Want to play a game of Dropzone with just about every unit in your faction? 3,000pts seems to be that number. Its a great way to get all the units available on the field of almost every faction I have played and against (all of them for a fact).
So yes, some things may die quickly, but unlike games like 40k, units generally survive the first 1-2 rounds of the game, giving you a chance to at least play the units. As a now veteran of the 3,000pt game, I have found that its a great introduction to the faction and how the units are working. Its well worth the opportunity to do so if you get the chance, but be warned in advance....... when its time for a more standard level of 1500pts..... the choices on what to field become very difficult and often heart wrenching.
So I want to talk briefly about the game I had against the Shaltari with 3,000pts of Resistance. First of all, every Resistance model was in the game with the exception of the Leviathan (which is not yet shipped out from my understanding). No allied units were used, instead I went feral to use all the new models I could...... oh yea, Barrel Bomber.
I do have some pictures, which you see here, but little is painted yet. I have started but have a lot of work still to do.
Lets talk about the game overall. It was a close match up against 3,000pts of Shaltari, and I knew the Shaltari are fast, tricky, and can hit hard once those Walkers come to bear. Even though the Resistance hit the Shaltari hard starting in the third round, it was a close match up all the way to the end, (like most dropzone is). The game was a board quarter mission on a 6x4 board (because of the size of the game).
Just as tricky as the Shaltari though, the Resistance comes with its own unique flavor, and it quickly became apparent, as I pushed hard into the front lines of the Shaltari forces, causing a retreat on almost every front.
It did not take long though, for my opponent to figure out the what was going on, and by the 5th round of the game, the Shaltari forces had settled, and returned fire with a vengeance, literally wiping out 6 heavy Resistance tanks in those two rounds.
In the end the Resistance took the field, by having just over 100pts more in the Shaltari's back starting quarter leaving the Resistance with 3 board quarters to the Shaltari's 1. If it had come to kill points it was 140pts in the Resistance favor, which literally was an ambush of Gun Wagons and technicals taking down two firedrakes before they had a chance to escape.
Now that some games are under my belt with the Resistance I will go into some more details with some of the units in part 2. For now here are some suggestions playing with the Resistance, and if you are going to face them.
My MVP's from this game........ Freeriders and the Barrel Bomber
I do think that if you are going to go with a subterranean list, two breaching drills would make you extremely effective, and able to appear and disappear (with objectives) in several different locations. Having two insures that you will be getting subterranean units onto the field as soon as possible.
Freeriders are fast, and take a lot of gunfire to kill with their dispersed formation rule and evasion countermeasures. I was amazed at how easy these guys are to hide behind buildings with their speed on the tabletop. I ran them on the board and all the way into the enemy. Hot on their heels were a barrel bomber and several lifthawks.
The Barrel Bomber out performed my expectations the most. No I did not get to drop the big one.... it was coming next, but I had two full rounds of dropping Frag Barrels on Shaltari Caimens, kuri's and tomahawks.
The big push by the Freeriders and the Barrel Bomber literally pushed back the Shaltari away from my table half, and a large wave of AA from Lifthawks and Gunwagons took down any gates trying to push their way into my half. I also fielded the AA options on my Battle Buses, and I found that these were really helpful in preventing any unwanted movement from the Shaltari.
Close Game, and lots of fun.
