Ground Combat
Although much of Dropfleet Commander focuses on the fighting in orbit, most objectives and key points being fought over are actually on the planet's surface. Ground to space combat is a tricky business because the combined effects of a planet's gravity well and atmosphere place a thick 'veil' between the two battlefields. Often a fleet's primary purposes will be to escort strike carriers and mother ships capable of sending invasion forces down to strategic objectives on the surface, or else to bombard those same objectives into oblivion.
Clusters & Sectors
While the fleet battles are unfolding in orbit, the often more critical battles are unfolding on the planet's surface with legions of troops engaged in gruelling battles for control over the planet's key strategic points. In game terms these strategic points are called 'Clusters' and they are made up of several 'Sectors'.
Clusters
A Cluster is a predetermined area of the game map and will usually contain between 2 and 5 Sectors of varying significance. A Cluster has a marked centre point and this is used both when placing the cluster on the battlefield during set-up but also when any scenario or rule requires you to be 'in range' of a Cluster.
Sectors
Sectors are the strategically important areas of a Cluster and are usually the areas where Ground Assets are deployed. There are many types of Sectors in the game, with each Sector detailed in the Sectors section of the Scenarios. Clusters can be made up of any combination of these although the scenarios will normally have colour coded Sectors indicating which Sectors to use in which Cluster.
If a scenario or special rule requires you to be in range of a Sector (as opposed to in range of a Cluster), then measure to the nearest edge of the Sector Token. These sectors have damage points and rules which are detailed in the Scenarios section.
Space Stations in Planetary Combat
They are treated as a single Sector for the purposes of resolving combat. Infantry, Armour and Batteries may be deployed to the Space Station in the same way as to a Sector in a Cluster. The player with the most Ground Asset tokens on a Space Station at the end of the Ground Asset Phase is the Controlling Player. In the event of a tie, no player controls the Space Station. See the Space Station section for more details on using them in your games.
Ground Assets
Ground assets are units on a planet's surface that fight over things worth defending, capturing or blowing up depending on your perspective. They can be anything from regiments of soldiers to formations of tanks to emplaced weapon systems. Ground assets normally can't shoot at ships or influence the orbital battle directly, but they are vital for securing strategic objectives on the surface.
Ground Assets are usually deployed to the surface by Dropships or Bulk Landers (see Launch Assets for more details).
Ground assets are broken up into the following 3 categories: Infantry, Armour and Batteries. In game, these are normally represented by tokens. Each of these Ground Assets have their own rules and abilities.
| Ground Asset | Armour | Attack |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry | 5+/3+ | 1 |
| Armour | 3+/5+ | 3 |
| Defence Battery | 3+/3+ | 0 |
- Armour: Again just like ships this shows the chance to avoid taking damage. Where there are 2 armour values, for example 5+/3+, the first is their saving throw from damage caused by combat with enemy units and the second is their save from damage caused by bombardment. (note they all have 1 hull effectively, so a single point of Hull Damage will destroy them).
- Attack: The number of dice the unit rolls when in combat with other Ground Assets.
Defence Batteries
These giant defence bastions provide the defending forces with the ability to destroy incoming enemy Dropships and Bulk Landers but are vulnerable to attack from the ground.
If there are no friendly Infantry or Armoured tokens in their sector at the end of the Round Up Phase and one or more enemy Armour or Infantry tokens is in the same sector, then the Battery is removed from play.
If an enemy tries to land Ground Assets (see Dropships and Bulk Landers) in a Cluster or Space Station that contains at least one Defence Battery roll 1D6 for each Asset attempting to land.
For each roll of 3 or more, one of the landing Ground Assets it is destroyed and no token is placed. If the Asset is deployed by Dropships, then it is only destroyed on the roll of a 5 or more.
Once deployed, Defence Batteries may not move or redeploy between Sectors.
Ground Assets Activation
Ground Assets are activated during the Ground Combat segment of the Roundup Phase.
First of all, each player rolls 1D6 and adds the Admiral Value of their Admiral (if their Admiral is still on the table). Players with the same score repeat this until an order of Initiative is established.
If only one player rolls a 6, they win Initiative, regardless of Admiral Value.
Movement
The player with the lowest Initiative selects a Cluster and moves any number of Ground Asset tokens into any other Sector in that Cluster. However, if enemy Infantry or Armour tokens are already in a Sector containing friendly tokens, you can't move tokens from that Sector.
Once the tokens are moved, the player with the next lowest Initiative may choose a Cluster they have not selected this turn and move Ground Assets. Repeat this until every player has moved any Ground Assets in that Cluster they wish to, before the player with the highest Initiative selects another Cluster and the process repeats until all Clusters have been selected.
Resolve Combats
- The player with the lowest Initiative selects a Cluster and a Sector within that Cluster. All players total up the attack value of friendly tokens in the Sector.
- Each player rolls a number of dice equal to the combined attack value of their tokens. Every result of a 4 or more causes 1 point of damage to an enemy Ground Asset token in the same Sector (note that Critical Hits are not inflicted in Ground Combat). Each player then allocates each point of damage they have caused to an enemy token. One point of damage must be allocated to every enemy token before a second point may be allocated.
- Once all damage has been allocated each player must roll for any saves on their tokens, removing any that fail their saves as casualties.
- Return to step 1 and pick another Sector to resolve. Keep picking Sectors until every Sector containing friendly and enemy ground assets has been resolved.