Christmas Previews Roundup

We hope you all enjoyed our previews advent calendar! We've been reading all your comments and have decided it would be best to answer many of them in a summary newsletter, detailing more information on all these exiting releases for Q1 of the new year! As usual, shots of the real miniatures, along with full background, information and rules will be available to download as the models become available to pre-order.

1) UCM Katana Light Tank



The Katana is built upon a lighter, nimbler version of the more common Sabre-type chassis. In a further effort to save weight, UCM military engineers have also adopted a less power-hungry weapon system; a twin high-velocity cannon. This armament has a superior rate of fire to the more common railgun, although it does not have quite the same punch or range.

2) UCM Fireblade Light Tank



The Fireblade is based on the same chassis as the Katana and features the same increased speed as its sister. Unlike the Katata, the Fireblade has a very specific battlefield role; to expunge enemy infantry from structures with its formidable flamethrower!

3) UCM Eagle Heavy Gunship



The Eagle is essentially a weaponised variant of the condor which sacrifices its transport capacity in favour of devastating firepower. The Eagle packs a pair of heavy railguns as well as two independently targeting multi-rocket pods. This allows the Eagle to lay waste to virtually anything on the ground!

4) Shaltari Tarantula Battle Strider



The Tarantula is a smaller, more agile version of the towering Warstriders. Battle Striders feature anti-grav assistors and clamps on their legs and feet, allowing them to climb sheer surfaces to attack from above!
The Tarantula's primary armament is the highly advanced Gravatic Magnifier, a weapon which delivers crushing fore to anything with mass. The larger and heavier the target, the more devastating this weapon becomes! By its very nature, it is also effective against skimmers.
It is also armed with a nose mounted micro-laser, a small but deadly accurate weapon well suited to destroying lightly armoured targets from great distances.

5) Shaltari Birdeater Battle Strider



The Birdeater is an anti-air variant of the Tarantula, armed with the familiar and lethal twin ion-cannon. It often employs its climbing abilities to gain a commanding view of the battlefield - a highly useful ability for an anti-air unit! Since it is less agile than the Kukri, it is better suited to more static defensive roles, where its superior survivability makes it a favourite of the Shaltari Warchiefs who favour heavier units.

6) Shaltari Caiman Heavy Grav-Tank



The Caiman is truly formidable battlefield predator whose agility belies its massive size. Its primary armament is the Gauss Triad, a weapon designed to reliably cut through heavy armour at long range. It is also armed with a pair of micro-lasers on traversable turrets. Although less well armoured than Warstriders of equivalent size, the Caiman's agility can be used to deadly effect by the more subtle of Shaltari Warchiefs.

7) Scourge Stalker



The Stalker is a highly aggressive frontline tank hunter unit, designed to deliver crippling damage to the heaviest armoured units at close range using its frighteningly powerful eletro-web caster. It fulfils a role similar to the smaller Prowler, although the Stalker is more suited to direct, frontline assaults where its much heavier armour lends it greater survivability.

8) Scourge Ravager



The Ravager is a flexible anti-air unit, usually employed by the Scourge when long term air defence is needed. As a walker, it has much lower power consumption than the more aggressive Reaper skimmer and is often employed by Scourge occupation garrisons on conquered worlds. Coupled with greater survivability and independently targeting weapons, this makes the Ravager an excellent choice for vanguard defence.

9) Scourge Harbinger Assault Dropship



The Harbinger is a large dropship which features heavier armour than the more common Marauder type and is designed primarily for frontal assaults. The Harbinger is often equipped with plasma bombs - devastating freefall weapons which can be deployed from its tail proboscis. It can also be upgraded to carry a small arc caster, allowing it to assist in the decimation of enemy fliers around the Dropzone. The Harbinger is employed primarily to deploy Stalker and Ravager walkers, although it has been seen delivering other horrors direct to the thickest of the fighting...

10) PHR Helios Jetskimmer



The Helios is a high speed attack unit, designed primarily to hunt down enemy aircraft. While somewhat less manoeuvrable than the true skimmers employed by the Shaltari and the Scourge, it can still use its speed to great effect in battle. It is armed only with the RXs-5 'Galaxy' multi-rocket launcher. For what this weapon lacks in power, it more than makes up for in terrific rate of fire, where the sheer quantity of shape charge munitions can even pose a threat to enemy armour.

11) PHR Angelos Jetskimmer



The Angelos is a multi-role fast strike vehicle. It is armed with a single RXs-120 smoothbore heavy cannon (the same weapon employed by the Enyo). Coupled with the Angelos' speed and advanced targeting systems, this can be used in both the anti-structure and anti-armour roles. The Angelos also features a limited transport capacity, allowing it to drop small strike teams of infantry if required.

12) PHR Mercury Scout Drone



The Mercury is an unusual battlefield unit, in that it is totally unarmed. Instead, it carries a highly advanced full spectrum sensor package. This is sufficiently advanced to scan structures to assist ground troops in objective and intel searches as well as normal scout functions. The Mercury is normally carried into battle by the Triton Strike Dropship, which can also be armed with a pair of heavy anti-armour missiles designed to work in tandem with the Mercury's sensor package. This transforms the Triton into a capable anti-armour gunship once it has delivered its pair of Drones to the frontline.

BONUS PREVIEW: Orbital Defence Laser



This is the largest miniature that we have developed so far (by quite a large margin!) It is a massive directed energy weapon normally employed to engage enemy spacecraft and dropship armadas from very long range. It is unwieldy as a tactical, battlefield weapon due to its slow speed of traverse and constrained mount. It is an almost ancient design by UCM standards, and has been in service since before the Scourge invasion. As such, it is a common sight on both Cradle World and UCM military instillations.
This will be the centrepiece of our upcoming line of Scenario Packs!

