Introducing my other, new blog: Nidavellir Shipyard

I have decided to create a new blog with my friend Filip. It is meant to be a dedicated blog to the game of Dropfleet Commander. So if you are interested in that game or in space in general I think you will like the new blog.

https://nidavellir-shipyard.blogspot.se/

The old blog will continue as previously, but all Dropfleet Commander related material will be posted on the new blog instead.

 I named the blog Nidavellir Shipyard, Nidavellir is one of the names of the world of the Dwarves in old Norse mythology. I thought it would be fitting for a place were space ships are produced....

By having a dedicated blog I can collect links and bloglists, lists of companies, podcasts and other things that is in interest for that game or space in general in one place.
And by having my friend Filip contributing and having someone to discuss ideas with I hope that the blog will grow to a great place.
I have copied all my Dropfleet material from here to get all my Dropfleet content in one place and we have started to produce a lot of new material also.


So please check by and look what we have created or direct any friend there that have an interest in Dropfleet Commander or space combat in general.
Any ideas to further develop the blog is appreciated.

I hope to see some of you there.
Thanks/ Jonas Eng

Dropfleet Commander, work in progress. Late night painting Sanitago class Corvettes

Last night I started painting some UCM, Santiago class Corvettes from Dropfleet Commander.
Here are some work in progress pictures with bad light.
Its good ta have some really small brushes...

133 - No Guts No Glory, fighter nose art.

 131 - Greek "Trireme Eye"

That leaves 132 still undicided. Im thinking on giving it also som kind of ww2 nose art, maybe an Egyptian eye, a pinup girl like those ww2 American bombers?
If you get a nice idea Im open for it or for future ships. Thanks

Gaming mat for Dropfleet Commander

I order a gaming mat for coming games of Dropfleet Commander.

The mat comes from Deep Cut Studio but was order through Alphaspel, a great Swedish reseller that sent the order the same day it was placed which meant I had the miniatures and this gaming mat the next day. https://alphaspel.se/

For these pictures I noted while using our round kitchen table that gaming on a round table could be a interesting way of representing a small planet...

Dropfleet Commander AAR, UCM vs PHR

Here are a short AAR from my second game of Dropfleet Commander and again against my friend Filips PHR.
We got a little more  brushes of paint on the miniatures since last game and we managed to read some more in the rulebook which did speed up the game.
I know we missed some rules but we are slowly getting better and didnt have to flip the rulebook as much as last time.

UCM fleet moves out...

The PHR close in on the humans.

My Berlin class cruiser and its two Toulouse frigate escorts.
A better picture of the nose art at the end of this post.

My New Orleans close in on the middle cluster to deploy troops with the Berlin and the two Toulouse in close behind, the Moscow class heavy cruiser sneaks behind some debris and the Seattle class carrier closes in.

Enemy deploys fighter protection but I elect to send bomber squadrons against a bigger ship.

A closer look at my Seattle class carrier, its still work in progress but the "Battlestar Galactica" symbol can be seen. :)

The Moscow closes in...

 Ships are getting ready to deploy ground troops...

Enemy deployed a armoured formation so I elected to deploy an armoured formation on my own as well as infantry in another sector do capture the military base with its guns so I can shoot at enemy spaceships from the ground...

I played way to aggressive with my Seattle and the PHR used this to take her down. My Moscow had instead moved to far and she moved past the PHR faster then I would have liked with all those big guns...
This would be the theme of this game, the Moscow was constantly badly placed

The Berlin finishes of the already damaged enemy heavy cruiser.

In the fight on the ground my tank formation was triumphant and I actually managed to take out the enemy ship, granted it was badly damaged before but still...
So a total success at the middle sector.

The Berlin goes down burning...

The Moscow class heavy cruiser totally dominates the space above the sector with its massive tonnage, giving me the points for the aerial control.

And here I did something wrong... I deployed troops after moving full speed with a special order. You can only deploy assets if you are able to shoot with guns but the movement special order stops you from shooting that turn.
I would still have the aerial control with the New Orleans resulting in a victory, but just.

A small small victory for the UCM, huzza...




Here are some work in progress pictures of my UCM fleet.

Moscow class heavy cruiser with "tiger mouth" nose art.

Berlin class cruiser "Hot Babe" in the middle.
The Seattle class carrier got the "Battlestar Galactica" logo painted in read on it.

Dropfleet Commader AAR - UCM vs PHR

I finally managed to get a game of Dropfleet Commaner.

For those dont know anything about it, its a space ship game centred around landing troops in cities and on space stations and so on. Its set in the same universe as Dropzone Commander that takes place when the troops have been drooped from the space ships in this game.

As both of us a beginners in this games we decided to use the recommended starter fleets to begin with until we have learned the rules enough. So I think we did more then one mistake both tactically and rule wise.

My grey United Colonies of Mankind would face of Filips yellow Post Human Republic

The battle will take place on a blue ice planet. A really nice gaming mat in "mouse mat" material. It looks even better in real life.

At first chance I speeded my New Orleans troopships at the cities in an attempt to drop troops as quick as possible.

This PHR is a true frigate killer. Besides having a really nice sleek profile and looking good it had special rules against smaller ships and my New Orleans was gunned down before it could deploy my ground troops.

My other New Orleans had some heavier backup.. A Berlin class cruiser and two gun frigates.

I managed to take out one of the PHR frigates and damaged the other.

PHR deploys ground troops under escort from a fleet carrier.

Its payback time for the loss of my New Orleans. My Seattle class fleet carrier have been launching a lot of bombers that all managed to engage the enemy cruiser in a combined attack. And the enemy was no more...

The PHR had made some fancy moves in a try to shoot at my Seattle but now found them selves in a bad situation... I didnt manage to take anyone out but they are damaged.

After some more fancy moves and shooting that wasn't enough.
My Seattle did carry a big gun and it did get to work on the PHR taking out the heavy damaged heavy Cruiser.
 

My Seattle fleet Carrier moves up behind the PHR ship and blast it to pieces with its close combat weaponry.
I didnt have a chance to stop him landing more ground troops on the centre city.
 

My Moscow class heavy cruiser didnt perform in this game. I made more then one mistake in positioning it and the enemy was never where I had hoped the next turn.
As the enemy left its ground troops in one of the cities of the flanks the Moscow was ordered to take superiority over the city giving me some points. I tried to bombard the city and the troops on the ground but didnt manage to make an impact. 

In the end it was a UCM victory, huzza...
I managed to get air superiority over the cities early on and it was just at the end that the PHR had managed to land troops in more cities then me to cash in more points but that was to late by then.



At the end of the day, I had a BLAST. This was tons of fun and I learned a lot. I can now reread the rulebook and better understand now that I have some experience of it.