Battle fo Babylon has erupted!

While there are plenty of choices concerning one player starer sets for Dust 1947, 2 old war-gaming friends or a father-son combo are usually looking for something else. And now Dust Studio is introducing a new „Battle for Babylon” – a great introductory battle box ideal for the mentioned player types.

Article by: Szczurek Lutek

What’s inside?

Similar to previous 2-player starters, contents of the box allow us to start playing immedia after we open it. Of course if we know the basic rules 😉 All miniatures are already assembled – you don’t have to loose time to cut them out, remove additions and glue them together. Both armies also have their own distinctive colors – Allied models (more precise United States Marine Corps) have been created using green plastic, elite Axis Blutkreuz Korps – from grey one. Thanks to that solution both armies are quite destinctive on the battelfield and can be played without painting. But as old wargaming saying goes – painted soldiers roll better!

Apart from miniatures inside we will find:

– 12 game dices (6 for each army colour);

-Cards for all units (8 total – each army has a hero, 2 infantry squads and a walker

– Two plastic tank traps and two plastic ammo boxes

– A bit of cardboard terrain, imitating terrain in 2d – palms, walls, objectives etc.;

– Two paper, but very solid two-sided gaming mats. Made with thick,
lacquer paper. One side shows Babylonian desert, second a new thing – beach with a small part sea (probably to allow the marines to land from somewhere 🙂 )’
– New booklet with basic rules for English, German, French Italian and Polish.

Let’s move on to models. because as usual in war-gaming – they are the crème de la crème of fun.

Heil Thaler!

Blutkreuz Korps is an obvious army choice for all Weird War II fans. Crazy scientists, cruel blond-nazis, laser guns, zombies in uniform, battle gorillas – what’s not to like here? Pulp feeling of this faction gained it many fans, and with this box more are to come. Dust Studio included a really good battle-group in this box. It will be an interesting addition for both new and seasoned commanders. It’s elements are:

Sigrid von Thaler

Nordic ideal of beauty and psychopathic love for murder (with extreme brutality) in one body. Daughter of baron von Thaler, founder of Blutkreuz Korps, whose only goal is to revenge her father killed by the axis. She has unlimited Panzerfaust’s 100, which can one shot enemy walkers up to armor 3. She’s very good in close combat – she’s expert with her knives and has a great combo of Assassin and Berserk abilities. But let’s not fool ourselves – in 99% of cases Sigrid as part of this set will pilot Snow Lynx – so her abilities are a bit less important. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

Gorilla Pioneer Squad

One of the most interesting and most underrated units in whole Dust universe. Monkey engineering squads are the only unit equipped with Flammfausts. That interesting weapon works like a flame thrower (so there is no cover or save against it) with range 3, but it’s only 1 time use. Plus the flames only hit the target field, not all of them on the way like with classic flame weapons. When gorillas use their Flammfausts, they still have their jackhammers, able to rip trough even the heaviest of enemy units. Quite low armor rate of 2 is negated a bit by Damage Resilient ability. Och, and they can charge. Pack as a gift?

Zombie Squad

Iconic for Dust Universe Axis unis, which saw many versions during last decade. Modern zombies are very similar to old classics. Equiped with steel gloves, focused on close combat and not very fast (only 2/3 move value) but their improved saves guarantee quite good staying power. Mentioned save can only be cancelled by flamers and artillery so worst that can happen to them is all sorts of mortars rockets and big guns. But frankly marines left all of the heavy ordinance at home so those zombies might be a tough nut to crack.

Snow Lynx

Without her pilot Snow Lynx – personal JagdLuther of baroness von Thaler – is a simple tank hunter machine. Dual heavy AT guns are quite powerfull but far from having pinpoint accuracy. But with frau Sigrid on board the mentioned guns gain expert skill – which makes this machine a true destruction demon against both enemy vehicles and infantry. Additional machine-gun with range 6 to wipe out enemy remnants is a sweet addition.  

Semper Fi!

United States Marine Corp is a unit with more than 250 years of tradition ( in 2020 it will hit 350). Always on the front line, almost always surrounded, never complaining and fighting to the end. While lightly armored, they offer astonishing firepower and great speed to use on the battlefield. For “Battle for Babylon” special task force from USMC was created. Aimed at surviving and overwhelming the enemy at any place on earth. It consists of:

Frank

Dust incarnation of Jim John Rambo, able to shoot from hand with heavy machine gun .30 cal. Also able to hit you in the face quite hard. Tought to kill – can Cheat Death. But doesn’t shoot from bow (sic!). And while he alone offers quite formidable firepower in this set he will usually have other uses: protect with his muscular chest commanded units (usually it will be the USMC Demolition Squad) and suppressing enemy units with And Stay Down ability. Also he is tough as nails and never gets Under Fire or Suppression tokens.

USMC Demolition Squad

Three shotguns, two sub-machine guns and five satchel charges to open more armored units – that arsenal guarantees job well done without overtime. Especially as the owners are quite good at moving around the battelfield (movement 3/5!) and quickly get into close range, where they can unleash their full potential. Survivability in open ground can be acquired by joining Frank, just remember that his move value of 2 will slow the squad down a bit.

USMC Heavy Machine Gun Squad

A true meat-grinder for the enemy canon fodder! Great at defensive tasks thanks to Advanced Reactive Fire ability. If you place them an a good fire-line with some cover, enemy infantry will do whatever it can to avoid meeting these guys. But remember that this HMG is almost useless against enemy armor!

Six Shooter

One of the most successful allied heavily armored platforms. Behemoths Punisher or Devastator are a bit too big due to their huge size. And here slick design and good movement rate were combined for a deadly tank destroyer. Six recoilless guns mounted on a turret allowing for Salvo (doubling the amount of attack dice) is a weapon that can teach any enemy a hard lesson. Pesky enemy infantry will quickly be dealt with thanks to three (!) machine guns used by the crew. Armor 6 and 7 health points is usually enough to withstand 2-3 turns of heavy enemy fire. And an ability to put a one time smoke cover is something that will make many allied commanders happy. A well placed smoke can make the difference between victory and defeat. And most importantly – Six Shooter is now available as USMC unit – so far it was only a block unit. That will make using it in USMC faction armies much easier.

Why is this set worth your money?

The basic argument that this box has an astonishing value to price meter. On Warfactory this box costs you 110 euros, while the contents are worth more than 2 times that! Secondly – this is a limited edition, after the production run is over there is no more reprints. Third – both armies (total of 38 points) are well composed and don’t need any major fixes to allow for great battles and unforgettable moments. In previous 2 player starters we had some units that biggest plus was.. cool look.. (Heavy Laser Grenadiers, Pounder etc. ). And by fourth – this is Dust! Best, most bloody and fun game on this planet.
Attention!
Ready rations and weapon for two weeks.
Four thousand years of history look at yo from Babylonian ziggurats. We must capture them before the enemy! This won’t be easy, march or die!

Szczurek Lutek