New Release Roadmap for Q1, 2014

Here is a general summary for the expected release dates for all these new and exciting releases (precise dates to follow in the new year):

January:
1) UCM Katana Light Tank
2) Shaltari Tarantula Battle Strider
3) PHR Angelos Jetskimmer

February:
1) UCM Eagle Heavy Gunship
2) Shaltari Caiman Heavy Grav-Tank
3) Scourge Stalker
4) Scourge Harbinger Assault Dropship
5) PHR Mercury Scout Drone
6) Monorail Scenario Pack

March:
1) UCM Fireblade Light Tank
2) Shaltari Birdeater Battle Strider
3) Scourge Ravager
4) PHR Helios Jetskimmer
5) Orbital Defence Laser Scenario Pack




Older 2 player starter info in spoiler:

Just saw this. Might get me to buy it.

Does anyone know if the plastic sprues will be available separately? I posted that question on their facebook. Just wondering as it would be easy to start a quick force by buying some more.

about fecking time
lets hop they drop there prices of the overly expensive stuf plastic is the way forward not resin

Wait, by my count, the forces each of 3 APC's. I wonder why the main pic shows only 2 on each side.

They'd be stupid not to offer the sprues separately. Even if they didn't, it's more economical to buy the game and throw away the faction you don't play than to buy the restics.

I'd love to pick up a few sprues like this for the PHR. I'd rather get the MLRS than APCs, but you're still getting some nice walking drones and UAVs for 28mm games.

Ok, have been looking at this for a while and now they release a set with the 2 factions I like, I think someone is trying to tell me something.

The starter set is fantastic news for this game! They'll also be unveiling a new race at GenCon... I will see if I can snap some pics

Wow! I'm extremely shocked to see them move to hard plastic. Does anyone know if more of the range is moving in this direction? They must be doing well to be able to invest in plastic this early in their life. Anyone know who is producing the plastic sprues?

Looks good, glad they're going plastic

I really love the models, but I've been thinking about selling off my UCM stuff, in a year I still haven't played once or even got around to painting them.. just too busy :(

Wow looks very nice, and sure this will help sell the game to people.

Always thought the miniatures were great and surprised it hasn't been taken up by more people in my area - now this will start making me think about making a board full of that ridiculously expensive Japanese N-Guarge terrain to make a 10mm scale city..

 bbb wrote:
Wow! I'm extremely shocked to see them move to hard plastic. Does anyone know if more of the range is moving in this direction? They must be doing well to be able to invest in plastic this early in their life. Anyone know who is producing the plastic sprues?

Shocked about plastics you say? Is that really the first thing that shocks you about this? Have you not looked at what this sets costs? You get 2 starter army's, a rule book, terrain and other assorted stuff for a little less than one.... yes ONE starter army!
To me... that's shocking!

Cool, good to see. I can't obviously speak to the quality of their upcoming plastics.. the one resin pack I bought (for use in Heavy Gear) was quite nice and easy to assemble even with the number of details. The cityscape pack (parts of which are included above in the new starter) is definitely a great value and good quality for cardstock.

If I ever saw two people playing the game locally, I'd consider picking it up. I can only support one game no one plays and that niche is firmly locked up with the above mentioned Heavy Gear currently. :(

I didn't even notice that, Bubbalicious... that's a good sign, as price has been the main barrier to most people picking up this game that I've spoken to.

It's fairly easy to play, doesn't require a ton of models, and now has cheap in-scale terrain offered along with it... so price was the main remaining hindrance to wider adoption.

I liked the idea of this game until I saw the prices at the flgs. Now in plastic I'll be really tempted. Especially tempted just by the terrain which could work with mechafront as well. I've really been watching since I saw some previews of the larger tanks they've been showing.

 RiTides wrote:
I didn't even notice that, Bubbalicious... that's a good sign, as price has been the main barrier to most people picking up this game that I've spoken to.

It's fairly easy to play, doesn't require a ton of models, and now has cheap in-scale terrain offered along with it... so price was the main remaining hindrance to wider adoption.

Indeed, it seemed to be a common complaint when I checked out all the DZC threads a few months back in the misc minis forum. I'd be curious to see if there is any loss of detail with the switch to plastic with a side by side comparison. That potential loss of detail seems to be a big topic of discussion over on the Warzone thread.

 Theophony wrote:
I liked the idea of this game until I saw the prices at the flgs. Now in plastic I'll be really tempted. Especially tempted just by the terrain which could work with mechafront as well. I've really been watching since I saw some previews of the larger tanks they've been showing.

The same is true of me in the opposite sense- I have the terrain already, which tempts me to get Mecha Front models, which should work well with it

 warboss wrote:

 RiTides wrote:
I didn't even notice that, Bubbalicious... that's a good sign, as price has been the main barrier to most people picking up this game that I've spoken to.

It's fairly easy to play, doesn't require a ton of models, and now has cheap in-scale terrain offered along with it... so price was the main remaining hindrance to wider adoption.

Indeed, it seemed to be a common complaint when I checked out all the DZC threads a few months back in the misc minis forum. I'd be curious to see if there is any loss of detail with the switch to plastic with a side by side comparison. That potential loss of detail seems to be a big topic of discussion over on the Warzone thread.

There are some closeups of the pieces over at beasts of war, just skip a bit forward.
http://www.beastsofwar.com/dropzone-commander/dropzone-commander-2-player-plastic-starter-set-unboxed/

Wow, that looks like quite the starter set- definitely more interested in it now.

