Homeworld Build 01 — Kadeshi Fleet
NOTE: this entry was updated to fit the current concept behind these fleets.
I have said in the past that I had some exciting ideas to share with you all. What I bring you today is the first part of this new project I have for the blog. With the first volume of the Battletech Warship builds done, I think this is the right time to do something different.
Homeworld is a game that I have very close to my heart. It was one of the big games that I played as a kid, and the setting is incredibly charming with its fairytale-in-space-like mood. Because I’ve played it so much and enjoyed the lore greatly, I still have an emotional impact whenever I find references to it.
Thus, I decided to do an experiment and attempt to create a full fleet for each in-game faction. The idea is to do them in the same way I did the Halo-themed fleets in the past. Have each fleet have its own color and composition, radically different from the others. Like those builds, these will be tailored after the FTL Warfleets wargame by One Page Rules. This is a wonderful system that provides a comprehensive fleet-creating system, including different factions — which I will take direct inspiration from to craft these builds.
Check the game here, if you wish to:
As per usual, if any of the owners of either Homeworld or One Page Rules have any issue with the way I’m spending my time here, I’ll stop and even erase these if I have to. I have no money for legal struggles and little time to spend on such issues.
On a further note, I’ll be using a specific scale for these. Essentially, each stud will correspond to around 30 meters, give or take. Some vessels will be slightly out of scale, though, due to being too small or too large. I will always cap my builds at 18 or 19 studs, so they are manageable, both in handling but also for me to make them in Stud.io.
Without further ado, let’s move on to the first fleet.
It took me no time to choose the Kadeshi as the base type for these posts. They do have a striking style that makes them stand out, but also their vessels are small and simple, which means that I was able to produce them quickly and thus see if the idea had any standing to work from at all. For the purpose of this experiment, I based them on the Xenos faction from FTL. After some thought I assumed this to be a good fitting because although the Kadeshi are a small population, when in combat they swarm their opponents with aptly named Swarmer and Advanced Swarmer fighters and light frigates — their ships are tiny but always try to attack in overwhelming numbers, which goes well with the Xenos faction.
Because this faction is roughly based on the Tyranids from Warhammer 40000, whenever I list their equipment (all with biological-sounding names) I will provide the Homeworld term and then the equivalent FTL term for the faction, should you want to build your own fleet using my ideas.
I also like this faction a lot. They were originally part of the Exiles that took refuge in Kharak. However, along the way, they gave up on their search for a new home and hid in the Kadesh Nebula. These people would call this place their home - the Gardens of Kadesh. So paranoid would they become of possible pursuers, that anyone found trespassing would be forced to join them or be destroyed.
In order to enforce this policy, they would build surprisingly advanced vessels. The core of their fleet was the Swarmer, a tiny fighter with incredible agility but little range. To refuel and support them, the Kadeshi had a light ship known only as the Fuel Pod. They were vulnerable to enemy attacks and should be protected at all costs. Failing to do so meant that the Swarmers would run out of fuel and be left floating in space.
I’d say the Fuel Pod is equipped with a Rapid Refueling system (Pheromone Glands) that allows the Swarmers and the larger Advanced Swarmers to fight more aggressively.
The medium ship is the Multi-beam Frigate. This model is actually twice as big as it should be as the in-game vessel is quite tiny. These are surprisingly advanced and boast incredible firepower, with Multi-beam Ion Cannons (Spike Launchers) in the broadsides, along with an Advanced Datalink (Predator Cysts) that allow these ships to attack engaged ships more effectively.
The way I’m handling this ship may actually clash with future installments as from this point on frigates will always be light ships, with destroyers and small carriers as medium ships and larger vessels as heavy ships. However, this decision came after some online discussion with some folks thinking that having the Fuel Pod as the light ship instead would fit the lore and the Kadeshi doctrine better. It is funny to see that the Multi-beam frigate is less than half the size of future medium ships (the Fuel Pod is around the correct size).
Finally, we have the Needle Ship. These are possibly the most recognizable of them all. After hiding the nebula, the people who would become known as the Kadeshi lived in their old ships for a while, but these became worn out due to use. It was necessary to build new vessels. So, they used their technology and limited resources to build a set of Mothership-class ships that would become their home, their fortresses, and their battleships. The Kadeshi toiled away from birth to death inside these massive ships.
When the Exiles, the Kushan, met these Needle Ships, they asked their long-lost brothers and sisters to join them in their quest to Hiigara. Scared of leaving their home, the Kadeshi refused and fought to the last in their attempt to stop the Kushan from leaving the nebula. It was a heartbreaking moment in the game. Like the characters, I didn’t want to destroy the last Needle Ships, but they left me no choice.
The Needle Ship equips a frontal Ion Cannon (Bio Cannon), a Warp Drive to jump around, and a Shielded Bow (Crushing Maw) to crush smaller ships that get in the way.
All these models are really simple to make and you should have enough parts to build a few of each, plus additional fighters. They come in the traditional Kadeshi white and gray colors.
Let me know what you think. Do you like this idea? Do you think it has legs to stand on? Which faction do you really want to see?
