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How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 06:19:02


Post by: doktor_g


I'll start:
Farthest Northern California:
-DZC: Only me
-DFC: No one to my knowledge

I was really hoping they would catch on... ho-hum


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 11:06:48


Post by: RiTides


I just got my first demo of Dropfleet this week, and it was awesome! There's quite a group springing up for it at my store, and I'm going in for it with PHR

I previously played DzC, but the barrier to playing it was higher as you needed a lot of terrain, and it got a bit stale with just the paper buildings (too many open fire lanes). From my demo, I felt Dropfleet took some of the better aspects of DzC (and some from BFG). A few of the weaknesses are still there, but not as pronounced. Overall I'm really excited to build up my fleet and play it more!


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 11:47:11


Post by: Mr Morden


We are only a small club

Dropzone - not played regularily at the club but occassional large scale games - quite a few bought it but all still play.

Dropfleet - occassional games, current view is that its a bit overcomplex - especially in relation to the grouond combat stuff - a couple of the members have recently tried the new streamlined rules and one liked and one didnlt (but he likes the ground combat)


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 13:03:27


Post by: Ctaylor


There are streamlined Dropfleet rules?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 13:58:52


Post by: beast_gts


 Ctaylor wrote:
There are streamlined Dropfleet rules?

Hawk released experimental tournament rules that streamline ground combat.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 14:35:06


Post by: Tamwulf


I got into Dropfleet as I saw it as the spiritual successor to Battle Fleet Gothic, and I expected it to be a "Space Fleet" game. Boy, could I have not been more wrong. It's almost deceptive- Hawk really pushes the models, and the models for the fleets are awesome! I love the space combat, and how it flows.

Unfortunately, the game is won or lost in the ground phase. The ground phase is where you score points to win the game. While a fleet in orbit might "blockade" or keep you from landing more troops on a planet, the only way to score in a game is to "take over" space stations or areas on a planet. Your fleets have to have some Troop or launch assets to land on a planet and take it over. The ground combat phase just has this huge disconnect from the space game, and it's incredibly difficult outside of a few very specific warships for your fleet to influence the ground combat, and the ground combat can't really do anything to your fleet. You can land Orbital Batteries on the ground and shoot at a fleet in orbit, but why? The guns don't help you hold the ground, and only a very few specific ships that are set up for Orbital Bombardment can actually bomb a planet, and they are so bad in space combat that you wouldn't want to take them in a fleet.

The biggest issue I have with Dropfleet is the ground combat. They can call the new rules "Optional Tournament Rules" or whatever, but the game is in sore need of a version 1.1 to fix a lot of issues in the current game, or even a 2.0 rule book, and the game just came out!

That's not to say the game is unplayable, but thanks to the way Corvettes work, we are seeing fleets of 3-4 "Bulk Landers"- Troop and Launch asset ships, and hordes of Corvettes because they are really cheap, and really, really good in large amounts.

I enjoy the game, but it has issues. Hawk is willing to listen and are making efforts to improve the game.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Opps, need to answer the question. A few guys play Dropzone every once in a while (about once a month). There is a weekly group that runs Dropfleet every Saturday. They are currently playing an escalation league, and they run a tournament about every six weeks. Dropfleet is doing much, much better then Dropzone. I think that's mostly because my area is dominated by 40K, AoS, WM/H, and X-Wing when it comes to table top gaming.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 16:19:08


Post by: doktor_g


Where are you people?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Should I wait for a new rule book?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/14 17:12:27


Post by: Swabby


Southern AZ, they are extinct.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/16 03:44:22


Post by: nobody


There's always been an ember glowing for DZC in my area (generally 2 of us, but occasionally up to 4 people).

Right now we're taking a break from that for DFC.

I kinda agree that the ground combat aspect seems really overbearing on the game, but as far as Bombardment ships go I love the two that UCM have access to.



How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/16 23:20:29


Post by: Time 2 Roll


My group in Minnesota plays Dropzone among other games and we have all 5 factions going.

No dropfleet


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/17 03:42:16


Post by: FeindusMaximus


In MN 2015-2016 DZC had 6-8layers. DFC had these same players kick start it, but with HWG dropping the ball for late/partial shipment of the KS = everyone is turned off.
Pity actually, both games are good games.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/17 22:16:28


Post by: Digclaw


DZC Died locally right after the Kickstarter Ended. Some people are trying to get DFC going, but I'm not sure if either game will come back


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/17 23:35:19


Post by: Charistoph


 Swabby wrote:
Southern AZ, they are extinct.

Unfortunate.

A little farther north in the Phoenix Metro area we have a major store that has been doing well with it, and a new store that has been doing a good job trying to become a major store that has also been doing well with the DFC side. I am in the neighborhood of the latter, and I often see someone playing one of the games (usually Fleet) when I manage a visit. They have been organizing a few training days and quarterly tournaments for each side of the Metro area. There are a few problems

So, while not as big as 40K or WarmaHordes, it seems to be doing better than Malifaux, and a lot better than Firestorm. It may be a little lower than AoS/9th Age (there has been a growth league going for that) and Infinity (it was starting to have a good build up here on the east side before two big stores bought it last year).


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/18 00:56:23


Post by: Soteks Prophet


I dropped the game due to disliking the mechanics, our local talon also dropped it before dropfleet hit so it's died out.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/18 03:24:31


Post by: AegisGrimm


I actually thought about kitbashing some PHR to be Battlefleet Gothic Craftworld Eldar ships. Their hull nicely mimics the heads of Wraith constructs and vehicle hulls.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/18 15:18:34


Post by: str00dles1


PA -

DZC - Our group has 1 player who does Scourge, one who is UCM, and myself as PHR. Its a on again off again game. We like it a lot. Models are wonderful, but only play it when there is a swarm of new releases for each faction. So when the last book came out we played a good 6-10 games, then it died out again.

DFC - Played a ton after waiting forever for my stuff. Got PHR and was vastly underwhelmed from how they are in space to ground version. Ended up buying a Shaltari army because I was so disgusted. again, same 3 people. but after a lot of game issues, wording issues we stopped playing it. Havent gone back since. I wanted a space game but just wasn't hitting it for us. Might dump the shaltari stuff online for $ and keep the PHR. I know they did a update but we feel better games are taking up our game time.

Seems to be more of a game that's big in the UK or around the world and not really caught in the US


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/18 16:06:18


Post by: Krinsath


Not in touch with the scene around here, but I've seen most of the DZC stuff that stores had pretty much stay there; doesn't seem to be a big uptake for it anymore. One store didn't seem to have any DFC come in, another had a selection of the fleet booster boxes which have (mostly, minus the Scourge) disappeared from the shelves so it sold at least "okay" in my estimation; a retailer might feel differently by 75% of stock sold in a bit under a month seems like it'd fall under that header.