This interests me. I've been eyeing the resin stuff off and on. If they sell the sprues separately, I may just buy some to mess around with them.

Love the idea, but it figures it both the factions I not into. Where is the other starter. Then I have no choose but to buy.

Bubbalicious wrote:

 warboss wrote:

 RiTides wrote:
I didn't even notice that, Bubbalicious... that's a good sign, as price has been the main barrier to most people picking up this game that I've spoken to.

It's fairly easy to play, doesn't require a ton of models, and now has cheap in-scale terrain offered along with it... so price was the main remaining hindrance to wider adoption.

Indeed, it seemed to be a common complaint when I checked out all the DZC threads a few months back in the misc minis forum. I'd be curious to see if there is any loss of detail with the switch to plastic with a side by side comparison. That potential loss of detail seems to be a big topic of discussion over on the Warzone thread.

There are some closeups of the pieces over at beasts of war, just skip a bit forward.
http://www.beastsofwar.com/dropzone-commander/dropzone-commander-2-player-plastic-starter-set-unboxed/

Thanks for the link. I'm not too familiar with most of the models but I'll try to find some similarly sized and angled pics for comparison.

Top plastic, bottom resin.



I'd say that the detail carried over pretty well assuming that those are indeed pics of the plastic models (which I have no reason to doubt frankly). Some of the edges seem a bit softer but that could be due to the painted resin models having edge painting. Either way, it seems like a very good transition.

 warboss wrote:

 RiTides wrote:
I didn't even notice that, Bubbalicious... that's a good sign, as price has been the main barrier to most people picking up this game that I've spoken to.

It's fairly easy to play, doesn't require a ton of models, and now has cheap in-scale terrain offered along with it... so price was the main remaining hindrance to wider adoption.

Indeed, it seemed to be a common complaint when I checked out all the DZC threads a few months back in the misc minis forum. I'd be curious to see if there is any loss of detail with the switch to plastic with a side by side comparison. That potential loss of detail seems to be a big topic of discussion over on the Warzone thread.

The loss of detail is overstated and overrated in that thread. Plastics generally sell many times what metals and resins sell for, and price is part of that. For the price, I guarantee the quality will be satisfactory to most. Unless they screw up like Mantic.

Mantic's recent issues don't really have to due with details lost in material transition but rather not sculpting the details in the first place or sculpting details in almost ridiculous proportions.

I edited my post above with some large comparison pics hidden under the spoiler tag (otherwise they'd take up several screens!).

 warboss wrote:
Thanks for the link. I'm not too familiar with most of the models but I'll try to find some similarly sized and angled pics for comparison.

Top plastic, bottom resin.

Spoiler:

I'd say that the detail carried over pretty well assuming that those are indeed pics of the plastic models (which I have no reason to doubt frankly). Some of the edges seem a bit softer but that could be due to the painted resin models having edge painting. Either way, it seems like a very good transition.

They look really good! And the detail on these models is very fine, so it's awesome that they were able to translate it into plastic (not sure if this is "hard plastic" a la GW, or restic we're talking about here, though).

From what is written in the OP and the look of the sprues, it's normal plastic. I absolutely hate the mess of a confusion that mantic's arbitrary changing of model making industry standard terms for decades is causing. It's just plain plastic!! I never had to ask if "plastic glue" worked on plastic models before mantic's dropping of the otherwise clear restic term.

Okay well let's not go down that road in this thread

Hard plastic sprues, this is pretty amazing!

 RiTides wrote:

 warboss wrote:
Thanks for the link. I'm not too familiar with most of the models but I'll try to find some similarly sized and angled pics for comparison.

Top plastic, bottom resin.

Spoiler:

I'd say that the detail carried over pretty well assuming that those are indeed pics of the plastic models (which I have no reason to doubt frankly). Some of the edges seem a bit softer but that could be due to the painted resin models having edge painting. Either way, it seems like a very good transition.

They look really good! And the detail on these models is very fine, so it's awesome that they were able to translate it into plastic (not sure if this is "hard plastic" a la GW, or restic we're talking about here, though).

Pet peeve, but assuming we're talking about Privateer-style plastics can we quit calling it restic and call it PVC like it actually is? It's just not polystyrene, which is why polystyrene cement doesn't work on it. There's no resin involved at any point, or at least no more than any other plastic.

Irregardless, this is pretty clearly polystyrene.

Yes actually a lot of minis out there are PVC. I'm actually looking into PVC for my game I dunno what Mantic's is though.

I'd assume these are gonna be the standard good ole fashioned "real" plastic we get in other model type kits, for everyone that loves stinky glue.

This set is tempting.. I might have better luck getting friends to play if there's armies for 2 players. Maybe I'll see if I can trade my PHR army for this

Just sent out a PM but figured I'd put this in the thread as well. If someone just wants the starter for the minis and rules, I'd be interested in buying the buildings and tiles to pad my existing cityscape set. The set isn't released until the end of September so we've got a while to figure it out.

Noir wrote:
Love the idea, but it figures it both the factions I not into. Where is the other starter. Then I have no choose but to buy.

I was considering buying Shatari or PHR. Now I am left with the dilemma of whether or not to buy the starter and save some money, or splurge and buy the stuff that I really want.

Maybe this will help my FLGS with picking the system up.

I'll be picking this up to expand my ucm and use the scourge to intro some fellow gamers.

Well its about time this is happening. This game looked great from the very beginning but when it dropped the price put a load of people off. Hopefully its not too late and people are still interested in this. I see getting at least 2 of these boxes and hopefully the rest of the range goes plastic too as they are still too expensive for what you get outside that starter and the cardboard scenery

Hard plastic instead of expensive resin you say?

