A SMALL BATTLE REPORT BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR

A 1v1v1 BATTLE REPORT (Sky Pirates vs. Imperial Humans vs. Shroud Mages

This is a battle I had the other day with three friends and we all used cards (more testing for SP cards). I was playing the Imperial Humans (IH) and it was a "basic" engagement with each side having a Battleship, 3 cruisers and 2 squadrons of 3 frigates. I was unable to take pictures (forgot to bring my camera and I have and "old school" movile phone with no cam), it also was an introductory game, and had to spend some time in explaining the game (The UCS is the best game to introduce ppl to other SG games)

So what follows is just a small description about how it went:

- The table was very long but had not enough widht. The SP and IH deployed on the short edges and the SM just entered the game through the middle of a long table edge by placing the models touching the edge. The center of the board had a lighthouse and some sand bars around it. There were some medium-sized islands closer to the short board edges.

- One of my friends "convinced" the other to deploy the SM Battleship closer to my newly painted IH batteship and crippled her with extreme lucky dice rolls -____- #

- To make things worse he summoned a reef in front of the lead hawk cruiser (or removed the illusion that was hidding teh reef to be more precise) while the squadron was sailing in line astern formation. In the end the "tailing" cruiser hit the reef an went out of formation, islated from the rest of the squadron. I had the Battleship close to the squadron but already spent the Admiral order to save the middle cruiser from colliding with reef (I had very bad die rolls I know)

- I returned the favor by changing the wind agains the SP and convinced the SM player to deploy the cruiser near the SP to trouble them.

- In the end the SM won the match. We thought (me and the SP player) that the SM player was going to be "sandwiched" between the two fleets (IH and SP) but in the end the SM player found a "target rich enviroment" played a lot of repair and protection cards and with very good dice rolls was the player that killed the most ships (two cruisers and a bunch of frigates whiele we just killed frigates, not to mention the crippling of my BB)

- The IH (me) was the fleet that got mauled the most (lost all frigates, one cruiser, BB crippled and the two suriviving cruisers were isolated from each other (I should have avoided the reef). T__T but we had a lot of fun :)

Hope you liked

Dan ^_^

MERRY XMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Winter has come and the mad weather I was having in Spain changed radically, dropping from almost 20º C to 10ºC in a single evening, and caught me unprepared so I ended up having a very virulent form of a shore throat, and the next day my voice got affected too and was unable to say a word until the next two days. I finally have recovered (almost), but anyways I was unable to dedicate time to the blog,. specially when I had to look after my nephews last three days (who took over the computer lol)

Anyways Santa managed to hand me a little present for you to download: The Sky Pirates cards (#14-26) ) for sleeving them into some other Uncharted Seas card deck. The cards are Printer friendly (black and white) with no background or icons, but I have plans to make them look more professional when I find some time (and health) to use Photoshop.

The link is here and is lthe last updated iteration with some minor changes.

I hope you find them an use ;-)

Dan

FIRST BATTLESHIP FINISHED!!

I took me three days before updating the blog but it was for a good reason: Finally painted my the first of two Imperial Human Battleships!

Here are some pictures I took today, just after the finishing touches

Those festive days are making me difficult to updatoe the blog so in case I can´t update the blog, Have a very good Christmas time!!! ;)

BATTLESHIP PAINTING UPDATE

Hi there! My battleships are taking forever to get finished!

 Managed to paint the sails of both but i only will focus on one of them due to lack of time and, for a short game I just only need one Imperal Human battleship to be finished.

So this is how the BB is looking so far (sails painted):

I need this ship finished before the end of the year, and the monster Crocidon for an scenario I want to play with my friend.

Speaking of the Crocidon he is giving a helping jaw (or is it an unhelping jaw???)) What do you think? :-)

 

IMPERIAL HUMAN CARD DECK

While woriking on the making of the Sky Pirates card deck did some analisys on the Imperial Human (IH) card deck. I am not sure if I can name each card and write about what it does, so I will write abut them briefly:

The IH have 4 magic cards, 7 counter cards, and I think is the "typical deck" or reference deck for an UCS faction when comparing with others as the "race speficic cads" (cards 14 to 26) just expand the common cards (#1 to 13) in the deck. They just add the "sacrifice" cards that allow you lose crew or ship to cause more damage back to the enemy fleet.