Miniature Market doesn't seem to be having a problem shifting units; both the battleships and corvettes seem to have sold through well and 13 of 27 products are out of stock. Not sure if this is "they're selling them that quickly" or "their restocks are that slow" but since I saw the corvettes at 20+ units and they were sold out shortly thereafter, someone is buying them. Of course, as many people from Europe have discovered the US is really mind-bogglingly big so decent sales for an online vendor doesn't directly translate to a decent playing community in any particular area.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/18 17:14:25


Post by: nobody


It's more that restocks are slow. Distributors were having problems getting new stock/restocks back when DZC first launched, and the recent embargo on restocks until the Kickstarter was done probably did more damage there.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/20 20:13:43


Post by: Freytag93


I'm trying to build up a community for DZC in my area (SW Ohio). I started a project to try and build 5 painted starter armies plus a nice urban board to drum up interested. We'll see how it goes. But as of now I am literally the only one I've seen in at least 2 years.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/24 07:42:09


Post by: FeindusMaximus


 Freytag93 wrote:
I'm trying to build up a community for DZC in my area (SW Ohio). I started a project to try and build 5 painted starter armies plus a nice urban board to drum up interested. We'll see how it goes. But as of now I am literally the only one I've seen in at least 2 years.


DId the same 2 years ago, some interest, but many hours spent at a FGS with little or no interest drummed up. Best of luck


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/24 14:14:27


Post by: Asterios


the game in the US is hit or miss, are there large groups of players in one area? no, are there a couple players here or there? yes, sales show the product sells unlike games like RRT, there are players out there, they are just not in huge groups.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/25 15:02:15


Post by: Capt. Camping


Here in Panama, DZC the is not the most played game as X-wing and 40K, but is not dead like Malifaux and Heavy Gear. Even Heroclix had a horrible decline and burial. I have worked the last two years to maintain some level of interest with at least 5 players.

Right now we are starting an escalation campaign called Reconquest of Eden Prime. We are playing in the city of Romagrad.


[Thumb - campaña-reconquista-eden-prime.jpg]
[Thumb - romagrad2.jpg]


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/26 00:43:41


Post by: Digclaw


 Freytag93 wrote:
I'm trying to build up a community for DZC in my area (SW Ohio). I started a project to try and build 5 painted starter armies plus a nice urban board to drum up interested. We'll see how it goes. But as of now I am literally the only one I've seen in at least 2 years.


there are a couple guys up in the Toledo Area that are always trying to get use to drive up north to play with them (We're in Central Ohio). They seem still enthusiastic about DZC. Not Sure about Dropfleet.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/28 03:43:35


Post by: bocatt


I convinced a friend to come with me to play DZC at a local gaming club. Lots of people watched and were interested but when I dropped it for other things interest kind of died. It's possible if I show up again and start playing it'll pick back up.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/28 15:20:21


Post by: Bobug


We play a lot of dropzone atm, I find its a really good game with great minis. Not interested in dropfleet though


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/29 15:34:31


Post by: Capt. Camping


Some of you are lucky the game is moving very well in your area, others are not so lucky


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/04/29 18:51:08


Post by: Charistoph


 Capt. Camping wrote:
Some of you are lucky the game is moving very well in your area, others are not so lucky

It helps to have a healthy group to start and someone willing to have enough to demo to other people. People wanting to play that scale of game or just get away from GW/Privateer Press also helps.

Dropfleet really took off around here because a lot of Battlefleet Gothic players really missed playing it, and the only other spaceship game in town was Firestorm Armada which few of the game stores carried, and none really encouraged.

The models are well done, my only disappointment is that four factions are a little light, and two are human (5 and 3 if you include the Resistance in the ground game). It makes it easier to balance, but for someone who likes variety, it makes it harder to choose.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/04 23:40:03


Post by: winnertakesall


Feel sorry for you folks, my Hawk community is pretty lively, don't struggle to get a game of either ever. Probably about a dozen Dropzone players, and a dozen Dropfleet players, and they're not the same dozen which is nice


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/05 00:06:18


Post by: chaos0xomega


North Jersey:

DZC - Lots of people who own the game, almost everyone says nothing but positive things about the game and says they want to play it, but when push comes to shove nobody shows up for it, everyone would rather play Warmachine or 40k.

DFC - A handful of people bought into the game, but none of us have bothered to even assemble our stuff.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/05 14:05:01


Post by: Asterios


problem is nothing wrong with the game itself, its just a matter of time and too many decent games to play.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/07 22:58:55


Post by: totalfailure


People looked it over, said it looks cool, and the rules are solid....then turned around and went right back to playing 40K or Warmachine. It's dead as dead can be around here...


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/08 06:51:56


Post by: Souleater


UK.

Four folks play it that I know. They love DFC.

At the local club AoS accounts for 80% of the games played.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/08 22:49:18


Post by: Capt. Camping


Here in my local area, they dont like much games with smaller scale. As I said before X-Wing and 40K have taken all players


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/30 23:47:39


Post by: Digclaw


Asterios wrote:
problem is nothing wrong with the game itself, its just a matter of time and too many decent games to play.


The game play for DZC is great, the force org...... not so much. It is basically DST


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/05/31 20:27:22


Post by: Charistoph


The Talons here in the Phoenix Valley, Arizona, are starting up a Slow Growth league for Dropfleet. I'd be more interested but I don't have the funds to get in to Dropfleet, atm.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/01 15:23:48


Post by: Tamwulf


A lot of people (myself included) thought we were getting Battle Fleet Gothic 2.0, when in reality we got a sorta space game where you want to land troops on a planet and fight "ground combat" to win a game. You HAVE to play this way- eliminating the opposing fleet does NOT win you the game if you don't/can't land troops on a planet. So game play gets summed up as take 1/2 your fleet in transports, the other half in anti-transports. Race your transports to the planet/station, drop your troops off, and then they just become a nuisance. If your anti-transports can't destroy your opponent's transports before they drop their troops off (and it's actually pretty damn hard to blow a cruiser up in this game), then you are kind screwed. If your opponent lands troops before you on a planet, then you need at least a 2-1 advantage on that planet in the hopes of taking and holding that planet.

Instead of huge, awesome cruisers and battleships slugging it out in space, the most effective ships are carriers and corvettes, and the more you can take, the better. But oh wait! I need transports to take planets.

