"Uncharted Seas by Spartan games" Topic

Hey everyone, just wanted to throw out a quick review of the Uncharted Seas game for those who might be interested. I just got my fleets and rules last night, so haven't played a game yet but a product review is in order!

I purchased the rules, a fleet of Iron Dwarves and a Human Imperial fleet. The fleets came with their respective race cards for the game.

The models are resin hulls, the dwarves are all one piece, while the human ships are hulls and sails plus some bits, sails are in white metal.

Castings are crisp and clean, I saw very few if any bubbles in most of the ships and they're a nice size, the dwarven battleships got to be about 5-6 inches.

The rule books fantastic – full color, glossy, provides some detail behind each faction/race, then jumps right into the rules. There are tons of shots of miniatures ' in action' plus some black and white and full color illustrations, including a nice map overview of the Uncharted Seas region, plus a two page spread on paint schemes for each fleet. 83 pages in total.

the rules are pretty cool, fairly simple, should be easy to start playing a game right of the bat. D6 based, buckets of dice type game where range bands determine the number of dice you get in a broadside. Cards are played during certain phases of a turn for magical effects, counter spells and special actions related to each factions abilities.

Neil Fawcett and Mark Sims have both been extremely responsive on their forums and they've hinted at future supplements including new races, new types of ships for each race (including dwarven dirigibles and submersibles, dragon carriers so on)and expanded rules including wizards towers, shore batteries, fortresses and more!

Overall, I consider this probably one of the best buys I've made for gaming in some time. The fleet deals are all 50$ or less for a total of 10 ships – 1 Battleship, 3cruiser and 6 frigates in each deal, plus the cards for the fleet.

spartangames.co.uk/#

link

I'll second this review. I got mine Monday and have already started painting them. I had the book punched and coil bound though, since I have had such bad luck with softcover books.

The rules seem very quick and easy to play, but there is enough meat on the bone to make your stategy and play very important. I would say it is about on par with Victory at Sea in complexity.

There are a couple of potential loopholes in the rules, but a simple downloadable errata will solve this.

The models are excellent. However, make sure you wash them well as I had a ton of mold release come off when I did. This seamed more than other resin models I have used, but no biggie.

The real deal is the mega-deal. It is just over $200 USD USD for us here in the States, but it is well worth it. Forty ships and the rule book for $200! That's $5 USD USD per ship and a free rule book! Not to mention free postage!

The battleships are huge and all the ships are very detailed.

I think it was an excellent buy. I was skeptical regarding this game till I went to their website and read the four page game example and I was sold. I was not disappointed when they arrived!

I also concur, the book is well done, the rules (though unplayed) seem like they play smoothly. They are of the Roll A Bucket-O-Dice variety, and seem geared for fun.

Sailing mechanisms will not satisfy those looking for the massive detail and accuracy found in some Age Of Sail games, but instead are very quick and fun oriented.

The minis are gorgeous.

Jake

Sailing mechanisms will not satisfy those looking for the massive detail and accuracy found in some Age Of Sail games, but instead are very quick and fun oriented.

Of course we may lose Age of Sail enthusiasts at dwarves, orcs, dragon lords, steam ships, magical ballista, spells and ships with living sails made from dragon skin that are immune to wind effects too!

=)

Good point. But there will always be some naval Sailing Expert who will mock the game based on mechanisms meant to guide those magical ships…

Either way, I really like what Spartan Games has released so far and hope they do well enough that they can continue the great releases.

This game does sound good.

I predict a lot of Dwarf Fleet players.

The dwarf ships are really cool.

Here's hoping their upcoming Firestorm Armada spaceship game (and minis) live up to their (pardon the pun) flagship game.

There are already pics of the Firestorm ships on the site. And they're very neat.

I wish they wouldn't add too much to the naval game. That's probably what killed Man o War.

Thanks for the reviews, guys.

Yeah, I started painting my dwarves first since they require no assembly. Orcs will be next since they require the least amount of assembly. Then Human, then Dragon Lords I think.

