A Dystopian Wars Miscellany - First pieces of a "Lagoon" Naval Base (p.3)

[Westfalia Chris]

That carrier is pretty spectacular but I must admit I'm drawn more to flying stuff like the light cruisers.

If they do more of that for each faction.... 

It appears that the fleet lists have become quite definitive, and that would imply that the current spread of one superheavy, one large, and one medium class of aeronefs, plus a medium and light bomber for each faction seems to be the end of the line. Some seem to get a bit more, depending on whether it suits the faction fluff, and the French get a bunch of "skimmer" warships which look tremendous, but are tricky to handle in purely naval games.

That said, I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the Russian faction. I'll bet they'll include some kind of "Popovka" thingie, and I cannot wait to see how that turns out.

[Westfalia Chris]

Hi all,

after our campaign day last week, although a bit frustrated with my fleet's showing, I concluded that my Covenant Fleet now is pretty much rounded out with the stuff I want to play. Also, with some payment for commissions coming in, I decided to indulge my original desire and get a Japanese Fleet for some variation, both on a tactical (how they play) and strategic level (whom they will be able to fight without twisting the background fluff too much).

When I first noticed Dystopian Wars, it was the Empire of the Blazing Sun whose ships took my fancy first; I really, really like that streamline locomotive thing they have going.

So, I went to my FLGS and bought a starter box, a dreadnought and a pack of flak escorts, which would bring the fleet to a comfortable 1000 points (which, from our experience, is a nice compromise between game duration and tactical scope).

Those I painted over the last few days. Originally, I wanted to do them in a mid-stone grey, based on original camouflage, but in the end I settled for a darker green-grey tone, subsequently washed with a jungle green/black filter layer, with khaki and sepia wash for the deck and some muted white accents (smokestack bands and breech bags, and aerial recognition signs.

Anyway, here's the fleet. I don't plan to expand it much beyond that, except for a carrier element (which I cannot show yet), maybe a second battleship and a squadron of battlecruisers ("gunships" in DW parlance).



The dreadnought "Fusō", flagship of the South Atlantic Squadron.



Battleship "Satsuma":



Reconnaissance Frigate Squadrons "Ichi", "Ni" and "San":



Cruiser Squadron "Go":



And finally (for the time being) two wings of air support, torpedo bombers (green) and fighter craft (light grey)_



That's it so far. Next up, some more scenery pieces.

[OSHIROmodels]

You've done a great job on those Chris 

cheers

James

[gamer Mac]

Lovely paint job Chris
I am afraid I ain't too keen on the ships though, they all look the same.

[Westfalia Chris]

Hi all,

I finished a couple of "cliché tropical islands" and would like to get some comments and critique, as I am not 100% convinced by the concept so far.







My main issue is the "flatness" of the "palm fronds". They look far less authentic as foliage than the Woodland Scenics flock I used for the other islands, and I am very much leaning towards the "volcanic atoll" variant rather than the coral variety that these prototypes should depict - I have actually already started a terrain set loosely inspired by Truk Lagoon Naval Base, but I still see some potential in the palm variant, but don't really know how to "unleash its full potential", if you'll excuse the marketingspeak.

Therefore, comments and critique are welcome, even more so than usual.

[OSHIROmodels]

I can get some fairly decent tiny palm trees from work Chris. Let me know how many you need 

cheers

James

[mattblackgod]

I am loving the work on your fleets.

[The_Beast]

Hi all,

I finished a couple of "cliché tropical islands" and would like to get some comments and critique, as I am not 100% convinced by the concept so far.

...

My main issue is the "flatness" of the "palm fronds". They look far less authentic as foliage than the Woodland Scenics flock I used for the other islands, and I am very much leaning towards the "volcanic atoll" variant rather than the coral variety that these prototypes should depict - I have actually already started a terrain set loosely inspired by Truk Lagoon Naval Base, but I still see some potential in the palm variant, but don't really know how to "unleash its full potential", if you'll excuse the marketingspeak.

Therefore, comments and critique are welcome, even more so than usual.

Have you considered a simple scribing of the fronds? A few pin scratches might do the trick. I'm a bit more uncomfortable with the size and the claustrophobic feeling of the inlet. However, then we would have the whole overcrowded table discussion.  

Edit: I hate 'on second thought', a constant occurrence of mine. At this scale, wouldn't the palm trees be the size of pin heads?

Doug

[Westfalia Chris]

Have you considered a simple scribing of the fronds? A few pin scratches might do the trick.

I have to try that. The "fronds" are a type of metal-coated plastic (to make garlands or stuff like that) and are a bit too flexible to hold that, I'm afraid, but I'll try it. That said, I don't really want to do that on some 100+ palm leaves.

'm a bit more uncomfortable with the size and the claustrophobic feeling of the inlet. However, then we would have the whole overcrowded table discussion.  

Well, those are not really supposed to be an entire atoll. The whole thing would be a set of them, and the individual ones are obviously "condensed scale".

Edit: I hate 'on second thought', a constant occurrence of mine. At this scale, wouldn't the palm trees be the size of pin heads?

Not necessarily so. Some palm trees can grow to be 30m/100ft in height, and some species have single leaves 12m/40ft in length, so in 1/1200 scale (which the game pieces are supposed to be in, ho-hum), the tree size I have (trunk height 10-15mm, frond diameter 11mm) isn't too far off, although a bit bigger than I would prefer myself.

[Marine0846]

A really cool looking fleet.
Not something I would usually look at getting into,
but enjoy looking at what you have painted.

[Westfalia Chris]

Hi all,

over Easter, I built a couple of scenery pieces which will eventually form a set inspired by "lagoon style" naval bases such as Pearl Harbor and Truk Lagoon.

First off, a high-power Radiotelegraph Station:



Next, an airfield, with some EotBS flyers for scale. I'll have to retouch the tarmac'ed surface, though, as the markings are far too untidy for my liking.



An ammunition storage facility built into the caves of another island. The buildings on top are separate pieces for variability - could also place an AA tower on top...





And finally, for now, two smaller islands in the same style as filler pieces.



I'm planning to build two more island pieces, one coaling station featuring fuel tanks and coal silos, and a wharf, although in place of the latter, I might build a floating drydock instead.

[Laflin and Rand]

Damn you, Westfalia Chris. Damn you. That is some damned fine work and you've sold me on Dystopian Wars. Damn you. 

[Ray Rivers]

 

Yikes!

Those came out really sweat! 

[OSHIROmodels]

Very nicely done Chris  

Do you still want some decent looking palm trees?

cheers

James

[Westfalia Chris]

Very nicely done Chris  

Do you still want some decent looking palm trees?

cheers

James

Hey James, really sorry as I must have failed to reply to your original post somehow. Yes, of course, I would be most interested, but  could you post (or PM me) a link to the manufacturer or a picture of the trees? Wouldn't want you to go into all that trouble to get those, and then find out they are too large (about 1-2cm high and about 1-1.5cm across for the fronds would be great).

Damn you, Westfalia Chris. Damn you. That is some damned fine work and you've sold me on Dystopian Wars. Damn you.

Ah, to corrupt the resolve of stronger men, and to hear the lamentation of their women as more stuff clutters up the house...