Peacekeeper_b said: Or you could be sheep. Maybe sheep will be the next release in the "Innocent Bystanders" line? Seriously, though, just because folks don't have an issue with a completely innoffensive customer rewards programs hardly makes them "sheep".

Eihova said: Hi new to game and completely lost as to what the skull symbols are for in the hero and vehicle cards do you use these as armour points until they take a wound as they do not use armour rolls fort soft or hard cover?? Nope, just ignore the skulls. The "plus" signs which represent their hit points are all that matter there.

Peacekeeper_b said: I agree. Pure BS that has my gaming group boycotting Dust Models for anything. Nope. All our money for DUST will be going ot Miniature Market, sure Dust Models and FFG will make money off our purchases, but we are not giving them an extra $50 for that priviledge. No more decals, no more special Dust Models only with no game rules or points costs models. Shame, I really wanted a Tina and Wilhelm and Panzermeister to reinforce my Axis. And my French Foreign Legion Allies could use some extra french decals, but we will make it without them. Why the boycott? You realize that you don't have to be an Elite member to buy from Dust Models, right?

Played through this today and it was a very close win for the Allied attacker. The initial Axis forces were dispatched quickly, but took their toll before going down. And with a Heavy Laser Grenadier or Heavy Flak Grenadier unit popping up every round from round 4 on, it made things very tough on the Allies. They only ended up winning thanks to some bad rolls in round 8 for the Axis. This might be easier for the Axis to win in the attacking role, due to the Damage Resilienece of their Type 3 infantry. A couple of squads of zombies in cover with a hero could last a long time.

Unfortunately, as much as I would like to see some sort of Overwatch mechanic for storing unused action points, I really doubt that we'll get something like that. The fact that they gave us Reactive Fire is a pretty clear indication of how they want to handle attacks in response to enemy actions. There are, though, still a few things they can do: (1) Get rid of the advanced deployment rule. Aircraft have enough advantages already that they don't need it. (2) Significantly increase the point costs of aircraft. Like, by, oh, 50% or so. If a unit is going to be able to ambush opposing forces, you might as well make the player pay for that ability. (3) Boost the power of anti-aircraft units. Make them all /skull weapons (just against aircraft, though). So, that lowly Recon Boys machine gunner who is now rolling 1/1 against aircraft would now be rolling 1/skull, while the Sturmkonig would be rolling 9/skull. It makes aircraft into glass canons, which is, I think, a bit more realistic than having them be as tough as a medium tank. I really don't expect FFG to take any action in the near future, though. In fact, I doubt that we will see them do anything unless the SSU start to dominate in tournaments by using helicopters--and the ground attack helicopters aren't even on the list of tournament legal units yet.

In the Operation Cyclone rules, it says this "Artillery weapons (range A) can never be used inside buildings! They would hit the ceiling before having the chance to reach an enemy! For this reason, when you play a scenario that takes place inside a base (grey tiles), you cannot use any weapons with range A." (pg. 7) The FAQ has similar, but slightly different wording. There it says "Q: Can Artillery weapons (Range A) be fired from inside a structure? A: No. Artillery weapons fire in a parabolic trajectory. Any artillery weapons fired from inside a structure would hit the ceiling of that structure and explode, making it very dangerous for the artillery unit!" (pg. 8) The Operation Blue Thunder rules included with the Terrain Tile Set say this: "There are two types of terrain tiles: snow and warehouse. There is no gameplay difference between a snow tile and a warehouse tile, so players can use any combination of terrain tiles they like." (pg 2) It seems like these rules kind of contradict one another. I suppose it comes down to whether or not being on a base/warehouse tile counts as being in a "structure". I find it interesting that the very specific wording in Cyclone that artillery weapons can't be used in base/warehouse tiles is missing from the FAQ. Personally, I'd be inclined to stick with the Cyclone rules, because they seem more logical and force some variety in troop selection. But maybe I'm just biased because the Allies keep dropping Steel Rain rockets on my beloved Axis forces. What do you folks think? Is this another question for the rules gurus at FFG?

