Editing Dropfleet Commander (section)

== The Game ==
What sets Dropfleet Commander apart from other space combat games is the orbital setting. Simply destroying the opposing ships is not enough; the real goal is typically to secure the planet below by depositing troops onto the surface or stations in orbit. But that doesn't mean that at times you may instead wish to destroy it all with orbital bombardment. These objectives are clusters of infrastructure containing cities, factories, military bases, or other more unique sectors. In the setting (or in a simultaneous or subsequent game with just a bit of house ruling), the troops you send down are engaged in Dropzone Commander battles. Ships can move between high orbit, low orbit, and atmosphere, although most ships will burn up and crash upon entering the atmosphere. Some abilities/weapons can only function on different levels or have their effectiveness altered targeting different levels. 

The game typically takes place on a 4'-by-4' board that can contain orbital debris, space stations, or objects such as moons, large asteroids, or planetary rings. It features a simultaneous activation turn structure, with both players activating a battlegroup of ships at the same time, with the size and type of ships in each battlegroup determining player order. A big group with a large ship will have a much higher rating than a small group of a few light ships, so keeping the values in mind is an important component of list building. Once each battlegroup has activated, the round ends, with scenarios typically going for six rounds with scoring happening on the fourth and six rounds.

One of the prominent mechanics of the gameplay is how weapon ranges function. It uses the logic that in space and at the scale of the combat happening, the range on most weapons is effectively infinite, and the difficulty in hitting your target is more in finding it. To that end, every ship has two statistics: scan and signature. Scan is how many inches your ship can detect out to, and signature is how many inches your ship can be detected at. Combining the two gets you a firing range; a ship with scan of 8" firing on a target with a signature of 6" can do so from within 14". The end result is that a key factor of the game is deciding when to do things like firing all weapons or going silent, as signatures are modified by such actions you or your opponent take, increasing or decreasing the signature of your ship. Additionally, each faction has their own deck of command cards that have a variety of effects that can range from things like increasing the potency of your weapons to altering battlegroup activation order.

[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0965/1274/files/Desktop_Dropfleet_Rulebook.pdf?v=1607956597 The rules are freely available on the Dropfleet Commander site.]

[https://dropfleetcommander.com/builder The fleet builder, containing all the unit stats and points, is here.]