Monday, April 30, 2012

Dust Tactics League Play!! 04-29-2012



Nothing much to report outside of our league games. Preparing for Regional’s in Olympia next week and playing more catch-up games this weekend and finally previewing DUST WARFARE. Stay tuned for more updates!

Scenario 3, General Assault:
  • Attacker:
    Nicholas – AXIS: 247 points
    Grenadier X – Totenmeister – Lara – Markus – Axis Gorillas – Axis Zombies – Axis Zombies – Heavy Recon Grenadiers – Beobachter – Beobachter - Lothar
  • Defender:
    Justin – ALLIES: 250 points
    Bazooka Joe – Ozz 117 – Rhino – Grim Reapers – Grim Reapers – Hell Boys – The Boss – The Gunners – Pounder
Ozz and his Reapers thought it might be a good idea to move out and take the attack to the Axis! Unfortunately they were eliminated early in Turn 2 after taking hits from the Lothar and Close Combat with Markus and his Gorillas, all of which ignored the hard cover of the Tank Trap they were using. Turn 3 saw revenge exacted on Markus and his Gorillas, and a squad of Beobachters.  From here on out the Axis dominated the game and overwhelmed the Allied forces with a mass of targets to choose from, though the Allies did get a few hit in, just no full unit kills. Turn 5 saw the end of Rhino and his squad of Grim Reapers, The Boss, and the Pounder thanks to the undead units and the firepower that Lara and the Heavy Recon Grenadiers bring to the table. In turn 6 the Axis forces finished off Joe and his Hell Boys and the remaining squad of Gunner Rangers for a complete victory.

Victor: Nicholas – AXIS

Victory Points:
  • Attacker: 250 points 
  • Defender: 49 points

Scenario 5, Intrusion:
  • Attacker:
    Nicholas – AXIS: 249 points
    Grenadier X – Totenmeister – Manfred – Markus – Axis Gorillas – Axis Zombies – Axis Zombies – Sturmpioniere – Heinrich – Heinrich
  • Defender:
    Justin – ALLIES: 250 points
    Bazooka Joe – Action Jackson – The Chef – Red Devils – Hell Boys – Hell Boys – The Boss – Wildfire – Wildfire
This game is a perfect example of how to hand a victory to your opponent on a silver platter due to arrogance and cockiness…  Turn 1 saw the Axis utilize both Manfred’s and Grenadier X’s Assault ability. Each unit was adjacent to separate objectives. The Allies decided focus on Grenadier X and his Axis Zombies by deploying Chef and the Hell Boys into the objective square, completely eliminating the undead unit in the process!! Turn 2 saw Manfred and his Sturmpioniere’s capture an objective, but also took heavy fire from Joe and his Hell Boys, though they dished back a fair amount in return. Markus and his Gorillas charged into Chef and the Hell Boys, but not before a Wildfire reacted and scored a few hits on Markus. Markus and his Gorillas scored a decent amount of damage leaving 2 flamethrowers and Chef with 1 health remaining. Their retaliation was more than enough to finish off Markus and his Gorillas. Turn 3 saw the end of Manfred and his Sturmpionere’s and it looked as if the Allies had the victory in the bag. Only Totenmeister with her Zombies and 2 Heinrich’s remained for the Axis, and every Allied unit was still alive, if not a little worse for wear by the end of Turn 3. Turn 4 saw a Heinrich score a kill on a Wildfire, and it was the first kill for the Axis in the game! Action Jackson and the Red Devils came to an end at the hands of Totenmeister and her Zombies in Turn 5. Turn 5 also saw Chef and his Hell Boys foolishly move out of the objective space to try and escape fire from the Heinrich’s, who were approaching quickly. They managed to score a kill on one Heinrich before the end of the turn. Turn 6 saw the Axis capitalize on the Allies mistake of moving Chef and the remaining Hell Boys out of the objective, as Totenmeister broke off from the Zombies in an effort to capture the remaining 2 objectives in the next couple turns. Chef and one of the remaining Hell Boy flamethrowers saw their death in turn 6 as well. Turn 7 clinched the victory for the Axis. Joe and his remaining flamethrower made a despairate attempt to eliminate the remaining zombies before they could reach the objective. 4 of the Zombies remained in the squad, and Joe and the flamethrower threw everything they had at them. The flame thrower contributed 4 dice, and Joe’s Grenade Launcher and .45 ACP contributed another 3 dice to the attack… Only 3 hits were rolled and 2 were able to get past the Damage Resilience of the Zombies, and close combat saw the end of Joe and the flamethrower, but 1 zombie still remained... The remaining Hell Boy from Chef’s squad saw his end when the remaining Heinrich opened up fire, and the remaining Wildfire (with only 1 health point remaining) was quickly eliminated by Totenmeister after foolishly chasing the undead bitch to her objective. 

