The shot heard round the world

A little while ago we had the Shepparton Miniatures Gamers Dystopian Wars Tournament which was awesome. I went with the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. I came 5th overall with 2 Wins 1 Draw and 2 Losses. 

It has been a while and the counselling is finally starting to kick in so here goes… This is a quick story of my 3rd match.

I fielded 1 Zamiec with a Grom buddy, 1x Triglav, 3x Marowit, 3x Podaga, 4 Frigates.

My opponent played as New Zealand with 2x Cerberus Battleships, 4x Victorias, 4x Protectors and 5x Goshawks (these were all named after Maori gods of death… fittingly)

Deployment:

New Zealand deployed arrayed along their side of the board pointing inwards. PLC deployed tight in behind an island for cover, very tight.

Turn 1 went fairly quickly and not much happened. The PLC didn’t really take much damage at all. But New Zealand had 2 critically injured Victorias, one downed Goshawk and one injured Goshawk.

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Early in turn one. That block of cruisers will move forward and maintain basically the same spacing… great idea…

Turn 2 opens. NZ win initiative. Goshawks activate targeting the Grom. Ok, thats fine I think to myself. Opponent plays devastating ordinance… Ok fine, it’s early in the game, shouldn’t be pivotal at this point and I get 60 points…and naturally he rolls a triple critical. Yikes. 1st some effect. 2nd Magazine explosion. This results in a dead Grom. But not just a dead Grom but an explosion-y one. Boom.6 hits rolled… Trig minus 1 HP, Zamiec -1 HP Marowits -1 hp each… the Podagas on the other hand. Yikes. All crited. First one rolled some effect, second one another effect… third one: Magazine explosion. Scoring enough HP loss to kill it, causing another massive blast. Oh FFS. Crits to all other ships. Another magazine explosion, this time from a Marowit. Crits all round once again, good bye Triglav. 

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The Grom vaporised the rest of the fleet damaged but the back line is about to cause more problems…

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3rd on the trot 1 Grom, 1 Podaga, and now a Marowit

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Triglav – Dead
3 Marowits – Dead
3 Podagas – Dead
1 Grom – Dead
Zamiec 5 HP lost

The Heavy Frigates were all good which was nice.

More than 70% of the fleet annihilated by a damaged unit of smalls in one hit the first activation of the second turn. Yowzer! My opponent later calculated the odds which he put at 1 in 76.7 million

We played out the turn. I sunk the Vics and the Zamiec went down. Obviously massive MASSIVELY crushing defeat for the Poles. It was epic. Nuts. But man as those Mags started cascading I just had to strap in and take it.

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A consolation prize from my opponent, Hehehe, hopefully it helps ease the pain next time.

Dystopian Wars: Fleet Action

From the Spartan Games Site:

 

A Prussian empire strike force is heading for Iceland, its mission a simple one: at all costs discover what the Covenant of Antarctica is up to on the frozen wastelands of this small island. This exciting boxed is the first to feature the new Dystopian Wars: Fleet Action fast play rules and the box contents include an array of CoA and Prussian naval models, scenery, rules, dice and tokens.

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From the newsletter:

 

The Fleet Action rules are quicker to play than the core rules, but use the same highly detailed models that Dystopian Wars is renowned for.  Order the new rules for a fast play game with your existing models but also make sure you take a look at The Battle For Iceland, a new two player box set using two of the most popular nations in the product line – the Prussian Empire and Covenant of Antarctica.
The Battle for Iceland 2 player box set contains
  • Fleet Action Fast Play Rulebook

  • Statistics & Template Sheets

  • Acrylic Tokens

  • Dice

  • 11 Prussian Empire Models

  • 10 Covenant of Antarctica Models

  • Highly Detailed Scenery

 

Firestorm: Taskforce

I got a copy of the Terran vs Dindrenzi starter set of Taskforce recently, and have managed to clean and put together the ships (which are rather nice).

Here are some snaps:

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The ships come with pre-cast holes for 2mm magnets, but I drilled them out a little and used 3mm magnets.

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The models are very nice, and I’m looking forward to getting them to the table!

