Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

She's a big model! It's going to be a great centrepiece to the board.

Thanks. Da, she's a big 'un.

----------------------------------------

So based on what Not Online!! said earlier about Barmaley Fountain, I had a quick google around the place and found this



by Pithead Miniatures.

With some rubble, debris and water-effects, that could work right?

The problem is that it's 10mm gaming scale. I cannot visualize what this really means, so I ask you; will they look like very young children or will they look like leprechauns?

EDIT - Never mind. My search-fu is incredibly poor and puppetswar.eu make a 28mm scale version that retails for 30 Euro.



So, yes. There will be a version of Barmaley Fountain on my board. Probably one of these, too

Ha ha, wow, that is amazing! That's going to make a very nice neat+sad piece for your board.

Also tiny graffiti is good, it is the best.

That fountain could definitely work!
Just be sure to use good looking water effects, as it's easy to make it look a bit weird. I have no experience regarding which stuff is good, but I've seen amazing and not so amazing results. This much I know: don't use PVA glue like I did when I was a kid

Do you intent to paint the graffiti or use some sort of premade stuff?

Yeah, I've seen some very dodgy looking water effects. I may also paint it as a dried-out pond, since I doubt the invaders were too bothered about fountain maintenance.

I'm not 100% sure on how I'm going to do the graffiti, but the leading plan so far is to use Sharpie pens in several layers for the Tsoi Wall and I'll probably print decals for the others, depending on how the Tsoi Wall actually turns out.

My biggest problem is that my handwriting in the Cyrillic alphabet is, frankly, childlike. As part of my efforts to learn Russian I've been handwriting (and translating) Kino lyrics (poorly), but even after years of practice it's bad



and probably not helped by my handwriting in the Latin alphabet also being appalling.

I was supposed to be a doctor, what can I say?

I’ve had mixed results with water effects, struggle to get anything that doesn’t resemble a sticky oil patch, I think the bigger the area applied on the better.... I’d do a couple trial runs, once it’s on there’s no turning back.

Hmm, actually i belive a semi destroyed Barmaley Fountain infront of, the statue pyramid thingy you planned could make for a great secenerie, especcially when you fortiy the pyramid with sandbags and emplacements, since it would mostliekly be seen as a high ground in a city area which could very well be of tactical value.

Come to think of it will you make a parade street as the mid part? and put the statue in the middle at a crosssection, could make a fairly interesting table that way.

Get off my shoulder, devil.

I would dearly love to recreate



with the fountain replacing the stupidly muscular soldat sculpture in the midground there, but;

i) that would then mean that five of my initial six tiles (2x Summoning Circle, Statue Garden, Mamayev KurBen and the approach to Mamayev KurBen) for the board would have nothing on them taller than single-storey ruined buildings;

ii) it would mean that the tile with the fountain on it would always have to be set up in a way that lined up with Mamayev KurBen; and

iii) it won't look much like Stalingrad ca. 1943, it'll look like Volgograd ca. 2018.

Mamayev Kurgan is the dominant height overlooking Volgograd so for sure I want to convey that impression of a commanding position. There will be sandbags. There will be barbed wire. There will be poured-concrete barricades with barbed wire. There won't be emplacements, but there will be Support Squads.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Get off my shoulder, devil.

I would dearly love to recreate



with the fountain replacing the stupidly muscular soldat sculpture in the midground there, but;

i) that would then mean that five of my initial six tiles (2x Summoning Circle, Statue Garden, Mamayev KurBen and the approach to Mamayev KurBen) for the board would have nothing on them taller than single-storey ruined buildings;

ii) it would mean that the tile with the fountain on it would always have to be set up in a way that lined up with Mamayev KurBen; and

iii) it won't look much like Stalingrad ca. 1943, it'll look like Volgograd ca. 2018.

Mamayev Kurgan is the dominant height overlooking Volgograd so for sure I want to convey that impression of a commanding position. There will be sandbags. There will be barbed wire. There will be poured-concrete barricades with barbed wire. There won't be emplacements, but there will be Support Squads.

