DWVA X-Cam

I'm concentrating more of my online activity on the ManBattlestations site, and Ruckdog just posted a blog post describing the series of games we just played of Dystopian Wars for a local X-Campaign here.

More details can be found on the forum side of the website: http://manbattlestations.com

Dystopian Wars Virginia Team Tournament

We had several players cancel at the last minute to prepare for the oncoming storm, but we had 7 players show up--Zach played his first game during round 2 and I teamed up with Kyle in the final round so everyone could play.

This is my favorite situation captured during a game between FSA and French naval fleets; a French Battleship and Carrier loom above a lone surviving frigate--broken, 1 HP remaining, and it has already activated.

Dystopian Wars Tournament

AUTUMN EVENT 2012 TEAM TOURNAMENT

TIME: 

Sunday October 28th, 2012

Registration starts at 10am, Dice at 11am

LOCATION:

The Game Vault

6328 Five Mile Centre Park, Suite 414
Fredericksburg, VA 22407
540-785-GAME (4263)

COST: 

$5 per player; winning team earns total registration to split 50/50 in store credit.

FORMAT: 

We have linked scenarios to create a mini-campaign for the tournament.
Players will form teams of 2 players.  1^st round will involve randomly matched players.  2^nd round will provide choices for teams, according to score rankings from 1^st round.  3^rd round will feature the winning teams on big tables battling for key locations to win the campaign and the overall event.

FORCE COMPOSITIONS:

750 points, Naval and Armored Core Forces.  Teams may have multiple force lists and choose which force to use at the start of each round.

STAR CARDS:

No standard STAR cards will be used.  Special cards will be provided for teams to use during the event which provide special effects.

RULES:  DW 1.1 rules.  Scoring by Campaign Points as described in the Hurricane Season Campaign Book.

SCHEDULE:
10am – 11am: Sign in and set up (Dice roll promptly at 11am)
11am - 12:30pm: Round 1
12:30pm – 1:15: Lunch and Secret Ballot Painting Contest
1:15pm – 2:45pm Round 2
3 pm -5:30pm Round 3
5:45pm – 6 pm Awards and Raffle

PAINTING: 

Models must feature at least 2 different colors.  Prime ships and then dry-brush or ink—it takes only an hour or two to make your fleet look good on the table.

HOW TO REGISTER:
Post your registration on the Game Vault forum or on ManBattlestations.com or send a PM to “maddrb”.

NEED A TEAMMATE?
Check the “looking for teammates” thread on the ManBattlestations.com:

http://manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=175.0

DW Flag Decals for Registering Players

One more day left to register for the DWVA Autumn Event at the Game Vault on Sunday, October 28th and get one of these DW flag decals.

Players registering with me by Sunday, October 7th can pick up a free 5x8 inch flag decal the morning of the event.

Deadline for registration is October 21st or 16 players, whichever comes first.  Contact me on the Spartan Games forum or at ManBattleStations.com to register, or leave a comment below!

Registering for Next DWVA Event

WHAT:  A special team-based event. Players must register as a 2-player team or individually registered players will be matched with other individually registered players. The rounds will be linked in a mini-campaign with victory declared for the leading team at the end of the event.
WHEN:  Sunday, October 28th, starting at 10:30 am.
WHERE:  The Game Vault, Fredericksburg, VA
FORCES:  750 point force compositions; at least 1 force per team is Naval Core and 1 force per team is Armored Core.  Players may bring multiple force compositions as long as the 2 basic requirements are met.
COST:  $5 per registered player.

(Format details follow)

Dystopian Legions

Big news today about a new scale of Dystopian Wars.  I didn't even know anything about it until I was paging through some photos taken at Gencon and posted on FB.  At one picture I stopped and looked more closely... those looked like DW tanks!

I checked out the Spartan website, and it looks like they have indeed announced a new line of models and a new system for 28mm scale models (including infantry).

Historicon 2012

I had never attended a gaming convention before this weekend's Historicon 2012.  I almost attended last year, but with the new venue only 30 miles from where I live this year I had no reason not to attend.  I decided to try to experience the full range of the event, from participating in games to hosting a demo event for Dystopian Wars.  With loaned models and help from local DW players we provided a basic run through of the game for 2 sets of 4 players, and plenty of others stopped by Saturday morning just to see what was going on and pick up some flyers.

Later that day I spotted some familiar models incorporated into a scratchbuilt model of an airship for a Victorian Martian scenario.  Great stuff all around.

Perfect Camouflage

I was impressed by the match between the paint scheme on my Uusual Opponent's CoA ships and the Dreadfleet play sheet we like to use as the table surface for our Dystopian Wars naval games.  This was not intentional, but the perfect camouflage was evident when my Opponent, during turn 2, actually lost track of where he had positioned his frigates.