 

 

 

Dusting off the Paints…

It’s been ever so long since I last managed to put paint on a model – in fact I think it was about the time of the tournaments here last year, which pushed it back a way. But I have finally done it! I have dusted off the paints and managed to get some models done!

 

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Well, there you go, I’ll probably pack them away now and not get them out for the next six months… but at least I got a few things finished!

 

 

 

 

Episode 36 – Planetary Alignment!

DystopianWars

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In this episode Giles, Reese and Peter join forces on the microphone once again to discuss various news from Spartan, what we’ve been doing in the hobby, and the mighty Prussians!

This episodes rounds out our look at the revisions to the core 6 ORBATs with a focus on the Prussian Empire for Dystopian Wars!

Find the episode directly here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/element270/E270-036-Planetary_Alignment.mp3

As always you can email us at element270podcast@gmail.com

Find us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/element270/

And on Twitter: @element270

Firestorm Taskforce…

Spartan has announced the arrival of a fast playing rules set that compliments Firestorm Armada. This new rules set is being launched with three starter sets, each containing two fleets, but each is also available individually as a Reinforcement Set (see below).

Spartan released a primer on what we can expect from Taskforce, and I for one am excited by the idea of a quick playing ‘skirmish’ style space battles game that uses the same models as Firestorm Armada, as when I have the time I’ll also be able to jump in and enjoy the full flavour and strategies afforded by the excellent Firestorm Armada.

The ships are absolutely gorgeous, and very modular in design, even going so far as to include holes specially made for 2mm magnets for those who want to magnetise their fleet for the fullest level of customisation.

Taskforce looks a phenomenal new addition to the Firestorm stable of games, with the ability (hopefully) to link to Planetfall, to be expanded to the fuller experience of Firestorm Armada, and generally as a quick throw down for those short on time, I for one, cannot wait!

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Preorders made prior to January 25th will also get the objective set pictured above.

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You can see from the above photo just how customisable the new cruisers are, with a chassis, body and various drop ons – all with holes for 2mm magnets. Just wonderful design both aesthetically and functionally.

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Each nation is also available as a reinforcement set like this Dindrenzi one – great for players of Firestorm who have established fleets and aren’t interested in playing the new Taskforce game.

Episode 35 – Mother Russia!

DystopianWars

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Welcome to episode 35 of the Element 270 podcast!

In this episode Giles and special guest Ewen discuss the Russian Coalition forces in Dystopian Wars, including the changes between the older and the newer ORBAT.

This episode has been a long time coming, and many apologies for the poor quality of the audio, and occasional distraction, we were having difficulties with Skype and children both!

Find the episode directly here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/element270/E270-035-Mother_Russia.mp3

As always you can email us at element270podcast@gmail.com

Find us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/element270/

And on Twitter: @element270

We have a winner

We have a WINNER!
2 Months ago we started the first Dystopian Legions Painting Competition and we had 3 man who joined the competition with their awesome painted platoons. 1 Month ago the voting started and I want to thank everyone who voted because we had a lot of people who brought out their vote on their favourite.

So now all my talking (well actually typing) is over I will present the winner…..Congratulations PAUL! Your platoon was voted as the best painted one so you are the winner of the first Dystopian Legions Painting Competition. Your prize will be send to you by mail.

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I want to thank Jon, Paul & Todd for joining the competition and I hope you guys and other painters will join again in the next competition. Keep on the good painting work everyone and see you next time.

Kind Regards,
Lorenzo

An Ice Wind Blows…

DystopianLegions

 

In the icy reaches of the Antarctic forces are mustering, the Covenant, after much careful planning, is on the march. Commando forces from this, most mysterious, nation are starting to make their presence felt…

 

Spartan recently announced the first wave of Dystopian Legions boxes to be released for the Covenant of Antarctica!

 

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Episode 34 – Planetfall!

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In this episode Peter is joined by his good mate Luke to discuss all things Planetfall, with a particular eye to the Relthoza and Terran forces!

 

As always you can email us at element270podcast@gmail.com

Find us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/element270/

And on Twitter: @element270

You can find the episode directly here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/element270/E270-034-Planetfall.mp3