Tuesdays’ Review – Heroes

Today I am going to discuss the Pros and Cons of the 2 heroes in the Operation Blue Thunder Box. The box contains 2 different Heroes, Bazooka Joe and Sigrid von Thaler.

Bazooka Joe

Bazooka Joe is a harden veteran who runs around with a Grenade Launcher. He can deal a decent amount of damage to any squad.

Pros

Has Black Op and allows you to roll an addition dice per turn for initiative and it benefits for the whole army every turn.

He has a grenade launcher they does 3 HP to armor 2 infantry and denies cover.

He has a pistol for additional damage.

He can damage vehicles up to armor 3.

Cons

He cannot hurt a vehicle with armor above 3.

He does less damage in combat than his hero counterpart Sigrid.

Sigrid von Thaler

She is psycho she has a laser weapon that allow her to do devastating blows to any infantry.

Pros

She has berserk and allows her to reroll once per game.

When joined by a Laser squad can allow the entire squad to reroll every miss of lasers ranking up a lot of HP on a unit.

She is supreme in combat.

She has a laser pistol.

Cons

She cannot hurt a vehicle with armor above 3.

Berserk only last 1 turn and only affects her and a squad she is in.

Discussion Monday - Operation Cyclone

So the end of this month starts the release of Operation Cyclone. With it brings artillery weapons, command squads, new heroes, snipers and spotters, and new tiles. I would like to talk about the expansion’s box sets that have come out so far.

The first is the Operation Cyclone box itself. In it comes new tiles that are amphibious landing crafts, 2 new heroes, addition crates and tank traps, and new rule and scenario books. I think it’s a bit pricy at $40 I would think like $30-35 for what you get, but it’s not my decision to set the prices. The 2 heroes look really neat one is Master Sergeant Rosie Donovan who is said to have designed the first walkers for the Allies. I think she’s pretty neat models with the little girl carrying a big gun.  She also has Tank Head which allows her to repair and restart walkers in mid battle. The other model is Manfred Kreuzer he is the one whom discovered the alien spacecraft in Antarctica. He gives his squad assault which allows them to move 2x in one turn and assault a unit in available. Instead of going with 2 heroes with rockets they gave him a smaller Panzerfaust which can still deal big damage to a walker.

The next release is the command squads. Both of them are the same and come with every member of a command squad (Officer, Mechanic, Medic, and Radioman). These tie into the Operation Blue Thunder box more than the Operation Cyclone. They have a special rule call Artillery Strike which improves artillery weapons accuracy. Other than that they do all the normal rules in Blue Thunder for a command squad and a MG. These are the reasonable price $15.

Another release is the Walker packs. These boxes come with 4 different configurations in the Allies Box and 3 in the Axis box. Both boxes are $25 which seems reasonable to me being that it’s a big object. I compared it to the Warhammer 40k Dreadnought and you get probably just as much plastic in the box and its half the price and you get 3 configurations. The dreadnought give you 2 on each arm. There is only one reason why there are 4 in the Allies. It’s because the one configuration with a mortar gun is the same as the mortar with missiles just without the missile attachment. This is where my article on how to magnetize walkers comes in handy so you can swap out configurations with any walker.

The last release is the Sniper Teams. These boxes come with one 2 man squad of snipers and one 2 man squad of spotters. The price is $15 which seems a little over pricy for 4 models compared to the 5 models you get in any other box for $15. I think it’s just they wanted to make all the box an easy number rather than be like 40k and have everything its own individual price. This is easy for us as the consumer and them as the supplier. Snipers are nice they can pick out individual models in a unit. So if their rocket guy is getting close to being able to shoot your walker then you can snipe him out of the squad. Spotters are useful also they allow a squad to hit on blanks instead of hits like fighting spirit. This can be useful when trying to finish off a tank or getting the upper hand on a squad to squad battle.

My only thing about this expansion is I wish they would also put out a big box so people who want to get everything can get in all at once. I like the smaller boxes also so I can get just extra stuff for myself to boost my army but I really like big boxes.

Publisher Posting

So some one brought this up to me I gave out these templates for card and no instructions look on my articles page and there is a PDF on how.

Sunday's Play by Play

Today’s Play by Play was Mission 3 General Assault

The mission is the attackers have to get inside of the building and the defenders have to prevent them from doing it. My friend was the attacker and I was the defender. So here’s the deployment pretty simple.

Then we deployed he was trying to go for the walls and straight for the center while I was hiding behind the walls.

Then turn one starts I won the role and chose to go first but not move so he moved all his guys.

Next he won the role off and moved closer while I started to move my men out of cover.

