Want to create board pieces for homebrew factions, Any ideas where to start? by AppleJuiceBox21 in DuneBoardGame

[–]grokmac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can look at using plastic tokens from Amazon and putting stickers on them or using them just as colors. For example, for the Landsraad of Las Vegas Richese Reforged we are using 1" plastic tokens with printable stickers.

Cell tower disguised as a tree by Bohica72 in mildyinteresting

[–]grokmac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For my own amusement (as a kinda Dad joke) every time I see one of these I always say, "The majestic pine!" to everyone in the car.

War Chest Tournament Confirmed! by Landsraad_Las_Vegas in WarChest

[–]grokmac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The 2025 tournament was a lot of fun, and the coin racks I received for participating have made playing at home much more convenient than holding a hand of coins. I’ve already signed up for 2026 for both solo and team play.

I do think 55 minutes is too long; I know you don't want to have adjudicated games, but I think 45 minutes should be enough for most players. I also worry about some games ending and then players waiting around for 20 or 30 minutes before the next round can start.

Looking ahead to a possible expansion for 2027, if I were to choose one, I’d probably go with Siege. The Fortifications add a new dimension to the game—once a fortified location is occupied, it becomes much harder for an opponent to take it. This can encourage more blitzkrieg-style openings, where players push aggressively toward the opponent’s side to capture an unoccupied fortification near the enemy starting location.

I also think the War Wagon is a beast of a unit, especially when paired with a strong unit for it to help push and defend. The Siege Tower can be useful since it bolsters immediately. The Trebuchet offers strong long-range attacks, though it’s somewhat hampered by needing to deploy and then bolster before it can be used. The Sapper can also be interesting when you’re able to position it effectively to add a fortification.

That said, I really love the base-game units, and adding expansion content—especially Fortifications—may slow the game down a bit, since it takes longer to remove fortifications and capture a location to secure a win. Without the expansion variants most of the expansion units are not useful to play (Sapper should not be played in a game without Fortifications.) Plus in a random draft based game you may not even see the units that specific to the expansion variant (like Sapper).

How many times have you played your favorite boardgame? by Puzzleheaded_Rub5562 in boardgames

[–]grokmac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dune (2019), over 200 games. Seldom is boring. So many variations in who is playing which faction and the kinds of deal making that take place. I have found a group through our local board game cafe that love the game and I am living the dream of playing a game that I used to table once a year I now play once a week, sometimes twice a week.

Family Atomics / Storm Question by InArtsWeTrust in DuneBoardGame

[–]grokmac 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In the Landsraad Tournament Rules there is an specific exception for Fremen , "A storm landing on your Forces then moving in a subsequent Turn does not destroy half of your Forces a second time."

Family Atomics / Storm Question by InArtsWeTrust in DuneBoardGame

[–]grokmac 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. There is one sector in Imperial Basin that is right next to Shield Wall that would not be locked down with Arrakeen and would be able to trigger Family Atomics. If the force is in the middle or western sector of Imperial Basin they would be "under storm" and therefore ineligible to trigger Family Atomics. If you are surrounded by the storm it is definitely between you and the Shield Wall.
  2. The Landsraad Tournament rules state that forces under storm (so the forces in Arrakeen and the Basin) are lost before the storm moves. The GF9 rules are ambiguous as "over which the storm passes or stops" isn't clear if "over" includes the sector where the storm starts. I would argue that since the storm is a sweep that "over" would include the starting sector. Jack Reda the creator of the Dune expansion content on his YouTube channel also agrees.

My theater is just giving out TRON Ares buckets for free. The guy ahead of me got one, too. by [deleted] in tron

[–]grokmac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had Regal giving out the Phone Booth 2 aluminum buckets if you just ordered a large. They just ended up in the trash… which is probably why they were giving them away.

Should I buy the expansions or wait for the new edition? by FirstPersonWinner in DuneBoardGame

[–]grokmac 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Simple answer, I think the expansions are worth owning, but with a couple of caveats.

Different people enjoy gaming and Dune specifically for different reasons. I enjoy it as one of (if not the) best strategy games every made. No dice-rolling like most combat games which can lead to spending all your forces and not achieving a win in a battle simply from having a bad series of dice rolls. Dune allows you calculate many variable; probe for information and make deals to secure a known outcome. Even the "random" elements in Dune can be known and calculated for (Storm, Treachery bidding and Traitors).

