3125 Scale WYN Barracuda Frigates (2) CVN

The WYN Star Cluster stands as a huge beacon at the crossroads of the galaxy. Marking the point where the Klingon, Lyran, and Kzinti borders meet, the cluster itself was long considered uninhabitable. Surrounded by a dense cloud of highly radioactive dust, it was assumed that the entire cluster was saturated with deadly radiation. All residents of the WYN Cluster are immigrants from other species and empires.

The WYNs had used a variety of captured warships but the bulk of their navy consisted of converted freighters as these were easily available on the open market. The WYN leader (who claimed to be the legitimate Patriach of the Kzinti Hegemony) knew that converted freighters and seriously overloaded captured warships were never going to return him to power. To fight his way to the Kzinti capital, he would require “real” warships. As there were no end of foreign technical experts among the political refugees who made up the Cluster’s population, and the Orions were able to steal anything the WYNs could not buy, design work began on a series of true warships. As these were given Federation reporting names based on predatory sea creatures, they became know as “the fish ships.”

The first result was the Barracuda-class frigate, which entered production in during the middle of the General War at the Orion shipyard. Production was limited (by the Orions) to one ship per year at first (replacing the Light Raider they had given the WYNs), but this limit was increased later. The Barracuda proved to be an excellent ship, and while only a frigate, it was one of the best of that type, and was designed to defeat any other frigate in the area. The WYNs opted for a standardized disruptor/drone armament to simplify construction and improve structural strength. Handling was superb, and the excellent weapons arcs allowed it to engage a target with much of its firepower while maneuvering away. The lack of a probe launcher was not considered a serious defect by the WYNs, who generally found them useless. One or two probe drones could be carried in the cargo bays if needed. The drone racks held six drones with double reloads. The Barracuda, Mako, and Orca all used Klingon “Kozenko-65” tracking and fire control sets, raising interesting questions.

The cargo spaces (of the compact Orion type) were included for use in the intended mission of delivering and retrieving high-priority cargo from outside of the Cluster. As these ships were the only WYN vessels able to effectively operate outside of the Cluster (supplanting the small supply of WYN-Orion ships), they were seldom found inside of it and were rarely available to help defend against intrusions. The reactors were copied from Klingon and Kzinti types; the WYNs built these and provided them to the shipyard as the Orions did not use auxilary power reactors in their ships. This sprue includes two Barracuda Frigates.

This sprue of ships 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.