Weekends Advent Calendar

3 more days of previews to pour over
One I like, one I love and one that I don't like at all......

I wonder if you'll be able to guess which is which.

Can you hear the sleigh bells? Santa's coming......

3 more days of joy

So 3 days have passed. A lot has happened in that time. I have seen Rogue One (no spoilers - it was good).
Dan has done some Christmas wrapping, and probably rapping too
Ed popped into Dark Sphere
Alex and I did some hobby

So really busy.......

Fantastic Beasts and where to find them

But Hawk are true to their word - we have 3 more days of advent calendar to catch up on.

OMG Something new and shiney!!

Welcome back Hawk, it's been a long time.

Hawk have finally posted something that isn't an apology..........and I like it. I like it a lot.

Dropfleet Commander Battle Report: PHR vs Shaltari 1000pts

We've taken the liberty of setting Techboy up as a permanent projector, allowing us to share our latest games with all you lovely people out there. His model (the 2000) comes with a tripod for stability, a plug and adaptor (as to not overload the energy supplier, not Techboy; he's the source of all electricity) and even a popcorn machine in the back (just add kernels). We just need to pry his eyes open and jam the content into his data port to begin the projection!

Being shown this week is Mike and Ed taking to the vacuum for their first game of fleeting and dropping in space, Mike with his Shaltari and EN-S with the PHR. Much like the first game this was a 1000 points clash, Take and Hold mission, Column approach.

Pimp My Ship

They say patience is a virtue and that learning to wait will make you a better, stronger and more well-rounded human being. Well I'm not sure who 'they' are, but they can stick their virtues up their waste hole. Impatience, impulse and general knee jerking is in the water here in OB Towers (be careful of drinking from the water coolers) and we can't wait for squat.

Corvettes seem important, we all think. Troops will win you games in Dropfleet Commander, so stopping Dropships and Bulk Landers getting to the surface could be key. The most efficient way to stop troops landing is to knock out the Frigates and Cruisers which send these men and ladies to their doom, and destroying the ships in the loneliness of space and committing partial genocide. And what's good at killing Frigates which are bound to be in atmosphere? Corvettes! So yes, they seem to be important.

There is an issue though, in that there are no models out, and there aren't even any on the release schedule at the moment! So before we all get the arsehole with waiting and staple Dave to CAD, we have decided to kit bash our own!

I mentioned in our first battle report that we had kit bashed our own Corvettes, and I'm here to not only show you mine, but also give you a guide on how to build your own!

OB Podcast Episode 18: Emotional Gunship

Boy oh boy, have we been flooding out the digital content lately. It's seeping out of all our orifices, forming a visual and sonic soup that's just delicious to lap up, if not just a tad salty. Yumyumyum.

All the lads (including Squeekmaster Joe this time) gather in OB Towers to ruin Dan's intro, make the most of what little news we have to share (as of 2 weeks ago) and discuss what changes we would consider making were a DzC 2.0 to drop!

Warfare 2016 - The Army Lists

It's that time of year again. The days are short and dark, the trains forget how to keep time, and the cold is determined to slip into all my special places. That's right, it's November, and that means complete bleakness for the next four months in the UK, although politically England has been in a state of November for number of months now, so at least we're prepared for it this year.

A lighthouse in this Mist of Misery however is Warfare 2016! For those unaware the Warfare exhibition is traditionally a historical event (ranging from anywhere between WW2 to Ancient Egypt, and maybe even further back in time; Dinosaur War-Simulator [8.76mm]), and the horde (not hoard) of tournaments for these systems go to show that they are very much live and kicking! Starting from last year though a TO had managed to squeeze in something a little newer (although at a very familiar scale), all of our favourite Sci-Fi game; Dropzone Commander! The tourney is a two day affair with five games, set at 1500 points.

Much like last year all the boys are off to it except me, which gives me the joy of critiquing all of their lists; let the criticism begin!

Laying the Smackdown on the grid

This is what happens to PHR on a Critical Location....

Well it's been a while since I have written about or even played Dropzone. I think I've had 1 game since Invasion, and with Warfare 2016 coming up this weekend thought I'd refresh my parasite and chuck him in at the deep end. My opponent on a wet Tuesday night was none other than TechBoy2000 and his PHR of Tronville.

Dropfleet Commander Battle Report and First Impressions Video

It may seem like we've been quiet from the outside, but OB Towers is actually a hive of activity on the inside! Perhaps 'hive' is to strong a word, actually. And also perhaps 'activity', too. Okay, let's have a go at that again; OB Towers has been a saunter of movement on the inside!

We've slowed a little over the last few weeks due to varying reasons, but we are back with a tasty treat for all of you interested in games which take place in the infinite vacuum that surrounds our ball of dirt; Dropfleet Commander!

We decided to film a game between Joe and I, using UCM and Scourge respectively, and pair it along with out first impressions of the game. Before you get giddy and point out all the rules mistakes made, this is my second and Joe's fourth game so please cut us a little slack!