Suddenly interested instead of completely disinterested.

Assuming the other armies go hard plastic as well, that is. Love the UCM and the androids, but the Scourge are rather fugly.

I wonder what tooling company they're using... the sprues say made in Great Britain and don't look like they're a Renedra job.

They've nailed the gaming table, that looks great.

What does the game play like? I haven't heard much about it. Epic armageddon is pretty hard to beat as a system.

I'm surprised they haven't gone down the Kickstarter route with this to hard plastic everything and start really making the game into something a lot of people will want to buy.

This is totally awesome. The price is unbeatable and the UCM Condors get see-through canopies with some interior detail. Sign me up.

Also as a side note I am a huge fan of the box art. Not only is it cinematic and engrossing, but it also shows what appears to be an unreleased UCM fighter.

 judgedoug wrote:
Wait, by my count, the forces each of 3 APC's. I wonder why the main pic shows only 2 on each side.

On hawks web sight they state that there is one spare apc for each army.

 scarletsquig wrote:
What does the game play like? I haven't heard much about it. Epic armageddon is pretty hard to beat as a system.

It's nothing like any Epic system, it's designed around small armies and uses the basic 40k combat mechanics (as I understand them from 2nd Edition, can't say for the current rules), with a few bolt on bits for the commanders (and strategy cards), dropships (except in certain scenarios these are mandatory), fast moving fliers and intra-building infantry combat.

I've given up on it for now as I find the rules generally lacklustre, but I'm still building my PHR army in the hope that a 2nd edition will one day release the potential.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Welsh_Furey wrote:

 judgedoug wrote:
Wait, by my count, the forces each of 3 APC's. I wonder why the main pic shows only 2 on each side.

On hawks web sight they state that there is one spare apc for each army.

There are 3 sprues for each faction and both of the armies only require 2 APCs (as each APC holds 3 stands and all transports in the game must start fully loaded).

Blue Table Painting has a bunch of demo videos done at their valhalla convention/get together on their Youtube account. The games are actually against the owner of the game as he came across the pond for a promotional tour apparently and hit a few cons in a row.

 Riquende wrote:

 scarletsquig wrote:
What does the game play like? I haven't heard much about it. Epic armageddon is pretty hard to beat as a system.

It's nothing like any Epic system, it's designed around small armies and uses the basic 40k combat mechanics (as I understand them from 2nd Edition, can't say for the current rules), with a few bolt on bits for the commanders (and strategy cards), dropships (except in certain scenarios these are mandatory), fast moving fliers and intra-building infantry combat.

I've given up on it for now as I find the rules generally lacklustre, but I'm still building my PHR army in the hope that a 2nd edition will one day release the potential.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Welsh_Furey wrote:

 judgedoug wrote:
Wait, by my count, the forces each of 3 APC's. I wonder why the main pic shows only 2 on each side.

On hawks web sight they state that there is one spare apc for each army.

There are 3 sprues for each faction and both of the armies only require 2 APCs (as each APC holds 3 stands and all transports in the game must start fully loaded).

I find the rules to be very good and very tactical and more objective based than alot of wargames

Welsh_Furey wrote:
I find the rules to be very good and very tactical and more objective based than alot of wargames

Fair enough. I find them largley derivative of simplistic games like 40k and the unique elements are clunky, dice-heavy and overall poorly implemented. Not sure it's more or less tactical than anything else I play regularly. It certainly does push objective based scenarios, but any game can have that if the players agree to one beforehand. DzC's trick is to outright say in the book the game isn't designed for 'pitched battles'.

 Riquende wrote:

Welsh_Furey wrote:
I find the rules to be very good and very tactical and more objective based than alot of wargames

Fair enough. I find them largley derivative of simplistic games like 40k and the unique elements are clunky, dice-heavy and overall poorly implemented. Not sure it's more or less tactical than anything else I play regularly. It certainly does push objective based scenarios, but any game can have that if the players agree to one beforehand. DzC's trick is to outright say in the book the game isn't designed for 'pitched battles'.

I've not played a game, but I have to say my impression was quite similar. When I, as a 25 year vet with an IQ regularly tested in the 120-130 range, have to repeatedly read sections of the rules, and even then can't be sure I've got it straight, there may be a problem with the ruleset.

Not to say that I've written it off, I don't think one could very easily with minis that good looking, but I may well buy a few units to paint and put thinking about playing on the back burner until 2nd edition.

 azreal13 wrote:

I've not played a game, but I have to say my impression was quite similar. When I, as a 25 year vet with an IQ regularly tested in the 120-130 range, have to repeatedly read sections of the rules, and even then can't be sure I've got it straight, there may be a problem with the ruleset.

Why on earth do you regularly test your IQ? Are you afraid of contracting communicable stupidity???

How else does one know when 'the weed' is becoming a problem?

 warboss wrote:

 azreal13 wrote:

I've not played a game, but I have to say my impression was quite similar. When I, as a 25 year vet with an IQ regularly tested in the 120-130 range, have to repeatedly read sections of the rules, and even then can't be sure I've got it straight, there may be a problem with the ruleset.

Why on earth do you regularly test your IQ? Are you afraid of contracting communicable stupidity???

Well, he DOES frequent the internet.

 warboss wrote:

 azreal13 wrote:

I've not played a game, but I have to say my impression was quite similar. When I, as a 25 year vet with an IQ regularly tested in the 120-130 range, have to repeatedly read sections of the rules, and even then can't be sure I've got it straight, there may be a problem with the ruleset.

