Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I wouldn't get hung up on the "steampunk" issue, I agree it doesn't quite fit that genre. Especially with what will be released for the covenent of anartica. I imagine it as alternate history before the wws.

chaos0xomega wrote:

Dez wrote:There are a bunch of Airship releases coming next month, bombers and fighters for each faction.

Yeah, thats another thing I find issue with. Bombers/Fighters make the game too much like WW2/post WW2 style combat, which further detracts from the steampunk feel. It wouldn't be too bad if they were toned down, but from what I've been reading, they have a big impact on the game.

Well, so far I've only been able to play one game, but that can be the case. Especially in the case of the large bombers; mine were able to get a crit that destroyed one of the opponent's cruisers (granted that was a lucky roll on the crit table, but still!). The tiny flyer rules I actually like a lot; they are an elegant way to "realisticly" handle flight operations, since they have fuel and weapon loads that are limited. Because of this, I just can't see tiny fliers dominating the game as an offensive force in their own right. As to wheter they fit the steam punk theme, that is harder to say. To me, it isn't so much of a glaring problem; I agree that it gives the game a bit of a WW II feel to it, but I would say that doesn't make it inherently non-steam punk.

I have checked it out and am sold on this game, to the point that I am now saving up to buy and costing out what I will collect. This will be my next gaming money sink, not that I need another one.

Ruckdog wrote:Ok! Ok! I should be getting my first ship painted up tomorrow, and I'll put up some pics in my P&M blog if I can.

EDIT: Got my first cruiser all painted up as a test. I am going with a "Great White Fleet" theme:

Do the FSA cruisers have a variable centre mount as the battleship does?

Yep. It can take a shield, rocket, or kinetic generator.

Yanks have the best fleet from what I have heard, though Prussians and Brits have the best looking.

I have been looking on the tactical forums, people are saying the Britannian fleet is weaker an d is only effective in a narrow range of circumstances

Orlanth wrote:Yanks have the best fleet from what I have heard, though Prussians and Brits have the best looking.

I have been looking on the tactical forums, people are saying the Britannian fleet is weaker an d is only effective in a narrow range of circumstances

Considering the South won the American Civil War in the DW universe, I'm sure the FSA would bristle at being characterized as Yankees .

As for me, I've found my FSA fleet does have a few weakness...during my game with a Prussian player last Friday, for example, I lost half of my frigates to boarding actions with his frigates. Also, I found my long-range fire to be mostly ineffective, and my rockets next to useless. However, the higher DR of my cruisers came in handy a couple of times.

Ruckdog wrote:

Orlanth wrote:Yanks have the best fleet from what I have heard, though Prussians and Brits have the best looking.

I have been looking on the tactical forums, people are saying the Britannian fleet is weaker an d is only effective in a narrow range of circumstances

Considering the South won the American Civil War in the DW universe, I'm sure the FSA would bristle at being characterized as Yankees .

As for me, I've found my FSA fleet does have a few weakness...during my game with a Prussian player last Friday, for example, I lost half of my frigates to boarding actions with his frigates. Also, I found my long-range fire to be mostly ineffective, and my rockets next to useless. However, the higher DR of my cruisers came in handy a couple of times.

Never take rockets on any fsa unit that can swap them out for something else.

Yeah, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion.

What does a kinetic generator do?

Long range fire is plenty effective, if you know what and what to shoot at.

Also, rockets are something of a late game closer. Rockets, bombs, and torpedoes are not diminished by hull damage. As such, later in the game, after ships have started taking hull damage (thus reducing AA other gunnery values) rockets will have a much easier time getting through.

Pael wrote:What does a kinetic generator do?

You add 1d6" movement when you activate the generator on the model.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Vertrucio wrote:Long range fire is plenty effective, if you know what and what to shoot at.

Also, rockets are something of a late game closer. Rockets, bombs, and torpedoes are not diminished by hull damage. As such, later in the game, after ships have started taking hull damage (thus reducing AA other gunnery values) rockets will have a much easier time getting through.