Enjoy!

The Favourites: The Corruptor

Us boiz at OB have a tendency to be Negative Nancy's and over-explain why we don't like particular units. We get right into the bellies of the beasts and start pulling out the intestines like handkerchiefs from a magician's sleeve (oo, a metaphor within a metaphor; a metaphwor), exposing the gory insides and explaining perhaps how we we would have played god and rearranged the organs. It can all be a bit gloomy, really. What we don't do often enough is give our favourite units a grooming day in the parlour and parade them around in front of all to see, explaining what it is that makes them our favourites.

Consider this the first in a new series that my fellow Bombardierians (I hope, I've not mentioned this to them yet) and I will show you our most featured and key units, explain why they are so good, and ways to squeeze the most out of them in battle!

We will be starting our tactica with everyone's favourite flying love machine, the Corrupter.

Space… Where no one can hear you curse your dice

Time for us here at OB towers (in Orbital Bombardmentonville) to hand over the reigns for a guest blogger. We have heard from him before......... it's non other than our south coast talon Mr Michael Russell.

So without further glittering of the faeces, enlighten us in the ways of Dropfleet Mr Russell

Oh, I got my dispatch notice today (Friday 28/10/16) So happy!!

Someone's been busy with his Admiral pledge

With the skies beginning to darken as invasion fleets around the world are arriving at their destinations it seems time to get a few words out regarding this phenomenon.

After having managed to get a few games in with the starter fleets, one or two larger games and doing a whole lot of reading it was decided that I’d be the perfect candidate to write (another) blog post for Orbital Bombardment mostly because I was stupid enough to make a throw away comment taunting the illustrious Mega Mike so here it is in all its gory glory.

Now that is a BIG box of goodies

I’m mainly going to focus on my impressions of the game so far and what I’ve experienced from my models and reading of the book so if you’re looking for a full write up of what’s out there that’ll no doubt come later.

So without further ado, let’s hit the launch button on this warzone destined post.

Always Against The Grain

I can't help it guys. There's just something inside that forces me to do things differently to everybody else. By striving to be unique though, I often tend to make things difficult for myself (and everyone else around me, after I begin the whining that is sure to come). I've been told I play life on Hard mode, and it's probably true, I'm a gluten for punishment. Yum, punishment. The Scourge are finally in a better place, although those of you who have listened to the latest Podcast will know we think they are far from being fixed, but I just find myself yearning for something a little different. I did experiment with Resistance briefly (although it was a failed experiment, and was aborted early) just to break up my gaming a bit. I love you Jellys, but I think we should see other people for a while.

Hogs then.

Before you start thinking "Oh yeh, hard mode yeh, with the broken Shaltari, real hard." I have my own morals and benchmarks which are dictating my list builds. For a start, I've never liked lists harshly inclined towards demo, a little is fine, but a lot is sure to take the jam out of not just my opponents doughnut but mine also. It's just such a dull way to play the game! This opinion scores a hard line through a multiple Caiman and Ocelot build. Next up is Infantry; I still believe four is optimal for the Hogs, so no taking just three Pungari for me. Coming in hot from Scourge it's hard to go cold turkey on CQB, so Firstborns are a must for every list. Lastly, in order to avoid the greatest of hypocrisy, no Panthers. I'm whiny enough as it is, and we can't be subjecting my opponents through two hours of why the unit is bullshit.

OB Podcast Episode 17: Out Of Hibernation parts 1 & 2

The titans have slept for what seems like a thousand years, but an unknown voice causes them to awaken, and as they stand the rust caking their joints cracks and shatters, causing orange rain to fall down onto those below. It's lucky OB Towers came with umbrellas (branded brollys of course), so us boys don't get covered in that rusty, rusty rain and ruin our lovely grey t-shirts.

Look, I'm not doing a very good job of it, I'm just trying to say that we're back. Good, right, that's done, grand.

Our latest instalment features exciting topics such as sweating in a bag, Invasion, a Wild West Mike, R:P2 mission and unit opinions, and an unusually chatty Joe.

First Impression: Phase 2 Missions

Where to start with this. I'm going to be brutally honest, I was getting a little bored of the same 12 missions, of which I only play 7-8. I know there are some additional 'fun' ones, monorail and laser plus the attack/defend ones (which I have never done in my 4+ years of dzc), but the staple of my games are in tournaments or in between tournaments practicing, so the same mission crop up again and again. I can play them in my sleep. I know what I'm supposed to do, and more importantly what the opponent is supposed to do.

This location may be Critical!!

Well thank the gaming gods for Phase 2. It has taken the basic concept from the core rulebook & Phase one and added extra elements into them. It changes how you win the mission and most importantly, how you play the missions.

Well now you just have to read on.

Mikes Autumn Invasion 2016

Well it's been over a week now, so I guess I should relay my experiences over the weekend at Croydon Conference Centre.