Why on earth do you regularly test your IQ? Are you afraid of contracting communicable stupidity???

Well, if you were as smart as me, you'd know that "regularly" doesn't actually imply any actual time frame.

What I meant was that in the three or four times I've taken an IQ test in my 35 years on the planet I've normally tested in that range (was 118 once, but I was either still slightly drunk or hungover)

But it does pay to be vigilant, stupidity is a disease not a lifestyle!

This is pretty nice. And makes it much more possible I might pick something like this up. I was impressed originally at the models originally but the price completely put me off for a game I might not be able to find players for.

I do wish they had done the PRH instead of the Scourge cause then it would be a no brainer but it looks great for a starter.

The box is awesome and makes quite a Iot people here want to play. I expect PHR and Shaltari sprues after the box hits the shelves and proves decently popular. It simply makes sense to offer them, too. As I want to play UCM, I am well set for the moment.

The rules themselves may not to be everybodies taste but aside from the assault rules they are actually quite straightforward without real ambiguities. We enjoy them for sure. The dropships could play an even bigger role then they do already though.

Well, I think this boxed set offers tremendously good value. I've been interested in the game ever since it first came out, and this gives me the opportunity to check several boxes all at once for what I think is a great price:
UCM miniatures (my favorite of the ranges) - check
Sample card buildings (want to see if they'll be okay with Epic) - check
Updated rulebook (which I was considering getting anyway) - check
Opposing force (so I can get my friends into it) - check

So I went ahead and ordered it. Looking forward to giving it a go!

There is a blog somewhere that compares the buildings with the epic ones. If you search cityscape dropzone epic you should find it somewhere in the images.

 scarletsquig wrote:
Hard plastic instead of expensive resin you say?

Suddenly interested instead of completely disinterested.

Assuming the other armies go hard plastic as well, that is. Love the UCM and the androids, but the Scourge are rather fugly.

I wonder what tooling company they're using... the sprues say made in Great Britain and don't look like they're a Renedra job.

I had a chat with them today. The sprues look fantastic - some of the best detail I've ever seen on a plastic sprue, surpassing even wargames factory in quality. It is not Renedra who made them, it is another plastics firm who have not done miniatures before. Because their stuff is mostly sculpted in CAD it gave them a wide array of options to work with for tooling.

 warboss wrote:
There is a blog somewhere that compares the buildings with the epic ones. If you search cityscape dropzone epic you should find it somewhere in the images.

Thanks for the tip. They look like they'll work okay so I'm looking forward even more to seeing them in person.

 warboss wrote:
Just sent out a PM but figured I'd put this in the thread as well. If someone just wants the starter for the minis and rules, I'd be interested in buying the buildings and tiles to pad my existing cityscape set. The set isn't released until the end of September so we've got a while to figure it out.

I would be interested in this exchange. Please PM me with your terms.

as much as I am glad they have made plastic minatures I still think the box is a bit light on models 12 stands of infantry and afew tanks is hardly great space marine and titan legion you got a vast amount more and buildings but guess it may just be my point of view.

still think hawk war games is a bit of a rip off but time will tell if they move to plastic and drop there stupid prices then it may be the game we all hoped for instead of what it is.

but its a step in the right direction at least heres hoping

bit81 wrote:
as much as I am glad they have made plastic minatures I still think the box is a bit light on models 12 stands of infantry and afew tanks is hardly great space marine and titan legion you got a vast amount more and buildings but guess it may just be my point of view.

still think hawk war games is a bit of a rip off but time will tell if they move to plastic and drop there stupid prices then it may be the game we all hoped for instead of what it is.

but its a step in the right direction at least heres hoping

A bit of perspective: The 10mm DZC vehicles are 3 to 4 times more massive than Epic's 6mm scale vehicles. Additionally, Space Marine and Titan Legions came out 20 years ago, when gas was 80 cents per gallon.

Anyone found the WIP pics of the new faction?

Faeit212 blog has pics from gencon its the resistance sort of mad max style.
http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-resistence-is-coming.html?m=1i

Interesting!

They look quite orkish... which doesn't necessarily break the mold set by previous releases. In a way, Ucm are Ig, Phr are marines, Shaltari are Eldar, Scourge are nids, and now the resistance are orks. While the above is clearly a massive simplification, the factions seem to be progressing at least conceptually in a 40k-esque fashion.

But how do they fly?

I was promised flying!

 xole wrote:
But how do they fly?

I was promised flying!

Really big cannons, landing is a pain.

I see soviet influence when i look, not Orks.

 stratassj wrote:
I see soviet influence when i look, not Orks.

I see that, but also see technicals like some of the warlords had in Somalia, and we even saw Talibs and NA with early in Afghanistan.

I wouldn't buy them, but I definitely like them. They don't have the same crossover potential to scales I'd be more inclined to play, but I like the GLA look.

Really like this start up set, just wish they did PHR as I really like that army, and also wish my gaming group would pick this game up as well :/

On GenCon, Games&Gears announced their kickstarter-plans for battle boards (pics reposted from faeit212):

Looks like DZC is moving in the right direction! Although it's hard to see how a non air mobile army like the resistance can thrive against the super high tech feel of the other armies.

kestral wrote:
Looks like DZC is moving in the right direction! Although it's hard to see how a non air mobile army like the resistance can thrive against the super high tech feel of the other armies.

Maybe they can't. Maybe the Resistance only gets involved when the fighting comes to them, rather than going out and invading other planets themselves. What percentage of an army's points is usually spent on dropships? If the Resistance gets to ignore the usual "everybody flies" rule, that could be a significant mitigating factor.

