[DZC] Dropzone Commander 1.1 - Dropfleet Commander is Out!

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

Dropzone Commander is a 10mm miniature wargame based in a future era where mankind is trying to re-take their civilization from scary aliens. Developed by Hawk Wargames, it presents a lot of interesting features for a modern tabletop game:

10mm scale (compared to 15mm Flames of War and 28mm Warhammer)
Air and land combat, including interceptors and aerial transports (hence the game's name)
Rules for garrisoning, assaulting, and destroying buildings
Awesome new resin material that bends in and out of shape, and is super-resilient
6 "regular" and 6 "special" objective-based gametypes, including multiplayer scenarios
All existing races included in the main rulebook ($22), with promise for PDF releases of new rules/units
A soon-to-be released expansion that compiles rules for new units and introduces a new faction - The Resistance

RACES

United Colonies of Mankind (UCM) - Forged in desperation, united by adversity and resurgent in power, the UCM exists for a single purpose - to wrest mankind's lost strongholds from the clutches of the Scourge. A collection of diverse and remote frontier worlds, the UCM is a restless cultural melting pot, bubbling with a righteous desire for vengeance.

The Scourge - The Scourge are foul, neuro-parasitic lifeforms which can utterly dominate an unfortunate host, bending its life to its will. They thrive on the conquest and absorption of other races, their very mode of existence as potent a threat as their formidable battlefield technology. They are the galaxy's ultimate predators.

The Post-Human Republic (PHR) - A tiny portion of humanity turned its back on mankind in the waning days of the last Golden Age. Over one and a half centuries later, the PHR has emerged from the shadows as an unrecognisable civilisation, its people irrevocably changed. They are no longer simple human beings, they are post-humans - cyborgs.

The Shaltari - The Shaltari are an ancient and highly developed species. Their technology is advanced to a level of sophistication rivalled only by its potency. They have traversed the stars for millennia, learned myriad truths, and have fought countless wars. Through their knowledge, the Shaltari transcend even death itself, and can endure indefinitely, perceiving the ebb and flow of time like no other race.

Resistance_Starter_Army_1024x1024.JPG?v=1407439504

Resistance - The Resistance is a complex, characterful and disparate assortment of human survivors on the Cradle Worlds and Earth itself, currently occupied by the dreaded alien Scourge. The very existence of the Resistance has shaped UCM military planning for its Reconquest, which became a war of liberation rather than simply a war of revenge as soon as they were discovered. Indeed, the Resistance alone are responsible for a reconquest being possible at all, as they were able to activate and maintain foldspace nodes on all but one of the Cradle Worlds, allowing UCM invasion fleets to jump to their locations accurately. Theirs is a tale of loss, grit and determination to survive in the face of insurmountable odds.

How to Start: How Much Will This Shit Cost Me?

Good news, everyone!

There's now a 2 player starter set and, boy is it a doozy! It retails for around 75-90 USD and gets you literally all you need to play! All you need to supply is a 33" x 48" flat surface!

IMG1b_Box_Contents_1024x1024.jpg?v=1376350094

IMG1b_Box_Contents_1024x1024.jpg?v=1376350094

It contains:

A 33" x 48" game 'board' (it's 2 posters)
Scourge starter army
UCM starter army
The complete, full-color rulebook
10 pre-cut (all you have to do is fold them) card buildings in various sizes/styles
Handy quick start scenarios, and a roster sheet for each army
10 dice
Tape measure
Counters and templates

Seriously, this is a really good deal.

But even better than that! Hawk Wargames had just/is in the process of releasing all their starter armies (save for Resistance) in plastic so while the resin boxes ran about 105USD, the plastics will contain the same models for a paltry 55USD. But Miniature Market is currently selling them for $24.20 which is fucking crazy

You can double up for less than the retail cost of a single starter army.

They also now sell entire 4'x6' gaming boards with terrain for $45.
Or you could just print them out and make your own.

Okay I'm Sufficiently Aroused. How Does It Play?

