Dust Monthly 12

EDITORIAL
DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

Welcome to DUST Monthly Magazine,
The last few months have been a challenge for DUST Monthly Magazine.
In this day and age it isn’t easy to publish a hobby magazin, the intenet brings all the news as it
happens and a monthly publication can only hope to recap everything that has happened.
With the focus of the magazine being on DUST and nothing else it means we don’t exactly drown
in articles to shoose from
This all means that every issueof the magazine is much thinner than we want and often a day or
two late (as we try to put in a few more pages).
Starting this issue we will be making changes to try and keep DUST Monthly Magazine worth
your time. None of the changes are set in stone yet and it will take time to get things right.
The first thing you will notice is that the staff have all gone. No they haven’t been fired, they never
existed. For over a year now I have been trying to give Rosie, Bub, Helga, etc. something to do
on the magazine and this has just meant that multiple projects have been begun by one person
and then not having enoughtime to keep them going. So no longer will make belief characters be
involved in the magazine. The names you see areall real people with real lives and commitments.
The other big change is that the News pages have gone. Instead eachissue will have a “Previ-
ously:” article where I try to cover as much of what has happened in the last thirty days. I’m still
working on the format of this feature so please be patient.
There will be other things that are going to change/happen and please let me know what you like
and what you don’t like. Also if you have an idea that you want to see in the magazine tell me
about it, or even better, write the article.
Don’t think the magazine is being dropped (I have just renewed the URL), we just need to work
out what type of monthly PDF hobby magazine is best suited to supporting and promoting Paolo
Parente’s World of Dust.
Floris
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DUST MONTHLY- ISSUE 12

Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02
Table Of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03
2016 Dust Off Announcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05
Previously: February 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
I Need A Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
New Dust Tactics Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
From The Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Kommandowagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Cali’s Bandits Past: 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Next Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
THE TEAM BEHIND THIS ISSUE

Joe McLauglin
* I Need A Hero
* Kommandowagon
Dust-Vikings
* New Dust Tactics Scenario
Brian Sherry
* From The Front
FTYROSS
* Cali’s Banits
Special thanks to the following people for their support and enthusiasm with all things Dust:
Paolo Parente, Olivier Zamfirescu, Vincent Fontaine, Rick Ivansek, Gregory Withrow, DDI, and
the UK Dust Knights
Names and artwork are © 2016 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.
3
4
2016 DUST OFF ANNOUNCEMENT

The first details of the premiere Dust 1947 UK Expo
Dust Knights U.K are pleased to announce the 2016 DUST OFF this two day event will take place
at the same location in the U.K as last year,
Enginuity , Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Telford.

On October 15-16th 2016
approx times Saturday 3pm -8pm,
Sunday 10am - 6pm.
The main event at the 2016 DUST OFF will of course be the NEW DUST-47 Championships
this will focus on 100pt forces.
The 2016 DUST OFF event will see our interactive “Operation Scorpion 47” run again on the
Saturday afternoon , but this time with a new story line and new event rules and some new chal-
lenges for the players. Once again the action will be fast and furious between the factions as they
battle to achieve overall victory with each player fielding a 100pt forces as they strive to rack
up those wins for their chosen faction with one overall commander who has the highest scoring
rate being crowned the Operation Scorpion 47 champion, this event was a lot of fun and very
popular last year.
Dust Adventures will be making a welcome appearance at DUST OFF with some interactive
quick fire scenarios being run.
There will be a painting/modelling competition run with the rules as last year for entries to focus
the theme focused/themed around the fantastic DUST miniatures and this year the Desert theatre
of war.
The Cosplay event will be held again with so many entries last year this was a popular event so
this year we will be looking for that “New Dust look” and encouraging all our event entries to
come along in costume/uniform.
DUST Monthly Magazine will be running a special 3D Dust 47 event game table, last year’s
table was great fun and set the bar very high for the follow up!
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PREVIOUSLY: FEBRUARY 2016
The latest developments in the world of Dust
The evergrowing range of model kits,

primed figures and Premium painted units
have seen new additions added for all three
of the major factions in February. in the
form of the Loth (Trop), Pounder (Light)
and Mikhail (TSH).
Just before the end of the month Paolo

Parente revealed the next model to be added
to the DUST Elite programme. Check out
the Wrecker Walker with pilot in the picture
on the right.
To assist Wrecker Girl, the Mercenary unit

“Sisters of Mayhem” is now back in stock
(see picture below).
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In the frozen wastes of Antarctica, the Axis and the Allies are fighting a ruthless war for the most
precious resource on the planet: VK. This is the story of their struggle, and much more, as told by
the celebrated writer Matt Forbeck. You will find many of the most famous heroes of the world
of Dust in Blood & Thunder, as well as a few new ones. This unique bundle is the chance to add
some of them to your Allied or Axis Army. The novel is 330 pages long.
There are two sets available (one Allies and one Axis set) These miniatures come with their unit
cards, to use with Dust Tactics and Dust Tactics Battlefield rules.
Unlike many other of our miniatures, these models are cast in high quality resin. They require as-
sembly that needs glue and as such are supplied unpainted. The casting is very crisp and precise,
definitely models for the discerning fan!
7
I NEED A HERO
”Rangers Limited Edition Characters” set first impressions
So I just opened up my box of the “Rangers Limit-
ed Edition Characters” allied command squad that I
picked up at DWE. This set cost $50 and came with
the new “Blood and Thunder” novel. The “Blood and
Thunder” novel is also sold with the “Blutzkreuz Lim-
ited Edition Characters” for those wishing to collect
Axis.
When I purchased it, I was sort of having a “meh”

