For me the release of Dropzone Commander 3.0 is a milestone. It goes back to it's V1 roots and it makes a huge impact on how the game can be moving forward. We saw Dropzone just dying when V2 released and it never came back.
But V3 is a welcome return of version 1's roots.
I haven't gotten any games in but hopefully we will be able to test it a lot in a week's time so I though to make a review based on the written rules and later update with the experience of a few games. This review assume you have some knowledge how Dropzone has worked in the past.
So what does the new version bring? Well, we are going back to several V1 ideas. Disembarking and shooting is gone again (with exceptions). Transports are locked to the squad it is carrying. We have a full house melee-free-for-all-once-per-turn close quarter battle again. And Command Cards at the release.
But we also have several new ideas. More varied and more complex missions. Changes to how destroying buildings work. Battlegroups are gone and instead we have a groups based on the parent transport. Deck building. And more. Most are quite successful but some ideas I think fall flat though my overall opinion is that it is a amazing game.
The rulebook goes from 1-9 in points and so it makes using that a way to talk about each part.
1. The Basics
Overall I feel the game is pretty tight in written rules. It works well and is logical. There are some tidbits here and there you have to look for and since it is online it _really_ need a printer friendly version (and lets not talk about the armylists which is just insane). I understand that game creators assume everybody have a smartphone but I am a bit old-school and think that picking up you phone 200 times a game to check some tidbit is stupid, draws attention from a non-screen-game and really disrupt the experience of miniature wargaming.
Printer friendly!!! How hard can it be!?
You always hit on 6s when shooting which is fine. Damaging is not like that anyway and I understand the need to make dice-rolling faster. When the roll is 8 and you actually have rules for rolling 6 followed by a 5+ is awkward. Saying "it's is hard - only hit on a six" is perfectly fine to speed the game up.
Pre-measuring is in though I always felt it should be allowed after you have chosen what to activate. To allow (though I don't like them especially in wargaming) chess clocks better. Pre-measure is fine but do it in your own time. Object tokens are 20mm for some reason and we measure from the edge instead of the center (thus making it possible to use anything as a token) and is unnecessary pointless. Zones are now possible to be area terrain (woods) or buildings. I think the idea work ok and gives much more variation in terrain possible to use but have some major drawbacks with the rules as written. Also a Building that is destroyed becomes a Area terrain piece which is nice. And you can base ruins on the paper terrain to get the same footprint.
Stolen from a buddy's blog: https://kampgruppe-engel.blogspot.com/2018/01/10mm-scale-ruin-terrain-dropzone.html
2. Units
You still measure from the center and all that and you have a clarification on each model where the center is in the army list but since the models are shown in a angle in the it becomes a little mute. Most of the time this is not a issue though. I do not like measuring 3d to aircrafts though. Awkward with little gaining in gaming experience. It is also a fact the height of the transport is ignored basically _all the time_ except when shooting at it or from. Just use 2d!
Squads now can be many times mixed of the same type (so Scourge Hunters and Reapers can be a squad of three with two Hunters and one Reaper). Needs to be tested until I know what I feel about it. Balance wise it means easier to get hold of the single DP flying transports. But I really don't know if it matters that much. Can matter a bit when building your army and overshoot the points with 5-10 points.
Stat-wise countermeasures are gone as a stat. It now assumes Vehicles and Aircrafts has Active countermeasures. It is logical but the explanation, which was a big thing in V1, is kind of gone. I sometime miss information bits explaining some decisions. Still it has the exact same effect. For the statlines - expect a lot of special rules.
Energy Vs armor is now changed so that same E and A = 4+ to damage. Same statistical chance but the horrendous calculations of V2 is removed which is good. And we are back to the old "2 points better than needed to roll = critical damage" which I think is better.
A interesting touch is that weapons with a Energy value damage infantry automatically. Which is kind of a nice tidbit. You don't survive a Railgun to the head.
3. Preparations
This part handles army building. The biggest thing is that we now use a parent transport and it's units as a "battlegroup" instead of several transports and squads. Shaltari being the exception (which is odd because you could have kept their army building the same as everyone else). Transports need to be taken full which is good but you can mix the same type of units in a squad.
