Post by Fadril Adren on Apr 16, 2015 22:53:30 GMT -5
Battle of the Seas... STEAMPUNK STYLE!
by CoH credit HERE
Steampunk is one of those fantastical genres that was screaming out to be turned into a table top game but nothing that came along seemed to grab the attention of the gaming public until Spartan Game’s Dystopian Wars. Playing akin to Battlefleet Gothic with bells on the massive world wars of Dystopian Wars have moved the Victorian era to a whole new scale. Whether you want to be blasting broadsides at your foes fleet to cries of ‘you sank my battleship!’, raining death from above and from below with aircraft and submersibles of every description or to be crushing whole buildings beneath the treads of cathedral sized tanks there is something for everyone.
Dystopian Wars is not the only game in the Dystopian universe but it is the best represented. If you prefer to play land based battles with battalions of building sized tanks then Armoured Clash is for you. If you fancy taking to the battlefield at a more intimate level then Dystopian Legions is where you want to be where the tiniest models from Dystopian Wars and Armoured Clash become the fighting vehicles in the more traditional 28mm scale.
In Dystopian Wars you are cast as a fleet commodore for one of the many great nations that inhabit the alternate world vision of the 1900s. This is a world where traditional technology of clockwork and steam power have been enhanced with otherworldly science discovered by a team of scientists deep in a hidden vault secluded in the Antarctican wilderness. Though the scientists wished to use their findings for the betterment of mankind it was not long before the great powers of the world turned their discoveries to the same old game of politicking and conflict.
Getting started in Dystopian Wars the game is relatively cheap in this age of armies of table groaning size. Currently there is no 2 player starter set for Dystopian Wars but each nation has a variety of boxed sets that contain multiple units that create a fairly balanced force. Battle Flotillas each contain a battleship, some cruisers, smaller more numerous frigates, a couple of flying models and ten tiny flyer bases which represent standard aircraft. Given the immense scale of the regular ships these tiny flyers come fitted several to a base. Even the smaller frigates would be comparable in size to large ships of today’s navy!
The models are mostly resin with some drop on metal parts and some smaller models, particularly the smaller flyers, being cast in metal. Though small the models are packed with detail that lends itself to intricate paint jobs that show off every tiny window and rivet to more quick and ready table top styles that concentrate on the main components of the models. Drybrusing would work great to pick out all the detail on a ship’s hull.
One of the things I like about Dystopian Wars is how it allows you to fight battles on multiple levels. You could play a battle at sea that comprises only of ships and then sprinkle in a few submersibles and air support. Maybe you would like to play an all air battle with craft moving up and down into cloud cover to avoid being targeted? What about introducing some land where ground based armies duke it out near a coastal town whilst being shelled by off shore battleships whilst overhead vast armoured zeppelins trade shots with giant bombers as the fly past to pick off a target below?
Being set in an alternate steampunk sci fi version of our own world a lot of the background writes itself. Real world events and battles can be subtly altered with the inclusion of a sci fi twist. Queen Victoria sits on the throne of a vast Empire fuelled by industry and trade. Her armies patrol the borders of her realm the historic masters of the sea who will not be overthrown from their position of pre-eminence by any of the upstart nations.
Rather than be at odds with the United States of America the Empire of Britannia is staunch allies of the Confederated States of America, the south won the American Civil War. Massive paddle steamers protect the Confederacy’s interests with magazine fed semi-automatic cannons and banks of rockets that give the Americans an edge on their enemies.
The Prussian Empire is a nation specialising in powered armour and arching tesla weaponry that can fry a ship’s crew and leave it a floating hulk waiting to be claimed. The Prussian Empire is held in check by the will of its Emperor who must steer the ambitions of the many principalities within his borders towards the goals of the nation as a whole though his personal bodyguards, the powerful Teutonic Knights are able to quell any decent with their powered steam armour and gigantic Metzger robots.
Allied to the Prussians is the Empire of the Blazing Sun, previously insular and secretive now a rising power that is making its presence felt on the international stage. Its proud navy supported by its many gyrocraft in the skies have seen them prove to be powerful foes.
