Dune Empire part 1

Credit to the people behind Dune, Emperor Battle for Dune, and George who made this profile. The color schemes are divided up by houses that each unit hails from, with Double Blue equaling House Arkiedes or a misc unit, red and gold House Harkonnen and silver +green being House Ordos. This is a mix from the games, books and movies. 

The Empire of Dune

Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never persistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man. 

BIO: Thousands of years ago, humanity fought a war against thinking machines and won. What came after that was a superstitious, backwards universe dominated by corrupt aristocrats and secret societies; all with their own agenda and lust for power. Ten thousand years later, a man rose who overthrew the sitting Emperor of the Known Universe and placed the Atriedes Eagle over the Golden Lion Throne.

Paul Atriedes became Mau'Dib, messiah of the Fremen people. With the aid of those Fremen, Paul took over the galaxy. Now after decades of war and jihad, Paul takes his armies, the religion he created and the resources of the Empire to fight in the Tournament of Planetary Conquest.

No matter the outcome, the spice will flow.

===== RECONNAISSANCE =====

In terms of recon, Paul Atriedes has many options to choose from. His sand bikes, dust scouts and buzz saws can scour the land rapidly and evade the enemy on foot. In the skies his ornithopters are ever vigilant. At his base camp he has radar camps to keep track of nearby foes. He peppers the land with camouflages Fremen units that can move stealthily and infiltrate/sabotage. 

In terms of espionage and the war of information, Paul has the aid of the Bene Gesserit, Face dancer shape shifters and the notorious Sardaukar.

Last but most importantly, Paul's own powers of prescience are his greatest recon assets. Able to see the future with near perfection as well as see the present with the same clarity; Paul can literally see the battle before it happens.  He is not Quite as good as Eldad Ulthran in terms of farseeing, but he comes really close.

==SPECIAL FEATURE : THE  HOTLZMAN SHIELD: 

   Holtzman shields are a miraculous technology that has dominated the field of armour for more than ten thousand years. Using advanced technology to bend space and time, shields protect soldiers or vehicles from almost all  projectile attacks.  An object coming at a shield will be repelled back at the exact speed it hit the shield. The catch is that a shield is an all or nothing mechanism. Anything below the shields speed setting will get through; the fastest thing is six centimetre per second, or the speed of a knife in a man's hand. Anything above that speed, unless overpowered, bounces off harmlessly.  It completely revolutionized warfare in the Dune universe, making  artillery, bombing campaigns and the like useless almost overnight. However while it is a superb shield there are some limitations to it that need mentioning (Credit goes to FED2k website for phenomenal descriptions) 


Shield Limitation #1 - Firing Out from a Shield
As mentioned above, shields deflect all fast moving objects impacting on the outside of the shield. Conversely, fast moving missile weapons cannot be fired from within a shield (in fact almost any projectile faster then a knife). This causes a shield inversion and the resultant impact radiation cooks the shield wearer very quickly .

However, these missile weapons are _rarely_ used outside of Dune's deep desert since the user has to drop his shield to fire, thus making himself vulnerable. There is usually not much point in exposing oneself in a vain attempt to shoot ineffectually at a shielded target. The vast majority of battles fought throughout the Imperium occur entirely with blade weapons and without a single shot being fired by either side. Hand-to-hand melees, not fire fights, are the dominant form of combat in the Dune universe. Missiles are typically reserved for unshielded targets of opportunity. All projectile weapons should be considered secondary and auxiliary to blade weapons, and in order to use these ranged weapons  in general the wielder must turn off his shield. That said vehicles have no real mean to engage in melee, as even their technique of running people over exceeds the shields limits. *

