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I just started playing Dystopian Wars with a couple of my mates and we are loving the game. I played 2 games so far with the EotBS and I have to say they are one tough faction to play with. I won against Britain but lost against America.
As we all know it is almost Christmas and that means this big kid is getting some new toys to fill his list to a 1000 points. But as we all know it is pretty hard to make a good list, we are gonna be playing a campaign that is 800 and 1000 point battles so I need a couple more boats to make it work.

I know I'm gonna change the Nakatsu for the Tanuki cause as we all know the Nakatsu is pretty crap. I really want the Ika (reason I started playing EotBS and my girl is from Japan) and I'm doubting about a Flying Fortress. But the problem is is that I don't really see the Flying Fortress as that usefull, I know it is cause you see it all over the internet in lists but I'm still learning.


Anyway is there maybe someone around here that can help me out with a nice 800 and 1000 point list that I can buy some models for so that I don't end up with stuff I don't use. I already got the Starter set.

This is what I'm thinking about:

2x Battleship
2x Ika
3x Tanuki
8x Frigate

I can always switch the Battleships for a Dread but I read everywhere it is not worth it or I can change one Battleship for a Flying Carrier. I am really starting to get crazy thinking about possible lists cause it is getting a bit to much for me
Anyway some help would be much appreciated, I'm looking at spending about 40 or 50 euro for some more models, that is about 4 or 5 blisters.

Thanx!

Always nice to hear from a fellow servant of the Empress

Dreadnoughts il say now, massive waste of time and worst one in the game. Plus Dreads only really come into their own when above the 1k mark (the usual consented game size for one is 1250+ ).

Frigates, well your right on the mark load for bear on the little guys and remember they board damn well, especially against the british (have taken the brits KoB as prize with just a unit of frigates before, try it out.) Plus their guns make them excellent for hunting destroyers and escorts.

As for the battleship, idk, im not really that fond of them. Somehow we got the slowest (as far as i can recall) battleship in the game with its guns TOO evenly distributed personally to do much on a slow vessel. When it comes to our carriers, all 3 are good actually and i prefer the assault carrier over the battleship. Cheaper, and the bigger model makes the 2 FC guns easier to aim. Plus gives an extra tiny torpedo wing. And all for the removal of fairl average rockets and a rear turret i never seem to get to use >>

The nakatsus ARE useless, and the Tanukis are better. BUT, if you get Hurricane season and use the reinforced squadron rules, make use of a 2-tan/2-nak squad. Seriously, the naks are a much better force multiplier than they are line ships. Only lost the squadron once to an unlucky double 1 crit roll.

Ika seem to be a mainstay, but a crutch. Only really use them vs enemy dreadnoughts as ours is so lacking. People swear by it, but personally its too against the "jack of all trades" army theme.

Also dont discount our air force, the heavy bombers in the starter box are if i recall the best of the factions. Even with just 2 they make great small-medium hunters and can even toe to toe with enemy TFs with ease. As for the rest of it we really dont have any BAD air units. Inaris are godlike , the wargyro can be hilarious and the tenkei is again just as good as the rest of our carriers (as in pretty damn good).

Another note is INVEST IN ESCORTS. Seriously i cant stress enough how usefull they are in keeping your larges alive, especially if the other guy gets the capture the commodore objective. Those extra 9AA vs borders (and rockets! And flyers! ) really helps, and 3 more AP and CC are never bad either, especially against the KoB.

Thanx for all the tips and pointers But if you don't mind I got some more questions ofcourse

Do you think I have to have a Carrier or can you also get a good fleet without it cause I´m really liking the look of a list with 2 Ika´s I think I will then swap that second battleship for a full unit of DFA-170 bombers I really like the look of them and I got two already.so with one blister I get enough of them.

1x Battleship
2x Ika
3x Tanuki
3x DFA-170
8x Frigate

I did my essay on the war in The Pacific (I'm a history teacher) and this just takes me back to my favorite subject No weird gyro stuff just ships, planes and submarines (in the form of a giant squid )

OR

1x Battleship
1x Carrier
1x Ika
3x Tanuki
2x Inari
8x Frigate

Also a nice looking list I think with some gyro's in it to mix it up.

OR

1x Battleship
1x Carrier
2x Ika
3x Tanuki
3x Escort
8x Frigate

What list would you play? Keep in mind this is all 1000 points and enough flexibility to make nice lists with lesser points.

So what do you prefer and why?

See thats the thing to avoid with this game, going too top heavy on any one thing because of fleet objectives, as well as making choices of this over that so to speak. Just a note, are your friends ok with you proxying a flyer base? As flying models "aim" from the base peg, and move from the base, the models more ornamental except for turrers (just asking because of the x2 inari. Im going to guess thats because of the blister size, normally you see one of those bomber bases standing in)

Anyway on to the fleets! The carriers arnt NEEDED exactly, more often than not with EotBS you see them used in the same way as the prussian carrier, a full on replacement for the battleship.

