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september 2016

dust monthly
Contents
The Dust Monthly Crew ...................................................................4

editorial..............................................................................................5

Dust Monthly Magazine Vision........................................................7

New Releases..................................................................................10

Magnetized Bases ..........................................................................12

Head Swaps ....................................................................................14

Earn your Reinforcements ............................................................22

A Tale of Three Gamers .................................................................27

september 2016
Getting some Marines done...........................................................30

ASAP!...............................................................................................30

Dust European Championship Best Painted Model Contest......32

Dust Warfare Dustification ............................................................41

Japanese Dust Army ......................................................................48

Why I play on the Grid....................................................................53

Ch..ch..ch..Changes .......................................................................56

Dust Painting Challenge ................................................................63

Barrage ............................................................................................68

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dust monthly
The Dust Monthly Crew
This issue of DUST Monthly Magazine
was brought to you by:
Editor in Chief
Joe McLaughlin

Contributors
Brian Sherry
Joel Hillhouse
Daniel Woodley
Krzysztof Kaczurba
Scott Robertson
TJ Van Der Werf

september 2016
Bob Sennick
Richard Busby Sr

Special Thanks
Marco Inverno - for getting me back issues of the magazine
Rick Ivansek - for invaluable help with figuring out how to do graphic design

Names and artwork are © 2015 Dust Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Dust Tactics, Dust Tactics: Battlefield & Dust Warfare and their logos are trademarks of
Dust Ltd.
Images and trademarks used with permission.
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dust monthly
editorial
I’d like to start this new edition of Dust Monthly Magazine by talking about change.
When we have big changes in our lives people will often give us the advice that “Change
can be painful, but change can also be good.” When people tell you this advice and you
are going through the “pain” part of change, you want to tell them to get lost. Later, when
you reach the “good” part of change you can look back and realize that they were right.

I’d like to discuss three changes that are happening in the Dust Community. The first
change is with people’s lives. The people who put together the Dust Magazine each
month are just fans. They are not compensated for the work that they put into it, other
than to have the satisfaction of sharing their excitement of the hobby. These people have
real jobs, real families and all the stress that comes with those. People will join the
magazine staff and contribute and help for some time, but then their lives change. Maybe
work or family becomes more involved and they have less time they can contribute to the
magazine. Maybe they become burned out by writing articles and just want to step back
from the magazine for some time.
september 2016

One individual who has been working on this magazine from the very start is Floris
Hussaarts. For many years now, Floris has been writing up articles and providing content
for the magazine. More importantly, Floris has been doing all of the coordination, editing
and publication of the magazine for that entire time. Floris was also solely responsible for

september 2016
the website, forums and all of that administration. That’s a lot of time and work each
month that he puts into the magazine, purely because of his excitement and enjoyment of
the hobby.

As I said earlier, however, people’s lives change and their priorities can sometimes
change. Because of life changes and shifts in life priorities, Floris has decided to step
away from the Dust Monthly Magazine. We are all very sad to see him leave but hope
that he will join us again in the near future.

This brings me to the second change I’d like to discuss: a change in the Dust Magazine.
The remaining contributors discussed what we should do to continue, or IF we should
continue. Floris had such a critical role on the team that we didn’t know if we could fill
his shoes. After much discussion, we have decided to give it our best shot. I’m going to
take over some of the roles that Floris previously provided and other roles will be shared
among the other contributors. We have written up a vision for what we want the
magazine, and the website, to provide. I’ll be sharing some of that vision in the coming
pages. But this change isn’t going to come over night and there’s going to be growing
pains. I’m busy getting new content from contributors from across the globe and I’m
putting together the new format for the magazine and the website. The magazine is going
to have some growing pains for some time, but I hope it becomes something that might
provide real value to the Dust community. Have patience with us and please provide us
any constructive feedback. 4
dust monthly
The last change I’d like to discuss is the changes to the game itself. By the time you read
this, the new rules will have been out for over two months now. We are also looking
forward to new rules, templates, tokens, and models. I was on the Facebook groups when
the new rules came out and I saw the controversy and heated discussions. I know many of
you have strong feelings about these changes, but I think these changes are also starting to
usher in a new and exciting era for the Dust Game and the Dust Community. Without
change, the game would stagnate and our interest would move to the next shiny new game.
There are a lot of changes yet to come and lots of great things to look forward to.

As I said earlier, change can be painful but change can ultimately be a good thing. With
all of these new changes to the game and changes to our magazine, there’s going to be a lot
for us to discuss in this and future editions of the magazine. I’m hoping you join us for
those discussions as we start this new journey.

Joe McLaughlin
August 2016

september 2016

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Dust Monthly

dust monthly
Magazine Vision
By Joe McLaughlin
In order to build a product, you have to how to store and transport your models and
have a vision. The vision is not a promise how to display your models. There will be
of what we want to build, but an idea that discussions on third party kits that can be
we can strive to achieve. “dustified” to create new and exciting
models in the Dust Universe. These
Our vision is to create a product that will articles will have step-by-step instructions
help focus the efforts of the Dust on how to assemble and paint the model.
Community and bring a positive experience The new vehicles will also have unit cards
to the Dust Universe and Hobby. We mean for both Dust 1947 and Dust Warfare. We
to promote Dust 1947 in both the grid would also like to include some battle
based and gridless rule set. We also intend reports featuring these fan created vehicles.
to promote Dust Warfare. We may expand
to promote Dust Adventures RPT in the Instead of just leaving the fan created
future. We mean to do this through both vehicles in a particular magazine, we intent

september 2016
the magazine (in an online readable format to create an index of these fan created
and a downloadable PDF) and the vehicles on the website. If you later want
associated website. to go back and use a model that was
featured in a previous month magazine,
Each month, the Dust Magazine team will you can quickly search for it in the index
bring together information on events that and get the assembly and painting
have happened in the past month, including instructions, as well as the unit cards.
Dust Studios events like Gen Con, as well
as fan hosted events, like the Dust World
Expo and the Dust Off events. We will
also discuss and help promote upcoming
events. We will discuss new releases and
publications from Dust Studios. We will
also try to bring you highlights of Dust fan
accomplishments from around the world,
such as a photo gallery of models that dust
fans have submitted from the previous
month.

We will be providing some instructional


articles. There will be many painting and
modeling articles. There will be articles on 6
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We also intend to include instructional We will have regular articles that explore
articles on tactics. “Armchair General” the Dust Community. We will have
type articles that demonstrate certain Spotlight articles that might feature an
tactics. We will have articles that feature a interview with a particular member of the
certain unit and discuss the pros and cons of Dust Community, discuss an active Dust
the unit and how it should be used in a Group, or an article about a particular game
game. We may have “head to head” store or event. We may feature a game
articles where we compare how two units finder or player index. We will discuss
would perform against each other, such as a how people around the world are playing
“Pounder versus Ludwig” article. the game. What is the community like in
Poland? What do they play in Australia?
We want to feature custom scenarios and
campaigns. Much like the fan based We will be trying to bring in battle reports.
models, these will also be stored in an Lots of battle reports. We also want to
index on the website, so that you can bring in fan fiction. Original stories set in
quickly refer to a fan based scenario. We the dust universe.
may try to drive fan hosted global
campaigns via the website. Overall, we want to build a product that
will provide a monthly “fix” to Dust
We will also explore the idea of Hobbyists as well as keeping us all
supplemental or optional rule sets. We educated on what is going on in the

september 2016
have had discussions on “sewer rules” or community. The product will also
rules that allow for troop quality of your “unofficially” supplement the Dust
units. (Green troops would cost one point Universe with contributions from our fans
less but would only roll one dice when and other hobbyists. This should help
clearing suppression.) Again, these fan promote more positive growth in this hobby
based rules would be in an index. which we all enjoy.

