Scatter terrain, Dropzone Commander

Here we have some small scatter terrain to add some details and make the gaming board more interesting in Dropzone Commander. Just a quick build and paintjob but it will do.

Shaltari Ronins

Here we have my new Ronins.
A quick photoshoot that resulted in the far from perfect picture but you get the point, they are cool looking and follow my previous paint scheme. Just in time for my latest order arriving with the Phase 2 book and some new miniatures...

Ronin are the frontline assault troops of the Shaltari. Their primary role is to strike first and from unexpected places. Every one of these individuals lives for nothing but war, an obsession that is all-consuming and unyielding. In battle they favour heavy warsuits – towering constructs that emulate the joys of physical combat but on a much larger scale. Though far too large to enter buildings, these suits are nonetheless surprisingly agile for their size. Armed with a pair of Gauss Carbines, they dart and weave across the open battlefield, delighting in the destruction they bring to bear on the foe.

Shaltari Thunderbirds

I just finished two Thunderbird gunships to my Shaltari from the world of Dropzone Commander. Packing a shorter variant of the Gauss Cannon which is the armament of the Tomahawk gravtank I hope these can take out an enemy or two. But they are very frail and cant take a beating, so it all comes down to shooting the enemy first and hope that I dont miss the shot.

The Thunderbird is a lethal gunship, dedicated to the ground attack role. Its highly distinctive silhouette is reminiscent of stinging insects, an eminently suitable comparison. The Tunderbird features a deadly sting in the form of a short barrel Gauss Cannon, mounted beneath its abdomen. This weapon does not quite match the range of the standard version, but features the same excellent killing power.
The Thunderbird can loiter for extended periods over the combat zone, providing excellent close air support. Although it is thoroughly outclassed by fighters in terms of speed, this ability makes it more useful for protracted engagements. It is also more flexible in the confines of the urban jungle, where fighters have insufficient room to manoeuvre.

Since Gates are entirely unarmed, these talents are highly prized by Shaltari Warchiefs. Thunderbirds are routinely employed as escorts for Gates, clearing dropzones ahead of troop insertion. However, its light armour and low speed fight envelope makes it highly vulnerable to AA fire, and as such it is best deployed where the enemy has poor air defence.

You can always ad more details and another layer of shading or highlight but you have to draw the line somewhere. Im happy how they turnet out but I notice places that could had used another highlight when I look at the pictures here. Oh well, there are lots of other miniatures that also need paint so they will stay as they are.
One of the birds had a slightly miscast nose but I think I have repaired it up good enough, its nothing you will notice if you dont look especially for it later on the gaming-table.

Dropzone Commander AAR

After a BIG brake from DzC I finally played a game again. A big thanks to Stefan for guiding me through all the stages again.
I really felt that I had forgotten lots of stuff rulewise and especially tactically.

I had made a list with lots of units I wanted to try out which led to a list that is far from the most effective. I wanted to test them when I had help with all the rules.
To make things even worst I was missing some Shaltari Jaguars from my collection so I had to make a quick rearrangement to the list. The good thing with this was that I could test out even more miniatures that I usually dont game with, double Ocelot unit and Tarantulas.
But I have literally no idea where my other Jaguar is... It should have been in the box with all the other miniatures.
 

PHR Snipers finds an creature lurking in the building. And as they where already wounded because of fallen masonry from my bombardment of the building they were all wiped out.

I encounter Medusa... Damn that is one aggressive and effective model... and fast... And apparently rather cheep...
Scary

My Tarantulas deployed on top of the building for a good field of fire.

My Ocelots had been hanging at the back most of the game doing rather nothing so I got tired of that and dropped them right on my target instead...
The plan was to combat the enemy commander with these and my Tarantulas.
That could have turned out so much better with enemy hacking my gun systems forcing me to hit my own miniatures loosing a shot and when you least want it you always roll that one...

I chase after the quick Medusa but could never really catch her.

My commander fell to the Medusa and failed to eject.




Thanks for a nice game Stefan.



The game ended with a big win for the PHR, I think the scores were something like 14-8. I did manage to catch up some points in the final turn but was behind and had try to catch up since turn one.
But it was a nice to once again field the Shalari on the tabletop. I have tons to learn but it was nice to try out some new units that I havent tried out yet.





So some thoughts about some units.
Tarantulas didnt actually do much in this game but nether did my Tomahawk tanks. I can still see potential with them. The Tomahawks on the other hand, they constantly fail to impress me. I really want to like them but the Tarantulas just feels like a better choice, that or fielding Jaguars. The choice is between Tarantulas and Tomahawks and the Tarantulas just seems better.

Double Ocelots was rather nice. Initially they opened up the game nicely but then really didnt do anything. But when I dropped them right on my target those big guns could have been nasty with some better dicing. Im sure there are better units to drop right ontop of my enemy rather then long range gunnery but it could be a viable tactics in the future.

The Warspear heavy fighter did some damage popping enemy dropships, nothing mayor and I think I will leave that one at home in the future. Its just not worth it.




Samurai, could have potential but I never managed to do anything useful with them. I this game they where chasing down Medusa but she was far to elusive for that. When I finally managed to catch her they failed to do anything, in theory their flamers could have done more against her.
Im not really sure about this unit. I think they will have a role to fill in future games but they they are not a unit that I must include. More testing is needed on this unit.


For future games if I wanting to get better results with my units I will have to learn to use the command cards better. I never felt I had any real use of them, no one suited me in the right moment in the game and that is a big thing. My opponent had managed to use his command cards much much better and had real worth of his.
The list have to be changed for future game, including more infantry besides other things. That is something I was aware of when I did my list so I could test out more units new to me.

Dropzone Commander painting competition

I won an painting competition on Hawk wargames forum for some of my work with my Shaltari and just found these in my mailbox...

One double decker battlebus and one metal ship of their future Dropfleet Commander game, a New Orleans class Strike Carrier...

I really thought I had about till summer or maybe autumn before I had to think about a colour scheme for these ships...