Thanks for running. I was worried the guild might have dumped all their troops into tuek's - they could have won by 1 point if they picked the right defence, but once caliber didn't contest carthag and the BG didn't do anything we had an easy path to contest all 5. Fremen killing harky's army with weather control was very helpful. The BG definitely should have been more confrontational. You had lots of cards, and good ones too - you're not supposed to deploy much in the way of troops. Voice + defence & offensive weapons should have let you run rampant, you could kill leaders at will and people would have to spend a ton of spice to stop you
I was hoping to draw out otheym all game, but you went for the stronger leaders instead
Asymmetrical games can be fun, but the drawback is everyone has to pretty much be on the same level going in (think Chaos in the Old World where all it takes is one new guy not knowing how to deal with Khorne).
I had no clue you could trigger your own lasgun's explosion. That was one difference from REX I missed. Seems way too good. You either cripple someone or hold it over their head preventing them from deploying a winning force.
Team Emperor got way too much spice from those early turn biddings.
Atreides/Harkonnen defending their starting city is vital. Leaving it open is committing suicide.
That was more of a 5 player 2v2v1game. Once the lasgun crippled one duo team, it was all wrapped up for the other one.
I'm not sure what the BG plan was. If you're going to lay low for a long time, no point in blowing all your spice on cards at the beginning. Then continuing to lay low when Team Emperor was one stronghold from victory and all other opposition was crippled.
The factions are a lot better balanced than REX. I have no idea what FFG was thinking nerfing everyone so hard (especially Atreides and the Guild) and buffing the Emperor.
Grats winners! This was an interesting game, and something I'd long been interested in, but obviously I didn't quite grok how Harkonnen is supposed to play here. Once Carthag was taken I never felt like I had enough spice to field forces that could contest anything. I'm sure a player with a better understanding of the strategy involved here would have given a better showing; sorry for being a bit of a pushover.
FaranguI am a beardy manWith a beardy planRegistered Userregular
This is definitely a game that almost requires people to have a decent grasp on what their faction needs to be doing, unfortunately. The Atreides-Emperor combo is probably the most obvious, but every faction brings a definite benefit to others when working together.
This also isn't the best suited game for a pbp, what with all the auctions going on every round.
Indeed, the bidding process wasn't super easy to follow in pbp format, although at least I didn't ever have enough spice to make it really important. :P
The alliance negotiations also all happened while I was away from the computer; I dunno how attractive a Harkonnen alliance would have been to anyone else but by the time I saw that we were negotiating alliances the other four players had already formed up into two two-way alliances. No fault of you guys, but that was an aspect I thought came across poorly in the pbp medium.
Yeah it's pretty slow. The faction balance is also very tenuous in that one faction overcommitting can lead to this sort of quick game. The Emperor can project force until he starts losing and the guild can win any battle they want, once, and the Fremen have an endless supply of troops. Emperor-Atredies is one of the more powerful alliances. Fremen-Guild is interesting because there are two uses - early game blitz (since Fremen & Guild can drop their entire army anywhere for (nearly) free) and late game stall. BG-Atredies can be stupidly powerful for just winning battles with prescience, voice & card knowledge. Overall, Harkonnen is the most annoying faction to fight against because of traitors and the capturing leader thing, but doesn't bring a lot to an alliance, unless he drew particularly good traitors.
Out of curiosity, which traitors did everyone have?
Grats winners! This was an interesting game, and something I'd long been interested in, but obviously I didn't quite grok how Harkonnen is supposed to play here. Once Carthag was taken I never felt like I had enough spice to field forces that could contest anything. I'm sure a player with a better understanding of the strategy involved here would have given a better showing; sorry for being a bit of a pushover.
Not speaking from a lot of Dune experience but from their powers it looks like Harkonnen benefit from an early card boost and winning some small fights early and capturing enemy leaders. I think their best bet early on is to use their movement range and cards to bully anyone trying to gather spice. Good targets would be Freman (too poor to afford many cards early on) or Atreides (your mobile spice collector competitor, and unlike every other player he doesn't know what half your cards are).
I think Harkonnen are tough because they have a tough time allying. They don't provide as concrete a shared power as the other factions. All they can do is donate traitors to your battles but not only is that not reliable, it's also not in their best interest to do so. Theirs is the only ally combat power that isn't free since it uses up their traitors.
My traitor was Stilgar. I was planning to take an anti-Freman stance at the start, but then Stil went and got himself killed the first turn so me and guild became best of buddies! I would have preferred a Bene Gessrit alliance for that sweet sweet voice but they were having none of it.
Another thing about this game was the unusual frequency of the nexus cards. We got one the very first turn and I think the game is a lot more interesting when you go at least a turn or two with everyone fending for themselves.
