Chest of Colors forum

Ok so a group of gamers here in Dubai invited me to join their club and last night was the first time i went and luckily they had a copy of Dread Fleet to test out for their store.

Anyway, my initial impression is that the sets of models were superbly detailed with very few mold lines etc and putting them together was really quite easy. The GW plastic kits really are a treat to work with and the quality is great.

The board and all the game pieces are also of a very very good quality. The board is a fine cloth which feels nice to the touch, very smooth and light. I'm not completely sure about the non-crease abilities of it but still we will see.

As for the game itself it took us 1 turn of play and about an hour and a half to get to grips with the rules and with 9 of us there (8 players and 1 referee), it was really fun as each of us had a warship to control and use. The mechanics of the game are well thought out (although i've never played man-0-war or the spartan games, so i don't know how they compare).

The game starts with different scenarios, initiative and the teams take turns activating a ship one at a time which is similar to other games systems like warzone so the tactics and dynamics are much more exciting and slightly more tactical. Especially when you factor in the wind and broadside firing etc. The only thing i had a quibble with was that you could not ram another ship. You can board them, but not ram.

As combat went, you can either:
-Fire your broadsides
-Board your enemy, duel captains and fire broadsides all in the same turn.
The damage was worked out using damage cards which was varied with stuff like damaged hull, speed, crew, broadsides etc. It actually made it a lot more interesting and the survivability of ships was increased some what.

The nice option of giving ships command orders at the beginning of the turns was also a nice touch (after you pass a command check of course) and added much needed boons now and then and made it more exciting as sometimes you could fail that check and your well laid plans went up in smoke.

Generally speaking as it was our first game I am sure we made lots of mistakes etc. but as a game goes I think it's a lot of fun and can be very dynamic and tactical. I think as far as quality of game goes it's really good, not much i can fault them on there. The rules set are fairly good and cover everything pretty well although there are a couple confusing elements to the rules but we did figure them out towards the end. I think GW have made a game which can be played by kids or by older generations and as a standalone game I think it's actually worth the money, but only just.

And some WIP pictures of the battle
Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image

thanks for the review.
not sure if I want to spend that amount, even if the game looks fun. And I'm really surprise with the size of the playing mat/cloth!

wow, the game is huge and you seem to be very positive about the gameplay.
just like Phil, I am not sure I will spend that much on the game, but you made it more credible for us.

thanks a lot!

I do believe the price is quite steep, but it's been a while since i had so much fun playing a warhammer game, so for me it's worth the enjoyment and I can't wait to paint it up and take it when i see my friends to play.

Honestly speaking I was very hesitant to pay that much, but in the long run I think it would be worthwhile for me, especially since i'm not a serious gamer. I like these stand-alone games. But I can also see why the price tag puts people off it especially if you consider how much you'll be using it etc and balance that with what you think of the concept of the game. I think if it was a starter set for Man-O-War it would have been much more worth the money and more people would buy it. But the very specific ships and characters for me give it that extra depth of story to it. I don't think it is for everyone but if you do have a group of friends and try it out, you can judge it then and not completely dismiss it.

I'm quite disapointed! playing with non painted figures!
Joking of course Thanks for the rewiew

well done mr onion

Thx mate!

If I would have people around to play it with I might have bought it.

Thank you for this update.

Is the playing field really a piece of cloth? That justifies the price somewhat, it will give a better experience than all those poster style / cardboard playing boards.

Is it a game to be played in teams? How is the game with 2 players?

Well the game board is a really nice piece of cloth, some sort of synthetic silk so it's really nice and smooth to the touch but not too delicate it would be damaged easily so it's a very nice piece in the box.

The gaming itself it was fun playing in a team each as we each took control of a ship each and discussed tactics together. It was definitely an interesting and very enjoyable evening.

I think with 2 player gaming it would be quicker and still very fun as the tactics involved can get quite dicey especially when you have 2 experienced players. I've not played any other naval type of game but this one i really enjoyed, it is simple enough for children to play but has the elements for a more mature crowd too.