Dropzone Commander Battle Report – A Skirmish in the Streets

Several months back I posted about a demo of Dropzone Commander that Josh and I played. The Tyranids kept all of my spare funds to themselves for several months, but we finally reached the point where we were able to construct our starter armies and get a table’s worth of terrain to go with them. We spent the latter half of last week constructing the armies, and I managed to get the two airbrush coats on the models before the call to war became irresistible. Josh and I played our first true game Saturday, stumbling through the rules as we clumsily brought our forces to battle.

A fair warning to any DzC veterans that may read this article; we are complete rookies. I have only read the rules twice, and the second reading was mostly focused on my own forces and how they interact with one another. I have no doubt we committed unspeakable butcheries on the rules set. Just remember, chefs make delicious bread, and kids play in the dough! What we lack in total understanding we more than made up for with fun! With that in mind, I am writing for an audience that primarily understands 40k, so much of my input will be geared to helping potential new players to understand basic game mechanics.

A Skirmish in the Streets

The Mission

For this mission, we played the most basic of the games from the rulebook. The terrain was set for our battle in a very precise way, with objectives in six of the buildings.

The six red tokens represent the six objectives for this mission.

The objectives on the central line were worth two points each; if your units managed to extract them from the table, then they were worth double. The same applied to the objectives in either table half, except that their base value was one point. Either way, you are encouraged to find the objectives and get them off the table before six turns are up.

The Armies

Ubii Tribe Scouting Party

Shaltari – 1,500

Court of Elders

COMMAND – Coyote Warstrider with Shaltari Elder

EXOTIC – Firstborns

HEAVY – Ocelot Warstrider

Shaltari Swordpoint

STANDARD – 3x Tomahawk Main Grav-Tanks

STANDARD – 3x Tomahawk Main Grav-Tanks

SUPPORT – 3x Kukri AA Grav Tanks

Shaltari Warrior Clan

INFANTRY – Braves

INFANTRY – Braves

SUPPORT – Totem Warspire

Shaltari Warfist

HEAVY – Jaguar Warstrider

HEAVY – Jaguar Warstrider

SUPPORT – Dreamsnare

Wings of the Chieftain (Gate Pool)

Gaia Heavy Gate

3x Eden Medium Gate

2x Spirit Light Gate

2x Haven Terragate

1^st Bn 9^th Infantry Co A “The Peacekeepers”

United Colonies of Man – 1,500

Field Command

COMMAND – Kodiak ACV with Colonial Captain

SCOUT – 4x Wolverine LAV – Type B

SUPPORT – 2x Longbow Howitzers

Armored Formation

STANDARD – 6x Sabre MBTs

SUPPORT – 3x Rapier AA Tanks

Formation deployed by Albatross Dropship

Legionnaire Corps

INFANTRY – Legionnaires

TRANSPORT – Bear APC

INFANTRY – Legionnaires

TRANSPORT – Bear APC

Formation deployed by Condor Dropship

Legionnaire Corps

INFANTRY – Legionnaires

TRANSPORT – Bear APC

INFANTRY – Legionnaires

TRANSPORT – Bear APC

Formation deployed by Condor Dropship

Expeditionary Group

SCOUT – Praetorian Sniper Team

Transported by Raven Light Dropship – Type A

EXOTIC – Praetorian Team

Transported by Raven Light Dropship – Type A

Pre-game

In Dropzone Commander, you roll for initiative at the beginning of each turn, adding the Command Value (CV) of your commander to the result. The player with the highest initiative can either choose to count their initiative as 1 and go last, or they can take the first activation. Each side then takes turns activating one group in their army, going back and forth one at a time until all groups have been activated. Initiative can change from one turn to the next, and you can never be certain of which order your opponent will choose to activate their forces. This makes for a very complex strategy when moving your forces and engaging the enemy!

My Shaltari Elder has a CV of 3, while Josh’s Colonial Captain has a CV of 4. This means he will have a better chance of going first each turn, and he will also hold more command cards from his deck. However, this means he had fewer points to spend elsewhere in his force!

The UCM won the roll for initiative and moved their Albatross onto the table, dropping the Sabres and Rapiers into cover behind one of his own buildings. My Warrior Clan came on with several of the Gates. The Spirit Gates pushed up to take shelter behind the central buildings. One of the Eden Gates teleported in a Haven Gate, and then the Braves teleported through it and charged into the central buildings on either flank to begin searching for the objectives.

A unit must be in the building for one turn before they can start searching, and the roll is more difficult depending on the size of the building. Since this objective was in a difficult location, I would have to roll a 6 on Turn Two to find what I came for.

  

The artillery drops into position and the Praetorians rope into the building.

In the mean time, Wolverine scouts can be seen rushing forward in the background.

The UCM artillery rolled on into positions of security, followed by my walkers in the center of the table. The Praetorian special forces used their fast rope ability and descended through the skylights of another building that held an objective.