I sent Hawk Wargames an email asking about making the sprues available separately and whether the PHR and Shaltari will be getting their own, so hopefully I'll have an answer for everyone when they get back later this week.

I'm not familiar with the game. Does the number of figures on an infantry base make a difference? If not, could you spread the provided troops across more bases to give that extra APC some passengers?

 CptJake wrote:
I'm not familiar with the game. Does the number of figures on an infantry base make a difference? If not, could you spread the provided troops across more bases to give that extra APC some passengers?

It's not that simple. Every transport in DzC has to start the game fully loaded, which means that even if you spread the guys out to get the 3rd APC loaded up, that APC then needs to share a Dropship with a 4th APC.

Alternatively the 3rd APC could drive on instead of being dropped, but it would move so slowly (first turn move would be 3" measured from board edge, then 6" move each turn) that it's possible the infantry being carred inside would never do anything useful. That all depends on scenario of course, in some cases it could actually be a decent idea. Oh, and there are some Force Org charts you have to adhere to as well. Don't have access to those right now but I think it should be okay, even if you have to make a 2nd Infantry battlegroup.

A better idea for that 3rd APC (from the UCM side) is to make a boxy trailer and get yourself a free Kodiak:

That looks pretty cool. From a quick google search, it appears it gives you some orbital strikes. Does it do anything else with that giant radar/comm dish like make some guns AA that aren't?

I got a reply back from Hawk Wargames. Unfortunately, neither separate sprues nor the other faction sprues are coming any time soon, but the latter sounds more solid a possibility than the former:

Hawk Wargames wrote:1. These sprues will only be available as part of the starter set, we may look to break them out in the future but not for some time.
2. We want to give all the races a plastic starter set in the future, however due to the large upfront cost of these we wont be able to do this for the remaining (and future) races for some time.

Hawk have been running some teaser pics for their 4th wave of releases (large images so spoilered):


Looks like some sort of UCM smoothbore cannon tank for building demolition


Scourge vehicle, probably an alternative scout walker that shoots


Shaltari warstrider, looks a bit flatter than regilar ones, with some sort of bulky gun on top


PHR skimmer, possibly AA given the angle of its top bit


Looks like a UCM medium dropship with its transport capacity replaced by missile pods


Could be a new Scourge flyer, the weapon under the chin is AA


Shaltari heavy grav tank probably


Small sized flyer for the PHR, maybe an unmanned scout


Light UCM tank with a flamethrower


Another Sourge walker


Shaltari light walker with AA


PHR skimmer variant, looks like smoothbore gun

 AlexHolker wrote:
I got a reply back from Hawk Wargames. Unfortunately, neither separate sprues nor the other faction sprues are coming any time soon, but the latter sounds more solid a possibility than the former:

Hawk Wargames wrote:1. These sprues will only be available as part of the starter set, we may look to break them out in the future but not for some time.
2. We want to give all the races a plastic starter set in the future, however due to the large upfront cost of these we wont be able to do this for the remaining (and future) races for some time.

Ah, thanks for the info. I'm not in any hurry to get started with this game so will wait until the Shaltari get their sprues.

They do know they could probably raise $1m+ with ease and hard plastic the entire mini range just by doing a kickstarter right?

At this point we're very, very confident about the company.. everything they do oozes high quality, and that tends to be the way to go if you want to have a chance on kickstarter. Talked to them at the Mantic open day and they seem to really know their stuff. Even the resin is flexible rather than breakable which is nice. Got a free card terrain sample which is pretty awesome in terms of being flatpack terrain that is actually flatpack in a useful sense, it can be taken to a game folded up next to the rulebook. They have really properly thought through every practical aspect of playing the game, and with Epic now OOP...

I'm at the point where there's still no way I'm paying for an all-resin shaltari force, but would happily throw a ton at a kickstarter that offered hard plastic (pretty much any KS that offered that material is very enticing, simply because most companies don't bother).

 scarletsquig wrote:
and with Epic now OOP...

DzC will never be a replacement for Epic, if your reason for wanting to play is something to scratch the Epic itch, you'll be disappointed. Dave Lewis said in an interview he didn't enjoy Epic (don't remember him saying which version) and was conciously trying to make DzC a very different game.

IF they did a KS they'd have to be prepared to expand their working operation since they'd still have regular orders to deliver whilst at the same time producing a huge bulk of models for the KS.

KS is great for getting started, but at this point in Hawk Wargames life they likely couldn't take the massive bulk of a KS order without either pulling regular distribution or expanding their working team (And that's always a risk in the long term since you don't want to end up with a company too big to fund itself).

They could certainly do very well off a KS - model companies with quality miniatures in the hands of players always do very well when running a KS and it could be a huge boost to their active player and customer base.

Those new releases look awesome. Given that this is an advent calendar thing, I am led to believe that they have 24 new models. If this is so, it is truly impressive.

A kickstarter would certainly make the plastic people happy. However, if you have seen the resins, they are very nice. I am not really a plastic person, so I am biased, but the resins for this line are really good. The ones that I have are not difficult to assemble and barely had any mold lines at all.

The wave 4 models look great! And please, no Kickstarter, they've done well without it... carried by my local store, unlike many Kickstarter'ed projects. I'd back it, but at this point I don't think they need it. Hopefully they can traditionally fund a plastic starter for the other two races at some point.

 RiTides wrote:
The wave 4 models look great! And please, no Kickstarter, they've done well without it... carried by my local store, unlike many Kickstarter'ed projects. I'd back it, but at this point I don't think they need it. Hopefully they can traditionally fund a plastic starter for the other two races at some point.