Shield Limitation #2 - Lack of Air
A second limitation on shield use is the exhausting effects on the wearer when deprived of sufficient oxygen for any significant length of time. While shields do allow some molecular interchange across their boundaries, the amount of fresh air reaching the wearer is usually insufficient during strenuous activities such as hand-to-hand combat. The air inside a shield goes stale after only a few minutes of combat (refer to Paul's training exercise with Gurney). Only those soldiers in superb physical condition can hope to survive the rigors of extended duration shield fighting. Like the heavy plate armor of the late Middle Ages, the wearing of a shield can also be physically taxing. It is probably fairly common for a soldier to break off from a melee, turn off his shield to allow him to catch his breath, and then return to the fight. However, doing so could make the soldier vulnerable to firearms and projectiles. The physical stamina needed for prolonged shield fighting may be a significant difference between elite warriors and ordinary soldiers. In addition planets with high wind patterns might overwhelm the shield's acceptance rate.  For vehicles, riding at full speed would render it impossible for air to get in. *




 Shield Limitation #3 - Shield/Lasgun Interaction
Prior to development of the Holtzman defensive shield, lasguns were the dominant battlefield weapon. However, when a coherent beam of light from a lasgun impacts on a shield, subatomic fusion results. The resultant atomic explosion travels back along the path of the beam engulfing both attacker and defender in a cataclysm of atomic proportions. A personal body shield/lasgun interaction would result in a mutual explosion in the tactical nuke range (approximately 0.1 kiloton). Larger shields produce proportionally larger explosions. Thus any soldier that uses lasguns are not going to have a shield on anywhere in their squad at the same time. 


Shield Limitation #4 - Less than Perfect?

There is no such thing as a "perfect" defense. Given enough mass and/or energy, any defensive shield or system can be overwhelmed. Unless shields are based on some exotic physical laws, they can also be shattered if enough mass with enough kinetic energy are thrown at them. The fact that the weight and impact of a berserk worm can destroy a shielded target or individual would indicate that shields have a "breaking point". However, the amount of mass/energy needed to defeat an individual shield is extremely excessive. Perhaps a high density/high velocity round could penetrate an individual's shield. But such an approach would be as impractical and cost prohibitive as using a depleted uranium shells against individual infantry on the modern battlefield. Exposed airborne thopters, as opposed to individual soldiers who can take cover easily, may be more vulnerable in this regard.

* Implications: 

1. When a vehicle uses its Holtzman shield it essentially cannot use any of its weapons, including certain melee ones (Buzz Saw), must either remain motionless or have artificial life support (something only a few transports have), and cannot be anywhere near lasguns. Thus anytime a vehicle is in motion and firing it can be assumed the shield isn't on, and thus would be a vulnerable target. 

2. For personnel users it could be argued that an extremely powerful round could break through the Holtzman shield, however it is a tricky argument. These rounds would have to be as powerful or even  more powerful then the most potent ammunition available today. 

3. It is possible that sufficient Kinetic Mass could overwhelm the shields of the aircraft, as Paul's Copter was repeatedly attacked by AA missiles by a faction that KNEW of the shields and used them. Why would you attack something fruitlessly if you didn't think you could overwhelm it?

4. Users of these shields are especially vulnerable to chemical gases, with one exception (the Chemical Trooper) .

5. Of course slow moving melee attacks are nearly gaurented to get through. 

6. When fighting lasgun armed foes that refuse to stop using lasguns  Holtzman shield users will have to either risk MAD or turn off their shields. 

==========INFANTRY=========

Name: Conscripts

Armor: Holtzman Energy Shields

Weapon Type: Short swords/knives and lasguns. 

Max Range: 500 meters

Preferred range: Melee

Formal training: 2-3, given whatever training that their Noble houses of origin can afford

Mobility: 4

Classification: Grunts

Basic description: conscripted private soldiers

==LOADOUT==

The Empire of Mau'Dib is vast and covers many planets and moons; and the bulk of those worlds are the fiefs of the Great Houses. When the Emperor Paul calls, the Houses must marshal their troops and weapons in his name. Like the Imperial guard of Warhammer, there's no standard training or uniform for them. They have whatever weapons and training that their patron house has equipped them with.

Ranged Combat: The go-to ranged weapons for conscripts are lasguns, which come in either pistol or rifle form. These weapons have an adjustable nozzle to control the width and spread of the beam fired.

Melee: Knives and swords are the mainstay of warfare in the universe of Dune. Shields have all but rendered projectiles and energy weapons as obsolete and so nearly all warfare is done through short swords and knives. There are many schools of knife fighting and training varies. The kind of knives or swords that a man gets ranged in qualify based on what he or his great house can buy.