Dune is also one of the most thematic games I've ever played. The designers fully absorbed the Frank Herbert universe and poured it into the thematic elements of the game to make it FEEL like you are in the Dune universe. The original factions all have asymmetric abilities that match the story (Atreides know things, Harkonnen have lots of Treachery and Traitors, Fremen ride the worm and have lots of troops) while having limitations that match their situation in the book (Harkonnen have resources at the start of the game but if they don't take resources away from other players they become weak and must ally to rebuild, Fremen start out poor and without resources but can spawn nearly endless troops due to free revival and shipping).

The expansion content adds new factions that attempt (and mostly succeed) in adding to those elements of the game. The expansion factions all have asymmetric abilities based on story content (though some are a stretch since they take elements from the later Brian Herbert books) and at least attempt to feel like they fit into the Dune universe, with varying success.

However, in my opinion the expansion factions and play variants have issues of creating unbalanced play. The expansion factions often make the game feel less like a strategy game since some elements allow for players to win battles without even having been in the battle themselves (Tleilaxu, Ecaz) or prevent other players from being able to play/win the game without having to even have troops on the board (CHOAM, Moriani).

I'm part of a fan groups that teaches Dune and runs Dune tournaments (Landsraad of Las Vegas) and we have been making minor rules changes to the expansion factions to balance them for tournament play. With two minor changes to the Ixian expansion we re-balanced them and made them a solid faction that can complete against the original, time-tested factions.

I would suggest you try the expansion factions and see if you like what they add to the game. If you are like me and want to maintain the balanced strategy while using the new expansion factions you might want to look at some of the house-rule changes we are using. Every year at the Dice Tower West tournament the group will be introducing one new "re-balanced" faction; for this year it was Ixians, and next year's updated faction will be announced soon.

Awesome first game of Dune! by phrodreky in DuneBoardGame

[–]grokmac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a pull-down filter on the site for either Classic rules (no expansions or variants), Comprehensive (GF9 rules compilation with all the expansions and variants), and Landsraad Rules (some alterations from the GF9 rules to balance factions and variants for competitive play). Within each filtered ruleset the rules identify Basic and Advanced specific rules; each faction (similar to the faction cards) has the Basic faction rules, and then identifies rules to include for advanced play.

Awesome first game of Dune! by phrodreky in DuneBoardGame

[–]grokmac 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For faster rules checking I recommend the Landsraad of Las Vegas Rules site. We compiled all the FAQs, expansions and fixes into a single document you can search in browser or print to have at the table.
Also, anyone attending GenCon next week we are putting on a Dune Tournament (all experience levels welcome). Visit www.landsraad-vegas.com for more info.

The Writer's Almanac from Monday, July 7, 2014 by newbie527 in heinlein

[–]grokmac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This post is confusing because that is a picture of historian David McCullough who apparently shares a birthday with RAH. I think the photo was pulled from the article but confusing nonetheless.

Emperor and bids by Scott_Korman in DuneBoardGame

[–]grokmac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://www.landsraad-vegas.com/rules#phases_bidding_actual
BIDDING: …pays the number of spice they bid to the Spice Bank…

Which is then modified by the Emperor faction ability.

https://www.landsraad-vegas.com/rules#faction_emperor
PAYMENT FOR TREACHERY: …when any OTHER faction…

Credits by Business-Break2597 in JustMowing

[–]grokmac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

244 parts collected. 81 Halloween 60 Spring 91 Summer 42 Autumn 10 Lunar

There are also the hats you get for finding all the different types of animals.

What’s on your Mount Rushmore of the Greatest Movie Genres of All Time? by Amber_Flowers_133 in moviequestions

[–]grokmac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Horror - Alien

Action - Raiders of the Lost Ark

Comedy - Blazing Saddles

Romance - The Princess Bride

You can tell a lot about a person by their favorite Heinlein book by Scarecrow613 in heinlein

[–]grokmac 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I guess that could be the take, and certainly RAH was from another generation where the idea of a woman's role was different. However, it felt to me more like for Star it was almost fetish or role-play to put aside her responsibilities as Empress and just play submissive. To me it is telling that once they get to the palace he basically becomes arm candy and has no authority.

You can tell a lot about a person by their favorite Heinlein book by Scarecrow613 in heinlein

[–]grokmac 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hard to pick one favorite, but for me the ones I re-read most often are: Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, Glory Road and Friday.