Dune: War for Arrakis Gameplay Overview

Actions

Start of the Round

Prepare for the new round by drawing cards and revealing prescience cards.

1. Each player draws 2 planning cards, one from each of their decks, into their hand.
2. Draw 3 prescience cards and place them face up in a row next to the deck, visible to all players.

Step 1: Vehicle Placement

The Harkonnen player places vehicles (Ornithopters, Harvesters, Carryalls) based on the position of the lowest Imperium marker on the Spice Must Flow board.

1. Find the active row on the Spice Must Flow board (where the lowest Imperium marker is positioned).
2. Place an action die on each empty slot of the first column on the active row and the rows above it. These dice won't be used this round. Any action die below the active row are then removed from the board and will be available this round.
3. Place the indicated number of vehicles on the board: Harvesters are placed in free desert areas (1 figure per area), Ornithopters and Carryalls are placed in Air zones (1 figure per zone). If an Air zone is already occupied, remove the current vehicle first.

• All Harkonnen vehicles are returned at the end of the round. Vehicles never move from their location once placed.
• Vehicles are placed in Air zones, which are connected to all Areas within both adjacent Sectors.
• Harvesters collect spice during Step 4. Ornithopters provide Scouting and Troop-Transport. Carryalls can rescue Harvesters from sandworm attacks.

Step 2: Action Resolution

The main phase of the game. Players roll action dice, allocate them on their dashboards, then alternate taking actions. Atreides goes first. The phase ends when the Harkonnen player has used all their available actions -- the Atreides player loses any remaining actions.

1. Both players roll all their action dice simultaneously.
2. Allocate dice on player dashboards (max 3 per result on Harkonnen dashboard, max 2 on Atreides). If dice exceed available slots, reassign excess starting with the player with the fewest number on their dashboard. Tied: Harkonnen goes first. New die results are chosen one at a time, alternating, starting with the Harkonnen player.
3. Starting with Harkonnen, each player may place 1 Bene Gesserit token (if available) as a temporary action die on an empty action box slot of their dashboard. The Atreides player then has the same choice.
4. Players alternate taking 1 action each, starting with the Atreides player. On your turn: spend 1 die to execute its action, OR spend any 1 action die to play a planning card from your hand (apply the card effects, then discard it to a discard pile).
5. If you have 2 or more options on your dashboard, choose only 1. If the Atreides player has fewer unused action dice than the Harkonnen player, they may take a Desert Power action instead.

• Desert Power (Atreides only): Does not require spending a die. Can only be performed if the Atreides has fewer unused dice than Harkonnen, or as part of a planning card effect or special action. Place 2 wormsign tokens in any desert areas without a wormsign, sandworm, or sietch (1 per area), OR attack with 1 sandworm on the board.
• Free Actions can be taken in addition to your main action and do not cost dice. They can be performed at any time during your turn, multiple times, and in addition to (not instead of) normal actions, even interrupting them.
• The effects of an action are never mandatory. They can be carried out fully, partially, or even not at all.
• Once a Bene Gesserit token is used, it is discarded and removed from play permanently.

Step 3: Desert Hazards

Wormsign tokens are placed and resolved, then Coriolis Storms sweep the board. The desert strikes back.

1. The Atreides player places random wormsign tokens face-down on the board without looking at them, 1 in each desert area that contains a Harkonnen harvester or legion and that does not already contain a wormsign token or sandworm.
2. Flip all wormsign tokens on the board face-up and resolve their effects in this order: Sand (false alarm -- discard the token), Sandworm (place a sandworm there, then discard the token), Burrowing Sandworm (if in a deep desert area, place a sandworm there then discard; otherwise discard the token).
3. Each sandworm appearing must be placed, either from off the board or by relocating from somewhere. If the Wild Maker is in play, the Atreides player can place its figure instead of a normal sandworm. Maximum 4 sandworms on the board (5 if Wild Maker is in play).
4. After all wormsign tokens have been resolved, shuffle them back face-down into the wormsign pool.
5. Resolve Coriolis Storms: all Plateau, Minor Erg, and Desert areas on the board are exposed. For each Harkonnen legion in such an area, the Atreides player rolls 2 combat dice. The attack inflicts 1 Hit on the enemy legion for each Hit result, and a variable number of Hits for each Special result based on terrain type.