feeling about the command squad. I already owned
one after all and just buying another one for a differ-
ent sculpt wasn’t appealing to me.
Boy was I wrong.
First, these models look awesome. I can’t wait to put

them together.
But it’s the cards that really made me excited. The

“Bravo Command” squad card costs one more point
(13) than the current S2 command squad “The Boss”
but it has more firepower. I did a breakdown of both squads by adding up the firepower of both
squads when they are at full size. Both squads have a range of 6. You can see that the Bravo
Command has anywhere from 20% to 67% increased firepower than “The Boss”. It’s also nice to
note that the biggest increases are with the S1 type units. With everyone throwing inexpensive S1
hordes of squads these days, this is nice to have.
However, firepower is not really the reason you
add a command squad to your army list.
The really cool thing about this set is that each

member of the command squad is a hero and you
can use all five models separately. I’ve always
wanted to be able to split up a command squad.
I’ve often wanted the ability to have someone
just issuing orders while someone else just fixed
things or healed people. Now you can do that.
You know how many axis players are grabbing

Tina because she gives officer ability at 8 points?
Well, you can now take “Captain Ledger” at 8
points and he has the officer ability and better
firepower than Tina. Of course, he has no radio
(nor does Tina) but I was looking at the “Willy’s
MB” card that they distributed at DWE for an
American Jeep. In theory if I purchased that for
3 points and put “Captain Ledger” in it, he would
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have a radio and 3/7 movement and a nice .45 MG for some extra shooty. It’s no Kommandowa-

gen, but better than nothing.
One interesting thing about “Captain Ledger” is that his card hints at some new rule changes. The
“officer” ability for “Captain Ledger” reads “May take officer special action to reactivate or rearm
their troops” Notice that it doesn’t list reinforce or replace. I heard at DWE that reinforce and re-
place were going away as a command action.
The next hero is “Costa”, the company

medic. You can have a medic for 6 points
running around healing people without
having to pay for a full squad. He can use
it on a unit he joined but the rule also says
“can use the Medic Special Action like a
Command Squad Medic” which would
imply being able to heal squads at 4 inch-
es. Not quite like the way the Axis run
Totenmeisterin, but sort of.
“Gilmore” is a mechanic hero who can

run around fixing things, again for just 6
points. The interesting thing here is that
this card also hints at some of the new rule
changes. The “Mechanic” action for “Gil-
more” reads “Take Repair Action to can-
cel one point of Damage on adjacent vehi-
cles”. Notice that it doesn’t say anything
about rolling dice. As you probably know,
we used to roll 5 dice and fix a point for
each faction symbol. The new rule seems
to automatically repair one point of damage. I spoke with Gregoire Boiselaud at Dust Studios who
indicated that this is, in fact, the way the new mechanic rule will be working. I’m also assuming
“adjacent” means range 1 or 4 inches. So, this would be a good guy to keep hidden behind your
pounder patching holes each turn.
There’s two other heros who produce some pretty good firepower and have some abilities, but not
traditional command squad abilities. “Di Giorgio” is 6 points and has a 30 cal MG with all the
great firepower that brings with it. He has the “and stay down” skill which reads “Any unit hit by
ranged weaponse fired by this unit automatically gains Suppression token”. This is going to be a
great character for anyone who wants to go on the offensive.
The last character is “Jack”, who costs 7 points. He’s armed with an M47 BAR Automatic Rifle
which does respectable damage. He has three skills. First “Cheat Death” which reads “if elimi-
nated, roll a die. On a faction symbol or shield, cancel one point of Damage and Hero survives,
but gains a stunned token”. He also has “Lucky” which reads “Once Per game, may re-roll all of
the die for one weapon during his attack action”. Finally, he has “Pilot” which reads “May mount
a vehicle, using their skills while in the vehicle.”
I thought the “Pilot” skill was a strange addition for “Jack”. Let’s explore this. If “Jack” mounts
a vehicle, what does it gain you? Well, the vehicle can’t be suppressed. Big Deal. The “Cheat
9
Death” rule isn’t going to gain you anything inside of a vehicle. The only advantage will be that
he will have “Lucky” inside of a vehicle. I’ve always felt that “Lucky” worked best with vehicles
that have multiple dice to roll, like a wildfire. Having a hero locked in something like a pounder
or a punisher to reroll the one or two dice that their main gun fires once a game seems like a waste
of the hero.
I think “Jack” is going to be best used as a meat shield. Attach him to a squad and let him soak up
the first four hits. Then let jack roll off his “Cheat Death” roll to bring himself back to life and let
Zombie Jack continue to absorb hits until he rolls a crosshair. Imagine the bitter beer face on your
opponent when seven unsaved hits get eaten up by this squad without losing a model!
These heroes are not in the same league as traditional heroes like Rhino or Bazooka Joe but they
are coming in at 6 to 7 points compared to 12 to 17 points for those other heroes, which makes
them a bargain for what they can do.
Prior to opening the box set, I had no idea that you were able to break up the command squad into
individual heroes. This was a pleasant surprise and it gives any allied player a nice variety of new
heroes and affordable skills to flush out his army. This set is well worth the investment.
10
NEW DUST TACTICS SCENARIO

