Welcome to the world of Dropzone Commander by Hawk WarGames.
Dropzone Commander is a sci-fi 10mm war game set in the future of the 27th
century where mankind battle to reconquer the galaxy they have been driven from
by the vile alien entity known as the Scourge. Whilst these two factions battle
each other, they will also fight alongside or against the Post Human Republic
(PHR) and the alien tribes of the Shaltari. Armies preform rapid deployments of
tanks and troops via dropships whilst fighter jets battle for air superiority
and strafe their opponents with devastating attack runs. Battles take place across terrains of all
types and are often pitched in urban areas where key objectives and intel are
fought over in bloody, room to room close combat inside buildings. If the buildings
cannot be garrisoned, a commander will often turn the destructive fire power of
his forces to destroy the building and turn it to rubble. Sound like fun? Then
keep reading as I delve further into Dropzone Commander.
My journey into this new gaming system begins with the
starter set for Dropzone Commander. This has to be the best start set ever
released in the war games industry as far as I am concerned. For £60 you will
get two 500point armies for the UCM and the Scourge in quality white plastic,
road maps to make a 3 x 4 play area to fight over, 10 quick and easy to
assemble cardboard buildings, all tokens and templates needed to play the game,
the latest revised 1.1 rulebook, dice and if all that wasn’t enough your very
own Hawk Wargames, key-ring tape measure. Real value for money in any gamer’s
books I am sure you will agree.
The rule book is one
of the nicest rule books I have read in a very long time. The thing I really
liked about the rule book is that all the fluff was right at the start of the
rule book and after reading the 11 pages of the back story to the universe of
Dropzone Commander I was raring to have a game! The rules are broken down in
easy to read text and diagrams and make for fast, tactical play and the onus is
very much on the player to do the work as special rules are at a minimum and invulnerable
saves even rarer. Armies are very balanced with strengths and weaknesses for
all the factions in the game lending itself to very tactical ‘chess like’
games.
The plastic sprues
are good quality and the detail spent on the 10mm miniatures is amazing. I have
assembled the UCM sprues and it took no time at all and was pretty straight
forward to put together with only the Condor dropship proving to be the fiddliest
but after you put 1 together the other 2 were quicker to do. I have never
played 10mm before so this is a totally new experience for me as will painting
10mm scale. I have started painting my UCM army and the dropships and APC’s are
coming on well with dry brushing techniques and ink washes working very well
and producing quick results. Painting
10mm scale infantry could be a challenge for me but I have based the 6 squads
of Colonial Legionnaires using GW textured paints. The Scourge sprues are
equally as good and I am looking forward to painting the Scourge and using some
washes to cerates some very alien effects.
The quality and amount of terrain you get in this box set is
impressive to say the least. A readymade 3x4 play area and 10 buildings of
varying sizes gives you plenty to game with the size of armies you get in the box
set. It also gives you a good basis to expand upon if you wish to increase the
size of your battles and gaming area. Terrain is a very important part of
Dropzone Commander and adds a real level of tactical play to the game that
gives players plenty to think about as they deploy and re-deploy their forces across
the battle ground. Cover is essential to your ground troops and squads caught
out in the open are often heavily punished so using the terrain to cover your troops
and tank units is a strong point to the game and often determines the victor.
Overall I repeat what I said at the start of this article
and that is that this is the best starter set released in the war gaming
industry to date. Hats off to David J. Lewis at Hawk Wargames who has put all
of his soul into this product and this is just the start! I am very glad I have
discovered the hobby that is Dropzone Commander and please join me next week as
I continue my journey into the world of Dropzone Commander by looking into the
rules in depth and how the game plays.
Has Dropship Commander peaked your interest? Do you already play
Dropzone Commander? Please get in touch and let me know your thoughts –
contactgamesknight@gmail.com.
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