I love the space combat, but hate the idea of just how effective corvettes are. The ground combat is cluttered, feels like a total disconnect and separate game from the space combat, and nothing that happens in space affects what's going on the planet, and nothing on the planet affects the space combat in any meaningful way besides being a victory condition. Yes, there is planetary bombardment, but again, if your opponent lands troops on a planet and scores, and you nuke the planet, well, your opponent still keeps his score and you just lost any chance of scoring on that planet. You have to have boots on the ground to control a planet and win the game.

Don't get me started on Force Organization. Who ever thought Battlegroup was a great idea to describe Force Organization, a "squadron" of ships, and how you deploy... would it really have been that difficult to use actual nautical terms for groupings of ships and organization? They use the nautical terms cruiser, corvette, frigate, carrier, marines, admirals, etc. etc. DZC does a very, very poor job of explaining fleet organization and using the same term (Battlegroup!) to describe very different rules and concepts.

There has been a lot of mathematical proof showing that some ships are simply not worth taking, and that other ships (corvettes! Bombers) are way OP.

On the plus side, Hawk is listening, taking suggestions, and making errata where appropriate. I have every confidence that Drop Zone Commander 2.0 will be an even better game than it is now. There is some real depth to the game, but it's overly complicated force organization and disparate phases (space vs. ground combat) can really turn you off from playing more than a handful of games.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/02 14:52:28


Post by: Tamwulf


A little addendum to my last post:

I visited the Hawk Wargames forum and found that they have put out a good chunk of errata for more than a few ships. They have also retooled the ground combat portion of the game and marked it as "experimental", but they look good. It also sounds like they are aware of the Fleet Organization issue and working on that as well. It's not all doom and gloom, and I might have to go get a game in this weekend.

Hawk Wargames continues to impress me with how they are willing to listen to players and are not afraid to make corrections.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/03 18:29:04


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


I remember someone was working on a pure space-combat version of the game. Did they ever finish that?

I have, for ideological reasons, refused to build any of my plastic cruisers into stupid, boring troop carriers.





How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/04 15:17:55


Post by: Tamwulf


 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I remember someone was working on a pure space-combat version of the game. Did they ever finish that?

I have, for ideological reasons, refused to build any of my plastic cruisers into stupid, boring troop carriers.


I bought two UMC Starter boxes and made one San Francisco and two New Orleans. The guy teaching me the game brought 90% of his fleet as Transports. He was like "At 1,500 points, you need at least five Transports, and six is probably better because most scenarios have 3 objectives". I was like "That's 800+ points! Over half my fleet! What am I going to shoot your fleet with?" He pointed out that I scored zero points on the table, and that taking planets is what wins games. So yeah, kinda disappointed that I really can't build the space fleet to fight in space the way I want to. The "Transports Tax" is too high.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/04 19:04:26


Post by: winnertakesall


Nothing to stop you playing different scenarios though. Generally at 1250p you want a troopship and 6 strike carriers, coming in at roughly 350p


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/05 22:22:08


Post by: Digclaw


It is sorta like that in Dropzone Commander as well you need infantry/troops to win scenarios. I play resistance who have scout bikes that count as troops and can enter building. They also have a rule that lets them embark the same turn they disembarked, allowing them to play hopscotch between buildings.

Lucky for me, I love that mechanic. If only I was any good at list building.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/06 07:56:39


Post by: Arcanis161


Central Coast California here.

Dropzone: No clue. Maybe something in Santa Barbara?

Dropfleet: Me and I heard from my FLGS that another person orders some on occasion. Mainly I just need to paint up some ships and demo.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/20 02:21:14


Post by: sqir666


I'm in the Oklahoma City area and no one plays DFC and no LGSes carry it.

There were some people that bought some stuff for DZC played a few games and promptly went back to 40k.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/22 03:52:29


Post by: Capt. Camping


Something most be done to get more players. Is this happening to other games? not 40k or Sigmar


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/22 05:47:32


Post by: Charistoph


 Capt. Camping wrote:
Something most be done to get more players. Is this happening to other games? not 40k or Sigmar

Dropzone is still relatively new here in the States, and it can take a while for those things to take shape while facing the impetus of 40K, WarmaHordes, and X-Wing. It also doesn't help that Infinity got on to the scene before Dropzone, and Firestorm is trying to compete with it on roughly the same level.

The way to build up interest in the game is the same no matter the game: Exposure. People need to be aware of it, they need to see other people wanting to play it, and they need to find an army that they like.

That last one is probably the hardest since there are low-tech humans, medium-tech humans, high-tech humans, the hedgehogs, and the brain-sucking spiders. If you can't get in to one of those armies, its REALLY hard to want to get in to the game.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/22 20:32:06


Post by: Stevefamine


DZC+DFC seems to be popping over in EUR. In the states? Started slow and contained in small meta areas.

Most players are spread thinly in groups of 2-4. Another issue for DZC is the cardstock terrain/barrier to entry. If anyone is in NJ/Philadelphia - hit me up

I have yet to have a game on here that isn't my old roommate





How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/23 15:52:27


Post by: AndrewGPaul


I think the DZC rulebook could have used some more scenario maps that weren't implicitly urban. The photos in the book feature plenty of rural settings with woods, rivers and hills, but the rules themselves rather assume you'll have a lot of tall buildings.

Which probably reinforces the idea that you need a lot of specialist terrain to play this game, when you absolutely don't. Those rivers, hills and woodlands you already have for 28mm games will work for DZC too (in fact, the trees are probably more in scale!). If you've only ever played Warhammer using GW's Citadel Woods and Gaming Hills with all the skulls then it'll look odd, but anyone who's bought the traditional model railway layout trees will be fine.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/23 16:43:11


Post by: Mr Morden


 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I remember someone was working on a pure space-combat version of the game. Did they ever finish that?

I have, for ideological reasons, refused to build any of my plastic cruisers into stupid, boring troop carriers.



I messed about with it a bit - something I will likly go back to along with my rules for my varied Babylon 5 fleets


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/23 22:09:05


Post by: nobody


 AndrewGPaul wrote:
I think the DZC rulebook could have used some more scenario maps that weren't implicitly urban. The photos in the book feature plenty of rural settings with woods, rivers and hills, but the rules themselves rather assume you'll have a lot of tall buildings.

Which probably reinforces the idea that you need a lot of specialist terrain to play this game, when you absolutely don't. Those rivers, hills and woodlands you already have for 28mm games will work for DZC too (in fact, the trees are probably more in scale!). If you've only ever played Warhammer using GW's Citadel Woods and Gaming Hills with all the skulls then it'll look odd, but anyone who's bought the traditional model railway layout trees will be fine.