Turn3 I moved fired with my flamer squad at his Luther trying to kill it with the demo charges and the flamer but only landing 2 HP on it. He returned fire and killed the entire team. Then I fire with the Pounder not landing a single blow. His Ludwig moved into position to fire at the wall and my Hotdog moved to get closer to the battle. His MG squad moved closer to plant demo charges. Then my MG squad moved closer. His rocket and laser squad moved up against the wall to protect them. MY rocket squad fired at the Ludwig and dealt 3 HP from the Bazooka.

Turn 4 He won the roll and used the Luther to almost killing my MG squad. Then I fired at his Luther with the Pounder destroying it.His laser squad finished off my MG squad. My rocket squad fired at the Ludwig not dealing any damage.  His Ludwig fired at the wall knocking 4 HP from it and his MG squad moved closer to the wall. His Rocket squad hit and did not move.

Turn 5 I won the roll and I fired at the Ludwig killing it. His MG demo charged the wall and not killing it but didn’t want to reroll and moved back to prepare to fire at my Rocket guys. My rocket guys shot at the Laser squad killing them and putting 2 HP on Sigrid. His Rocket squad moved closer and fired at my Rocket squad killing 4 guys and dealing 1 HP to Joe. My Hot Dog moved closer. Sigrid didn’t do anything.

Turn 6 I won the roll shot almost killed the rocket squad and moved back. His Rocket Squad tried to shoot at my Rocket squad and failed to do any wounds. My Hot Dog finished off the MG squad with the .50 cal. Sigrid and my pounder didn’t do anything because they were waiting for the other to move. Then his MG squad moved closer.

Turn 7 I won the roll and moved and killed his MG squad. By this time the game was over and he just let my Hot Dog kill Sigrid. Game over I won.

Show Off Friday

So first we have BigWill's Killroy finished and a M26 Pershing.

Remember if you have any Dust painted models send me an email with them attached and I'll post them on here every Friday.

Homegrown Thursdays - Universal Transports

So today is new cards. Universal Transports.

I plan on rotating every week between tanks and superheroes.

I upload the new cards to the top of the card page. Tanks will go on the bottom of the page and superheroes will go on the top.

Remember if you want to make your own cards send me an email and I'll send you the file you must have microsoft publisher.

Meet Paolo Parente in Hollywood

If any one goes take some pictures and I'll post them on here.

Operation First Strike

If your a local hobby store that supplies Dust Tactics or want to get into it and start a league or a tournament you should check this thing out. Its the how to run leagues and tournaments for Dust Tactics. This could have a lot of interesting things that if you can get it for a college gaming club or something would be nice too.
Each kit includes:

• 8 patches (Allies)
• 8 achievement booklets
• 1 Ally pin
• 1 Axis pin
• 1 preview Ally figure
• 1 preview Axis figure
• 1 poster (19.5"x27.5") / guidebook

How to Paint the Axis Figures

To Paint Figures You Will Need:

Paints

Fortress Grey

Codex Grey

Chaos Black

Badab Black (Wash)

Scorched Brown

Dark Flesh

Tallarn Flesh (Foundation)

Skull White

Asurmen Blue

Boltgun Metal

Chainmail

Mithril Silver

Scorched Brown

Bleached Bone

Baal Red (Wash)

Brushes

Round 2 1 0 1/0 2/0

If you know how to drybrush and want to you can with the 2 or 1 brush for the green otherwise you do not need the 2 for drybrushing. You will need to 1 drybrush for bigger areas of washes. You will need a 1 0 1/0 and 2/0 for painting. 1 and will be for base colors and fine detail washes and 0, 1/0, and 2/0 are for details.

Today’s Painting is just the basic painting no details like symbols or squad distinction.

First thing I did was determine what colors I wanted to do my models. For my Rocket Squads I am doing them in their white smocks and have grey underside. Their armor will be Metal.

Where the grey was going to be I washed with Badab Black.

Then I went over the areas with Codex Grey.  That’s the closest color I found to the primer color. Then I went over that with Fortress Grey. Grey is done.

Now the tricky part is the white smocks. I base coated with Fortress Grey. This builds up the colors to make 

a pure white. Next I applied 1:1 Fortress Grey and White and washed with 3:1 Badab Black. This gives a diluted light grey color and brings out the shadows. I reapplied the 1:1 Fortress and White and highlighted with White. When you are done you should get a grayish white color.

Next I did black. I painted the boots, the goggles, and the guns stock parts straight Chaos Black. Then I highlighted it with 1:1 Chaos Black and Codex Grey, then again 1:2 Chaos Black and Codex Grey.  Black is done.

Next I did the metallic. I painted the Goggles rim, the Gun’s metallic parts, the armor, and if there is a Shovel on the back pack it too with Boltgun Metal. I washed the metal with Badab Black. Then went over the wash with Chainmail and Highlighted with Mithril Silver. Metallic is done.