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september 2016

Send your submissions or ideas to:


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CONTACTUS@DUSTMONTHLY.COM
dust monthly

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september 2016
New Releases
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dust monthly september 2016
dust monthly
Magnetized Bases
By Joe McLaughlin

Like many of you reading this article, I foam) touching the model. Additionally,
have a good size collection of dust deploying your forces from a magnetic
miniatures. Once your collection reaches a storage system is very fast and efficient.
certain size, you need to find a good
solution for the safe storage and transport However, one major problem that users of
of your miniatures. Recently, the magnetic systems encounter, is keeping the
Independent Characters Podcast did a magnets on the bases of their miniatures.
segment (Episode 133) entirely dedicated There are two competing forces at work.
to storage and transport solutions for One force is the magnetic attraction of the
miniatures. Although their podcast is magnetic to the metal tray. The other force
dedicated to Warhammer 40K, the episode is the glue attempting to keep the magnet
is quite relevant to transporting Dust attached to the model base. Sometimes the
Miniatures. magnetic force is stronger than the force of
your glue and, when you pick your model

september 2016
In the realm of model storage and transport, off the tray, the magnet stays with the tray
there are two major schools: Foam and and not the model.
Magnetic. The foam solutions (KR
Multicase, Battlefoam, Sable, etc) use form Fortunately, Dust models have this
which can be crafted to snugly hold your covered. If you ever look at the underside
miniatures. This is probably the safest way of one of the model bases, you will see a
to protect your miniatures, especially if small notch. The round disk at the bottom
your going on long trips, such as air flight. of the base is not glued to the base and can
However, the major downsides are that the be easily removed with a hobby knife or
foam itself can damage the miniatures or small regular head screw driver.
their paint. Additionally, deploying your
armies from a foam solution can be time
consuming.

The other alternative is magnetic storage.


The major player in this realm is TableWar.
Their storage solutions have metal trays
and templates. In order to use this solution,
you must put magnets on the bottom of the
bases of your miniatures. The miniatures
then magnetically “stick” to the metal
trays. The miniatures can then be safely
transported without anything (including 11
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Once you open the bottom of the base, you Although you could use glue to either fix
will need to file out the center section. the magnet to the center of the base or use
Most of the time, this center indention has a glue to cement the disk back to the bottom,
small bump in it that will prevent the proper I did not find that I required either and did
placement of a magnet. Simply file this off this entire solution without any glue.
and place the magnet in the center of the
indentation. I’m using 3mm magnets in my Now that you are done, your miniature will
bases. have a light magnetic attraction to any
metal. I found that the magnetic attraction
was enough to hold the miniatures in place
in a TableWar tray. It wasn’t strong

september 2016
enough to hold the miniature to the tray at
extreme angles, like ninety degrees or
upside down, but for normal movement, it
was more than sufficient. Because the
magnet is inside of the base, you don’t have
to worry about the magnet detaching from
the glue on the base. Nor do you have to
worry about any base “wobble” caused by a
magnet that isn’t seated properly.

Finally, pop the disk back on to the bottom


of the base. If the magnet is in the
indentation when you put the bottom back
into place, this will snap right back into
place without much effort. If the magnet
has moved, you will want to open it up and
reposition the magnet back to the middle.

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Head Swaps
By Joel Hillhouse

One of my favorite things about collecting miniatures is to modify figures. It's just
something in me that insists on mixing it up a bit. Heck, I used to even cut up my
green plastic army men from time to time just so that none of them looked exactly
the same. Sometimes it's just seeing a certain pose on a figure inspires me to try to
make it stand out a bit, I can even see the expression that would be on their face in
my head. That's when I grab my x-acto knife and head for the bits box.

One of the easiest things I've found you can do to mix it up a bit is a simple head
swap. I actually do quite a bit of head swapping so I've got a small container with
lots of heads from various manufacturers. I've found one of my favorites to use are
the heads from boxes of Bolt Action figures, especially the newer ones. Usually I
find they have very expressive faces which really help for characterful figures.The
hands an other body parts can be used at times but that's a whole other article
although some of the basic techniques used are the same.

september 2016
Even though they are 28mm due to the overblown proportions of their heads they
scale up pretty well and don't look too bad alongside Dust miniatures.

So let's get to it. These are the things you'll need: The Dust figure you want to
convert, the replacement head, a hobby knife with a fresh blade, a pin vise, 2 bits
sorry I don't know the size. They were bought so long ago the packaging with the
sizes is long gone 1 bit is just for drilling a pilot hole the other for the actual
mounting hole, superglue ( not shown) but preferably the gel gap filling type and a
round toothpick.

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Here's the head I've decided on using for this figure. You can see in the photo on
the right that there is really no neck and it's slightly rounded at the bottom of what
is there.

september 2016
First thing is that we’re going to have to make it flat so it's easier to drill the hole
for the pin. You can use a file to do this, but I've always used a knife because for
me it goes much faster.

It doesn't show real well but if you zoom in you can see how the bottom is flat now.

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Next you'll want to mark the center of the neck where you will be drilling. Mostly I
will try to keep the hole centered but there are times when due to the pose or turn of
the head it works out better for me to have it off center. You can use a fine point
marker which I suggest if you're doing this for the first time, I normally just mark
the spot to drill with the tip of my hobby knife.
september 2016

The first thing to do is look at your figure and see how much of an angle the hole
will need to be. Unless the figure is standing straight up, drilling the hole straight
into the neck will leave them looking at the ground. I have to admit I just eyeball
the angle, while not precise it works fine for me. You can always enlarge the hole a
little bit to an extent to adjust the angle.

Now we start drilling, first use your smallest bit to make a pilot hole for the largest
bit. This is necessary to ensure that when drilling your final hole the larger bit
doesn't skip off center when starting the hole and it goes in nice and straight. You
don't need to drill very deep, just enough to start the larger bit. If it does drill off
center there are ways to correct it a bit. The larger bit only needs to be the size of
the upper portion of the toothpick, not the larger size center part which you'll see in
a following photograph.

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Once the hole is drilled it's time for the peg. Clip off the tip of the toothpick so that
it fits into the hole, the other end can be clipped where the full width of the
toothpick begins. I usually clip the peg a little longer than necessary to begin so that

september 2016
I can look at the fit and angle with enough extra to in case I need to adjust. The
large portion of the toothpick will fit into the hole on the body pretty snug so the
first time you insert it you may have to force it a little but after that it should fit
perfectly.

Now place the head on the peg sticking out of the body and check the angle of the
head to make sure everything looks right. If the head is not aligned correctly take
your hobby knife and ream out the hole a bit until you can get it at the right angle.

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I will typically glue the head to the peg while it is sticking out of the body, another
reason for the extra length. . This way I can make sure the head is glued in the exact
position I want it to be. In the following picture it's not the same head as I forgot to
snap a pic but you can see what you'll wind up with. The peg is off center on this
one, but it was intentional to help with the tilt and position of the head I wanted.
september 2016

With all of that finished, clip the new peg to the height it needs to be.

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All that's left now is to flesh out the neck with green stuff. I’ll normally set my head
conversions aside and do as many green stuff necks at one time as I can.

