I have been buying and painting up an Allied and German force for Dust for about a month and figured it was time to get a Tactics game in to test out the rules. I played through the Recon in Force from Victory Bridge to get a swing for things, then jumped right into the second mission, Bridge in Sight. I built two forces using all the troops from the Revised Core Set.
German Force:
Laura
Sturmpionieres
Heavy Laser Grenadiers
Heavy Flak Grenadiers
Hans
Allied Forces
Rhino
Death Dealers
Hell Boys
Hammers
Blackhawk
Both sides move forward, the Germans spread out and the Allies advance together as one
The Germans take cover behind the terrain
The Allies move up, the Hammers close with Laura and the Heavy Flak Grenadier
Hans makes a sustained attack and fails to score a single hit
Laura and the remaining Heavy Flak Grenadier fight back, but only cause three hits which Rhino absorbs.
The Hammers and Rhino destroy Laura and the Flak Grenadier then jump away from the Sturmpionieres who move up and destroy the Blackhawk with Panzerfausts.
The Hell Boys sneak up on the Heavy Laser Grenadiers killing two of them
Rhino leads the Hammers back into combat and they crush the Sturmpionieres, who fall quickly without making a fuse
The Death Dealers fail to take down Hans. Meanwhile the Hell Boy finish off the Heavy Laser Grenadiers.
The Hell Boys move in a burn Hans down. Allies win. (note: I replayed this scenario with my dad using the same forces and the Germans won)
It took me a bit to feel comfortable with the rules, but it wasn't hard to pick up. I had to look up a couple of the special rules a few times, but by the end of the game I had the feel for how things shake out. After re-reading the rules I noticed I did a few things wrong, which likely would have benefited the Germans.
I got done with this scenario in about 30 minutes, mostly because I was looking up rules. Once done I decided to play the next scenario and mix the forces up a little bit. The next from Victory Bridge is called Forward Men and requires the attacker (Germans) to storm across and secure the Victory Bridge.
I love the look of the heavy infantry in Dust so I decided to try fielding all Soldier 3 infantry. I also took the heavy command squads to try out command.
Allies
Rhino
Hammers
Reapers
Corps Officer
Blackhawk
Germans
Laura
Heavy Recon Grenadiers
Heavy Flak Grenadiers
Heavy Commandtrupp
Hans
Here is the deployment. The Germans put their two cover pieces on the bridge to cover their assault, while the Allies used their two cover pieces to cover their positions on the other side of the bridge.
The German assault begins with Laura leading the way attached to the Flak Grenadiers.
Reapers move up, taking shots at Laura causing two hits.
The next turn the Reapers go first, shoot and then jump out of the way from being a target.
Lead by Hans and supported by the Kommandtrup, the Germans press the attack.
The Reapers move in one more time and take a shot at the Recon Grenadiers, but wiff.
The Recon Grenadiers return fire and eliminate the Reapers.
The Flak Grenadiers move into cover and shot at the Hammers, causing a few hits on Rhino.
After avoiding damage the Hammers leap from their hiding spot and pounce on Laura and her men
One Hammer, Laura, and all of the Flak Grenadiers die in close combat. Those Hammers are beast in close combat.
After watching their brothers fall, the Heavy Grenadiers avenge their death and destroy the Hammers.
Hans fires his weapons in a sustained attack and kills Blackhawk.
The Allied HQ moves up and score hits with rocket punches and their flamethrower.
But the German Kommandtrupp make sure thats the last German they kill. The surviving Germans secure the bridge.
This game went quicker than the last one. I liked it, but the battle all took place on the bridge and there was little room for maneuvering. There were some odd kills here and there, or hits on the walkers and the HQs helped keeping those units in the fight, which was nice. I also came to understand how much more valuable the German S3 units are because of Damage Resilience, however there were times that the Allied S3's move 2 was nice as well. I guess it really depends on what play style you like, hard as nails or fast and deadly.
I played the next scenario in the Victory Bridge book, Counter Attack. I didn't take pictures, but the Germans had to hold the bridge they captured from the Allies counter attack. The Germans made a tactical mistake and lost their AT troops early on which left the Heavy Recon Grenadiers to fight Blackhawk. Since they are just armed with MGs and were unable to hurt Blackhawk the Allies won.
Over all it was a fun quick play. I could see getting playing through several games in an evening or afternoon easy. I definitely recommend getting additional dice. The six that came in the Core Set were not enough and I ended up using regular D6. Also as a miniature wargamer I like terrain and will likely look at doing something about getting buildings and walls to place on the Dust maps.
I recently ordered a few more boxes of German and Allied units. The next few missions will feature more walkers and I will try a few units I haven't played with yet. After that I plan on getting my hands on some SSU.
This was my first Tactics game. If you have played Tactics feel free to share on the forum.