There will be bunkers? I only feel at home when there are 10 bunkers within 1km^2

I'm not 100%, but probably not, no. If there are bunkers they'll be for Command only and they'll go on the spare tiles I make for the trench-line, if I end up going that far, as will gun emplacements and AA positions. The front-line soldats at Stalingrad didn't have bunkers, just an avtomat, two grenades and an entrenching tool, so my dudes don't get them either is my current thinking.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult, it is just that I have a vision that is quite loosey-goosey about a lot of things, but very strict about others and I realize it must seem odd to insist that it resemble Stalingrad in some minute details but also freely incorporate daemonic statuary, Summoning Circles and women who are 85m tall.

There will be usable stairwells, 'cause I just love the idea of a unit fighting their way up through a building. Lots of stairwells.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So after perusing Not Online's excellent plog I did a bit of messing around on Anvil Industry's website and did this



Pros:

- sells the whole 'Soviets in spaaaaace' much better than the Cadians do
- vastly more unique than A. N. Other Cadian army

Cons:

- the ushanka head without a visor or gasmask is kinda naff, so there are only two head options
- I think they'll be more expensive than A. N. Other Cadian army, but I'll need to do more detailed maths to be sure
- definitely more expensive to work female soldats into an Anvil army compared to a Cadian one.
- can't be used in GW stores/events
- I'm unsure how poseable the arms are
- I already possess fifteen, mostly finished, Cadians

More cons than pros, but the two pros are much bigger than any of the cons are individually except the presence of female soldats. That's a biggie for me.

- can't be used in GW stores/events

So long GW fails at producing a Cultist line so long there will be a place for them since they are literally equal in hight and size.

- Doesn't contribute to bitz box.

I don't know, i have atleast 2-3 legs over and about 12 bodies? Also way to many Lasguns, i feel like in my grandfathers home.
I also have around 8 Heads over, they generally have 7 heads and send 2 stripes for 1 squad it seems.

Not Online!!! wrote:

- can't be used in GW stores/events

So long GW fails at producing a Cultist line so long there will be a place for them since they are literally equal in hight and size.

- Doesn't contribute to bitz box.

I don't know, i have atleast 2-3 legs over and about 12 bodies? Also way to many Lasguns, i feel like in my grandfathers home.
I also have around 8 Heads over, they generally have 7 heads and send 2 stripes for 1 squad it seems.

Re Cultists, while I acknowledge the issue, it doesn't affect me at all since I don't have any in any of my lists except the 30,000pt Slaanesh v. Khorne 'why did I even bother writing this?' list. I also kinda doubt they'll let me use them if I argue 'well, your Cultist minis are crap".

Fair enough about the bitz, I've edited my post accordingly.

Stairwells also sound like a cool idea, but make sure that they are either in so low angle that the models can stay there or make the steps large enough.
It's of course not that important if the models are not supposed to stay in the stairs.

Anyway, can't wait to see the results of all of these ideas!

That makes two of us, haha.

Re the stairwells, they'll all be big enough to accomodate up to 32mm bases on the stairs themselves and 60mm on the landings, because the image of a Heavy Weapons Team sitting at the top of the stairs and just mowing down the attackers coming up at them appeals greatly. At least one stairwell will have stairs that will be able to hold bases up to 60mm.

"We moved back, occupying building after building and turning them into strongholds. A soldat would crawl out of an occupied position only when the ground beneath them was on fire and their clothes beginning to smoulder."

- Paraphrased from the diary of Red Army soldier Anton Gosnik, who fought at Stalingrad

----------------------------------------------------------------------.

I am once again denied the big, berry-brown face of Gary Lineker, so I fired up GIMP and messed around instead of doing anything useful or tangible towards completing any of said ideas.

WIP, obviously



It says, from the top;

THE MOTHERLAND CALLS!

SHE STANDS FOR YOU
WILL YOU STAND
FOR HER?

KRONSTAAT IV WORKER'S DEFENCE FORCE

Or at least that's what I think it says. EDIT - Nope, I made a spelling mistake. Should be зовёт (zovyut), not зобет (zobet).



It says; TO THE WEST

As you can probably tell, I'm pretty much a complete noob when it comes to this sort of stuff, which is why both posters are different versions of, essentially, the same Posterize effect.

