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One thing I've always been interested in getting into is a naval based miniatures game... the problem is that I don't really know too many players near by that do play any (though I do have a few gaming friends I could probably convince for the odd game), so I'm stuck on opinions and knowledge on what's out there.

I know that Spartan Games are fairly big on naval warfare with their three main systems (ie Dystopian Wars, Firestorm Armada and Uncharted Seas), but is there any system/manufacturers out there?

For those that do play or have played the various Spartan Games systems, which of the three do you prefer and why? Because right now, I'm rather hard pressed on deciding which of the three I'm leaning towards because they all interest and yet not interest me for different aesthetic reasons.

Hello there! Concerning the three spartan games, all three games are good and it's mostly down to preference. Uncharted Seas is great for the fantasy stint and each faction has its own unique random event deck. However it's a little low on love from the parent company, so don't get your hopes up for new releases all the time. Firestorm is the middle of the road in terms of support but has seen more lately. Also has a handy unit creation formula for custom ships floating around. However ruleswise, spartan kinda crammed the flying ship rules from the other games into it. Playable by all means, just could do with a bit of an update. The "ships" tend to be the priciest of the 3 lines too. Dystopian wars gets the most updates and like uncharted seas is relatively cheap.

As for other games, I suppose you could try BFG or Man'o'war/dreadfleet if you can find copies. There was one or two I'v spotted on kickstarter a while back, but naval games are in a weirdly sparse niche right now as far as i'm aware. If it's space ship games though (you did mention firestorm) Brigade has Starmarda and there's also Full Thrust. FT is free and starmarda is pretty cheap, both games are worth checking out.

While I like Dystopian Wars the most because of the style and aesthetics, I don't really like the rules, never been a fan of exploding dice.

Free system: Full Thrust. If you add in the More Thrust supplement, you can have full newtonian movement goodness. The ship building mechanic is fun and relatively simple.

It doesn't have a 3rd dimension per se, so you can use it as a naval game as well, just change the name of some weapons and voilà!

I play Aquanautica Imperialis. Naval battles in the 40K universe.

It's my favorite price point... free.

http://www.box.net/shared/e2dmaf1zaj

I'd recommend posting on The Miniatures Page, specifically their naval section. There are a ton of realistic, historically accurate naval games that a bunch of old people know about but us young guns never notice. You're bound to get a wider response than the usual "FSA, Full Thrust, Dystopian Wars".

Seakrieg and Harpoon were really popular for a while.

Do you want "real world" naval, fantasy naval, historical naval? More info please.

Overall, I would prefer a game involving tall ships, ships of the line and the like. Doesn't have to be specifically historical, as I don't mind the odd fantasy elements (just not overly fond of 90% ship designs in Uncharted Seas).

Though the more I glance at the steampunk/dieselpunk designs of both the naval and aerial models of Dystopian Wars, I'm beginning to lean towards that...

I pledged $250 to Ares Games Kickstarter for "Sails of Glory". I looks freakin rad. Napoleanic ship to ship combat with simultaneous movement. Cool mechanics. Should be available in Oct Nov. check you tube. Yipeeee


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