Commanders and Command Cards are some important aspects of the game. A Commander's level decide the amount of cards you have in a army but also the amount of command points you have which can be used to boost cards, check coming cards on your Command Deck, add advantage on who gets the Initiative and switch transport connections. Generally I like this, it makes the game a bit more complex but I have always loved the Command Cards' effect on the game.
The Command Cards have a deck building part which I really don't like. 66 cards and you can pick 45. The idea is good but TT recognize it is not so important because it is not needed for casual gaming and how will a Tournament organizer check it all? I think we will see a development here where a organizer states the cards must all be used but a command point can be used to check double the top cards on you Command Deck than normally - and completely ignore the deck building part.
Overall the Command points are somewhat mute except for the boosting of the Command Cards (which I haven't tested yet). You could have inserted the effect's into cards and have a rule stating you can check 3 cards at the end of the activation and either push them to the bottom or keep at the top. It can be fun but I wonder if it will not be better with another system for it.
Using Command Points is a system I make some connections to Epic Warpath (though I think the developers more wanted to connect it to Dropfleet Commander) and I think Warpath does it a little better as the game is much more based on it. Here it is a gimmick that could have been avoided with cards and Commander's rules.
4. Game Rounds
Due to the fact players will have different amount of activation it makes perfectly sense having Pass Tokens. I like this as it balance it out when two armies have different amount of activations. We also have, except all other things we can expect of a Game Round explanation, a phase where we activate Orphaned Transports. A main issue in V2 was a huge transport activation part early in the game where abundant transports activated for a major first activation. This totally reduce the problem. Then we shoot with weapons on Zones.
5. Command
Here we talk about Commanders and I talked about most of it in chapter 3. But it explains more about Command points. Worthy of note is that if you commander dies you get a level three commander (lvl 4-7 cost points) for free. Meaning the problem of V1 where a dead commander basically made the Command Cards mute is gone. Which is really good.
For cards being used at the same time we now build a Stack with the latest card used being activated first. I am very curious about how this will work with things like Espionage (if there even is one). But since my order of Command Cards just been shipped at the time of writing I will wait a bit until I get a feel for the system. I understand they wanted to remove some of the "ah-ha!" situations of V1 and we'll see if this is the solution. I can't find anything that a single unit can't be affected by several cards now.
6. Activating.
Movement is as expected. The rules for partly outside of transports logical. A squad may not attack if any units are outside of activation. I might wanted something stating you can't use abilities, auras nor interact with any type of mission objectives. I like rules where you technically can get outside of unit coherency after a movement but it is just pointless.
Difficult terrain basically works exactly as you think.
For Line of Sight we not have a clear view if center to center i fully visible. Otherwise cover. You can still ignore your own units in the same squad for LOS but not any unit in the enemy squad.
For the new energy and damage chart it makes sense. Equal energy and armor 4+. Same as many of us was grown up with. It is a huge improvement from V2. Critical is as V1 so if you roll 2 better than needed = critical.
If a transport dies it is now slighter easier to survive but more often something dies. The odds of a complete destruction of everything inside is massively decreased since v1. We just roll to destroy the units inside. I liked the old V1 chart but understand this change totally. It is however a bit more deadly for vehicles/infantry around a destroyed aircraft with more than 1 DP. Kind of fun.
If that Marauder is destroyed the Slayers underneath takes damage on 4+ or double up on 6+. I kind of assumes we don't measure that 3d (so again - 3d measuring sucks).
A big change is that transports and the squad fire at the same time. Afterwards the squads not moved yet can still move. But we also have a big change with Small Arms where all Small Arms can now combine with 5 shots for a single larger attack, even if 3 shots comes from one unit and 2 from the transport. Pretty heavy segment on text but very logical. Infantry can still fire AA but may not make a reaction fire.
Bodyguards for commanders have been, what I consider, massively weakened. It is a little strange it is so. TT Combat nicely kept the awesome bodyguard rules in V1 to V2 and released lighter commanders but just ignored giving them bodyguards. Now you can target the commander directly and it will get a -1 to hit against it. Pointless. I really liked the old rules where you basically had to kill the bodyguards first. It is weird because the survivability on commander have massively gone up since V1. But for smaller commanders it has in comparison become more easy till kill them.
