captain rockman's introduction

[captainrockman]

Hello!

I am new to Denver, and very new to Dystopian Wars. So far, I only have the rulebook (1.1).  I have been reading the rules and researching teams. At this point, I am most interested in the Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Coalition, and the Prussian Empire. However, my reasoning for liking these teams is largely based on liking the models, and not necessarily the tactics each team uses.

I am not opposed to trying out Firestorm either.

I can play Monday through Friday after 3 pm, and anytime on Saturdays and Sundays. I don't have a store that I go to consistently, and would be happy to meet people anywhere in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas.

I would love to play ASAP, but until I pick a force I may need to borrow some models if possible.

Questions:

Are the tactics for teams very different? It is hard to tell without having played a game yet.

Are people playing only naval battles, or are they getting into air and/or armoured battles as well?


I also play Warhammer Fantasy and have armies for Dwarfs, Night Goblins, and Wood Elves (minus the Elves).

[Landlubber]

Captain Rockman-

Again, welcome to Man Battlestations, and as a recent transplant here myself, welcome to Denver!

First things first: Dystopian Wars is now on version 2.0. The 1.1 rulebook will give you a good basis for the game, as most of the basic mechanics are the same, but you'll need the 2.0 rules at some point. Spartan Games has said they'll make the rulebook free to download from their resources page, which can be found here:

http://www.spartangames.co.uk/resources/downloads

You can also find all the fleet manuals on that page as well.

Your method of picking fleets is perfectly sound--I do the same thing! I would be happy to lend you models for a game, but unfortunately I don't have any of the fleets you are interested in trying. I have naval and aerial models for the Federated States of America (FSA) and Republiqu

[Ruckdog]

Welcome to the forum! Seems we are getting quite a few Colorado gamers in the forums . I look forward to hearing about your tabletop exploits!

[Dakkar]

Welcome Captain!
Do Lithuanians ... they're awesome looking and I have yet to see someone field them!

[captainrockman]

Landlubber

Thanks for all of the tips.

Thursday at Crit Castle works for me. I can be there as early as 1530 or 1600. I would love to try any of those fleets you have. I really just want to get the basics down right now.

Looking forward to meeting you.

I am currently leaning towards Russia, but I definitely want PLC at some point.

[Landlubber]

Let's do 1700-ish at Crit Castle on Thursday the 29th. I'll bring my French and Americans. Might teach you on the Americans, because I'm most familiar with that fleet. Bring your own dice and tape measure, I'll supply everything else. If your plans change and you can't make it, drop a note here or send me a PM. I'll do the same if something comes up, although I don't foresee any issues and it looks like the weather will be decent that day.

Looking forward to it!

[captainrockman]

Thanks Landlubber!

That sounds great. I will see you then and there!

[captainrockman]

Thanks again for the game last night Landlubber! And thanks to BrdngPrt1 for coming too!

It was really fun and I am definitely getting more into the hobby.

As an update to those that weren't there, I picked up an RC Naval Battle Group and a Dreadnought. I hope to start collecting more models and figuring out a paint scheme soon.

I think for air units I may go for either the Eclipse Company or the PLC. Thoughts?

[Landlubber]

My pleasure, always fun to inititate a new Dystopian player. Sorry my cruisers ate your cruisers' lunch, but you returned the favor by putting a massive hurt on the Tourbillon, so I think we were even in the end.    By my count, there are now 5 of us that can play Dystopian Wars and/or Firestorm Armada at Crit Castle...we're gonna take the place over!

Only thing I would say about running the Eclipse company or the PLC for air units to support your RC is to look at the rules first. The HEC is a mercenary outfit, and some of the mercenary forces cannot work with certain factions, due to the fluff or for other reasons. Same thing goes for the PLC--the major and minor nations in DW are all aligned into either the Grand Coalition or the Imperial Bond. I *think* PLC and RC are on the same side, but I'm not sure; PLC units are listed under the "Grand Coalition" section of Spartan's online store. Spartan used to have a document that listed who could be allied with whom, but I have no idea where the document is now. Anyone else know??

Other than that, I'd love to see HEC and PLC air units on the table; I don't think anyone else in our group has those models...not even Mark!

[captainrockman]

www.spartangames.co.uk/wp/wp/wp.../dw-alliance-nations_updated.pdf

I did a google search and this is what I found. Hopefully you can view the link. According to this chart, the PLC and RC are major allies, so that should work fine. I also looked into the HEC at one point and they can be hired by anybody. The only problem with running the HEC is that Commodore rules etc. probably won't apply.

I will read up on the PLC and find out if I like their rules.  I have a much better idea of what to look for after last nights bout.

[Landlubber]

www.spartangames.co.uk/wp/wp/wp.../dw-alliance-nations_updated.pdf

I did a google search and this is what I found. Hopefully you can view the link. According to this chart, the PLC and RC are major allies, so that should work fine. I also looked into the HEC at one point and they can be hired by anybody. The only problem with running the HEC is that Commodore rules etc. probably won't apply.

I will read up on the PLC and find out if I like their rules.  I have a much better idea of what to look for after last nights bout.

I can't see the document--that link just takes me to the Spartan blog--but it's probably the right document. Yeah, you gotta be careful with the mercs--for example, I think the Black Wolf forces can work with everybody EXCEPT the Russians.

[markymark1970]

Welcome to Man Battlestations and the CO group Captain!

I have a resin problem, and currently run Russians in our naval battles.  I've got a good assortment of the core nations army units and would be happy to field any of them if you want to give them a shot.

[Landlubber]

Actually, the Major and Minor Powers Allegiance Table is on page 134 in the Dystopian 2.0 rulebook--forgot they had included those tables. The RC is a Grand Coalition major power, and the PLC is a Grand Coalition minor power. Additionally, the PLC is a "minor power close ally" of the RC, which gives them some advantages with fleet building, TAC cards, etc. Kind of hard to explain, because the minor power close ally designation relies on the force composition rules laid down in the 2.0 ruleset, but I can show you next time we play. Long story short, you should be good to go running the PLC alongside the Russians. Gotta keep all the Slavs together! 

[captainrockman]

Thanks for looking that up Landlubber. That makes me lean towards PLC, but HEC is still in the running because their planes look awesome. Over time I could certainly do both.

Mark, I would definitely be interested in trying out any of your forces. I had a taste of FSA and RoF the other night. I would love to get a feel for EotBS and PE. I think for now I will stick to collecting Russia and PLC.

Let's meet up sometime to play. I will try to poke me head in at the FireStorm event at GenghisCon too. It seems like a good place to meet everyone and check out FireStorm.

My goal for the weekend is to experiment with paint schemes on one of my RC Frigates!

[captainrockman]

Landlubber,

Still up for a game on Thursday? I could field some of my new Russians.