Dystopian Wars – Prussian Fleet Lowdown
This time I am going to talk a little bit about the Prussian Empire and its forces.
Kraggi again from the Varcancluster, this time covering some of the options for the Prussian Empire in a game of Dystopian Wars
This is going to be one of my three main fleets, but at the moment I own the Starter Battle Box & the Sky Fortress, so those are the units I will talk about.
To be fair to the Prussians there are plenty of other Ships, Robots and Aircraft in their Arsenal, however I think that me talking about them without having used them is going to confuse the issue. Dont worry for those of you loving Robots, I will be getting the Metzger so he will be reviewed!
So to begin with lets look at the Sky Fortress.
This floating Aircraft carrier comes with your standard 6 Tiny Tokens (as do all Aircraft Carriers). I tend to use these as two Squadrons of 3 fighters to fly cap for my to Capitol Ships, both the Sky Fortress and the Emperor Class Battleship.
The extra tokens you get allows you more options with the 10 free Tiny Tokens that you get with your fleet.
Its forward Weapons are a Fixed Channel Tesla (Fixed Channel means its firing arc is the width of the ship, no angles from corners) which does limit their effectiveness, however the weapon can generator some nice hits the closer into the enemy you get.
Its Broadsides are again decent firepower and this time work as normal Broadsides so have the 45 degree arc of fire at the front and back of the ship.
Perhaps its best weapon is its Bomb, this drops 12 Attack Dice (AD) and has a very good potential to do serious damage to whatever it hits.
The Downside of the Sky Fortress? Well its slow moving, only able to chug along at 6″ a turn, which means its a late game model for you, it it gets into the enemy lines undamaged you can do some serious damage, as its a flyer having it move across the board Obscured for the game will help it increase its survivability.
Now I think its best to look at the Emperor Class Battleship.
I actually think this is one of my favorite models for the Prussian Navy. She has three turrets that in Range band 1 can put some serious hurt on the enemy.
The Broadsides & Tesla are also worthwhile additions to her, the closer she gets he more scary she becomes.
The biggest downside for the Emperor Class is that to get a Generator she needs to drop one of her Turrets, effectively dropping her firepower by a third when she has a Broadside, and if you drop one of the front Turrets, by half when moving into attack.
I find myself using her with all three Turrets and no Generators as that one Broadside with her turrets even at range band 2 is throwing out 16 AD, and if you manage to get her into Range band 1 she has a potential 21 AD, or three sets of 11 AD. Don’t expect to get her in undamaged however as she should be one of your enemies primary targets.
The recent changes that Spartan games released do mean that I have considered the Tesla Generator, not so much for its offensive power, but for its extra 1D3″ movement a turn… this can really help you get the model into position to cause people some serious damage!
Following on from the battleship are Reiver Class Cruisers.
These are perhaps some of the best ships for your Naval force. They have a main Turret that can put out horrific amounts of firepower close up, along with some decent Broadsides and Tesla weaponry, if you can get them into the middle of an enemy formation, even one damaged ship at Range band 1 or 2 can put out a decent amount of firepower.
They don’t have any generator options which is a disappointment and the rear Tesla weaponry can seem useless to begin with, but I think its all about how you maneuver these ships, and at 10″ Movement they have a much bigger threat range than people think.
After the Cruisers we move onto the Arminius Frigates.
I am a big believer in the usefulness of the Frigates. Up close they can deliver surprising amounts of firepower, and while this class of frigate only has one turret, and a rear Tesla weapon it is highly manoeuvrable which means you can get them to close quickly and surprise the enemy.
With only two options left to discuss, lets look at the Geier Class Bombers.
They have three weapons, all of which are fixed Channel either to the front or the back of them. Their Tesla shots have decent AD to the front and Rear, and as with all bombers they have Bombs. The bombs are again a decent AD of 8 and this does mean they need to get in close to really cause the enemy problems. Starting them Obscured or using their Swift Ascent rule to allow them to get into a Safer position.
When things get up close and personal, try and leave them the last to move, that way you have the best chance of the enemy being in a position where you can bring your bombs to bear!
