Saw that they announced Operation Cyclone yesterday. It comes with squares and two heroes. I kinda think they are going a different path for each expansion from the initial box set though. If you think it would be better for them to sell a small box that comes with minimum for the expansion then sell all the squads and the walkers by themselves. That way since this is a miniature game people can customise their armies and not have to buy both sides of the game "so far". So just because they are only announcing just the box with tiles and heroes I'd expect more announcements like the boxes of squads rather than the whole game box.

Can people just be happy that they are going to release one of hopefully many expansions? The game has only been out for a couple of months.

I'm not bashing the expansion just disappointed that they arent making the expansion a whole box set like the initial game box. I'd like to buy it all at once rather than in pieces. Besides I own 2 boxes and the dust game. I am making conversion for walkers from what I see on dust models website and I'm developing campaign rules for the dust game to be intergrated into the tactics game and I am making my own rules for tanks, comicbook and movie heroes.

Art Vandelay said:

I'd be more willing to give FFG some slack if they explained to the fans what their vision for the game is.

I lot of folks (me included) got excited to see all of those planned expansions listed in the back of the Dust Tactics manualit really seemed like they had a master plan for the game.

Now Operation Cyclone has been announced and its very different from what was originally described.

I just want to know where this game is headingespecially regarding the pre-paints.

The way I see it, if they were to release the miniatures for the artillery and command squads at the same time, or within a month of the release of operation cyclone, then it's basically just a matter of packaging, as you would be able to get everything they said you could.

It's only if we don't hear anything about those minis that we need to get worried. So, I'm happy to stay excited about the new heroes for now.

I just hope more information starts to make it's way out.

Well Mr frozenbunnysteak looks like they where listening to you . I like the way they are releasing stuff. I am not forced into buying a big box of stuff i may not want. Here i can read the new rules and have new board sections. When they release the troop expansions i will have the freedom to buy or not buy as i see fit.

edit: Then i saw the date for release: late winter 11. Thats a long time away for an expansion. A little disappointed but still happy stuff is coming out.

Heres my question why does the allies get an extra tank than the axis but theyre both the same price?

arkangl said:

Can't say about the price thing, but my guess is that the reason you don't get the weapons for a fourth walker is because of the chasis. All the configurations in the expansion box are for the Kampflaufer III chasis and other varrients like the Jagdluther are based on the Kampflaufer IV chasis. That's why the Jadgluther kit on the Dust website has a different body shape. On the allies side, it looks like all the walkers are based on the same chasis.

Where does it say the release is winter 2011? All I see is "later this winter" which would be within the next two months.

-Jeff

It's the same thing, winter 2011=the next couple of months.

"Heres my question why does the allies get an extra tank than the axis but theyre both the same price?"

Because Loth is the promo executive. That is the one with two claws.

Well each box is 1 walkers with 3 or 4 configuration to make the 7 walkers. yea I have the Loth and this is the Lothar with 2 missile launcher arms instead of 2 claw arms. But i agree with you they should either say something like its the same amount of plastic or something and even still they should atleast bump it up to 30 for the axis one and give every one an extra tank. b/c the allies walker is just a barrelchange not the whole turret excluding the steel rain with a upgrade part. while the axis is a completely different arm every walker difference. Winter means from the end of December to beginning of March so late winter is prob mid Feb to mid March.

Yes winter does run till march. All i saw was the 11 part and thought was blinded by it. So i am happy again with this news. As to the allies getting an extra tank in their box, well all that is needed for the allies to change tanks is a different muzzle on the turret while the axis have different arms so it is probably down to the plastic bit and the work need on the arms for assembly. Or they just hate the axis players!

Poos Soviet Union did not get any attention, at least not yet. Then, you have the Japanese and Paolo does not even care about the Italians.

Well soviets are suppose to be put out eventually. as for the japanese and italians theyre part of the axis army so they would combine most of there stuff to look the same. the only other one theyre suppse to release is the aliens themselves

Slight clarification per the map on page 4 and 5 operation Blue Thunder Italy is an Allied occupied or controlled territory , its blue . Granted Italy was part of The Axis it looks like in the world of Dust in 1947 it was firmly in Allied hands .Then again maybe Mussolini moved to Germany and became a Ruler in exile?