Now for faces. I start with Tallarn Flesh. Then put a 10:1 water dark flesh wash. Then a 15:2:1 Water, Scorched Brown, and Chaos Black. Then applied 2:1 Tallarn Flesh and Bleached Bone. Then Highlighted with Bleached Bone. Then highlighted with 1:1 Bleached Bone and White. To show more realism I did an asurmen blue wash where under the eyes a little would be and baal red on the lips.

Now you have painted a figure only 4 left to go for that squad.

After you are done painting you should clear coat you figures I would use a flat varnish spray if gives it a realistic look and not show glossy

Tips

I like to do one color at a time and paint that color on all my figures before I move onto another color.

Remember to have 2 cups of water on for regular color and one for metallic colors. Otherwise your regular colors with have a metallic sheen to them.

You can do as many highlights as you would like to make it more realistic I just showed the basics. Grey you could build up to 1:1 Fortress Grey and White, Blacks to Codex or Fortress Grey, Browns to Khaki, and Flesh to White. I wouldn’t do metallic highlights past Mithril Silver because that would involve using white.

Remember to water down your paints not too much otherwise you will just get a wash but enough to make the paint flow off of the brush smoothly. You may want to get a cheap model like a heroclix or something and practice if you are a bit rough on painting.

Also these colors are just the basics for allies you can do them in any different combinations I just choose these for my squad and use for an example. You can also do camo on your men using these combinations and making patches.

Later I will show detailing you models like adding symbols and a worn look to the armor. 

Here's Illustrated on what to do.

Tuesdays’ Review – The Walkers

Today I am going to discuss the Pros and Cons of the 4 walkers in the Operation Blue Thunder Box. The box contains 4 different walkers, the Pounder and Hotdog for the Allies, and the Ludwig and the Luther for the Axis.

The Pounder is a nice balanced walker it can shoot at both unit and vehicles and do a nice price of damage each time.

Pros

The Pounder’s cannon does a decent amount of HP per shot and also has a .50cal and a .30cal to assist with fire support on infantry.

It can take out other vehicles quickly.

It has Jump ability.

It can shoot at 3 different units.

U - Range on cannon.

Cons

Pounder does less damage than its Axis counterpart the Ludwig.

Like all vehicles can be point out easily and does not have any cover.

The Hotdog is the second vehicle for the Allies it has a napalm thrower on the front able do a decent amount of damage against infantry.

It can shoot at 3 different units.

Pros

The napalm can destroy a vehicle in one hit.

It gets shots equal to the number of models in a unit.

It has jump ability.

It can shoot at 3 different units.

Cons

Only one shot for a vehicle.

It has to get close to a unit to use napalm.

Has less shots against a vehicle than its counterpart the Luther.

Like all vehicles can be point out easily and does not have any cover.

The Ludwig

It is the counterpart to the Pounder for the Axis side.

Pros

The Ludwigs’s cannon do a decent amount of HP per shot and also has a MG to assist with fire support on infantry.

It can take out other vehicles quickly.

Does more damage than the Pounder.

U - Range on cannon.

Cons

Like all vehicles can be point out easily and does not have any cover.

It only has 2 weapons to shoot at rather than its counterpart which has 3.

It does not have Jump ability.

The Luther

The counterpart to the Hotdog it too is a close quarters walker. Its cannon can deal heavy damage to a vehicle and has a combat arm to assault a unit or a vehicle.

Pros

It has self repair.

It has Charge which allows it to get into combat a lot quicker.

It has more shots on a vehicle than the Hotdog.

It can assault.

It is more balance than its counterpart.

U - Range on cannon.

Cons

It can only shoot at 2 units.

It does not have Jump.

His combat arm needs to be close to the unit he is assaulting.

For a bonus I am going to review the Loth the special edition model.

The Loth

The Loth is a combat vehicle able to repair itself in battle.

Pros

It has Charge which allows it to get into combat a lot quicker.

The combat arms do a devastating 8HP a turn.

It has self repair.

Cons

It needs to be close to do any damage.

It does not have Jump.

It can only shoot at 1 target.

Monday's Discussion - Thought About Upcoming Expansions

Everyone knows that the expansions have been released of what they are somewhat. Here is my predictions:

Operation Cyclone - Artillery Strike

It has already been announced. It looks like what it says a bunch of artillery stuff. With the 2 new mechs having artillery shots and the commend squad having artillery strike. The only thing that comes to mind is a bunch of explosive stuff. The new tiles are landing craft this should be pretty neat to use

Operation Paperclip - Blurhreuz Attacks

This one I predict to be out this year in summer between June and September. It is a bit more World War Wierd. This is the zombies and the gorillas. Maybe some werewolves and vampire who knows, but the game will change with these extras to the game. It says it will take place on a castle so that will be interesting for tiles and terrain. Also maybe we’ll see a glimpse of the Russian models.

Operation Seelow - Battle for Britain

This hopefully will be at the end of this year. It will also hopefully have a lot of Russian stuff and introduce the factions other countries units like British for Allies, and Japanese for Axis. It will be a tech boost too so a lot of new walkers and weapons will be in the game.

