Right now intel is a little sketchy. From what I can gather there are at least 4 main armies, which include the UCM (United Colonies of Mankind), The Scourge, Shaltari Tribes, PHR (Post-Human Republic).
UCM (United Colonies of Mankind - Are are the basic humans, They were the most powerful faction in space, but were crushed in battle by the central worlds (including Earth). They tend to be a little lower tech.
PHR (Post-Human Republic) - Rely on advanced technology and weaponry.
Scourge - The Scourge consist of bio-mechanically-inspired aliens. They were the ones who overran earth, and are enemies of humans.
Shaltari Tribes - Use Teleportation. The troops are fast, but fragile They sort of have an Eldar flavor to them.
They are also making terrain/buildings. The Buildings are hollow, modular sections. They are going to be released in packs and should be interchangeable with sections.
The game is designed around huge dropships. Most of not all units can be flown with landing craft on to the battlefield. The dropships are available in different sizes and are 1 to 1 scale, i.e. they are designed to transport the actual models used and are scale accordingly.
Apparently they are working on a ruleset, but I am not sure where it stands.
I hear they are looking for both painters and play testers.
Check out their website and twitter account for updates.
You can find more pictures from http://lifevsgaming.blogspot.com and http://mr-bugman.blogspot.com
Saw this myself at Salute, and must agree they are stunning models. I was talking to the guy and he was saying the rules should be ready for the release date. They've actually got stock, but they don't want to start selling till they can give people a game rather than just miniatures.
ReplyDeleteI saw and liked the models, but I`m afraid they dropped the ball a bit on the chosen scale, since most ranges tend to hover in the 15 or 6mm scale.
ReplyDeleteMight have trouble `surviving` in their own ruleset alone, as face it, almost every gamer likes to mix and match various manufacturers together to use the models as `represents`
I think the 10mm thing is fine. I think 15mm might have been a bit too big for the game, especially in terms of money with all the vehicles etc, 6mm might've ended up too small, losing detail etc.
DeleteAlso vary rarely do I mix other manufacturers stuff into a game as long as I like the figures for a game, which is generally one of the things as to whether I'll play it or not. If there is a model I like, even if it's just okay from the actual manufacturer I'd much rather use that, and it makes it a lot easier on my opponent too.
If anyone has an email address for Hawk Wargames, I would really like it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they;ve dropped the ball at all, this coming from a 15mm sci-fi collector. 10mm, for the game they want to write and play, is the perfect scale. 6mm is tiny and can't be seen, whilst in 15mm dropships would be too big. 10mm is the perfect solution and, seeing as they want to release a complete product e.g. rules and several complete mini lines, compatibility isn't really necessary. I think the strength of their product will carry them through.
ReplyDeleteThese look very cool. I will buy I am sure.
ReplyDeleteWe have some pictures: http://6inchmove.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteDave from Hawk Wargames answere the 10mm scale question:
ReplyDeleteWhy scale it at 10mm?
Dave: A lot people have been asking this, and it’s nice to get the chance to answer this question. There’s a whole set of reasons:
A) The project started with the concept of air mobility. I wanted to give gamers something fresh (very hard to do in the world of Sci-fi, which can be quite ubiquitous). As such, the entire game as well as its models were designed around this central tenet. That way the whole thing could stay pure to its ideal.
In 6mm, the miniatures would have frequently been too small and fiddly to achieve the designs I had in mind for such a game. 15mm scale would certainly have given me that freedom, but would have made the game too unwieldy to play. 15mm scale works fantastically for WWII games, where the largest unit you’re likely to field is a King Tiger Tank, and games tend to revolve around infantry actions, supported by armour. However, DzC is far more focused on vehicles, many of which are very large (e.g. heavy dropships able to deliver nine main battle tanks to the fray!) These would have been very big in 15mm, making the fielding of groups of them unrealistic both in terms of cost to the player and space required. I wanted a 4×4 table to be fine for a normal sized game. Also, buildings (capturing, garrisoning etc.) are central to the way the game plays. These would have been too large to be practical for most gamers (above small houses anyway).
B) I always intended to be as accurate as possible in scale, with as little abstractions as possible. 6mm would have required over-thick gun barrels etc, detracting from the realism. Also, I feel that 6mm infantry usually possess very little character. 10mm I think is the minimum scale to inject some real personality into infantry models (at least of the kind ordinary mortals can see!)
C) Heroic (ish) 28mm scale has proven so popular over the years, because I believe that’s about the ideal size for a miniature (at least for a ‘standard’ sized unit). In 10mm scale, my tanks are around 30-35mm in their largest dimension, closely matching the size of model people seem most happy with. Since you will be fielding mostly units around this size, it makes it familiar and friendly in terms of handling.
D) As Dropzone Commander will be a complete game, with a full range, rules and design ethos, I hope people will buy into this wonderful scale, previously largely overlooked by the mainstream. In terms of scenery availability, we intend to provide a full range. This includes the highly detailed resin modular stuff shown at Salute, but we also have plans for a modern style ‘flatpack’ city, which will be inexpensive. This will allow players to play with a highly portable city, reducing the investment needed to play in urban environments to a small amount. Also (although no one seems to have picked up on this yet), at 1:188 scale 10mm is very close to model railway N scale (1:200), where plenty of affordable scenery is readily available. Of course, 6-15mm natural scenery can easily be used for 10mm games. Sorry for the long justification – it’s just nice to get this out there to end the speculation!
This stuff looks like the dogs danglies... definitely something I will be picking up, even as a non-gamer (I just paint)!
ReplyDeleteThansk for posting Dave's comments re: 10mm scale, I will have to share that on my blog :)