So this Christmas I got a new board game called Dust Tactics by Paolo Parente, whom some may remember as the original creative mind behind AT-43, which was supposed to be the prototype for Dust Tactics before the evil (but now dead and defunct, yay!) Rackham corporation turned it into one big sci-fi mess of poorly translated shite. So he got kicked out and worked with his own Dust Studios on his own kits (mainly for expert models in the realistic scale brackets of 1:35, 1:48 and 1:6) and through comic books, until a certain company came along that wanted to do his game properly. Enter Fantasy Flight Games, the guys who do most big-time board games these days, not to mention a trilogy of RPG's that should be picked up by all: Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader and Deathwatch! At long last, the first in a long line of many future releases to come has finally arrived.
Okay, enough of that. What's important to know is that this game is 1:48 / 28mm scale, which is almost the same as our beloved 40k and fantasy, meaning that you can use the sexy Dust models for other games and projects, wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
What's Dust Tactics all about?
"In an alternate 1940s reality, alien technology fuels gigantic machines of war as the forces of the Axis and Allies clash over rare mineral deposits that could inevitably decide the outcome of the war."
In other words: World War 2 is still going on, only it got batshit insane, but in a good way! Aliens have introduced new technology to all sides and instead of tanks we now have large bipedal robots and weapons without stocks. Sounds ace to me.
Boiling things down there are as always three factions:
- Allies (greens): U.S.A., the British Empire and the French Colonies (the forces of freedom, hamburgers and justice)
- Axis (greys): Germany, Japan and Italy (the big titties moustache twirling “mwahaha, die Amerikaner” type)
- S.S.U. a.k.a. Sino-Soviet Union (reds, obv.): Russia and Red China (Commies with oversized suits of power armour and large robots on skis)
So far only America and Germany are truly in the game, some of the other factions only appear in the comic books or as super-expensive resin kits from the Dust-Models site.
What’s in the box?!
The first set, the starter box, is priced at a nice $100,- which might sound pricey, but gives you good value for the contents provided, especially seeing as how future robot boxed sets will go for $25,- per model. So a little math will show that you pay for four bots, but get a crapton of infantry models (32 to be precise!) thrown in for free along with other goodies! Contents of the box are:
* One platoon of allies, comprised of 2 robots, 15 soldiers, and Captain Joseph "Bazooka Joe" Brown.
* One platoon of the axis, comprised of 2 robots, 15 soldiers, and Colonel Sigred "Mein titties are nice" Von Thaler
* 4 Ammo Crates and Two Tank Traps
* 9 two-sided Cardboard Terrain Tiles
* 12 Unit Cards (6 allied and 6 axis)
* 12 custom dice
* 18 two-sided Terrain Squares
* Rulebook
* Quick-start rules
* "Blue Thunder" campaign scenario booklet
Models
The models are primed in either olive green (Allies, good!) or grey (German, evil!) to distinguish them from one another at a glance. Quality wise nothing to complain about, they are of better cast than the AT-43 pre-paints though they do suffer from having the same pose over and over again with just the odd arm and head swap keeping them apart. Especially squad leader figures all look alike with the odd head and arm swap to keep things diverse. The squads are kept apart by looking at the helmets of the troops. Design wise the models look good, with more or less realistic looking weapons that yes, could be the result of a prolonged second world war. Truly the main model attraction has got to be the four robots that are included with the set. Two Allied and two Axis. The two Allied Medium Combat Walkers (MCW) are the Pounder and Hot Dog, each a lovable green pile of piston legs with a Stuart chassis for a hull and a wee Sherman turret on top. I like them a lot. My only real complaints are that their searchlights are fiddly, fragile and require a drop of glue to stay put. Same goes for their .50 MG's that go onto the top of the turret, could go with a drop of glue to stay put. In the evil corner we have the Ludwig and Luther, which look a lot more solid and slablike than their American counter-parts and more like actual machines designed from the ground up instead of thrown together. All four models come with baked on decals, which nicely make the models look less bland. The Germans with their Piranha and Squid graffiti, the Americans with their serial numbers and famous White Stars. Nice details, if a bit sad that you'll go over them when you inevitably want to repaint them, though decals can be purchased from the Dust site.
All in all, good stuff, here’s a quick rundown of what’s included and what they do:
Allied forces
* Pounder: A MCW with a 17 Pounder gun topped off with a .30 and a .50 MG to keep soldiers away. This is your basic anti-tank / support unit really, works best from a distance or to finish off targets that have already taken a clipping.