Not only did the Allies throw away an easy win, but they also lost in victory points even though, by the end of turn 3, the Axis were shut out in points and the Allies had great positions on the battlefield. Moving Chef and the Hell Boys, as well as taking the attack to Totenmeister with Action Jackson and his Red Devils were 2 of the major turning points in this game. Poor use of The Boss Squad also led to a humiliating defeat for the Allies… At any point the Red Devils or a Wildfire could have been returned to attempt to hold the last objective from the Axis.

Victor: Nicholas – AXIS

Victory Points:
  • Attacker: 208 points 
  • Defender: 168 points

Scenario 6, Descent:
  • Attacker:
    Justin – ALLIES: 248 points
    Bazooka Joe – Johnny One Eye – The Chef – Rhino – Ozz 117 – Grim Reapers -  Grim Reapers – Crack Shots – Hell Boys – Recon Boys - Mickey
  • Defender:
    Nicholas – AXIS: 246 points
    Grenadier X – Totenmeister – Lara – Markus – Axis Gorillas – Axis Zombies – Axis Zombies – Heavy Recon Grenadiers – Kommandotrupp – Beobachter
The action started instantly in the first turn, as Markus and his Gorillas made a charge for Chef and his Crack Shots unit, fully eliminating the unit/hero combination. Also in the first turn, Joe and his Hell Boys went for broke and took the fight to Grenadier X and his Zombies, fully eliminating the undead squad, and leaving Grenadier X severely wounded. However, Lara and the Heavy Recon Grenadiers were close by, and had little trouble routing out Captain Brown and his Hell Boys, who were doing their best to find cover behind an ammo crate. Ozz 117 and his Grim Reapers were doing their best to hold off Markus and his Gorillas by moving to close range and inflicting heavy damage, with the Mickey directly behind to back them up. Also in turn 2, Rhino and his Grim Reapers went Berserk and did a fine job of finishing off Lara and her Heavy Recon Grenadiers. The end of Turn 2 saw a bold move by the Allies, as the Mickey charged out of the deployment zone to obtain line of sight on the Kommandotrupp, who were sitting ducks to the Howitzer and .50 Cal MG. Grenadier X and Totenmeister and her zombies rushed into close range, with the hopes of winning initiative and eliminating the Mickey before it could do any harm. The Axis got their wish and Turn 3 saw them use their initiative to eliminate the Mickey. The Allies used this misdirection to advance Rhino and his Grim Reapers within Close combat range of the Kommandotrupp, while still keeping Grenadier X within range of their Dual Victory Machine Guns. The Allied unit made short work of both targets. Turn 3 also saw the end of Markus and his Gorillas at the hands of Ozz 117 and his Grim Reapers. Turn 4 was a bit of a stalemate as the Axis were regrouping, but Johnny and his Recon Boys took this opportunity to eliminate the Beobachters. Turn 5 saw a bold move by the Allies, who moved Ozz and his Grim Reapers out to go head to head with Totenmeister and her undead minions. The Allied unit was quickly dispatched in Close Combat, after inflicting minor damage to the undead unit. Turn 7 saw Johnny and his Recon Boys foolishly charge into Totenmeister hoping to finish off the undead unit, but instead the hero and his squad fell to their terrible Panzer-Gloves. It was a victory for the Allies at this point since Rhino and his Grim Reapers were still in the deployment zone, and completely out of range of the zombies to move in and attack.

Victor: Justin – Allies

Victory Points:
  • Attacker: 151 points 
  • Defender: 165 points

We had some great games and good progress on the league. Friday will see us return to Knightfall Games to play some catch-up games and preview Dust Warfare. And we will be back the following Sunday to continue our league schedule.

Good Gaming!!


Friday, April 27, 2012

Operation Zverograd Rulebook Released!!


The PDF format of the rulebook for the new Dust release is here! Still no date of release, but it should be out before the end of June, along with the rest of the SSU units!



Also, for those involved with the World Dust League, or those interested in joining, stay tuned for news on the world wide Operation Zverograd League. Don't forget to submit your games and support your factions rise to victory!!

