Dystopian Wars - Tsukuyomi Class War Gyro Review

This week we  look at another Large Flyer for Dystopian Wars. This time around we take a close look at the Empire of the Blazing Sun's Tsukuyomi class War Gyro.

Large flyers in the Dystopian Wars universe are interesting beasts indeed. They are Battleship sized flying warships. Typically they don't quite how the same firepower of a battleship but they do have significant firepower plus all of the flying bonuses.


The Model:

 The Tsukuyomi comes as a single large hull and two metal Turrets. It also has a stats card and two peg clear flight stand.

As is the standard with Spartan the mold itself is crisp but there are some flashing and mold line issues.

Detail and molding issues(Click to expand)

The photo to the right shows off both the excellent detail of the model and also the significant mold issue along the outside of the hull.

While it's nothing a hit or two of sandpaper won't cure it's interesting to note the last few ships for Dystopian Wars and Firestorm Armada have both had similar issues to lesser or greater extent.

Port rear quarter view

The design of the ship itself is excellent. With plenty of detail to pick out.  I am a fan of the design ethic of the existing E0tBS ships and the Tsukuyomi fits right in.

One of the new features are the metal turrets. these are a new design that look fantastic.

Port Forward view

The Ship is covered with weapons, rockets and lifting fans. Hatches and portholes are also well detailed.

 There is an elegance to this design and you can tell the designer gave it a lot of thought.







Overall I love this model. It may be my favorite EotBS design after the Squid! Despite the casting issue I recommend this model completely.


Game Stats:

Topside detail

We will compare the War Gyro with other Large Fliers of the 4 starting Nations.

Stats:

CR/DR:  The Tsukuyomi War Gyro has a healthy CR of 6 and DR of 9. This fits in well with the Prussians and Brits who have 6/8 and the FSA with 7/8. The Brits have "Armored Belly" MAR which can bumb their CR up to 9, giving it parity with the Tsukuyomi in some situations. Overall however it is better or equal to the other Large Flyers.

Underside detail

Hull and Defensive Systems:
The one big weakness of the Tsukuyomi over it's competitors is the 7 Hit Points, compared to the 8 points everyone else enjoys. While a single hit point is big it still takes 4 crits to destroy like any other Large Flyer. It has generous AA of 7 and is only bested by the FSA here. It has no CC, which is the same as the FSA and Prussians (only the Brit War Gyro has CC)

The Tsukuyomi does have the least AP (assault points) at 7. however this is still respectable and only 1  less then it's competitors.

Overall the Defensive systems are pretty average, nothing that really stands out but nothing massively handicapping as well.

Fore detail

Weapons: 


Here the Tsukuyomi shines. She carries two Battleship class turrets that provide a whopping 13 AD at RB1. No other Large Flier comes close to this amount of direct AD, which is even more potent with it's generous arcs of fire.

She also carries port and starboard rocket batteries that, at their best RB of 3 can pump out 9 AD each.
Lastly she can drop a respectable 9 AD of bombs as well.

Aft.

Lastly, how does the Tsukuyomi compare to the other Large Flyers individually? Let's see.

Vs. FSA:

The FSA has the advantage is base defensive stats. DR/CR is a wash. Weapons wise the Tsukuyomi rules. At RB 3 the FSA can put out 10AD of rockets or 5 AD of direct fire. It's fixed channel rockets and Broadside can't be combined on the same target.

 the Tsukuyomi doesn't suffer this limitation and from the broadside can put out 9 AD of direct fire and 9 AD of rockets. Getting closer it only gets worse for the FSA. At RB1 the Tsukuyomi can link it's primary turrets for a massive 20 AD dice. the FSA can't touch this.

Now the FSA flyer is  20 points cheaper but even with this in consideration the Tsukuyomi, with it's weapons suite, is the better ship.

Vs. British:

The Brit also has a slight advantage in basic stats. DR/CR would be a wash except for the Guardian Generator which gives it 2 shields. Giving the Brit an edge.

Weapons wise, again the Tsukuyomi dominates. at RB 3 the Brit War Rotar puts out 3! AD when linking it's two turrets. and not missiles. At RB 1 the Brit puts out 13 AD combined... not too shabby and better than the FSA but still a far cry from the 20 linked AD coming from the Tsukuyomi.

Even with the buffed defensive stats I believe the Tsukuyomi still wins out.

Vs. Prussian


the Prussian airship is an interesting beast. It's the cheapest of the large flyers, a good 35 points less than the Tsukuyomi.  The Prussian is covered with Fixed Channel Tesla Coils and a decent broadside.

Stats wise it's a wash with these too, however we should note that the Prussian and Brit have the weakest AA of all the Large flyers at 5. This is problematic when facing lots of rockets!

At the important RB 3 the best the Prussian can do is 4 AD of Tesla from the bow or 1 AD of tesla and 3 AD of broadsides from the broadside... again massively outgunned by the Tsukuyomi.

Short range is better but not by much. At RB 1 best attack is a forward 9AD tesla or from the broadsides 6 AD of Tesla and 7 AD broadside.

In conclusion the Tsukuyomi is a blessing for EotBS players. I feel it's the best of the 4 original factions large flyers by a considerable margin and I'm looking forward to getting this one painted up and on the table soon!