Saturday 2 August 2014

On The Cusp Of The Future

It's almost time!
Being a blog solely dedicated to Dropzone Commander, I imagine you guys and gals out there have been wondering why we haven't been going bat crap crazy over all the new Resistance models on the horizon. Well, I can assure you we have. I actually saw Skullsword back flip with joy on release of one of the sneak peaks (I say back flip. I really mean fall backwards in a premeditated fashion, into a chair. Alright, he sat in a chair in a fit of joy). We have all been waiting patiently since Salute, where we were lucky enough to see things first hand, for these packets of resin beauty to be released!

You see, the reason for the lack of posts regarding these rebels, is simply because I personally don't like to deal in speculation. I would rather wait a little while, correlate what information I have, and shoot it into your faces out of my knowledge cannon! As we now have renders or pictures of all (I presume all) the units, I have collected everything together for your eye joy!

I don't think we have a solid date for the first wave release as yet, although a few stockists have it listed as Saturday 30th Aug. This would make sense judging on what Hawk have mentioned in the past. Also, a few lucky Zoners attending Gen Con 2014 and World Con will be able to pick up the first wave of models before general sale.

All names included in this list have been extracted from stockists sites or forums, so may or may not be allocated to the right model, or even correct at all.

I'll try to group everything as best as I can, as there has been no army structure chart yet:

The Starter Set

If the unpainted resin shots of the Resistance excited you, then this picture probably turned your pants wet, and caused your eyes to bulge out like at the end of Total Recall (the first, proper version). They look excellent! The contents show that you don't get cards any more, but you do get a fast play sheet. This is a strange set up for a starter, as it has been confirmed that the Hannibals (heavy tank) are Heavy choices, making the Gun Wagons Standard choices. This set seems to embody the patchwork feel of the Resistance, and I think it's going to be very popular!


The Technicals
Storm Wagon
Flame Wagon
Gun Wagon
Gun Technical
Cars come in all different shapes and sizes, and this is no exception to these art-deco beauties. These pictures have been bouncing around the net for a little while, so we are all fairly familiar with them. I would expect these to flesh out Standard and Support choices, simply as none are big enough to be Heavy choices. I am missing one pic, which is off the Rocket Technicals. Judging by the front of the starter set, we can expect the Hovercrafts to transport these.

The Tanks
Hannibal MBT
Zhukov AA MBT
It has been confirmed by Hawk Simon in the forums, that the main battle tank is called the Hannibal, so by the rules of deduction from stockist sites, I am going to guess that the AA variant is called the Zhukov! I'm a big fan of the names for these tanks, and the general theme also gives Hawk places to go in the future! Being an English company, I'm not sure if we will ever see a Napoleon though... As previously mentioned, the Hannibal has been confirmed as a Heavy slot, so I will presume the Zhukov is too. It looks like one dropship will carry two of these bad boys.

The Infantry
Bike Infantry
Gnarly Bike Infantry
Resistance Fighters
Occupation Veterans
Beserkers
I'm going out on a bit of a limb here in naming these infantry, but with the names that are displayed on pre-order sites, they seem to fit the units the most. There are two bike infantry, one which looks like it carries a bit of a punch, and the other just a normal squad. I'm not sure how these guys will work; will they have transports, or will they drive around? They may end up being a little vulnerable if on foot (or I should say wheel) all the time, but I guess we will see. The normal Infantry all look pretty excellent, with the Beserkers being my favourite.

Transport
Battlebus
Lifthawk Dropshop
Jackson APC
Kraken Medium Hovercraft
Unknown Badass Hovercraft
The standard options of these are pretty self explanatory; we have a dropship, and two troop carriers. The Hovercraft are a little different though, and will be interesting to see how they play. One noticeable difference to other armies, is the lack of light drops ships for Infantry. 

The Fleet
Hellhog fighter (maybe?)

Cyclone Attack Helicopter

Barrel Bomber
More clashes of style, between old and new here! The copter and fighter jet being very much ex-army, and the barrel bomber with the giant bomb, very bodged together. The Hellhog appears to be their FM, and the Cyclone the gunship.

The Command

Thunderstorm Command Hovercraft

M3 Alexander Command Tank
And boom goes the dynamite! Two big, angry command units for your warzone! Dave seems to have kept true to his plans, and combine large, potentially expensive units with the smaller Technicals. I'm looking forward to seeing if the Thunderstorm will have transport capacity, as it will make it truly unique if so.

The Other Stuff
Breaching Drill (or giant sand worm)
Breaching Drill (or nice decking with parasols)
Spice. 
That's all I can think whilst looking at the top picture, whereas the one below looks like a lovely riverside restaurant. Without the sillyness though, it looks pretty damn cool, and looks sure to bring a new mechanism to the game. How will it deploy? Can you bring things through or out of it? I guess we will find out soon enough...

If you have any thoughts on any of the new models, pop a comment down!

3 comments:

  1. He who controls the Spice controls the Landing Zone? I am a Scourge kinda gal, but really that giant drill worm makes me go gaga over the Resistance, though all the models and designs are quite fantastic. July was full of excitement.

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  2. Damn me if this isn't the best post here to date! Really good walkthrough and interesting to read. Nice to have a good long post and not divided as other less quality DZC blogs do (cough)!

    I'm really interested in the sandworms/drillers. But I can't get any reference to any rules or mechanic anywhere! Have really no one any information?

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  3. References to Dune and to (real) Total Recall? I love you guys more with every update, and am seriously considering moving to London in order to stalk you. Not in a creepy way.

    For anyone who wants to see more of the Resistance's aesthetic in FULL LIVING COLOUR, here's something which recently surfaced: http://www.brueckenkopf-online.com/?p=115657

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