The Dystopian Wars Beta test saw hundreds of players from all over the world contributing thousands of points of feedback this past year. But what does this mean for the release of the actual game itself?

The studio has been hard at work putting the final polish on the game and further developing the rules based on feedback and additional in-house testing. The first wave of fleets is in production and some of you may have already seen the contents of the Britannia Battlefleet at Spiel in Essen last month.

The new Dystopian Wars launches early next year (we promise to give a specific date when the first products go up on pre-order). The initial releases accompanying the Britannia Battlefleet include the Constitution Battlefleet for the Union. The Britannia and Constitution Battlefleets are typical of what you can expect for these releases. Battlefleets are not starter sets, though doubtless they will be the first purchase for many players. Battlefleets are the building blocks used to create a force in Dystopian Wars and feature a large vessel (in this case each includes a battleship) accompanied by a number of supporting vessels (in this case a pair other of cruisers and four frigates). The supporting vessels will then be available in the following months as separate boxed sets to allow you to build your force easily, without having to buy lots of the larger sets just to get some additional frigates or cruisers

The Gubbins and Rules Box is designed to get existing and new players of Dystopian Wars into the fight as quickly as possible. Each set contains the full rulebook, a set of Action Dice, a set of Critical Damage Dice, a Turn Template, a set of damage and condition markers plus a Victory and Valour deck. Everything a player needs to join the fray (except for miniatures of course).

But the first month is the proverbial tip of the iceberg and we have a packed schedule of releases throughout the rest of the year. The most exciting of these is the all-new two-player starter set: The Hunt for the Prometheus!

This thrilling narrative set tells the story of Markov, a trusted Enlightened scientist who is revealed to be a spy for the Russians and their Commonwealth. Markov has fled the Enlightened’s base in Antarctica with the experimental Hypatia class generator ship Prometheus. Now he evades the pursuing Enlightened fleet as he makes a desperate dash to the coastline of Russia and the waiting Commonwealth navy. This massive boxed set includes everything for two players to get into the game, including terrain, two fleets, a narrative campaign book and all the rules, cards, dice and tokens you need to enjoy this pivotal moment in the Dystopian Age!

There will be lots more detail to come about this exciting boxed set, as well as the dozens of other releases of the first few months of Dystopian Wars’ thrilling return to tabletops everywhere.

Until then,

Stuart