7. Embarking & Disembarking
It reminds of V1. A lot. Only difference I really see from V1 is that infantry disembark/embark on 2" instead of 3 (and again 2d measuring...). And that Aircraft Transports doesn't have to land. Still have to keep 3" away from ground vehicles though. I miss they should have done so from Infantry. It is a general idea in V3 that Infantry are not as needed anymore and generally downplayed, I think. They try to give alternate things to do for the Infantry (generally handling weapons on buildings) but they are severely weakened.
The rules written for Embarking and Disembarking are much better written than V1.
8. Zones.
Some of the most important aspects of the game. Missions are now not set in using Buildings or Area terrain. Though I still we need to use the more harder type of Area Terrain to work - and even then it kind of doesn't work of used more than sporadically.
We still have those kind of stupid talk about entering Zones only where doors are and still most terrain is kind of open everywhere anyway. Just assume the infantry have sensible ways to enter through walls unless specifically specified on the mission!
Entering and leaving zones are pretty much as V1. With some small changes here and there. A main aspect of the game is that a player who enters a Zone first is the Controlling Player until there have been a CQB. If any enemy units are in the Zone still after the CQB and morale then both are Contesting. So you don't have to keep track of who enter first as in V1 after the CQB. Controlling player have some advantages in the CQB, better defense against damage caused by something shooting at the Zone and easier to find a objective if no enemy is in the Zone.
Area Terrain are Zones that works different and I still wonder if it means we are actually going to see different terrain. I'm hoping tournaments do but I think there is a huge risk people just go "Nah - we only use buildings as we are more used to that." Area terrain blocks LOS Ground units to Ground units but is ignored to or from Buildings (and infantry Sited on the walls) and Aircrafts. I think the issue being Aircrafts not getting covered. Thus if we have only Area terrain on a table - there is no place a Aircraft can hide. Thus it is impossible to play sensible with only Area terrain. And I think that is a deal breaker with exception as a gimmick.
Zones can now not be Critical Hit and thus normal weapons can only do 1 damage point. Demolisher weapons now does it's number of extra damage. Each damage on a building means Collateral damage. The infantry get to roll it's DF against it (Scourge Warriors have DF5+). They get +1 on the roll if no enemy units are inside. So 3 bases of Warriors in a Large Building have a good chance to have one base surviving it (although heavy damaged) as you need 30 DP to the Building to destroy them with Collateral. Also, if a Building is destroyed units inside are "only" destroyed on 2+. And the Building is replaced with a Area terrain. If that Area terrain is destroyed we finally remove it.
Manning the walls (Sited) works pretty much as expected. You can be Sited even if you squad is only contesting (pass Bravery test).
CQB activation is the same as V1. And everybody fights. Roll all OF and you hit on 4+ (3+ if controlling). Then the hits are freely distributed against enemy squads. Targets use their DF value to shrug of damage and then we remove bases. Hits are simultaneous. Units Sited or have half or less DP use half of its OF die, rounded down. Squads under half takes Brave test after the CQB.
Features are a main part of the rules now. I e guns on buildings. You have other things of course. But I wonder if they are going to be utilized. They are clearly in the main missions and are clearly intended to be used to give variation to missions. But I do get the feeling these things are pushed in to try to make up for mission where infantry are basically pointless.
9. Scenarios
A favorite part of my Dropzone Commander V1 experience. Drive on is not possible until turn 2 now.
Overall the design of the missions are a little odd and it makes sense when they have tried to give as much variation as they have. And to add own missions is horrendously easy. I think we have a great backbone for choosing tournament missions.
You have killing the opponent, protect Zones and destroy Zones You have another set of missions to have vehicles in a defined region, have vehicles in a part of the table, have vehicles securing points. And finally infantry finding objectives, exploring Zones and holding Zones.
It is a little to focused for ground vehicles. And the missions are in a order which makes it sound the main purpose of Dropzone is just putting models on the table and shooting at each other instead of using careful placement and smart use of infantry and transports. There are no real reasons to not allow infantry claim areas and such. And without it I think it becomes a much more killing fest instead of hard choices of movement.
