Sunday, September 9, 2012

Dropzone commander Rulebook review long overdue


Have been reading 6th edition 40k and figuring out how to play Tau in this edition. Also I have been painting fire warriors and few Cygnar models. I hope to have the Tau done soon after returning back to Madison.

I also purchased the rulebook to Dropzone Commander and have a lengthy review below.

Dropzone Commander Review

                I will start this review by saying I have not yet played a single game of Dropzone Commander, but I have had the rulebook for nearly a week and have thoroughly read the rules and army lists. First off I will start with the very few negative aspects of the book. There are a few typos in the book. This is to be expected in the first edition, especially when the book was produced with a single author. Also there are a few confusing point costs, especially among the light drop ships. For each of these, two point values are listed, but it is not made clear which version costs which point amount. I believe the light dropshop that carries troops is the more expensive. Also the Scourage have the ability to upgrade their infantry but the point cost for doing this is listed as “X”. The only other detractor in the game is the Energy to Armor table which could have been made clearer. As it is, if the E of the weapon is equal to the A of the vehicle is requires a roll of a 5+ to damage it.  The Armor values simply could have been raised such that you roll a die and the E value of the weapon if it beat the armor a point it done. These are the only bad portions of the game and honestly if these are the only complaints for the first edition of a game, it is well written.
                                The background to this game is highly original. While each of the races are similar to those in other games, the combination of these races and interactions between them seems realistic and logical. Each of the races is interesting enough to warrant playing them. The first race in the game is the United Colonies of Mankind(UCM). These are the remains of the human race flung to the outskirts of space after losing Earth and its close colonies to the Scourge invaders. The Shal’tari while are very similar to the eldar, but attempts to manipulate the other races makes them interesting. The Scourge are essentially the puppet masters of Heinlein and the borg put together. They are parasites which constantly need new hosts. The Scourge conquered earth 150 years ago, but have not located the UCM colonies. The final race in the game is the Post Human Republic. These humans are the descendants of humans who headed the warning of a mysterious white sphere that landed on Earth. This sphere predicted the attack of the Scourge and those who escaped with it have adopted cybernetic technology. They like the UCM have been building a military in the 150 year since the Scourge invasion.
                The game uses d6’s and all measurements are made in inches. The recommended board size is 4’x4’ for most games and seems like it would take much less time to play than 40k or large games of warmachine. The scale of the game is 10mm, but from the photos in the book the detail looks like good. The book is softback and full color and all of the photos are of the figures  and full color.
The rules are interesting a simple, but allow for more complex game play as special rules are given to the individual armies and units within them. There are two major breaks from traditional miniature games. The first is that players rarely deploy their forces before the game. Most units within most scenarios fly unto the board within drop ships. While players do have the option to not provide transport for their units, given the slow movement of most units, this would prove an unwise decision in most scenarios. The second aspect is alternating unit activation. While this is not a new idea, the Spartan games have made use of this and others, alternating activation along, lack of static deployment, and objective based scenarios, should make for a new and unique gaming experience.
                Included in the book are 12 scenarios which are mostly objective based. Each of the 12 scenarios features a small variant option making a total of 24 different battles to play. The focus in most the scenarios is getting infantry into building and then finding and taking the objective off the board. In many of the scenarios objectives is not a location but instead an item or person. Therefore they can be taken from the building.  There are other objective such as focal points, which are similar to 40k objectives and most be held by keeping units nearby.
                Army building is point based along with a slightly complicated force organization chart (FOC). The FOC requires that a mix of infantry and vehicles be taken. This forces variety in armies, however, is not a problem as it is expected that only mixed unit armies would be successful in the game. Infantry is required to enter buildings and take objectives, but tanks are much more deadly than infantry. The only close combat that occurs in the game takes place in building between infantry. The building close quarters fighting is swift and brutal. This phase is also the portion of the game that can require more than 10 d6’s.
                The individual armies play quite differently. The United Colonies of Mankind and Post Human Republic are somewhat similar, but the PHR and much more elite. The scourge plays very differently from the other races as they are much faster, only reliably fire at close range, and have several units that must be in base to base to fight (a rare range in Dropzone Commander). The Shal’tari, instead of having traditional drop ships has gates. This allows them to move between two gates on the battlefield. The Shal’tari do not have to assign which units on are which ships. As mentioned previously units are very slow and drop ships seem to be essential for battlefield mobility.
                In closing, this game promises original game play which I look forward to trying out. More to come on the models and individual card decks as I see them.

                

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