It was a lot of fun, and as you may already know by now, I finished up 4th - missed out on the top 3 by a solitary dice roll - more on this later.

Invasion 2016: The Lists

Like a sneaky, slippery Scourge, Invasion has crept up on us once again, and is bigger than ever! Tomorrow the Croydon Conference Centre will be packed to the brim with Zoners battling each other for the greatest of all prizes; a picture on the OB blog! Oh, and there's this trophy thing too. The six of us will all be down for the weekend, and I can't wait to meet up with old friends and hopefully make some new ones.

In order to wet your lips in anticipation of things to come, here are the lists we will be using over the weekend. Well, all lists except Tech Boys that is, apparently he couldn't find the two minutes to send one over to me, something to do with being 'busy at work'. Rubbish, if you ask me.

Guest Review: Coastal Assault

One of the bonuses of being a circus of four bloggers is that normally at least one of us can get to a Dropzone Commander event anywhere across the country! Unfortunately our intel somewhat let us down this time, and it turned out that we were either indisposed, at a different tournament, or on a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

With Coastal Assault storming towards us like a surprise tsunami, what we needed was an elite agent to infiltrate and document the events that transpired. Enter our first ever OBFR Agent (OB False Recon), Michael Russell! As the organiser of the event he seemed the perfect fit to report on his tournament, so without further ado, I hand you over to Micky R;

When today started I must admit I was enjoying the blissful ignorance of what lay in store for me, and there was nothing really out of the ordinary until that fateful lunchtime when my phone popped up with a message from everyone’s favourite Orbital Bombardment Scourge host, Dan Cates. What could possibly cause those who occupy the lofty heights of Dropzone blogging to cast their gaze upon such a lowly Talon as I? If you haven’t worked that bit out already you might want to take a moment to think about what you’re reading.

Is Four Still Enough?

The fight over the last ferrero rocher escalated quickly...

Over the last year the state of play has changed considerably for the G.I. Joe and Jane in the Dropzone Commander universe. Dave's vision of infantry becoming commonplace in our warzone had boiled up in its crusty cocoon, and cracked open to gush forth thousands of wheeled, jetpacked, railgun sporting freaks of nature who are now sowing their seeds of destruction across the face of the Reconquest. It has been a few months since Mr Lewis's love children became meta though, and many have been sat down on the naughty step and told to behave a little better in public. The most recent alterations, and in some case 'nerfs', is not what I'll be talking about today however. That horse has been flogged so hard in the community and on this blog that all that's left is a pile of donkey smelling dust.

I want to talk about the amount of infantry we need to include, or at least think we need, to have our lists perform at the most optimal levels possible. The 'OB recommended' number of infantry squads to field has always been four, but with Resistance lists sporting between 6-11 Infantry squads at any given time, Valkyries able to leap to wherever they want with reckless abandon, and the Scourge able to squirt worms into pretty much any building, is four still enough? Is this even the normal amount of troops anymore? How many should we be taking in the R:P2 theatre? Well, let's have a look shall we.

First Impressions: Phase 2 The Environmentals

This guy Reeeeeeealy likes the Environmental rules.

Now when I first read the Environmental section I wasn't all that excited, it took a couple of reads before I started linking elements together and start to see the real potential in these rules. Hidden in the mix is a lot of fun to be had I think so I'm gonna break down the sections and evaluate them.

It should be said that being in the middle of Invasion Prep I haven't had a chance to actually try out the rules as yet so I'm only taking them from an on paper look through (although I'm also fairly sure these rules haven't been vigorously play-tested anyway). So basically be forewarned I could be talking drivel here, as per the usual really. But mainly I'm looking at these from a 'What can I do with these' point of view.

First Impressions: Phase 2 Resistance

I've been patient, but was it worth the wait?

Yep that's right, it's my turn to give you my first thoughts on the newest units we can now get our grubby mitts on.

First Impressions: Phase 2 Shaltari

We're as angry as you are! What are we angry about again?

Next on the review conveyor belt, and I sense the most anticipated of the lot, are the cosmic Galagos (google it) and the most recent additions to their roster. It seems that in order to not break tradition these new units have been designed to be somewhat controversial, a trait that apparently the Shaltari seem to love being! We have touched on a couple of these already, but thought it worth a full review for the three newest units (and a couple of extras thrown in).

Unlike my positive review of the Scourge, before I even start writing this post I know it is likely to be full of cow pats, so grab your wellies and shovels and let's get knee deep.

First Impressions: Phase 2 PHR

I choose you! (Old UK Lottery reference)

So here we are in one of the good bit of the poop sandwich that is the reconquest phase 2 review series. After Dans 'Yay Scourge!' and Mikes 'Boo UCM' here's my 'Yay PHR!' review.

