SSU Tournament Time

Well, the time has almost arrived. Saturday is the tournament over at Huzzah Hobbies, and aside from a few rules questions everybody is locked and loaded. I gave my tournament army a go yesterday, and aside from a fluke shot destroying my Matrioshka in one go, I'm fairly impressed with the performance of my force. Now to finish up painting the new additions to my force (in the form of Chinese Volunteers and another SSU Battle Squad). The Matrioshka and Natasha are ready to go (as soon as they get varnished) and I've dullcoted the rest of my force.

Everything is coming together.

Now, despite losing my only test game, I've got to figure out how to pull together and employ the battle plan I've envisioned. Lots of suppression, lots of bullets, and walker superiority early on. The Matrioshka should send a few shots into enemy anti-tank walkers (hopefully either crippling or destroying them) and then proceed to advance forward with the rest of my line. Even once its main guns are rendered ineffective (mass walker death) the advance of the KV3 will be useful as it still boasts two machineguns to whittle down infantry. The KV47 will assist in keeping enemy troops pinned down with its pair of howitzers which boast the "Grenade" rule allowing them to inflict suppression regardless of weather they hit or not. Of course when being barraged by ten dice worth of cover-ignoring shrapnel I'm likely to off infantry any way. My concern is Infantry 3 units. I have nothing to efficiently destroy them with aside from my snipers. Should I lose them to things like enemy snipers (who tend to hit much more often) I will be fighting an uphill battle. My worst fear is an Infantry 3 Allied air-drop army. Its speed and maneuverability will cause big problems for my thin red line which is designed to sweep forward gradually and lay down a hail of gunfire. Seeing as we Soviets have some of the most expensive Infantry 2 units around, and no Infantry 3, it's also entirely possible that I'll be outnumbered. I really don't expect that to go very well either.

The SSU shoots. A lot. the problem is that our effective range is 6-12 inches away from the enemy. Opponents who blob up and wait for me to come to them will have two advantages. First of all, they out-range me. most rifles in Dust have a 16" range, but not the SSU where our guns shoot twelve inches. We trade those extra four inches of range for an extra shot against Infantry 2. In doing so, however, we must advance to within reaction range of the enemy. This leads to shooty death of our squads, or simply being suppressed so that we can either move into our weapons' effective range OR return fire. When the enemy skirts around your range and suppresses you, there's not too much you can do about it. It's really frustrating getting your troops into position.

...And then there are the Fakyeli. Our flamethrower squads are not "Fast", and so have to move 6" into position and then shoot 6". This means they have to be used with far more care than their Allied or Axis counterparts. What we get instead (for the same point cost) is "Assault". So I can move 12" and do nothing at the end, but you can only react to the beginning of my movement. The only real use I've found for this rule is rushing an entrenched enemy unit and hoping I get fewer orders than they do in the next turn. This just seems like an awfully big gamble to me. They do scare opponents however, and therefore attract a lot of fire, but why is a mystery to me. Sure, the Yakov + Fakyeli + Grizzled Veterans combo (which costs 44 points) is nasty, but a squad without this makeup is a non-threat. as soon as they move into position all a smart opponent has to do is react and blow them off the table. I mean it when I say they're tough to use.

So I have settled on this army list for the tournament:

Faction: SSU ( 300 / 300 )

---  Defense Platoon (190)
Command Section: "The Medvedi" SSU Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
3rd Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
Support: KV-3 K "Matrioshka" (65)
Support: KV47-B "Natasha" (40)

---  Defense Platoon (110)
Command Section: Yakov (21, Hero)
1st Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
    + Grizzled Veterans (2)
2nd Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
    + Rat Fighters (1)
3rd Section: "Chinese Volunteers" SSU Auxiliary Attack Squad (15)
    + Rat Fighters (1)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)

