What’s that to the starboard, an enemy vessel? Well then, ready the broadsides as Chris Demaude, Pete Sizer, and David Guymer from our Game Development Team explain how you can rain devastation on your foes with Broadsides.
Painting a Picture
When you think of naval combat, I’m sure a number of different images from popular media sail into your head. For me, more than anything else, we picture [spoilers!] the sinking of the HMS Endeavour from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. The utter devastation as two ships unleash every single cannon they have all at once in a glorious salvo. The splintering hull. The falling masts. The explosive finale to the career of Cutler Beckett.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could do that? Well, I've news for you, cadet - you can!
Enter Broadsides
So how do they work?
Each unit in the game has a Broadside rating, representing the massed cannonade of its flank batteries (if it has them); think of it as a measure of how much short-range firepower and punishment it can dish out. This varies from model to model, and some Factions (hello Union!) tend towards meatier broadsides, but by and large, the bigger the model, the better the rating. These numbers might look paltry compared to your weapons' Firepower ratings, but they are powerful.
A Broadside action is a special type of Action you can take in place of an Attack. Rather than unloading your longer-range batteries and missiles in restrained and gentlemanly fashion, your carefully positioned vessel decides to give it some. You select a target which must not be Obscured, which must be in your Port or Starboard Arc, must be within 4” of your model, and must share a Positional Trait with you as well.
If you manage to meet all these criteria, you’ll get to unleash one of the most damaging actions in the game. Similarly to Ramming, you roll a number of Action Dice equal to your Broadside rating, with each Strike in the roll doing a point of Damage. You heard that right. Each Strike does a point of Damage, regardless of the target's Armour or Defences rating.
A broadside is a great equaliser. It doesn’t matter if you’re targeting a little Kyoto frigate or the Ice Maiden herself, a strike is going to hurt just the same. If any damage is inflicted you also inflict a level of Disorder, which is pretty appropriate, we think. Did you see Beckett’s face?
If you have read our previous post on Boarding actions then you may already have spotted that the two are natural companions. Both Actions have a range of 4", and what better way to soften up an imperious-looking Battleship for your boarding parties than with a volley of broadsides. At least if you are a larger ship with a high enough Action Limit rating to perform multiple Actions in a Round.
Not just for the big boats
But don't think that this tactic is just for the larger vessels in your Force. Smaller models, such as Destroyers and Frigates, even with a Broadside rating of 1 (or more if it is an unusually badass Destroyer - hello again, Union!) can, when well positioned as a unit, generate as many if not more as even the biggest battleship. The difficulty is getting light vessels in close enough without losing too many models or suffering so much Disorder as to negatively affect the roll.
An Admiral may choose to ignore a unit of Pugios [a note from Dave: Pugio's should be banned!] cutting across their flanks, but it will be at their peril!
Wait - There's More
As powerful as this is, it actually gets better.
Any other targets that meet the criteria can be attacked in the same Action... and this can go on until there are no viable targets remaining. Sailing between two vessels can allow you you to make Broadside Rolls against both targets with a single Action. Sail between two units, both in a line astern configuration, and you could be one happy roller of dice.
Happier than your opponent at any rate. The best that could be said of them is that they won't line their models up so temptingly again.
This works particularly well with your battleships, particularly if you have toughened it up with Heavy Shield Generators or similar, using its eye-watering Defences and Armour rating to soak up enemy fire as it sails in close, finally unleashing a firestorm from both flank arcs into the surrounding pack.
Risk and Reward
Setting up a Broadside is inherently risky behaviour. Unless you’re crossing the T (to use the naval term), you are quite likely to receive an equally bruising salvo in return for your troubles.
A diagram in which three vessels (yellow) cross the T
After all, if they're in 4" of you, then you're sure as Hell in 4" of them. This is something we really like about them. They are not just an "I win" button. If you don’t mind your positioning, carefully consider your targets, and time it all just right you can easily end up just as badly mauled as your supposed victim.
Food for Thought
As you can see, you can go back and forth on this for ages, and that’s good! A game should force you into agonising decisions, and Broadsides are a perfect example of the more interesting gambits you can make as an Admiral.
Plus, and we cannot stress this enough, it’s really cool! That scene from Pirates is awesome, and there are few greater joys than picturing your close friend / bitter rival in Beckett’s place, walking onto the deck of their ship, devastated by your breathtaking élan and tactical brilliance. That’s not a weird thing to think about, right?
P.S. Going into this blog, we did not think we were going to mention Cutler Beckett this much. We really hope you know who he is, or at least are willing to find the clip we're referencing. If not, don’t worry about it. C’est la vie!
Chris Demaude, Pete Sizer, and David Guymer
We hope you’ve enjoyed taking another look behind the curtain at some of our Games Development team's favourite changes to the new edition of Dystopian Wars.