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R e a d t h i s b o o k t h o R o u g h ly a n d k e e p i t s e c u R e • i t m ay s av e l i v e s
OperatiOn “hades”
Welcome to Operation “Hades,” the new Dust Tactics
campaign expansion!
The term “RattenKrieg” was first used to describe
the bitter fighting that took place beneath the city of
Stalingrad, where invading Axis forces descended
into the sewer system in order to move about the city
unimpeded. When the Soviets realized this, their own
troops were sent underground to stop the invaders.
This was the beginning of the RattenKrieg, or “Rats’
War.” The confined spaces and narrow sewer tunnels
became a hellish battlefield, unlike any before seen in
the history of warfare. The claustrophobic environment
was perfect for traps and ambushes, and every squad
knew that death could be waiting for them around the
next corner.
The RattenKrieg may have been born in Stalingrad,
but this terrible new form of warfare reached its apex
beneath the city of Zverograd. For the Axis, the sewers
and metro system provided a route into the city that
offered protection from enemy sniper fire and the
dreaded SSU artillery barrages. But the Soviets had not
forgotten the lessons they had learned in Stalingrad,
and this time they were prepared.
It wasn’t long before the Allies, too, realized the
importance of subterranean warfare. Although they
had not yet been exposed to the horrors of RattenKrieg,
Allied troops had access to an arsenal of powerful
close-range
weaponry—shotguns,
flamethrowers,
grenades—and such weapons would prove extremely
effective in the cramped tunnels beneath Zverograd.
The players have arrived. The stage is set. The drama
can now begin.
Dust created by
Paolo Parente
StaFF
Commander in Chief: Olivier Zamfirescu
Staff officer in charge of artistic operations: Vincent Fontaine
Staff officer in charge of writing out the battle plan: Guglielmo Yau
Staff officer in charge of communications: David Preti
NCO assigned to HQ, in charge of troop morale: Chan Yuk
Staff officers, in charge of maps, diagrams, and other
illustrations: Davide Fabbri, Matthias Haddad, Mathieu
Harlaut, Karl Kopinski, Laurent Lecocq, Domenico Neziti,
Alessia Zambonin and Paolo Parente
Aide de camps: Livio Emanueli
Chief warrant officer of graphical matters: Mathieu Harlaut
Miniatures sculptors: Benjamin Maillet, Juan Navarro Perez,
Nino Pizzichemi, Remy Tremblay and Rafal Zelabo
Playtesters: Ludovic Andrieux, Jérémy Belbéoc’h, Julien
Bertheau, Mick Cover, Yann Cupertini, Frank Darden,
Michael Gernes, Guillaume Fontaine, Jean-Marc Mouret,
Marco Peruccelli and Nicolas Vastel
Many thanks to: Clement Bohen, Mario Braghieri, Luigi
“Ninja” Brigante, José Brito, Alessandro Bruschi, Nicolas
Couderc, Alexandre Giraud, Takao Hasegawa, Jeanne@
Album, Kallamity, Vincenzo Lanna, Giovanni Mazzotta,
Minky@Twistory, PF Periquet, Ping Ngai, Roberto Scazzuso,
Masatsugu Shiwaku, Angel Songannan, Sigrid Thaler, Denka
and Anastasiya Tymofyeyev, Anna Undraal, Chiara Vercesi,
Stephen & Victor Yau and Fabio & Filippo Zanicotti
rattenkrieg
Operation Hades details the deadly skirmishes that
took place in and beneath the city of Zverograd. These
battles may have been small in scale but the missions
were of critical importance and, for those involved, the
experience was brutally real.
This campaign expansion will give you the opportunity
to recreate these deadly infantry battles, fought at very
close range. You’ll discover a new way to play Dust
Tactics, and new ways to make use of those brave
soldiers that fight for you!
The latest information can be found on our websites:
www.FantasyFlightGames.com
www.Dust-Tactics.com
Content List
This box includes:
GaminG noteS
New scenarios are an exciting addition to any
Dust operation book, and offer challenging new
ways to test your armies on the battlefield. In
the expansive city of Zverograd, however, the
possibilities for staging battles go far beyond the
scenarios presented in this book.
