DARKSTAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: DUCHESS ANNABEL’S WAR IS OVER
New 3D Scratch-Build Miniatures complete! (P2)
Scratch-built miniatures for Darkstar starship tactical wargame.
So the largest miniatures here are for heavy cruiser. Just under two inches long.
The smallest ones are the destroyers, about 1.5 inches.
This makes the minis about 1:9000 scale (destroyers in this game mass about 45000-52000 tons, about 850 feet long).
Smaller ships (not built yet) would include frigates, then corvettes, and finally gunboats (about the side of the Millenium Falcon).
Larger ships would include pocket battleships, battlecruiser, battleships, supercarriers, and superdreadnoughts (600-650,000 tons, about 3-4 kilometers in length).
Close up of the Japanese heavy cruiser task force (port quarter)
Close up of the British (starboard bow). 
Close up of the Japanese (starboard bow). 
Excellent stuff, looks really good. When do we see the game come out on Kickstarter? I’ll back it!
Thanks very much, @gremlin ! Honestly, a lot of changes would have to be made to make this game “package-able” for commercial sale.
Lovely ships Jim .Are the rules about anywhere?
Thanks, @torros – we have all the fluff and background in this thread somewhere, and the turn sequence, charts, samples tarships record sheets, etc. Actual rules? Not yet. The game was largely re-written this summer and we’re still playtesting. Every time we think we’re close we hit a new snag. The snags are getting smaller, the latest is for the very largest ships in the game (Battleships) – the math just didn’t expand right from the smaller classes. And to be honest, to make it “publishable” would almost require a third re-write … just to get the game to where… Read more »
I like the new factions . I really hope there is an area of space called Kashmiri
@torros – 🙂 Literally, no. Metaphorically, yes. Indian Republic and Arab League had a very nasty war in the background fluff called the “Aquarius War” – where several key colonies and star systems remain in bitter contention. While the warships in this verse can go wherever they want (within our rather modest limits of “Darkwave” FTL travel, of course), more commonplace commercial travel is often handled by automated drones that endlessly shuttle raw materials and manufacturing along established, pre-navigated shipping lanes. These are slow even by our FTL standards, which means in order to maximize profit, the shortest distance is… Read more »
Have you looked into using Vassal for playtesting? I’m not entirely sure what it takes to make a game module, but I do know you can make anything from checkers to full wargames using it. You can (I believe) even use the ship charts, and interact with them by putting counters and whatnot on them, like with the damage model. It supports real-time, email, or even forum based gameplay.
Thanks, @sigmundr – yes, people have approached me about Vassal, for other projects, though (Panzer Leader, etc).
At the moment I don’t think it’s a good fit, there is just too much math that goes into the design of the ships )up to player’s choice).
Then again, if I just came up with a list of available ship types – in other words, took player control AWAY from the players when it comes to ship design … it’s possible?
Definitely experimenting with remote play options, but mostly for shared desktop models like Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, Skype screensharing, etc.
Turned out beautiful!
Thanks, @davehawes! 😀
These are looking great. Not just as scratch build miniatures in their own right but also as inspiration for anyone who wants to scratchbuild their own custom fleet.
For release, could you do a core release and then an expanded release? So the core release is the rules to fight and choose ships from those commonly found in the fleets of the age. Once people get used to that then you could look at releasing an “expansion” in the form of ship design rules? People then have the choice of Darkstar “light” and “Advanced” Darkstar.
That would definitely be the way it would have to be done, @muakhah. 😀