I know I'm showing a bunch of sculpting tools but in general I use the two in the
middle most of the time. Take your green stuff and roll I out into a thin string. Once
you have that cut off a tiny piece as shown to make the neck from.

Roll the little piece around the peg and smooth it out blending the top into the
september 2016

plastic of the head. Once that's done, take a sharp knife and trim off the bottom
portion so the green stuff doesn't bunch up when putting the peg into the hole on
the figure’s shoulders.

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Place a small drop of superglue into the the hole on the shoulders and slide the head
into position. With everything the only thing left is to smooth out any edges if
necessary.

I’ll admit that a lot of the time I'll glue the heads in and sculpt the necks while in
place but I'm sharing this method because it's a little easier to sculpt the neck if
you're just starting out.

september 2016
There you go simple head swaps complete and a unit of Mustangs finished up and
ready for paint.

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dust monthly september 2016
dust monthly
Earn your Reinforcements
A Scenario by Joe McLaughlin

Editors Note: This is a very fun


scenario. I’ve had some of the best
games I’ve ever had play testing this
scenario. This scenario is similar to
scenario 3: No Retreat from the rule
book. Unlike that scenario, in this one
the attacker does not come into the game
with his full army. He must capture
objectives on the map in order to get
additional reinforcements.

An aggressive attacker could have a


large force attacking early in the game if
he captures the right objectives. An
aggressive defender could prevent the
attacker from getting any reinforcements

september 2016
until the defender delayed reserves come
in and provide the defender with
numerical superiority.

Storyline
“The new commanding officer was a
political appointee. Apparently he knew
someone who knew someone and that helped him get his position right out of military
academy. He had only been with us for a few weeks now. He had kept his space from
the men. Nobody knew where he was. In meetings, he seemed indecisive on his orders.
There were long pauses as he thought about the situation. When he finally did make a
decision it normally started with ‘Well…’ or “Ummm….’. Then he would ask for
everyone’s opinion and would either accept whatever decision was in the majority or
whoever spoke loudest.”

“Orders came down from the top. We were ordered forward into enemy lines. We were
to spearhead forward and take an objective just inside enemy lines. Fortunately, for
once, we had an abundance of forces available to us. We easily outnumbered the
defenders by almost two to one. This should have been a piece of cake.”

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“We met in the CO’s tent. He handed me a list of units I’d be taking into combat. The list

dust monthly
was less about half of the forces we had available for the attack! I raised an objection,
stating that we had more than enough forces to completely overwhelm the enemy position.
The CO gave a long pause and then responded with ‘Well….we are really not sure how
good our intelligence is. The enemy….ummm…could have a lot more forces than we
think. And….ummm…I’m not willing to commit everything without knowing exactly what
is out there. You get half the forces we have available. Depending on how well you do,
I’ll release more for you.’”

“I raised my objection but he continued with the same argument for about fifteen minutes.
I was just going to have to go in there and show some progress so he released the rest of
my reserves before we took too many casualties. I was going to have to earn my
reinforcements.”

Special Rules
· Delayed Reserves
Setting Up
· The players use the crate models from the original or revised core Dust Tactics sets
to represent the objectives of the game. You will need three crates for this scenario.
· The 6’ by 4’ table is arranged and players will enter along the long edges of the
table. Terrain is setup on the board using normal rules.
· The board is split into four zones, labeled A through D. Each zone is 18 inches long
as shown below. Zone A is from the attacking player’s table edge to 18 inches into

september 2016
the board. Zone B is 18 inches into the board to the halfway point on the board.
Zone C is from the halfway point in the board to 18 inches from the defenders edge.
Zone D is 18 inches from the defenders table edge to the defenders table edge.

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· The defender and attacker both place one objective in zones B, C and D. These
dust monthly
objectives must be more than 8 inches (range 2) from any table edge.

In this picture, the dice represent the separation of zones B, C and D. There are two
yellow tree objective times in zones B and C. Zone D has two brown tiles.
september 2016

· The attacker starts the game with a 50% bonus in unit points over the defender. In
other words, the attacker’s army will be one and a half times the size of the
defenders army.

Deployment
· At the start of the game, the attacker may only bring in half of his army. The
remainder of his army will be in reserve. (See special rules)
· The attacker does not deploy any of his army at the beginning of the game. His
forces must move on to the table, from the attacker table edge, on the first turn.
· At the start of the game, the defender may only bring in half of his army. The
remainder of his army will be held in delayed reserve.
· The defender may deploy his forces within Zone D of the map. He must deploy
more than 8 inches (range 2) from either side table edge.

Winning the Game


· The game immediately ends when the attacker takes one of the objectives in Zone
D.
· The attacker wins the game if the attacker has not taken one of the objectives in
Zone D by turn 8.
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Special Rules

· The objectives in Zones B and C can only be captured by the attacker. However, he
must capture these like normal objectives. This means that the defender can contest
the objective if within range 1 at the end of the turn.

· Once the attacker captures one of the objectives in Zone B, he may bring on 50% of
his reserves in the following turn. There is no need to roll dice for these reserves.
Reserves move on to the board along the attacker’s table edge.

· Once the attacker captures one of the objectives in Zone C, he may bring on 100%
of his reserves on the following turn. There is no need to roll dice for these
reserves. Reserves move on to the board along the attacker’s table edge. Note that
the attacker does not have to have any of the objectives in Zone B captured in order
to do this.
september 2016

The Attacking Allies quickly swarm on one of the first objectives in Zone B, intent on quickly
getting reinforcements.

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The allies eventually take the objective, and free up reinforcements, but at great cost.
september 2016

The Steel Guard setup a stiff defense to prevent the taking of the objectives in Zone C. They held the
Allies at bay for several turns but underestimated the speed of the Allied walkers. A cobra on the left
flank marched move right around the defenders and was able to take one of the unguarded objectives in
Zone D for the win!

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A Tale of Three Gamers
Part One of a series by Daniel Woodley

I've been playing Dust Tactics and Battlefield with two of my friends for a few years now.

september 2016
We all have pretty large collections with each of us representing one of the three main
Dust blocks. Like many players however, we haven't gotten around to painting much of
it!

We had this idea for a project that would encourage us to work on our models in unison.
Over the next three months we have set ourselves the challenge of painting three units per
month and then meeting up to play a game using only the models we have painted so far.
This will allow us to begin playing with a small painted force which will grow each
month until it becomes a sizeable army. Over the next three editions of Dust Monthly
magazine we will be sharing our progress with you.

We aren't going to concern ourselves with points costs (AP). At the time of writing we are
only a month or so from the release date of the new Dust 1947 rulebook and cards. Who
knows how AP’s may shift with the next edition. Instead we will specify what unit types
we need to complete each month. In this way we will be building roughly symmetrical
forces so that our games will be balanced in units, if not in points.

