So question that most of you have likely been asking yourself if you don't already know.
What is Dropzone commander?
This is a great question! Now back in 2012 I believe during Salute which is the UK's version of GenCon (but bigger if I my information is right), Dave from this unknown company called Hawk Wargames shows up and steals the show! I mean no one knew this thing even existed!
This game literally came out of no where. It did not just come out of Dave's imagination on "This is what the game will be" NO! He brought a fully created game that took him 3 years to create and released it with 4 factions, in high quality resin that can be thrown against a wall and not break or chip (everything breaks eventually but this stuff is amazing!)
Now you may be asking yourself, what makes this game so good compared to other tabletop wargames? Well this is a 10mm game that revolves around These dropships bringing in troops, tanks, and the like to the battlefield!
Now 10mm is SMALL, here let me show you how small this is.
The above picture is of the Scourge starter set in plastic that I assembled. Those are quarters and a dime in that picture to show you how big models are.
This game does a few things that many others do not. One of those things that it really nails home very well is the need for your Dropships! Now you play the game on a 4 foot by 4 foot area usually in an urban environment with buildings you can destroy that may also have objectives in them. So the play space is 48 inches by 48 inches and a basic tank moves maybe 4 inches while a skimmer may move as much as 9 inches! Now your dropships move much caster than this, we are talking anywhere from 12 to 30 inches so you can see how important it is to be a mobile force.
To add to this, the game pretty much limits the capacity to just "spam" units (which means to use the same units en-mass). This is great because you have to split your army builds not only between needing Infantry to get objectives, but tanks to destroy buildings, other tanks, and your opponents anti-air units, as well as the aforementioned anti-air units to combat gunships, dropships, fast movers, and other aerial threats. This means balance is key in this game.
Something else that makes this game great is the way forces need to be built. Now in other games, you have limits on how many of something you can take. For instance in 40k, you can have X amount of troop choices, X amount of Heavy choices, etc (at least back in 5th edition when I played). In Dropzone Commander this is taken to a whole new level!
In the picture on the right you can see that there are different choices to choose from when you build your army. Some of these choices you are required to take while others you may or may not be able to take.
There are 3 basic levels of play. You have your Skirmish which is anything 999 points and below, you have your Clash which is up to 1,999 points, and lastly you have your Battle which is 2,000 points and above. In each of these you have limitations on what sorts of units you take. Each unit is part of a battle-group which can consist of several units. This can be something like a set of tanks with a dropship, as one unit and a support unit (like the Ferrum). This form can be limiting to a degree but it is actually a great way to balance the game. Having each army be a bit unique beyond just their aesthetics and weapons is a great way to go in my opinion.
Well that is all for an intro into the wonderful world of Dropzone Commander. Next I think I will do some break downs on the current armies and maybe a bit of the fluff!
What is Dropzone commander?
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| Top is the PHR army and bottom is the Shaltari |
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| Scourge army models |
This game literally came out of no where. It did not just come out of Dave's imagination on "This is what the game will be" NO! He brought a fully created game that took him 3 years to create and released it with 4 factions, in high quality resin that can be thrown against a wall and not break or chip (everything breaks eventually but this stuff is amazing!)
Now you may be asking yourself, what makes this game so good compared to other tabletop wargames? Well this is a 10mm game that revolves around These dropships bringing in troops, tanks, and the like to the battlefield!
Now 10mm is SMALL, here let me show you how small this is.
The above picture is of the Scourge starter set in plastic that I assembled. Those are quarters and a dime in that picture to show you how big models are.
This game does a few things that many others do not. One of those things that it really nails home very well is the need for your Dropships! Now you play the game on a 4 foot by 4 foot area usually in an urban environment with buildings you can destroy that may also have objectives in them. So the play space is 48 inches by 48 inches and a basic tank moves maybe 4 inches while a skimmer may move as much as 9 inches! Now your dropships move much caster than this, we are talking anywhere from 12 to 30 inches so you can see how important it is to be a mobile force.
To add to this, the game pretty much limits the capacity to just "spam" units (which means to use the same units en-mass). This is great because you have to split your army builds not only between needing Infantry to get objectives, but tanks to destroy buildings, other tanks, and your opponents anti-air units, as well as the aforementioned anti-air units to combat gunships, dropships, fast movers, and other aerial threats. This means balance is key in this game.
Something else that makes this game great is the way forces need to be built. Now in other games, you have limits on how many of something you can take. For instance in 40k, you can have X amount of troop choices, X amount of Heavy choices, etc (at least back in 5th edition when I played). In Dropzone Commander this is taken to a whole new level!In the picture on the right you can see that there are different choices to choose from when you build your army. Some of these choices you are required to take while others you may or may not be able to take.
 |
| Ferrum Drone Carrier for the UCM |
Well that is all for an intro into the wonderful world of Dropzone Commander. Next I think I will do some break downs on the current armies and maybe a bit of the fluff!
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