Messages

1

Dystopian Wars / DW Version 4.0 Inbound

« on: September 02, 2025, 10:37:19 pm »

Has anyone else been keeping up with the news on 4.0 posted over on the WC blog? I've got a video in the works to discuss it, but there are some major changes coming to the game. The new rules should be out by the end of the month!

https://blog.warcradle.com/blog/september-releases-a-new-edition-of-dystopian-wars-has-surfaced

New mechanics, new cards, new token sets...the jump from 3.0 to 4.0 is going to be like the jump from 1.1 to 2.0 back in the day.

2

The Pavilus Binary War / Re: Quick Update

« on: June 16, 2025, 10:01:23 pm »

I would definitely be interested in hearing about both the campaign results, and also any lessons learned for going forward.  Will you be retaining the system map, or would that be changing?

The campaign wrapped up pretty much at a tie! My friend's Space Marines held a small advantage (about 15-20 victory points, although we were both over 200 IIRC), but it was competitive until the end. Ultimately, it was a bit of a stalemate, at least on the ground.

We are planning to add some things to spend points on in the next iteration, as we found ourselves with a major surplus of resource points. As a result, it was trivial to simply replace any lost units, so ultimately the battles weren't having as much impact as we would like. We also are going to make it so that air units can battle every turn, as it felt like they didn't have enough to do. Overall, the basic framework proved to be pretty solid.

The map is going to remain the same for this next go-around; we always figured our first attempt was just a beta test of sorts, so we still want to play it "for real." Plus, if I'm being honest I'm not quite ready to leave the Binary just yet! I've gotten a little attached to the setting I came up with lol.

3

News and Rumors / Re: Pacific Command is now available!

« on: June 12, 2025, 10:36:03 pm »

Interested in coming on the podcast/YT to discuss sometime?

4

General Discussion / Re: 3D STL files for Aeronef

« on: June 11, 2025, 06:41:50 pm »

 Going to give an upvote to Javelin, or as he sometimes calls himself, National Cheese Emporium. High quality STL sculptor, and with little to no issues with printing, he ran an excellent service on Shapeways Marketplace ( Much mourned) and now on Cults3D and CGTrader.

 He is reliable as a seller, and will even take suggestions - He upscaled one of his 3mm models to 6mm on my request.

 I don't have any of his Imperial Skies items, but I have had my eye on his civilian ships for some conversion potential for DW.

I've printed a number of Javelin's 6mm/8mm scifi models for Legions Imperialis! Can confrim, they do quality work.

5

General Discussion / Re: Finally, after all these years....

« on: June 11, 2025, 06:40:03 pm »

Hah! You know, now that you mention it, V@S is probably about due for a new edition. However, I haven't seen or heard any rumors of that.

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General Discussion / Re: MBS in 2025

« on: June 10, 2025, 07:11:52 pm »

Thanks! And yes, the game went great. Did  you see the video interview Byron Collins did?

https://youtu.be/ym7_ZGmcrGQ?si=1G2M3QRPVUF-u54r

7

News and Rumors / Dystopian Wars 4.0 Incoming

« on: June 04, 2025, 09:18:18 pm »

I meant to post about this when it was announced last month, but Warcradle has announced a 4.0 edition of DW is in the works:

https://blog.warcradle.com/blog/development-diary-expanding-on-dystopian-wars-4th-edition

As you will know by now, a new edition of Dystopian Wars is on its way. The mononymous Parker from the Studio pulls back the curtain a little more on the new edition for the benefit of current players, who are already asking key questions like: ‘Is this a true new edition, rather than a new coat of paint? Can I still use all my models? Do I have to buy new dice?’

Parker: “While the announcement of a new edition for any game can understandably be met with trepidation by existing players, we can assure you that we are taking the time to give Dystopian Wars the best possible future. “


Dystopian Wars has been growing and developing steadily for some years now, with new releases for all eight factions and multiple units for each level of conflict - underwater, surface and airborne. With this growth has come new rules and, in turn, new interactions with the core rules. This has led to a level of complexity that might prove tricky for newer players, and extends the playing time for existing ones.

Parker: “In many ways, this is the perfect time to work on a new edition. I was heavily involved in developing the current edition of the game, and it's been good to see how the release of Armoured Clash has provided new lessons and design principles for the new edition of Dystopian Wars. Have no fear, we will not be taking every rule from Armoured Clash and working it into Dystopian Wars by any means. Continually exploding dice are staying for good! However, there are certain areas of mental load that we feel can be adjusted and streamlined for ease of play.

For example, in the current edition, a player has to declare all the attacks made by one of their units and their targets before rolling any dice. This leads to players having to remember weapon arcs, which targets each weapon is focused on, which attacks are affected by various conditions, which models have line of sight, which weapons have fired already. It can be a lot!

In the new edition of Dystopian Wars, each unit can make a limited number of attacks (or other non-combat actions) during its activation, with each target declared once the previous one has been resolved. This means that each decision you make becomes its own event, lessening the amount of information a player has to keep in their head at one time.

