Update, I’ve had a chance to play, and overall my friends quite liked the game once we got off the ground.
Unfortunately one of my close friends is basically incapable of playing anything that takes a while. I don’t fault him for it, he just leaves at like 11 no matter what, even if that means leaving in the middle of a game, which is what happened here.
That said the game itself was fun. Over my objections they wanted to play using the standard rules and omit the advanced rules. Given those constraints I’m not sure how you make any progress as the Bene Geserit. Not without wheelin’ an dealin’ anyway. Not holding that against the game. I intentionally played as them to avoid anyone else having to play as them.
I hope to play it again soon, preferably with enough time to actually finish, or without the chronic leave in the middle of a game-er.
Yeah, using the advanced character powers (originally - the “optional rules”) seems pretty universal. Which means Atreides gets Kwisatz Haderach, Bene Gesserit get advisors, Fremen get to see the storm, etc.
The other “advanced rules” (double spice blow and spice for combat) seem more controversial. I have read a lot of strongly opinionated threads on the BGG forums since I got my own copy.
Yeah the double spice blow and the spice for combat rules I’m… less enthusiastic about. I’m not saying I won’t play with them, they’ve just never been mentioned in any of the many depictions of this game I’ve heard about. How hard/easy is it to only omit those rules?
I’m a huuuuuuuge fan of Mottainai, and that’s a game you can actually get. Beautiful with 2 players. I think it’s his best game.
Glory to Rome is more fun than Mottainai, but it’s almost impossible to get, and is a more flawed game. If you’re enterprising, you can find the old print-and-play files online and have your own deck made.
Uchronia is supposed to be a “definitive” version of GtR that fixes a bunch of its flaws. Never actually played it, but it seems like a valid choice.
Do not buy Impulse.
Red 7 is neato, but ultimately a filler game.
The thing I really want to try is Guns in the Pacific - Guns in the Pacific | Board Game | BoardGameGeek - but it’s only available from The Game Crafter for $60 and there are literally 0 reviews of it online.
The counter-argument is that paying for combat primarily gives factions that receive income for “free” (the emperor and the guild) an advantage in combat that needs to be answered, and cuts fremen off at the knees - in fact the GF9 printing had to address this by giving the Fremen an additional power that lets them ignore paying when using Advanced Combat.
While this may be generally true in certain parts of BGG, the subforums for Dune are active, opinionated, and enthusiastic.
Spice isn’t that important unless it is necessary for conflicts themselves: not just preparation for conflicts. Without the full spice rules, people tend to get enough troops on the board and have enough spice and treachery cards to grind the economy to a halt and make the game pretty simplistic. There aren’t enough consequences for failed combat, and the guild ends up collecting huge amounts of spice from troop replacement due to cheap combat. The game is just too simple without the spice rule.
Touche, and they’re wrong. I can at least still summarize why they think munchkin’s a good game.
Also @pence , thank you for telling me the other side. Next time I think I’m going to play with the full rules including the spice combat and extra spice. At which point I’ll decide the extra spice in the game is worth it.
It’s also worth noting that there are plenty of people who will make the same argument in reverse (that the only way to rein in a very rich emperor/guild is to make them pay for combat), and the only solid data we have is 100+ WBC tournament games that are all played with advanced combat, anyway. Fremen’s poor performance in a tournament setting is largely responsible for the new “Fremen don’t pay for advanced combat” rule.
But ultimately, balance is only important if you want it to be - I wouldn’t come to Dune for balance myself - and you should play whatever you think gives you a better experience.
I’m still a little perplexed at how trading between allies is supposed to work, the rule that the Emperor “may share his wealth” is vague and on a first glance it sounds like a intro to the rule that the Emperor can pay to revive allied troops.
Don’t quote me, as I’m far from an expert, but my read is that when the emperor is allied with someone, that someone may bid on treachery cards using the emperor’s money.
I’m not sure how it relates to reviving troops. I imagine he can also pay for that if he chooses.
