Things that I (will be) play(ing very soon): Dystopian Wars

Website ( Spartan Games )

I was a huge fan of two Games Workshop specialist games Man-O-War and Battlefleet Gothic, before they kicked them repeatedly in the head. I suppose having one blue sea board and one black space board didn't fit too well with Games Workshop stores Feng Shui!!! So eventually they were ditched faster than your annoying work colleague on a night out with your mates!!! So I've always kept an eye out for any decent naval or space combat games. Then along comes Spartan Games with Dystopian Wars which combines a solid Naval combat game with a victoriana-steam-punk universe, whats not to love? The miniatures are very reasonably priced highly detailed resin pieces (which I'll review)... and the game? Well I haven't actually yet managed to play any games because all my fleets are sitting in their boxes unpainted, and I've not been able to find time yet to create a lovely blue seas board, plus I'm not too sure it'd fit with the Feng Shui of my gaming room... but from reading the rulebook it looks a pretty comprehensive little game system.

I think if you were to ask Neil at Spartan Games I'm sure they'd say that the game has been a roaring success sales wise, and this is definitely backed up with the shortages of stock that the game seems to be suffering globally at the moment. However whenever I meet people in my LGS or chat with people at gaming clubs there appears to be plenty of people out there with fleets who love the game and who would jump at the opportunity to play it some more. To ensure that I actually start painting my models and get the board done, I'm going to commit to doing a WIP Blog on two of my fleets (probably British and Prussians) as well as a gaming board and some terrain. I'll also bring you a battle report of one of my first games, if I can find one of my friends willing to play me!!! (I do have friends honest)


I think the greatest thing about Dystopian Wars and Spartan Games other products (Uncharted Seas and Firestorm Armada) is that the initial outlay to get into any of their games is so low. Rulebooks RRP is around £16 and you can pick them up slightly cheaper if you are willing to shop around. Coupled with this are their fabulous starter fleet boxed sets which give you all the mini's you need that range from between £25 to £35 or thereabouts. So for between £40 to £50 you have all the stuff required to start Dystopian Wars... well apart from that blue sea board of course!!! Also I'd like to point out that Spartan Games are based near Glastonbury in the UK, which makes them a home grown British firm and the patriot in me is duty bound to big them and their games up!!! In fact I'll go as far as to say if you're a British wargamer and you don't support Spartan Games you're unpatriotic... but more importantly you're missing out on some great games

Conclusion

Well that concludes my brief look at the games I've been playing or collecting. There are obviously loads of other games out there but its these games in particular that have grabbed me and forced me at gun point to spend money on them!!! I WILL be starting Firestorm Armada as well as a few others and I'll take you through the agony of choosing a fleet and faction (who am I kidding, I've chosen more than one). Peace out!