Unfortunately due to the vagaries and shenanigans of the UK postal system I have yet to receive my copy of Reconquest Phase 2 so I've had to nab some info off those in the know. I'm also on occasion crouched in the corner next to my front door biting my nails and crying out 'WHY?!?!?!'. But that’s just my average Saturday.

Now it must be said that the PHR before receiving the duel hard infantry double whammy of the Medusa and the Valkyries struggled quite a bit to keep up with most other factions and relied on the Helios to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Now PHR are a real menace on the field able to respond and strike hard in some key areas, while still keeping the doctrine of being hard to kill very much in mind. The PHR if played properly are an extremely difficult faction to grind down. If only I was a better player, ah well.

Anyway onto my thoughts.

First Impressions: Phase 2 UCM

First off I want to start with an apology. I'm sorry for what you are about to read. Second off I want to remind you all that I am not Dan. It's Mike, Honestly!!

Third off, and roughly back on track; I get to do the UCM first Impressions of Reconquest Phase to? too? two??? 2??????? you pick.

Bringing sexy back

UCM are my first and long time love in DzC. Even with pants infantry, no area effect for the Kodiak and an abundance of E10 shots, I still loved them. Then they got good, powerful some might say (not many might say). Have they peaked already? Did the UCM reach their pinnacle and it's only downhill from here?

Read on to find out......

First Impressions: Phase 2 Scourge

Kids get Christmas, proper adults get that two day payday feeling (before it all gets spent on bullshit, like being a proper adult with responsibilities) and those of us that are balanced somewhere in between, the man and woman-childs of the 21st century, get new toy releases. With the release for Reconquest: Phase 2 finally here and Dropfleet landing on the next pass of New Eden, it's our pseudo-Christmas to spend all our payday earnings on! Balls to responsibility!

To celebrate R:P2 we will all be delivering knee jerk, mostly un-tested reactions on all the new units, missions and rules over the next few weeks. We were entitled enough to have moderate access to the beta rules, so have had time to mull over some of the rules, but some opinions are so knee jerk that I accidentally caught myself in the chin sitting at my computer desk.

In true Danphabet style, we will start with the Scourge.

Dropfleet Commander at GenCon2016 and Reconquest: Phase 2 release

***---encryption_confirmed-++++-connection_established-++++-opening_voice_channel---***

Fleet Carrier Croydon this is Battleship Birmingham. We are anchored in the orbit of Celstion IX. Provide co-ordinates on your location to align commencement of insertion. Over.

--

Err, Birmingham, about that insertion, can we, erm, delay it? Over.

--

Insertion is confirmed for 07:00 hours. Send co-ordinates. Over.

--

Well, erm, errrr, there's a slight issue Birmingham. We're um... Not in orbit yet. There must be a bit of wiggle room on the insertion time? Or maybe even the day? Over.

--

Insertion cannot be delayed. Ground forces have been deployed and are awaiting orbital support. What's your projected time of arrival. Over.

--

It's the funniest thing really. We were all ready to go, engines warmed, gyros extended, yada yada, and then Pete, our health and safety officer, being the stickler for detail that he is noticed that all our evacuation guides had typos! So of course we had to send out for a re-print, which we received last week, but then Pete, who really is a top guy, reported that half the red alert bulbs were the wrong colour if you'd believe it! They were Mellow Cherry rather than the Bruised Rhubarb they should be. So, we're still waiting for the new bulbs, and expect to leave shortlyish. Well, of course that's if Pete doesn't find anything else which breaches regulations! He really is an asset, that Pete. So, we'll be with you soon? I would think. Soonish. Soonish plus a couple of jiffies. Over and out.

***---connection_lost---***

Burnt Ends Taste Yummy

The more you know...

Menhit /ˈmɛnˌhɪt/ (also spelt Menchit) was originally a Nubian war goddess in Egyptian mythology. Her name depicts a warrior status, as it means (she who) massacres. (from Wikipedia)

The whipping boy, the punch bag, the gimp.

All examples of the various ways you could describe the Menchit as it currently stands. Even after its points were dropped and the flamer it carried got an extra boost to it's range, the Menchit still did not sit comfortably in a list. Compared to its similarly grouped siblings the Phobos (the clearly favoured child called golden bollocks by the other two behind its back) and the Ares (angry middle child), the Menchit could not sit in a squad and have something to do every turn. It sat, it slouched and it sulked, as its longer ranged siblings did the good stuff.

Through The Eyes Of A Host

Being the odd man at a tournament can be a little, well, odd. You never really know if you will be playing or not until the event starts, so you can't get the normal tournament sickness in the week building up to it. We all know the illness; a feeling of constant lethargy, causing procrastination on a dangerous scale during the week, which heats up into a sweaty and panicked fever the night before as you realise you have models to paint and / or repair.  As The Ringer if you prepare your force and don't end up playing it's just disappointing, so I made a very wise (and lazy) decision to not bother and leave the Jellys at home.

