Leaving GW in the Dust.

"Dear Warhammer 40,000,

I've been seeing someone new.  Yes, she's 20 years younger than you.  Yes, she's cheap and easy.  But she's fun, it doesn't take all evening to get some satisfaction and after a half an hour we're ready to go again. You're not who I fell in love with 30 years ago.  I hardly recognize you any more. I'll cherish the good times we had, and it was never all bad.  We can still spend time together, but I'm not going to keep spending all my time and money on you when all you want is more, more, more. "

"It's not you, it's me... No, OK, it is you, it's totally you."

That's my open letter to Games Workshop, and I'll tell you the reason:

    Recently, thanks to a friend at our FLGS, the store started carrying a new line: DUST 1947.  When I say "new", I mean new for us, because the game itself has been around for the last 10 years.  DUST could best be classified as a skirmish game - small matches may have as few as five models to a side, where full scale battles still won't have more than 30-40 models.  I had heard of it in passing, seen the models at other stores and thought it was cool, but didn't want to get involved in yet another game when I scarcely had the opportunity to catch up on my ever-increasing Pile of Shame.

Looking back, I wish I had, a lot sooner.  Here's why:

THE WORLD OF DUST

    DUST 1947 (previously known as Dust Tactics or Dust Warfare) is a "Weird War II" game set in a dieselpunk (the game's creator is fond of "panzerpunk") alternate history.  In the world of DUST, a covert faction of the Wehrmacht had discovered an alien spacecraft under the ice in Antarctica in 1936.  In addition to a fantastic resource known as VK (Vrill Kultir) they find a hibernating alien survivor.  They bring the technology and the alien back to Germany, where scientists seek to learn the secrets of this wondrous new material.  It is a power source and component of technology far more sophisticated than that of mid-20th Century Earth.  Think something like vibranium, I suppose.  The Axis use this technology to develop walkers, laser weapons, flying troopers and most frighteningly, to reanimate fallen soldiers and to turn gorillas into intelligent fighting troops.

    With these advances, the war on the Eastern Front goes very differently.  Stalingrad is overrun and conquered, the Soviet forces put on their back heel.  England is invaded, the war moving beyond the Blitz into fighting in the streets of London. Operation Valkyrie succeeds and Hitler is assassinated in 1943 by this shadowy faction within the German military, who then seize power and total control of the Axis powers.

    Russia forms a permanent alliance with China and the SSU (Sino-Soviet Union) is born.  The Allied powers of the United States, the British Commonwealth, France , Brazil and others also consolidate into a bloc.  Few parts of the world are not under the domain of one of the three major powers.

    Thanks to the daring and sacrifice of operatives in the Allies and the SSU, the secrets of VK are obtained and both powers begin to develop their own walkers and weapons technologies.  The Allies deploy heavy Rangers in flying suits of powered armor and troops armed with phasers - weapons that can destroy targets even through intervening cover.  The SSU perfect the technological ideas of Tesla weaponry.  Warfare as we know it is changed, and now in the year 1947, the war still drags on with no end in sight.

SO, that's the colorful and fascinating setting for this game.  It's a draw for historical gamers and sci-fi gamers alike.  It's reminiscent of Hellboy, Iron Sky, Bloodrayne, Dead Snow, The Rocketeer, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Captain America and so many other influences.  I was drawn to the walkers because of my lifelong obsession with powered armor and fighting robots - Battletech,  Dorvack and Maschinen Krieger among them.

    

    But there's more than just an interesting setting and cool looking units to this game.  Here are some of the many other reasons that this has become my new favorite game of choice and the target for my hobby spending:

1) The Rules:  The rulebook is available for FREE online, though those who prefer a printed copy also have that option.  It's a nice full-color book that's more affordable than most GW supplements, but it is not required.

    The rules are concise and elegant.  Special dice are used to determine the success if actions but there are only 3 symbols and in a pinch you could use standard six-sided dice if necessary.  Combat is straightforward - if a target is in range of your weapons, you can shoot it.  There are no range modifiers, rolls to wound, etc.  You roll a number of dice against the armor rating of the target.  Successes cause damage, the target rolls a save against that damage.  Hits and saves aren't variable from unit to unit or target to target so there are no charts to memorize or keep flipping back to.