Assault on Green Island Airfield

BATTLE REPORT
Assault on Green Island Airfield
Imperial vs. FSA vs. Covenant
1000 MFV each force, naval, air, and armored

The set-up for this scenario was a bit lopsided: I had 1000 points to set up on the island in the center of the board, including a bunker and airfield; my two opponents each had 1000 points on opposite sides of each other.  The objective was to assault and hold the airfield with AP.  Clearly my force was going to be the nut in the vise.

I put some land units on the island for defense, some medium flyers above the island, and some ships to either side, everything prepared to move in any direction.  My plan was to keep forces close to the island and respond to threats as they advanced, from either side.

Glorious 3rd of June DW

Thirteen players arrived and registered to participate in the Glorious 3rd of June Dystopian Wars Virginia event at the Game Vault in Fredericksburg.  We also had two standby players still new to the game but willing to even the matches so all players could play a game in each of the three rounds.  We started at noon.  I brought sandwiches and fixings set up on a side table for those who had driven as far as 50 miles to be there; these served well since we didn't take a break until the event finished at 6:30 pm.

DW Destroyers

"Ruckdog" has written another entry in his series comparing the ship classes and technologies of Dystopian Wars with the history of late 19th and early 20th century navies.  Read the full article on the Man Battlestations blog: DW vs. Real Life Pt. 3

Game with Greg

FSA fleet stationed off the coast of Ecuador was dispatched to investige reports of an Imperial force operating in the region.  The Blazing Sun battle group centered around the Kiyohime carrier Noto with a Tsukuyomi War Gyro in support along with escorts & frigates.  (Naval Core Forces with approximately 820 points in each.)

The Glorious 3rd of June!

Sunday, June 3rd, at The Game Vault in Fredericksburg, VA
1st Round: 600 Point Naval Core Force
2nd Round: 600 Point Armored Core Force
3rd Round: 900 Point Force--Land, Sea, & Air!

Players matched by random draw.
STAR cards in play for all rounds.
Force organization for Tournament Game according to pg. 42 DW rules.

DW vs. Real Life

No, not my real life--I've been painting more DW ships than any of my sailing ships in the past few weeks.  Ruckdog wrote and posted a good introductory article comparing the world of Dystopian Wars to the realities of naval technology in the late 19th century.  Check it out on the Man Battlestations Blog

French Dreadnought (1870):  Making the battleship obsolete?

War Gyro with Crabs

Last week I played a X-Cam mission against my Usual Opponent's Covenant force.  It was a Clash of Arms scenario, and we set up a river action with mixed naval and armored forces.  The picture above provides a good view of the setup (I had just bought the building packs and had only just started painting them) with bridges, but it's turn 2, after my war gyro had already destroyed the Covenant battleship in the middle of the river....

Don't teleport your Covenant battleship right in front of the enemy's main force, especially before that main force has activated for the turn!

My Usual Opponent only rolled a single natural 6 in the first 3 turns while I managed to score a series of critical hits on his battleship.  An Imperial victory was all but certain, so in the last turn we agreed to modify the rules of teleporting vehicles with the Time Orb, and my War Gyro ended up with a Crab on deck!

Squid versus Battleship

A few local DW players met at the Game Vault one afternoon last week to play a few X-Cam games.  I didn't take as many pictures as usual, but I snapped this one at a key moment when a giant mechanical squid zig-zagged through the water to attack a British battleship.

And, when it was all over, the giant squid pulled the battleship beneath the sickly green waves.

More pictures and battle reports from X-Cam games I've played in the past two weeks are posted in our DWVA section on  MAN BATTLESTATIONS!

The Glorious 3rd of June

Sunday, June 3rd, at The Game Vault in Fredericksburg, VA
1st Round: 600 Point Naval Core Force
2nd Round: 600 Point Armored Core Force
3rd Round: 900 Point Force--Land, Sea, & Air!

Players matched by random draw.
STAR cards in play for all rounds.

DWVA Spring Event

Our DW event this past Sunday, the first of April, was attended by 10 registered players and, despite, my "last-minute" adjustment to the scoring system, was enjoyed by all (and I learned a few things for the next event in June).

Joe won with the most accumulated Objective Points over two rounds of play (the first round involved team-based scenarios), and the alliance between FSA, CoA, and KoB carried the day.  We had a 3-way tie for 2nd place, and Andy "Ruckdog" won the popular vote for "best-painted force" along with the trophy for most epic defeat and our Garbage Scow Captain title.

New Spartan Forum?

The forum over at the Spartan Games official website has been out of action for a month now and I realize my posts and reading of gaming blogs has proportionally increased.  Unfortunately the forum went missing almost right after the release of the new rulebook with the free PDF update, and in my small regional group of Dystopian Wars players we're working through the new rules with only one player owning the new book.  There is some agreement that we like the new tiny flyer rules better than the old rules, and we still have one player reluctant to play until Spartan adjusts the point values to make the KoB faction equal to the others (I haven't been able to convince him to try another faction, like the Empire of the Blazing Sun, but I'm trying to bring him to see the light).  All together, we seem to be playing more games, and I'm looking forward to the tournament on Sunday, although I fear there will be some dispute between some minor rule changes.