The game does not follow the traditional I-go-You-go pattern. Here's a quick breakdown:

Your army is made of battlegroups, which are each made of multiple squads (a squad being 3 APC's filled with infantry, for example)
You take turns activating battlegroups, meaning that you'll activate a series of squads and then I'll activate a series of squads.
Models must maintain coherency within a squad (i.e. your 3 APC's with infantry must stick together) but not within a battlegroup
Shooting is based on a to-hit/to-wound system. Models may have active countermeasures, reducing your effective range when targeting them, or passive countermeasures which grant a save.
To-wound rolls are 1 step more difficult than 40k (i.e. the equivalent of Str7 vs. Toughness 7 requires a 5+ to wound)
Infantry must embark into buildings in order to search for objectives, but can be assaulted/grenaded/flamed out of buildings. Or you can just bring the whole building down!
Aircraft can make strafing runs, can intercept aircraft that are strafing, or even intercept other interceptors!
Artillery can fire indirectly, but templates scatter, unless another scouting unit has LOS to the target and relays the information
Command units determine your likelihood of first activation in a given turn, as well as allow you to pick up and play neat (although not really overpowering) Command Cards for 1-time buffs.

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

Let's get the ball rolling with a pic of what I'm working on right now: UCM!

mr_mich · September 2014

I'm going to pop in with some opinions and progress as well. First I'll flash the batsignal for the guys who participated in our other DzC thread when the game first got off the ground (pun intended): @Forar, @Draeven, @warder808, @Nobody, @Kaliyama, and @Crovaxan‌

First of all, the $24 starter sets at Miniature Market are an absolute steal. The points in this game scale with 40k, i.e. an average game size is about 1500-2000. You get a starter army which is around 550 points for $24! I'll admit, the plastic isn't as mindblowing as the resin, so you'll just have to settle for "really good" models. Except for the infantry, which are laughable even at this scale.

I scooped 2 PHR starters for $48 and put them together in about 5-6 hours, including magnetizing the walkers so that they could ride in the dropships. Just to be clear, I spent $48 and 6 hours putting together over 1,000 points:

Bonus detail shot:

We played a few games and we drank a ton. The video above was mostly sober, but it was also our first so we messed up some of the rules. That being said, there's some good takeaways that should help paint you a word picture of how this game plays:

Objectives are key. Blowing shit up, while fun, doesn't really win you the game. You get points (in most missions, including the one we played 3x) by flying objectives off the board.
The above means that you can deny objectives by doing two things: bust someone's ride, or bring down the building while they frantically scurry around like ants searching for a piece of cheese. And while they're rolling dice every turn to find the strategically important doodad, you're dropping concrete hats on infantrymen because it's fucking fun.
AA is really crucial. There's a rock-paper-scissors element that fits into the whole stratagem of grabbing objectives: you NEED aircraft. Thus, AA is a top target for your enemy. Thus, killing his AT units will buy your AA units some time. Of course, we played with the vanilla starter units and didn't get to throw many twists here (fast moving bombers, artillery, etc.) and still had a blast.
Scourge are hella fun. I played one game with their starter against PHR, and they basically zoom around blowing shit up. They have ultra powerful short range guns, and look like the Robot Mafia cadillacs from Futurama.
Everything in this game is so evocative. In one game, Keenbean pulled a dropship up to a building I was occupying and unloaded a ton of infantry. My warriors headed to the windows and shot at the dropship, effectively cutting off any evac for their newly-arrived enemies and binding their fates into a bloody (and I mean bloody) CQB.

I was concerned that there would be a lack of customization because of the scale of the game. As a 40k guy I was used to tweaking who had what gun and if I should pay 3 points for a better sword on a captain. This game definitely has less customization, but after playing a few games it's alleviated my fears for a few reasons:

A lot of the "choice" you have with customization in other games (namely 40k) is sort of an illusion. It usually takes less than a day for someone to figure out that Lascannons are useless for a unit at X points because some other unit gets them at Y points. I haven't paid attention in awhile, but I do remember thinking that half of the options for any given army were useless.
The army construction rules for this game have huge implications on the tabletop based on structure alone. Each battlegroup mandates a number of squad types, for example an Armor battlegroup may allow you to have 1-2 squads of Armor and a Support squad. Those choices don't all have to maintain coherency to one another, but you'll be activating all of them at the same time. Thus, there's all sorts of nasty tricks and choices -- do you put your scouts in the same battlegroup as your artillery so that they can always confer the line of sight bonus? Or do you stick them with your AT squads because these guys have AA and you want to extend your AA umbrella?
The game prevents you from spamming units, and aside from a couple of units nothing seems useless to me. As a result, I feel like I can actually buy (almost) all the models and try lists that actually play differently. PHR are known for being slow and tough, but they have light walkers which can jumpjet across the table, drones which can zoom around helping infantry find objectives, and MRLS chassis that shred buildings anywhere on the table. Even changing who gets a transport, or what kind they get, drastically changes the flavor of your army.

