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Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I am not sure it this is Fantasy, Sci-fi, or something different as it is flying battleships of WWI! I guess that makes it alt-History, Aeronef or Weird War One? So confusing. Anyway......

I am starting to see Castles in the Sky up for Pre-sale at various online book sellers. It is slated for a June 2022 release date.



The blurb:
A wargaming ruleset for epic pre-WW1 battles in the sky.

It's the dawn of the 20th Century and the Great Powers turn to war. Since the development of the air screw, leading to the creation of flying warships, the navies of the world have comprised an ever-growing number of these aerial ironclads. So fire up the turbines, ready the aether drives, and take to the air in Castles in the Sky: A Wargame of Flying Battleships.

Featuring all the rules required to fight battles with fleets of flying behemoths. Assemble your fleet from 9 nationalities and fight through a variety of scenarios. With a full campaign system, Castles in the Sky contains everything
adventurous aeronautical admirals need to find victory in the skies.


I really like the front cover as it highlights a few key aspects of the game:

1. Altitude matters
2. Big ships in the sky!
3. Italian and Austro-Hungarian ships on the cover (and other powers in the book)
4. There are aeroplanes

The art on the inside and the photos of the miniature ships is really great too! The interior is models from Brigade and they look amazing! The artwork is like the cover, only it looks at various nations, the crews, some smaller craft, etc. Really great stuff!

The rules are good too, if I do say so myself!

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Made in us
Dakka Veteran




Seattle, WA USA

Congrats on the publish! I may have to pick up a copy to add to my collection of rule books.
   
Made in gb
Revving Ravenwing Biker



Wrexham, North Wales

Is the intention for there to be a model or two for it, or is it a 'grab your mini's from other ranges' type deal?
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

It is scale and model agnostic, but Brigade has a great range!

http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/ImperialSkies/Flotilla%20Packs.html

Here is the older British fleet.....



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Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







If it catches on, surely some enterprising artist will start an STL patreon!

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Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Hopefully so.

Someone found a 3D printer on shapeways and was using an earlier version of the game to play Last Exile games with it.

I think you mentioned an interest in Last Exile, but for the life of me, I can not recall who that fellow Dakkanaut was! I hope they read this and post up!

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Made in dk
Fresh-Faced New User




Sorry for the thread resurrection, but are Easy E the auther of Castles in the Sky?

I preorder it and have read it through once and might have a couple of rule questions.

/Cytisus
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

He is.

While I'm here, Google Play Bookstore has the rulebook for $9.99 on sale, along with the rest of the osprey line.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I am pretty active on this forum, so feel free to PM me.

I also have a Blood and Spectacles Blog and a Blood and Spectacles message board you can use for Q&A as well.

Typically, I collect Q&A for about 6 months to a year before releasing an official FAQ on my blog. Depends on my schedule though.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

Got my fleets ordered! I picked up the Japanese and US grand fleet packs from Brigade, plus some fighter and bomber stands.

I was wondering, Easy, if you had thought about including dedicated carriers in the rules, or how they'd work balance wise. The Brigade carrier minis are pretty cool, and they'd be a fun centerpiece for larger fleets.

   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Dedicated carriers were never really "in scope" for what I was building. After all, during the Age of Dreadnoughts the battleship and the cannon was still the decisive arm. Therefore, I chose to downplay carriers and aeroplanes in the rules. The feel was to be more WWI and not so much WWII.

All that said, the rules do have everything you need to play a more dedicated carrier heavy game, you just need some carrier profiles.

I look forward to see what players decide to do with the rules now. I know all wargamers like to tinker with rules.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here are some flip-throughs from Youtube for your enjoyment:

RJL Games
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja9UDAH_Jl8

NotJay's Tabletop Gaming
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TILORc9wzQ

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/06/28 20:02:51


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Made in de
Regular Dakkanaut





GMG Reviews has just posted a short review of the book:




Actually made me order the book, looking forward to this.

I wonder how useful the DW airships are for this? The visual style should fit perfectly, and I guess the modular weapon options are useful for a variety of lists? I was about to order the upcoming Magenta Battlefleet set anyway, but now I need it even more. And Warcradle has more airships coming over the next months - a nice aligning of the star... clouds!
   
Made in de
Regular Dakkanaut





Another first look at the book I found well done:




Is there a website dedicated to the game? Some quick reference sheet would be appreciated. Other than that a single place to find a variety of model manufacturers for ships and/or terrain would be useful. Over time some more scenarios might not be a bad idea either.
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

There is not a website dedicated solely to Castles in the Sky. However, my Blood and Spectacles blog has some resources....

Resources:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2017/02/resources-castles-in-sky.html

Some paper templates and tokens for the game thanks to Robert Kurcina from the Delta Vector forum.

Design Notes:
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2022/04/wargame-design-castles-in-sky.html

Some of the thinking behind the game and why certain choices were made.

Of course, the blog also has a ton of battle reports. The ones from this year are using the Osprey version of the rules.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in de
Regular Dakkanaut





 Easy E wrote:
There is not a website dedicated solely to Castles in the Sky. However, my Blood and Spectacles blog has some resources....