We continued alternating deployment until our armies were in position. Since neither of us brought Fast Movers, none of our forces remained in Reserve. Only three of my Tomahawks and my Warspire remained Dematerialized, waiting to teleport into battle once the UCM had played their hand.

The Shaltari forces take up position to begin the engagement.

Turn One Score: Shaltari Tribes 0, United Colonies of Man 0

Turn Two

The Shaltari took the initiative for this turn, searching for the objective but failing to locate it. The Ocelot scored a massive hit on the building the Praetorians were occupying, knocking out eight of its twenty Damage Points in one shot. Buildings are notoriously hard to destroy in Dropzone Commander, and the Ocelot is one of the absolute best units for the job. Falling masonry crushed one of the special operators.

The UCM responded by moving their armor out from concealment and unleashing their full might against the building on their left flank. The Building took terrible damage, felling two of the Shaltari Braves in the rubble. The Warspire also teleported into position on the Shaltari’s right flank, blasting apart one of the Wolverines as it arrived.

The Praetorian Snipers quickly found the objective in their own deployment zone, quickly exiting the building and climbing back into their dropship. This then exited the table, scoring two quick points for the UCM!

The rest of the turn consisted of each force jockeying for position, attempting to reach more of the objectives before the opponent.

The Shaltari walkers push their way up the center of the table.

Turn Two Score: Shaltari Tribes 0, United Colonies of Man 2

Turn Three

The UCM started off Turn Three by moving their exposed infantry on the right flank forward, disembarking from their APCs and moving in to threaten the Braves inside with a potentially overwhelming Close Quarters Battle (CQB). In a one on one fight the Braves would be far more than a match for the Legionnaires, but my opponent had no intention of making this a fair fight! Whereas I had only six Braves ready to search the building, my opponent brought in thirty Legionnaires!

If you have already activated infantry inside a building, there is nothing they can do to avoid the CQB; they are simply locked in a bloody melee at the beginning of their next activation. In this instance, though, my Braves hadn’t yet been activated. They quickly stepped out of the building and teleported through a gate back to the mothership, waiting for a safer place to land.

The other thirty Legionnaires moved into the building occupied by my other Braves. I quickly maneuvered them out of the building and back to the mothership as well. Then I brought in my Firstborns, melee-oriented infantry that would see off all but the most determined attack.

In response, my opponent began to pummel the building once more, slaying three of the six Firstborns. My skimmers advanced under the protection of my Dreamsnare’s shield buffer. Whereas I normally received a 5+ Passive Save against incoming hits, it became a 4+ due to the proximity of the Dreamsnare. This paid off, as the Rapier AA tanks only managed to down one of my Kukris with all of their combined fire. In return, two of the Rapiers were destroyed by my Tomahawks, and the Kukris knocked three Damage Points from the Albatross Dropship.

My position on the center of the board was tenuous at best, with my hold on the left flank already broken by overwhelming numbers. As I contemplated a change of plans, the UCM continued to press their advantage.

The UCM begin to take one of the central buildings, forcing back the outnumbered Shaltari.

A long march awaits my warstriders as they continue to push toward the center.

Turn Three Score: Shaltari Tribes 0, United Colonies of Man 2

Turn Four

With time dwindling as the game moved past the halfway point, the UCM continued to press their advantage. When my Firstborns activated they were immediately assailed by the overwhelming numbers of UCM Legionnaires. I wonder if I might have been able to see them off with all my Firstborn intact, but my opponent made sure that didn’t happen. He quickly dispatched me in CQB and prepared to start searching the building.

I knew the central buildings were a lost cause at this point, so I started playing to deny my opponent access to the other objectives. My Braves teleported into the two buildings with objectives in my deployment zone; I’d have to find them both in Turn Five on a 5+ and get them off the table to pull into the lead.

My Warspire teleported back into play on the left flank and destroyed one of the Bear APCs; the Tomahawks finished the other one a moment later, leaving the infantry stranded in their building. Much to my chagrin, he managed to uncover the objective on his first attempt, putting two more points in his pocket. I now had to either kill those Infantry, or get both my objectives on Turn Five. Neither prospect was looking too positive, especially since my Ocelot (who hits on a 2+) had missed with every shot since Turn Two (and continued to do so until the end of the game). The second group of Infantry in that building moved to the wall and fired out at my skimmers with their Missile Launchers, doing no damage.

With my Firstborn all slain, the Warstriders returned the favor by punishing the building with a flurry of Gauss fire. The structure was already heavily damaged from my opponent’s firepower,

And it could not withstand the barrage. The structure collapsed in on itself, burying the thirty Legionnaires (and the potential objective) beneath tons of rubble. The Dreamsnare continued the punishment with its Dragon Cannons, slaying the soldiers on the wall with deadly radiation.

The victorious UCM platoon disappears in a cloud of debris.