Are there any ideas on what future races will be? The current four fleets just dont grab me.

Are there any ideas on what future races will be?

Looks like Elves/Undead next. Plus new ships for current races. New ships talked about on Spartan's web site. Subs for dwarves, carriers and heavey crusiers for dragon lords

Just got my copy of the rules in the mail. Very well done Full color with plenty of examples.

Also have to say nice job to The Warstore, ordered on Friday had it on Tuesday.

As shifter said it looks like Undead and elves are next.

We demoed this game at colours this weekend and the response was unbelieveable…

And we had Neil of Spartan Games there on both days, with all the new stuff in resin for the public to drool on. And drool they did. We had 3 demo games going and we didnt stop from 9:30 until kicking out time on both days… 16 hours of solid demoing.
We were by the Stafford games stall, and he shifted so much stock that Neil came back on Sunday morning with more, and that went the same way.

It looks bright and rosey for this game. and it now has its own very active forum… so pop along.

link

toomuchlead.blogspot.com

Latest update is a thorough examination of this game – complete with a bunch of photos.

enjoy!

Looking at your blog dean, I've decided to go for it and ordered my dwarfs and orcs,

should go down a storm at my club!

I over came my various promises not to
get into another Money pit.But this looked too
cool to pass up, ordered the 4 starter fleets & rule book.

OD

I hope it's as good as you all say it is….

I just ordered 4 fleets also.

How does it compare with Man O' War? (one of my favorite GW games)

I ordered the rules and 2 starter fleets this week

If you're looking for a comparison to Man O War, you need look no further than this review:

drunkdwarves.com/?p=172

How does this game compare to BFG or ACTA?

Caesar, why would you like to compare a fantasy naval game to a Sci-fi space battle setup?

Naval games and sci-fi space battle games are often cut from the same cloth.

I loved the ACTA system, I want to try it out in Victory at Sea

This game is getting more and more tempting every time I look at it- must hold off until after holidays…..

-Will

I got my rulebook and one starter fleet yesterday (other is on backorder)

Working on a review now

I had never considered fantasy naval battles until now.

Yeah, I'd love to see a comparison with BFG particularly. I love BFG a lot, and it's frankly a game where if black were blue then you'd be floating cathedrals on the sea rather than flying cathedrals in space.

What is the scale size for the ships please?

I'm looking at perhaps buying some island terrain for this as well and I'd like it to look good.

hi everyone;
Renaissance Games in Fallston Maryland, just brought in the rule book and starter fleets for this.
They look excellent, I can see a good group forming to play this.
The ships are 1/600 scale.

As was stated earlier, a battleship is about 5" long.

The rule book goes for $25.00 USD at the store and I saw the Human Starter fleet was selling for $50.00 USD

The presentation of the rules and even the way the minis are packed are well done and professional looking.
Looking forward to playing;
Joe

For my own self, these rules were very poorly done, and the fleets totally unbalanced between each other. The models themselves are nicely done and we hope to use them for other games, but the game itself was quickly shelved. Too full of inconsistencies and difficult-to-interpret rules for our taste.

I havent played with any of the new ships recently released, so I cannot comment on its recent state, nor of balancing acts done in the past few months, but the fact that "official" redesign of points, etc only a few months after the game was published really points to the lack of prep work done on the product before it was released.

YMMV but that is my experience and that of my gaming group.

ps one of our members did a port of US into BFG. It was interesting. I had never played BFG before but since it was such a popular game, many were eager to try it. Now we feel interest for naval games again now that Trafalgar has been released.

I think that it is very unfair to make a judgment so soon that this game is totally unbalanced and that you have not even tried the new ships. This is why all the points were re-adjusted. If you strongly feel that there is a problem with Uncharted Sea, you should post your opinion on the official forum and see why you feel it that way and not others. The designers are very open to comments. Saying the rules were poorly done, fleet totally unbalanced, too much inconsistency and difficult-to-interpret simply saying that you did not even try to look into the game at all, and IMO, not even one bit but instead you simply blasted out your biased unjustified opinion. Stopping say that your gaming group feel the same way because there are many other groups who disagree with you.

