I've been gone for a very long time from the hobby it seems so I'd like to share what I've been up to this week.

If you haven't tried this game (Dystopian Wars) I strongly recommend it. I've played about 6 games so far and they've all been different. I bought the bundle offered by the maker SpartanGames which includes 4 naval fleets for ~$200 and a rule book. I've since sold some of the fleets to friends to play with so all in all $50 is a great starting point to play. The game takes longer than the average 40k game but there are quite a lot more decisions involved. There's definitely a higher learning curve than 40k but it's nice to try something new (my 2nd miniature game ever if you don't count MageKnight) and painting something at a different scale is also great (they're 1:1200 I think).

Anyway here are the capital ships for the Kingdom of Britannia that I've painted up. It was quite a challenge to jump back into painting after a few month absence and paint this small (the smaller ships are about an inch and a half long).




I've ordered more (yes it is a miniatures game) of the newly released items and will post more as I paint. I also borrowed some IG decals to number my ships. Still having some issues with decals but I think that sheen only comes off at certain angles. They'll be matt varnished eventually which should hide that.

They look great Theambit,

Those IG decals look fantastic and appropriate to the style of the models.



I usually lay down a coat of Future to give the decals something smooth to sit on, then use a decal setting solution (I use WALTHERS SOLVASET) then apply another light coat of Future (to seal and blend/hide the edge of the decal) and finally a flat coat of Testors acrylic. This technique has been very useful in my model airplane endeavors.

Applying matt varnish to your models may make that sheen you are seeing worse, from my experience.

In any case, your models still look great and I look forward to seeing your armada grow.

Cheers,

modelglue

Really nicely done. I've seen a similar fleet painted up with lighter wood coloured decks, but I think I'll vote for this darker tone here.

Seems a fun game too, read through a Report and even the Escorts can get a kicking in too. Certainly look forward to more in the fleet and anything else you paint up from this new range.

- Tael.

The game system is called "Dystopian Wars". It doesn't just involve naval elements though, so here's a link to the Kingdom of Britannia nation.

My gaming club have been trying out this game and afaik it seems to be going down rather well.

E.

Rather odd way to put it considering it's a Naval game

- Tael.

I can't believe I forgot to mention it was Dystopian Wars. It's a great game and can include sea, air and land units and they mesh quite well as they share the same ruleset with a few obvious tweaks (no torpedos hitting planes).

Tael my favourite part of these models has got to be the decking and I chose the KoB because they seemed to have the most visible (with the exception of maybe the paddle wheeled boats). Also the small vessels can combine fire to take down larger ships while the larger ships can split their fire (imagine a heavy bolter hitting 3 seperate units) so it's quite interesting.

These are the airships I've painted up over the last two days with a plasmagun for scale:





The silver things in the nose or mouth are torpedo tubes if you were wondering what was going on there.

It's quite a treat to paint something on this scale and as for the decals, I've noticed you can't even see the flaw unless you're within 8-10" or so which means it's only bad on model showcase

Thanks for tuning in!

You did mention the name of the game, or you have edited your first post now.

Anyways, I saw the models on the site of an online-shop, mostly those 3D models and not the real models, so seeing your very well painted models is really nice.

Spartan Games does make great models, I am always thinking about getting some of their Firestorm Armada Range ..

Thats some realy nice painting on those (they are a lot smaller then I thought they were).

I saw a pretty cool thread on Warseer where someone made a pretty sea board for them here

Nice models! Hey, I know someone who's building a dystopian wars airport right here:
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/forum/vie ... 0&start=30
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/forum/vie ... 0&start=75
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/forum/vie ... 0&start=75
If you follow the competitions, I guess he'll be making one per competition
The scale sounds like a real killer to me... Good luck with it!
Kern

Che Gue'vesa: I hear their 3 ranges are all quite similar in playstyle so I am sure it would be fun too although I wasn't fond of the models for that one.

Firah: Those boards that people make are so cool. If I had a place to store one I'd probably do one too. Maybe in the future I'll figure out some sort of modular thing. Or a big blue sheet

Kern: haha that guy is rediculous; I could definitely not manipulate small things like that without growing a few gray hairs.

Onward to the updates:

I finished painting the last models in the starter box; the 9 frigates. These were small and pretty fun to paint (1" or 25 mm approximately). I have to seal them and then put the decals on as the surfaces were a bit more rugged than the larger models which I can only assume is due to the greater use of the models. The amount of detail on these little things is so nifty.