Operation Downfall - Vrill Invasion

This will be the beginning next year. It will be the full invasion of the Vrill the rest of the Aliens of the one Axis found. This will probably be more tech for the other factions to battle the aliens, because think about it, it’s WWII would the tech we had then be able to even put a dent in the Alien's Armor.

Operation Harpoon - Air Strike

Dog fights and other neat stuff with aircrafts. There will be bombing runs and airplane fighting. Also to be able to stop these there will be AA guns to shoot them out of the sky. The aircrafts will have to be constantly moving they will never be able to stay in one place.

I also don’t think this will be the end of the game I think there will be more and they haven’t released them to the public.

Sundays Play by Play

First thing I modified Wolverine's card someone on Facebook gave me an idea so I tweaked it. Check it out.
So last night my friend and I decided to played Scenario 2: Patrol. The objective was still kill each other but it only last 8 turns and the setup is odd. My friend and I decided that since I was defenders last game he would be this game.

My friend went first in on the deployment. He was attackers and all his men had to be deployed on the middle strips as mine had to be deployed on the outside.

I went first for the first turn. I moved my Flamer Squad and killed 3 of his Rocket Squad. Then his squad moved denied me cover and returned fire killing my squad. Then my MG squad finished off his rocket squad. My Pounder took out his MG squad. My hotdog and Rocket Squad and his Luther, Ludwig, and laser squad moved into position.

Next round, turn 2, I went first again popped out my Pounder and fired at his Ludwig only dealing 1 HP to it. Then I returned fire take 3 HP. I moved my Rocket Squad and fired at his Laser Squad dealing 6 hits points and he killed 4 models and 1 HP to Sigrid. His Luther shot at my Pounder taking the last HP from it. He returned fire with the Laser Squad dealing only 1 damage to my squad and I made a soft cover save. My MG squad hid from the Luther and my Hotdog moved closer.

On turn 3 he went first, his laser squad fired at my Rocket squad killing 3 of them. I returned fire dealing 1 HP and he gave it to Sigrid. His Luther moved close to the rocket squad and my MG sqaud moved into cover. His Ludwig moved into position to fire at my Hotdog and I moved twice.

On turn 4 I went first my Hotdog tried to destroy his Ludwig not landing a blow to destroy it.His Ludwig returned fire destroying my Hotdog. I moved my MG squad back and he moved his Laser squad. I moved my Rocket squad in cover and he moved his Luther and fired at my MG squad landing 3 HP and I made all 3 soft cover.

On the 5th turn I moved my MG squad double back. He then moved his Luther closer but remained being blocked from my Rocket sqaud so I moved them back a squad. His Ludwig moved forward and his Laser Sqaud moved back.

On turn 6 he when first. His Luther moved and fired the cannon at my MG squad killing 3 and its MG at my Rocket squad dealing 1 wound and I took it on Joe. The rocket squad returned fire dealing 3 points on hit Luther. His Ludwig moved closer to my men and my MG moved forward. His Laser Squad moved back a little more.

On turn 7 I went first trying to deal the killing blow to the Luther but no luck. His Ludwig moved and fired at my MG squad leaving 1 model left. My MG squad moved closer to his Luther and his Luther finished off the Rocket squad. His Laser squad moved close to my only guy.

On turn 8 we didn't even role his Luther finished my single guy and the game ended with Victory to my friend.

Thoughts about this mission:
The Defenders have a huge advantage of the Attackers. Their force is close together and can work as one. While the Attacker have to be spread out throughout the map. 

Show Off Friday

Today I wanted to show 2 squads I've painted from the Dust Tactics Box. I painted the same squad with 2 different paint schemes.

Snow Squad

 

Industrial Squad

Homegrown Thursday

Here's a couple of House Rules I designed that made for my boards and friendly plays.

Landmines
-Before any models are deployed each player picks a square and writes it down.
-The square can be any one of them except the squares of the opponents deployment.
-When an enemy unit moves on top of the square the mines detonate.

Mine 4/1 3/1 2/1 1/1 3/1 2/1 2/1 1/1 -  -  - - - -
-Air Vehicles will not detonate the mine.
-Tanks with higher armor value will detonate the mines even though no damage will happen.
-Mines detonate only once.
-No Sustain fire.

Home Made Units

Today is The Phantom, Wolverine, and Sabertooth. Check every Wednesday for new units.
My whole story between the 2 is that Wolverine went through Weapon X earlier than normal and made Sabertooth jealous so he went to a nazi weapon x program.

I plan on rotating every week between tanks and superheroes.

I upload the new cards to the top of the card page. Tanks will go on the bottom of the page and superheroes will go on the top.

Remember if you want to make your own cards send me an email and I'll send you the file you must have microsoft publisher.