Armor: (see Special Feature) 

               (old version of shield)

Special: Scramblers

Swords and knives can be equipped with  scramblers that enable blades to destroy computer AI brains or pulse modules that vibrate weapons at high frequency to greatly increase their cutting power. This technology is not standard and indeed, scramblers have not been used for thousands of years though the know how to build them is readily available, as mankind is ever on the lookout for A.Is. 

Additional factors:

-The shields of the conscripts mean that they are completely safe from artillery fire and other heavy guns as if it were rain.

-The shields will not protect the conscripts from poison gas attacks and gas masks won't be available to the men unless they can buy them or their Noble patrons supply them. As a side note, shields do limit vision and smell slightly.

-Finally and this is important lasguns and shields cannot be used at the same time. If they are firing their lasguns they are vulnerable to enemy fire, if they are using their shields they cannot fire back.

                                     (modern version of shield)

Name: Infiltrator

Weapon Type: Explosive

Armor Type: Active camouflage

Mobility: 3

Training: N/A

Max range: 15-km remote control signal

Preferred range: 300 meters explosive radius            

Classification: Remote controlled anti-stealth landmine

==LOADOUT==

Armaments: bomb payload

A remote operated land mine designed by the Ixians, this ingenious machine is kept cloaked by light bending Holtzman technology. Invisible while moving or stationary; it has the added bonus of revealing nearby stealthed units when it explodes. Only specialized anti-stealth units can detect it. The only limitation is that the operator has limited field of vision due to the stealth technology so he must steer this land mine carefully.

Name: Flamethrower infantry

Weapon Type: knife, flamethrower, flame gel

Armor: heat resistant armor 

Training: 3

Mobility: 3

Max Range: 100 meters

Preferred Range: Pistol

==LOADOUT==

A specialist soldier who stands apart from normal conscripts by his weapon of choice and more consistent standard of training. This soldier wears armour both to allow him protection from melee attacks and to protect him from blowback form his fiery weapon.

Long range: flamethrower

Short range: knife

Special: Flame gel powers the flamethrower of this specialist soldier. This highly flammable substance can also be concentrated in self igniting globes that can be used as either hand grenades or land mines.

Name: Chemical Trooper

Weapon Type: Chemical Projector, knife

Armour Type:  gas mask

Training: 3

Mobility: 4

Max range: 200 meters

Preferred Range: Medium range.

==LOADOUT==

Yet another specialist soldier. This lightly armoured and short range soldier is equipped with a chemical projector that spews out various poison gasses depending on the environment and the type of enemy he faces.

Mid range: Chemical Thrower--Kriminion is a popular gas. Small amounts of it are highly lethal even in wide open, well ventilated spaces. Other forms of gas are corrosive and can do damage to structures and vehicles; though infantry are most vulnerable to his attacks.

Short range: Knife, while he can use a knife, the Chemical trooper's strong point is not getting in near and close.

Additional factors;

- if not properly equipped, the chemical gas might harm his allies.

Name: Contaminator

Weapon Type: biological weapon

Armour: natural resilience

Mobility: 2

Training: 1

Max range: arms reach

Preferred range: arms reach

==LOADOUT==

The corruptor is less a soldier and more of a living weapon designed by the Bene Tleilaxu. A human being grown in the Axolotl tanks, this creature was infected with an encyclopedia of viruses that turn it into a shambling zombie like creature. A single touch is enough to turn a human being into another corruptor in a matter of minutes.

Useless against vehicles, these creatures can survive and ignore injuries that would kill the toughest humans and spread like a Romero movie nightmare.

The Tleilaxu keep these things in control through a series of whistles that the creatures are conditioned to respond to. So they can coral and control these horrid monsters.