Agreed.

I hate KS now these days, at first it was a way of helping new company's get started, but now its same big company's selling a game just like pre-ordering a video game, where if you pay a certain amount you get exclusive extra that no one will get.

The problem is that while this can work for video games, as its just a few extras that you can use, it doesn't work well in Tabletop standards imo.

This annoys me as I don't want to feel pressured into buying something and find this method greedy, if I invest in something like a KS I want everyone to buy the whole range not just the general range and then some exclusive's that will never be sold again that im investing in.

So I hope they keep to the traditional way of selling things

I'd have mixed feelings about a kickstarer, the main benefit seems to me to be the extra promotion they seem to create, as most of them are just used as a mass pre order system than anything else. Either way i think hawk should go far, Dave is crazy passionate about is product and it has to be my favourite game at the moment.

I am very excited about the plastic sprues coming out. I wish there were a way just to buy the plastic minis without subsidizing terrain, rules or dice. I'd buy these ships just for the pew-pews.

 spaceelf wrote:
Those new releases look awesome. Given that this is an advent calendar thing, I am led to believe that they have 24 new models. If this is so, it is truly impressive.

Its 12 days of new models then 12 days of more detail on those 12 models.

So were the images for wave 4 meant to be released by now? just I cant find any images of wave 4 apart from the spoilers if that is the case..

The images are on their facebook page. They are not pics of the models, but are rather computer renders. The new pics show the entire model, rather than a closeup of one section.

Could a kind soul copy / paste them here? At least, once they're up (if there aren't any yet)?

LOVE the previews for the PHR-stuff and the UCM Flame-tank is cool too!

 RiTides wrote:
Could a kind soul copy / paste them here? At least, once they're up (if there aren't any yet)?

I'm not being a particularly good news source, am I?

I've updated my previous post on the subject with the remainder of the teasers, and started updating the OP with the proper preview images and Hawk's brief description of what they are.

Massive amount of awesome pics on the Hawk Wargames facebook page. Seriously, this is a ton of new units! I am very excited

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hawk-Wargames/215887118516882

So that I can run an all-walker Shaltari force (light walkers for Standard slot, and probably Support when armed with AA):



PHR gets a skimmer!



And Scourge gets a walker, what's the world coming to



Other full previews shown (more still coming):

That Heavy long range anti- tank looks fantastic for the Shaltari !

OP updated with more previews.

Those look amazing. Will they be plastic?

I very much doubt it.

These are all going to be resin. Makes it possible to build a much greater variety of lists, though... so has those of us who already play very excited

I do love the shaltari heavy tank makes me want to do an all skimmer list.

I'm thinking of doing the opposite, all-walker

You should add in the picture for the new flamethrower tank. It looks ace.

 RiTides wrote:
These are all going to be resin. Makes it possible to build a much greater variety of lists, though... so has those of us who already play very excited

Well, I'm glad they have nice things.


But you'll let us know when they have some more sweet plastics coming out, right?

Those tasty, tasty plastics.

 Nightwolf829 wrote:
You should add in the picture for the new flamethrower tank. It looks ace.

Agreed . I would but I'm on a tablet.

Bob, yep but it would only be a starter set for the the other two factions, and that's a ways out, I believe.

Christmas Previews Roundup

We hope you all enjoyed our previews advent calendar! We've been reading all your comments and have decided it would be best to answer many of them in a summary newsletter, detailing more information on all these exiting releases for Q1 of the new year! As usual, shots of the real miniatures, along with full background, information and rules will be available to download as the models become available to pre-order.

1) UCM Katana Light Tank



The Katana is built upon a lighter, nimbler version of the more common Sabre-type chassis. In a further effort to save weight, UCM military engineers have also adopted a less power-hungry weapon system; a twin high-velocity cannon. This armament has a superior rate of fire to the more common railgun, although it does not have quite the same punch or range.

2) UCM Fireblade Light Tank



The Fireblade is based on the same chassis as the Katana and features the same increased speed as its sister. Unlike the Katata, the Fireblade has a very specific battlefield role; to expunge enemy infantry from structures with its formidable flamethrower!

3) UCM Eagle Heavy Gunship



The Eagle is essentially a weaponised variant of the condor which sacrifices its transport capacity in favour of devastating firepower. The Eagle packs a pair of heavy railguns as well as two independently targeting multi-rocket pods. This allows the Eagle to lay waste to virtually anything on the ground!

4) Shaltari Tarantula Battle Strider



The Tarantula is a smaller, more agile version of the towering Warstriders. Battle Striders feature anti-grav assistors and clamps on their legs and feet, allowing them to climb sheer surfaces to attack from above!
The Tarantula's primary armament is the highly advanced Gravatic Magnifier, a weapon which delivers crushing fore to anything with mass. The larger and heavier the target, the more devastating this weapon becomes! By its very nature, it is also effective against skimmers.
It is also armed with a nose mounted micro-laser, a small but deadly accurate weapon well suited to destroying lightly armoured targets from great distances.

5) Shaltari Birdeater Battle Strider



The Birdeater is an anti-air variant of the Tarantula, armed with the familiar and lethal twin ion-cannon. It often employs its climbing abilities to gain a commanding view of the battlefield - a highly useful ability for an anti-air unit! Since it is less agile than the Kukri, it is better suited to more static defensive roles, where its superior survivability makes it a favourite of the Shaltari Warchiefs who favour heavier units.

