Based on this unboxing video I found, the ships come attached to their bases. It's weird that "some assembly required" basically means putting on turrets and other superstructure bits, but doesn't give you the option of not using bases.
Personally, I'm at the point where I just don't need the minis. I'm hoping they're not going the "you need to buy the minis to get the stats" route, because not being able to just buy a set of the rules would almost certainly kill my interest.
I draw a couple of conclusions from that video. The first is the Rules Manual is much smaller than the old one. The obvious difference is the manual does not contain the stats for all ships. The other difference is the rules appear to be considerably simpler just based on the number of pages he showed. Since the set came with separate stat cards for the ships it would seem those will come bundled with the ship expansions. Maybe the stat cards will be available for purchase separately, but there is no indication of that yet. My guess is they plan to do rules expansions bundled with more miniatures in the future like many other games do now.
As for the models, they are "okay" in detail, but I don't like the fixed water bases. Bases like that are standard in many of the old metal miniature products, but not with the larger 1:1200 scale. I see a lot of stray print/mould lines so although they appear relatively smooth, they will need some prep. You will have to be a little bit of a scale modeller as well as a painter to get these miniatures into action. Not uncommon for a lot of miniature games, but it is clear this game is not going to be a new source of prepainted miniatures.
If you have an interest in actually playing the game it might be worth the cost if you don't already have miniatures. But if you do have a good collection of ship miniatures the cost of entry into this game is going to be pretty steep.
If you just want more miniatures I think you will be better off collecting the WotC pre-painted minis if you don't paint, or buying 3D printed (Shapeways, self-printed, whatever) minis "a la carte."
I bought the starter set hoping the manual would contain all the ship stats like the old one. I don't see myself buying anymore of this game. The cost to get the stat cards and likely rule expansions is too high IMO. We will see after I get the set and can evaluate the rules.
Since they haven't shipped yet I am guessing their supply chain from China has been interrupted. Given current manufacturing priorities I am not holding my breath on a shipping date.
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I just got a nice letter from Warlord Games apologizing for the delays in shipping their products. Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit them and their supply chain pretty hard. They did not give any specifics on when shipments would restart, but they did give me £5.00 in credit for their on-line store.
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