Dropzone Commander Battle Report #16 – Post-Human Republic vs Shaltari Tribes

Welcome back to another Dropzone Commander battle! For the first time in my Dropzone career, I square off against the enhanced warriors of the PHR, commanded by my friend Allen. It is a battle of the superior technologies as these to forces go to war!

The Armies

Lyr Thema

Post-Human Republic – 2,500

Hand of the Sphere

COMMAND – Zeus with Supreme Vizier (CV6)

                        2x Enyo Siege Walker

SCOUT – 4x Mercury Drone

            -2x Triton A2 with RN-5 Skyhammer Missiles

EXOTIC – 2x Siren Corps

            -2x Triton A1

Battle Pantheon

STANDARD – 2x Phobos AA Walker

SUPPORT – 2x Helios Jetskimmer

Battle Pantheon

STANDARD – 4x Ares AT Walker

            -2x Neptune Medium Dropship

STANDARD – 2x Phobos AA Walker

            -Neptune Medium Dropship

Immortals Phalanx

TROOPS – 2x Immortals

            -Juno IFV - A1

TROOPS – 2x Immortals

            -Juno IFV - A1

                        -Sharing Neptune Medium Dropship

SUPPORT – 2x Apollo Strike Walker

            -Neptune Medium Dropship

Immortal Phalanx

TROOPS – 2x Immortals

            -Juno IFV - A1

TROOPS – 2x Immortals

            -Juno IFV - A1

                        -Sharing Neptune Medium Dropship

Heavy Pantheon

HEAVY – Hades Type-4 Walker

            -Poseidon Heavy Dropship

HEAVY – 2x Odin AT Walker

            -Neptune Medium Dropship

PHR Air Wing

AIR – Athena Air Superiority Fighter

Ubii Tribe War Council

Shaltari Tribes – 2,500

Wings of the Chieftain (Gate Pool)

Gaia Heavy Gate

3x Eden Medium Gate

4x Spirit Light Gate

2x Haven Terragate

Court of Elders

COMMAND – Coyote Warstrider with Prime Warchief (CV6)

HEAVY – 2x Ocelot Warstrider

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

Shaltari Swordpoint

STANDARD – 6x 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 Warrior Clan

TROOPS – 2x Braves

TROOPS – 2x Braves

Shaltari Warfist

HEAVY – 2x Jaguar Warstrider

HEAVY – 2x Caiman Heavy Grav-Tank

SUPPORT – Dreamsnare

Shaltari Speartip

SCOUT – 2x Yari Light Grav-Tank with Light Ion Cannon

EXOTIC – 2x Firstborns

After Action Review

Allen:

Well that was tense. First time fighting the Shaltari and the space porcupines were tougher than I thought. Seriously the first 4 or so rounds was little beyond a pretty light show as two solid walls hurled rocks at each other and did nothing. Then of course it all turned bloody at the end as the walls began to collapse under the weight of fire. Overall a very fun time was had!

Normally I run Immortals in their own Triton A1s to give them a speed advantage. My prior experiences against the UCM have shown me that sometimes the resilience of a Neptune and Juno is worth the slower movement. In this game it also gave me an extra bit of firepower, unusual given my usual opponent’s high armor. Those Juno drivers can paint their own kill markers now! I’ll definitely be including at least two squads in a Juno variant from now on.

A big surprise for me this game was the Sirens. The girls rarely fail me in the “murder everyone in the room” department but for once they found an objective, then spent the rest of the game in reserve. That cost me in the CQB at the end of the game…30 dice worth of crazy female assassins was sorely missed! Actually I found the center objectives rather quickly over all, the Mercury Drones were very effective this game. I kind of wish they had been on the opposite side though, but my original plan was to jump into the near dead building on the left then hopefully find the objective and get out. Sadly that did not work out.

Apollo-As just don’t work out for me in pairs, but I may be using them wrong, for now I am going to try larger groups. Their dropship move though is a beautiful thing, being able to throw a unit in the backfield is great. I also feel that the Helios skimmers are in dire need of extra speed on the first turn, in the future they will always be run with a Neptune. It’s just too amazing to have 6 shots that can break into groups of 3 if needed, that with their faster movement still leaves me feeling the skimmers are a great compliment to the zone defense of the Phobos walker. I’ll be fine tuning my lists with this new information, I promise you.

The game for me had a lot of cinematic moments, which I greatly enjoy in wargaming. It’s being able to imagine your Odins, massive walking tanks that they are, stomping forward. The sounds of pavement shattering under each step, a hail of fire pinging off their armor and the whine of dual railguns answering. A raging block war between armored Shaltari and the cyborg Immortals. The Hades walker trading fire with the Shaltari big guns, finally going down after the weight of more than half the enemy army is leveled against its hulking form. An Athena fighter weaving through skyscrapers going at supersonic speeds…just a blur of death followed by a boom and the sounds of guns and engines. A desperate fight between Immortals and the elite of the Shaltari, my commander screaming for the Sirens to return and aid his dying men. Those are the moments that keep me coming back to the tabletop.

In the end it was a close game. Right up till that last turn it really could have shifted either way. I’ll be looking forward to the rematch. The Republic’s Army is not out of this fight yet!

Randall:

Allen said it all. I think we were both surprised with the resilience we faced, and as a result we had a ridiculous civil war-style gunline battle between my Jaguars and his Odins. I mean, we literally shot until Turn Six with NOTHING dying. We each dropped one or two Field Repairs in the area, ensuring that the carnage dragged on to the very end!

It was a very different game for me, because Aircraft normally stand no chance against my Shaltari. That extra point of Armor on PHR Aircraft was a real pain, and meant that he took next to no damage. Maybe it is time to give the Warspears a chance…

I was also surprised at how many Command Cards we threw back and forth. In an average game for me a handful of cards will make an appearance, but with two level six Commanders we really tossed the ammunition to the table! It added a really fun element to the game; without a well-timed Scout Gate Drone, I’m not sure my Firstborns could have skirted the Phobos web in time to stop the game-winning objective from leaving the table.

The Tarantulas just continue to earn their paycheck. In this game they took out the Hades, a Phobos or two, and an Odin at the last second. In an army with next to no firepower over Energy 10, those Gravity Cannons are just so good. Add their ambush factor in climbing buildings, and they really bring something special to the Shaltari war effort.

I’m looking forward to facing the PHR again, particularly in different scenarios, just to see how they play. Stay tuned, I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Lyr Thema!