I think people should try this...for $25 you have nothing to lose. It came out a couple years ago and these guys have put together a really tightly-written game with awesome models, and they've said their goal was to put out plastic starters all along. Now that the game has taken root and they had the capital to do it, we can expect even bigger things.

ArcticLancer · September 2014

Bookmarked just because I love hearing people talk about this game.

Extreaminatus · September 2014

I'm still looking into this. I might even pick it up eventually!

ArcticLancer · September 2014

I don't even want to play the game, just paint it for a fun little getaway.
I think I know what's going to happen now, actually. I have something selling on ebay for enough to get a few bucks in my paypal account. I'm going to use that to buy the Shitari starter, and then trade it to my friend for his UCM half of the 2-player starter. That way I have UCM for cheap without having him get stuck with things he doesn't want in the long run.
*nod*
Yes, I'm a good friend. Clearly that's the most important part.

But seriously, it's @Dr_Keenbean‌ and his pictures that really made me want to do this. I've always loved the scale and aesthetic of this game. Just painting a starter should be fun. Also, I would have loved to pick up a Kodiak, but I guess it's too much for MM to keep ... like, literally anything from this game in stock.

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

I actually bought a Kodiak last weekend and some Wolverines to accompany him.

The Kodiak's shooting attack is an orbital laser that is stupid powerful and accurate provided he has line of sight, but since you want to hide him he generally doesn't.

That's where the Wolverines come in. As Scouts in the Kodiak's battlegroup, it can use their line of sight to fire the orbital laser with no penalties. Plus they are fast and have serviceable AA guns.

And yeah, online retailers appear to be having a hell of a time keeping it in stock. My army would be 1000pts right now (instead of 855) if I could snag some of the models I want.

ArcticLancer · September 2014

Aye. I like the Wolverines as well, but I'm not interested in collecting much right now. Like I said, just want to paint it really badly. Shipping is annoying enough that you kind of want to get everything at once, you know?
I also like the UCM's heavy tanks, but again, none in stock and not at the front of my "so cool I must have it now!" queue.

Is your entire collection so far two starter sets and the Kodiak/Wolverine/Gladius additions?

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

ArcticLancer wrote: »

Is your entire collection so far two starter sets and the Kodiak/Wolverine/Gladius additions?

Yes. Gladii are boss. I really want to get a dropship for them, small dropships for the Wolverines, and get some Praetorians in mini drop/transports. Praetorians are like spec ops. They can rappel onto buildings directly from their light dropships and they are nasty in CQB.

Really I just want all the things. All the models are rad.

mr_mich · September 2014

Looks like Warstore just got a bunch back in stock. At least, all the PHR models are back!

mr_mich · September 2014

aaaaaaaaaaand I emptied out that paypal balance I'd left tucked away on a bunch of PHR.

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

Man they have like everything back in stock.

Why did I pick this week to start cutting back on my hobby spending?!

see317 · September 2014

Dr_Keenbean wrote: »

Man they have like everything back in stock.

Why did I pick this week to start cutting back on my hobby spending?!

I'm guessing it's because you noticed that G&T already have their Secret Santa thread up, and subconsciously decided it's time to start saving money.
Just a guess though.

Draeven · September 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_cdGIWSGck
this is a Battle rep that a bit more invovled thatn your guys and uses the cards etc, and shows off the new resistance fighters. this in the words of spud, is delicious.

Forar · September 2014

Yeah, DZC seems cool, but after getting burned with Malifaux (friends and I got into it, enjoyed playing for a year and a half, Second Edition was announced, half the group dropped it after disliking what they saw in the beta, now we play maybe once or twice a year) I can't justify picking up games that won't hit the table, and I'm not enough of a painter/modeller to do it simply for love of the craft.

Especially with an assload of Robotech minis coming in shortly. In a few months. ... look, Palladium is involved, "before the heat death of the universe" is about all I can be certain of.

But I do like checking in on the thread, and appreciate the @ Signal.

mr_mich · September 2014

Calling it the @ signal is so cool, I'm mad I didn't think of it.

