Topics

31

Dystopian Wars / Battle Patrol - game variant (not my own writing)

« on: September 22, 2015, 02:21:53 pm »

Someone by the tag Samlish posted these homebrew rules on the Spartan games forum. It's designed to play a quick, decisive game of DW anywhere that you can.
Seems like a fun little variant for a fast game.

Battle Patrol
A battle patrol is a small patrol fleet sent out by the nations to guard the extremities of their empire. They tend to consist of heavily armed, fast ships which can respond quickly to threats. These games are to represent squabbles over minor territory, and not the epic struggles implied by larger games.
 
In Battle Patrol, each player brings a fleet of no more than 500 points, with the following modifications to force organisation.
 
Your fleet MUST contain a Battlecruiser class vessel, and this vessel is treated as a large for the purposes of force organisation. Your commodore is aboard this ship. This ship is part of the core force.
All medium and small squadrons have their minimum and maximum squadron size reduced by 1
No player may include any large or massive vessels in their fleet. (excluding, of course, their battlecruiser)
Local Air Support is reduced to half. Most nations therefore get 5 wings, some get 6.
When forming your TAC deck, you only get two cards, and draw one each time a full squadron is lost. (On either side, both players will draw.)
You do not roll to determine win condition at the start of the game, instead, both players win when either:
 
The opposing commodore's ship is prized (not sunk)
Half of the total number of ships on either side is lost.
Note that this means you do not have to track points, and strategic value is irrelevant. It also means there is a sudden death condition. Guard that battlecruiser for all you're worth!
 
These rules are intended to serve as a flexible and recyclable scenario which can play out very, very quickly.

http://community.spartangames.co.uk/index.php?/topic/15953-battle-patrol-rules-for-smaller-faster-scenarios/#entry282464

32

Halo: Fleet Battles / Covenant ship designations

« on: September 03, 2015, 02:46:12 pm »

I've decided to primarily focus on the Covenant for Halo. I like their ships, their lore, and I have a zeal for religious fanaticism.
I've been doing some research about their fleets and organizational structure (I should point out that I'm a big fan of the Halo games but I don't know much about the wider world of Halo. I've only recently read a couple of the stories and watched the short film "Forward Unti Dawn")

When researching I came across an interesting bit about the three letter class designations of the covenant fleet. As it turns out the three letter designation was at first a child of the UNSC but Bungie turned it into a canonical Covenant naming structure.
Each class of ship is designated by a combination of three letters (A, C, D, O, P, S, R, and V). These letters correspond to religious sounding words that then designate certain functions or a specialization within the Covenant fleet.
For instance the ORS-class Heavy Cruiser:
O=Ordained which means the ship has some form of Forerunner technological modification.
R=Reverence which denotes a function, in this case reconnaissance and excavation of Forerunner artifacts.
S=Salvation which means the class is a dedicated warship...I take that to mean it is equipped for pitched battle.
These are actually the only letters that Bungie ever provided a description for, but some Halo fans have come up with educated guesses as to what the other letter and words mean based on the type of ship and what role it tends to play.
For instance, the CCS-class Battlecruiser is the most prolific Covenant ship by far, so some have speculated that the C=a backbone component of Covenant fleets. This would hold true for the CAS-class assault carrier, CPV-class heavy destroyer, and many other C designated Covenant ships. However, the double C seems to perplex everyone. It could be speculated that the double C indicates not only is it the backbone of the fleet but is also the frontline or primary warship of the fleet as well.

33

The Shipyard / Halo project thread

« on: August 11, 2015, 12:46:05 am »

I'll use this space to post pictures of my Halo fleets as they make progress.
First is the UNSC
This is step one, an olive drab base coat. (Somehow I misplaced a frigate, good thing I have boatloads until it shows up again)

34

Halo: Fleet Battles / First thoughts

« on: July 30, 2015, 10:26:54 am »

I wanted to post a quick summary of my first thoughts when getting into the Fall of Reach box, and provide some initial detail for those that aren't sure if they'll buy into it. Hopefully this will also start a discussion of the initial schemes and thoughts of others.

Realize also this is all within the first day of ownership, there could be a whole new discussion once I get a few games under my belt.

First of all, the plastics are of good quality. Easy to assemble, highly detailed, and the two color molding was a nice touch for "out of the box games."
There are also plenty of other materials. The rulebook is a great size and quality, and the dice are pretty cool. I'm a little nervous about the longevity of the tokens and flight stand cards as they seem a little thin to me. But it should not be a huge problem considering any wear on my DW and FSA turn templates (the same material) has been almost nonexistent.
The rules are simple to grasp but provide very unique tactical options. The rulebook only contains minor errors and I've only come across a couple "whaaaaat? " moments.
Overall it looks like it will be a brutal game and play quickly, similar to Planetfall.
There is also a substantial scenario booklet that runs similarly to other Spartan "get to learn the game" scenarios.

I was a little concerned about the initial price point but I think the value for the money is there. There's a lot of ships, it's not like any of their other game systems (even if there are similar base mechanics), and come on...its Halo.