I painted up some shield generators as pictured above. I'm not sure if I like them though as they may have too much of a stark contrast to the rest of the boats. Any opinions would be great while remembering that these things are smaller than your baby-toe nail.

And at last I will leave you with an image of the entire completed starter box. Quite a great deal for $45 US (~30 British pounds).


The rest is in the mail as the Canadian postal service has gone on strike. No clue when my new toys will arrive.

Ah, I feel your pain twice. I have stuff sent out just before the stoppage AND I feel so helpless knowing my recipients are waiting too.

On to the models: I like the shield generators as is, and I don't feel they look out of place on the colour scheme you've chosen.

That is quite the set for $45. I can see this being popular in the years to come with potential expansions and more factions yet to make an appearance.

Regarding your comment on the boards, One of these: http://www.ecvv.com/product/883263.html painted a suitable ocean colour might work well as a playing surface. I've seen it done nicely, and had to resist buying a sheet last time I was at my local big box hardware outlet.

Nice work as always Theambit.

modelglue

I've finished my carrier for the fleet. I added some MIG pigment to the deck for tire burn/oil etc. down the takeoff strips. I've also not glued the deck in so that it can be removed and the two battleships can be run as individual units.

I may have to touch up the red/green beacon lights and I'm not sure I like the fighters too much but I'll have to stare at it a while longer to decide.


Someday I'm hopeful that the new items I ordered in June will dispatch from the online stores

modelglue I think I'm just going to purchase 2 yards of fabric to use as a table at least for now

Mighty impressive work TheAmbit, especially considering the scale they're at. I'm very tempted to get a piece of the action myself (more like several pieces, geddit?*). If only my finances were more co-operative...

I myself like the fighters there, I feel it gives it more character. I haven't noticed anything wrong with the beacon lights, but I haven't scrutinised them much yet.

Also, have you thought about fluff regarding your fleet?

*see it's funny because it's a miniatures game played with several pieces, and because some of the models come in several pieces! It works on so many levels.

Thought I'd share my latest model to be painted. A KoB Dreadnought. For those of you that haven't played I'd put it on par with a baneblade in relation to the other units for power. It dominates the high seas. This was sitting on my desk for perhaps 6 months (I can't remember when it was released) but having two friends jump in and wanting to play this game motivated me to get this guy on the table (or ocean). With the size of the model (5 inches long), finishing it off really only took 2 hours. Why I hadn't done this before....

I completely agree with you the KoB Dreadnaught is very menacing. A lot of the models for my KoB fleet came in the other day one of them being the Dreadnaught. What is your opinion of the submarines?

I think the subs look really neat, and I love the chainsaw in the hull. The only reason I haven't bought them yet is the bases. I don't want to have 2 models with bases and the rest of my fleet have nothing. I'm not prepared to put bases on my ships (it really hampers movement in this game re:: collisions). Can you not mount the subs on bases? If so I'm all over that. I think the pack comes with 4; 2 submerged and two full above water.

In the newest errata they increased the movement distance of them too I believe. Anyway, I think my next purchase will be the flying battleship thing... so cool.

The "base" for the Vanguard is actually part of the model casting, so is usually (some players argue not) used for fire arcs and collisons (makes it much easier to determine). If you use them that way, the pack is then considered to come with 4 usable models (just plonk down a "submerged" counter instead of swapping the model).

They also have a 5 fleet box deal + rulebook + cards from the spartan webstore for 150 pounds (<30 pounds/fleet!)

Just like southerskies has said both have bases built into the actual model itself. I kinda wish they would have done what the did with the Antarctica Battleship and give it a clear base when it's submerged.

@southerskies: That box deal actually all of the different starting armies. They even have a buy any 2 or buy any 4 deal where you can get duplicates of the same army.

I'd bought the '4 navy megapack with rulebook' before antarctica came out and only managed to pawn off 2 of them so I still have the EotBS.

Thanks for the replies re: the subs. I like the idea of getting four usable ships in a pack I'm still just not sold on having the ocean attached (not really for gameplay but for the look). I may get over this haha.

Haven't spent much time perusing the range, but wow does that look like what it says in the rules. Great paint work, seemingly better again on top of previous work, considering a 6 month hiatus from the scale

- T.