Star Trek: The Role Playing Game

This article covers Star Trek role-playing games and reference works which were produced by FASA and a number of related gaming companies.

Gaming miniatures
When FASA released the Starship Combat Simulator (No. 2003) in 1983, which was re-released in 1985 and added as an extra component in the deluxe edition of Star Trek the Role Playing Game (No. 2001) of 1983, they simultaneously released, during 1983 and 1984, a line of starship gaming miniatures to give the game, which was standard equipped with carton playing tokens, an extra dimension. They could also be used in the later-released Star Trek III Starship Combat Game (No. 2006). The miniatures, which had a stated scale of 1/3900, were made out of pewter (a lead-tin alloy in a 60%-40% ratio respectively, according to sculptor Ab Mobasher) and packaged in a transparent bubble attached to a card (blister pack). They came unpainted and most of them required a certain amount of constructing with the aid of superglue. The 1983 edition also came with transparent plastic hexagonal stands, on which the miniatures were to be mounted, and which fitted the hex grid maps accompanying the Combat Simulator. They were colored to denominate the major factions in the game, blue for the Federation, red for the Klingon Empire, purple for the Romulan Star Empire, green for the Gorn Hegemony and neutral for the Orion Syndicate. Apart for the then-known canon ships, the range was expanded with non-canon ships as earlier designed by the FASA staff. Though not the first to release starship gaming miniatures (that distinction fell to Task Force Games, who likewise produced miniatures for their Star Fleet Battles game), the quality and imaginative designs of canon and non-canon ships alike made FASA's miniature line the most popular item of the whole FASA Star Trek product range (as well as the most popular gaming miniature line), becoming highly sought-after collectibles in their own right amongst non-gaming Star Trek fans as well. Remarkably, most of the 1983-1984 releases were issued with ISBN numbers, something normally only given to print materials.

FASA reissued the line twice, once in 1985 and once in 1988, each issue expanding the line with further additions. The color coding of the stands was abandoned with the first reissue as all models were from then on accompanied by neutral transparent plastic stands. Each release had its own distinctive design style of the cards on which the models were mounted. In 1985 FASA sub-licensed the UK-based Citadel Miniatures to manufacture the miniatures for the UK market. Apart from being mounted on different style cards, the models differed from their US counterparts in that for many models less construction was needed and that they were more detailed, due to the fact that the pewter had a higher tin content. Although that made the metal more brittle, it also made the metal harder than their relative soft US counterparts and thus more susceptible to retain detailing. Eventually, Citadel released fifteen out of the eventual thirty-four models FASA produced, when the latter lost its license in 1989. Apart from the ship models, FASA also produced 17 small pewter crew members figurines in 1983 as gaming pieces (one release only). The sculptor of the first 22 starship pieces, Abbas Mobasher, received an H.G. Wells Science Fiction Award in 1985 for his work. FASA had their miniatures of the 1983/84 issues manufactured by Ral Partha Enterprises, while their 1985-1988 issues were manufactured by the Canadian company RAFM Miniatures and Games.

The popularity of FASA's Star Trek gaming models attracted the attention of Rawcliffe, who also began to release Star Trek miniatures in 1988. Sub-licensed by FASA, Rawcliffe started to release high-quality solid pewter gaming pieces with the stand now as an integral part of the model. Thirteen of FASA's models were re-made as Rawcliffe's "SS" series. FASA was mentioned as co-licensee both on the clear plastic packaging boxes and on the bottom of the stand, while simultaneously FASA's numbering was followed.

When FASA lost its license in 1989, Rawcliffe renegotiated a separate license with Paramount Pictures and acquired the molds for the models from FASA. FASA had geared up to add Star Trek: The Next Generation figures into their product line, but it was Rawcliffe that eventually released these in 1992 after FASA was unable to. These former FASA miniatures became the basis for Rawcliffe to include larger scaled starships, figurines, key-chains, and sculptures in their product line.

In 1991 Rawcliffe issued the "RF" series (which included larger scaled ship models that did not originate as FASA miniatures), but as per their new license agreement, only produced canon ships. With all references to FASA and their gaming miniatures dropped, the models were packaged in Rawcliffe's blank white carton boxes which stated only Rawcliffe's name. The models were accompanied by a small colored carton nameplate which emphasized that they were released as decorative display items.

Rawcliffe's license to produce Star Trek products expired in 1999.

The appeal of FASA's 1/3900 scale gaming miniatures did not end when FASA and Rawcliffe lost their licenses. In the decades after official production had stopped small, non-licensed, "garage" (amateur) companies like Impulse Models, FMX Models, Macro Trek, and UK-based Future Legend continued to produce FASA-like miniatures, typically in resin. In most cases relatively short-lived, they often expanded on FASA's line with canon and non-canon ships of the later Star Trek productions. Particularly noteworthy was Future Legend, who not only expanded the line with canon ships, but also released FASA designs (in resin as well as in pewter), which FASA itself never got around of releasing.