Will there be a dedicated CitS page, or will you keep it all on the B&S blog? An easy to find "central hub" for the game would surely help, as the search function on the blog is... less than excellent to put it mildly.

 Easy E wrote:
Resources:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2017/02/resources-castles-in-sky.html

Some paper templates and tokens for the game thanks to Robert Kurcina from the Delta Vector forum.

Design Notes:
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2022/04/wargame-design-castles-in-sky.html

Some of the thinking behind the game and why certain choices were made.

Both of these are nice, thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

As mentioned already: some QRS would be appreciated for sure.

 Easy E wrote:
Of course, the blog also has a ton of battle reports. The ones from this year are using the Osprey version of the rules.

The blogs search function gives me unsorted results, which is both frustrating and not exactly helpful. A separate page could solve this, by providing only the content relevant to CitS and sorted into a variety of intuitive categories. I also hope some social media presence (FB, Instagram, Twitter, Discord) will follow at some point?

Of course I have absolutely no idea what ressources you have available, this is merely a wish list of sorts. Looking forward to the game either way!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/05 20:43:41


 
   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







Ordered a few days before the GMG review. Bookdepository has them at 14€ for the EU.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/06 09:31:51


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Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

 Darnok wrote:

The blogs search function gives me unsorted results, which is both frustrating and not exactly helpful.


Simple solution is to not use the search function, use the Castles in the Sky and Aeronef tags instead. Easy E made it easy for you by tagging all of the relevant posts with it. The posts are all sorted by date.

http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/search/label/Castles%20in%20the%20Sky
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/search/label/Aeronef

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in de
Regular Dakkanaut





chaos0xomega wrote:
 Darnok wrote:

The blogs search function gives me unsorted results, which is both frustrating and not exactly helpful.


Simple solution is to not use the search function, use the Castles in the Sky and Aeronef tags instead. Easy E made it easy for you by tagging all of the relevant posts with it. The posts are all sorted by date.

http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/search/label/Castles%20in%20the%20Sky
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/search/label/Aeronef

That's helpful, thank you!
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

I would also like a QRS!

What should go on it, apart from the obvious? Maybe commands and their relevant pages?

   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I was also curious what people wanted on a QRS?

Commands?
Damage Charts?
Weapon vs Ship Category Mods?


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Made in de
Regular Dakkanaut





The ideal Quick Reference Sheet should have, on a single page (or two at most): the basic turn structure and what to do, the most important relevant basic and special rules in short form (with page reference to the full rules), any tables used regularly.

This is off the top of my head, I would need the actual book in my hands for more detailed suggestions.
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I have an event coming up on the 23rd, so should have some QRS stuff around that time to add to the blog.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

For those interested in a Castles in the Sky Quick Reference Sheet, you can find a draft PDF here:

https://bloodandspectacles.proboards.com/thread/168/castles-sky-qrs

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in ca
Knight of the Inner Circle




Montreal, QC Canada

My local game store actually has the book in stock. I didn't get it over the weekend as I usually prefer to wait for an Osprey sale to load up on books.

I might make an exception for this one though.

Commodus Leitdorf Paints all of the Things!!
The Breaking of the Averholme: An AoS Adventure
"We have clearly reached the point where only rampant and unchecked stabbing can save us." -Black Mage 
   
Made in de
Regular Dakkanaut





I got the book from my FLGS as well. It is also available through normal book suppliers.

Meanwhile I have put my idea into reality, using the DW Union Frontline Squadron to build one big and two small arships:







It is not perfect, but good enough for me. I could have done some more with additional bits, but wanted to use strictly the parts from one box.

The same basic principle should work with pretty much all DW ships, as long as two identical hulls are used. Not all factions work equally well in my opinion, but this is a matter of taste - I would love to see what others come up with using the same approach. I will do another "fleet" once the Sultanate Frontline Squadron gets here, and having ordered the Magenta Battlefleet Set as well I will have three small forces to play with.

My biggest issue right now - other than getting the ships painted - is that they fit none of the rulebook datasheets well. Is there a possibility to get "build your own ship"-rules?

   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







That's pretty clever, if a bit expensive.

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Made in de
Regular Dakkanaut





 lord_blackfang wrote:
That's pretty clever, if a bit expensive.

I don't think it's that expensive.

One "Squadron" box (about $30) gives you at least one big and two smaller ships. Assuming you count them as a cruiser and two frigates/destroyers, these add up to about 14 points ("operational value" in the game). Most scenarios call for forces between 20 and 25 points.

So with two boxes you have a choice for a variety of lists - for around $60, maybe less depending on available discounts. Maybe not exactly cheap, but hardly expensive either.



P.S.: Having said all that: this not meant as an advert for DW products!

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2022/07/20 16:00:16


 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

That is super clever Darnok!

Many folks have asked for Build-your-own rules, so I have started some work on them, but they have a LONG way to go.

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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

That's awesome!

I'm planning to run a club game in September with some homemade ships, so I'll use the QRS and report back on any questions, clarifications, or potentially missing sections that players may want. Thanks for putting one together!

   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







I saw someone on Facebook sculpting a 3d printable airship specifically for CitS, forgot to save it.

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