Dropzone Commander Battle Report #24 – Shaltari Tribes vs United Colonies of Mankind

Welcome back to the Maelstrom! Today we’ve got another Dropzone Commander battle report, featuring the Shaltari Tribes and the UCM battling it out to a close finish in Intel!

The Armies

Ubii Tribe War Party

Shaltari Tribes – 2,500

Wings of the Chieftain

Gaia Heavy Gate

Eden Medium Gate

Eden Medium Gate

Eden Medium Gate

Spirit Light Gate

Spirit Light Gate

Spirit Light Gate

Spirit Light Gate

Haven Terragate

Haven Terragate

Court of Elders

COMMAND -  Coyote Warstrider with Shaltari Warchief (CV4)

HEAVY – 2x Ocelot Warstrider

Shaltari Swordpoint

STANDARD – 3x Tomahawk Main Grav-Tank

STANDARD – 3x Tomahawk Main Grav-Tank

SUPPORT – 3x Kukri AA Grav-Tank

Shaltari Swordpoint

STANDARD – 2x Tarantula Battlestrider

STANDARD – 2x Tarantula Battlestrider

Shaltari Warrior Clan

TROOPS – 2x Braves

TROOPS – 2x Braves

SUPPORT – Totem Warspire

Shaltari Warfist

HEAVY – 2x Caiman Heavy Grav-Tank

HEAVY – 2x Jaguar Warstrider

SUPPORT - Dreamsnare

Shaltari Speartip

SCOUT – 4x Yari Light Grav-Tank with Light Ion Cannon

EXOTIC – 2x Firstborns

Shaltari Arrowhead

AIR – Warspear Heavy Fighter

AIR – Warspear Heavy Fighter

UCM Fleet Marine Security Force TF-109

United Colonies of Mankind – 2,500

UCM Field Command

COMMAND – Kodiak ACV with Colonial General (CV5)

SUPPORT – Ferrum Drone Base

SCOUT – 4x Wolverine LAV Type-A

Colonial Armored Formation

STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT

            -Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods

STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT

            -Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods

SUPPORT – 3x Longbow Howitzer

            -3x Raven-B Light Dropship with Missile Pods

Colonial Armored Formation

STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT

            -Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods

STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT

            -Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods

SUPPORT – Eagle Gunship

Colonial Legionnaire Corps

TROOPS – 3x Colonial Legionnaires

            -Bear APC

TROOPS – 3x Colonial Legionnaires

            -Bear APC

            -Sharing Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods

SUPPORT – 3x Rapier AA Tank

            -Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods

Colonial Legionnaire Corps

TROOPS – 2x Colonial Legionnaires

            -Raven-A Light Dropship with Missile Pods

TROOPS – 2x Colonial Legionnaires

            -Raven-A Light Dropship with Missile Pods

SUPPORT – 3x Rapier AA Tank

            -Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods

UCM Expeditionary Group

EXOTIC – 2x Praetorians

            -Raven-A Light Dropship with Missile Pods

SCOUT – 4x Praetorian Snipers

            -Bear APC

Colonial Fleet Air Wing

AIR – Archangel

AIR – Archangel

After Action Review

Man, my list was terrible! I spent a few minutes before we played making adjustments to my last list, in an attempt to get my Tomahawks back. While I was glad for their extra firepower, when we rolled Intel I realized that I had made a terrible mistake by removing infantry that I never put back. This left me in an uphill battle from start to finish, scrambling to keep my Braves in the fight while also staying alive. Every soldier who died was a huge impact on my total force strength in terms of finding the objectives.

While my opponent took horrendous casualties, he made a truly stellar game out of this, and ultimately was shafted by the dice. His trick with the Heroic Sacrifice card against my Firstborns was beautiful, and for the first time ever I felt as if I had been out-Shaltari’d! I definitely got the warm fuzzies; I’m teaching this human how to play the war of deception. He had tons of Infantry, and they were moving quickly about the table to get the job done.

Then, the stupid dice got in the way. I blew up two Intel markers, but that was nothing compared to the FIVE that he managed over the course of the game. He also had a very real chance of dumping my Braves, when I was dumb enough to put them in a small building on turn one. He immediately saw my diminished trooper numbers and made me pay for it, focusing on my infantry throughout. His plan cost him a lot of his own armor as they were shot up with no retaliatory fire, but it still meant that he could win by shutting my infantry out altogether. The Falling Masonry rolls were there, he just could not manage to get them to convert to damage.

I was outplayed start to finish, and the dice handed it away. My opponent played a masterful game, although I do think he should have dropped his Sabres a little more conservatively. That, couple with my ability to instantly turn the tide of the air war with some hot dice, meant that the UCM couldn’t bring it back. Even with all that luck against him, he still only lost by a single point! If he keeps that up I’m going to have to become a much stronger player; I don’t like playing Shaltari when the other guy takes the initiative away from me.

Despite my mixed successes with the Warspears in my game against the Resistance, I think they are destined to spend most of their life on the shelf. I’m losing too much for their points investment from the rest of my force, and could easily drop in more Yaris for aggressive light dropship hunting. I also wouldn’t mind giving Birdeaters another shot, as I haven’t played them in a long time. One way or another, the Shaltari air power is most likely returning to the shelf.

Chime in, Dropzone generals! Where did we go wrong (aside from my horrid list construction)? Let us know in the comments below. Also, check out Enter the Maelstrom on Facebook. It is the best way to remain in the loop about all of our new content as it arrives.