"If you strongly feel that there is a problem with Uncharted Sea, you should post your opinion on the official forum and see why you feel it that way and not others."

This would be a good suggestion but then you follow it up with this:

"simply saying that you did not even try to look into the game at all, and IMO, not even one bit but instead you simply blasted out your biased unjustified opinion. Stopping say that your gaming group feel the same way because there are many other groups who disagree with you."

Responses like this are the main reason nobody bothers much with going onto company sites with useful negative criticisms. They are met with hostility instead of consideration. What would motivate someone with a differing opinion to voice it when that opinion is met with insult?

Caesar, I am very aware that everyone has the right to voice his opinion about a game but Kealios' response is simply bashing the game instead. I have visited many game forums. Take AT-43 for example, very often, a new player came along and complainted about how unbalanced the Red Blok is and how misleading the rule is. Almost always, they are being told nicely what they had done wrong. Whether they still like to continue to play the game is a different story. In Kealios's case, he did not even bother to tell us why he feels Uncharted Sea is unbalance. Most players feel that the starter fleet are relatively balanced against each other. The original point system is too simple and anyone knows that they are going to be adjusted later. That is not a evidence to say that the system is at fault. In what way are the rules inconsistent and hard to interpret? If you go to any official game forum and ask players questions nicely, you will be helped always. If you go there and simple try to bash someone's favorite game, you will meet hostility. Did Kealios ever ask a question on his forum why certain rules of the game is written in such way? Freedom of speech is not the same as having the right to verbally abuse anything you want. Caesar, you simply got mixed up big time.

Kealios was expressing his valid opinion, which you don't agree with. Your response was to attack him on it -- which there is no call for. Accusing someone who doesn't like your favorite game of never having played the game, having 'wrong' opinions or telling him not to tell others that his gaming group doesn't like it shows a lack of maturity.
Freedom of speech? I think you are trying too hard.
People who attack critics of games always give me pause as to whether or not I'd actually like playing that game. Who wants to play with someone like that?

Whats the bet Kealios and (what sort of egotistical numpty calls themselves…) Caesar are buddies in real life?

Moving on from their melodrama for cranks…and back to the topic…

I was skeptical about 'Uncharted Seas' because I'm an old 'dyed in the wool' 'Man o War' fan and I was not at all convinced about what I had seen of the Spartan games ship models, especially the DWarves, not my cup of tea at all.

I was fortunate to a see a game of Uncharted Seas being played at a local club; Dragon Lords vs Elves.
The game I watched was balanced considering the Elf player couldn't roll for toffee.
The gameplay looked very smooth and logical.
There was enough complexity in there to keep me interested and plenty of pace to keep the game pace ticking along.
Unit activation is a design technique that I appreciate.

The rulebook is a thing of beauty, full of eye candy and easy to read.

The models were considerably more attractive in person but I'm still not sold on the dwarf ships.
It's a subjective thing.

All in all I thought I'd seen enough to give it a go.

I purchased the incredible mega deal.
Without doubt the BEST value for money bulk deal I have ever seen from ANY company.

I didn't want the Dwarf fleet for aesthetic reasons but the mega deal is such a killer offer I got the dwarves as well.

Since that time I have gone on to purchase every ship that Spartan sell and the litko counters etc.

It's a simple easy to pay and fun game with some very nice models and enough strategy to keep most players interested.

In terms of balance, i'm not experienced enough with all the fleets to make a comment I would be happy with but so far I haven't seen any fleet that carries a noticeably bigger punch than any others.

If you like the notion of naval fantasy warfare, I can't recommend this game enough, props to the chaps at Spartan games for their most excellent efforts.

Personally, I find the dwarf ships to be the most attractive in the game – different people have different opinions.

Now if only they would get Firestorm Armada out…