Is there any mention of night vision in Hades? We know that the Axis have it on their walkers, for example. It would be cool if the Axis player could add night vision to an infantry unit for, say, five points or something.

Major Mishap said: Any A3 unit combating any SSU unit will probably not survive. Well, maybe in close combat. At range, I certainly would bet on the Grim Reapers or Heavy Recon Grenadiers coming out on top.

Loophole Master said: Which reminds me of the interesting fact that ALL of the SSU armor 2 soldiers can hurt armor 3 soldiers in Close Combat. Interesting, I hadn't noticed that. They're probably trying to make for those crappy PPSh-48 submachine guns they all carry…

Loophole Master said: Johnny has been instrumental in bringing the Gunners back into my game. Badass turns the Gunners into a very effective little squad in the current state of the game. I think the Gunners also got a boost when the Type 3 infantry came out, since they actually have Kinves & Grenades while the Bot Hunters, Death Dealers, and Recon Boys all just have Knives. It makes the Gunner's a bit more of a threat against melee Type 3 infantry like zombies and apes.

Oh, it's definitely not just you. I think almost everyone who reads the aircraft rules and then looks at the stats for the SSU Ground Attack Helicopters starts to think about ways to abuse multiple activations in about 10 seconds. It gets really crazy when you combine a Helicopter with a Command squad. Because, then you could (theoretically): ROUND 1 (1) Deploy helicopter (2) Deploy Command squad. (3) Command squad reactivates helicopter. (4) Helicopter sustain attacks one or two enemy units and obliterates them. ROUND 2 (1) Win initiative. (2) Activate helicopter. Move, attack, and obliterate another enemy unit or two. (3) Activaite command squad. (4) Activate helicopter again. Sustain attack another enemy unit (maybe two) and wipe them out. Yes, the above does depend on some pretty lucky rolls with your command squad, as well as relying on your helicopter not getting blown out of the sky around the second turn of Round 2, but it's not as unlikely as, say, a Hermann taking out a Karl Marx in a single round. Just be glad that the SSU doesn't have any NCO Command Squads. At least they can't rearm the helicopters in the middle of battle. Sadly, it seems pretty clear to me that the game designers intended things to work this way. Why else would they give the SSU a hero that virtually guarantees they will win intiative every round? Of course, when more sides get aircraft, that will balance things a bit more, but I agree it will be kind of sad if you have to expect your two best units to get blown off the map before they can do anything everytime you play. The easiest solution is probably to play indoor maps--no helicopters there! Of course, that means no artillery, either (which may not be a bad thing, since they can be kind of cheap, too). But if you're expecting some sort of official "fix"? Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath…

Loophole Master said: If they'd only costed the Commandos ate 1 or 2 points less than the French, you could justify fielding them when your army list turns out to be one or two points too big. Yeah, I agree. The Commandos are sooooo much more cool looking than the Frenchies, too.

Loophole Master said: Got an official answer from Zach today on Yakov's Acid Thrower: "It is not a misprint. Yakov's Acid Thrower does not ignore cover." Well, that's that. I find it pretty weird that acid does not ignore cover, but there you go. SSU heroes overall seem generally weak and overpriced. Loophole Master said: Got an official answer from Zach today on Yakov's Acid Thrower: "It is not a misprint. Yakov's Acid Thrower does not ignore cover." Well, that's that. I find it pretty weird that acid does not ignore cover, but there you go. SSU heroes overall seem generally weak and overpriced. Who really picks Yakov for his damage output, though? He could be armed with nothing but a pointed stick and his Legendary Tactician skill would still make him worth 30 points. As for the other heroes, Winter Child sure looks worth every bit of his 65 points. That bloke is a monster. Koshka seems priced about right. Red Yana might be a little high--I don't know why she merits 20 points when she's basically Koshka with a better weapon and no ability to pilot a walker. As for Nikolai…hmm, haven't quite decided about him, yet. 26 points seems kind of a lot, but he does have a skill with unlimited uses. On the other hand, it only works for sustained attacks. Still, I can see him being really devasting behind the controls of a Matrioshka. The SSU heroes may just seem overpriced because a few popular heroes *cough*Lara*cough* are very much underpriced.

