Finally got it! Actually, it came in about a month ago, but between work, life, holidays, and travel (personal and business) I'm just now sitting down to write this up.
First off: the
New Orleans-class airship.
This is one good-looking airship! It has a very industrial look to it, which is fitting given it's role as a repair ship.
Slightly bigger than the
Valley-class, it still packs a mean punch--even fires rockets in RB1!
The boxed set comes with some industrial-looking chain and hook attachments that can be mounted underneath the airship--you can see the mounting points here:
I likely won't use these--this model has the "Low Level" MAR, meaning it can get down on the surface and act as a skimmer. So I'm going to trim down a large flight stand to indicate this flight level.
The
New Orleans-class has two forward-facing rocket batteries, one in the nose and one mounted under the wings. The wing-mounted rockets look pretty cool:
I've used this airship once so far. The ability to conduct repairs on the go is outstanding, and was somewhat frustrating to my Prussian opponent. But since I've been raked over the coals several times by Prussian players, I didn't feel too badly for him.
The other models in the box are the PYB-2 medium flyer and the A-3 strike bomber--one full squadron of each:
The PYB-2 is awesome. Its only offensive weapon is fixed-forward rockets, but as a medium it can really put the screws to small ships. Full squadron strength is 4 aircraft, and the amount of rockets it can throw even at RB3 is lethal to small ships.
Two more great things about the PYB-2: it has 3 HP, and rockets aren't affected by damage. So it can survive an initial critical hit, and still has full firepower until shot down.
I haven't yet used the A-3 strike bomber, but I REALLY like the look of the model:
Reminds me of a cross between an F4 Corsair from WW2 and a modern A-10 Warthog. This is strictly a bomber, and with the "Water Hunter" MAR it should be very effective against diving models, but I find myself wishing it was more versatile so I'd have good reason to use it more often--simply because I like the way it looks! The PYB-2 is effective against both surface and flying targets, but is a fairly ugly bird in my opinion...
Here's a size comparison with the A-17:
I'll try to post some action shots at some point. Thanks for reading!
