Lockdown Day 73

Hi!

I've managed to get the last two of my Dwarven Land Ironclads finished at last!

Firestorm Class Rocket Ironclad and Battle Forge Class Command Ironclad

The Firestorm is a development of the Anvil class Ironclad which the Dwarven engineers have developed to give their landfleet a long range support vehicle. Armed with a battery of Firestorm rockets which give the vehicle its name as well as two sponson guns to give it some direct fire defences, the Firestorm is a rare design still undergoing trials but the fearsome amount of devastation it can bring upon its target is making it a popular choice in Dwarven expeditions.

Battle Forge

The Battle Forge is an old design amongst the Dwarven Landfleet as most of its firepower is concentrated on the vehicles flanks giving a terrifying broadside but only one heavy turret mounted on a turret with a limited traverse means that it often struggles to bring its full weight to bear when in the defensive form of combat the Dwarves tend to rely on. Combined with a traction assembly that is barely able to move the behemoth at much more than a walking pace means that it is only a matter of time before this class is retired for the newer and more advanced designs.

With that being said, the Battle Forge is a venerable design, still popular with its crew so it is expected to be in service for some time to come.

I've had this vehicle for a while in pieces as it just didn't look right being so tall and stubby but I finally decided to get it painted and into a game as a somewhat obsolete design that till trudles around blasting at stuff.

I think the problem is that I should have gone for a 40x60mm base and stretched the thing a bit with longer tracks and a lower hull which I suspect will be how my next heavy hitter will be based once I finalise a design for it!

Here's the Battle Forge compared to the Capo di Capo from the Vongola city state:

Capo di Capo and Battle Forge

Both are older designs which rely on broadside volleys to crush their foes with only a single turret mounting heavy guns with a traverse. Game wise, the Battle Forge will be a bit of a beast with tons of guns and armour but moves at a snailspace.

Speaking of games, here's a few shots of the two full armies in action:

Vongola and Dwarven landfleets engage

I'm going to try out a game of my own devising in the next day or two which takes elements from Song of Blades, Full Thrust and several others to see how the two armies work. I do need to look at putting together some infantry and cavalry but am not too sure how they'd fare against the destructive power of such mighty iron beasts!

Lancia class Ironclads

I'm interested in seeing how a fast but not very well armoured force works against a very heavily armoured but slow one. I suspect that I'm going to have to finish the last two of my Vongola heavy ironclads to even things up a bit as the Dwarves have currently got the advantage in firepower.

I'll also need to get some more scale suitable scenics finished as the two landfleets need some objectives to fight over too!

Dwarven Ironclads and Gyrocopters engage a formation of Lambo class Vongola ironclads.

I have got some small steamtanks for each side and really should get them painted up too but feel it's important to see how the bigger vehicles cope. There's also some more air assets for the two forces needing painted up but I shall get round to that eventually too.

 Dwarven and Vongola heavies steam towards each other

I have also got my Orcs who will play very differently from both of my existing fleets as they use living transport in the form of giant lizards but they need quite a bit of work before they are a suitable fighting force of their own so maybe I should aim to get them done at some point in the coming months.

 Vongola Zephyrs scream towards a lumbering Dwarf dig bomber

Looking at the original forces from Leviathan, I still need to work on designs for the Barbarians and the Elves, not to mention a host of other interesting races and factions who are vying for control of Aeroth too...

Vintage Aerial picture!

In other news, I've finished the papertech versions of the light and medium Mechs from the 3025 tech readout:

Papertech!

Clint, Hermes 2, Vulcan, Whitworth, Blackjack, Hatchetman, Phoenix Hawk

Valkyre, Firestarter, Jenner, Ostscout, Panther, Assassin, Cicada

Locust, Wasp, Stinger, Commando, Javelin, Spider, Urbanmech

I'll try and get the heavy and assault mechs done next so watch this space and they will be added to my Papertech page asap!

In the meantime, All the best!