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.
2020/12/08 07:56:01
Subject: Dropfleet / Dropzone Commander news and rumors (New DZC starters, Resistance, PHR, Shaltari)
Dropzone players, welcome! It’s your day today, so let’s perforate the cardboard and peel back the foil to get to the tasty treats inside.
This year has seen the release of all the new Starter Armies, with twice as much stuff as before for less price. They’re not bad sets! Before the pandemic hit we were also forging through our restocks, adding plenty of alternate units as well. Well, that train is about to pick up speed again, adding more restocks, and more alternate builds as well!
Dave has been hard at work making new versions of existing builds, like this alternate weapon system for the Wolf. Previously only a Commander, this version swaps the missiles for a crazy organ gun of some kind! Don’t ask me what it does – that’s down to the madness of Dave’s mind.
The PHR, long without multiple fast flyers gain an alternate version of the Athena, swapping out its cruise missiles with some dangerous smart missile banks.
The Scourge have been falling behind a little with their restocks, but that just means that they’ve got more goodies still to come! First of all the Corsair is getting a new weapon system, and it looks suspiciously like some kind of Arc Caster – great for hunting aircraft.
There’s also a new weapon system for the Desolator. I know what you’re thinking: “The Desolator and Overseer already come in a dual blister.” And you’re right! However, the old Eden’s Dinosaur hasn’t seen a release yet, so expect standard rules for that as this one in a set together! What does that gun do? Well it’s a big one, that’s for sure.
For those wanting the older feral version of the Alexander (which used to be Salakhan’s ride before he faked his death and joined up with a mysterious faction that may or may not be Kalium), you won’t have to wait long either. We took the chance to make a feral version of its alternate Napoleon as well! It’s pretty fierce looking, that’s for sure!
But it’s not just alternates to look forward to next year. We’re rounding off on finishing all the restocks, so it’s time to press onwards an unleash Dave’s full creative weirdness on the game! We’ll be releasing plenty of new Dropzone miniatures as well. We’re not spoiling them all here, but how about just a few?
Don’t ask me what these are, because I don’t know! All I know is what faction they belong to. But don’t fear, all factions will be receiving reinforcements next year, with plenty of weird and wonderful stuff that you really won’t be expecting!
Until then though, there’s plenty of Dropzone Commander already available. If you’ve been holding off on the new edition, now’s the perfect time to pick up that army you’ve been thinking about. Starter Armies contain basically a whole force in themselves, for a bargain price! Add on a rulebook and you’re ready to drop your troops in and get started in the lightning fast games of Dropzone Commander!
2020/12/09 17:21:08
Subject: Dropfleet / Dropzone Commander news and rumors (New DZC starters, Resistance, PHR, Shaltari)
Two of the new designs seem really impractical to me. The walker with the stubby legs should just use wheels or treads or hover engines, and that resistance tank looks like something Cobra Commander would hop into to boost toy sales.
The new PHR quad walker looks like it should be a pre-Scourge Earthforce prototype, not PHR. Will need to see the rules for the Athena variant; was not happy with the original Athena so never bought one even though I like the look.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/12/10 01:59:41
chaos0xomega wrote: The PHR walker and the Resistance tank right below it (not the one with the gatling cannons) are misses for me. Just not aesthetically appealing.
They do seem to deviate from the army style significantly, and there doesn’t seem to be a logical reason. The resistance tank is especially egregious given the illogical design.
2020/12/10 08:27:16
Subject: Dropfleet / Dropzone Commander news and rumors (New DZC starters, Resistance, PHR, Shaltari)
the alt builds for athena and the wolf look nice. the rest are a bit of a bust, esp. the phr battle-waddler- never base your mech designs on your aunt's favorite pug.
2020/12/14 15:14:45
Subject: Dropfleet / Dropzone Commander news and rumors (New DZC starters, Resistance, PHR, Shaltari)
First up the Dropfleet rulebook is now digitally online for free from their resources site. In addition they've uploaded a whole bunch of artwork for desktop wallpapers!
Far as I know at present the only copies were sold with the KS they did for Stellaris a while back. I do recall that the models made in that were being made for a boardgame, but I don't know/think anything has moved on that front in a while. It might just be a slow burn project that might have even slipped due to Corona and such without being mentioned.
Troll Trader is still completing the Desert of the Dead KS, which I believe was before the Stellaris campaign, and their hobbits only recently went for sale on their site. I’ve had my hobbit minis from their campaign for what feels like years.
So, I don’t expect the Ether Drake and Automated Dreadnought will come out for a long while.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/12/14 17:38:02
Yep, I called that one a couple years ago when they said they had a third game in the works.
