Dune: Ixians & Tleilaxu

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. callmedude23

   - Kriegsspiel - Scifi-Thema - Umfangreiches Spielmaterial - Neuauflage des Klassikers 'Dune' - Erweiterung - Englisch - Spassfaktor: Gegenseitiges Taktieren bzw. Verhandeln miteinander

2. Bjanze

   As the base game is awesome, I want the expansion -> Seems that my FLGS owner was listening me carefully or even read my wishlist, as I found this on the store shelf waiting for me. Thus I fell victim of careful customer analysis... :) (In Tampere)

3. 10 out of 10

   cfarrell

   Ok, this is one of those rare expansions that noticeably improves an already great game. However, the elements are not all of consistent quality. The Ixians are great - evocative, flavorful, adding new capabilities to the game, and fairly strong. Plus their mobile stronghold opens up the 6 player game a bit. The Tleilaxu I’m not so sure of. They’re very flavorful and they seem like they should be interesting, but I’ve just never seen them be competitive, and if the game ends too early there is a decent chance they will just do nothing all game. So while I think they have potential, I’d engage with them with caution. The tech tiles are cool, but they’re a little fiddly and hard to remember. I’d use them with 6 players, but only if the Ix are *not* in. With 6, the extra option for a victory location opens up the game a bit. But 2 extra (the mobile stronghold and the tech tiles) is too much. The cards are a mixed bag. The two dual cards, the dual weapon and dual defense, I would strongly suggest removing. I’m also not a fan of the Cheap Hero(one) traitor. The rest are interesting but at a pretty high power level, so you have been warned. — Played once with both new factions. A lot of good stuff in here! The two new factions are a little rulsier and more ornate than the ones in the core box, but do really nicely evoke the books. The Tleilaxu get nicely fleshed out in Dune Messiah, and that’s reflected here. The Ixians are always in the background of the books until they get a little more play in Heretics and Chapterhouse of Dune, but never get a lot of detail; but their role in the universe as technologists is translated nicely to the game. Both new factions are used nicely mechanically too, to expand the range of the game. With “only” the core 6 factions, the Bene Gesserit and Guild have somewhat one-dimensional play styles; swapping the Bene Tleilaxu for the Bene Gessert is easy and changes up the dynamics. The Ixians can easily be swapped for the BG, Guild, or even one of the major players. The combination of the Ixians and new Tech Tiles *really* helps the 6-player game. In the classic version, you could go with either the standard rules, which turned the game into a total slugfest and war of attrition that was extremely hard to win in 10 turns; or you could play classic rules (alliances win with 3 strongholds) which means everyone is playing goal line defense with no room for error right from turn 1. By adding the Ixian mobile stronghold and the extra stronghold for having all 3 tech tokens, you can play the standard rules and enjoy a more open game without the high-wire act. Here is what I’d suggest for breaking these factions in if you’re not a Dune aficionado. I’d suggest always using the Tech Tiles. I’d also suggest just introducing one faction at a time. I actually think Dune is best with 5, and I’d recommend using the core 4 (Atreides, Harkonnen, Emperor, Fremen) plus Bene Tleilaxu. With 6, use the core 4 plus Bene Gesserit and Ixians (you could also do Guild and Ixians if you prefer). Going forward then, I think you have to have Atreides and Harkonnen, and you want the Ixians with 6. Playing without the Fremen would for sure seem weird, so I think you’d probably prefer to keep them in, but otherwise go nuts. I would save the new cards (Treachery, Traitor, Spice) for a later play as well. I haven’t played the new Treachery cards, or the Cheap Hero traitor or Sandtrout spice card. They included a dual defense card (counts as both shield and snooper) that makes me nervous - Battle for Baghdad, the Dune rip-off set in the Iraq War, had that card and I felt like it was *really* powerful, too powerful. The Cheap Hero traitor just seems like its frequency-of-play will be too low. I guess maybe you would just never keep it and maybe the Tleilaxu want it? The rest though seem like they’re cool - at a little higher power level than the core deck, but that seems interesting! Anyway, a lot to like here, especially for long-term fans of the game like us. If you still haven’t played all the base game factions at least once, maybe you put off adding this unless your group doesn’t have anyone who likes playing the Bene Gesserit. They’re a pretty specialized flavor, and I think the Bene Tleilaxu will appeal to more people. Last thing, as usual the designers frustrate me a bit with the slackness of their rules-writing. It’s not the worst, and the glitches are not terrible, but man, they could be clearer. Also: for the love of god ignore the plugs for the awful prequel and tie-in novels. Dune and its follow-ons have not aged super-well for me, but they are classics of world-building. The post-Frank Herbert novels are absolutely garbage, and it’s a shame that apparently the gaming license now forces people to use that crap (in the prequels the Ixians are just another noble house, House Vernius - as nodded to here - while in the Dune books Frank Herbert refers to them as a Confederacy, which seems more apt and interesting). —- These look surprisingly cool - really excited to try them out. We’ll see how it goes! Root really benefitted from swapping out factions that were weaker/less interesting/less interactive, and replacing them with the Moles, Corvids, and Riverfolk in the expansions, and I have visions of swapping out the somewhat less-interesting Guild or BG for a more dynamic BT or Ix. We’ll see! I do wish these guys were better rules writers though.