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Copyright Eric Pietrocupo

E-Mail: ericp[AT]lariennalibrary.com

Dune Express: Alliances

Page: Variants.Variants201003160917AM - Last Modified : Mon, 18 Feb 13 - 6053 Visits

Latest Version: 1.5
Release Date: March 16th, 2010
Latest Update: March 14th, 2012
Board Game Geek Link: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42617/dune-express
Publisher Link : http://www.bookranger.co.uk/DuneExpress/DuneExpress.htm

Requirements

If you already have a copy of the game, you can simply add the missing components, else use the print outs I have made to build up the game

Objective

The primary objective of this variant is to increase the level of diplomacy by allowing shared victory. But there are also a lot of other rules which has been changed

News and update

November 22nd, 2010: I have made some changes to the duels and some other rules. I also made new print outs that match my rule variant. After printing my copy, I realized there were a few bugs or things that I forgot. So I will eventually make updates to the print outs when I'll have some time. But right now, the game is playable and complete.

March 14th, 2012: Version 1.5 is now released. Many changes have been made to the print out to make them slightly look better. A problem with the previous version was that some artwork was too dark. I updated the rules, tried to tweak the house special abilities and improve the duel mechanics. I hope everything will work fine and I won't need to make changes again.

February 15th, 2013: There might eventually be another update. First, I realised that duels had a bug where the game always ended in a duel, and most of the time, people only duel at the end. To avoid that, it will be impossible to duel if it is the player's winning move. So players will have to try duelling sooner. If they fail to do so, then a winning roll will make the player win no matter what.

Second, another designer made the Citadels and Nuke that he placed on the storm dice. It's true that the storm dice is pretty empty (2 storm move face only), and it's true that it is hard to keep control of territories. So the Citadel (3 face) could allow to build a citadel on a territory already controlled. This citadel will probably destroy the 2 first attacking units. The nuke (1 face) will be a one time use per game weapon. Rolling the nuke would give you control of the nuke increasing your negotiation power since people want to be friends with you. The nuke could switch hand multiple times. A player can unleash a nuke, probably on his turn, to wipe out a territory of troop and citadel. Once used, the nuke is out of the game.

Like you can see, those mechanics are pretty neat, but I need to playtest them first which I currently do not have the time. I also forgot to say that I might also power up the Atreides hero.