There are 5 "attack" card, 4 "defensive" card and 4 "tactical":

- The Attack cards are those which increase AD, MD or just throw or re-roll any other kind of dice to inflict damage to hull, crew or improve a critical effect. in the IH deck we have cards #14, 16, 17, 19 and 20 wich add extra MD, AD, cause the exploding critical when a ship is sunk (a sacrificial card), improve a ramming attack and even a direct magical attack that causes 8 AD!

- The defensive cards (#18, 21, 22 and 24) heal crew, make a ship difficult to be hit and change a critical effect deal to your ships.

- The tactical cards (#15, 23, 25 and 26) change wind direction 1 or 2 steps, add extra movement, improve turning template.

We just need to throw in the common card deck with another wind direction changing card, several AD increas card, one that kill crew, the "tally ho!" card (dual activation) and the tricky card that changes a critical hit dealt but we will cover that later ;-

Dan ;-)

THE IMPERIAL HUMANS

"At the heart of this race is the Imperial State, the powerhouse of a vast empire. The Imperial Council, which sits at the core of the Imperial State, is controlled by five great Houses: the Arkos, Corvinus, Tepes, Váka and Dragutin.

With the expansion into The Uncharted Seas the Imperial Council now has its sights set on a place to grow its power base even more, with new races to destroy and resources to plunder. Most of the Imperial Navy fleets in this region of expansion are commanded by the Arkos, Tepes and Corvinus families.

Large fleets from these three houses have sailed forth to claim new territories: the Arkos looking to establish new trade routes, the Corvinus seek out new mysteries, and the Tepes hope to carve out a kingdom of their own to strengthen their position in the Old World."

(Introductory text saved from the Spartan Games forums before it gets deleted)


Hi there! As I am focused now on the Imperal Humans (or IH for short) I am making a small introductory entry for them. While painting the battleships I had a small accident and have to fix it before taking some pictures. The sails are almost done and the sea waving effects have to be painted yet. I hope to have some pictures ready for tomorrow.

The IHs are one of the best looking (and historical) fleets of the game, and they can employ several tactics because they multi-purpose nature. You can make board-control fleet or a pure firepower fleet (like my Tepes ships) but lets read about the IH tactics from the veterans: here are some interesting comments from tank0625 and Averaje Joe (saved from the SG forum)

Tank062
"IH fleet is good at everything but not great at one thing. They are "jack of all trades". Their achilles heel is the wind. As long as you plan for it, it isn't that big of deal.

What I like to do is form a historical looking battle line with flagship, BB and Heavy Cruisers. The ships are in the middle of my zone with their sides facing enemy. Then I put frigates in front of Flag and BB to screen them from cruisers.

I hold the rest of my frigates behind my battle line until later in the game. They are great for counter attack.

Put your destroyers and cruisers on your flanks.

You are making a box around your enemy. If he hits one of your flanks. The other flank tries to continue behind his fleet. With your main battle line you snake it closer to the enemy. Until you can cross their "T". Then send in the remaining frigates.

Hopefully that will help"

Average Joe
"1. Stay at RB3 as long as you can. (a no-brainer, I know) I recommend targeting your opponents cruisers.  The 8,9, and 10 AD that your capital squadrons roll can absolutely devastate an opposing CR6 squadron.

2. Do what you can to have the wind pointing in the direction you want when you can no longer keep the enemy at arms length.  When that happens sacrifice your expendable smalls and go head on with any solid boarding models you may have so that your best shooting models can zip past heading for that potent RB3 again.



Hopefully you had some decent early shooting.  Maybe get some fires going with your Kestrels if you have them in your fleet.  With some luck you'll have your opponent on his back foot towards the closing rounds and you can choose whatever closing strategy that suits the scenario."

Hope you fouind this entry interesting ;)

Dan

COMMENTS ABOUT THE SKY PIRATES (part 3)

Hi there!. Exams are over (last week has been the busiest week of the year for me) and I am back.I also had to look after my two little nephews for two days, so go figure...

First of all. I want to start with the "rescue" of all the work and effort I have put on the Sky Pirate Card deck, by copy- pasting them from the Spartan Games forum before it gets deleted.