• Mountain areas are completely safe from sandworms and Coriolis Storms.
• Coriolis Storm Special result hits by terrain: Deep Desert = 2 hits, Desert = 1 hit, Minor Erg or Plateau = no hits. Atreides legions are unaffected by Coriolis Storms.
• If a wormsign area contains only a harvester (no legion), the sandworm attacks the harvester. Carryalls can rescue harvesters -- remove a carryall from a connected Air zone to save the harvester (it is not removed and stays in the area, unless attacked by a legion).
• If a sandworm attacks an area containing an enemy legion, the Atreides player rolls 4 combat dice for a regular sandworm or 6 for a Wild Maker, inflicting 1 Hit on the enemy legion for each Hit, and Hits for each Special based on terrain type.
• After a sandworm eliminates all enemy units in an area and the area contains a harvester, the harvester is also removed (unless a carryall saves it).

Step 4: Spice Harvesting

Harvesters collect spice, which determines Imperium relations. The Harkonnen player spends spice points to maintain or raise Imperium marker positions.

1. The Harkonnen player removes harvesters still on the board to collect spice. The amount depends on the area: Desert = 1 spice point, Deep Desert = 2 spice points.
2. The Harkonnen player immediately spends collected spice points to keep Imperium markers on their current position, or to raise them up 1 step: It costs 2 points to keep a marker in position, and 3 points to raise a marker up 1 step. Each marker can only be raised a maximum of 1 step during the same harvesting phase.
3. Markers that are neither kept in place nor raised automatically move down 1 step. This causes the activation of Imperium Bans.
4. Activate ALL Bans corresponding to any Imperium markers on the bottom step of the Spice Must Flow board, plus ALL bans corresponding to markers that just moved down. A ban remains active until the beginning of the next round's harvesting phase.
5. Return all Harkonnen vehicles (Ornithopters, Harvesters, Carryalls) from the board.

• CHOAM Ban: Harkonnen stacking limit is reduced from 6 to 5 units per area. Any exceeding units must be immediately removed.
• Landsraad Ban: As long as this ban is active, the Harkonnen player cannot discard Planning cards from their hand to gain additional combat dice.
• When a ban is active, the Harkonnen player must apply the effect described on the corresponding reference card at all times during the round. A ban remains active until the beginning of the next round's harvesting phase.

End of the Round

After Spice Harvesting, perform cleanup before starting the next round.

1. The Atreides player checks whether the requirements of any revealed (end of round) prescience cards can be met. They perform any instructions found on the cards they wish to claim, and advance the prescience markers accordingly (maximum of 2 prescience cards can be claimed in one round, regardless of cards claimed during the round).
2. If all the scores indicated on the secret objective card are met, the Atreides player wins the game. If not, the game continues.
3. If any Ornithopters or Carryalls remain on the board because they were not returned earlier in the round, remove them now.
4. If they have named leaders on the board, starting with the Harkonnen player, both players may remove any of them from the board and deploy a generic one in place of those removed.
5. Flip and place back on their corresponding action boxes all 'spent' leader cards (leaders in the regeneration tank boxes are flipped face-up but not placed on the dashboards).
6. Both players check their hand of planning cards and discard down to 6 cards (if needed), choosing which cards to discard.
7. The Atreides player chooses whether to remove from the deck any revealed but unclaimed prescience cards, or reshuffles them back into the deck for the following round. Prescience cards are always discarded openly.
8. Both players recover their used action dice from their dashboards and a new round begins.

Action Dice: Strategy

Move 2 different legions OR attack with 1 legion. Available to both factions.

1. Move 2 different legions. You may not move the same figure twice with the same action. All movements allowed by the same action are considered simultaneous.
2. OR attack with 1 legion by moving it into an area containing enemy units.

• A moving legion moves from the area it occupies to an adjacent free area (containing no enemy settlements, units, or sandworms). A legion cannot move between areas separated by an impassable border, unless using troop-transport.

Action Dice: Leadership

Can only be used if the affected legions contain at least 1 leader (generic or named). Move 2 different legions with a leader OR make a surprise attack with a legion with a leader.

1. Move 2 different legions that each have at least one leader.
2. OR make a surprise attack: when making a surprise attack, the attacking player adds 1 combat die to their first round of battle only.

• If you use a Leadership action to move a legion and that legion is split, at least 1 leader must accompany the moving units.

Action Dice: Deployment (Atreides Only)

Draw a random deployment token, look at it, and place it face-down with 1 leader (Naib or named) in an area containing a sietch token.

1. Draw a random Atreides deployment token from the pool.
2. Look at the token (secretly) and place it face-down in an area that contains a sietch token.
3. Place 1 Naib or named leader figure in that area.

• The Atreides player cannot take an ecological testing station if their legion is moving across multiple areas and does not stop in the station's area.

Action Dice: Mentat

Draw 2 planning cards from your decks into your hand.

1. Draw 2 planning cards: either 2 cards from the same deck or 1 from each deck (choose before drawing).

• In a 3-4 player game, the House Atreides player can also draw from the Fremen Ally deck. If they do, they must pass the card to the Fremen ally, but they can look at it before passing (without having to use a Cone of Silence).

Action Dice: House (Atreides)

Use this as any action die result of your choice. This is the Atreides-specific House action.

1. Treat this die as any other action die result of your choice (Strategy, Leadership, Deployment, Mentat, or Desert Power) and execute that action.

Action Dice: House (Harkonnen)

Replace 2 regular units with 2 elite units OR place 2 vehicles of your choice on the board.

1. Replace 2 regular units currently on the board with 2 elite units from your supply.
2. OR place 2 vehicles of your choice from the supply onto Air zones on the board.

Movement

Moving Legions (groups of units and leaders) across the board.

1. A moving legion moves from one Area to an adjacent Area. Areas separated by impassable borders (thick red/white lines) cannot be crossed by ground movement.
2. You may split your legion, choosing to move only some of them and leaving behind the rest.
3. All areas on the board can contain a maximum of 6 units. If this limit is exceeded at any time, the controlling player must immediately remove any excess units of their choice. An area can contain any number of leaders (they are not units). An Atreides deployment token counts as 1 unit for movement and stacking limit purposes.
4. Leaders cannot move by themselves and must always be accompanied by at least 1 Unit.
5. If a legion moves across more than 1 area, it cannot pick up or drop figures during its movement. If it moves into areas that contain other friendly legions, the stacking limit is only checked after the full movement has been completed.

• Sandriding (Atreides only): An Atreides legion adjacent to an area containing a wormsign token or sandworm can move or attack across any number of adjacent, consecutive areas containing wormsign tokens or sandworms, ending their movement or attacking an enemy legion in an area adjacent to one of these wormsign tokens or sandworms. The final destination may contain a wormsign token but not a sandworm.
• A sandriding legion cannot move or attack across areas containing enemy legions. Harvesters do not block sandriding.
• Troop-Transport (Harkonnen only): The Harkonnen player can use 1 (only) ornithopter in an Air zone connected to the sector where a legion starts its movement. Remove the ornithopter and either move or attack with the legion up to 1 additional area away. This allows moving across impassable borders, areas containing enemy legions, and sandworms.
• A legion cannot use more than 1 troop-transport per turn.

Combat

Battles occur when a Legion moves into an area containing enemy units. The battle is fought in a series of combat rounds.

