Coastal Raid

And now for something else entirely.

I haven't played many games this past month, busy with preparations for the tournament and then, feeling a little tired of all things DW, turned to painting some Uncharted Seas ships and putting together components to try playing a game of Spanish Fury Sail!

Lacking any guide for running a DW tournament, I spent some time looking into how Warmachine events are organized, etc.  And it got me interested in actually trying out a game of what, at first glance, appears to be the skirmish land conflict equivalent of DW.  So, my Usual Opponent and I split the cost of a battle box, I dug out some figures I had painted last year but never put on the table, and we tried a quick game with 15 points on each side.

We used Khador figures as Protectorate proxies using Vladimir for Kreoss and a squad of Mechanics to represent Cinerators (I'm sure this is an action which would brand both of us heretics, but we didn't even have his figures assembled), and I loaned a Manhunter solo to my Usual Opponent to give him the single point he needed to form a 15-point force.  I explained that the Manhunter had gone rogue and was working as something of a mercenary; maybe he had been captured and brainwashed?

DW Game Accessories

I spent all of my painting time these past two weeks working on ship models for Uncharted Seas, but I have been playing Dystopian Wars and putting together some new components for my fleet.  I prefer the size of the US counters, so I scaled down the player's aid tokens from the PDF available on the Spartan website:  http://www.spartangames.co.uk/resources/downloads

The six main critical hit effects fit nicely on some old dice I had, creating some Critical Hit Effect Cubes which are large enough to read but not so large they obscure the model.

I also printed out a new set of stat cards, created by a fan and posted on the Spartan Games forum HERE. 

The Glorious 6th of November

Dystopian Wars VA Autumn Event 2011

We had more than a dozen players for our DWVA Autumn Event which included three rounds of a Dystopian Wars tournament with 10 registered players and a 3-way exposition game of Uncharted Seas.

Here are the full rankings for the DW tournament:

1. Andy - Prussians

2. Kyle - CoA
3. Steve - CoA
4. Brian - CoA

5. Dave - KoB

6. John - Prussians

7. Trevor - KoB (with French leanings)

8. Greg - FSA

9. Nate - KoB

And, last but definitely not least, and only a mere 2 points behind Nate....

10. Jack - Empire of the Burning Sun

The first three placed players won store credit, and Andy also took the Best Painted Fleet prize. 

The runner-up for best painted fleet was our winner at the Uncharted Seas event last year, Mike with his incredible Orc ships.

DW Sunday at End Game Center

Last week my usual opponent and I took a drive down south to meet some new DW players and check out a game store I visited when I first moved to the area three years ago.  We played a game of DW and talked about the game with other players.  The big DWVA Autumn Event 2011 is only a week away now, and Kyle wanted to play a practice game with his 800 point fleet.

Kyle's Covenant fleet moves into position; with 800 points he included both a battleship and a flagship; I included, for the Blazing Sun, an unpainted Kraken as a proxy for the Mechanical Squid, along with the battleship Ontake.

Battle of Castle Rock Island

A mist forms above the cold, still waters of the Sorylian Sea around Ratrap Island.  Ships take shape in the mist, black smoke belching from their stacks, the hiss of steam from engines, as two Dwarven fleets approach Castle Rock on the island renowned for the presense of a sinister mage.

Our first proper game of Uncharted Seas in more than a month, we started by setting out the sea mat and islands to play Dreadfleet, but we decided to break out the reliable old fleets instead.  800 points in each fleet, no composition rules and no special objectives.  I placed my Shroud Mages along the southern edge of the space, a pair of frigates to the north scouting for a battleship, then a pair of heavy cruisers, the flagship Lightbringer, a squadron of Adept Destroyers, and, somewhere, a Ripper Submersible lurked beneath the becalmed waters.  And barely three feet away, suddenly appearing as the fog lifts slightly, and just within long range, was Admiral Redhammer's fleet of Iron Dwarves with battleship, flagship, heavy cruisers, destroyers, and their Cursed Bellows Skyships.