We want to be able to play a small game of Tactics at the end of the first month. With this
in mind we decided that the first wave should consist of two infantry units and a light
walker. Of course however small it might be, every military force needs a leader. So to
kick the project off we have each selected a hero. In many ways our choice of hero will
determine the theme and play style that our armies will follow. To keep things balanced
we have limited our options to the Soldier 2 Heroes only. 26
dust monthly
For this challenge I will be in control of the Axis. I have taken Manfred to lead my army as
I'm planning on building a Wehrmacht platoon. Manfred has always been my favourite
Axis hero as I like his style of play. He is best employed bolstering an infantry unit rather
than taking on the enemy single handed. I didn't have the model for Manfred so I decided
to made my own using the officer's legs from a Laser Grenadier unit and the body and
head of a Ghost unit leader. I added an extra Panzerfaust to his back to remind my
opponent (and myself), that he has an unlimited supply!

september 2016

Taking the role of SSU commander we have Fil. Here are his thoughts on his choice of
hero:

"I struggled to make up my mind which Hero I would use. This is because I mainly play
with command squads and I was unsure who to pick. After ruling out Koshka and Nikolai
because I didn’t want my walker loosing actions whilst I was making command roles; I
was left with the choice of Red Yana or Yakov. In the end I decided on Yakov, not only is
he an officer but with 5 wounds and damage resilience he will help my units survive
longer. Of course another sulfur jet is never a bad thing!" 27
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And finally we have our Allies player, code name: Hazyboy.

“To lead my force I broke with my own tradition and went for the Allied stalwart that is
Bazooka Joe. Normally I never leave home without the deadly but visually impaired
Johonny One Eye and even though it was a wrench to leave him behind, I think his
abilities only work better in the smaller games. Even though he does put out a lot of anti
infantry damage I fear that as the games get bigger he may start to become redundant.
Bazooka Joe's extra initiative dice will always come in handy whatever the size of game,
well that’s the theory anyway…”
september 2016

So that's how the Heroes line up. Please join us next month to see how we get on with our
first wave of units which will consist of the following:

2 Soldier 2 Units
1 Light Vehicle (up to V3)

In the meantime here's a sneak peek at what I'll be working on.

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dust monthly
Getting some Marines done
ASAP!
Part One of a series by Joel Hillhouse

I've always been an Axis player but I knew the day would come when I would need a
second army. I did paint up a small bunch of Allies from the revised core set but they just

september 2016
never really grabbed ahold of me. Then the USMC started coming out and after looking at
the units and the cool figures I knew that i’d found my second army.

I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted to do with them visually and conversion wise
pretty much all at once, which is pretty unusual for me. In fact Scott Robertson’s Japanese
which are featured in this issue gave me plenty of inspiration for basing and conversion
ideas for a jungle theme, after all what is more iconic than a Marine fighting in the jungles
of the Pacific.

Growing up reading Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos as well as Captain Savage
and Sgt Rock comics as a kid I wanted a really characterful bunch so with Machete Mack
in charge, Gunny Mack and his Leatherneck Marauders was born.

Over the past months I've picked up USMC units. The Diver starter, The Mack army box
as well as numerous walkers and extra units. The problem is that they've all just sat on the
shelf. Other than converting and painting Mack, the Mustangs and a unit of Devil Dogs I
haven't had time to get working on them. I've decided I need to make the time and that
time is now.

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With our local post starting to pick up members and doing demos for the shop, things are
starting to get busy. My queue of painting isn't getting any shorter so it's time to get to
work and finish them up in a short time period and not take 3 years like my Axis,which
still isn't done. So for the next couple of months all of my articles will probably cover
some aspect of my project whether it be painting or modeling such as head swaps which
I'll cover in this issue. The techniques will be applicable to anything, you'll just be seeing
USMC. This way I can kill two birds with one stone so to speak by getting a project done
ASAP while hopefully still delivering quality articles. I've got a lot of conversions to do
and I m a slow painter so I'm a poor judge of time but hopefully it won't take more than a
few months.

Comprised mostly of the Diver and Mack boxes, I think the units are varied enough to give
me a good force to work with in addition to what's already been painted. Up on the
painting table are: Diver, Firestarters, Mavericks, Saints another Devil Dogs unit, Artillery
Scouts, Leathernecks and Choppers supported by a Bushmaster, a Mickey/Pounder light, a
Barking Dog light and because I hate them so much as an Axis player a Six Shooter -98
pts. Unless things change with the new cards. I know I could make up a couple of points
by not taking the light versions of the walkers but I'm a bit of a fluffy list player and I
think those fit the theme of being in the hot jungles of the Pacific. In the future I'll add a
Devastator and probably some air support but for now, this will do to get things started.
In the articles to come hopefully you'll find something useful or inspirational for your own

september 2016
personalized armies.

Now it's time for me to get building. See you next month!

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Dust European Championship
Best Painted Model Contest
An article by Krzysztof Kaczurba
Dust Tactics ruled in Warsaw during first weekend of June.
Players from Poland, Sweden and Germany met around battle-tables during Dust European
Championship. Marek Laskowski was responsible for whole event organization and
tournaments (European Championship and 50 points tournament for beginners). He did
everything at the highest
level. Players and modelers
spent two great and
unforgettable days just
playing, meeting friends,
discussing about models and
bright future of Paolo
Parente Dust47.

Moreover we had amazing

september 2016
guests; Paweł Makuch from
Monstroys, one of the Best
Polish Painter and two crazy
guys, Paolo Parente and
Olivier Zamfirescu. As far
as I remember they have
something in common with Dust Studio ;). Paolo presented nears plans concerning models
and fractions. Olivier talked about rules renewal. Who was had a chance to hear about quite
advanced, very attractive projects and concept.

As usually Best Painted Model Contest was held during ours Championships. Like a year
ago, I had a pleasure to conduct it. Within this article I would like to focus on contest for
modelers and leave Marek opportunity to describe what happened on the battlefields.

Rules of contest were slightly modified compared to previous year. I decided to increase
the number of main categories and this year we had three. Models competed in following
categories: Dust Universe Heroes, Infantry and Vehicle. Each participant could issue only
one model in each category.

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Finally around 30 models were in the contest. Quality of models and techniques were very,
very good. Some nice and interesting modification was presented. New participants brought
highest quality and mixed the rating. I really like, that this year we had much more officers
and infantry units compared to previous contest. It confirmed that decision to split Infantry
category into two separates (Dust Universe Officer and Dust Universe Infantry) was bull’s
eye. Moreover very cool happened that some participants decide to prepare dedicated models
for Best Painted Model contest. I do not want to go into details but that kind of approach
usually prove itself.

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Our guests were in jury of contest. They worked very intensive during Sunday lunch break.
All models were evaluated separately by Paolo, Olivier and Paweł. After that guys have to
agree on the final results. And believe me, it was a challenge to choose the best models.
Finally, after long discussion, Jury pointed out winning models and these which took sec-
ond and third place in each category of the Best Painted Model contest.

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And The Winners Are….
dust monthly
Dust Universe Hero

First place for Ally Heavy Armored Officer made by Łukasz Łagód. New buddy in our
Warsaw team, Łukasz had double debut. He participated first time in our Best Painted
Contest and played first Dust Tactics games ever. Łukasz prepared model specially to our
Championship.
Second place for Marcin Kucharski and his Koshka. Third place for Marek Kramarczyk
Frank “Red Monster” von Stein. Frank looks more like Envoy of the Hell nor Blutkreuz
Experiment. Like him J.

Dust Universe Infantry


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Congratulation to Michał Poręcki, who brought very cool Red Devils and just won J. Red
Devils have worn out armory in white camo and heavy used phasers. Great way to finish
details, for sure the best among all infantry units.
Marek Laskowski Axis Gorillas took second place.

