We’re calling the TTCombat webstore “The Shipyard” now. You like it? It’s not going to stick.

It’s Friday, which means it’s new release time!

For Dropfleet Commander this week we have new Battlecruisers for every faction (and yes, that includes Resistance – they’re all caught up with everyone else now!).

We’ve already had a look at them earlier this week, and now these brand new ships are available to pre-order in The Shipyard. Nah, I still don’t like it.

UCM Rome Battlecruiser

First up are the UCM with their stalwart Rome Battlecruiser. You can build this big ship as either the Rome or it’s alternate build the Venice.

The Rome Battlecruiser is a big game hunter with very few equals. Armed with 2 colossal Heavy Torpedoes and a whole slew of Aegis defence lasers, the Rome is able to take down even the heaviest enemy ships and still defend its fellow admirals once the torpedo supply is exhausted.

Alternatively if you want something a little more supporting, the Venice class is the perfect place to put your Admiral. Able to draw additional Command Cards and then discard those Command Cards to gain extra benefits for other Battlegroups, the Venice is a command ship unlike any other.

Scourge Shadow Battlecruiser

The Scourge have some outright deadly reinforcements, as their Battlecruiser is able to build either a Shadow or an Umbra.

The Shadow is a Close Action nightmare (for your opponents), armed with deadly Oculus Beams (with Scald), Plasma Tempest (with Scald) and the terrifying Magnetron Lash (with Scald and Mauler), this is one ship your opponents will be worried about closing the distance. And if that’s not enough, it has Launch capabilities as well!

Meanwhile the Umbra packs most of that firepower (and the Launch), but trades its Magnetron Lash for a weird Oculus Booster. This new piece of tech superheats enemy ships, pre-gaming them for a destructive bout of firepower from any friendly Oculus weapons, increasing the Scald range and Armour penetration too!

Note that the Shadow has a brand new hull, and all Akumas and Banshees from now on will have that hull as well (and slightly modified prows as well, so they all fit). The old hull was a bit of a pain, so Dave decided to redesign it to fit both.

PHR Pompeius

PHR have new Battlecruisers too! The Pompeius is a blunt instrument, although can also be built as the far more subtle Agrippa.

The Pompeius provides something that PHR players might not be too accustomed to: forward facing guns! The Heavy Quad Battery is a powerful set of guns, specifically designed for gunning down large ships.

The Agrippa on the other hand has a definite support role. Able to shoot out holographic projector drones, they make fields of EM interference. Dropping down Debris Fields at their own leisure, they can protect their friendly fleet without friendly models suffering any penalties!

Shaltari Hematite Battlecruiser

The Shaltari are all focused on guns this time around, able to build their Battlecruiser as either the destructive Hematite or the all-rounder Goethite.

The Hematite sports 4 burnthrough lasers – a rarity for Shaltari. They all fire as one though, providing some extremely potent anti-ship firepower with surprising amount of dexterity. No need to go Weapons Free when you only want to fire one cluster of weapons!

The Goethite swaps out 2 weapons for a big fat Launch bay, which is a nice choice on a larger Shaltari ship without having to rely on the Platinum for all your Launch. It also has the Twin Hyperwave Cannons which microwave ships from the inside out, using Corruptor to deal damage over a long period.

Resistance Senator

Last but by no means least we have the Resistance Senator which can alternatively be built as a Triumvir.

The Senator has a mixed approach, with a decent supply of Close Action missiles and scanners to provide Detector. Its main payload are the VX Bombs. The Senator has 3 of these virus warheads, which are able to destroy all life in a Cluster. Make no mistake: this ship doesn’t kill many other ships, but a well-timed VX Bomb can be the difference between victory and defeat on the ground.

The Triumvir makes ships, not war. What it lacks in offensive capabilities it more than makes up for in support ability. Able to repair ships by aiding their Damage Control roles and also by literally sticking bits of other ships to them, it can make your Grand Battleships stick around a lot longer than they really have any right to!

The rules for all of these new ships can be downloaded for free in the resources section of the TTCombat webstore, and will be appearing in the Fleet Builder shortly as well (just a few things to sort out there first). There’s even a template in the PHR one for the Agrippa’s EM field!

You’ll also notice that the Resistance Galileo has seen a little update. It was a bit unbalanced on release last month, so we’ve taken the opportunity to change it a little. We’ll be doing a full pass on the Resistance Monitors at a later date, but this little update just includes some changes we had pencilled in before release, but needed a little extra time to work on. As always, any feedback you have is valued, especially when it’s safe to get together and play some actual games again (Mathfleet is fine and all, but there’s nothing like getting your ships on the table and shouting “pew pew pew” at each other).

All of the new Battlecruisers are available to pre-order right now on the TTCombat webstore, so make sure to head over there! There are plenty more pictures of all of them, so those with steady enough hands can start planning how they’re going to magnetise them! 😉