35

Dystopian Wars / Allies in Dystopian Wars

« on: July 28, 2015, 12:14:48 pm »

The way that I had previously been reading the rules for allies in the 2.0 version of Dystopian Wars has recently been flipped on its head. I was interpreting the rules in the same way the Firestorm Armada RAW seems to limit allies to a main force of "major" races and allies of "minor" races.

When I was visiting the rules in the Dystopian Wars rulebook again I realize that it seems your main force can consist of major or minor powers with different percentage penalties based on close allies or how your nation stacks in supposed influence (i.e. Major or minor).
This opens up fleet building even further then I originally perceived.

Have many others experimented with different allies and combinations in version 2.0?

36

Find a Game! / Gamers Haven or Collectormania 5/23?

« on: May 19, 2015, 11:30:47 pm »

Looking to see if anybody that isn't heading out of town this weekend would like to get a game of DW, FSA, or even X-Wing on Saturday. I could do either Gamers Haven or Collectormania easily. Looking for an early game but can easily be flexible.

37

The Shipyard / Quickdraw's Republique of France test model

« on: April 07, 2015, 12:05:52 pm »

This is more of a test of the techniques I'm hoping to use on my new French fleet. As well as a test of the (what I hope is unusual) camouflage pattern.
I was going for a heavy stipple for the bone color but it turned out looking more like a heavy drybrush.

Criticism and thoughts are welcome. It's missing detail work and some highlights.

38

Firestorm Armada / Adepticon missions

« on: April 03, 2015, 05:16:40 pm »

The guys that designed the missions for the Adepticon FSA tournament posted the missions on the Spartan forum for download.
I went ahead and grabbed them and they look good, definitely add some variety to the standard missions.

You can get the link to download them from here
http://community.spartangames.co.uk/index.php?/topic/13686-adepticon-missions/#entry247476

I'm looking forward to trying them out.

39

The Showcase / Quickdraw's Terran Fleet (Updated with ship names!)

« on: March 17, 2015, 12:10:17 am »

I'll use this space to finally post pictures of my completed Terran ships and fleet.

NTSC Vladimir




More to come as I continue to photograph them.

40

Dystopian Wars / Utility of battlecruisers

« on: March 11, 2015, 11:39:58 am »

I'm curious how people feel about the battlecruisers in DW? I have yet to purchase one or see one on the table. I really like the idea of battlecruisers and they seem to have relatively high utility compared to points.
I will use the Russian Azov as an example beig that I play Russians.
At range band 2 it is putting out 15 dice from primaries, nothing to scoff at when compared to the 16 dice of a cruiser squadron for 100 points less.
It seems across the board all factions battlecruiser has the Combat Patrol MAR which has useful applications in this new era of beefy SAW.
The downside is that they only come in a single model squadron and could be focused apart pretty easily.
It seems like a nasty surprise to put out in advance deployment or to come on from the flank.

What kind of strategies do you think would be prudent for battlecruisers?

41

Firestorm Armada / Terran Support Cruisers

« on: February 17, 2015, 11:39:10 pm »

A couple months back I was looking at my battle for Valhalla station and realized that it could become two cool looking Terran ships if I cut it in half carefully and find some neat engines to put on the back. Now I have two halves of a space station and nothing to do with them.
So I'm playing around with the rules for Terran Support Cruisers. Basically a pair of cruisers that house a few wings each. I would like some thoughts about the rules to use for them.
My idea so far is to basically take the stat line of the heavy cruiser, nerf or change its weapon loadout, and give them three wings each.

Let me know what you think, or if that sounds ridiculous. At the very least they will hopefully make cool looking experimental "escort" cruisers for my carrier in friendly games.

42

Modeling Q&A / Custom cut, or cutting my own acrylic

« on: October 29, 2014, 09:40:24 am »

I thought I would see if anyone has any advice or resources for my above question.
First, I'm specifically wondering if anyone has dealt with purchasing and cutting their own special pieces of acrylic. (Where, how, how difficult, tricks)
Second, if anyone has dealt with any companies that will cut and ship custom pieces of acrylic. (Which companies, how much $)

Thanks in advance!

43

FACO / ++Ryushi carriers sighted on radar++

« on: October 24, 2014, 01:30:41 pm »

I picked up the Ryushi battle carrier.
First thoughts...fantastic model. I'm very impressed with the detail and I think it will really become a great centerpiece when painted up.
The cruisers are much smaller then I realized but the details are great.
I'm still waiting on the fleet box but once it comes in I think I will be pretty happy with the completed battle group. I'm really intrigued by how they will play.

44

Modeling Q&A / Stripping resin models

« on: October 11, 2014, 04:27:30 pm »

Does anyone have a tried and true method of stripping resin models?
I've done plastics and metals. Just not any resin.

45

Firestorm Armada / Capital accompaniment

« on: October 04, 2014, 01:42:48 pm »

I'm curious what the opinions are on this forum about running a cruiser or two with your carrier.
The benefits are obvious- linked fire to increase the carrier's effectiveness in addition to launching wings. As well as linked PD to scare off torpedoes.
However, the cost can skyrocket. Not to mention the potential battle log additions to your opponent of +1 per destroyed cruiser.
Does the community find this compelling? I haven't experimented at all with it yet but on paper it looks like a good way to fill a handful of points.