We’re approaching the end of year one! What an exciting time. We’ve got new starter boxes on the way, card redesigns, new dice, and much more. But there is - understandably - still much confusion and a little bit of trepidation as to what the future holds for Tactics and, especially, Warfare. I firmly believe in complete transparency, and so I want to take the opportunity to share a few thoughts with you all today that may provide everyone with some fresh perspective. We know this is a turbulent time for DUST players. We appreciate that - we’re all gamers ourselves and change can be hard! However, in this case, change is inevitable.
As part of our agreement, any items produced before Operation Achilles must still be sold through Fantasy Flight while they have stock. This is a totally fair arrangement, but perhaps one that hasn’t been communicated to you, the players. This means that our integrated sales and distribution network is still only just ramping up on DUST. Wave 8 represents the first items for DUST distributed by us, and as time goes on we will have more and more available in our own catalogue.
With regards to Warfare, I think it’s very important to set the right expectations. Warfare is not explicitly covered by our agreement and is still under licence with Fantasy Flight. We think they’ve done a fine job of providing a backdrop for the Dust Warfare community, and we hope to continue that by supporting the game as much as is allowable within the existing legal agreements. We will support Warfare by including Warfare-specific cards for every unit we produce from here on out. We will continue to offer supplements online, as we’ve done recently for Operation Achilles in a free PDF!
While our strategy certainly includes supporting existing Warfare players, in the short term we are planning to grow the DUST community by aggressively recruiting new players into DUST Tactics. This is evidenced in our forthcoming Tactics starter boxes (which include new quick-start rules) as well as a full-fledged Tactics rulebook at a later date. We believe a singular focus on getting DUST into new players’ hands is what the awesome product needs.
This doesn’t mean Warfare players are being forgotten! Indeed, as we’ve said, all new releases will be Warfare-compatible through the use of included cards. Campaign packs will be available for Warfare players, and down the road we can see what else the future holds for Warfare.
In closing, we ask you, the community, to trust us. Change will be hard, we know. We ask you to take a look with new eyes, and give things a shot before dismissing them. We are very open and receptive to feedback - particularly when it’s fair and constructive. Our goal is your goal: We want the DUST universe to come alive on our game tables. We want to get good games in at tournaments, make neat terrain, design fun scenarios. We want to roll dice, and blow up big walkers. We want to lead zombie troopers to victory.
Steven MacLauchlan,
Battlefront Miniatures