Far, far to the south those same scientists that discovered the Vault and its treasure trove of alien technology brood over the world that their technologies have helped create. Now a powerful nation in their own right the Covenant of Antarctica is not interested in conquest but in neutering the armed forces of the great nations before they lay waste to the world with technologies they barely understand.
More nations have since joined the starting line up so much so that the world of the alternate past starts to seem a little crowded but it is no more so than with today’s nations but with all the tension and outright war that characterised the beginning of the previous century. Russians, French, Australians, Canadians, Italians, Chinese, the list goes on and on as more nations and allies are added to the throng.
The rule set used for Dystopian Wars is one that Spartan Games uses across its ranges. Uncharted Seas (on hiatus), Firestorm Armada, Dystopian Wars and Armoured clash all use a shared system that is tweaked to conform to the specific circumstances of that particular system. The signature system of this set is the exploding dice mechanic. Roll a six and that becomes two successes/hits and you get to roll again. In a game where you need to score a certain number of hits on the enemy to cause even one point of damage this means that the more dice the better but even three dice has the potential to hurt even a battleship if enough sixes come up, I’ve seen it happen many times!
That is just the start. As well as shooting with its broadsides and turrets a ship can fire torpedoes, rockets, shoot ack ack at incoming flyers and launch boarding assaults that may seize an enemy vessel and allow you to use it against your opponent. Is there anything more humiliating by having your flagship blown up by your own former vessels?
There is loads to do in Dystopian Wars. At the very least you need a blue sheet to simulate a sea with some islands made from 28mm hills to make a game board. All the tokens and templates you need to play can be downloaded from the Spartan Games website, all you need is a rulebook, plenty of D6 and a fleet each to get started.
“Never seen nothing like it lads. Not even the kraken of old could have been more than a tiddler in comparison. First we knew of it was when Bold Lord Albert shuddered as if ‘e’d struck an iceberg. We stopped but didn’t know why as the seas were clear sailing ahead. Then these giant tentacles rose out o’ the sea, 6 or more. Slow and swaying like a flag in a slow breeze. Almost hypnotic it were. Then all of a sudden two o’ these metal things come crashing down. They hits Bold Lord Albert with an almighty clang, hurt like hell to hear it. I saw one near the prow as I was scrambling around to take position on one of the ack ack guns. It swept across the deck until it touched one o’ the main turrets. It wrapped around as more o’ them tentacles came down but they went over and round the underneath o’ old Albert squeezing ‘im tight. The tentacle that had hold of the prow turret had wrapped around the body of the thing and back around the barrel, twisting it like it were a bit o’ rope! I turned me ack ack gun round and lowered it to shoot that thing but them rounds just bounced right off. Then the tentacle pulled and the turret came away, it lifted the thing up in the air, men spilling out to be dashed on the deck, then it just tossed it away like it were nothing!”
“Well I weren’t ‘aving that, I was shooting at the monster’s eye, I vaguely remembers seeing men inside those glassy orbs, the thing’s crew more than likely. My ack ack nest was smashed by a brush of that tentacle that ripped of the Lord Albert’s turret off. I don’t rightly remember much about it but my mate Stringy says me leg was crushed inside the nest but the rest o’ me was thrown clear into the sea. Stringy and some other lads pulled me into a lifeboat and got us clear. The monster wasn’t interested in us. Once it had a good hold on Old Lord Albert it went under, dragging the old girl down with it. Never seen the like before but seen too much like it since.’
“Well I weren’t ‘aving that, I was shooting at the monster’s eye, I vaguely remembers seeing men inside those glassy orbs, the thing’s crew more than likely. My ack ack nest was smashed by a brush of that tentacle that ripped of the Lord Albert’s turret off. I don’t rightly remember much about it but my mate Stringy says me leg was crushed inside the nest but the rest o’ me was thrown clear into the sea. Stringy and some other lads pulled me into a lifeboat and got us clear. The monster wasn’t interested in us. Once it had a good hold on Old Lord Albert it went under, dragging the old girl down with it. Never seen the like before but seen too much like it since.’