I realize it's probably tedious for you guys to have to look at walls of text with few or no modelling updates but I have to be honest in that shooting the [Expletive Deleted] back and forth with all of you over the last few days has been immensely helpful and has advanced this project a lot, even if there are not yet any visible results.

Now I just need to get off my arse and, you know, do stuff. Thank you all for indulging me.

The biggest problem with these little procrastinations of mine is that once they are started, I feel compelled to finish them. The same is true of miniature modelling and painting of course, they just don't get started because I procrastinate and then end up focused on procrastination.

Anyhoo, I made a few minor changes to colour saturations, brightness, contrast, spelling and text-alignment and am calling these done unless anyone can tell me why I shouldn't.

I figure I'll make the images smaller here this time, full-size can be seen in my Gallery.

Baby's First Photoshop;





Motherland, top, is based on the alternative front aspect pic I posted earler, Na Zapad is based on a photo I took 'cause I liked the shadow The Motherland Calls! cast on my wall, posted unedited below.



One last one, 'cause I was looking at photos of The Motherland Calls! and wondered if I could add a verdigris effect to a conrete statue.



Do you think I can?

No more, 'cause I'm out of ideas.

Here's roughly how they'll look once they're shrunk and pasted onto the terrain



Ok, one more 'cause I got the idea to do a billboard and wanted to do something a bit more Socialist Realism-esque



It says "FORWARD! FOR THE MOTHERLAND!

I'm done now. Pinky-swear.

FORWARD! FOR THE MOTHERLAND!

How matriarchal! jokes aside, they look absolutely great, but now the question remains, how do you get them on the Walls? Also will there be counter propaganda?

Yeah, Soviets called the CCCP "the Motherland."

Not my circus, not my monkeys.

They'll be shrunk to size, printed, cut out, a few will get ripped up and then they'll be literally just pasted on with a PVA glue wash, in much the same way old-fashioned bill posters used to do it.

Then they get the wire-brush treatment, 'cause this is a war-zone not Red Square.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Yeah, Soviets called the CCCP "the Motherland."

Not my circus, not my monkeys.

They'll be shrunk to size, printed, cut out, a few will get ripped up and then they'll be literally just pasted on with a PVA glue wash, in much the same way old-fashioned bill posters used to do it.

Then they get the wire-brush treatment, 'cause this is a war-zone not Red Square.

The soviets were just like the russians very consistent unlike us, we have Helvetia ( female allegory for switzerland) but name the country fatherland f.e. when there is a mobilisation.


As for the method, sounds about right, might want to test though since it potentially could harm the painted terrain.

So there will be no counter- propaganda then, or do you have planned that for later?
Actually you could use pristine ones, basically flyers dropped out of aerial vehicles?

It depends on what you mean by counter-propaganda. There'll be anti-Imperial, anti-government and pro-Chaos graffiti.

There won't be counter-propaganda posters.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
It depends on what you mean by counter-propaganda. There'll be anti-Imperial, anti-government and pro-Chaos graffiti.

There won't be counter-propaganda posters.

Sad, but anti government graffiti? Now you peaked my interest, can't wait to see that in action.

Well, while the details have drifted away from the Kronstadt Rebellion, the main plotline of this thing is still very much tied to it.

And unfortunately, the story of the Kronstadt Rebellion doesn't have a happy ending.

For anyone.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Well, while the details have drifted away from the Kronstadt Rebellion, the main plotline of this thing is still very much tied to it.

And unfortunately, the story of the Kronstadt Rebellion doesn't have a happy ending.

For anyone.

Trotzky: Comrades i have of great idea, Charge over ice.
80% of the first wave die..

Also Trotzky: pass more vodka

Well the Menschewiki certainly drew the shortstraw there.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Well, while the details have drifted away from the Kronstadt Rebellion, the main plotline of this thing is still very much tied to it.

And unfortunately, the story of the Kronstadt Rebellion doesn't have a happy ending.

For anyone.

Will you also model some ships?

Nope. There won't be any shore-line or water (except for maybe puddles and Barmaley Fountain) because of the whole modular aspect. I tried to figure out a way to do it because of the Dofasco Steelworks I'm planning to build, but I couldn't make it work.

