered loaded and ready. CIDS (Close In Defence System)
fire does not have a power cost. Tractor beams I don't remember off hand so I
will get back to you.
> and flyers on SFW, even some color ones, and I have some extras or
> Generally...What do these flyiers talk about? Extra ships, new rules,
Mainly pictures of the new minis but some have new rules and ship stats
but most of these new rules were included in book 2 (SGDs, Starbombers).
> I do have a question on some of the ships If anyone else has this
> have been wondering this for over 10 years!
I checked and those minis came out in 1982 so its been 15 years! Please,
anyone know the stats for these ships in Starfleet Wars? OK, I'll ask Superior
Models when I give them a call.
> At 09:18 AM 1/13/97 -0600, you wrote:
> Particle Weapons cost 5 power factors to reload per tube, the first
That does help explain the examples given...Thanks for answering my curiosity.
> Mainly pictures of the new minis but some have new rules and ship
Sort of a free preview eh?
> Dean Gundberg
First, please forgive any errors.. all of my info is from my memory... I lost
my copies of these rules years ago...
While these rules were relatively simple, there were NO tactics involved
beyond power allocation and learning to pile on firepower. Weapons did not
have fire arcs, and for practical purposes, there really weren't much in the
way of racial differences beyond the cosmetic.
Excerpts from internet.listserv.ftgzg-l: 11-Jan-97 Re: Superior Models,
Inc hosford.donald@email.acd (2677*)
> From reading book 2, I was able to discover many things about the
of
> factors to get the Power factors... Just curious...
Each ship was able to generate power based on it's size (class normally).
Systems used power based on a square of the factor. Thus, to move the ship at
a factor of 3 (I think each factor generated 3 inches of speed), you'd
allocate 3(squared) or 9 power points. To power up an Attack Factor of 9, you
needed 81 power points and 9 points of Defense Factors would also require 81
power. Most ships were unable to generate enough power to move at top speed
(factor 9 I think) and still allocate full power to both shields and beam
weapons.
I don't remember the power allocations for the particle beams, but tractor
beams were squared factors (again). CIDS didn't require power allocations, but
were instead based on the size of the ship, and got knocked out when the ship
was damaged. Each CIDS provided some smallish die roll to knock out incoming
missiles (CAPTACs) or fighters. I don't remember whether the number of rolls
allowed or the% to kill were reduced from damage...
> >
The new dreadnaughts were given +10% on all systems. Thus, they had
+10% power allocation, +10% to AF and DF, etc.
> [quoted text omitted]
Mike Miserendino wrote
> Last year a friend of mine contacted Superior as well and they said
> BTW, how can I get on their mailing list?
I just got done talking with Superior Models, they haven't reprinted the Star
Fleet Wars rules yet but do have 18 or so of their miniatures available. Each
race's Galactic Dreadnought is available for $16.75 along with numerous other
ships, including the Super Galactic Dreadnought Victory. This is the big one
people had mentioned on this thread and I saw someone has a picture of it on
their website. It's big, about 6 inches or so, but you pay for the metal, the
price is $35.50.
They plan on releasing all of the ships sometime in the future, and have said
that during the last few months, they have been getting more calls
and the interest in their Intergalactic Starship range is up. Thank you to all
of you who got in touch with them before I did.
Please contact me directly if you want more information of what is currently
available.
> I just got done talking with Superior Models, they haven't reprinted
Dean,
How would I go about buying the Super Galactic Dreadnought? Thanks for passing
on the information.
Enjoy,
Where can i find pictures of these models Thanks Ian
> ----------