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Review of Operation Kondor
Blurb from the publisher: 'Death from the skies! Operation Kondor, the aftermath of Operation Babylon has started! After the initial Axis invasion, things are getting heated in a hurry between the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Allies and SSU have now realized that the third Bloc wouldn't have committed so many forces for anything other than a prime objective. If the Axis sought oil, they would have attacked elsewhere like the Arabian Peninsula or Iran's oil fields. They sure are in for more than sand and old ruins, aren't they? NDAK forces have finally found their target: an isolated outpost on the outskirts of the desert held by a handful of French Foreign Legionnaires in an area crawling with Spetsnaz. Only the Luftwaffe boys can mount the fastest strike ever to take this objective before anyone else: Operation Kondor.
This new expansion for Dust 1947 describes all the Luftwaffe forces, with new characters, vehicles, Platoons, etc. With the Operation itself come three short stories by Andy Chambers himself, a must read for every Dust fan!
Inside you will find:
- Short stories by Andy Chambers;
- History of Operation Kondor;
- New Platoons for the Luftwaffe;
- Rules for all the Axis Luftwaffe Faction Army;
- New Scenarios;
- Advanced Rules for Free-form Play.'
What you get: Your USD 30 or equivalent will buy you Operation Kondor, a product for the new edition of the Dust 1947 game line. The world of Dust is the brainchild of fantasy illustrator Paolo Parente, with comics, a boardgame and even an RPG, Dust Adventures, already published.
Operation Kondor is comprised of five distinct items:
- Kondor: Death From The Skies, a full-colour, heavily illustrated 124-page soft cover in A4 format;
- The Dust 1947 Advanced Rules, a full-colour, heavily illustrated 12-page soft cover in A4 format;
- Two sheets with 16 different types of counters, all of which could be found amongst the 18 types of counters that are present on the main rulebook, even though the radii and the measurement tapes now have a much friendlier format;
- A Kondor poster with a map of the surroundings of Operation Kondor on the back side.
- A 2-page newspaper, relating to the game's fluff.
Gameplay: Kondor: Death From The Skies is the item's main attraction. In addition to the short stories and the progress of the metagame in the world of Dust 1947, it introduces the Luftwaffe, the third Axis sub-faction after the NDAK and the Blutkreuz from the main rulebook. Luftwaffe's units are divided into three broad categories: the Fallschirmjager (12), the Raketentruppe (8), and its vehicles (9). Like the main rulebook, Kondor presents five different formations for the new sub-faction. The book also includes the fluff (and stats) for four new SSU as well as two new Allies units. The book ends with three scenarios that, when played in sequence, tell the story of Operation Kondor. These are Air Assault (100 points or more), Assault (100 to 125 points) and Escape (100 to 125 points), and did not previously appear in the main rulebook. The book ends with the presentation of desert scenery pertinent to both Operation Kondor as well as its predecessor, Operation Babylon, and how it works rules-wise.
The Advanced Rules softcover replaces pages 103 to 112 of the main rulebook. The major change is that the squad leader can now be removed as a casualty like any other model. Assigning damage also works differently, and especially when it comes to splat damage. Previously, for a unit to be affected its leader should have been even partially affected. Presently, the models with the splat radius will receive damage irrespective of how well-protected their leader is.
The strong points: One can't insert a fully-fledged sub-faction in such a fluff-rich universe without a backstory covering it. The Luftwaffe is a force to be reckoned with, seeing how it does not relate to air superiority only, like its real-world counterpart. Luftwaffe is a fully fledged army, with its own dedicated walkers, vehicles, airplanes and artillery. The distinction between parachutists (Fallschirmjager) and rocket men (Raketentruppe) is extremely cool. The name of that second category is not a misnomer; these soldiers literally have rocket packs in their backs, straight out of the sci-fi of earlier ages. Expect very high mobility and reactivity from them, making ideal for games where speed is of the utmost essence. If I had to pick two personal favourites, they would both come from the Raketentruppe, and would be two of its most prevalent members. The first would be the iconic Raketenman, Captain Bastian Kunz, with his exploding laser damage. The second would be Goliath, probably the most formidable ape (!) in the whole game who however cannot work for Blutkreuz and has to contend with the Luftwaffe. His job? He is a one-ape-army, a battering ram through and through.