War on two fronts
This passage may prove to be vital to our supply lines. Thanks to our brave Recon units we have
the opportunity to secure the area and gain an advantage. The enemy will try to counter attack, and
to be successful we must act quickly, and make a coordinated strike against two separate locations.
Game Board: Place the game boards with their long edges touching.
Deployment: Each player’s force enters the table from one of the corners as indicated on the
map. Note that the player who won the roll can choose any corner, and his opponent automatically
enters from the diagonally opposite corner.
Objectives: Place two Objectives as indicated on the map depending on the chosen deployment
corners. Terrain and Tank Traps cannot be placed in these squares (Ammo Boxes can be placed in
the Objective squares).
A player controls an Objective if he owns one or more models in the Objective’s square and there
are no enemy units within Range 2. A Vehicle that is abandoned by its Hero Pilot, and that is not
Large/Huge, can’t control an Objective. Mindless Zombies and Aircraft can’t control Objectives.
At the end of a turn, on or after turn three, a player gains victory points if he Controls one or both
Objectives. If a player Controls one Objective he gains 1 victory point that turn. If a player Con-
trols both Objectives at the same time he gains 3 victory points that turn.
A player wins by gaining a total of five victory points.
Reserves: Each player may place one eliminated Soldier unit, one eliminated Vehicle unit and
one eliminated Aircraft unit in reserve.
Game Length: The game lasts for 8 turns.
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NEW DUST TACTICS SCENARIO
Anvil and Hammer
The Enemy is attacking one of our bases. We must defend it at all costs and launch a decisive
counter attack on their flank.
Game Board: Place the game boards with their long edges touching.
Deployment: Each player’s force enters the table from one of the corners as indicated on the
map. Note that the player who won the roll can choose any corner, and his opponent automatically
enters from the diagonally opposite corner.
Objectives: Place two Objectives as indicated on the map depending on the chosen deployment
corners. Terrain and Tank Traps cannot be placed in these squares (Ammo Boxes can be placed in
the Objective squares).
A player controls an Objective if he owns one or more models in the Objective’s square and there
are no enemy units within Range 2. A Vehicle that is abandoned by its Hero Pilot, and that is not
Large/Huge, can’t control an Objective. Mindless Zombies and Aircraft can’t control Objectives.
At the end of a turn, on or after turn three, a player wins if he Controls the Objective in the op-
ponent’s corner.
Reserves: Each player may place one eliminated Soldier unit, one eliminated Vehicle unit and
one eliminated Aircraft unit in reserve.
Game Length: The game lasts for 8 turns.
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CONTACT@DUST-MONTHLY.COM
We are always looking for battle reports for Dust Tactics, Battlefield or Warfare, painting and
modeling articles, unit reviews and event reports. Really, we are looking for anything Dust related.
If you have ideas for submissions submit them. We’ll find a way to make ‘em fit.
Please submit your content at least 10 days prior to the date of publishing. The next issue will be
for April and so content needs to be submitted by the 20th of March 2016.
13
FROM THE FRONT
Tournament report from the Dust World Expo
Early February I attended Dust World Expo (DWE) 2016. DWE is an annual celebration of all
things Dust, a game of alternative, sci-fi flavored WWII. DWE is typically attended by the most
hard-core Dust players as well as most, if not all, of the Dust design team. As many gamers know,
Dust has been on the ropes a bit recently, having suffered a Kickstarter meltdown. I have my opin-
ions on the matter, but suffice it to say I love the setting and the game(s) and think the company
are good people, and I am sticking to my support for it.
Last year I attended Gencon and really enjoyed the Dust tournament and meeting the team. So I
decided early on I would attend DWE. It is held at Falcon Field, Arizona at the Commemorative
Air Force Museum. The site is just fantastic. Here are a few shots of what’s there.
Front Entrance A MiG Comrades!
The inside of the museum where the events take place. Quite a setup!
Some of the local Dust color.
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The Expo consists of two days of events. Saturday is for tournaments. There are separate ones for

Dust Tactics, using the gridded play board, Dust Battlefield, using Tactics rules on the tabletop,
and Dust Warfare, which was a separate system designed by FFG. I counted about 20 tournament
players overall, with perhaps 40 attendees all told. The theme of this year’s event is “Operation
Babylon” the Allies attempt to destroy Axis forces in the Iraqi region of the Middle East, contested
of course by the SSU who are also out to control the region.
I play Dust Battlefield these days, and so that was the tournament I chose. As the theme of this
year’s event was desert battles, sandstorm rules were in effect, meaning that LOS and range could
be severely curtailed. Also, any flying units would be grounded and unusable. This meant no one
risked taking flying units in the tournament. My favorite faction is the Sino-Soviet Union (SSU)
and I took the following 100-point list:
2x Matrioshka heavy walker

1x Mao Zedong heavy tank
1x Spetnaz Saboteurs squad
1x Spetnaz Heavies squad
1x Spetnaz Killers squad
1x Sisters of Demolition squad
Nikolai
My thinking was I would need

plenty of heavy firepower but
also lots of close-ranged support
and warm bodies for contesting
and seizing objectives.
GAME 1:
In my first game I faced Richard, who fielded a gorgeous Axis army with a lot of walkers, as
pictured:
15
Turn one: No sandstorm. Axis walker advances and pops smoke
Another walker takes up a position on my left.
My scouts enter the field.

