To become or not to become a Spartan Vanguard...that is the question.

I finished up the Russian Coalition Fleet, Tiny Flyer Tokens and all.  So I submitted my application to Spartan Games for their Spartan Vanguard Program.  They ask for up to 14 days to process the application, so now I get to sit and wait.

When I set up both fleets for pictures, I realized that I really liked the Russian TFTs turned out.  So in the future (at some point), I am going to be striping my Covenant of Antarctica TFTs and repainting them up all blue sky and flying like I did the Russian Coalition TFTs.



Since painting up both Fleets quick, dirty, and table-top worthy, I definitely believe that the Russian Coalition fleet came out better.  I am sorely tempted to strip and repaint up my Covenant Fleet but I am going to try and stick to my guns and leave it as is, rather than change it and possibly make it worse similiar to how George Lucas fucked up the original Star Wars trilogy.



I placed a rather large order with Battlefoam the other day.  With the sheer amount of Trollbloods that I own now (Hush Scott!) I figured it was time to get some foam and fill up my P.A.C.K. Air.  So 5 custom cut foam trays are incoming as well as trays for my Storm Strider, a Stormwall, the Mountain King and the War Wagon.  I figured since I would eventually own all those models (having recently purchased a Mountain King, and already owning a Storm Strider) I should own the foam to protect them.  The new foams will also allow me to store all of my future purchases for my Searforge Commission lists and Trollblood lists as well as possibly storing other random models.

For my next project I am going to finish painting up the Runebearer for the Trollbloods and paint up Borka Kegslayer and his brew buddy.  Hopefully by then, I shall have General Ossrum firmly in hand and will paint him up and the Wroughthammer Rockram for my Searforge Commission army.

Doughnuts of Doom

And I give to you the Doughnuts of Doom!!!

Russian Coalition Novgorod Class Frigates


The mighty 16 Tiny Flyer Tokens of the Russian Coalition


I am going to stipple some white around the bases of the TFT's and hope for cloud cover because remember in the world of Dystopian Wars it is always overcast!  Once I get the bases all 'clouded' up, I'll get started in on the planes.

You sank my Battleship!!!

Hey Folks,

Sorry for the slight delay, I was having issues with being lazy when it came to taking pictures.  I finished up the Borodino Class Battleship and the Suvorov Class Cruisers for my Russian Coalition Fleet.  I have already started in on the Novgorod Class Frigates.  Once the Frigates are completed then I will work on the 16 TFTs (Tiny Flyer Tokens) and once they are finished I get to submit my application to become a Spartan Vanguard.

Borodino Class Battleship


Borodino Class Battleship with Suvorov Class Cruisers


Kastroma Class Battle Carrier, Borodino Class Battleship and Suvorov Class Cruisers


Next pictures should have the Frigates and maybe a few TFTs finished.

Kostroma Class Battle Carrier...complete!

Here is a shot of the Russian Coalition fleet I am painting up for my Spartan Vanguard application.



I started with the largest model in the fleet, the Kostroma Class Battle Carrier, to test out the color scheme I decided on.  Since it also had a few tiny flyers on it, I was able to nail down the TFT scheme as well.



I decided to go with a Red/Off-white look. It was actually pretty easy to nail down.  The 'white' is a base coat of the P3 Cryx Bane Highlight, followed by a wash of the new Devlan Mud (I forget the name of it), and then a drybrush of Bleached Bone.  Although it is hard to see on the smoke stacks I have picked out certain sections and made them the off-white color as well and painted some of the roofs red to help tie the front of the model to the back of the model.



The red is Citadel's Dark Flesh, a Gryphonne Sepia Wash, and then a drybrush of Vallejo's Terracotta.



The Tiny Flyers on the flight deck are even simpler, Silver, washed with black, then the wing tips are painted blood red, and the canopy is the Vallejo Magic Blue.

With the scheme done, I have already started in on the battleship and I hope to have pictures posted up in the next few days.

Dystopian Awesomeness

Hello Fellow Blogger Types and other random peeps!

I'm back!

Or at least I will attempt to be back on a fairly regular basis from here on out.  My surgery went off without a hitch so to speak and my recovery is well recovery.  For about 2 weeks I have been an absolute bum on the couch and doing nothing.  Well I have read a few good books and cleaned out the DVR and watched entirely too much crap on Netflix but all in all I still consider myself as having done nothing.

I do however, have a goal now.

To become a Spartan Vanguard!  Yup I am going to apply to become a Vanguard for Spartan Games the folks who make Dystopian Wars (among others games).  Think of the Spartan Vanguard as their volunteer program to show their products, so very similar to the Pressgang Program offered by Privateer Press.  In order to qualify I have to have two painted fleets so I had to go out and purchase a new fleet.  I already own a 'mostly painted' Covenant of Antarctica Fleet and so I choose the latest release and picked up a Russian Coalition Naval Group and Fleet Carrier, since most of us here in po-dunk Redding are playing at that level (around 750-ish points depending on your nation)

The first thing that kind of struck me about the Russian Coalition is the sheer size of the models.  Compared to the Covenant of Antarctica, which have a very sleek look about the models, the Russian Coalition is a hulking beast of sturgeniam-infused metal.  Sharp pointy prows and big guns

Stat-line wise, the Russian Coalition has no special weapons but they do have a great defensive MAR (Model Assigned Rules) called Abalative Armor.  The MAR basically makes them immune to damage until the targeted model suffers its first critical hit, then the MAR expires and they start taking damage normally.  Which should be pretty sweet considering the Russian Coalition has virtually no weapons that operate in Range Band 3 & 4 and so therefore have to close quick and fast to unload the heavy weaponry they do have in Range Bands 1 & 2.  Yikes!

Still as a polar opposite (pun intended, for those that know about the CoA and the fluff) to my Covenant of Antarctica Fleet, I think the Russian Coalition will be a great Fleet to use as a Demo Fleet alongside my Covenant Fleet.

Since it looks like I am going to be off work until early September, my goal is to get the Russian Coalition Naval Group and Fleet Carrier painted up so that I can apply for the Spartan Vanguard Program around the same time I head back to work.

No pictures yet, but I have primed the Fleet black and I have started working on the Fleet Carrier.  When I finish up the Carrier I'll get some pictures up for everyone to look at!

Until then...Game on!