The bad new days?

 Hi all,

ECW progress . . . progresses.  I've got the infantry component of a Pikeman's Lament force sorted, and have made a start on cavalry and guns.  Once I get the matt varnish on them (they're still in shiny mode), and finish up the basing, I'll get a glam shot of the first battalia for the blog.  Yesterday, however, I came across some interesting news:

Diggity.

Those of you who've been reading this for a while, might recall that waaaay back in the Toronto days, I put together the start of a Blazing Sun force for Dystopian Wars.  I loved the game, had fun every time I played it, and bought into the expansion kickstarter that Spartan ran - just before they went out of business.  DW was a game that hit a ton of buttons for me (integrated land/sea/air, grand scale, steampunk, walked a fine line between cool and silly), and it gutted me that Spartan went south just as a local scene was starting to develop.

Show me where Spartan Games hurt you.

Yesterday, I found out that Warcradle, the people who do Wild West Exodus (another game I suspect I'd like, but haven't gotten into), bought the DW license, and are relaunching the game in the next few weeks.  They're starting with the Hunt for the Red Oktob . . . I mean Hunt for the Prometheus boxset illustrated above, but are planning a set of releases over the next year to expand the game.  One of the two factions for which I have ships (Russian Coalition), is in the starter box, and rules for the Blazing Sun are due for release later this year.  This has me, needless to say, just a wee bit excited.

Bombers, and frigates, and escorts, oh my!

I dug out all my stuff from storage last night, and knocked out a couple of frigates that had been sitting around, along with bombers and some escort ships.  Next up is the Ikko Ikki robot squid.  From what I gather, the game will be changing a little bit.  Warcradle is focusing on the naval stuff to start out, is planning to release the aerial stuff later, and is planning a rescale of the land game for some time in 2022.  I'm a little disappointed that I can't use my Tenkei helicarrier right away, but given how iconic the aerial stuff was in the game, I'm pretty confident they'll get to them in time.  The land rescale is a little disappointing, as I loved the idea of being able to run land and naval/air units in a single game, but that was always more of an aspiration than a reality, anyways.

If I get really organized, I'll paint a blazing sun icon on the bombers.

The other big news is that Warcradle has tooled up to produce new ships, which combine the old resin cast tech with plastic sprues.  Evidently, the starter kit battleships combine elements of both.  Carriers are still a thing, thank god, and the new stuff seems intended to supplement the existing range, rather than replacing it. Rules look to have been streamlined a bit, and I've tracked down a beta version to familiarize myself with what's coming.  I've got my existing Russian fleet primed up, and am playing around with colour schemes.

While it's unlikely I'll find local players who want to collect the range, I'm pretty sure I can talk several of my usual gaming buddies to play games with my stuff.  I can see some kind of DW Russo-Japanese thing developing.  Might have to look into 3d printing for some terrain flair as well.

Good things . . .

. . . come in threes.  Fours, when I can pick up an extra model.



This is the completed Nakatsu squadron for my Blazing Sun fleet.  I painted the first as the original test model more than two years ago.  The second was painted a while back, and has seen action, though it's never had a blog post of it's own.



The Nakatsu seems to get a bad rap, at least on the Spartan boards, but so far, I've found it to be pretty serviceable.  I can actually run them in squadrons of four, so I suspect I'll eventually pick up either another blister, or one of the Tanuki gunships (which can be attached to "fill out" the squadron).



I've deliberately gone for a more scruffy, weather-beaten look on these ships; for the fleet as a whole, really. I've also found, in some ways, that this has been something of a painting challenge for me.  The techniques I usually use to paint a figure don't really work as well on these models, and I've resorted to a combination of washes and dry-brushing, techniques I usually avoid.  It's struck me how out of practise I am with both, so doing this fleet has been good from a technical standpoint.



I now have 600 points fully painted.  There are definite plans for expansion (next up, Ika robot squid and another squadron of frigates) , but no rush.  600 points is playable, if small, and it gives me a good core from which to build.

FMB

Chaos and Disarray

Hi,

Before I get into the meat of the blog, I thought I'd post a little heads up about a draw being run by Tamsin over at Wargaming Girl.  She's recently hit 100 000 blog hits, and is doing a week of give-aways to celebrate.  Today it's some sci-fi and Baccus stuff.  She's got a cool blog going, with an active club, so well worth checking out.

