I’m back to encourage Hawk Wargames‘ Dropzone Commander, and this time around I am going over the Skimmer rule (p.42). For more great articles and rules tips, check out the Tactics Corner.
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| p.42 of the Dropzone Commander Rulebook that is! |
First, here is a video I explain it in. It is 99% audio, so feel free to give a listen while you multitask, or scroll on past and I will hash it out in text.
As you may of guessed, Skimmers skim just above the ground and may move over Impassable and Tough terrain without penalty, as long as the terrain feature is less then ¼” high. However they do need something to propel off from, so Insubstantial Area Features, such as vegetation, that are over ¼” high count as impassable.
Skimmers are quick and agile and become tricky targets to hit while moving. Because of this, weapons shooting at a skimmer that has moved 6″ or more in it’s previous activation suffer a +2 to their Accuracy (Ac) rating, to a maximum of 6+. You do not count the 3″ you receive from embarking/disembarking when calculating if you have moved at least 6″. AA weapons do not suffer the +2 Ac penalty.
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| PHR Angelos |
Skimmers do not actually have to move 6″ to claim this bonus, and may be said to be driving in circles or swerving back and forth. The rules say to declare this, but my local group, as well as others I’m assure, assume a skimmer is claiming this bonus whenever possible. This will change if Hawk ever gives a skimmer a weapon that has a Move and Fire (MF) rate of less than 6″.
The times you cannot move the 6″ required tend to be when you are embarking/disembarking. Units may only move half their Movement value (Mv) when embarking/disembarking, and most all skimmers do not have a Mv of 12″ or more. This makes skimmers most vulnerable the turn after they have disembarked.
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| Shaltari Caiman |
I covered this rule, because I have seen it asked multiple times, in multiple places, if this rule is applied until the end of turn, or until their next activation. The correct answer is until the skimmer activates again.
Thanks again for reading/watching. If you have any suggestions for good Dropzone Commander noodle-scratchers, please leave a comment (wherever on the web you found this, I will find the comment). I’ll be back next time to cover Transports, Embarking, and Disembarking.
Those Slayer skimmers are savage, once they get moving it is so hard to hit them!
Does anyone think the Caiman is worth a heavy slot compared to gaining the extra AA coverage from a Jaguar? I know the Caiman just flat out better at taking out enemy armour and is tougher but doesn’t it restrict the use of your Support slots by forcing you to that more Kukri or Birdeaters than you normally would? I’m not convinced that is a trade off that is right for me but what kind of list would it do well in?
Zeos – i honestly have no idea. I think it’s in the camp with scimitars as a counter meta to all walker/heavy lists. But it’s mainly going to work with a high demo list or a more open map!
I ran a Caiman today. I ran it with a squad of Kukri. I had a Jaguar in my Command BG, also another squad of Kukri in my Standard BG. I really liked the caiman. If you give it the long lanes of fire it craves it can really rack up a tally. The fact it gets a 6″ move, and then the 36″ range means it can put the hurt on. Depending on the target you also have your lasers. This was it’s first outing for it for me, so I need to play more to know if it’s definitely worth it, but today it performed well.
And I just put the pic in the article b/c I liked the way it looked and it was a skimmer.
Another good thing to point out is you dont suffer the Skimmer penalty with you AA weapons
Yes,nthat saved me last night!