Messages

1

Dystopian Wars / Re: Been out of the game for a while - catch me up?

« on: June 22, 2017, 12:46:25 am »

That's cool! Thanks @ruckdog for the run down. It's always nice to see the timeline move forward a bit. I have the 2.0 rulebook but I think the last campaign book I had was Operation Sirocco. I take it there have been a few additional books and the like since the 2.0 rulebook came out?

Might be time to revisit that customer merc faction I made up...

@Dakkar I hear ya. Dropfleet and Dropzone are my main games these days, but for some reason I just ordered Beyond the Gates of Antares plastic freeborn models because I liked the look of them. ... Then got the rulebook. And a book of short stories. And.... well, we all know how it goes. This is a wargaming forum, after all!

Too bad I missed out on the Kickstarter, but I probably just would have spent too much money on it any way 

2

Dystopian Wars / Been out of the game for a while - catch me up?

« on: June 21, 2017, 04:03:17 pm »

So somehow, I missed this whole DW Kickstarter thing!

Can someone explain to me what the League of Crimson is? Also, what's the deal with the Egyptian fleet - what are they all about?

3

Space Naval Games / Re: Dropfleet Commander

« on: June 21, 2017, 03:54:43 pm »

Anyone up for some thread-necro?

I have painted a 750 point fleet, played one game, and was completely destroyed by the end of turn 4. We are hoping to get together for another game this weekend, and while I have not painted any more ships, I have been reflecting on why I lost so hard against some Scourge - the Great Enemy.

• I think my current 750 point fleet is not spread out enough around battlegroups - I underestimated the importance of each battlegroup's Strategy Rating (SR). SR makes a big difference for which models go first, and especially in a smaller game where you only have so many models, going first can change the game.
• I am not sure the Osaka light cruisers in a squadron of 3 are worth it in this size game - although I do think there is credence to the idea that more hulls are a better choice than better armor. Ships die faster and more often than I was anticipating.
• Unlike DW or Firestorm (which probably informed my list building more heavily than I realized), having full squadrons does not seem so advantageous. Spreading around frigates across battlegroups may be a better choice than having larger squadrons, to reduce SRs and/or to provide flexibility for orders like active scanning, etc.
• Launch assets are about as powerful as I expected, and then next ship I paint should be either another fleet carrier or battlecruiser with launch assets.

Here is the fleet list I ran last game:

--------------------------------------
Basic Skirmish Fleet - 745pts
UCM - 3 launch assets

SR15 Line battlegroup (258pts)
3 x Osaka - 258pts - M

SR7 Line battlegroup (196pts)
1 x Seattle - 132pts - M
   + UCM Commodore (40pts, 3AV)
2 x New Orleans - 64pts - L

SR6 Pathfinder battlegroup (111pts)
1 x Madrid - 79pts - M
1 x New Orleans - 32pts - L

SR4 Pathfinder battlegroup (140pts)
4 x Toulon - 140pts - L
------------- dflist.com -------------


TL/DR: I need to paint more

4

General Discussion / Re: MBS Monthly Poll #13

« on: June 21, 2017, 03:32:43 pm »

There's probably no wrong answer on this poll

5

Dystopian Wars / Re: Core Nation Expansion Ships Stat Spoilers

« on: June 21, 2017, 03:31:58 pm »

That's cool to see! I haven't down much with DW in a while but some of those new ships are piquing my interest again...

6

The Shipyard / Re: Ruckdog's Firestorm Armada Terrans

« on: March 10, 2017, 12:39:58 am »

Awesome work! I think the blue-on-blue highlighting turned out great, really makes them pop!

7

Space Naval Games / Re: Dropfleet Commander

« on: March 10, 2017, 12:05:17 am »

I'm very happy to come back* to the forum and see a good discussion about DFC underway!

I hope by now everyone has received their Kickstarter. I did not receive mine in the mail until mid-January, but I can't hold it against them. I set about reading the rulebook and building frigates - SO MANY frigates. I went all-in for UCM, and so far the Toulon (basic UCM turret frigate) is my favorite model, and ship class. (I say that without having played a game, of course.)

Personally, I find the focus on orbital combat refreshing. As much as I love open-space combat, I like the emphasis in DFC on what is being fought over. I find it also helps capture the relative scale of the warships and the planet. That said, I do have a star-field gaming surface I would like to be able to use. Maybe for taking on highest-orbit space station over Olympus Prime?