Got in something of a mega game last night, when about 8-9 of us got together for a game of Dystopian Wars.  I think maybe 6 of us had painted ships, and we shared them out among the group.  Prussians, Prussians, and EotBS vs. French, Brits, and 'Murcans.  Mostly it was about getting a bunch of people familiar with basic mechanics, and thanks be to God we had marke (goodmarke) at the table, who has a reassuring habit of not only reading the rules, but remembering them.

We need a side table.

We didn't sweat set up too much, just laid out some islands and the ships.  We were using tiny fliers for the first time, and ChrisB and I took over the fliers and aerocarriers on our side, while ernieR, evilMark, and eventually Jack1080 ran the surface ships.  On the opposing side, JJM ran the French, marke ran brits, and Foxlington and friend ran CSA.

Note the Prussian zepplin buzzing the island on the top left.  Something about flight stands and boring, I think ;)

As I recall, we only got in 3-4 turns all told, between the "lag" factor of a multi-player game, and the need to constantly ask about / look up / argue over the rules, but I think fun was had by all.  Opening stages were pretty straightforward, with both sides throwing forward a screen of frigates, cruisers, and fighters, while the heavy stuff lumbered behind.

The CSA and the Britannians have a special relationship.

I think Foxlington and friend got first blood, when evilMark pushed forward his Reiver Squadron, and F&F unloaded on it with a combination of cruisers and the CSA battleship.  After some hard pounding, the Reivers sank, though I think they got in a few shots on the way down.

I love the lone Nakatsu staring down the battleship.

On our side of the table, ernieR pushed his Nakatsus forward, more or less engaging two French frigate squadrons, the French battleship, and the squadron of Marseille cruisers at the same time.  He managed to sink a couple of the frigates and damage the cruisers, while the Nakatsus weathered a hail of return fire.

See that Marseille cruiser floating top right?

I advanced my Tenkei Skycarrier in support, with two wings of fighters and two of torpedo bombers.  The initial game plan was to engage with fighters to strip air cover while ernieR did some damage, then send in the bombers to finish off some surface vessels, but time constraints and general chaos eventually prompted me to just throw stuff in ;)

Not any more you don't!

I sent in a flight of 4 torpedo bombers, and although the fearsome French AA took down 2, the ones that got through were enough to finish off one of the damaged Marseille cruisers.  Meanwhile, the French frigates rammed the Nakatsu which had inserted itself in front of them (the most anti-climactic collision I've ever heard of), and the French battleship moved up and engaged, blowing one of ernieR's Nakatsus out of the water.  A second torpedo run by my other flight of bombers was blown out of the sky on their attack run.

Of course, that lone Nakatsu's gone too . . . .

On the left, things were getting hairy.  ChrisB's large flight of torpedo bombers had engaged a flight of CSA fighters, and the ensuing furball lasted for several turns.  Both evilMark and Jack1080s battleships were advancing into range, firing as they came.  Meanwhile, evilMark sent his frigate squadron into the CSA battleship to board it, but only managed to strip its crew of 5 AP.  In the centre, the British were advancing, trading long-range shots with our ships across the board . . .

evilMark boards the CSA at top, while in the centre, Vanguard subs and Brit frigates consider their options against two Prussian battleships.

 . . .at which point the store employee came downstairs to ask if we were ever leaving ;)

I really like this game, though I think efficient play in multi-player probably requires broader familiarity with the rules, and a little more time; it was close to 8 by the time the game really got going.  I'm also picking up on the dual nature of the game.  It seems to be one that rewards practice and familiarity with the rules; interactions matter, and understanding them makes you a better player.  It also works, however, as a beer and pretzels, dice and explosions game.  In other words, experience and tactical knowledge will help you win, but aren't necessary to having fun.

Pride of the fleet.

I've got a base of Spartan hoplites almost finished, and they should be ready for a Sunday update.  I'm also working on some housecleaning projects; I want to magnetize my completed Impetus and Maurice bases (will likely to a hobby post on that), and I want to replace the flags on my Maurice bases as well; they're showing some wear, and I want to switch them out for something more durable.  There are tentative plans for a test game of Muskets and Tomahawks next week, which will likely spark some 18th c. painting as well.

FMB

Flying Fortress

Hi,

Finally finished up the Tenkei Sky Fortress for Dystopian Wars the other day, so actually have a Sunday painting post (hurrah!).



