Dystopian Wars Unboxing: EOTRS

Been a while since I have done this, as most of the items I have been getting are already being slammed everywhere else ( new Daemon releases for example ), or I have been focusing on the commissions and haven't had the time to look into anything new.

That being said, I was able to pick up this box set of the Empire of the Blazing Sun by Spartan Games recently on eBay. Was thinking if I am going to pick up a new game, it needs to be cheaper in the beginning only to see if I will continue.. and well.. read below to see if I will continue..

Product Description:
So this is the starter box for the Empire of the Blazing Sun in the Dystopian Wars game system. It is the Japanese based faction out of the available forces, and the initial box set comes with the following:

• 1 Battleship
• 3 Cruisers
• 9 Frigates
• 2 Bombers
• 10 Tiny Fighter tokens
• Stat Cards for the units
• Template cards that need to be cut out

Quite the set actually to begin with. Though when being of a smaller scale, it is not overly surprising. What is surprising is that all the parts are either metal or resin. So while all other companies are going the plastic route ( see the Reaper Kickstarter for example ) they are sticking with the resin/metal combo. A good choice here considering how small the parts are, and the insane details that are available. 

Un boxed parts.. YAY Bubble Wrap! 

Shipping: NA

Can't comment on this as I got it from eBay, and from a regular place that I pick up newer games. Shipping cost/timing was good from them, but not relevant to Spartan Games. If I had to score it, it would be an 8/10 though. 

That being said, the boxing of the set was weird, as there was no shrink wrap on the box itself. Just 2 stickers, one of either side of the end flaps. Plus all the parts were just wrapped up in bubble wrap. More damage could have been made here with that kind of packaging, but everything survived so I guess I cannot complain about them too much right?

Quality: 8/10

Here is the big question. Since they are metal and resin, it can really be hit of miss. I have had resin pieces from other companies so warped that you just have to look for a refund, and I have had flash on metal so large that I could melt it down, and mold out another copy of the model in question. 

For this starter box, there was a bit of flash on the metal parts ( Bombers especially ) and a bit of a mold line issue on the wings, but nothing that a bit of Xacto knight action couldn't handle. The ships themselves had a bit of flash from the bottom of the ships. It seems that they were 1 sided mold castings, which is both great and interesting at the same time. Great because it means no mold lines on the models themselves, but interesting that they can get all the undercuts and pieces filled in with no bubbles. 

That's right.. no bubbles or flaws in the resin pieces. Or at least none that I can see so far. 

Starter fleet from the box set. That be a lot of ships!

Service: NA

Again not relevant due to fact that I did not get it from Spartan directly. However I am seeing from the forums some pretty active threads. Only thing I do not like on the forums so far is the notice of not mentioning or showing of anything NOT from Spartan Games. So mentioning GW or Vallejo is a punishable offence potentially. Interesting. 

Stat cards for each of the units.

Price: 8/10

Now I will judge the price, even though I got it for much cheaper on eBay. Starter box goes for 29.99 GBP from Spartan Games, however you can get it for 10-20% off from most online retailers, and then I picked it up for less than 20 an online retailer through eBay. So I really have nothing to complain about on the price, but from the original price, 30 is a decent starter box price. 

Overall: 8/10

Simple math here... but seriously.. it was a good purchase, and I am already into the painting of the box set. I even ordered more units while I did the original order, and below you can see the full fleet as it stands today. I really can't wait to see how this will turn out, and how easy/hard they will be to paint up!

Extra 3 cruisers, and 3 more bombers

Let's see how they go from here, but if you were on the fence to pick these up, I would recommend them. That might even mean something to you ;) Only thing that concerns me.. is now I want to test them out in a game and see how well it plays. Mmm maybe a second starter box is in order? :)