3788 Scale Ymatrian Poniard Frigate Leader MGL

The Omega Octant is east of the Alpha Octant empires seen in the Star Fleet Universe (beyond the Inter-Stellar Concordium), on the other side of a galactic void. That void is a dead zone where life is impossible and ships fall apart, marking a separation between Octants. The Ymatrian Horde was comprised of a ferociously warlike species resembling large, hairless bears with armor-like bones protecting their heads and torsos. Prior to their expansion into space, their society was divided into a number of military dictatorships, with brutal wars between clans or nations being frequently waged. Indeed, rather than reining in these excesses, the development of weapons of mass destruction led them to escalate the carnage, leaving large portions of their home world uninhabitable.

The arrival of the Kyrihn, a friendly and peaceful people, changed the course of Ymatrian history. Treated as gods from the skies by the highly superstitious Ymatrians -- for a time, at least -- the Kyrihn took it upon themselves to “save” this wrecked planet. In this, they made a fatal error: once the Ymatrians reverse-engineered samples of advanced Kyrihn technology, they built their first crude starships and seized the orbiting Kyrihn space station. From there, the Ymatrians assembled a war fleet to invade and conquer the Kyrihn home world, on which they proceeded to unleash a full-scale xenocide upon its native inhabitants. 

Now united as an empire for the first time, the Ymatrians expanded into nearby space, searching for a new and worthy foe to fight. They found one in the robotic Drex Unity, which was located on the far side of the Wasteland (a virtually empty, yet crossable, region of space). During the Second Cycle, their brief yet savage invasion almost reached as far as the Drexari home colonies, before the Drex were able to surround and defeat the Ymatrian armada. With the Ymatrian worlds left vulnerable by their over-commitment of resources into the invasion, the Drex were able to launch a decisive counter-invasion across the Wasteland. Rather than attempt to hold Ymatrian space, and reasoning that nothing else would stem the Ymatrian thirst for battle, the Drex proceeded to bomb the Ymatrian worlds until no structure was left standing, before withdrawing back to Drex space. For their part, the surviving Ymatrians took this as a sign of displeasure from the gods for their warring ways and misuse of technology, and became nomadic wanderers. And so the survivors remained... until their home world was uncovered by the Paravians of Omega in the Seventh Cycle.

During their brief time as a space-faring empire, the Ymatrians built warships designed for one purpose: to close with an enemy ship and eviscerate it at short range. Thus, their acquired mastery of antiproton technology (an unwitting courtesy of the Kyrihn) led them to develop antiproton phasers, antiproton beams, and the antiproton lance. These weapons would later be salvaged by the Worb Technocracy, the Zosman Marauders, and the Omega-Paravians. However, while their forward-facing firepower was highly dangerous, their low average numbers of phasers left them relatively vulnerable on the flanks. In addition, Ymatrian warships had no labs, as they struck first and analyzed the ashes later.

The Poniard frigate leader, like all command or leader variants in the Ymatrian fleet, displayed the combination of thoroughness and recklessness with which the Ymatrians approached their force organization and leadership. The ship was armed with three antiproton phaser-1s, two antiproton beams, and an antiproton lance. As with similarly over-gunned hull types such as the Federation New Jersey-class battlecruiser, this ship accrued shock effects if it attempted to fire all of its heavy weapons at once. They were typically deployed in a squadron with a number of Dagger frigates. These ships were much more vulnerable to Drex directed targeting than other Ymatrian command/leader types, making it difficult for the Ymatrians to make use of them effectively.

The ship is available in a variety of materials. Ships are unpainted, use standard flight stands available from many sources, and, while designed for gaming, make fine display pieces.