As far as playing it, I kind of feel you. I took a new job and am getting married soon, so I knew I wasn't going to be playing much DZC. I'm also a lazy/terrible painter (as you'll all soon see) so I don't even know that I did it for the modeling aspect.

For me it was mostly that a) I wanted what little gaming time I do have to be an awesome game like DZC and b) I wanted to give them money. I was so thrilled to see that after a couple years of the product being out Hawk has supported it. Solid rules that hold up to casual/tournament play, free updates with the new rulebook, free rules with new units...new factions/characters/units across the board. Now that the "Hope it doesn't suck" mentality has abated, I'm floored to be a part of it, even if it just by buying mans and scooting them across my desk making pewpew sounds.

For $25 I would say it's a no-brainer. I understand the reluctance of getting it to hit the table, but the starter set is awesome and complete and cheap...it's never been easier for it to hit the table.

@Draeven‌ that batrep is boss and I'm in no way ashamed it's better than the one we drunkenly shot with messed up rules and a smartphone stabilized by a car mount. I'd also recommend some of the BlueTablePainting video batreps - they have some with Dave Lewis (the DZC creator) at Valhalla, which is their mini-con at an awesome chalet with a dozen tables and various games going on.

Gabriel_Pitt · September 2014

Got the Shaltari starter set and looking forward to picking it up, painting, getting some more models, and playing and once I'm no longer trapped in Mississippi.

I missed my birthday while down here.

Just sayin'...

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

Yes.

You also missed my birthday while down there.

Draeven · September 2014

I wasnt posting that to belittle your bat-rep atall, just posting itcause it had more of the rulez covered.

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

Honestly we knew we wanted to record a game to try and drum up some interest around these parts. But we didn't really work out the details at all beforehand.

Were I to record another game - and I'd like to - it would be done differently.

I mean there would be more drinking.

mr_mich · September 2014

Yeah like, ideally...we'd be drunker at the start. And we'd have a proper tripod. And now we know the rules better. I may be drunk right now.

And @Gabriel_Pitt‌...happy birthday. I'm going to find the shittiest Shaltari unit to buy you as a gift. Unfortunately for me, this game is relatively well-balanced and it'll still be a pain to play against.

Draeven · September 2014

so when it comes to shaltari they are the ones with the portals and awesome looking spider walkers right ?

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

Yes.

Draeven · September 2014

looking at the experimental rules through there website the stat lines are like reading brail, lol. need to watch more bat reps

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

I can see it being very confusing without context. I don't know what games you're familiar with but if it happens to be Warhammer I can approximate fairly easily.

I kind of wish they had some manner of quick start rules available for free. The closest they have are reference sheets.

A = Armor, which is essentially Toughness
Mv = Move, how far in inches that model can move assuming it doesn't shoot, isn't moving off a transport, or making its initial move onto the board
CM = Countermeasures, having active (A) means that weapons generally cannot target this unit from their full range
DP = Damage Points - wounds, HP, etc
Pts = Point cost of the unit
Type is fairly self-explanatory
Category is used in list-building
S + C is a weird. The S stands for how man models can/must be a in squad. For example UCM tanks can be fielded in squads of 3, 6, or 9 so their S is 3/6/9
C stands for coherency which is how close the models in the same squad must stay to each other. Standard = 3", Wide = 6", Open = whatever
LZ for air units is the size of the template used to determine whether or not it can land in a given area
Special is any special rules that unit may have

And for weapons

E = Energy or the strength of the weapon. To compare this to A of the target to determine the roll required to inflict damage
Sh = Shots
Ac = Accuracy. Beat that roll to score a hit. Modifiers can alter it
R(f) = Range Full, the range that weapon can shoot if the target has no coutermeasures
R(c) = Range Countered, range if it HAS countermeasures
Mf = The distance the unit can move and still be able to fire
Arc = The weapon's arc of fire: front, side, rear, narrow

Nobody · September 2014

...how'd I miss the @ signal?

Anyway I found another guy who plays in my area, and we've gotten in some starter games, as well as a 1000 pt game.

Other people in my LGS were interested in the game from watching us play, so I took the plunge and bought a 2 player starter which I've been running demos with. Telling people that they can get starters for 4/5 of the factions at $55.00 (well, I'm in the LGS and he's supporting the hell out of this so I'll promote the LGS) which is cheaper than a unit for many of the 40k armies is a huge help.