Name: Saboteur

Weapon: Suicide bomb

Armor: Energy shields

Mobility: 4

 Training: 2

Max range: melee

Preferred range: melee

 ==LOADOUT==

A soldier created by House Ordos from stolen Tleilaxu technology, the saboteur is a cloned, brainwashed soldier who basically runs at buildings and vehicles and blows them up with his suicide bombers vest. These brainwashed genetically engineered soldiers are living weapons used to tear down structures and vehicles by first getting into them and bypassing any Holtzman shields a building may have.

Rare Unit: Maker

Makers are the Guild's infantry. They are second stage navigators equipped with a power weapon, which allows them to inflict heavy damage. That said they are slow and cumbersome, and can easily be outflanked if left unsupported. 

====SPECIAL FORCES/ELITES====

Name: Sardukaur

Weapon Type: lasguns, short swords, knives, shigawire,

Armor Type: Energy shields, plate armour

Mobility: 3

Training: 5-raised on the brutal prison planet to serve the former Corrino Emperor, recruited from criminals or the sons of criminals.

Max range: 700 meters

Preferred range: Melee

Classification: Heavy shock troops

==LOADOUT==

Soldier fanatics of House Corrino, the former Emperor of the Universe, the Sardaukar believe in death before dishonor and that crawling under fire is a sign of cowardice. Raised on the harsh nuclear wasteland of the prison planet Salusus Secondus, the Sardaukar are recruited from the sons of the worst criminals in the galaxy in an environment which kills half of all children in a given group by the age of thirteen.

Since their defeat at the hands of the Fremen and the deposing of their emperor, the Sardaukar have become embittered and their warrior religion greatly weakened by cynicism. However if commanded they will fight for Mau'Dib if for no other reason than to taste the thrill of battle.

Ranged: rapid fire multi-barreled repeating laser. A heavy and very powerful weapon that has greater accuracy and firepower than standard lasgun rifles. Power in these units is fed through a backpack battery unit; allowing them greater ammunition capacity than other units.

Melee: Knife with build in pulse module; these blades are higher quality steel than can be expected to be found in the hands of conscripted soldiers and come with a pulse device in the handle to enable greater cutting power for the same amount of force behind the blade.

Defense:

Holtman Shields( see Conscripts)

In addition to Holtzman shields, Sardaukar bring heavy plate armour for both protection against enemy attacks and environmental regulation and life support. They can take phenomenal amounts of punishment in this armour from projectile, blade and energy weapons, even in the absence of shields. The only downside to this is that their armour is non powered and slows them down in relation to other units.

Special: Trained in both espionage and combat, Sardaukar can function as spies and infiltrators. Men like these often have transmitters disguised as toenails or pieces of monomolecular shigawire in their hair which they can use as garrottes.

Additional factors:

The Sardaukar were once the premier fighting force in the galaxy. When their Emperor was deposed they were humiliated, they bear little warm feeling for Paul Atriedes.

To their credit however, the Sardaukar are highly creative when pressed; turning the jets of their aircraft into flamethrowers when a Fremen ambush nearly routed them.

- Finally they cannot use their laser weapons and the shield at the same time.

Name: Fremen Warrior

Weapon Type: crysknife, lasgun, long barreled rifle, crossbow, lasgun

Armor Type: Holtzman shield, stillsuit

Training: 6--discipline starts from birth, individuals are ruthlessly trained to be disciplined lest they lead to the destruction of the whole tribe. On top of that they have been given the finest training in the empire.

Mobility: 6

Max range: 1000 meters

Preferred range: Melee to mid range

Classification: Elite Guerilla warriors

==LOADOUT==

The Planet Arrakis is a brutal world, even more brutal than the ex-emperor's prison planet, Salusus Secundus. On this world there lived a group of humans called the Fremen. Originating from a religious persecuted group, the Fremen survived not only the brutal desert and the powerful sand worms but repeated efforts by offworlders with superior technology and numbers to commit genocide on them.

The Fremen are the beating heart of Paul Atriedes army. There is not a group in the known universe who are tougher; in either a group or a unit. 

Long range: Fremen are armed with lasguns after they became the spearhead of Paul Atriedes Jihad against the universe. Due to shields being rare on Arrakis, the Fremen are master marksmen, armed with long barrelled rifles that fire crystal projectiles; able to reliably blow off a man's head at a thousand meters in almost any weather. Useless against shielded foes, the Fremen also use these rifles to cause anti-materiel damage.However at least at one point they did use rocket launchers, showing they might have a stash of antiquidated weapons. 

Mid range: Crossbows are also used with poison or explosive tips depending on whether they need a stealthy approach or make a distraction. As the favoured soldiers of the Empire, the Fremen will have access to a vast array of poisons.

A reliable mid-range weapon of the Fremen is the Maula pistol. A small handheld pistol that functions well in the dust and sand ridden environment of Arrakis with little maintenance; this spring loaded pistol holds a ten clip magazine of poison darts with a range of thirty meters.

Close range: The Crysknife is a Fremen's most sacred weapon. Ground from the tooth of a dead sand worm, this weapon can never be seen my outsiders until the knife drinks blood. So the number of outsiders who have seen such a blade and lived is almost nil.

The crysknife is twenty centimetres long and milky in colour. It is highly durable and is stronger in tensile and compressive strength than most metal or synthetic blades. In fact, the crysknife is highly useful against armoured foes, as the heavily armoured Sardaukar were opened like cans before these razor sharp blades.

Unless a crysknife is "fixed" it will slowly disintegrate and grow brittle unless kept within twenty feet of a human bioelectric field at all times.

Armor: a Fremen is unarmored; they prefer to rely on speed and master of camouflage to get the drop on their enemies.

The closest to armor they wear is the still suit; a unique Fremen made suit that is designed to hold in the body's moisture in the hard, dry heat of Dune. With one of these, a man can survive in the 100 degree Celsius desert with only a loss of one thimbleful of water per day.

Additional factors: 

-The Fremen language has no word for heroism. When a Fremen warrior did a kamikaze attack and killed three hundred Sardaukar, that wasn't heroism; that was the duty of every man in the tribe. To these people, the community is always more important then the individual; in the desert the long man is dead, only the sand worm lives alone. The Fremen are not only powerful duelists but also group fighters par excellence.

-Though a desert people, the Fremen have fought on hundreds of worlds of all climates and temperatures in the name of their messiah.

-A vital part of the Fremen's diet is the spice melange, which grants users enhanced mental faculties, superior health and even supernatural powers of foresight. Due to their spice rich diet, Fremen have blue in blue eyes. The spice grants them long life; Fremen who aren't killed in battle often live triple the average human lifespan with near perfect health to the very end. The only drawback of spice melange is the fact that one of the withdrawal symptoms is death in one hundred percent of cases.

-Fremen are trained in the weirding way, a martial art that relies on precise nerve and muscle control when combined with the benefits of the spice gives an individual almost superhuman speed, endurance and strength. A Fremen warrior can strike blows too fast to see and move so fast in short range that they are invisible to the human eye and appear to teleport.

 -Fremen blood clots almost instantly, something evolved from millennia in the desert in order to preserve moisture.

-Finally they cannot use their laser weapons and the shield at the same time.

Name: Fedaykin

Weapon Type: crysknife, lasgun, crossbow, lasgun, Weirding Module

Armor Type: Holtzman shield, stillsuit

Training: 7

Mobility: 7

Max range: 1000 meters

Preferred range: Melee to mid range

Classification: Emperor's Bodyguards, super soldiers

==LOADOUT==

The Feydakin are the elite of the elite. They're Paul Atriedes Finest troops and the most feared warriors in the known universe.

Long range: Crossbows, rifle and weirding module.

The Fedaykin is a higher level practitioner of the Weirding way. They not only can move with superhuman ability and nerve control but they can also use their voices as weapons, deploying the voice as a powerful of hypnosis which can lower an enemy's guard in battle or force a prisoner to tell the truth without any coercion. The Weirding module is a device that can focus a Fedaykin's voice into a deadly sonic beam weapon that can rupture blood vessels in the brain and much worse damage at close range.

Mid range: crossbow

Short range: crysknife, Weirding Way

As mentioned before, the Weirding way is a martial art taught to the Fremen by Paul Atriedes. This martial art is the ultimate expression of "I think therefore I am." One has to think it, and it is so. Thanks to their incredible discipline and the spice melange, the Fedaykin don't just look like they're teleporting, they're actually doing it. These troops are able to teleport within a range of two to three meters instantaneously.