I've found that FOW terrain works in a pinch. We've played a game in a desert village before (Bunker Assault) that worked out pretty well.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/23 22:16:33


Post by: Vertrucio


Doesn't matter if you don't need a certain terrain, what matters is that the game does a poor job of presenting that fact to players.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/24 02:22:29


Post by: Stevefamine


Yeah they need a better skirmish / rural outlook or style on the game.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/24 04:09:45


Post by: nobody


Yeah, there are several missions which don't need a lot of buildings to work, but they're portrayed as always being urban missions in the rulebook.

Granted, unless you have a lot of high trees or hills (or you constantly fly at the deck), your aircraft aren't going to be able to get very close to the opponent.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/24 12:08:10


Post by: AndrewGPaul


Yes, it really boils down to those maps. That's what makes it look like you always need two dozen buildings for every game.

When we were running demos at shows last year, we had one table that was a city (using 4Ground buildings) and one that was rural, using Battlefront's rivers and Team Yankee roads, a selection of trees and one or two structures.

Actually, reducing the amount of tall scenery might help shake up the games - it'll either force aircraft to fly at the deck, which almost never happens, or it'll require armies to advance in waves - suppress the enemy's AA before bringing in the vulnerable transport planes.

And yes, Vertrucio, that was my point. It looks to me that Hawk offered a strong selection of model buildings (in resin, card or downloads) not because they intended you to play every battle using them, but because that was the only scenery type not already freely available. Unfortunately, that message got garbled.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/26 13:25:25


Post by: Stevefamine


I setup my table this weekend for a game - in a "Edge of the city" type of game. We changed up the deployment a bit so it was fair. Made for some fun shooting and close quarters building fights. I'd like to do any entire table eventually with rural town homes, gas station, and small parks/tree stands eventually and toss in hills.

Sorry for the Instagram filters, its how they saved on my phone at work. I have better pictures







How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/27 07:00:35


Post by: FeindusMaximus


Nice Kurita Jupiter there Sir.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/06/27 08:17:05


Post by: beast_gts


I'm a Resistance player, and can play without aircraft, so they never let me set up tables :-)

We bought some low Blotz buildings (http://blotz.co.uk) to contrast the tall cardboard ones.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/22 03:26:23


Post by: FeindusMaximus


Anyone get their wave II stuff yet?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/22 07:54:02


Post by: beast_gts


 FeindusMaximus wrote:
Anyone get their wave II stuff yet?

I've received tokens & Scourge station bits.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/22 19:52:00


Post by: str00dles1


 FeindusMaximus wrote:
Anyone get their wave II stuff yet?


I got my tokens for PHR and Scourge. Waiting to hear on the store credit for maps still....

While I love that they listen to players and make chances, sometimes to little to late. The long delay in the KS didn't help. Once we got it, think 4 of us in PA played it. PHR was horrible to play, so much that I bought Shaltari. Ended up selling it off though as maybe 10 games later, it just felt meh.

BFG was my hopes, but it didn't fill that role. To much planetside stuff. also why was every planet barren of life....No attacker/Defender missions was mind blowing. As time drags on, more and more inclined to sell it off and cut my losses with DFC.

Dropzone on the other hand is a wonderful game and with 2.0 coming out (and getting to talk to dave at gencon about it) makes me very excited to play it again. 3 Of us play it in spurts. Usually when new waves of stuff or rulebooks come out, we spend a few months playing, then go back to something else til new stuff comes.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/22 20:16:24


Post by: Vertrucio


Dropzone 2.0 may bring the game back, but I do think they need more armies. Sadly, the setting they have currently doesn't support that unless they expand. There's been rumors of a new faction not mentioned in fiction so far (other than hints).

DZC was a good game marred by a lot of outdated design flaws that, so far, some key ones are getting addressed.

I'm waiting to see if they're really doing something interesting with their command cards, or if it'll be a banal and half-baked excuse to sell a pack of cards.

The changes to transports is welcome, as is air strikes. I do hope they do more with the terrain, and ditch the outdated mission/objective structure that's also helping to kill Dropfleet.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/22 22:05:58


Post by: nobody


Current scuttlebutt is that Dave thinks the game can support up to 8 factions.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/22 23:14:54


Post by: FeindusMaximus


Love DzC, DFC got dropped when they dropped it. Want to try DZC 2.0, but will not give HWG anymore of my $$$ until I get the rest of my DFC stuff.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/23 14:58:54


Post by: str00dles1


We never use the cards. Always felt they didn't fit with the game. DZC stands enough on its own without them.

Hopeful for DZC 2.0 Really hoping CQC was fixed, as it was the most convoluted part of the game.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/25 00:04:24


Post by: Shrapnelsmile


we're hoping the upcoming revised rule set for DZ:C will get the locals here who own some of it to dust off and play.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
str00dles1 wrote:
We never use the cards. Always felt they didn't fit with the game. DZC stands enough on its own without them.

Hopeful for DZC 2.0 Really hoping CQC was fixed, as it was the most convoluted part of the game.


What's CQC again? Others seem more concerned about dedicated transports.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/25 00:12:46


Post by: Digclaw


nobody wrote:
Current scuttlebutt is that Dave thinks the game can support up to 8 factions.


He hasn't supported the five they already have in forever, unless you count DFC then 4 factions got fleets, but their planetary forces have been seriously neglected since they started focusing on DFC.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/25 02:23:45


Post by: str00dles1


Shrapnelsmile wrote:we're hoping the upcoming revised rule set for DZ:C will get the locals here who own some of it to dust off and play.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
str00dles1 wrote:
We never use the cards. Always felt they didn't fit with the game. DZC stands enough on its own without them.

Hopeful for DZC 2.0 Really hoping CQC was fixed, as it was the most convoluted part of the game.


What's CQC again? Others seem more concerned about dedicated transports.


Shooting after getting out of transports will be huge, and really was needed to keep the game fast. CQC Close Quarters Combat. Its a page or two and is the most convoluted combat system ive seen in a minis game. Its more mind boggling that infantry are not the main focus that its so convoluted (aside objective grabbers).

Digclaw wrote:
nobody wrote:
Current scuttlebutt is that Dave thinks the game can support up to 8 factions.


He hasn't supported the five they already have in forever, unless you count DFC then 4 factions got fleets, but their planetary forces have been seriously neglected since they started focusing on DFC.


Well, to be fair, part of that is the massive delay in the KS. And how massively supported the KS was. Dave had to spend all his time designing 2 more fleets to get them out asap. Originally it was just for the molds for UCM and Scourge.