Throughout
Operation “Hades”
you will find
these gaming notes. They will give you tips on
how to use various objectives and game concepts
in scenarios of your own design!
FFG
Producer: Zach Tewalthomas
Editor: Julian Smith
Licensing & Development Coordinator: Deb Beck
Graphic Design: Michael Silsby with Shaun Boyke
Production Manager: Eric Knight
Executive Game Designer: Corey Konieczka
Executive Producer: Michael Hurley
Publisher: Christian T. Petersen
- 31 Double-sided Terrain Tiles
- 1 Zverograd city poster
- 1 Zverograd metro map
- 1 SSU Hero, Winter Child
- This rulebook
www.FantasyFlightGames.com
www.Dust-Tactics.com
Dust Tactics © DUST STUDIO Ltd. 2012
Dust Tactics uses the Spaces & Tiles (S&T System) game
system, copyright DUST STUDIO.
All illustrations, photography, images and
miniatures are © DUST Ltd.
Dust Tactics® is a work of fiction.
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be careful • Do N ot let this book fall iNto eN emy haN Ds
the battle fOr
zverOgrad
For almost 10 years now, the Axis have actively
searched the globe for any trace of Vrill settlements.
Countless special operations have been mounted,
hundreds of missions launched in the hopes of gaining
an extra edge in this bloody World War through the
use of alien technology.
Very few of these operations have been successful,
and nearly all the discoveries that have been made
could not be favorably exploited, as Vrill facilities are
typically set to explode when non-Vrill attempt to enter
them. A few months ago, however, intelligence reports
from the Axis’ top spy network in the SSU confirmed the
existence of a massive alien structure below the city of
Zverograd, by far the largest discovery of its kind on
the planet.
The orders were relayed over the next few days: the
Axis Army was to take the city at any cost. Situated
just 20 miles behind SSU lines, on the Caspian Sea,
Zverograd seemed a relatively straightforward target.
However, Axis High Command did not anticipate the
toughness of the Soviet resistance. Neither did they
anticipate the reaction of the Allies, who had also
learned of the Kremlin’s secret “Vrill treasure” beneath
the city, and who planned to join the fray once the Axis
and the SSU had sufficiently weakened one another.
breakDown of key force concentrations in anD arounD zverograD
aXis
Army Group
Army
Key Divisions
Spec Ops
Army Group “West Asia”
11th Axis Army
33rd Panzer Division
2nd FußPanzer Grenadier Division
4th Blutkreuz Korps Kommando
ssu
Army Group “Caspian”
13th Red Banner Army
10th SSU Rifle Division
1st Guard Motor Rifle Division
(No spec ops deployed)
aLLies
Ninth Allied Army
1st Mesopotamian Army
4th MAR DIV
3rd Cavalry Division
8th Ranger Battalion
The first Battle of Zverograd, codenamed “Operation
Hades,” began on the 1st of January, 1947. During
the night of December 31st, 1946, Sturmpioniere units
advanced beyond Axis lines to start clearing a path
through the minefields in front of the shock units that
would race toward Zverograd. A similar scene was
unfolding simultaneously on battlefronts all over the
world. As the SSU and the Allies would soon discover,
the Axis’ global offensive was beginning.
The front 20 kilometers west of Zverograd had been
stable for nearly a year, with both sides occupying
well-entrenched positions. SSU troops on the front lines
were the first to realize that something strange was
happening. Their junior officers roused local HQs, who
quickly mobilized second and third lines. At 4:00 a.m.
on January 1st, hundreds of German Nebelwerfers
began firing their rockets into the frozen ground of the
SSU entrenchments. Most of the warheads exploded
upon impact, inflicting massive casualties among SSU
ranks. The SSU counter-battery started half an hour
later, targeting presumed concentrations of Axis troops.
At 5:30 a.m., after Axis engines had been warming up
for a good thirty minutes, the assault started. The initial
push from the north was made by the solid armored
formations of the 33rd Special Duty Panzer Division,
“NachtJäger.” At the spearhead were the heavy
E-100s of the Schwer Panzer Abteilung 515, each one
accompanied by Tiger II tanks or JagdLuther 75 walkers
to guard their flanks.
From the south, the 2nd FußPanzer Grenadier Division,
“Leibstandarte Erwin Rommel,” made its initial thrust
using an elite combined force of Sturmgrenadiere
units and Panzer KampfLäufers. After the initial shock,
the 4th Blutkreuz Korps Kommando leapt into action,
cutting off supplies and communications from behind
enemy lines. The morale-eroding effect of squads of
Zombies in a frontal assault again proved catastrophic
to SSU defenders, and squads of Axis Gorillas crushed
SSU strongpoints and destroyed artillery weapons.
Realizing that a full-scale assault was underway, the HQ
of the 13th Red Banner Army informed the Stavka of the
situation and proceeded to mobilize all of its reserves.
The 1st Red Guards Motor Rifle Division was rushed to
the front, their tanks carrying most of the soldiers of the
10th SSU Rifle Division. However, to protect them from
artillery fire, these elite forces had been placed some
20 kilometers east of Zverograd, and were therefore
almost 40 klicks from the action when it started. The
hope was to engage Axis forces in open terrain, well
beyond the city’s outskirts, but they would arrive too
late to prevent the attackers from reaching the city.
As Axis forces approached Zverograd, SSU troops
guarding its airfield were ordered to detonate explosives
OpEratiOn HaDES
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R e a d t h i s b o o k t h o R o u g h ly a n d k e e p i t s e c u R e • i t m ay s av e l i v e s
asset in the form of the newly-assembled 8th Ranger
Battalion of the Allied Army. All this elite formation
lacked was a proper commander. General McFarland,
head of the Ninth Army, had heard that ASOCOM was
looking for an excuse to redeploy renowned war hero
Joe Brown to some new turf: no good could come from
his frequent clashes with Miss Von Thaler in Antarctica.
McFarland put in the request, which received a prompt
and enthusiastic approval from ASOCOM, and Joe was
shipped across the world to his new command.
During this transition, the Marines were busy preparing,
and a plan was in place by the first days of February.
They were to land on the eastern bank of the Old Town
region of Zverograd in the dark of night during the next
new moon. The beach itself was quite small, but the
nearby caves were easy to defend and impossible to
target with artillery. Most importantly, this stretch of
coastline wasn’t defended by the SSU, as they were too
busy fighting the Axis inside Zverograd.
On March 9th, the Allied attack on Zverograd was
launched. Though difficult, the early stages of the
operation were successful: the 4th MAR DIV infantry
and walkers from the 3rd Cavalry Division swiftly
occupied a substantial section of the narrow beaches.
At the same time, the 8th Ranger Battalion, “Brown’s
Roughnecks,” cleared Zverograd’s lighthouse of any
resistance, securing an excellent position from which to
direct artillery fire toward the city.
Now facing attacks on multiple fronts, Zverograd’s embattled
SSU forces found themselves in the direst of situations.
with the intent of crippling the landing strip, rendering
it unusable without heavy repairs. Before they could
act, however, they were slaughtered in their barracks
by several squads of Axis Gorillas that had managed
to infiltrate the airfield during the night. Reports of a
small, inconspicuous U-Boat lurking near the shoreline
during the incident remain unconfirmed.
On the northern flank, the “NachtJäger” quickly occupied
Zverograd’s harbor and rushed toward North Bridge.
Gaining access to the city’s east side, and then its center,
was of the utmost importance to the Axis forces, as was
taking Red Bridge to the south–without this bridge the
assault would be stopped naturally by the Caspian Sea.
At the first light of dawn, the Luftwaffe launched waves of
assault aircraft toward the city. Zverograd’s defenders were
massed west of the city center, most of them routed, waiting
for the first units of the 13th Red Army to arrive before
launching a counteroffensive. As the first Stukas and Hortens
started bombing the city, every SSU soldier looked to the
sky: where was the 2nd SSU Air Fleet? At the regional HQ
of the Air Fleet, 60 kilometers north of Zverograd, SSU staff
had committed one of the worst blunders of the operation.
