DW: The British and their torpedoes

Long live the Queen!

The first thing I have to say is:  Holy shit man, torpedo spam with British is strong!  I played my friend James today and he brought a list with no larges except for the Vengeance Class Submarine.  Everything else was Cruisers and smalls, but man, the list was absolutely brutal.  After facing such a list, I'm not sure if I would consider the British underpowered anymore.

I'm just going to capture the highlights from the game:

• Overall, I can't say I'm too happy with the performance of the EotBS fleet.  The Hachiman Otsu-Gata is still pretty bad for the points and the Raijin War Gyro is just very unimpressive.  Flying units in general, unless of course, you're a flying Dread like the CoA Euclid are just awful in this game.  They have less protection than naval units, Obscured is just garbage because you're hardly contributing to the battle, and the damage you inflict is mediocre.
• The core design for the EotBS fleet is just a huge gimmick in my opinion.  Rockets in general are very subpar in earlier stages of the game when squadrons are healthy and at full strength.  They become even more subpar once the enemy closes in on you while your gimmicky rockets and subpar Raging Fire effects get weaker, and can be consistently dispelled with AA and repair rolls.  Because of this dependency on rockets, EotBS gunnery takes a huge hit as well (weaker at long range).  The design of the faction wants you to weaken the enemy with rockets first, then close in with strong guns and solid boarding.  Sadly, if those rockets don't do what they're supposed to do, the enemy closes in and outguns you pretty easily.  All this is happening while the other factions hammer you with torpedoes (more difficult to defend against), vastly superior long-range gunnery (4+, no AA or CC protection), and other "gimmicks" that straight up inflict the desired result (Tesla, for example).  In short, dependency on rockets and Raging Fire suck.
• This British list I faced however, hot damn it can inflict an assload of damage from all range bands.  I'm not sure entirely what his list was, but it had Agincourt Gunships, Dominion Support Cruisers tagging 2x units of Orion Destroyers, 2x Lord Hood Battlecruisers in a squadron, and a squadron of Tribals Cruisers.  Once the Dominions started target painting my stuff, it was bad news bears as his Orions just lit up everything that I had.  I was very surprised at the lack of larges in this list, but the damage that it was able to inflict on my forces were horrendous.
• It's been a long time since I've seen the British preform this well and I can only imagine that the support box and the Lord Hood helped with that.  The Vengeance Sub is just a pain in the back side because he'll just creep along the water on my sides while constantly pouring dice from afar.  The good thing about the Sonar Target Painters is that once one target is lit up, everything else that shoots at them get +1 to hit with their torpedoes.  This is especially dangerous with the British Destroyers (I think the best DD in the game) because their damage potential is so great.  Not just that, their range is insane and the fact the Dominions can be attached to them is just ludicrous.  A unit of 4x Orions with an attached Dominion is 215 points, but with this, you gain the ability to do long-range torpedo death.  Well worth it to me.
• James' entire list just made sense from a synergy perspective:  There was a healthy amount of squadrons, hull points and target saturation on the battlefield, plus the fact there were 4 different Target Painters.  With the Target Painters active, Water Hunters all over the place, and torpedoes from every which way, the only thing that was really safe was my Raijin.  That is, until he got closer to do damage with his guns and got annihilated by combined gunnery from the British.  That 6/9 is just asking to get killed, especially when you can't screen him and you contribute almost nothing to the battlefield if you go Obscured.
• The Lord Hood is by far the best Battlecruiser in the game.  It moves 8", has Sharp Turn and packs dreadnought-class guns.  Even when it hung out in the backfield, 2 of these things manages to throw out 14 AD from RB4.  This becomes 21 dice at RB3, 22 at RB2, and 29 at RB1.  Now I'm not sure what the justification was for having this kind of firepower from two of these ships, but these guys were insanely good in the game that we played.  The damage potential from these guys made them absolutely killer when cruising parallel of my fleet.  That 14/21 at RB4 and 3 just can't be ignored.
• Truth be told, the mission objectives in the game need some work.  James needed to kill 70% of my fleet and I only needed to kill 50% of his, including smalls.  With my Dreadnought taking up 280 of those points, I managed to snag the game from him when one of my Ikas caught up and ate his Vengeance submarine.

TLDR:  If you're playing Kingdom of Brittania, you better be spamming torpedoes.

DW: A game and some thoughts

Melting through all your ships.

I played a game today vs. my friend Kyle's FSA force with my French.  Since my Attack Flotilla haven't arrived yet, you will not see any of the newer stuff here.  No matter though, at 1000 points, my French were well-equipped to fight against the opposition.

My Fleet:
Charlemagne DN, Cloud
+Toulon CA
Magenta MkII, Cloud
+Toulon CA
Couronne BCV, Cloud
5x Fighters, 1x Recon
3x Escuyer CA
4x Chevalier DD
5x Torpedo
5x Torpedo

Kyle's Fleet:
Independence BB
+2x Springfield Escorts
Valley Airship
4x Lee Scoutships
3x Lexington CA
4x Augusta FF
4x Augusta FF
5x Torpedo
5x Torpedo

Some notes from the game:

• The Toulon MkII ships are great upgrades for my heavier ships.  Not only do they add extra dice on the defense of my larger vessels, but the extra Heat Lance is absolutely monstrous.  This elevates the relatively unimpressive 2x DR to 3x on a major target and that's just amazing.  For the extra 80 points, this brings the Charlemagne package up to 320 points.  Pretty expensive, but worth the points if you deploy and screen well.
• His Independence BB got within RB3 of my forces, went full stop and started pounding my Couronne.  Sadly, he was unable to inflict any damage on my forces over the course of 3 turns.  On the third turn, I was able to throw 21 dice with my Charlemagne + Toulon's Heat Lances into the BB, forcing a crit that he turned into no damage with some incredible shield saves (-7 damage).  No matter though, the Indie was pretty much deadweight since it did not do any damage to any of my forces.
• The combination of Retardant Armor and Cloud Generator is super strong at denying enemy damage.  When the dust settled, the only bit of damage that my opponent inflicted was on activation turns that he was able to 1. seize initiative and 2. go before my Cloud generator could activate.  Where a few of my ships took good damage from his forces, the Redoubtable Heat Lances just kept chewing through his forces (due to FSA's high DR).
• I was extremely surprised at how much damage his Augutas were pouring out.  Not only do they have good 4/5 DR/CR, but they were throwing out upwards of 16 dice at some of my ships.  With their good speed and damage, I will be wise never to underestimate them again.  I had Torpedo planes ready to go most of the time but I was saving them for the bigger ships.  A mistake I'll never make again, that's for sure.
• Speaking of surprises, the Lexington CAs have an amazing amount of AP to throw around.  FSA in general took me a little off-guard with the sheer amount of boarding actions that they can take.  Not only do they have Sharpshooters to drop my AP, but their Lees and Lexingtons can really put on the hurt in boarding.  Lee Scoutships are really solid when it comes to boarding my ships:  They can throw huge amounts of AP at me while I'm unable to board his ships in return because they're flying.
• After the game, Kyle said it probably would of been better if he had went Obscured for more rounds to deny my shooting since he was shooting at Cloud Genrators anyway.  This was a pretty good call.  The Valley and the Lees didn't do as much damage as he would of liked because of the French's fleet's AA.
• Speaking of AA, a lot of people look down on Escuyers but I find them to be quite good for 165 points for 3x.  They have a crazy amount of shots against enemy air with their threat range of 22" (6" move + 16" guns) and re-rolls, plus their 90 degree secondary turrets are solid firing solutions with 7/6/5/-.  For the points, I find them hard to beat for how much versatility they can put out.  Maybe this will change if my opponents stop bringing air units completely.
• My Chevalier DDs were largely useless this game and most of our TFT did nothing to each other's ships.  Kyle said he'll probably swap out the Valley for the New Orleans the next time around and maybe take a dreadnought of his own.  While a lot of people see the Charlemagne as a lesser DN, I find it to be very good in every single game I've ever taken her.  She has an amazing amount of gun coverage and firing solutions as well as 2x Heat Lances that can be directed on either side.  Now with the ability to take a supporting Toulon, I can't see myself playing a larger game without it.

Which brings me to another point:  Do you think dreadnoughts should be LA 1250?  Are they too much for a player to handle at 1000 points if they don't bring one?  Are they undercosted, or are they fine?

DW: Back in the saddle

Ottomans man, damn they're sexy.

Yes, you read correctly.  Instead of wasting my time with Escalation in 40K, I've decided to invest some more time in an old favorite.  I'm officially back and playing Dystopian Wars on top of making commitments in Firestorm Armada.  What can I say?  I've been loving the stuff that Spartan Games have been doing for their games because I honestly feel like they care about their fanbase.  I read over the 2.0 rules for Firestorm and it looks like they touched upon a lot of the areas players were having issues with.  They streamlined the rules, made them easier to understand and cleared up a lot of things that were confusing and unneeded.  On top of this, they added a lot of player suggestions and developed their project around community feedback and player expectations.

With that said, I now own a total of 3 fleets.  I have the Empire of the Blazing Sun, which were my first army but right now, they're probably my least favorite.  I'm not entirely sure why that is, but I think it has something to do with the lack of special rules and the over-reliance on gimmicky mechanics such as Incendiary Rockets and Raging Fires.  The Sharp Turn MAR on all the ships is the only saving grace since I absolutely love maneuverability.  While not as movetastic as the Japanese, the French is probably my favorite fleet at the moment.  They have really cool abilities in both aesthetic design and fantasy so that's really appealing to me.  The thought of Heat Lances ripping superheated holes into the side of ships while Cloud Generators shroud your advance is way cool.  That's why for my third fleet, I've recently decided to pick up Ottomans.  While I don't like the idea of flying ships, I really like the aesthetic design of the Ottoman ships and the fact they're riddled with broadsides.  The fact that they can generate storms through their Firtina Generators that can be used offensively or defensively is just too much.  Oh, and they can ally with the French, so I can't wait to try some allied fleets out and see what happens.

Oh, and incase you're wondering what happened to my Tyranid pictures.. let's just say I got contacted by GW Legal.  The pictures are gone, but I'm sure you can find them elsewhere on the net!

BR: 1000pts RoF vs. KoB

Vive la France!

Hey guys, today I played a game vs. my friend's KoB with my French navy.  In this BR, I will follow the same unit review format as I did the last BR before moving onto the mission recap.  Overall, I enjoy this format a little more because it gives me the opportunity to highlight the ups and downs of each unit.  It's also easier to track their performance as I write more BRs.

