Dust Tactics Battlefield
Dust Tactics Battlefield
Dust Tactics Battlefield
some rules have been adjusted for the more free-form style
of playing on threedimensional terrain, so once you have
learned Dust Tactics, its just a small step to the tabletop.
Dust Tactics Battlefield also adds a few extra rules for things
like units being suppressed by heavy fire.
Gaming Table
Measurements
Dust Dice
At this point players work out who won (see page 63).
39
Unit Cards
Unit cards play a fundamental role in Dust Tactics Battlefield. This section explains the layout of both sides of a typical unit
card, and what the different statistics and information mean.
Bloc Symbol
Allies
Special Rules
The units special rules are listed here. The back of the unit card has a short
explanation of the rules. Some rules can only be used once or twice in a game.
These have a tick box to mark them off as they are used. See pages 96 to 105.
Type Symbol
Axis
This symbol tells what type of troops the unit is made of:
SSU
Aircraft units.
Move Rating
Armour Rating
Weapons Chart
Weapon Description
Damage Track
40
Damage Capacity
This shows how much damage the unit can take before being
destroyed. See page 57.
Unit Picture
This shows the unit. Use this to identify your miniatures and which unit they belong to. The units weapons
are marked with code letters corresponding to weapons
shown on the front of the unit card.
Bloc Symbol
Unit Name
and Description
SSU
Special Rules
Marking Cards
Armour Ratings
The various armour types are as follows:
Infantry
Vehicles
Aircraft
41
Unit Cards
Unit Code
Activating a Unit
An Activated Unit performs two Actions. When Activating a Unit, a player must declare all of that Units
intended Actions, including any special Actions,
skills, or special weapons that they want to use before
performing anyActions.
Activation
The Actions a Unit can perform are:
The player chosen to go first must select one of their Units
Nothing (page 43)
to Activate (or pass if they are able). An Activated Unit
Move (page 43)
performs two Actions.
March Move (uses two Actions) (page 43)
After the first player has Activated their first Unit, the other
Attack (page 46)
player Activates one of their Units. Turn the Unit Card
Sustained Attack (uses two Actions) (page 51)
sideways or place a token on the Unit to indicate that it has
Special (pages 96 to 105)
been Activated.
A Unit can perform any combination of Actions except two
Players alternate Activating their Units until all Units have
Move or March Move Actions, or two Attack or Sustained
been Activated. If a player has Activated all of their Units
Attack Actions. A Unit wanting to move faster takes a
and the other player still has Units to Activate, the other
March Move Action rather than two Move Actions. One
player continues Activating their Units until all of them
wanting to fight harder takes a Sustained Attack Action
have been Activated. Once all Units have been Activated,
rather than two Attack Actions.
the turn is over, both players turn their cards back, and a
No More Than Three Actions
new turn begins with another initiative roll.
Some special actions and skills (see pages 96 to 105) allow
Passing
Units to take three Actions instead of two. These effects
If a player has fewer Units that have yet to Activate
are not cumulative, so a Unit can never perform more than
(counting Heroes separately from Units they have joined)
three Actions during an Activation.
than their opponent, they may elect to pass rather than
Activate a Unit.
Activations
GRIM REAPERS
SUSTAINED ATTACK
6
POUNDER
MOVE & ATTACK
BOT HUNTERS
MOVE & NOTHING
LUDWIG
MOVE & ATTACK
activates, but has more units left than the Axis player, so
cannot pass. They move the Bot Hunters into the trees, ready for
the next turn.
42
THE GHOSTS
MOVE & ATTACK
5 The Axis player must now activate the Ludwig. They can
either move out and shoot the Bot Hunters, giving the Pounder
a target, or perform Nothing actions and stay safe. They elect to
move and shoot the Bot Hunters.
Nothing Actions
The Activated Unit can spend its Action doing nothing.
