With only a few weeks to go for the painting deadline I
should have my nose to the grind stone getting the last figures painted for myself
impose challenge. 60 still to do so what do I do?
Something else completely different of course!
Being so close to the finish line my mind has wandered off
into 2018 with a view to setting some goals for next year. Yes yes I know I
haven’t finished this year but it’s just how my mind works!
Sat around my study over the last few years has been the
collection of Dystopian Legions (DL) stuff that I purchased ooooh sooo long
ago. I’ve always been interested in the Victorian Sci-Fi but never really got
to have a crack at it gaming wise. I even had a copy of Space 1889 but never
played. That desire is what lead to all the purchases of DL and also the 6mm
Dystopian Wars (DW) stuff. It had been niggling at me that nothing had come of
these so I became resolved to do something about it. Well that was over a year ago
and still nothing happened. Well apart from Junt and I conning Urn to buy loads
of stuff for it as well.
We had come to a consensus that it would be fun to take DL
to Mars. I suspect that this may have been driven by me but I will deny it if
so accused. However that notion stuck, germinated and started to grow. First it
stemmed into the idea of a couple of funky Aeronef flyers to supplement the
land forces we already had and then, like so many of the notions in my head, it
got out of hand.
Long story short …..Aeronef started getting designed. Then I
balked at scratch-building all these ideas. Then it occurred to me that they
might be good in MDF. Looking around there are a few people making Aeronef but
they weren’t what I was looking for or were too big. So I resolved to contact a
manufacturer to see if some could be made. I had to good fortune to choose
Blotz as my first port of call and I am very pleased that I did. Since the
early contact the idea was well received and handled in a stress-less manner.
So in just a short time the first two designs from the project have gone from
concept sketches to scale drawings and onto being finished things. I have to
say it has been fun! Slightly surreal getting your own design through the post
as a kit to put together but fun none the less!
The first two were the Kingdom of Britainnia ones primarily
because they were the simplest designs on which I could get some idea of how to
proceed with the drawings that Blotz would need. I will admit to being quite
pleased with how they have turned out.
A Patrol boat for HM’s forces…..
…..and a light launch to ferry troops around.
As this had come from the DL perspective I’d intended the
large ones to be ‘sky tanks’ and the smaller ones to be ‘Sky APCs’. I suspect
however that the DL rules will be thrown out of the window, due to them being
poorly received, and a new rule set will be found which will give the Aeronef a
life of their own.
Given that we have five DL factions between the three of us
that have DL, then ten designs are required in total. The first two are finished, the next is
now with Blotz and the fourth will be pinged over shortly. I’ve been scribbling
away on new design ideas trying to make each new one markedly different from the others
which is a fun challenge.
I keep having to rein myself in with the practical
limitations of size. I doubt the Long Haired General at home really wants a
house full of massive sky ships. Shame. I’d love it. ;-)
If you like them then head over to Blotz where they are available to buy or keep an eye out for the new ones in future.
TTFN
