It's getting Dusty round here

  
 

The Revised Dust Tactics Core Set.

OK so that title is an absolutely terrible tabloidesque pun, and yes it should be way beneath a quality Blog like this one. But, bad pun aside I'm really happy, I've got the revised Dust Tactics Core Set to review, and my copy of Dust Warfare. I'll be looking to do a few more Dust related articles in the next few weeks or so after I've had a bit of a blow out with both these games. For now you'll have to content yourself with some pretty pictures of me getting the contents out of the box...

Review: Dust Tactics

Its a beast of a box with a shed load of stuff inside

The Dust universe created by Paolo Parente is pretty darn cool if you ask me. I've always liked alternative history themes. What if the Nazi's won, or the USSR invaded the USA or going further back what if the Confederates won the America civil war or if Jesus had of bottled it and decided being a martyr sucked? The world we live in might look very different to the one we see today. The premise in Dust if I'm correct is that the Nazi's found some alien tech and managed to prolong WWII, and... its still going.  This has led to a world with genetically enhanced killer Gorilla's and big walking mech tank thingies, they look great they really do. So with time on my hands I thought I'd better occupy myself with some hobby related stuff and seeing as Fantasy Flight Games are also giving us a Dust related true wargame (Dust Warfare) I thought it was time to take the plunge.

Paolo Parente's artwork adds a certain 'vibe' to proceedings

Official Promo shot

Product description

This is the older 'unrevised' edition of the game in the mammoth HUGE box. I wanted to try these 'old' rules out before the revised edition pops onto the shelves anytime soon, mainly because there has been a little bit of controversy over the switch to the 'newer' rules. Admittedly by a very small, if vocal minority who are determined to announce Fantasy Flight Games as the next reincarnation of Satan and all that is wrong in the world... yeah the feelings have run that high for some people. However moving onto the box contents the undoubted stars of the boxed set have to be the 4 Mech's, the two Allies and two Axis mechs are fantastic and are as good as any plastic vehicles or walkers you'll see produced by any company out there, they really are. There are also a fair amount of troopers as well, some 30 troopers split equally between the two forces. There are also two special characters, one for either side. There are 6 pieces of plastic terrain, 12 special D6's (more on which later), glossy unit cards, 18 two-sided card floor tiles, a rulebook and a campaign scenario book. There's also a card sheet with some quick-start rules on it. There's no denying i think that its a hefty amount of stuff to fit in a box!!!

Do I get into Dust?

It most certainly can't have escaped most of my regular readers notice that I've been on somewhat of a board game binge of late. I'm sure I must have mentioned this a few times. Thing is I really am a wargamer and I told myself that after Gear of War, Super Dungeon Explore and Dungeons & Dragons: Legend of Drizzt that for me that would be it for quite a while, well unless Kingdom Death suddenly pops up at very short notice. You see although Descent Journeys in the Dark is beginning to be extremely tempting, as is Claustrophobia (if I could find a copy) I really don't want to divert my gaming away from what I love and that's painting cool miniatures and playing wargames. Although the Dust Miniatures are exceptional in some cases, its not really been enough for me to take the plunge. Plus on this blog I want to get back to writing about Infinity and few others a bit more.

Thing is the amazing alternative history world of Dust has always kinda had me interested. I've read some very mixed things about Dust Tactics though some people tell me its great, other people tell me its average at best, its this mixed messages I've been getting coupled with the expense of buying the game that put me off. However the world created by Paolo Parente and the miniatures themselves have always intrigued me. Because I think its fair to say they are a significant step up from the usual board game fair served up normally in that horrible rubbery plastic. No its more than fair to say that the Dust Tactics miniature range provided by Fantasy Flight Games is on a par with some of the best plastics on the market from more typical wargames companies.

The boxed game itself can be picked up for around £70 if you shop around a bit and to be fair that's a pretty reasonable price considering the components you get in the box and for what's in the box that's a very reasonable price. However there is another reason I was always drawn to Dust Tactics. There was a the rumoured wargame that was supposedly in joint production with Dust Tactics and would use the same lovely miniatures as Dust Tactics, in a proper tabletop wargame, it was believed to be called Dust Warfare. Initially I kept a close eye on the world of Dust waiting to see if this Dust Warfare would ever surface, and until very recently I'd have to say I was very disappointed with the fact it hadn't yet shown its face...