This last Saturday, due to some strangeness in my work schedule, I was at the club at 1:30. Which meant I was able to get in 8+ hours of gaming before I finally went home. All of it was spent playing Dropzone Commander.
My first game was a rematch against Nabors from last Monday. This time however, we were playing on the brand spanking new Ruinscape City Board. Very pretty. I also put down all 20 building from the box, plus 3 more from Mike S's starter. We then excluded buildings within 4" of the board edge and put Recon markers in all the others. I'm gonna let you know now, it was a lot of markers. Now, in hind sight, I didn't build the most balanced board. It was very aesthetically pleasing, it just wasn't balanced. It mattered some in this game, it mattered a lot more in the next game. I was running the same 900 point list, Cheatanabors fixed his force org legality problem from last week... by going 26 points over this week. For shame, for shame. Anywho, I got even by letting him choose the wrong side of the board. This game started the opposite of last game. Instead of 1's blowing data up in my face, I rolled 6's, giving me objectives I then had to exit the board with. My first three checks were all objectives. The fourth, a bomb. Nabors, on the other hand, was straight down the middle again. A point per objective, nothing to run with, nothing exploding. A first, this sounds awesome, I ran two off, carried the third, I have 8 points. BUT it also meant my Havens were now in reserve, and I couldn't roll high enough to get them back. I have the points, but I have cost myself my mobility. So, while I had the win in the bag, I found I couldn't move my troops around like I wanted. If the buildings hadn't been so close, so that I could jump from one to another, I would have been screwed. As it was, I won handily, mostly because his guys got stuck on the far side of a road, and had to walk.
Game two was a four way free for all. In this one we had all four of the first book races. Being as Troy(Scourge) and Patrick(UCM) only had starters, Nabors dropped to his starter(PHR), and I brought out my 575 Shaltari list. We played Land Grab, with the center focal point being a building. We altered the deployment, making everyone start in readiness, so that the new guys could try it out, as it is the more predominant deployment type.
It went down, basically, like this. The UCM rushed the Scourge. The Shaltari sent feelers down their left and towards the center. The PHR crawled out of their corner, the Scourge ate what the UCM fed them. As such, the PHR and
Shaltari softened each other(as much as the stupid PHR can be softened), the Scourge mauled the UCM, who could do little in return, and on trying to make an escape, crossed the Shaltari's path, which straight killed the drop ship. The building near the Scourge/UCM objective was straight demolished. The Scourge piled into buildings that covered the PHR/Scourge objective and the center. PHR tried to hold the Shaltari/PHR one with troops and APCs, the Scourge/PHR and center one with a combined force of walkers. The UCM managed to snag a building nearly equidistant from the center and his two nearest objectives. The Shaltari played a little cagey, and held back a bit, waiting to make a last minute dash for his nearest and the center. The UCM, having taken the heaviest mauling was looking to be bad loser, but through well placed troops and some last minute maneuvering managed to be in range of three objectives(Center, UCM/Scourge, UCM/Shaltari). The PHR, having relied on his heavy point cost models thought he had it in the bag, but having fell short of the center, and cheaper troops, which, even with an APC, couldn't match the Shaltari's troops for cost, only scored three as well(PHR/Shaltari, owned PHR/Scourge). The Scourge, who did the most damage by far, were blocked out of owning an objective by the late push of the PHR walkers, scoring 5(Scourge/PHR, owned Center, owned Scourge/UCM). The Shaltari had also taken a bit of a beating with their lighter tanks, having lost a few units, but due to holding back, then shooting forward at the last minute, also came out with 5 points(Center, owned Shaltari/PHR, owned Shaltari/UCM). The scuffle between the Scourge and UCM really helped the Shaltari stay in the game and gave the PHR an open lane to move his slower walkers up freely. Nabors had suggested afterwards that we probably should have put the Scourge and UCM on the diagonal from each other as the newer players. Too late, of course, but could have been a better idea. They also had a lighter building lay out, leading tithe heavier conflict.
My final game of the night was versus another first timer, Mike S. It was another starter game with Mike playing UCM. We played the first mission, which of course I excel at, and the building Mike went after was of course small and easy to kill. Again, I should have altered the board after game one.
Mike actually out maneuvered me, and since I shot with my tanks first on turn two, was able to occupy the center building before I did. I also was a little slow on my first turn movement, something I really need to work on, meaning I wasn't quite in position for turn two on my second building. My first turn movement and drops is where I am having the most trouble. I do fine the rest of the game, but due to mistakes or errors or late starts or whatever it is, I am a little behind to start it all off.
Unfortunately for Mike, I have taken the Dropzone mantra to heart. "When in doubt, shoot a building." This mean that when he entered the small building, it was already a death trap. As such, he basically lost a squad before anything happened. I then put pressure on the center, loading my own troops into it, initiating CQB, knowing I am far superior in it. I also believe I added a second squad later. The result was, of course, predetermined, but not before he found me the objective, which I skated hastily off the board in an Eden. My slower squad on the left, however, wasn't as lucky. They took a bit to get there, doing some building hopping, then were slow in their search, then, upon escape into a Haven, the Haven got blown up. Mike had far more things close by than I did, so, for me it was an all out race to slow him down. First up, the dropship. And I made good on that one. However, my Tomahawks were a little far back, and a little blocked from getting shots on his tanks and transport. However, as he picked it up on turn 5, he didn't have the turns or the speed to escape the board, though he may have if he been more experienced. As I write this, I remember that he still had the drop ship for his AA tanks nearby, which could have been handed the objective by his APC, then load, and escape on turn 6. While we will never know for sure, as I can't exactly remember which dropship was where, I think it may have been possible. Of course, as an unseasoned player myself, it didn't occur to me at the time, either. There is a very likely chance this game should have been a draw, which would have gone to Victory Points, which I would have lost handily. I just don't kill. Not yet anyway.
As I have said before, I am really enjoying this game. I doubt it will supplant Malifaux, but for the now, it is big for me. We will be starting the grow league in two weeks, so that will be awesome, though I will be back to 600 points for a couple weeks.
Information on the league can be found
here.
As an aside, we welcome all and any Dropzone(or really any system) players. As I have said, we are fairly new, and so don't have large armies, but we are eager. We play Saturdays, usually late afternoon into the evening. I should be there around 2PM again this Saturday and will definitely have my stuff. Also, you can leave a comment here or contact us on the linked forum, and we may be able to setup a game at another time.
I have a game tomorrow versus Nabors, which I hope to post on later this week, but for now, I should probably get some sleep.
Until next time, safe landings.
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