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Third was Death Rays unit customized by
Wendel Ernstzen. Wendell made lots of
modifications and paint whole his AXIS
forces in Finnish camo. The idea is
brilliant. I have to say that was the most
climatic army set.
This particular model is based on
conversion of soviet 37-mm anti-aircraft
gun model, made by Ukraine company UM
in 1/48 scale, and Dust Studio Death Rays
unit. To be honest, even if Wendell said
that model wasn’t finalized before contest
and still needs some work, all concept is
very well planned and realized.
I can’t forget that there is no strict
limitations concerning any customization of Dust models. We can work on modifications
and still play these models because of very customer oriented approach of Dust Studio and
coolest group of positive freaks, very addicted to the Dust47.

Dust Universe Vehicle

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My Tropical Hermann won, but I want to focus on walker which was the second. Marcin
Jakubczyk Ludwig is one of the best Ludwig which I have seen so far. First of all there was
a concept behind this model. It’s captured walker painted in Russia camo and even battle-cry
is written in Cyrillic. Moreover he used several techniques but still model isn’t exaggerated.
Very, very nice model and it’s easy to see the amount of work and time dedicated to this
project.

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Third place obtained to Lavrentiy Beria made by Marcin Kucharski. The tank was painted
perfectly as well but have something special. Big searchlight was fully working and
illuminated terrain in front of the tank. I think that searchlight influenced on the jury decision.

Moreover we had
special awards…
Vox Populi
Each participants could
vote on chosen model.
This way we players
chosen the best model
according to their
decision. The biggest
number of votes
received to Lavrentiy
Beria made by Marcin
Kucharski. Therefore Marcin scooped up Vox Populi award. Tank deserve it. J

Grand Prix
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It was suggested by Paweł Makuch. He


mentioned me, that most of “professional”
modelers contest have such an award. So we
entered Grand Prix to our contest, and this
year we had Monstroys Grand Prix with very
valuable award founded by Paweł. It is
painting chosen officer or walker by Paweł.
The very first Best Painted Model Monstroys
Grand Prix received my Tropical Hermann.

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Many thanks…
Many thanks to all participants and congratulations to the winners. Just now I invite you for
the next year edition.
Also I would like to thank you our partners and sponsors; Dust Studio, Troll TV, Monstroys,
ThorMiniatures. Without your support we wasn’t able to organize such a contest.
Next year edition will be extended by additional category dedicated directly to players. After
contest I had several discussion which made me realized that Special prize for Best Painted
Army during tournament may increase propensity to paint tournament army. Still I don’t
know how in practice to manage such a contest. But I will find a way J
After European Championship I had a chance to conduct short interviews with Łukasz and
Michał, our Dust Universe Hero & Dust Universe Infantry champions. I hope to publish
these interviews in next Dust Monthly issue
…to be continue

Krzysztof
email me, if enjoyed it: contact@dustbrothers.pl
september 2016

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dust monthly september 2016
Dust Warfare

dust monthly
Dustification
An Article by Scott Robertson
SSU Armored Vehicle Dustification
The discovery of VK technology through the medium of a captured Axis walker had
revolutionized the way that the SSU developed their armored formations. New
designs for heavy tanks and medium and heavy walkers had quickly made the solid
T34, KV and JS chassis out dated and virtually redundant. This was seen by many
military experts as a waste of valuable resources and ways to use these tanks for
the war effort was seen as a priority vital for success. The most popular and
accessible way to utilize the tanks was to make them into armored personnel carriers
or APCs.

The Axis forces had used their SDKFZ range of armoured halftracks very suc-
cessfully in the early years of the Russian campaign and had supplemented them
with the new Katzchen; Prinzluther and Sturmprinz. The SSU had a huge man-
power pool to draw upon but losses on the Eastern Front alone had been horren-

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dous. These losses were especially heavy amongst the experienced
battle-hardened veterans who trained to fight with the new SSU tanks and walk-
ers. High ranking SSU officers wanted another way to support their armoured as-
sets whilst keeping casualties to an acceptable SSU level. It was some unnamed
but innovative engineers from the famous Red October tank factory in Stalingrad
who came up with the basic APC designs during one of the many battles for the
city. These engineers took damaged T34 and KV tanks; removed their turrets,
added extra armour, infantry handles and numerous machine guns and sent them
back into battle manned by factory volunteers to support their armour in the street
battles for the city. Following many interviews with the survivors of these battles
SSU armour specialists settled upon the design for the T34 and KV APCs, thus
the BTR 100 and BTR 200 were officially designated.

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The BTR 100 was a design based upon the T34 chassis and was the most radical
of the conversions with the engine moved from the back of the vehicle to the front.
Whilst a major change with much work done on the gearbox, the move allowed a
relatively spacious infantry compartment with room for 6 fully equipped soldiers inside
and 6 hanging onto rails welded along the body of the vehicle.

The removal of the heavy turret allowed extra armor to be added to the front and
sides making the BTR 100 a vehicle that could survive on most battlefields (T4 D4).

The BTR 200 was a much easier design based upon the KV chassis with the removal
of the turret and the creation of an infantry compartment with space for 6 fully
equipped soldiers. Some additional armor was added to help survivability on the
battlefield (T4 D4 with damage resilience). The limited number of KV chassis
compared to that of the T34 has ensured that the BTR 200 is used in SSU armored
companies as a command vehicle. The vehicle has been fitted with additional radio
equipment designed to keep the numerous and effective SSU artillery constantly in
touch and on call.

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The limited but ever increasing production of the BTR 100 and 200 will one day see
the SSU Armoured and Armoured Infantry Regiments reach the same levels of
professionalism displayed by the much feared Axis Panzer Divisions.

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Dust Warfare: Allied armoured vehicle Dustifications
The discovery of how to use VK technology by Allied forces did not mean an
automatic change to new combat vehicle designs, even in the manufacturing
powerhouse of the USA. Non US Allied countries especially UK; Canada and
Australia had been producing conventional tanks and armored vehicles for years
which supported their forces across the globe. Suddenly new Axis and SSU walkers
started to appear on the battlefield and there was now an urgent need to upgrade
conventional designs to enable them to continue fighting until VK advanced armored
units arrived.

There were numerous battlefield modifications made by the Allied mechanics, some
were successful but many failed dismally. It was usually simple design modifications
that worked the best. The Australians took their Bren Carriers and up-armored them
and added a quad 50 caliber machine gun (T2 D3). This was a simple modification
as the Aussies had already started to mount 2 pound anti-tank guns on them and
the chassis was not overloaded. These very fast machines were used to great affect
against the invading Japanese units in the far north of Western Australia. Small
platoons of 4 vehicles would use their speed, maneuverability and firepower to hit
supply lines and infantry units in the open terrain.
september 2016

The versatility of the Aussie Bren Gun Carrier design saw many factories in Canada,
India and the United Kingdom continue to produce the versatile weapon platform.
The addition of a VK enhanced engine and armour in June 1946 meant that heavier
weapons could be carried and speed maintained or even enhanced (T3 D3). The
new carriers were very popular with the Allied forces in North and Central Africa
and were used in their old role as reconnaissance or fast attack vehicles. The VK
enhanced vehicle was especially popular with the Australian, New Zealand and
British SAS units hitting the long supply routes of Axis forces in Africa.

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The successful upgrading of the Bren Gun Carrier encouraged engineers to at-
tempt the same thing with the thousands of M3 and M5 halftracks in the Allied ar-
senals. The new Allied walkers still needed direct support by infantry and the
halftracks were the only armoured vehicle available in large numbers able to keep
up with the fast moving walkers. The open topped vehicles were, however, very
susceptible to indirect artillery and mortar fire and casualties amongst veteran in-
fantry were overly high in barrages whilst the walkers remained virtually un-
touched.

