South Coast Dropzone Open - Preparation

GETTING READY FOR ANOTHER DROPZONE COMMANDER TOURNAMENT

THE TOURNAMENT
In the wake of Autumn Invasion, the next Dropzone Commander Tournament in my schedule was the South Coast Dropzone Open, the second tournament run by my friend Simon at the local club this year and another chance for the Resistance to prove themselves in a competitive environment. After the succession of losses at the Autumn Invasion, I had looked over my list and made some rather significant changes.

The complete force, bar some paint on the NT-5 Thunderstorm Custom

THE LIST
Warlord's HQ
NT-5 Thunderstorm Custom (Leader)
Two bands of Freeriders

Vehicle Detachment
Three Gun Wagons mounted in an NT-1 Kraken Hovercraft

One band of Freeriders

Vehicle Detachment
Three Gun Wagons mounted in an NT-1 Kraken Hovercraft

One band of Freeriders

Resistance Band
Three bands of Resistance Fighters in three Jackson Half-tracks, carried by an AT-77 Lifthawk 

Resistance Band
One band of Resistance Fighters mounted in a Battle Bus and one band of Occupation Veterans in a Battle Bus upgraded with a Rocket Battery, mounted in an NT-1 Kraken Hovercraft

Four bands of Attack ATVs mounted in an NT-1 Kraken Hovercraft

Fast Strikers
One J19 Hellhog Fighter Jet with Extra Ammunition

This list is obviously inspired, nay entirely ripped off of Joe from Orbital Bombardment. but with some points scrounged together to change the Archangel Pathfinder to a J-19 Hellhog. A contentious choice, but I wanted to field as many painted models as possible, and also... I love fielding the Hellhog. The force is light on ranged firepower, so I felt the Hellhog would help clearing the back of the board. 

Eight bases of Freeriders and a full-strength band of Attack ATVs is pretty disgusting, but some dedicated anti-infantry firepower would cause me a lot of problems. 

Out in force! That's a lot of infantry bases!

THE PREPARATION

Since the last major tournament, my Dropzone Commander gaming has fallen to perhaps one game every couple of weeks, and most of these were intro games for new players. Not the greatest practice, especially for a new list like this! Nonetheless, I hope my previous experience will hold up and I will be able to stand up against the veteran players.

I ran the list (in a form) twice before the tournament, both times against PHR and both times to victory. The list, I presumed, would do well in Objective based games where the number of infantry would tip the balance. and also have the speed to cause concern in Focal Point missions. My main fear was flame weaponry, large amounts of aerial squadrons taking out my Gun Wagons early, and as usual, Shaltari.

Painting wise, I completed four bases of Freeriders, four bases of Attack ATVs and a fourth Kraken Hovercraft especially for this tournament. The Thunderstorm was still Work-in-Progress and would not be finished on time - the shame! Nonetheless, I am hoping it will cause a lot of damage and earn some more time on the painting table before another project gets in the way.

Ready for this tournament, another four bases of Freeriders bring my total up to eight

New Attack ATVs in their brand new NT-1 Kraken Hovercraft - I now have four of these transports painted

I wanted to add some variety to the unit rather than have four bases of the same three models, so added a scattering of Freeriders and a converted UCM Wolverine into the mix. Hopefully it does not cause any confusion, I think the bases are significantly bulkier than the Freeriders and clearly something different

The NT-5 Thunderstorm Custom is a huge model, and unfortunately I could not finish it in time for the tournament. Next time! 

In the future I look to convert something slightly more Mad Max-themed - a giant sound system for the flamethrower-guitarist perhaps?

Thanks for reading,

George