SKY PIRATES STAR CARD DECK (cards 14-26)

Syntax:: Card number -  Card type (S,T,A and/or R) . CARD NAME: Card text -- card icons ( C=Creatrure, F=Fortification, MC=Magic card, CC=Counter Card)

14- S - KELPOR MARKSMANSHIP: Models in the Squadron can target an enemy model within Range Band 1 during the Combat Phase; Submarines, Flying or Submerged models CANNOT be targeted; Roll 1D6 for each targeting model. on a 5-6 the target loses 1 crew point (CP) -- F

15- T - UNEXPECTED REEF: Place a "Reef" terrain feature aanywhere on the board, except within 3" of an enemy model or over any other terrain feature.; The reef must be between 4" and 8" in lenghy /width to be valid.. The reef will stay on the board for the rest of the game and all rules regarding reefs do apply to it. -- CC

16- A - SPLINTER ROUNDS: Play after any Attack Dice (AD) are rolled; If the enemy model is damaged, then in addition to normal damage, the target will lose an extra crew point; If the enemy model takes a critical hit then in addition to normal damage, the target loses 2 extra crew point; Can be used with Linked Dire OR Split fire.-- -

17- T - SUMMON MIST. If  Mist rules are in effect, this card can be played to turn "Mist" into "Fog" and apply Fog rules instead ; If no Mist rules are in effect, then for the rest of this turn ANY Attack Dice (AD) rolls made against ANY target (friendly or not) within Range Bands 3 and 4 only hit on 5 or 6 -- M, CC

18- A,R - SULPHUR HANDBOMBS: Play on an enemy model when boarding it or being boarded; Any enemy melee attack rolls during that boarding action will reduce the to hit modifier by -1 (a roll of 4 becomes 3 and so on); Only NATURAL  roll of 6 counts as 2 hits and an additional roll on the opponent´s rolls; Melee dice rolled by other enemy models are not affected -- F, C

19- T-  PREDICTED WIND CHANGE: You may change the wind direction indicartor by 2 points in any direction; If card is played by both players  in the 1st Turn of a game, simply dice off using a D6 to see who affects the wind first; you may add or subtract 1 from your result -- -

20- A - SOUL SEARING: Play when prizing a model after a sucessfull boarding action; You can restore a number HP on the model that took the prize; The HP restored depends on the pirzed model: small 1 HP, Medium 2 HP, Large or Massive 3 HP; The HP restored cannot exceed the model's initial HP, and any exceeding HP are wasted and may not be used in other models -- M

21- S - SOUL PUSH: Play on an activating squadron and choose one of the following:  All models within a squadron can turn sharper by using a Template ones size smaller than it normally uses;  Has no effect on models that already use the small template. OR All models within the squadron increase their MOVE value by +1" -- CC

22-  T - SUMMON FOG:  If  "Mist" rules are in effect, this card can be played to turn "Mist" into "Fog" and apply Fog rules instead ; If no Mist rules are in effect, then for the rest of this turn ANY Attack Dice (AD) rolls made against ANY target (friendly or not) within Range Bands 2 and 4 only hit on 6 -- M

23- A - TRAPPING NETS: Play ONLY when INITIATING a boarding action with one of your non-creature models; Roll a dice depending on the current crew value of your ship:  3 or less: 1 dice, from 4 to 6 crew: 2 dice, 7 or more: 3 dice; The boarded ship loses 1 crew point on a roll of 4 or more. Natural results of sixes ARE NOT re-rolled and only count as one crew point being lost.-- CC

24- S - CARRIED BY THE WINDS: Choose one of the following: During the Movement Phase the squadron  ignores medium sized or smaller terrain features and the model counts as  Large models when determining LOS during the following Combat Phase. PR The model´s MOVE  value is increased by +2 until the end of the turn.-- M

25- T - WIND JAMMING: Play this card next to the wind direction indicator, then you may change the wind direction indicartor by 1 point in any direction; After the above mentioned wind change and as long as this card is in play the wind direction CANNOT be changed BY ANY means; Discard this card at the beginning of the next turn -- M

26- A - MASTER SLAUGHTERSMITH: Choose one of the following: Restore 2 crew points OR Repair 1 hull point. No value can exceed the starting values of the model.-- -

 

Cards In red have been revisited and correcter since the last playtest. Those cards are mostly getting effects from other factiom´s cards (one of them (Splinter rounds) is a direct copy from the common deck, except it doesn´t has the fortification icon) . The exceptions are the card that help you "summon" mist and fog which are already game rules, and the "Trapping Nets"card that has been mande more balanced.

