Warcradle Breakdown Rounds In New Edition Of Dystopian Wars

May 20, 2025 by brennon

Warcradle Studios are going through updates and tweaks to the new edition of Dystopian Wars. Their latest blog post has explained more about the way a round breaks down and what has changed between the current edition and the new one.

Imperium Attack // Dystopian Wars

The Initiative and Operation Phases are no more, replaced by the Ready Phase, which has been borrowed from Armoured Clash. This includes the new Determine Initiative step and the drawing of your Victory & Valour cards alongside the deployment of Reserves.

"But while some of the names might have changed, existing players will find familiar gameplay beats that mirror the current rules. For example, Initiative is still determined through the cards in your hand, your Hand Limit is still defined by the size of the game being played, and your Reserves are still governed by a dice-based system."

SRS Tokens still hit the table but in the newly introduced Launch Phase, which happens after the Ready Phase.

"Additionally, Admirals can now choose to resolve a stack of SRS tokens at the start of their turn before Activating one of their units. This new dynamic creates an intuitive call and response between your SRS tokens and the models in your Fleet."

Additionally, the Activation Phase has also been updated with Withdrawal, Movement, Action and Consolidation Steps to streamline play. Actions have also been tweaked and updated as mentioned in a previous update. Now, each model can make a specific number of Actions per Activation, where you can Attack, engage in Maintenance, introduce Boarding Actions and more. This means that you really have to start thinking about what Actions you use when, so you can make the most of a given situation.

Aronnax Colossus // Dystopian Wars

The Consolidation Step caps things off with options for allowing models to Rally. But, you have to make sure that you've spared earlier Actions to make your Rally more effective. An interesting dilemma. The End Phase of the Round then gives you chances to clean up and get ready for the next Round, scoring your objectives and recording Victory Points.

A more in-depth breakdown can be found by heading over to the blog so you can read the words of the designers.

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