Personally i would go for the second list, but if your dead set on using the battleship and Ika, i would drop the carrier if your unsure of where your tastes lie. In my experiance at 1k points, two Ikas (plus BB but eh) tends to be overkill. The Ika has most enemy large capitols beat in a 1v1 boarding anyway, with more to spare after it derelicts it and moves onto the next. Anyway as i said about the carrier if your unsure (and money conscious ^^) and use the 130 points to either add the second Ika if you really want, but personally id get a 3rd inari and add escorts to the Ika. Seriously, as a sub it CC SUCKS. pay the 60 points for a squad of escorts aand keep it alive long enough to get into boarding range. This will also give you 2 full units of each size class (well 3 with escorts, but theyr more defensive).

Tanukis are a good way to go if your not using the hurricane season, and as iv said our frigates are top notch. Anything else?

Thanx for all the help.

Two time Inari is not because of the blister bu because I don't got anymore points in that second list. I will get some Ika's and a Carrier aswell to switch things up

If you got some more tips or tactics they are always welcome

Well as iv said, if you get storm of steel then our reinforced medium squads are the closest to "death star" units in DW. They also benefit during boarding as well. The tactics works well with escorts if theres any survivng with your Ikas btw, or anything else in range. Dont forget if you ram even a small ship into an enemy BB, it halves their AP for the rest of the turn. Handy late game before you strike with an Ika.

Thanx. Last one are Tetsubos any good. For some reason I just want to have a unit of planes :-D
Also when you run 2x Ika do you run them as a unit of lose?

Tetsubos are like the Ika, situational. The only thing they do thats worth a damn are boarding, and they do it well. But remember its 150pts for a full squad, and thats how they work best. But being smalls theyre also fragile. That full squad gets you 15AP, 10 of which is unkillable (as its applied after AA fire). Only worth throwing them at large targets, but unless your trying for a core air list id recomend the Ika instead. only 2/3 of the points, a little less AP, but its hitting on a 3+ and is a robotic boarder. Bit harder to kill as well.

And id answer but no idea what you mean by a unit of loss?

I just take the Ika instead
I mean you use them as 2 in a unit or loose
So 1 unit of 2 or 2 units of 1?

Thanx for all the help again it is really nice to talk to someone that knows what he is talking about. Me and my mates just started playing two weeks ago and I can't sign in on the Dystopian forum.

Also I really like the model on your sig

Ah well they have the Independent MAR, so you can run them as a unit of 2 still but outside of each others range still, and they can still link/combine their attacks

Ah yeah, the forum went down for maintenance a little while ago, its back up so give it another try.

And thanks, its the EotBS character from the Dystopian Legions line

I placed an order for 2 Ika's and a box of Tanuki's
Will be playing a game in two weeks cause the club is closed next week during Christmas.

I took a look at that model and it looks really nice

Anyway thanx for all the help!

Love how they conveniently give you 2 ikas to use in the box ^^
Ah best of luck on your first match! Report back on how it goes haha and not a problem, what the forums here for

Doc do you got any idea why it is impossible to create an account on the dystopian wars forum?

Also I played a game last sunday with just the started box ships cause it was my mates first game. I have to say that I lost again because the cruisers did hardly any damage, I can take out a lot of ships with the rest but the cruisers just don't do anything, that is why next week I'm getting some Tanuki's

Rather odd, nothings been mentioned. You said you tried making one back when they were down? Give the details you used for that a go and log right in, could be it made you account anyway.

Eh the cruisers arnt as bad as people say (controversy!). Yes the gunships are usually better for all factions, but thats because there's a difference between "cruiser" and "gunship" (hint: its in the name ). The problem with the cruisers. or at least the Naks isnt that they dont put out much fire, its that they have those pesky FC on an odd shaped body. The broadsides especially are a pain to ALL line up because of the length, worse with a unit of 4.

Until your tanukis come, try this. Rather than going on the offensive with them, either use them to put the finish on units youv softened with your other stuff, try to use their rockets on the Enemy BB soon as you can (and take the MAR for 5 points, you only need it on ONE nak if they fire at the same target). If you can, id say ram one into the enemy BB to half the AP as well then try to prize it, their 10"MV isnt bad and it could work.

Course this is just if your playing with starters, than tans you probably will get more joy out of. Harder to kill, better stats, moar rockets.

How are your frigates faring by the way? Always have better luck with them than the sokatsu personally

It was a starter on starter battle and we only used the ships but the 3 games I played so far has been a lot of fun. Also the frigates are doing awesome, they are truly one of the best units for the EotBS. Since a lot of the guys at the club got some more models in we are gonna be playing specific point games instead of starterset games. Most of our games will be fought at 800 or 1000 points.

