Alex and I recently had a chance to play a game of Dropzone Commander, and eager to use our new Monorail station, we opted to play the scenario "Moving Target".
In this scenario, we play on a 6x4 table, and the monorail starts at one end, snaking around the length of the table 12-inches a turn, until it reaches the station on turn six. In the monorail is an objective worth FOUR victory points, in addition to four standard focal points (worth 1-2 VP each) scattered around the table.
Over the next several pictures, we'll look at the path the train takes across the table.
The objective inside the monorail can only be grabbed by infantry landed via light dropship on top of the train, a la the Firefly train heist episode. In addition, on turns four and six the train passes by two stations that any infantry can disembark from the building into the train from. For this scenario, the train cannot be shot at, as the objective is too valuable and the risk of destroying it too great.
One the objective is secure by infantry, they can leave the train and pass the objective off to any friendly unit if they wish, or hold on to it themselves. Unlike normal DZC objectives, this one is not taken off the board.
There's also four focal points - one in each table quarter. They are worth one VP to each player that has a ground unit within six inches, and an additional one VP to the player with the most points of stuff within six inches. So there's a total of 12 VP available on the table!
Finally, the monorail pulls into the station at the far short edge of the table.
Army wise, we took 1500pt armies. I took:
One Gaia Large Gate
One Eden Medium Gate
Two Spirit Light Gates
One Coyote
One Jaguar
Six Tomahawk Grav Tanks
Six Kurki AA Grav Tanks
Two Firedrakes
Eight stands of Braves
Alex took:
Five Condor Medium Dropships
Two Raven Light Dropships
One Bear APC
One Kodiak Field Command Vehicle
Three Sabre MBT
Three Rapier AA Tanks
Three Katana Light Tanks
Three Fireblade Flame Tanks
Four Wolverines
Four Gladiis Heavy Tanks
Two Scimitar Tank Destroyers
Seven stands of Legionnaires
Two Archangel Interceptors
Annnd we're off!
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| Shaltari deploy some walkers in the road with Tomahawks in the front |
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| Kurki AA Grav Tanks drive on to provide rear air cover |
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| More Tomahawks take to the alley |
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| Kurkis providing AA cover on the far flank while a Spirit Light Gate races towards the monorail |
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| A lot of UCM drives on the back edge with the Scimitars preparing to set up a line of fire down the road |
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| UCM forces race towards the station in the middle of the board |
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| Rapiers providing some central AA coverage |
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| A lot of firepower from the UCM heavies guarding the final monorail station |
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| The Firedrake takes some long range shots at the Rapiers |
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| An Archangel interceptor comes in for some shots at the Firedrake |
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| Afterwards, meets some reactionary AA fire from a Kurki |
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| Which crashes the interceptor |
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| Turn two, the monorail chugs forward |
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| Tomahawks engage the Rapiers |
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| UCM is first onboard the monorail with two stands of Legionnaires |
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| And two more stands hop in the mid-field station |
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| Tomahawks sneak a little bit of damage onto the Gladii guarding the second station |
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| And two of the three are demolished by return fire |
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| Shaltari also hop over towards the monorail |
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| The interior of the monorail looks shockingly similar to a Craftsman Bar Stool top |
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| Firedrake knocks out on Rapier AA tank from long range |
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| The UCM Katanas deploy midfield |
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| And take some fire from the second Firedrake |
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| The remaining Rapiers put some damage on one of the Firedrakes |
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| The Shaltari walkers finish off one of the Gladius Heavy Tanks |
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| Turn 3, the monorail continues towards midfield |
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| Tomahawks take out another Rapier |
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| The Legionnaires inside the monorail grab the objective, but the Shaltari Braves pin them down inside in Close Quarters Battle, with each side losing a stand |
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| Some Braves also snuck into the midfield station to fight off the UCM there as well. Note that here, the troops ontop of the building are actually "inside", whereas the tanks Alex actually landed ontop of the building to pump liquid fire inside the train as it drives by |
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| Shaltari Braves secure the midfield station |
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While after beating up on the Legionnaires inside the monorail, the
Braves fail their morale check and jump for their lives |
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| The Fireblades send liquid fire down through the HVAC ducts and roast the Braves inside |
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| A second Archangels Interceptor comes in and attempts to knock out a Spirit Light Gate with no avail |
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| And is subsequently crashed by a backfield Kurki AA tank |
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| MVP Kurki basking in the glory of two dead interceptors |
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| Spirit Light Gates race towards the monorail |
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| Shaltari pump four more stands of Braves into the monorail...is this overkill? |
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| Turn four sees UCM Legionnaires taking position inside the final monorail destination |
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| While the Braves pulverise the UCM forces left in the monorail and steal the objective |
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| Tomahawks finish off the UCM AA support, leaving the Firedrakes to roam free |
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| Rawr Firedrakes |
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| Wolverwine sneakin' around |
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The Wolverine called in an orbital strike from the Kodiak, destroying the Shaltari command Coyote |
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| But the commander survives in his escape pod! |
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| Firedrakes on the prowl |
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| Puttin more damage on the UCM heavies |
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| Can the Jaguar continue to hold off? |
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| The monorail prepares to pull in to the station |
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| Tomahawks clearing out the Gladii |
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| Sabre MBT getting into the action |
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| And knocking out the Tomahawks |
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| The Kurkis teleport through the gates to drop in on the UCM backfield and onto the focal point! |
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| While a firedrake munches on some Sabres |
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| The Legionnaires inside the station opened up with their bazookas and killed off the Kurkies. Infantry, often overlooked, can be deadly! |
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| All sorts of destruction about...even the lightposts |
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| And that's what the board looked like at the end with the monorail pulling into home |
Well, the game ended in a pretty large margin of victory for the Shaltari. They took the monorail objective, and had troops on the ground at every focal point, capturing two of them. While the UCM took the other two focal points, they had no presence on the ones on the Shaltari table edge, ending in a 10-4 Shaltari victory.
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