Starting a DZC Army: The typical army for beginners

Since Dropzone is a rock-paper-scissor game it is fairly important to get the units right. You need infantry to find objectives, dropships to get the infantry there, anti-aircraft tanks to take down transports, anti-tank to get those anti-aircrafts, flamers and elite infantry to stop enemy infantry from doing anything they want, Scouts to get the Command cards out and more. 

While each player have a different taste all armies need to consist of these things in a fairly balanced way. But what that balance is can be quite hard to gauge as a beginner. So I intend to give you a baseline for a 1500 point army without actually making the army - just describe what each army should consist of and slightly discuss variations. If you go by this "template" you will have a solid playable 1500 points army in DZC. Most likely you will need to change something to suit your style or you have found you want another balance between units but the army you get with my rules will make it very playable for basically all missions.  

And then you can go wack with whatever you want change.  

So lets start:

So the goal is a balanced 1500 point army. The general idea of what type of units to bring is the same for all armies, you just have different units to pick from. Even within the same faction you have options that will change how you play. I will discard the details and instead look at different type of units needed to make a sensible army work. For instance, if you want a anti-tank unit then you can pick a heavy slow cumbersome tank to take down enemy armour or fast and agile, but-made-out-of-paper, lighter vehicles. I don't care either here. They are both anti-tank for me in this situation. 

This enable you to build a goal army of 1500 points based on the units you like the looks on. You will get a sensible 1500 point army and you can then start to change any units you like.

Rule 1. Transports (to everyone)

This is fairly easy. You need a delivery system. If possible pick a transport. Always. A APC need to be in another transport as well. Later on you will most likely discard one or two, or change type, but for now and for 1500 points assume transports for all units. The exception is Shaltari that I will discuss a little bit in the faction specific parts. If possible to upgrade to a better gun on your transport it is generally worth it. Note that I would not recommend buying extra transports. Just the bare minimum of transports to get everything on table turn 1. 

Rule 2. The Commander. (1 unit and Cv4)

Also a fairly easy one as they are a mandatory choice. Assume only one squad though. There are options here with command vehicles where you can place cheap or free commanders in but in general you can ignore that for this first army. One commander of your liking. And transport if available. 

Also you should initially consider only commanders over 70 points for a 1500 point army. The smaller commanders are cool but much harder to work with as a sole commander in a army. If you go double later on then they are absolutely a option. The small leaders also have a purpose with smaller forces and you can use the smaller one in larger battles as long as you also have a larger commander in the army. 

Command level is another important factor here. I think you should go with a base of Lvl 4 in a 1500 point army. Armies like the Scourge like Cv 5 and Shaltari and UCM can be put to well use at lower command levels but if you base it on 4 you will get enough command level to make it work. A Lvl 4 in a lower point-commander is a bad idea as they die fairly easy. Overall the CV value is something you most likely want to change later on. But aim for 4 in the beginning. 

Rule 3. Infantry (4 squads)

Infantry are the base for a DZC army and in several missions very very important to win the games and to score. The general calculation for DZC is 1 squad per 500 points in the army +1. Or 1+armypoints/500 if you like those kind of descriptions. So for a 1500 point game: 4 squads.

Infantry comes in several shapes. Basic infantry like Legionnaries, Warriors, Immortals or Snipers, Braves or Pungari and Fighters are the mainstay. Either two or three squads in a army. The rest should be a more specialized Close quarter unit. That is Praetorian, Sirens and so on. Anything that makes a lot of damage on enemy infantry inside of Garrisons in CQB. 

There are other type of infantry that for instance have a anti-tank function, AA function or faster movement between buildings. At this stage you can ignore them. Pick 4 squads where you have at least two basic infantry squads and maximum 2 CQB squads (many using only 1 CQB squad as they are more expensive in points). 

Also consider 2 full squads inside of APC:s and then in Aircraft so you do not only use light dropships. A combination is sensible to have. 

Rule 4. Anti-Aircraft (2 squads here)

Any DZC army of balance need about 2,5 squads' firepower for anti-aircraft. You pick between focused AA squads or units that have AA as a secondary function. It can be a heavy anti-tank walker with a AA weapon, a transport with a AA gun, infantry with AA with the intent of actually using the AA or just scouts with a weak version of a main AA gun. Or fast movers. 