The most expedient upgrade was to enclose the open top in several inches of light
but strong VK enhanced steel (T3 D4). This simple upgrade and the addition of
numerous 50 calibre machine guns meant that the M3 and M5 halftracks contin-
ued to be seen in great numbers on most Allied battlefields. The halftracks were
usually deployed in platoons of 4 with one being an upgraded platoon command
vehicle with additional radios for battlefield command.

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Fully armored APC models were also created to work closely with the heavier tanks
and walkers of the armies who had once been part of the British Commonwealth.
Britain, Canada and Australia used the thousands of obsolete Crusader Tanks as
fully armored troop carriers. The Turret was removed and a simple enclosed
armored box was fitted onto the chassis without a need to move or modify the engine
in any way. The vehicle was equipped with several 30 and 50 caliber machine guns
for local de fence however the high speed of the chassis was its best protection (T4
D4). These APCs were used in large numbers in North Africa, Northern Australia
and may have even been present in the British Armour ed units deployed in Iraq.
september 2016

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Dust Warfare: Axis armoured vehicle Dustifications
Since the discovery of VK technology Axis forces have made rapid advances in the
use of this valuable commodity. Despite being the leading user of VK material the
Axis forces face the very same problem of supply and demand that has beset the
Allied and the SSU military.

The worldwide battlefields and weapons of 1947 have ensured that most Axis tanks
and APCs were now obsolete without some type of modification. The Axis who had
pioneered the use of Armored Personal Carriers within their Panzer and Panzer
Grenadier divisions now had to face the cold hard facts that their numerous APCs
(SDKFZ 250 and 251s) could not survive on the modern battlefield.

Axis engineers designed new weapons to replace these out-dated models. VK


enhanced models such as the new Katzchen; Prinzluther and Sturmprinz began to
hit the battlefields in support of the Panzer regiments but never in the numbers
required. Captured modified Allied halftracks gave the Axis engineers the impetus
to carrying out similar modifications upon their fleets of existing SDKFZ 250 and
251 APCs.

The improvement was made by the simple addition of a VK enhanced steel enclosed
structured provided reasonable protection against artillery, mortar fire and small
arms fire (T3 D4). The addition of firing ports enabled the infantry squad to engage
september 2016

the enemy without exposing themselves. Despite modifications the APC is still only
lightly armored and relies upon its speed, firepower and close co-operation with
tanks and walkers to survive on the dangerous battlefields of 1947. These
modifications have enabled the hard bitten Panzer Grenadier regiments to provide
close and effective support to the proud Panzer regiments of the Axis forces on all
fronts.

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The modified APCs have been very effective on the open steppes of Russia and
Asia and they are especially valuable on the battlefields of Africa and the Middle
East. The simple field addition of proper dust filters and wider tracks has enabled
the APCs to advance with and even outrun the walkers and tanks of the NDAK. This
enhanced mobility and reliability in the harsh conditions can mean the difference
between survival and death.

september 2016

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dust monthly
Japanese Dust Army
An article by Scott Robertson

Having always been interested in the battles in the Pacific during WWII I decided
in late 2014 that I wanted to add some Japanese figures to my Dust collection to
battle against the new Allied Marine troops coming out from Dust Studios.

Some simple planning about the look and components required was undertaken
and then I set about collecting what was needed for this every growing project.
The conversions are very simple ones but there are numerous pieces needed
which does become a little expensive if you do not play another WWII game and
cannot use the remaining pieces.

september 2016

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Components

1. Axis Dust legs from the Type 2 models


2. Torsos from the Wargames Factory Samurai box.
3. Warlord Games Japanese plastic box for backpacks, water bottles, ammo
pouches, heads and some weapons.
4. The Assault Group Japanese light machine guns.
5. Dust Axis weapon sprue (available from Dust Studios).
6. Axis Laser troops with a head swap.
7. Samurai Heroic Resin heads from Puppet Wars range to convert Type 3 Axis
troops.

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Construction
I decided to model the Japanese forces on the units listed in the Axis Army lists.
Units

1. Remove the torso from the Dust Axis model (Battle Grenadiers or Pioneers).
2. Assemble an armored torso from the Wargames Factory Samurai box set and
glue it to the Dust Axis legs (using Superglue).
3. Attach arms, heads and LMG from the Warlord Games Japanese box set (using
plastic glue). There are only a few LMGs in the box but the pewter ones from
‘The Assault Groups’ should be used after the plastic ones have used up.
4. Attach backpacks, pouches and water bottles from the Warlord Games Japanese
box set.
5. Base figures with a combination of plastic plants easily available on Ebay or from
the fish tank section of Pet Shops. Many terrain pieces from Pet Shops are very
useful for Pacific tabletop games, the large piece in the army group photo was
source from there.
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Group shot of the army so far (8 squads of Type 2 and 3 units of type 3 to paint)

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Japanese type 3 unit using Puppet Wars resin head swaps

september 2016

Type 2 Laser troops with head sway from West Wind Secrets of the 3rd Reich range

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september 2016
Type 2 converted unit as discussed in the text

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Why I play on the Grid
An Article by TJ Van Der Werf
I prefer the grid. That just feels good to get off my chest. I can now move on with my
life having disclosed that deep dark secret, I prefer to play Dust Tactics on the grid. The
nice thing is that I am not alone in that preference. Here in Phoenix, AZ at Post 1 we
tend to play only gridded Tactics. We have since Version 1. Honestly, I think that I just
got lucky in that sense, because as everyone has seen looking at the online numbers,
grid-less seems to be the way to go. So while there are a few of us who like the grid we
do still seem to be the minority, which is fine. So why do I like to play on the grid?

I wish I could disclose some deeper more introspective or insightful reason as to why I
prefer to play on the grid. However, for me, the reasoning is simple. I am not a tabletop
gamer. In my entire nerdy life, I had never played a single table miniatures game before I
picked up the Dust Revised Core set in 2012. I grew up with the Games Workshop
catalogues that my friends and I would decide which armies we would run (I was Space
Marines, duh), but we never purchased any figures or a rulebook. I loved the concept of
tabletop games, but I just never got into them. Then Dust came along.

september 2016
Now I picked up Dust for several reasons: 1) I am a huge history and sci-fi buff, so
alternate World War II was a really cool concept to me (and they looked cool) 2) the
models came assembled and the Revised Core Set had everything I needed to get started
for two players 3) I missed the model painting that I did as a kid (so this was an excuse
to get back into it) 4) my wife, son, and I were getting ready for a holiday weekend to
visit my father at his cabin and I thought it would be a fun game for my wife and I to
play. Well my wife didn’t play at all that weekend (or for another year and a half) and by
the time I played my first game I had
read the rules 10 times and had
painted all the miniatures. So that
was my introduction to Dust. Since
then, I play almost weekly with my
friends from Post 1, I have competed
in Dust World Expo three times,
played at a few other shows, and
have made friends around the
country from this game. I really do
love Dust. Once again, I digress; I
am supposed to be talking about the
grid.

