Again we have a solid question and answer forum that Hawk Wargames engaged with the community yesterday on the kickstarter updates. Of course some questions were more relevant than others, but I included all of them.
Also... that is an early look at the Shaltari Topaz Class Frigate
Here is an update to the kickstarter today.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hawkwargames/dropfleet-commander
2,519 backers
$563,591 pledged of $61,066 goal almost £370k
13 days to go
Who's your favorite Muppet?
Dear John Youlr,
Hard to say for the team, however Floyd Pepper’s always been a personal favourite.
-The Hawk Team
First
- will there be flagships with commanders like in DZC?
- is the smallest ship a Corvette Class?
- will fighters/bombers be like effekts or destroyable (HP?)
- will there be bigger carriers in retail?
Dear Emanuel K.,
There will be flagships, similar to the command system in Dropzone Commander. However the ship your admiral is in will be up to you – although we think most players will want to mount them in the one with the most hull and biggest guns!
- The Hawk Team
For those with an Admiral pledge, will the dates be announced before the end of the Kickstarter for US and UK beta days? What happens if the days are arranged and one or more admirals cannot attend?
Ta Hawk!
Dear Daniel Jacklin,
Once we have confirmed who the admirals are at the end of the campaign, and where they are, we can work on venues, which will then give us dates. We know this is a little chicken and egg, however this is the only realistic way of organising this.
- The Hawk Team
How many ship classes will the game have? And which one are these? So far we know about Cruisers, Battlecruisers, Frigates, Assault Carriers, Fleet Carriers, Motherships and Battleships. What else if any?
Dear BlackLegion,
we have a set list in terms of ship types, similar to the ‘troops’ ‘exotic’ etc. choices from Dropzone – this is for ease of use when list building. We will be finalising this list after the beta days, however some of those on your list will actually be in the same class.
the Hawk Team
There will be battlecruisers other than the KS only ones right?
Can you give us any information on the roles of the battlecruisers in each force? Are they similar to historical ships (fast and armored or fast and well armed)?
I know its a ways out but will you guys be planning a Gencon '16 Tournament for Dropfleet?
Emanuel K's backer map is a great idea.
Dear Jesse White,
As we have mentioned elsewhere, there will indeed be other battlecruisers, though these specific models are kickstarter exclusive.
- The Hawk Team
I demand an updated picture of Andy Chambers... leafing through an old Ork codex, it's that same mug (sans color) grinning about his Ork army. ask him how he feels about GW re-releasing Dreadfleet, if you can please.
Dear Workshop YS,
we refuse to use a pic of andy that doesn't at least include his trademark quixotic eyebrow raise, and we think the spiky hair only adds to this>
the Hawk Team
I'll also pick an unanswered question from yesterday. Is some foam making company supporting Dropfleet? Are you in talks with any? No need to state names, a yes or no answer is enough
-What's the difference between the deluxe cluster bolt on and the resin ground assets bolt on?
-What's on the activation deck? Just cards with numbers stating which battlegroup goes first? If as it looks like in the Bow video they're so important for the game, is there a substitute within the 2 players box?
Dear Unai Mujika Torrontegui,
we are looking at foam at the moment, and we don't have a definitive answer as yet. We hope to have an answer one way or the other before release.
The Hawk Team
Fluffy nerd question...
The PHR and UCM ships are firing lasers, missiles and rail guns (Awesome!)....What are the Shaltari and Scourge ships using?? Especially the Scourge...I don't see any guns?? What alien devilry is this?!?!
On that point...can you touch on the role of launch assets (fighters bombers and torpedoes) ? As a long time BFG player can I expect the same, or with Dropfleet put its own spin on it?
Dear Jason Roberts,
look again at the scourge ships. Especially the red 'eyes' on the crests/tops of the cruisers, with special attention to the shenlong, which is a heavy cruiser and has more guns. Those aren't eyes....
The hawk Team
Short question for Hawk:
How does the game scale beyond the 1500pts per side sized engagement?
I am curious to know if it worked for bigger fleets on a bigger stage, especially given the speeds ships can move at
Thanks.
Dear JC Ramsay,
Similar to Dropzone Commander, it scales by adding more activations and more ships per battlegroup. We also suggest in much larger games (again, as per Dropzone) that with 2500 + points players expand to 6" by 4" rather than the standard size. This stops the board being too cluttered and allows for more tactical manoeuvring.
The Hawk Team
@hawk:
Regarding the bolt ons that have multiple options such as pin badges and dice sets will admirals receive a single one or all variations
E.G. do they pick one faction dice set or do they receive the sets for all races ?
Dear Drachnien,
you will be able to pick on the survey at the end of the Campaign which faction you would like, and it's 1 faction per choice. If you'd like more than one, i.e. two sets of Shaltari faction specific dice, you'll be able to choose that as well.
The Hawk Team
Sorry if this has already been asked.
Will the Luxury Cruise Liner have usable stats? And or be a part of a scenario much like the monorail in DZC?
Dear Nathanael Robinson,
the Cruise liner doesn't currently have usable stats, and is more of a fun scenery piece, however we may create a fun custom scenario around it if we can fit it in - as long as it doesn't delay delivery, it's a possibility.
The Hawk Team
Would a future goal be do get any of the retail only kits made in plastic as well (while staying retail only), or are they staying as resin?
Dear William ,
we'd love to do more plastic, however we've planned on resin at the moment and will almost certainly be sticking with that. If (and hopefully when) in the future we release more gaming systems and products we may look at more plastic in them, but for dropfleet we are only going with plastic frigates and cruiser.
The Hawk Team
Hawk:
are the energy spikes a ship receives permanent with no way to get rid of them for the rest of the game ?
Dear Ian,
there are ways of getting rid of them in game, and those are choices the players will have to make, as they affect the orders that ships can carry out - you can't (currently, setting aside any special rules) go weapons free and also loose a major spike token in the same turn. It's about making the choice, and having that be up to your personal tactics, skill and timing.
The Hawk Team
Couple of things
are we going to see any rules / scenarios / campaigns etc. that link the dropfleet games to the dropzone games mechanically?
There has been previous requests for high res images to be made available for the maps for those of us that wanted to look at getting them printed up on a mousemat like material. Is this something you would consider, or even better would you look at working with a print on demand style set up where you get a small kickback as the images owner?
are you likely to make the rulebook / printed materials for this campaign available as pdf'? I know this runs the risk of them being shared but I personally find the search function of a pdf incredibly useful. in game and often print out nice quality summary sheets from those pages typically found in the rulebook.
Many thanks
Drew
Dear Andrew Williams,
the rulebook will have a section on linking games, how one will interact with the other if played consecutively, and campaigns. Given that the time of the games (in real time) is vastly different, as is the scale, it is unlikely that you'd be able to play one next to the other (and would probably take an entire weekend!) but we will put suggestions in for that as well.
THe Hawk Team
Hawk,
Are battle cruisers planned to be released with boxed game a month after we get our goods?
Just wondering how long we need to wait before getting these for proper games as such.
Dear Ed Leech,
Rules for battlecruiser will be in the rulebook, though the models may be out slightly later than others for the game (a few months at most). That said, at the moment we are on track to release them with the retail release day.
The Hawk Team
Is there any chance there will be a rulebook-only pledge level for those of us who don't really like the ships but would like to get into the game and get some of the grab-ons... erm, sorry, bolt-ons? I mean, quality wise they look fantastic and interesting, but the style just doesn't click (for me at least). Alternatively, can I just get bolt-ons if I pledged just 1 pound?
Will you be making an electronic version (PDF or epub) of the rulebook (at least the barebone rules)?
Will you do expansions for the 4 main races in the same style of Privateer Press and Firestorm Armada (something for all of the races in each update)?
If any of these questions have already been answered, I apologize, I've not read through all of the comments (so... many), just some and the FAQ.
Cheers!
