Thought it would be good to have a general Dropzone Commander thread for discussions, queries and pics relevant to this great Sci-Fi game. This first post is a summary of everything a newbie would need to know. Hopefully we can persuade some more people to jump in
History
Dropzone Commander is the primary product of Hawk Wargames. It was developed by David Lewis who basically did everything from writing the rules through to designing the minis. It was launched in 2012 and has since developed a not insignificant following of gamers looking to try something new. It now features quite strongly in several tournament scenes and Lewis is continuing to develop new background, rules and minis for the game. A spaceship combat game (named Dropfleet Commader) set in the same universe is expected to launch in Q4 in 2015 (with Andy Chambers involved in writing the rules).
http://www.hawkwargames.com/
The Game
The key aspect to Dropzone Commander games are the Dropships. Other elements - tanks, infantry,
AA, artillery etc - are all present and correct, but they are effectively useless without Dropships to move them around the battlefield to key locations. The game is therefore about keeping your Dropships intact and trying to disable those of your opponents. If you lose all your Dropships, you will be playing at a severe handicap as your ground transports only move 6-9" and your infantry only moves 2". To prevent games turning into a shooting fest, a lot of urban scenery is recommended and most weapons have their range automatically reduced by countermeasures deployed by targets. Close combat
only takes place in buildings where the majority of objectives are located. The rules are relatively straightforward and use similar mechanics to
40K (although I'd stress that
DZC is not a
40K carbon copy).
The Background
It is 2670 - With Earth resources nearly exhausted, Humans have now colonised many new planets with the aid of the enigmatic Shaltari (it transpires that the Shaltari were seeking to use the humans as cannon fodder in their civil wars and naturally this led to a deterioration in diplomatic relations!) The humans later received a warning from another alien source known as the White Sphere that their worlds were under threat from imminent invasion. This warning was largely ignored, but a group of separatists chose to heed the warning and evacuated their worlds. Soon after, Humanity was assailed by the Scourge, a parasitic alien race, who quickly overwhelmed the grossly ill prepared colonists. A fraction of humanity managed to escape and retreated to a series of barren worlds to plan a counter attack.
The Factions
The United Colonists of Mankind (UCM) - After a century of preparation, the humans now believe they have the military might necessary to reclaim their lost colonies from the Scourge. They have access to powerful long ranged weapons and their vehicles have good armour. They aren't as mobile as other factions and lack strong close combat units. If they were a
40K race, they would be - Tau
The Scourge - The alien race have become complacent and the human hosts of the parasites are starting to deteriorate, yet the Scourge remain a powerful threat. The look of the Scourge is characterised by the bio-mechanical insectoid appearance of their vehicles. While they have only short ranged plasma weapons, their vehicles are well armoured and very mobile. The Scourge also have powerful close combat units. If they were a
40K race, they would be - Chaos
The Post Human Republic (PHR) - Shortly before the UCM commenced their invasion, they were contacted by a seemingly human faction. On closer inspection, they were revealed to be a part human, part cybernetic species and the UCM soon realise that this is what became of the hated separatists (the humans who fled before the Scourge invasion). The objectives of the PHR are unclear, but the UCM have rejected any suggestion of an alliance. The PHR are effectively the all rounders and are pretty good at everything (except perhaps mobility). If they were a
40K race, they would be - Space Marines.
The Shaltari - After the humans realised the true intent of the Shaltari (actually one of several tribes), the aliens returned to their own internal conflicts. However, they have just as great a claim on the worlds now occupied by the Scourge and will make their own incursions to reclaim lost territories. The main selling point of the Shaltari is that they use Gates rather than Dropships to move around the battlefield. This makes them the most mobile faction in the game and they have a range of powerful weapons and other tricks they can deploy. Their Gates however are very fragile and need to be deployed carefully. If they were a
40K race, they would be - Eldar
The Resistance - The newest faction are the humans left behind to fend for themselves against the Scourge occupation. There are actually two Resistance sub factions, those who welcome the liberation by the UCM (Allies) and those who have developed their own autocratic regimes and see the UCM as a threat (Ferals). The former can make use of some UCM units (representing early UCM deployment and support) while the latter have access to more rough and ready troops. The Resistance vehicles are a mixture of reclaimed tanks and repurposed civilian vehicles, while some of their "Dropships" are actually large hovercraft. If they were a
40K race, they would be - Imperial Guard (Allies) or Orks (Ferals).
Getting Started
The start up cost of the game is incredibly low. The fantastic starter set gives you everything you need to play including two 500 point armies (UCM and Scourge), the complete rulebook, dice, counters, cardboard scenery and even a poster which folds out to become a playing surface. The cost of starter is £60 which is great value, but you can also pick it up from a range of internet stockists for a reduced cost.
If you don't want to invest in the starter (but you really should!), the rulebook can be picked up for £15, while you can get a starter plastic army for any of the four main factions for £35. Once again these are all available cheaper from the usual alternative sources.
Expansions
There's only one major expansion at the moment - Reconquest - which features additional background, rules for new units and also the complete army list for the Resistance. There have also been subsequent releases not covered in either the Main Rulebook or Reconquest Expansion, but rules for these can be downloaded from the website.
That's everything you need to know!