Lots of machineguns, which extend my threat range to 16", and enable me to get into shootouts with enemy troops. Two sniper teams allow me to threaten heavily armored enemies, like the dreaded Infantry 3. A Fakyeli squad with "Rat Fighters" permits them to hop over line of sight obstructing buildings almost as effortlessly as troopers with "Jump". Then there's the surprise unit, the Chinese Volunteers. Deeply hated by most SSU players, they're 15 points for a squad with five sub machineguns and grenades. If they can get into range they can unleash hell. Many opponents won't even bother reacting to them, and if they do it takes heat off of the rest of my line. If I had another squad I'd run them instead of the second Fakyeli unit and use the leftover points to give my snipers "Walker Dissection". Alas, they're really rather expensive (dollar wise) and would leave me with a second transport helicopter I would likely never use.

In the end I'm not 100% sold on this army (just mostly), but barring a second squad of Chinese Volunteers falling out of the sky, it's what's hitting the table.

Here goes nothing...

It's The End Of The World As We Know It.

Oops...

If you're reading this (and you are) the world didn't end yesterday.

Today's content is what you love, an army list. I'm thinking of perhaps running a "KV47 rainbow" list. That means one of each non-aero KV47 variant, including Koshka. We'll see what Tuesday brings, but this list will both shock and apall you. It's not just aromr, but lots of armor in my SSU force. Demitra's jaw just hit the floor.

Faction: SSU ( 298 / 300 )

---  Defense Platoon (125)
Command Section: Koshka Rudinova with Grand'ma (53, Hero)
1st Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
    + Rat Fighters (1)
2nd Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
    + Rat Fighters (1)
Support: KV47-C "Natalya" (30)

---  Red Platoon (173)
Command Section: "Red Command" Red Guards Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
    + Rat Fighters (1)
2nd Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
    + Rat Fighters (1)
3rd Section: KV47-B "Natasha" (40)
4th Section: KV47-A "Nadya" (30)
Commissar: "The Karamzin" (8)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)
It's a highly aggressive list, with all of my infantry ready to devour ground and bring all my weapons to bear. The Karamzin commissar goes in the Red Command squad upping the squad to two PTRS launchers. All of the KV47 walkers will advance swiftly into the midst of my opponent's battle line and unleash hell. This army is built to move forward. If it stalls, it dies. I wonder if the armored wall will hold up? Especially against Axis Grenadier spam. That's a lot of anti-tank weapons...

Should I get the two more KV47 walkers I need, this will get some table time for sure. Once I get my Red Guards, that is.

Fear the Dust Kan Wall!

Alternative SSU Army Idea

Yep, another army list post.

This time around, however, it's a "What if I took the SSU to the tournament?" post. Well, were I to do that, the army would probably look a little something like this:

Faction: SSU ( 299 / 300 )

---  Defense Platoon (95)
Command Section: "The Medvedi" SSU Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
Commissar: "The Trediakovsky" (8)
Commissar: "The Karamzin" (8)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)

---  Red Platoon (204)
Command Section: "Red Command" Red Guards Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
3rd Section: KV-3 K "Matrioshka" (65)
4th Section: KV47-A "Nadya" (30)
Commissar: "The Trediakovsky" (8)
Commissar: "The Karamzin" (8)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)

Yep, I'd be running this bad girl right here (assuming the mini is out by then). She eats tanks alive and has enough machineguns to keep infantry pinned down. Also, seeing as she's Vehicle 5, she'll be plenty capable of warding off other SSU snipers' bullets.

Also, the above list has the oodles of snipers I've come to know and love. There's really not too much wrong with this list, other than not having too many line infantry squads. I'm torn as to how I'll match up  the squads and commissars. Do I maximize the squads' effectiveness against enemy targets by giving them all PTRS launchers or machineguns? Or do I mix and match, thus making my Battle Squads have two machineguns and one PTRS, and the Red Guards Antitank Squads a pair if PTRS' and a single machinegun to keep the squads from over-specializing?

So, SSU or Allies? Stuff to ponder, indeed.

Hey Demitra-
I heard you like "Babushka" walkers, so I threw together this list. Thoughts?

