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Dreadfleet- first game/review

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Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby killmaimburn » Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:45 pm

(feel free to pin this into other stuff if you want)

Like many of you I was underwhelmed by the blurb about it, and thought following up manowar and traflagar was just a cynical cash in for some gaudy must haves..
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I played it this week.

First off the mat,
The table mat is a lush scarf-like thing in really dazzling blues..V pretty.(note the bloke hadn't finished glueing stuff let alone anything else so excuse the grey)
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The models are beautiful, but being looked after by a careful gamer one ship had already broken a mast, and when I held one ship up to the light I could see through its sail (shoddy thinness on some bits). 1 Boat (the big flagship) is too big to fit into the box vertically once its assembled too fragile and big = awkward.
(Glad I don't have to care for it, 20 minutes into opening the box the owner was already fretting and holding the models with delicacy reserved for holding an already broken champagne flute thats worth more than your yearly income)
ImageImageImageImage
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The game..
Has some awesome chunks.. with elements I instantly recognised as being bits of aeronautica (turning circles/ speed at which you can go to turn V similar to ability to go slow..and up for people like LH to master to batter opponents) and bits I recognised from kings of war (simplified compartment moves and tiered special rules).I was so familiar with the ideas we were playing within 5 minutes with only navigation skill being an issue.

The equipment is lush.. when you take damage you stack the cards that inflicted the damage under their relevant stat line on your card.
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That whole stupid "you must have a protractor" point about fantasy LH raises is fixed by you holding a little skull medallion to your vessel when you turn. Its very similar to the homemade cards people put together for imperialis but just one (simples)
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Thrown into this you have really fluffy fates and really randomised damages that make it really quite fun..
Unfortunately in our game the fates conspired against my opponent and his card was against his ships, my card was against his ships so he had one boat on fire (permanently rolling for damage) AND (taking on water (permanently rolling for damage)..before I got near him.... but there were cards like the sirens lure you onto the rocks, and "OMG ITs raining SKULLS!!" "poseidon is pissed he chucks a spear at your boat".

When you get things like go through the damage pile until you find the next hull damage card you might find the next one is the lone "double hull damage" card (as my opponent did)

And the randomiser of going into or away from the wind.(which my opponent had to head into)

So game wise our game ended up being a rather weird whitewash.. but that was down to a fairly (I should hope) unique set of circumstances of the only thing not being in my favour is one drunk captain went to fast and hit the rocks (not a big problem gamewise).
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Multiplayer- because the ships are fairly balanced, and the games runs on a;
Player who won iniative roll- do 1 ship
Other guy does 1 ship
then P1 does second ship
(like IA) its dead easy to just switch "my 2nd ship" into "my ally takes a turn".. and after our game we figured a 4 player game would be a doddle/piece of pie whatever your easy criteria is. (8 all with one ship might stretch the game out to being a very long slow game for the players we reckoned)
Some ships can launch mini ships..and 8 people and 12 boats could make the game last an age if people start overthinking it...my face when the eldar laucnhed a dragon at me :help :5wow
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I wouldn't buy it cos I'm a cheap ass and can't handle stuff with care..but if you rank it like aeronautica etc.. in a box its cheap and fun to play certainly worthy of throwing into a clubs resources.
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby mattjgilbert » Fri Oct 07, 2011 3:31 pm

Thanks for the review. I've got it but not opened the box yet (will have that pleaasure this weekend) :)
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby timewizard » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:23 pm

Good review KMB!
I'm working my way through assembling the parts right now, can't wait for my first game!
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby Socaddict » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:27 pm

Assembling my copy now. Yay for the models being snap fit! So I shall not glue them until I have mostly painted them.

For protecting them, I've seen this - http://uk.battlefoam.com/game-box-sea-fleet-foam-kit/
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Waaargh.
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby timewizard » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:53 pm

I saw this over here as well. Oly thing that put me off was that the shipping was fully 1/3 the price of the product!
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby Baragash » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:56 pm

At £24 the foam does feel a little pricey, but I'll probably end up getting it to protect the ships.
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby Socaddict » Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:26 pm

Yeah. Wayland will apparently be getting them in in 3 to 4 weeks
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby timewizard » Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:31 pm

Baragash wrote:At £24 the foam does feel a little pricey, but I'll probably end up getting it to protect the ships.


I'm looking in to getting some plain blocks of foam and cutting out spaces for the ships and terrain myself.

The dimensions of the box aren't that bad, can probably get a piece of plain foam from a local craft store for about $10 US (£ 6.13) which will be a bit easier to take after what the game itself cost!
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby killmaimburn » Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:51 am

The thing to remember is, like the foam insert sold for silly money, it must raise the height of the box (be taller than the box) so the silly flagship doesn't instantly snap.
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby skywalker » Sun Oct 09, 2011 9:20 am

There is a store in Seaham County Durham called Games of War, the owner Alan makes custom trays to order at a reasonable price. I have had 3 made for various projects and my mate has had a load custom made to fit his "N" gauge trains and rolling stock.
Look them up on internet for contact details.
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby Baragash » Sun Oct 09, 2011 9:58 am

killmaimburn wrote:The thing to remember is, like the foam insert sold for silly money, it must raise the height of the box (be taller than the box) so the silly flagship doesn't instantly snap.


*confused* The foam solves the height issue by storing everything on it's side doesn't it?
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby Socaddict » Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:56 am

Still raises the height - it uses two layers, and there's one tray for the islands, cards etc, and one for the ships.
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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby mattjgilbert » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:00 pm

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Re: Dreadfleet- first game/review

Postby killmaimburn » Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:08 pm

mattjgilbert wrote:Not a good review from Jake: http://quirkworthy.com/2011/10/08/dread ... e-battles/

for those TL:DR basically he says
killmaimburn wrote:So game wise our game ended up being a rather weird whitewash.. but that was down to a fairly (I should hope) unique set of circumstances

Happens too much,it make tactics a joke and many boats equals far too long game (which I only said about if you had 8 people arguing over them)
Interesting read highlighting in a negative points I think I spotted.
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