This is actually the model that got me into the game.  Can anyone say helicarrier?



If I get ambitious later, I might go back and try to pick out more of the detail (cockpits on the fighters seem a little undefined, etc.), but for now, it's table ready.



I also finished up the "free" fighter tokens for the EotBS fleet.



With these finished, I need to paint up another cruiser and 6 flyer tokens to make 600 points.  I suspect short term I'm going to be engrossed in some ancients painting, but it shouldn't be too long before 600 painted points hit the table.

Speaking of ancients, Vonplutz seems to have caught the bug in earnest.  He's ordered Athenians, requested a game for Wednesday, and is looking into successors as well.  This could be a pretty good summer for geeky pursuits ;)

FMB

'Murcans

Hi,

So, as expected, work has been gonzo, and I had to bring a pile home, which has more or less kyboshed the painting over the last couple days.  Wednesday's game might be a little less fully painted than anticipated.

In addition, while I had planned to do a battle report of my second game Wedensday night, a quick 400 point game of Dystopian Wars against Foxlington.  As it turns out, however, I managed to only take two pictures, which doesn't do much for the visual narrative.  It was actually a fairly brief affair.  It was Fox's first game, and we mostly focused on getting core rules down, and trying to use the various attack options.  Also, he pretty much kicked my ass ;)



We followed a standard deployment, three squadrons each, and set two.  I consistently won initiative, and the general plan was to push forward the Nakatsus as a preliminary screen, followed up by my Uwatsu frigates and the battleship.  What actually happened was Fox blew away my cruisers, out-damaged my frigates, and the battleship never got closer than RB 3 before we called the game for time.



Pound for pound, the FSA ships hit hard, and they do it at ranges further than my own.  I tried to use a couple-three frigates to board one of his cruisers, but despite having to divide his dice, most of my attackers were blown out of the sky by AA.  I was consistently surprised by the across-the-board high stats of the FSA ships.  EotBS has a couple of advantages, including a slight bump in crit rating and mobility, but clearly, I've got some learning to do when it comes to exploiting them vs. the 'Murcan fleet.

I've got a busy couple of days coming up, but so far, this are a go for Wednesday's game.  In the meantime, I'll try to get as much painting done as I can.

FMB

Hodge-podge

Hi,

Bit of a mix today, I'm afraid.  Wednesday's game has me very excited about Dystopian Wars, and I've begun work on another 200 points of Blazing Sun, consisting of a Tenkei sky fortress (think S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-carrier), another Nakatsu, and a fleet's worth of Tiny Flier tokens.



The TF tokens are turning out to be the more time-consuming part of the job ;)



Meanwhile, despite fairly mediocre-ly-laid plans, I decided to not go to Hot Lead at the last minute, and spend my birthday (my 40th!) at home with my girls, drinking Glenlivet and watching the Hobbit (both gifts from the Beloved).  The Hobbit, by the way, was much better than I had expected from all the internet whinging.  I'll take a mushroom-popping Rhadagast on a rabbit sled over Legolas stair-surfing any day.

Weed and mushrooms, together at last.

This morning, when I checked the club boards to see what the guys who went had to say, I discovered the lot of them took advantage of discounts at the show to buy into Firestorm Armada (the Spartan space game).  This more or less settled for me the question of on what to spend a bit of birthday filthy  lucre.

The filthiest picture on the internet.

As most of the factions seemed to have been selected (other than Terran, but meh), I decided to go with Relthoza.  Cool-looking ships, good fighter support, best-looking dreadnaught in the game, cloaking technology, plus, they're carnivorous, feudal, honour-dueling arachnids.  I figure, what's not to like?

It's going to take more than a rolled-up newspaper.

I've been interested in FA for a while, but never jumped due to lack of opportunity.  The one guy I knew who played did so at a fairly far-away store, and at times I generally couldn't.  With the THMG bandwagon fully-manned, however, that problem is solved.  I'm taking advantage of Miniwargaming's "GW are a pack of bastards" sale to pick up a starter set, carrier, and a few odds and bobs for my Blazing Sun.

Vonplutz and I have a Maurice campaign game scheduled for Wednesday, and in three weeks, we've scheduled another DW game.  Not sure about in-between, but I should be able to get some painting done, and posts up.

