Achilles PDF for Warfare is OUT

[Thel]

Guys,

The PDF for Achilles is now out. I have really mixed emotions about this whole thing, so let me just go through it all.

Right now BF is just realizing the had the rights to DW. To date, they have been focused on Tactics, and sort of giving lip service to DW. 

The Achilles .PDF is acceptable. It has stats for all the new units and stuff, but it really comes across as they did not take the time to understand the game. They did not take a lot of advice from the play test community, or any feedback whatsoever. They made it so things like the SSU Steel Guard Sniper platoon are spammable. They did not do a battle builder, rushed the Bunkers, took away the unique order for the AXIS Platoon walkers and so on.

I sort of feel the overall, BF does not see or understand the Warfare game. Since it has been almost what 10 months since FFG transferred the game to DW, I sort of see this as for what it really is. They at best can only give lip service to DW.

I really just don't know if I want to play this game right now, all things considered. I really like DW, but BF just can't convince me the have a clue and or can support the game intelligently.

I hate it when I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me.

[John Hermansen]

I'm still holding out hope on how an eventual alien faction might play.

But if it took this long to create shoddy rules for DW from the DT release, then it could take an absurdly long time for the Alien rules to migrate. It doesn't sound like they've been allocating enough resources for the play testing portion of Dust Warfare at this point, which is disappointing.

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[Jay Powell]

I get the worry about Battlefront dropping the ball, but what exactly felt rushed about the the PDF?  I looked through the bunker rules and they look fine to me.  Also, playtesting advice was taken into account... at least when it comes to Steel Guard.  The points costs of all the Steel Guard had been upped and the Snipers profile had been improved significantly.  However the final PDF has the cost decreases and the sniper squad nerfed back down.

I think Battlefront has done a good job getting the PDF out with the limited resources it had applied to DW.  We need the PDF for the convention season tournaments, the first of which is Adepticon I believe.

-jay

[Adam]

The problem lies in your last paragraph.  Battlefront appears to be taking the apathy towards DW that FFG had and cranking it up.  I get the impression that DW is being officially moved away from a stand-alone(ish) game and towards an alternate way to play DT if you must.  BF has had the Dust license for 9 months or so and have thus far managed one PDF, though admittedly with a few iterations, and some card previews (they may exist, haven't really been staying on top of things).  The parade of DT releases has carried on more or less on time, but DW has been in limbo since at least the FFG/BF handoff.  While I'd still like to try DT (I have all the stuff for it, it'd be silly not to), I bought into DW and not DT for a reason.  Until/unless I see some legitimate DW love from BF I'll be sitting firmly on both my wallet and the fence.

Sent from my iPad

[Jay Powell]

Well they did not know they had the rights.  Also Battle Front is a smaller company than people realize.  Having dedicated Dust people is good for us, which I have heard there are a few.  It makes sense that when trying to tackle updates for 2 version of the same game, the one team would apply their efforts to one game first and then the other (over lapping where they could with cards and such).  Even though tactics may not be our first choice, World wide it is the more played of the two games, so it makes sense that BF would work on DT first. 

Just because we aren't getting equal love as DT isn't a good reason to quit playing DW.  We have new models, a final version of the Achilles PDF, and new cards coming soon... that makes me feel pretty happy with DW right now. Is it everything I want, no.  But we are going to have to be realistic about the game and right now BF is focused of a strong release of the updated DT.  We should probably try that game out and continue to wait for the DW stuff we want.  

-jay

[Thel]

So when DT originally came out, I did spend some time playing it. I purchased the original huge box and some various units. To be honest, the game played very fast and it was very decisive. It left me feeling like I played a game of War with the old playing cards. Not a lot of thinking, in my opinion. Of course there are more options today. Regardless, in the end, I felt like if I wanted to play a kiddie game, DT was the one. I just don't want to play that kind of game. I like to be engaged. I play Table Top Games because of the different layers of strategy, and luck and all that. I like to dive deep into one game and stick with it. DT is not that game. I can play Star Trek attack wing or something similiar. And THAT game is 300X more fun than DT.

Taking that into account, I sense that DW is not longer going to offer that from BF. DW is on serious life support. The only thing that is keeping it going are the fans of the Dust universe and the models. I am not going to invest a lot of time into a game that is not going to return the investment. 

So, for me, I am really thinking it is time to pack the DW away, and wait and see. 

The PDF really was an indication of BF ability as a game company. They had the rights to DW and did not even know it for 6 months. Despite outcrys from Paolo and BF that they would support the game. They gave the DW lip service, and frankly, I don't think they even understood the difference. The PDF for Achilles ended up being in my opinion a last minute rush, despite stating the opposite. No battle builder, last minute nonsensical changes do not ellicit my support of them. There is no real excuse other than they don't know what they have and are giving it lip service. Maybe now internally BF is changing, but I doubt it. First impression is similar across many DW fans out there. 

[Alex Perez]

this just came out on the flames of war site:

new 44 page dust tactics insert in the new wargames illustrated

http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4333