Disappointed they didn't stick to the "Drop" naming convention. I would have pushed the concept further, named it "Dropwing Commander" and made it about the intermediate step between Dropfleet and Dropzone. High altitude warfare between fighters battling to attack/defend dropships and bombers transitioning from orbit to the ground, etc.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/12/16 17:47:13
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
My reading is that this is more of a small side game that lets players use their flyers in/advent to Dropzone games. I don’t believe this is the new game they hinted at. Andy Chambers was supposed to be involved with that.
Day 21 – Dropfleet players aren’t going to want to miss this one!
We’re on our third and final week, and it’s been quite the preview so far! For Dropfleet we’ve had new shooty space stations and the full rulebook for free.
So let’s round out the holiday period with some new ships.
We’ve recently focused on some smaller ships like Lighters, Monitors and Destroyers to add to your games, but it’s time to go big again!
With only 2 of each Battlecruiser available to each faction, don’t you think that size of ship deserves a bit of love?
Well if so, you’re in luck because next year we’ll be releasing brand new Battlecruisers!
Every faction is getting a new blister with 2 new Battlecruisers in each. And these are all kind of different!
You’ll notice some similarites throughout the range to some other classes of ship, such as this UCM one with triple prows, just like the Kiev.
The new ones have been built around the familiar frame of the existing Battlecruisers, although each has had a major component redesigned to make them look very different indeed!
This one is like a giant Castor! The Battlecruisers were some of the oldest ships sculpted by Dave, so he’s used this experience to revisit the classic designs and bring in some of the new elements he’s introduced to each faction.
Weirdly the Shaltari one uses the same fins as the Ruby/Sapphire set, but replaces the core hull, making something that looks familiar but at the same time very different in profile!
Not all Battlecruisers have to be aggressive either, like this Resistance one! We’re still in early rules stages at the moment, but I can say that this is a repair ship for on-the-fly fixing!
Oh, you thought we were going to show you all the designs of each? Sorry, nope! You’ll have to wait until next year to see all of those. Who says Dave is finished with them anyway?
UCM Command Cards
Also in Dropfleet news, the UCM Command Cards are back!
We ran out of these a short while back, and took the opportunity to update them to the new design.
We actually weren’t expecting delivery of them until the new year, but they got here early, so we thought we’d release them early. They’re in store now, although you almost certainly won’t get them until after Xmas if you order now!
Love those new Battlecruiser designs - jealous that the PHR get some big forward guns like that! That said most of them look like they favour forward firepower over broadsides.
The Resistance almost looks like its a huge dropship with the way its underside is designed
I love that just like Spartan with Firestorm, TTC is having this continuous shift in faction design aesthetic, which makes the old ships start looking less and less compatible.
To my eye the UCM, Resistance and Scourge battlecruisers use the identical core hull. The Shaltari one looks to be notably different and the PHR one even more so. However, the Shaltari one matches the overall design aesthetic (i.e. - you wouldn't have to guess which faction it belonged to) and the PHR one matches the existing Monitors. So there's an argument with the PHR that post-TTCombat their range has seen much more variation, but I'm not sure the claim can hold any water for the other 80% of the factions.
Saving the biggest things for the last week? That’s us!
It’s a Dropzone day in the advent calendar today, and… well, let’s not waste any time…
There’s a tentacled nasty making its way around the office, grabbing people from their desks and carrying them about. It’s… unpleasant for a while, but after they get back they seem happy, if very thirsty…
It’s a Scourge Behemoth! :O
We’ve had the Behemoths on the horizon for a little while, but we made the decision to push them back to get all the restocks done and some smaller new models made first. We’re getting close to restocks being finished, and will be pushing on with them again in the new year.
In the meantime, we thought it was high time to test out one of these massive new models (I can’t really call it a “miniature”).
This is the first 3D print of the Scourge Behemoth, carefully assembled by Fin. It’s pretty crazy looking, right?!
Bear in mind that this is still a WIP picture. Models this big take a long time to get ready for production, or even for making master moulds! This is a scale that Dave has never sculpted at before, and these will be some of the largest models we’ve ever produced, so there’s a lot of back and forth still to come to make sure everything is perfect. And that’s just tolerances and fitting – on something this big, the only way to properly inspect the details and the overall look of the model is by getting it stuck together!
Needless to say, we’re still a little way off releasing these huge models, although there will be plenty of other things to keep you all busy in the meantime.
What do you think? Excited by a massive, awesome looking model? Concerned for your UCM Legionnaires? These are the biggest models we’re likely to ever make for Dropzone, so yeah, those Legionnaires probably should be a little worried!
Dropzone Desktop Wallpapers
As an extra little bonus (and so Fleet players weren’t getting ALL the love), we’ve uploaded a whole load of Dropzone desktop wallpapers to the TTCombat webstore Resources page!
There are faction specific and a few various ones in there as well. There’s loads of art from Battle for Earth, in full size!
And some classics, like this sinister Razorworm attack.
Just head over to the Resources page and download yours, completely free!
Deathwatch 
AdMech 
Necron