In general Sky Pirates are good at boarding but not as good as other boarding-strong factions. Instead of getting bonuses to boarding, they use "pirate dirty tricks" to de-crew enemy ships before board them. The other card effects are about increasing the meaneuverability speed and the skimming abilities of their ships to their advantage. There is also room for their mastery of weather and wind control which is nearly undisputed with other factions, so as you can see I did my best to do a balanced and "fluffy" card deck for them.

Special mentions are, of course about the cards that summon mist and fog, and also the card that lets you place a piece of terrain (reef) in the board. I wrote to Spartan Neil about that, and had no answer yet, but I have to say I participated in the playtesting of the Uncharted Seas new magic system. I won´t write about how it worked until I get an answer from Neil, but I can write about some of the sky pirate spell effects, and they were related to the summoning of fog and sand bars. So those effects are actually very close to what the game designers had in mind for the game. During the playtesting I saw those effects a bit OP when using the new magic system, but I am finding them ideal for the STAR card system, because they are more balanced and only last 1 turn and you have to be lucky enough to get those cards in your hand ath the beginning of the game to do a noticeable effect (but still usefull for flanking maneuvers). If you achieve the feat of pulling one of them in the first or second turn you deserve to win (wise opposing players will keep a counter card for that) as those card will help the extremely short range of the sky pirate have on most ships (battleship and flagship being the exception, and ofcourse the cards will affect their range too)

Finally I will write about the strenghts and weaknesses of the cards.: as a strengh there are several cards with dual effects. The player has to choose between one or other, giving some versatility. The main weaknesses are about the turn cards: Sky Pirates have a lot of turn cards (you can only use one of those per turn), and just one reaction card (besides the ones in the "common" part of the card deck), so they need to discard and renew quickly the turn cards they are not using this or next turn to get the reaction and other more playable cards. Overall I think is OK because this mean the card itself is as "fast" as the Sky Pirates are.

And that´s all. next I will be painting the IH battleships and then will work hard on the SP card deck to make a printable PDF so yoiu can have your card SP deck ready quickly.. ;)

Changes in the blog

I think I can have people following this blog now.

I had to remove my blogger profille and have it replaced by my google profile. Sorry for the inconveniences but if it works you will know when I made a new entry and no longer need to check if it has something new

Next time I will be revisiting the Sky pirates and the cards I made for them. I will be having exams soon so I can´t dedicate to make new entries as much as I liked

Again, sorry for the inconveniences and I hope the changes help us all  ;-)

Danny

COMMENTS ABOUT SKY PIRATES (PART 2)

I dont really like how the Jacknife Destroyers final models differ so much from the rules. In fact I actually like the model completely matching the game stats. It is was supposed to be another airship (small size) maybe with sails (frigate sails) maybe even wings (for diving/ pitching down) with a torpedo launcher in the nose and some broadside guns. 

These where the original stats.

Expensive but very good. Has a powerufll torpedo attack (with unnecessary ship extra rules in its description because the Torpedo weapon already has its rules in the Uncharted seas basic rulebook). However what we got from Spartan Games whas totally different: The models represented in the picture below:

As you can see, there are no sails, so it is not dependant on the wind direction, it doesn´t has broadsides and doesn´t seem to have a crew higher than 1, plus I don´t think it can whistand a damage higher than 2 because is nimbler than a frigate. So, how can this model have the stats value shown above.. It´s magic? Is the pilot a powerfull mage that count as a three crew, can cast powerfull spells to the sides but not to the front and enchanted the flying machine to be as hard as a destroyer? As you can imagine the model looks soo wrong or odd to me when using those game stats. Many UCS players thought the same and purchased Dystopian wars blimps to replace them and have a model that actually matches the stats.

I also commented long ago in the Spartan Games instead of purchasing another model from a game that has a differente scale (half the size aproximately, probably less) I decided to make game stats (unofficial) to actually match the current model itself which still looks nice to me, so I got to something like that (based on the stats of the dwaf Belcher class submarine.

This model has to be playtested.
It has as a apecial rule:  It is NOT able to initiate any kind of boarding action (but can still be boarded)
and also
Cannot initiate a ram (but can still collide with terrain normally)
If aother flyer rams this model the owning player rolls a die:
1-3    No effect, the ram misses and it counts as it had not been declared.
4       The Jacknife takes one point of damage and rolls normally to damage the ramming model
5-6    The Jacnkinfe is automatically destroyed and rolls normally to damage the ramming model

(basically your roll a die on a 4+ you hit, and that hit can be a partial hit or a dircet hit, that breaks a wing, the tail etc.. and the model goes down)

With those rules the model is likely to be an alpha striker, because it can be easily destroyed by defensive fire unless the model being attacked can shoot it down (If the controlling player uses Range Band (RB) 1, making a dive-bombing). There is also the option of making an attack at RB 2 (no, dive-bombing, just a standard torpedo run,  and remember you can´t link their torpedoes) outside of defensive fire range but within cannon range.

