AAR: Dystopian Wars Return to the South Pacific

Zig and I got together for another in the long-running series of engagements between his Kingdom of Britannia and my Empire of the Blazing Sun navies. We broke with our very long-running tradition of 1000 points and went to 1200 this time around. I also enlisted the support of the Honorable Eclipse Company mercenaries. I've had the HEC guys painted for months and they'd yet to make it into a game.

My List
1 Kiyohime Carrier  + Pulse Generator + Escort
3 Tanuki Gunships
3 Nakatsu Cruisers
4 Uwatsu Frigates
5 Zarigani Robot Subs
1 Fighter Ace

1 Tartarus Submarine Hangar
1 Gardeiros Attack Boat Hangar
8 Stingray Assault Submarines
4 Atlas Attack Boats

Ziggy's List
1 Monarch Heavy Battleship + Escort
1 Regent Battle Carrier + Escort
1 Lord Hood Battlecruiser
3 Tribal Cruisers
4 Attacker Frigates
3 Doncaster Bombers
3 Merlin Interceptors

Having crunched the numbers, I think Zig goofed because I'm only coming up with 1130 points for his list. I'll tack on a 70-point bonus to his victory points for having started under strength.

I was expecting the usual Hawk Flock, but Zig left the models at home. That's part of the reason I paid for the Pulse Generator. Zig was expecting my typical predilection for fliers, thus the Merlins. I had a whole lot more submersibles in my fleet than I've ever used before and way more than Z's ever had to deal with.

Our Deployments. I drew "Thin Their Ranks" and had to destroy 50% of the British Fleet  including all smalls - fortunate me! Zig drew "Free to Engage" and had to destroy 70% of my force. My Zariganis were deployed in as Advance forces and the Doncs were kept in Reserve so Z could position them where needed. They'd arrive on turn 1, lucky bastich.

I should have paid attention in deployment school - I forgot the fortifications can deploy in the Advance zone, deeper into the battlefield.

Early on, the Regent thumps one of my Gunships with its fore guns.

And a Nakatsu eats a bucket-load of torpedoes from the Doncasters.

I didn't get many action shots of my own attacks during turn 1, but I did hit the Hood with rockets, bonked a Tribal with the turret on the carrier and damaged a frigate with long-ranged shot from the bombard on the Tartarus U-Base.

To start turn 2, I played the Radio Intercept card to boost my initiative roll and did win the initiative. I sent the Zariganis forward to hose down the Brits with corrosive flame. One Frigate was destroyed, the cruisers remained unharmed. Break Neck Maneuvers ensured that all of the robot submarines re-submerged after their attack.

I took out a group of Dive Bombers out on the left flank with Interceptor Squadron 1.

And then jumped on the damaged Tribal with the flotilla of Atlas attack boats, causing a Hard Pounding critical hit!

The Merlins, upset at their lack of aerial targets, start hunting surface targets and whack the already damaged Tanuki.

The Regent carrier eats a massive broadside from my Uwatsu squadron. I rolled 19 hits - one shy of the classic double-crit. Feh. The carrier took a reactor leak.

The Doncs laced into the damaged Nakatsu again, sinking it.

The big battleship and cruisers got to work on my carrier, disabling its defenses along with the substantial damage.

End of 2 / Start of 3. My Stingrays assaulted and destroyed the last of the frigates in the previous turn but lost three APs in the process. I also failed to photograph my Tanukis blasting the Regent for another crit (19 hits yet again!) and the Hood for a a Hard Pounding as well. Zig used a Medic and a Battle Repair on the carrier to keep it battleworthy.

Again, I led with the Zariganis, assaulting the cruisers. They weren't terribly effective, but boy was it fun!

The Hood, with its redoubtable guns, could still throw a lot of power around and finished off my damaged Tanuki. The five damage and 1 AP loss markers trailing behind it are its.

Feeling the need to make a statement, the Tanukis boarded and Prized the Regent!

The Gadeiros' bombard reaches out and finishes off the Hood.

Meanwhile, outside... raining cats and dogs.

Some stupid piercing weapons from the Monarch disable my Disruption generator on the Kiyohime.

Then it and its little buddy assault and destroy one of the Zariganis that were left surfaced after assaulting the cruisers.

Shot of the game. A compass gun on the Tartarus double-crits a Doncaster causing a magazine explosion which destroys the damaged Donc to its right. The nearest Nakatsu also lost a Hull Point.

The Stingrays attempted a boarding assault against the Monarch but the boarders were wiped out by CC before they could make an impact. Feh.

The Atlases and two squadrons of fighters finished off the Merlins, completing my objective of destroying all enemy small models. We completed the turn but the game was over.

The Blazing Sun and Eclipse Company had won the game solidly, 1065 to 380. Prizing the Regent was a big 340 points.

I rather enjoyed the game. The HEC stuff was fun to use and a lot different than the stuff I normally use. I'm very happy with them as a pickup. I was very concerned that Z would get the "Go for their Leader" orders, since my Kiyohime has traditionally been an "Easy A" for Zig. He was giving it a pretty nasty beating as it was, even though it was inside the Tartarus' Guardian bubble much of the game. The British Tribal cruisers are easily the best unit in their fleet these days - 70 points for those things is so worth it. I think Z is going to just use Tribals and Hawk rotors in the future - they always give great results. I wasn't disappointed by any of my units - my dice rolls were very spotty but I was able to get torpedo shots off my cruisers for a change, FC weapons got targets in arc and things just worked out - it was one of those times where things just click when they need to.

Thanks for the game Z!