Anyway, I have started building and painting a fleet when I can. I was not very interested in building the recommend starter fleet for the UCM, so instead I have been focusing on getting a points-equivalent fleet ready for gaming. Namely, it consists of: a full group of 3 Osaka-class light cruisers, 1 Madrid-class cruiser, a full group of 4 Toulon-class frigates, and 2 New Orleans strike carriers. I believe it comes int at just 2 points over the standard Moscow-Berlin-Seattle fleet. So far, I have built everything but the Madrid, and even gotten the three Osakas fully painted.

I did not think I would, but I really like the ship bases. They've gone together easily enough, and have enough room to put ship names on them. In a move that surprised no one, I have started naming the ships in this battlefleet with Rush song titles.

Thanks for the blog content on the game, Ruck! I enjoyed it a lot when first digging into my Kickstarter box. Is anyone else following the "building the Avenger" series on YouTube? Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/hawkwargames


* - My laptop was stolen out of a locked hotel room last June, and I was not able to afford a replacement until January. This marks my first post back on an online forum since! (The lawsuit against the hotel is ongoing.)

8

Space Naval Games / Re: Dropfleet Commander - Pics from GenCon!

« on: August 02, 2015, 06:29:45 pm »

Me too!

Today someone at GenCon posted this video which shows some basic combat mechanics for the Dropfleet game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpaD5gKK_GA

Some interesting departures from the Dropzone Commander rules (I think they will end up pretty different).  But I think it will be good, too, at least from this teaser video!

9

Space Naval Games / Re: Dropfleet Commander - Pics from GenCon!

« on: July 31, 2015, 11:43:13 am »

More pics!

Above were all UCM cruisers.  There are some Scourge cruisers in this batch.

[attachment deleted by admin]

10

Space Naval Games / Dropfleet Commander - Pics from GenCon!

« on: July 31, 2015, 11:42:15 am »

The pics and info have been coming in from GenCon!  Pictures available here:
https://www.facebook.com/dzcommenter/photos_stream

Here are a few of my favorites (attached).

Each "cruiser" sprue for each race (UCM, Scourge) is said to have all the pieces to make one of 5 or 6 variants per cruiser.  PHR and Shaltari models are on their way.  Targeting models is based around that model's energy signature, so moving, firing, or Shaltari shields make the vessel easier to target.  There will be a Kickstarter in October, focused on the starter box(es) (maybe 2-player UCM vs Scourge?), with a firm delivery deadline in April. 

I'll put up a few more pictures in the next post.

[attachment deleted by admin]

11

BANG / Re: Next meet-up?

« on: July 27, 2015, 01:30:14 pm »

Hey man!  I misunderstood, I'm sorry - I thought you meant last Saturday (the 25th) which is when we met to play DZC.  This next Saturday I don't think anyone else is planning to meet - I'm headed out of state to see my family, Klarg is at GenCon, Delta is away this weekend I think, and I haven't heard any plans from the other guys.  I'm sorry!

That said, I know there are a bunch of FS:A gamers at The Toy Soldier in Amesbury, MA, and several are on the SG forums if you want to try to arrange some games there?  The Toy Soldier might actually be closer to you, anyway.

12

BANG / Re: Next meet-up?

« on: July 24, 2015, 11:15:02 pm »

Hey sure - at least two other guys are meeting me at the Hobby Bunker around noon for some Dropzone Commander.  I'm bringing my Resistance, Zaknafn is bringing his PHR, and Klarg1 his Shaltari.  Another player or two might be driving up from Providence, too, but I haven't heard the latest on that.  Zak and Klarg I know you met - they're both big FS:A guys

13

Space Naval Games / Re: More Sc-Fi IPs Turned into Miniature Wargames

« on: July 20, 2015, 11:02:01 pm »

I gotta say, I would really love to see a Babylon 5 fleet game done right and supported with nice miniatures.  Even if it was based on like Firestorm: Armada rules or something similar, as long as the models were as cool as is deserved.

14

BANG / Re: Next meet-up?

« on: July 20, 2015, 05:29:45 pm »

Some of us are talking about getting together this coming Saturday for some Dropzone Commander.  I think Gen Con is the weekend after next in Indianapolis, and some of the locals are heading out to it.  I hope the twins are doing well!

15

BANG / Re: CaptainCon! July 17-19, 2015, Taunton, MA

« on: July 20, 2015, 05:24:09 pm »

So CaptainCon ended up being quite fun!  Two guys ran four or so hours of FS:A demos, and then over the weekend the four of us ran about eight hours of Dropzone Commander demos!  We also got about half a game of FS:A in before retiring Saturday night.  The con was dominated by the Warma/Hord tournament, but we had a good time.  There will eventually (probably) be some summaries/write-ups/picture galleries from the con on these blogs:

http://www.andygomez.wordpress.com/
http://www.magnetizedtolead.blogspot.com/
http://www.blindmetalminis.blogspot.com/