The Occupiers of Atlantia

The crew on route to Invasion. I think this may have been taken whilst we were being given our hosts.

As is customary with all tournaments, and was noted in my last blog post, the three weeks before Invasion were spent mostly with me glued to my sofa painting tiny blocks of shaped resin. Normally for a gamer this would be a delight; to have a solid reason to chill out (or cotch as the street kids say) on your sofa, listen to podcasts and paint your hobby. However, it gets to a point when this stops being the case. In fact I'm going to let a selfie of myself from the day before Invasion highlight just how fed up with painting blue and pink I was:

Invaders, They're Coming Over The Hills

Until I looked up the lyrics for the classic Iron Maiden, British Heavy Metal track 'Invaders' to paraphrase the title of this post, I had no idea that the perfect lyric "Invaders...Marauding" existed in the second chorus. Either Iron Maiden are fans of Dropzone Commander and managed to leave a note in the past for themselves (like a reverse Blue Peter time pod), Dave Lewis is a secret-but-not-so-secret Iron Maiden fan, or it's all just a big, rather deflating coincidence.

Anyway; Invaders... Marauding.

I wanted to experiment with something a little 'alternative' in my Scourge list and general army meta, and with Coastal Assualt approaching I deemed it a more than adequate staging ground for this test. What test? Why, using Invaders in a Scourge list of course!

New Ships At Salute 2017

Salute has now been and gone, and with it not a whole lot of new information from Hawk about their plans for the year. This was to be expected however, and I'm not too concerned about their outlay; they do live in the thirteenth hour after all!

In addition to the last minute reveal of their Dropzone Commander show only model for this year, the Shaltari Scorpion, there were also some 3D Masters for a couple of new Cruisers (correct the classes if I'm wrong in the comments, I'm only guessing on the size of the ships) on display!

This FAQ Is So On Fleet...

So Hawks difficult second album is here and as with any table-top game there are inconsistencies and typos. Now I, personally, am a big fan of Dropfleet. I love the models and the cinematic style of the system. It’s clever use of signature and scan mechanic makes for a very interesting way of looking at the concept of ‘Ranges’.

Now we have a lovely bunch of clarifications and a few little errata to help out. SO I’ll go through them and pick out the major ones (In my humble opinion at least) and mull over what they mean for the game as a whole.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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!

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.

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!!

I hear there are new units?

We have new units - not only that but we have rules now too, aren't we lucky gamers?

Good gamers, you have been good boys and girls, come here and get a belly rub

A new unit for each faction as wave 1 hits us like the proverbial tsunami. Below I will talk about each one and give my (not asked for in any way) opinion on them within the current game.

Also you lucky lucky readers will have the privilege or reading Dan's comments too. Maybe lucky is the wrong word........

So onwards to the quick and dirty review

I AM LADERLAPPEN

For an explanation, you will have to wait for the post-vasion podcast....

Invasion is over and boy was it a good event. I think the epitome of it's epicness was obviously me fighting off 49 other gamers to claim the top prize (after a bit of an awkward prize ceremony).

There was literally a ton of new stuff, not just in render form but actual physical models. this made me so very happy as I feel we have been a bit starved of DzC recently. Below is a bit of a picture dump of new stuff, followed by some info that Ravaner (aka Mr Russell the south coast Talon has put into word form on the forum).

List Review For Warfare

The Winter and Autumn Invasion tournaments highlight the twin peaks of the competitive Dropzone calander, with many tourney gamers gearing and preparing themselves for these events for months! Although we have to wait until sometime next January or February for the next one, luckily the season is never truly out, and most of the OB team have one more event to look forward to for before Christmas; Warfare 2015!

Warfare is a 2 day, 1500pt clash tournament held in reading, and run by Hawk themselves. As well as Dropzone, there will be a whole host of other game systems being played over the two days, ranging from a lot of historic games through to fantasy and sci-fi. Warfare also hosts a range of stalls and stands to peruse (at the risk of your bank account). If this all tickles your interest gland you can buy day tickets for a pre-determined fee which I can't find, possibly on their awful website (if it looks like you've clicked into Reading council's website, you're in the right place. How boring is it?!).

Dropfleet Commander: Scourge

Apparently there is a Dropfleet Kickstarter campaign? Anyone heard about this?....You'd think I'd know about it or something...

Strange....

Nope, I cannot continue this ruse for any longer. I am balls deep into pledge-land (wow, where did that come from, sounds like something Zombie would have said). Dropfleet funded within 4 minutes (according to Hawk James). I am so glad they removed the limited amount of UCMF Battlecruisers, otherwise I think there may have been a few disgruntled pledgers out there. 
Shaltari and PHR unlocked over the weekend too. Probably a lot quicker than Hawk expected. Can't wait to see the first images of the PHR fleet. 
It will have to be something extra special though, to tear me away from what I want to discuss.

I want to take a closer look at the Scourge, easily the best looking ships of ANY ship based game....EVER (I'm including sea and space/atmospheric here).