Monthly Archives: August 2012

3++: 300 AP Battle Report

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HERO at 3++ has posted a recap of a recent 300 AP game in which his Axis took on an Allied force. The interesting thing about this particular batrep is that it’s made up of bullet points, which makes it quick and easy to read.

Reactions are huge in this game. I think Chris used his reactions quite well in some circumstances where he was able to evade damage and deal damage decisively. Once, he Jumped in with his AT Ranger squad and put some serious damage on the rear of one of my Ludwigs. On my unit phase, I declared Sustained Fire from one of my Battle Grenadier squads onto his ATR squad and he just jumped away! I wasted my turn with them basically and because they were just standing there, they were susceptible to damage from other, shorter ranged units that were closing in on the flank.

Both army lists are contained within the article and it’s a good read, so go and check it out!

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Dark Future Games: Zombies Showcase

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CVinton at Dark Future Games has posted a showcase of some suitably creepy Axis Zombies he painted up. Everyone likes a nicely-painted zombie, right?

Axis Zombies, by CVinton

The blood dripping down the front sets off these Untertoten quite nicely, and the bases look great! Check out the post for more images and a few words on the thinking behind the paintjob.

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Dust War: Fireball Theorycrafting

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At Dust War, Oldhat has posted a new theorycrafting article in which he discusses the art of the Fireball drop, a powerful tactic that can make the Allied heavy walker even more ridiculous.

For anyone unfamiliar with how disgusting Air Drop is – it can be a direct means to drop firepower into your opponents face or as a means to act as a denial tactic, because you are never forced to bring them in until you choose to take that March Move to drop! With only the single Gunner Squad and two Crack Shots on the board, you can keep back the Air Drop Fireballs until the final turn you need them to take a key position. No, that isn’t nice and don’t expect a lot of friendships to blossom from playing this list – but it never hurts to examine the potential of it.

The article also contains a double-Fireball Allies army list, and is recommended if you’d like to make the most out of your heavy walker.

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BoLS: Mack Martin On Testing A Wargame

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Over the past few weeks, Mack Martin has been writing a series over at BoLS, called Designer Notes, about testing and writing a wargame. In the articles, he talks about things like rules writing, balance, and game logistics.

So the goal isn’t to make a game where the two sides look the same. Balance can be achieved in an asymmetrical system. However, it can be a nightmare to test. Look at Starcraft 2. How many test games do you imagine got played during the Beta? Millions? If you guessed nearly a billion, you were right. Think about the amount of testing that went into that game, to get it almost perfectly tuned. Seriously, look at their forums. A billion playtest games and players still don’t think it’s balanced tightly enough.

The articles are a great read for anyone with an interest in game design and how games are made. Check out part one, part two and part three at BoLS, and if you want more writing on game design, then check out Mack’s blog, too.

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Dust War: Chinese Volunteers Review

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Dust War has posted a review of the SSU Chinese Volunteers unit. This unit is packaged with the MIL MI-45 SSU Airborne Transport box. The review isn’t really a glowing one, though.

The SSU is not filled with amazing units on all counts, though. My opinion on the Chinese Volunteers seems to be a minority on our forums, but I am less than impressed with the observers from the Far East.

What do you think? Are the volunteers really that average? Do you play them in a way that makes them better? Head over to Dust War and post a comment!

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The Fightin’ One-O-Nine: Allies Showcase

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Over at The Fightin’ One-O-Nine, cadian109 has posted a showcase of some Allies he painted as a commission for a friend. In this one, the BBQ Squad and The Gunners spend a little time in front of the camera. Check out this BBQ Squad sergeant.

BBQ Squad sergeant, by cadian109

I like the cartoony look on the faces, and the muddy effect on the lower part of each mini. Check out the post for more photos.

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BoW: Interview With Anton Torres

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Gen Con 2012 finished a week ago, but the media is still trickling along on the wires. Beasts of War has posted a video interview with Anton Torres in which they discuss how Dust Warfare and Tactics did at Gen Con.

The more Dust videos on the Tube of You, the better! Thanks to @ATT64 on Twitter for the pointer.

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3++: Thoughts on Dust Warfare

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At 3++ Is The New Black, HERO has posted a couple of articles with some thoughts on Dust Warfare. What’s interesting is that the first article is about his opinion of the game solely from reading the rulebook, while in the second article he shares some observations after having played a couple of games.

It’s interesting to see the progression of his thoughts before and after playing the game.

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FFG Announces Four (Actually Seven) New Units

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Fantasy Flight Games has announced some new units that will be available later this year, two SSU, one Axis and one Allies.

The SSU releases will continue to flesh out the union with the IS-48 Super-Heavy Tank and the Red Guards Assault Squad. The tank might get the spotlight, but the Red Guards, nicknamed “Red Storm”, look like they’ll be a force to reckon with.

Meanwhile, the Axis will get the Heavy Antitank Grenadiers, the first tri-soldier units on one 80mm base. Two versions will be included in the box, the Jagdgrenadiere and the Laser-Jagdgrenadiere. Walkers beware!

