Hawk Wargames today did a question and answer session on their kickstarter for Dropfleet Commander. It has a lot of good questions.... and a few that are not so as important. However, On top of this QnA...... I have a few more ships to show off later.......
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hawkwargames/dropfleet-commander
2,480 backers
$551,894 pledged of $61,066 goal
15 days to go
Dear all,
the activation cards are a mechanic in the game which has elements of bluff, counter move and list building. Players put the cards in order at the start of each turn, and then flip a card each simultaneously, comparing command value. Each Battlegroup that players have in their fleet will have a command value, and the lower number will get to move the the ships in that battlegroup first. Once each player has moved their battlegroup, they flip again.
As such, the activation pack will include stylised cards which are numbered, but have blank area for players to put their chosen battlegroups in - this allows for flexibility in list building as well as command value on each.
- The Hawk Team
OK, here goes:
I believe I saw that there is, under Commodore, the option for four KS exclusive ships. Could you confirm:
- are they one per faction (PHR, UCM, Shaltari, Scourge)?
- is the UCM one different to the KS exclusive Atlantis?
Dear Barney Hanlon ,
Battlecruisers in the commodore pledge are: 1x atlantis + 3x of any other race in any other combination. Currently these races are Shaltari, PHR and Scourge; we may add another UCM battlecruiser to the mix depending on demand and design time, however it will only ever be 1 Atlantis
Asking since I'll probably be driving back from work when they're on.
Once the kickstarter is over, will the posters and prints be available, even if only from shows? I ask as while I like them, my funds will only stretch so far.
Also will there be pictures of the resin cluster upgrades, dice, and acrylic tokens before the kickstarter finishes?
And one last one, I've noticed that some races have a slightly different mixture of light/medium/heavy cruisers. Does this mean that these races simply have different mixes of cruisers, some preferring heavy etc, or is there more cruiser variants to be seen for all the races?
Dear Andrew Bussey,
the mix of frigates and cruisers is slightly different for each race, which accentuates thier differences in play style and faction tactics. There will be core similarities in each, but these differences are purposeful.
We will attempt to have pictures or at least renders of everything by the end of the kickstarter, however in some cases this will depend on the manufacturers and design time.
- The Hawk Team
Apologies, just saw that it's three exclusive battlecruisers. I assume then that the other three are PHR, Shaltari, and Scourge? I'm afraid the Shaltari aesthetic isn't to my taste, so can I double up on battlecruisers from a faction? Will there be a variety to choose from?
Dear Hotdrop Studios,
call us, we'll talk about it ;)
In all seriousness, that's partially about our 'all backer freebies', and we will look into further ways of doing this before the end of the kickstarter, but we are honest about the fact that we feel high level backers of any of the three top ranks get the best deal, and want to give incentives and rewards to backers for going that extra mile in support.
- The hawk Team
@Hawk, given you are making the 2-up Beijing class available in this kickstarter, is there any way I can twist your arm into making the regular sized version available as a bolt on as the only kickstarter available battleship?
Dear Richard Robbins,
tempting though it is, we 100% will not be doing this; as we have said from the start, we don't want to make the kickstarter a pick and mix shop, and we feel that leads to a slippery slope, getting away from the integral crowdfunding nature of our aim here. Secondly (and no less importantly) we don't have a retailer pledge, and part of the reason for this is that we want to support FLGS, so we are making the other ships in the eventual range only available via your usual retail or online outlets, to support local play of the game and in-store events and campaigns.
- The Hawk Team
what sort of size is the civilian cruise liner? Is it one per pack?
Dear Daniel Jacklin,
these will be one per pledge (that's eligible), i.e. high rank backers, similar to the Atlantis.
- The Hawk Team
I heard Dave say Louis has the messiest work space, can you confirm this?
Dear Donald Roach,
we can neither confirm nor deny that Mr.Downs' desk is now considered a global environmental health hazard. However we can confirm that he runs a large chunk of the company via it, and given the great job he does we cut him some slack.
- The Hawk Team
What will the general play style of the Shaltari be? Will they have different movement rules to augment their unique weapon placement?
Will the Beijing class battleship be the only battleship released during the kickstarter; when will its normal model be available?
