Loophole Master said:

The helicopter looks like a Fisher-Price hybrid of a Ka-27 and a Sikorsky Choctaw, designed for toddlers. Ugly as sin and silly looking to boot. Meh factor: 10/10. The SSU walkers are not my cup of tea either.

Good to see the SSU faction, good to see aircraft units, good to see a new tactical approch. Right now the looks of them just don't make it..

golem101 said:

Hopefully it will bring in some new players, question is can you start playing the game starting only with those guys. Will you get basic rules or you will have to buy one of the core sets. I can see some ppl droping in DT just for those guys, it would be a shame if FFG would consider only ppl already playing DT as potential customers.

Perhaps "Operation Zverograd" will contains some dices, ammo crates, tank traps and building tiles?... All those things necessary to play. You can always download the rules from the web.

Well, according to the file name, the chopper is a MI-45.

And here are some better pictures from this article:

MI-45 and Chinese Volunteers, good picture to get a sense of the scale.

NKVD Close Combat Squad, apparently it has Scout, and that is a flamethrower, not a heavy laser. So pretty much almost exactly BBQ squad.

Command Squad. Really like those models, specially the Medic.

Really liking the infantry and the KV47 but the chopper is aweful and what is puzzling that it comes on a solid base making it very difficult, if not impossible, to use on a gaming table as its not able hover above other troops or scenery. I doubt if I wil get the SSU anyway due to not having a cheaper starter set to get you going.

The NKVD Close Combat Squad and the Command Squad are really characterful (in outlook if not in equipment), but the more I look at the 'copter, the less I can see it coming up at my table.

Ugly and sleek? OK.

Goofy but menacing? Fine.

Silly and... ehrm... No, thanks.

And I like the retro style of airplanes such as the Polikarpov I-16.

Rumors of a great mystery in the bowels of the city began, piquing the curiosity of both the Axis and the Allies, and soon the city was besieged from both of the SSU’s enemies . With Zverograd under constant attack, the SSU High Command is willing to pay any price to maintain a hold on the city; however, the Axis and Allies have made this broken city the center of their attention. The only question now is who will discover the mysteries buried beneath Zverograd?

Are we looking at some 3-way battles in the next campaign? Or just the possibility of pitting either the axis or the allies against the SSU at any given scenario?

The big problem is that, at full price, you'll pay US$ 235,00 to get all of these russian units! And that's 4 medium walkers, 4 squads, 1 hero, 1 chopper and probably some tiles. Compare that to the original core set with 4 medium walkers, 6 squads, 2 heroes and tiles, for US$ 100,00 , and you see it's quite a terrible deal...

Gothik said:

I don´t think we´ll see any of that in Zverograd ->

"With so much on the line, the SSU has dispatched their most famous operative, Koshka Rudinova, to defend the city. She arrives on the battlefield with her customized walker “Grand’ma.” With this well-rounded walker, and Koshka’s impressive combat abilities, the SSU stands a fighting chance in Zverograd.

Also included in Operation “Zverograd” are rules for a whole new type of Dust Tactics units: airborne units. These will change the way you play Dust Tactics. In addition, this campaign includes a modular building set, as well as other new rules, scenarios, and SSU background information."

Seems like a hero, a medium walker, a rule/campaing book and a nice building (the same as in cerberus?). So nothing to start with, no starter deal, nothing to drag people into starting Dust...big mistake/ wasted opportunity.

And for the copter... I think that plain, strong camo just covers some details, but i have to wait for some reviews/better pics. Besides it really looks close to an original light russian heli...but thats no excuse for bad taste anyway

It's Russian and looks a lot better. (this one is 1/72 before you get any ideas)

True, but that one is designed for fighting, not to transport stuff...cut away the wings/weapons, maximise the motor/rotor and the capacity and..well you pretty much got the other one...but as i said before, still no excuse for bad taste

Ursun said:

Agreed. If they released an army pack with the same amount of minis as the Revised Core Set at the same price, I would pick it up as soon as it came out. As it is, I just can't afford this, and I doubt I will get any of the SSU stuff (unless and until they release a larger set.) It's not that I don't think the SSU look cool, I do (and I even kind of like the helicopter); I just don't have an unlimited budget and this makes it way too expensive to get a playable army.

Ursun said:

I doubt it's the same building as Cerberus, it's probably a smaller one. Zverograd is the same price as Cerberus, and it comes with a hero and a medium walker, instead of 2 heroes, so the building cannot be as big.

