Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Daeothar on May 13, 2014, 08:49:41 AM
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I have not been posting any painted stuff of mine for some time. Not that I've been idle and haven't done anything, but it is a lot less than I would have liked, and I could certainly not find the time to also take pictures and post them. Having a baby around the house certainly sucks up a lot of time, especially when the wife injured her back and cannot do anything at the same time... ::)
But, I've finally finished a small project after all. And it's in a scale that I have not done, which made for a nice change of pace. And I must admit that I actually like the 10mm of Dropzone Commander!
At Crisis last year, Voivod bought himself one of the starter boxes, and I agreed to do the same later on. We decided to split the armies, so we'd each have a sizeable force in the end, to which we could then add some of the more fancy stuff. And it being his box, Voivod had first choice and went with the human faction. Which left me with the Scourge.
Apparently, at least visually, the Scourge is the least popular of the current DZC factions. Just another Gigeresque biomechanical threat to the civilized people of the universe, blah blah. But they've sort of grown on me (having been a long time Necron player in 40K must have helped there), and they're pretty easy to paint up too.
And, as Voivod has realized by now, they're also rather effective on the battlefield... >:D
In the starter box, you get three sprues, which each hold 2 infantry bases, a Main Battle Tank, an AAA vehicle, an APC and a Dropship. The force laid out in the rulebook has all of the above, minus one APC, which is sort of a bonus. With a second box and one extra Dropship plus some infantry, it will form yet another complete unit.
Now, I am not a great fan of the studio army's paintscheme. The purple stripes just didn't do it for me, but at the abovementioned Crisis 2013, in the Hawk Games booth, I saw an alternative paintscheme that I really liked; still silver metallic (no escaping that, I suppose), but with a blueish purple on top, with an olive green on the edges.
I've tried to emulate that, and I think I've succeeded too. But don't let the apparently simple paintscheme fool you though; even though the basecoat of silver spraypaint with a black wash was pretty quick, the detailing and subtle colouring still took a long time. Since the coloration of the metallics was done with straight paints, heavily diluted with water (as I could not find washes in the desired colours), most of the tinting took at least three thin layers to get to the right intensity. And then there were the details such as vents, exhausts and eyes/sensors, which still required traditional layering etc.
And since the Scourge vehicles are all supposed to be skimmers, I could not leave them lying on the table; that would just not look right. But since one of the neat things in DZC is that the Dropship models can actually hold all the units they're supposed to carry, and since permanent bases would look rather daft when the vehicles are loaded (not to mention that with the Scourge, that would be impossible to begin with), I made magnetized bases for the skimmers. All vehicles have magnets embedded, so now I can take them off the CD-Racks Dropships and base them when they deploy. And of course take the bases off when they remount the Dropships. Neato.
The bases are Renedra 25mm square bases with a plastic rod glued in the center. The top of the rod has been drilled out carefully to mount the magnet with some superglue. Some basing material and presto...
In regard to basing; since we're talking 10mm instead of 28mm here, the standard basing sand and gravel is way too coarse and would look ridiculously out of scale. So I recovered a handfull of sand from a building site near my house, sifted it a bit and used that for the basing. It's really fine, so looks in scale with the tiny infantry figures. In the same vein, I used very fine foam flock (several colours mixed) instead of the usual static grass, as a strand of grass would be almost as tall as a human sized figure...
So, without further blabbering, here are the pictures of the start of my Scourge army. Apologies beforehand for the quality of the pictures, but my phone was the only thing handy at the time and especially the purplish blue is lacking in intensity:
First up is the infantry. They come 5 to a base and are vital when grabbing objectives. Also, the Scourge infantry is one of the hardest hitting in the game and they're in trenchcoats to boot ;) The colourscheme is made up of the same colours used on the vehicles, to make them fit in with the rest of the units.
