Battle Report

[Ruckdog]

Hey guys! Just played a game yesterday, my first up here in Connecticut. I've posted a battle report for it on the blog:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2012/05/27/dystopian-wars-prussians-vs-blazing-sun/

[MadDrB]

Awesome!  Not only did you find another DW player... and with a painted fleet... but an Imperial Blazing Sun player to boot!

[Mezegis]

As the owner of said EotBS fleet, I can assure you it's not completely painted, but getting there.

Was a fun fight, we each had some good and bad rolls, my good ones came at a better time.

[MadDrB]

I wonder if Andy has ever played against an Imperial fleet before?

We have spent several game sessions in the same room together during demo games and tournament events, but I don't know if we ever actually played a game against one another....

There must have been a game, at the beginning... yes, when he just had his FSA fleet and hadn't painted his Prussian ships yet.  So, he has played against Imperials before, just not with his Prussian forces?

Anyway, as a champion for the EBS faction (I bought a starter FSA fleet box for running demo games, but all of my additional purchases and painting efforts have gone toward my Blazing Sun division), I'm always happy to see another player anywhere and with painted ships on the table.

But I must admit, and it's embarrassing, that Andy used a quote in a PM which I didn't recognize, and it came from the Japanese admiral at Tsushima....  So, I don't know my history as well as I might like, but that's not stopping me from buying a miniature katana so I can "surrender my sword" to opponents when I lose a game of DW (I lose more than half of the DW games I play).

[Mezegis]

I'm lucky enough to have all factions present at my LGS.  Dystopian Wars is just taking off here, and just about everyone is buying a fleet.  From what I've heard, we probably have over 20 different players possible for any given time.  Part of why I picked Blazing Sun is that it was the least played at 3 other players (floating trains didn't hurt though )

After coming from the WM/H, WH40k, and WH:F tournament scene, it's nice to have a causal game where in the rules they say it's OK to be a little fudgy.  Tends to eliminate the 20 minute rules arguements that ruin the enjoyment of the game for me.  Every question I've had has gone: Can you do that; I think so; well lets check the book; find answer, or just go with whichever ruling makes the most sense.  No need to take blood pressure meds after every game.

[MadDrB]

Good to hear DW is popular in your area.  I seem to be at a saturation point in mine, but players from around the region are willing to drive in for our seasonal event--next one is tomorrow and I'm expecting 12 players for our "tournament."

I completely missed 40K, and I've played only a couple of friendly games of Warmachine, but I hear that complaint about extremely competitive play to the point of headaches regarding those systems.  I find any tabletop game which measures distances with a tape measure rather than using precise squares for movement like Chess or Go should allow for a bit of wiggle room when it comes to fun competition--if I wanted a competitive game with clearly defined rules then I would be playing Chess or Go.  I try to foster an environment of fair play and fun at the DW events I organize; we're coming up on the fourth event and I have not had any problem in the slightest with disputes between players (knock on wood).

[Mezegis]

12 players for anything is a good turnout.  If it wasn't a day+ drive, I may have tried to work out a carpool with the gamers up here.  I approve of anything that involves the words fairplay and fun   Its a game, last time I checked, no one died because they lost a mini's game, so stop acting like I'm trying to remove your spleen because I asked if you thought I had LoS to your caster/HQ/lord.

[Ruckdog]

Having played in a couple of 40k tournaments this year, I have definitely encountered the type of gamer you guys are talking about! I'm actively trying to avoid being "that guy," myself . I hope you don't mind that I stopped our game for a minute to look something up; that had less to do with wanting to win that with an honest desire to follow the rules. The nuclear Navy tends to beat that into you!

[MadDrB]

If any of you in New England is even considering a day of driving to play some DW games, we're hosting Historicon here in Virginia this coming July and there are 2 DW games on the schedule in addition to the demo games I've running on the Saturday of the convention.  I'm doing what I can to bridge the gap between the historical enthusiasts (the ones making sure their models are painted according to historical parameters) and the tournament gamers (the ones making sure their models have just enough paint on them to qualify for participation).  I think there is room for extremes on both sides of this range, but many of us just want to paint some model ships so they look cool and move them around on a table while rolling some dice and making sound effects with our mouths.

[Mezegis]

...I hope you don't mind that I stopped our game for a minute to look something up; that had less to do with wanting to win that with an honest desire to follow the rules...

No worries, it makes sense to check the rules when what someone thinks goes clearly against common sense.  "Why defend myself with full AA dice when I can toss half AA dice to help someone 4 inches away... lol"  Though in the end, it didn't matter, I tossed 19 dice on the boarding defense, and had 1 total hit.  When my dice were hot, I got 26 hits, when they were cold, I'd lose 2 basically unharmed planes to a couple of guys jumping off sinking cruisers (slight exageration, but the point is there)

[Ruckdog]

And the point is well taken! Actually, this just goes to further illustrate the point you were making earlier, about how DW is a fun game to relax & enjoy. The dice can so rapidly change the course of the game, you would go crazy trying to take it "seriously"  .

[MadDrB]

Along the above line of discussion, one reason I prefer Uncharted Seas is because of the streamlined rules (no defensive fire, all different weapons are combined in a single broadside attack so there isn't those tedious "first, I attack this ship with my primary turrets, then I attack that ship with my secondary broadside, THEN I attack that cruiser with torpedoes, and finally I attack that bomber with my rocket battery... and THEN I drop a mine for good measure..." oh, and a stern rake actually counts for something...) is because it's a simple and fun game, and sometimes the dice just don't roll your way but the game is over in an hour and you can play another or some other game completely.

Certainly, the "mad" technology of the DW background can account for any wild change in fortune, and I like when you can explain why something didn't follow "common sense" by saying that weird technology just went a little haywire... as opposed to saying you just rolled a handful of ones.  When my rocket attacks fail, for example, I like to blame those three stooges at their posts on the rocket battery deck who all forgot to actually arm the warheads before launching rockets. 

[Landlubber]

Please post more pics of Andy's ships getting sunk.    Lord knows he sunk enough of ours when he lived down here.