Into The Storm

THE ELBE-CLASS FLEET CARRIER JOINS THE PRUSSIAN EMPIRE

The latest Edition of Dystopian Wars brought a lot of new models into the game, and one of the biggest (especially for Prussian players like myself) was the Elbe-class Fleet Carrier. To put it bluntly, someone decided they needed an airstrip on top of a Dreadnought hull, and then stick even more guns on top of that - in this case four mighty Speerschleuders.

The Elbe is the last of the new vessels I will be adding to my Prussian fleet, following the recent post on the new Heavy Battleship and Cruisers, and will feature in an upcoming Battle Report where the new Prussian vessels get their chance to wreak revenge on the Federated States. Spoiler Alert - the Elbe (well, all of the new ships) cause a lot of damage.

Game-wise, the Elbe is a monster, with the armour and firepower of a Battleship (at least) and a huge carrier capacity - which all leads it to operate as an anchor of the fleet, sitting where it can fire in all directions and get close enough to rearm and refuel the squadrons of Bombers in a near-constant rotation. A bargain for its cost, I would also consider upgrading to Elite crew to dissuade Boarders and provide a late-game threat itself.

A real cornerstone of the fleet, I feel every good-sized Prussian fleet should try and work one of these beasts into the roster.

The Elbe began with basecoating and a black wash

It was painted in three pieces so I could reach all of the different parts of the model. A huge amount of detail is hidden under the flight deck

When the wash was dry, the different areas were repainted and highlighted. Extra attention was paid on the Generators and pipework, and the funnels on the sides as they would be a focus point of the model

The Elbe has a lot of grey armour plating, and this stage was pretty time consuming

In the final stages I added the camouflage pattern, before the final highlights on the hull and the weathering was completed

The pattern was the repeated three-pronged style used for a few of my other ships, but did not extend over the latticed struts on the sides, stern and prow

Finally finished! This is not a small model, and is packed with details. It took a bit longer to finish than expected

I am very happy with the finished work, especially the weathering (which is not showing up very well in these pictures). I used a new pair of paints for the rust and am pleased with their results

The hull of the Elbe has been remodelled more than you'd expect from the original Blucher hull

The decking is subtly different from the decking on my other carrier, but I find this happens with every carrier I have painted

The tiny flyers on the flight deck were painted differently to the rest of my fleet, as I wanted them to represent the new Torpedo Bombers that the Prussian fleet now has access to. The extra tiny flyer tokens that come with the Naval Battle Group box will also painted in this grey-blue so I can run Torpedo Bombers against any Submarine-heavy fleets

The pieces have not been glued for ease of storage and to show off all the detail

It's almost a shame how much is hidden beneath the flight deck

The carriers together - the grand Stiglitz Floating Fortress was my idea last year - a flight deck on a Blucher hull. It is funny to see Spartan had a similar, if more restrained and efficient idea themselves

With the Imperium-class Sky Fortress as well, my fleet has an impressive amount of carrier support

The Prussian capital ships and flagships, including the Prized Markgraf

The Blucher and Elbe together

The three Blucher hulls together, showing how the same hull can look very different with some work

The Prussian Naval Battle Group

THE FUTURE

The three new ship types introduced with the Naval Battle Group have now been completed, but this is not the end for the Prussian Empire - the box also contains a Battle Cruiser and two squadrons of Small ships, most of which I intend to paint. The extra tiny flyer tokens will also be painted, in the new blue-gry scheme mentioned above to represent the Torpedo Bombers. I like the idea that the new vessels have been introduced to the Prussian Navy and carry with them new weapons like the Torpedo Bombers. Beyond that, who knows? Maybe it is time to look back at my other fleets before the next wave of Prussian ships appear!

Thanks for reading, 

George