Dust 1947 why this is my new tabletop game

I entered the tabletop mini gaming world in the twilight of Warhammer 40K 3rd edition. I dabbled, briefly, in Mordheim. I then was pulled into the Lord of the Rings mini game. Then I bounced back to 40K from 4th to the beginning of 6th. I then jumped to Hordes and Warmachine. I dove head first into X-Wing. I was introduced to Infinity. I tried Malifaux and Atherium a few times. last year at Adepticon I tried a few games of Dust 1947. I really enjoyed the game play and whole minutia about it.I then decided this will be my new tabletop game (along with the occasional 1st edition X-Wing games).

What is Dust 1947?
This was once Dust and then Dust Tactics and now is actually called Paolo Parente's Dust 1947.
It is table top miniature combat game set in a alternate and wyrd WWII.
Throw in the typical WWII stuff we know with the Axis and Allies bit. Take out all the Hitler, Nazis and all the horrors they committed. Toss in a helping of crashed alien spacecraft found in Antarctica technology. The rise, recruitment and actual summoning of  Elder creatures from a Cthulhu style cult. Add a lot walkers instead of tanks. Then mix in jet packs, rocket fists, chesty mercenaries with flame throwers, laser weapons, armored battle suits, tesla guns, helicopters and all manner of silliness. Finally grab a ton of D6's and pair of battle mats and you have yourself a game know as  Paolo Parente's Dust 1947.

Taskforce Tanya....ladies that put the Adeptus Sororitas to shame!

Why did I jump into this game?

1.  Like most games I jump into I like the look of model and the story. I mean how can I not want to play a game where I can field an army of zombies with machine guns, walkers bristling with weapons, weaponized gorillas, mech-like suits with giant chainsaw arms or an army of ladies with flame throwers and grenade launchers all set in an alternate version of World War II? It was just too easy for me to get drawn into. I have never been interested in historical tabletop games. Yet, throw all this silliness in an alternate WWII setting and then I become interested.
2. The rules and game system are stupid easy to learn. It is an alternating activation game, i.e. you move a unit I move a unit and repeat until all are done. It is a D6 system where every army has a 1/3 chance to hit and save. If you know me or have read stuff about my times in 40K you know I hate the 5+ roll (1/3 chance to save, hit, etc). Yet in Dust 1947 I tolerate it, because it is the same for every army. We all have crappy chance to hit and save. It evens the game and doesn't make people what to play only one army ever for the best odd to kill/survive (I'm looking at you Space Mar....I mean.....Adeptus Astartes). Sure there are way to slightly modify the 1/3 to hit/save, but they are also the same for all the armies in this game (cover, sustaining fire/ aiming). This makes Dust 1947 more of a what I want to play over what I have to play game.
3. Does this mean that every army is the same but with a different skin? Nope. Yes, everyone has the same bare bones odds to kill/survive with the dice rolls, but that doesn't mean all forces are created equal. The factions all have some similarities, but they are all very different entities. There are special rules for unit to increase their killing power, for survivability, movement, and all manner of other shenanigans. Yet, none of them are truly game breaking. A lot can be countered. Some are situational. A lot are one off uses. Some are tied to heroes and when they go so to goes their special benefits. All the extra little rules are what shape your army, but none of them seem to force players into the must have army to win the most.
4. The game is played on a gridded out battle mat. These come with the stater sets too! Gone is the need to measure and worry that an opponent is doing that wrong by accident or on purpose. All movement and shooting is a simple count squares and go. The same for line-o-sight. You look at the grid squares and if you can see it then you can shoot it. There is a terrain mechanic, but it is just as simple too. Are they in/out or behind terrain? There is no I can see a foot, so I can shoo the whole unit. There is no argument of unit placement in/ out of terrain. There is no true line-o-sight nonsense to deal with either. The whole grid based system for moving, seeing and shooting makes this game so easy to learn and pulls and squashes a lot of tabletop gaming arguments about all that stuff too.
5. The guys that taught me the game and the fellows I grabbed some pick-up games with last Adepticon were super chill. The tournament they put on, that I watched, was also really tame. There wasn't that feeling of tournament competitiveness that I knew from 40K tournaments. It was just a chill environment of games rolling lots of dice and moving little armies around. There was beer, laughter and conversation. It was not stern faces, rule lawyering and overall lack of fun. No maybe this was occurring on some tables, but i never saw it. A super chill gaming community more about fun then must win is always a bonus and really hard to find too.
6. Pre-painted models. I never thought I would support this because I was always a must paint and wanted to paint my army guy. Over the last year I have lost my will and most of my limited skill to paint. Dust 1947 has the option to purchase pre-painted models. Now they are more expensive but I think they are really worth it. Hell, a unit of pre-painted troops costs as much as a five man squad of unpainted and unassembled 40K models! If you look at it that way, then it is really worth the extra cost. If you are smart and can budget your cash it is easy to assemble an army that is painted and ready to play. Now this is not an option for everyone, but it is an option I have used for my mercenary army and the majority of my Blutkreuz German army. It took a few months to save and buy it all, but  that was time I wasn't having to paint everything or even worse sit and not paint everything. It comes down to my time vs. a few extra dollars.....I'll spend the few extra dollars and have the extra time to game, to family, pull an extra shift to finance more models, hike etc. Plus I have a hard time wanting to paint or enjoying painting or even liking anything I have painted anymore but that is a discussion for another time.

A simple zombie starter set pulled me in....

Will I stick with this game or is it just the new hotness?

I have no idea. Right now I really like this game and am looking forward to getting to play more of it this weekend. I don't hate the on-line community like I eventaully did for 40K and Warmachine/Hordes. I haven't had a game yet where I just want to toss everything asides for months. I haven't cursed at my dice yet. I have enjoyed every game of Dust I have played so far. Will I tire of this and move to another miniature game eventually? I want to say no, but I have no idea. I know I love miniature combat games and would play all of them if I could, well except for historical those just look so boring to me. Right now it is an alternate 1947 on my tableop and my German zomibes or possibly my lady mercenaries are always looking for a fight.