As it turned out we did have a single flake (a 99er if you like) and I ended up playing. I can feel your cries resonating through the screen; "But Dan, what did you play if you didn't have your beloved Scourgeywurgeys?!?". Before I get into that, I need to share with you another oddity about being Ring Man Dan, in that you can't, or rather, shouldn't win too many games. Ideally your Odd Man will be mincing about in the mid to lower tables, where the final placing isn't so key. I'm not saying that players at lower tables aren't competing for a higher finish, but they might be striving to beat their personal best rather than kerb stomping others for a podium finish. With that in mind, if I played my Scourge it could have caused issues. I have a strong track record my tadpoles, and as I don't have it in me to hold back to much (if I'm playing, I'm playing to win dawg) I didn't want to steam roller anyone.

Critical Engagement: The Videos

The most glorious of all the generals from Critical Engagement

I go away for one week, one single week, and I come back to dust on the mantle, cobwebs in the pantry, and worst of all no new posts for all you lovely people! They mumbled something about work and honeymoons, but if you ask me their just a bunch of stinky slackers.

As my holiday is well and truly over, it's time to get the feather dusters out and give the bunker a good ol' polish with ample amounts of elbow grease (y'know, that weird sweaty stuff that your elbow bend produces), and bring you all some video footage from Critty E! Tech Boy put together some two scrap books for our visual pleasure; the Day Of Spray, a grand day of scenery constructing, and content from from tournament itself. Enjoy!

Critical Engagement - The Results

Well, we all had an absolute blast

24 gamers turned up to play 4 games of Dropzone Commander - it was a hard fought battle, but in the end the Resistance were victorious.

Full results are below along with a faction breakdown.
I will be doing a full post on the tournament with pictures of the winners and more photos

Critty E This Weekend And Our New Missions

It's here! It's here! It's finally here! We can finally stop banging on about selling tickets, and actually enjoy the event!

Critical Engagement 2016 is taking place tomorrow and we will be infrequently posting updates to our Twitter (@OBDZC) and the Dropzone Commander Community page over the day. If you haven't followed us or joined the page, what are you doing? Leave, go and do it now! All done? Good. Those of you still resisting the bright lights and indecent proposals of social media will unfortunately miss out on this content on the day, as we will not be posting pictures on the forum due to the awkwardness of it. We are sure to stick up a follow up post some time soon however, so you won't completely miss out.

As the tourney is on Saturday we may not have a post ready for Monday, but will back to normal on Friday. If Tech Boy manages to find the time we may even have a scrapbook of the event ready for your visual entertainment next week!

With this tournament we have attempted to be a little different in order to make it a little more accessible for new players with 1000 point list limits, but also by mixing the standard mission format up a bit. You can find our new mission set here.

Why bother changing the missions? Well let's have a little goosey gander at them and we can tell you why...

Reconquest: Phase 2 - out end of July!

My new favourite image. I'd love a poster of this in my war-room

Wow, what a day yesterday.
Tons of new info about Phase 2 of the Reconquest. If you are not up to date then you can take a look at the video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsZ3K4qsh5A

I'm gonna go through some of my favourite bits from the 42 minute video, so if you can't be arsed to watch it (shame on you first of all) then you can get the highlights from me below.

OB Podcast Episode 16: Getting Real Close to You

Much like busses our podcasts are large, sweaty and un-apologetically uncomfortable. That, and they also come in two's. Yesyesyes, it is time to revel in the audio musings of the OB gang once more, and this time round we will be answering some of the questions you have asked in our brand new segment; Permission To Speak Freely!

Ed and Joe also chinwag about their recent(ish) visit to Firestorm Games in Cardiff, where they took part in a tourney, but more importantly engaged the Hawk Wargames team in what is now on writing of this intro known as the Super Wales Challenge Cup 2000!

We would like PTSF to become a bi-regular segment, so if you have any questions at all, from how to make custard to tips in stopping Hazard Suits doing their thang, either comment, email (obteamdzc@gmail.com) or tweet (@OBDZC) us!

Weekend At Alex's

Sunday 19th June was a good day. A very good day indeed. To say it was very, very, incredibly, amazingly geeky would perhaps be an understatement of fairly epic proportions. After a bumper breakfast cooked by yours truly (BYOB; bring your own bib, £10 feed fee, chance of salmonella included in the cost), Alex escorted me back to his war vault (although I'm beginning to think of it more as a Keep of Geek) for a day of gargantuan gaming. Alex is a half-silent OB member, being a regular pundit on our podcast. You can peruse his blog here!

Starting with a couple of Euro 2016 inspired Guild Ball matches (Alex being the Turkey to my Spain, as well as just being a jive-turkey in general), we entered the often abstract realm of cardboard. Quentin Quilt the Pedantic Pawn was our guide through Patchwork, a two player game about making a quilt tetris-styles, before entering a very-familiar-but-not-unwelcome dystopian world of Specter Ops, a hidden movement game about stealing genetically modified ice cream (or rather activating 'objectives'. I wish they'd been more specific in the theme, but oh well). Our hard paper escapade finished in the sepia stained land of Stratego, bringing back memories to Alex from before the war. Which war? Why, all of them of course.

