Are you scared of Spiders?

The fleet patrol box from Firestorm Armada I decided to look at this month is the Retholza. These spider like creatures rely heavily on nanites and firm one of the three main forces of the Zenian League.

Employing advanced, nanotech Cloaking Fields the Relthoza fleet advances toward the enemy shrouded from their attacks. Lethal torpedo volleys pick off outliers as the Relthoza stalk their prey, drawing them forward into a deadly trap.

Then, when they have acquired optimal firing solutions, the Relthoza ships drop their cloaks and channel all power to their weapon systems. Banks of hydroxide cannons line the flanks of the Relthoza vessels, primed to unleash millions of hull-devouring nanites on their targets. Seconds after the flash-frozen shards bury into their prey, its hull will begin to dissolve, exposing gaping wounds to the void.

The picture above shows the Widow class frigates the box sets Tier 3 selection. Although singly not able to put out much damage they can be cloaked and are difficult targets and four of these combining there fire could well be a threat to most commanders.

Next up we have the Assassin class cruiser with one upgraded to the Huntsman Heavy cruiser.

The Assassins are Tier 2 ships with Stealth systems and able to start dishing out pain from 48″ away with torpedoes that can be upgraded. The Huntsman Heavy cruiser, the upgrade is included in the patrol fleet, adds extra firepower at all range bands with its primary range bands from 24″ and closer, plus comes with the self repair rule, which is no joke as it starts with 6 points of damage to begin with a few cruiser squadrons backed up with the Huntsman can seriously dominate the mid range of the game.

Now the Tier One, the big boy, the ship that will make you fear the Retholza, the Nexus class Battleship.

Looking sleek pointy and totally alien this model, made up of only five parts plus base is slightly large, at under 200 points on the battlefield it’s also sweetly priced.

With plenty of hardpoints and upgrade options, along with its specific Model Assigned Rules the Nexus can be tailored to most scenarios. Upclose and personal battering ram, of a stand off backfield puncher.

With the ability to add MARs to its primary weapons, including Corrosive, your gaining the opportunity to start racking up problems for your opponent from 32 inches out.

The hardpoints of the Nexus can be used to bring it in close with the options of stealth or more fighters and point defense.

Just imagine your opponents face when his ships blunder into this trap. You could quite easily wipe a squadron off the board before you have even started to get aggressive.

Looking forward to setting up a few games with these going against the Terrans and their Tyrant class battleship when I have finished painting them and picking out some of the insanely detailed features on the models.