Why do the PHR have such a wide range of weapon options compared to the other factions? While they have six confirmed weapons so far (three broadside, three prow arch), the UCM only have three four, counting the Madrid cannoms), the scourge only three, and the Shaltari three; will there be more weapon options included for those three factions?
For the Eden Prime map pack, how many maps are included? Will it cover the entirety of the planet?
Thank you in advance, and best of luck for the rest of the Kickstarter!
Dear Neil Stegman,
That's a fair few questions, so we'll keep to just the first one for time.
The Shaltari are, similar to Dropzone Commander, all about your decisions and making the right tactical choice at the right time. While this can be said of all the factions, the Shaltari have the extra mechanic of the 'Shields up!' rule, which means you can have a small signature and low armour, or a huge signature and much more armour, but not both. When you use this order, and how you position is key. As some of thier most potent weaponry is also only front facing, manoeuvre is also hugely important, but if you get it right (again, as with al factions) it will be devastating.
The Hawk Team
Hello, will the unlocked free sprues come with bases for these ships or is that the sprues only?
Dear Christian Schmal,
we have said but it bears repeating, all free ships and add ons that would require bases, come with bases. We're not about to leave backers with cool free stuff that's only half way there :)
The Hawk Team
Will there be any flexibility with stretch goal bonus stuff? Say I don't want a Shaltari cruiser / frigate pack - could I opt to swap for Scourge instead?
And when/how do we buy the 'bolt-on' extras? do we up our pledge level to match what we want and sort it later? or is it something we add after the end of the kickstarter?
Dear Jason Roberts,
for logistical reasons we aren't offering any swapping of the freebies for backers. Only those pledges that specifically state that it is a choice of 'x number of' - for example, the commodore pledge includes '2 faction sets of your choice' - will have this option.
The Hawk Team
Will there be pdf rulebook?
Dear Krzysztof Babilon,
we have thought about a PDF rulebook, and it maybe something we investigate at a later date, however we currently don't have a set moment for it, and it will 100% not be included on the kickstarter.
The Hawk Team
hawk, when are we going to see the acrylic ground asset tokens? great job and congrats!
Dear Paulo Oak dos Santos,
We're working on image for these and all other out-standing images at the moment; we hope to have them up soon.
THe Hawk Team
@hawk
When are we going to see the clarification of what Admiral does include?
Also, what's the expected RRP of the various bolt ons?
Dear Thargan,
while we think we've made it pretty clear in comments and the main part of the campaign page what the various pledges include, we are planning to post an even more in-depth update on this soon, with visual representations of what people get at each backer level.
The Hawk Wargames
How finalised are the PHR designs? Mostly asking, as I think the top sections could really do with panel lines (like DzC PHR) - whilst I'm sure you'll make them looking amazing, I think they have the potential to look a bit bland in the hands of a much less skilled painter like myself as it stands!
Other that, can I just say great work so far! Everything looks amazing :)
Dear James Painton,
as you can see the PHR cruisers are done. Dave is currently CADding away on the PHR Battlecruiser, with the frigates to follow on a bit later in the campaign.
The Hawk Team
Dear Hawk - you guys are doing an amazing KS and it has made me consider being a Talon to spread the coolness to my friends!
I know a lot of questions get lost in the maelstorm, so I will ask just a single one this time:
Battle Reports during the KS to show off the game, yay or nay? :D
Dear Martin Kvolbæk,
instead of yay or nay, we're going to say...may? as in, maybe? To be honest the answer is probably not. There are still elements of balance and one or two key areas that we are tweaking, and we feel that running a full on battle report would not only give a misrepresentation of the final game, but also create division among players about certain elements - i.e. if we show a part of the game that changes, some people will be annoyed, others will be annoyed that others aren;t changing - in short, we'd prefer to present a finished product to all but the beta testers.
as a further bonus, after the Beasts of War video we think it'd be cruel to show Hawk Simon getting beaten again.
The Hawk Team
I couldnt find this question
Dear Chris,
we've answered this several times elsewhere but it's worth saying again: we won't be adding eithr another faction or more ancillary ships from the existing factions to the kickstarter - we want to leave that for retailers and keep the kickstarter about support rather than a point of sale.