Start of Turn 1:  Iron Dwarves to the North and Shroud Mages to the South.  Note the coffee mug from the Blogger's favorite used bookstore just beyond the southwest corner of the board; not for any good reason, I was just very pleased to be sipping hot coffee from my Powell's mug while playing my usual opponent my favorite tabletop naval game on a new sea mat during a comfortable Sunday afternoon.  No harm in recognizing the pleasure of having the time (and cash) to enjoy this hobby.

Our First (and Last) Game of Dreadfleet

My usual Dwarven opponent, the one that usually sinks my Thaniras Elven fleet, stopped by last night to try Dreadfleet.  We just played a trial game, the Dwarven ship proxied by his Iron Dwarf Dreadnought against the Shadewraithe which I had just started painting.  We started on opposite sides of the map, about 36 inches apart, and our respective ships closed, each opening broadside failing to scratch the other.  On the first turn both ships were pelted by a rain of sea snakes which were swept from the deck out of hand.

By turn 3 my Shadewraithe had pulled alongside the Dwarven ship and fired a volley which managed to damage some crew, but then the Dwarven ship moved into a stern raking position, and canonballs smashed the mizzenmast into so many splinters (corporeal or otherwise), reducing the speed of the Shadewraithe by several points.  Meanwhile, according to Fate, a Bone Hydra (represented by the beautiful yet unpainted merfolk) emerged from the waves and attacked the Shadwraithe.

The Shadewraithe's crew finally repelled the Bone Hydra which slipped back between the waves, but not before the Dwarven ship approached to ram the port side.  A brief action ensued with the Dwarven captain wounded by the Shadewraithe's Wraith-Captain, and the Shadewraithe managed to successfully escape jeoopardy and, the grappling hooks from the Dwarven ship slipping through the ghost ship, slowly started around the south side of the volcano island.  But the Dwarven ship took immediate action, repaired damage, and by turn 5 the two ships were again trading broadsides at point-blank range before a ferocious boarding action ensued.

We finally called the game, deciding we would have preferred to spend the hour playing Uncharted Seas.

On the positive side, both of us enjoyed playing on the sea mat, and we agreed it was equivalent to a twenty dollar value of the total cost.  Also, my opponent wanted to buy the Dwarven ship, still on the sprue, for ten bucks.   Despite the fragility of the models, compared to the certain heft of Spartan resin & metal ships, we determined each model worth 8-12 dollars just for the detail alone.  And the assortment of islands are cool, not to mention the measuring stick which I've been painting bleached bone white with brass highlighted inch numbers.  So, in the end, I feel the price was worth the ship models, islands, play mat, and the inspiration provided by the Fate & Damage cards to develop my own "perfect" tabletop naval game.

DW Tournament

Place: The Game Vault, Fredericksburg, VA

Date: Sunday, November 6th
Time: Dice roll at 11am
Cost: $5
Prizes: 1st Place: 50% of all entry fees, 2nd Place: 30% of all entry fees, 3rd Place: 20% of all entry fees

Because of the demand for something including Uncharted Seas, I'm also going to run a multi-player scenario for Uncharted Seas starting at noon.  Only DW players will pay the $5 entry fee and be eligible for victory winnings for the DW event.  The "best painted fleet" by secret ballot, however, will be open to both DW and US players.

Naval Clash in the Bermuda Triangle
Fleets from all corners of the globe clash in the Bermuda Triangle in search for and take control of a Sturginium Gate rumored to be recently discovered in the area.

Winning Conditions:  Three rounds will be resolved between random pairings by lottery of players and their respective fleets.  Accumulated Victory Point scores from all rounds combined will determine first, second, and third place winners.  Each player will participate in 3 different scenarios against opponents.  Late players may be allowed to participate, but only in remaining rounds.

Fleet composition:  400 and 800 point fleets according to Tournament Game specifications according to DW rule book page 28.  In each fleet there must be at least 1 squadron each of Small, Medium, and Large.  Painted models are not required.  Different fleet compositions may be used in each round, and the 400 point may be part of or completely separate from the 800 point force.  Please bring a copy of your fleet lists to share which include ship and squadron point costs as a courtesy to your opponents.

Special Conditions:  This is primarily a naval engagement; land units may be included in fleet lists, but deployment and area of operations for land units will be severely limited by the few islands involved in scenarios; include steam tanks with your force at your own risk.