Faction: SSU ( 298 / 300 )

---  Defense Platoon (132)
Command Section: "The Medvedi" SSU Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
Commissar: "The Trediakovsky" (8)
Commissar: "The Karamzin" (8)
Support: KV-3 M "Babushka" (50)

---  Red Platoon (166)
Command Section: "Red Command" Red Guards Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
3rd Section: KV-3 K "Matrioshka" (65)
Commissar: "The Karamzin" (8)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)

The Karamzin commissars go into the Red Thunder units giving them three PTRS rocket launchers each. The Frontoviki squad has three machineguns. The Fakyeli just run around and sulfer thrower/shotgun things to death. Babushka, Matrioshka, and the snipers hang back and provide covering fire, getting commands from the SSU Command Squad, while the Red Command joins the advance and leads from the front. Lots of anti-armor, without neglecting the anti-infantry, and two Vehicle 5, 6 Damage Capacity machines. I'm not sure about the Babushka's anti-aircraft capability, so this list may suffer against helicopters. What say you, oh lord of the combined arms?

SSU Wavey Wave

There we have it. My SSU army, all 300 points of it, is finished. Once I get in my last two sniper teams I'll be 4 minis away from completion, which will take me all of a couple of hours to paint. I'm really curious to see how this army will fare on the table, as it is a pretty extreme build. Will it fall to suppression? will all of those Widowmaker rifles live to to their reputation? We'll have to see. For now, here's hoping the local Dust scene will move to Wednesday night rather than sticking to Tuesday. That will let me get out to my Friendly Not So Local Game Store for a game or two. Also, there's Demitra's army. I hope I'll be able to get him up to a full 300 points (the usual size for a game) soonish. While 200 point games are fun, I feel kind of limited as to what I can field. I really want to see what this army looks like deployed on the board.

Hopefully I'll be able to get this army up to full power and on the table soon.

SSU Wave of Waveyness

This is a really, really short one seeing as I can't get to my computer right now. I just wanted to show off my mob. This is what 300 points of SSU infantry looks like. Impressive, no? Looks like I know what I'll be painting during my two week break.

Oh, and I'll be ordering two boxes of snipers on Friday. Muahahaha!

SSU Theorycrafting Continues

Well, the army may morph yet again. After a couple of losses to Demitra today, and quite a bit of downtime at work, I have yet again thought of something. What if I didn't use that second Command Squad? What if I instead had Yakov lead one of the Defense Platoons? What would I swap for that squad?

Snipers.

Yep, with those 25 points, plus a couple left unused in the previous iteration of my army, I could stick two more sniper teams into my army. Two more! That's four more Widowmaker Rifle shots per turn, and these ignore both cover and armor. Those bad boys are perfect for offing stubborn walkers and mopping up mauled units.

In short, I'd field this:

Faction: SSU ( 298 / 300 )

---  Heroes
Nikolaï (20)

---  Defense Platoon (141)
Upgrade: Political Importance (5)
Command Section: Yakov (21, Hero)
1st Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
2nd Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
3rd Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
4th Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
Commissar: "The Sumarokov" (5)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)

---  Defense Platoon (137)
Upgrade: Improved Command (5)
Command Section: "The Medvedi" SSU Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
3rd Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
4th Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
Commissar: "The Derzhavin" (5)
Commissar: "The Trediakovsky" (8)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)

That's a lot of firepower, and it's pretty potent an 30" out.

Demitra asked today what the point of all those Widowmaker Rifles was. Simple- fire superiority. With that many bullets flying at that long a range, it will be tough to advance on my line and not come away unscathed. You'll have to make choices against this force. Which units do you fire on? The obvious answer would be the squads that crank out the most dice, and you'd probably be right in a close-in scenario. As anybody whose fought against the "Fakyeli Deathstar" (two Fakyeli squads, the "Sumarokov" commissar, and Yakov) you simply cannot let that squad close on you. It will simply end any enemy squad it gets within 6" of.

But then there's the "Fontoviki Bullet Wall" as I like to call it. Five Machineguns will tear things apart at 16", and you can't react to it. The squad is vulnerable to suppression though, so you just have to force them to keep their heads down.

While you're trying to deal with these two mobs though, I'm dumping Widowmaker fire into your most valuable units. That walker? don't get too attached to it- I can likely destroy it in a single turn. Those Infantry 3 (heck, Infantry 4!)? yep, I can mangle them too. the only thing too tough for this army remains Vehicle 5+ units. Those must either be ignored or simply set on fire. There are ways for this army to deal with that kind of threat, but for the most part (since I can"t really hurt them) I'm just going to have to write off whatever they turn their attention toward. It sucks, but oh well, the Motherland will remember it's brave soldiers forever.

That, and there's plenty more where they came from.

In summation, this army remains being about throwing as many warm bodies at you as possible. My hope is that you'll run out of bullets before I run out of dudes. Oh, and lots of really big rifles. Them too.

The Human Wave

My Allied list got me thinking- what if I were to take the SSU "human wave" concept to its natural extreme. What if I were to completely remove the KV47 walkers from the picture? I'd end up with almost 60 soldiers on the table is what would happen. That's a lot of angry Russian goodness.

Here's the idea:

Faction: SSU ( 295 / 300 )

---  Heroes
Nikolaï (20)
Yakov (21)

---  Defense Platoon (137)
Upgrade: Improved Command (5)
Command Section: "The Medvedi" SSU Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
3rd Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
4th Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
Commissar: "The Sumarokov" (5)
Commissar: "The Trediakovsky" (8)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)

---  Defense Platoon (117)
Upgrade: Improved Command (5)
Command Section: "The Medvedi" SSU Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
2nd Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
3rd Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
4th Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
Commissar: "The Derzhavin" (5)

It's my current SSU army with a couple of tweaks. First of all, no armor. Again, this is to deny my opponent's anti-tank assets. Anything that rolls a lot of dice against vehicles has a tendency (not always, but frequently) to roll a lot less dice against Infantry 2 targets. I'll still need to look out for Spray weapons, but with two more Rifle Squads the enemy will have to dump a lot more fire into my anti-tank assets to silence them. I still have my five machinegun squad, and it still cranks out 15 dice at 16". It was withering against Axis Zombies, and for units that rely on mob tactics like that it can be a game changer.

The Rifle Mob will still contain Nikolai, allowing them to hit on blanks when they sustained fire. That means hitting on blanks with re-rolls. And Armor Penetrating. Nasty. The other two Rifle Squads, as well as the Snipers will dig in and use their 30" range to discourage enemy units from advancing.

Finally, there's the two Close Combat squads. with their commissar and Yakov the mob can crank out an insane number of dice. Of course, Yakov could always join the Battle Squads, and that would mean that the mass of dice would also deny cover, which means a very dead squad. I suppose it will depend on my opponent's army and the scenario.

What does this army fear? Vehicle 7. I simply cannot stop walkers that big. The loss of my walker mounted Sulfur Throwers will really show then. That's a minor factor though. Short of an air-dropped Fireball, I should be able to shrug off the enemy's firepower.

That's it for this brainstorming session. Maybe this list will supersede my Allied list. That really depends on my financial situation, but the odds are pretty good.

SSU Re-Do

I've been looking at my current SSU force over the last couple of days, and I've realized something; my force has no coherent battle plan. My units don't really compliment each other. They're more a hodge-podge of random stuff I bought (mostly because they actually are a hodge-podge of random stuff I bought). I've been looking especially closely at my transport helicopter. What am I going to actually transport in it? as it stands right now, I'm going to be dropping snipers into enemy territory and then using the thing to go around annoying enemy infantry with its machineguns.

I've been lurking in the Dust-War forum and reading what few threads exist on the SSU. One theme has come up- everybody seems to agree that Rifle Squads and Close Combat Squads are the way to go. I've also fallen in love with the "human wave" theme the SSU has going for it with the ability to form their squads into 11-man behemoths. This serves two purposes:

First, those squads lay down a lot of firepower when activated. I mean a lot. My double Battle Squad with "Trediakovsky" Commissar cranks out a mighty fifteen dice at Infantry 2 squads. Even a squad in cover will have to think twice about picking a fight with these boys.

Second, they decrease the size of my command dice pool. This means I'll get fewer orders, which will mean I'll get the drop on my enemies more frequently. This is a Very Good Thing. At first it may seem that I would suffer with fewer commands to go around. The reality is that I'll be activating swarms of infantry at a time whose goal is not to suppress enemy squads, but outright destroy them.

There are downsides, though. Spray weapons will be very, very scary prospects  (that Fireball dropped in my backfield may very well be a game winner). It's easier to suppress my entire force. I have very few overall units with which to grab objectives. The downsides are there, but I feel the upsides by far outweigh them.

"Quantity has a quality all its own."- Josef Stalin

The force I've planned out just drops the transport chopper in favor of Nikolai and a second Rifle Squad. The "Sumarokov" Commissar will be attached to the double Rifle Squad as well as Nikolai, creating what is more or less a sniper mob (they can't be fully supressed, there are twelve bodies, they halve their target's armor, and they hit on blanks).

Finally I'll attach a "Karamzin" Commissar to my Snipers to make a sniper rocket launcher, and form my two Close Combat Squads into one with my "Derzhavin" Commissar forming a wall of sulfur and molotovs.

For those who care, here's my revised list:

---  Heroes
Nikolaï (20)

---  Defense Platoon (153)
Upgrade: Improved Command (5)
Command Section: "The Medvedi" SSU Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Frontoviki" SSU Battle Squad (20)
3rd Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
4th Section: "Ohotniki" SSU Rifle Squad (20)
Commissar: "The Trediakovsky" (8)
Commissar: "The Sumarokov" (5)
Support: KV47-A "Nadya" (30)

---  Defense Platoon (127)
Upgrade: Political Importance (5)
Command Section: Koshka Rudinova with Grand'ma (53, Hero)
1st Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
2nd Section: "Fakyeli" SSU Close Combat Squad (21)
Commissar: "The Derzhavin" (5)
Commissar: "The Karamzin" (8)
Support: "Jnetzi" SSU Sniper Team (14)
Now I just need to wait for FFG to release the SSU Hero Box so I can actually get my hands on Nikolai. Oh, and I need to wait for my coffers to refill since I'm going to be pre-ordering the limited edition of Dead or Alive 5...

Fully Painted (And It Feels So Good)

...And there we have it. Three hundred points of Dust SSU minis fully painted and ready to hit the table.

I'm pleased with how the entire force came out looking coherent (limiting your color pallet will do that) and I also like how the army breaks down into two 150 point platoons. I'll have to play some games first, but I'm already considering dropping the transport helicopter in favor of another pair of Rifle Squads. Either that or another KV47 walker, but who knows?

Now I need to lay hands on those SSU transfers (or at least some Soviet transfers) in order to fill in those last few details. Once the transfers are in place and Dullcoted down, the army is done!

...Well, at least until that stinking ground attack helicopter is released.

...And that heavy tank- that looks cool.

...Oh, don't forget Winter Child...

Well, the army will be done for the time being, anyhow.

Get To The Chopper!

That's right, it's another painting roundup. Today I have two completed units to show off.

First up is the SSU Transport Helicopter. The canopy's glass is still soaking in Simple Green, so you'll just have to imagine it there. I painted the interior of the cockpit, otherwise I wouldn't be so obsessed with the glass bit. The Simple Green has yet to put a dent in the fog on the glass, but I figure I'll give it a week or so before I give up.

Next up is my SSU Close Combat Squad. These fellows have blue Molotov Cocktail bottles, whereas the next squad will probably have green ones.

That's it for today's painting. Now I just need to get those decals and that can of Dullcote...