I did not try to sign in the forum yet cause when I click on create account I get this message:

The Spartan Games Community is currently not accepting new registrations. All current users are still able to log in using the link below.

Really weird but I will just keep looking and reading what is said on the forum.

Next wednesday I will be playing an 800 points game so I will be using the following list:

Sokotsu
3x Tanuki
3x DFA-170
8x Uwatsu

I will be playing Russians that is mainly the starterset so I think I can take them

Vissah wrote:
It was a starter on starter battle and we only used the ships but the 3 games I played so far has been a lot of fun. Also the frigates are doing awesome, they are truly one of the best units for the EotBS. Since a lot of the guys at the club got some more models in we are gonna be playing specific point games instead of starterset games. Most of our games will be fought at 800 or 1000 points.

I did not try to sign in the forum yet cause when I click on create account I get this message:

The Spartan Games Community is currently not accepting new registrations. All current users are still able to log in using the link below.

Really weird but I will just keep looking and reading what is said on the forum.

Next wednesday I will be playing an 800 points game so I will be using the following list:

Sokotsu
3x Tanuki
3x DFA-170
8x Uwatsu

I will be playing Russians that is mainly the starterset so I think I can take them

I'll ask on the forum there, very odd.

Ah points games is where it gets interesting Though you will soon suffer from "I want it all" hehe

Against the ruskies thats a nice little list, dont let his rocket jammers put you off, make the most of your rocket spam at his mediums. Wouldnt recomend trying to board and prize till late game, he gets LOTS of AP (even if it only hits on a 5+ usually). Make use of your speed and turning, if you can wait till last minute, and speed PAST RB1 and get behind his medium and large ships, they will have a hard time bringing their guns back around to shoot.

The bombers should do well too, small killing rockets and crappy ruskie AA. Dont be afraid to throw them at his TFs either if he tries anything, thats 12AA at one target, where as he will have 10AA split between the 3 bombers. The BB is big too, so shouldnt be TOO hard to get in all the bombs onto it.

Thanx for asking!

Yeah I know that you get into the I want everything mode Been playing 40K and Fantasy for some time now and that is exactly what happens every time

Thanx also for all the tips on how to handle the Russians they are very handy
So I just have to wait till he reaches me and then speed around him? I think I can do that

Haha dont even need to wait, his ships are the slowest in the game so ruskie players tend just to put them all forward and roll them out straight That, plus haveing most his guns forward facing means ruskie ships tend to be easier to flank.

Also if you ever look toward the more air support consider a mix of 3 inari and 1 onryu (the new gyro). 310 points gets you 20AD of incendiary TURRETS alone at RB1, plus the usual 13AD of incendiary rockets at RB3, and four lots of 8AD bombs. Seriously, the unit is pricy, but works well as either a scary close support unit vs russians (where they can only throw their poor AA at it in RB1) or use altitude skimming at the start and set up an untouchable gunline to rocket enemy smalls (This applies to inari generally if you ever run them, the onryu is just a force multiplier)

And don't forget that the EotBS tiny torpedo planes are the best in the game and very capable of ripping the Ablative Armor off of any Russian ship. Not only do the Russians have poor CC scores but they have to reroll successes against those Fast Torpedoes.

And once your gunships arrive you'll be able to really enhance your cruiser squadrons by replacing a Nakatsu in each with a Tanuki. As only one unit must have Incediaries for the entire attack to cause a Raging Fire, you won't have to pay the 5 points per Naka. Plus you gain some excellent boosts to your general combat profile.

 Sanguinary Dan wrote:
And don't forget that the EotBS tiny torpedo planes are the best in the game and very capable of ripping the Ablative Armor off of any Russian ship. Not only do the Russians have poor CC scores but they have to reroll successes against those Fast Torpedoes.

And once your gunships arrive you'll be able to really enhance your cruiser squadrons by replacing a Nakatsu in each with a Tanuki. As only one unit must have Incediaries for the entire attack to cause a Raging Fire, you won't have to pay the 5 points per Naka. Plus you gain some excellent boosts to your general combat profile.

