Dust Tactics - Kampfaffen

For those of you who have not seen the Kampfaffen from Dust Tactics you are in for a treat.  These are some of the coolest models I own.  They are full of action and look amazing.  Led by the Dust Axis hero Marcus, available in the Dust Tactics Operation: SeeLowe expansion, these War Gorillas will make any army look cool.  I think what makes these models look especially cool is that they remind me of the movie: Congo, from the 1990s.

Blutkreuz Kampfaffen

From the Dust Fluff

"Genetically altered for an increased mental capacity, Axis Gorillas also possess both Herculean strength and bestial savagery that they are forced to direct against Allied targets in battle. Axis Gorillas have the Blutkreuz Ape ability, which means only a hero with this same ability can join their squad. Luckily for the Axis Gorillas, their fearsome and intelligent leader Markus (available in Operation “SeeLöwe”) can join his simian brothers. Allied units are advised to kill Axis Gorillas on sight or keep a distance as their monstrous attacks are brutal enough to destroy both squads and walkers of any strength in close combat. Don’t be surprised to see a pack of enraged gorillas tearing apart an Allied walker with a sickening ease. With their Fast ability Allied troops can be certain that it won’t be long before the Axis Gorillas are on top of them."

Each pack of Kampfaffen include three Gorillas armed with panzer gloves and can be used in both Dust Tactics or Dust Warfare.  You can find a box set of the Kampfaffen from most shops for around $12, which is a reasonable price.  The nice thing about Dust is all models come pre-assmebled and require little to no cleanup.  There were no mold lines and I had to do no clean up on these models.  The panzer glovers do rotate in place, so I posed them before I painted them.

Even though Dust models come pre-primed, but I went ahead and re-primed my Kampfaffen black.  This helped me speed up the painting process since my I wanted my gorilla to be black.  I gave my Kampfaffen a rubbled base because my gorillas will go with my Stalingrad and Zverograd Germans.

The only gripe I have about the Gorillas is the limited number of poses.  Each box has three poses.  I bought three units so have three of each pose.  The poses are still very dynamic and I cant decide which one is my favorite.  All of them are fierce and intimidating and I would hate to run into one in the world of Dust.

Marcus is the only Dust hero that can be attached to the Kampfaffen.  From what I understand he is the first Kampfaffen and poses superior strength and intelligence.   Although he keeps his intellegence a secret because one day he will overthrow his human masters.  This model is pretty awesome and looks great on the table.  When I painted Marcus I did some grey shading to show his age and experience.

I have owned some Dust models for a while, but have yet to play Tactics or Warfare.  I am really intrigued by the rules and my interest was re-sparked when Battlefront took over Dust.  This Christmas I expanded the size of my Axis Army using some of the sales available through Fantasy Flight Games.  I am not sure how the Kampfaffen perform in Dust so I thought I would share this video from Jeremiah Terry from the Front Toward Enemy blog.  For those of you interested in getting into Dust Tactics I would highly recommend him.  Jeremiah has a good series of review on most of the various Dust units currently available.

I give these Kampfaffen a solid 9 out of 10 War Apes.  They are a solid model for a solid price.  They only lose points for the limited number of poses.

Stay tune to Outpost Zero if your interest in Dust because I plan on reviewing several of the other models I own.  If you play Dust or need War Gorillas for another game join us on the forum.