Transports

Transports are ubiquitous in Dropzone Commander, and have several rules tied to them to represent their carrying capacity.

Transport Values

All Transports and units which can be transported have a Transport value in their stat sheet. There are two types of value: Requirement and Capacity. Capacity denotes what kind of unit can be transported by the Transport. Requirement denotes what a unit needs in order to be transported.

Requirement is shown by a solid symbol, and Capacity value is shown by an outlined symbol. Any unit that has the outlined Capacity symbol is counted as a Transport, and follows all the rules in this section.

There are several different types of symbols, representing differing carrying ability. The symbols are accompanied by a number, indicating the amount of space either required or available.

In order for a unit to be transported, its Requirement symbol must match a Transport's Capacity symbol and the Transport cannot carry more than the number listed in total. Some units will have different Capacity symbols. Some share the same number, and others have different Capacity for different types of passengers.

Some units will have both Capacity and Requirement symbols, showing that they are Transports that can in turn be carried by another, larger Transport.

ARMOUR REQUIREMENT 3 ARMOUR VALUE 6

Requirement and Capacity

The requirement symbol on the left shows that the unit takes up 3 spaces in a transport. The capacity symbol on the right shows that the unit can transport up to six spaces of that symbol, so could transport up to 2 of the unit on the left.

Auxiliary Transports

Transports most often are part of the Auxiliary category, which are unlimited in the number you can choose to field in an army. Rules for Auxiliary squads can be found in the Army Roster section.

Auxiliary Transports must begin the game with at least half Capacity filled.

A Transport may have multiple squads embarked in it at once, but may only have units from a single Battlegroup embarked at once.

An Auxiliary Transport with units embarked must activate with those units's Battlegroup. Any empty Auxiliary Transports can be activated with any Battlegroup, following the normal rules. However, any Auxiliary Transports cannot interact with units from a different Battlegroup to the one with which they are activated.

Any unit that can be embarked in a Transport may choose to be before the game starts, meaning that the Transport deploys with the rest of its embarked units's Battlegroup.

Although Transports usually operate independently, sometimes you may need to use multiple Transports to carry a single squad, so they will have to act together out of necessity.

Embarking & Disembarking

Squads may choose to either embark into or disembark from a transport as part of a movement action.

If a squad is in coherency and at least one unit ends its moving action within 2" of a transport in the same Battlegroup, it may embark into the transport(s), providing their transport values match. Remove the squad from the board - it is now embarked in the Transport(s).

A squad embarked in a Transport is ignored for all game purposes - they cannot shoot or be shot, don't count as moving when their Transport moves etc. Commanders in Transports still may use their Command Value, and Influence radius. Simply measure from the Transport they re embarked in.

A squad embarked in a Transport may choose to disembark when it makes a Moving action. Place them on the board within 2" of the Transport in coherency, and then make their moving action like normal. If any units cannot be placed (due to impassable scenery or other units being in the way for example), the squad cannot disembark.

An Infantry squad can disembark and immediately enter a Garrison if they disembark within 2" of an entrance (see Scenery for more details). This can be done even if it is not their activation (for example if an Aerial Transport disembarks them for free).

Sometimes squads cannot fit all of their units into a single Transport. If - and only if - this is the case, a squad can embark into multiple transports at the same time. A squad cannot split its units between being embarked or disembarked - all must be in or out of Transports at the same time (remember to disembark in coherency). Alternatively, the squad can leave units stranded. Choose which units embark - the rest are destroyed.

The only time that a squad can be embarked and disembarked at the same time is if one of the Transports they re in is destroyed. In this situation, a squad may disembark out of coherency.

At other times, multiple squads may be embarked in the same Transport. Individual squads must embark or disembark together, but multiple squads act independently, able to choose when or if they want to disembark. Remember though that all squads in a Transport must be from the same Battlegroup.

Aerial Transports

A Transport with the Aircraft type is called an Aerial Transport. Units cannot embark into or disembark from an Aerial Transport if it moves further than half of its MV value (rounding up) at any point during the round.

An Aerial Transport that moves no further than half its MV value and lands in the same activation (see Aircraft for details), may immediately disembark any embarked units for free, or immediately embark any units in range (and still in the same Battlegroup) for free. This does not count as an action for those units, nor does it count as moving. However, disembarking or embarking units suffer the normal penalties to shooting. After the units embark or disembark, the Aerial Transport can choose to take off again, continuing its Moving action as normal. It can also land again, but may only make this free embark or disembark once per activation.

Unless otherwise noted, units can only embark into or disembark from an Aerial Transport when it has landed.

EMBARKING & DISEMBARKING EXCAMPLE

In this example, we see a Condor that has moved half its MV of 18". It lands and a Bear disembarks. It is placed within 2". When the Bear activates it then drives 6" forward. On the Legionnaires's activation they disembark from the Bear and are placed within 2". They then decide to make their full move of 2".

Transports & Shooting

Squads may not shoot in the same round as as embarking (either before or after).

Squads may shoot in the same round after disembarking, but suffer a +2 penalty to their Accuracy for the action.

Anti-air weapons (AA) cannot shoot at an Aircraft (including Reaction Fire) in the same round as disembarking from an Aerial Transport or a Transport that disembarked from an Aerial Transport. The landing zone is too hot!

Shooting At Transports

If a Transport unit is destroyed while there are units embarked, the controlling player rolls 1D3. On a 3 there is no effect, but on a 1-2, each unit embarked suffers that many Energy 10 automatic hits. Passive Countermeasures may be used as normal against these hits.

After applying any damage, place the embarked unit on the board within 2" of the destroyed Transport before removing it. If any units cannot be placed (due to impassable scenery or other units being in the way for example), they are also destroyed.