Dune: War for Arrakis Rules Reference
Dune: War for Arrakis is an asymmetric strategy board game based on Frank Herbert's Dune. Players recreate the Desert War, the struggle for control of Arrakis, the only source in the Imperium of the spice melange, fought between House Atreides and House Harkonnen. The Harkonnens start controlling the main populated areas and must destroy Fremen Sietches while harvesting spice. The Atreides wage guerrilla warfare alongside their Fremen allies, working to fulfill ancient prophecies. In a 2-player game, each player leads one faction. In 3-4 player games, players form two teams.
Based on: Rulebook v3 + FAQ 3.1 (Nov 2024)
Objective
Harkonnen wins by accumulating 10 or more Supremacy Points (gained by destroying Fremen Sietches). Atreides wins by reaching or exceeding specific scores on each of the three Prescience tracks (Kwisatz Haderach, Sand Dwellers, and Jihad), as indicated by a Secret Objective card drawn at the start of the game.
How to Play
Draw cards and reveal prescience cards Place vehicles Alternate actions (Atreides first) Resolve desert hazards Harvest spice Check victory and cleanup
Tips for New Players
- Asymmetric strengths: Harkonnen has raw military power (more units, more dice, vehicles). Atreides has flexibility (Desert Power, Sandriding, more leaders, hidden deployment). Play to your faction's strengths.
- Harkonnen: balance offense and harvesting: You need to destroy Sietches for victory BUT also harvest spice to maintain Imperium relations. Neglecting spice leads to Imperium Bans that cripple your capabilities. It costs 2 spice to keep a marker in place and 3 to raise it.
- Atreides: guerrilla warfare: Don't try to match Harkonnen in direct combat. Use hit-and-fade tactics, Sandriding for mobility, and focus on advancing Prescience tracks rather than holding territory.
- Desert Power is key: The Atreides player should leverage Desert Power (free action when you have fewer unused dice). This partially compensates for having only 4 dice vs Harkonnen's 8. Use it to place wormsign tokens or activate sandworms.
- Protect your Sietches: Atreides: each destroyed Sietch brings Harkonnen closer to victory. Defend or keep them hidden using deployment tokens. Harkonnen: identifying and attacking Sietches is your primary path to victory -- use Ornithopter Scouting to reveal them.
- Leaders matter: Leaders provide combat abilities (converting Special die results) and enable Leadership actions. Named leaders have unique powers on their Leader cards. Eliminated named leaders go to the Regeneration Tank and take several turns to return -- use them wisely.
- Watch the terrain: Mountain areas are safe from sandworms and Coriolis Storms. Desert areas are dangerous (Deep Desert doubly so -- Special results deal 2 hits in storms). Use terrain to your advantage -- Atreides can weaponize the desert, while Harkonnen should be wary of overextending.
- Prescience track milestones: Steps 3, 6, and 8 on the Prescience track trigger powerful effects: Step 3 upgrades Paul and Jessica, Step 6 brings Alia into play, and Step 8 unlocks Family Atomics. Plan your prescience advancement strategically.
- Combat dice and leaders: Each unit contributes 1 combat die (max 6). Generic leaders convert Special results to 1 Hit. Named leaders have unique and often stronger conversions. Sardaukar and Fedaykin each cancel 1 enemy Shield before casualties -- they are extremely valuable.
- Free areas and settlement attacks: An area is free when it has no enemy Settlements, Units, or Sandworms. Harvesters and Ecological Stations don't make an area non-free. To destroy a settlement, you must attack with a legion -- special attacks like sandworms cannot destroy settlements.
- Vehicles return each round: All Harkonnen vehicles are returned at end of round. Plan vehicle placement based on that round's priorities -- they don't carry over. Use Ornithopters for Scouting and Troop-Transport, Harvesters for spice, and Carryalls to protect Harvesters from sandworms.
- Action Resolution ends with Harkonnen: The Action Resolution phase ends when the Harkonnen player has used all their available Actions. The Atreides player loses any remaining Actions. Atreides should try to use their most important actions early.