I guess it depends on how much Dust follows history. Italy was only a combat force when it was Axis, after the Allies gained control there was no longer an Italian fighting force. If Dust Tactics is set in 1945 and they follow closer to history then their might not be any Italian Walkers (or any left by 45).

-Jeff

I know WWII history I just didnt have the map with me and was guess that nazis owned all of europe. so since italy is allies they would just have ally walkers

I wouldn't be suprised if they were to release slightly different versions of some of the models for the japanese or italians. I think I read something about comonwealth troops turning up at some stage as a sub-faction of the allies.

Dust models does have their sPz. KpfL. III-A labelled as Ryu rather than Wotan, implying there is some difference between the two versions of the bot.

I wouldn't expect any of these sub-factions to come out any time soon though. I mean, we haven't even got much of a selection for the main factions out yet.

As for the sino-soviets, I would love to see them come out alongside the other armies, but if they were going to do that, I think we would have heard something by now, so unfortunately it looks like we'll be waiting a while for that.

I wasn't implying that anyone didn't know history, sorry if it came out that way. I was just thinking that if Dust follows history close (in regards to Italy) that there might not be any Italian walkers in the game at all. At least not when Tactics takes place. For all intents and purposes Italy would be "occupied" and thus only have US Walkers driven by US pilots.

As for Japan, The Ryu looks like a modified Fury of Ivan so yea, I would guess we will have 4 major types of walkers

US, with Allied Sub-Types

Russian with Japanese Sub-Types

German with Axis Sub-Types

And Aliens.

I would like to see Different Walkers though. While I like the idea that you can have many variants on a given chassis, it looks cookie-cutter after a while. I know the Sherman tank had many variants including exclusively British ones they still had Heavy, Light, and Crusier tanks. Not to mention APCs and Armored Cars. An APC walker would be pretty cool. 4 legs maybe? Anti-Air walkers? Just some thoughts.

-Jeff

Actually, the ryu is a modified version of the axis walker "wotan", so the japanese would be a sub-type of the germans.

I'm not sure if the russians would have sub-types, but if they do, it would probably be chinese.

As for other sizes of walker, the dust models range has a smaller recon walker for the germans, called heinrich

http://www.dust-models.com/products_d.php?nid=2&id=47

And a heavier walker called gunther, also for the germans.

http://www.dust-models.com/products_d.php?nid=2&id=2

Although those are a different scale to the tactics miniatures, they might give some idea to the sorts of things tactics has coming.

I would have thought the recon walkers would come out in the third campaign expansion, Battle for Britain: operation seelowe as the rulebook mentions faster walkers for that expansion.

I stand corrected. I see now that the Fury of Ivan was captured mech.

As for the Lighter/Faster walkers coming out in the BoB expansion, that was what I was thinking. But if that was planned before FFG took the wheel, might it have changed?

-Jeff

Just to throw everything off track heres what I have found on the history of the Wotan .,Ryu and Fury of Ivan. The Wotan is The German Lord of the Battlefield able to hurl lightning bolts at all who oppose him. The Ryu is the Japanese lend lease variant with redesigned frontal armor purposefully designed for their inferior steel casting foundries. Slightly thinner than the Wotan but still quite thick. The Fury of Ivan walkers are the ones captured by a Mongolian special ops team who stole them as they were being delivered to the Japanese. The Ivans were instrumental in the recapture of Kiev in the winter of 1947. The reason the S.S.U. did not keep the lasers is because they did not have the ability to produce or maintain the advanced equipment. The one thing the Soviets are good at is making really BIG guns . . .with really BIG bullets, and they do make large holes in whatever they hit. I really like fluff.

I wanna see the Yamato its a walker thats cannon is based off of the battleship. I'd like to know how they are gonna make the bigger walker if they are too. I figure they'll either take up more than 1 space or be for tabletop only which i like this skirmish style rather than table top for this game and I wonder if theyre going to add tanks to this game or just leave it to walker and allow ppl to buy 3rd party mech, which would be nice but I'd like to see rules for them be official. I can see the tanks being better sometime rather than the walkers in the historic aspect of the game. I saw someone using a Landkruezer for another game and thought that would be hilarious as a scenario where someone hijacks it and the axis and the allies have to fight the giant tank. Could just use a warhammer baneblade as the Ratte and kit bash a little for it.

I am building a Dragon Models 1/35 scale E-100 to use as terrain . Didn't even think about having it fight back .