Scenario Objectives
While securing a planet's orbital lanes is key to gaining victory, controlling the ground is equally important. Vast swathes of the landscape are worthless, at least in the initial stages of the invasion, however, manufacturing, population and military sectors all provide an invading force resources they can use straight away from new recruits to logistical and military supplies. Capturing these areas is no less important than having orbital dominance and in games of Dropfleet Commander, controlling clusters and sectors is frequently the key to victory.
Clusters
Clusters are large urbanised areas on a planet's surface. Typically, they consist of a range of regions from commercial and manufacturing through to civilian districts and military enclaves. Control of these vast areas of manufacturing, military and civilian infrastructure are vital to controlling the planet. Clusters are made up of a number of Sectors and controlling these key locations is critical to controlling the Cluster.
Some Scenarios will require you to Hold or Contest a Cluster in order to score Victory Points (VPs) in the game.
- To hold a Cluster, you must hold more value in terms of Sectors in that Cluster than your opponent, or more Sectors overall if they are not given a set value in that scenario.
- To contest a Cluster, you must hold 1 or more Sectors in that Cluster.
Players score VPs for holding and/or contesting Clusters at the end of the Roundup Phase on turns 4 and 6 unless the scenario defines otherwise.
Clusters come in three sizes, each containing a different number of Sectors, and scoring different VPs, although some scenarios may specify different amounts.
| Cluster | Sectors | Hold | Contest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 2 | 2VP | 0VP |
| Medium | 3 | 3VP | 1VP |
| Large | 4 | 4VP | 2VP |
Sectors
Sectors are the key locations in Clusters that you must secure with ground forces in order to capture and defend their strategic advantage. There are several types of sectors in the game and you will be required to hold various combinations of these depending on the mission.
In order to hold a Sector, you must have more Infantry and/or Armoured tokens in that sector than your opponent at the end of the scoring turn, as described in the scenario. If you are required to contest a Sector, you must have 1 or more Infantry or Armoured tokens in that sector at the end of the of the scoring turn, as described in the scenario.
Each Sector has a value and the player that controls the highest total value of Sectors controls that Cluster.
| Sector | Hull | Armour | Value | Special | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Commercial | 8 | 4+ | 1 | - |
| Industrial | 4 | 4+ | 2 | - |
| Military | 4 | 3+ | 1 | Defence Weapons |
| Orbital Defence | 6 | 3+ | 1 | Orbital Gun |
| Power Plant | 6 | 4+ | 4 | Volatile |
| Comms Station | 4 | 5+ | 1 | Scanner Uplink |
 | Cluster | Moon (LSO) | |||
| Clusters for Clash and Battle sized games | ||||
| Space Station | ||||
| Space Station for Clash and Battle sizes games | ||||
Sector Special Rules
Some Sectors have special rules which bring additional benefits or risks to the holder.
Defence Weapons
This militarised sector has weapons powerful enough to damage ships in orbit. At the beginning of the Ground Combat step, the holder of this Sector may fire the following weapon against a ship in range with the following profile. Range is measured from the centre of the Cluster and all Clusters count as having a Scan of 6".
| Type | Lock | Attack | Damage | Arc | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence Weapons | 3+ | 2 | 1 | F/S/R | Escape Velocity |
Orbital Gun
This represents surface based weapons designed to do terrible damage to orbiting ships. At the beginning of the Ground Combat step, the holder of this Sector may fire the following weapon against a ship in range with the following profile. Range is measured from the centre of the Cluster and all Clusters count as having a Scan of 6".
| Type | Lock | Attack | Damage | Arc | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orbital Gun | 2+ | 1 | 2 | F/S/R | Escape Velocity |
Volatile
Destruction of this power plant will result in a catastrophic meltdown! If this Sector is destroyed, all other Sectors in the Cluster take 4 damage (saves may be taken against this damage as normal).
Scanner Uplink
This is the nexus for a network of orbiting and ground based scanners. All ships and other assets controlled by the holder gain +3" to their Scan Value. This effect is cumulative if you control multiple Sectors with this rule.
Other Scoring Methods
Most Scenarios have multiple ways of scoring victory points beyond holding Clusters.
Critical Locations
Critical locations are key parts of the battlefield that you must control or contest with your ships in order to give your ground forces a fighting chance. However, some ships are better at controlling space than others. In order to hold a Critical Location, you must have more Tonnage Value within 6 inches of it and in low orbit than your opponent at the end of a specific game turn, as outlined in the scenario.
The player holding a Critical Location scores 2VP at the end of the Roundup Phase on turns 4 and 6 unless the scenario defines otherwise.
Surveying a Cluster
To survey a cluster, a ship must be in low orbit, within 6" of the centre point of the cluster and be on standard orders that turn. This happens at the end of a ship's movement. Only one ship per battlegroup of Tonnage 5 or more may survey a cluster per turn. You may not survey a cluster in turn 1.
When surveying a cluster roll 1 D6, on a roll of 4 or less you gain 1 VP, on a roll of a 5 or more you score 1 VP and the cluster becomes a critical location.
You may only survey a cluster once per game but both sides may survey the same cluster over the course of a game. Once a critical location has been rolled for a cluster then an opponent that surveys the same cluster will automatically receive 1 VP - it does not become a second critical location!
Destroying a Cluster
Some Scenarios will require the demolition of Clusters! A Cluster counts as destroyed if all Sectors in a Cluster have been destroyed.
Space Stations in Scenarios
Space Stations are sometimes included in Scenarios and are worth VP in various ways. If a mission requires a Space Station to be held, the holding player is the one with the most Ground Assets aboard.
VPs may be awarded for destroying or surveying Space Stations - use the same rules as for Clusters above. Space Stations may also count as Critical Locations (although only if the Space Station has not been destroyed).
Kill Points
Some Scenarios will explicitly reward you for destroying enemy ships. Kill Points equal the total points cost of all destroyed ships plus killed Admirals. A scenario may define how may Victory Points you will receive for a given number of Kill Points scored - worked out on the last turn.
In addition, Kill Points are always used in the event of a tie to determine a winner - if the total number of VPs players score is equal, the player with the higher number of Kill Points wins the game.