Yes, I am going to deploy my walkers last to avoid enemy fire.
My Heavies deploy in cover

and are camouflaged.
My Saboteurs advance on the right.
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Another Axis walker appears.

Spetnaz kill team advances rapidly onto
the field.
Oops, here come the Wotan laser walker, And I lose 3 men!
The Mao tank appears and puts

some dings on a Ludwig walker,
but fails to destroy it.
17
Another jagdluther appears, but fails to damage the Mao.
One Matrioshka arrives and

damages the Jagdluther in
the open.
An overview as my last Matrioshka,

piloted by Ivan arrives.
18
Ivan finishes off the wounded Jagdluther!

Turn 2: No sandstorm. SSU takes priority and the Mao uses a sustained fire action to finish off
the wounded Luther.
The Wotan finishes off my Killers squad with

its MGs.
19
And the Wotan’s lasers scrap Nikolai’s Matrioshka!
My remaining Matrioshka takes out the Lu-
ther hiding in smoke..
My Matrioshka in the woods survives

return fire, and I advance the Sabo-
teurs toward the right objective.
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Turn 3: No sandstorm. Wotan advances and fires,

damaging but not killing the Mao tank.
However the Wotan neutralizes 4
of 5 Saboteurs!
Nikolai summons a replacement vehi-

cle, and the green Matrioshka returns
to the field. It gets lucky and destroys
the Wotan!
Having no further activations, Richard turns it over to

me. And with that, the last Saboteur walks to the objec-
tive and captures it!
Conclusion: I won game one with a humble Type 1 infantryman surviving a hail of fire to take
the point, scoring 6 tournament points The armor battle went well for me, clearing the way for this
comrade ti finish the job. Thanks to Richard for a good game. I can’t remember the exact totals but
I believe the kill points were about 50-30 in my favor.
Check back next issue for the report of games two and three of the tournament.
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KOMMANDOWAGEN
The best little vehicle in the game
Introduction
I remember when my deck of Dust Tactics unit cards arrived in the mail. They were all stuck to
each other and I spend the next hour peeling them off each other and checking out each unit. I
was focused on the sexy units like the Wotan and the Panzers heavy infantry. I’d look up the price
of these units at my local game store or online. Trying to identify which units had the best bang
for the buck.
In doing so, I missed a whole bunch of models that were in that card pack.
A few months later, I was at my local game store and I was watching a game between Patrick Doty
and James Goldenstein. Patrick had a bunch of small wheeled vehicles on the table that I’d not
seen before. When I inquired about them, I was told they were AB-47 scout vehicles. I checked
my card deck and, sure enough, they were in there. When I asked why I had never seen them in
the store or online, I was told they were Tamiya models. It turns out there are several models in
the card deck that are Tamiya models.
One of them, is the Kommandowagen.
About the Model

The Kommandowagen is represented by the Tamiya 32550 kit titled “1/48 German Sd.kfz.250/3
Grief”. I purchased my kit from Amazon where its price varies between $20 and $35. As with all
Tamiya kits, the model is highly detailed, comes with clear instructions, is easily to assemble and
contains many “extra” parts to allow you to customize your model.
The kit itself is easy to assemble. The most

difficult part of the assembly is the tracks. I’d
recommend that you assemble the tracks in
a single session and use slow drying glued
so you can move the track parts to eliminate
gaps as you put it together.
A dominant feature of the model is the “roll

cage” bars at the top of the model. This ap-
pears to be very fragile, and I was resistant to
put it on at first thinking that it would break
during my first game. However, I’ve found that this piece of the model is surprisingly strong and
resistant to damage.
The model also comes with several extra parts on its sprue to allow you to customize the look and
feel of the model. These range from equipment bags, shovels, weapons to spare tires and parts.
Once I had the model assembled, I did a simple base coat of citadel fortress grey and then air-
brushed lines of citadel codex grey. I painted the tires black and used citadel boltgun metal on the
tracks and guns before washing them in black ink. When dry, I applied the decals and then coated
the entire model with a semi-gloss varnish followed by a second coat of dullcoat. This produced
a good table top quality model with limited effort that looked very similar to the card.
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Model Extras

I mentioned earlier that the model comes
with several optional weapons and equip-
ment on the sprue. It also comes with
sprue for the crew. The default sprues in-
clude a figure to represent Field Marshall
Rommel and another sprue to represent
the vehicle crew.
The Rommel model is easy to assemble

and provides a good proxy for the “Desert
Fox” Axis unit. While I don’t own the
Desert Fox model, I’ll show a side by side
comparison of the website model with
the Rommel model from the kit quick I
quickly put on a base and pained up in a
few minutes.
The crew models can also be modeled up

