And now, the third installment of my detailed look at the new edition of Dystopian Wars! This time, I will be tackling Section C, which is a pretty big chunk of the rules. Essentially, Section C covers the major portions of the Activation Phase, giving each individual portion its own detailed overview (and the segments are covered in the same order that they are performed in, no less!). These sub-sections include the Command Segment, movement Segment, Line of Sight, Firing Segment, Boarding Segment, and also the End Phase.
Command Segment
No huge changes here. Coherency is now 8″, bumped up from 6″. additionally, it is now specifically spelled out that certain generators and TACs are used during this segment of an activation.
Movement Segment
This is largely the same, but there are some interesting tweaks. For example, the rules now specifically call out a chess tournament style rule that movement can’t be taken back once made. Additionally, the rules re-emphaisize the somewhat lesser known clause from first edition that stated that each model in a squadron has to finish its move before the next. Turning and minimum moves are largely the same; the templates work the same way they did before, and the minimum move still need to be taken straight forward. One of the biggest changes is that the old backwards movement and All Stop orders have been rolled into a single category of “Low Speed Maneuvers.” Stopping is about the same as before; players place a token at the end of movement, and then the next turn the model can go 0-2″, forwards or backwards. This means that models can now move backwards a full turn earlier than they could in the first edition, where models had to be stationary for a turn before they could change direction. Models with a Low Speed Maneuver token can also now execute a “Static Turn,” which allows models to rotate up to 90 degrees (essentially, this is the old “Maneuverable” MAR that used to be the exclusive province of the FSA).
The movement section also covers Collisions and Rams. Collisions are pretty much as before, but rams look like they have gotten much deadlier. The old “Ram Rating” has given way to the “Impact Rating,” and that is the number of D6 rolled by a ramming model. The thing is, this attack gains the Crushing Impact MAR, which lowers the target’s CR down to its DR! The effects of Rams and collisions have been tweaked a bit also, generally making these events less detrimental to the usefulness of the models involved. Models that are not damaged by a Ram or Collision are not negatively affected at all, other than they have to move in a straight line for the rest of that activation. If a model suffers damage, then it only suffers an additional penalty on a roll of a 4+. This is a far cry from the hobbling that models used to receive just from accidentally bumping into each other!
Line Of Sight
The first part of the Line of Sight section deals with the various fire arcs. These are completely unchanged from the first edition, though looking ahead to the model stats section I am pleased to say that the Fixed Channel arc is now used much less frequently than it was before. The next part discusses the types of weapons mountings; there are now specific characteristics tied to the classification of a weapon’s mounting (turrets vs. broadsides, etc). This is the first introduction we get to the new Bomb rules (more on that later). As with much of what we have seen, there are not a lot of new concepts at work here, its just that things are spelled out better than before. However, that changes significantly once the rules turn to the matter of obstructions. In my opinion, the biggest change to the rules is that LOS in DW 2.0 is now reciprocal for models with the same weapons type. Before, LOS was only dependant on the firing model and the obstructions; now the size of the target also factors in. This strikes me as a pretty good change; non-recoprical LOS was one of the abstractions of the first edition of DW that always rubbed me the wrong way.
The Firing Segment
The first major change one notices here is how much more detail has been put in to how AA and CC work in both an offensive and defensive role. This was always a bit of a grey area in the first edition; I remember several instances over the years where it seemed unclear as to whether or not I was permitted to roll an AA counter-attack when being attacked by a flying model, for example. The language in this section is pretty tight, and leaves little room for confusion. One thing that is different is that AA and CC are now required to be done before Ordnance attacks with guns, rockets, or bombs. The way the number of attack dice available to the player is calculated has been changed slightly, too. In DW 2.0, there are now a series of modifiers, they now stack where they didn’t used to. For example, consider a Capital Model using a Primary Weapon to shoot at a Small Target in Range Band 1. In the 1.0/1.1 rules, this would be hitting on a 5 or a (red)6, since both Small Target and Primaries in RB 1 specified the to-hit numbers, instead of a modifier. Now, however, both of those conditions are a -1 to the to-hit number, and the rules explicitly state that these modifiers stack. Thus, the Capital model that could hit a model with Small Target on a 5 or (red)6 in RB 1 under the first edition rules now only hits it on a (red)6! This is a significant boost to the survivability of small models, and certainly makes non-capital class models and/or secondary weapons much more important.
