Sunday, October 14, 2012

A look at The Chef


One of the top spies for the Allied forces Guglielmo Zanicotti, a.k.a. “The Chef”, has been instrumental in keeping the Allied forces appraised of valuable information. Captain Joe Brown and Rosie have relied on Guglielmo to be their inside man on many of their operations, the most famous being Operation Red Lightning. His current whereabouts are thought to be in Berlin where he can hopefully obtain vital information regarding the Blutkreuz Korps and their VK experiments; however the events in Zverograd may need his attention before much longer.

One of The Chef’s greatest advantages is his dual Flamethrowers. He is also very well adept in Close Combat with his Kitchen Knife. He lacks any useful abilities in Dust Tactics, relying only on the ability to ignore cover that his primary weapon brings. The Chef can join units to benefit from their skills, such as the Fast ability from BBQ Rangers or Hell Boys. However, in Dust Warfare his ability “Whose side is he on?” is unparalleled. While The Chef cannot join a unit, he cannot be targeted with an Attack action or Reaction until he has declared an Attack action of his own. Once The Chef has declared a single Attack action, he may be targeted normally. A recent clarification from Fantasy Flight Games verified that The Chef may hold an objective in a Key Position scenario without ever revealing himself to the enemy.

The dual Flamethrowers are devastating to Soldier units and could roll up to 2 dice per Soldier unit. The short range means that The Chef must get up close and personal to his foes to cause any damage. This can be accomplished in Tactics by adding the Hero to a unit, and in Warfare he can just March Move to any vital unit on the board and declare his Attack, though this could also bring certain death if the rest of the Allied forces are not nearby to provide support.


  • Pro’s:
    • Attacking large groups can cause massive amounts of damage, and will always ignore cover.
      • In Tactics the dual weapon lines allow The Chef to target 2 separate units, or focus both flamethrowers on a single target.
      • In Warfare there is only 1 weapon line, but this will always guarantee a minimum of 2 dice per miniature when attacking.
    • Very powerful against vehicles.
      • In Tactics the weapon lines of The Chef’s Flamethrowers state that they each do 1/2 damage against a vehicle, regardless of armor rating. So the Chef could have a 33% chance at causing 2 hit against 2 separate vehicles, or he could target a single vehicle and have 44% chance of causing exactly 2 hits, and an 11% chance of causing 4 hits.
      • In Warfare the Chef only has the 1 weapon line, and the stats have been adjusted to 1/4 damage against a vehicle, regardless of armor rating. This is now just a 33% chance to cause 4 hits against a vehicle. 
    • Decent Close Combat damage:
      • In Tactics he brings 4 dice to Close Combat when fighting armor 2 Soldiers, and 2 dice against armor 3 Soldiers.
      • In Warfare he has been reduces to 2 dice for armor 2 and 1 die for armor 3 Soldiers, but can now damage armor 4 Soldiers with 1 die.
    • His cost is only 20 points in Warfare and the advantage of his skill allows the Allied player to hold objectives on the board without ever engaging the enemy in combat. The Chef can also move on Command Sections to attack and cripple the enemies abilities to give proper orders and manage their forces.
    • He will always ignore cover when Attacking with his Flame weapons and the nature of Close Combat.
  • Con’s:
    • Completely vulnerable and defenseless against Aircraft
      • For Tactics, hopefully he is a part of a unit, or taking cover in a structure.
      • For Warfare, he is immune to Attack actions, until revealed as an enemy. Unless there is proper support from other Allied units, he will surely be lost.
    • The cost in Tactics of 22 points is a bit expensive for a Hero with only 3 hit points and no special abilities. Regardless of the weapons a Hero wields, they're Heroes and should bring a bit more to the battle. Fast, Assault (one use), Black Ops (which makes the most sense), are all very plausible skills to make this Hero worth his cost.
    • 3 Hit points. Most Heroes have 4 Hit points, and that 1 point can make all the difference. The only other Hero with less than 4 Hit points is Angela, who also has a value of 3 Hit points.

  • Units
    • All of these tips apply only to Dust Tactics since The Chef cannot join any units in Dust Warfare.
    • BBQ Rangers or the Hell Boys are an excellent choice. Their ability to move fast assists The Chef with mobility, and the additional Flamethrowers will only increase this combination's ability to cause massive amounts of damage. Since each Flamethrower is it's own weapon line, and the units also have Shotguns and possibly Demo Charges, this creates the potential of targeting and damaging a large amount of separate units, or focusing a majority of their fire to cripple a heavily armored vehicle and a supporting Soldier unit.
    • The Crack Shots are also a decent unit to combine with The Chef. The ability of the Spotter will reverse the entire units attack rolls. This means the Dual Flamethrowers will both ignore cover, and hit when the combat die roll misses. The Agile skill adds a little flexibility and the additional cover bonus that the Special Ops team provides will help keep the unit alive much longer than normal, provided they can find any cover.
    • The Gunners, Recon Boys, Death Dealers, and 13 Foxtrot are also available for The Chef to join. There is no real bonus past some serious damage at close range and 3 additional hits, which can be useful for 13 Foxtrot, but still only makes the entire unit worth 5 Hit points with a great cover value, but potentially leaves the bulk of the units firepower away from the front line.
We weren't able to get together for League play, so I though this update would be a good idea. We will be back next Sunday to continue our League and enjoy the world of Dust. We are also working on joining a possible tournament in Olympia before the end of the year! If you have any ideas or requests for a unit review such as this please email me at pdxdust@gmail.com. Good Gaming!!

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