    The playing surface is a grid of 4 inch squares, upon which movement and range are based.  When attacking a target, an imaginary line is drawn from the conveniently marked center of the attacker's square to the center of the target's.  If it passes through cover or the corner of cover (such as a wall) the target's save is improved against most weapons (other than things like flamethrowers and the aforementioned phasers). 

    The upside of this system is that there are no arguments about distance of movement, range, or line of sight. The game moves quickly because time isn't wasted debating and searching through charts. As a result, games go a lot faster - a 25-point starter game can be played on your lunch break, and a 100-point battle is done in an hour or two at most.  Plenty of time to get in another round of play!

    This system is very easy to learn to play. I read through the entire 160-page rulebook in one day and while I'd never presume to be an expert, at that point I was ready to teach others the game when the opportunity presents itself.

2) The Units: Aside from being interesting and full of character, the rules for the units are very clear.  Unit cards detail the statistics of each model or squad - its cost, movement, armor, health, and weapons.  When attacking, you look at the line for the given weapon and the column for unit type (infantry, armor or aircraft) and its armor value.  This shows you how many dice to roll on the attack and how much damage each successful hit will do.  It's about the only thing resembling a chart in all the game, but it's very easy to use.  The cards are coated so a dry-erase marker may be used to mark off damage, destroyed weapons, etc.

    These cards are also available in a deck, most can be downloaded from the web site, but most importantly, the free DUST Enlist app is kept current with the most updated versions of each unit's card.  You can tap on any of the skills or special rules for a unit to learn more about them.  And it contains an army builder that would make GW cry.  It works.  It's easy.  It's current.

The front and back of a Heavy Ranger Attack Squad unit card.

3) The Models:  The models are beautifully done 1/48th scale miniatures.  This makes it easy to source terrain from available WWII scale models, and some units are even simply converted historical armor (so you might buy a conversion kit to add a phaser to a Sherman, for instance).  They come pre-assembled and some of the older sets are even pre-primed.  They're ready for the table right out of the box and even unpainted models take a lot less time to finish.  Assembly and priming are my least favorite parts of this hobby.

    For purists, unassembled kits are available for many of the units in the game (and when available, they are somewhat less expensive).  But, best of all, for a reasonable upcharge, players can purchase the Premium models.  These are pre-assembled and prepainted by the studio to match the cover art on the box.  You might expect to pay a lot more for such a product but in most cases, they cost about twice what a ready-to-play, unpainted kit would go for.  In a previous article, I've already covered my reason why commission painters should usually ask for more than a model's value to paint it.  But the quality of the product is good and if you have the disposable income to afford it, you may prefer to go this route.  After all, as I mentioned in that same article, time is money.  If I couldn't afford to sell that level of work for that rate, it makes sense that buying it pre-painted might be better value for my time.

    Which leads me to the next big thing that DUST has going for it - and it's a BIG one:

This guy can punch. A PLANE. To DEATH.

 

4) The Price:  Those of you accustomed to spending exorbitant amounts on units or an army for Warhammer 40,000 will be quite disappointed - you won't see those kind of high prices in DUST!  For a standard 100-point army (the usual size of games in the USA) you'll invest right around $200.  And you'll generally only need three products to do so:  A starter box runs about $70 USD (more on that below), an army box (generally right around $100 USD) and a command squad (depending on the faction, this may vary but usually between $30-40 USD).  Of course you can add other individual models as your army changes or grows, but it has been a very long time since you could get a playable starting army for 40K, including rules, for $70 - and almost as long since you could get a full-sized force for $200.  As mentioned above, the rules and cards are available for free online and in the app (Note to DUST USA - Would it possible to incorporate a link to the rulebook within the app in future builds?)

Speaking of the Starter Boxes...

