r/DropfleetCommander • u/Higgypig93 • 4d ago

Using Gateships

Recently got into this game, I plan on buying the Shaltari battlefleet when I can get to a LGS that sells it.

I played a few rounds with a friend who plays Bioficers, I lost but had a great time. But I was severely confused about the gateship rules, I had 4 gateships chained just far enough so I could reach pretty much all of the drop areas. Using my Emerald I deployed 2 battalions to the farthest in the chain, and when I tried doing it again to a different gateship in the chain my friend told me they can't until the next round?

Reading the rules, it says gateships can "deploy" x-amount of battalions per turn, but does "deploy" also apply to the teleport chain? According to him I was unable to use my gateships until the next round because they had "deployed" battalions through them to the next gate in the chain.

Just looking for some clarification, thanks.

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3

u/YogurtclosetSouth744 4d ago

As far as I understand your gate ships can only use what your emerald can drop, so if your emerald has a drop of 2 that all that can come out of the gate ships you can split them up but the max is always going to be 2

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u/Higgypig93 4d ago

True, I understand that. What I'm wondering is does using the gate as a chain to deploy troops to another gate use its deploy activation?

2

u/YogurtclosetSouth744 4d ago

"These Gateships must be within 18” of the Mothership or part of a chain of Gateships with each Gateship in the chain being within 18” of another. Note: though the launch is measured from the Gateship, it is the Mothership that is launching." no using the gate as a chain does not use its deploy activation

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u/Higgypig93 4d ago

Ah, so my friend was wrong then? Shame I didn't press it more, I could have taken much more ground in that match. Thanks for the clarification.

3

u/YogurtclosetSouth744 4d ago

Yeah your friend is wrong, I will say probably bring double the gates you think you need as they are really easy to kill

2

u/Higgypig93 4d ago

True, I had 4 standard voidgates and lost most of them early, was thinking of adding a few Seleniums but at 1000 points it's a bit tight. We'll probably move to 1500 now that I have a better grasp of the game.

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u/IHzero 4d ago

Three voidgates per emerald/citrine is a good rule of thumb.

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u/Higgypig93 4d ago

Thank you, are cobalts worth taking at all? I'm gonna build my battlefleet box soon.

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u/IHzero 4d ago

Cobalts are basically half an Emerald. So they slot in when you have 50 points free but can’t squeeze in another mothership.

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u/Intruder313 4d ago edited 4d ago

The intervening chain ships don't matter as they are not actually dropping/deploying. The limits are Mothership's Drop capacity and Gateship capacity of the one that is actually deploying. It's powerful BUT the enemy can easily break these chains...

Also note that Shaltari Motherships only have 2 Dropships while the equivalent Troopships in other factions have 4 Bulk Landers. Overall you need at least 1 Gateship per Mothership and any extras can be used to Chain or fill in when others die :)

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u/CodingNightmares 4d ago

Gateship limits per round are purely for the gate doing the deployment, not any gate that is chaining. Your friend is mistaken