Dust Warfare News

The mini that will never be?

Well, I've almost finished the Dust minis I have, and more are in the mail (hopefully they'll be here soon) and I've hit a roadblock. I need the SSU ground attack helicopter pictured above, but it's been "at the manufacturer" for months now. I've followed the minis for a while before Demitra proposed getting into the game, simply because Andy Chambers wrote the system. What's even more irksome is that the Red Guard miniatures as well as the heavy tanks are coming out before the chopper. This annoys me because these minis have no Dust Warfare rules, and won't until December. The company, in my opinion, really ought to finish releasing the stuff with rules before they release models without them. Now, I understand that the nuances of fabricating these things is well beyond my ken, but were I to be running Dust Studio or FFG I'd be applying some boot leather to some rumps right about now.

In other news, I messed up my transport helicopter yesterday. I thought the "glass" on the canopy was permanently attached to the "metal" part of the cockpit. Imagine my surprise when I turned over the part only to realize the clear plastic popped out and in. Of course, this was after I had varnished the entire assembly, and now I'm left with a cloudy canopy. Rats. The clear plastic is sitting in a Simple Green bath right now in the hopes the varnish will get eaten off, but I don't hold out too much hope.

I also found that Dust Studio does in fact put out decals. I'll be ordering some of the SSU sheets to slap on before I put on the layer of Dullcote that finishes the models up. I'm really looking forward to having everything for the game wrapped up, and then heading out to get some games in. I may even use (*gasp*) unpainted minis and proxy my transport helicopter as a ground attack helicopter (heresy!). That, of course, is dependant upon how long it takes the ol' USPS takes to get my last two units to me.

Finally, I'm trying to decide how to differentiate my two Close Combat Squads and my two Battle Squads from one another. I was thinking of perhaps marking their bases or giving them some sort of distinguishing mark on them, which would be easy on the Close Combat Squads (different colored Molotov cocktail bottles) but on the Battle Squad I'm just not sure. Hopefully something will come to me soon.

More SSU Goodness

Today I finished a bit more of my SSU stuff. First off, let's take a look at Grand'Ma. This was the first mini I completed (actually a couple of days ago) and it got much the same treatment as my previous KV47 walker.

Not too much more to say about her.

Next up we have my SSU Command Squad. These guys were a bit of a hassle to paint. There are cables running all over the place on the mechanic and the radio operator. These I decided to do in red since that's the color I chose for the sulfur canisters on the walkers.

Finally, we come to my snipers. They're just proof that FFG reuses the same parts in different combinations to make squads. In this case we have the helmeted head rather than the one wearing a cap on the Widowmaker bodies.

Not to say I can blame them (it's a cost cutting measure) but it is a thing that sort of stands out on the tabletop.

Any way, that's it for today. Now off to sell my Skorne!

Dust Arrives And Gets Painted

Well, as stated before my Dust shipment arrived. Everything save the Campaign Book Zverograd arrived in a single big box from the Miniature Market. The book I ordered from my FLGS. Unfortunately the shipment came in right before I had to leave for work, so all I war able to accomplish was lining up and photographing my haul.

The next day I set about unboxing and assembling the minis. Yes, some assembly is required. Grand'Ma (Koshka's personal KV47) came in four pieces (two arms, a body, and a base) so she got some superglue to hold all her bits in place. The normal KV47 walker is supposed to have interchangeable arms, but because of the way they're put together the arms droop and/or just plain fall off the mini. That required some superglue, and now the mini is permanently a KV47-A variant. Also, one of my Rifle Squad members wasn't attached to his base properly, but that was just a matter of gluing his foot back onto the base. No big deal.

One thing I did notice about the infantry is that the heads are haphazardly attached. The minis come looking in directions that make no sense whatsoever. Luckily the heads aren't really glued into place very well, and with a gentle tug you can take the head off of the miniature. The head comes with a peg that acts as both the neck as well as the anchor into the body, so a dab of superglue took care of that problem.