My statistically insignificant amount of playtesting for the present review does not allow me to be categorical about the balance issues that might arise from the insertion of a whole new sub-faction in a game that already spans three different editions and as many publishing companies. Everything worked the way it should have had, without any points of contention. If the Luftwaffe ever comes out to be unbalanced, I am certain that it will be immediately corrected.
When it comes to the Advanced Rules, they are a turn towards more simulationism and less abstraction. Admittedly, heroes and leaders behaved rather simplistically in damage attribution and a unit wasn't previously hit from splat damage unless its leader was hit himself. I wholeheartedly welcome the new changes, seeing how the new rules are more intuitive and make sense. The changes do not make the game any less easy, they just alter the positioning and some of the tactics. Even more so, they relate only to the wargaming hobbyists that use actual terrain without squares and prefer counting with measuring tape. Secondly, the few changes are not complicated. The game remains as straightforward as it was before.
I liked the short and sweet scenarios (all of them finish by turn six), even though the last one's content is quite different to what the title insinuates. It sounds like an escape, in reality however it is a stomp against a defense, where the defender must be both speedy and destructive at the same time. I need to play this again; there are certain elements that left me unconvinced. All in all, I have the impression that this last scenario can be tricked easier than it should have been.
The rules and unit presentation follow the direction of the main rulebook. There are ample examples and illustrations everywhere, especially in the Advanced Rules. The groupings of the Luftwaffe are crystal clear, even though at times they might raise a few eyebrows due to their lack of depth. Colonel Kaori Yamashita enters the battlefield with only a single combat unit. Admittedly, she is exceptional, but is she enough?
When it comes to aesthetics and production values, what you have already experienced in Dust 1947's main rulebook is repeated here. Every page is crammed with information, be it crunch or fluff. The art continues to be purposefully old-style while the real miniature dioramas are jaw-dropping. The image of dozens of soldiers swarming in and out of a building actually got my adrenaline pumping.
The new measurement-counting accessories are a vast improvement over the ones included in the main rulebook. Where that book provided a single multipurpose piece of cardboard that was exhaustive yet voluminous to use at times, the present one hands out three different ones, all slim and straightforward. Good job.
The short stories are nice and within the spirit of the Dust universe. The fluff is as convincing as it has always been. The sanitization of the Axis is does not change; there are no Nazis in sight.
One will need more than the Luftwaffe Starter Set in order to fully use this book, and conversely, this book works wonders towards better placing the Luftwaffe into context. Support is very good. Unless I am totally mistaken, the game's 2018 catalogue lists all the units contained in the present book.
The weak points: One of the plagues of miniature games is when information of a particular type can be found in different books and not at the same place. In that sense, I am not happy that this book has additional SSU and Allies units, in a release so close to the main rulebook. I am also not happy with the Advanced Rules changing so fast, even though the change is for the better. Why wasn't that approach taken from the beginning? Finally, I cannot understand why a good number of counters is reproduced once again here. It doesn't appear to make much sense, unless one fields humongous armies around the 200 point limit.
The army allocations for the scenarios contained in this product are medium to high. Clearly, one will need more than a starter set to use this product fully, on the other hand however not every unit needs to come from the Luftwaffe in order to field a Luftwaffe army.
Conclusion: Operation Kondor is by now an integral part of the Dust 1947 storyline, further expanding its mythos. If you want to use the most advanced rules ever written for the wargaming iteration of the franchise, or if you wish to use the Luftwaffe and its many awesome characters and units, this is the book to get.
For more info on the Kondor: Death From The Skies visit the Paolo Parente's Dust website at www.dustgame.com.
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