Move Centimetres Inches
Rating
Moved
Moved
1 10cm 4
2
20cm
30cm
12
40cm
16
50cm
20
60cm
24
70cm
28
80cm
32
12
120cm
48
24
240cm
96
POUNDER
LUDWIG
43
Movement Distance
15cm
THE GHOSTS
THE CURSED
THE GUNNERS
44
The Pounder has a Move rating of 3. The Allied player wants it to move through the woods and out the other side to
engage the Karl Marx super heavy tank. Since miniatures are slowed to a Move rating of 2 (20 cm or 8) when moving
through terrain, it cannot reach the far side of the woods unless it performs a March Move Action. The player decides to use
a March Move Action to move to the edge of the woods and halt in cover before engaging the Karl Marx next turn.
POUNDER
After trying to destroy the Pounder with an Attack action, the Karl
Marx performs a Move Action to back into the woods and out of sight.
As a Tracked vehicle, it must roll a die when moving in terrain. It scores
a , getting stuck on a tree stump or some other obstacle, forcing it to
stop moving where it is. If it had rolled a
or , it would have been
able to move into the woods unhindered.
Area Terrain
KARL MARX
Impassable Terrain
Anti-tank Traps
Moving Vertically
45
Move Actions
Most Infantry soldiers and Heroes can attack in any direction, except
Support Weapons listed as having a Front Field of Fire can only attack
targets up to 45 degrees on either side of the direction it is facing.
Remember, Units can end their movement facing any direction, so when
you move Units that have a limited Field of Fire, point them at their
intended target. If they arent pointing at the target when they want to
shoot, they will need to take a Move Action to change facing first.
Ludwig can Shoot into the White Area
with its Dual 8.8cm FpKZw guns
POUNDER
Range
LUDWIG
Weapons Chart
Each weapon has a line in the weapons chart describing its performance
and effectiveness.
Field of Fire
46
Number of Dice
Attack Range
20cm
30cm
12
40cm
16
60cm
24
80cm
32
Mortars and artillery lob their shells high into the air,
the huge shells arcing down to blast the target with a
massive explosion. They cant bring their fire down too
close as theyd risk accidentally hitting themselves. These
weapons have their Range given as a minimum range and a
maximum range separated by a dash.
10
100cm
40
12
120cm
48
14
140cm
56
16
160cm
64
18
180cm
72
20
200cm
80
22
220cm
88
24
240cm
96
Close-Combat (C)
The Fakyeli attacks the Zombies with its KS-18 shotgun. The shotguns Range of 2 allows
it to hit targets up to 20cm or 8 away. Measuring from the Fakyelis base to the Zombies
bases, three of them are within range, so the Fakyeli can attack the Zombie unit.
FAKYELI
RANGE 2
ZOMBIES
The Hermann attacks the Babushka with its laser. The range is measured from the closes part of its body (ignoring
the protruding laser) to the closest part of the Babushkas body (also ignoring its protruding Gatling guns.
HERMANN
Measure the range from the closest point on the body of the
walker to the closest point on the base of the Steel Tornado.
STEEL
TORNADO
BABUSHKA
47
Attack Actions
2) Check Range
LUDWIG
FLAK BOYS
THE GHOSTS
POUNDER
VLADIMIR LENIN
NADYA
KOSHKA
RED THUNDER
Although the Red Thunder squad is between the Flak Boys and Koshka, they do
not block line of sight as they hit the dirt to get out of the way.
48
FLAK BOYS
Line of Sight
and Woods
LUTHER
MELOR
STEEL DEATH
RED THUNDER
NADYA
STEEL DEATH
STEEL FIST
THE GHOSTS
The Steel Fist can see The Ghosts and the Flak Boys
because they are within 10cm or 4 of the building.
49
Attack Actions
4) Declare Targets
When performing attacks, they are all considered simultaneous. If a player declares a Unit is firing all its weapons
against the same target but destroys it with the first weapon,
the other weapons are still used in the attack. If a player
declares that a Unit is using a Limited-Ammo Weapon
(such as a Panzerfaust), they use that ammo, even if the
other weapons destroy the target Unit first.
BAZOOKA JOE
Vehicle Crews
THE GHOSTS
POUNDER
Each soldier can only fire one weapon when they attack,
so two of The Ghosts elect to fire their Panzerfaust antitank weapons at the Pounder, while the rest fire their
StG 47 assault rifles and the MG48 machine-gun at
Bazooka Joe.