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So why do I like the grid? I love the simplicity of it. I really enjoy the fact that I can look
at the map and see what’s going on and start planning my moves. I don’t have to try and
pre-measure, or risk giving away my strategy by busting out the tape measure. I can
simply look at the board and see where I have line of sight, I can count my range, and I
know immediately if I am in cover or not. It’s all right there in front of me. Not only can I
check important things like movement, LOS, and range all in my head but it’s pretty
definitive. Playing Warfare or 1947 off the grid has always felt to me like so much is up to
interpretation (and yes I have played them all). I have never once experienced a situation
where there was a disagreement on if a unit could shoot at another. I have never had one
figure just barely sticking out of cover (when viewed from a particular angle) and therefore
expose the entire unit. Just about every time there is a “disagreement” one side simply
didn’t see something and when its pointed out i.e. ”there is a tree there” the discussion is
over with. I play Dust a lot like I play chess, planning my moves out the best that I can in
my head. I don’t see how I could do that without constantly having my tape out and
potentially giving away my diabolical plans. A good-old Leeroy Jenkins is useless if the
other side knows its coming!

I love the look, feel, and playability of Dust 1947. Having seen this game through each of
its iterations, I really do enjoy the new version. We finally have a game that is the same
both on and off the grid. Rules directly translate and players will no longer be split into
two categories of play. We can now just be Dust players. Even though I may still enjoy the
simplistic and definitive nature of the grid, I am no longer limited to it. With Dust 1947 I

september 2016
am much more capable of being able to grab a pick-up game off the grid and still be
competitive (more importantly I won’t be so annoying constantly asking my opponent how
to do things or trying to cheat!). Next time I will take a deeper dive into those changes
from Dust V2 to Dust 1947 and really spell out the differences and how they will change
how everyone plays the game.

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dust monthly
Ch..ch..ch..Changes
What’s new in Dust 1947 and Dust Battlefield 1947
Commentary by Brian Sherry

Change can be frightening. But we here at Dust Monthly Magazine are here to
help you adjust! Thanks to the hard work of Richard Busby and Joe McLaughlin, we
present here a (hopefully?) comprehensive list of changes to Dust Battlefield. I will add
some commentary explaining and commenting on them.

At the outset, I want to make it clear that, in my view, not a lot has changed in the
game. If you loved Dust V2, you should love Dust 1947. I have seen a number of folks
online claim that the game is “watered down” or “not a simulation anymore.” To them I
say: NUTS!

First, a tabletop wargame is never a “simulation” it is an approximation at best,


and really it is a game. Second, take a look at this list below: there are more added rules
than there are removed ones. Dust 1947 objectively added complexity to the game

september 2016
overall. So please, play these rules at least several times before you reject them as
somehow “watered down”, because I think that assertion is empirically false.

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· Terrain types changed; difficult terrain reduces movement by half instead of
capping to 8"/16" (pg. 19). There are more terrain types defined in the rules.
Swamp and mud can cause you to go half your normal move rates. Roads,
however, can actually allow units to move faster than their maximum move rate.
This change makes terrain movement reduction more meaningful. Units could
often breeze through terrain previously. More terrain types=more detail.

· Half-Tracked, Tracked and Wheeled Vehicles no longer take tests to see if


difficult terrain stops their movement (pg. 19-20) Tracked vehicles now have no
disadvantage vs. walkers except in rubble terrain. This matches the storyline
explanation of walkers as urban combat experts.

· A unit can use all of their weapons on their card during an attack. This means that
a unit with Panzerfausts and Assault Rifles can fire both during an attack action.
Previously, you had to pick one or the other. (pg. 29) This makes infantry a bit
more powerful. You can let off all your panzerfausts in the same turn you fire all
small arms.

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· Suppression: After a period of community feedback, Dust 1947 retains the same
suppression rules as Version 2, with one exception. 10 hits from a single attack no
longer automatically pin a unit. (p.31-32)

· Skull damage now inflicts number of wounds on damage track for Damage
Resilient purposes (pg. 31) No more “you dropped a nuke on me but I have one
box left so I have a 33% chance to live” for SSU tanks. DR is much less powerful
for tanks now but makes much more intuitive sense.
· When doing an attack at range one, the attacker can now do a sustain attack using
ranged weapons OR do a sustained attack using close assault weapons. Previously,
you could do both. (p.33) This allows you a choice of re-roll madness at close
range. You can do one or the other with sustained attack re-rolls.

· Faction Bonus +10% army total value for Hero purchase (pg. 38) DUST Studios
is encouraging but not requiring the fielding of faction-specific forces by providing
this bonus for “pure” faction armies.

· Captured Vehicles list expanded (pg. 39) More good news for Beutepanzer
enthusiasts!
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· Heroes take Suppression (pg. 40 by omission) Heroes and their units (unless they
dust monthly
have another rule) are now more susceptible to suppression, making it a more
effective mechanic.

· Heroes cannot join Units mid-game and once they leave a Unit may not join
another (pg. 40) So now you have to make hard choices with your heroes. Where
do they belong for the battle?

· Heroes cannot Pilot Vehicles mid game; if they leave a Vehicle it is considered
Destroyed (pg. 40) Same idea: choose a role for your hero at the game start.
That’s where they will be staying.

· Expanded Platoons (pg. 42-102) More options for obtaining a platoon advantage.

· Unit coherency reduced to 4" circle (pg. 104) This one is controversial, I know.
But it’s dead easy. The unit leader represents the “focus” of a squad. This really
speeds up play.

· Range now drawn to and from Squad Leader (pg. 106) This speeds up play. One
measurement for the whole unit is all you need. No need to fiddle with the HMG
september 2016

guy.

· LOS now drawn to and from Squad Leader (pg. 107) There has been an
enormous amount of angst over this, I know. In my view, it’s very simple: If you
can see my squad, it can see you. Exact positions of individual models doesn’t
matter. Picture a squad moving around in covering, crawling for a better angle,
etc., and it should make sense to you. This accomplishes two things: 1. Hands
down it speeds up play by reducing the need to measure LOS and range 5 times per
squad. 2. It makes the transition from grid to grid-less almost seamless. Don’t
knock it until you try it!

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· Aircraft now can see and be seen by any unit not in a building in addition to those
within 4” of an Opening (pg. 108) This eliminates the arguments over aircraft cover
we had in version 2. I know about t because I always took SSU helicopters. Easy:
they can always see and be seen except for rare instances.

· Blast Weapons now must hit Unit Leader to damage Unit (pg. 109) This is
consistent with the new range rules and overall should not have a big effect on play.

· Mixed Blast/Dice weapons vs. Soldiers/Vehicles damage both with one attack (pg.
109) Artillery gets better as it can now affect multiple target types. Most players I

september 2016
know thought arty was underpowered in V2 so I think this is a step in the right
direction.

· Cover: to be in cover a unit needs to be half obscured by blocking terrain from the
LOS of the attacking unit. (pg. 110) Although this interacts a little clumsily with
leader LOS, it’s easy to apply and remember. If half or more of the models in the
unit or a vehicle half or more obscured gets the cover save.

· Expanded Scenarios (pg. 113-129) Who doesn’t lie more scenarios? Personally I
play with more terrain than is recommended here but that’s my own taste.

· Wrecked Vehicles can be cleared by Engineering Actions (pg. 130) A nice


crunchy option for your engineer units.

· Critical Hits added to Vehicles (pg. 130) Here is an added level of complexity.
Although only occuring in 1/36 of cases, it does make it possible to cripple a vehicle
even if you don’t kill it outright. A nice detail and one Dust Warfare players should
appreciate.
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· Height Advantage added (pg. 131) Plunging fire is well-known to
“simulationists”. Here it is in DUST: if your unit has a height advantage, the target
loses one level of save. Ouch!