Long range fire is not 'plenty effective' if your opponent knows how to beat it. Sure you might put some damage on a frigate here or there, but most folks will roll more AA dice than you will shoot at them.

And just remember, to use those weapons (outside of bombs) you are talking about, you will have to disengage the enemy, as most rockets get to throw fewer and fewer dice the closer you get and most torps won't have any power at rb1.

Ruckdog wrote:

Considering the South won the American Civil War in the DW universe, I'm sure the FSA would bristle at being characterized as Yankees .

Not got the book, they are Rebs? How did it end.

Turns out, the South, under the leadership of President Adams (a fictitious former Senator) penned an alliance with Britania in exchange for access to Uranium Oxide from the Mississippi River valley. With Brtania's help, the North was defeated by 1864 and the USA was recast as the FSA.

I just went down and actually got my hands on some of these minis and they are huge!! The zepplin is amazing!!
My issue now is how am I going to decide my first faction? All of the ships look cool for some reason or another.

I had a question about tournaments, will the boards have to have water and land? Or will that be decided before game? What if I build an all land and air force or build a 50/50 force, and the table is an all water board? Has Spartan addressed this yet?

Pael wrote:I just went down and actually got my hands on some of these minis and they are huge!! The zepplin is amazing!!
My issue now is how am I going to decide my first faction? All of the ships look cool for some reason or another.

I know, it is tough choice! One way to start would be to look at the released renders of the land units for the different factions, and see if any appeal to you more than another. That could be a sort of "tie-breaker" if you need it. If not, there is always the D4 route ...

I had a question about tournaments, will the boards have to have water and land? Or will that be decided before game? What if I build an all land and air force or build a 50/50 force, and the table is an all water board? Has Spartan addressed this yet?

The short answer is no one knows. To the best of my knowledge, Spartan has not run any "official" tournaments for any of its games so far, so all the questions you are asking will really be up to the organizer of the event. At this point, the land models have not been released yet, so any organized play would pretty much revolve around the naval side. Once the land models are out, and people have had a chance to try combined land/naval games, there might be more of a verdict on whether or not it is feasible to run a combined game in a tournament setting. With the forthcoming release of ground box sets, it might not be a bad strategy to get one for your chosen faction; this would give you something approaching a 50/50 split, considering that flyers and airships can be used on both land and sea.

Just the thought of this game gets me excited. That would be a real tactical and strategic challenge trying to plan for a game that could be all water etc.

Are there any planned transports? I haven't had a chance to check out the main page as of yet. I want to know if there will be a large transport ship that can unload tanks etc.

When are the land units supossed to get here?

The land units is how I decided. I can't hold back from having GIANT WALKERS! Burning Sun for me

Pael wrote:Just the thought of this game gets me excited. That would be a real tactical and strategic challenge trying to plan for a game that could be all water etc.

Are there any planned transports? I haven't had a chance to check out the main page as of yet. I want to know if there will be a large transport ship that can unload tanks etc.

When are the land units supossed to get here?

Transports have been mentioned as a future release, although they aren't on the horizon yet. The most complete schedule I've seen is here:

http://www.fathomsreach.com/spartannews/2011-release-schedule-dystopian-wars/

According to that, the land forces will be out in March.

Yesterday I ordered a 'test' miniature, something to add to my shelf if I do nothing else with it. Though I am almost certain to buy into this game now, the more I read about it and look on the forums the more I like it. I have found my cash sink for that first half of 2011, putting off my Vampire Counts army yet again. After being delayed for over three years by Descent, Titans, Warmachine, AT-32, Confrontation and more Warmachine in that order. The miniature I bought was this:



and frankly miniature is not an appropriate word for it. While I bought the Zeppelin from Weyland Games, I find the Spartan games store Mega Bundle especially tempting as it includes the rulebook and cards and a healthy discount. Notice the discount is worldwide so interesting Aussies and others gouged on shipping should check it out and consider buying 1x each carrier with it. The deal is a smart move, as I will not end up collecting four fleets when two or three would do.