My traitors were Captain Aramsh and Bashar from the Emperor, the Reverend Mother Ramallo from the Bene Gesserit, and Master Bewt from the Guild. Was hoping to pick a fight with the Emperor since I had two traitors in his org, but never quite worked out that way.
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@mrbody
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Pass!
Sorry if I've been holding this up, I had absolutely no idea it was my turn.
Who/what is next?
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Updated board:
Fremen is first aggressor, and picks his first battle site.
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You will need to win both to keep them from winning the game.
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Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
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@jdarksun and @Phyphor, I think?
Wins: NBN; Jenny Barnes; Emperor of Mankind; Werewolf (posthumous), Gregor; Colonel Mustard; USSR
Losses: Silas Marsh Bob Jenkins; Slaanesh, Tzeentch, Nurgle; House Harkonnen; Stark; Beravor; Scientist, Dispatcher; Universities of Jol-Nar, Winnu
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Commit all troops
Spend 1 Spice
Leader - Otheym - 5
Cards: La la la and Jubba Cloak, all worthless
Emperor reveals TREACHERY! Otheym was in his pay! He is sent to the tanks, and the Emperor claims his 5 spice.
At this point, there is nothing that any player can do to prevent Team Atreides-Emperor from claiming 4 strongholds and winning!
Except for the Bene Gesserit prediction...
Of House Atreides...
In turn...
Atreides and Emperor win!
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Grats to the winners.
Many thanks to Farangu for hosting.
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I was hoping to draw out otheym all game, but you went for the stronger leaders instead
I had no clue you could trigger your own lasgun's explosion. That was one difference from REX I missed. Seems way too good. You either cripple someone or hold it over their head preventing them from deploying a winning force.
Team Emperor got way too much spice from those early turn biddings.
Atreides/Harkonnen defending their starting city is vital. Leaving it open is committing suicide.
That was more of a 5 player 2v2v1game. Once the lasgun crippled one duo team, it was all wrapped up for the other one.
I'm not sure what the BG plan was. If you're going to lay low for a long time, no point in blowing all your spice on cards at the beginning. Then continuing to lay low when Team Emperor was one stronghold from victory and all other opposition was crippled.
The factions are a lot better balanced than REX. I have no idea what FFG was thinking nerfing everyone so hard (especially Atreides and the Guild) and buffing the Emperor.
Wins: NBN; Jenny Barnes; Emperor of Mankind; Werewolf (posthumous), Gregor; Colonel Mustard; USSR
Losses: Silas Marsh Bob Jenkins; Slaanesh, Tzeentch, Nurgle; House Harkonnen; Stark; Beravor; Scientist, Dispatcher; Universities of Jol-Nar, Winnu
This also isn't the best suited game for a pbp, what with all the auctions going on every round.
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
The alliance negotiations also all happened while I was away from the computer; I dunno how attractive a Harkonnen alliance would have been to anyone else but by the time I saw that we were negotiating alliances the other four players had already formed up into two two-way alliances. No fault of you guys, but that was an aspect I thought came across poorly in the pbp medium.
Wins: NBN; Jenny Barnes; Emperor of Mankind; Werewolf (posthumous), Gregor; Colonel Mustard; USSR
Losses: Silas Marsh Bob Jenkins; Slaanesh, Tzeentch, Nurgle; House Harkonnen; Stark; Beravor; Scientist, Dispatcher; Universities of Jol-Nar, Winnu
Out of curiosity, which traitors did everyone have?
Not speaking from a lot of Dune experience but from their powers it looks like Harkonnen benefit from an early card boost and winning some small fights early and capturing enemy leaders. I think their best bet early on is to use their movement range and cards to bully anyone trying to gather spice. Good targets would be Freman (too poor to afford many cards early on) or Atreides (your mobile spice collector competitor, and unlike every other player he doesn't know what half your cards are).
I think Harkonnen are tough because they have a tough time allying. They don't provide as concrete a shared power as the other factions. All they can do is donate traitors to your battles but not only is that not reliable, it's also not in their best interest to do so. Theirs is the only ally combat power that isn't free since it uses up their traitors.
My traitor was Stilgar. I was planning to take an anti-Freman stance at the start, but then Stil went and got himself killed the first turn so me and guild became best of buddies! I would have preferred a Bene Gessrit alliance for that sweet sweet voice but they were having none of it.
Another thing about this game was the unusual frequency of the nexus cards. We got one the very first turn and I think the game is a lot more interesting when you go at least a turn or two with everyone fending for themselves.
Wins: NBN; Jenny Barnes; Emperor of Mankind; Werewolf (posthumous), Gregor; Colonel Mustard; USSR
Losses: Silas Marsh Bob Jenkins; Slaanesh, Tzeentch, Nurgle; House Harkonnen; Stark; Beravor; Scientist, Dispatcher; Universities of Jol-Nar, Winnu