NAVEL EXPO-SURE

Me (joe) and Ed are travelling up to the UK Games Expo in Birmingham., and are both attending Hawk's largest to date Dropfleet commander tournament in the UK!

The tournament is on Saturday 3rd June, during the  UK Games Expo that runs from Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th. We are driving up on Today along with Mike and Sir [edi: Madam] Bethany to get settled into our surroundings and wet our throats a little, or maybe even a lot.

It's a 1 day tournament of 1250 points, clash sized, playing 3 games of 3 hours long (yeah its going to be a long day, but a fun and very rewarding one). Hawk have released a Tournament Pack and an FAQ just in time for this event which I believe is to add in some much needed balance to the game.

Currently they have 34 players signed up. Only just a few months ago they increased the player limit to 64 from 32, so there is still some space to get in on the action. I'm not too sure on how the scoring system is going to work with just 3 games, but the boys down at Hawk are a smart bunch, and am sure they'll figure something out.

I will be taking my UCM-Taiidan Fleet, for those that know of Homeworld...salute. The army is not finished but does have enough colour to be recognised as the same fleet, there is just so much detail, and don't even get me started on the point defence guns. One Jakarta has close to 48 of the things...... repetitive..... uurrrgh!

I have jumped in on the deep end and purchased custom foam from Feldherr cases. If you haven't heard of them or haven't seen any of the Dropfleet foam first hand, feel free to come have a little look at the case I'll have with me. It is very well costed and I would have been stuck this weekend without it.

The List:

UKGEXPO - 1245pts
UCM - 11 launch assets

SR15 Flag battlegroup (260pts)
1 x New York - 260pts - S

   + UCM Admiral (40pts, (5AV equivalent) with battleship bonus

SR7 Line battlegroup (175pts)
1 x San Francisco - 111pts - M
1 x New Orleans - 32pts - L
1 x Jakarta - 32pts - L

SR12 Line battlegroup (250pts)
2 x Lima - 74pts - L
2 x New Cairo - 176pts - M

SR5 Line battlegroup (132pts)
1 x Seattle - 132pts - M

SR7 Pathfinder battlegroup (194pts)
3 x Santiago - 66pts - L
2 x New Orleans - 64pts - L
2 x New Orleans - 64pts - L

SR7 Pathfinder battlegroup (194pts)
2 x New Orleans - 64pts - L
2 x New Orleans - 64pts - L
3 x Santiago - 66pts - L

In making my list I have tried to put a bit of everything in. I kept coming up low on launch assets, so I opted for the New York battleship with the nice little buff it got recently. I had to drop an Atlantis for it, but the one test game I've had it seemed to mesh well with the rest of the fleet.

At our local club we have come to the conclusion that troopships die very easy, possibly to the point where they need a buff? I'm not sure that in some scenarios troopships excel, but they are always on the 'to kill' list first. Normally I have been running 2 troopships, but they both seem to die turn 3 or 4 so I dropped one for another 3 Strike Carriers making my total of 9 strike carriers (yes I am very ground asset heavy). It's almost a straight points swap which is handy.

As a summery I would say my list is heavy on the strike carriers, but also very toolbox.

This is ed's list and he is taking his much loved Tron PHR;

Current list: UKGE v2 - 1226pts

PHR - 8 launch assets

SR15 Flag battlegroup (285pts)

1 x Minos - 285pts - S

   + Vice Director (40pts, 3AV)

SR10 Vanguard battlegroup (180pts)

1 x Bellerophon - 180pts - H

SR6 Line battlegroup (172pts)

1 x Ganymede - 135pts - M

1 x Calypso - 37pts - L

SR5 Line battlegroup (130pts)

1 x Orpheus - 130pts - M

SR8 Pathfinder battlegroup (232pts)

2 x Medea - 78pts - L

1 x Medea - 39pts - L

1 x Ikarus - 115pts - M

SR6 Pathfinder battlegroup (207pts)

3 x Echo - 90pts - L

2 x Medea - 78pts - L

1 x Medea - 39pts - L

Ed has been playing about with lists for a few weeks now, and his last was a bit low on launch assets but this seems to be coming in right in the middle of the pack. It looks like most of the assets normal play will be defensive, but if you let your guard down those elite fighters will tear you up with their easy critical's (are they actually drones??)! Ed is packing all the guns though, so damage out-put will not be a problem, not to mention the torpedo welding MINOS.

Ed has a love for the Calypso's and denying me those critical hits by mucking around with my poxy dice! We had one game where I couldn't do a sodding thing going up against 2 of his Calypso's (before nerf). I am so glad for the Nerf they got they are still very good, but now not broken.

Comparing to my list only, I have a few more strike carriers than Ed, but he has a nice amount bombardment which is nothing to be sniffed at let me tell you. PHR cruisers seem to have the best mix of weapons; Launch 4 and a double burnthrough laser... No thanks. The Ganymede, despite the name is one of the best troopships. No change that it is the best, bombardment and a lovely mix of medium calibre weapons. I'm not looking forward to getting broadsided by any of these hard hitting half human traitors!

Let me know what you all think, and hopefully we can get a tournament report out after. While we are in Birmingham we are going to try and visit a new board game cafe that has opened up by our charming friend Simon Edwards. If you would like any more info look here.

I'll look forward to seeing many of you over the weekend! Happy expo-sing yourselves..... Ed's gonna have a blast!