My feeling, and uneducated opinion, is that they will stay at a 3 X 4 (3 X 3 was so 4 months ago... )

Granted, we will be moving to more of a "cityfight" in the next campaign, so that might be different and might also make the snipers more effective as well covering firing lanes by the objective and being the support role that they are meant to be. I just think it's hard to test them in a larger field than what is currently the norm (so far after 2 campaigns, we're still only 3 tiles deep, just the width has adjusted).

GrandInquisitorKris said:

Kris, you sadist. The game shop owner has no more hair for me to tear and now I have to tear my own........... aarggh!

Jochen Fleischer said:

I understand your pain!

traderghost said:

my suggestion , is buy a wig , cause i am working on some better terrain ideas to keep pushing my experience and fun to a " whooole nutha levil " . AND i am getting close to getting the table saw i want , and when that happens , its on like donkey kong , so stay tuned to my BGG blog

be sure and make it something kinda 80's big hair style , cause your gonna need it .

Sigh.... I've already gone thru your whole blog and decided I need an Afro hairstyle wig Evil.......

To all those who are good with tools and their hands, I strongly recommend you go take a look at Kris blog at www.boardgamegeek.com/blog/545 . So inspiring!

traderghost said:

thnx , but you aint seen nothing yet , better get a box of wigs

my blogs will start kinda lite , but i have some big projects planned for the comming months .

i have been doing this long enough , that i have a good deal of experience , but even i find some interesting things now and then in terrain building articles and books .

BUT i see a HUGE problem with many of the books and articles ; they are written for people who are devoted tothe hobby aspect of the game , and figure the rest of you dont matter . they skip steps , or figure you already understand what they are talking about , so they dont break it down .

the items that i had done previously were done for me and the explenations were done as an after thought . but i plan to do some articles that kinda baby step it through for people so they see lots of pictures and have better explanations , as well as ways to get the best bang for their buck .

they will be written and built (usually) with the intention that the audience are first time terrain builders , and are starting from scracth or are "crafty impiared " , NOT to people who already are masters .

because i believe terrain should be window dressing , NOT your sole life devotion from this point forward . they are there to set a mood for the game , NOT suck your wallet dry and take the place of the game .

this game is bringing non-minis gamers into the fold , so this may be the first real experience many may have with painting or building figures and terrain .

Metropolis Games said:

No kidding! Have to make sure the command squad acts like a command squad and stays back behind cover.

I now see the true value in the spotter squad.

Only if you can see the value in indirect fire though - I haven't spotted that yet, not found the need to as there is always something else that will do more damage to the target.

www.miniaturesmarket.com is where i got mine in 3 days after ordering.

gave wrong link address its www.miniaturemarket.com

Major Mishap said:

in reality , most walkers wont fire that often in a game , they waste time maneuvering to get into position to take the shot . and while they are maneuvering into position , they will likely get shot AT .

one of the biggest advantages i see for artillery spotters is that while the artillery may not be as effective as some other weapons in all cases , having the spotters lets you take shots with the walkers without their being shot at . the artillery squads eventualy die off , and then you still have the walker at full health to maneuver around the board .

think of it like this : for 6 points , you essentaily get the utility out of one walker that you would normaly get out of having 2 walkers , but for 2 points less .

but to fully capitalize on artillery walkers , you need to play on larger boards than just 3X3 . and when you play on the larger boards , the spotters and artillery shine .

GrandInquisitorKris said:

I agree. The only downside to indirect fire is being able to fire every other turn. Otherwise indirect fire is great and squads have an easier time maneuvering and can take cover.

if your axis, indirect is good. steel rains indirect weapon is a bit lacking. i rarely use it indirect because the mortar is so good.

i was hoping for the axis sniper to have laser sniper rifle. laser weapon rule included would make the sniper deadly when the spotter is dead.

marcemtp said:

Games aside, in the real world, if a sniper is to user a laser weapon, wouldn't the visible beam of the laser give the sniper's position away?

traderghost said:

only if there are dust or some other particles in the laser path . most lasers are invisible , unless a filter of some thing like that is added . the lasers we are used to seeing with flashes and blaster sounds , are just special effects added to make it seem cooler .

marcemtp said:

You are right, that would have been an amazing squad. I would have maybe even taken a lesser range, maybe 5 instead of 6.

GrandInquisitorKris said:

True, real weapon class lasers are invisible. However, the fluff for the laser grenadiers given in Blue Thunder specifically mentions that it "makes the shooter easy to spot during nighttime operations". So I imagine snipers avoid laser weapons for that same visibility concerns, as traderghost suggested.

I just love hearing from all the experts here discussing about weapons, tactics, squads etc. It's so immersive! And in turn I'll bring all the discussions from this forum back to my gaming table and gaming buddies. I practically live in the world of Dust! Thanks guys for the experience!

Here is an Axis sniper in action, taking out an Allied gunner:

traderghost said:

imagine if we had seperate sub forums ( since they dont seem to be pushing ahead with any other real promoting of this game ) , like a tactics forum , a custom model forum , an army lists forum , a historical discussions forum , a news forum , and an off topics forum , you know , like some of the OTHER FFG games have in their forums sections here on the FFG website ................................... but even that seems to much effort i guess .

GrandInquisitorKris said:

Sigh..... we can always dream..... and hope.......

GrandInquisitorKris said:

Even if were were able to just sticky on the front page of this forum. We could have a post your pictures sticky, Tactics sticky and looking for players sticky.

As for looking for players, I posted my location in my signature just in case someone is close. Would love having new people to play against. The next closest group for me is 2 hours away (which I guess isn't that bad except they play on week nights).

As they build up steam and gain more followers, they can always break the forum down. I just ordered a bunch of stuff this week because I think the game is on a steady course to develop and the light walkers, apes, and rangers in power armor really put me over the top I'm sure more people will pick the game up as word/reviews spread and more releases expand the universe! Btw Dust Tactics has a facebook page now and they just went over a 1000 likes!

Myrnir said:

theyve had close to a year now to get this game promoted ( other big game companies start working on promotions for the games launch ) and its still on the back burner .