1. Starting with the attacking player, both players may discard planning cards from their hand to add 1 combat die to their combat roll for each discarded card.
2. Both players roll combat dice equal to the number of units in their legion, plus the number of planning cards they discarded. You may never roll more than 6 combat dice. If the defending legion is in an area with a settlement, in each round of the battle the defending player rolls additional combat dice equal to the settlement's rank.
3. Surprise Attack: when making a surprise attack (via Leadership die), the attacking player adds 1 die to their first round of battle only.
4. Resolve dice: each Hit inflicts 1 hit. Each Shield cancels 1 opponent's hit. Each Special may generate a Hit or Shield result, but only if leaders are involved.
5. Sardaukar and Fedaykin special ability: immediately before removing casualties, each Sardaukar or Fedaykin cancels 1 Shield result from the opponent's combat roll (including any Shield generated by Special results).
6. Remove Casualties: for each hit scored by your opponent, you must first remove 1 regular unit if possible; if there are no regular units, then you must instead replace 1 elite unit (special or not) with 1 regular unit (if available, otherwise remove the elite unit); only if there are no regular or elite units remaining may you remove 1 leader (generic or named).
7. If all units in a legion are eliminated, also remove any surviving leaders. All eliminated units and generic leaders become available for future deployments. Named leaders go to the regeneration tank.
8. Any remaining hits and shields are then discarded.
9. The attacking player must then decide whether or not to continue the battle. To continue, the attacker must take 1 additional hit (resolving the casualty immediately). Otherwise, the battle ends and all figures remain where they are.

• Leader Combat Abilities: each generic leader considers 1 Special result as 1 Hit. Each named leader considers 1 Special as a specific number of Hits and/or Shields, as indicated at the bottom of that leader's card.
• A player whose legion includes more leaders than the number of rolled Special results must choose which leader's ability to apply for each Special. If this happens to both sides, the attacking player chooses first.
• Advancing After a Battle: if the attacking player wins, the attacking legion (all Units and Leaders) CAN be moved into the attacked Area or remain where it was. The attacker is not forced to advance.
• If a victorious Atreides legion advances into an area with a harvester, the harvester is removed.
• Destroying Settlements: to destroy a settlement (even when undefended) you must attack it with a legion and win the battle. Special attacks (e.g., sandworms, coriolis storms, planning cards) cannot cause settlement destruction. If a settlement is undefended, the battle is won automatically by the attacker (no combat roll required).
• When a sietch is destroyed, the Harkonnen player immediately gains supremacy points equal to its rank. Remove the sietch token from the board.
• When a Harkonnen settlement is destroyed, the Atreides player immediately advances each prescience marker a number of steps equal to the settlement's rank: 3 for Arrakeen, 2 for Carthag, 1 for a Pyon Village. The settlement token is removed from the board.
• If Arrakeen is destroyed, after advancing all Prescience markers, the Atreides player checks if they reached the score in their Secret Objective. If they did, they win immediately (instead of waiting for End of Round).

Deployment Tokens

Atreides deployment tokens represent hidden units. They are a key part of the Atreides guerrilla warfare strategy.

1. Atreides deployment tokens are placed face-down, hiding the combination of Regular, Elite, or Fedaykin units on their hidden side. Only the Atreides player may look at their face-down tokens.
2. Guerrilla Training (Free Action, Atreides only): The Atreides player can reveal any number of deployment tokens on the board. Flip the token and replace it with the corresponding units. Then remove the revealed token from the game.
3. Forced Reveal: Tokens must be revealed when the area is attacked by an enemy legion or when an Ornithopter scouts the area. At the beginning of a battle, if the defending legion is in an area containing an unrevealed Sietch token, flip the token face-up to reveal its rank. Also flip any deployment tokens involved in the battle, replacing them with the corresponding units.
4. Restriction: The Atreides cannot voluntarily reveal deployment tokens (Guerrilla Training) in a Sector with an Ornithopter in a connected Air Zone. However, tokens must still be revealed if the area is attacked.

• Deployment tokens count as 1 unit for movement and stacking limit purposes.
• Deployment tokens can be moved in the same way as units. However, to separate the units inside, the token must first be revealed.

Scouting (Harkonnen)

The Harkonnen player can use Ornithopters to scout areas, revealing hidden Atreides deployments and sietches.

1. The Harkonnen player may remove 1 Ornithopter from the board to choose an area in a connected Sector.
2. Reveal any Sietch and all Deployment tokens in that area. Flip the sietch token face-up, and replace deployment tokens with the corresponding units (remove the deployment tokens from the game).

