Billed as “air titans in an alternate-history 1910,” Catalyst Game Labs’ Leviathans will take early 20th-century history for a spin when it releases in early 2010. Originally announced nearly a year ago (see “’Eclipse Phase’ RPG from Catalyst”), Leviathans features historically inspired 1/1200th scale miniature battleships in a battle for air supremacy in an alternate past.

“There has been the invention of a fluid that involves lighter-than-air travel,” said Catalyst Operations Manager David Stansel-Garner, “and the navies have taken to the air.” Designed by former BattleTech line developer Randall Bills and illustrated by Doug Chaffee (artist for Magic and other WotC/TSR products), Leviathans pits fleets of battleships against each other in the skies.

Ships are multi-hex, 3-D plastic miniatures, some stretching as large as five inches long. Each ship has an information card, with punch-out sections to indicate damage. The ships themselves are modeled after the actual vessels operated by individual nations before

Mock-up only; may not match final product

The Leviathans base set box comes with ships from two nations (France and Britain). Catalyst plans to release approximately two base sets and eight “ship packs,” adding individual ships to the game, per year. Future expansions will introduce ships from several other nations, including Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan, Austria-Hungary, and the U.S. As Catalyst is still finalizing production details, no price point has been announced.