Air Support:  The contested area is far out to sea, beyond the range of Tiny Flyers from land airstrips.  Bombers are within range as well as Tiny Flyers attached to carriers.  But no 10 free tokens of Tiny Flyers are allowed in any rounds.

Victory Points:  VP will be counted according to enemy ships destroyed and damaged beyond 50% in addition to bonuses for completing objectives according to respective scenarios.  Scenario objectives will be revealed at the start of the respective rounds of the tournament.  Each registered player starting the tournament on time will be able to participate in all three different scenarios.

Registration:  Pre-registered players on the DWVA forum will receive a custom badge at the start of the event.  Register at:  http://www.etcinversus.com/dw/forum/

Special Prize:  Also, we'll have a secret ballot among all players for the best painted fleet, DW or US, and I'll personally buy a paint pot of the winner's choice and award a certificate suitable for display in the admiral's quarters.

The new human imperial ships coming out for Uncharted Seas feature some topgallant sails... more sails all around.  Now it's time for me to begin learning how to rig model ships in earnest.

Thoughts on opening my new copy of Dreadfleet

"Wow!  This castle island will look great as a fortress for DW games."

 

"The black kraken will make an awesome proxy for the Blazing Sun mechanical squid, and it's just the right size!"

 

"The dragon models are perfect tokens for my dragon carrier ship for my Dragon Lords faction in US."

 

"These two ships will work great as heavy cruisers for my Imperial Human fleet in US."

 

"The Tomb Kings galley will fit right into my Bone Griffons fleet in US."

 

"This High Elven ship will work fine as an Elven merchant ship, if nothing else in US games."

 

"Wow, the shipwrecks are cool!  I need more shipwreck markers for Uncharted Seas!"

  

"I wonder if I can incorporate these great FATE and DAMAGE cards into Uncharted Seas?"

The Grand Alliance

Since I started tabletop wargaming with some passion two years ago I've had my eye on Games Workshop, specifically the Warhammer Fantasy Battles, and I even went so far as to sign up for a forum for players with a preference for Wood Elves, even tinkered with some Mantic elven spearmen figures in some Autumnal colors, but I never purchased any new GW products.

Until now.  When I saw the news of the Dreadfleet release I started looking for information on Man'O'War in a way I started looking for information on Battlefleet Gothic when I bought and started playing Battleship Galaxies two weeks ago (and BG was the first Hasbro game I've bought in decades).  Sure, I read the hype along with the skepticism, but critics of everything produced by GW remind me of the days when I was involved in the live rock music scene when I lived out on the West Coast with cool dudes talking about bands selling out because they got a record deal.  Dreadfleet caught my interest because it's a fantasy naval game, and I can't seem to get enough of those lately.

I bought a copy of Traflagar a few months ago, a bit late, but I was interested in how the system compared to Uncharted Seas as well as some other historical naval games I've played, like Wooden Ships & Iron Men or Flying Colours.  I suppose my used copy of Trafalgar was technically my first GW purchase, but with Dreadfleet my money when directly to GW through my FLGS.  And I felt justified by my purchase, especially after I opened the box.  Sure, there were an awful lot of skulls on those islands, but nothing a little flocking couldn't help, and the models certainly looked better in person than they did on the Beasts of War video I watched the previous week.  The scale was about right, and I saw no reason why I couldn't incorporate most of these ships, wrecks, and islands into my regular games of Uncharted Seas.

But the system, simple enough, really grabbed my attention with the FATE and DAMAGE cards.  Sure, Uncharted Seas is designed for fleet actions, fun and fast, but Dreadfleet looks like a game for a few big ships firing broadsides into each other at close range.  So, why not take the system for a spin?

Covenant Assaults Blazing Sun Coastal Fortress

We played a game on Sunday at the old Game Vault with 700 point fleets, using the Declared Objective of capturing a coastal fortress.  I added the coastal fortress into the cost of my total force, using the stats from the book but a paper model of an Italian castle in approximate scale which I had assembled the night previous.  My Blazing Sun force also had a shield tower adjacent to the fortress for additional protection, then the battleship Ontake with a pair of escorts, a pair of scout gyros, and a pair of bombers, along with two squadrons of tiny flyers, fighters around the battleship and torpedo bombers.  My opponent set up his battleship on the opposite corner of the board with a full squadron of cruisers, two squadrons of 4 frigates each, bombers and tiny flyers, basically his Covenant starter box.