* Hot Dog: The other MCW with a Napalm Thrower (an oversized flamethrower that eats Axis robots like no tomorrow), again topped off with a .30 and a .50 MG to keep soldiers away. At first I thought it was an infantry killer, until I saw the effects it did on Axis walkers. With a lucky roll it can one-shot all but the heaviest of enemy walkers with one gout of napalm, making it a great bot-buster. The only problem is the limited range of point-blank-in-your-face.
* Recon Boys: A five-man squad of recon Rangers, four armed with M1 assault rifles, the last man has a Victory MG, something of an upgraded BAR. The squad also has two underslung grenade launchers. These guys are your basic cannon fodder / decoy unit and can be recognized by their bland M1 helmets.
* Gunners Squad: A five-man squad of Combat Rangers, again four armed with M1 assault rifles, the last man carrying a truly massive Bazooka. The four riflemen are also all armed with an underslung grenade launcher. Your standard line infantry squad really, who need to get up close to work properly, but can take out bots on their own if push comes to shove. They can be identified in the field by the goggles they all seem to wear over their helmets.
* BBQ Squad: A five-man squad of Assault Rangers, armed with shotguns and a flamethrower. Each man also carries a demolition charge, making them extra lethal in close combat against bots. The name says it all really, they need to get up close at point blank range to use their weapons properly, but they hurl out enough shot (four shotguns generate a whopping 12 dice!) to quickly blow away any enemy squad, something other squads struggle to accomplish. These life takers can be identified by the cloth camo covers over their helmets and a lack of backpacks unlike the other squads.
* Captain Joseph "Bazooka Joe" Brown: The Allied hero, a tough as nails, no-nonsense field commander, armed with a .45 Colt pistol and a grenade launcher. Your basic hero unit really, with a dash of good looks, a pile of hitpoints and a special rule that helps you gain the initiative each turn. (You roll for initiative every turn, Joe let's you roll an extra die)
Axis forces
* Panzer Kampflaüfer II-A “Luther”: The basic run of the mill kraut combat walker. Comes with a 5 cm FLAK cannon and a “kampfzange”, which can be translated into “combat pliers”, which is basically a big robotic claw, making the Luther a walker that can take on enemy bots and infantry both at range and up close. Also has squid graffiti on the front for some reason.
* Panzer Kampflaüfer II-B “Ludwig”: Where Luther is the all-rounder Ludwig is the a*****e. Armed with two 88mm cannons the Ludwig is the answer to enemy bots. It can also be used to fire on infantry, but that would be overkill. Then again, Germans love overkill as much as they do enjoy bad jokes. The assholes.
*Aufklärer Sturmgrenadieren: Recon Germans with gasmasks. They pack assault rifles, three disposable panzerfaust launchers (meaning they can be used only once per game) and a MG48. Like their allied counterparts, the Recon Boys, they are something of a cannonfodder unit, for baiting and trapping, but against infantry they can most certainly hold their own, even scratch an enemy walker should they be required to.
* Kampf Sturmgrenadieren: Germans without gasmasks for a change. These are your basic line infantry baddies, complete with assault rifles, two disposable panzerfaust launchers and a massive Panzerschreck for good measure. Pretty much the same as their allied counterparts really, only without the grenade launchers.
*Laser Sturmgrenadieren: Gasmask toting Nazis with laser guns! One of them carries a laser cannon. All laser weapons benefit from a special rule that allows them to re-roll any hits made, which allows them to dish out extra damage.
* Colonel Sigrid von Thaler: The evil blonde chick with enough Aryan blood to maintain the whole of Germany. Falls into the classic Nazi trope really, she’s the one who shouts “Mwahaha, die Amerikaner pigs” and stuff like that. Unlike Joe (who happens to have killed her daddy and is a bit miffed about this), who is more of a support character, Siggy is a combat character who buffs a squad with re-rolls when firing. Also, she has a souped-up laser pistol, which also benefits from the “laser” special rule as mentioned above.
Accessories
The box also comes with a few accessories: two American ammo crates, two German ammo crates and two tank traps. Compared to the infantry and walker models these are bit of a letdown, but then again, these are just silly little scenery pieces used to represent hard or soft cover, so no really big loss there.
