Dune Imperium Bloodlines: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Deck-Building, Worker Placement, Area Control, Engine Building
Player Age: 12+ Player Count: 1 - 4 PlayersTime to Play: 60 - 120 Minutes
Game Designer: Paul Dennen, Phil Amylon, Andy Clautice, Caleb Vance
Player Age: 12+
Game Designer: Paul Dennen, Phil Amylon, Andy Clautice, Caleb Vance
Introduction:
Dune Imperium is a great game combining the mechanisms of deck builders and worker placement. This game has two iterations now Dune Imperium and Dune Uprising. The expansion Bloodlines like all of the previously released expansions works for both iterations for the game.
However, this time there is content in Bloodlines that is only relatable to Uprising. Covering the unique features of contracts, spies and sandstorms, there are various deck cards, intrigue cards a range of contracts and leaders that work only with uprising. The size of this content, is for each player to determine if there is enough content for Dune Imperium players, or if this expansion is more suited only for Uprising.
More content:
There are 32 deck cards, 18 intrigue cards
and 9 leader cards creating a range of added variability. There are a few new key mechanisms that will be seen throughout the content. Command which activates if the player has six or more in the reveal step at the end of the round and the combat icon will now appear on cards instead of just locations, when activated it will work the same as normal allowing any troops gained this turn to be moved plus two from the garrison.
These next symbols may appear in other expansions or uprising, but there is also an orange card symbol with a down arrow that represents a cost of discarding another card (this cannot be an intrigue card unless specified). Lastly there are some cards in the game which have a red section of text that has an effect that triggers out of the normal play or reveal effects.
There are nine new leaders added in this expansion. Three of these leaders can only be used in uprising. The other leaders all have engaging abilities, Esmar has a location that will gain different benefits when visited or gain more spice via signet ring; Duncan can send an agent as another troop; Kota focuses on tech tiles and Chami gains resources from a track based on how many troops lost or retreated.
The last two leaders have their own unique decks. Piter has his own twisted intrigue deck that he will draw from, gaining one each round. A lot of these cards award benefits for losing troops.
Steersman rewards forward thinking as players program a plan at the start of the game with the navigation cards. It also rewards shared loyalty as the cards are revealed when two influences are reached from each faction.
Sardaukar Commanders:
During setup Sardaukar Commanders will be placed in certain locations, players can choose miniatures or these large cubes. When a player goes to one of these locations they can spend two solari to acquire the Sakaukar Commander for the rest of the game. When this unit is gained they will also select one of the four Sardaduakar Commander skills. These units work like normal troops to enter battle and are worth a base of two strength each. However, to gain the Sakaukar Commander out of the players supply, the player must spend two solari to send them to the garrison. Every time a Sardaukar Commander is recruited a new skill is gained, each Sardaukar Commander will have all of these skills active when they are in combat.
Tech Module:
Tech Modules uses tech tiles and offers a new way for players to improve their engine. Tech tiles were first introduced in Rise of IX. Bloodlines offers a different way for these tiles to be in play. The tiles can be combined but only one method of gaining tiles can be used in a game.
There will be three tiles available at any time. If a player visits a green location they can spend spice to gain one tile, if the player holds a seat on the high council they will receive a discount of one spice. The tiles will have an ability that could be used once per round, or create an ongoing benefit. There is also a bonus on the left hand side that will be gained when the tile is acquired.
Final Thoughts:
- More content based expansion.
- Sardaukar Commanders add a new troop type that costs solari but gives the players a new opportunity to engine build certain troops.
- About 15/20% of the content is only available for owners of Uprising not Imperium.
Bloodlines is a more content expansion that is going to depend on what the purchasing player already has in their Dune collection. For a player with everything this is great as it enhances both Uprising and Imperium as well as increasing the contact and tech tiles selection. The amount of content is large but for players with Imperium and no other expansion this may not be the first expansion players explore, since probably 15/20 % of this expansion is for Uprising. With that preamble stated, this is a great expansion the leaders are very unique and engaging, there is plenty of intrigue and deck cards added to the game. Both modules are also very easy to use and create new interesting ways for players to build engines, through spending spice or solari. As a fan of Dune Imperium already this expansion doesn't increase the barrier to entry and simply gives more options to the players. It is an easy recommendation.
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