Here are the fleets:

Charlemagne DN (Cloud) = 240
Couronne BCV (Cloud, Fighters) = 150
3x Marseille (RA) = 195
3x Escuyer CA = 165
4x Chevalier DD = 120
4x Chevalier DD = 120
2x 5x TFT = Free!

vs.

Majesty DN (2x Shield) = 270
+3x Bastion Escorts = 75
Ruler BB (Shield) = 180
3x Agincourt CA = 240
4x Orion DD = 140
4x Attacker FF = 100
2x 5x TFT = Free!

Field Orders:
Me - Destroy all Large and Massive models in any opposing Fleet.
Him - Destroy or capture at least 50% of the Maximum Fleet Value of any opposing Fleet in Victory Points, including all Medium models.

House Rules:
Repair is actually 4+ because we're both GW gamers.
Critical Tables 2 and 12 have been switched because again, we're GW gamers.

My fleet analysis:

• My Charlemagne did very well this game.  I activated him first almost every turn just so I can get the Cloud Generator rolling early.  I needed this ship to preform and thus, I kept him advancing and applying damage every turn that I can with his RB3 rockets.  The primary turrets didn't do much until I was able to get into RB1, which combined with my broadside was able to blast apart 2 wounded Agincourts.  With Cloud Generator rolling, Retardant Armor and me closing fast on the enemy, his focused fire was unable to do any real damage to my ship.  When the game ended, I only managed to take a single hull point's worth of damage, while my Heat Lances managed to do 1 Crit and 1 HP to his Dreadnought and 2 points of damage to his BB.  Overall, this guy took a ton of damage and put out some heavy damage himself by charging directly towards both of his capital ships and getting both ships in Heat Lance territory.
• The Couronne BCV also preformed quite well.  He was able to supply a fighter wing to the party as well as a Recon plane for the extra activation.  I think the biggest contribution that he made to the fight was taking a lot of damage from his fleet.  A lot of fire went into the Couronne because of how Cloud Generator activation works.  If I activate the Charlemange first, my opponent will shoot at my Couronne.  If I activate the Couronne first, my opponent goes after my DN.  Since my DN was instrumental to winning this game vs. his two capitals, I decided that my BCV will take most of the beating.  Even though the Couronne took 3 HP of damage, I managed to down some Orion DDs and Attacker FFs with my broadsides and rockets.  Sadly, his BB launched AP later in the game and derelicted my ship.
• My Marseille Cruisers were pretty decent.  They were able to soak a good deal of damage being put into them, as well as manuever into advantageous positions with their MV9 and Sea-Skimming.  Damage was pretty decent from them as well as I was able to make some longer distance gunnery shots as well as annihilate some of his Destroyers and Frigates with my broadsides.  Being hit on 5s by torpedoes was also amazing as I was able to fend off an entire Torpedo Fighter squadron by themselves.  The excellent AA from a full squad really helped take the damage off the Cruisers.  Later in the game, these guys made a large sweeping manuever around the enemy BB to prize it.  Since all of his marines and my marines from the BCV killed each other, his BB was left wide open.
• I really liked the Escuyer CAs.  Their RB2 AA almost seems like cheating because I was able to annihilate a squadron of TFTs after they made their bombing run.  Given I could of sat back a little more and waited for his TFT to come closer, I chose to advance with the rest of my fleet to get better field presence and weighted fire.  Although they limped forward with the rest of my heavier ships, I didn't find their advance too problematic because of the damage their turrets put out from range.  Hitting for 7/6/5 with secondary turrets all the way to RB3 is really good, and the fact that their AA basically eliminates any chance your opponent will board the Escuyers.  I remember in the game when one of his remaining Agincourt Gunships threw his AP at one of my Escuyers.  Those poor, poor men never stood a chance.
• Last, but not least, I had 2x units of 4x Chevalier DDs as backup fire support.  Yeah, these guys are just really good.  Pack Hunter, a lot of rockets from RB1-3, and good DR.  They were able to put on the hurt to everything in his navy from Frigates all the way to his Gunships.  Overall, these guys can definitely stay in the navy.  Their ranged support is very beneficial to an naval force who needs to get closer to the enemy before they can unleash their more devastating weapons.

The enemy fleet:

• The Majesty and the Ruler put a lot of shots out at my DN when they should of annihilated my mediums.  My opponent agrees that he lost track of the mission parameters and that killing my smaller ships would of been better than wasting shots at my Cloud Generated, slightly retarded ships.  When he launched his final AP assault on my Charlemange later in the game, he failed to kill any of my Fighter CAP and my AA just blew him to shreds.  I think only 3 of his Elite marines made it on board and my own Elite marines were able to clean house without much problem.  What my opponent did well with his capital ships was change fire on whichever of my capital ships activated first so he can shoot at the one without the Cloud Generator.  This is how he managed to put on good damage on my Couronne early, but he got tunnel visioned into the Charlemange later after I threw out 14 dice vs. his Majesty and critted it for damaged engines.
• The Agincourts performed as expected, and their damage mauled my Chevaliers, but poor dice meant they couldn't do much to my other stuff.  I believe he shot at the Escuyers a couple of times and just didn't get anywhere with their damage.  With his field orders being kill my mediums, this was extremely frustrating for him.  I made the mistake of spreading damage on his Agincourts when I should of just focused one down after another.  It was their torpedoes that did the most damage, but my focus on weakening their primaries kept their AP a threat as well.  I know I will be focus firing them down next game instead of spreading the love.
• As for the rest of his units, they all preformed as well as they're going to.  His Destroyers and Frigates did solid damage to my Chevaliers, but their performance vs. my Marseilles were very poor.  The Sea-Skimming made their torps very weak, and their main guns were unable to breach the Retardant Armor that my Marseilles had.  The fact that I flew over land in the later parts of the game kept torpedoes out of the question entirely.  Overall though, they did solid damage to my smaller ships but was unable to do anything to my bigger ships.