Defense: Holtzman Shields (see Conscript), Stillsuit (see Fremen)

Additional Factors: These men are fanatics, even by the standards of the Fremen. To them, Paul Atriedes is the messiah, a God among men. They'll kill their own infant children at a single word of their master and they have absolutely no fear of death. They never take prisoners and they never allow themselves to be taken. If they or any other Fremen are taken hostage then their families will hold a funeral as if they are already dead and get revenge.

Not only to the Fedaykin, but to ever single Fremen from the smallest child to the oldest crone; the tribe is all important, though a man may do great things in the end his water belongs to the tribe.

INFILTRATORS/SPEC OPS:

Name: Bene Gesserit

Armour Type: energy shields/robes

Mobility: 6

Classification: Assassin

Training level: 7--They has been conditioned from birth for complete nerve and muscle control as well as training in combat and espionage

==LOADOUT==

The Bene Gesserit are mysterious as best and manipulative and dangerous at worst. A mysterious organization of mystic witches, they have been manipulating political forces for ten thousand years, created and destroyed religions to suit their needs, controlled whole cultures and even attempted a genetic breeding program to create a god-like man which they could control.

Now they are pawns of Paul utterly at his mercy, though they still fear and hate him; attempting to destroy the monster that they've made at every opportunity. However Paul is still able to blackmail them into his control.  

Short range: A sliptip knife is a widely available stiletto like knife that can easily go through most body armour and shields. As experts on assassination, Reverend Mothers use these rather frequently since they can be found or purchased almost anywhere.

Armor: Holtzman Shields (see Conscript)

Special: The Bene Gesserit are poison masters, having access to chemical concoctions that even the highest masters of assassination don't know about. There are chaumas--food poison--Chaumurky--drink poison-- and everything in between.

Additional factors: A Bene Gesserit has the following powers:

▪   Oral Analysis: Upon tasting an item, a Bene Gesserit can break down the food into its ingredients, right down to its chemical composition;

▪   Internal Organic-Chemical Control: Alteration of metabolism to render poisons harmless. This ability was used when potential Reverend Mothers took the Water of Life.

▪   Prana Bindu: Alteration of blood flow, body temperature, heart rate, and level of consciousness, for the purposes of survival in harsh environments, or escaping from bonds.

▪   Weirding Way: Superior hand-to-hand combat abilities; martial arts. Bene Gesserit trained men and women were unrivaled in their fighting abilities. Only Imperial Sardaukar and the Fremen could approach the abilities of a Bene Gesserit in regards to combat techniques, attack speed, and resourcefulness.

▪   The Voice: Ability to influence people directly by giving them orders with a certain sound frequency. When a person is ordered to do something by the use of Voice it is almost irresistible not to comply (though it depends on mental resistance) . A Bene Gesserit is trained to resist the Voice. The downside of it is the phenomenon of entire population becoming immune to it if The Voice is being overly used upon a population. Mentats can especially become immune to the Voice if they understands how it works.

▪   Sensing the Truth: Truthsayer is trained to sense if someone is telling the truth or not, but the other Bene Gesserit can also spot if someone is holding something back. Example: When Dr. Yueh was supposed to betray the duke Leto of the Atreides, he felt guilty and anxious about it. Jessica had conversations with him and sensed that he is holding something back. Being informed that Bene Gesserit can sense his guilt about what he was about to do he exploited/manipulated his own emotions (remembering his wife in the grasp of baron Harkonnen) and mentioning her every time he thought Jessica was studying him and searching for more reasons why he felt so disturbed.

Name: Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother

Armor Type: energy shields/robes

Mobility: 6

Classification: Leader Assassin

Training level: 7.7--Has achieved the highest level of training available to the sisterhood

==LOADOUT==

 To become a Reverend mother, a Bene Gesserit must go through years of intellectual, physical and psychological training. After which, she undergoes a ritual called spice agony. Where upon drinking the "water of life" from a drowned baby sand worm, she can now access the genetic memory of all her female ancestors. These Reverend mothers are scientists, geneticists, historians and advisors to the highest political and economic forces in the galaxy.

