This April WizKids/NECA will launch a new three-part Attack Wing Organized Play event based on classic Star Trek Films. This highly anticipated release will feature elements from Star Trek’s most beloved movies, starting with Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.
The scenario for The Wrath of Khan faithfully recreates the climactic final battle between Kirk and Khan as they hunt for each other inside the Mutara Nebula. For this scenario there is a 12” x 36” area which is considered “open space.” Players will both set up in the normal starting area within this designated area of “open space.” The western 24” x 36” area of the map is considered to be inside of the Mutara Nebula.
While in open space you cannot attack, be attacked, target, or be targeted by anything within the Mutara Nebula. However, flying into the nebula presents its own set of risks and rewards which will require you to make some tactical choices about how to play this scenario.
First let’s look at the benefits you’ll get from entering the nebula:
While inside the nebula, any ships rolls +2 defense dice.
Any ship may perform a Sensor Echo Action if that ship just performed a maneuver with a speed of 3 or less. If you Sensor Echo, the maneuver template you can use is determined by the speed of your previous maneuver. If you performed a maneuver with a speed of 1 you may then use a 1, 2 or 3 straight maneuver template to perform the Sensor Echo Action. If you performed a maneuver with a speed of 2 you may then use a 1 or 2 straight maneuver template. However, if you performed a maneuver with a speed of 3 you can only use the 1 straight maneuver template when performing the Sensor Echo Action.
Just like in the movie, entering the nebula can be a great place to hide from your opponent but there are also some serious drawbacks.
Any ship inside the nebula must disable all Shields and discard any Cloak Tokens.
Ships inside the nebula cannot perform Target Lock, Scan or Cloak Actions.
Ships inside the nebula cannot attack beyond range 1.
A ship may fire secondary weapons that can normally only be fired at range 2-3 at range 1, but the attacking ship will sustain damage equal to the damage it inflicts minus 1.
If the Secondary Weapon requires that the attacking ship spend a Target Lock to fire on the target ship it may still fire that weapon, but the defending ship rolls +3 defense dice.
A ship that overlaps another ship at the end of its movement must move backward along its chosen Maneuver Template until it no longer overlaps the other ship. This ship cannot perform any Actions this round. In addition, both ships must roll a number of defense dice equal to ½ of their Captain’s Skill Number (rounded up). Each ship sustains 2 damage to its Hull, minus 1 damage for every Evade result, minimum 0.
When playing the Wrath of Khan scenario, you must ask yourself, do I want to play it safe and stay in “open space” or do I want to try and hide in the Nebula using its effects to outmaneuver and outwit my opponent? No matter what strategy you choose you are sure to have an exciting play experience that directly mirrors the events of the movie Star Trek: Wrath of Khan.
Every player who shows up and plays in this event gets a resource as a participation prize. The resource for month one is General Orders. This resource costs 5 points and allows you to place 5 Battle Station Tokens on the card. During the Activation Phase, you may remove one of the Battle Station Tokens and place it next to your ship if an opposing ships moves within Range 1-3 and within the forward firing arc of your ship. This resource is going to be highly sought after and will probably see a lot of play in competitive games. General Orders is a great way to gain the Battle Station action for ships that don’t have it on their action bar. It is also useful for adding a second Battle Station Token, so you are free to use one for your attack and the other for defense. For only 5 SP you can’t go wrong with General Orders as your resource.
If you are lucky enough to win the Wrath of Khan scenario, or you get the fellowship award, you can look forward to going home with the U.S.S. Reliant Prize Pack. The U.S.S. Reliant has already been released as a retail expansion pack, however, this updated version reflects the U.S.S. Reliant as captained by Khan in the movie. This version of the U.S.S. Reliant is very similar to the previous version except it gains an extra Weapon Upgrade Slot and it belongs to the Independent Faction, instead of the Federation. This version of the Reliant also has a different special ability. When attacking with your Primary Weapon, you may disable any number of Active Shields to re-roll a number of your attack dice equal to the number of Shields you disabled. Any upgrades that allows you to re-roll attack dice is something you will want to consider adding to your fleet, and based on this special ability alone you can expect to see the U.S.S. Reliant come into play at your local venue.
Khan Singh is the Captain of the U.S.S. Reliant. A skill level 7 Captain, Khan allows you to use any upgrades without paying a faction penalty. Up to 3 of the upgrades you purchase for your ship cost exactly 4 SP each and are placed face down beside your ship card until used. Khan has all kinds of nasty tricks up his sleeve and this special ability reflects that behavior by allowing you to purchase upgrades at a discount (without faction penalty) and then spring them on your opponent, using the element of surprise to your advantage.
One of the thematic Elite Talents in this prize pack is the Ceti Eel. In the movie, Khan uses these creatures to control the minds of Captain Terrell and Chekov. Here, you may discard this card to target a ship within Range 1-3 and when it is that ship’s turn to attack, you may force that ship to either; attack any ship of your choice, not attack and disable its Captain Card, or perform its attack as normal and discard its Captain Card. The target ship must choose one of these options. Both clever and cruel, using the Ceti Eel will force your opponent to choose one of three negative outcomes. No matter what they choose, your opponent is losing something, and this is exactly the type of brutal strategy you would expect from Khan.
The remaining upgrade cards in this prize pack all represent Khan’s ruthless and violent strategies. Fire! is an Elite Talent that adds +2 to your primary weapon value for an attack. If you use this effect, you may also re-roll up to 2 of your attack dice and then place an Auxiliary Power Token beside your ship.
Joachim is a Crew Upgrade that allows you to add +3 to your Captain Skill until the End Phase. If you attack first in the Combat Phase, you may convert 1 of your hit results into a critical hit. Joachim is a perfect support card, boosting Khan’s Captain level, allowing you to attack first and then converting one hit into a critical.
The last upgrade, All Power to Phasers, is a Weapon Upgrade that proves Khan isn’t going down without a fight. This upgrade allows you to gain +2 attack dice in return for disabling your remaining Shields. In true Khan fashion, if he is going to be destroyed, he is going to make sure that you are too.
You’ll want to make sure you reserve your spot for this event early by contacting your nearest local game store. Build your best fleet and test your skill and cunning against other players to see who truly deserves the title of champion.
Visit WizKids/NECA at WizKids.com/Attack Wing for additional information about Star Trek: Attack Wing or go to the WizKids Info Network to find a local game store that is running the Star Trek: Attack Wing – The Classic Movies 3-month Storyline Organized Play event series.