We ended our day back in the future, in the more tangible plain of Dropzone Commander. Secure the Flanks was the mission. I was using a 1500 point Shaltari army for the the first time in about 70 years, and Alex his 22 infantry base Resistance army. The same army that finished above Mike at Summer Invasion. I'll never get tired of hearing that.

Fun jump break fact: I blog on my phone so much that the word Shaltari is in my auto-correct!

OB Podcast Episode 15: Hilton Hobby Holidays

Oooooooh it's only that time again! It's that time of the year when you need to change your socks, because they're dirty and they hum. literally, they are actually humming. Is humming the opposite of whistling?

Well all of that yes, but more importantly it's time again for a new pod! We all met up last week to regale you of tales from the UK Games Expo and Summer Invasion, as well as run through all the new news. That's like regular news, but newer.

So sit back, get your paints out (or whatever gives you your jollys to the pod) and let our grating voices flow over you like a cheesegrater! Oh, and if you're our Top Hat listener on Soundcloud prepare for a shock.

Joe vs Hawk or David vs Goliath??

My cyclones hoping to get some sneaky shots on Sean's type 1'

So now life has calmed down a bit, I've managed to get to some words into a bat report for you all.

Who ever said planning to get married, going to Cardiff and the UK Games Expo, then on my stag do in 4 weekends in a row couldn't be done?!!!!!

First off, Firestorm Games in Cardiff. Easily the best hobby store I have visited.
Beer on tap... he he, and a small kitchen that could cater for any gamer's needs. chilli, chips and cheese, need I say more.

It has all the toys in the shop from board games to airbrush stencils. The actual gaming space is huge and could probably hold 200+ people with ease. They have all the scenery and even hand out trays to carry your army around on for tourneys. I'm telling you its gaming heaven!!!!

New Build, Red Horrizons

I love my yellow Shaltari. They were the first 10mm models I ever painted, as well as the first Dropzone models my brush had laid it's sweet bristles upon. These striking Hogs romped wildly about the DzC tourney scene for a while, blinding all in their way, and even made it into a copy of Tabletop Insider!

That yellow though. Oh boy, the yellow. I can't- I just can't. Even thinking about painting it again gives me the shakes! You see, I painted these a long time before I had my airbrush, and any of you out there who have painted yellow by hand can surely feel my pain. Starting with a red coat I built up to the yellow, which required a few coats because of the stupid, weak yellow pigment.

Firestorm Games Tourney Vid

A couple of weeks back Joe and I made a crazy trip to Cardiff for a weekend of Tournament goodness. It was held at the fantastic Firestorm Games venue, which is a great, cavernous venue and had all the modcons a modern man could desire. It boasted many tables for gaming, food and drink which was served all day, and a hobby store which made my gamer spirit jangle madly!

If you're in the South Wales area, or even within an hours drive I would definitely head on over to see it.

Expo & Summer Invasion

Sad Joe on Sunday morning. Last day at Expo.

It's Thursday when I'm writing this, back from the Expo for 4 days, back at work for 2 days and I'm still buzzing from all the sights, sounds and smells of the Expo. I had such a good time and I seriously can't wait to go back next year.
There is not much better in life than hanging with your mates chatting shit and playing games for 4 days. Still, it is nice to come home to your own bed.
I think I'm just in a happy mood altogether. Forgive me, I must try and be more whiney, otherwise Dan will shut me down..........

Quick reminder about Critical Engagement 2016 on 9th July - still some spaces left. Get in quick guys and gals. Facebook link here and tournament pack here

This post will run through my Expo and Summer Invasion and also there's a load of pictures too.

Back From The UK Games Expo

Queing like bosses

There's little in life more satisfying than that first sleep in your own bed, after coming back from a hectic weekend of gaming (apart from perhaps the first shower after a festival weekend, to wash away the thick layers of grime). As I woke on Monday morning I was sad to not be gearing up to play games all day, but smiled as I reflected back on the weekend. For any of you who haven't been to a con I encourage you to gather together a small group and attend for the full duration!

London Busses

Wait ages for some rules, then 6 come along at once.......just like London busses!

So we wait for what seemed like an eternity to finally get the rules for the Corrupter, Menchit A2 and Firebird, then low and behold, Hawk surprise us by getting the May release rules out on time. 
Has the hell frozen over, is the moon blue, have England won the World Cup? 

All the recent releases are here if you want to download the rules/buy the new stuff

If this is the new face of Hawk, colour me impressed. Long may it continue. 
That's enough of my ramblings, on to more of my ramblings! 

This months releases seem centered around artillery pieces. 

