A new FAQ has arrived!
Hello Dropzone fans! Today we’re happy to announce that a new Dropzone Commander FAQ is available to download right now!
Thanks to a sterling community effort led by William Martin, we had loads of questions to go through.
An FAQ in 3 Parts
The document is split into 3 sections:
- Errata
- Experimental Rules
- Frequently Asked Questions.
Errata
Errata contains any changes we’ve made to the core rules. You’ll find the page number, paragraph, and instructions on how to change your reading of the rule. Some will be slight tweaks to wording, others will have certain passage deleted or edited.
Experimental Rules
Experimental Rules is exactly that! We take the opportunity to change things based on player feedback and how we’ve experienced the game over a longer period. In this version, we have one experimental rule: infantry take both actions to search for a hidden objective.
In testing the second edition rules, one of the biggest changes we wanted to make was to infantry. The original idea of the game had infantry as one of the main focuses, using objective collection as a way to make them the most important players in a large scale game. In that way Dave wanted to tell a series of personal stories, victories and defeats as part of a much bigger battle. In addition, players often found that their games would last too long, so we wanted to shift the action a little sooner in the rounds.
Through player feedback though, we’ve learned that you want to take your time a bit more! Making infantry take a little longer to search for their objectives means that your opponent will have a better chance to get in there and contest them.
Now, bear in mind that these are definitely experimental rules, and full weight of the changes hasn’t been felt yet! We’re putting them out for the community to try out and see how you like them! You don’t have to use experimental rules, but they’re a good way to shake up your games a bit. Once you’ve got some games down, make sure to send us some feedback!
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions… well they’re the questions that get asked frequently! Pretty self-explanatory. We’ve gone through the community document, and tried to answer your questions to the best of our ability. Now, some of the questions in the document won’t appear here. Where possible, if there are confusions due to wording of the rules, we’ve addressed those in the Errata.
One thing those involved in the community document might notice though is that the sections on unit specific rules is a lot shorter than you may expect!
Well, there is a good reason for that: all of our unit rules are digital only! We make balance passes a couple of times a year, and additional focuses when new units are released. One of the best things about a digital format for unit stats is that we’re able to constantly update and tweak them to get the most balanced game we can.
There were some great observations, suggestions, and – let’s face it – a bit of wishlisting in there too! We’ve taken all of those on board, and will be incorporating them into the next balance pass after some playtesting.
However, where a simple stat update won’t cut it, we’ve answered the more unusual questions in the FAQ. So don’t think we’re ignoring all the unit questions, they’re just going to be in the right place!
The Rulebook
All the page references in the FAQ document are specific to the small format 2.1 version of the Dropzone Commander rules. But what about those using the free digital version? The page numbers will be all different!
Well, don’t sweat it. We’ve also used this opportunity to update the digital version of the rulebook! So 2.1.1 is now available. All of the errata bits are already changed over in the digital version, so if you’re playing your games with the digital book, all you really need to do is give the FAQ a once over, update your PDF, and get on with it. Easy peasy!
Note that if you’re using the Battle For Earth version of the rules, the FAQ for that book is still available, although if you’d like the most up to date rules, we’d recommend downloading the digital 2.1.1 version. And why not? It’s completely free!
Where You Can Find It
Well, if you haven’t clicked on any of the links yet (thanks for reading to the end!), you can find the FAQ on both the Dropzone Commander website, or on the TTCombat webstore.
We’ve also made a couple of little updates to the Dropzone Commander Army Builder. A few visual tweaks to help stats display better, and a little general cleaning up. Make sure to check it out and see if you can find them!
A final thank you to William and everyone else that helped with the community document. As always, if you have feedback on the rules, let us know! Have a chat on the Facebook groups or Discord channels! All the designers lurk around those parts, although if you want to make sure it gets seen, send us an email! We value feedback most highly from games played, although still do pay (some!) attention to theorycrafting.
We’ve held off on making a new FAQ document this year, since the pandemic has meant fewer games are being played. If you do get some games in, make sure to do so safely, according to your country’s guidelines. Stay safe while playing, everyone!