Today I bring news that I am taking my first step into a new game outside of GW's systems. And of course from the title of the post that new game is Spartan Games Dystopian Wars. I've been looking at Dystopian Wars for quite a while now and finally decided to give it a go. What finally got me started? Well after actually getting round to assembling my Dreadfleet models (Yes I did buy it though I haven't played it yet) I decided that I would actually quite like to play a game with ships that was more than just a one off game. Of course Sparten Games also does Uncharted Seas but seen as I had already been looking at Dystopian Wars for a while it was a natural choice. So with that I set out to the independent stores in Sheffield in an effort to find out if any of the stocked the stuff. As luck would have it a new store opened up not long ago called The Outpost and they stock Dystopian Wars stuff. I hadn't been in before so didn't know that at the time. Anyway after going in and finding that they did stock it, I got the chance to actually have a game as well. I have to say that I had still been a little hesitant about starting Dystopian Wars but after playing that game I knew that it was a game I wanted to get in to.
So with that I had a better look at what they had and went with the force I'd already party settled on, The Covenant of Antarctica (or CoA from this point on). The main reason for this is that after looking at the various forces available I liked the models for the CoA the most. Having said that the Kingdom of Britannia fleet that I played my introduction game with were very nice models that I felt didn't really come across well in the pictures I had looked at. I would definitely consider getting them as a second force in the future.
So after deciding on my starting force all I had to do was buy the stuff. So up next are some pictures of the stuff I've bought so far and a few of my initial thoughts.
First up the core rule book itself. Its a very nicely printed and put together book in my opinion. I've only had a brief look through the rules so far but they seem to be in a fairly logical order with plenty of examples dotted throughout. I know some people have said that some of the rules can come across as more complicated than they actually are but that's something I haven't really come across. In terms of price is is also very reasonable at just £16 which is a lot cheaper than GW's big rulebooks and less than many of the current army books and codex's.
The picture above shows my initial purchases. I bought the CoA Naval Battle Group and a blister pack of Plutarch Class Destroyers.
The contents of the CoA Naval Group box included the CoA A5 rulebook, 1 Aristotle Class Battleship, 3 Plato Class Cruisers, 9 Diogenes Class Frigates, 2 Ptolemy Class Bombers, 10 Tiny Flier Tokens and all the turret weapons and stat cards.
Also included in the box are the templates for turning the ships, damages markers and blast templates.
Above are the Diogenes Class Frigates. They're quite small models but the level of detail is really good. There was very little cleaning up required in terms of flash. I will most likely buy some more of these later on.
These are the Plato Class Cruisers. Again lots of detail on them which is good. They have the option of replacing their normal turrets for energy turrets. Many of the bigger ships have this option such as the battleship, fleet carrier and the dreadnought. There was practically no flash to clean up on these models.
The two pictures above show the Aristotle Class Battleship. As with all the other ships so far, and later, there is plenty of detail. Whats also nice is that you get a nice clear plastic template to place the top part of the ship in for when this ship chooses to partly submerges itself. Its the kind of thing I could imagine GW selling separately to make a bit more money from you. This ship had a it more flash on it than the others but because of the way the ships must be cast the flash is always at the waterline of the ship which makes it simple to clean off.
The only metal models in the box were the Ptolemy Class Bombers. Being metal rather than resin they aren't quite as detailed however I feel they are certainly on par with the metal models GW used to produce.
The Tiny Flier Tokens. There's not much to say about them really. However I do seem to quite like them in game. Dog fighting with other tiny fliers is just fun. The only difference between CoA Tiny Fliers and those of other forces is that the CoA's are drones and so have less fuel available to them in game and have none of the tiny flyer model assigned rules.
The Plutarch Class Destroyers. Again plenty of detail and very little flash. I got them because the blister pack was cheap (just £7) and I liked the look of them.
All the turrets for the models in the box including enough of the optional turrets for each model.
The stat cards for the models in the naval group box.
The next set of models I bought a few days later once I'd looked through the little A5 rulebook and decided what I wanted next.
Up first the Zeno Class Armoured Cruiser. I had almost got these the first time instead of the Plutarch Class Cruisers. After reading the rules I just liked the idea of a ship that is essentially built around a particle accelerator. Again plenty of detail and very little flash.
Next are the Galen Class Escorts. There were 6 of these in the blister pack. They're nothing special rules wise but are cheap models to include and will be useful just for getting in the way and being a nuisance. Again plenty of detail and very little flash.
This is the Pericles Class Fleet Carrier. Its a pretty big model. Longer than the battleship and definitely taller. Again plenty of detail and very little flash. A nice touch I feel is that the bottom of the metal components, where they attach to the hull, they have been pre-scored to increase the surface area for the glue to adhere to. Also included are some more Ting Flier Tokens because the Fleet Carrier is of course able to launch more as the battle goes on though it can only control up to 6 at a time.
Last up is the Prometheus Class Dreadnought. The Prometheus Dreadnought is the most expensive model in the CoA Fleet and definitely the toughest. Its a similar size lengthwise as the Pericles and again there is plenty of detail and very little flash in need of removing.
So there we go, the first steps into a game not made by GW. I have no intentions to stop playing GW stuff but I think it will make a nice change to play something else (just not Warmachine). Hopefully I'll be able to get Zebulon in to it as well as I think it will be a game he will enjoy too.
Well that's it for this post. As always thanks for taking the time to have a look and please feel free to leave any comments, be they good or bad or somewhere in between.
Blackmane
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