But I agree, hearing first hand the special new leaders spoiled how long ago now wont be til 2018 is kinda nuts. DZC IMO is a vastly better game and should be where their focus is


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2017/08/31 15:31:14


Post by: Scoundrel13


Redditch Wargaming Society, UK here. We're doing great with DfC, still growing, and we now have ten regular players. We are still demoing for new guys too, so we expect to increase our numbers.

We're also running a regional tournament, details on link below:

http://www.hawkforum.co.uk/hawkforum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=10227&sid=4843c4a666b3a70f184c8a6a97c9c126


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/01/25 07:58:43


Post by: FeindusMaximus


Dead in my area now. No DFC KS missing stuff = so everyone just DEEP SIXed their stuff on ebay.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/01/25 10:19:19


Post by: Mr Morden


str00dles1 wrote:
We never use the cards. Always felt they didn't fit with the game. DZC stands enough on its own without them.

Hopeful for DZC 2.0 Really hoping CQC was fixed, as it was the most convoluted part of the game.


Agreed re CQC - I found it the least engaging and complicated part of the game - and always seemed out of phase with what was happening around it.

Transports not being able to pick up other squads if their own were killed was also odd, but I think it was for game balance, we see somewhat similar thing in transports in 40k over the years


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/01/25 14:50:47


Post by: KTG17


I have never played Dropzone Commander, but as a huge Epic fan, have been curious about the game. I thought about buying the box set off amazon. I guess there are two versions of the game? What is the difference between the two?

I was also wondering about the VTOL crafts that look like they drop the units into position. What is the point of them after they make the drops? Do they have weapons themselves and act as air support?



How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/01/25 14:59:14


Post by: Mr Morden


KTG17 wrote:
I have never played Dropzone Commander, but as a huge Epic fan, have been curious about the game. I thought about buying the box set off amazon. I guess there are two versions of the game? What is the difference between the two?

I was also wondering about the VTOL crafts that look like they drop the units into position. What is the point of them after they make the drops? Do they have weapons themselves and act as air support?



Depends on the transport - some only have minimal firepower - others are equally effective gunships and some are big gunships that can also carry troops.

You can also get back - or teleport you are Aliens and fly somewhere else and repeat. The idea is that it promotes mobility on the battlefield.

From experience there are a couple of flaws in the current edition re this
Personally I felt the CCQ rules did the opposite which was a shame and only the aircrafts original passengers could ever get back in your dropship (unless you are Aliens ) so you had to track stuff a bit and also could have the odd situation where your troops had to walk when there was an empty drop ship next to them but they were not allowed in it.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/01/25 15:01:47


Post by: KTG17


Do units like vehicles move rather slowly? I can understand infantry needed to be airlifted, but it looks like all the infantry come with their own ground transports. So a VTOL would lift a APC loaded with crew and drop in off in another part of the battlefield? Do these VTOL's get shot down in the process?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/01/25 15:08:08


Post by: Mr Morden


KTG17 wrote:
Do units like vehicles move rather slowly? I can understand infantry needed to be airlifted, but it looks like all the infantry come with their own ground transports. So a VTOL would lift a APC loaded with crew and drop in off in another part of the battlefield? Do these VTOL's get shot down in the process?


Depends on the vehicle - there are fast moving Skimmers (Shaltari aliens mostly ) and slow moving fortresses. On the other hand many small to medium units including tanks are drop capable which does enable you to move stuff around a lot - although it can be tricky as normally you can't fire the turn you disembark.

Shalatri can also use their Gates to teleport in and out their equivalent of BattleMechs/ medium sized Titans which is fun as they are slow.

However, human dropships that are destroyed usually mean the transported elements die so you have to be careful of enemy AA, Aliens are never in their transports so that's all good.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/08 00:31:45


Post by: sqir666


Well I just got part of the 2 player starter painted up. I'll be demoing the game in my area ASAP.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/08 14:15:55


Post by: str00dles1


Id personally wait to demo. Even if your very excited for it, 2.0 is supposed to have some big changes in it that change the game up a lot. No real point in demoing the game now, only to have to do it again in 2-3 months. Id focus on getting it all painted really nice and wait


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/08 19:36:10


Post by: Vertrucio


2.0 will be essential for the game. Basically frees up players to try more things.

Hopefully they move away from the banal leftover objective types from the 90s and try to do more interesting things.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/08 21:59:44


Post by: sqir666


str00dles1 wrote:
Id personally wait to demo. Even if your very excited for it, 2.0 is supposed to have some big changes in it that change the game up a lot. No real point in demoing the game now, only to have to do it again in 2-3 months. Id focus on getting it all painted really nice and wait


I do want to wait for 2.0 but there hasn't been any word or an ETA on when it'll be out.

I haven't even found any details of what could be changing from 1.1 to 2.0, which is troubling.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/09 01:52:51


Post by: nobody


sqir666 wrote:
str00dles1 wrote:
Id personally wait to demo. Even if your very excited for it, 2.0 is supposed to have some big changes in it that change the game up a lot. No real point in demoing the game now, only to have to do it again in 2-3 months. Id focus on getting it all painted really nice and wait


I do want to wait for 2.0 but there hasn't been any word or an ETA on when it'll be out.

I haven't even found any details of what could be changing from 1.1 to 2.0, which is troubling.


Where gave you been looking?

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/733510.page
http://www.hawkforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10141

Last I heard the planned release for 2.0 was around Salute in April.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/09 07:49:44


Post by: sqir666


nobody wrote:
sqir666 wrote:
str00dles1 wrote:
Id personally wait to demo. Even if your very excited for it, 2.0 is supposed to have some big changes in it that change the game up a lot. No real point in demoing the game now, only to have to do it again in 2-3 months. Id focus on getting it all painted really nice and wait


I do want to wait for 2.0 but there hasn't been any word or an ETA on when it'll be out.

I haven't even found any details of what could be changing from 1.1 to 2.0, which is troubling.


Where gave you been looking?

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/733510.page
http://www.hawkforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10141

Last I heard the planned release for 2.0 was around Salute in April.


I've seen most of that info, but for some reason I haven't seen the BoW interview yet.

Oh well, that should give me plenty of time to get everything painted up.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/09 19:47:06


Post by: nobody


TTCombat just posted an update on Facebook:

V2.0 is being pushed back to 2019 to further refine the rules. There will be an open beta available later this year.

Also, there will a sort of Phase 3 book pushed out this year that will cover the new units for DFC and DZC (sounds like going forward the rules updates will cover both?)


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/11 22:53:33


Post by: sqir666


That was some very interesting news.

I really hope they can help this game go forward.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/14 10:34:30


Post by: AndrewGPaul


If you want to play the game now, just play with the rules that are available. You could try out some of the things suggested for 2nd edition, if you fancy experimenting.