The next section discusses Firing Options, of which there are 6: Standard Fire, Linked Fire, Combined Fire, Indirect Fire, Concentrated Bombing, and Area Bombardment. Standard fire is identical to the first edition. Link Fire has changed slightly, in that squadrons of multiple ships now link on a per-weapon basis instead of a per-model basis. This seems like it will greatly speed up linking in squadrons that have ships with multiple turrets, like FSA frigates or KoB cruisers. Combined fire works the same as it always has; straight addition, no dividing by 2. Indirect fire seems a bit more useful now, thanks to a more robust spotting mechanic that can allow to-hit numbers to be improved all the way to 4+. Concentrated bombing is the familiar mode from first edition where bomb dice are combined or linked and directed against a single target.
Area Bombardment, however, is brand new to the game. This option allows a model with multiple bomb bays in its profile to place one 1.5″ small template for each bomb attack on the table. The player gets to place the first one, while the remainder scatter randomly and are placed such that they touch the first template placed (this is somewhat similar to how the Imperial Guard Manticore works, for you 40k players out there). Any targets under a template are hit with the AD rating of the weapon. For models so-equipped (like the PE Sky Fortress!), this represents a fabulous way to effectively attack clustered groups of small targets, like frigates or small tanks, where the full bomb load would be wasted if directed at a single model.
Contained in the Firing Section is a discussion of weapons classes (Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary) as well as special munitions (Tesla weapons, flame throwers, etc). One of the biggest departures here is that DW 2.0 shifts a lot of the MARs that used be assigned to individual models and now assigns them to weapon types instead. Tesla weapons are a great example; all Tesla weapons now have Redoubtable and lethal strike, where as that used to be specified on a model by model basis in the old rules.
Next up are Mines (Mine! Mine!). There are some new twists here; aerial mines now exist, mines can now be swept from 8″ instead of 4″, and there is a way to link mines by laying them on top of each other to increase their lethality. Overall, it seems mines have gotten a bit better, though they still don’t strike me as a game changers in and of themselves.
Boarding
As seems to be the trend in the other sections, boarding actions are mostly the same, though the rules are now much more clear, with a few interesting additions thrown in. The way that boarding is initiated and defended against are fundamentally the same as before. The real changes are in the possible results of boarding actions and the new mechanic of Crew Types.
Now, a successful boarding action (defined as the attacker having AP left over while the defender has none) results in a model being a Prize, a Derelict, or Salvaged. A salvaged model is one that has been captured back from the enemy; it is still considered “Lost,” meaning all it can do is drift, but it is now only worth half VP to your opponent. Prized models are no longer defenseless now; the prize crews can now use the model’s AA and CC (albeit reduced by whatever damage the prized model suffered prior to capture) to defend against attempts to recapture it. Another small change here is that models in the same squadron can now initiate boarding actions to spread AP around the squadron, though they can’t do that and offensively board an enemy model in the same turn.
Crew types are an entirely new addition to the game, and are a basic part of the stat line for each model. There are 8 different flavors of crew types, differentiated by the to-hit numbers for both offensive and defensive boarding actions. For example, an Elite Crew will hit on a 3+ when defending or attacking, while a Conscripted crew will only hit on a 5+. Often, ships will have the option to upgrade their crew type for a nominal points cost (10-15 points). This strikes me as a really nice way to build in distinctive flavors into not only specific types of models, but entire factions as well. Not to mention, the upgrade option will be a handy way to eat up the little bit of points that are inevitably left over when building a list.
The boarding section is nicely rounded out by a VERY detailed and well-illustrated example of how a complex boarding action is carried out. The sequence features one cruiser squadron boarding another, from start to finish. This will undoubtedly be a very handy reference when playing the game!
End Phase
This phase seems sort of tacked on to the end of Section C, but it makes a kind of sense considering that boarding is the last segment of the Activation Phase. The End Phase is now broken down into 6 segments of its own. Big changes from the first edition include the fact that derelict models (but not Salvaged or Prized models) automatically lose 1 HP, meaning they will tend to “melt” away as the game goes on. Critical effects repairs have been changed, so that you now need a 4+ to succeed instead of a 1, 2, or 3. This makes sense to me, as everywhere else in the game a 4+ is a good thing! The End Phase is also where models can lose D3 AP/HP, as mentioned last time. And now, players are required to evaluate their victory conditions at the end of each turn, which may have the positive side effect of helping me remember just what my mission objectives are!
Whew! There you have it, Section C. Next up will be the final installment of the rules breakdown, Section D. While this is the longest section, the write up will be a bit shorter since much of the length is due to listing out the MARs and Generators. I don’t really plan on covering that in too much detail, but I’ll hit the highlights. Until next time!