Playtesting adjustments/comments

 The squadron size  has been set to four to "match" the number of units commonly on an aerial squadron, but as they are indipendent and cannot link don´t benefit much, besides making a combined attack like the card of the same name. It that probes too powerful the squad size maybe can be reduced back to 2-3. In the game I had befoere, the Sky pirates were severely out-activated by the dwarves, and having squadrons that small could have helped much.

If the model probes too weak, maybe the rule of capitals hitting them on 6+ and smalls hitting on 5+ (rams left as mentioned).
Another buff-up could be increasing the move value to 14" so they can stay more easily at a distance then using their speed to close quicly to the ccenter once the enemy fleet is too busy to attack them.
If still too weak combine both of them.

If the model probes too powerfull maybe the torpedo value can be just 5 at RB 1 or ber just  7 at RB 1 losing the AD at RB 2.

The model main weaknes is vulerability to crew-depleting effects and also to anti-flyer ships, airships and flying creatures. This  should not be changed.

The model expected main role is to remove blocking frigates or harass damaged or isloated cruisers/medims and letting the SP achieving small models superiorty by removing the enemy´s smalls)

And that´s all hope you liked :)

Dan

PS: if you purchased some DW to match the old stats, it is perfectly acceptable. The jacknife just has two versions with the same name (like the frigates and destroyers in Thaniras elves fleet)

COMMENTING THE SKY PIRATES (Part 1)

Sky Pirates Overview (rescueed from SG forum)

Kelpor; this is a name that is fast becoming a dreaded curse amongst the races who sail the Broad Blue. For it is the race-name of the creatures otherwise known as the ‘Sky Pirates’. Once such a rare sight as to be dismissed as the ravings of dockside tavern soaks, the threat of their great airships now casts a long shadow over the northern waters. Sea captains of all races bring back lurid tales of ships taken by the cloud-sailing horrors; of hulks smashed and burned down to their waterlines, with not a living soul left aboard. Others speak of friends and comrades lost, simply vanished along with their ships and crews after venturing into the chill waters of the Voskian and Usank Straits.

Exactly where the Kelpor come from is a complete mystery. Some say they dwell in the far northern wastelands, warring for territory and resources with the hardy Vosk. This is certainly a possibility, since Sky Pirate vessel sightings and reports of attacks are far more common in the waters around these coastlines than elsewhere

The Sky Pirate Tactics

As it has been said in the rulebook (if you just have the PDF you can still donwload their background from Spartan games blog) they are a fleet that uses weather to surprise and prey upon unsuspecting  foes.

Overall is a short-ranged fleet but composed of fast ships (above the average whico make up for the short range) with good boarding capabilites. The SP also offer the possibility of buiding a fleet completely made of aerial ships as it has a flying small, medium and large. The small is the Jacknife destroyer which is special but does not have further restrictions in standar games, The medium is the Sabre wich is a standard model and the large is the Tortuga supply platform, is another special (preventing you from having 50% of your aerial-excluisve fleet composed of Jacknifes) You can only have one per 500 points of MFV (Maximum Fleet Value). The last ship it is not a good place for your admiral (everyone can have LOS (Line of Sight) to it, and has an slightly better resistance to damage as a cruiser (and its a Cumbersome Flyer!). so it is recommend to play this kind of fleet just "for fun"(and don´t forget to include a mountain to hide your Tortuga! ;-D)

Large ships: Because the above, a regular SP fleet should include air and sea ships.And you will be placing your admiral in a Kopesh class battleship or a Naginata class flagship. You will notice these are your only "Long range" firing options. The damage of the Kopesh is average at RB 3 and 4 but slightly under the average at RB 1 or 2 compared to other faction´s battleship broadsides. The Naginata is slightly different. It has sub-par RB 4 attacks (just 3AD), but better "chaser" (fore) guns and much better RB 1 and 2 broadsides, plus is specially well eqqiped with MARs (Model Assigned Rules) to kill enemy crew and boarding defense. Both large ships have similar damage resistance (Naginata has one more Hull Point because is larger) but have the interesting option of "pop up" attacks. They ignore your medium ships for LOS but when fired against they just hide behind your cruiser screen. They also ignore terrain and are quite fast for a battleship, but they are not true flyers (to much of their advantage for LOS puposes)

