The spice must flow! - Dune the Board Game

[Eadee]

THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
I REPEAT (no actually, I'm not repeating it, live with it...)

Dune

the Board game to be specific.

- It is drenched in lore of the Book.
- It has lots of complex rules, which each has at least one exception to it.
- It takes hours to play a single game.
- It is not beginner friendly and you will probably have to run a few test games or watch a session of it to know how it works.

But enough of the benefits. There's a downside too:
We can only fit six players on Arrakis.

At this point, there are three seats reserved and another three are free:
- sqeecoo [House Harkonnen]
- Eadee [Fremen]
- "K" (probably not on this board) [Bene Gesserit or Spacing Guild]
- Dayyālu [The Emperor]
- Reality [House Atreides]
- free seat
Consumed by Shay-Hulud
- Matalarata



We'll be playing using https://treachery.online/ and you can familiarize yourself with the UI there playing a game or two against bots.

Since the game has a strong focus on diplomacy and trading of information we will probably use Discord or some other voice chat parallel.

You can see a full game of Dune here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_WINTqtjo

The Rules can be found here: https://www.gf9games.com/dunegame/wp-content/uploads/Dune-Rulebook.pdf
- We'll be using all the advanced rules except the "advanced combat"
- We'll be playing for only 7 rounds, so it doesn't go on forever.

Also, players may choose a faction if they don't want a random one. Since each faction plays completely different and some are really hard to play as a newbie it is just nice to know beforehand with which faction to familiarize before the game.
Did I mention we haven't played it either at this point?

We'll determine the date of the game once we have six players.

I was told this might interest Dayyālu or Matalarata so I summon you both to have a look!

Who's in?

 

[Matalarata]

Thanks for the mention Eadee (and to sqeecoo too, since he's probably the one that told you to ping me). The game looks awesome, unfortunately tho this is the worst time of the year for me, loads of work, I doubt I could find the time to play it proper.

I'll give it a deeper look and be in touch, if I find some way to fit this into my current schedule and there are still open seats in a few day, I'll either ask to be let in or tell you it's a definite no. Sorry I cannot be more specific atm.

 

[Dayyālu]

Thank you. I am in a similar situation to Matalarata, as my life is nowadays a storm of undending work....

Mine just never ends, truth be told. So who cares.

So, I'm tentatively in. I will check the ruleset, play some test games, and see if I can manage. I'll need some info on timetable nonetheless, but we'll choose after we get six victims.

Also, sadly this is book lore and not Westwood lore so the Harkonnen aren't magnificent, so dibs on the Emperor and his Sardaukar.

We'll save the universe from the greatest bloodshed ever seen, even if we doom the Human race long-term. Who cares about the long-term anyway?

 

[Reality]

In as Substitute

 

[Eadee]

Alright concerning the time schedule...

I assume we will need three hours to play seven rounds maybe four hours.
So I'd say we limit it to seven rounds, but if it takes longer than expected: after three hours we just finish the current round and end the game there.

Me personally, I don't have time often, but I'm pretty flexible on which day I make time.
As a rule of thumb it is easily possible for me to start on a sunday to friday at 20:00 UTC (latest end 0:00 UTC). Alternatively I can provide a timeslot on friday or sunday starting between 8:00 UTC and 14:00 UTC (latest end 18:00 UTC).
Saturday is out of question for me unfortunately.

But I have still a day of vacation left this year, so, if five find a date to play, I will find a way to join.

 

[Reality]

Reserve for Atreides
+1 for Sunday ( I get home from work at 4AM UTC weekdays because I work 2nd shift so a weekend is preferred, reason I went in for sub first)

 

[Dayyālu]

But I have still a day of vacation left this year, so, if five find a date to play, I will find a way to join.

I'm good (if given time to properly organize) the weekends and friday evening too. I just need time to check if there's any apocalypse coming my way. I'd prefer to play leisurely on Sunday morning, but we'll see what we can get.

Also, what are "vacation days"? They really let you escape from the work camp where you live? It's a travesty, I say!

 

[Eadee]

Due to the lack of other worm bait you're conscriptet Matalarata

I suggest to start on a sunday on December 4th or 11th somewhere between 08:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC
Please calculate at least three hours of playtime, up to a max of four!

Whoever posts from now on can narrow down the time window or eliminate a date if absolutely necessary! Please narrow down as little as possible for you, so we at least have a chance to find a date where all six factions are present.

If both days stay available until the end we will plan for the 4th and use the 11th as a backup plan in case something unexpected prevents us from playing on the 4th.


Current Time Frames FOR GAME START (add 3-4 hours for time of end of game):

2022-12-04: between 8:00-19:00 UTC
2022-12-11: between 8:00-19:00 UTC

Matalarata
Dayyālu
sqeecoo
Reality

The person who narrows it down the most will get eaten by a sandworm and shamed!

I'll also activate the Game Rules:
- Auto-bookkeeping for house Atreides
- Beni Gesserit can coexist with their allies
and
- Spice bribes go immediately into the players cash (not at Mentat phase, Idk why this website does this stupid thing).

just for the sake of a faster and more enjoyable game.

Edit: K is not narrowing down the time window

 

[Matalarata]

I suggest to start on a sunday on December 4th or 11th somewhere between 08:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC
Please calculate at least three hours of playtime, up to a max of four!

Bruh. I'm sorry sqeecoo didn't inform you but, if you're planning to play this during weekend, I have my job unfortunately. I'm one of those weird souls that work on saturday+sunday.

