Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: MBS Monthly Poll #19

« on: December 22, 2017, 08:17:46 am »

Other I have said. And below are the two naval wargames I am looking forward to use for a Golden Age of Piracy (Odyssey of Captain Blood theme):

1) Letter of Marque and Reprisal

2) Away Boarders!

2

Dystopian Wars / Re: DWars fluff is dead, long live Warcradle

« on: November 27, 2017, 09:13:54 am »

Stray too far from existing fluff will risk alienating the current players ( who should be grateful the game is still alive)

Should I be grateful? To whom? That sounds a bit too consumerist and slaverish in my opinion. The game is alive not because someone bought it and maybe, someday, and I don't know when, will release something that may look like it in that direction. I, along with another couple of players from my club and another friendly club, continue to support the game as it is, not for the fluff, but for the models and mechanics. The fluff I invent for myself, as an example, is my own completely, through knowledge of history, with knowledge of the classical literature on the topic (think Jules Verne - Robur series, and Herbert Wells) with a little droplet of own imagination added - in short, I do not care what kind of fluff is created by whom, I just like the mechanics as it were, so I don't simply consume ready-made pies and pastries, I like to cook for myself the story as well. If warcradle changes a whole lot of it's mechanics (really I don't expect changes for the best when they happen, from experiences, so please excuse my pessimist tone here), then I would not worry - we still have the old game rules (and majorly thanks to Ruckdog for doing up a G-drive full of these documents) and the new things can be completely ignored. In addition, I am not sure these guys will make the rules available as free downloads... but this matter we shall see, they may, and I may be wrong....

In any case though, these rules have also seen adaptations to historical scenes, like pre-dreadnought era naval battles, and actually being my little "pet-project" of a sort, so I am in it too.

So to cut it short, the game is a relic, like most other things that have died in the past, but it life continues on as people who liked the game will support it in various means, disregarding what the wholesale system has got to say on such matters....

3

General Discussion / Any wargaming stores Melbourne?

« on: November 26, 2017, 05:13:35 pm »

Hello all,

Be visiting Melbourne. Anyone know of any good wargaming stores that have naval there?

Cheers!

4

Dystopian Wars / Anyone in Melbourne?

« on: November 25, 2017, 04:33:47 am »

Hello all,

I have just clarified my plans, and as a part of my business trip I will visit Melbourne as well and it seems I will have free slots on 9th and 10th December. Is anyone out there in Melbourne willing to have a game on any of those days?

Cheers

5

Find a Game! / Re: Member Locations

« on: November 10, 2017, 07:36:04 am »

Why not add myself as well.... First Aussie signing in into this list of Americans 

From Australia, South Australia, Adelaide,

Member of the Group North Historical Wargaming Society

Naval games played and supported at the club:

Dystopian Wars Naval,

Surface Battle Group (SBG),

Subs and SAMS (Wargames Research Group),

plus there is some support for Warhammer Historical Trafalgar in our club.

There are other systems we are trying out, will post if there is an update to this list. If anyone wants to come along to our club and propose something they know works well that we don't know about, then by the Jolly Roger, we shall happily get it tried and if it works, supported in the club. Personally I am all four paws for in trying to promote and support naval wargaming in any form and any period of interest. So you may be assured of my help in finding players in our club and in my interest in any of your ideas.

6

The Swap Shop / Looking for BW Nemesis Cruisers, or swap a KoB with BW fleet.

« on: November 07, 2017, 02:11:25 am »

Even though I think my chances are almost zero, I will give it a shot:

Looking to get some Black Wolf Nemesis Class Cruisers.

If you are looking for a swap, I can happily swap a Britannia starter fleet (the previous one that came with the bombers, condition: new) with a Black Wolf starter fleet. If you want pictures, let me know.

Cheers,

Nordic_Wolf

7

Dystopian Wars / Re: DW Rules and Stats UPDATED 9/13/17

« on: November 06, 2017, 08:15:00 pm »

Thanks Ruckdog,

I was hoping that Spartan would release 2.5 out, but it never came due to their sinking 'neath the waves to Davy Jone's Locker (take my hat off for the deceased). So now I can have a look at the improvements they made and see which goes better for our group. Also, since there is a thought I have of adapting the rule-set for historical pre-dreadnought naval actions, I have more scope to choose which of the three - V1.0, V2.0 and V2.5 would be easier to tweak for the idea. I will surely get our navy sailors and my fellow club Admirals (be they British, Yank, Prussian, or Danes or any other respectable individuals) to raise our horns and drink to your health!