THE CURSED
RED FURY
Vehicle Crews
The Red Fury could fire its 100mm BS-3S gun and three crew armed with PPSh-48 submachine-guns. Rather than firing
a Blast template with its main gun, the player elects to attack with the crews submachine-guns instead. As it has already
taken a point of damage and only has two points left, it can only fire two PPSh-48 submachine-guns at The Cursed.
50
They also have four StG47 assault rifles rated 3/1 against
Infantry Armour rating 2, giving them another twelve dice
for a total of twenty dice.
THE GHOSTS
5) Roll To Hit
MATRIOSHKA
LUDWIG
THE GHOSTS
Sustained Attack
Later in the turn, the Ludwig activates and performs a Sustained Attack action. Its dual 8.8cm FpKZw guns roll two dice
against the Matrioshkas Vehicle Armour5. It hits with a roll of , and misses with a . As it is performing a Sustained
scoring another hit, so the Ludwig scores two hits in total.
Attack, it can re-roll the die that did not hit. The re-roll is a
51
RED THUNDER
Blast Weapons
GRIM REAPERS
BLAST TEMPLATE
HANS
THE GUNNERS
Blast Weapons
The Hans fires its Paired Panzerwerfer at the Grim Reapers. The Axis player places the
centre of the Blast template within the weapons Range of 6 (24 or 60cm) and in line of
sight of Hans. As all three Grim Reapers are under the Blast template, the player rolls three
dice to hit them.
The Blast template also covers two of The Gunners, so the Axis player rolls two more dice to
hit them as well.
STEEL RAIN
GRIM REAPERS
BLAST TEMPLATE
HANS
THE GUNNERS
Mixed Targets
If the Hans had placed the Blast template over The Gunners, it could have caught the Steel
Rain under the template. However, since the Paired Panzerwerfer has a rating of3/6
against its Vehicle Armour rating of 4, rather than a , the Blast will not hurt it.
If the Hans wanted to attack the Steel Rain, it would need to target it directly, and would
not then have a Blast effect against The Gunners.
52
HOTDOG
FACELESS DEATH
RANGE 2 AND 3
FLAME TEMPLATE
THE CURSED
Flame Weapons
Flame Weapons
THE GUNNERS
STEEL TORNADO
Unfortunately, The Gunners are between the Fireball and the Steel
Tornadoes, so the template covers one of them as well. As a result, the
Allied player must attack The Gunners, rolling two dice to hit them
as it is rated
/N against Infantry Armour rating 2.
53
Cover Saves
The Wildfire has hit The Panzers four times with its quadruple .50 cal machine-guns.
Two of The Panzers have their bodies at least partly concealed by the building, so are in
Cover. As this is at least half of the unit, the unit is in Cover and will get a Cover Save.
WILDFIRE
The Axis player rolls four dice (one for each hit),
or
rolled. They
cancelling a hit for each
score
, cancelling three of the hits,
so The Panzers only take one hit.
THE PANZERS
6) Roll Saves
Cover Saves
WILDFIRE
THE PANZERS
54
The Allied player rolls two dice (one for each hit from the
left-hand miniature). Being a vehicle, it only cancels hits
for a Cover Save. Scoring
, the cover only
on
cancels one hit, leaving the Wildfire hit three times.
FLAMM-LUTHER
Infantry Saves
If the target Unit was an Infantry Unit that does not get a
Cover Save, it still gets an Infantry Save. The target player
rolls a die for each Hit their Infantry Unit took. Each
cancels one of the Hits.
The Nikita attacks with its dual quad 120mm grenade launchers
using a Blast template. The template covers both the Grim Reapers
and The Gunners, scoring three hits on each Unit.
The Grim Reapers are in Cover from the Nikita, so get a Cover Save,
while The Gunners are not and just get an Infantry Save.
NIKITA
GRIM REAPERS
BLAST TEMPLATE
Infantry Saves
As The Gunners are not in Cover, they get an Infantry Save, cancel
ling hits on score of . With a roll of
, they would cancel
one of the hits, leaving two hits on The Gunners.