Up through turn 2 I kept my forces in place and launche rockets against the approaching enemy, taking out some frigates and damaging those bombers.  He moved up a squadron of diver bombers to attack my coastal fortress, but the guns & AA managed to shoot them all down before a single bomb was dropped.

 

By turn 5 the Covenant battleship moved into position, blasted a hole through the coastal fortress with that energy weapon in the bow and fired a devastating broadside against the Ontake which suffered a catastrophic magazine explosion.  With the scout gyros trailing smoke, one with a stuck rudder and flying off into the sunset, I had no real support left for my coastal fortress.  During turn 6 he moved all of his frigates up to launch rocket marines, softening the defenses, and then the battleship launched rocket marines which managed to capture the coastal fortress intact, giving the CoA force a clear victory.

Covenant Fleet Skirmish

Only 500 points per side on a small board with a single small volcano between the forces.  No special or secret objectives.

Starting deployment.

Exploring New Lands

I'm travelling out of state, but I still have my eye on new ship designs released for Uncharted Seas.  Now a huge flagship for the Ralgard which is destined to be the next faction in my collection:

http://www.spartangames.co.uk/the-tervaknar-cometh

I'm reading a book of nautical lore and legend which inspires some ideas for stories to be written.

More Revised Ships

More redesigned ship models for Uncharted Seas.

More on the Spartan Games blog:  http://www.spartangames.co.uk/blog

Blazing Sun vs. Covenant

My Usual Opponent with his new Covenant of Antarctica fleet squares up against the Imperial Might of the Blazing Sun.  Approximately 700 point lists:  he's using the basic naval box set, and I'm using a pair of scout gyros in place of my cruisers and a squadron of three destroyers instead of 4 frigates.  Our respective naval contingents meet at a chain of small islands and close for action.

Battle of the Boiling Seas Strait

The Dragon Lords have sent out a vassal fleet of dwarves to harass the imperial expansions of the Elves from the Old World.

We had almost 1000 points each, almost everything on the table. A flagship and battleship each, plenty of destroyers and frigates.

Turn 1: The Shroud Mages spotted the Elven fleet near a strait between two islands in the Boiling Seas and set straight toward them. Fortunately, the Elven fleet possessed the wind gauge and set battle sail to move the frigate squadrons into medium range and commence firing upon the leading elements of the Shroud Mage fleet.

After forming a beautiful line-of-battle with 8 frigates in two squadrons, the Dwarven guns start punching holes in the Elven sails. I invent a busy character named Melvin the Elven Sailmaster who sets out, with thread and needle clenched in teeth as he climbs the ratlines, to mend the holes and tears. But, unfortunately, he can't keep up with all the damage. The Elven Battleship Mountain Spirit Fury moves directly through the gap in the frigate line-of-battle and leads a brave but foolish charge into the center of the Shroud fleet. Meanwhile, the heavy gunship which is the Shroud flagship moves slowly into position, gunning an Elven destroyer into splinters and firing upon the grand Mountain Spirit Fury.

New Player's Battle Report

Some miniature tabletop gamers to the north have been paying attention to what I've been saying about Uncharted Seas and tried their first game the other night.  They're still working on the details, but they clearly have the basic rules down and enjoyed a game which lasted 10 turns before a battleship finally sank beneath the waves.  Link to a fine & descriptive battle report on the DWVA forum (we have a sub-forum for Uncharted Seas on the Dystopian Wars in Virginia forum now):  http://www.etcinversus.com/dw/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=34

Ship Revisions

I'm very pleased with the new CAD for the Imperial Human battleship.  The existing models look great, but this one looks even more worthy.  And the forecastle looks great.

And the stern has plenty of detail as well.

Pirates of the Uncharted Seas

The nations of the Old World send fleets of warships to expand their colonies and protect their interests in the New World, the islands scattered among the Uncharted Seas.

