Finally, Uncharted Seas!

I haven't played a game of Uncharted Seas for some time now, and I have been trying not to post anything not directly related to Uncharted Seas (Dystopian Wars is a stretch, but after posting about a game of Warmachine, I realized I was steering away from my original intention for this blog).  Anyway, I finally received my first box of the new Imperial Human ships, and I'm very pleased with the product.

The picture is just a quick snapshot of the model on a kitchen table with the sails set in place; no cleaning or actual assembly has been done.  I was just looking for something to post for Uncharted Seas!

Meanwhile, I'm preparing to host another DW tournament at the Game Vault, and I'm playtesting a card-based naval game, so I may end up changing my mission statement for this blog.

Street Fighting

I've been thinking about combining land & sea operations for Dystopian Wars in an urban environment, and I started tinkering with a scenario which features a city with several large canals and bridges.  I set up the scenario this past Sunday for two local players along with some infantry rules to playtest.

Unfortunately, I forgot the box of land templates I had cut out at home, so I pieced together the equivalent using sheets of paper and some pieces of green felt.  The objective was the single bridge in the center of the table, flanked by a clock towers which could be captured by infantry or rocket marines.  The Imperial force managed to steam up into the channel and capture both clock towers after destroying lead aerial elements of the opposing British force.

Another Demo Game

This past weekend I packed the DW models for my Japanese fleet into a carrying case and prepared to set out to the Game Vault to run a demo game.  While I was printing out the latest rule updates from Spartan, I returned to find Sabine tha cat had found a new place to nap on a foam tray.

Demo Games Day

My friend Shades organized a demo games day at a local game store and I ran Uncharted Seas while Ruckdog ran Dystopian Wars, representing Spartan Games among a half dozen "alternative" tabletop games (read: no GW, PP, or Flames of War).  We saw a good turnout and intend to do another event along the same lines again in the near future.

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.