I had my first game in ... probably a year or so last night; 1000 points Skirmish, Recon scenario, my Shaltari vs UCM. My ground forces were all but wiped out (I had one Braves squad escape off the battlefield with an Objective and a single Brave remaining from a second squad in a building, surrounded by UCM Legionaries), and I lost 7 VPs to 3. Annoyingly, it've been closer had I not uncovered 4 booby traps from 6 Intel counters revealed. Really, the thing holding me back from playing more often is that the standard red and gold colour scheme takes me so long to paint!


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/17 11:32:09


Post by: jjakaalbinoboy


 Scoundrel13 wrote:
Redditch Wargaming Society, UK here. We're doing great with DfC, still growing, and we now have ten regular players. We are still demoing for new guys too, so we expect to increase our numbers.

We're also running a regional tournament, details on link below:

http://www.hawkforum.co.uk/hawkforum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=10227&sid=4843c4a666b3a70f184c8a6a97c9c126


We're up to maybe 16 players now at Redditch I think? We've got another DFC tournament in Worcester, UK on 28th April if anybody fancies it?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/19 10:16:35


Post by: AndrewGPaul


I'll be getting my first proper game of Dropfleet Commander tomorrow - my Shaltari starter box fleet against the UCM. All the games I've been involved in before now have been UCM vs Scourge demo games, so I'm looking forward to getting the sneaky hedgehog fleet onto the board.

Dead quick to paint, too; I bashed out the box set in a day. I've not painted all the little dots on the models, unlike with the ground forces, so they're quicker to do.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/19 21:12:21


Post by: sqir666


One of my LGSes is going to let me demo DzC on April 8th.

Hopefully I can help reignite some interest from the people who bought into it when Warhammer Fantasy died.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/03/20 08:16:23


Post by: FeindusMaximus


In my area, all the players that used to play DZC and KS DFC are waiting for wave 2 to arrive and the online credits become real.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/04/21 03:46:13


Post by: nobody


Hope this isn't too much of a necro., wasn't sure if this was worth it's own thread:


TTCombat posted the base rulebook 2.0 beta rules for DZC on Facebook.

The full beta rulebook release will be coming out sometime next week, and will include the new unit entries.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0965/1274/files/Dropzone_Commander_Rulebook_2.0.4.pdf?4371357113980009801



How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/04/29 19:43:02


Post by: winnertakesall


Totally dead in both of the areas at opposite ends of the country that I played in. And it was 100% down to TTCombat's mismanagement


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/04/30 06:34:19


Post by: sqir666


 winnertakesall wrote:
Totally dead in both of the areas at opposite ends of the country that I played in. And it was 100% down to TTCombat's mismanagement


Well they don't seem to be really advertising or getting the word out about either Drop game as of late.

They also seem to only want to talk to people that were Talons who stroke their egos, but if you have any criticism about them or call them on their behavior they immediately get those same people to mute you in their Facebook groups.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/01 02:46:28


Post by: Charistoph


They apparently just released the 2.0 Beta rules and there are some people working on them.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/01 20:15:25


Post by: sqir666


 Charistoph wrote:
They apparently just released the 2.0 Beta rules and there are some people working on them.


And they're taking feedback in the DzC facebook group.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/02 01:41:58


Post by: Charistoph


sqir666 wrote:
 Charistoph wrote:
They apparently just released the 2.0 Beta rules and there are some people working on them.


And they're taking feedback in the DzC facebook group.

And the Hawk Wargames Forum, but that only works if you are already signed up on it.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/02 04:49:07


Post by: nobody


They don't pay attention to the forums, I think some of the former Talons are collating the info from the forums and posting it to the DZC facebook group for those that don't use Facebook.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/18 21:31:47


Post by: Stevefamine


The official HWG forums are absolutely dead

As a Talon... every thing is dead on the DZC side. Dropfleet is going well and genuinely a good game.

The 2.0 rules are... not bad. Games tend to play out quicker and running demos is a tad easier. Some drive on armies are nerfed, local meta is too small to play test Resistance/PHR/Shalt so I've only had ten or so games with UCM vs UCM/Scourge.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/19 22:03:01


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


Is the Dropfleet stuff going to be reprinted? It's hard to find stock at the FLGS or even on Amazon.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, is the 2.0 book just rules or is it full of fluff like the previous editions? Does it allow for BFG-style space battle games, or is it all still about troop carriers?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/20 08:57:25


Post by: Vertrucio


It should be. However I get the feeling they're still sorting out Dropzone first.

They'll probably want to do some retcons of the story elements to allow for more.

Hopefully they overhaul the banal objective system.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/20 20:49:39


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


Is there a good place to buy Dropfleet sets, especially the space station kit? I hope those will come back into production.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/21 00:49:46


Post by: nobody


US distribution is pretty bad at the moment, mostly due to the new owner not really having a pre-existing relationship with US distributors

Best two places to find stuff is Game Time Miniatures' ebay storefront, and Game Kastle's web store. The first one works with Kingsley Distribution (TTCombat's in-house distro), while Game Kastle works with Golden which finally got the relationship sorted out.

Edit:

Game Time link: https://www.ebay.com/str/gametimeminiatures/Dropfleet-Commander-/_i.html

Game Kastle: https://www.gamekastle.com/online/index.php?skip=30&m=list&psearch=Dropfleet

Can't speak to Game Kastle since I haven't bought there myself, but I have bought from GTM.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/05/21 03:33:54


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


Thank you! I believe Game Kastle used to be FRP Games, and I have ordered from them.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/08/15 10:04:26


Post by: winnertakesall


Moved areas, and it's dead here too, which is a shame. Hawk/TT seems to be totally dead in the Lincoln area (where is used to have a massive audience) and in the Colchester area, where it was also quite well established


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/12 14:40:41


Post by: lliu


There was one player at my LGS, now me and a few other people are getting into it as well.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/12 21:51:18


Post by: ValentineGames


Since its release I have lived in 5 places while flicking between homeless shelters with very active gaming communities (and wish i still did)

In all 5 Dropzone/Fleet was none existent at all. Except for 1 store out of 12 I knew having 1 starter and half a dozen blisters.

