Author: Felix

The Dystopian Chronicle

Had my second game of Dystopian Wars at the weekend and did enjoy it, even though we still struggled with the rules. I have been playing games now for over thirty years and even I am surprised by how many mistakes I made in reading and importantly interpreting the rules. It did make me realise the value in well written rules with clear examples. I take on a fair bit of responsibility in not taking enough time to read the rules between games.

We had problems with critical hits system, in the main forgetting about the extra 2 HP each time. I realised afterwards, as well as making mistakes with critical hits, we also didn’t play the Ack Ack and Concussion Charges rules properly. The end result was that the game too a lot longer than it should… however it was still very enjoyable.

What I did like was the tactical challenge of working out where best to place your ships to maximise the firepower, whilst minimising the risk from the opponent’s ships. It was also a challenge to decide on which order to activate different squadrons, hoping that your prospective target gets closer, but not too close to cause damage. I also really like the cards system, which adds to the game, without going overboard.

What I was pleased with was that I managed in a month to paint my Britannia Naval Group, so fast that though I took photographs, I’ve not managed to update the workbench feature on them. So I got nine frigates, three cruisers and a battleship all painted. I also managed to finish off painting the Airfield Scenery Set. Really like the idea of making scenery, well everytime I see this kind of scenery I do.

Inspiring Dystopian Wars Scenery via http://www.brueckenkopf-online.com/
I was very impressed with Simon’s FSA ships which he also managed to get painted in the same month. Alas time constraints (blame the rules) meant that I didn’t get to photograph them (or the game).

For the next game I intend to read the rules a lot more fully, I might even buy version 1.1 so to have the same version of the rules as Simon, so difficult when wanting to read the same section and not knowing the right page number.

I have finished painting all my surface ships, well except the Olympic Liner, so thinking should I paint the airborne models I have, or get some more Prussians?

Epic Imperials

These are some of my very old Epic miniatures from the 1990s.

Epic Imperials

This is one of the plastic Warlord Titans from Adeptus Titanicus. It has the Chaos head and red eyes, though in the main I used it as an Imperial Titan when playing games of Epic.

Warlord Titan

These are plastic Land Raiders and metal Dreadnoughts.

Land Raiders and Dreadnoughts

The scenery is from Snapdragon Studio.

15mm Ruined Café

I painted the front area of the Total Battle Miniatures 15mm Ruined Café. For this part of the model I decided to try out the Citadel Texture paint, Astrogranite.

I am not that impressed. It did cover fine, but not sure if the “texture” adds anything. I am not too worried as I don’t acrtually expect to use that part of the model that much.

Olympic Class Troop Transport

The Olympic Liner is one of the largest passenger ships ever created. Built at the Proctor & Mercer Shipyards in Middlesbrough, these impressive vessels have carried people over the seas in style since 1861. A main selling point is the advanced technological design, and claimed robustness of the ship’s hull. However, the outbreak of world war saw many of the Olympic Liners refitted to fulfil the role of a troop carrier. With its pioneering keel design, the Olympic Class Troop Transport cuts through the water at high speed, allowing it to efficiently deliver thousands of troops to war zones around the globe.

It comes in a blister and is a one piece resin model with metal masts. I gave the model a wash to remove any mould lubricant.

One of the things I did need to decide on was, did I paint it in “peacetime” colours, in a similar style to the promotional picture, or did I paint it in wartime colours (as on the datacard). In the end I decided to go with the civilian colours, black hull and white superstructure.

Undercoating the Partisans

Having based my Bolt Action Partisans I gave the models a white undercoat.

These are very nice miniatures and there is a nice range of poses and characters within the band itself.

Though there is a “Soviet” feel to the partisans, I have decided to go down a French Forces of the Interior (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur) or FFI force. Though I think some of the figures could be used for some 1920s gangsters games, look at the bloke on the right of this lot.

I am not too sure about the female partisan, as someone said to me, that bloke’s wearing a skirt!

I have been thinking about “transport” and armour for them. Tamiya do a 1/48th scale Citroen Traction 11CV which would work really well I think. As for armour I am tempted by the Bolt Action Char B1 bis and paint it up in FFI colours.

Epic Space Marine Battleforce

Epic Space Marine Battleforce advanced in front of an Imperial Manufactorium.

Epic Space Marine Battleforce

These are in the main metal Epic models. The Land Raiders and Vindicators are metal models (from the Epic 40000 era) however the Rhinos are plastic.

The buildings are from Snapdragon Studio and work really well in this scene.