The nice guys at Hawk Wargames sent out a couple early products for us to check out. The first is the new expansion Reconquest Phase 1. Enough Intro, lets talk about it.
The Expansion Reconquest Phase 1 is currently available on pre-order, for a release on August 30th.
http://www.hawkwargames.com/collections/resistance-all-products
http://www.hawkwargames.com/collections/the-core-range
The books will be seen and many available this weekend at GenCon. If you are there, pick them up!
First off, I have done a good look at the video, and that can be seen here below! We will be talking Dropzone a lot over the next few days.
So what is in the book!
Background: There is a lot of background and new artwork. The first part of the book is the story of the Resistance, what happens when humanity flees to the outer worlds to the people that are left behind. Most specifically it details out the events on Eden Prime.
Eden Prime is the first theatre of war, and the story goes into the battle zones in detail, along with designer notes for you to fight your own battles throughout Eden.
Other theatres of war are also talked about, from the Breakbasket of Elysium, to Shangri-La and more. Each theatre of the invasion is discussed in detail, not just a paragraph, but with several pages dedicated to each with designer notes at the end for putting together your own battles, campaigns, and themed tournaments.
In all, the background section goes through page 45.
Scenarios and Tournaments: This section contains codified tournament rules and missions. It also includes the new missions for the scenery sets, the Monorail and the Orbital Defense laser.
Of special note, there is a model gallery here that shows the Underground Hanger Scenery Pack, and the Civilian Vehicles Scenery packs that are not yet on the Hawk Wargames site for sale. These should be coming soon I would assume.
The missions are found on the Hawk Wargames site for these sets, and the tournament pack, but it is nice to finally see them here. There may be some minor adjustments in these, but I have not yet compared them that closely.
New Rules: There are quite a few new rules here. The first being Rare Units, which include the UCM Ferrum and the PHR Hades. Also are Evasion Countermeasures, Famous Commanders, and several of the new rules we have seen with the new experimental rules over the last year. The Resistance has also brought in some new rules as well, including a fast mover with transition rules (to hover).
The section is broken down into Army Composition Rules, Unit Special Rules, and Special Weapon Rules, which even include the new Barrage and Strafing Weapon rules.
The Factions: From here we divide up into the new factions with more detail given to the each, especially on their aims and goals since Reconquest has begun. There is a lot of room for new units laid out in these sections, and there may even be lots of hints of future releases coming hidden in here.
For each of the existing factions, the book lays out the new units we have had as experimental over the few years, and updates them slightly, if there was something that needed to be. Like Rare added to the special rules for example on the Ferrum, or the Praetorian snipers getting the new Dispersed Formation rules.
After the unit listings, the new Famous Commanders for each faction are listed. These often change the way the game is laid out a little for each army. Some commanders limit what type of units can be taken, and offer point cost breaks for other types of units. A couple are just down right tough on the table.
We finally get to the full spread for the Resistance. Inside is more background, technology, and special rules. Including subterranean squads and drill units. The Resistance has 24 units that can be taken, which brings them right up on par with the other factions.
Famous Commanders for both Feral and Allied units (which some units have special rules limited them to these types of armies). These characters are found also when reading through the background of the books, so they are brought to life, and their dealings with the UCM or other races are given.
Of special note, there is a new unit in there, that is not listed on the website. Its shown on the video, and is the second Command vehicle for the Resistance. Its not listed as a pre-ordered item on the website, which eludes to new releases coming out in the months to come. Perhaps more command vehicles for the other factions as well as for the famous commanders.
The book ends with a model gallery, of the Resistance and a well put together table for the game by Ed Hargrave. Of course there is an index, and a final piece of artwork.
Final Notes: The Reconquest Phase 1 book is a good value, and an excellent addition to Dropzone Commander. The book is beautifully done. The artwork and the layout of the book are great, easy to navigate, and those familiar with the rulebook will easily recognize the layouts that connect the two books quite well. A serious congratulations to the guys at Hawk Wargames.
I have been deeply engrossed reading the background, and the layout is well written, and the stories intriguing enough that I was reading until I passed out at 2am last night.
The new rules and units are written clearly, and while I obviously have not been able to try them on the tabletop, I look forward to seeing the Resistance take on the existing factions.
The Resistance brings a new dimension into the game, and their play style will clearly be their own.
Of course I will be talking more about these releases as the weekend and next continue. Expect a starter set battle report very soon.