Err, ignore the PDF question, I know that one has been sort of answered in the meanwhile.
Dear eFTy,
that's unfortunately not something we can offer. We understand that there is a demand for a more pick and mix style of bolt ons/book mix, but again we feel this creates much more of a shop/Estore approach to the campaign, which is not what we're going for.
We also know that many commentors have pledged £1 to be able to get updates and comment, however this doesn't allow bolt ons - backers have to choose a pledge level for access to this (again for the shop reason).
We should also say (slightly tangentially to your question) backers that have pledged money but not gone for a set pledge (i.e. have backed £1) do not qualify for any of the freebies or 'all backer' free unlocks on the campaign. While we are very thankful for the support, it's not viable - or fair to pledge level backers - to have the £1 pledge qualify for this.
The Hawk Team
Hi,
i miss a pledge level between commodore and admiral,
one that says : you get everything we make during KS, but you do not stumble on a limited amount of possible backers. Otherwise said : i have some money to spend, but rather then spend it on bolt ons and not knowing how much money i will be spending, i want to spend it on 1 pledge level and get the whole deal.
And while talking about this : i understand there should be a limited amount of persons who can come to your beta acces events, but limit the beta-rulebooks to 100 ? Sad, you could do something about it.
If you do anything about the above, i will be able to increase the total amount of pledged money :)
Luc
Dear Luc Teunen,
we are not currently planning any further pledge levels. We created the Commodore pledge as a semi-alternative for backers who wanted a mix of choice and high level goodies, however we again don't want to be to shop-like, which we feel this would currently do. While this may change, it is very unlikely to.
The Hawk Team
will dogtags (if they happen) be personalised?
can you describe the asset tokens in any detail at all?
are there any plans for asteroid etc type terrain?
Dear Semi Automatic Dolphin,
we won't be able to personalise the Dog Tags as this hugely increases both the cost and the logisitics involved.
The Hawk Team
I had thought I heard during one of the podcasts that you were considering bumping ANY pledge of a certain amount or higher to 'High Rank' status -- is this true?
Dear Joel Ruschman,
that's very, very untrue. We aren't, and will never, look at making every pledge level a high level backer. We think in this case people may have been confused by the fact that high rank backers are getting free frigates, but that if we hit £500k all backers are getting frigates (for high rankers, this is on top of those they will already be getting)
The Hawk Team
Will it be possible to see an image of one of the sprues, or are they not finalised yet?
Dear Lachlan Atcliffe,
they aren't finalised yet, though we will be creating updates up until release after the campaign has ended, so as soon as we have images we will put them in an update for backers to see.
The Hawk Team
@Hawk I fully understand not offering freebies to 1 pound backers, which is why I was asking about a Rulebook pledge (which doesn't even need the other freebies - you can have those for 45+ pound pledges). I want to support this new system without getting ships I'm not really interested in, but so far my only option seems to be 'wait for retail' and I'm pretty sad about that. I also know for a fact there are others who feel the same, at least among BFG players.
Dear eFTy,
we understand the problem, however as mentioned the campaign is, at its core, all about backing to create the ships. While we have bolt ons for that, we feel adding a 'book only' pledge leans too close to an online store for what we're aiming to achieve.
The Hawk Team
No question---- or lots of the same question
Dear all,
We'll be creating clear guidelines on the pledges - including admiral backers - for tomorrow, so we'll save answering those questions until then.
The Hawk Team
What ship types will be ready for retail launch except the KS Frigate/Cruisers?
Dear Malleus,
we're hoping to get to the point where most if not all of those in the rulebook will be available from retail. Certainly we want Battleships for each race ready, and we are planning to have most others there as well.
The Hawk Team
Could not find the question
Dear Eric,
we won't be adding just an addition sprue purchase option, as again we don't want it to be too much of an Estore. We understand it's a fine line one way or another, and see that the decisions will in equal part annoy some backers and make others happy, but we're very careful about this line.
