Dust Front developer shares details on unit placement, squad mechanics, and vehicle armor

The solo developer behind Dust Front has shared a fresh batch of details about the game. In a February post, they showed off the system for placing starting units in RTS mode – before a mission begins, you select an army to attack a sector on the global map, and those troops become your force for the early siege and defense phases.

Earlier posts covered the artillery spotter system in more detail. A sniper-observer squad can direct heavy dreadnought fire at any range – once correction is complete, any free artillery set to the right mode immediately locks onto the target.

When firing beyond the auto-attack range, guns shift their angle and shells travel along a steeper trajectory with increased spread. Artillery in Dust Front functions as an "ultimatum force" on the battlefield – the only ways to deal with it are absorbing heavy casualties, counter-battery fire, or air support strikes.

The developer also broke down the unit system. Infantry squads visually represent current health through individual soldiers, who die in strict HP order – but the remaining fighters don't lose any damage output.

Squads can include unique specialists with different survival priorities. The rocket man is always last to die, keeping the anti-armor function intact, while a spotter with binoculars goes down first – and takes the squad's artillery guidance capability with him.

Vehicles use a differentiated armor system split between the frontal arc and the sides/rear. Tracked vehicles rotate in place, wheeled ones have a wider turning radius and can drift, while hovers glide smoothly in the desired direction. Some vehicles can also reverse, letting you keep the stronger frontal armor facing the enemy.

The developer also detailed wreck and corpse mechanics. Mutant bodies spawn flies – free but weak units that can attack anything. Larger corpses generate worm swarms in significant numbers, effectively acting as the mutant faction's basic infantry. On the Industrial Empire side, destroyed super-heavy vehicles can be recovered by a dedicated repair unit.

No release date has been set for the Dust Front yet, but there's a Steam page available.