Though the golden age of piracy on the high seas has long passed in the Dystopian Age, Matt Carter from our Development Team has honed in on how you can keep that same spirit alive through Boarding Actions.
All Aboard
“Avast me harties!
As the new edition of Dystopian Wars draws ever closer, it is time to grab the boarding axes and launch the longboats. Many of you will be familiar with the Assault actions of the current edition, this has been fundamentally re-worked - hence the new name!
Before we detail exactly how Boarding actions work, let’s look at what narrative we are trying to capture through the new Boarding action mechanics.”
The Narrative Aspect
“Whilst the phrase ‘boarding action’ might conjure up images of dashing swashbucklers swinging onto the enemy ship with swords in their mouths, the act of storming an enemy craft has a very different character in the Dystopian Age. Such is the size and defensive capability of the Great Powers’ warships that it would be foolish to try to take one in melee.
Instead, Boarding actions in Dystopian Wars represent small strike teams and elite specialists launching pinpoint assaults, with the aim of damaging or compromising key aspects of their target’s fighting capability. To illustrate this, most units in the game are unable to launch Boarding actions. They simply do not have the right people or equipment on board.“
“For example, highly-trained French Legionnaires might be instructed to disable a craft’s core systems, whilst Azhdaya Berserkers may simply be set loose within the bowels of a nearby target, their mindless rampage inflicting untold damage to its internal structure. Luftlancers might descend from the sky on screaming rocket packs to plunge a ship’s crew into disarray, or a small unit of highly trained Union Minutemen could be tasked with compromising the steering capabilities of a nearby vessel.”
The Sky, the Sea and Below
“Some of these crack troops will excel at storming certain types of targets over others, depending on their skills and equipment. Although an Imperium assault ship might be able to unleash its Luftlancers at both Surface and Airborne targets, an Empire vessel might find that its cadre of attached Bushi can do nothing but gaze up at enemy Airborne units as they pass overhead.
The ability to launch Boarding actions is now conferred by Properties, which can be found on the unit’s Unit Card. These Properties also define which types of unit, according to their Positional Traits, can be targeted by these actions:
Boarding Parties (X): The unit can target a Surface model during a Boarding action.
Sky Commandos (X): The unit can target an Airborne model during a Boarding action.
Combat Divers (X): The unit can target an Underwater model during a Boarding action. “
An example of a unit profile with Boarding Parties (as highlighted in yellow).
“Some units may have two or more of these Properties, or a Faction-specific equivalent such as Luflancer Assault (X) or Talon Assault (X), which greatly increases the number of potential targets.
If you want to make a Boarding action but do not have any models in your fleet with the right Properties, there are some options available to you: certain Victory & Valour Cards allow a unit to make a one-off Boarding action, while Escort tokens can be consumed to similar effect.“
Now Boarding
“To make a Boarding action, simply select a Target Model with the right Positional Trait within 4” and declare which of your models in the unit are going to Participate. It’s important to remember that each of your Participating models in the unit must still be within range of the target model, so careful manoeuvring is key for maximising your chances of success. Each participating model generates action dice equal to the (X) value of the property that allows them to participate in the Action. All of these dice are then collected together into an Action Pool and rolled.
Much like with Attack actions, the Target Model’s Admiral gets to build a Resistance Pool equal to their model’s Defence rating, giving them a level of protection from your assaults. In an Attack action, you group your Hits against the Target’s Armour rating, but in a Boarding action the number to beat is the Target’s Crew rating. This represents your strike teams successfully breaking through, navigating their way to their objective, and achieving their mission.
Much like SRS Attack Run missions, Boarding actions are a useful tool for debilitating an opposing model, leaving it vulnerable to a later attack, or finishing off a Crippled model, sending it to the inky depths for good.
Unlike Attack Run missions, however, which inflict a randomly generated Critical Damage Effect on the Target Model, Boarding actions are precision operations. With your elite commandos striking at exactly the right place and time, a successful Boarding action allows you to pick the exact Effect you want.
Want a System Failure to hobble that all-powerful Generator Ship? A well-executed Boarding action can ensure you get it. Or a Shredded Defences on an enemy Battleship before opening up with a devastating salvo from your guns? You guessed it. A Boarding action can make that happen.
There is no table of results that you need to consult during Boarding actions. Instead, for each full group of Hits, you inflict a single Critical Damage Effect, in addition to imposing a level of Disorder.
As each level of Disorder reduces a model’s Crew rating by 1, it is often a good idea to stack as much Disorder as possible on your intended victim before launching the Boarding action. Crew ratings tend to be higher than Armour ratings, and Boarding actions are correspondingly more challenging to execute. Anything that weakens your target’s morale first is to your advantage.
Although a model can only participate in one Boarding action per Activation, it can still contribute to other Actions. This means that you can soften up an enemy ship with your hardpoint weapons (potentially triggering the Under Fire condition by inflicting its Mass rating in Damage in a single Action, and imposing a level of Disorder), increasing your strike teams’ chances of success. Or vice versa, you could launch your Boarding action first, disabling critical systems or defensive weaponry before launching your fusillade. “
Storm The Decks
“Boarding actions are a useful tool for weakening Battle-Ready models and Destroying Crippled ones, so do not be afraid to get up close and personal and send in the marines. Together with Attack actions, Ramming and SRS attack runs, Boarding actions form one of the main pillars through which you can damage enemy models - use them wisely, and you can plunge your opponent's fleet into complete disarray.”
Be sure to be on the lookout for more blogs on the new edition of Dystopian Wars soon!
Matt Carter