Loophole Master said:

I hope it's a different style of building altogether. It would be disappointing if it's just the same building pieces but fewer of them.

I feel for the one guy in our playgroup, he really wanted to play Russian, he's been playing russian since A&A, the price is somewhat... Expensive if he will convert...

Well, maybe we will see some bundle pack! Will see what Paulo's site will say, maybe some russian family pack?

WUT? I checked the online store ( http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=123&esem=2&esum=202 ) and the choppy thingy costs the same as a hvy walker?! WTF?! This is clear madness... Not to mention that all inf units cost 5$ each more than the usuall stuff....

loken14 said:

Commisars and NKVD did kill normal troops to keep them from running, but it never made them better at fighting.

Here, we have mostly NKVD troops, which wouldn't need the impetus of 'friendly fire' to keep them in the fight. They were the ones that did the 'friendly fire.' The Chinese Volunteers might be less than excited about fighting, but a threatened bullet from your own side doesn't make better soldiers.

I hope they don't go down that ridiculous road, and make commisars more than they ever were.

As for higher costs for the SSU, it doesn't surprise me. I'd like to see continued low prices, but have thought for some time that the core Axis and Allied units were priced lower to help get people into the game. Good sculpts, pre-assembled and primed with decals for some, in a larger scale than other wargames (at least as an acknowledged scale) had $15 for a five man squad being more than reasonable in comparison to other games. I'd rather pay $15 per squad, but will be willing to pay $20.

The helicopter costing as much as the heavies didn't surprise me, either, as it's big, with lots of parts, and may be pretty close to heavy walker size.

Remember that the chopper comes with a full squad of Chinese Volunteers. The chopper itself is certainly not as big as a heavy walker, it look just a bit more than a medium walker, but the squad rounds it off to heavy walker price.

I'd forgotten about the infantry. It will be interesting to see how big the chopper is, but with infantry I think it's very reasonable for price.

You're looking at an infantry squad and a vehicle for $40, which would match the old infantry + light/medium walker combined price.

Loophole Master said:

Can I ask how you arrived at the $230 price? Is that for the painted core set?

mgentile7 said:

He's comparing the cost of all of the unpainted SSU units separately ($230) to the cost of buying the original unpainted core set ($100)

and to get all the walker variations u will need to buy 3 and the commissar thing ill admit I took off of warhammer because the article mentioned commissars and I dont know why you would kill your own guys unless there was some advantage.

After this announcement I am relieved... I won't have to spend more cash on Russians !!!

I am just terrified by an thought that something like that choppa could happen to axis or allies. There are units of questionable tastes allready like allies medium and heavy walker (axis being exceptionaly good), and troops that tripping over loose shoelaces... but I never expected that wierd ww2 will be an excuse to release something designed so badly... I was hoping for something unique for SSU just like allies had flamers, axis had laser guns in the beginning, but the more units come out the differences dissapear, thats why I am not very interested in SSU any more. I will probably end up buying multiple copies of armour 2 units, snipers, some light and medium walkers, maybe zombies for axis, and that's it... and wait to see what will become of DT later.

Now how exactly DW want to compete with other miniature games like 40k or Warmachine? where sculpts are so sharp and stunning, characterfull and simply beautifull to look at, and are not bendy. I think FFG must realise that for a game to be succesfull it must provide great quality miniatures in the first place, ones that you would like to paint, cause playing the game for hobbysts is probably 50% of time spent on game, the rest is painting and modeling. Don't care if its Paolo Parente's designs or anyones elses, but when you are releasing something under your trademark its your responsibility to at least try to make things right... FFG don't care about what their customers say and I can bet it will end with that "THING" in production anyway.

What a shame... I thought I'll collect all of DT stuff, but its getting bad, just as dialogues in Dust Wars comics...

What a silly rant. So FFG is irresponsible because you don't like a model? Sorry. Privateer Press models are so much more horrible than DT models. See what I did there? It's called a subjective statement. Ready for another one? I happen to like most of the Russian releases (still up in the air on the infantry, but I really like the chopper and it's practical for the game scale) and the allied medium walkers are what got me into the game. See? It's all a matter of opinion, so freely give your opinion, but try to refrain from claiming irresponsibility at a company because you don't like their sculpts.

I'm sick of all the negative comments about FFG, sure the chopper looks a bit goofy but it also needs to be not much bigger then a square. and for the time frame there definitely manufacturing as fast as they can, its not like they can pull the stuff out of thin air.