So in conclusion,as you can guess the Kopesh is better equipped to be moving in circles delivering powerful salvoes at RB 3 or 2, and maybe snipping random frigate at RB 4 with broadsides, all while hidding behind your smaller ships. The Naginata is all about closing with the enemy fleet, crew killing on the approach and dishing out crippling salvoes at very close range (preferably at RB 1 wich makes her the ship wich deals the most AD within the fleet, including entire ship squadrons linked fire), only boarding when the game is about to end or the enemy ships have been stripped out of crew.

The last large ship is the Tortuga support platform. if you include it it is likely to be your first large to be shot down due to her very powerfull supporting abilities: first and foremost, the ability to repair your larges as they close in (is not automatic and uses to fail a lot but I can say is a must if you have a Naginata) and second the ability to link fire with ANY ship (at RBs 1-3) The ship is the only SP ship that ignores wind direction so it may have some rotor blades or the like.(this model was nerver released by Spartan games so you need to proxy it with another model with a large base or make one for you from scrach -for example by gluing two chakramms to the aft part of a Kopesh, making a flying catamaran).

Medium ships: The SPs have plenty of good medium models. The main one is the Sabre class airship (their iconic ship IMO) able to move in circles and good punch at RB 1-2 and is one of the fastest mediums in the game (the remaining others being owned by the elves lol). The Katara class cruiser is the sea-going verson of the Sabre, it comes in squadrons of  4. The ship is slightly slower but still very fast for their size. She lacks the hit-and run (fly-by attacks) made by the Sabre but she benefits from LOS so the class is the best option in a battle with lots LOS blocking terain. An undamaged Katara sqadron can also deliver a massive boarding attack of 24 crew. Nothing to sneeze at!. The only con is the range. If you close the enemy you will notice a severe lack damage-dealing until you get to RB 1, and sometime you will be thorn between colsing to the enemy or turning sideways to fire broadsides. The other mediums are the Yatagan class heavy cruisers and the Chackram assault cruiser. Those ships are serious & nasty stuff. The Yatagan is the only SP ship with a red ram rating and has.an armoured forecastle, and has slightly better guns than the Katara and Sabre, and more resistance but comes in squadrons of three. The Chackram like a flying Yatagan, but more focused on boarding than shooting.

So to resume the tactics for mediums: The Sabre is made for hit and run attacks (by making a fly-by attack to move to a closer RB then moving back to a more far away RB if you have a moutain to hide behind you are golden. The Katara should be closing or flanking around LOS bloking scenery to help reaching their optimal RB 1 firing.and try to board the enemy´s battleship. They also provide an extremely good defence versus flyers and can be used as a cover for your main large ships.. The Yatagan ins quite a versatile ship, she makes an even better screen for your larges, has good boarding vaulues, red ram rating to scare away mediums (is a boarding blocker)  and has good guns to sail through the middle of the enemy fleet, and has very good speed for her size). Finally the Chackram is like a Damocles' sword once it reach the RB 1 to the enemy fleet, making the opposing captain to make hard choices between setting the crew for anti-air defensive fire or man the main guns, specially if the ship are floating above their large ships ready to board. They can also make fly-by attacks at very close ranges (still quiite fast) but that is not their primary role.

Small ships: A good supply of small sized ships round up the SP fleet. The most basic is the Talwar frigate. and lastly we have a couple of destroyers: the Jacknife (a flying destroyer), and the Kirpan. The Talwar has typical frigate statsand  (suprisingly) has long range for an Sky Pirate ship of that size. She only has guns on the sides and one extra point of crew when compared to other frigates (but don´t use them to try assault teh large ship as they are likely to die in the resulting collision!). I am very thorn about the Jacknife model itself. It looks nimbler than a frigate, and has no broadsides (and likely a crew of 1)  but has the stats of a destroyer. I will be commenting this on the next part to see if we can fix it. Stats-wise is a ship designed to hunt and destroy smalls and medium ship with a powerfull torpedo attack (making it basically a mini-gunship) however there is a catch: the torpedo cannot link and has some other minor restrictions, but anyways this mean each ship within the squadron operates on her own (being flyer makes them independent) Note that you can still link your broadsides. (I prefer to convert any other dystopian wars blimp to match the stats provided in the rules). Finally we have the Kirpan destroyers. I am considering it a "light cruiser" more than a destroyer, because the powerull (but short ranged) guns they have in their sides. They also have what looks like a small trebuchet in their prow, but in practice it is just a regular frigate-damage-dealing weapon.(threat as innacurate light trebuchet). They also have an iron ram, so they can safely attempt to board under-crewed cruisers