Reflection:

• I believe my activation order and firing priority was better than my opponent.  He got tunnel visioned into killing my bigger ships instead of focusing primaries at my mediums.  If he managed to kill 5 Destroyers and all my Cruisers, the game would of been his.  However, this was not the case and I'm sailing back to France with a Ruler BB in tow.

DW Fleet Analysis

Play this game!

This post will highlight and analyze the pros and cons of each faction of Dystopian Wars.  There's currently 7 core nations to the game so I'll go over them first.  Each faction has their own unique thing going for them, so I'll try to touch upon their aesthetics as well as their playstyle in this review.


Federated States of America

• If you love the look of Steam Boats, you're going to love the look of the FSA ships.  Almost all of their models makes you feel like you're in Industrial-age 'Murica.  They even have a John Henry robot!
• The Space Marine faction of the game.  Solid stats on most of their ships for a very cost-effective price.  Easy to play, solid and forgiving durability, combined with powerful ranged weapons.  A good faction to start with to learn the game.
• Arguably the most powerful Dreadnought in the game.  The Enterprise Dreadnought puts out obscene damage from all ranges and have the highest defenses in the game: DR/CR 8/13 with up to 2 Shield Generators!
• A lot of their ships sports Sharpshooters take can take out enemy AP while in close distance or can be outfitted with Kinetic Generators that can turbo-boost their ships across the ocean.
• Great Carriers, taking advantage of the unique Double Decker MAR and many of their ships are Maneuverable, which allows the FSA to rotate freely when All Stopped so they can continue their long range bombardment.
• Overall, just a really strong faction with many strong naval and air elements with not much downsides. I guess their ground forces could need some work.

Kingdom of Britannia

• KoB ships are literally floating castles with a ton of weapon turrets.  All of their heavier ships favor having multiple turrets that can fire in multiple directions.
• A strong faction when it comes to playing the ranged game, but also pack a decent amount of Shield Generators.  One of the more unique things that the KoB have is their Guardian Generator and Experienced Engineers.  This unique Shield Generator allows the KoB to spread their shields to vessels within 8" of them, and Experienced Engineers can fix the effects of Critical damage better.
• The plus side of having multiple turrets is that you can focus targets a lot better without sacrificing too much movement.  That way, most of your ships are able to generate a steady increase of firepower as you close Range Bands.  The bad thing about having so many turrets is that once your ship starts taking damage, all of your turrets will decrease in strength.
• KoB also specializes in having a lot of torpedoes.  If you like being able to throw a ton of torpedoes into the water, then KoB might be the faction for you.  The fact that torps don't get nicked by sustained damage means you'll always have enough to go around.
• A lot of interesting and awesome looking air models as well as one of the game's only true submarines.  Not just that, but it comes with Hull Ripper/Breaker that allows it to maul ships by moving through them.

Prussian Empire

• These are your standard WWI and WWII looking ships.  This includes giant blimps that might remind you of Red Alert 2!  Maybe that's why the Prussians are among the more popular factions to pick up!
• Don't worry though.  Despite having a large following on how the faction's models look, the Prussians are considered one of the more difficult factions to play.  This is largely due to the playstyle of the faction:  They are fast and brutal, but they can either win big, or lose big.
• The main gimmick of the Prussians is that they're highly elite, have a lot of AP (assault marines), and are generally considered a boarding faction.  The Prussians enjoy rushing forward towards their enemies so they can do damage with their Teslas and powerful gunnery before boarding the enemy with superior AP numbers.
• Another thing the Prussians have is that they utilize Tesla technology.  Teslas are one of the most common weapons found in the Prussian arsenal and most of these sport the Lethal Strike special rule.  Once a Tesla weapon does damage to an enemy ship, that ship automatically loses 1 AP.  This type of damage in turn, make the enemy easier to board once the PE marines come flying in.  Tesla Generators, on the other hand, can cause random Crit effects on enemy ships or give a model extra movement.
• The entire fleet is fast.  Very fast.  Their Arminius Class Frigate moves 13", their Cruisers and Gunships move 10", and even their Emperor Class Battleship moves 7".  Obviously, the speed is there to secure successful boarding attempts.

Empire of the Blazing Sun

• Most of the Japanese ships look like sea trains.  I don't know how else to put it, but if you can imagine a train that's floating in the water, that's what their ships look like.  If that doesn't do it for you, they have a giant mechanical squid.
• The EotBS have a good amount of AP on their ships as well, but they're not considered a true boarding faction when compared to the Prussians.  This is largely due to the fact that many of their ships are armed with long-range Incendiary Rockets that can set enemy ships ablaze!
• A lot of the EotBS ships have Fixed Channels on their weapon profiles.  This forces the Japanese fleet to engaged in narrow and focused channels of fire, but thanks for the fleet-wide Sharp Turn MAR, the EotBS can pull off maneuvers that are unheard of to other factions.
• Although Japan has a weak Dreadnought, they more than make up for it with the ability to take the Mechanical Ika (Giant Squid).  It is DR/CR 5/10 7 HP with Ferocious, Sharp Turn, Rugged Construction and a whopping 9 AP each.  Once these guys get a hold of an enemy ship, it is almost sure to derelict it.  Two of these can comfortably kill everyone on an enemy Dreadnought without much problem.
• Despite the Sharp Turn MAR and the universal +1 CR on all their ships, the EotBS is considered one of the more difficult fleets to play due to the bi-polar nature of their weapons and precision-based damage through Sharp Turn maneuvers.