Short range: slip tip (see above profile) 

Armor: Holtzman Shields (see Conscipt)

Special: poisons, Gom Jabbar. The Gom Jabbar is a tool specifically used to root out those with a certain level of instinct control. Those without this control will be killed by the poison designed to kill "animals". Not normally used in combat, the Gom Jabbar has been used as a weapon before; a single scratch sufficient to kill a grown man.

Additional factors: 

The Reverend mothers are mainly advisers and tacticians, but they also take part in sabotage, espionage and assassination missions where combat records have shown them to be able to disembowel with a kick.

Her only weakness is her spice addiction, too long without melange and she will die of withdrawal.

- They are much rarer then regular Bene Gessets. 

Name: Face Dancer

Weapon Type: knife, poison, shigawire

Armor Type: shapeshifting abilities

Training: 7--From its time in the womb, the face dancer is imprinted to serve its Tleilaxu masters

Mobility: 6

Max range: short range

Preferred range: Melee

Classification: Genetically engineered shapeshifting spy

==LOADOUT==

A Face Dancer is a creation by the Bene Tleilaxu. A Genetically engineered creature grown in an Axolotl tank, the Face Dancer can perfectly imitate almost any human being in existence. These creatures are completely loyal to their masters and are used in spying and assassination jobs. Upon death, a face dancer will experience near instant cellular disintegration so that their foes can't unravel and study their DNA.

What makes them particularly dangerous is that when in combat, they rapidly learn and mimic an enemy's combat style within a very short period of time.

Short range: knife, poisons, shiga wire

Additional factors: 

Face Dancers can mimic every detail of a  person; finger prints, mannerisms, tics, retinas, sexuality, everything. If they could mimic a person in any greater detail then they would literally forget who they are and become their target in every sense of the word. Essentially only psychics or those that are outright paranoid or super-humanly observant are going to be able to see through these disguises. 

=====HERO UNITS=====

Paul Atriedes

Height: 5'11

Weight: 157 lbs

Age: 30

Type of Hero Bonus: moral support, combat, prescience,

Classification: Leader--Paul Atreides is the leader of the known universe and Mau'Dib, the messiah of the Fremen religion.

Melee: Crysknife (see Fremen)

Defense: Holtzman shield, stillsuit (see Fremen)

Specials: future-sight

Paul has been granted prescience by drinking the Water of Life; a chemical substance created by drowning a small sand worm in water. This means that he can not only see the future with near perfection, but can also see the now; as he was able to detect Shaddam Corrino's vast fleet in orbit around Arrakis.

Paul's prescience is not perfect though. Certain prescient beings interfere with his sight, such as Guild Steersmen and similar beings.

Additional factors: 

Since his birth, Paul has been given Mentat training; meaning that he has eidetic memory and can compute massive amounts of data to predict the actions of individuals years in advance as well as economic, military and religious trends.

Paul's third great ability is his power to access the genetic memories of his ancestors all the way back to the dawn of humanity.

Name: Stilgar

Height: 6'2''

Weight: 182 lbs

Age: 42

Type of Hero Bonus: Combat, morale, experience.

Stilgar Ben Filfrawn was the leader of Seitch Tabr. He is a Fremen tribal leader and was one of the first Fremen that Paul ever met. INitally he tried to kill Paul to steal his water but upon seeing Paul and his mother's combat ability and discipline changed his mind. Stilgar would become a friend of Paul and later on a worshipper, to Paul's dismay.

As leader of the Fedaykin, Stilgar is one of Paul's toughest lieutenants and has fought on hundreds of planets in the name of his Messiah. As a hero unit he leads Paul's men into battle.

