I thought today I would discuss some of the basics of game play when it comes to Dropzone Commander. DzC has a lot of new players, and there are a lot of things that need to be considered in this game that differ from other tabletop miniature games.
These are generally already known by experienced dropzone players, but something I we have been talking about around the DzC games locally.
Tomorrow evening I am meeting up with some people, and a big DzC event may be in the near future.
The Early Game
Positioning
Movement is key in Dropzone Commander, especially in the first few rounds of the game. With only 6 rounds in a DzC game, you must be ready fight your way to focal points, and have plans to do so. The fighting can get heavy in rounds 3-5, and if you are not paying attention to where you need to be in round 6 you can find yourself falling short of getting enough units to the focal points. Don't neglect where you need to be in round 6.
Objectives
When you first enter the board through "readiness" or from "deployment", most units will not be able to engage the enemy for the first and sometimes second rounds. Dont give up your shots, use them to concentrate on longer range targets with no countermeasures.... like buildings with objectives in them. Downing a normal sized building with 20dps that has an objective in it on the enemies side of the board should be a big priority. Make those buildings costly for the your opponent to attempt to get those objectives out. Many dropships like Condor's carry missile pods and other long range weaponry that can be used very effectively against buildings.
Your own board side objectives
With objectives on your side of the board, don't only go into a normal sized building with one unit. You need to get that objective quickly and get out before they are destroyed, and many games will be decided upon you getting that objective out quickly. Multiple infantry squads searching for the objective are much more effective than just one. Two base squads in light dropships are very effective at quick objective grabbing.
Pushing Targets of Opportunity-
Holding back certain battlegroups until the very end of the round can help in many ways. One advantageous move is to pick up a unit on the ground, moving your dropships forward, and redeploying into a forward position as the last activated battlegroup of the round. Now in your forward position this will be your first activated battlegroup, allowing you to get the jump on the enemy. This can be done to take down dropships, tackle a Hades, and just about anything else you need to get the jump on. If you are able to do this in more than one spot on the board following your opponents activations..... they will have some serious hard choices to make even if they win initiative next round.
Flamers-
Often a very overlooked type of unit is a unit with flamer weapons. These are extremely deadly to infantry in buildings, especially if there is a center board objective in a building.... this is a great place to get your flamer units to within striking range. This is not only a great deterrent to your opponent, but if you get them in position properly, your enemy has no choice but to try and take them out or avoid the building completely.
AA Coverage-
Do not forget that proper AA coverage to protect your ground units. Fast movers if your enemy is fielding them, can be a game changer if you have no protection against them. Get them deployed quickly, and in many games rolling a squad of AA protection on the board without a transport will protect you against a lucky early strike from fast movers.