TTCommunity welcomes its first guest writer of 2024…
Welcome to our first TTCommunity article written by a guest author. Before we jump into today’s post, let me provide a little backstory about your new teacher, Michel. Hailing from the land of Stroopwafel’s and bicycles (Netherlands) he has been playing Dropfleet Commander for years! Commander of numerous fleets, Michel has been kind enough to run us through assembling a basic UCM fleet for Dropfleet Commander second edition.
The following is written by Michel,
Cadets welcome!
So you want to help defend Humanity? Well, considering you might be new to Dropfleet Commander, let’s start you off with a basic fleet.
You’ll want plenty of flexibility and plenty of ships to drop battalions. As we’re taking ground here. (Cities or Space Stations are both called
Dropsites now)
Always start by getting your cruisers in order. Then see what Light ships can support it the best. (With the new force organization, you start with determining the points you spend on Medium and Heavy class ships first, then you get to spend up to that amount on Light ships)
The 2 Seattle class cruisers and Johannesburg battlecruiser will give you Railguns with great arcs and a big Kinetic punch against most fleets! (K type weapons are now a thing. Against which the target gets to use it K save) The San Francisco will allow you to overwhelm dropsites with a ton of battalions.(You can launch up to 4 bulklanders) Clear the way and send it in! The Santiago corvettes can help you out there if the enemy has Light ships in atmosphere.(Just like in V1) Or use some Atmo bombers to do the same. But these require command authorization from you personally. They are highly prized assets. (This is 1 of the Admiral Abilities the UCM get)
Santiago Corvette
You’ll be staying in the rear on the Geneva command cruiser. With its sensor sweep you get to mark priority targets and with its well-trained support crew your command skills will be boosted!(That’s what the Command- X rule does, UCM has this the most from all factions. So you get to be very flexible in where you place all your admirals, if you want) Listen to those experienced crew members, be they officers or not!
(YES that’s a new ship you get to make with the UCM Core box)
With just the cruisers, you’ll be low on battalions. So that’s where those Light ships come in. I pulled some strings and got you 2 groups of stealthy Lysanders. They are sneaky but vulnerable with only some close protection weapons. Be careful with them. The New Orleans can take more of a punishment in contested area’s. But you have to keep these ships under guard. They can sting, but its your cruisers that can bite! Finally the extra light carriers let you form up larger wings more easily.
See you in the simulator Cadets!