Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So... the wife and I decided to dive into DzC as the de-facto local demo team which ends up tasked with trying stuff our for our community...

We're currently going through a bit of a debacle with a crappy Ebayer who absolutely screwed us on a mass initial purchase of DzC product, but rather than be angry, i'm trying to turn this into an opportunity to better ask what we should be investing in, versus the semi-random purchases we attempted to make, rule-book unseen...

From what we could salvage from the ruinous order... we have...

-Core rulebook
- Cityscapes set
- UCM starter (with a couple broken infantry... but I digress)
- PHR starter
- Raven Light Dropships x2
- The PHR equivalent

Suggestions from here, as we begin trying to learn the game, and expand into different elements which might help demo the game?

My wife and I play so I completely feel you in that regard. As concerns purchases I think you are spot on (just make sure to get some infantry to put into those ravens and tritons). A command vehicle is also a good start as well. For the UCM that would be the Kodiak and for the PHR you are looking at the Zeus. The Kodiak can drive on, but the Zeus will invariably need a Neptune and another type two walker to join it (be it a second zeus, a hyperion, an enyo, or an odin [I suggest this bad boy, but opinions vary]). At this point you have reached a fairly decent level and can start expanding into the other list selections like heavy, scout, support, exotic, air, etc.

Good luck!

Edit: For game demoing I always suggest having a scout element. Wolverines and janus walkers are just plain cool too boot.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:


-Core rulebook
- Cityscapes set
- UCM starter
- PHR starter
- Raven Light Dropships x2
- The PHR equivalent

First which dropships do you have Raven and Triton A or B?
I suspect from what you have they are infantry carriers to change how you deploy your existing infantry. If so just leave them for now and possibly swap over how you deploy your infantry, if the other kind buy a blister of scouts now please.

In any event my first suggestion is to buy one extra starter for each army, and dd two new elements to each army, command and fighters.
This will yield enough basic attack vehicles and AA vehicles for your list long term, enough medium dropships and enough infantry.
For the UCM you command unit is the Kodiak, back that up with two blisters of Raven B and two blisters of Wolverines and finally some fighters of your own with a blister of Archangels.
This is fairly expensive so you might stop a while there and consolidate what you would have got:

UCM
Kodiak
2x 3 Sabres /w Condor
2x 3 Rapier /w Condor
1x Infantry in 2 Bears /w Condor
1x Infantry in 2 Ravens
2x Archangel

However you don't want to do this as UCM has specific hardpoints on their dropships so to not paint yourself into the corner long term you need an Albatross sooner rather than later.
For the PHR that means a blister of Zeus, now Zeus are add ons to heavy mecha squads so you ideally need heavy mecha with them. So take in addition to that a blister of Odins and might as well add a heavy dropship also to match pace
Dont bother with PHR scouts right now as you have two command mecha anyway, take sdome elite infantry instead to open up the differences. Then round off this purchase with a single Athena to give each side a fast mover. It's important to get a 'fast mover' air unit early as it opens up the flow of the game. Normally you cant use one in skirmish but when Hawk wargames demos they use a starter plus a blister of fighters, so why cant you.
Also add a pair of UCM heavy tanks at this point to balance back.

UCM
1x Kodiak /w Condor
2x 6 Sabres & 3 Rapiers /w Albatross
1x 3 Rapier /w Condor
2x 2 Gladius /w Condor
1x Infantry in 2 Bears /w Condor
1x Infantry in 2 Ravens
1x 8 Wolverine B /w 4 Ravens
1x 2 Archangel
2 spare Condors

PHR
2x Zeus & Odin /w Neptune
1x 4 Ares & 2 Phobos /w Poseidon
1x 2x Phobos /w Neptune
2x Infantry in 2 Juno /w Neptune
1x Elite Infantry in 2 Tritons
1x Athena
1 spare Neptune
STAGE 3.

UCM purchase recommendation
1x Starter
1x Albatross
1x Kodiak
1x Gladius
1x Archangels
2x Wolverines
2x Raven B (adjust as necessary)

PHR purchase recommendation
1x Starter
1x Poseidon
1x Zeus
1x Odin
1x Athena
1x Sirens

That will offer you the basics at different levels of play, it will include a large dropship each for a heavy deployment a mix of assets two command nexi for each side, fast movers and all the basics. From there branch out into all the other funky toys as and when you feel like it.

