Hey guys, hoping to get some feedback on what units are working well for SSU and where I should go with my next purchase. I currently have Koshka & Grand'ma, 2 Airborne Transports, 2 KV-47's, 2 Fakyeli, 1 Drakoni, and 2 Chinese Volunteers. I was thinking another box of Drakoni, and then possibly a Medvedi command squad and a fire-support element, like some Frontoviki, Specialists (snipers) or Ohotniki. What has been your experience with/against these units and what would you recommend?

Personally, i have went with the "one box of each unit" approach, no doubles. The SSU still has trouble against axis/allies opponents, but it's going to be completely solved when the final three boxes of units from Sverograd are released.

IMO, the best SSU unit is going to be the Walker Transport and the Aero KV that comes with it, followed by the Gunship which is going to be a real pain for opponents.

At this stage, i can't even see how an axis or allies unit could stand against 2 SSU gunships… Not until they get some air units of their own.

With what's currently released however, the command squad is an obvious choice.

I too am following the "one copy of each unit" approach, though I'm going to break that rule for the Airborne Transports, since SSU speed is so reliant on them.

But for you, I would probably recommend Ohotniki first, then Frontoviki. Ohotniki are more flexible and add a very unique element to your force. Frontoviki are good but if you can get your squads in SMG range anyway then you're already rolling a lot of kill dice even without the MG's. I would avoid the Specialists until you have an Artillery unit to go with the observers.

As for the Medvedi, I would say look at how much you use your existing commands squads (assuming you have one for the Axis/Allies). If you don't use them often, you might be better off with something else. Command Squads cost a lot, and while the Power tool is a powerful anti-tank only the bold dare use it.

So, I played my first games with SSU last night, they were a lot of fun. I won 1, lost 3 on the night, but I definitely see some potential with SSU going forward. The biggest problem right now are their lack of anti-tank capabilities. I really had a hard time eliminating e axis walkers which gave him free rain to pound away at my heavier stuff. I think the red guard anti-tank squad will be a good step forward, and once the gunships come out we should dominate the skies.

xBeakeRx said:

This is what i've been saying ever since the SSU started to be released some months ago. They are not strong enough VS walkers.

They NEED the gunship and the aero-walker/transport to be competitive. Having a few heroes wouldn't hurt either. I just wish these three boxes wouldn't have been THE LAST THREE to be released. They are about the most important for the SSU to be competitive (more than the command squad and any other box released so far) and they left them for last …

The SSU, as they are now, can only be played with smaller scenarios. Any more than 200 points and they will start to lose more often than not against the axis and allies. Even then, it's easy for an allies or axis player to abuse their weakness and field nothing but walkers to make the SSU miserable…

At least, now that Dust Warfare's Sverograd book is released, i can play my SSU. In Warfare, the walkers are less important overall than the squads (and you cannot field a force with only walkers), which makes the SSU more competitive.

… thinking about it, i am wondering if FFG / DustModels didn't have a serious quality control problem with the SSU releases. Was there a defect for those last three boxes that needed them to return to factory? They were all expected Q2, which is now a ways behind.

They released promotional information on the SSU heroes. Usually when they do that, it's because the product is about to be released in a week or two… It's been months since those articles, which is unusual.

- They had problems with the observer squad, which didn't have the rifles.
- They had problems with the comissar's stat cards, which didn't have the "C" weapons printed.
- I would also bet the "watercooled" rifle is another mistake that was corrected by an explanation instead of a true "fix". At best, the miniature does not correspond to the one in the picture on it's unit card…

- A single squad also did not have it's "equipment belt" fixed. It needed to be glued separately and frankly, they don't really fit in well with some of the minis. All the other squads have that "belt" already fixed to the mini but that one. It always struck me as odd that only this one particular squad (was it the Fakyeli?, don't remember) out of all the Dust miniatures had equipement that was separate. It makes me wonder if it wasn't a production problem and giving the "belts" separately was the "fix" to avoid having to redo all the minis made…

Observer and Sniper cards had wrong cover too. I too think it has to be due to issues with the cards or models for the late units.

Yeah, it's kinda lame releasing an army piecemeal, especially when it's very important parts that are the last to release. Hopefully we'll have that anti tank squad and attack heli soon.

While it does seem there were some quality control issues this time around (the card errors a prime example) and the loose parts in the Fakyeli may indeed have been a quick-fix solution, I disagree that the Water-cooled MG present in the Frontoviki was a error. I think it was more of Paolo and team trying to include something special or make the squad more unique looking. I don't think they expected everyone to freak out so much. (Personally I think it's cool and never would have complained.)

And yeah, some sort of error is the only reason I can see for the delay in the Hero Box.