Changes will also be made to some of the other unit characteristics. Given the sheer number of Special Rules (in excess of 200!), we have endeavoured, where possible, to fold them into each unit’s Attributes instead. For example, Special Rules from the previous edition that allowed a unit to re-roll certain results might now be converted into an increased stat, or a Faction-specific bonus that covers almost every model in your Battlefleet. This, in turn, allows players to focus on making tactical decisions rather than remembering which of their many Special Rules they should be referring to.

Similarly, weapons will be added to units rather than having their own place at the end of the ORBAT. This allows rules like Heavy Firepower to be removed, as a Heavy Gun Battery on a Flagship to have its own dice and qualities and reduces the need to constantly refer to interacting rules, further reducing mental load.

As for the core elements of the game, the Victory & Valour deck will be getting a significant upgrade. Feedback we received from players was that the cards allowing for double Activations were too strong. They have been removed. Additionally, in an example of lessons learned from Armoured Clash, we’re making Victory & Valour cards more integral to the game by shaking up how the Values interact with the rest of the game. No longer will there be values of 1 to 60 spread across the entire deck, but 1 to 12 with repetitions. If you’ve played Armoured Clash, you’ll be familiar with this already.”

Parker: “To the current fans of Dystopian Wars, I want to say this: we are not simplifying the game for the sake of simplicity. Indeed, the crunchy mechanical decisions you know and love will still be present. Our intention, instead, is to streamline the gameplay and aid the players in making the meaningful, strategic decisions they are used to, with clearer information to guide them.

For new players of the game, this will be a perfect place to jump in if you haven’t already. Everything from the rules themselves to the book's layout will be guided by the same design principles that brought you Armoured Clash.

And to anyone wanting to know the answers to the questions we started this post with? Yes, yes, and no.

Safe sailing!”

I'm cautiously optmistic! There is certainly some simplification and rationalization that could stand to happen to DW. What do you all think?

8

News and Rumors / Pacific Command is now available!

« on: June 04, 2025, 09:15:44 pm »

Mike Hutchinson's latest wargame, Pacific Command, is now available from Osprey!

https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/pacific-command-9781472859976/

I've got my copy on order

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The Pavilus Binary War / Quick Update

« on: June 04, 2025, 09:13:52 pm »

So, after 10 campaign turns my friend Matt and I decided to wrap up our first run at this campaign a couple of months ago.

Overall, the campaign went really well. We found some holes in the rules that need patching, and a few elements we want to add. We're planning to start a second go at the campaign starting in September. We're looking to add at least one more player to the mix, so it should be fun!

My goal with this second run is to try and generate some content for MBS out of it...I'm thinking some videos, as well as some blog/substack posts.

Stay tuned for more!

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General Discussion / Re: 3D STL files for Aeronef

« on: June 04, 2025, 08:54:58 pm »

There are some designs up on MMF that kind of fit the milieu:

https://www.myminifactory.com/users/martinevans1?show=store&categories=1797

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Misc. Naval Games / Re: Castles in the Sky- Clash over South America

« on: June 04, 2025, 08:52:19 pm »

Nice looking table! I will give the full report a look.

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General Discussion / MBS in 2025

« on: February 17, 2025, 05:09:37 pm »

Hi all! Things have continued to be quiet around here, and for that I apologize.

I'm working on a few YT/podcast projects off and on in the background, an those will continue to be my focus. I did not get anything uploaded in January, which was my original goal, but I'm hoping to get a new episode posted this week.

Beyond just the podcast and YT channel, I have a few initiatives that I'm looking to work on this year, including:

- A new MBS store
- New merch
- Starting a Discord server
- Re-invigorating the MBS Substack and monthly newsletter

There is also some work I need to do around the forums; there are a lot of dead boards that I need to move into inactive/archive status, and I probably need to consider re-working some of the structure of the board.

Happy to take feedback on all of this! Thanks again for all of you that stick around and keep the lights on here

13

Space Naval Games / Void Admiral: Renegade Warfleets

« on: February 17, 2025, 05:02:48 pm »

I recently picked up a copy of this game:

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/508161/Void-Admiral-Renegade-Warfleets

Its an interesting fleet-scale battle game. Very clearly trying to make a "modernized" version of BFG; it has fleets that are obviously intended to be 1 for 1 proxies of 40k factions, though it has it's own background and is a fully fledged game in its own right. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I'm looking forward to trying it!

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The Shipyard / Re: Best case scenario?

« on: February 17, 2025, 04:54:43 pm »

That's a fantastic storage solution! Looks like you found something that is effective at storing  your fleets safely while also being affordable.

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News and Rumors / Re: Warlord Games naval games on sale

« on: February 17, 2025, 04:45:28 pm »

Nice!

On one hand, this is a great opportunity for folks to jump into these games if they haven't already.

On the other, it makes me worry this is the beginning of the end for their support.