Ye Gods! Orlanth... that is quite the wall of info to throw at a neophyte player. :-p Did I mention we haven't PLAYED the game yet, and as such, most of that wisdom is currently lost on us? :-p

Thank you both for the suggestions though. Obviously we'll be adding only bit, by bit. I mean... our start-up purchases ran us about $400 as is, so we're quite tapped out for a bit. On top of that, several items we paid for we missing, and several others were damaged, which we're getting ZERO customer support on (this was again, a pretty gakky Ebay seller, it seems, who has 20000+ feedback, but only apparently 92% positive reviews, for a reason).

We've tried contacting Hawk Games, for what its worth, but they don't seem in a rush to answer their email. :-p

Orlanth is extremely intelligent and knows what he is talking about, but I feel there is a disconnect there when telling new players to buy multiple starter boxes. The entry level of the game goes from mid-range to through the roof.

I still think you should simply add a headquarters and an infantry battle-group to your lists to start. After that look into things like scouts and add a bit more anti-tank. You want to build redundancy for the most important game aspects first so that losing a single tank or infantry squad is not going to cost you too dearly.

Thanks Nightwolf...

... So to that end, make the next order....

- Kodiak
- Zeus (Plus Odin)

And...

- Another blister of infantry for each-side, plus light-drop-ships for said light infantry?


Doing that seems highly viable, as it is an easy to do, sub $75 order...

In the interim, does the starter set, per side, do a remotely decent job of conveying the game? As you say, cost of entry is pretty high versus some systems we have gotten into. $400 of Malifaux got both of us enough to play for years and years.... $400 of Dust got us the same, and enough to field some big games..... $400 here... got us starters and a few incidentals, plus terrain and a book. :-p

That sounds like a solid start to me. The starter set covers the rudimentary necessities of the game (anti air, anti armor, objective grabbing, mobility, and command cards). Your extra purchases will give you dedicated commanders that will effectively be able to project a command radius and enough infantry that the games avoid becoming one dimensional (due to lack of tactical options for taking objectives). From that point you can expand your army as you envision it and fill any gaps you find wanting.

Very much appreciated man... I so wish there was a bigger community for discussing the game, etc... It seems my options are counting on the kindness of you two, or staring at the Hawk Games forum log-in since they've never activated my account... :-p

E-mail Simon at Hawk Wargames. I can almost guarantee you that he will get you set up with no issue.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Ye Gods! Orlanth... that is quite the wall of info to throw at a neophyte player. :-p Did I mention we haven't PLAYED the game yet, and as such, most of that wisdom is currently lost on us? :-p

Thank you both for the suggestions though. Obviously we'll be adding only bit, by bit. I mean... our start-up purchases ran us about $400 as is, so we're quite tapped out for a bit. On top of that, several items we paid for we missing, and several others were damaged, which we're getting ZERO customer support on (this was again, a pretty gakky Ebay seller, it seems, who has 20000+ feedback, but only apparently 92% positive reviews, for a reason).

We've tried contacting Hawk Games, for what its worth, but they don't seem in a rush to answer their email. :-p

The thing is Dropzone Commander has an entry level to play the game with any capacity. You need infantry, air defence tanks, regular tanks (or eqivalents), infantry transports, tank transports, fighters and command vehicles; and thats just to start. If you miss out or under-represent any of those elements you are wide open for an opponents autowin.

This is a game you have to thing about the purchases and the order you get them. How much you can afford and which direction you go is up to you, but random purchases can end up costing you a lot in money while delivering you little. You have the advantage with buying two lists you can buy matched bits from each army simultaneously and thus play ignoring the force org rules for now, but be warned you can sopend an extra hundred on this game and end up with a list you cannot legaly field from the army lists or is critically lacking in an area so it becomes unplayable or both.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Very much appreciated man... I so wish there was a bigger community for discussing the game, etc... It seems my options are counting on the kindness of you two, or staring at the Hawk Games forum log-in since they've never activated my account... :-p

The Hawk forums are understaffed and wracked by spammers so the mods are understandably slow to activate accounts.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Ye Gods! Orlanth... that is quite the wall of info to throw at a neophyte player. :-p Did I mention we haven't PLAYED the game yet, and as such, most of that wisdom is currently lost on us? :-p

Thank you both for the suggestions though. Obviously we'll be adding only bit, by bit. I mean... our start-up purchases ran us about $400 as is, so we're quite tapped out for a bit. On top of that, several items we paid for we missing, and several others were damaged, which we're getting ZERO customer support on (this was again, a pretty gakky Ebay seller, it seems, who has 20000+ feedback, but only apparently 92% positive reviews, for a reason).

We've tried contacting Hawk Games, for what its worth, but they don't seem in a rush to answer their email. :-p

Hawk are normally very good with this sort of thing but be patient with them as there only a few guys working there and are quite often out of office at conventions demoing the game they do get round all the emails in the end though.