Figure Painting Total - January 2024

 I got some more Dust figures.  The Gorillas and Zombies are already painted but I will probably touch them up.  I’m good for Zombies now, but still need to pick up a Gorilla Support squad.  I also pick up some SSU troops.  I am mainly getting the walkers for the Soviets but want a few troops.  I still need another walker, as well as a helicopter.

I assembled a bunch of the Don’t Look Back figures.  We had some really nice weather but I did not get them primed before it turned.

 

Bought

Dust Tactics – Axis – Gorillas – 3

Dust Tactics – Axis – Zombie – 5

Dust Tactics – SSU – Red Army Command squad – 5

Dust Tactics – SSU – Rifle Squad – 5

 

 

Painted

 

 

 

Jan total – 18 figures bought, 0 figures painted

Running total 2024 – figures bought 18, figures painted 0

 

Getting Dustier

I got the Revised Core set and have had a few chances at the Original Core.  I remain hopeful that I will be able to get one eventually.

I have ordered Operation Hades, and Operation Icarus.  It seems that Icarus will come with three of the Quonset huts.  Operation Cerberus will be a real challenge due to the inclusion of the building.  I hope to be able to at least get the rules and scenarios, as well as the figures.

I still need to get more walkers, but the Core will take care of that.  I want to get the Allied Heavy Ranger Attack Squad.  For the Axis, I need the Axis Heroes, some basic Zombies, and a few Gorilla units, and at least one Gorilla Support Unit.  I have also ordered a Pelican for the Allies, and a Horten for the Axis.

For the SSU, I would love to get three KV47 walkers, so I can field all three variant - Nadya, Natalya, and Natasha, as well as another KV47 Recovery unit.  If I get at least one regular KV47, I can use the extra arms from it to mix with extra recovery units to make another regular walker.  I would also like to get at least a helicopter.  Due to the scarcity of these units, I will probably need to get some conventional troops instead.

I will need to get some bunkers, preferably a SSU or Axis one.

I would love to get the Japanese IJN troops from Dust 1947.  The ninjas, and sailor scouts look pretty cool, as do the Tesla Walkers.  They also came out with Cthulhu troops which would be cool, as well as the Mercenaries.  These three factions came near the end of the run and would be very difficult to get but I have seen some offered, a few even at non-insane prices.

Now I just need to get my son to play some games with me to see if it is worthwhile, as well if I should put the effort into painting them.

Figure Painting Total - July 2022

 I had a line on an original Core set for Dust Tactics and the Operation Cerberus set but that fell through.  I was able to get a revised Core Set though in great condition.  

 

Bought

Dust Tactics Revised Core – 28 (15 Allied, 13 Axis)

SWNYC – Black Cobras – 8

SWNYC – Ghetto Lords – 8

SWNYC – Mollies – 8

 

Painted

BM – Objectives Game Markers – Titan – 1

BM – Objective Game Markers Set 1 – medical supplies – 1

SMMU – Elektra – 1

DCU – Steel – 1

Wizkids – Cowboys repaint – 1

Unmatched – Hell’s Kitchen – Elektra – 1

DLB – Final Girls – 1

SWNYC – Lee Raven – 1

SWNYC – NYPD Cops – 2

 

 

July total – 52 figures bought, 10 figures painted

Running total 2022 – figures bought 175, figures painted 60

Dust Tactics to Dust 1947

I keep looking at Dust but never got into it.  I had thought that it was in the same vein as Tannhauser, which I already have, but it is it’s own thing.

 

Tannhauser, the board game and expansions was published by a French company, Take On You, in 2006.  The system was bought by Fantasy Flight in 2009, and a revised edition was released in 2010.  The background is that World War 1 did not end and that it still rages on 35 years later.

 

Dust was created by Paolo Parente, a former fashion designer, who then became an artist for games and Magic cards.  He designed Dust as a series of 1/6 scale action figures, and then comics to go with them.  In his design World War II did not end thanks to the discovery of a crashed alien spacecraft in Antarctica.  This tech leads to the creation of large walking vehicles. 

 

He worked with Rackham to bring this to a game but they did not like the WW2 German forces, so they changed the setting slightly and designed AT-43 (After Trauma: 43) in 2006.  This was a miniature game with Weird War figures and man-sized walking tanks.  The company was spending more money on its fantasy line Confrontation, and ended up closing.

After that ended, he brought out Dust Wars with Image comics, and model kits in 1/35 and 1/48 scale.  There was also a Risk-like game that came out in 2009.  I had a bit of trouble finding it but was able to track down a copy of that when I thought it was an extension of the Tannhauser milieu.  I have also picked up the Battlefront Dust Tactics rules in a previous sale.

 

AEG helped bring together Dust Tactics as a board game with figures but this was bought by Fantasy Flight just before being released in 2010.  There were expansions and a revised set was published in 2011.  This led to Dust Warfare in 2012 as a gridless miniature game.  Another edition came out with a messy kickstarter in 2014 through Battlefront.

 

Then they got it back and published it themselves in 2016 as Dust 1947.  They had upgraded cards to be able to use figures from all the sets, and even brought out new factions in Cultists (Cthulhu), (Japanese), and Mercenaries.  They always had figures available in prepainted and also just primed but finally sold unassembled figures as well for a lower cost.  I just found out that they have stopped publications last year in 2021 partly due to the complications of production with the pandemic.

 

It’s a big system to get into.  I don’t know anyone locally who plays it.  I’m not looking to buy and store multiple forces for another game.  I’m not even a big World War 2 fan.  Now that it is a dead system it is going to be hard to track down figures.

But it is a pretty looking game with a great table presence.  It’s supposed to be fairly simple compared to heavy wargames, and has a really strong supportive following.  It will probably come out again at some point, especially since Paolo had plans for taking it into space and moving the setting forward to 1963 during the Cold War.  The rules are still available on their website so I will probably download them and give them another look.  I can keep an eye out for clearance sales and for people clearing their collections in lots.  If I can find someone to play with, I can always design counters for the figures and vehicles to try it out. 

Miniature Market is having a Spring cleaning sale and I missed picking up a few Dust Tactics operation/mission boxes for the figures and maps.   But I was able to pick up the Dust Warfare rules and a couple of the campaign books.