The Iron Dwarves establish mining colonies to increase their imperial treasure vault as well as fuel the research and development of new weapon and steam technologies.  Our campaign focuses around the Dwarven colonial city of El-Aron just southwest of Denonia (right-center of map).  Many minerals are mined and processed here, and each week a fleet arrives with new Dwarven colonists, returning to Kulloria with cargo holds filled with resources.

The Kullorian trade fleets must maintain safe passage, and the Uncharted Seas are too vast to be routinely patrolled by warships.  From the Darnak Cluster in the south come Orc Raiders to pirate and plunder; from the ancient Dragon Lords in the west come war flotillas intent on driving out the Iron Dwarves, and their cousins the Shroud Mages from the southwest want nothing better than to wrest control of Denonia and take posession of the city El-Aron for them own expansion; and the Thaniras Elves to the north are untrusted neighbors, keeping to themselves as they wait to see the other powers weaken the fleets around Denonia.

We will have two parts of this campaign.  The larger group of players in NOVA will conduct naval operations around El-Aron, the Dwarven player largely fighting off pirate raids by the Orcs, while the smaller southern group of players will conduct operations between the Dwarven and Human Imperial fleets maneuvering for control of the Boiling Seas to the east to secure trade routes with the Old World Kingdoms.

Confrontation at Suez

Our group had two teams on Sunday, two players in control of FSA forces versus a pair playing KoB.

Dawn breaks over the Sinai, and the British garrison wakes to find an American Armored regiment move to the crest of some dunes to the west of the Suez Canal.  An American fleet approaches from the south, heavy warships escorting a convoy of transport ships.  Farther to the south the KoB Suez Fleet makes full steam to intercept the American fleet.  The American Commodore demands passage through the canal, but the British garrison is under strict orders to block passage, resorting to gunfire if necessary to force the FSA fleet to circle back and around the Horn of Africa.

Each player started with 900 points.  Two 4x6 foot tables were used together to create the 4x9 playing space for the scenario.  We had 15 square feet of desert for the land forces to fight over and more than 20 square feet of pea green Suez Gulf waters for the naval squadrons to engage.

Suez Scenario

The scenario is set along the coast of Sinai, in the Suez Gulf. The British have a bunker and some landships protecting the canal, but FSA forces are moving in from both land and sea and the FSA fleet commander is demanding passage through the canal without paying tolls. Will this tense encounter lead to opening shots in a new war between KoB & FSA? And is that a KoB fleet approaching from the other side of the gulf?

Two tables will be used in the back room for a 4x9 foot playing space. There will be a defensive bunker (I'm working on modelling something to represent this) along with a canal lock. The attacking FSA team has a declared objective to pass transport ships through the canal to deliver arms to their tentative Italian allies. The British just need to stop the FSA transports and maintain control of the canal. But how much of the FSA fleet will support the ground attack with artillery while it also tries to protect the arriving transports against the approaching KoB fleet?  Also, the first faction to open fire will suffer -1 VP in scoring.  VP is not awarded for damaged, destroyed, or captured ships, only for completing both declared and secret objectives.  There is not much terrain, but those civilian ships waiting in the gulf for passage are subject to random movement and block LoS just like small islands.

Here is the planned layout for the 4x9 foot table for the 4-5 player combined operations battle on Sunday at the Game Vault.

Paper Steampunk Boats

I discovered paper miniatures.  More specifically, I discovered the Junior General site which offers a variety of historical simulations and paper miniatures in an effort to pull kids into the hobby.  In the teen gaming event at the local library last month my usual US opponent set up a demo game but didn't attract much attention.  I'm thinking now, however, that using ships from something like the old WizKids Pirates collectible card game or maybe some simple paper models and with simple rules (more simple than US?  well, it's possible) for the next event.  The paper models is also inspiring me to try my own hand at modelling some new designs for US and DW.

New Uncharted Seas Models!

A new range of ship models for Uncharted Seas has been announced, and I'm particularly interested in the new Elven designs:

And although the flagship still lacks sails, it still exudes that essense of speed:

Spartan Neil Interview

New episode of the D6 Generation podcast includes an interview with Spartan Neil about what is in store for both DW and Uncharted Seas:  D6G Episode 83

Americans meet Japanese, English Civil War on land, and a skirmish in the Uncharted Seas

Six players showed up on Sunday at the Game Vault.  We had limits on time, and half the players had limited experience, and two players had no DW fleets of their own, so we just played some casual games, 500 points in each force.

