Introduction: "Balance" of Power

Welcome to my blog about Dropzone Commander by Hawk Wargames!

Game Workshop's Epic Space Marine is what got me into tabletop wargaming and Victory Points through the capturing of objectives is, to me, what makes a wargame more fun than lining up and battling it out in the Thunderdome where "two [armies] enter, one [army] leaves.  I'm starting this blog as a place to share tactics and experiences for what I believe will be the "next big thing" in tabletop wargaming.  I'm guessing you found my blog because you've heard about Dropzone Commander.

In days of yore, "the sun never sets on the British Empire" was true because the Royal Navy controlled the seas and therefore had the naval mobility to choose when and where to extend the Empire's military might on the global scale.  Fittingly, Dropzone Commander comes from the mind of Dave in the United Kingdom where space mobility, in the form of dropships, is the key to interplanetary conflict on the "universal" scale (see what I did there - LOL).

I went with "Flight in the Shade" as an appropriate pun from this Spartan quote...

"Although extraordinary valor was displayed by the entire corps of Spartans and Thespians, yet bravest of all was declared the Spartan Dienekes. It is said that on the eve of battle, he was told by a native of Trachis that the Persian archers were so numerous that, their arrows would block out the sun. Dienekes, however, undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh, 'Good. Then we will fight in the shade.'" - Histories, 7.226

Instead of arrows, we have dropships and airpower.  The Spartans held off their invaders with superior equipment/technology AND superior tactics - the tactics is what I believe Dropzone Commander has in spades!

Over the next few blogs, I'll try to explain how the game plays...

ARMY COMPOSITION/BALANCE:
I remember the days of "Herohammer" when you needed 25% of TROOPS and could have 50% in CHARACTERS... I beat someone in a local gaming store tournament because I avoided his Mounted Chaos Lord with Khorne Juggers and defeated his other unit - a lowly 5-man minimum unit of Beastmen.  His response was that I was being "beardy" by avoiding his "auto-win/kill unit."  I think I successfully stalled it with a neverending batch of skeletons warriors.

Fast forward to today, on the heroic scale, I play and absolutely adore Warmachine/Hordes.  I play Khador and I must agree that almost everything in WarmaHordes is devastating so "overpowered" is a relative term; however, I'm a faction purist and I don't play Winter Guard Death Star or Kayazy Assassins because I believe that looking good while winning is important!  As such, I don't think I can ever reach the pinnacle of the tournament scene. (Granted, my skills suck too but I'd like to see a world-class Khador player win without the above two mentioned units in their lists.)  As a sidenote, Dropzone Commander models are THE MOST BEAUTIFUL models that I've ever seen!

Dropzone Commander has you organize your Army, consisting of a few Battlegroups (none of which can be greater than 33% of your Army) in alternating fashion (you move one Battlegroup, then your Opponent, then you, etc...) in a turn.  Each Battlegroup consists of Squads of SIMILAR TYPE UNITS.  Based on the size of the game... Skirmish, Conflict, Battle... there are limits to the number of Squads in each Battlegroup.  This makes Army Building challenging because you need to satisfy a few "rules":

1 - If chosen, all Dropships must carry the full load of units.
2 - All infantry USUALLY has a dedicated Transport.
3 - Squad restrictions within a Battlegroup.
4 - Max number of Squads in a Battlegroup.
5 - Battlegroup restrictions within an Army.
6 - Max number of Battlegroups in an Army.

This maintains the military feel and structure of an Army.

UNIT TYPES:
TRANSPORTS:  This includes Dropships and APCs.  Hey, it's the future... why march when you can catch a ride?  Why ride when you can fly?  Mobility and military might, remember?
AIR:  This represents fighters/bombers... during their activation (attack run), they fly on, attack, and off the board.  Only susceptible to other fighters and units with AA capability.  Right now, I wonder if they will be too powerful but with a 33% of them not being available when you want to use them, I think you will be punished if you rely on them too much (along with restrictions on how many you can have).
COMMAND:  These vehicles allow you to play tactic "Cards" which can affect things on the battlefield.  Your commander, if you choose to have one, is within one of them and they allow your commander the full range of his abilities.
SCOUT:  While light vehicles, they can be fitted to take on anti-armor, AA, or anti-infantry roles.  More importantly, they are like "arc nodes" for your commander (e.g., your commander can play "Cards" from them, keeping your COMMAND vehicle safe at a distance from the front lines.
STANDARD: Your Main Battle Tanks (MBT).  Like Panzer General, you need them to take out air defenses and other MBTs.
SUPPORT:  Your AA guns and Helicopter-equivalents.  AA Guns provide "overwatch" fire to protect zones against raiding aircraft.  Like real warfare, they rely on an inaccurate volume of shots to down aircraft.
HEAVY: Artillery and Heavy Battle Tanks.
TROOPS: Infantry.  They will die in the open but hand-to-hand (usually in buildings, there is no "assaulting" of tanks with infantry like WH40K) fighting with other TROOPS and EXOTIC (Elite Infantry) and they can fire upon Aircraft (airborne units) like the Terran Marine in StarCraft.  You will need infantry to capture and hold buildings.
EXOTIC: Elite Infantry (e.g., Special Forces)

Right now, with the Army Building Rules and the roles for the different type of units, I see COMBINED ARMS appears to be the most sound tactic.  Time will tell if a Zerg Rush will be developed successfully.