Covenant of Antarctica

• The CoA have the most technological looking ships; futuristic, pure science fiction and almost alien in design.  This is to reflect their almost post-human aesthetics taste.
• As for the fleet, the CoA is made out of almost pure science.  They sport the most special rules of any faction and this can be a blessing and a curse.  This is a blessing when Target Painter and multiple Shield Generators increase the damage output and defensive capabilities of your fleet, but it's a curse when your ships rely on these technologies instead of their hull durability.  Good thing that they have Inventive Scientists to help with re-rolls.
• The CoA is weak in terms of AP and defensive values because they rely on their technology to carry them through the day.  Energy Turrets can shoot with equal effectiveness at all ranges, Particle Accelerators that can travel through targets, Wave Lurker that can move an entire Battleship semi-submerged, and Sturginium Rounds that can punch through Shields.  Like I said, straight out of science fiction.
• In terms of powerful selections, the CoA is definitely no slouch.  The Aristotle BB is considered one of the best, if not the best Battleship in the game, and the Plutarch Class Destroyers can put out an insane amount of damage while moving great distances.  The Callimachus Time Dilation Orb can literally teleport units across the board, or it can end up visiting the Bermuda Triangle for a turn.
• The CoA doesn't use normal pilots for their Tiny Flyers, they use Drones instead!  This means that they don't have fuel, don't have to return to base after AD attacks, but they get destroyed a little bit easier than normal pilots.

Republique of France

• Your ships can fly.  Not only do some of your ships have the ability to skim across the surface of the ocean, but some of your ships can literally take to the skies.  You have to see it to believe it.
• The French has a paranoid amount of AA (Ack Ack) compared to other factions.  Since they have below average AP ratings on most of their ships, their supremely high AA is designed to stop boarders dead in their tracks.
• A lot of interesting toys:  Field Generators can cancel other generator effects, Cloud Generators make French ships harder to hit, Heat Lances bore through the heaviest armor with ease, and Retardent Armor reduces the first exploding 6 to a normal hit.  All of these things keep French players happy and make their opponents frustrated and confused.
• Definitely not the fastest fleet.  When you compare the RoF's speed against the other factions in the game, it's pretty clear that the French are in no hurry.  The majority of their fleet likes to take a slow and steady approach to battle, but this can be a major problem when facing superior ranged gunnery.  This is amplified some more when you consider the typically lower durability ratings and a heavier reliance on activating Cloud Generators.
• It's pretty clear that the French currently own the skies.  Most of their air units are absolutely fantastic and they're the only faction in the game that have access to a flying Dreadnought-like Sky Fortress.  That thing tears apart most things land, air and sea.

Russian Coalition

• If you like big ornate structures radiating with industry, manliness and big guns, the Russian Federation might be for you.  Keep in mind that the Russians are the newest core nation, so they don't have as many models just yet.
• Ablative Armour on most of their ships makes them nigh immune to damage until they receive a Crit.  This keeps the Russians in the game as most of their guns are limited to RB2, with very limited options at RB3+.
• This, however, is not a problem according to the Russians.  They remedy this with enough firepower that can level entire fleets and most of their turrets is focused directly in the facing that they're going in:  Forward.
• Even though most of the Russian ships contain Conscripted Crew (meaning they suck in combat), low AA and CC values, many unique MARs allows the RF fleet to rush into combat without much issue.  Mimic Generators can copy enemy Shield Generators for free, Torpedo/Rocket Breakers allows the Russians to redirect enemy fire, and Glacier Generators can literally form blocks of ice onto the battlefield.
• Unique to the Russians are Tiny Flyers who can use their last fuel to attack and counter-attack, and a flying mushroom-shaped medium class bomber who can literally charge into something and blow up.  If this doesn't make you believe in the great leader, I don't know what will.

BR: 1000pts EotBS vs. RoF

Om nom nom..

I'm not really sure how to do DW battle reports just yet, but I figure I'll do it in my classic bullet point format.  However, I'm changing one little thing.  Since I want to add my fleet/ship analysis to the game as well, I'm going to use my navy list and comment on the particular ships and how they contributed to the battle.  Alright, let's go!