To sumarize small ship tactics: Talwars are made just for typical frigate flanking maneuvers, trying to get within the rear of a ship and rake her with cannon fire.They can also be cheap screeners and blockers if required. The jacknife are "ship hunters" tasked mainly to remove those frigates or destroyers that stand in your way, but can also be used to hunt and destroy annoying mediums, like troop transports. They perform "surgical" strikes. Finally the Kirpan are quite versatile. As other destoyers they are usually tasked to destroy small ships, ensuring "Small ship superiority", but once they get to RB 1 they surprise the enemy with powerfull .cruiser-sized damage dealing. Boarding and flanking are also viable tactics for them. (if you rake a large with a destroyer you are golden)

... So the SP tactics in a nutshiell: flank or screen with frigates and cruisers. hide your larges behind that screen as close, then get to the adecuate RB for each ship and board when you have dealt enough damage, and don´t forget some hit and run attacks if you can affort them, and remove annoyances with Jacknifes..

And that´s all I hope you liked and proably next entry willl be about fixing the the Jacknife

Cheers ;)
.

CRUISERS READY!

Finally finished them! I started to paint them when I was in Liverpool in 2012, I left them nearly finished, but focused on other ships (and even spaceships!). The sails needed a repaint to match the new desing shown on the heavy cruisers, and once I came back to paint the Imperial Human ships it was just a matter of time to have the regular cruisers finished.

Unlike the rest of the ships the planks that make the decks of those cruisers were painted by hand, because at the time I started painting them I had no idea of the Army Painter DIP until a person in the Spartan Games forums told me about that (I think he was Awesomehotdude). So, go figure the ammount of work and patience those ships required. The Army Painter really really speeds up the process ande leaves a better finishing touch.

I also have magnetized the bases, (by cutting an A4 magnetized sticker) because those masts can be damaged if transported on a regular model case, So I only need some metallic cookie boxes to transport the fleet safely ;)

Finally I have uploaded all those pictures to the Spartan Games forum gallery, and plan to do the same on the Deviant Art website.

I have to admit I failed at painting the battleships before the 30th of  November but things are getting very busy, the English exams are coming, Winter is coming, relatives keep coming... you know ;-)

But I will try to keep this blog updated if not every day, at least every two days.

Dan

BEYOND THE UNCHARTED SEAS, SAILING INTO THE UNKNOWN

Sad news. As annnounced, today all models, books and gaming aids have been removed from the online store and thus it is not possible to get anytghing related to the game by ordinary means and will only be available on sites like e-bay. For the momment the SG forum section for the game is still on, and also the downloads section in spartan blog.

Anyways, I refuse to see this at the end of the game, I am positive wanting to always see the glass half-filled instead of half-empty. So I have been doing some "rescue" job in the SG forums and blog and have something prepared for you, just in case it "drops" from the site: a compilation of Spartan´s last "supplement" for the game: The Cauldron of Silence written by Craig Gallant. I just copy-pasted all material for the offical public forums and turned it into a PDF for you to keep enjoying the game:

 The Cauldron of Silence PDF

 I think a game doesn´t die because its makers drop it out of production, it dies when it gets forgotten by everyone, so the game it is all in our hands to keep it alive. Many of us have several fleets, so Why not lend one of those to a trusty friend and enjoy an evening or a weekend of gaming? It could also help playing some pirate or seaman´s song from the laptop and maybe enjoying films like "Pirates of the Caribbean", or "Master and Commander" (and maybe the beginning of Ben-Hur lol) at the end of the day? ;-) Being the game all in our hands means we can modify stuff and try that and test that other thing (something I will be doing in this blog for sure!) because we all know the game won´t be officially updated or changed in anyway unless we do it by ourselves.

Being said that, this is one last paragraph for those who purchased the game years ago: I hope we keep ejoying this game that had so much money, love and effort from us. We are (for good or ill) of a now unique and now a-difficult-to-obtain game.

Cheers

Dan