BRAD'S COMMENTS:  This is it!  The great grandaddy of all Star Trek ships, and all Star Trek PERIOD!!  The Constitution class ship is the creme de la creme  of Trek ships, the beginning and the end, the origin and the definition!  Well, okay, I admit I am spouting off, but come on!  This design, originally put together to satisfy the requirement that the TOS-era Enterprise  look like both a flying saucer and a rocket ship, is probably the most widely-recognized vessel in all of television science fiction history!  Matt Jeffries, the original model maker, probably had no idea when he built the thing that this ship would launch an entire design philosophy that would resonate down through ten feature films and five different television series.  Next to the Star Wars ships like the X-Wing fighter and the Imperial Star Destroyer, the Consitution class and the Constitution Refit are far and away the definitive sci-fi ships of the modern screen age.  Models of this ship are currently perched on countless desks around the world, hang from countless ceilings in children's bedrooms, and graphics of the ship(s) adorn countless Windows computer desktops.
         I was born in the early 1970's and grew up with this ship, but I will admit I do not like it as much as the Constitution Refit.  Maybe that's because the special effects of the 1960's just were not up to the task of making the old Constitution seem realistic.  Even as a small child I could tell the ship swooshing across the screen every Saturday evening was a model.  Maybe it's because I have heard quotes that Gene wanted the original Constitution to look like the Refit to begin with, but simply lacked the funds to make it happen in 1965.  Or maybe it's just the fact that the pylons for the warp nacelles on the TOS design seemed too flimsy, and at odds with the otherwise angular dorsal pylon.  In any case, this ship is not necessarily my favorite design, at least from an aesthetic viewpoint, but its place in Trek canon and science fiction lore cannot be denied.
        In game play, the ship lives up to her heritage as the backbone of the TOS-era Starfleet.  No other TOS-era Federation ship can match her, and it's probably safe to say no other TOS-era Klingon or Romulan ship can match her either.  Combining a good balance of offensive weaponry, including torpedoes, and defensive shielding and superstructure, this vessel can easily dominate any TOS-era battle scenario unless faced with multiple, sufficiently armed opponent vessels.  Even entering the Motion Picture-era time, the original Constitution class can hold her own against all but the most modern enemy ships, and therefore this class makes a nice playing piece in any scenario that does not significantly approach the overly powerful ships of the TNG-era.
        Some of the scenarios I have used, as either the Federation player, the Klingon Player, or the Romulan player, are as follows: 1 Constitution versus 3 Klingon D-7 cruisers, 1 Constitution versus 2 Romulan V-8 cruisers, 1 Constitution class and 2 Anton class cruisers versus 6 Klingon D-7 cruisers, etc. etc.  No matter what, the Constitution class is going to be the focus both offensive and defensive activity in just about any scenario.  With skillful play this class can sometimes win whole battles all by itself, even in the face of enormous enemy numeric superiority. 

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