My list:
Hachiman DN

Kiyohime BCV

3x Tanuki CA

2x 4x Uwatsu FF

2x Ika Squidies

2x 5x Torpedoes

His list:

Magenta MKII BB

2x Magenta Prototype BB

Couronne BCV

3x Marseille CA

2x 4x Chevalier DD

2x 5x Torpedoes

I'll start by going over my units:

• The Hachiman is an interesting ship.  It wants to stay far away and shoot with its boss 9 rockets at RB4, but at the same time it wants to get close because the guns on it is pitiful from far away.  I used it in a manner which was most aggressive; shooting out rockets from RB4 all the way to RB2 where I could use my guns.  He drew an asston of fire from the opposing fleet, and eventually limped around with 6 damage on it and having its primary/secondary weapons rolling half dice from a crit (I failed to repair twice).  His main contribution to the battle was launching a few dudes over after the Ikas ate all the marines on his Magenta MKII BB.
• The Kiyohime BCV was not very impressive.  I kept him moving fast in hopes of bringing some powerful weapons into the fray, but I couldn't damage anything with this ship.  His stats are overall pretty low, with the main saving grace being his main turret and his P/S guns.  Unfortunately, he took a lot of damage over the course of the game, with him limping towards the front lines with 6/7 points worth of damage.  His main contribution was sending over his marines and capturing the Couronne BCV after bloody melee.  My Kiyohime made it out of the game though, just barely limping forward with its guns neutered and hull teared to shreds.
• My Tanuki Gunships were amazing in this game.  They poured out constant and immediate damage with their rockets, hitting all targets at RB4 on all sides with their 6 rockets a piece.  Over the course of the game, they downed several enemy destroyers, damaged several enemy BBs, put damage on his Cruisers, as well as prizing 2/3 Marseille CAs.  I believe I used this unit the best, as I kept them limping towards the enemy fleet in RB2 so I can get their Main Turrets, Fore Torpedoes and Rocket Batteries (shooting at RB3/4 targets) in constant action.  When the fight called for it, I was able to Sharp Turn towards promising targets and apply Secondary Main Turrets in RB1 while simultaneously launching 6 AP each for boarding actions.  The 4/8 statline with 6 HP also helped the ships far longer than they should.
• I was relatively impressed with my Uwatsu FFs even though they took a severe beating from the enemy fleet.  Most the Chevaliers were tasked to destroying my Frigates, and once the CAs and BBs joined in, all my ships were either broken limping forward towards the enemy at half strength.  My opponent suggested that the damage (or dice rather) he was putting out from his dual flying Magentas were poor, but I looked at the damage inflicted on my FFs from everything else and I consider it a fair trade!  A single Uwatsu in close proximity to an enemy ship can pour out 7 dice linking fire with himself.  If I had more of these suckers in combat, I would be rolling a ton more dice.  Unfortunately, it seems like the Uwatsus are the Chevalier's favorite snack.
• Last, I'll talk about my Ika Squids.  I think it goes without saying that EotBS players everywhere recommend taking 2x of these even more so than the DN.  Despite my rather shoddy deployment with these guys (deployed a bit too far), they were able to reach combat by Turn 4 and just take things over.  Two of them were able to derelict his slightly damaged Magneta MKII with losing only one tentacle, one of them single-handily stripped his Magenta Prototype, and both were able to sustain an enormous amount of firepower with their 5/10 Rugged Construction and 6 HP each.  I think from now on, I'm just going to put these guys in the middle and make a B-line for the closest fatty ship.  They're also horrifying to face once they emerge from the water because everything from his fleet went into them.

EotBS Summary:

• I feel that both the Hachiman and the Kiyohime were not worth the points I spent on them.  This, however, does not mean I don't know what they should be used for.  The Hachiman absorbed an enormous amount of damage being thrown at him, and the threat he generated on the table was immense.  If you think about all the damage that he had, it was due to the fact that he was closing in quick with 12 AP with Dash and Elan, a Ram Rating of 9 and 3 AD13 guns that can be brought into bear in a very graceful manner.  The mines that the DN has is just utterly worthless, so I'm basically treating the DN as a hulking threat with a lot of potential dice at close range.  I guess my problem with the ship is:  It's not a Dreadnought for its points.  It's more like an upgunned BB, but if that's the case, why not just take another BB?
• As for the Kiyohime, I'm just a little disappointed with its performance.  The best thing about the BCV is that you get the Torpedo Bombers (which can seriously mess things up) and the Recon plane for the extra activation.  Its main turret is also really powerful, and the B/S Guns are not bad at all.  Maybe the carrier just had a bad game, I'll try him again in the next one I play.  Or maybe I should drop the DN and the BCV for 2x BBs.  That does sound very appealing.
• Sharp Turn and Fast Torpedoes are amazing MARs.  For everyone who discounts the potential of Sharp Turn, they seriously need to rethink how they're using their ships.  I was able to turn my DN nearly on a dime compared to other ships of its class, my Tanukis literally U-turned into targets on my far flank, and I was able to pull off maneuvers that other ships can only dream of.  It's just a fantastic MAR.  Fast Torpedoes are just insane man.  Torps hitting on 3s and forcing your opponent to re-roll success CC saves is just brutal.  The damage potential from Torpedo Bombers with the Fast Torpedo MAR is one of the only saving graces to the otherwise lackluster BCV.