5) Everything You Need To Play:  As mentioned above, most of the various sub-factions among Axis, Allies, SSU, Mercenaries, the IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) and Mythos (did I mention Lovecraftian horror is a thing in this game?)  have a starter box available.  These generally sell for around $70 USD and contain a barebones force (around 25 points) that's enough to get started in small games.  Typically there will be one Hero, a squad of soldiers, and a vehicle or walker.  But wait, there's more!  You also get a mini-rulebook, a pamphlet with the details for the units from the box and rules for a special platoon they can form, the reusable unit cards, a set of 12 dice for your faction, a punch out sheet of counters, some 2-D terrain tiles, a tank trap and an ammo crate, and best of all... a 2 foot by 3 foot neoprene game mat.  It's nice and thin, folds easily and rolls out with no wrinkles, and when you place yours side by side with someone else who bought a starter, you have a 3 by 4 foot (or a 2 by 6 if it suits you) gaming surface that's ready for action.  This is an incredible value - you'd pay a lot more than that for the 40k equivalent.

   

The Task Force Rhino starter set.  Heavy Rangers with Jet Packs and Rocket Punch!

 

    When you are ready to upgrade your army and play bigger games, you can get an Army Box for your faction.  These tend to include one walker or other vehicle, a heavy weapon crew, and two or three infantry squads.  Add a Command Squad (which contains an officer, a medic, a mechanic and one or more Heroes) and you have a 100-point force ready to play.

    While there is not currently one available, DUST has produced several two-player box sets in the past, and as with the starters, they cost significantly less than a comparable GW product. 

The Allied Rangers Army Box is the perfect addition to your Task Force Rhino starter!

The Heavy Ranger Headquarters and hero OZZ-117

And the one thing that really pivoted me from 40K to DUST:

6) No Churn:  As I mentioned, this game has been around for 10 years and no unit has been banned from play or removed from the game.  Nothing is relegated to some "legendary" status that means it's no longer supported and no longer valid for competitive play.  No, sir.  If they sold a unit, it's still got a card and you can still play it.

    And because the stats and skills are all on the cards, and the cards are all free in the app, you don't need to buy a new supplement every time there's a new edition of the rules.  And because the rules are also free online (and in starter sets), you don't even need to buy the rulebook when there's a new edition (and they don't change all the rules every 2-3 years like GW does).

    So just to make it clear, the only things you have to buy to play DUST... are the models themselves.  The starter boxes provide you with everything else you might need, and anything else is purely optional.

IN CONCLUSION

    So, there you have it.  A half dozen very good reasons why I'd rather invest my time and hobby dollars into DUST rather than GW products going forward.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy 40k - I've been playing it since the very beginning, I love the setting and the models and the large (though often toxic) community of players.  But what I don't love is having to buy a new rulebook, as well as a new Codex for each of my armies, every 2-3 years.  In the past 12 months, I've spent more on new books for my Space Marines than I would spend for an entire army for DUST.   And more then once over the years, I've had to relegate a model to the display shelf forever more (or in one case, snapped the arms of half an army because the unit could no longer use that weapon).  

    So is this the end of 40k for me?  Not at all.  I have a couple armies I want to paint up, as well as a very fleshed out background for a homebrew Successor Chapter (to be featured in a future article).  There are even a couple of kits I want to pick up to supplement my existing armies.  But I won't be buying every new release available for Space Marines, and I won't be doing any new armies beyond what I've got  in progress already.

    Even with GWs skirmish games, my spending is decreasing.  I'll get the occasional kit for my Goliaths (I've always loved Necromunda), I'll keep up with Kill Team books unless and until they make me buy a new edition (then all bets are off) and as for the brand-new release of Blood Bowl?  Of course I'm buying the rulebook, but I don't need the new box set (aside from the Dwarf Referee!).  I have my Fort Tyr Miners and my Doomtown Rats.  I don't need more teams or yet another pitch.

    In all honesty, I can't say I'll spend less on DUST than I currently do on GW games, but I can be sure I'll get more for my money, both in terms of models and of mileage.

If anything I've mentioned appeals to your interest, I encourage you to look into the game, see if any stores in your area carry the game, and perhaps you can even find an existing player to teach you the game!