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moknin — Tirpitz over the Western Front

Published: 2012-03-28 10:37:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 1896; Favourites: 24; Downloads: 1
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Description My first digital painting by photoshop! I surprised myself by finishing it in only 5 days instead of weeks as I thought I am new to this medium

Last year I had this idea of a Flash game set in an alternative 1928 where WW1 never ended and both side developed fleet of heavily-armed airships to break the stalemate on land. Although it never materializes, the images of gigantic flying battleship was always in my head. Afterall I just like to play with what give the impression of BIG and HUGE. Zeppelin or otherwise

Speak of the abandoned game project, how about some background info? I feel like typing shit anyway:
The 'Tirpitz' is the first ship in the Kaiserliche Luftflotte (Imperial Air Fleet), which was founded as a solution to the ever-thickening Allied trenchs accumulated in a decade of war. She participated in the gas bombardment on London, intended to demoralize Allied leadership. Instead it compelled the Allies to develop its own air fleet. As the design began to show its age she was reassigned to Berlin to terrorize endless food rioters and rioting workers, to patrol against arms struggles from Trotsky's Bolshevik Russia and anarchist collectives in Spain.

The soldiers are from the Landwehr reserve, seen from their old uniform. However the guy in the left is carrying a standard K-98AZ carbine (the G-98 was phased out due to its cumbersomeness). His comrade is carrying an old MG-08/15, which is being phased out for the air-cooling MG-08/26.
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Comments: 3

O-b-s-e-r-v-e-R [2012-07-25 15:37:25 +0000 UTC]

thumbs up!!!!! well done for the first painting in photoshop!

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moknin [2012-07-08 12:28:34 +0000 UTC]

haha actually in the game I was planning airship was more of a ground support platform. In the game the player is a commander of the German Army on the Western Front, and airship is more of an asset than protagonist. I actually planned several type of airship, each give the player a different ability:

1. Flying Battleship (FBB): like the Tirpitz, allow the use of 13mm machine gun barrages on enemy infantry and artillery bombardment by 305mm and 150mm guns
2. Air Cruiser: modified LZ-type zeppelin used in real life. Unlike the gun-carrying FBB it carries bombs, but otherwise lacking in air defense. It allows different types of bombing run including gas bombing.
3. Air Fortress: The exact opposite of the standard Air Cruiser, this one is completely outfitted with heavy MGs and light to mid-caliber AA guns for defending against enemy aircraft, intended to be a 'strongpoint' in a fleet formation. May even extend into a kind of airborne aircraft carrier. Its presence can reduce threat from enemy airplanes. It also offers ability to deny enemy air movement or offer fighter support
4. Air Destroyer: A smaller but fast moving version of Air Fortress. It was designed to hunt down enemy fighter squadron

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rjpugh [2012-07-06 13:07:32 +0000 UTC]

This reminded me of a scenario my brother made up for an alternate WW-II. His original scenario had the USS Iowa and the DKM Bismark having it out off the coast of Iceland; two of the largest sea going dreadnoughts ever built going mono e mono. It made a great scenario in a war game.

In the timeline you're using, it would have two giant airships fighting each other Monitor/Merrimack style: the SMS Tirpitz (shown here) vs. the HMS Ark Royal (an equally large British battle-dirigible) fighting each other over the Netherlands, or something like that.

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