DUST is an alternate history RPG by Paolo Parente which features a World War II setting with anime-style elements including dieselpunk style mecha. According to game designers, "DUST Adventures RPG is a rules-light exciting roleplaying game set in Paulo Parentes DUST Universe and inspired by the epic tales arising from the DUST Tactics miniatures game. From the mind of Paulo Parente comes the world of Dust. Another Earth. A different 1947. The Second World War has raged for nearly a decade and its grip has spread to every continent on the planet. War has advanced swiftly and strangely in the Dust universe through the application of Alien VK technology a limitless source of energy in its simplest form, and an unthinkable weapon in the wrong hands. Tanks have evolved into powerful combat walkers and rocket troops take to the skies. The latest laser cannons, phasers, and Tesla weapons rule the battlefield...."
The story so far
The year is 1947. The war that started eight years ago with Germany invading Poland isn’t over. The conflict has long spread worldwide. Other than the three great blocs, there are but a handful of countries left hanging on to relative neutrality.
As the conflict grew longer, old alliances were broken while new ones were formed.
Nowadays, the leading powers of the past are assembled into three huge states:
– The Allies have gathered around the U.S.A. This great coalition of nations includes, among others, the British Commonwealth and the French colonial empire.
– To secure their survival against their powerful enemies, Germany, Japan, and Italy have merged as the Axis. The rise of this totalitarian state was helped by the successful assassination of the Führer in 1943 following operation Walkyrie.
– The USSR and communist China have united their fates to build the SSU, or Sino-Soviet Union. Becoming a planetary power, the communist bloc intends to impose its way of life on all other continents.
Throughout the world, the three blocs are fighting to gain exclusive control over a revolutionary ore: Vk. This ore has revealed extraordinary properties and brought forth the design of gigantic combat robots, capable of challenging the world’s most advanced tanks.
The discovery and first military applications of Vk came from Germany. Everything concerning this ore is shrouded in mystery. Rumors have been going around saying its secrets were revealed by aliens from another planet… But who could take such rumors seriously after years of war propaganda?
The Early War: 1936–1941
1936, July: An alien spaceship crashes in Antarctica. There is only one survivor, locked in a protective sarcophagus. (Operation: Seelöwe)1937, July: Japanese forces begin the invasion of mainland China; World War II begins in Asia.
1938, March: German military forces discover the crashed spaceship in Queen Maud’s Land. The alien sarcophagus is returned to Germany in a submarine. (Operation: Seelöwe)
1938, April: The Blutkreuz Korps is formed in Berlin under Baron Leopold von Thaler. Its goal is to study alien technology. (Operation: Seelöwe)
1939, September: Germany invades Poland; Great Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand declare war on Germany. World War II begins in Europe.
1940, March: Blutkreuz Korps scientists manage to free the alien from his sarcophagus and wake him. He takes the name Kvasir to honor his hosts. (Operation: Seelöwe)
1940, June: Paris falls, and the first Battle of Britain starts the following month. Saigon becomes the new capital of the French Republic.
1940, September: Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact. The foundations of the Axis are set.
1940, December: The war begins in North Africa. The following month, English and Australian troops take Tobruk.
1941, June: Operation “Barbarossa” commences. The invasion of the USSR begins.
1941, December: The Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor. The United States enters the war.
1941, December: The Battle for Moscow begins. The first Soviet ski troops push back the German Army.
The War Continues: 1942-1943
1942, February: Japanese forces attack Darwin, Australia. A few days later, a Japanese submarine fires a few rounds on Santa Barbara, California. Mainland USA is proven vulnerable to attack.1942, April: The first American raid on Tokyo occurs.
1942, August: The Battle for Guadalcanal occurs. The American offensive in the Pacific begins. 1942, October: The first test of a German V2 rocket occurs.
1942, October: The second Battle of El-Alamein occurs. Allied troops achieve their first victory over the Afrika Korps.
1942, October: The new Panzer KampfLäufer is combat tested in the ruins of Stalingrad. Mass production of these models is slowed by the difficulty Germany has in getting the new VK mineral from Antarctica. (Operation: Seelöwe)
1942, November: Operation: Torch commences. Allied forces land in North Africa.
1942, November: Operation: Uranus, a massive Russian counterattack around Stalingrad, begins. The German army holds, but casualties are high. The part of town conquered by the Germans is held thanks to the new walkers. (Operation: Seelöwe)
1943, February: The German army finally takes Stalingrad, occupying the west bank of the city. The Eastern Front remains stable in this region for the foreseeable future. But all is not lost for the Soviet army: it captures a brand new Pz. KpfL in perfect condition.
1943, February: The Battle of Kasserine Pass occurs. The US army suffers its first defeat at the hands of a German army in a ground battle.
1943, February: The Soviet army takes back Kharkov, then loses it again, along with 52 divisions of men – either destroyed or captured. The new German walkers are deadly, and the Russians still don’t have anything to counter them.
1943, March: To make up for the huge number of casualties, the Blutkreuz Korps start testing the Wiederbelebungsserum on fallen German soldiers. The experiment looks promising. (Operation: Seelöwe)
1943, April: Adolf Hitler organizes a big victory parade in Berlin to celebrate his birthday and the fall of Stalingrad. During the parade, a sniper assassinates him. A few well-connected people quickly link the killing to the Blutkreuz Korps, but the investigation is terminated prematurely. (Operation: Seelöwe)
1943, May: German troops are disorganized on all fronts for a few weeks, as no one really knows who controls the country. 1943, May: What remains of the Afrika Korps and the Italian army surrenders to the Allies in North Africa. The war there is over…for now.