Permission To Speak Freely (Podcast Q&A) And Podcast With Hawk Wargames

I love comments. Comments are great, and really form the life's blood which flows through the body of the OB blog. Frankly, without all your glorious comments I'm not sure we would still be going! There is however only so much you can type and respond to in a comment without it becoming bloated; it is a comment after all, and not a post of it's own.

This sometimes leaves us feeling a little distant from you beautiful people, and we want to feel closer to you all. Much closer. Intimately close. Restraining order close. So how are we going to achieve this without ascending and hiding in trees outside your homes? With the next best thing; a new Q&A section on our podcast!

If you have any questions (DzC related would be mostly preferred but others may be answered) that you would like the collective of OB to answer on the podcast, simply tweet us at @OBDZC or pop over an email to obteamdzc@gmail.com.

So if you've ever wondered about list building for your race, what the actual deal with the Taranis is, or if Joe's Cyclone still haunts Tech Boy's dreams, just send us a message and we will do our best to answer you on the air!

Talking about Cyclones, we will be attending this the UK Games Expo this year, so if you spot us be sure to say hi! We also should (should, touch wood *taps groin*) be recording a podcast in Birmingham, and will joined by Hawk Wargames! I have no idea which team members will be joining us yet, but if you have any questions for Hawk please pop those over too!

More new stuff. Spoiler alert, we're (mostly) happy!

Welcome back friends, to another installment of "Mike and Dan review the new stuff", as you will see we like it. Even better news is that I have even played with one of the new releases already! Now you're excited!

So without further ado, I bring you the Menchit A2, the Firebird and the Corruptor. Dust off your worms people, they are coming back!!

Hawk Wargames vs Orbital Bombardment at Firestorm Games

OB are going on a mini road trip - At Call to arms II - Cardiff. What the fuck has happened to our faces!!!!

Hawk Wargames have challenged team OB to a battle of the best.

Its a 2 day tournament hosted by Firestorm Games.

http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/events

Tickets are £15.00 and i think there is still space if you fancy some battle.

Relive Your Best Moments

The great depressors of life would have us believe that awesome things happen to other people, but I know that's not always the case. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I've had just as many awesome things happen in my games of Dropzone as my opponents have suffered upon me.

For the amount of grumbling we (both OB and as a community) have done recently, I think it's about time that we look at the quite excellent game that we play and share our most fantastic plays, wins, and failures! Got any stories of a single Starsprite Drone shooting down a Raven loaded up with Legionnaires holding an objective (that's a real life example, Mike and his bloody drones...)? Or perhaps had a run of going low and rolling double 1's with a certain unit in a tournament? I'd want to hear about it in the comments of this post!

Alternatively, I would encourage you to talk about what you like most about Dropzone and why you got into the game. Personally I was a Goat Whisperers refugee, and the timing of the Dropzone release fell perfectly for me and the majority of the OB chaps. The streamlined mechanics and activation system grabbed me by the Proud and Jollys, and now I'm well and truly married to the game.

There may be issues that are and were worth dissecting, but let's be honest, what in life is perfect? As the fluff would have it, the cruel gloom of the not so distant future may consist of hiding in sewers and fighting your sisters and brothers.

The reality is that these days of Dropzone Commander are bright, and we should celebrate it.

Are the Resistance going to run out of vehicles ?

The way I keep losing Gun Wagons probably!!!...

Jokes aside.

I think this is more me, asking you zoners if you are having the same thoughts I'm having. The latest pictures and new experimental units/rules are all variants of other units. I know Hawk has done this across the board with every faction. I feel they are now limited to how much they can expand the Resistance race.

They are probably laughing at me, saying I have no idea and are going to impress the shit out of me.
That's if they read these, they best do. About a year and a half ago David did want to make infantry a bigger part of the game. I believe that would come naturally for the resistance, and it fits in well with the fluff behind them. I'd say that mission is accomplished. I have this feeling the designers are going to have to dig deep into their imagination to bring us something new that fits in.

Critical Engagement 2016

It's happening again. But this time a little differently.

First Founding Games Club and Orbital Bombardment present 
Critical Engagement 2016 - 9th July in Chessington, Surrey

This will be a 1000 point 4 game Dropzone Commander tournament 

The cost will be £15 
Payment is required via Paypal to 1stfounding@gmail.com

With Prize support from the lovely chaps at Hawk Wargames and the wonderful Steve Perry at Dark Ops, check out their DzC scenery here http://www.darkops.co.uk/

The rules pack and missions for the event are here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1KnUpiuvhR7Nnh2blV2Q2Jyd2s

Facebook event link; https://www.facebook.com/events/1324535547563377/

You will need a 1000 point clash army.
The only limitation will be that you can only have 1 of each rare choice.

