I started Dust Tactics because of its WW2 feel. I really love the miniatures and the walkers. However, I have to say the recent and multiple releases of Heavy infantry have me a bit worried. Is Dust Tactics turning into a sci-fi game ?

I just don't like these soldiers in Power armors (I mean 1 or 2 is Ok, but look how many we have now). Adding the fact that these miniatures are just so much taller and with such big heads that you wonder how to justify that they are the same scale (drug- enhanced bodies?).
I will be buying Heavy troops from Operation Seelowe but not the Revised Core Set

I wish Dust would release instead some infantry Armor 1, so actually regular troops from WW2 (even with a twist).

What you guys think? Is Dust turning too much sci-fi (in an attempt maybe to attract players from a well known sci-fi tableto

p game?)? Is OZZ 117 really 2,20m (7 1/2 feet I think) with a very large head (put him next to any Armor 2 heroes or troops to compare his size and have a good laugh) ?

I apologize for my English, not a native speaker.

Cheers

I do think the game is going down that path of bigger, better, badder units coming out so you constantly have to buy new guys to keep up with everyone else. And I think that will eventually kill the game.

I was hoping for it to be less Mech Warrior/Battletech/Robotech and more Pulp/Steam Punk WW2. Super Heavy Walkers dont have much appeal to me, entire armies of flying Iron Men/Buzz Lightyears I find a bit boring. Give me some Armor 2 Rocketeet guys and some Armor 1 troops to put around the force. And some Armor 2 and 3 military vehicles.

Anyway, I am agreeing with you, its going to move away from Alternate/Pulp WW2 to GLITTERBOY!

Athough I see your point but there is only so much you can do with the elite AC2 guy's I think all the units released are pretty much it as far as standard vets can go and probably AC3 troops now as well. I think AC2 support units (HMG's, mortars etc) should be the next thing to add to armies rather than basic AC1 infantry and move on to the Ruskies.

Well for one, this is weird war 2 with xenos techology. I agree that the soon to be released range (including the super heavies) are more attuned to sci-fi but that was expected considering the fluff. Your concern here is if this trend will continue and kill the overall feel of the WW2 setting and I certainly hope that it doesn't. Plainly speculating here but to answer your question, this would be after the Vrill and the SSU expansion OR post-launch of the current "to be released" items.

So Revised Core -> Axis and Allies expansions + Hero Cards -> Super Heavies -> (insert new marketing ads for either Vrill/SSU OR more Axis/Ally expansion OR flying units)

During the "(parenthesis stage)" would give players the proper indication where FF plan to take DT.

If FF plans to do a progressive storyline; e.g. first walkers are released during 194X, next gen walkers are created in the year 19XX and so on. Insert fluff in-between. Then we "might" see a more sci-fi progression. Not that I am against that but I do agree, and FF and Palentes should balance the overall feel of the game so it won't stray too far from the original content that made players pick up the core game in the first place.

Now I'm not North American so forgive me if my history is off. But didn't the US had this "metal drive" where civilians donate their household metal items to fuel in the production of war machines? Who knows, maybe in the fluff they ran out metal and got them to wage war the old fashion way. The human weapon.

To Peacekeeper :

Well, as you stated in another post we don't actually have to buy the units we don't like (and I won't buy more Heavy troopers with enormous heads). Historical vehicles would be great. I know we can find them elsewhere, but I I like that Dust models come already assembled and preprimed (or even painted to a very nice standard).

Major Mishap said:

Yes. I'm waiting for 2 men squads support units also. And let's skip the Aliens and move direct to the Soviets.

Indeed. I'm not going into the Armor 3 infantry for now. Not only do they break the "vibe" of the game, but many of them look way overpowered. I mean, I would pick Action Jackon before the Honey light walker any day, and that's just wrong.

Also not interested in the aliens, but do bring on the Sino-Soviets!

I agree that this is alternative WW2 thus its sci Fi feel should match the source material. To your point it does appear that some of the new stuff is a bit hi-tec looking - more AT-43 than AWW2. Don't get me wrong love AT-43 world and I like the new dust models - but I would rather they were more ermm....primitive looking. Experimental - not quite perfected. Basically alien techology meets the limitations of 1940's. Basically I agree - however this is an alternative reality. There seems to be a number of players who want this to be basically a second world war miniture game, but with walking tanks? I do find this odd. This is fundamentalyl a sci-fi game - just WW2 influenced so expect all things we have had and more. Personally I can't wait for the Vrill and more crazied German genetics stuff.

I agree on somethings, I liked Dust Tactics because of the WorldWar 2 feeling aswell, but because it is an alternate timeline, you can really let your imagination loose, making your own scenarios, characters etc..

But some things are pretty hard to accept as a ''history-liker'', I would definetly like more Historic correct things to keep the WW2 feeling alive, I like the idea of VK as a really rare thing, so not armies completly powered by it, but just elites etc..

Don't get me wrong because I will start playing dust soon , I just imagined alot of it diffrent...