1943, May: After a brief but bloody power struggle in Berlin, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz is appointed “Protector of the Axis.” Field Marshal Erwin Rommel takes control of the entire German Army. Nazis are arrested all over the Reich, and SS troops are disbanded or integrated into the Army. Many are put on trial. (Operation “SeeLöwe”)
1943, June: The Axis Bloc is formed around Germany. The official flag of the new bloc is the black Ritter Kreuz (Knight’s Cross) on a red background.
1943, July: The Battle of Kursk begins.
1943, July: Allied troops land in Sicily.
1943, August: The Battle of Kursk ends. It’s a strategic defeat for Germany, whose walkers are not yet effective in open terrain. Still, the front stabilizes itself.
1943, September: Allied forces land in mainland Italy.
1943, October: Secret talks between the Axis and the Allies to negotiate a separate peace on the Western Front begin.
1943, November: German troops are now on a defensive stance along the Eastern Front. Soviet attacks are deadly but are pushed back.
1943, December: The Western Front peace talks fall apart. When Stalin learns of these secret meetings, he cuts off all relations with the Allies.
1944, January: The Battle for Monte Cassino begins.
1944, January: The Soviet winter offensive starts around Leningrad and Novgorod. After a few initial successes, the offensive breaks on the German defensive lines. The Soviet army digs in.
1944, January: In San Juan, Argentina, German scientists build a new VK-enhanced bomb in a secret laboratory. During an accident known as the San Juan Incident, the bomb explodes, causing an earthquake that kills 10,000. This type of research is forever banned by the Axis.
1944, January: Allied forces land in Anzio, Italy. The bridgehead is attacked day and night for four months, as Allied soldiers fight with German walkers in close combat.
1944, June: Allied forces enter Rome, the first Axis capital to fall.
1944, June: Operation: Overlord commences. Allied forces land in Normandy.
1944,June: The first V1 missile is launched towards London.
1944, June: To counter American troops in the Pacific, Japan asks for Germany’s military help. Whole regiments of walkers are sent via submarine to the Pacific theater, along with German pilots.
1944, July: During a bold amphibious operation, Soviet troops overwhelm the French and British garrison on Madagascar. The USSR is now at war with the Allies.
1944, August: Japan starts the “Steel Samurai” program to develop its own war walkers.
1944, August: Turkey stops all economic and diplomatic relations with Germany and declares its neutrality. Istanbul quickly becomes home to the most dangerous nest of spies in the world.
1944, August: Allied troops liberate Paris.
1944, December: German offensive in the Belgian Ardennes. Allied forces are slowly pushed back.
1945, January: The second Battle for France occurs. During a covert operation, Joe Brown captures the VK technology from the Axis army.
1945, January: Japanese troops invade Ceylon with the assistance of German walkers. The island falls rapidly.
1945, March: The first Allied base is built in Antarctica. American and British scientists quickly find what they were looking for.
1945, July: From Ceylon, Japanese forces threaten the supply lines of all Allied armies in Southeast Asia. The United States decides to use a VK-enhanced nuclear bomb on the island before attacking it. The result is beyond imagination: The entire island is wiped out by the blast. The earth cracks open, and the ocean swallows 90% of the island. This event becomes known as the Ceylon Incident.
1945, July: The Allies ban the use of nuclear weapons.
1945, August: The Japanese Empire, terrified by these new weapons, formally joins the Axis. Emperor Hirohito now has only a symbolic role.
1945, September: Fighting in France is fierce as Allied forces are slowly pushed back to their starting point in Normandy.
1945, October: Japanese forces land simultaneously on the west coast of Australia and New Zealand. Many Commonwealth regiments are recalled from Europe to defend their homelands.
1945, November: The USSR and Communist China decide to join forces permanently, forming the Sino-Soviet Union (SSU).
1945, December: Axis forces invade Nepal and Tibet. Nobody understands why they are there, and the region was poorly defended by the Allies and the SSU.
The Late War: 1946-1947
1946, March: The SSU organizes a series of Marxist revolutions in South America. As soon as the regimes change, Sino-Soviet troops arrive.
1946, May: The Allies are pushed back to the sea on the coast of Normandy. The Allied Army sails back to Great Britain for the second time.
1946, July: Operation: Red Sun commences. SSU forces land in Alaska and Florida on the same night. They manage to take control of a large part of the Alaskan coast before the Allied army joins the fight. In Florida, the Allies react quicker, and the Soviet’s advance is stopped by the 2nd Marine Division in the Everglades.
1946, August: As their situation deteriorates everywhere, all the Western powers join forces to officially form an alliance. The third bloc is born.
1946, August: Operation: High Jump commences. Allied forces launch a massive assault on Antarctica.
1946, September: The revived Afrika Korps lands on the coast of Libya and the Gulf of Guinea. The war in Africa begins again.
1946, December: The NNO (Neutral Nations Organization) is created in Bangkok, Thailand.
1947, January: The Axis launches a massive offensive on all fronts on all continents.
###
Last edited:
