DT-Operation-Ciclone.pdf

Winter 1947

Read this book thoRoughly and keep it secuRe • it may save lives

OperatiOn CyClOne Has Begun!

Welcome to the irst Campaign Expansion for Dust Tactics ! Here you will discover new

units, new rules, new challenges, and a whole new campaign in which our two heroes,

Sigrid and Joe, continue their bitter ight!

Operation Cyclone takes place a few weeks after Operation Blue Thunder . This time the

two factions are struggling to gain control of a VK mine. The mine is believed to be the

largest VK deposit in Antarctica, and every faction is ighting to control it!

Faced with the importance of the mine, the Allies and Axis both send their newest and

most powerful weapons to the battleield: Artillery-equipped robots designed to claim

complete supremacy of the battleield!

The high commands of both blocs have also dispatched some of their most important

representatives: oficers whose mission is to lead their armies to victory, as well as hold-

ing the ardor of our heroes back a bit... These oficers operate in command squads, with

specialists whose skills can change the course of battles.

To combat the growing threat of enemy ro-

bots, headquarters has sent special anti-

vehicle units. Now “robot killer” teams play

an important role among the military forces

of the Dust universe.

The different armies have also begun to

use smaller and more discreet units, in or-

der to gain an advantage. Sniper teams

and observer units are on the ield. Their

presence won’t go unnoticed!

The New Rules

The irst part of this booklet explains the new rules added to the game. You’re about to

discover the rules that govern the use of artillery on the battleield. These rules are quite

simple, but we recommend that you play a few games of Dust Tactics before trying them.

If you haven’t played the game before, you can download the rules for free from our

website: www.FantasyFlightGames.com or www.Dust-Tactics.com.

After the explanation of artillery, you’ll ind rules covering new types of terrain that you

can add to your battleields. Some new special weapons and squad abilities, such as the

sniper teams and observer squads are also covered in this section.

The rest of the new rules describe the valuable command squads, which offer you many

new abilities. These rules are pretty simple too, and you’ll be able to add these squads to

your army right away.

The OperatiOn CyClOne CampaigN

The second part of this booklet details the battles of Operation Cyclone . These scenarios

use the terrain tiles in this box along with the tiles from Operation Blue Thunder .

These scenarios give shape to a complete story that you can play as a single campaign.

Special rules also change the nature of the different terrains you might ind in Dust Tactics .

And at the end you’ll ind some useful advice about some of the ways you might use the

new units available for the game.

good luck, soldier!

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Artillery rules

Please note: a unit that’s carrying more than one weapon might combine an artillery

weapon with some normal ones! For example, check the unit card for the Lothar, just be-

low, to see a unit armed in this way.

Many generals call artillery “the queen of the battleield.” Artillery always announces

the beginning of an assault and covers the retreat. In Dust Tactics , all armies ield a wide

variety of different artillery weapons. Many operate safely from deep behind the lines, but

some are deployed directly on the battleields we already know.

The Lothar robot is equipped with a Nebelwerfer 42 artillery weapon (you can recognize

it because of its range A) and one MG 44 machine gun. The machine gun is a normal

weapon, as you can see from its range 4.

Each bloc has its own theories about weaponry and tactical organization. The same goes

for the artillery. In Operation Cyclone , you’ll be introduced to some units carrying these

terrible weapons. The rules in this booklet are valid for all artillery weapons and all armies

of the Dust universe.

In Dust Tactics , artillery weapons work in a way that’s a little bit different from the weap-

ons you got to know in the basic rule booklet. In these pages, we’re going to study the way

they work, their devastating effects on the terrain, and on enemy units.

First of all, artillery weapons are always represented in the same way on their unit cards,

it does not matter if they’re independent pieces or mounted on vehicles. In the weapon

line, instead of the normal range, you’ll ind this letter: A. All weapons with range A are

artillery weapons and follow the rules you’re going to read on the next few pages.

Artillery units behave just like any other Dust Tactics unit, except for a few minor differ-

ences. Unless these rules say otherwise, all rules that apply to regular units also affect

artillery units.

The “A” RAnge

When the range of a weapon is listed as “A,” this means it is an artillery weapon. Shells,

missiles, grenades, or projectiles ired by this weapon strike its targets from the sky: in-

stead of iring in a direct line like a normal weapon, artillery ires up into the air and the

projectiles arc over everything in between the gun and the target. They often ire very

powerful explosives that are able to destroy any target in no time at all.

In order to simulate the “parabol-

ic” (or curved) trajectory that the

projectile follows before hitting the

ground, artillery weapons always

have a minimum range of 4

squares. In other words, an artil-

lery weapon can never hit a target

that is less than four squares away.

However, the raw power of these

weapons easily allow the projec-

tiles to cross the entire battleield

(and continue their light well be-

yond). The maximum range

of an artillery weapon is always

unlimited (just like range U).

When you’re using this Lothar, if you decide to shoot with both weapons, only the Nebel-

werfer 42 will follow the artillery rules. The MG 44 follows the usual shooting rules.

To sum up:

When you use an artillery weapon, you must follow the special rules for artillery, which

are a little different from the usual shooting rules. These are the main differences, which

are explained on the following pages:

- An artillery weapon can ire in two different ways: a “direct shot” or an “indirect shot.”

- If the artillery unit has a clear line of sight to the target, it makes a direct shot. The shot

succeeds if a is rolled and the unit can choose to make a sustained attack ( SHOOT +

SHOOT actions). The unit can also uses its other weapons if it chooses to do so.

- If an “observer” unit has a clear line of sight to the target, the artillery unit makes an

indirect shot. The shot succeeds if a is rolled. An indirect shot costs the artillery unit

both of its actions, so it cannot make a sustained attack. Again, the unit can uses its other

weapons.

- Artillery weapons must be reloaded after iring before they can be used again. This costs

one RELOAD action.

- A unit can only act as an observer if it has the “Artillery Strike” ability.

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Different types of Artillery fire

Since artillery projectiles follow a parabolic trajectory, the unit that’s iring the artillery

weapon doesn’t have to see its target directly to shoot at it. Of course, if the unit can see

its target directly the attack is more accurate. For this reason, an artillery weapon can

shoot in different ways:

inDirect fire

If the unit that’s carrying the artillery weapon can’t see its target, but another unit with the Ar-

tillery Strike ability can see it, you can perform an indirect shot . This is the most common

use of artillery weapons: a discreet observer, with a precise map, communicates the coordi-

nates to the artillerymen at the rear. A bit later, a rain of ire strikes down the enemies…

Direct fire

If the unit that carries an artillery weapon can see its target (it has clear line of sight), it

takes a direct shot . This type of shot is the most accurate and dangerous for the unlucky

enemy... When an artillery weapon opens ire with a direct shot, the attack uses the same

rules as a normal shooting attack. Check the line of sight, make sure the target is in range,

and ire! Roll the dice listed on the weapon line. In order to damage the target, you must

roll on the dice. If the unit uses a sustained attack ( SHOOT + SHOOT ), you can re-roll

any dice which fail to hit the target. As you can easily imagine you must really have guts

(or be a bit insane) to charge across open ground in front of the enemy cannons…

In order to succeed on an indirect shot, you have to score a with your dice roll, just

like a standard attack.

The unit with the Artillery Strike ability is called an “observer.” It is the observer that trig-

gers the shot . So, the observer unit must have a clear line of sight to the target (if

the artillery does have line of sight, it makes a direct shot instead). The indirect shot takes

place when the observer is activated, not during the activation of the artillery unit itself!

If the artillery unit has already been activated during the round… too bad! It can’t act

again until next round. The indirect shot is only possible if the artillery unit has not been

activated yet this round.

The only difference between a direct shot from an artillery weapon and an attack from a

regular weapon is the minimum range. Remember that the unit will need to reload before

it can ire its artillery weapon again.

follow these steps to make an indirect shot:

1. Activate (as normal) the observer unit that has the Artillery Strike ability, as you would

any other unit. It can move, attack, etc. For one action, the unit can order an artillery strike

(1 ACTION ).

2. If you decide to make an indirect shot, the spotting unit is immediately deactivated and

the unit that’s carrying the artillery weapon is activated. You then ire the indirect shot with

the artillery unit. This attack is resolved just like a normal attack.

3. After you have completed the attack, the artillery unit is also deactivated. The indirect

shot automatically uses both of that unit’s actions. In this way, you have activated two units

in a row: the unit that ordered the shot, and the one that ired it, both on the same turn.

A direct shot costs one action (1 ACTION ) for the unit that’s carrying the artillery weapon.

So it can be combined with any other action that’s available for that unit (for example

moving).

ExamplE: Some Assault Rangers have infiltrated the heart of an Axis base. They

finish their move on the square shown in the illustration. They are now in line of sight

with the Lothar. The Axis player decides to activate it. He has many options: First of

all, since the Lothar can see the Rangers directly, it could make a direct shot and

perform a sustained attack ( SHOOT + SHOOT ). The Lothar will hit the rangers on

a , and will be able to re-

roll any once . The Lothar

then gets deactivated.

Or, he could choose to per-

form a regular direct shot

(for 1 ACTION ), and then

take any other single action

(such as moving or reload-

ing). After completing these

two actions, the Lothar is de-

activated.

Let’s assume that in this situ-

ation the Axis player chooses

to perform a sustained attack!

The Assault Rangers are a

high-priority target: a huge

threat for the Lothar if they

manage to get close enough

to attack it. Much better to get

rid of them immediately!

AssAuLT

RANGERs

ExamplE: This Luther is

dangerously close to the Al-

lies’ lines. If nobody stops it,

on the following turn it will

be able to charge the Rang-

ers Command Squad! They

decide to intervene with

the help of the Steel Rain

unit that’s hidden nearby.

The Allied player activates

the Command Squad and

moves it onto the square in

front of the intersection. The

squad now has a clear line

of sight on the Luther. This

movement required only

one action, so the unit still

has another one to use the

Artillery Strike ability. Since

the Command Squad hasn’t

taken any losses it still has its Radio, which is necessary to communicate the coor-

dinates for the attack.

The Allied player uses the Artillery Strike. The Command Squad is deactivated (it

has already taken its two actions for the round) and the Steel Rain is immediately

activated. That unit fires an indirect shot. It succeeds on a but it can’t re-roll any

dice (since the indirect shot takes two actions, the unit cannot make a sustained at-

tack). The Steel Rain is then deactivated and the Axis player can now play.

COMMAND

SQUAD

STEEL

RAIN

LOTHAR

LUTHER

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To order an indirect shot, the observer unit must have the Artillery Strike ability! Also

check that there are no other conditions necessary to call for the indirect shot (a Com-

mand Squad must have a Radio to call for an indirect shot, for example).

At the time of this expansion there are two units that follow these rules: the Axis Lothar

and the Allied Steel Rain. The Lothar needs to reload its Nebelwerfer, a set of big rocket-

launchers, while the Steel Rain needs to reload its Petard, a weapon that shoots a huge

and explosive steel bullet.

Reloading Weapons

While all other weapons in Dust Tactics store their bullets inside automatic cartridge clips,

the shells of artillery weapons are too bulky for that. After using one of these weapons,

the soldiers must stop the machine and reload the weapon before being able to shoot

with it again.

At the beginning of the game place one “ LOADED ” token close to the Lothar (its Nebelw-

erfer are loaded) and to the Steel Rain (its Petard is loaded). The Steel Rain doesn’t need

any “ LOADED ” tokens for its 4 rockets, since they are single use only, and the limited

quantity is marked on its unit card (four boxes you can check off).

Some weapons follow the reloading rule but they are not artillery weapons.

This action is called RELOAD and requires one action (1 ACTION ). To help you remember

which weapons are ready to be ired, use the “ LOADED ” tokens you ind in the unit’s box.

Place a Loaded token beside each unit that carries an artillery weapon when you put it

on the battleield. When that unit shoots, remove the token. You can place it back again

when you spend one action to RELOAD .

You’ll notice that the Petard on the Steel Rain is not an artillery weapon. It follows some

special rules we’re going to see in the following pages, but its range isn’t A.

Take a look at the Steel Rain: you

can see that its 4 rockets are ar-

tillery weapons, but they come in

a limited quantity. In fact, on the

unit card for this robot, close to

the name of its weapon, there are

4 small boxes you can check off.

The rockets are actually too big

to be reloaded on the battleield.

The Steel Rain only carries four of

them for the whole battle.

A unit can actually shoot ( SHOOT ) and reload ( RELOAD ) its artillery weapon in the same

round. But the unit obviously can’t perform any sustained attack nor move (as such options

would require a third action).

In the list of abilities for a unit, on its unit card, all weapons that show the word “Reload”

need to be reloaded after they are ired.

So, artillery weapons may follow

the reload rule: just because their

range is A, doesn’t always mean

they can be reloaded during the

game.

Reloading Weapon

Multiple shots Weapon

aRtilleRy Recap:

- In order to count as an artillery weapon, the weapon must have range A.

- After using an artillery weapon, you must reload it before being able to use it again (if

that weapon can be reloaded)

- The direct shot costs one action. If you decide to use a direct shot, you can perform a

sustained attack.

- The indirect shot costs two actions, and cannot be used for a sustained attack.

- To request an indirect shot, a unit must have the Artillery Strike ability.

- Calling for an indirect shot costs one action.

- if the unit chose at least one SHOOT action (for a direct or indirect shot) it can also uses

its other weapons.

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