(http://www.fierylions.nl/Pictures/ForumPictures/DropzoneCommander/Scourge-Infantry1.jpg)
(http://www.fierylions.nl/Pictures/ForumPictures/DropzoneCommander/Scourge-Infantry2.jpg)
Next are the Main Battle Tanks. The purple/green scheme is obvious here:
(http://www.fierylions.nl/Pictures/ForumPictures/DropzoneCommander/Scourge-MBT.jpg)
Next up are the AAA units. They're built on the same chassis as the MBT. Also, they're pretty vital in-game, with so many flying units zooming around the table all the time:
(http://www.fierylions.nl/Pictures/ForumPictures/DropzoneCommander/Scourge-AAA.jpg)
Then it's the APCs. People have commented on them having Rhino syndrome, with so many troops having to be crammed inside. But my take on the Scourge is that their mindcontrolled slaves (which the infantry are; captured and turned humans) are just cocooned in there. No need for legroom when they're kept in hybernation, shoulder to shoulder, right?
As I mentioned before, even though the initial force only has 2 APCs, there are 3 in the box, so I painted them all up. The third one will get used eventually:
(http://www.fierylions.nl/Pictures/ForumPictures/DropzoneCommander/Scourge-APC.jpg)
Then the Dropships from the title of the game. They're pretty important; all units are initially transported in/on them; the force is basically dropping in on the battlefield at the beginning of the game. If it does not have a place on a Dropship, it's not allowed in the army list.
You can see why the Scourge Dropships have been dubbed CD-Racks. Bear in mind that there's also a version that can stack 9 hovertanks... lol
(http://www.fierylions.nl/Pictures/ForumPictures/DropzoneCommander/Scourge-Dropships.jpg)
And finally a groupshot of the entire force, ready to drop in on a planet near you:
(http://www.fierylions.nl/Pictures/ForumPictures/DropzoneCommander/Scourge-Group.jpg)
I've taken quite a liking to the scale to be honest, and I'm already planning a small 120x120cm table for it. DZC comes with an entire playing surface in the form of a paper map, with cardboard buildings, and whilst looking nice, I would like to eventually have something a bit less flat. So I'm looking at N-scale railroad buildings etc, to see what would work with the game. Since everything is so small, it's all pretty quick to build and paint, which certainly fits my current situation. So stay tuned for more 10mm stuffs in the future... 8)
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Lovely brush work. I wanted so badly to like Dropzone Commander...and nothing they ever put out appealed to me (apart from some of the super cheap terrain). Shame, it's a nice scale for that sort of game. I agree with what you said about the Scourge...I think they look bloody abysmal. lol
I do think you got a good deal splitting two starter games though. Good thinkin'. Lovely little photo set up by the way!
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Nice attempt with the Scourge, still don't like them though. Unfortunately I expect I'll have to use them to start with as no one else likes them here either and I'd like to give my box an outing.
The CD racks are the main culprit, they just look awful, especially loaded. I get the idea and they make sense but seriously, at some point in design someone should have just put their hands up and said "it's a good idea guys but it just looks shit, lets start again".
I note the new Scourge drop ship has changed to a more sensible design:
(http://www.beastsofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Scourge-Assault-Dropship-With-Walkers.jpg)
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I don't play this but the minis are nice and your paint job is GREAT! Makes one stop and think, new game? Hmmm
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Very nice paintjob.
I really want to like Dropzone commander, and I have heard a lot of good things about it. And even though the minis and the cardboard terrain looks really really good. I just find that the game is to expensive. It is almost GW priced.
But I am tempted on a weekly basis - if not daily..
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Very nice paintjob.
I really want to like Dropzone commander, and I have heard a lot of good things about it. And even though the minis and the cardboard terrain looks really really good. I just find that the game is to expensive. It is almost GW priced.
But I am tempted on a weekly basis - if not daily..
I certainly understand those sentiments.
The starter box was only around €60,-, and you get 2 600pt forces, the full rulebook, tape measure, dice, 2 terrain posters and about 10 card buildings. That is really good value for money, but it does feel like a pusher ploy, since all the other (resin) miniatures are pretty steeply priced.
And should you want to start with one of the factions not in the starter box, the numbers will add up quickly. Not too mention the insanely priced resin buildings, which reduce GW's pricing department to tears of envy...
Still; for approximately €60,- each, both Voivod and myself will have a full game and a 1200pts army, which I find pretty decent. We'll see how it escalates from there... ::)
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That is exactly my main concern. The starter box is ok priced, but everything else...
And knowing myself, and how games work. It is never enough with the starter box.
