Dropfleet Commander

[The Other Dave]

Also, as I read and consider the rules I'm really starting to regret not getting a Scourge battlecruiser. I think (in the event that I really start expanding my fleet) I'll want one of those before a battleship - the whole "never get spikes for any reason" aspect of Full Cloaking is looking much more interesting than the battleships' schtick of, er, having lots of guns and hull points.

As I read the fluff, I'm thinking "man, the Scourge are douchebags," but that's another story, heh.

[me_in_japan]

I've been reading through the rules/fluff somewhat haphazardly. Liking the rules (most of which are familiar from various vids I've seen) and the fluff works fine. But man. Man, oh man. Somebody please get those guys a proofreader before my eyes start bleeding. Seriously, I'll do it for em. Just pay me in sprues. I ain't fussy...

[The Other Dave]

I've been reading through the rules/fluff somewhat haphazardly. Liking the rules (most of which are familiar from various vids I've seen) and the fluff works fine. But man. Man, oh man. Somebody please get those guys a proofreader before my eyes start bleeding. Seriously, I'll do it for em. Just pay me in sprues. I ain't fussy...

And this was after they had to delay shipping to get the rulebooks reprinted after proofing found them riddled with errors.

Also the index is a pile of hot garbage ("B" consists only of "Background" with 11 subheadings, nevermind the fact that, oh, say, Bombardment, or Bombers, are both important parts of the game with plenty of fiddly rules), but that's nothing new for gaming I guess.

Speaking of, the one rule I'm wondering about how it'll work in play (since there's a similar dynamic that I really don't care for in Dropzone) is the ability to just bombard the crap out of enemy-held Sectors and play Sector / Cluster denial rather than try and get troops on the ground. Although I expect that (unlike Dropzone) it really only being effective with dedicated bombardment ships is intended to be the limiting factor.

[me_in_japan]

*MiJ glances at his already-built-cruisers, notes complete absence of bombardment-capable weapons*
Dammit, MiJ! When will you learn to read the rules before you assemble your minis??!?!

[The Other Dave]

*MiJ glances at his already-built-cruisers, notes complete absence of bombardment-capable weapons*
Dammit, MiJ! When will you learn to read the rules before you assemble your minis??!?!

Yeah, the only stuff I have bombardment-capable is the Scourge frigates (and the PHR strike carriers I put together too, though who knows if I'll even collect that fleet).

I sort of suspect that focusing on getting boots on the ground and focusing on bombardment will be an "either-or" thing if you really want to be successful at it. Like, you'd take a cruiser that had bulk landers or a cruiser with bombardment (well, unless you're the PHR, HMM!) - taking both could leave you really undergunned in void combat in anything up to 1500 points or so. The question is which is "better," and I think that'll take a bunch of games played to really see.

And hey, there's always nukes! If you're holding a large cluster for 4 VP a turn, losing 1 VP here and there as you nuke your enemies to the stone age might be an acceptable cost. ('Course, you can stop nukes just by being within 12" of the target sector, so I think it'll be hard to pull off.)

Which is to say, compared to BFG I really really like the objective-based nature of the game. Lots going on there.

[me_in_japan]

holy shitballs. 27 quid for a battleship! A few more quid and you could get a whole starter box! *narrows eyes suspiciously* ...what have i gotten myself into here?

[Primarch]

holy shitballs. 27 quid for a battleship! A few more quid and you could get a whole starter box! *narrows eyes suspiciously* ...what have i gotten myself into here?

How much does one of the bigger X-Wing ships cost? Or a large 'Jack for Warmahordes? I'm going to assume that you only need one battleship per fleet, so it's not too much of an outlay for a centerpiece mini. As an early adopter, it's up to you to sell the rest of the unwashed masses on this new game.
"Holy Moly, only 27 quid for a battleship and a starter box is dirt cheap at 30 quid. *eyes widen in unbridled joy* I'm going to have to be careful not to buy a second fleet. What have I gotten myself into here?"
Something positive like that.

[me_in_japan]

I suppose in comparison with other games 27quid for a centrepiece model isn't bad, really. The reaction was more due to how cheap the rest of the fleet was in comparison. (On which note, the reason I know the cost of a fleet is cos I actually was sizing one up for a purchase.) Resin vs plastic, I spose. On which note, the plastics are awesome. I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to cleanup and will happily spend an hour just on prep for a single 28mm model. With the dropfleet stuff all I needed to do was smooth off the wee nubs where the mini attached to the sprue and that was it. Assembly was schmoove as butter, too. Very impressive design and casting.

[The Other Dave]

They're really really nice kits, yeah, and they've really taken to heart the idea of a loss-leader cheap buy-in with the starter fleets.

And it's hard to appreciate from single pics just what massive chunks of resin the battleships are. There's battleship chat about 25 minutes in to the video here, and they have some on the table. Big, complex models, plus all the weapon options are included so with a bit of magnet fussing you get a couple ships for the price of one.

They are, though, big, complex models with big Signature ratings and lots of weapon systems that just demand you go Weapons Free and light up like a Christmas tree to be shot at from half the board away, heh. Fortunately perhaps for my wallet, I'm not really taken with the design for the UCM battleships, I'd prefer a Scourge stealth battlecruiser to a battleship, and the PHR are expensive enough points-wise without a capital ship-sized point sink, so I may be able to avoid getting one for a good bit. (The Shaltari supercarrier, though, that would be hard to resist. Launch 7 plus the speed of Shaltari launch assets means you could comfortably sit well back in your half of the table on standard orders with your shields down, keeping your heat signature low while you bomb the crap out of anything up to mid-table.)

I'm less sure about my willpower holding up versus getting my UCM and PHR fleets up to at least 1000 points...

[AndrewGPaul]

Also, as I read and consider the rules I'm really starting to regret not getting a Scourge battlecruiser. I think (in the event that I really start expanding my fleet) I'll want one of those before a battleship - the whole "never get spikes for any reason" aspect of Full Cloaking is looking much more interesting than the battleships' schtick of, er, having lots of guns and hull points.

As I read the fluff, I'm thinking "man, the Scourge are douchebags," but that's another story, heh.

You think the Scourge are wrong 'uns? You need to read the end of the Dropzone Commander Reconquest phase 2 book ...