Dropzone Commander Battle Report – Shaltari Tribes vs United Colonies of Mankind
Today we’ve got another Dropzone Commander battle report, featuring the Shaltari Tribes and the UCM battling it out to a close finish in Intel!
The Armies
Ubii Tribe War Party
Shaltari Tribes – 2,500
Wings of the Chieftain
Gaia Heavy Gate
Eden Medium Gate
Eden Medium Gate
Eden Medium Gate
Spirit Light Gate
Spirit Light Gate
Spirit Light Gate
Spirit Light Gate
Haven Terragate
Haven Terragate
Court of Elders
COMMAND – Coyote Warstrider with Shaltari Warchief (CV4)
HEAVY – 2x Ocelot Warstrider
Shaltari Swordpoint
STANDARD – 3x Tomahawk Main Grav-Tank
STANDARD – 3x Tomahawk Main Grav-Tank
SUPPORT – 3x Kukri AA Grav-Tank
Shaltari Swordpoint
STANDARD – 2x Tarantula Battlestrider
STANDARD – 2x Tarantula Battlestrider
Shaltari Warrior Clan
TROOPS – 2x Braves
TROOPS – 2x Braves
SUPPORT – Totem Warspire
Shaltari Warfist
HEAVY – 2x Caiman Heavy Grav-Tank
HEAVY – 2x Jaguar Warstrider
SUPPORT – Dreamsnare
Shaltari Speartip
SCOUT – 4x Yari Light Grav-Tank with Light Ion Cannon
EXOTIC – 2x Firstborns
Shaltari Arrowhead
AIR – Warspear Heavy Fighter
AIR – Warspear Heavy Fighter
UCM Fleet Marine Security Force TF-109
United Colonies of Mankind – 2,500
UCM Field Command
COMMAND – Kodiak ACV with Colonial General (CV5)
SUPPORT – Ferrum Drone Base
SCOUT – 4x Wolverine LAV Type-A
Colonial Armored Formation
STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT
-Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods
STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT
-Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods
SUPPORT – 3x Longbow Howitzer
-3x Raven-B Light Dropship with Missile Pods
Colonial Armored Formation
STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT
-Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods
STANDARD – 3x Sabre MBT
-Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods
SUPPORT – Eagle Gunship
Colonial Legionnaire Corps
TROOPS – 3x Colonial Legionnaires
-Bear APC
TROOPS – 3x Colonial Legionnaires
-Bear APC
-Sharing Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods
SUPPORT – 3x Rapier AA Tank
-Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods
Colonial Legionnaire Corps
TROOPS – 2x Colonial Legionnaires
-Raven-A Light Dropship with Missile Pods
TROOPS – 2x Colonial Legionnaires
-Raven-A Light Dropship with Missile Pods
SUPPORT – 3x Rapier AA Tank
-Condor Medium Dropship with Missile Pods
UCM Expeditionary Group
EXOTIC – 2x Praetorians
-Raven-A Light Dropship with Missile Pods
SCOUT – 4x Praetorian Snipers
-Bear APC
Colonial Fleet Air Wing
AIR – Archangel
AIR – Archangel
After Action Review
Man, my list was terrible! I spent a few minutes before we played making adjustments to my last list, in an attempt to get my Tomahawks back. While I was glad for their extra firepower, when we rolled Intel I realized that I had made a terrible mistake by removing infantry that I never put back. This left me in an uphill battle from start to finish, scrambling to keep my Braves in the fight while also staying alive. Every soldier who died was a huge impact on my total force strength in terms of finding the objectives.
While my opponent took horrendous casualties, he made a truly stellar game out of this, and ultimately was shafted by the dice. His trick with the Heroic Sacrifice card against my Firstborns was beautiful, and for the first time ever I felt as if I had been out-Shaltari’d! I definitely got the warm fuzzies; I’m teaching this human how to play the war of deception. He had tons of Infantry, and they were moving quickly about the table to get the job done.
Then, the stupid dice got in the way. I blew up two Intel markers, but that was nothing compared to the FIVE that he managed over the course of the game. He also had a very real chance of dumping my Braves, when I was dumb enough to put them in a small building on turn one. He immediately saw my diminished trooper numbers and made me pay for it, focusing on my infantry throughout. His plan cost him a lot of his own armor as they were shot up with no retaliatory fire, but it still meant that he could win by shutting my infantry out altogether. The Falling Masonry rolls were there, he just could not manage to get them to convert to damage.
I was outplayed start to finish, and the dice handed it away. My opponent played a masterful game, although I do think he should have dropped his Sabres a little more conservatively. That, couple with my ability to instantly turn the tide of the air war with some hot dice, meant that the UCM couldn’t bring it back. Even with all that luck against him, he still only lost by a single point! If he keeps that up I’m going to have to become a much stronger player; I don’t like playing Shaltari when the other guy takes the initiative away from me.
Despite my mixed successes with the Warspears in my game against the Resistance, I think they are destined to spend most of their life on the shelf. I’m losing too much for their points investment from the rest of my force, and could easily drop in more Yaris for aggressive light dropship hunting. I also wouldn’t mind giving Birdeaters another shot, as I haven’t played them in a long time. One way or another, the Shaltari air power is most likely returning to the shelf.
Chime in, Dropzone generals! Where did we go wrong (aside from my horrid list construction)? Let us know in the comments below.
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