· Weather Effects added (pg. 135) More complexity and detail. Thanks!

· Artillery Weapons now ignore Soldier Saves (pg. 139) Arty gets a nice buff,
potentially making it more worthwhile as a points expenditure along with the
ability to hit multiple target types with one blast.

· Flame Weapons use Unit Leader, different template (pg. 140) This is consistent
with the new range rules and overall should not have a big effect on play.

· Sniper Weapons ignore Cover and Infantry Saves; may not target Unit Leader
unless last remaining model (pg. 144) A buff to snipers and should be familiar to
Dust Warfare players.

· Tesla now requires Damage to Stun, not just a Hit (pg. 144) A slight nerf to
Tesla, but not a big deal.
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· The Air Traffic Controller skill allows a unit to reactivate an aircraft, similar to the
Get Moving skill. Previously, you could never reactivate aircraft. (Page 146) Red
Ace had this before it hit a rule book. Very nice for aircraft-themes armies.

· Airborne Skill added (pg. 147) Now not only Koschka and her KV-47 wolfpack
can drop in for visits.

· Aircraft now gain Saves based on Movement (pg. 147) Big change to aircraft
survivability and offsets the simplified cover rule. As a helicopter player, I heartily
approve.
· Assassin may not target Unit Leader unless last remaining model (pg. 148) This
is because the leader is the unit focal point. A little “unrealistic” but imagine it as
the next in line for command takes over as soldiers fall and it should make sense.

· Damage Resilient Vehicles now roll DR against all damage, not remaining

59 damage track (pg. 149) DR is much less powerful for tanks now but makes much
more intuitive sense
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· Jammer Skill added (pg. 152) This is a little way to mess with an opponent who
relies on command squads with radios. A nice bit of detail.

· Makeshift Repair Action cannot be performed by Passenger (pg. 153, 159) This
stops a previous tactic of loading a command squad in a vehicle and fixing it at little
risk to the passengers.

· Move and Fire Skill clarified (pg. 153) A good clarification for how this skill
works.

· Mindless Zombies now subject to Suppression (pg. 153) A slight nerf to zombies
here.

· Small Vehicles Skill added (pg. 154) The little ones get a save so they don’t die
instantly ever time.

· Smoke Launcher actions are now free (pg. 154) Yay! Now they will actually get
used. Previously it was usually too great a cost to skip an action for this.

· Steel Guard now gain Damage Resilience (pg. 155) Many of us felt they were

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overpriced before. They should be good to go with this ability.

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· Superhumans may now take Cover Saves, and gain enhanced Saves as well (pg.
155) This should help these ubermenschnen be worth their hefty points cost. Note
also they do not take suppression.

· Trailblazer Skill added (pg. 156) Unit with this skill can pull some objective-
stealing shenanigans.

· Command Actions "Reinforcements" and "Replacement Vehicle" removed (pg.


157) This is a big one, but in a good way. Many players felt this was a cheesy
tactic, and taking multiple officers/command squads and spamming the ability to
regenerate destroyed units was overpowered. Now that will no longer happen.
What you take is what you have.
· Officers can now perform rally action, removing suppression, under fire, and
stunned tokens from any units with range 2. (Page 158) This could be useful when
a unit you absolutely need to activate at full effectiveness is stunned and/or
suppressed.

As you can see, the changes above mostly add detail and complexity to the game. Some,
such as the LOS rule, are a tad controversial. After playing the game many times with
this rule and running a convention demo game with it, I don’t think it’s a big deal. It did
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not drive away players, nor even raise an eyebrow when presented at Historicon. My
local group and I adapted to it immediately and it really saves time. DUST has changed,
but only slightly. And, I would add, for the better in almost all aspects. It is still the
game you love. Now show it some love and get playing!

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dust monthly
Dust Painting Challenge
By Bob Sennick
Another Dust Painting Challenge is complete! I chose tracked vehicles as the theme and
as hoped the turnout was impressive. My goal is to get the community buzzing with
excitement about great models, an important cornerstone of the Dust experience. Win or
lose, complete the challenge or barely start, it pushes people to start great projects and
share them with others who also love Dust! With some prize support from Dust Studios
secured (thanks again, Paolo!) and a rare model from my collection to entice the winner,
we got underway.

With 33 entries, I knew we could expect some great pieces, and the community didn’t
disappoint! Entries ranged in scale and theme from mildly Dustified late war historical
works to completely bananas conversions (yeah, I’m looking at you Mr. Squires!). Tons
of work in progress pictures kept everyone involved with the projects. With two weeks
to complete the project, 14 entrants submitted completed models.

By popular demand, we decided to make this our first judged challenge rather than
choose the winners by popularity. Isaiah Burgess and Joel Hillhouse, two veteran

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modelers well known in the community, joined me in reviewing the entrants and came to
a decision.

Third place was awarded to Stefan Van Den Eede’s excellent 1:48th scale Panther Ausf.
F with 88mm l/71. An excellent schmalturm, subtle paint scheme, and subdued and
realistic weathering were hallmarks of the project. Very impressive, and my personal
favorite from the challenge!

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In second place came Steve Palffy’s 1:56th scale Panther G. Plenty of work in progress
photos gave great insight into his process- which was pretty darn quick! The model is an
excellent example of well-implemented tabletop gaming painting and weathering
techniques. Can’t wait to see more of his work.

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First place went to Zak Twenzet’s 1:48th scale Panzer IV-K. As usual, he submitted an
impressive piece with tons of little details that won over the judges. Zak never fails to
impress and this is one of his best models yet.

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There are plenty more photos on the official Dust 47 fan page (find it at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/303941853917/)- just search for ‘challenge’ and look
for the main thread with over 250 replies showing tons of great photos.

Our next challenge will be fliers, so keep in mind what you would like to submit and get
ready for some friendly and inspiring fun.
september 2016

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Be sure to listen to the Dingoes in the Dust Podcast, available
at http://dustuniverse.podbean.com/

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dust monthly
Barrage
By Joe McLaughlin

Dust player Kevin Fischer tuned us into the Barrage gaming convention happening
Friday September 30th and Saturday October 1st in the Harford Maryland area. There
are two dust events on Saturday. If you happen to be in the area, please stop by.

Barrage began as a one-day mini-convention run by the Harford Area Weekly


Kriegspielers (HAWKs). For the past few years Barrage has been held at the community
center in Havre de Grace, Maryland, about 30 minutes north of Baltimore. This venue is
convenient from I-95, has plenty of parking, is well lit, and is comfortable.

Barrage is a low-stress event, focusing on having fun with miniatures games of many
different genres, scales, and sets of rules. In the past we’ve had a half dozen dealers, a
few flea market tables, as many as 200 attendees, and thirty or more miniatures games.
In 2012 we added a Flames of War tournament, sponsored by the I-95 gamers. In 2014
we added an ancient tournament. Beginning in 2016, the HAWKs have taken the bold

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step to grow Barrage into a two-day event. But none of this growth has detracted from
the congenial atmosphere of Barrage.

We encourage you to set aside time on your calendar to participate in Barrage both
Friday and Saturday. Bring your friends. Bring your children, because the HAWKs
generally offer several kid-friendly games throughout Barrage. If you feel so inclined,
we encourage you to sign up to run a game. But mostly we encourage you to come and
enjoy the camaraderie of tabletop miniatures gaming with others from around the region.

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