The start of the game beteen FSA & EBS, 500 points each.  My Imperial fleet was commanded by a junior commodore while I took pictures, hung flyers in the store, and helped some new players with questions.

Airships!  Landships!  Giant Robots!

Our informal association of players enjoys all aspects of tabletop gaming, meeting at the Game Vault on Sundays to play Dystopian Wars.  Register on our local forum to participate in the discussion of the game and events in the northern Virginia area:  http://www.etcinversus.com/dw/forum/ 

PIRATES!

This past weekend I discovered the old Pirates collectible card game from Wizkids.  Sure, I was aware of it to some degree, and I was even interested in a tabletop naval game using plastic card cut-out ships, but I never invested myself in the game until I found a box of 20 card packs on sale at Target for ten bucks.  What the hell, I picked up a box, brought it home, and started putting inexpensive little model ships together.  Incredible that they seem to be the equivalent scale to Uncharted Seas, and they will work in a pinch to play with the Trafalgar rules I bought last year but haven't found any models... until now.  Here is a comparison shot with some of my Elven ships.  The pirate ships are about the same size as a frigate or cruiser.

We tried to interest some kids in playing US or even DW during our last teen gaming event at our local public library, but I think Pirates is just the thing to get some of them moving model ships around on the table.  The rules are ridiculously simple, but all the elements of a game is there, and the ships are cheap.  And now I have some ships to use for playtesting the moderate naval rules I've been toying with writing.

Playing Actual Games

I met two DW players at the GV on Sunday.  One player is new to the area and still doesn't have his Britannia fleet shipped in, so I brought my Shroud Mages for him to try a game of US against my Elven fleet.

We had 600 points each, a submersible on his side and a dragon on mine so he could see how the flying and Defensive Fire rules worked compared to DW.  But my destroyer squadron was no match for those Dwarven frigates at ramming range, and he took two of mine as prizes.  I conceeded after five turns.

More Uncharted Seas, please!

I have heard several gamers at my FLGS say to me in recent months that Dystopian Wars is effectively the improved game system from Uncharted Seas.  But after playing a few games and reading all the thread discussions about AA & CC, I wonder if many players really equate all the additional rules and dice to roll as an actual improvement of a beautifully simple & elegant game system, because I see DW as effectively the same game but with so many extra dials, gauges, knobs, and levers.  I realize I find myself playing DW only because I can find more opponents for the game, but I wonder why I don't agree that DW is the better game system.

Today I met my regular opponent for a quick game with 400 points each.  We even had some flying units involved.  And the entire game, from set-up to counting victory points, on a 4x4 foot square board, five turns, took us 45 minutes to resolve.  It was a fast game, it was fun to play, and it felt like we were simulating a fantasy naval conflict with some sense of narrative as my elven fleet concentrated on taking out the dwarven airship only to end up on the losing side of a boarding action after closing too much with the enemy battleship.  Really, it was refreshing to play a game where we didn't need to consult the rule book or roll a dozen sets of dice to resolve all the attacks from a single squadron.  And although I like the concept behind the Break Tests, it just seems to add another step of dice to roll without providing any truly dramatic effect to the game.

Today:  I selected and moved a squadron, declared a linking fire attack, counted dice, rolled them and counted the hits, and then my opponent registered a hit or invited me to roll on the critical hit table.  After the activation I considered how I should have moved differently or chosen a different target, as I always second guess myself, but by then the turn was over and it was time to plan for my next set of moves for my fleet.  The game moved so fast that I never had the time to stand around and snap some pictures to include with a battle report.

I enjoy playing DW, but I realize now that I enjoy playing US more.  Oh, I've also heard players say that DW is better because it features combined arms between naval and ground forces.  But I don't see why my Blazing Sun walkers and tanks can't work using US rules to support a Shroud Mages invasion force (drop the AA & CC stats, and why not?).  And, in the end, a "snake eyes" result on the critical hit table is just so much more dramatic as a magazine explosion in the Uncharted Seas.

New Blazing Sun Ships

The Destroyer, Escort, and Dreadnought Class ships are launching from drydock.