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Very nice, sir.
You have done a terrific job with those little buggers.
:-* 8) :-*
A mate of mine has been trying his best to twist me towards this game for ages.
A couple of the other members of our group have caved in and tell me that it is a good game, it is just the scale that puts me off.
And the eventual cost (cos I know what I am like...).
That and I really dont need another distraction.
::)
I shall enjoy watching your project from a distance instead.
:D
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Still; for approximately €60,- each, both Voivod and myself will have a full game and a 1200pts army, which I find pretty decent. We'll see how it escalates from there... Roll Eyes
Oh, it's gonna escalate. I allready have mu purchases planned to get to a 2000 pts army.
Looking good. I hope I'll finally get to beat them this week.
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Thank you all, gentlemen; much appreciated. :)
And I see the concensus still is that the Scourge are fugly. But trust me, when you have to stare at them on the workbench for a while, like I had to when painting them, they become less and less objectional. I still fully agree on the utter sillyness of the 9 tank rack though. It might be very effective and useful in-game, but... dang!
Oh, it's gonna escalate. I allready have mu purchases planned to get to a 2000 pts army.
And going by that remark, it might well come to pass that I will be requiring one, to drop a whole tank company on The Voivod's puny Humans, but I might think up a way to convert a version that is less of an eyesore. The new dropship designs which carry the walkers are pretty cool though.
I'm contemplating throwing some small moneys at Scalescenes (http://scalescenes.com/townscenes) for some modern office/highrise kits. At least I will be in keeping with DZC's paper terrain vibe... ;)
Looking good. I hope I'll finally get to beat them this week.
Thanks bud, but you know how it is; once a unit gets painted and finished, it will never perform the same again. So I'm fully prepared to take one for the team this time.
Especially because, you know, this game involves lots of dice... ::) lol
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I actually lige the scourge. They remind me og the Necromongers from Riddick.
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I love that paintjob, especially how the dark main color seems to fade to green at the edges. Really effecty and looks very organic/biological. Great job. It reminds me of the old Amiga game Z-Out with it's Gigeresque levels...
(http://www.nemmelheim.de/pics/nemmelheim.jpg)
(http://www.nemmelheim.de/z-out/files/z-out_wallpaper.jpg)
(http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/8JVpGBGpGiQ/hqdefault.jpg)
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Thanks Cherno :)
I actually lige the scourge. They remind me og the Necromongers from Riddick.
So they do, but like I said; they're Gigeresque, like a great many other lines. For me, they are reminiscent of the AI constructs in The Matrix part 2 and 3, what with all the eyes/lenses, tentacles etc...
At any rate, since Giger passed away yesterday, I'll dedicate this army to his memory; without him, horrific alien races would all still look like colourful humans with ridged prosthethics glued to their foreheads... :D
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Cool paintjobs man! Really nice effect, the green works WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than the Purple Hawk Wargames use. And like many others, Dropzone Commander is really tempting and gorgeous...but the price if you want to start with an army other than the ones from the starters is painful. And it's a shame they went for 10mm...would have preferred 6mm.
But excellent start and keep it going!! 8)
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Are there any Shapeways alternative models for use with the game? Are the game mechanics any good? I'm just really turned off the "points" based tournament-enthused design angle. I used to really like old school Epic 40K which is what this game makes me think of...but is it good outside of a competitive/tournament style setting?
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I don't know about shapeways, but there are bound to be alternatives out there. I'm not at all at home in the 10mm scale though, so I'm not much of help there. I do believe it's used extensively in the historical scene, so infantry should not be much of an issue. And alien vehicles are not very scale specific anyway, so maybe find something that works, outside of the scale?
As for the rules, they are certainly robust and easy to grasp, at first glance lacking detail and/or depth. But the true challenge is purely tactical. It is true that forces are evenly matched etc, but the objectives prevent it from becoming a true slugfest every time.
I can see it working in a tournament environment, but The Voivod and I only play friendly games these last years, and it suits that type of game too...
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Great pjs there. I'm also sorely tempted, esp by the Post-Human faction. But I'm wary of starting another game/another scale - Doubly so when no one in these parts plays it.
But they are lovely.
