Founded in 2008, Spartan Games has created many great games
over the last ten years. They started with Fantasy fleet combat (Uncharted
Seas), then expanded their product line with 1:100000 scale , Space Fleet
Combat (2009 - Firestorm Armada), 1:12000 scale Steampunk Victorian era
fleet/air/land combat (2010 - Dystopian Wars), 32mm steampunk skirmish (2012 -
Dystopian Legions), and recently 10mm future combat (Planetfall). I was hooked
ever since buying, in 2011, my first fleet boxes for Firestorm Armada and
Dystopian Wars. The scale was perfect and models were cool. The exploding dice
mechanic added an element of surprise and shock. The rulesets were suited for
fun games. I added models from time to time and still have many more in boxes
awaiting eventual assembly, painting, and playing the occasional game.
In winter of 2016 I had participated in the Dystopian Wars
kickstarter for their new 2.5 edition of the rules, starter with new models,
and lots of cool add-ons including Egyptian hover ships that had been delayed
in delivery until summer of 2017 and I went for it. The summer of the delivery
there was another offer for Canadian and Teutonic Order war/air ships and I
went for it. Then in August of last year, Spartan Games announced that they
were folding.
Besides losing out on the money for the projects, which my
credit card company has refunded, I had mixed feelings. I was angry that they
were encouraging people to advance buy projects while on the knife’s edge of
their bank account. A friend of mine was so upset that he is thinking of
selling the Dystopian Wars models I sold him in 2017 and turning his back on
the game, which also makes me upset because the community for Spartan Games
items in my neck of the woods is very small.
Then Wayland Games, maker of Wild West Exodus (WWE) and
internet gamestore, announced that they were acquiring the IP rights to all of
the Spartan Games products. Although I have heard mixed experiences with their
internet gamestore, I have heard good things about the WWE models. They not
only are incorporating their WWE world with Dystopian Wars, but they are going
to begin making a 3rd edition rulesbook and Dystopian Wars models in
2018. In successive years they plan to add to their lineup the other
nee-Spartan Games products including Uncharted Seas which was stopped in
production and development at Spartan Games for years.
This made me hopeful. Only caveat is I am not a fan of the
Dystopian Wars land game being redesigned in 10mm scale vice the original
1:12000 scale. What made me more hopeful was when I received an email that
Wayland Games wanted to send me the personalized Dystopian Wars rulebook made,
but not delivered, for the Kickstarter! Not only that but they wanted to send
me a copy of the 3.0 rulebook they would make for free. I just had to provide
an address and a picture of myself in the world of social media with an older
rulebook. Well, the first has arrived…the 2.5 edition of the rules.
It’s very nice and shiny inside and out and am happy with this effort of Wayland Games to build trust. Although I declined their offer of 30% off the Icemaiden carrier, their first Dystopian Wars model, I am looking forward to future efforts. In the meantime I will assemble and paint Spartan Game models, and play games using the existing rules. I will be continuing to post Spartan Games models under that tag in this blog though. I just hope Wayland Games can expand the player base without sacrificing the fun gameplay and cool models. Time will tell.
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