nicely as proxies for the Axis “Executioners”
observation squad. I took one of the crew
units, and quickly slapped on a weapon and
binoculars and put him side by side with a
Dust Tactics observation unit. In hindsight,
I should have tried to recreate the same pose,
but I was too lazy to go dig out my observer
at the time. As you can see, the Tamiya model seems slightly short and skinny compared to the Dust fig-
ure. However, I’ve seen a lot worse.
The point is that this kit could potentially
build the Kommandowagen, a good proxy
for the “Desert Fox” and a good proxy for
the “Executioners”.
In Game Performance
So, what does the vehicle do in game?
The Kommandowagen is a vehicle 2 unit
that costs only four points. It can trans-
port a squad of six infantry with armor 1
or 2 or three infantry with armor 3 or 4.
It’s fast, but it’s also a half track which means that it has a 66% of getting stuck in terrain. It has a
nice MG44 with good range and respectable firepower. It’s a very small model, which means it’s
easy to hide it behind some hills. It has a radio, allowing officers to give orders to anywhere on the
board. Most importantly, however, it that it’s a command vehicle, allowing Officers, Mechanics
and Medics mounted in the vehicle to re-roll their special actions.
Cost
So, let’s talk about the cost first. The Kommandowagen only cost four points. That’s dirt cheap
considering that it can do. I think you will see as we look at the other attributes that you will not
see a better deal for the cost.
23
Transport Capability
The Kommandowagen has the capabil-
ity to transport six Armor 1 or 2 units
or three armor 3 or 4 units. I’ve heard
criticism of the model that it looks too
small to be able to fit that many mod-
els in the vehicle, especially with all of
the command and control equipment in
the vehicle. Now, as we will discuss
shortly, most of the time you are going
to have a command squad in the Kom-
mandowagen. However, you could
also have a five man squad, such as
the Stormtroopers, in the vehicle along
with a hero. If the hero is an officer he
will benefit from the command vehicle
radio and abilities while the squad gets
the benefits of the transport vehicle’s
protection and speed.
Being mounted in a vehicle, the infan-

try squad itself cannot be targeted. The
squad, however, can fire half of their
weapons out of one side of the vehicle
while the remaining weapons can fire
out the other side.
Vehicle Performance
Let’s take a look at the vehicle itself. The Kommandowagen is a vehicle with armor 2 and four
damage points. This means it’s not going to survive against any anti-vehicle ordinance. It’s fast,
with a march move speed of 7. However, that speed is slightly offset by the fact that it’s a half-
tracked vehicle. It has a 66% chance of getting stuck when moving through terrain. Stay clear of
the Moors.
The Kommandowagen has an MG44 machine gun as its sole weapon. It has a front firing ark.
The MG44 has a range of six and does respectable damage. The MG44 does no damage against
aircraft, however. This is odd as the Ludwig has the same MG44, and it has anti-aircraft stats. I
guess the Kommandowagen MG44 just
can’t elevate up.
One final note I’d like to make about the

Kommandowagen’s performance is its
size. I’ve heard people criticize the size
of the model. I’ve lined up three models
to show a size comparison. This picture
shows the Kommandowagen, Hanomag,
and the Prinzluther.
All three are able to hold six armor 2 or 3

passengers inside the vehicle. Looking at
the Prinzluther, you can believe that. Our
24
squad is going to get very close and friendly

trying to have everyone squeeze into the Ha-
nomag. You really have to suspend disbelief,
however, to think that six guys are getting into
the Kommandowagen, especially with all that
equipment in there. Having said that, the size
of the Kommandowagen is a great benefit on
the game table. With its low profile and short
length, the Kommandowagen is easy to hide
behind a hill or behind a building.
Command Ability
By far, the greatest feature of the Kommandowagen is that it’s a command vehicle. This means
two things. First, the vehicle has a radio. (Technically, all vehicles in the game do) A hero with
the officer ability in a Kommandowagen can issue orders anywhere on the map rather than just
their normal eight inches. Second, Officers, Mechanics and Medics get to reroll their actions.
This is HUGE.
If you really wanted to do a “get moving” order, you could issue the order twice, getting rerolls
with each dice roll. Basically, you get to roll four dice and if any dice is a faction symbol, you
reactivate the unit. Using my Battlescribe Dice Tool, this works out to a 96% chance of reactivat-
ing the unit. This is the same percentage for reinforcements or a replacement vehicle. If you only
wanted to do the “get moving” order once, the reroll gives you a 56% chance of success.
If you had a command squad in the Kommandowagen, the engineer could do a makeshift repair
on a vehicle within four inches. They would roll five dice, repairing a damage point for each fac-
tion symbol. The command ability would allow the mechanic to reroll any misses. That’s a 55%
success chance for each of the five dice. On average, the mechanic will repair two to three points
of damage per action.
The medic action normally has a 66% chance of returning an eliminated infantry unit within four
inches. The reroll means that each action has a 97% change of success.
Is that awesome or what?
Picking the right passengers

