I think that the Axis should come out with a Zepplin attack craft. The SSU gets a Hind-like chopper, I think the Blimp would be appropriate.

Plus we know they are due for some rocket troops.

Something along those lines would indeed be cool. And it would make sense since the axis always had the slowest units in the game (though packing a heavy punch).

That would be one big-ass model !!!!

They would need to invent some new ways of constructing those things after world war I....

Also i don't think it's engeenering wise to bulid big ballons while you have the tech to make big choppers:D

Might as well have some infantry out there with spears and shields. :-p

Blimps are getting more use in the modern world US military, and kept going for some time after WW2 for the originals. Their final problem until the modern era was dealing with the wind to stay aloft and controlable. VK tech might help with that.

The US kept doing more with full on derigibles because we had the world's best supply of helium, so our blimps didn't have to worry about fire as much.

A big zeppelin would look very cool, but they've never been known for maneuverability, and tend to be big. I don't know how well they fit with Mr Parente's vision for the DUST world, but they might.

I picture one more as something to have flying troops fighting around for a scenario, rather than as a battlefield vehicle. Blimps that aren't televising events tend to stay very high in the sky. An airborne scenario option if they decide to let the rocket troops go fully airborne would be rather cool.

I wasn't talking about a full scale Hindlinberg Blimp. Something much smaller in that style. One that might cover 2 squares on the board. Like a 1 man attack craft. A full blown passenger liner blimp may as well be a 747.

Psykostevo said:

There is a manufacturer of these - blowed if I can think who though.

Psykostevo said:

Like the dirigibles in Final Fantasy VII (was it VII?)?. just a pilot and a squad?

@Gimp - a bigass one that people are fighting in/around like the Rocketeer would be cool.

/No ticket!

I loved the Rocketeer! As a kid I was preprogrammed into this ALternate World War scene. Something bout the axis is evil and romantic all at the same time. Like the phantom of the opera is.

Psykostevo said:

Is it possible Psykosteve really is the Phantom of the Opera??? I loved the opera as well.

Psykostevo said:

Small blimps accentuate the problems with wind and control, as they have less mass to resist the wind, or they need bigger size to accomodate bigger engines to fight it with. That's why balloons don't mount engines; they don't have the lift to carry them at their size, so they drift or stay tethered.

With an assumed ground scale of 50 meters per space (which I consider the minimum space scale), and matching ground scale instead of the other models' scale, the Hindenburg would only be 5 spaces long, and it was a huge ship. It could also carry 70 passengers, which would probably match its combat troop load. Allow it to carry a walker, and that would drop to probably one medium or two light, at most. If you used it as a mobile airborne command center, its combat troop complement would be smaller. The Goodyear Blimps are much smaller, and would just about fit in a single space at 59 meters, but only have a six passenger limit without luggage, so they couldn't carry many fully equipped troops.

A two space blimp would be workable for a squad transport, but it wouldn't have a huge lift capacity. Of course, that's also considering using blimps at a different scale due to their altitude. As 1:48th scale vehicles, to match the actual models, a Goodyear Blimp equivalent would be 121cm (48") long for a squad transport, and a Hindenburg derigible equivalent would be 510cm (200") long to carry walkers. Matching scale blimps or derigibles would be battlefield sized.

My biggest issue with blimps on the battlefield is that they were never low altitude combat craft. They were the high flying bombers and cargo carriers instead of low level craft where tracer rounds would be a serious threat if they used hydrogen for lift.

And lazer weapons were mainstream in 1944. This game isn't just about what's real. But good insight.

rather than actual zeppelin models...

why not run the zeppelin as the actual battlefield...

troops air dropped onto it, so no walkers....


you could easilly simulate a 2-cell airship using the landing craft as nose cones, and a 2x2 tile space for the body of the blimp...

it'd be a small, cramped fight, but with rules like "Hydrogen is Dangerous" (Missed attacks with flamethrowers/lasers might set a square on fire... fire spreads...)

you could manage to keep the combat managable...


as for "small" slow moving aircraft interacting with the battlefield.... somehow i see them being a bit of a bullet magnet...

That scenario should be incredible... I can picture it!

In the end of WW2 the Germans build the first pure flying wing powered by a jet engine, the Horten Ho 229.

Take a look at the Dust Tactics Comics and you can find 3 of them attacking a group of KV.

Sort of like the Captain America plane. Oh yes, this would be a sweeeeet axis aircraft!

I bet on the " Rechsflugscheibe ";