Demo Games Day

I ran a day of demo games with a group of tabletop gaming fans showcasing their favorite "alternative" games in a store devoted to the top couple of miniature companies.  I set up a basic scenario which could accomodate 2-5 players. 



On the "starboard" side of the table I had a rocky cove set up, flanked by some crumbling ruins and centered around a lighthouse; on the "port" side was deployed a damaged Elven flagship with only a single squadron of destroyers running escort duty.  The objective for the Elven player was simple--get the flagship with the First Sea Lord to any place between the ruined pillars behind the lighthouse where Elven shore batteries could drive off any attackers.  Other players would either play allied squadrons of Elven ships helping to ward off attackers or Dwarven, SM, or BG squadrons attempting to sink or capture the Elven flagship.

I had two very interested players, and although one was interested in playing the Bone Griffons, the other really preferred to play Dwarves, particularly the "magic" Dwarves in the cast iron ships.  They also wanted to play against each other.  So, I quickly modified the scenario, removed most of the other squadrons, and the SM player had the objective of moving the "heavy cruiser" (yes, it's a SM battleship but I had a card printed out with stats for a heavy cruiser) to the safe haven behind the lighthouse while the BG ships attempted to sink or capture it.



I restricted the space on the table, and the Shroud Mages started 12" in from one corner while the Bone Griffons started 12" in from the other corner on the same table edge.  The fleet of Iron Dwarves among the STAR cards deck marked off the 12" out of bounds, so the players were effectively playing on a 3x3 foot area.  All the better to get them to the meat of the action, and by the end of turn 1 we had the heavy cruiser firing at submerged undead whales (to no effect), and a squadron of SM frigates closing on the squadron of BG cruisers.

The center of the board represented shallows, and I explained that only small surface models could move across that area, between the volcano and rocky island.  The BG player, on turn 2, surfaced his orca, deciding not to circle around to intercept the heavy cruiser (especially after the heavy cruiser changed course to follow the frigates and take chances with the oared galleys), and moved across the shallows to head directly toward their objective.

 The sea monsters, by the way, are only obstacles in this game, like terrain.  Turn 3 was quite exciting:  the squadron of orca moved to ram and board the heavy cruiser, but only 2 managed to reach the SM ship; a fast and furious boarding action damaged the target, but the boarding parties from both orca were absolutely destroyed.  The heavy cruiser moved to trade broadsides with the squadron of oared galleys:  all ships took some damage, but no criticals.  During the 4th turn the heavy cruiser moved to a stern raking position on one oared galley, and a double critical hit damaged the propulsion and rudder both, leaving it to drift ahead only 2".

The last remaining orca moves to collide with 2 SM frigates at once; it was a gamble, and it didn't pay out--one frigate was lost to the ramming, but the other managed to resist the boarding action and destroy the last of the undead crew on the whale.

Finally, with only 1 cruiser limping in the water with a single hull point while the heavy cruiser still had more than 50% hull points and was within sight of the harbour, the player of the Bone Griffons conceded the game.  The two new players had completed 5 turns in under an hour with fewer than 300 points worth of ships per side.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Significant Other

My S.O. is an avid chess player and has beat me in several games, and seeing my colorful ships on the blue board finally interested her enough to try a game.

Approximately 600 points per side, the Lady playing the Smoke Belchers while I take my Pristine Elven sailing fleet to the seas.

The Black Shroud

After the Dwarven victory against Sea Lord Kelven and the Mountain Fury Fleet of the Thaniras Elves in the Helgath Sea, Admiral Redhammer consolidated his ships and ordered repairs and shore leave for sailors.  The Shroud Mages, presuming the Iron Dwarves to be flush with victory and in a weakened state, sent a force led by the indomitable Black Shroud to test the Dwarven defense of these waters.

600 points per side, all of the ships medium or small classes, the Dwarven airship the only exception, so everything had fast movement without any heavy battleships slogging along.  The SM heavy cruiser wearing the modified gun turret is a fan-created ship class which I'm using in this game.