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So, after a hiatus of a mere eight years, I've finally come to paint up another unit for this army...
I actually won this blisterpack of heavy Scourge infantry for next to nothing, so I decided to paint them up real quick, because mixing it up with some different scales while painting is always fun.
Besides; the paintscheme had evolved since I painted this army; I used the same scheme for my Dropfleet Commander Scourge, but I felt it was a lacking a bit, so added some turquoise to the very tips of the green areas and some hot pink to the extremes of the purple areas.
And this added some interesting colourvariations and combinations that gives the armour an almost oily look, which is quite fitting for biomechanical monstrosities I feel.
So; these guys also require transports/dropships to be used (effectively) in the game, so I dug up some specialized dropships I knew I had, and went to town.
Both the trooper bases and the ships were prepped and painted in one afternoon (and it sort of shows, I know), but they were fun to paint, and I'm kind of tempted to take on a few more Scourge units now.
I also changed the technique on the eye lenses from layered gems to a quick OSL. This not only is faster, it also works with the imagery a bit more. Also; I still have to do about 300 of these on my DFC ships and I was not looking forward to gemmify each and every one of them... ::)
But enough waffle; here are my biomechanically altered and enslaved space gorilla's and their taxi's:
(http://www.d1-games.com/ForumPics/Gaming/DZC/Scourge05.jpg)
A close-up of the dropships:
(http://www.d1-games.com/ForumPics/Gaming/DZC/Scourge04.jpg)
And a shot of the big bois next to some human sized infantry. These guys are so big, they could mingle with 15mm miniatures, even though they're at 10mm scale!
(http://www.d1-games.com/ForumPics/Gaming/DZC/Scourge08.jpg)
So; hopefully the next installment will not take another 8 years eh? :D
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Looking good mate!
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Those guys look simply awesome, I love it. I have toyed with the idea of DZC for awhile now, have already picked up all three rulebooks (was a big fan of Epic 40K back in the day) but a lack of an opponent has kept me from pulling the trigger. And the infantry was what had attracted me to the Scourge, those guys in particular. I think your color scheme is gorgeous, I could imagine it takes some time but it shows. Now you have me tempted all over again. Thanks for sharing and hope to see more additions to this great looking force.
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Thanks guys; much appreciated! :)
@ Diehard: despite complaints about the game being expensive (as if others are actually cheaper!), I find it to be really affordable. The small scale makes for similarly small prices, especially when you can nab a discount here or there. Even directly from TTC, prices are OK. Not counting the HUGE Gargantuan models here; they're like the DZC equivalent of titans, but when you want/need one of those, you're already very deep down the rabbit hole... lol
Also, the small size makes for pretty fast painting, and even a complete army takes up very little storage space; an entire start box faction takes up the space of just one 40K squad in the display cabinet.
Which is why I never gave up on DZC, even though it's been at least 6 years since we actually played a game. The fluff is engaging and the models awesome enough to warrant simply collecting and painting for the time being :)
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Also, the small size makes for pretty fast painting, and even a complete army takes up very little storage space; an entire start box faction takes up the space of just one 40K squad in the display cabinet.
Start on your UCM pannel lining and then we'll talk.
But they're looking fearsome. My poor legionaires are in for some hard fights. Nice job. The colours on the transports are awesome.
Which is why I never gave up on DZC, even though it's been at least 6 years since we actually played a game. The fluff is engaging and the models awesome enough to warrant simply collecting and painting for the time being :)
There's plenty to love about the game and I'm still planning to add to the army. We'll have some solid, massive battles at some day.
It has never occured to me to abbandon the project(s).
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Those look great.
Dropzone commander is a game that I'd forgotten about. Nice to see it's still in production. As a club we looked at DZC years ago. Good game reportedly and the minis are very cool but we mostly went with other rulesets as we had already collected armies of rebased mechwarrior clix.
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So, after a hiatus of a mere eight years, I've finally come to paint up another unit for this army...
I actually won this blisterpack of heavy Scourge infantry for next to nothing, so I decided to paint them up real quick, because mixing it up with some different scales while painting is always fun.
Besides; the paintscheme had evolved since I painted this army; I used the same scheme for my Dropfleet Commander Scourge, but I felt it was a lacking a bit, so added some turquoise to the very tips of the green areas and some hot pink to the extremes of the purple areas.
