High gloss unit cards are included for each unit. Dry erase markers can be used on the unit cards to track special ammunition or number of hits/life in the case of heroes and vehicles. This was a great touch and very convenient.
The Dust: Tactics Revised Core Set included book of 8 scenarios that outlined a number of battlefield configurations. Each scenario was also progressively telling a story from start to finish. This was a nice touch and moves the game from just being a series of individual battles to more of a campaign feel..png)
Dust: Tactics Rule Clarity
Though the game has a lot of moving pieces I found the rules to be clear and concise allowing us to get playing within 30 minutes, and fully understanding the rules in about an hour, after a few games. I thought for the most part the rules flowed well starting with good basic concepts and then getting more advanced as I read on. In general, all of the rules follow common sense allowing them to be easily understood and worked out as one played.
It did seem that some rules were spread out a bit too much in some cases with a tidbit of information here and additional information later. This made it difficult at times to go back and reference a particular rule concept as all the rules for a particular piece, say obstacle, were spread out in different chapters. Finally, while the major rules and turn sequences were summarized on the back page of the rule-book it would have been nice to have a few printed cards (like the one included for each unit) with the summaries as well.
Dust: Tactics Summary
All in all I found Dust:Tactics to be a fun and entertaining game. It was easy to learn and played like a board game while satisfying my desire to play a tabletop war game. While hard-core tabletop war gamers may find some of the rules and concepts a bit too simplistic, I feel the game will still engage their inner general while opening the miniature war game experience to a much larger audience. The miniatures both painted and unpainted are excellent and the common 
sense, straight forward rules make for a great way to spend an evening or two with your armchair commander friends.
Beyond Tactics
For those who scoff at the idea of a gridded board war game, I also had an opportunity to demo the future Dust:Warfare game. Dust:Warfare is a separate expanded rule set that allows players to move their Dust miniatures off the gridded board and onto their favorite terrain table. Hopefully, I will get a chance to review that version further, if I do, look for a future review!