The Hawk Team
Just to be sure though, even if ou aren't videoing it, Ou are still beating Simon regularly right? Discipline is important! ;)
Dear Mark Mako,
Hawk Simon is a consummate tournament player, which is what makes his insight so key for game balance. As such, most testing games are focused on a specific aspect of the game rather than trying all out to win - though there are those as well. Often games are two or three turns long berfore trying again, then again, to see what changes and tweaks work, before putting them into practise with larger, full on engagements. In such games it's always a hard test for any of our players to face up against each other, and honours are usually even between our testing team.
The Hawk Team
Are bolt ons like ground or flight assets upgrades to tokens in the starter set, or do we need to buy these to use things like fighters?
Dear Greg Joynson,
there are both ground and launch assets in the 2 player starter box; the bolt ons offered are upgrades to these.
The Hawk Team
Do we know the approximate sizes of frigates and cruisers?
Also +1 about rules pdf
Dear Luke,
many of the pictures in our model gallery have measurements on them - it's hard to give you an approximate on this as they are fairly exact measurements. If you take a look you'll see them - for the most part frigates range from the top of your thumb to the whole length depending on the faction, and cruisers are from this size up to the distance from your thumb to your first finger (no jokes intended)
The Hawk Team
@Hawk, would you consider race spercific launch assets as a future stretch goal? Assuming you made enough money of course.
Dear William,
we are very unlikely to do race specific launch assets, mostly due to their size; each fighter in the pack is very small (smaller than a Dropzone commander infantryman), at which point CADding and painting detail becomes almost lost to the eye, which is why they are interchangeable and generic assets.
The Hawk Team
@hawk Are you comfortable that the level rewards up to and beyond the bonanza point are of similar value for money as the ones that we have seen so far?
Dear Colin Capelin,
we are very comfrotable with the rewards, as you have to remember that a) freebies are, well, free, which is great for backers and b) any money pledged over and above your pledge level is not earmarked. You have the choice of what you would like that money to go on, so you can decide what you want as a reward. We think these rewards are cool, nice additions to a pledge and very good value, and we hope backers do as well.
The Hawk team
Hi Hawk, great job so far. I have two questions that I have seen asked several times but I've seen no answer. My first question is will we be able to buy the UCM Beijing Battleship at the normal/playable scale at some point? I was really excited to see it as a bolt-on before realising it was at 2x scale.
My second question is, I have pledged at one level with no bolt-ons. At the end of the KS are we able to add funds to this level to add on these bolt-ons?
Dear Jason James,
we answered this lower down in these comments and elsewhere re: buying more ship classes on the kickstarter - for brevity (excuse the bluntness) we'll say 'no, but please read below for reasons why not'
As to the second question, yes you will be able to add funds to your level at the end. However please bear in mind that you won't be able to change the actual pledge level after the campaign is over, so if you have commander for example you will be able to add bolt ons as you would like, but won't be able to change upwards to captain or commodore once the ks comes to a close.
The Hawk Team
Well Battlefleet Gothic had different types of Fighter/Bombers/AssaultBoats models in metal for Imperium and Chaos. Forgeworld even made resin ones for Orks, Eldar, Space Marines and Tau. So the differences ARE visible.
Perhaps not during this KS but on a later date i would love to use race specific Launch Assets.
Dear BlackLegion,
we can't comment on other games, though given a difference in scale and long term game balance we're fairly confident in the way Dropfleet Commander is progessing.
The Hawk Team
Okay, got a question: Are frigates and cruisers going to be sufficient to put on the table, or will there be a pile of non-kickstarter ships like battleships that will be effectively must-buys on top of them if you don't want to face crushing defeat?
Dear David Meacham,
it depends on the scale of game you're looking for. You will be able to play games with just frigates and cruisers at smaller scales, however we'd suggest one or two bigger (or in certain cases, more esoteric) ships to give you a balanced list for medium and larger games. If you're tactically aware you should be able to win a game with just frigates and a few cruisers, just as in Dropzone commander you can win with a few troops and all tanks...we just wouldn't suggest you bank on it, as it's a game designed with balance and balanced fleets in mind.
the Hawk Team