As the turn drew to its bloody close, I knew it was going to be rough going for me. The vast majority of the UCM Infantry had been cut down in a gruesome display of firepower, but they still maintained the objective lead. I had only the next turn and luck to lean against for a chance.

Turn Four Score: Shaltari Tribes 0, United Colonies of Man 4

Turn Five

The UCM again won the roll to go first and brought their Praetorian Snipers back into play, rushing their Raven dropship forward to extract the infantry. My opponent directed his artillery fire onto the Dreamsnare, but none of the shots could find a way through its Passive countermeasures. My Warstriders continued to pound the building with the UCM Legionnaires inside, but failed to do any real damage. The Kukris moved to be in range of the Raven dropship as soon as possible, firing on the Albatross and bringing it down in a rain of shrapnel.

The Warstriders continued to pummel the structure as the UCM Infantry screamed for extraction. Our battle tanks settled into an open engagement that resulted largely in a stalemate. However, the highlight of the turn would come down to my final action for the turn; could my Braves get lucky and recover the objective in one go?

The first squad rolled to locate their objective as a Spirit Gate pulled back to extract them; six. They had located their piece! Then the second squad started their search. The die skidded across the table and rolled to a stop against the building; five. Both squads had located their objectives!

Now I just had to hold on to them and get them both off the table; the game was now sitting as a draw if I could do just that!

Turn Five Score: Shaltari Tribes 2, United Colonies of Man 4

Turn Six

The Shaltari continue to push, knowing the Infantry must not be allowed to escape…

Here it was; the final turn of the game. The United Colonies of Man moved into action first, disembarking the Praetorian Snipers from their Raven and deploying near the building. My action then consisted of hitting the building one last time with my commander’s section of walkers. I knew he could simply step out beside the structure and end the game as a draw, so it was imperative that I knock it down if possible. Instead the Ocelot missed again, and the Coyote that housed my commander only managed one Damage Point.

My opponent got out of the building at this point, but instead of going for the side deployment he embarked on the Praetorians’ Raven. I suppose he expected me to be holding a card that would give me quick shots on them in the open.

A short move from the Kukris put them in range of the dropship, and it was brought down in a fiery explosion. Only one of the Infantry bases survived the crash, and they were quickly cut down by further firepower from the Shaltari, leaving the objective in the street. My Braves quickly teleported into the mothership and left their objectives with the Spirit Gates, which left the table and secured four points for the win.

Turn Six Score: Shaltari Tribes 4, United Colonies of Man 2

Shaltari Tribes Victory!

Post-Game Thoughts

United Colonies of Man:

This game was our first attempt at Dropzone Commander without the training wheels. My first thought looking back at this game is growing pains. There were mistakes made by both of us that could have drastically changed the outcome either way. However, I think it is safe to say we had a blast kicking the crap out of each other. I know I did!

I won the first initiative roll and used it to bring my armored battle group on behind some cover in the middle of the table. My thought was to be ready to pounce on my opponent if he got to aggressive in his opening moves. He did not push forward as far as I believed he would, but ultimately it did not matter as the tanks were set up perfectly to pound the central objective on my left flank once the enemy had committed to it.

That building turned out to be an infantry death trap, as the Shaltari lost several bases in there and I ultimately lost an entire platoon! After my opponent deployed his infantry I made a risky gambit and pushed into the buildings with him in the hopes of making him drop back and reevaluate the ground. He did, but I was not prepared for the punishment that Shaltari walkers can put onto buildings. They destroyed an entire platoon when the building collapsed on them!

I cannot say enough good things about this game system, it is fun, engaging, and easy to pick up. However, mastery of the nuance in each army and mission will take some time. I am looking forward to the next mission, and am looking to settle the score with the little guys!

Shaltari Tribes:

One of our friends has had more experience with Dropzone Commander, and he said that almost every game comes down to the wire. If our game was any indicator, his statement was very accurate. I was holding my breath as I rolled for those two objectives, desperately hoping that I could pull something back in the end and make a fight out of it. Fate was on my side, and the dice fell exactly as I needed them.

I have so many takeaways, I’m not even sure where to start. I’m up in the air on how to approach the Commander system; it almost feels all-or-nothing, as investing in a middle tier commander seems fruitless when your opponent has paid more to slightly outclass you. I need to experiment a few more games before I can say so for sure.

Some of the things I feared the most failed to do any damage to me. A big example is the artillery; once my opponent’s scouts were eliminated, it became very inaccurate. Even when it did hit, it either glanced from my force fields or did very minor damage. I hope to see the artillery in action a few more times, just to see if it was a poor showing for the support assets.

The Ocelot is also a big question mark for me; it is hard to be a proponent of the biggest gun in the game when it fails every time you pull the trigger! I want to try it some more and hope odds improve and I learn what it is capable of, but there are so many other things I want to try out for the points.

Look for more Dropzone Commander in the near future!