DUST News: more concept art and miniature previews available

Hey everyone,

More information is slowly being released on the DUST miniature wargame. Well, mainly pictures actually but they still look pretty cool so let's take look at what they have to show us. I tried to dig up some additional information from the DUST Sourcebook but since it was published in at least a few years ago some of the information might be a bit dated now. Still, I thought I would include it to give a little more depth to the pictures.

First up is Sigrid Von Thaler with what is called her class II robot "Blitz".

Sigrid is described in the sourcebook as being in charge of secret operations and research that is being conducted by the Reich. Overall she sounds like a very nasty little lady with a sadistic streak a mile wide. The basic design of the walker looks very similar to what the sourcebook describes as the Luther which was the first Axis walker to enter full production in 1944. The main difference between this version and what is pictured as the standard version are the weapons. The book pictures the walker with an autocannon mounted on one arm while the other actually has a large metal pincher, while this walker appears to mount two rocket launchers.

Next up is the C2 Mickey armed with a flamer and equiped for amphibious operations in the Brazillian jungle circa 1952.

The Mickey is described in the DUST sourcebook as the the most commonly used walker by the Allies with several different versions in production. This verison has had its howitzer removed and a flame thrower installed in its place. Judging by the pictures, it looks like it also mounts a Browning .30 cal MG in the hull and a Browning .50 cal MG on the cupola. The large drums mounted on the sides of the hull and the back of the turret are flotation devices, giving this version the ability to wade through rivers.

The next preview is of another version of the Mickey, this time armed with twin 15 inch "Bunker Blaster" rocket launcher, used in Western Europe circa 1946.

This looks like it is armed with the standard 75mm howitzer in the turret in addition to the machine guns and the rocket launchers.

Finally we have the latest picture which is actually a piece of concept art for an Allied character, Rosie.

No details about her that I know of but she looks like the Army's ideal version of a mechanic; not only can she blow stuff up, she can also put it back together again afterward!

Well, that is all for now but from the sounds of things on the DUST website we can expect more previews soon. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Updates Coming Soon!

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to give everyone a quick heads up that there will be another battle report going up after this weekend. We are planning on playing the big battle again but with the rules changed slightly to make things flow a little bit smoother for us. As an added plus, Babylon Zero should be making an appearance in the game so we can see just how nasty Nina can really be! Besides, it makes perfect sense; an alliance of the Red Blok and the Lady in Red, who could ask for anything more?

There will also be pictures of my Frostbite terrain going up soon! I finally have most of the pieces done so that I can really show how they will all fit together.

Well, that's all for now but until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Upcoming Releases: more Cog wild speculation and a look at the mighty Dotch Yaga!

Hey everyone,

The latest Cry Havoc Online features more preview pics of the Cogs and the first look at the Dotch Yaga! Exciting stuff for the Reds and the Squids so without further ado, lets take a look at them.

First up are the new lovable neighbors, the Cogs. This issue included a picture of one miniature from several different angles two of which you can see below.

So the big question is "What the heck is it?" I was going to go way out on a limb here and guess that this was actually be a type two special weapon trooper but I am thinking that it might actually be a type 3 trooper. The base looks a little small for what we can normally expect to see from the type 3s but if you look at this prototype picture it seems like this might just be the final version of this type of trooper.

I definitely think that this image was of a type 3 infantry trooper and it does have a number similarities; the missiles on the back, the bizarre little hand grip things that it is carrying.

So what can it do? I am thinking that it is probably similar to the RPG Kolossus unit of the Red Blok in that it packs the potent twin rocket launchers. Note that I did say rocket launchers because I don't think that these will be the locked shot missile launchers like the UNA loves to field. Rackham minis tend to be very WYSIWYG so I am thinking that these will have two stat lines with four attack dice for each one with a pretty potent penetration. As for the things in its hands, I am going to guess that those are some kind of a short range energy blaster. They look more like some kind of targeting device in the prototype drawing but on the actually miniature they really seem more like a blaster. Am I right? Who knows but it is fun to try to figure these things out and then see just how far off you really are! If you have your own guess then by all means post it in the comments as I would love to hear what everyone else thinks this mini might be able to do.

Next is the mini that the Red Blok players have been screaming for over the past few months. "Everyone else at least has pictures of their support striders so where is ours?!?!?" Good news kids, here it is...

The style seems very fitting for the Blok though I can see some people complaining about the legs looking a little too Therian. The thing to remember is that those two weapons pack a serious punch and would no doubt have a pretty serious recoil to go along with that punch! The mortar has a massive 10cm radius while the gauss cannon rolls a whopping five attack dice!The only good thing (for the rest of us at least...) is that both of these weapons thankfully have relatively short ranges. Then again with the Lady in Red I can actually field one with my Therians but I digress... The only bad news is that the Dotch Yaga is still the last item listed on the current release plan but at least all those RB players with have all their new toys from Frostbite to play with to keep them busy while they wait. Small consolation I know but at least it's something!