Finally, the Allies will roll in with the British Commandos Kill Squad, which can also be configured as the French Foreign Legion Kill Squad, marking the first French troops in the game. These units continue the Allied trend of fast-moving, mobile assault troops.

All of these goodies will be available in the fourth quarter of 2012, and will probably be included in Operation Hades.

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North American Finals AAR

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Over at the Dust War forums, Richard Busby, aka Major Malfunction, has posted an After Action Report on the North American Finals at Gen Con 2012. Richard was a finalist in the event, playing Allies and eventually losing to Louis Gentile’s Axis.

Richard also posted the Allies list that he ran, as well as photos of the loot he received for 2nd place (including an alternate sculpt Red Yana model). It’s a short, but good recap of the event.

FFG: Dust Highlights From Gen Con 2012

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FFG has posted a video of Dust highlights from Gen Con 2012. In the video, Anton Torres (yes, he’s everywhere!) talks about the new models that were revealed at the con, and there are also large parts of the video dedicated to the Tactics and Warfare US Nationals events that took place there. These include footage of the action and player interviews, including an interview with Louis Gentile, 2012 US National Champion.

Check it out!

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Battletactics: Interview With Anton Torres

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During Gen Con 2012, Ken at Battletactics.tv managed to score an interview with Anton Torres, Marketing Operations Manager at Fantasy Flight Games. In the video, Anton talks about the reaction to FFG’s games, as well as Dust and other bits and pieces from the con.

The interview audio is a little hard to hear, but listen with headphones and you should be OK. It’s a good interview and worth checking out.

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Marcowargamer: Revised Core Set Review

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Marco Arnaudo, of 2d6.org and also known as “marcowargamer”, hosts a fantastic YouTube channel where he reviews and talks about various games from historicals to sci-fi to modern settings and even some more esoteric stuff. His latest review is of the Dust Tactics Revised Core Set (RCS), and as a long-time fan of his channel I think it’s great that Marco has got around to reviewing the game.

In the review, Marco talks about how the game plays and goes over some of its mechanics, as well as showing off some of the minis. Dust Warfare isn’t mentioned in the video, but overall it’s a great review of the RCS.

Thanks to Felkor for the pointer in the FFG Dust Tactics forums (I do wander over there occasionally!).

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Alternative Dust Warfare Unit Cards

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If you play Dust Warfare, you’ve probably run into Rodney Smith’s unit cards (as used on this very site!), but they’re not the only Warfare cards in town! Felkor, FFG forum regular, has also made a set of cards which were used during the US Nationals event at Gen Con, and are, apparently, also used by FFG playtesters! (Direct download link if you don’t want to scroll down the thread.)

Felkor’s cards have less art and chrome on them, which makes them a good alternative if you don’t have much ink to spare. The set doesn’t include the SSU yet, although if asked nicely enough times, he might make them. SSU players, you know what to do!

Whichever set of cards you choose to use, they make playing far quicker and easier than flicking around the rulebook all the time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these kinds of cards as a standard part of the game in future editions.

Gen Con 2012 Saturday Walkaround

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If you couldn’t be at Gen Con 2012, Shawn from Blue Table Painting might be able to help. He has posted a YouTube video of Day 3, the Saturday, as he walked around the convention floor to experience the sights and sounds of the biggest hobby convention on the planet.

If this has made you want to go, make plans for next year! Also, check out 22:32 into the video for some awesome terrain that would fit perfectly into a game of Dust Warfare.

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Dark Future Games: Gen Con 2012 Dust Rumours

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CVinton of the Dark Future Games blog was at Gen Con 2012, and spoke to some of the FFG guys while he was there. He uncovered some interesting information, including this little nugget.

Second was that they are working on making the heros in the campaign boxes available for warfare players without having to buy the boxes. This is a pretty awesome thing to do because if you’re not playing tactics you’re buying a lot of extra you’re not using. The person I talked with pointed out that they want to do something like the hero box for it. Also working on being the original characters no long available like bazooka joe.

This is something that Warfare players have been asking for since Dust Warfare was first released, and if it comes to pass then a lot of Warfare players will be extremely happy!

Bear in mind that this is still strictly unconfirmed, but we can all hope it’s true.

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Dust League: Local League Reporting Now Open

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Dust League has introduced local league reporting to its results reporting repertoire. The idea is that Dust Warfare leagues everywhere can sign up for a page, and then report results from their league which will go up on the Dust League site for all to see.

Your league page can also be used to promote your local league, possibly attracting new players who weren’t previously aware that a league was running near to them.

All results submitted to a local league will also count towards the worldwide league, so by playing locally you’ll also be playing on a global scale!

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Dust War: Using Axis Light Walkers

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Reichsmarschall Grot has posted an analysis over at Dust War of the three Axis light walkers, looking at each one’s strengths and uses.

We’ve got 3 different load out variations to choose from in the light walker dept. All of them are Vehicle 3 with 3 hull points, so the main concern here is what sort of death and destruction you want your Panzer to reap. We have the Heinrich, Hermann, and the Hans – all of which we’re about to discuss.

If you’re an Axis player, why not take a fresh look at the light walkers? They might surprise you!

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