In the chaos following the news of the Axis advance, a
miscommunication had sent most of the SSU’s air support
to another theatre, far from Zverograd. The Luftwaffe had a
great day. Flying mostly unopposed, Axis planes had only
to worry about the anti-aircraft emplacements within the city.
The heavy IS-5 A “Mao Zedong” tanks were still more than
10 kilometers away, unable to prevent the fire raining down
on Zverograd’s defenders.
When the SSU elite forces finally reached the city, the
damage had been done. Axis forces had gained a
strong foothold in the Western part of the city center,
the railways to the north had been blocked off, and Axis
tanks and walkers had some of the city’s largest factories
surrounded. This battle would be more difficult than the
newly-arrived Soviets had initially expected. With the
Axis forces firmly entrenched, gritty, guerrilla-style urban
combat ensued, with neither bloc gaining a clear upper
hand. By this point, most of the city’s population had fled
to the east; only the factory workers remained, grimly
determined to help their homeland’s army.
When news of the attack on Zverograd reached the
Ninth Allied Army HQ in Tehran, the Allies quickly set
plans in motion. The Allies were also under attack from
the Axis’ global assault, with most of the offensives
occurring in Libya and Northern India, but Tehran was
relatively untouched. From their intelligence network,
whose reach extended into the upper ranks of SSU
leadership, Allied commanders had learned what little
was known about the secret below Zverograd. With
plenty of forces in the area to launch an operation,
the Allies realized that great strides could be made
while the Axis and the SSU fought in the streets of
Zverograd. Recon missions were set in motion under
the supervision of the 4th Marines Division. Along with
these tough soldiers, the Ninth Army found another
zverOgrad
undergrOund
The city’s Soviet architects knew that Zverograd
needed an extensive and efficient system of public
transportation in order for the city to thrive. A sprawling
metro system, one of the most advanced in the world,
was built beneath the city.
In the early days of the attack on Zverograd, its
underground became a refuge for the city’s civilian
population. Zverograd’s citizens found protection from
the bombings and artillery fire beneath the layers of
stone and concrete on which their city was built. The
earth trembled as worried families huddled in the
darkness, but they were safe in the city’s tunnels.
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When the fighting spread to the underground, most
of the civilians fled. Some groups managed to escape
the city entirely, but they suffered heavy losses. A few
remained in the SSU-controlled portions of the metro
system. These brave citizens helped in the defense of
the city to the best of their ability; they even assembled
an underground ammunition factory between the
Factory 1 and Factory 2 metro stations.
These tunnels were still very deadly, however. Packs of
wild animals claimed parts of Zverograd’s metro and
sewer system as their own territory. Although these
beasts would hide from larger groups, they were known
to attack anyone who ventured onto their turf alone.
Another threat lurking in the tunnels beneath the city
was the result of a Blutkreuz Korps plan gone awry.
Some officers decided to release uncontrolled squads
of Zombies into the metro and the sewers. The plan
backfired to an extent, and the Zombies ended up
claiming the lives of many Axis soldiers, but for Allied
and SSU troops – many of whom had never faced such
terrifying opponents – the results were devastating.
These wild Zombies hunted in packs, and, unlike the
animals, would attack on sight, even if the odds were
not in their favor. There were also a few lone Zombies
wandering the tunnels, the abandoned survivors of
squads still under Axis control. These individuals posed
nearly as much danger as the full packs, as lone
Zombies were much harder to see or hear coming in
the dark, echoing tunnels. Soldiers from all the blocs–
even the Axis–soon began seeking out and destroying
the Zombie infestation in an attempt to make the tunnels
safe for future missions.
GaminG noteS
Fighting in the metro and the sewers drastically
changes the game, making battles more tense
and desperate. You can further increase the
tension and desperation by incorporating the
Zombies described above.
Zombies could be attacking both sides during
an all-out battle. During scenarios in which
units need to capture underground workers,
some might turn out to be Zombies. The rules for
underground combat (page 10) allow for many
unexpected situations that can affect how each
player plays the game.
OpEratiOn hadEs
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