RoF Summary:

• I have the French as my second fleet, so I'm quite familiar with all the awesome things that they can do.  Retardent Armor and Cloud Generators can be incredibly frustrating to play against at times.  There's been so many times where I thought I did damage, but the loss of the Double Hits + roll again due to Retardant Armor really nullifies that.  Cloud Generators are just really funny:  Being hit on 5s all the time makes them incredibly good vs. all types of attacks.  Due to the fact that my friend was rolling with CAP'd Torpedo Bombers and not Fighters, I knew that boarding him was an option to get into the Retarded Cloudy French ships.  At the end of the game, I managed to win by prizing the Magenta MKII, his Carrier, one of his Magenta Prototypes, and 2/3 of his Marseilles.
• The Heat Lance is just death incarnate to enemy DNs.  His Carrier has one, his Magenta MKII has one, and if he brought his Charlemagne, I don't even know what I should do.  What basically happened is that:  He got into RB2 with his Cloud Generator and began throwing dice.  Everytime that he threw dice, my DN took a load of damage.  That's to be expected, so my battleplan had to be disabling his Heat Lance ships ASAP.  Since his BCV and BB were the biggest targets, it wasn't too hard to focus all my attention onto them while his Magneta Prototypes pounded me from the air.
• Speaking of which, the flying BBs were really interesting.  They flew around most of the game and shot me at RB2 with a bunch of dice.  I wounded one of them early with rockets from my Tanuki, and the other one that shot me just didn't do damage over the course of the game so he turned into a paper weight.  The fact that I had torpedo bombers and my targets were either Clouded ships in front, flying ships in the back (can't even hit them), or flying far far away to get to his DDs, my options were severely limited.  Therefore, my target priority changed to the things in front of me and to ignore his flying battleships that was raining on top of me.
• I like the Chevalier DD, but I'm not convinced about the Marseille CA in his fleet.  The DDs are just able to put down an enormous amount of damage from RB3 onwards and they linked for huge dice against everything.  Many of my FFs were sunk by them although he didn't do as much damage as he wanted on my capital ships.  At the end of the day though, they're only 120 points for 4 of them and the damage they put out is well worth it. As for the Marseilles, I think I would spend the +10 points each on them for Retardant Armor.  They have good shooting from RB3 on with their 270 degree Primaries, but I think they need a little boost in the defensive side to make them truly different than the Escuyer.  The Marseille is also incredibly fast and being surface skimming makes them really interesting in how they're used.  I think they're good and have their uses, but once they get damaged a fair amount (I put 2 damage on each throughout the game), they become significantly less effective.

Why you should play Dystopian Wars

Is that a Giant Squid or are you happy to see me?

A quick blurp about why Dystopian Wars is awesome and why you should play it.

Movement is King

Dystopian Wars, in a nutshell, is a naval steampunk version of Chess.  Movement is absoutely crucial in this game and correct usage of your fleet's movement, postioning and deployment will win you the game.  At first, you might think that this is a game that will force you to roll up to your opponent and roll dice.  God knows the combat system is really smiple and the opportunity to roll huge amounts of dice (which can explode into more dice) is always the way to do it.  While for many people this seems to be the case, this is not.

Movement is different for almost every single ship in the game.  Their sizes dictate how much they can turn, they might have a special rule (MAR) that allows them to turn on the dime, or they might have greater movement values in general.  Knowing how each of your ships move around the seascape is what really matters.  The reason for this is because collision, ramming, blocked LoS, and blocking enemy LoS all matters in this game.  If you fail in how you deploy, your movement will not be fluid and thus, your combat potential and strategy will not be fluid.  If you get too itchy and make shoddy maneuvers with your fleet in hopes of bringing all your guns to bear, you might block the firing lanes for your other ships.  The list goes on and on, and it's one of the most realistic and unforgiving elements that makes this naval wargame great.

Activation is Important

Once you determine who is going first every round, the order at which you activate will be most important.  If you have more units than your opponent, you will have the opportunity to move the "less important" units first.  This can be used so you can move your "more crucial" pieces after all his activations are over.  You can also assume that some of these activations are bluffs, and clever admirals will not take the bait in moving the pieces you want him to.  Some players might move units just so your opponents will see a juicy target.  If he takes the bait, it can potentially set off a chain of events that'll lead to the destruction of his entire fleet.  In a system where it's you-go-I-go, the damage that can be inflicted either works like a ramp or a downward spiral.  This is why tempo and momentum is very important in any given battle.

The order of activations will determine how damage is being dealt most of the time.  If you wish to get the jump on his ships in terms of damage, you will probably activate your bigger ships first.  However, in doing so, might leave you exposed to counter-attacks from smaller ships who can close the distance quickly.  With this in mind, it becomes clear that all activations are equally important in the long run.  Your bigger pieces are capable of doing more damage from different directions, while the medium and smaller elements of your fleet can act more like a scalpel compared to your hammers.

Firing Arcs and Directional Combat

Last, but certainly not least, I'll cover firing arcs and directional combat briefly.  Here is where the game really gets interesting.  Once you factor in movement with the order of activations, the game gets pretty exciting.  Throw in different firing arcs, sweet spots and damage mitigation, and the game becomes excellent.  Just like movement, different ships have different weapons.  Some might have fixed arcs, some have turrets and others have broadsides.  To make things even more interesting, some ships have all three.  In order to maximize the amount of damage you can inflict on your opponent's ships, players must utilize every weapon in their disposal.  They do this by activating them in the correct order, moving them into the exact location where they'll do the most damage, and bring all their weapons to bear to inflict maximum damage.  This in turn, can mean their ships can be exposed to flanking manuevers, boarding, and most famous of all, getting their T-crossed by the enemy's heavy hitters.

Firing arcs is important also because of Line of Sight.  Firing lanes have to be opened to generate the most effecient attack and your opponent who's trying to reverse the momentum of the game knows this.  You can move your ships in front of other ships to block the amount of damage coming in, or to act as shields for enemy torpedos, or to deter enemies from boarding you.  Add in the fact that your Large and Massive ships can shoot over your smaller ships and all kinds of defensive damage scenarios can arise.  Ultimately, its up to the admiral in charge of his fleet to deal the maximum amount of damage, and maneuver in a way that he'll receive little to no damage in return.

