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| A bit crass, but still funny... |
Today, I start my review of the Kronos One. I actually really liked this set when it first came out. The ship is actually decent, and the upgrades are pretty good. There's a lot of chaff in the expansion though, so let's dive right in and get to the good stuff.
First of all, the ship is pretty decent. Here are the stats:
I.K.S. Kronos One (K'T'Inga Class)/ Klingon Starship (K'T'Inga Class)
Front Firing Arc: 90° Rear Firing Arc: 90°
A: 4
E: 1
H: 4
S: 3(2)
Any ship attacking you at Range 3 rolls 1 less attack die.
Actions: Evade, Target Lock, Cloak, Sensor Echo
Upgrades: Weapon, Weapon, Crew, Crew
Points: 24 (22)
Front Firing Arc: 90° Rear Firing Arc: 90°
A: 4
E: 1
H: 4
S: 3(2)
Any ship attacking you at Range 3 rolls 1 less attack die.
Actions: Evade, Target Lock, Cloak, Sensor Echo
Upgrades: Weapon, Weapon, Crew, Crew
Points: 24 (22)
We've got a lower end attack (for the
Klingons, of course). Any other race would DIE for 4 attacks. The rest
is the pretty standard Klingon fare- hull and shields are what I expect
from this point level. The ship can cloak, which is always nice on a
22/24 point ship.
The double weapon slot is pointless, as I've
discussed before. You should not equip this ship with two weapons. I
feel like a broken record, but there are lessons that bear repeating.
Maybe at some point in the future there will be a weapon upgrade that is
particularly awesome in combination with another weapon upgrade, or an
upgrade that makes another weapon upgrade better, but at this point such
an upgrade doesn't exist (or I haven't read about it). The double crew
is fine, but this is probably not where you want to throw your Klingon
crew.
The Kronos one suffers by comparison to the rest of
the Klingon Fleet, but I think that is unfair- just because the other
Klingon ships are amazing, doesn't mean that this isn't still a very
good ship. Unfortunately, at around the same time, the Ch'Tang came out
and showed us all what a 22 point ship can REALLY do. This thing doesn't
really stack up to that awesomeness, but it does a serviceable job of
giving us a decent TOS ship. If you're looking to play in a TOS event,
or start a TOS campaign, this ship is great.
The movement dial is the usual Klingon fare and is
quite good. You can get four of these in a list, with two captains that
can upgrade attack and you'll have about 22 attacks, which is about as
good as it gets.
It's hard to write about Klingon ships and be
unimpressed. If you're looking to build a three ship Klingon Fleet and
don't want to pay for another starter set to get the Vor'Cha, you could
do worse than the Kronos One. I used it in a fleet in OP2 and was able
to bring home the win. It's decent enough for the points.
Agreed all around. A solid and economical ship, very easy to fit into many builds. OTOH, it is a contender (along with the identical G'Roth/D7 minis and the TOS Enterprise) for worst mini category. Absolutely appalling sculpt all around, and the sideways bridge is utterly maddening to me - and made worse by the fact that the Heroclix range has a version of the K'Tinga with a correctly positioned bridge.
ReplyDeleteOh, probably also worth mentioning that this is one of only three Klingon ships (the other two being the Bird-of-Prey variants) with a rear firing arc right now. While using two weapon slots is still pretty iffy, it does make using one a lot more attractive. Being able to pump photons out the rear arc after an overflight or in a chase is pretty good for three points, and maybe worth five for the stronger version. You could also go crossfaction and drop antimatter mines. The Vor'cha and Negh'var are tougher ships and throw more attack dice, but lacking rear arcs forces them to rely on red come about maneuvers far more often than the K'Tinga and BoP classes.
ReplyDelete"It's hard to write about Klingon ships and be unimpressed."
ReplyDeleteWritten before the Somraw was released. :)
Indeed! Well, I still haven't bought a D7, so I suppose I wasn't that impressed there either.
ReplyDelete