The first thing you need to consider when you add a Kommandowagen to your army is who you
want to be in the vehicle. The normal approach is to put a unit like “the Old Man” in the vehicle.
This unit can then provide officer abilities, medic abilities and mechanic abilities all with rerolls.
If you don’t feel the need for the mechanic or medic, another good alternative is to put an infan-
try squad along with an officer in the Kommandowagen. Something like a unit of Stormtroopers
with Manfred. Manfred can issue orders to anywhere on the map, with rerolls. The vehicle can
transport him and his squad quickly around the map to provide firepower wherever it’s needed.
Now, if you wanted to get cheesy, there is nothing to say you can’t have several officers in a com-
mand vehicle, all benefitting from the radio and command rerolls. However, there’s also nothing
to say you can’t add multiple Kommandowagen’s to your army list.
Finally, if you want the ultimate cheese build for the Kommandowagen, put in a command squad
25
with the “Desert Fox”. His General skill will allow him a free officer special action each time
he activates. Additionally, if joined to a unit with an officer, he rolls two dice when attempting
an officer special action. Plus he would get rerolls because of the command vehicle. In such an
instance your command squad could do repair, medic, or rearm actions for their first two actions.
Then Rommel could do his third officer action rolling four dice. Why even bother rolling the dice?
Tactics
I like to bring in the Kommandowagen and attached command squad early in the game. In games
with reserves or delayed reserves, the high probability of getting a “get moving” action is equiva-
lent to having another unit on the table on turn one. Likewise, if I lose a unit early, I’d rather
get the reinforcement or replacement early in the game as well, hopefully before all the enemy
reserves come on the table.
Keep the Kommandowagen behind (but not in) cover, which is easy due to its compact profile.
Try to avoid entering terrain as you will have a 66% chance of getting stuck. You will want to
keep the vehicle’s speed available. If a friendly vehicle takes damage or a squad needs medical
attention, the Kommandowagen can quickly speed across the back of the map, allowing the com-
mand unit to provide those services. The Kommandowagen also has a good punch with the MG44
and can help provide some cover fire when needed.
Don’t be afraid to move the Kommandowagen around the back of the table. You are too far out
of your opponent’s reactive fire range for him to do anything about it. Keep reminding him that
you have a fast little vehicle there. If need be, you can do a quick flanking move and try to take
that objective that he’s left vulnerable. Your opponent might not expect this as he will think you
are going to keep your command vehicle hidden and safe. Keeping near your own objectives al-
lows the Kommandowagen to swoop in and contest one of your own objectives if your opponent
manages to get a unit too close.
Remember that the Kommandowagen and the command squad inside of it activate separately.
There’s no reason your Kommandowagen can’t start zipping into a flanking run or shooting up an
enemy squad with the MG44 while the command squad activates later (or before) issuing com-
mand actions or firing its own weapons.
In many cases, early in the game, I will not move the Kommandowagen much. I want to keep him
hidden. Additionally, I may want the enemy to come to me. This works out wonderfully as I’ll
just have the Kommandowagen do nothing for its activation, effectively a pass. Then, after all my
opponents units have moved, I’ll have the command squad activate last, doing a four dice roll to
reactivate the Wotan. My opponents love that. They laugh and laugh.
When giving orders, remember that the command vehicle is going to give you a high probability
of success for your roles. When you declare your actions, be sure to declare your non-activation
terminating abilities first. Actions like rearming units, repairing, medic actions, etc. do not end the
command unit’s activation if they are successful. Actions like “get moving”, reinforcements or
replace vehicles will end the command unit’s activation if they are successful. Therefore, be sure
to declare “I’m doing a rearm followed by a ‘get moving’” rather than declaring “I’m doing a ‘get
moving’ followed by a rearm.”
Fighting against the Kommandowagen

An opponent with any command vehicle will enjoy a great advantage in getting the orders they
want. You will want to remove this advantage, as soon as possible. The advantage the Komman-
26
dowagen has over other command vehicles is its size. It’s easy to hide and keep out of sight. For

this reason, your best counter against the Kommandowagen is an aircraft. Most aircraft, even just
using machine guns, should be able to take out the Kommandowagen quickly.
Aside from aircraft, you could send fast moving ground vehicles or infantry like “the Hammers”
or “Tank Busters” against the Kommandowagen. However, you also need to consider if it’s worth
the effort of sending these vehicles against a command unit or have them go after the objectives.
Conclustions
The Kommandowagen is one of the best point values for any unit in any army in the game. Just
four points buys you a vehicle with high maneuverability, low profile, good transport capability,
a solid punch and awesome command abilities. The command ability rerolls will allow you to
take for granted that you will get unit reactivations and reinforcements when you need them. The
speed of the vehicle will allow you to threaten your opponents vulnerable objectives if he gets
over extended. Lastly, the kit itself is a blast to build and provides many options for customization
and building proxy units.
27
CALI’S BANDITS - PART: 4
An exciting story set in the world of Dust
The dusty little town of Hamburg had been bombed recently - the craters had become water
logged holes in the ground due to the recent heavy rains. Boggy, marsh-like ground could be seen
for miles around - although thankfully, the main road leading into town had been largely left intact
with the odd exception here and there.
“It isn’t here yet” stated Perks flatly, scanning the horizon with the scope of his sniper weapon.
Cali was stood beside him, a monocular to her eye. Harkon was also there, scoping the area ahead
for himself with a pair of old and rusty binoculars he had scavenged from somewhere.
The cargo-8 truck had stopped twenty yards further back behind the lee of the hill that was afford-
ing the squad a clear view of the town scrawling out before them. To their sides, field upon field
of ruined, bombed out farm land.
“Intel suggests that it is due today” spat Cali, pondering whether they were already too late.
“They’ve been keeping awfully quiet about it - I haven’t heard anything about it through official
channels” offered Heinrich, unhelpfully.
“What about unofficial ones?” asked Cali, turning to Heinrich with her steely gaze fixated on him.
Her tone brokered no option to say ‘no’.
“I could do a little digging” he replied, averting his gaze from the sergeant. “I’ll ride into town
and see if I can scare up some information. There are a few scoundrels who owe me a favour or
several.”
“Good” said Cali.
“What about you?” asked Heinrich.
“We’ve been up for twenty hours straight. We’ll find a place to lay low and get some sleep. Some-
where close enough to the train station to keep an eye out.”
*****
Engineer Gustoff could feel the weight of the thing he was pulling through the trains controls.
She felt sluggish, slow to get up to power, slow to brake. A 22 year veteran train engineer, Gustoff
had hauled everything from passengers to coal to weapons, but this thing was different. No other
cargo required a full complement of armed guards in 2 passenger coaches and twice as many flak
anti-air coaches.
Unfortunately for Gustoff, he never really got to choose his assignments and this one smelt bad
from the start from the time his engine pulled up to the first coach to now. There was a charge in
the air, a tenseness to everyone involved. Everyone knew that they were protecting something
important, but nobody knew what it was. Rumours were abound of a war changing weapon, or a
new super-secret plane that would win the war for the Axis.
“How far behind schedule are we?” asked Karsten. Gustoff hated the man. His new-found handler,
Karsten was an abomination of a man. He had already shot two of Gustoff’s men for minor ‘in-
fractions’. His flinty white eyes were cold and calculating and his peaked cap spoke of authority
within the Axis military although Gustoff didn’t know his rank, nor really cared.
“An hour behind schedule” he replied, checking the in-built clock on the engine and confirming
his location with local landmarks. Gustoff knew this part of the line too well - normally a run to
28
Hamburg would only take him two hours all told, but with this thing in tow, he was looking at a