Rules
I am horrible at trying to explain how rules work so instead the rules can be found here, free of charge and registration, courtesy of FFG. All I can personally say is that the rules work like a charm and with hardly any hassle involved. It’s all about giving it a good read-through once and then finding a mate to sit down with and give it a go.
In a nutshell this game is played on the tiles supplied with the game, which has grids that are used for all measurement and movement. It might sound restraining at first, but it actually helps speed things up and keeps the game going. So far the scenario maps are of a medium size which makes for fast and intimate games, especially because of the limited range most infantry weapons have, in particular the anti-tank weapons.
Tests are done on special dice that come with the game. Four of the six facings are black, while two of the facings have a bullseye on them. These dice are used for the few tests there are, be it shooting or rolling a cover save for example.
Another big change from 40k is that unlike their U-go, I-go, both players roll for initiative every other turn, all throughout the game. He who wins initiative may activate one of his units and do whatever he wants with it. After that, the opponent does the same. This goes on until both players have alternated through their units. It's a bit of a departure from 40k, but it makes things a bit fairer and gives both players more control.
While the rules might make the game look like an overly simplified affair, it works. The games are fast, the rules are well written and leave thankfully, no room for debate for the most part. Plus you hardly need anything extra, all you really need are the tiles, models, special dice and the units. No measuring tapes, no buckets for millions of dice, no aspiring for those pesky moments, nope.
Now tuck in and play!
The Future?
Unlike AT-43 and GW the future of Dust Tactics is looking bright, with five expansions already announced and the basic contents of the starter boxed set being released as separate boxed sets over the coming months, with extra models and bot options to make new model and squad types. There will also be a new infantry boxed set out for release soon, the command squad, which has not been included in the boxed set sadly. The rules have however already been included in the rulebook, so proxying isn't a problem until the actual boxed set is released.
The first big expansions to look out for are the Walker boxed sets, which contain one walker model with all weapon options to make all variants currently available along with a new artillery variant (two in case of the Allies!). The Axis are getting support in form of the “Lothar”, a walker armed with Nebelwerfer rocket launcher arrays on both arms. On the Allied side we have the “Mickey”, a walker armed with a snub-nosed 75mm howitzer and the “Steel Rain”, armed with both the fearsome Petard mortar and 4,2” rocket racks!
To go with these new artillery walkers is the expansion “Operation Cyclone”, which introduces the rules for artillery weapons, amphibious landings (the set also comes with tiles representing landing craft) and two new heroes: Master Sergeant Rosie Donovan, who invented the Allied MCW and is ace at repairing damaged walkers. Meanwhile, the Germans get help from Manfred Kreuzer, who is even tougher than other heroes and has an unlimited supply of panzerfaust rockets. The set also includes a scenario booklet that introduces and uses the new units and tiles, four ammo crated and four extra tank traps.
In short, here are the other planned expansions with the company description:
- Operation Seelöwe: “With this expansion, the battles in the world of Dust start picking up pace! New fast and lethal robots make their appearance. New Axis and Allies technologies create a new generation of soldiers… And new heroes join the world of Dust!” Translation: Type 3 infantry will make its introduction alongside lighter bot version on both sides.
- Operation Paperclip: “This expansion will take you to a terrifying castle at the heart of Germany. The strange creatures dwelling there are not the hospitable kind. This box will contain a complete Axis army and an Allies commando force, as well as new terrain tiles.” Translation: Prepare for nazi zombies!
- Operation Downfall: “This expansion brings forth the mysterious Vrills, with a complete ready to play army! You will be getting robots, troops, and some of the most famous heroes of this alien people. It will come with a new campaign and new tiles to create exclusive battlefields!”
- Operation Harpoon: “The battles of Dust Tactics are not only fought on the ground, but also in the air! This expansion will allow you to play the aircraft provided in the box. These powerful vehicles can ravage the battlefield in one pass… But keep away from those anti-aircraft weapons!”
Verdict
Personally I am liking it so far. It is a fun diversion from a rule (and sometimes, argument) heavy 40k, has clear cut and easy to use rules (unlike the mess that was AT-43) and looks like it will have quite a few years of support ahead of itself thanks to FFG.
Only real downsides are that FFG is notorious for overshooting their set release dates and that the models suffer from the mono-pose syndrome, especially leader models.
If you've got any questions, don't be shy to post them here.
