The Siren Song of Dust Tactics

So FFG's new Dust Tactics game is starting to woo me. However, I am growing more and more cautious to their big box games (with big box prices) and the endless conveyor belt of expansions. Yet for some reason this game is tempting me more than a stripper covered in Butterfingers....

I trust this group's judgement - anyone here play it yet? Thoughts?

Steve G.

Isn't this more of a miniatures game then a boardgame?
If thats the case there will be expansions de plenti.

Yes - it's one of FFG's board/minis game. Not sure the scale of the figs but it is played on a board - although I believe I saw in the overview vid that they do provide rules to move it to the table top.

I swear I've seen this exact same game- maybe with different names, different models, and so forth- released about 25 times in the past 25 years or so.

I don't see this game going anywhere, despite the cool art and good looking figures. Board gamers aren't keen on jumping in on a new product line that is pretty much going to demand that you buy and paint miniatures. Board or not, it's a miniatures game. Miniatures gamers are already entrenched in other games (chiefly 40K and WARMACHINE) to care or divert their money.

I've seen this exact kind of product come and go so many times, and I just don't see anything about it that gives me confidence in it. It's going to live or die based on whether or not a playerbase develops for it, but I think that's a pretty slim chance.

Now, to be fair, there are a few that have come out and have merit. Battlelore, for one. That being said, I wholeheartedly agree that minis wargamers already have excellent choices out there and this can't possibly have been a good idea.

I mean, if they added some new, superawesome system that had, I dunno, PC based book-keeping and cool miniatures, I'm sure it'd sell well bu...wait...Ex Illis is already out. Nah, there's no merit...

I'm getting Earth Reborn instead. The Banksy-art-school-indie fanboy in me demands Z-Man-service.

I was considering Dust: Tactics until I realised how Warhammer 40,000: Assault at Black Reach is EXACTLY THE SAME GAME. I may as well spend my big box money on the Earth Reborn box and paints for what I ALREADY HAVE.

As far as I understand this is based on the dying-at-the-moment AT-43. This cannot be a good omen.

I pre-ordered this without a moment's hesitation or guilt.

This is not a boardgame despite the inclusion of several "boards". They should have just chucked the boards and put something else more useful into the box. The boards will actually stifle this game.

If they were to market the game with smaller mini's more along the lines of Arcane legions and give you more for your dollar they might have something.

As it has already been stated you just aren't going to compete with the more stable offerings on the market. Mini games get expensive. Personally I find the whole storyline stupid where someone decided to mash two themes together.

At least it isn't Terinoth meets WW2.

I don't really understand why FFG keeps trying to pursue these kinds of micropurchase games like this. Everyone they've had their hands on has either flopped or they've repackaged in such a way to obscure that you're continuing to spend money on a single title.

The expansion model is one thing, and I think the small box/big box thing they do with ARKHAM and TALISMAN is fine. I also like when they do the big "kit" expansions. But I don't like having to buy unit boxes, boosters, or other partial expansions. I also don't like to buy games anymore where everybody has to invest in their own collections, and I think most board gamers would agree with me. I'm not a miniatures gamer for a reason, and I kind of take umbrage at having what is essentially a miniatures game packaged as a board game and marketed to me. Pat's right about those boards. Anyone that really wants to play this game isn't going to have any use for those, they're in the box solely as a way to lure the board gamer into the product line.

I forgot all about AT-43...wow. And that was going to be such a big deal...

Yep, a million of these games have come and gone. This one will be no different.

I still stand by my claim that any non-collectible pre-painted minis game will never make it. Sure, there is the non-prepainted option, but still reinforcing that statement.

To the OP, I'd wait. This game will be heavily discounted in next year's FFG Thanksgiving sale.

Seriously, who in the hobby that's been into it for more than say, five years, sees a game like this and _expects_ it to stick around? I used to get flyers and marketing materials for games _just like this_ all the time, and they all tried to make you think as a retailer that their game is THE ONE. Then they release, a couple of people get REALLY into it for a month or two, and then they scurry off to the clearance tables.

This weird board game/miniatures game model does not work. Even the BATTLELORE concept has not proven to work, where you have larger unit purchases and there's less of a focus on players accumulating private collections.

I just don't get why FFG would invest in this so much. Their big hits and money makers are the games like TI3 and ARKHAM HORROR, not in parceled-out purchases like this...or MUTANT CHRONICLES. Or what they did with CONFRONTATION. I understand them branching out and expanding their product lines...but there is a point at which you start to get out of your wheelhouse and your reach starts to exceed your grasp. I mean, is it smart to do board games AND card games AND RPGs AND miniatures games AND books AND gaming supplies? Or just to focus on what you do best?

My decision to pre-order had more to do with wanting to paint these minis.

The longevity of the game wasn't such an issue. I'll get enjoyment out of painting up the minis - which look like great sculpts. If the game comes out to the table 3 times a year, so be it.

Maybe they're gambling on it. They probably figured that if this does hit the bigtime, it could very well make them really really big.

It's been a while since things FFG did made a lot of sense to me. Let's recap:

1. Horus Heresy - Why pick this license up at all?
2. Mutant Chronicles - 54MM? Seriously?
3. Android - Great idea, but....??
4. Making 2 Beowulf games....
5. The Hobbit...going back to Knizia after making War of the Ring and Middle Earth Quest
6. Dungeonquest - Bastardization and subsequent "optional" revision of the bastardization (combat rules)

They're a strange lot, but they have had some kick ass winners.