THE GUNNERS
55
Cover Saves
LUDWIG
After the Allied player had taken all of their saves, the Ludwig shooting at
the Death Dealers has still scored one Hit with its dual 8.8cm FpKZw guns
and two Hits with its MG 44 machine-gun. The Allied player removes three
miniatures from the squad, leaving two miniatures of their choicebehind.
DEATH DEALERS
7) Apply Damage
C
C
C
B
STORMTROOPERS
56
Hits on Heroes
BABUSHKA
DEATH DEALERS
BAZOOKA JOE
Vehicle Wrecks
Some weapons have a N as their damage rating. This indicates that the miniature that was Hit marks off all of the
crosses on its damage track
(if it has one) and
is eliminated.
BULLDOG
RED THUNDER
Damage to a Vehicle
57
Attack Actions
Suppressing Fire
KNIGSLUTHER
LAVRENTIY BERIA
THE CURSED
Even elite soldiers value their lives and will take cover
under heavy fire. This makes suppressing an enemy that you
cannot destroy a valuable tactic.
Any Unit that was Hit by an Attack or Sustained Attack
Action, even if the Hits were Saved, receives an Under Fire
token. If it already has an Under Fire token, it replaces
it with a Suppressed token instead. While a Unit has a
Suppressed token, it cannot receive another.
Effects of Suppression
Effects of Suppression
LAVRENTIY BERIA
When the Knigsluther activates, the Axis player rolls two dice. Failing
to score any , the walker remains Suppressed, forcing it to perform a
Nothing Action.
With only one other Action available, the player decides to back out of sight
behind the woods while the vehicle commander recovers his nerve.
KNIGSLUTHER
THE CURSED
58
Close-Combat Weapons
STANDARD WEAPON
Close-Combat Attacks
THE GHOSTS
DEATH DEALERS
THE GHOSTS
59
Reactive Attacks
Whether you succeed or not, attempting a Reactive Attack
Activates your Unit.
On a roll of
, the Unit succeeds and will Activate
for either a Sustained Attack Action, or a Move Action
followed by an Attack Action. The Move Action can
only be used to rotate the miniature (a Large Vehicle
may not end the move further away from the attacking
Unit than itstarted).
or
Reactive Attack
2 As the Matrioshka is within Range 4 (40cm or 16), the SSU player can declare a
Reactive Attack with it, trying to shoot the Hotdog before it gets away. They roll two
dice and score a
and a , so the Matrioshka will perform an Attack action.
The dual 152mm ML-20S guns can hurt the Hotdog, but the DShK 12.7mm
machine-guns cannot. Normally the machine-guns would shoot at Bazooka Joe,
but as it is a Reactive Attack, they must shoot at the Hotdog or not shoot at all.
MATRIOSHKA
FAKYELI
HOTDOG
BAZOOKA JOE
60
2 The Allied player, knowing that the Fakyeli Sulphur Thrower and
Shotguns could eliminate the Grim Reapers before they get to fight back in
close-combat, declares that the Grim Reapers will attempt a Reactive
, so they will perform a Sustained Attack action
Attack. They roll
against the Fakyeli before they attack.
If they had rolled a single , the Grim Reapers would take an Attack
action rather than a Sustained Attack action. If they did not roll any ,
they would have activated, but taken a Nothing action.
The Grim Reapers take their Reactive Attack action (a Sustained Attack),
killing two of the Fakyeli.
GRIM REAPERS
4 Once the Fakyeli have attacked with their Ranged weapons, both sides attack with their
Close-Combat weapons. Attacks with Close-Combat weapons are simultaneous, so although
the last Grim Reaper is eliminated in close combat, he takes one more Fakyeli with him.
POUNDER
LUDWIG
then attack with its Reactive Attack. Any other roll wont
let it shoot the Pounder with the forward-firing guns (it
could use its hatch-mounted MG44 on a ), but that will
still use up its activation.
61
Reactive Attacks
FAKYELI