This post will look at the original cast, in their later incarnation (probably viewed at the time as the magnum opus of Trek), the movies.
Not my favourite period I must admit, but it is growing on me. When I started collecting AW, this period frustrated. It was not the Original Series, nor did it fit in to the raft of later offerings. It did however offer my favourite ship the Excelsior class, which fits into this and the later eras and some strong upgrades, so in I went. One of the periods I found it hard to mix with others, when I went strictly period specific, it turned out to be quite self sufficient.
AW offers a surprisingly deep offering here considering there were only really two main protagonists and a minor player on offer. This is a real case of the expansions fitting the ships and period well, but tending to be bought just to be stripped for parts.
Fleets in the 60-120 range suit this era perfectly.
The Federation has 8 Captains, 13 Crew, and 12 other upgrades, with a good spread of Tech and Weapons, which is more than many.
The ships on offer are a bit sameish, but three ship types to chose from is a enough and they are strong none the less. Only one ship in the combined fleets has Agl 2 (the Miranda Class) and all but the Miranda have 3 Primary with a wide arc and the Weapon upgrades are varied enough to allow for good tactical choice. All Fed ships can reverse, but not turn.
The ships in these fleets very much fit the resilient, but not primarily warship based feds vs the glass cannon feel of the Klingons.
The Klingons have a similar dynamic. 5 strong ships with 4 primary attacks (smaller arc), which are weaker in hull snd shields, but can have more manoeuvres and a K-Turn, but no reverse. The Klingon upgrade options though thinner, are still deep enough for tactical variety. 6 Captains, and 9 other choices are plenty, especially considering the Klingons will often field another ship rather than upgrades, as their way.
Tactics are the key in this period. Many of the characters and Captains are variants of the same person (2 choices of Chekov, Sulu, Chang etc) and the upgrades are very much powerful one-trick-wonder Elites like “The Games Afoot”, so the games have a tense dynamic of predictable options in unpredictable combinations and a sudden death feel. Will Chang be option A or B and will he bring Cry Havoc, The Games Afoot or Once More Unto The Breach with him?
The final sub-faction is Khan Singh’s merry band. Not on the surface seemingly deep in options, Khan can field any upgrade from the other two factions (which is an exception to our cross faction strictness) and could conceivably captain any ship. The variety he offers is huge. Khan is a powerful captain (equal in skill to Kirk at 8 in this era), with his own unique upgrades (4), and that unpredictability that makes this period so intriguing.
Scale wise, they are fine. The Miranda is a little big, as is the Constitution refit, but they are ok. Chang’s B’Rel Bird of Prey is also maybe too large or at least in comparison to the D-7’s, but it seems to fit ok on a ship to ship basis, so I can deal.
Can this period stand on it’s own two feet?
Build depth 3.5/5 A lack of ship variety is made up for some what with upgrade depth
Interest Value 4/5 WK have captured the feel of the first movies well, if faction restricted.