Set Condition One: Reinforcements Inbound

A number of months ago TTcombat released experimental rules for a new class of ship useable for 2 factions in Dropfleet Commander (UCM and the PHR factions).

Myself and others threw money together to avail of their free shipping offer at the time and ordered a bunch of stuff. Personally I got my self 2 of the new Centurion Cruisers and the Command Cards for my UCM fleet.

I’ve a large backlog of mini’s of the minute so it has taken me a while to getting them painted up.

I love the design aesthetics and fluff behind the Centurion and can’t wait till I get a chance to put them on the table.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.

– from The Man Cave

Set Condition One: Dropzone Commander and Dropfleet Commander

A few months ago, it was announced that Hawk Wargames, the company responsible for the excellent games of Dropzone Commander and Dropfleet Commander, was purchased by TTCombat.

This took a lot of people by surprise, especially considering that Hawk Wargames was still in the process of fulfilling orders from their successful Kickstarter for Dropfleet Commander.

To TTCombats credit, they have, and are working hard to finalise the shipping of all product to Kickstarter backers.

And as of Friday just gone, they have launched both product lines of Dropzone Commander and Dropfleet Commander on their Website.

In celebration of this, TTcombat are offering till Sunday Febuary 4th, free shipping on orders over £100, and have made available all of Hawk Wargames past and present (we’ll get to this one in a bit) show exclusive models, Preoders for Famous Commanders from Dropzone Commanders Reconquest Phase 2 Book, and the Kickstarter Exclusive models from Dropfleet Commander.
I’ve thrown together images of the preorders, show exclusives, and Kickstarter exclusives for you to have a look at.

Myself and a few others have gone in together to order some things. Myself personally I wanted the new ship for Dropfleet Commander.

Fluff wise it’s one of the few remaining types of cruiser that escaped the Scourge Invasion of earth.

Well until next time, I’ll see you athe table.

– from The Man Cave

Dropfleet Commander – Battlegroup Typhon, Taskforce Theta Quick Look

The Man Cave shows off Battlegroup Typhon, Taskforce Theta in person (sort of), with added Pew, Pew’s.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.

– from The Man Cave

Dropfleet Commander – Battlegroup Typhon, Task Force Theta

So a few months ago I received my Kickstarter pledge for Dropfleet Commander from Hawk Wargames, and shame on me I’ve been letting my fleet sit in space dock.
But no more, we’re pulling the Fleet out of mothballs and powering up the main reactors.

It’s taken a couple of days but I’ve finished magnetising my UCM cruisers. Currently Battlegroup Typhon, Taskforce Theta consists of:

• 1 Avalon class Battlecruiser 

• 2 Heavy Cruisers chassis 

• 2 Cruisers chassis 

• 2 Saratoga Class light cruisers 

• 8 Frigate chassis 

I’ve been lacking in games so far (with only about 2 under my belt), all the games I’ve played so far have be at the Skirmish level (lists up to 999 points).
The last game I played I used the following list:

————————————–Ucm 1000 – 981pts

UCM – 3 launch assets
SR12 Vanguard battlegroup (241pts)

1 x Moscow – 163pts – H

2 x Taipei – 78pts – L

SR12 Line battlegroup (250pts)

2 x New Cairo – 176pts – M

2 x Lima – 74pts – L

SR8 Line battlegroup (228pts)

2 x New Orleans – 64pts – L

1 x Seattle – 132pts – M

   + UCM Captain (20pts, 2AV)

1 x New Orleans – 32pts – L

SR11 Pathfinder battlegroup (242pts)

2 x Rio – 210pts – M

1 x New Orleans – 32pts – L

————- dflist.com ————- 

For a tournament level (Clash level) list of 1250 pts I have the Avalon Battlecruiser and an unbuilt cruiser and frigate sprue, as well as the ships meantioned earlier for me to play with to get me up to the 1250 pts level.

Out of the remaining Cruiser and Frigate sprue I have I cant decide what to build. Do I want an extra Seattle class carrier, or another Rio class cruiser, or even a San Fransico from the Cruiser sprue? And for the Frigate sprue do I want more Strike Cruisers or Attack Frigates? Currently I’m thinking of adding 1 Strike Cruiser and 3 of the Attack Frigate chassis.
Ahh hell, I think I’ll just magnetise the lot and be done with it.

If you happen to have a 1250 pts UCM list, why not share with myself so I can give it a whirl.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.