• Scouting is disabled when the Spacing Guild Imperium Ban is active.
• Scouting costs an Ornithopter -- the Ornithopter is removed from the board and returned to the supply.

Prescience

The Atreides player's prescience score is tracked using 3 markers: Kwisatz Haderach (green), Sand Dwellers (yellow), and Jihad (red). The prescience markers advance on the track whenever certain conditions are met.

1. Claiming a Prescience card: advance the markers indicated on the card by the number written on it. Maximum 2 cards can be claimed per round. Action Resolution phase cards can only be claimed during phase 2. End of Round cards are claimed during the End of Round step.
2. Taking an Ecological Testing Station: advance 1 step the prescience marker whose symbol is on the back of the station's token.
3. Destroying a Harkonnen settlement: advance ALL prescience markers a number of steps equal to the settlement's rank (3 for Arrakeen, 2 for Carthag, 1 for a Pyon Village).

• Step 3 -- Desert Leaders: If the Jihad marker reaches this step, Chani enters play. If the Kwisatz Haderach marker reaches this step, Paul upgrades to Paul-Muad'Dib. If the Sand Dwellers marker reaches this step, Lady Jessica upgrades to Reverend Mother Jessica.
• Step 6 -- Pre-born Leader: If any prescience marker reaches this step, Alia enters play.
• Step 8 -- Family Atomics: If any prescience marker is on this step or higher, the Atreides player may detonate the family atomics as a free action during any of their turns. If more prescience markers reach this step after family atomics have already detonated once, there are no additional effects.
• To claim a card specifying a number of conditions, the Atreides player must verify if they apply to the current circumstances. To claim a card requiring to 'spend 1 action die', the Atreides player must spend 1 unused action die as their action for the turn, forfeiting its corresponding actions.

Named Leader Special Actions

Each named leader card is associated with a special action die result. Place a named leader card that enters play face-up on your dashboard, on the action box with the corresponding action symbol.

1. Once you have fully activated a leader's special action, pull the leader card out of the dashboard and flip it face-down. That card is now spent and its special action is not available until the beginning of the following round.
2. Unless they are in the regeneration tank, leaders allow you to choose from additional or enhanced options (in green for Atreides, and in red for Harkonnen) when spending a matching die result to execute an action. You can always choose between a regular action and a special one.

• Jessica and Paul: If Reverend Mother Jessica enters play, her figure and card immediately replace those of Lady Jessica, who are removed from the game. They are placed in the same position as the replaced ones: either on the board, set aside, or on the regeneration tank. The same applies when Paul-Muad'Dib enters play -- the figure and card of the replaced Paul Atreides are removed from the game.
• If a planning or prescience card refers to Paul, it is applicable to both Paul Atreides or Paul-Muad'Dib. If a card refers to Jessica, it is applicable to both Lady Jessica or Reverend Mother Jessica.
• Thufir Hawat and Gaius Helen Mohiam: If Thufir Hawat is in play, the Harkonnen player can remove him permanently from the game by discarding 2 or 3 Hawat's Scheming planning cards from their hand as a free action. As soon as Thufir Hawat is removed from the game, Gaius Helen Mohiam enters play.
• If Thufir Hawat has been removed from the game and the Harkonnen player has a Hawat's Scheming card in their hand, they can no longer discard it.
• Beast Rabban and Feyd-Rautha: If Feyd-Rautha enters play, Beast Rabban is immediately removed from the game (remove his card and figure).
• Gurney Halleck: When Gurney Halleck first enters play, the Atreides player places his figure directly on the board. Gurney Halleck is an Atreides leader who has no leader abilities and no special actions.
• Wild Maker: This giant sandworm enters play if the Atreides player plays 1 of the 3 Sand-Hulud Fremen Ally planning cards. It is placed instead of a sandworm for all rules and effects. It can be placed on the board, moved, used for sandriding, or to attack like any other sandworm (though its attacks are more lethal -- 6 combat dice instead of 4).