Here at the Warcradle Studios, the Game Design and Development team has been busy creating their own fleets for Dystopian Wars.
Everyone brings elements of their own personality to their collection, theming it around an idea, an aesthetic, or a piece of lore. Here we present two of the fleets currently being created to give you a behind the scenes look at what goes on in the studio.
Pete (Game Designer)
One of the things I love about the Dystopian Age is the varied real-world influences from across the centuries, drawing on and then combining into a fascinating setting. As my love of Slavic/ Russian military history is well documented, it felt inevitable that I'd go for the Commonwealth for my Dystopian Wars fleet. Having the same faction for both Dystopian Wars and Armoured Clash was a big draw for me, as it will allow some great linked narrative campaigns down the line. I’ve already got so many ideas!
One piece of technology that feels undeniably Russian to me is the Ekranoplan. Also known as wing-in-ground-effect aircraft, they are a hybrid of ship, aeroplane, and hovercraft. Their little stubby wings generate a 'bubble' of air that is trapped beneath them, which the Ekranoplan rides on, travelling much faster and further than a traditional ship can. The main drawback is that they are far more expensive than a normal floating boat. Designed from the 1950s onwards, the Soviet Navy (and then the Russian Navy that followed) was the only fleet known to have any in service, and then only 4!
Still, thanks to the breadth and advanced sciences of the Dystopian Age, the Commonwealth fields entire fleets of them to defend both the Tsar and the Motherland. The lore I've created for my fleet, based around the Alexayev Battlefleet set, is that of a coastal raiding force based on the Black Sea. I decided to try out a winter-inspired camouflage scheme that would be quick to paint by using spray cans and masking putty. Layering white over grey over blue has proven successful.
Captain Yefim Ivanovitch Dragomirov leads a specialist raiding fleet from his flagship, Orlan, an Alexayev-class ekranoplan. His reputation of being able to insert and extract specialist teams of Ryadovoy Saboteurs is legendary. They know he’ll do his utmost to get them out of any tricky extraction. Leading from the front, his sailors put down withering fire to get the raiding parties safely aboard. It is said that his rescues are as noisy as his drop-offs are stealthy. Supported by the Zubr Hovercraft who run ashore, the two Tunguska-class cruisers providing fire support, and squadrons of Kometa Interceptors flying defensive sorties overhead.
Whether against Imperium territory, or the lands of the Sultanate, Captain Dragomirov's reputation precedes him. Often requested by name by generals who know he will drive himself and his crews hard to fulfil his mission.
In the drinking dens in the port cities that edge the Black Sea there are whispered rumours that occasionally a lone Zubr, piloted by Yefim himself, will set off in the depths of night on secret missions on behalf of the Oprinchnina. Though those who voice such gossip always look over their shoulder to see who might be listening first…
Matt (Game Designer)
The moment I saw my first Lyon Heavy Cruisers, I knew that the Alliance was the faction for me. There is something about the image of the sleek, Verne-esque craft streaking across the sky that really sold me on the Dystopian Age as a concept—I had honestly not seen anything quite like it in wargaming and couldn't wait to get my hands on the Alliance Levant Support Squadrons box and the Alliance Levant Squadrons box. This gave me enough sprues to build several Lyon-chassis and Chasseur-class vessels—perfect for a little starter fleet to get me into Dystopian Wars.
The coolest thing I’ve ever seen.
Far from the most accomplished of hobbyists, my first forays into building my first ships left a little to be desired, with my Chasseur Strike Cruiser looking like it had taken a little battle damage by the time I had finished gluing it together! However, this early mishap got me thinking about who might be in command of this sleek and deadly vessel and, after devouring the background information present in the Alliance ORBATs for both Dystopian Wars and Armoured Clash, I soon began to concoct a biography for the plucky hero at its helm:
After being radicalised following his posting to the nitrate fields of Peru, the priest Alphonso Luchenta soon turned to organising active resistance against the local overseers of the Jade Pact. Identified as a troublemaker, the young father soon found himself the target of Empire agents and propaganda. Yet even as attempts were made to slander his name, his following only grew as his calls for reform resonated with the impoverished labourers of the Atacama mining towns. When the Celestian Empire's authorities responded to the growing unrest with violence, Luchenta knew that he had to get his flock to safety. Leading a religious procession through the dense jungles of the Peruvian border regions, Luchenta's exodus finally reached SUSA territory weeks later. After many hardships, his long march through the wilderness earned him great renown as el Padre Rojo del Atacama.
Although offered a comfortable position at the Vatican by Pope Pius IX, possibly as a way of keeping the pugnacious and outspoken firebrand under close surveillance, Luchenta chose instead to more actively support those fighting to free South America from the grip of foreign oppression. To this end, he commands the battle-scarred Chasseur Strike Cruiser, A Ira de Deus, and has led numerous sorties against enemy fleets operating across both the Atlantic and the Pacific. The battered craft is a rousing sight to any Alliance vessels operating in these waters.
I found this way of tying my ships to specific personalities really inspiring and, being more familiar with narrative-centric skirmish games, I found this a great way of getting into my first naval wargame. My fleets suddenly became a cast of characters, with their own distinct personalities that are informed by their commanding officers, each of which has their own combination of passions, friendships, and rivalries.
For my French surface units, for example, I liked the idea that they are commanded by an aging commodore from his equally-venerable Oriflamme. In order to convey this, I started looking for something to distinguish my Alliance ships from the more standard designs to really communicate that these are older ships. Luckily, I had some spare Heavy Electrocarbines from my copy of the Wild West Exodus Showdown at Retribution two-player starter set, which provided some great extra parts that I could use to make my ships' Heat Lances look like more antiquated models that had largely been replaced across other Alliance fleets.
Similarly, I loved the idea of having a commander from the Alliance's North African territories and so Ibn Salmi became the leader of my Italian squadrons, which I subsequently decided must operate out of the port of Algiers.
Ever the 'hobby butterfly', it wasn’t long before I also developed a SUSA contingent. Its leader, one Charles 'Manifesto' Beauford, a no-nonsense veteran of the Ore War who had experienced a Damascene conversion following his retreat south. His old nickname of 'Constitution' having long been cast off is now following his adoption of a more SUSA-approved ideological tenets.
Though I am still experimenting with paint schemes, I hope to use my personality-led approach to come up with some motifs and other design elements that will really sell the character of each of my sub-fleets!
We hope that these short pieces give you some ideas that you can use to develop your own collections. Tying together the models you build and paint to a theme you have come up with, makes you identify and really root for 'your team' when you play a game. Over time you’ll find a rich history of lore has developed for your force. After all, it's the narrative of games narrowly lost or won against overwhelming odds that you remember rather than the dice scores…
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