Finding objectives is pretty smart now. In large Buildings they are found on a 6. +1 if no enemy units are inside and +1 more if this squad have searched this objective before. Transports that can only transport Infantry can now move objectives by themselves if given one. You have variation of this mission where a new objective appear on the same place and another variation where a objectives becomes more important each turn it stays in the Zone it was found.
I do think finding objectives might be a little to easy still. 5+ on a first search is pretty easy. But V1's remembering how many turns a squad had searched and V2's add the turn number is in V1 awkward and 2nd ed really bad. This might work fine. Though all units (max 2 per side) may search.
I miss old Recon which was a really great mission (Recon, Target's of Opportunities and version of them tended to award the win to the player who got the least KP due to the fact movement was much more important).
Overall the focus on ground vehicles can be easily shifted with choice of missions. And the missions available are so varied that I see no balance issue of just writing your own version of Recon. It will be interesting to see any mission pack that comes out if any official.
For the missions it is a lot of points to have for each player. Take the chart below with lots of salt as I might have miscalculated or misunderstood. Also of course that if both get lots of points the difference might not be as much.
But I'm a man that really likes smaller numbers. These larger number are pretty much as in Epic Warpath and Legion Imperialis-level. And it makes the sensation of loosing in turn 3 or 4 that much harder and I Man-Guess it will mean more games not being played to conclusion as it is in Legion Imperialis and Epic Warpath. Having a situation where you are 12 points down in turn 4 is off-putting whereas 2 points down feels much tighter even though the math stays the same. "I lost with 20 points" is just boring compared to "I lost with 5 points".
I like that many missions score in both turn 4 and 6 (some even in turn 2 as well) but it will mean that many games are over turn 4.
We also see that TT have tried to make both vehicles and infantry valid in all missions which I think is a mistake. They were both important in V1 even though vehicles couldn't find objectives in Targets of Opportunities. I think this moves the game much much more towards killing the opponent instead of focusing on the objectives.
9.5. Egge's type of scenarios
So what is the way a mission should write according to me, a random dude on the inter-net that haven't played third ed yet? Well, I'm glad you asked, Mr. Fictional Person!
For Objectives i a game I would max the available points to 10. If we have two different scoring methods each max is 5. I would also put in a balancer where needed.
Example single mission
Secure (but infantry in Zones can claim and are counted twice): the player get 2 Mission Points for each location they have 200KP more than the opponent within the distance. And 1 Mission Point if any ground unit is contesting. Both could contest. The winner in a Turn is awarder 2 Victory points. Do this each turn from 2-6. If any player are down in a earlier turn and succeed for a draw or a win later on they get 1 extra Victory point that turn (only once per player and game).
Targets of Opportunities. 5 objectives worth 2/1 Victory points. If a player by the end of the game is down with 3 or more Victory Points then one objective in their possession is worth +1 VP.
Games are 10 Tournament points. 5-5 being the base. For the above, each full 2 Victory points gives one point of advantage.
So 0-1 Victory point difference: 5-5
2-3 difference 6-4
4-5 difference 7-3
6-7 difference 8-2
8-9 difference 9-1.
10 = 10-0.
Most games would then be very close in points and my experience is that more players would like to fight to the end to try to save that last point.
For mixed missions you can balance it as you wish. 3 Objectives in Zones worth 2/1 Victory points. And as well Securing two or three points for a Mission point turn 2-6, each full two Mission points = 1 Victory point.
I am a fan of games where the difference ends up being quite close. It makes it much more exciting in the final turns.
But this is all without game testing. We'll see.
I am ignoring special rules as they are pretty much logical. A bit plentiful though I understand why.
Conclusion
In V3 of Dropzone Commander I find almost everything I want from a Dropzone Game. That the Missions are a bit strange is good in the way it encourage variation and making own missions. And a little bad as I feel the Infantry game more often comes second. Nothing is a deal breaker in rulesset and most rules have reason and works the way one think they should. After reading through the rulebook several times now it is clear I love them and it really helps put Dropzone Commander back on the table for me.
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