Definitely the Mao. It's by far the most versatile, since it's a threat againt infantry, armor, and aircraft.

Looks like they finally provided clarification regarding tracked vehicles: "Q: “Tracked Vehicle” is listed on one of my unit cards. Are there special rules for tracked vehicles? If so, what are they? A: Yes. Tracked vehicles, though considerably powerful, are not as agile as walkers. Due to their cumbersome nature, tracked vehicles cannot move diagonally." They also indicated that the Nikita is supposed to have the Reload skill for its weapon.

Kriegschatten said: Since corner cover is provided by both squares, there is no line of sight between X & C. This should have read "X & B". Stupid lack of an edit feature…

I believe that, in your example, X cannot attack B. I agree that it's not super clear from the rules. However, I'm basing my conclusion on page 10 of the Revised Core Rulebook. It says there "If a unit is adjacent to impassable terrain, it cannot target a unit who is also adjacent to impassable terrain when the units receive corner cover from different sides." Squares A & C in your example both count as impassable terrain. Since corner cover is provided by both squares, there is no line of sight between X & C. Thus, no attack is possible. For secondary evidence, look at page 9 of the Revised Core Rulebook. The example there shows how a unit cannot MOVE at a diagonal between two impassable terrain squares. I believe that the same logic applies to line of sight and attacks.

The Ubertoten Assault Squad has been added to the Axis product list for the premium miniatures. http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=131&esem=2&esum=185 They just have the usual super-tiny pic of the unit card, but it looks like they're definitely armor 3. Also, I think that they may have one line for normal Panzerfausts and a second for the leader's Panzerfaust 100, but that's a little hard to decipher. They're unit cost is also cutoff (of course). And it doesn't look like they have Fast, but it could just be on the portion of the card that was cutoff.

blkdymnd said: facebook Dust group. One of the guys played at the FFG event center last weekend and got the ruling from Zach. I also got an answer to my email confirming the same from Zach. Man, they're really trying get me to join the 21st century and join Facebook, aren't they? Oh, a question for those with Hades. What units are used as the "watermark" for the manual? For example, Seelowe had the Konigsluther while Zverograd had one of the SSU heavy tanks.

Fenton said: Man, if you spend over two grand in a year they should include free entry into a support group. LOL, too true! Although, looking back over what was released in the past 12 months, it would be very easy to drop $2K. I'm sure you'd have spent at least that much picking up one of each premium unit that was released. As I read over the announcement again, I'm particularly interested in the "you have access to a special section of the website where we offer very special items for members of the Dust Elite club only". Color me intrigued! I'm hoping it's stuff like units with alternate paint schemes or, better yet, things like a Loth pre-paint. That would rule!