The Hawk Team
How will ships be packaged and sold? For instance, in the case of cruisers, will you be able to make every legal variant of light cruiser, cruiser, and heavy cruiser from just one box, or will the parts necessary for each super-type of cruiser come in its own box?
Dear Neil Stegman,
we are currently (depending on final sprue layouts) looking at putting all the pieces you'd need for all the cruisers on the same sprue - i.e. you can make a light cruiser, standard cruiser or heavy cruiser form the same sprue, the choice is up to you. if you look at the UCM on the main page for example, all of the cruisers listed can be made from the same sprue (not all at the same time though, obviously). The exceptions are the ks exclusive battlecruisers, which have extra resin parts because of their new designs.
nb - the same goes for the frigates - those you can see on the model gallery can all be made from the one sprue.
The Hawk Team
Thanks Hawk,
Another question - what will the mapsheets be made of? You say "paper" and my concern is that this means A4 printer paper that will rip in a heartbeat! Will it be the same high-bond gloss paper as your posters?
Dear Lachlan Atcliffe,
they will be on heavy stock similar to our posters - If you've ever seen the 2 player starter set mat from Dropzone Commander you'll know what they are like. They are highly durable.
The Hawk Team
In that case I think the dog tag belongs to that old sea dog: Chambers, A., Bosun, 2nd Rate
Dear Semi Automatic Dolphin,
I think it's fair to say he's risen in the ranks since them, at least to Admiral of the Fleet, if not being CinC of a large chunk of the UCMF itself!
The Hawk Team
With some of the larger ships, they should take some time and battering before they explode / crash / wibble. Do you have any cool ways planned to reflect that on the model? I assume the base / markers are the answer, but I want to see that my shields are down, engines crippled or commander assassinated in a funky way - or have you that in hand already ! :)
Dear Colin Capelin,
we'll have to leave that one up to players in terms of their models - as in Dropzone Commander, it's very hard to show when your oppressor is down to 1DP for example. Effects are a part of the token set (e.g. on fire or orbital decay), however we wanted to keep the game clear of too many tokens, so much of this is done with the damage pegs on the ship bases themselves.
The Hawk Team
Where does dropfleet fit into the story? Does it advance it further than phase 1 or is it happening at the same time?
Dear William,
much of it is at the same time as reconquest: Phase 1. However if you read Phase 1, you'll see that there are certain systems that have greater or lesser fleet presences from certain factions, such as the Olympus system, which will figure more largely than others.
The Hawk Team
Hawk, quick question, I didn't see a carrier for Sheltari... They have one?
Dear Paulo Oak dos Santos,
they will have launch assets, though we are still testing them to find the optimum and balanced way of including them, and what their launch platform should be. It will mostly likely be a carrier, however we can't confirm that yet.
The Hawk team
@Hawk - How much tar shalt shaltari tar if shaltari shalt tar tar?
Dear Hotdrop Studios,
depends, how quickly can a painter with paint paint the painting that needs to be painted, if the painter only ever painted?;)
oh, and the answer's they shalt tar enough that they shalt have tarred each other with the same brush ;)
The Hawk Team
@Hawk,
What pts levels are you playtesting?
Dear Ed,
We started with starter fleet levels, i.e. approx. 500 points, then moved up to 1500pts (standard tournament level). We have tested some 2000 and 2500 point games, but we want the game to focus primarily on 1500pts as an average, so most of our testing is set at that level.
The Hawk Team
Thank you, I was wondering how expanding a fleet would work in retail.
After seeing how customizable and module cruisers and frigates are, will the same hold true for battleships and larger ships(if they exist)? For instance, in the case of the Beijing class battleship, are the port and starboard railgun banks, and the ventral heavy railgun bank, removable and replaceable for the battleship chassis, or are they integral and necessary?
Dear Neil Stegman,
this is less likely with battleships as they will be entirely resin, at which point we tend to design for a specific ship. That said, we are looking into it, and like multiple part kits as they are better for retailers and players both. We can't give a definite answer until we have the final casting plan sorted.
The Hawk Team