Good Gaming!!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Dust Tactics League Night! 04-22-2012


April 22nd saw the start of the Portland Dust Tactics Group’s first League Campaign. We chose to start with Operation Blue Thunder v2.0, available in the Terrain Tile Set. This includes 3 extra missions, making the total number of missions 11. Each player in the league will play through each scenario twice, once as attacker and once as defender. That’s a total of 22 games for each player in the Blue Thunder Campaign! There will be a “League” tab added soon so that we can communicate League Nights, as well as a leader board for the campaign, etc… The rotation is simple and allows for new players to enter the league up until the 6th mission. We will be tracking the Blue Thunder Campaign for our leaderboard, using the standard tournament scoring system. In addition to the Leaderboard we will have an overall tracking system during this time for each player in the league who chooses to submit any games fought during the duration of the campaign (ringer armies, demo games, etc…) so those who are putting in a lot of games can be recognized for their efforts. There is much more to the league, and stay tuned for more updates soon!

Now, enjoy the battle report!!

Unfortunately our first day of league play also saw our first absence. Mr. Sisk was unable to make it, but his battle reports will be coming next week as we catch him up on his games during the week and next week’s league event.


This first rotation was Nicholas vs. Justin in Scenario 1, Reconnaissance: 
  •  Attacker:
    Nicholas – AXIS: 93 points
    Heinrich Light Walker – Kommandotrupp – Sturmpioniere
  • Defender:
    Justin – ALLIES: 80 pointsHoney Light Walker – BBQ Rangers – Bot Hunters
The first few rounds were fairly quick and uneventful. Turn 4 saw the Allies take a bold move and run their BBQ Rangers up to the Heinrich and Kommandotrupp. The Advanced Reactive Fire on the Heinrich scored a few hits on the Rangers before they could attack. They scored no hits on the Heinrich, but nearly eliminated the Kommandotrupp, leaving only the Commander alive. The Honey and Bot Hunters had a decent exchange with the Sturmpioniere’s, which eventually saw them eliminated, with heavy losses to the Bot Hunters. By turn 6 the Heinrich was in a good position to eliminate the Honey, leaving only a single M9 Bazooka on the board for the Allies, which was eliminated before the end of the turn, securing a victory for the Axis.
Victory Points:
  • Attacker: 80 points
  • Defender: 27 points

The second rotation was Justin vs. Nicholas in Scenario 2, Patrol: 
  • Attacker:
    Justin – ALLIES: 250 points
    Action Jackson – Bazooka Joe – The Chef – 13 Foxtrot – BBQ Rangers – BBQ Rangers – Corps Officers – Crack Shots – Crack Shots – Red Devils – Steel Rain
  • Defender:
    Nicholas – AXIS: 250 points
    Grenadier X – Lara – Markus – Stefan – Totenmeister – Axis Gorillas – Axis Zombies – Axis Zombies – Beobachter – Heavy Recon Grenadiers – Heinrich
Blood was drawn from about the second or third placement of the first turn and pretty much didn’t end until turn 4. Totenmeister and her Zombies came on the board and immediately went to attack the Crack Shots, eliminating them with little effort. However, Chef and his BBQ Rangers would not stand for this brutal overkill and came in ready to fight. With 3 flame throwers and 4 shotguns at their disposal the undead unit was easily dispatched! In their blood lust Chef and the Rangers made a fatal error… They should not have moved onto the board in the open. They should have gone behind the wall to gain the cover advantages and absence of LOS to the enemy deployment zone! I say a fatal error because Lara and the Heavy Recon Grenadiers placed and quickly eliminated Chef and his Rangers, who were sitting ducks to the 5 MG 44 zwei’s saturating their position with fire… Markus and the Gorillas saw themselves eliminated at the end of the first round by Joe and his BBQ Rangers who rushed their position looking for a fight! Turn 2 saw Lara and the Heavy Recon Grenadiers repeat their previous performance and eliminate Joe and his Rangers, who were also lacking any form of cover. 13 Foxtrot brought artillery down upon Lara and the Heavies, softening them up a bit. Turn 3 saw the end of 13 Foxtrot, while the Corps Officers were taking care of Stefan and his Beobachters, as well as the Axis Zombies belonging to Grenadier X’s command. But then Lara and her Heavies made short work of the Corps Officers, making her unit the MVP of the game! However in turn 4 it was finally Action Jacksons’ time to shine with what was left of the Red Devils after a brutal beating from Lara and the Heavies in turn 2. Revenge came down upon Lara and the Heavies, ending their mighty 3 turn reign of terror. While the Heinrich made easy work of the heavily wounded Action Jackson and Red Devils, there was nothing it could do to hurt the Steel Rain! Moving within 3 squares of the Steel Rain rendered the allied vehicle useless, so the rest of the game finished with little else happening. In the end the Allied forces scored more points, and therefore gained a victory!!!

