Dystoptian Wars Review - French Vauban class Sky Fortress

Spartan Games Dystopian Wars keeps moving from strength to strength with new releases and updates to the game rules.  This entry we are going to look at one of the latest releases for the French fleet, the mighty Vauban class HQ Sky Fortress.








First off I've got to say this is by far the largest model I've seen. There might be larger models in the range but I haven't come across them yet. This is one intimidating chunk of resin. As typical with my Spartan reviews we will look at the model itself and then briefly hit on the game implications of this model.

The Model.

The Vauban is a LARGE model and comes with more pieces then most Spartan fare. . The model is primarily resin, the only metal consisting of the 4 under- turrets and bridge antenna. Casting of the model is sharp with superior detail, tiny hatches, ports, walkways and weapons emplacements cover the ship.

Click for larger image

 I examined all of the parts and found  some very minor flashing that was quickly removed with a sharp hobby knife. The only major issue I found with the model was the mold injection points on the main hulls. A large chuck of resin from the molding process. In removing it I also destroyed some of the fine detail. Unfortunately this injection point is at the very bow of the main hull, putting it in a very prominent position.  Beyond this one issue I had no other problems with the resin or metal components.

Main hull - Injector pin issue

In addition to the ship itself also included are a giant 4 peg flight stand, 9 tiny flier tokens and two stat cards, one for the ship and one for the tiny fliers.


Assembly was pretty straight forward even with a large number of parts. The only downside are the visible gaps where the twin hull meets the center command section (The part that looks like the bottom of the Eiffel tower).

The might Vauban

Design wise it fits well with the rest of the French fleet. There are plenty of design cues from the rest of the fleet, including standardized bridge components, turrets and antenna array. however unlike the sleek and sexy French battleships and cruisers the Vauban is a monster of a ship. Double hulls, the Eiffel tower, bridges, underside fins and turrets. Its the Frankenstein's monster of sky fortresses and it looks awesome.

bridge detail

Bow

Port side

Top

Bottom

rear 3/4 view

Model Conclusion.  The Vauban is the centerpiece to any French force in Dystopian Wars. It's a big bruiser of a model and they don't come any bigger... yet.

In game stats.

The Vauban is a beast in game. It weights in at a hefty 260 points! so we are passing Dreadnought territory here.

She has a respectable DR of 7 and CR of 10. making it hard to land critical hits on this beast. She also has 12 hull points, meaning she will stay in the fight for a while. Good AP, AA and CC numbers means this ship won't be easy to board but you probably will not be initiating a lot of boarding actions either.

Weapons wise this ship carries 9 Tiny Tokens! This can be very powerful, not just for the firepower they bring but to add to the number of activations the French player can get.

The mean offensive armament of this beast consists of 4 powerful turrets mounted on the underside. These corner mounted turrets mean you can usually bring 2 or 3  on a Target. This turrets are powerful in RB 1 but the AD drops off dramatically with range.

This ship also has secondaries, torpedoes and rockets... I wouldn't be surprised to see the kitchen sink on this model somewhere. She truly is a beast.

Overall the points for this ship seem to accurately reflect the damage potential and seem to be well worth the investment. I'm looking forward to getting mine painted up and on the table!