Anyone else see this announcement over at dustgame.com?: "[T]oday we introduce a new and exciting feature for the Dust community: Dust Elite. This club gives access to our most special items and is at the same time a fidelity reward program. As you know now, we at Dust Studio always try to do our best to satisfy our customers. Thanks to your support, your fidelity and your commitment we can offer some of the best products in this industry. We are here for a long time and we hope that you will stay with us the whole way. Since you have given us so much, it is time for us to give back: the Dust Elite club and fidelity program is our way of thanking you. To become a part of this very exclusive club, you have to register on our website under the “Dust Elite” entry. The registration fee is 50 US$ for one year. Here are the advantages of joining the Elite: all orders are free shipping over 150 US$, instead of 250 US$ you can order all items on our website that are still in the “Pre-Order” section. These are available to you first and will be delivered to you before all other customers. you have access to a special section of the website where we offer very special items for members of the Dust Elite club only. Only you will be able to order these items. This line will grow over time. and of course you'll get welcome gifts! A special t-shirt of the Dust Elite club, personalized with your name or nickname (your choice). As well as an exclusive coffee mug, also personalized. When you enter the Dust Elite club, you will also automatically join our fidelity reward program. This program is based on how much you spend with us over the course of one year, starting with your subscription to Dust Elite. The subscription date will become your Dust Anniversary, which will be also the time to receive a special gift from us! There are three stages to this program, based on how much you spend: Silver, Gold and Platinum. If you spend more than 1.000 US$ during the year of your subscription, you will automatically join Dust Elite Silver status: you won't have to pay the registration fee of 50 US$ for the next year, but most of all you'll get a 10% discount on all purchase until your first Anniversary. You'll then start the next year already in Silver status (and again without registration) and retain the discount during that time. If you spend more than 1.500 US$ over the course of the year of your subscription, you will automatically be on Dust Elite Gold status: again you won't have to pay the registration fee of 50 US$ for the next year and you will then get a 15% discount on all purchase until your Anniversary. And if you spend more than 2.000 US$ over the course of the year of your subscription, you will automatically join Dust Elite Platinum status: again you won't have to pay the registration fee of 50 US$ for the next year and the discount will be bumped to 20%. If during the year after your first Anniversary you should spend less than 1.000 US$, you'll loose all special benefits. Note also that the benefits for each other status (Gold and Platinum) can be lost if you don't meet the requirements noted above: you'll then be downgraded to the former status (Silver if you were Gold and Gold if you were Platinum). Joining Dust Elite is a great opportunity to have access to all of our products before anyone else and at a great price. To become a member of the Dust family is simple: just click the button below and register on the Dust Elite page. See you there soon!"

I think it's called "Sustained Attack" in the rules, not "Sustained Fire". Take a look at page 7 of the Revised Core Rulebook. It's explained there. Essentially, though, the same unit can't attack twice during the same activation. Instead, they can use both of their actions to perform a "sustained attack" which allows them to do a normal attack, then reroll any blanks.

blkdymnd said: marcemtp said: I think rules for "tracked vehicle" are only for the dust warfare players since they have more options for terrian compared to the tiles we use in tactics. Tesla weapons are going to dominate infantry. umm, no. It's on the tactics cards. It was an oversight and has been explained that tracked vehicle means they cannot move diagonal. It was? Where was this explanation made?

I just got my premium Revised Core Set this week (yeah, me!), and I've been playing my way through the scenarios. Today I played scenario #3, "Forward, Men!". I had the Allies as attackers and the Axis as defenders. And the Allies just got slaughtered. Like, really, really brutally slaughtered. They didn't even manage to take out a single Axis soldier. Since the defender gets to place all terrain, and since the Axis outranges every Allied unit except the Death Dealers, it was easy for the Axis to set up a heavily fortified position at the end of the bridge and just mow down the Allies as they got near. I can see how a different Allied force could easily win this, but this scenario seems almost purposefully designed to be unwinnable by the Allied forces included in the RCS. Is my experience common, or has anyone actually managed to win this with an Allied attacker using only the RCS units?

Of all of the new units announced today, this is the one I'm most curious about. Do you think they will by Type 3 with Damage Resilient and Fast, like the other zombies? And what about weapons? Looks like they're carrying some sort of submachine gun. I assume that it will have stats similar to the SSU's PPSh-48. The blurb talks about the "new" MG-48 and Panzerfaust 100, but the MG-48 is the same machine gun that the Recon Grenadiers have. So, is the Panzerfaust 100 also the same as the Panzerfausts used by the other Axis infantry? The ones used by the two "normal" zombies look the same, but the one used by the leader appears to have a different tip. I suspect that these guys are going to be expensive if they have all of the normal zombie abilities--35 points, maybe?