For over a century, Crown engineering has led the world, their naval superiority rightfully earning them control of the seas. That control, however, has been slipping for some time, and while her fleets are still numerous the Crown's dominance is no longer assured.

Yet, there shall always be strength in the men and women of Albion, and the Crown has many loyal servants still. Rebels, traitors, foreign despots, tyrants and petty kings; The Crown has faced many before and shall do so again before the light fades.

This world belongs rightfully to the Crown, and let those who arrogantly say otherwise incur the wrath of the righteous.

The navies of the Crown have ruled the waves for hundreds of years, spreading the Pax Britannica across the globe. While they may lack the advanced engineering of the Enlightened or the automata of the Empire, they have a deep understanding of the core values of naval warfare. By the end of this article, you too will have gained access to some of this knowledge.

How the Crown Plays

The Crown specialises in the fundamentals of Dystopian Wars. With their balanced approach, they are reliable and among the best brawlers in the game. Their Guardian Generators give them the potential to take a beating, and their stronger-than-average Heavy Gun Batteries mean they can dish it out too. 

Guardian Generators come as standard on most models of Mass 3 or above and can be the key to toughing out games to the bitter end. As a Crown player, you’ll have a pool of dice that can be added to Resistance Rolls up to the unmodified Defence value of any unit with a working Guardian Generator. These will be spent as the game goes on, potentially doubling the dice rolled, often producing the clutch counter needed to take one less point of Damage. One thing you mustn’t forget is that by adding a minimum of one die from your Guardian Pool, you’ll also be re-rolling Blanks on that all-important Resistance Roll. This gives you a tough choice: whether to eke out your pool by adding one die to each roll, or pumping a ton of dice into shielding those key models. You decide!

The Heavy Gun Batteries of the Crown are famous for their lethal ammunition. This translates into them having, on average, an additional point of Firepower at Standard Range than their counterparts in other factions. This might not sound like much, but when combining the firepower of a pair of Albion Cruisers, this will provide an extra four dice to the final roll. Over the course of a game, this can be significant. Sure, it’s not flashy, but with no need to remember specific Special Rules or needing specific Properties to trigger, you can focus on the fundamentals of positioning, and praying to the dice gods for as many Exploding Strikes as possible!

As for positioning, some players like the simplicity of having all their heavy hardpoints facing forwards (looking at you, Union). This can lead to a misunderstanding that it’s the “better” layout for ships. However, wise admirals understand the usefulness of having hardpoints on both the fore and aft arcs. Mid- to late-game, you may find yourself outmanoeuvred and being able to fire at least some of your weapons in a full 360 degrees will be invaluable. Also, don’t think you have to miss out on attacks during the early game. Don’t be afraid to deploy at an angle or hug the sides of the play area to attack inwards. You’ll be starting the game by moving anyway, and it’s easier than you might think to bring all your guns to bear.

Not having to worry about a perplexing amount of rules will give you the brain space to think about how the game may unfold and position yourself accordingly. Think about attacking in waves, where a unit might cut across the front of your lines to unleash doom, but also cover the attacks coming in from the enemy. Round 1 might involve a squadron of Agincourt Bombardment Cruisers firing upon the enemy as a first Activation, only to then have a tough Britannia Heavy Battleship cutting across their bow, protecting them from retaliation. In the following turn, the Britannia might go first, opening up Visibility for the Agincourt once again.

It can be easy to focus on taking as many Heavy Gun Batteries as possible, given how powerful they are in a Crown Force. But don’t forget that any good fleet is a toolbox, and not one just full of hammers! The Agincourt Bombardment Cruiser is excellent at Extreme Range, and its Blast quality is perfect at damaging whole squadrons of frigates or destroyers in a single attack. The Athelstan Flak Cruiser is perfect at dealing with Airborne units as well as decimating stacks of SRS Tokens. The Morgana Assault Submarine can remain underwater and still be a threat with torpedoes and a glorious hull-integrated chain weapon that allows it to remain submerged, attacking enemy models as it passes below. 

If instead you are facing submarines rather than taking them yourself, consider swapping out some of your Hardpoints for Swift Torpedo Turrets. These are also useful against an enemy reliant on Heavy Shield Generators for their resilience, as the Submerged quality will ignore the benefit they provide, as well as providing an additional reduction of their Armour thanks to the Piercing quality. For a greater boost, it might be worth having a unit with a Trident Generator. This nifty piece of kit will make any Submerged attacks more reliable by converting Standard Counters to Standard Strikes in the Attack Roll, assuming you’ve taken the time to flag the enemy beforehand.