Dystopian Wars Mega Bundle


Yes do remember this deal 'only' includes line warships and not carriers, its one of the reasons I chose the zeppelin to buy, it wont interfere with this deal. Also note that the price has held at £125 from December, in fact all prices have held, so Spartan Games has absorbed the VAT rise. I like the naval Battle Groups because they arent really starters as per Games workshop boxset starters, with the carriers in addendum you don't really need much else. I may just add the new studff as it comes out at one box each and the ships are huge. Its a damn good deal frankly, and has gone a long way on selling me this game.

Just had a quick game with my EotBS fleet, suffered a close defeat to Britannia, mostly I suspect because the EotBS have a lot of rockets which are more effective at long range, and I went charging in like an idiot. But there we are, live and learn. We didn't use the full rules either, as me and my friend had basically played a game straight from opening the box, and we couldn't wait to read the rules in sufficient detail before it got too late, but our club's got 4 players at least, the other 2 players are Prussian because nobody wanted water-wheels.
So... can you fire ALL your weapons in one turn? Cuz we had a little confusion over that and we went dutch on the rulebook, it's over at his place now, haven't had a proper look-see, and with exams and all.

GoldenKaos wrote:Just had a quick game with my EotBS fleet, suffered a close defeat to Britannia, mostly I suspect because the EotBS have a lot of rockets which are more effective at long range, and I went charging in like an idiot. But there we are, live and learn. We didn't use the full rules either, as me and my friend had basically played a game straight from opening the box, and we couldn't wait to read the rules in sufficient detail before it got too late, but our club's got 4 players at least, the other 2 players are Prussian because nobody wanted water-wheels.
So... can you fire ALL your weapons in one turn? Cuz we had a little confusion over that and we went dutch on the rulebook, it's over at his place now, haven't had a proper look-see, and with exams and all.

The short answer is Yes.

You can fire all weapons that have a valid target; so for example, a battleship can fire it's main turrets, broadsides, torpedoes, and ack ack all in the same turn. Another point that needs to be made is that on your stat card, where it says "Turret," the number of dice is for only one turret on the model. So, in the case of the KoB battleship, it has 4 turrets and each gets the number of dice specified on the card.

Just saw the new robot render for Ole Henry I think was the name.... AWESOME!!!

Pael wrote:Just saw the new robot render for Ole Henry I think was the name.... AWESOME!!!

Linkity-link :

http://www.spartangames.co.uk/dystopian_preview_page_john_henry.html

Hmm right now its either this game or BFG i cant decide! This seems alot more time and money consuming then BFG but also sounds like a TON of fun!

I would go for this game because of all the awesome stuff planned for it. While BFG is good you will eventually get to a point where you will want something more and then all you will have is unfounded hope that GW will make something for BFG.

Hmm thats what im thinking.. have you played both if so what would you pick?

I am actually doing both since BFG is kind of a staple with my brother but I am going full hearted dystopian wars.

With what they have planned to release this game can only be a pure success. Giant land tanks, flying robot titans, huge naval and air ships!!! What could possibly top that?? Wait what a giant sea squid and more monsters to come!!!!! Sign me up. I cannot curb my enthusiasm.

Compare all that to BFG and I would pick Dystopian hands down each time.

Also with the initial cost to start up Dystopian War will be a lot cheaper and most players will have roughly the same size of force so finding a comparable game will be a lot easier than BFG for newbies.

Hmm you make ma good point are there alot of carriers in the US? or no? is it basically i have to order it online...? your right i was actually kind of surprised at the prices.. (not as bad as i thought it would be)

Well, I would say check with your local stores. What part of Indiana are you in? I grew up in Northwest Indiana myself, and it is pretty slim pickings for game stores in that area. Remember, even if your store doesn't stock it, they might be able to order for you through their distributors.

I live just north of Indianapolis. good idea ill have to find out i REALLY want to get my hands on the rule book!