Dune Imperium with Rise of Ix Expansion 

Adam (Green – “Archduke Armand Ecaz”), Chuck (Red – “Baron Harkonnen”), Doug (Blue – “Princess Yuna Moritani”), and Scott (Gold – “Helena Richese”) fought to control the spice Melange on the planet of Dune and, thus, the Imperium. The players randomly selected characters from the various Great Houses of the Dune universe.

The game does not just occur on the planet of Dune, though that is where most of the action can be found. Players work to gain alliances with the Freman, the Bene Gesserit, The Spacing Guild, and the Emperor; they conduct trade and seek influence with the Landsraad; and they maneuver around Dune to gain advantages. We played with the IX expansion, which adds some cards, replaces the top right of the base game’s board, and adds the planet of IX. Dreadnaughts, galactic shipping, and technology upgrades from IX are just part of the new additions. Most of the changes offered by the expansion appealed to everyone, but the Dreadnaughts were less popular. Some of the players with more experience playing the base game thought they removed some of the more interesting challenges of battles.

Congratulations to Adam with the WIN! He scored 11 VP. He quickly moved into a competitive position for first and then gained a lead that he held throughout the game – VP earned in a couple of big battles (and having the resources stored to increase those VP further) propelled him to the lead and he built on that. Second place went to Chuck. Although he trailed (by a lot) for most of the game, he set himself up well for the end game and jumped up to 9 VP (he gained 3 VP just on one technology card, “Spy Satellites”). Scott and Doug followed with 7 VP and 6VP, respectively.