Shallow yet Deep

If you look at the individual systems themselves, Dystopian Wars is a very easy to learn system.  You roll up,  you aim your guns, you roll dice, and hopefully something bad happens to the enemy ships.  However, once you combine the elements of movement, activation order, and firing arcs, the game gets incredibly complex.  Don't panic when I say complex, I mean it in the best of ways.  I really enjoy games that are easy to learn, but hard to master.  I've only played a few games of Dystopian Wars so far, and every single time I can look back in confidence knowing I could of played better.  The best thing about DW is that all of the above game mechanics are entwined.  Smart activation gives you more opportunities to maneuver, and this in turn leads to better damage from clear firing arcs.  It's been a long time since I've played a naval game this deep.

DW: Empire of the Blazing Sun

The Empire's fate depends on the result of this battle,
let every man do his utmost duty.
-Admiral Tōgō

This might look like a random post for a lot of people, but believe it or not, I'm a big fan of Dystopian Wars. At first, the whole steampunk element of the game didn't call to me, but it's not the genre of the game that matters, it's how the game plays.  I had the same problem with Warmachine, but I didn't care because the gameplay was solid and the rules were great.

Dystopian Wars is the best naval warfare game that I've ever played, yes, even more so than Uncharted Seas, Firestorm Armada or even the vaulted Battle Fleet Gothic.  A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I owned a Corsair Eldar fleet and played BFG.  Then I stumbled along Firestorm Armada few years ago and played that.  I found the game to be a little shallow compared to what I had played in BFG, so I wondered into Uncharted Seas.  Uncharted Seas was great, but the lack of players in my area really turned me off.  DW takes what was good in the first two games (Uncharted and Firestorm) and mixes it into one.  In some ways, it feels like it's an upgunned version of Uncharted Seas.

Here's what I like most about Dystopian Wars:

• Maneuvering matters a lot; just like how real naval warfare should be.  Getting into good positions for your firing arcs while denying the enemy is king.
• Line of Sight matters:  Having your units screen for other units, or activating your units in a way that your enemies return fire is weakened by intervening units is awesome.
• Collision and spacial awareness matters:  Being able to maneuver well on the battlefield and planning several moves in advance is what's going to be the driving factors in winning later engagements.

The faction that I chose to play is the Empire of the Blazing Sun.

From what I hear on the forums, the faction has a pretty steep learning curve, is considered a little on the weak side, and some units are questionably bad.  You know what?  I heard the same thing about Dark Eldar when I first started and I'm not one to back down from a challenge.

Besides, they're Japanese and I always wanted to play the Japanese in some kind of wargame.

With that said, I wanted to show off my 1K point navy for the EotBS.  I already have most of these pieces and my reinforcements should be in by Friday.

1x Hachiman DN = 235
1x Kiyohime BCV (Torps) = 130
2x Ika Squids = 200
3x Tanuki CL = 225
4x Uwatsu FF = 100
4x Uwatsu FF = 100
2x 5x Torpedo Bombers = Free!

Let's just say that the first things to stand out is the choice of the Dreadnought and the Kiyohime Assault Carrier over the Tenkei Sky Fortress.  As crazy as it sounds, I don't like the look of the Tenkei Sky Fortress model.  Not only do people think I'm crazy for that, but they also think I'm crazy for not taking a model that's incredibly good for its cost.  I think the biggest factor that draws me into the Kiyohime is the fact that it's well-armed, can be screened by my Gunships, and has Sharp Turn.  After playing a game last night of the newest version of Dystopian Wars (played as the British vs. my friend's French), I forgot how incredibly awesome having Sharp Turn is on all your ships.

The Hachiman DN is in there for also aesthetic purposes.  I really like the look of the ship, even though I acknowledge that it's nowhere as good as the other Dreadnoughts.  However, one cannot simply look at the ship in a vacuum.  I acknowledge the fact that the Hachiman will probably lose in a DN vs. DN duel, but I can't look past the fact that it's basically an upgunned BB with better stats in almost every way.  The rockets from the ship also tears people a new one, shooting with 9 dice from RB4 and packs a ton of damage from 3x AD13 turrets at RB1.  Not just that, it comes in at 235 and comes stock with either a Shield or Disruption Generator.  For the price, I think the DN is decently-costed (it's the other ships I find outrageous for their price).  The only downside is that I think the designers over at SG missed the chance to make the ship truly unique:  The ship doesn't have the +1 CR racial that EotBS has on all its other ships, and the MN rating of 5 on the back of the ship draws one giant WTF.  I'll probably mess around with 14 CR and/or higher MN variants of the ship via opponent's permission to judge its potential.

The rest of the list is pretty self-explanatory.  You have your anti-BB/DN squids who goes Submerged, 2x 4x Uwatsu FFs to link 16 AD at RB1, 3x Tanuki Gunships because they're almost mandatory in terms of price/effectiveness (and look awesome), and as many Torpedo Bombers as possible because that's what Empire excels at.  Faster Torpedos forcing your opponents to re-roll all successful CC saves from 20" threat is no joke.

I'll have the entire fleet assembled and on the table for next Tuesday.  Stay tuned for the BR!