Ah thats right dan! Forgot about the TTs! Dont forget they are more likely to MAKE IT into attack range with the russian AA too (my usual opponant is french >> so yeah had kinda forgot how awesome my TTs are MENT to be )

Played the Russians yesterday and as long as you don't get into RB1 with them and you pop there armor fast they are not that tough.
We only played a small game and I did not use any medium ships cause I wanted to try out my new unit of 3 medium bombers and I have to say they were great. Destroying a cruiser with rockets and then bombing his battleship to the bottom was great
I still lost the game but he has only 5 frigates left but when I got home I recalculated my list and I was actually 55 points short so I think I did a really good job

Things learned:
- Deploy as far back as you can against Russians
- Be more aggressive with my medium bombers
- Tiny Flyers are great First time I played with them

Vissah wrote:
Played the Russians yesterday and as long as you don't get into RB1 with them and you pop there armor fast they are not that tough.
We only played a small game and I did not use any medium ships cause I wanted to try out my new unit of 3 medium bombers and I have to say they were great. Destroying a cruiser with rockets and then bombing his battleship to the bottom was great
I still lost the game but he has only 5 frigates left but when I got home I recalculated my list and I was actually 55 points short so I think I did a really good job

Things learned:
- Deploy as far back as you can against Russians
- Be more aggressive with my medium bombers
- Tiny Flyers are great First time I played with them

Heh the ametarasu can be beastly and a steal at 60pts each (i dont even mind the lack of incendiaries). Definatly a contender for best heavy bomber in the game, especially as it can still use its for weapons over land.

You are right in avoiding RB1! Just remember though the russian reliance on turrets, if you crack them early each HP lost is lost AD on their turrets, they have a massive lack of secondary weapons to make up for this unlike the EotBS taking alot of bite out of them late game up close if done right

doc1234 these are for you mate
We been talking for some time about my fleet and since they are finished I decided to put them up so you can take a look at them.

Remember the Nakatsu's are gonna be Tanuki's when I get them in and I'm also waiting for two Ika's (I just love those models)

I went for a WW II Pacific style look with the grey ship and red bottom. I did my essay on the war in the Pacific that is why I chose that painting scheme. The Tiny Flyers also got a little red block on there tail but it does not show in the pics. I want to tie everything in with the grey and red.

Anyway I hope you like them.

Very nice, if i remember its a similar colour scheme to whats on the starter box Still recommend upgrading to hurricane season when you can and use those naks mixed with tanukis! :


Excellent paint job mind, and the bombers in particular were a favorite to paint (just wish i could get my hands on a loose 3rd )

How is the BB faring for you btw?

Thanx, yeah it is a bit like the starterset only more grey then blue.
The BB is doing ok. It has some nice hard guns but the biggest problem is that it has only two of them while the others got three. So it will shoot hard but you are always outnumbered.

What do you use for large?

Vissah wrote:
Thanx, yeah it is a bit like the starterset only more grey then blue.
The BB is doing ok. It has some nice hard guns but the biggest problem is that it has only two of them while the others got three. So it will shoot hard but you are always outnumbered.

What do you use for large?

Dont forget our BB got more weapons in general, 2 turrets, broadside as well as torps AND rockets.

Usually prefer a carrier, or just sit the BB somewhere and hope to god it does something. Trying to warm to the ikas though >>

Yeah that is true but it is harder to put them all to good use, well that is what I experienced. I will get a Carrier later when my Tanukis and Ika's are all done and painted.

If you want I can send you the two bombers I have left. I hate it when models are just lying around doing nothing.

Vissah wrote:
Yeah that is true but it is harder to put them all to good use, well that is what I experienced. I will get a Carrier later when my Tanukis and Ika's are all done and painted.

If you want I can send you the two bombers I have left. I hate it when models are just lying around doing nothing.

Haha dont worry about it, they are usually an incidental take if i cant afford inari haha No reason you cant still get them painted and shelved in a nice V formation ;P

The carriers nice, not much worse stats to the BB for a nice point reduction and gives you 3 activation's which is always nice Shame the Ikas are our only real way of dealing with Dreads -__- you may want to look into the bansen that will be released this month, i know they're armoured but they can still be taken in naval and placed on land. If the playtests are anything to go by they should be what our destroyers SHOULD have been (as in rocket platform that can fire in more than FC >&gt

Ok I think your right I will paint them and put them in a nice formation on the shelve

Yeah I really like the look of our Dread but I read every were that it is really bad compared to the others that is why I went with the Ika to take out BB's and Dreads
Also like I said before it is the model that got me into the EotBS and of course because my girl is Japanese so I had to do it

Vissah wrote:
Ok I think your right I will paint them and put them in a nice formation on the shelve

Yeah I really like the look of our Dread but I read every were that it is really bad compared to the others that is why I went with the Ika to take out BB's and Dreads
Also like I said before it is the model that got me into the EotBS and of course because my girl is Japanese so I had to do it

Yeah the Ika for us is the Metzgar to the PE, sort of our "poster boy" unit that helps us stand out among other "oh more boats".

The dread is like the Nak, its not BAD, its too average. Theres an extensive threat on the EotBS forum on SG over how it could be fixed, the main problem stems from the fact it has mines instead of a broadside and only 1 shield. Really if either of those were fixed it would be fine at attacking dreads itself, as it stands though its stuck fighting BBs >> The Ika is a much better dread killer