It's not been doing well as i can see.
I have the Zone rulebook myself and find it dull and stifling to the imagination.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/12 22:35:57


Post by: Charistoph


It would help if the new producer would start being a little more active in promoting what they are doing. I know they are focusing more on Facebook advertising, but they left the old forum to rot itself to death. WarCradle, meanwhile, has been active in their own forum trying to keep communication up for Dystopian Wars/Wild West Exodus as they go in to their DW beta, and keeping the lines open for when they start pushing Firestorm again.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/13 00:33:59


Post by: totalfailure


Meanwhile, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. Just like DZC.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/13 02:55:09


Post by: master of ordinance


I have not seen either played for a long time. There was a boom in my club for DZC until we moved store and it died off, then DFC dropped and for a while people played it, but the that too fell away.
It is a pity really as DZC was a fun tactical game.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/13 10:06:09


Post by: Albertorius


 totalfailure wrote:
Meanwhile, Generalísimo Francisco Franco is still dead. Just like DZC.


Admittedly, for a dead guy he still manages to get into a lot of headlines, though!


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/18 17:21:36


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


Did they ever release the simplified space-battle version of the rules?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/18 17:37:15


Post by: Mr Morden


 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Did they ever release the simplified space-battle version of the rules?


Wasn't that a free download on their site?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/21 00:12:40


Post by: auticus


I bought into it hook line and sinker. Painted up an entire force. Not a single person in my city wanted anything to do with it though.

So I donated my stuff to charity since I couldn't even sell it.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/21 01:22:31


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


 Mr Morden wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Did they ever release the simplified space-battle version of the rules?


Wasn't that a free download on their site?


WAS it?? I don't remember ever hearing about that.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/21 14:03:29


Post by: ValentineGames


auticus wrote:
I bought into it hook line and sinker. Painted up an entire force. Not a single person in my city wanted anything to do with it though.

So I donated my stuff to charity since I couldn't even sell it.

That poor charity XD


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/21 14:12:57


Post by: Mr Morden


 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
 Mr Morden wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Did they ever release the simplified space-battle version of the rules?


Wasn't that a free download on their site?


WAS it?? I don't remember ever hearing about that.


I'll have a remuge around on my hard drive over the weekend - Seem to recall it was a tournament pack or something that got rid of alot of the ground support elements.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/21 18:10:14


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


ValentineGames wrote:
auticus wrote:
I bought into it hook line and sinker. Painted up an entire force. Not a single person in my city wanted anything to do with it though.

So I donated my stuff to charity since I couldn't even sell it.

That poor charity XD


I would have gladly bought them for slightly more than the charity paid plus shipping...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Mr Morden wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
 Mr Morden wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Did they ever release the simplified space-battle version of the rules?


Wasn't that a free download on their site?


WAS it?? I don't remember ever hearing about that.


I'll have a remuge around on my hard drive over the weekend - Seem to recall it was a tournament pack or something that got rid of alot of the ground support elements.


That would be awesome, thanks!


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/23 18:02:44


Post by: Mr Morden


Not quite as exciting as I recalled

Change #1, New Optional Tournament/ Quickplay Ground Combat Rules
Rationale: In the frst few tournaments played for Dropfleet, an emerging theme is games which last a little too long for
conformable 3 games/day tournament play. In part of course this is due to it being a new system but streamlining the
scoring process for ground-based elements as well as the Ground Combat Phase has been raised as desirable for tournament play as well as for faster games. These rules could also be used when running demos or learning the game, as it
removes a level of complexity from the game.
If this change becomes ‘ofcial’ it will still be optional and will NOT invalidate or replace the more detailed rules in the rulebook, which provides increased detail and nuances for what’s happening on the ground.
1) In Ground Assets Activation, do not resolve Ground Combats. Players may still move Ground Assets as normal.
2) If playing with Command cards, remove the following cards from the deck:
UCM - Colonial Legions (3 copies of)
Scourge - Assimilated Bioforms (3 copies of)
PHR - Elite Ground Forces (3 copies of)
Shaltari - Misdirection (3 copies of)
3) When scoring Clusters, players score based on the total number of Ground Asset tokens in the whole Cluster. Infantry
Tokens are worth 1, Armour tokens are worth 2 and Battery tokens are worth 0. The player with the highest token value
in the Cluster Holds the Cluster. If a player has Tokens in the cluster (but does not have the most) then they count as contesting if they have a token score within 5 or less of their opponent.
In the ‘Power Grab’ scenario (pg 82), ONLY the tokens in the Power Plant Sector will score for that Cluster. If the Power
Plant is destroyed then do not score for that Cluster.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2018/09/23 22:52:46


Post by: Shrapnelsmile


I'd love to play DZC if the company ever gets their act together. But I have a ton of 15mm and 28mm terrain, and have no room for an addition of 10mm stuff. Always found it disappointing they chose that scale.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/02/13 04:06:21


Post by: doktor_g


TT Combat had a big display at the LVO. Just FYI.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/05/26 05:18:31


Post by: Dawalt


New stuff up for pre-order including a book that has DZC 2.0 rules, a new walker, a new merc ship and a new Resistance, in, SPAAACCCEEEEEEE fleet with rules for them in the new book. My wallet is already crying but I'm quite excited!


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/05/30 14:55:55


Post by: Tamwulf


Dawalt wrote:
New stuff up for pre-order including a book that has DZC 2.0 rules, a new walker, a new merc ship and a new Resistance, in, SPAAACCCEEEEEEE fleet with rules for them in the new book. My wallet is already crying but I'm quite excited!


I'm not sure about that new rulebook because it has Drop Fleet and Drop Zone rules in it. Does anyone have any more info on it? Is it Drop Fleet 2.0, or just rules for the new Resistance faction?


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/05/30 17:30:07


Post by: nobody


 Tamwulf wrote:
Dawalt wrote:
New stuff up for pre-order including a book that has DZC 2.0 rules, a new walker, a new merc ship and a new Resistance, in, SPAAACCCEEEEEEE fleet with rules for them in the new book. My wallet is already crying but I'm quite excited!


I'm not sure about that new rulebook because it has Drop Fleet and Drop Zone rules in it. Does anyone have any more info on it? Is it Drop Fleet 2.0, or just rules for the new Resistance faction?


DZC: full 2.0 rules and I think there are some new units in it.

DFC is just an expansion: Resistance fleet, and Dreadnought, Destroyer, and Monitor rules for all factions. There are rumors of some rules updates, but nothing as big as a 2.0 release.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/06 08:18:22


Post by: AndrewGPaul


The rules and stats for Dropzone Commander models are not in the Battle For Earth book; they're now handled separately with an online army creator - which doesn't seem to be linked to from the TTCombat website.

there are new units discussed in the BfE book - huge "behemoth" units for each faction, and probably others too.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/06 08:24:09


Post by: Overread


I figure they are holding the new website app with stats back until nearer the launch of the book itself.

It's a bit of a shame they didn't put the Dropfleet Commander rules fully into the new book to make it a proper combined rules edition; seems a bit silly that one game gets all the rules and no stats whilst the other gets the stats but not all the rules


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/06 11:45:35


Post by: beast_gts


Yeah, not having stats is an odd choice (and has upset some people).