three hour trip at least.
“Can you make it up?” asked the Axis officer.
“Not really” replied Gustoff, keeping his voice level despite the implied threat and the fact that
Karsten had his hand hovering over his side-arm.
Karsten nodded and turned away to regard the engine and the scenery around with quiet disinterest
“I’ll deal with your poor time keeping when we get Hamburg” he said levelly.
A cold shiver ran down Gustoff’s spine.
*****
The lay-over was a quiet house a thousand paces from the train station. Fire had gutted the house
of anything valuable, but the walls were largely intact. Amazingly, one of the bedrooms at the back
hadn’t been touched by the fire, and a double cot still stood, albeit with rain-slicked sheets which
were quickly removed for the first of the Bandits to make it as their new makeshift bunk room.
Perks and Harken took the first shift as observers over the train yard for the first two hours before
being relieved by Cali and Bails. Two hours later, it was Gunthar and Googles turn for watch.
Once they had all rested some, shifts were swapped to four hourly shifts, ensuring that those who
were asleep could get a full eight hours sleep.
*****
“Anything from Glimmer?” asked Heinrich, coming down the stairs into the lower bar of Joes, a
run down tavern known for being a dive frequented by those of less savoury disposition.
The barman shook his head slowly. “Another night?” he asked in turn.
“Looks like it” said Heinrich before turning around and climbing the steep stairs to the bedroom
he was renting.
*****
A knock on the door awoke Heinrich. He was still dressed in his under-shirt and pants. He lifted
the pistol from out from under his pillow and checked the chamber was still loaded. “Come in” he
shouted after pointing the gun at the doorway.
The doorway opened and a shadow moved into the room. The stranger kept the grey, full-length
storm cloak tight and their face was concealed beneath the shadow of a heavy brimmed hat but
something about the way they moved seemed familiar to Heinrich. “Remove your hat” the courier
said, keeping his weapon aimed squarely at the stranger’s chest.
“Do you treat all your women this way?” asked Emily, removing the hat before doing a flourish
of her hair.
Heinrich laughed and put the gun down on bed beside him, his smile broad, “I was expecting
someone else.”
“Glimmer?” Emily asked.
Heinrich was taken aback by the fact he knew his old contact, but he nodded never-the-less.
“Executive kill order last week from Axis High Command - I had to do it myself. He understood
the reasons though.”
Heinrich felt a sudden pang of sadness in his heart. It wasn’t so much that Glimmer had been
killed, he had expected it for some time now, but the fact that Emily had been the one to do it.
29
“Do they suspect me?” he asked Emily, reaching for his gun out of instinct more than anything
else.
“No” Emily said flatly. “Besides, if I was sent here to kill you, I’d wouldn’t have told you I had
done Glimmer.” She smiled, but there wasn’t any warmth to it. Heinrich knew Emily didn’t care
for the slimy git known as Grinson ‘Glimmer’ Kasteen, but she also knew that he had become a
close friend of Heinrich.
“I’m at a loss then” Heinrich said, suddenly pondering which of his contacts in the underground
were still alive and could be trusted.
“It’ll be here in a few hours” said Emily.
Heinrich’s eyes narrowed and he regarded Emily in the light.
“How do you know?”
“Troop movements mainly - we have six full platoons of Grenadiers here in town plus armour
support. That and I was called up here on such short notice. I got the call maybe an hour after you
left. Whatever it is, they want it protecting at all costs.”
“And the Allies want it destroyed at all costs.”
*****
“I think we’re boxed in” said Harken. The other Bandits were grouped around him, crouching low
to avoid being spotted from the numerous enemy troops outside.
“We’re did they come from?” whispered Googles.
“The other parts of town. They must have been here all along, keeping a low profile just as we
are” said Perks, piecing it together finally. “Any major concentration of troops would need to be
investigated. Hamburg is a perfect place to hide the troops whilst they await the train. Now that
they have come out of the woodwork, it means that the train is nearby.”
“It appears so - it’s here” said Harken as he watched a large train pull into the station a kilometre
away.
*****
Gustoff felt his gorge-rise as he saw the train platform slip by his cab a few metered every second.
The old station had been built with much wider engines in mind, and a gap about 2 feet across was
between him and the station. Normally, he would have approached the station much faster, but he
needed time to think of a way out of his impending death.
A slow smile spread across the engineer’s face before disappearing again. “Could you keep an eye
on the pressure gauge? Let me know if it goes above 800.” he asked absently, pointing to a nearby
gauge. The gauge itself was the temperature reading from the engine manifold and was pretty
meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but the writing was tiny, meaning that Karsten would
need to step much closer to the gauge to read it.
Taking the bait, Karsten stepped forward and bowed down to read the tiny text. Gustoff reached
out for the heavy wrench he kept nearby - Old Betty was a venerable engine, but every now and
then a bolt would come loose and need tightening.
Karsten was down on the floor on the deck plates before he knew it. Without thinking, he nudged
the body off the edge of the engineer’s cab and it fell heavily down between the platform and the
train, concealing it’s location - at least until after the train had rolled on. He glanced around briefly
and smiled to himself as he saw that nobody had been watching.
*****
30
“Any chance of sneaking through?” asked Harken.

“Not a chance” said Cali, surveying the gathering of Heavy Grenadiers gathering outside. They
seemed bored and weren’t being particularly attentive, but even with the stolen uniforms that the
Bandits were sporting, they would stick out like a sore-thumb. Even if they could acquire some
grenadier armour, there were only really Harken, Bails and Gunthar who had the physical build to
pull it off convincingly.
“We could wait it out” suggested Perks.
“We may have to” said Harken.
“Sewer rats?” said Googles.
“Not practical - we don’t have intel on the sewer system. By the time we find our way, the train
could have left” said Cali.
*****
“Where’s Karsten?” demanded an officer in a peaked, grey cap. He held a cane under his right arm
and a squad of troopers snapped to his heels.
“I haven’t seen him since he boarded the train” lied Gustoff.
“He should have been in the train cab with you.”
“Not seen him” snapped Gustoff. “I need to get her refuelled as soon as possible for the delivery of
war material in four hours time.” He made a show of busying himself with something in the trains
cab, ignoring the glare from the officer. It was a dangerous game, he knew it, but he had nothing
to lose now.
After a minute, the officer skulked off, leaving Gustoff to his make-work in peace.
*****
Heinrich moved through the throng of heavy Grenadiers. They casually moved aside at the sight
of him and Emily - mainly due of the presence of the Angel at his side. He knew that she com-
manded a certain level of respect amongst the Germans, but clearly she was a woman of authority.
He had often scoffed at the rumours of the Angel’s exploits, but witnessing fully grown men in
heavy armour and carrying devastating weaponry moving aside for this small woman was a sight
to behold.
Heinrich couldn’t help but smile to himself as she ferried him up onto the train platform and was
greeted by a German officer. The officer and Emily exchanged a few pleasantries with each other,
the exchange was brief and curt.
“General Gouber - a dreadful alcoholic and womanising swine” said Emily when she was sure that
they were out of earshot of everyone.
Heinrich had heard of Gouber. He was a fearsome general in his own right, but one which had
begun to fall out of vogue and favour with the powers that be. The fact that he was here meant that
it was a big operation, and that the Axis couldn’t spare (or want to waste) anyone more ‘senior.’
“I’ve heard” Heinrich lied and Emily gave him a brief look. She always knew when he was lying,
but she didn’t press him.
“What now?” asked Heinrich.
“We wait for the fun to start” smiled Emily, pulling out a mouser pistol and a knife and sitting
down on a bench on the station.
*****
To Be Continued . . .
31
32
WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT ISSUE
ISSUE 13
AVAILABLE FROM
The 1st of April
33

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EDITORIAL

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

THE TEAM BEHIND THIS ISSUE

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

Enginuity , Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Telford.

The evergrowing range of model kits,

Just before the end of the month Paolo

To assist Wrecker Girl, the Mercenary unit

When I purchased it, I was sort of having a “meh”

Boy was I wrong.

First, these models look awesome. I can’t wait to put

But it’s the cards that really made me excited. The

The really cool thing about this set is that each

You know how many axis players are grabbing

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

The next hero is “Costa”, the company

“Gilmore” is a mechanic hero who can

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

Game Length: The game lasts for 8 turns.

Game Length: The game lasts for 8 turns.

Front Entrance A MiG Comrades!

Some of the local Dust color.

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

2x Matrioshka heavy walker

My thinking was I would need

My scouts enter the field.

My Heavies deploy in cover

My Saboteurs advance on the right.

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

The Mao tank appears and puts

One Matrioshka arrives and

An overview as my last Matrioshka,

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

The Wotan finishes off my Killers squad with

My Matrioshka in the woods survives

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

Nikolai summons a replacement vehi-

Having no further activations, Richard turns it over to

One of them, is the Kommandowagen.

About the Model

The kit itself is easy to assemble. The most

A dominant feature of the model is the “roll

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

The Rommel model is easy to assemble

The crew models can also be modeled up

Being mounted in a vehicle, the infan-

One final note I’d like to make about the

All three are able to hold six armor 2 or 3

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

Is that awesome or what?

Picking the right passengers

Fighting against the Kommandowagen

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

DUST MONTHLY - ISSUE 12

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