It's not Kronstadt, which is an island on which Kotlin sits, it's Kronstaat IV, a planet whose capital is Kotlin. Totally different, haha. It's right on that fine-line between historical detail and abstracting the future. A tight-rope, really. I want it to be recognizably based on the Eastern Front, but vague enough that it doesn't offend or upset anyone because although it's probably pretty clear where my political loyalties lay, the point of this is neither 'boo Germany' nor 'yay CCCP'. It's just a little story about my toy soldiers.

I've also shifted the setting away from Kotlin, where my earlier fluff was set, to Rzhev.

Re ice; you'd think the sailors would have waited until the ice melted, but I guess they didn't anticipate the draconian response.

Who would be upset about the eastern front though? (justifyable i mean)
I mean from a practical standpoint you have 2 of the 3 worst regimes period butchering each other, in the name of the "greater good" whatever that entailed for both sides.

As for upsetting anyone, that can just happen because you play a "wargame" heck i got bothered by a pazifist and a far left- winger in a train because of my transport bag for my miniatures.

Whether it's justifiable or not, I''d just rather skip having to deal with it.

I can, to be fair, see how this could be taken as a tribute to Stalinism, if viewed from a certain angle. On the other hand, I can see how some people would get offended by casually equating sailors who bravely stood up for their beliefs and soldiers who fought bravely and died for their country with traitorous daemon-worshippers.

So while it uses details from the Soviet-era to build a world and a theme, there is no wider point or meaning to this beyond "Chaos did it".

I am not using The Motherland Calls! in the context of it being a memorial to the Great Patriotic War. It's just another nod to the setting.

Oh, it'll sound odd saying this now, after that, but I did plan on having fliers and leaflets strewn around the place, yes. When the Independent Coastal Army abandoned Odessa to reinforce Sevastopol they air-dropped a ton of leaflets over Odessa apologizing but promising they would be back, so that's something I want to nod to, as well.

There'll also be posters bearing military orders. STAVKA Order No. 227, springs to mind.

I am not using The Motherland Calls! in the context of it being a memorial to the Great Patriotic War. It's just another nod to the setting.

I understand that and most people will understand it , my point however was that people of extremist standpoints (radical probably better but regardless) can and will see a problem in it, and there comes a point where in my opinion, you can't make them happy ergo you don't need to give a gak about them, regardless what they say and regardless on which spectrum they are on.
You can't make them happy in the first place, just do your thing.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

There'll also be posters bearing military orders. STAVKA Order No. 227, springs to mind.

Come to think of it, my grandfather still has the total mobilisation order from 1914 from his father hanging around, if you want i could take a picture tommorow and send it to you for Inspiration.

Great army, subscribing!

The last billboard is probably my favorite, that one captures the feel of "real"* propaganda the best

*as real as propagand can be, i mean.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Great army, subscribing!

Thanks. There may even be miniatures posted here, one day.

amazingturtles wrote:The last billboard is probably my favorite, that one captures the feel of "real"* propaganda the best

*as real as propagand can be, i mean.

Thank. I tend to agree. I'm sure it's not coincidental that it was also the last one made, after I'd been messing around in GIMP for about twelve hours, and deliberately tried to ape the Socialist Realism agitprop style. IMO, the first one looks like a poster for a (bad) Soviet movie and the 'verdigris' one kinda looks like Komsomolskaya Pravda ripped off Time. I really like Na Zapad, personally, but of course I'm biased and my opinions on my own work should be discounted.

I might go back at some point and add drop shadows and some other stuff to the others, but they're going to be so small by the time they're shrunk down I doubt you could tell.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Not Online!!! wrote:


Come to think of it, my grandfather still has the total mobilisation order from 1914 from his father hanging around, if you want i could take a picture tomorow and send it to you for Inspiration.

I didn't see this until just now. If you wouldn't mind, that would be amazing. I'll PM you my email address.

AFAIK, I only had one relative fight in the Great War. He was killed in action at the 1917 Battle of Arras, in France.

Give me a minute, btw my family is whole swiss, the only thing we fought was hunger thanks to blockade politics and political radicals of the (communist /socialist / social-democratic variant) so it is not "Russian" style propaganda.