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 kind of hate the way spartan does their releases. the only way to get info on a new fleet is to buy the fleet.
what if i decide i dont like them? i just wasted 50+ $ to read the rules.
am i wrong or is there another spot to get a peek at their stats to decide whether or not i want to give them a go?

has anyone seen the rules and care to pass on the skinny?

Well, you can buy the book separately from their store for something like $5:

http://spartangames.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=62_71&product_id=539

Granted, it is not as convenient as a PDF download, but it is better than buying the box set!

That being said, I have the rulebook, so I can answer any specific questions you might have. In general, the DR, CR, Mv, and HP of French ships pretty much match the standard (that is, they don't have the +1 DR of the FSA, or the +1 CR of the EotBS, etc). Their AP counts tend to be below average; their cruiser only has 4 AP, for example. Their cruisers do have decent long range gunnery, though which is nice.

The French really have a few special things about them, but the most important IMO are surface skimmers and the Heat lance weapon. Surface skimmers aren't actually flying models, despite having a flight stand. So, while counting as a surface naval model, it can still move over land and intervening models. Heat lances are a neat weapon that has a AD rating equal to 2x the target's DR. While they are affected by damage, they are also redoubtable, which means that you can still get useful dice from them even when the ship armed with the weapon is heavily damaged.

awesome, thanks for the info ruck.
i didnt know about the 5 dollar book, thats not a bad investment even if you dont like them.

I'm really sorry for not thining of this earlier, but if you are interested in the unit stats you can find them on these custom-made stat cards that are posted here:

http://zoom.thruhere.net/dystopian-wars/

These have all the same info as the official cards, they are just formatted into the standard card size and have snazzier art work. A guy under the user name YouLookLikeaNail put them together. Keep in mind though, they won't have a detailed description of some of the faction-specific MARs or weapons.

The french have a lot of AA, and some of their ships have a MAR that allows for rerolling missed AA. so that's fun, especially if you're trying to use rockets against them.

a lot of their bigger ships have cloud generators and/or retardent armor. the generators make them harder to shoot when they're turned on and the retardent armor reduces a single six per shooting attack to a five(no double damage, no exploding reroll).

Heat lances and lancettes are nasty, drawing power from the strength of the enemy ship (either dr*2 or hp*2 for the lances, I forget which)

That's all I can think of that really separates them from other fleets and I've yet to play against their land force.

Lances are (DR*2)AD, Lancettes are (DR)AD.