I actually have a plastic PHR starter on order too...I'm probably going to get one of each faction.

-Loki- · September 2014

My brother and I keep going back and forth over this. We were going to start this instead of Malifaux but aside from the 2 player starter, it was expensive. Now that there's plastic starters for all factions released individually, it's back on the cards.

Looks like we're probably splitting the 2 player starter. Question - is buying another starter a good idea to build up a bigger base of 'basic' stuff to add to?

Draeven · September 2014

Loki, by the sounds of it thats a good plan, since you get a ton of infantry and they are always good to have so they can grab objectives.

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

2 starters will get you a full 4' x 6' board (roughly), 20 buildings, and 2 1100pt armies.

Not the most exciting armies, mind you. But still an excellent base from which to start.

Also, again, for folks in the US, Miniature Market is selling the plastic starters for under $25. Somehow. I still don't get it.

mr_mich · September 2014

-Loki- wrote: »

My brother and I keep going back and forth over this. We were going to start this instead of Malifaux but aside from the 2 player starter, it was expensive. Now that there's plastic starters for all factions released individually, it's back on the cards.

Looks like we're probably splitting the 2 player starter. Question - is buying another starter a good idea to build up a bigger base of 'basic' stuff to add to?

As a dude who bought two starters (PHR armies) I can echo Keen's sentiments. You get ~1100 points of "core" models but no flavor added onto it. In 40k parlance, imagine ~1100 points of Tac Marines/Rhinos/Devastators. Decent 1100 point army, but probably doesn't include enough "exotic" or "fun" units in comparison to a scratch-built 1100 point army.

That being said, it puts you in a fucking awesome position to build a 1500 or 2000 point army when the time comes. Cause from then on you're basically only buying the fun shit.

Nobody · September 2014

I came across this blog post on the DZC forums with suggestions for building up from the starter to a 1500 pt army for each of the factions (well, except for Resistance). Of course, it's pre-expansion and pre-plastic starters, so some of the pricing and points are off.

-Loki- · September 2014

Yeah the idea behind 2 starters isn't to get a complete, interesting force. It's basically to get the grunts out of the way and painted so I can buy the cool shit like fast movers or the Desolator or Annihilator.

Gabriel_Pitt · September 2014

Dr_Keenbean wrote: »

Yes.

You also missed my birthday while down there.

Yes, I know. I missed scotch eggs, mead, and whatever shennanigans were gotten up to in Annapolis afterwards.

Mississippi has a lot to answer for.

Extreaminatus · September 2014

I'd just like to pop in for a second and say fuck all of you for contributing to this thread and making me want this game.

Draeven · September 2014

Im just a devils advocate, im trying to flush out a 2500 pt ogre army I dont think my wife would be happy if I started in on another game that I may or may not play.

mr_mich · September 2014

Nobody wrote: »

I came across this blog post on the DZC forums with suggestions for building up from the starter to a 1500 pt army for each of the factions (well, except for Resistance). Of course, it's pre-expansion and pre-plastic starters, so some of the pricing and points are off.

That is a good post. Also, that site (FirstWave) is a pretty decent podcast if anyone's looking to listen to DZC chatter and learn a bit more about the game.

ArcticLancer · September 2014

For anyone starting out, I was just poking around on Hawk's forums, and they have a monthly painting showcase people can post to where they pick a winner and send them something for free. Since a few people around here are actually quite capable ...

Now I just need to figure out how I want to paint my UCM. Hmmmm ...

Nobody · September 2014

ArcticLancer wrote: »

For anyone starting out, I was just poking around on Hawk's forums, and they have a monthly painting showcase people can post to where they pick a winner and send them something for free. Since a few people around here are actually quite capable ...

Now I just need to figure out how I want to paint my UCM. Hmmmm ...

Mine are going to be painted like GDI, but I'm far from the only person doing it

Dr_Keenbean · September 2014

This game has definitely made me develop an itch to pick up C&C3 again.

Nobody · September 2014

For the record, my Resistance force is going to be painted in Brotherhood of Nod colors

ArcticLancer · September 2014

I may try and utilize my favourite scheme of "dark grey, light grey, bright color". Yellow or orange being prime candidates, of course. You know, how Titanfall did it right.

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

[DZC] Dropzone Commander 1.1 - Dropfleet Commander is Out!

Posts