Anyway - https://thetrolltrader.com/dzcbuilderbeta/


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/06 11:48:27


Post by: Overread


Modern day wargame stats is a game developers can't win.

If they go with printed fixed stats gamers whine about having to print out updated stats.

If they go with an ap. gamers complain about having to use support material (tablet) to run the game

If they go with printable cards the quality of the final game product degrades( most will print them at home)

If they try to do it all they run the risk of spreading their resources thin and costing them more than they should, though honestly it perplexes me how simple apps for recording stats appear to be difficult to program and keep up to date for many of the companies; though I put it part down to them having to run through 3rd parties and communication/focus issues (a 3rd party app company might be managing a LOT of apps and a wargame app might not be top of their priorities).


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/06 12:45:11


Post by: Nurglitch


That's something to be said for most gaming products. They're always going to be a compromise that will hopefully leave a larger number of people satisfied enough to keep buying.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/10 19:51:22


Post by: MrMoustaffa


I'm excited for it. There's a guy in my area with a fleet and DFC was a lot of fun. Bare minimum the ships are fun to paint and can be done in a weekend so I'll probably get a second fleet and see if anyone wants to try it again

DZC was fun but has a lot higher buy in and people in my area are terrified of painting anything under 28mm in regards to ground models. I can convince them to drop about 100 or so on a fleet pretty easily. 2-300 for a ground army is a lot harder.

Either way I really like the universe and the art and hobby pictures are gorgeous in his books so bare minimum it'll be a nice read. It's not gonna set the world on fire but I'm glad a small core is getting back into it. Hope it catches on, anything that's not 28mm ground combat is a refreshing change of pace. Especially since DZC seems to be implementing some much wanted changes like universal dropships, thank goodness


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/11 15:31:11


Post by: Tamwulf


I had high hopes for DFC to be the space fleet battle game I always wanted once GW stopped supporting BFG. Huge plus in my book: Andy Chambers was involved in both games. Played some DFC and was very impressed with the space combat. Unfortunately, there is a HUGE disconnected between what happens in space and what happens on the planet. Nothing that happens in space affects who wins/loses the game. That's the planets. Consequently, the player that brings more troop ships and gets troops on stations/planets wins the game. You can wipe out your entire opponents fleet, but if he has more troops on the ground, he wins.

The focus of the game is not space combat, it's getting troops onto the planets. The ground combat phase is totally different from the space and orbital phases, and that's a disconnect. It's like two different rules sets in one game. In my mind, TTCombat (formerly Hawk Wargames) already has a game about planetary invasion- Drop Zone Commander.

What would I like to see in a second edition? Shift the focus back to space combat. Rework the ground combat phase. Make it more like just a modifier like "gain 1 VP point for each troop you land on the planet. At the end of the game, the player with more VP's wins". And assign VP's for destroying ships, or meeting scenario objectives, etc. etc. Give me a reason to bring something besides troop ships and frigates/corvettes, because in the current game, that's how you win. Troop ships and frigates/corvettes. Last item: Fleet building. Why is this so complicated? You really have to study the charts. I've seen veteran players mess this up.

Overall, I really like the space combat aspect of DFC. The other parts? Ground Phase and the Fleet Roster could use some serious rework.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/12 06:20:30


Post by: Vertrucio


Considering DZC 2.0 is said to drastically open up list building, along with dropship rules not being so arbitrarily restrictive, I'd say they'll want to fold in that mentality into DFC.

Another problem with DFC is that the information on the bases didn't work as well as they'd hoped.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/12 15:28:03


Post by: Tamwulf


 Vertrucio wrote:
Another problem with DFC is that the information on the bases didn't work as well as they'd hoped.


Yeah, the pegs on the bases... very fiddly and distracting from the game. Not to mention inadvertent movement of the model when adjusting the base. My group gave up and used dice or chits.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/13 15:48:56


Post by: AndrewGPaul


I had thought about putting 1mm magnets in the peg holes and using a ball bearing instead of the peg, but couldn't be bothered adding all the magnets.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/13 15:52:48


Post by: beast_gts


 Vertrucio wrote:
Another problem with DFC is that the information on the bases didn't work as well as they'd hoped.


We use dice next to the base for damage, then coloured mini clothes pegs on the stem for spikes & layers. Not perfect (as you can still knock the facing) but works well enough.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/25 00:00:05


Post by: Inquisitor Jex


I got the Battle for Earth book, I only browsed it for now.

It is mostly re-written backstory from the 3 previous books with the added section concerning the Battle for Earth itself and the 3-way alliance and the situation that led to striking Earth.

the DFC and DZC are at the end, about a 100 pages or so together, with the new resistance fleet, dreadnaughts, new rules for DFC and the 2.0 rules for DZC. No units images or nothing, so it will be quite hard to get people intrested when you only got a fluff book really, not to mention the rest of us without tablets, printer or such things.

I'll see how my local scene goes with that, we may play DFC normally but fall back to the 1.0 rules for DZC


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/25 03:35:22


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


I'm more likely to buy it if there's a lot of fluff. Thanks for the review.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/25 06:51:55


Post by: Inquisitor Jex


 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I'm more likely to buy it if there's a lot of fluff. Thanks for the review.


Oh you'll be pleased, but keep in mind that's it's not written as were the other books, it's its own style.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/25 14:44:38


Post by: Shrapnelsmile


Asterios wrote:
problem is nothing wrong with the game itself, its just a matter of time and too many decent games to play.


absolutely. We are in a golden age of wargaming, but that means some treasures collect dust.
To add to this, everyone here is waiting for the re-launch. We'll see if it sticks.


How are Hawk's Dropzone / Dropfleet games doing in your area? @ 2019/06/26 05:43:58


Post by: Inquisitor Jex


Update: reaciing the new rules in more details, the 2.0 version seems decent, but a few flavouful rules were dropped in favour of streamlining I suppose. Melee is more open so it can be deadly when your troops are getting jumped by CQB experts units. Lots of rules regarding terrain and how it can be destroyed.

The Resistance fleet looks great, their concept and fleet creation is rather intresting. Short of the big battleships, every cruiser and lower tonnage models are basically bare-bones, and you must pay to add 1 to 5 modules on the ship, depening on the tonnage and model; so a Heavy Cruiser gets 5, while a troop transport gets 1. Special rules are good as well; remove a major spike per standard order and some vessels have a 'linked' type speacial rule on them.

Seeing the Kalium army with all of their pre-invasion gear sould be good fun for DZC.