– from The Man Cave 

Dropfleet Commander – Scourge Basilisk Battlecruiser

The Man Cave takes a look at the Scourge Basilisk Battlecruiser, which was available during Hawk Wargames Kickstarter of Dropfleet Commander.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.
– from The Man Cave

Dropfleet Commander Kickstarter Unboxing Part 2 – The Ships

The Man Cave takes a quick look at the Cruiser and Frigates of Dropfleet Commander.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.
– from The Man Cave

We’re coming in Hot… Adventures in Dropzone Commander Part 7 – Dropzone Commander: Reconquest Phase 1

Join us as we take a quick look at the first expansion to Hawk Wargames, 10mm tabletop wargame, Dropzone Commander Reconquest: Phase 1.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.
– from The Man Cave

We’re coming in Hot… Adventures in Dropzone Commander Part 6 – Dropzone Commander Core Rulebook v1.1

The Man Cave has recently gotten an upgrade, due to children and water.
Join us as we take a quick look at the Core Rulebook of Hawk Wargames, 10mm tabletop wargame, Dropzone Commander.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.
– from The Man Cave

We’re Comming in Hot… Adventures in Dropzone Commander Part 5 – 1500pts UCM vs Scourge

Thankfully with schedules permitting, I managed to get a game of Hawk Wargames, Dropzone Commander In the other night.

For my opponent, I was facing up against Lorcan…

…Our local UCM player… Or Cylon Infiltrator.

The mission for the night was ‘Survey and Control’, a new scenario from the new book, Reconquest: Phase 2.

I was playing Scourge,  (I was proxying the Eden Dinosaur as a the giant blue foam and 2 Corruptors as the smaller 2 pieces of foam, more about the Corruptors later).

Scourge Oppressors: 

Eden Dinosaur 

4 Minders with an Intruder Beta

Vanguard:

3 Hunter tanks in a marauder

3 Reaper tanks in a Marauder

Warrior Cabal:

2 groups of Aged Ones, Both in an Invader APC, sharing a Marauder 

Invasion Host:

2 Reaper Gunships

Occupation Patrol:

4 Minders in an Intruder Beta

8 Prowlers split amongst 2 Intruder Beta’s

2 Corruptors
For Lorcans UCM list, he had…

Command Group:

Kodiak (Captain)

4x Longbow with Raven A (plus Rocket pods)

Armour Group:
6x Katana

3x Fireblade

Albatross

Infantry Group
2x Legionnaires with Raven B 

2x Legionnaires with Raven B

Ferrum

Scout Group
2x Praetorians with Raven B (plus rocket pods)

2x Praetorian Snipers (plus Rocket pods)

Air Group
Seraphim

‘Survey and Control’ is a fun little mission. It was part mad dash, part denial, for most of the game. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures during the game, due to my camera’s battery being mostly dead.

Spoiler alert… I lost the game. Part due to only having 2 infantry groups, but mostly due to me forgetting to move my infantry group onto the table till turn 3, D’oh. Even still, the game ended close with 8 Intel points to Lorcan vs my 6 Intel points, I still won on Kill Points (as far as I remember) due to the Eden Dinosaur sniping his Kodiak off the board in the last turn.

Some highlights of the game were Lorcans snipers shooting my 2 Reaver gunships out of the air, 1 of which crashed into a building. 

His Longbows sniping my poor, little prowlers of the table (thanks to his Snipers spotting for him). 

For most of the game, the drones from Lorcan’s Ferrum kept my 2nd  Minder Swarm and Corruptors boxed in, until I realised they don’t ‘reaction fire’. I then moved out my Corruptors, fired of 2 Razorworm pods at buildings to claim 2 ‘Intel’ points.

Thanks to a ‘Command Card’ I drew, 2 of my Hunter tanks were able to get into range of Lorcan’s Longbows. The Katana’s next to my Hunters, were then torn up by the Eden Dinosaur.

In the next turn, I drew a ‘Core Overload Command Card’, and tried to kamakazi an Intruder Beta into the middle of the Fireblades, but I rolled 1’s. In all honesty, no one I know can roll more 1’s than me. Lorcan, even remarked I should start playing ‘Battletech’, cause i’ld get bonuses for rolling them.

I had a blast playing the Eden Dinosaur, and I can see why ‘Famous Commanders’ aren’t allowed in tournament play. Although I didn’t get much work done with them, I love the new Scourge Corruptors. Just love them. I can see them being taken in a lot, if not all Scourge lists. They are a bit pricey, but the options they can give in CQB, grabbing Intel, and Focal Points is amazing. 

After my game with Lorcan, I only realised that during our game I could have gotten his snipers, or at the least forced him to reposition them. By shooting Razorworms into the adjacent building, I could have had them exit the building, cross the street, and feed on his Snipers.

Although a few mistakes were made, I can’t wait for my next game.