Start with 2 full squads of ground AA squads. That is Rapiers, Reapers, Kukris and so on. Usually 3 models worth in a full squad. Some uses only 2 models but then balance that with longer range, better accuracy, more shots or heavier gun. 

With the 2 Squads taken you now have a commander, 4 infantry squads and 2 anti-aircraft squads. All in transports. Lets move on. 

Rule 5. Anti-Tank (2 squads here)

This feels like a pretty straight forward thing. Pick 2 squads. It can be fairly standard tanks or heavy tanks. One choice of anti-tank squads are mandatory so it is kind of easy to pick one type of standard anti-tank squad as the choice is already made (but you have options). The other one you are a bit more flexible with and I do suggest you pick a heavier version. What's important is that both are ground units (skimmers are ground units as well) so you get some descent ground presence and have some survival skills in the way they are not made out of paper. And that they are intended to anti-tank and not upgraded with a flamer instead. 

Actually you already have more anti-tank in (very likely) your commander and the infantry. The infantry usually have some AA capabilities as well. These two squads are of course new options. 

Rule 6. Scouts (1 squad)

Another one fairly easy. You need at least one. They will then have AA or AT capabilities (or in some cases, CQB skills). They are usually paper thin but mobile. In DZC 2 the command cards are a bit weaker and so Scouts are not as important for cards. Yet. So leave it at 1 squad. 

The rest:

Now it becomes a bit more fun and free. You basically have the army down and at this point you have about 1000-1200points. The last units are things you wish to add and can really go with whatever you want. 

But I would suggest a gunship, something of a copy of something you already have (or can be a lighter or heavier version), a flame squad or fast movers. 

Just don't go only with AA units or only infantry as this stage. But you can go and fill with only AT units if you'd like. Especially if they have a secondary role of scout, fast, demolish Garrisons, being infantry and so on. Balance is key here. 

It is at this stage that you might consider a heavy transport instead. A classic of 2 squads of AT and 1 squad of AA in a heavier transport is more cost effective but less flexible than three medium dropships. 

Note I do not recommend Behemoths at this stage. Play the game first before deciding. 

Following the above rules you will have a 1500 point army that will be possible to win with. You will most likely find things you want to change but it will be a variation of the above. Some people like using only three squads of infantry and then use a bit more Demolish-weapons to destroy enemy Garrisons instead, some cut down on AA or use it more spread out on more small units, some want tougher ground presence and some like more Air-cav-style units. 

Army specific points:

UCM, Scourge and PHR: nothing worth noting. The rules above works really well. 

Shaltari: Here it gets a bit more complicated. Shaltari can have less infantry as long as they are objective grabbing infantry because they never need to leave the table with their infantry as other factions need to do. That means that other factions find a objective their infantry might be away for at least 2 turns from the essential parts of the battle. Most likely 3. Shaltari's infantry are not even loosing a turn. Also, the gate system means that you can very likely save up on ground vehicle-transports compared to other factions. I would say you can safely assume two ground-squads are not deployed until turn 2. Very often you deploy your tanks and walkers and wait a turn with the infantry from Havens to turn 2. Make sure you have enough gates for infantry though. Number of squads of infantry +1 or +2 transports for infantry is sensible as you gonna use it to relocate effectively (so if using 4 squads of infantry count with 5-6 infantry transports). 

The Resistance: A note need to be made on Hovercrafts. While effective they are a bit hard to handle. Not really of an issue but you need to understand the speed difference between hovercrafts and flying transports. So do not go "only one type". 50-50 is fine. 30-70 is fine too. But you might struggle with 80% going in hover crafts (but not as much if on aircrafts).  

As a final note you might want to remember that if is generally more effective with more battlegroups than less. 

That's it. Considering the above points I pretty much guarantee you will have a effective army that will never feel like a auto-loose. You will have all the elements to win if you have the skills. But you will most likely want to change a bit depending on your style. But with my general template you have loads and loads of options.