Battlefleets

Further emphasising the Crown’s tendency towards reliability and doing the basics well, their Faction Battlefleet provides the Battlefleet Bonus Lionhearted Crew: 

This allows you, effectively, to pass any Crew Check you like, assuming you have cards in your hand with low enough values. This can mean that units with Crippled vessels are much more likely to perform as you would like, ensuring that your Flagships never go down without a fight.

If you want to specialise in their Canadian vessels, there’s a second Main Battlefleet: the Canadian Ranging Force. As a Main Battlefleet, this allows you to focus solely on Canadian units (although, don’t forget that you can populate the Main Battlefleet with just Canadian units if you wish as they still have the Crown trait). This gives you access to the Halifax Shield Cruiser as a Mainstay, adding durability by upping the Guardian Pool significantly. The Snowbird Air Patrol Battlefleet Bonus adds a benefit when Intercepting, having the potential to prevent the odd Attack Run from inflicting a Critical Damage Effect. This can allow you to ignore the SRS aspect of the game if you prefer, knowing you’ll have some protection, or lean into it by taking Carriers and dominating the skies.

If, on the other hand, you want to dip your toes into the seas around another Crown Dominion, you have two further options: the East India Trade Company Battlefleet and the Indian Raj Battlefleet. These are both Specialist Battlefleets, so you’ll have to take one of the Main Battlefleets to make use of them, but they add interesting narrative options and rules to your Force. 

Small Scale List (1000 points)

This is a perfect beginner Force as it uses just the Crown Starter Set and a single box of Crown Frontline Squadrons. It fulfils the appropriate choices for the Faction Battlefleet so you get the Lionhearted Crew bonus as mentioned before.

Wherever a model has the option of being a Canadian variant from the Nova Scotia shipyards, this upgrade has been purchased, partly to help the points add up when creating a Force purely out of two boxes, partly to create more durable vessels in such a small list, but mostly just because I could. Don’t forget that while the Crown Faction Battlefleet must include Crown models, that does include Canadian, Indian Raj and EITC options. Feel free to create your Force with a narrative that suits you. Just be sure to have enough tea in the stores to quench your sailors' thirst. 

There are enough spare points to take the Pax Britannica doctrine, which allows you to convert Standard Counters into Standard Strikes in certain circumstances, as long as you spend a Victory & Valour Card to do so. For a new player, this means you can make the most of your cards without the need to check their specific text. Another example of the Crown doing the fundamentals well.

Please bear in mind that any weapon options you have on your Hardpoints don’t cost extra, so you may want to refrain from glueing those components on as you test them in battle.

The Hotspur Support Carrier gives you access to SRS Tokens, which can be used offensively or defensively, providing some interesting decisions and opening up that aspect of the game. A single Critical Damage Effect can make a surprising impact to the efficacy of your opponent’s units.

Standard Scale List (2000 points)

Here we have a rounded Force created using the Britannia Battlefleet Set, the Ganges Battlefleet Set, a box of Crown Support Squadrons, a box of Crown Frontline Squadrons, and a box of Indian Raj Frontline Squadrons. The aim here is to have a reasonably tough Force that could face all opponents.

Agincourt Bombardment Cruisers give you long-range firepower, perfect for dealing with squadrons of enemy frigates. Morgana Assault Submarines are perfect for remaining underwater and being a nuisance that will aggravate your opponent. Meanwhile, the EITC portion of the Force includes four Ceylon Guardian Platforms, which can be placed on a flank, providing a solid presence and a significant buff to your Guardian Pool. 

Large Scale List (3000 points)

This Force is for the fans. The Gloriana Dreadnought is an absolute beast capable of unleashing doom with four Heavy Hardpoints and two Light Hardpoints - an awesome cannonade made even more devastating by pairing it with the Pax Britannica Doctrine. The Tintagel Battle Rotors and Prydain War Rotors will allow you to take to the skies, and the Avalon Skyfortress, paired with the RFC Elite Doctrine give you excellent Short Range Squadron capabilities. 

The Albion Cruisers could be armed with Heavy Gun Batteries for even more firepower, or you might want to change their armaments for different targets. The choice is yours!

In Short…

All in all, the Crown is a Faction that excels at the fundamentals of Dystopian Wars. A Crown player should strive for the same. The lack of odd units and esoteric Properties gives you the chance to learn the rules and create strategies based on the core elements of the game. Other Factions may be faster or command bizarre and terrifying engines of war, but the Crown possesses the best basic firepower in the game, while clever use of the Guardian Pool and Lionhearted Crew will keep them fighting when lesser Forces tuck their tail and run. 

Long live the Queen!