And this added some interesting colourvariations and combinations that gives the armour an almost oily look, which is quite fitting for biomechanical monstrosities I feel.
So; these guys also require transports/dropships to be used (effectively) in the game, so I dug up some specialized dropships I knew I had, and went to town.
Both the trooper bases and the ships were prepped and painted in one afternoon (and it sort of shows, I know), but they were fun to paint, and I'm kind of tempted to take on a few more Scourge units now.
I also changed the technique on the eye lenses from layered gems to a quick OSL. This not only is faster, it also works with the imagery a bit more. Also; I still have to do about 300 of these on my DFC ships and I was not looking forward to gemmify each and every one of them... ::)
But enough waffle; here are my biomechanically altered and enslaved space gorilla's and their taxi's:
(http://www.d1-games.com/ForumPics/Gaming/DZC/Scourge05.jpg)
A close-up of the dropships:
(http://www.d1-games.com/ForumPics/Gaming/DZC/Scourge04.jpg)
And a shot of the big bois next to some human sized infantry. These guys are so big, they could mingle with 15mm miniatures, even though they're at 10mm scale!
(http://www.d1-games.com/ForumPics/Gaming/DZC/Scourge08.jpg)
So; hopefully the next installment will not take another 8 years eh? :D
Though I love what you’ve done there, I am unfamiliar with the range. Is there a link to the listing of those “space gorillas”? I game mostly 15mm and am always looking to “spice up” the collection.
Thanks!
Dan
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Thanks guys.
@ Cacique Caribe: sure thing, here's the link to TTCombat's webstore (https://ttcombat.com/collections/dropzone-commander/products/demolisher-shock-troops). :)
And I really hope this is TTC testing the waters; I've been hoping for an extension of the Drop Commander series with a 28mm skirmish game for years and years, i.e. Drop Squad Commander... :D
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0965/1274/products/ScourgeInfantryFrontcopy_300x.png?v=1653903130)
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Daeothar
Thanks so much!
Dan
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A skirmish game in this setting would be awesome. Am kind of surprised that they never moved on this it would seem to be a natural progression. Never saw that model before but is way cool.
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A skirmish game in this setting would be awesome. Am kind of surprised that they never moved on this it would seem to be a natural progression. Never saw that model before but is way cool.
I know, right?
As soon as Dropfleet was launched, I figured it would be only natural for Hawk to also launch a skirmish game. I always fancied zooming in on a battle, from DFC to DZC to DSC. That would be so awesome!
I never saw this one miniature before either, but I'll be sure to get at least one.
Do it, TTC, do it now! :D
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100% agree with you Daeothar, where did you find it? I wouldn't mind picking up one myself. Maybe if enough people showed interest they might take the hint too. Anyway thanks for reminding me of this great game. Going to dig out the three rulebooks this weekend and once again contemplate building an army even if purely for my own enjoyment.
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It's a UK gamess expo special model.
But yeah, same thought went trhough my head:"is this testing the waters for a skirmish game?"
It'd be awesome.
I don't really need more UCM models collecting dust, being unpainted, but
I'd absolutely buy them.
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It's available in the TTC webstore as well. It's a show and TTC webstore exclusive miniature, and one is now it's way to me... :D
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And a shot of the big bois next to some human sized infantry. These guys are so big, they could mingle with 15mm miniatures, even though they're at 10mm scale!
(http://www.d1-games.com/ForumPics/Gaming/DZC/Scourge08.jpg)
Lovely Destroyers there mate (or are they called Demolishers now... one or the other).
Those were my favorite infantry I painted. The cloaks of the Scourge infantry gave me trouble getting good highlights on them comparatively.
Also great to see other people into the game.
I got into it over the quarantine, played a good many games with some friends that got into as well. Proof that "if you demo-it-fully-painted-with-terrain, they will come" or something like that.
I'm months behind blogging about my own games, and I've had some Resistance buses on my bench for way too long, but I'm trying maintain new content about the game on the open web so it's not all locked up in the one FB group (a sad state of affairs). https://yadzcb.friestman.net/battle-report-2022-03-19.html