Omni Scale Tholian Arachnid Gunboat Flotilla SRZ

Tholians are a crystalline species that once ruled the M81 Galaxy. When the Tholian Will was overthrown by the Seltorians, some small groups of Tholians fled to other galaxies. One small group of Tholians reached the Milky Way, where they took over the easternmost part of Klingon space, the part that originally bordered the Romulans. They called this the Tholian Holdfast. The Tholians (who considered carbon-based life to be lower than bacteria) enslaved Klingon colonies in the region and kept the Klingons at bay by their (at the time) superior technology. Their foes, the Seltorians, arrived in the Milky Way Galaxy later.

During the General War, when massive fleets could blow up an enemy cruiser with every volley, empires began using fighters as "attrition units" since they were too dangerous to ignore and too small to be worth a lot of firepower. By the end of the war, fighters had been replaced by advanced fighters, heavy fighters, then by gunboats. Gunboats were small starships, with a crew of about 30 on a hull that was less than 10% the size of a starship. Each gunboat had half of the firepower of a cruiser, but they operated in packs of six (four gunboats, a leader with extra systems, and a scout to find targets). A flotilla of six gunboats could wreck a cruiser in one battle pass and give a dreadnought a really bad day.

Gunboats were easy to build and cheap, but their one disadvantage was range. This made them defensive units, protecting planets and bases, turning the "front lines" of open space into trench warfare. This was perfect for the Tholians, who could never build enough full-sized warships.

The Arachnid Gunboat Leader carries a shuttle; the Arachnid Gunboat Scout has matching sensor dishes on the left and right of the ship.

This tree of gunboats 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.