 

[Dayyālu]

I could try to get other conscripts from..... weird places, if people are willing. I've played some basic games, and some mechanics puzzle me, but the game is old design wise.

I'll need to activate advance rules a tad at a time.

 

[v1rus]

I could try to get other conscripts from..... weird places, if people are willing. I've played some basic games, and some mechanics puzzle me, but the game is old design wise.

I'll need to activate advance rules a tad at a time.

I played it in person number of times, its been a while tho. Its quite inelegant, and easy to forget because of its rusty mechanics and interactions.

I can try and recall, so if you guys need any rule clarification, Ill try and answer them if i can recall them. Oh, also, screw the basic game, go for the advanced.

 

[v1rus]

Glanced upon this thread and rulebook - do play with advanced combat. Its waay simpler than it actually sounds - tldr - each unit carries only half of its power (so a regular unit would have 1/2 str, and a Sardaukar would have 1) UNLESS you expand 1 spice to activate its full strength. You need one spice PER unit. So, if you had 5 regulars troops, and spent 2 spice, you could fulfill a total of 3 and 1/2 of str. This does not apply to the Freemen (a much needed GF9 buff). Really, its not nearly as complicated in practice as it sounds, and it does bring a bit of much needed power to Freemen.

Have fun figuring which abilities you can cancel with advanced karama. Its a bit weird, but still fun. A personal favorite being using karama to cancel out the Freemens ability to go unsupplied, that always makes them go pikachuface.jpg

 

[Eadee]

Bruh. I'm sorry @sqeecoo didn't inform you but, if you're planning to play this during weekend, I have my job unfortunately. I'm one of those weird souls that work on saturday+sunday.

Life is suffering. Matalarata is already consumed by the worm and is therefore excused.

I could try to get other conscripts from..... weird places, if people are willing.

Go for it!
I'm trying to get someone too, but can't make any promises... so try both to get at least one!

Glanced upon this thread and rulebook - do play with advanced combat.

I personally don't like that rule, but if the other players really want to, I'll activate it.

 

[Reality]

I think the main benefit to Advanced Combat is that people don't "Full dial" battles they know they're losing (including the kingmaking suicide big stack vs big stack) so easily.
It also buffs the Fremen since they play on Basic Combat rules all the time.

I've almost never see the Guild/Bene Gesseit go broke from Advanced Combat (Harkonnen/Atreides/Emperor a lot though) imho the 3 factions that win early instead of lategame.

From what I've played in Basic, I always expect to take heavy casualties to win battle so I avoid major conflicts until everyone else has already weakened each other. It makes the game punchier in a way since there is no "get cash for deployment > build money again > get cash for fighting" but it also makes everyone check the tanks to determine is an opponent is weakened rather than opponents on the board forces. (I guess it also prevents Harkonnen/Atreides from having a death spiral if they can't get spiceblows but I don't like encouraging idling)

It's not really a dealbreaker for me because half the players will have enough money to always pay for advanced combat with plenty left over for bidding etc, and only 3 care (albeit early game can have a ripple effect)

 

[sqeecoo]

I'm definitely interested in playing this but work is killing me so I don't know how much preparation I'll be able to do, learning rules and stuff. But I could definitely find an evening to play it!

 

[Eadee]

Dayyālu
sqeecoo
Reality

Since noone did narrow down our time windows I'll schedule the game start for 2022-12-04 december the 4th at 13:00 UTC. The game will probably end between 16:00 and 17:00 UTC

Whoever brings a sixth player to the virtual table first will become the next Kwisatz Haderach and will start the game with the unfair advantage of additional two spice!

If somehow noone manages to find a conscript we will play a game without the spiritual advice of the Bene Gesserit (therefore the Guild is reserved for "K" unless we find another player).

sqeecoo this may be your last chance to decide whether to play house Harkonnen, who excel at treachery (more of an early game faction) and the Fremen, who may ride the sandworms and can predict the deadly sandstorms on dune (more of a late game faction). Or you can wait in hope of a sixth player, in which case the Guild or the Bene Gesserit might become available to pick.

Link to the discord server we use will be provided soon.

 

[Dayyālu]

Good for me. I'll keep the timeslot open and ready some drinks.

Water, I guess.

 

[sqeecoo]

Ok! Time sounds good. How long is the session expected to last?

 

[Eadee]

Ok! Time sounds good. How long is the session expected to last?

I expect the "end of game times" I posted above to be on the same day as the game start

 

[sqeecoo]

I'm dumb, assumed the end time was the start, who starts a boardgame at 13h?? Me I guess

 

[Eadee]

Do you live in UTC +0 ? I expected the start to be 14:00 for you.

 

[Eadee]

Everyone should have received the discord invitation link by now. See y'all on Arakis *spits on floor*

 

[Eadee]

sqeecoo picked the Harkonnen!

That leaves me to play the Fremen, unless we find a sixth player.

I'd also be open to let the sixth position be filled by a bot as an alternative.

 

[Eadee]

game will start in about 22 minutes. I'm in voice chat now if someone wants some advice before the game.

 

[Dayyālu]

As it was in the order of things (wait, it wasn't) Order and Progress have been kept, to each his own and everything went fine.

Highlights were the Fremen dying left and right against anyone who could hold a gun, the Guild trying to remake Emperor Battle for Dune by fighting EVERYONE and mostly winning (and nuking the Shield Wall and then warcriming the entire populations of Carthag and Arrakeen) and the Emperor/Harkonnen playing a boring game and winning because they played a boring game.