Behind Enemy Lines Episode 13

The guys are back after a super TCOW weekend. In this episode, we’ve got some surprises and some heavy topics lined up for you!

Download the file here

In Act I, we delve as deep as possible in a pre-GenCon world of wargaming news.


In Act II, we talk about the cosmopolitan collection of gaming systems played at last week’s club, and cover lots of excellent questions from our listeners.

In Act III … THAT kickstarter campaign… and what having a community means to us.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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Dust Tactics: Task Force Joe/Stephan/Koshka Starter Sets

As many of you are aware, last year Battlefront took over distribution of Dust Tactics from Fantasy Flight Games.  A year later we finally have brand new starter sets for the three factions.  Each starter set comes with enough figures for a small starter force and all the pieces needed to play the game.  This includes dice, unit cards, game mats, rules, terrain tiles, and tank traps.

Task Force Joe

The allied task force is made up of a squad of Grim Reapers, Bazooka Joe, a Pounder, and Bot Hunters.

Bazooka Joe is by far one of my most favorite heros of the game.  This version of Joe is particularly awesome.

Grim Reapers and Joe

Bot Hunters

Pounder

Other than minor warping of the soft plastic, which is an issue with all Dust figures, the Pounder was the only model between all three starter sets with any issues.  It wasn't a big issue, but the Pounder's barrel would not lock into place.  The barrel hung limp and needed to be glued in place.

I  know not all Dust players are thrilled with the new dice, but I don't mind them.  They have three symbols (a Hit, Shield, and National symbol).  I like these dice better than the old dice because they have six symbols instead of two hit symbols and four blanks.  I haven't noticed any problems or complications in game play with the new dice, if that counts for anything.

Here are the terrain tiles found in each Task Force.  The tiles are reversible and include a hanger, wall, tree, rubble, and two objectives.  They are typical of terrain tiles from the old Campaign sets and are well made and highly detailed.  I really like the objectives, which is a weapons cache and blue prints for a walker.

Like most of the previous Dust box sets, this one included one tank trap.  The tank trap is fairly simple and has good detail.  I have bought most of the Dust sets and have a ton of these.  I think it would be cool if they made some different looking tank traps to mix it up.  I get tired of the same traps over and over in each set.

Task Force Stephan
Task Force Stephan is the Axis task force.  It includes a Ludwig (the coolest walker in the game), Stephan, Heavy Laser Grenadiers, and Recon Grenadiers (as well as everything needed to play the game.)

Recon Grenadiers

Stephan and Heavy Laser Grenadiers

Ludwig

Stephan Conversion 
A lot of people have commented that Stephan is a pretty weak hero to include in the Axis starter set, especially since the SSU and Allied heros are awesome.  Stephan is nothing super and is essentially a hit sink and a flamethrower.   Stephan also is not that important of a hero in Dust lore.  Since I already have a Stephan I decided to swap the head of the leader of my Heavy Laser Grenadier with Stephan's head.  This gives me a unique looking leader for the Heavy Laser Grenadiers and an extra flame thrower.  The extra flamethrower will let me convert the Recon Grenadiers into a Sturmpioneer squad if I want to.

Sturmpioneers

Task Force Koshka
Task Force Koshka consists of Koshka, Grandma, the Fakyeli, and Red Thunder (as well as everything you need to play the game).

Fakyeli

Red Thunder

Koshka and Grandma

Koshka Conversion  
Like Stephan, I already own a Koshka and Grandma.  So I have decided to do a little conversion work on my new Grandma.  I popped Grandma's hatch open, reposed Grandma's feet, and put Koshka riding high and in command.  I will use this Grandma when it is loaded with Koshka.  Since I have another dismounted Koshka, when Grandma is killed I can place her on the table.

The last thing I should add it that the new unit cards are very nice.  They are smaller than the old unit cards, which were huge.  These cards are the size of playing cards and has unit special rules on the back of the card, which is very convenient.   Lastly you can use erasable pens to mark hits and make notes during game play.  All you need is a wet paper towel to clear them off when your done.

I really like the new starter sets.  I think they are a good buy, even for those who already have most the models and components.  You can easily do some head swaps or minor conversions to make some unique models or new squads.  If you haven't check out Dust, are a long time player, or want to get into a new game these starter sets are worth picking up.

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Dust Warfare/Tactics - Axis Hero Pack

I am really enjoying painting up these Dust figures. My German Army is looking awesome and it is really coming together nicely.  While there are little things here or there that are funky there is so much character in each figure. The heroes for all the armies are absolutely killer awesome. The Axis Hero pack some with three heroes to support your Dust Tactics/Warfare Army.

Grenadier X -
Equipped with a circular saw, Grenadier X is ready to tear into your opponents force.  This brutal looking figure was allot of fun to paint.

TotenMeister -
TotenMeister uses Wiederbelebungsserum to prolong life, through ZOMBIFICATION, which is the coolest possible weird war II thing out there.  I added the flight stand to give TotenMeister the appearance of levitation, which makes TotenMeister spooky.

Stephan-
A simple character armed with a flame thrower.  To be honest I am not as impressed with him as I am with the others, mostly because he is basically the flame thrower dude from the pioneer pack with a different head, but he is still fairly awesome.

These Heroes are awesome and I cant wait to see how they look and play.

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Dust Warfare/Tactics - Heavy Recon Grenadiers and Heavy Kommandotrupp

For those of us who grew up playing 40K and are also lovers of history, there is nothing cooler than Germans in heavy body armor.  The Dust Tactics/Warfare Heavy Recon Grenadiers and Kommandotrupp are the perfect mix of history and scifi awesome.   Armed with dual machineguns and a Fliegerfaust these guys will form the body and/or center piece to any army.

The Heavy Kommandotrupp provider leadership to both your Dust Tactics and Warfare army.  It comes with a mechanic with a Fliegerfaust (which were actually used during World War Two), an officer, and a medic.

The mechanic/fliegerfaust trooper is wearing what appears to be a pilots cap and looks to be ready to fly.  He is also rocking a pretty heavy duty monkey wrench.  I love the look of the fliegerfaust, a multi tube 20mm rocket cannon.

This is the medic figure.  He really isn't that different from the regular recon grenadiers.  The unpainted model has a red cross decal on his shoulder.  One thing that is nice is he is a different pose than the other heavy recon grenadiers.

By far my favorite model out of both packs is the officer.  Instead of rocking a helmet, he has an officer cap and is puffing on a cigar.  I don't know if you can tell by the model, but I also gave him a eye patch.

These are Heavy Recon Grenadiers.  The unit comes with three troopers, one of which is suppose to be the leader.  These are all decked out in armor and armed with the dual machine guns.

The heavy recon grenadiers come in three distinct poses.  This one is my favorite of the three.  He is just a regular dude, not the leader.

This is the leader.  There is nothing that really distinguishes him from other troopers, other than it looks like he is barking orders.

This is the third and final grenadier.  He is also my least favorite.  Can you guess why?

Yes he looks like he is bull rushing the enemy or falling down a flight of stairs .  I get that he is the most dynamic of all the pose, but he is bent way too far over.  I wish they had a trooper pointing his daul machinegun shield at the enemy instead.

For more information on how these guys perform in Dust Tactics check out the review from Jeremiah Terry, from Front Toward Enemy.

Despite that one meh trooper, I love both of these sets.  Like all the other Dust models they come pre-primed with some decals.  As cool as they are they still suffer from lack of variety if you want to field multiple units, they are all going look the same.  However you don't need a lot of figures to play Dust, so its not that big of a deal and they still look so cool.

If you dig the Heavy Recon Grenadier lets chat about it on the forum.

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