So here's to you from our Danes:

Skål!

8

General Discussion / Re: MBS Monthly Poll #17

« on: November 06, 2017, 09:42:27 am »

3D Printing or "rapid prototyping" has been rapidly gaining in popularity over the last 5 years. Many companies, such as Spartan, have used the technology to produce the masters for their model ranges, which are then cast in other materials such as resin. Elsewhere, 3D printing services such as Shapeways have been providing naval gamers with a new way to obtain ships for their games that were never produced or else are long out of production. The technology is even being examined as a way to keep "dead" games active, such as the efforts to create new ships that are compatible with Halo Ground Command and Halo Fleet Battles.

However, the technology is not yet reliable or cost effective enough to do mass production of miniatures on its own. What do you see as the future for this technology within our hobby?

Hello Ruckdog,

I think I completely missed out on the poll due to uni commitments that just went in an avalanche at me for the past few months. I however would choose option 2 - it may someday replace some miniature making companies, but the technology as it is now is still in development stage. In my club I do see people making their own "Mechs" for the game "Battletech" - although the quality is mediocre when compared to the quality of Dystopian ward miniatures. I think for some companies it will depend, for money hoggers like GW, it may be the death-sentence as people turn more and more away from them and start to produce their own stuff. However, for the aforementioned Dystopian Wars, it may still not be so economically viable and therefore may not prove to be a good time-effort to put into the actual 3-D rendering of the object. That is one big aspect that needs to be taken into consideration, from personal experience I have found that making something as simple as a WWI airplane - Fokker EIII in 1:144 scale for WoG is time consuming, ended up sitting a few nights from 2300-0300 hours, just working away at it. I well understand that with experience comes speed, but still, something complicated and elaborate will be long hours of work.

I personally think the real value in 3-D printing though, is not in it's usage as a miniature company "choker", but in it's flexibility for the many historical periods. For people that may want to dabble with periods that are not so popular or known to the many others, projects in such categories may involve usage of miniatures that may not exist. It may be because the troops with the exact uniforms are not available just because no one made them before, or for any other reasons, forcing the wargamer to use similar "stand-ins". For an experienced 3-D modeller the idea of 3-D printing opens much more flexibility the produce the actual troops he sees fit. This is where I think this idea will shine mostly.

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Roll Call / Re: Hello from Down Under Aussie Lands

« on: August 29, 2017, 09:05:39 am »

Welcome aboard! Glad you found us. We had several dedicated Dystopian players here well before Spartan closed its doors, so you're in good company. I'm a fellow FSA admiral myself, so if you want we can strategize together sometime, especially if it involves sinking those dastardly Prussians! 

Agreed! Once I get my Americans painted, they'll start to run for battles, then we'll scheme of how to sink their ships.  However, my most biggest concern would always be the British - being American, the war of independence was not so long ago fought (and mainly how to sink that bloody Dreadnought of theirs). In my club I have a guy who is running Brits for the last 3 years, and has never lost his dreadnought, he may loose the game, but the dreadnought never dies. So my aim now is to sink that unbeatable thing one day.

Must I say, my Danes could never get close to him without being sunk. And as you know, sunken ships can't send boarders...

To everyone, thanks for the welcoming replies. See you all on the forums.

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Roll Call / Hello from Down Under Aussie Lands

« on: August 28, 2017, 08:29:53 am »

Hello all,

I have decided to relocate my home-base location for Dystopian Wars Naval battles support over to this forum - due to Spartan Games closing (still getting over that sad moment, no warning - like a sudden mine blast under my ships). Have a Danish starter fleet with the big dirigible from Prussia as lend lease, and just managed to get a box of FSA Naval Battle group (gee it was a mad rush down here in Australia, the shelves were swept clean of Dystopian stuff!).

For ease of identification, my username "Nordic_Wolf" I kept the same, so too have I kept my avatar picture as it was on the Dystopian Wars community forums (If I happen to bump into people which abandoned that sunken ship). Really hope to see old acquaintances from Flag Ship Spartan Games here somewhere, if you recognize me, let me know!.

In any case, hello to the people down here. And long live Dystopian Wars naval battles!