==LOADOUT==

Armaments:

Long range:

long barrelled rifle: (see Fremen)

Lasgun (see Conscript)

short range: crysknife (see Fremen)

Name: Dunan " Hayt" Idaho

Height:6'2''

Weight:170 lbs

Age: 38

Type of Hero bonus: Moral support, strategic genius, combat

Loadout: The original Duncan Idaho was the weapons master for Paul's father Leto and was both a ladies man and a master of warfare and assassination. After he died, his DNA was given to the Tleilaxu who cloned him. Later on, the clone which was referred to as a ghola; regained all his former memories up to the point of his death.

Melee: short sword/knife,

Armor: Holtzman Energy Shield (see Conscript)  

Additional factors: Though a clone, Duncan has all the memories up to the point of the death of his original body. During his time growing up as a clone, he was given Mentat training and an eduction in philosophy. Though psychologically damaged due to the fact that he was brainwashed to kill Paul Atriedes, Duncan is now as loyal as he was in his first life and would still give up his life a million times over for Paul.

Duncan is also a man who inspires others and isn't afraid to share the risks with his men.

Name: Jessica Atriedes

Height:5'2''

Weight:130 lbs

Age: 49

Type of Hero bonus: Advisory bonus, strategic assistance, espionage, propaganda

==LOADOUT==

In the army they say your mamma ain't there to help you; not so for Paul Atriedes. His mother was there since his father was murdered and since birth she's been teaching him how to be a deadlier person.

A full blown Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit, she is a pariah among her sisterhood because she gave Paul's father a son instead of a daughter; throwing off their entire breeding program. She is caught between motherly love for her son and the organization that molded her into the person she became; it's not an easy decision.

None the less, Jessica is one of the few who won't hesitate to give Paul harsh criticism or tell him outright when or if he's wrong. Though not participating in direct combat, she'll be in charge of Paul's espionage, sabotage and propaganda efforts. Through her son's influence, Jessica will have access to the missionary branch of the Bene Gesserit; whose sole function is to create custom made religions and see they move in a desired direction. In Jessica's case, she'll be in charge of ensuring that conquered planets worship her son in his galactic religion.

======CAVALRY======

Name: Sand bike

Type of Armor: Holtzman Shields (standing)*

Weapon Type: dart launchers

Speed: 300 mph

Cavalry purposes: Recon/hit and run

Classification: Hit and run recon vehicle

Originally the Atriedes go-to vehicle for scouting operations on Caladan and later on planet Arrakis, the sand bike has proven its worth.  

==LOADOUT==

Armament: twin light maula guns,

The craft's offensive abilities come from a pair of automatic maula cannons that fire poison darts the size of a large crossbow bolt.

Defense: Vehicle Armor

Special : None

Additional Factors: None

Name: Buzzsaw

Type of Armor: medium durasteel , Holtzman shield* 

Weapon Type: Twin grenade launchers

Speed: 200 mph

Cavalry purposes: hit and run vehicle, anti-infantry, weapon of intimidation

Classification: fast skirmish unit

==LOADOUT==

Designed with Arrakis in mind by House Harkonnen, the Buzzsaw is just what its name says it to be. Armed with twin grenade launchers and powered by a giant saw blade; this machine causes mayhem and havoc among infantry. Slower than the sand bike but better armoured, the central blade can also destroy equipment and light structures as well as soldiers.

Armament: twin grenade launchers, giant buzz saw wheel

 Armed with twin grenade launchers and powered by a giant saw blade; this machine causes mayhem and havoc among infantry. Slower than the sand bike but better armoured, the central blade can also destroy equipment and light structures as well as soldiers.

Name: Dust Scout

Type of armour:  light neosteel

Weapon Type: laser weapons

Speed: 220 mph

Cavalry purposes: reconnaissance and ambush

Classification: skirmish and ambush unit

==LOADOUT==

 Armaments: single omnidirectional lasgun

Built by House Ordos, the Dust scout is weakly armoured and its speed decreases dramatically once it is damaged. However this four legged vehicle has some advantages. As with all house Ordos vehicles, the Dust scout can self repair. Another thing to its name, the Dust scout can bury itself in the ground and hide until enemy units are nearby or almost on top of it.

Like the zerg, it uses this burrowing ability to stay out of sight for an ambush or to give the pilot time for his vehicle to affect repairs.

MISC (off topic, for battle link)