Dystopian Wars 4.0 Incoming

[Ruckdog]

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?

[Covertwalrus]

 I confess, it seems to be getting further and further form 2.5, and that alone is a big Red Flag for me.

 Simplicity is a tricky thing to manage - especially when we live in a world where thinking seems to be an anathema - and while a certain amount of simplification is desirable, games often end up as complex variants of "Paper Scissors Rock"/Roshambo rather than an actual war game. 3.0 was already simplified from previous incarnations, and that was half the problem ( All ships of all sizes use the same turn template? Really?) for many players in my group.

 Still, trying to be optimistic, I suppose the doing away with weapons arcs might help some people with the game nevertheless that's really an important feature of naval and other fleet combat games, and I don't see how exactly it will work and still retain the feel of naval combat in all honesty. But if they make it work, then great.