From there it was on to painting. I began with the models that would set the tone of the army; the Commissar Squad.

These fellows would be attached to various squads about the army, so their uniform had to match the rest of the force, yet stand out to denote their importance. The brown jackets would match the SSU uniform I would use (I tries to match their uniforms to those I found by Googling "Soviet WW2 uniform") and their armor was painted in what Vallejo Model Color calls "Soviet Green". The way I decided to make them stand out against the masses of normal infantry was to give them blue pants. This would be a stark contrast to the earth tones used elsewhere in the army, and served to offset the red stars on their hats nicely. One of these minis (the fellow pointing) will not be in my finalized army, but I painted him up any way.

The bases on the models are steel plating, so I painted them up appropriately.

My next project would be to tackle the Combat Squad. These fellows will be featured prominently in my army, so I decided to use them to determine the paint job on my infantry. I matched the colors found on the commissars' jackets and body armor. There's a lot more leather found on these minis, so you can see the coloration on that area of the minis much clearer in this photo.

Next up would be Koshka. I wanted to save the character mini for last, but I just couldn't resist.

I wanted her to match the rest of my army, so she has a black leather jacket and brown pants. Unfortunately this is what she's suppose to look like:

Oh, well. I still think she looks okay in my color scheme.

From there I decided to paint up a little armor. I grabbed the KV47-A and went to town. Again I Googled the appropriate camouflage scheme, and from there adapted it to a walker.

I probably should have gone with Grand'Ma (Koshka's walker), but I decided that if I was going to mess up a color scheme, I'd rather do it on a non-character mini. I don't like how the base came out, but aside from that the model looks good.

Yesterday and today saw me focusing on the Rifle Squad. They're done as of about an hour ago, and here they are:

They're a good match to the Combat Squad, and I'm glad that Fantasy Flight Games/Dust Studio decided to give them different headgear than the Combat Squad, as this unit is literally a hybrid of the Combat Squad and Sniper Team minis with a head swap. Don't believe me? you'll see once the snipers are finished.

That's it on the painting front for now. Grand'Ma is sitting on the painting table as her Nuln Oil shade dries, and she ought to be ready for me to get back to painting right about now. Time to turn the ol' podcasts back on and get to work.

Another Army List- This Time SSU

That's right, I'm posting my SSU army list for Dust. It's mostly a conglomeration of almost every SSU miniature on the market, and it's up for re-tweaking, but this is pretty close to the final version.

From what I can figure, the SSU's main advantage is their commissars. The ability to tack them onto any squad in your force, as well as their ability to add new and exciting weapons to squads makes them the x-factor your opponent will have to think around. Their units all act a little odd compared to Axis and Allied units (our squads are quite specialized) but that allows every unit to focus on one aspect of the fight rather than spreading their fire around the field. Plus the commissars' ability to paste two identical squads together into one makes them a scary prospect. I plan on fielding an 11 man squad armed with five machineguns. That should put a dent into Infantry 2 units!

The SSU however does suffer from a single major drawback- they can't effectively engage enemy armor. Maybe that will change once the super heavy tanks arrive (December-ish) but for now we have to fall back on our Widowmaker rifles, which are much less accurate than our Axis and Allied equivalents, but we just plain get more sniper rifles than they do. The fact that they're either in the hands of a pair of snipers or hidden in a squad (the rifles have Penetrator, which is nice) ups their effectiveness, but they can only engage up to Vehicle 4 units, which puts us at a serious disadvantage against the new Axis Vehicle 5 & 6 walkers. Let's not mention the Axis & Allied Vehicle 7 machines.

Our other method is praying that our KV47 walkers and Close Combat Squads can take out the enemy walkers before they can paste us. Sulfur Throwers are great at this (setting enemy vehicles on fire will be a ton of fun). Provided they can:
A) Be brought into range (our best Sulfur Thrower has a 14" range), as they may very well be destroyed on their way into combat.
B) Hit. One die needing a 5+ to hit just isn't a very good chance, and then there's armor negating damage...