Woah Man, That's Heavy

Let's go back. Way back. Way, way back. Back to the time when Coyotes strode the land, proud and alert, and Sabre's slunk behind each other in conga lines of death, articulated rail guns raising up and down like a Giraffe's neck. This was a time when the Heavy choice was a dangerous one, and if an adversaries army fielded one of these units it had to the potential to radically adjust your game plan. You see, the Gladius used to be a hefty elephant of war, and if an Odin dropped near, well, pretty much anything, it was brown trousers time.

These two units are a great example of how the game has developed over the last year and a half, for either better or worse. Both embody the characteristics of what you would believe make up a heavy unit; they both pack dangerous weaponry, can take a bit of a kicking, but are as slow as a paraplegic turtle. You would use them as a hammer blow on a back to back activation, drop last and activate first next turn, and the results could be devastating!

The support of the crutch is unshakable

This post was supposed to be a report of a recent tournament I attended, Coastal Assault at Dice Saloon in Brighton.

The UCM Ferrum Drone base Mk2

It wasn't going to be my normal report because my intended list for the event was going to be Ferrum-less, but, due to a mix up when sending lists the week before, and me not realising until the day before, I took the wrong list. It had a Ferrum in it and I came 2nd overall.

The Ferrum (and subsequently, double Ferrum) has been taking a lot of stick recently.
"it's OP"
"it does too much"
"it's too fast"

So I decided that I would prove a point and play a tournament without one. Just to show that UCM are still awesome without it.......I failed to even try the list, and to be brutally honest, I'm kinda glad I had the wrong list.

The Ferrum is a crutch that I (and many other UCM generals) depend on.

I Don't Think You're Ready For My Jelly

Well, that was exactly what the doctor prescribed. This post is written on the back of returning from Coastal Assault, a one day, three game, 1500 point event (held before the recent releases), and it has really got my Zone juices flowing again. I was back to playing my electric Scourge, and letting my parasite back in was like waking up from a Resistance nightmare! Welcome home, old friend. It looks a bit like Venom or Carnage. I call it Narcissist, and it's bright pink.

I can say in confidence that most lists were tweaked from their normal format, as the missions were (I think probably accidentally) very Infantry biased. We played Bunker Assault, Military Complex and Ground Control in that order. A note to Michael, the Talon who arranged the event; You're an evil man for having Ground Control as the last mission! With that in mind, my original secret list was to bring two units of Destroyers, two Eviscerators and one Warrior squad. After the realisation that I didn't have enough Intruder Alphas and would have to buy and paint some as well paint more Eviscerators, that plan went down the crapper and instead I submitted something very old school.

The Horde

Hawk Wargames; not producing a document without a typo since 2012 

I don't know if any of you gals and guys out there had noticed, but we had some new units and rules updates from Hawk last week! Who am I kidding, of course you noticed, our page hits and amount of comments went crazy! It goes to show that people get excited if content is released - who knew!

We've all had time to dissect and gather together our opinions on the changes (mine are more or less all positive for once!), but in the OB camp there is a single rule which sticks out like a sore thumb for being the 'winner' of the latest errata; the Horde (Hoard) rule. Incredibly it features on everybodies favourite and formally mostly-useless Halo Grunt rip-offs, the Pungari Auxiliaries.

So why is this rule so good? Not only is it rich in theme, it oozes mechanical *bliss* too. The image of twenty Pungari tearing apart a building and tripping over each others feet like a bunch of Minions, (y'know, from that movie, Minions) whilst a Firstborn shakes her head in frustration makes me chuckle. On the other hand, the simplicity of the rule works so solidly with the objectives and intel mechanics.

We have a theory though, which seems to be shared by a few others. We think this subtle inclusion of the rule on the Pungari could be a playtest for a wholesale change to infantry squads of three bases or larger. What could that mean for Dropzone? Let's weigh up the pros and cons.

Major unit update, plus Reconquest 1.1

Looks like the Hawk team have been beavering away to bring us some updates to the experimental rules that are currently available, all in advance of the upcoming Reconquest Phase 2 book that is rumoured to be June time. I have taken it upon myself to read all the updates, and provide to you, my loyal readership, all the changes that have been made.

As an added bonus I have also gone through the Reconquest Phase 1, 1.1 rulebook that I picked up at Salute and highlighted the changes, all collaborated below.

I'll chuck in some thoughts too - you can ignore them if you choose, but do so knowing that, much like walking on the cracks in paving slabs, a bear will eat your mum!!

OB Podcast Episode 14: The Arms Race

Continuing on course with our happy outlook on Dropzone's meta, I present to you the latest installment of our podcast series! I may be taking a few liberties with the word 'happy' though. Dour, disappointed and frustrated are probably more appropriate words to describe our feelings on the current 'Arms Race' being competed over within DzC at the moment.

So strap in for one of our Discussionzone episodes, where we run through our thoughts and opinions on the alarming curve of energy within the system, and the affect it is having on the game.

It's not all sour, I promise. I even sing a little for you, and that's sure to brighten anyone's day!