'Over the Top with U.S. Marines' - my first WW2044 poster!
"In 2014, as the Great War erupted in Europe, the U.S Recruitment Office commissioned the creation of a series of propaganda posters to urge young men to recruit in the Army and Marines. These large-scale recruiting campaigns were supported with giant posters and billboards that espoused the need for national service, as well as urging the home front to purchase war bonds and save fuel to support the growing army.
One such iconic poster is the 'Go Over The Top with U.S. Marines' poster, first published in 2016. This dynamic poster, realized in the iconic style of HG Leyendecker, depicts a fireteam of U.S. marine charging a position with modern light recon equipment. The equipment itself warrants closer inspection. Notably, the front soldier is carrying an MCX 'SIG Spear' rifle, which would not in fact enter service until 2020 (by then, the M4A2 was still a standard issue battle rifle).
However, it became common practice to depict only the most cutting edge technology on posters, and the MCX series of rifles - and it's associated 6.8mm cartridge - was at that time being considered for widespread army use."
How It's Made
World War 2044 is our stab at blending alt-history with an entirely new genre - grounded military sci-fi! In brief, we are reimagining classic WWII battles but with modern tech. The challenge for WW2044 was figuring out what a 'vintage' propaganda poster would actually look like. I struggled with this for a long time, until a fellow Discord member sent me a copy of the original 'Go Over the Top with U.S. Marines' poster (attributed to John A. Coughlin). That was the breakthrough!
I ended up redrawing the entire poster with a modern U.S. Marine, featuring what I think is one of the best-looking rifles in service today: the SIG Sauer MCX Spear in 6.8mm (5.56 fans look away). Freely available 3D models of the MCX online were a huge help in setting up the base reference. And for those who love that kind of detail, you can spot the serial and calibre markings right on the receiver.
The final piece keeps that classic WW1 composition - the charging lead figure, the flag carriers and riflemen silhouetted in the golden background, but replaces everything else with modern kit. Multicam gear, GPNVG18 night vision, a suppressor. The boys are, as the kids say, dripped out.
Community & Patreon Support
A big thank you to Conical P.M., our top Patreon backer who joined to support WW2044, and was kind enough to lend me reference photos of his personal service kit. That kind of support makes the detail work possible, and it's genuinely appreciated.
Art prints and Patreon backing are a huge part of how we fund everything at KCC, so if you'd like to support future projects (and potentially appear in one!) the link is below.
🖼️ The 'Go Over the Top with U.S. Marines' modernized propaganda poster is available now in the KCC merch shop.
🪖 Enlist in the Kaiser Cat Collective: Discover our Patreon Programme
🪖 WW2044 Project Site