The Federated States of America

"Best damned country in the world right here, yes sir. An’ the rest of the world’s gonna learn that fast!”
- Senator James G. McCloskey of Mississippi, 1867

One of my oldest opponents in Dystopian Wars and other games, my Good Friend Ben (Founder of the Breakthrough Assault Flames of War blog and lead photographer for this blog) has a number of powerful fleets that have caused me no end of misery over the years. The Federated States of America (FSA) are his largest fleet, and the first fleet I painted for him. In this blog entry, I will prepare for an upcoming Battle Report AAR by showcasing his fleet - know your foe! 

The FSA Starter box set

The FSA is one of the original Core Nations for Dystopian Wars, and despite accusations of "Rules Creep" remain one of the most powerful factions in the game. With a diverse selection of ships in almost every class and an expansive Aerial selection, the FSA can dominate every area of the game - strength in boarding with high AP values and Sharpshooters to take out enemy crews, powerful guns at short range, rockets for long range, comparatively high DR values and surprising speed thanks to Kinetic Generators. 

The Enterprise-class Dreadnought with Escorts

Their Dreadnought is considered one of the most powerful in the game, though we have agreed for a long time now not to upgrade duplicate generators, so Ben does not use it to it's full defensive capacity. Nonetheless, I have not managed to destroy it for an embarrassingly long time! 

The Saratoga-class Fleet Carrier with Escorts

Ben's fleet is based around the "one of everything" approach that a lot of people enjoy, myself included, though for aesthetic reasons he has not invested in any Robots like the infamous John Henry. Luckily, the airships of the FSA are great looking models, and pretty damn good in the game too. 

The Aerial Fleet

The fleet is painted using Vallejo's Brown Violet as a base colour, highlighted by adding increasing amounts of Iraqi Sand. The decking is done with a yellow brown, highlighted up with Buff, while the guns and silver metallics are simply Boltgun Metal, wash, highlight with Mithril Silver (or whatever the equivalents are these days) and detail/weather with Vermin Brown. The gold is my favourite part, Vallejo Brass highlighted with Mithril and then washed with a Sepia Tone to bring the highlights together. A more in-depth painting guide will follow in the future. 

Bane of my Prussian Fleet, the Lee-class Scoutships

The fleet is a good size and can comfortably play games up to 2000pts, but as newer, shinier releases have distracted Ben he has not invested in the new Aerial Support Group box, a purchase he may make sometime soon (if the Eclipse Company don't get in the way!). 

A Selection of FSA Small Ships

My record against Ben's FSA Fleet is very even, with a mixture of Wins, Draws and Losses. The FSA are a great counter to the Prussians, outmatching them in armour and firepower (especially at range), but not in boarding strength or speed.

Princeton-class Gunships, a Christmas gift to Ben now sorely regretted

I always enjoy games against the FSA, despite their infuriatingly good stats and strengths. I look forward to the coming year's games in a narrative campaign I have been developing, and also trying out some of my other, new fleets against them!

The Assembled Fleet

Thanks for reading.

George