Here's what I plan on running:

DEFENSE PLATOON
Command Section: SSU Command Squad (25 AP)
-Special Support 1: "The Trediakovsky" Commissar (8 AP)
-Special Support 2: "The Karamzin" Commissar (8 AP)
Section 1: SSU Battle Squad (20 AP)
Section 2: SSU Battle Squad (20 AP)
Section 3: SSU Rifle Squad (20 AP)
Section 4: ---------------------------------
-Support 1: SSU Sniper Team (14 AP)
-Support 2: MIL-MI 45 Airborne Transport (40 AP)

DEFENSE PLATOON (Political Importance- 5AP)
-Special Support 1: "The Sumarokov" Commissar (5 AP)
-Special Support 2: "The Derzhavin" Commissar (5 AP)
Command Section: Koshka (18 AP)
-Grand'Ma: (35 AP)
Section 1: SSU Close Combat Squad (21 AP)
Section 2: SSU Close Combat Squad (21 AP)
Section 3: --------------------------------
Section 4: --------------------------------
-Support 1: KV47-A Walker (30 AP)

I'm really only running Koshka and Grand'Ma in the army as a way to shoehorn in another KV47 variant. Since I can assign the platoon "Political Importance" so I can run the commissars I want in order to keep the Close Combat Squads in the fight (they get an action even if they have a reaction marker on them and are suppressed).

The Battle Squads will be joined together in order to form that 11-man, 5 machinegun squad (their commissar has a machinegun too) and the rocket launcher armed commissar will either join the Rifle Squad or the Sniper Team. Either unit has its own advantages and disadvantages, so he may float around until I come to a decision as to where he'll be the most effective.

Of course, I ultimately want to remove the rocket launcher commissar as well as the Airborne Transport in favor of a MIL MI-47 Attack Helicopter (D variant- I like the idea of dropping all those bombs it has). The transport chopper just doesn't really fit into what I'd been planning for the army, so the aggressive, anti-armor stance the helicopter brings to the table is most welcome. I've already come up with some fun ways to use the way the bomb rules work. This is a while out, however, as the mini for the unit is still being manufactured, let alone packaged, shipped to America, and distributed to retailers.

This is all still a pipe dream, however, as I don't even have my second Battle Squad and Close Combat Squad yet.

I do have some units fully painted now, so I'll be posting them soonish. Stay tuned!

SSU Just In Time

Just a touch of cheesecake.

Yesterday I made a most alarming / shocking / happy discovery. The SSU book is on its way to distributors as I type! This changes things a bit more than slightly.

I plan on buying into the SSU rather than the Allies. This was the original faction I fell in love with (since Demitra laid claim to the Axis) due to their walkers as well as the fact that they're the second most evil faction out there. I mean, let's face it, Stalin wasn't a really great guy. Why do I like the bad guys? That's a question best left to a therapist I suppose. (^_^)

This means my plans for purchasing a Dust army are on hold for a while. I'm going to need to pour through Campaign Book Zverograd for a while studying up on the SSU's strengths and weaknesses. I'm going to need to sell a few more useless college books. I'd really like to sell off my Skorne. If you know anybody who'd like these guys for the low, low price of $70, let me know. Back on topic; I need patience now. This is something in short supply for me, as I've run out of stuff I want to paint. I could finish that stuff over there under Coming Attractions, but I've burned myself out on them. I need something to break up these projects. This was supposed to be my Quar, but they arrived sans a piece, and it takes forever for Zombiesmith to ship stuff, so they're a no-go for now. My Kabuki models showed up a while ago and I painted them, but they're a little NSFW (and I try to keep this blog family friendly), so you won't be seeing them.

In Soviet Russia, party finds you!

At least the book came out before I placed my order, right? I'd be a bit irked if I had placed my Allies order before then, so thank goodness for small miracles. Now back to the ol' waiting game.