Victory Points:
  • Attacker: 224 points
  • Defender: 212 points

Two other games were played that do not count toward the Campaign, as they were out of rotation.

Justin vs. Nicholas in Scenario 1, Reconnaissance:
  • Attacker:
    Justin – ALLIES: 80 points
    Honey Light Walker – BBQ Rangers – Bot Hunters 
  •  Defender:
    Nicholas – AXIS: 93 points
    Heinrich Light Walker – Kommandotrupp – Sturmpioniere
The Axis pretty much stomped the Allies with ease in this game. Turn 3 saw the death of the Honey at the Hands of the Sturmpioniere’s, Bot Hunters eliminated by the Kommandotrupp, and BBQ Rangers eliminated by a reactivated Sturmpioniere. That was literally all that happened in the game… Victory to the AXIS!!!

Victory Points:
  • Attacker: 0 points 
  • Defender: 80 points


Nicholas vs. Justin in Scenario 2, Patrol:
  • Attacker:
    Nicholas – AXIS: 250 points
    Grenadier X – Lara – Markus – Stefan – Totenmeister – Axis Gorillas – Axis Zombies – Axis Zombies – Beobachter – Heavy Recon Grenadiers – Heinrich 
  • Defender
    Justin – ALLIES: 250 points
    Action Jackson – Bazooka Joe – The Chef – 13 Foxtrot – BBQ Rangers – BBQ Rangers – Corps Officers – Crack Shots – Crack Shots – Red Devils – Steel Rain
This was just as bloody as the previous run through, but lasted much longer. Action Jackson had a good game with a kill on the Heinrich in turn 2. Chef and his BBQ Rangers were able to score a finishing blow on a hurt Grenadier X and his Axis Zombies at the beginning of turn 3. Joe and his BBQ Rangers were boosted in turn 2 with a stim pack and made a very unsuccessful attempt to eliminate both Totenmeister and her Zombies in conjunction with Stefan and his Beobacthers. Turn 3 saw an the end of an exhausted Joe and BBQ Rangers. Turns 4 and 5 saw Lara and her Heavies eliminate Chef and his Rangers, a successful reactive fire attempt by the Corps Officers to eliminate a Charging Markus and Axis Gorillas, and Totenmeister and her Zombies eliminating the Red Devils and leaving Action Jackson sorely injured. Action Jackson was able to get revenge on the Zombies, but Totenmeister remained elusive, but he came to an end when Lara and her Heavies split their fire 3 ways to eliminate the Allied hero and both units of Crack Shots. Turn 7 saw Lara and the Heavies eliminate the Corps Officers, but not before they did a heavy amount of damage. The Steel Rain was useless except for its .30 cal. Machine Gun, which was enough to finish off Lara, but not the Heavies. Turn 8 ended with the Steel Rain on the board for the Allies, but 1 Heavy Recon Grenadier, and Totenmeister for the Axis, giving them the victory!

Victory Points:
  • Attacker: 215 points 
  • Defender: 200 points
Enjoy the pictures! We will be back on Sunday the 29th at Red Castle catching up on League rotation and on the look for new players!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Dust Day Olympia


Dust Day in the Pacific Northwest at Olympic Card and Comics in Lacey, WA. Included in this post will be pictures from that event, a small write up from Jason McFarland (event organizer) and army lists from each player. The Portland League had a wonderful experience at this event and look forward to the Regional Event next month. Enjoy and Good Gaming!!


April 14th, 2012 saw the fantastic phenomenon known as Dust Day reach into the Pacific Northwest, specifically Olympic Cards and Comics in Lacey, WA.  We continued the trend originally started in Argentina.  The tournament had 12 people in all compete for the Golden Hot Dog trophy.  The event also included a painting competition, a Dust Tactics demo table, and a table that featured other Dust related merchandise such as their 1/6 figures, graphic novels, and the original Dust board game.

The Dust board game saw a bit of attraction and the demo table saw a lot of action and helped develop a few new players in the Olympia area.  