Well, that is all for now but there should be more soon! The Frostbite tiles that I am working on are still to come, plus there will be another battle report this weekend and I have some other things in the works as well. So until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Preview: more information about the Lady in Red

Hey everyone,

Fantasy Flight Games has a preview of the Nina Zero up on their website and I must say that she is looking pretty interesting. How so? Well, lets take a look and find out...

Nina Zero is an omnicron overseer that can be fielded in two different forms; either in her Golgoth, Babylon Zero, or on foot with a unit of Bane Goliaths.

Babylon Zero costs 475 points and comes with the v2.0 medium nucleus cannons automatically. This gives it a serious punch and lets you put a higher level overseer into a Golgoth which is always a handy thing. In addition to this, she has access to the Zero Fire routine. What does this do, you ask? For a mere one LP it lets her choose the location of each impact, effectively giving the Therians access to a mobile sniper equipped with anti-tank weapons. You just gotta love that! At least you do if you are a Therian player...

In her other form she must be attached to a unit of Banes, coming in at a total of 530 points (including a relay for the Banes). At first this could sound kind of pricey but when you consider that the whole unit has access to the Zero Fire routine... Eesh... That's gonna leave a mark! We are now talking about eight shots with a re-roll to hit, plus potentially a re-roll on any failed damage tests (thanks to hyper nano nucleus) and then you can choose where all of those damage points are assigned.

The other ability that Nina Zero has access to is Lady in Red. This lets you include a Red Blok unit in your platoon when you field either of the Zero units. This will be interesting to try out as there are a few of units that the Red Blok has that I would be very interested in trying out. Perhaps the Kossak with its potent rocket launchers? Or a unit of Sierps so that I can finally has some indirect weapons on the board... So many options, so little time...

Now all of this sounds absolutely sickening and it can be but there are definitely ways to counter this rather nasty bundle of joy. First and foremost are any abilities that let you cancel other abilities as they are played, such as the advantage of the Nova faction for the Karmans. Failing something fancy like that, there is the good old strategy of pounding the living daylights out of her. It is only a regular Golgoth after all; hit it hard enough and you can take it out, leaving her on foot and slightly more vulnerable.

So what about if she is with the unit of Banes? If you have artillery, just keep pounding them. Goliaths have good armor so you might not be able to take them out even with a couple of salvos from your average indirect fire weapon but you can knock them down which is even worse! Even the lowly Krasny Soldaty grenade launcher with its mere penetration of 4 can pin them down until you can get something stronger into position to take them out.

All in all, Nina looks really nasty but as with most things in AT-43 there is a way to deal with her. The real key is don't just focus on her as that can cost you the game. Try to find a way to deal with her but if you can't seem to be able to do that then just try to avoid her and complete the mission at hand. All the anti-tank sniper shots in the world won't help you if your opponent just won the game by completing the objectives while you were looking for that killer shot.

That's all for now but until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Terrain Project: update on the Frostbite terrain

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update about the Frostbite terrain that I am working on. So far, I have three 1' x 1' boards completed with another 1' x 1' and a 1' x 2' board that I am working on. No pictures yet but I should have some up very soon. I have also picked up material so that I can start working on the next batch of boards as well so now I just need to wade in there and hack up some foam board, which I think I will go do right now.

Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 News: Organized Play is on the horizon!

Hey everyone,

Fantasy Flight Games just released the following announcement...

"Rackham Organized Play

It's finally here! Aarklash is banging its war drums, calling its warriors to arms, while the universe of AT-43 is ablaze and can only be claimed by one species to dominate the galaxy! League play for both AT-43 and Confrontation will be starting up at your local retailers on August first. This league is going to be a preliminary one to let us know how many stores are going to run Rackham leagues. This information will be used to figure out how many league kits we should order when we launch our official league, that being on September first. More information for that league will be released at a later date."

Very few details at this point but it is a promising sign in my opinion. My FLGS has been trying to find out more information about organized play for AT-43 ever since we started playing down there so it is good that FFG and Rackham are finally going to do something for it. I have also dropped a line to the person at FFG who is in charge of the whole thing to see if he can give any more information and as soon as I get a response I'll be sure to pass it along.

That's all for now but until next time, may all of you dice come up Dragons!

Scratch that. Reverse it. Aka: Changes, they aren't a comin'

Hey everyone

As I mentioned, I had planned to change the address of the blog this Saturday but I have changed my mind about this. In fact, I am going to be changing the name of the blog back to Sin City AT-43. Why all the flipping and the flopping? Well, I had originally changed it to Sin City Snowman because I was looking at branching out to cover other games as well, but I have since changed my mind and decided to focus primarily on AT-43. I might throw in a curveball every now and then but by and large AT-43 will be remaining my primary focus.

My apologies for any confusion that this might have caused. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog...