Dune: War for Arrakis FAQ
301 questions players ask · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · Full rulebook
Overview, Components and Winning
- Do the Harkonnen win the instant they reach 10 Supremacy Points, even if the Atreides would also finish their objective that round?
- When can the Atreides win: only at the end of the round, or immediately?
- Must the Atreides land exactly on the Secret Objective values, or is overshooting allowed?
- Which Dune: War for Arrakis rulebook is the current one?
- After one Family Atomic detonates, can a second be detonated later?
- Can an upgrade take a unit from elsewhere on the board when the supply is empty?
- Can an Atreides Deployment action place leaders when no Legions remain?
Setup and Game Board
- Are the starting Deployment tokens placed at random or chosen by the players?
- Can the Atreides player look at the hidden side of the Sietch tokens during the game?
- Can the Atreides player look at their own Deployment tokens after setup?
- Can a Deployment token be reused after it is revealed?
- What is the difference between Harkonnen Settlement tokens and Deployment tokens?
- Do the Imperium markers start in the top slot of the Spice Must Flow board?
- With a Possible Future at setup, which Named Leaders start in play and which special action is used?
- Can the Harkonnen place an Ornithopter or Carryall in an Air Zone that already holds a vehicle?
- How do I tell Mountain, Plateau, Minor Erg and Desert areas apart on the board?
- If an area shows both desert and plateau (like Wind Pass or Gara Kulon), which terrain is it?
- What is a Minor Erg, and how does it differ from a Plateau?
- What makes a Desert area Deep Desert, and do the top and bottom board edges count?
- Is the North Pole part of every sector for Ornithopters, Prescience conditions and Air Zones?
- Are Mountain areas and the North Pole affected by Coriolis Storms?
- What is the difference between a free area and an empty area?
- Which sectors does Air Zone 1 connect to?
- Can a card that deploys troops to a Settlement use a destroyed Settlement or an enemy one?
- Can the Atreides deploy into a Sietch area that contains a Harkonnen Legion?
Game Round: Dice and Actions
- What do you do when more dice show a result than the dashboard has room for?
- When four or more dice show the same result, which ones are rerolled?
- Must you choose how a Mentat action splits its two draws before drawing?
- Do you have to carry out an action fully after spending its die?
- Can the parts of an action or card be done in a different order?
- Does playing a Planning card cost an Action die?
- When can Free Actions (Guerrilla Training, Scouting, Hawat's Scheming) be taken, and can they be taken after the last die?
- If the Atreides have more dice than the Harkonnen, do they lose the extra actions?
- Can the same unit be activated more than once in a round?
- Is the action die moved to the used slot before or after the action is done?
- Can a card or action that says "move two Legions" move the same Legion twice?
- Can a Planning card that says "move a Legion of your choice" move an opponent's Legion, or require a leader?
- Can the Harkonnen House action (replace 2 Regular Units with 2 Elite Units) bring in Sardaukar?
- Where can Harkonnen and Atreides Deployment results place units?
- What is the difference between "deploy" and "place"?
- How many Atreides Deployment tokens are drawn when deploying, and what can Chani change?
- Can a Harkonnen vehicle be placed on top of a different vehicle, and where does the removed one go?
- Can the Harkonnen have more Ornithopters or Carryalls than the Spice Must Flow chart gives?
- When a card moves an Imperium marker down a step, when does the Harkonnen die change take effect?
- How many Sietches can one Harkonnen Scouting reveal, and when can it be used?
- What does Guerrilla Training let the Atreides do?
- Who plays the extra Planning card from Rage Overcame Shaddam IV, and can it work if the Emperor cannot be placed?
Movement
- Can a Legion use more than one Troop-transport (Ornithopter) in a turn?
- How does Troop-transport work: range, which sector, and what can it cross?
- Is the Ornithopter removed when a Troop-transport attack is made, even if the attack wins?
- How far can a Legion attack using Troop-transport or Sandriding, and does it count as a move or an attack?
- Does a Sandride need a Wormsign or Sandworm in its start or end area, and can it end in a Mountain?
- Can a Sandriding Legion cross an area with an enemy Legion, or a Harvester?
- Can I split a Legion when it moves and leave some units behind?
- Can a moving Legion leave a Leader alone behind it?
- Can an action that moves two different Legions move the same Legion twice, and are the moves simultaneous?
- Can a Legion both move and attack with the same Action die?
- Can the same Legion move several times in one round?
- When a card says to move a Legion, can I move an enemy Legion?
- If a Legion reveals a Sandworm during a double move and then retreats, does it still get its second move or attack?
- Can Scouting be used more than once in an action?
Attacking, Retreating and Advancing
- When a Legion attacks, must every unit and leader in the Area take part?
- After winning a battle, must the attacking Legion advance into the attacked Area?
- Can only some of the attacking Legion advance after a victory?
- Do I have to advance into an Area to destroy its Settlement or Sietch?
- Can a Sandworm, Coriolis Storm or Planning card destroy a Settlement?
- Do I have to attack an empty Settlement, and are dice rolled?
- How far can a Legion attack using an Ornithopter (Troop-transport) or Sandriding?
- If I attack from two Areas away and then cease or don't advance, where does my Legion end up?
- If an attack made via Troop-transport is stopped, do I get the Ornithopter back?
- Can a Legion carried by an Ornithopter make a Surprise Attack?
- Can Ornithopters or Carryalls be attacked at a base?
- Who decides where a retreating Legion goes?
- Can a retreating Legion move into an Area that already holds that player's other units, even if it exceeds the stacking limit?
- Can a Legion retreat into an Area that holds only an enemy Harvester?
- Can a Legion retreat using Sandriding?
- Who decides first to continue the fight or retreat, and when can a Legion retreat?
- Does the attacker take a hit to keep attacking a Settlement or Sietch?
- Do the defender's extra dice from a Sietch or Harkonnen Settlement apply every combat round?
- When are Deployment tokens revealed in a battle, and when is the stacking limit applied?
- Can Harkonnen walk into an Area holding only a Deployment token, and can tokens move?
- Does a special attack such as Explosive Artillery reveal Deployment tokens or a Sietch?
- How does Explosive Artillery resolve, and can the Legion advance afterwards?
Combat Rounds and Casualties
- Does a Surprise Attack bonus last the whole combat or only the first round?
- Does a Surprise Attack add an extra die?
- Can one Leader use the extra Special from a Surprise Attack in addition to their own?
- When can I make a Surprise Attack?
- Do combat dice gained by discarding Planning cards last the whole battle?
- Can bonuses such as the Atreides War Plan card take me past six combat dice?
- What do Sardaukar and Fedaykin cancel in combat?
- Can I remove an Elite unit to absorb two hits even with no Regulars in reserve?
- When an Elite is replaced after a hit, where does the replacement Regular come from?
- Who assigns hits to units, and what about excess hits?
- Which side declares first in a combat round?
Playing Pieces
- Is a single unit, or a group of units with no Leader, a Legion?
- Do Atreides Deployment tokens count as Units, and can they move and block the Harkonnen while face down?
- Can a Leader stay alone on the board if a Deployment token is with it?
- Can the Atreides player look at their own face-down Deployment tokens at any time?
- Are revealed Deployment tokens put back so the Atreides can redeploy them?
- Can a revealed Deployment token also be removed by another card such as Families Flee?
- Can I deploy, place or move into an area already at the 6-unit limit and then remove the excess?
- How does the stacking limit work: per player, and what counts toward it?
- What is the difference between deploying and placing a piece?
- Can a Replace effect take an Elite or other piece from elsewhere on the board?
- What happens if a Deployment token or card calls for an Elite or Special Elite Unit and none are left?
- If a card says to deploy or place an Elite, can I use a Sardaukar or Fedaykin?
- Can two Leaders be in the same Legion, and how do they use Special dice?
Named Leaders: General Rules
- When do Named Leaders in the Regeneration Tank advance?
- Does a Desert Power action advance Leaders in the Regeneration Tank?
- If several Named Leaders enter the Tank at once, in what order do they go and what is bumped?
- Can a card place or deploy a Named Leader who is in the Regeneration Tank?
- What happens to a Leader's card when the Leader enters or leaves the Tank?
- If Paul Atreides is in the Tank and becomes Muad'Dib, what happens?
- When a Named Leader enters play, is it on the board, and how does it get there?
- After a Named Leader leaves the Regeneration Tank, is it on the board automatically?
- Can a Named Leader use their special action while in the Tank, off the board, or with the card spent?
- Can both special actions on a leader card be used in one turn, or one leader's special used twice?
- Do I have to use a leader's special action when I spend the matching die?
- Is each Named Leader tied to one Action die result?
- Can two Named Leaders share the same action die face?
- When a Named Leader is killed, is he removed from the game or sent to the Regeneration Tank?
- At the end of a round can a Named Leader be swapped for a generic Bashar or Naib?
- Can a Leader move alone or switch between two adjacent Legions without a unit?
- When Paul-Muad'Dib or Reverend Mother Jessica replaces Paul or Jessica, what happens to the figure?
- Is drawing mandatory when a leader action such as Mohiam's says to draw?
- In solo mode, are Named Leader special actions limited to once per round?
- In a 2-player base game, are the Corrino Ally and Fremen Ally Named Leaders used?
Named Leaders: Specific Characters
- Can Duke Leto flip a spent leader card, or himself, face up?
- When does Dr. Yueh switch sides?
- When can Alia's special action be used, and can it give the Atreides extra actions?
- When does the Wild Maker enter play, does it raise the Sandworm limit, and can later Shai-Hulud cards place it again?
- Does Shai-Hulud let the Wild Maker move and attack, and when can it act on the turn it arrives?
- What happens to the Wild Maker after attacking or at end of round?
- Can Feyd-Rautha or Beast Rabban use two Ornithopters in one special action?
- How does Beast Rabban's second move work: adjacent only, vehicles, picking up units?
- Can Rabban move again after a Sandworm-caused retreat of his Legion?
- Can Rabban's Surprise Attack be made without placing Rabban or the Elite unit?
- How does Feyd-Rautha's special action work: move first, merging and surprise?
- What happens to Beast Rabban when Feyd-Rautha enters play, and can Feyd come in early?
- How do you get Beast Rabban onto the board?
- Does Thufir Hawat enter play even if I do not want him?
- How does Princess Irulan enter play, and how does she relate to Gaius Helen Mohiam?
- What Elite units does the Baron's special House action place, and what if the Baron is not in play?
- How does Paul's special action work: placement, attacking, defending?
- Can Reverend Mother Jessica's draw-two ability give the Atreides Fremen cards to play?
- Can "Our New Say'Yadina" send Jessica to the Tank if a Harkonnen Legion is in the North Pole?
Planning Cards and Bene Gesserit
- What is the Planning card hand limit?
- Can the Polar-Cap Factories discard effect be used after the North Pole Settlement is destroyed?
- Can The Voice force the Harkonnen to discard a Hawat's Scheming card?
- How and when can Hawat's Scheming cards be discarded?
- How does Reports of Traitors work with Bene Gesserit tokens, House results and the Smugglers board?
- Must the Harkonnen discard three Wormsign tokens to play Spotter Control?
- Can Evidence of Rebellion or Arsunt Legion place units in a settlement other than your own, or a destroyed one?
- Does Sardaukar Pogrom let one Legion move three times?
- If Seek Out the Mahdi is played on the last turn of a round, does its effect apply next round?
- Can Kitab Al-Ibar move a Sietch with its units to an adjacent Area?
- Who draws the cards when Manipulation of Others is played?
- How many units does the Harkonnen card placing a Regular unit in each village put out?
- Can the die chosen with Truthtrance be spent on a Planning card?
- Can Shigawire move a Legion zero Areas and still send an adjacent Named Leader to the Tank, and when does the leader go?
- What happens when a Harkonnen Legion enters an Area with a Fremen Camp and a Wormsign?
- Are Bene Gesserit tokens reusable?
- Do Bene Gesserit tokens count as Action dice?
- How many Bene Gesserit tokens can be spent per turn, and where do they go?
- Where do Bene Gesserit tokens come from?
- Where does Breeding Program take the Bene Gesserit token it removes from the Atreides?
Prescience
- Can the Atreides claim more than two Prescience cards in one round?
- Does claiming a Prescience card use an Action die or my turn?
- Can an Action Resolution Prescience card such as Families Flee be claimed on the Harkonnen's turn?
- When can an End of the Round Prescience card (The Lisan Al-Gaib, The Fremen Call Paul the Mahdi) be claimed?
- Can the starting Deployment tokens be flipped to satisfy The Lisan Al-Gaib?
- Does The Fremen Call Paul the Mahdi count a Sietch that was already revealed?
- What happens to the Deployment token when Families Flee to the Palmaries of the South removes it?
- Do battle Prescience cards (Ya Haya Chouhada!, Bloody Swords and Fanatic Legions, attack on a guarded Settlement) require winning?
- How can the Atreides destroy two Harvesters in one turn for cards like The Youngsters Prepare for a Raid or Razzia?
- Does the Jihad marker advance for every two Harvesters destroyed in a round?
- If a Prescience marker goes above the Secret Objective value, do the Atreides lose the objective?
- What happens to Prescience cards nobody claims by the end of the round, and what happens to claimed ones?
- Can Hope Clouds Observation shuffle back or remove a Prescience card kept by Eyes of Ibad?
- Does the Fear Is the Mind-Killer planning card stay in hand until the end of the round?
- Do unrevealed Deployment tokens count as Legions for Prescience cards?
- Does advancing after combat count as moving for the Mudir of the Sandride Prescience card?
- Do cards that mention Paul or Jessica apply to both versions of the character?
- Does a Prescience or Family Atomics card take effect as soon as it is drawn, and can the Atomics detonate twice?
- Can The Tahaddi Challenge be earned with Named Leaders other than Paul and Jamis?
- Does the green Atreides hawk symbol on the Prescience track do anything?
- Do the Atreides win immediately if Arrakeen is destroyed and their Secret Objective is met?
Harvesters
- Are Harvesters part of a Legion, so that they fight or move with it?
- How does an Atreides Legion remove a Harvester, and is it an attack?
- Can more than one Harvester share a Desert area, or share it with a Legion?
- What happens to a Harvester when a Sandworm hits its area, alone or with a Legion?
- How does a Carryall save a Harvester, and when can it?
- In Spice Harvesting, are all Harvesters removed, and how much spice does each give?
- If a Harvester is placed in an area with a Wormsign, is the Wormsign revealed right away?
- Can the Harkonnen place more Harvesters or vehicles than the Spice Must Flow board allows, and is placing them optional?
- Can a Harvester already on the board be placed in a new area while others are still in reserve?
- How does the Old Man of the Desert attack an unprotected Harvester?
Desert Power and Ecological Testing Stations
- When can the Atreides take a Desert Power action?
- Can the Atreides take Desert Power after spending all their dice?
- How many Desert Power actions can the Atreides take in a round?
- Is Desert Power taken in addition to a dice action in the same turn?
- What if Wormsign tokens run out during Desert Power?
- How do Ecological Testing Stations work, and can the Harkonnen interact with them?
- Are there Ecological Testing Stations that show all three Prescience icons?
- How do the Ecological Testing Station cards work in the Advanced Mode?
- Can Sandworms, Wormsigns or Regulars be placed or moved onto an area with an unclaimed Ecological Testing Station?
Sandworm Placement and Movement
- How many Sandworms can be placed in one Desert Hazards phase?
- Can one Sandworm be placed or moved several times to cover several Wormsign results?
- Are Sandworm effects resolved one at a time or after all are placed?
- Does the Wild Maker card refresh like a Named Leader card?
- How can a Sandworm move?
- Can a Sandworm end its move on a Wormsign token or beside another worm?
- Can an Atreides Legion Sandride if no adjacent Area has a Wormsign or Sandworm?
Sandworm Attacks and Harvesters
- Which terrain can a Sandworm attack?
- How many dice does a Sandworm roll, and does the target roll defence?
- What happens to a Legion in an Area where a Sandworm is placed in Desert Hazards?
- Is a Harvester destroyed when a Sandworm appears in its Area, and does the worm stay?
- When is a Sandworm removed from the board?
- Can a Sandworm destroy a Harvester by moving in during Desert Power?
- In solo mode, what happens when a Harkonnen Legion walks onto a Wormsign that reveals a Sandworm?
- How many Sandworm attacks does Desert Power give, and how often can the Old Man of the Desert act?
Wormsign Tokens
- When is a Wormsign token revealed?
- Does a Legion that jumps over a Wormsign (Ornithopter, Troop-transport) reveal it?
- If two Legions move onto Wormsign tokens in the same action, when are they resolved?
- Which Areas get a Wormsign token in the Desert Hazards phase?
- What happens to a Wormsign in an Area with an Atreides Legion?
- Can a Wormsign share an Area with another token, a Sandworm or a Sietch?
- In what order are Wormsign tokens resolved in Desert Hazards?
- When do Wormsign tokens go back to the pool?
- Can the Atreides look at Wormsign tokens before placing them with Desert Power?
- What if there are not enough Wormsign tokens to place?
- Can a Legion retreat into an Area that holds a Wormsign?
- Does the Desert Hazards rule place Wormsigns where a Sandworm already is?
Spice, Imperium and Desert Hazards
- When does an Imperium Ban start and stop applying?
- When a CHOAM Ban lowers the Legion size limit, when must Legions shrink?
- How does Harkonnen Stockpiling (buying Supremacy with spice) work?
- How much spice can the Harkonnen keep for later rounds?
- Do Coriolis Storms hurt Atreides Legions?
- How many Coriolis Storm dice does each Legion roll?
- Do Coriolis Storms and Sandworms reach the mountain-ringed Plateaus after Family Atomics?
- Can anything defend against a Sandworm attack?
Rules for 3–4 Players
- In a 4-player game, can the Atreides player draw Fremen Planning cards for the Fremen ally?
- In a 3- or 4-player game, can a partner spend my Action die so I (or they) can play a Planning card?
- In a 4-player game, how does the Atreides player use a House die for Fremen actions, and how do Named Leaders get deployed?
- How are the Action dice split between two players on one side?
- Can teammates show each other Planning cards, and how does the Cone of Silence work?
- Which side is Gaius Helen Mohiam on in the 3-4 player game?
- Who gets the Bene Gesserit tokens earned on the Harkonnen Supremacy track in a 4-player game?
Solo Mode (Mahdi Bot)
- In solo mode, how do Harkonnen Deployment tokens reinforce a settlement when a Legion leaves it?
- In solo mode, may the Atreides voluntarily reveal a Sietch or Deployment token when an Ornithopter is in a connected Air Zone?
- Are the special rules at the back of the rulebook used only in solo play?
- How do Harkonnen Patrols place their units in solo mode?
- In solo mode, who chooses which Imperium markers go down when spice runs short?
- In Mahdi solo mode, does the Baron's special House action resolve both effects?
- Which Harkonnen Legions does a Leadership die move in solo mode?
- How does the Mahdi pick or change its target Sietch, and can a destroyed Sietch be the target?
- In Mahdi solo mode, how is a Deployment token counted in combat power ties?
- In Mahdi solo mode, does the automatic Harkonnen point come before the Atreides can win at the end of the round?
- In solo mode, can Emperor Shaddam IV or Captain Aramsham act when their units are out of reserve?
- In solo play, how are Deployment tokens handled when units overfill a Legion or a Ban removes units?
- In solo mode, do Named Leaders deploy with the Units to the same settlement?
- In solo vehicle placement, how many Ornithopters are placed per Legion?
- In a two-player game against the Mahdi bot, is the full Harkonnen board set up?
- In solo mode, are the Old Man of the Desert's two outer bottom sectors adjacent?
Dune: War for Arrakis – The Spacing GuildExpansion
- Can Fremen Rockets or Ornithopters remove Space Frigates?
- Can Feyd-Rautha's move-and-attack use two Space Frigates to extend reach?
- What happens when there are not enough free Air Zones to place all Space Frigates?
- Are Space Frigates Vehicles, and which effects can place or remove them?
- Where do Space Frigates go when removed at the end of Action Resolution, and how do they come back?
- When does the Heighliner's automatic one-step move happen at the end of the round?
- If a Heighliner is already travelling, where does cargo added by an Imperium Action go?
- When does a permanent Ban from a CHOAM, Landsraad or Guild bribe card activate, and does it move the Imperium marker?
- Which Imperium Bans are active after Spice Harvesting when several markers move down, and can an already-active Ban be chosen?
- Can a marker already at the top of Spice Must Flow be raised (by spending 3 spice) to buy extra Imperium Actions?
- How do Houses Major Troops count as Units and Leaders?
- Can Houses Major Troops Sandride, and are they hit by Coriolis Storms?
- Where can Houses Major Troops land, and how do landed pieces behave?
- How does the Guild Navigator work?
- Which Harvester removals earn the Atreides an Imperium Action?
- Can Aerial Bombardment be used between battle rounds?
Dune: War for Arrakis – SmugglersExpansion
- How do Staban Tuek's special action and the Desert Power rules work?
- Does the Smugglers expansion work with solo mode?
- If Smugglers are allied with the Atreides, are Wormsigns and Coriolis Storms affected by Smuggler units?
- Can the Smugglers Gurney Halleck card remove Ornithopters or Carryalls?
- Does a Named Leader removed from the map still count as "already in play" for Smugglers cards?
- Does the Atreides get an Imperium Action for capturing or destroying a Smuggler Harvester with a Legion?
- When can Smuggler Harvesters be placed, which cards affect them, and are they lost when destroyed?
- Can the destroy-two-Harvesters Prescience card use any mix of Smuggler and Harkonnen Harvesters?
- How many Smuggler Ornithopters do the Atreides get when the Smugglers ally, and are they ever destroyed?
- Where is the Smugglers Base placed, what is on the Smugglers board in round 1, and how does the base defend?
- How do Smuggler units work after the Smugglers ally with the Atreides?
- When does the Smuggler alliance trigger, e.g. by Staban Tuek's marker or a multi-Legion move?
- Do Houses Major troops and Smuggler Legions count as Legions outside Sietches for The Desert War Prescience card?
Dune: War for Arrakis – Desert WarExpansion
- Can a Fremen Rocket Launcher remove a Smuggler Harvester?
- Does destroying a Harvester with a Rocket Launcher give an Imperium Action?
- How does the Rocket Launcher special attack work: range, vehicles and Fremen Camps?
- When can the Atreides take Desert War actions, and are they shared in 3-4 player games?
- What is an Escort Ornithopter once it joins a Legion?
- What can Suspensor Troopers not do?
- How do Fremen Sandriders interact with Sandworms?
- Can Desert War be used in solo play?