Father's Day DW Game

We played using the VA campaign set with Greg as the challenger, a 400 point Recon Encounter.  Greg rolled for terrain, a double 4, which put moving icebergs on the board; we decided our forces had met in the frigid waters off the coast of Patagonia, in the Southern Hemipshere.  The Blazing Sun Recon Force included 1 Mechanical Squid, 2 Scout Gyros, and 2 squadrons of 3 Frigates each deployed on the flanks.  The Americans deployed a pair of cruisers with shield generators in the center, a pair of bombers and w squadrons of 3 Frigates each.  We each selected one Secret Objective.

More Dystopian than Uncharted

I've hammered out the final draft of the campaign guide, and I've spent more time painting scout rotor flyers than dragonsail ships.  All because I can find a few more opponents for DW around.

First DW Campaign Action

This is the first game played with the updated campaign management system, and I wrote the battle report in the campaign format as an example of how encounters work.

CHALLENGE:  Commodore K- and I played our first game last night. I challenged him to a recon encounter so we drew up 400 point lists and didn't make any bids since we had no campaign points to start. My Blazing Sun Moutain Spirit Fury Force had 1 squadron of 3 cruisers, 1 squadron of 3 frigates, and 1 squadron of 2 scout gyros with a total of 395 composition points. My opponent's Majestic Britannic force had 2 squadrons each of 1 destroyer and 3 frigates, and then a medium class squadron of 1 gunship and 2 cruisers. No large models are allowed in recon size encounters. We each had 3 squadrons so we also fielded 3 pair of tiny flyers; I had 2x3 torpedo bombers and the British had 2x3 dive bombers.

The Perfect Ruler

I've had some discussion with my regular opponent about the comparisons between using a flexible tape measure versus a rigid yardstick.  He prefers the tape measure which is compact and easy to use for a variety of distances; I prefer the yardstick which is not so compact or easy to use, but it makes a satisfying snap when I slap the length against my leg while contemplating my next move.  But the yardstick, although perfect for measuring the limit of range band four, is too long for plotting ship movement, so I supplement it with a standard wooden foot-long ruler, only that stick is often too short, especially when moving my Elven frigates or trying to measure the limit of range band four.  I have seen 16" wooden rulers, and I thought one would be a perfect tool for my games of Uncharted Seas.  But now I found and immediately bought my perfect measuring device for the tabletop....

First Defeat

Met a player at GV for a game of DW.  My second game with the Blazing Sun fleet, and I had forgotten my lucky green dice at home so I bought some new red ones.  Red dice rolled a lot of ones.  I still managed to sink more of his American ships, but in the end he won by objective.

Dwarves vs. Dwarfs

Redhammer's Iron Dwarf fleet up against my Shroud Mages among some coastal islands and reefs.

We put everything on the table, almost 1200 points each, with only 36 inches between our ships.  This was a big battle for control of the Sabre Coast, involving a plenty of capital ships, each fleet including a flagship in addition to the main battleship.

Becalmed

Absolutely no games played the past few weeks, but the DW group is coming together, linked by a new forum.  And I've been painting, modifying some model ships from an older game as escorts.

Dystopian Wars!

I've finally rotated some DW models onto my painting table, and I'm working on the Blazing Sun fleet.

Kingdom of Britannia meet the Empire of the Blazing Sun

My first big game of Dystopian Wars, using all the rules for tiny flyers, cards, etc.

Dave set up his KoB fleet opposing my Blazing Sun.  We didn't set point limits here, intending to play through a friendly, learning game with all the bells & whistles.  So, in an attempt to offset his carrier & scout rotor craft I added a squadron of FSA cruisers allied with my Blazing Sun fleet this battle.  The Blazing Sun admiral was happy to have these allies.  The basic scenario here was an all out battle, the two fleets fighting for control around a tiny rock in the Indonesian waters between their colonial holdings.  I took advantage of the Blazing Sun advantage in fast movement and long range rockets, and by the end of the first turn I had destroyed a frigate and damaged a cruiser at range band 4 while my bombers launched rockets and destroyed one of the medium scout rotor craft while scoring a critical hit on the other.  I rolled plenty of sixes this turn.