The painting competition saw some great models.   Bill Stanchfield's diorama like units and heroes were the talk of the competition.  He walked away with the awards for both Best Hero and Best Unit.  John Sisk's 'KV-1' took the prize as the Best Vehicle.

The crown jewel of the day was definitely the Golden Hot Dog Open.  3 Swiss rounds, 250 points.  It was a very competitive field. The split was 5 Allied players and 7 Axis. The lists showed a ton of variation from one player to the next.  The 3 rounds saw a Take And Hold mission.  This mission had an objective counter in the middle of the battlefield which yielded 10 extra victory points to whoever controlled it at the end of each turn.  The second mission was called Breakthrough.  This mission allowed double victory points to the owning player for each of his units he was able to get off his opponents deployment edge.  The last mission was Escort.  This mission gave a 'diplomat' to each player to attach to one of their units.  The mission was to kill the opponent’s forces, but keep your escort alive.  If the unit that your escort was in was destroyed, the attacking player received triple victory points for that unit.

The competition was fierce, but in the end Portland Oregon's own Justin Tyrrell walked away with the Golden Hot Dog trophy.  Justin was one of two undefeated players on the day, both undefeated players using Allied army lists.

We had a good mix of players with the main group who plays in Olympia/Lacey, a couple players from Tacoma, WA, and 3 players making the drive up from Portland, OR.  Big thanks of course go to Gabrielle Shepherd-Trautmann and the staff at Olympic Cards and Comics for supporting our event.

No rest for the wicked though, as May 12th will be bringing the only West Coast Dust Regional Event to the same venue!  See you there next month!

~Jason McFarland 

Contests, Prizes, and Other Goodies:




Dust Day in action:



Awards:

Tournament Winner - Justin Tyrrell 

Hero and Unit Painting Competition Winner - Bill Stanchfield

Vehicle Painting Competition Winner - John Sisk

Army Lists and Placement:

1st Place - Justin Tyrrell (Allies)
Record: 3-0 
944 total VP
Bazooka Joe - OZZ-117 - Rosie - 13 Foxtrot - BBQ Squad - NCO Command Squad - Crack Shots - Grim Reapers - Fireball

2nd Place - Craig Gelhert (Allies)
Record: 3-0
580 total VP
Rosie - Mickey x 2 - Pounder x 2 - Steel Rain x 2

3rd Place - Larry White (Axis) 
Record: 2-1 
751 total VP
Grenadier X - Markus - Totenmeister - Axis Gorillas x 5 - Axis Zombies x 2

From here, we just have the placement and army list:

4th Place - Axis 
Record: 2-1 
704 total VP
Angela - Lara - Markus - Sigrid - Axis Gorillas - Beobachter - Heavy Laser Grenadiers - Laser Grenadiers - Sniper Grenadiers - Heinrich - Ludwig

5th Place - Axis 
2-1 
652 total VP
Markus - Sigrid - Axis Gorillas x 2 - Axis Zombies - Heavy Laser Grenadiers - Laser Grenadiers x 2 - Ludwig

6th Place - Allies
Record: 1-2
664 total VP
Action Jackson - OZZ-117 - 13 Foxtrot x 2 - NCO Command Squad - Crack Shots x 2 - Red Devils - Tank Busters - The Gunners x 2 - Steel Rain

7th Place - Axis
Record: 1-2 
654 total VP
Angela - Sigrid - Axis Zombies - Kommandotrupp - Laser Grenadiers - Sniper Grenadiers - Strumpioniere - Heinrich - Ludwig

8th Place - Allies
Record: 1-2
638 total VP
Rhino - Grim Reapers x 2 - Tank Busters - The Gunners - Honey - Hot Dog - Steel Rain - Wildfire

9th Place - Allies
Record: 1-2
572 total VP
Johnny One-Eye - Death Dealers x 2 - Grim Reapers x 2 - Hell Boys - The Boss - The Gunners x 3

10th Place - Axis
Record: 0-3
499 total VP
Axis Zombies x 8

11th Place - Axis
Record: 0-3
384 total VP
Grenadier X - Lara - Sigrid - Stefan - Axis Zombies - Battle Grenadiers - Heavy Laser Grenadiers - Laser Grenadiers - Recon Grenadiers - Sniper Grenadiers - Strumpioniere

Ringer army due to odd players. This was his:

Axis
Heinrich - Lothar x 2 - Ludwig x 2 - Luther x 2