Until next time, I’ll see you at the table.
– from The Man Cave

We’re Coming in Hot… Adventures in Dropzone Commander Part 4 – Scourge vs UCM 1000pts

I had my first game (in a long time) of Dropzone Commander on Saturday the 19th. It was 1000pts Scourge vs UCM.

We played the Lazer Scenario 2 From DZC’s Reconquest: Phase 1 expansion book.

In this Scenario there is 4 Large Hardened Structures. Each one is located in a table corner, and each one contains an objective. On the centre line of the board there is an Orbital Defense Lazer (ODL) structure, which players can interact with, and which is a Focal Point. The Defense Lazer can be fired once per turn (cause its a big ass Zzap gun) by the first Occupier Infantry Unit.

My opponent, Lorcan…

… took it easy on me.

In his list he had (forgive me for not remembering the exact Battlegroups. As far as I Remember he had):

A Kodiak (CV4)
4 Wolverine A’s
Praetorian Sniper Team w/ Raven A
6 Katana Light Tanks w/ 2 Condor Medium Dropships
2 Praetorian Teams w/ 2 Raven A’s
2 Archangels

For my own 1000pts I had:

A proxied Desolator (CV4), the blue foam on a flight stand
2 Reaver Gunships
Minder Swarm w/ 2 Intruder Beta’s
Prowler Pack w/ 2 Intruder Beta’s
3 Hunter Tanks w/ Marauder Dropship
3 Reaver Tanks w/ Marauder Dropship
2 Warrior Hordes w/ 2 Invader APC’s + Marauder Dropship

I had a great game vs Lorcan and the game actually turned out to be very tight. I did better than I thought. I took a few pictures of the highlights of our game.

I may have gotten rounds and activations abit out of order, so forgive me.

I won the roll to go first and chose to activate my Command Battle Group first. As with most wargames first turn is about positioning.

Lorcan got his Snipers up the board and into a building opposite the ODL. I moved my Command group up the middle, Tanks up the flanks, and Troops towards the objective in my bottom right building.

To say that the wheels came off the bus early is an understatement.

On turn 2, Lorcan got a squad of Praetorians into the ODL and closed the door. I moved up with my Intruders + Prowlers ‘going on the deck’, failed the roll, and lost not only 1 of my Dropship but 4 Prowlers as well 😥

This Intruder + 4 Prowlers once had buddies…

Lorcan found the objective in his bottom right building, got his troops into their Raven and booked it towards his second objective.

I deployed my Hunter tanks on the left side of the ODL to make a run for his Kodiak Command vehicle. Reaper tanks were deployed to try to intercept his escaping Raven and incoming Katana’s.

Lorcan deployed his Katana’s vs my Reaper’s…

I also found an objective and got it off the board. My Troop Dropship moved to the second objective.

My Command group of Minders + the Desolator moved up. I tried bringing my Desolator ‘On the Deck’ to prevent early damage from his Snipers and this happened…

… bye bye Desolator.

Lorcan let rip into my Reapers with his Katana’s. If it wasnt for using a ‘Jink + Weave’ Command Card (previous to loosing my Desolator) I would have lost the entire unit.

My Reaver Gunships moved up and took out some of his Wolverines and some damage to the ODL. Lorcan finally managed to roll for his Archangels to come on…

… no more Gunships. He moved his surviving Wolverine up to engage my Minders. The little fecker survived 8 shots from my Minder Swarm.

I got Infantry into my other building to search for the objective and Lorcan was kind enough to shoot at it with the ODL. He inflicted 30 damage and my troops took some damage from ‘Falling Masonary’.

My other Troop unit got into a building close to the ODL and I played the ‘Underground Monorail’ Command Card.

Lorcan moved his Katana’s to attack my Hunter’s, killing 2 of them. I retaliated killing a few of his. My surviving Hunter got good damage on his Kodiak. His Archangels began another attack run…

He got some of mine, but at least my Minders got both his Archangels.

I got my Troops into the ODL, my other troops failed to find the objective. I moved an APC up behind the ODL to hide from Lorcans Katana’s. Lorcan called in an Orbital Bomdardment from his Kodiak to kill my last Hunter. His Praetorians got into the building containing his second Objective. Our troops in the ODL got into some ‘CQB’, despite being outnumbered my Warrior Horde laid the smack down on Lorcans stupid Humans.

Turn 6 came down to me playing a ‘Central Directive’ (i think thats what its called) Command Card, to activate my infantry before his. I found my last objective and legged it off with it. Lorcan needed a 4+ to find his, he found it and like wise got it off the board. The game ended with basically both of us having remainder of units that couldnt either shoot at or harm each other.

The final score was 6-5 to Lorcan. As i said previously, I did far better than I thought I could have. The game was filled with some great moments and I cant wait to get another game in.

– from The Man Cave