I always thought of it as a sci fi game, just taking place in the WWII era. I really love the stuff they've been coming up with, the power armor guys and those huge walkers they had showing at Gencon.. can't wait to get ahold of them.

I think that the recent and upcoming releases with the heavy infantry are pushing the look of the game in more of a sci-fi direction than where dust started. This is a completely separate discusion than power creep though. I'm not opposed to power armor troops in the game. I just wish they had more of a pulp vibe to them instead of the slick look. To me, the dust heavy infantry should have looked more like this:

cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0022/6852/products/INC101_Grunt_APE_1_large1.jpg

Incursions power armor looks like something that could have been cobbled together with late war know how mixed with a little alien tech. Lots of tubes, pistons and general clunkyness about the sculpt that makes you believe that the allies threw it together as fast as they could to get it on the battlefield.

I'm going to agree with rwwingate on the look.

Yes, I believe that Dust is leaning a bit heavier on the Sci-Fi/Weird and less on the WWII. Which is, in my opinion, not good. I agree with the Major that producing some slightly Sci-Fi-ish support squads would benifit the game more. A heavy MG squad and some light and heavy mortars would rule. So would some sub-machine gun squads.

I wonder how well introducing Eras would go. Something like Flames of War has with Early, Middle, and Late periods...at least for the Dust Warfare. Something like Pre-invasion/Post-invasion?

Does FFG (or Dust Models) read these posts? I hope so, even if they don't respond. (Just in case: Hey Chris!)

-Jeff

Hanomag said:

For me that's more of a power creep question than a style question, but IF the new units keep upping the power/point ratio, then yes, I think there should be some sort of era breakdown or other mechanism for keeping the older units competative.

I like the style of everything so far. Power creep is inevitable in any miniatures game. Too hard to balance mass units against everything thats out there, and most gamers want better cooler stuff. For everyone that is concerned about power creep, there are probably 7 or 8 that it doesn't bother or welcome it. Every game has had it. 40k doesn't really have a power creep, it just does an arms race with each codex. Warmachine, Malifaux, Uncharted Seas, those are a few that I can think of off the top of my head that have had issues with it.

Era's, I don't think, would work in this game and would kill the game faster than power creep. The ironic thing is, power creep has helped games thrive more than kill them, this one will probably go the same way. I don't even really notice creep that much, we at our store just play what we want.

And remember, the armor 3 troops are cool and all, but they still die fast to armor 2 troops played well.

I look at it this way. Its a game, if I dont like the zombies or gorillias then i dont use them and keep it a simpler game using the men and vehicles I like to use. Again its a game make it how you like and you may enjoy it more.

I am certain that well played Armor 2 troops can seriously maul Armor 3 troops. With the Reaction Fire rules your lesser troops stand a better chance of hitting them first, and they have health 3.

It really boils down to how sound your tactics are, with a bit of luck with the dice.

You all might want to write that down, that may be the first time Fulmanarix and I have agreed on something

blkdymnd said:

Well, the truth is the truth. I think what a lot of people are failing to see here is that it is a TACTICS game; you are not always going to have the best units and sometimes you will get hit with the best. You just need to play it well.

And in my defense, when the other Grand Inquisitor was ranting, I tried to change my name to avoid the connotations, but it did not work.

During proxy testing, those new power armored jumper can do quite a whallop. With their jump and (anti-infantry/anti-tank) capabilities. The major drawback is that they have to hit first! Else if an opponent get to strike first, loosing 1-2 in a the squad is very painful performance wise.

My biggest concern over "too sci-fi" issue is that they no longer produce other class 2 (or rather less-sci-fi) units. I don't mind the "power creep" so long as they still give us the less powerfull units as well. As long as the game expands more or less evenly we should be ok.

-Jeff

Well, we're getting some more Armor 2 squads in the Revised Core Set, though other than an axis flamethrower, they seem to be all just different mixes of the previous figures. I really hope they make some more "normal" squads, like SAS or mortar squads.

It was said from the start that it will become weirder and weirder with sci-fi as time goes by.

Every expansions and campaign book brings the "story" of Dust Tactics forward. The game universe starts in the 30s and is slowly creeping into the 40s as products are released (much like Battletech did back in it's days). It's already stated that some units appear only later on during the war.

Gorrillas and Zombies are among those "new" units that were not there at the beginning of their "story".

At one point, they'll do a Battletech equivalent to the Clans and bring massive new weapons and equipment and powerful units in the form of the Alien faction, which will probably have the armour that is "not of this earth" (as stated in the rulebook as the description of armour 4).

Dust Tactics will get weirder and weirder into sci-fi as time goes by. Again, this was stated from the beginning of the line.

When the airplanes are finally uncovered, i expect some trully weird and bizzare crafts to come around... not simple P-50s.

To try and keep it even I think the armour 3 class of troops should be rare units. Stating that maybe you could only have one of each per list.

reptilebro1 said:

I don't know what that will achieve, if I (or opponant) want to field an all AC3 army and pay the points for them, then why shouldn't we?