Prussian Empire Arminius Class Frigates

The Dystopian Wars is a miniatures games from Spartan Games. The Prussian Frigate is a simple ship with a single turret and aft Tesla weapons. Squadrons of Frigates are often used to screen larger ships, combine their fire against enemy ships, and sometimes chase down vessels that have submerged below the ocean waves.

There are six models in all, and they come in a blister pack. The first stage was washing the resin models and giving them a white undercoat and gluing them to wooden sticks (for easier painting).

I then gave them a basecoat of slightly thinned Tamiya Grey.

The next stage was to give the models a wash of Citadel Shade: Nuln Oil. This was to both darken the model and add shade and shadows.

Check out the Dystopian Wars Workbench.

Kobblestone Buildings

Kobblestones Buildings

I really do quite like these buildings from Kobblestone Miniatures. Their website talks about using them for World War Two, I am not sure if they aren’t a little too “fantasy”, but then again a lot of European villages and towns were medieval in their centres, it wasn’t until the Allies and the Germans bombed and shelled them to pieces that they were rebuilt in a “modern” style. This photograph does show the potential.

Kobblestones Buildings

What do you think?

I think the only thing that is stopping me, is a) I usually play World War Two in 15mm, b) by the time you have bought an entire building, they are not that cheap. Building a town like in the photographs would cost a fair bit of cash, c) they are based in Canada, so the prices would also incur import duty and VAT if I sent off for any.

Inquisitorial Stormtroopers

Here are some more photographs of my Inquisitorial Stormtroopers.

They are part of my Daemonhunters army for Warhammer 40K.

I decided when painting up my Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, to use the Cadian Kasrkin for them.

I did decide when thinking about a paint scheme, to not use the accepted traditional look for the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers and go with a desert theme.

Check out how these models were painted in the workbench feature on them.

Doctor Who: The Nameless City

As part of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, there are going to be eleven short novels from famous authors covering (as you might have guessed) all eleven Doctors.

The first book was released last month and in February the book features (as you might expect) the second Doctor.

When Jamie McCrimmon brings the Second Doctor a mysterious book, little does he realise the danger contained within its pages. The book transports the TARDIS to a terrifying glass city on a distant world, where the Archons are intent on getting revenge on the Time Lord for an ancient grudge.

I quite like these short novels, and will probably get them all.

Get The Nameless City at Amazon

Get The Nameless City at Apple Bookstore.

Maisons Françaises pour les Flammes de la Guerre

I do like the French style buildings that Battlefront have released for Flames of War. I was lucky enough to get a subscription so I have been getting a new house every month or so.

They are well made, well painted and I like the weight of them too. On the table they certainly look the part. I also like how easy it is to remove the roof, also to make single storey or three storey buildings.

So what do I think could be improved?

Simon said he thought they were a little too “clean” and what I think he meant by this is that they look as if the owners had just gone around their house, cleaned the windows, the shutters, fixed the guttering and whitewashed the walls. In reality, though a few houses would look like that, I would have liked to seen a more “lived in” look to the models. I might try and weather mine to give them a more (literally) weather beaten look.

Though I do like the design, I would like to see some differing styles, more so than just roof, roof colour, wall colour and shutters. The issue for me is that the houses are too similar in style. Maybe we just need more houses? I would like to see some cafes or shops in addition to the houses. Then maybe some farmhouses and outbuildings?

What do you think of the houses? What would you like to see?

Britannian Reinforcements

Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Britannia Ruler Class Battleship HMS King Richard III
Having finished painting my Kingdom of Britannia Naval Battle Group I started to think about reinforcements. I already have on the workbench quite a few flyers, but what I decided I needed more naval vessels, well maybe one more naval vessel.

I initially considered getting some more Tribal Cruisers, but in the end went with a second Ruler Class Battleship.

The Britannia Battleship is the pride of Queen Victoria’s navy, a reliable and hardy workhorse that has fought in many battles across the globe. It has a fearsome array of torpedo tubes, allowing it to fire at surface and submerged targets within three firing arcs, and four main turrets. This Battleship also has the option of replacing up to two turrets with Shield Generators, which can sometimes make all the difference in negating the attacks of other craft while the Battleship pounds its enemies with shells.

I am in the process of naming my Dystopian Wars ships. My original Ruler Class Battleship was named King Richard III and in a similar spirit of choosing a King with a slighted or disreuptable reputation. I have considered two names, King George III and King John. In the end I think I may go with King John, just because George III and Richard III are both “thirds”.

Painting the Olympic Class Troop Transport

The Olympic Liner is one of the largest passenger ships ever created, these impressive vessels have carried people over the seas in style since 1861.
Having washed the resin model I affixed the metal masts. This was quite challenging as they need to be leaning in a particular direction and the “hole” is quite small.

After giving the models a white undercoat, I painted the superstructure with Vallejo Ivory (918). Not sure at this point about how to paint the windows.

The hull was given a basecoat of Citadel Chaos Black, I wasn’t very neat!

Painting the decks

Painting the decks of my Prussian Blucher Class Dreadnought for the Dystopian Wars reminded me why I never liked making Airfix ship models as a kid and why I don’t usually play naval wargames in the first place! Painting ships is really fiddly, especially the decks!

I painted the decks with Vallejo Tan Yellow (912).

The next stage was to give the decks a wash of Citadel Shade: Agrax Earthshade.

I did wonder if I ought to add any metallic, as in copper or bronze parts to the model. The stats for the model include the Tesla Coils and there is the prow of the ship too. Or do I keep it more traditional naval, in both colour and appearance? If you look at the marketing picture for the model, it is quite “normal” in appearance with minimal shiny bits!