6) Shaltari Caiman Heavy Grav-Tank



The Caiman is truly formidable battlefield predator whose agility belies its massive size. Its primary armament is the Gauss Triad, a weapon designed to reliably cut through heavy armour at long range. It is also armed with a pair of micro-lasers on traversable turrets. Although less well armoured than Warstriders of equivalent size, the Caiman's agility can be used to deadly effect by the more subtle of Shaltari Warchiefs.

7) Scourge Stalker



The Stalker is a highly aggressive frontline tank hunter unit, designed to deliver crippling damage to the heaviest armoured units at close range using its frighteningly powerful eletro-web caster. It fulfils a role similar to the smaller Prowler, although the Stalker is more suited to direct, frontline assaults where its much heavier armour lends it greater survivability.

8) Scourge Ravager



The Ravager is a flexible anti-air unit, usually employed by the Scourge when long term air defence is needed. As a walker, it has much lower power consumption than the more aggressive Reaper skimmer and is often employed by Scourge occupation garrisons on conquered worlds. Coupled with greater survivability and independently targeting weapons, this makes the Ravager an excellent choice for vanguard defence.

9) Scourge Harbinger Assault Dropship



The Harbinger is a large dropship which features heavier armour than the more common Marauder type and is designed primarily for frontal assaults. The Harbinger is often equipped with plasma bombs - devastating freefall weapons which can be deployed from its tail proboscis. It can also be upgraded to carry a small arc caster, allowing it to assist in the decimation of enemy fliers around the Dropzone. The Harbinger is employed primarily to deploy Stalker and Ravager walkers, although it has been seen delivering other horrors direct to the thickest of the fighting...

10) PHR Helios Jetskimmer



The Helios is a high speed attack unit, designed primarily to hunt down enemy aircraft. While somewhat less manoeuvrable than the true skimmers employed by the Shaltari and the Scourge, it can still use its speed to great effect in battle. It is armed only with the RXs-5 'Galaxy' multi-rocket launcher. For what this weapon lacks in power, it more than makes up for in terrific rate of fire, where the sheer quantity of shape charge munitions can even pose a threat to enemy armour.

11) PHR Angelos Jetskimmer



The Angelos is a multi-role fast strike vehicle. It is armed with a single RXs-120 smoothbore heavy cannon (the same weapon employed by the Enyo). Coupled with the Angelos' speed and advanced targeting systems, this can be used in both the anti-structure and anti-armour roles. The Angelos also features a limited transport capacity, allowing it to drop small strike teams of infantry if required.

12) PHR Mercury Scout Drone



The Mercury is an unusual battlefield unit, in that it is totally unarmed. Instead, it carries a highly advanced full spectrum sensor package. This is sufficiently advanced to scan structures to assist ground troops in objective and intel searches as well as normal scout functions. The Mercury is normally carried into battle by the Triton Strike Dropship, which can also be armed with a pair of heavy anti-armour missiles designed to work in tandem with the Mercury's sensor package. This transforms the Triton into a capable anti-armour gunship once it has delivered its pair of Drones to the frontline.

BONUS PREVIEW: Orbital Defence Laser



This is the largest miniature that we have developed so far (by quite a large margin!) It is a massive directed energy weapon normally employed to engage enemy spacecraft and dropship armadas from very long range. It is unwieldy as a tactical, battlefield weapon due to its slow speed of traverse and constrained mount. It is an almost ancient design by UCM standards, and has been in service since before the Scourge invasion. As such, it is a common sight on both Cradle World and UCM military instillations.
This will be the centrepiece of our upcoming line of Scenario Packs!

New Release Roadmap for Q1, 2014

Here is a general summary for the expected release dates for all these new and exciting releases (precise dates to follow in the new year):

January:
1) UCM Katana Light Tank
2) Shaltari Tarantula Battle Strider
3) PHR Angelos Jetskimmer

February:
1) UCM Eagle Heavy Gunship
2) Shaltari Caiman Heavy Grav-Tank
3) Scourge Stalker
4) Scourge Harbinger Assault Dropship
5) PHR Mercury Scout Drone
6) Monorail Scenario Pack

March:
1) UCM Fireblade Light Tank
2) Shaltari Birdeater Battle Strider
3) Scourge Ravager
4) PHR Helios Jetskimmer
5) Orbital Defence Laser Scenario Pack

I'm stoked about the January Shaltari strider, but why does it's variant not come out till March? I'd proxy but the rules for it likely won't be up till then either.

They are probably trying to spread out releases - makes it easier to bulk up production for launch and also means that players get to have stuff over a wider period of time. Helps both avoid oversaturation of the market and also means that players get new stuff for longer*




* something GW doesn't do and oft gets commented upon is the lack of in-between-launch releases for most armies (that are not space marines ).**


** in respect to GW its quite clear that the model of releasing stuff slowly over time is now closed to them. Not because of internal company setup but external factors of other companies that would be eager to "beat GW to market" - something that no other company really has to deal with - even the mighty PP with its Warmachine and Hordes hasn't really got anyone trying to release their own version of the game line on the market.

Color me extremely excited. My Shaltari have reinforcements incoming.

Agreed, got a game of it in today in preparation

Now I am jealous, but I do plan on getting a few games in this weekend with friends. Got all four factions represented currently.

As soon as I get the Tarantula they had better be very afraid.

WOW!!!
that is all...

cheers
jah

From the UCM point of view: I like the Eagle and Fireblade, but I'm just not feeling the Katana.

Did someone ask for flyers for the Resistances.




Scale of the trucks for the Resistances




OP
http://sixdsix.co.uk/?p=3306

They look kind of advanced for a bunch of folks driving technicals.

It reminds me of the reapers from the show Firefly.