I made my own faction and want your opinion about the rules and Force Guide!

[MajorMcNicol]

So I finally got a little playtest in with these guys!  Haha, been a while - I know.

Anyway, at 710 points I had 6 pocket cruisers, 3 super destroyers, and 2 (illegally taken) escorts (nothing to attach to!).  Opposing them was a Borodino, 3 Suvorovs, 4 Rostovs, 4 Novgorods, and 1 Veliky....

Because of time constraints (mostly because we played a game of DZC first), we only played one turn.  However, in that turn, it seemed very clear to me that the merc rules I made up were definitely overcosted.  I need to do more playtesting for sure - and more painting, to get other ships on the board - but I just wanted to report my initial thoughts to you guys.  At range bands 3/4, should they really be humbled by the Russian Coalition navy?  Yes, boarding did not come in to play, but when outnumbered that much...

Anyway, I'll continue to report progress as it comes!

Delta, what were your thoughts?

Pictures of the brief battle at the bottom of this post: https://andygomez.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/dzc-battle-report-and-dw-playtest-game-pictures/

[Delta]

Well, when I saw your forces compared to mine just from table coverage, I figured something was up. You were severely out numbered by significant ships. By significant I mean medium to small medium ships, such as cruisers and destroyers. You were also out gunned by russians in range bands 3-4, which really shouldn't happen! Unless all your ships had ridiculous assault values, I can hardly see how you could have won, as in the following turns 3 destroyers, 3 cruisers and a battleship would have had main guns and broadsides (where applicable) at the ready waiting to hammer you in the shorter range bands. I think that a faster force may be warranted, or maybe generators in the troop transport.

[Ruckdog]

Yeah, I noticed the same issue when I played against these guys too. Hopefully now that you have a couple of data points you can make a more informed decision on adjustments .

[MajorMcNicol]

Ok, finally got the Force Guide updated with the latest stats!  Check it out here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_gsuBDmdvmLNFduUHRWMEtVbTA/view?usp=sharing

The PDF is just a little too large to upload directly to the forum - Ruckdog, maybe we could host the file somehow, if you're down for that?

I also have painted up a good number of smalls - 16, in fact - and will be putting the pictures up on my blog momentarily.



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Ruckdog]

No problem! I will see what I can do

[Ruckdog]

Ok! I've got your PDF uploaded to the Downloads section of the website:
http://www.manbattlestations.com/downloads.html

Here is the link to the file:
http://www.manbattlestations.com/uploads/3/0/7/2/3072563/canons-de-zibeline-v0.94-may52015.pdf

[MajorMcNicol]

Awesome!  Very cool.  I hope to playtest the fleet soon, and see how it does!

[MajorMcNicol]

Ok guys, good news: last week Delta and I found some time to get a good playtest game in.  Here is a write-up on the blog about it, with a bunch of pictures from the battle:
https://andygomez.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/dystopian-wars-faction-playtest-mercenary-company-cdz-vs-rc-1000pts/

So, the CdZ did not win - not even close.  But despite that, I am very happy with how the faction performed on the table.  To quote my blog post, here are some thoughts on their performance and some possible changes to their rules:

"Overall, I was very satisfied with the performance of the CdZ in this game.  Although by the final turn the Russian victory was fairly lopsided, I think the mercs really held their own, especially in the beginning of the game.  Up until the failed flagship boarding action I think the game could have gone either way.  Some poor dice rolls and a few tactical errors on my end and the Russians won a resounding victory.

There were three major errors that I made in the mid and late game that had a major impact on the CdZ defeat.

-First, I forgot to use the Commodore's ability to give all vessels the "Long Range Assault" MAR for a turn - and had I used it that turn, things might have gone very differently...Without it, several of my squadrons were just out of range of boarding.  Oops.

-Second, in the mid game I went right with a squadron of pocket cruisers when I should have gone left, and I targeted the enemy battleship when I should have shot up the nearby frigate squadron.  This was just tactical myopia on my part; after this particular activation, the Borodino was unscathed and the pocket cruisers in a poor position for the following turn. Oops...

-Third, flush with confidence after the corvettes rolled so incredibly against the gunship squadron, I ran them directly towards the Borodino and shot, boarded, and rammed over 2 turns with everything they had.  The result: all the corvettes were destroyed, and I don't think the Borodino was even hit critically.  Instead, I should have kept my corvettes moving in the backfield, where their speed and 360

[captainrockman]

I've been reading through this thread and I like the idea of a pirate fleet. One thing that struck me was the idea for a barge with "carrier" options for smaller craft. It reminded me of "the Raft" in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

It is a huge amalgamation of ships tied together. The central ships are huge ocean liners and cruise ships, but the outer portions are small boats and rafts that try to hitch a ride as the raft makes a huge loop along the currents in the North Pacific Gyre. At one point "the Raft" has to be infiltrated and the main character (Hiro Protagonist) gets stuck in the "web" of ropes and lines connecting other crafts. Then he has to escape the patrols. Talk about security posts.

Anyway, it's a pretty fun read. Keep up the good work!