FMB

Kaboom!

Hi,

With the whirlwhind of the March break behind us, I took myself down to the Dueling Grounds Wednesday night for our introductory game of Dystopian Wars.  Long awaited, it looked like it might have had to be delayed again, but in the end, a few people who thought they were going to miss out managed to make it, and we had a rather rambunctious 4 way game.



One of the club guys had been kind enough to bring in a water table, and with the judicious appropriation of some hills and walls, we set up a table with a few islands and reefs scattered about.  We played 400 points apiece, which worked out to a battleship, a couple cruisers, and four frigates each (except for Watts, who came late, and ended up with a bit of a patchwork).



The Prussians have proven to be a big draw, and other than my Blazing Sun, they were the only other faction on the table.  We had initially planned to be fully painted, but the game is taking off, attracting new players at a fast clip, and so some of the ships were still in factory primer.



Having no real idea of what I was doing, I sent my Nakatsu cruisers off at one batch of Prussians, my Uwatsu frigates at another, and kind of had my Sokotsu battleship in the middle, being all gloomy and threatening.



Early rocket and torpedo shots had limited effect, but on my right, a Prussian cruiser squadron linked fire, and vapourized one of my poor frigates.



Return fire from the frigates and my battleship evened things up a bit, however, and a critical hit (or maybe a rocket attack?) from my battleship set a raging fire aboard one of the Prussian cruisers.



One the left, my cruisers and their Prussian equivalents kept hammering away at each other.





It was around this point that Watts showed up.  Although he's building a Russian fleet, he hadn't counted on making it down, so didn't have it with him.  Between the Prussian players, however, he managed to scrape together a fleet including a few of the bombers (in DW, these are roughly the same size as a naval cruiser - imaging a flying capital ship), and a mess of smaller vessels.



If I remember correctly, it was about this point that my Nakatsus turned into the little cruisers that could.  Although one had been taken out by the Prussians, the other closed in, hammered one with a broadside, and boarded the other, capturing it.  We realized towards the end of the game that one could leave a captured ship as a derelict (we were removing them from the table by mistake), but I don't think it would have made too big a difference.



On the other side of the table, my little frigates, although banged up, pulled a similar stunt with the other set of Prussian cruisers, hammering one, and capturing the other.  Huzzah for samurai rocketpack death commandos!





In the meantime, Watts was sending forth his newly acquired Teutonic minions to rain death on Vonplutz's battleship . . .



. . . while ChrisB's battleship took revenge on my plucky frigates.



Or should I say frigate?



Oh, never mind . . . .



I couldn't let this insult to the Empress' honour go un-avenged, and so we had ourselves the first close-up battleship on battleship set-to, along with our first real insight into the activation mechanics of the game.  In each turn, players alternate activating a squadron (ranging from several small ships to one big one) until all of a players squadrons have been activated.  In this case, ChrisB had activated his battleship earlier in the turn (to take out my cruisers), and I was able to get in two battleship activations before he could respond; one as the last of the same turn (ChrisB's in the same round being a different squadron), and then a second at the start of a new turn.



At close range, each of my main turrets throws out 13 dice, and the two can be linked together for a total of 19 dice, or fired separately.  Turns out, either option is pretty effective, and several critical hits later, the Prussian battleship broke apart under intense fire, and sank.



Meanwhile, the Prussian bombers under Watts, and the other Prussian battleship under vonplutz, were hammering each other hard (in fact, I seem to recall at least one "Hard Pounding" critical, to much inappropriate mirth).  There was much boarding and counter-boarding, including one moment where a swarm of Prussian assaulters were simply blown out of the sky by defensive ack-ack by the bombers.



My battleship had its paint scratched by some lucky long-range fire, when a pack of Prussian frigates snuck 'round an island:





And it was at about that point that we had to call the game for time.



To be honest, I've not idea who won, nor do I especially care.  The game was a hands-down blast.  There were multiple occasions where roars of surprise, horror, and triumph echoed across the room, decisive shifts in fortune, drama, and more than a tad of silliness.  We're in the process of piecing together all the rules we got wrong, but this one is definitely a winner.  I'll like do a more detailed review of the game in future, but we're already planning the next game, and I'm looking forward to getting in some painting over the weeked.  Thumbs up for Dystopian Wars; I think Spartan Games have themselves a winner.

FMB