Fauna are for life, not just for the Reconquest.
It’s day 3 of our TTCombat Advent Calendar and it’s time to see what goodies we have today!
A Twix!? Oh well, I guess it does have some crunch to it.
Fauna
What I actually meant to say was that we have brand new Fauna rules for Dropzone Commander. These were built with the new edition of the rules found in Battle for Earth. We even designed a set of scenarios to be used with wild versions of these ferocious creatures. Fauna is a new special rule, unique to these mighty beasts, it details how they deploy and act.
We made some big changes to the way Fauna work, no longer are they shackled to mere scenarios. Now you can bring them to any game you play (or were they already there?). They don’t follow the normal deployment rules for the rest of your army, instead being deployed along the centre line of the board. Sandwiched between the opposing forces Fauna will lash out at anything that wanders too close to them, though they only get to do so at the end of each round.
Maulers
Maulers are a cheap alternative for a tank, these angry beasties can fill out your ground game when you’re lacking points for a full squad of Sabres or Hunters. They have a nasty attack with their Claws & Teeth which will let them chew through light vehicles with ease, or focus their attacks on a more armoured target. Don’t worry about finding slots in your battlegroups for these as all Fauna fit nicely into the Auxiliary battlegroup.
Daggers
What’s that? These Fauna are infantry? Well, they wouldn’t be able to do their job of garrison denial if they weren’t. Thankfully the Lie in Wait rule lets them automatically pass any kind of fortitude roll they need to make, there will be no falling back for these terrors. Lie in Wait also changes up the way they enter the board, allowing them to pop up in any garrison within 6″ of the centre line. Being able to return damage dealt also makes them lethal against elite infantry. Whenever they suffer any amount of damage, they get to make one last ditch attempt at killing their attacker.
Apex
The Apex was our event exclusive last year and those that have one may want to coerce it out of hibernation. At first glance its stats may not immediately jump out at you, but that’s where Genetic Modification comes into play. With the ability to be one of 3 different sub species from across the Cradle Worlds. Each of these has adapted to a different environment and each adaptation upgrades certain aspects of its stat line. Ferrum Apexes are adept at attacking multiple targets. New Eden Apexes are nimble and posses an enhanced metabolism that speeds up healing. Magnum Apexes have some of the toughest hides of any living creature, rivalling that of UCM tanks.
Not only does the Apex posses savage weapons, it has a keen mind as well. Either it knows that you aren’t its biggest threat or maybe you’ve proven to be worth keeping around. The Apex moves towards the closest enemy unit rather than any unit. This still requires some initial positioning to get the most out of and your opponent can shield their more valuable units but it’s a lot more predictable than all other fauna.
That’s not all!
Bullhorn
We couldn’t have an advent calendar day without something new to show off could we?
Bullhorns care not for your buildings, or your tanks, or anything much of anything, really. These creatures are normally passive grazers of a wide variety of plant matter, like the vegetation growing on the abandoned cities of old. These things are huge, so much so that they can shake the very foundations of the buildings they graze upon. When startled, or angry, they are fully capable of storming through old, yet reinforced walls. These things have some staying power thanks to their incredible bulk and limited intelligence. Fortunately though they don’t have much in the way of offensive capabilities, most of the damaged caused by Bullhorns is to foolish infantry in the buildings it smashes through.
Vampires
We’re also rounding out the stats for Fauna with Feral Vampires. Where Scourge Vampires are a great, cheap aerial area denial tool for Scourge players, the Feral Vampires can do this for anyone on a shoestring budget. They may have lower armour than their jellied counterparts and have to rely on their own teeth and claws but they’re no less annoying. Thanks to being so cheap their quantity is their best quality.
Scenarios
To finish off today’s advent article we have 4 new scenarios with a focus on fauna.
We’re only going to show off one of the four scenarios (you’ll have to download and see the rest for yourself). Migration Tactics needs an a whole bunch of Maulers, as they’ll be running rampant through the battle. You’ll get a victory point from dealing with them though so you’ll need to split your attention between them, your opponent, and the 5 hidden objectives.
Daggers and Maulers can be found on our webstore and you can get the new Fauna rules here.
Fauna Scenarios are available here.