The Dune: Spice Wars is the first Dune game in 20 years, and the developers of the game have made some minor changes to the game mechanics. Apart from it being a faithful adaptation to the books, the developers also brought in the economic and political drama to the game. This has made the 4x strategy game an experience more than the usual RTS genre.

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Although House Ordos from the books and earlier games do not feature here, the game has a pool of four factions, out of which two of them are a fresh addition, one of which are the Smugglers. The most cunning, crafty bunch of snakes who could wither through the most minor gaps and come out on top.

4 About The Faction

dune spice wars Esmar Tuek Smuggler faction

Led by crafty spymaster Esmar Tuek, the Smugglers are experts on milking their enemy's wealth as their own. The smugglers are basically spies and leeches in a treacherous world and can keep themselves afloat without breaking a sweat. The Smugglers campaign starts off near the polar region, which has abundant access to water resources, their break to expansions and building Underground Headquarters. Underground Headquarters trait is exclusive to the faction, which allows them to build Underground Headquarters. Building on a prosperous enemy village will enable them to loot their resources without hassle.

On the part of their stand at the Landsraad Council, the faction has not much of a solid hand to play, nor do they have the mightiest army to start off with. While they might not have the most powerful armies or votes in the Landsraad (at first, anyway), operating beneath the surface (literally) has given them ties to the Arrakis Black Market, aiding in cheaper goods for trade.

3 The Councilors Of The House

Dune Spice Wars Smugglers Councilors

Staban Tuek allows all Underworld Headquarters to produce half influence points each and five Solari per day. If and when the underworld headquarters are taken care of right, the councilman provides a return on investment directly reflected in the inventory. Lingar Bewt is the faction's go-to man for water dealing. His inclusion in the team provides a cut on the Authority cost of annexing villages and building new underworld headquarters in proportion to water resources available at that point in time.

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Drisq, the all-transforming councilwoman, brings stability to solari production by increasing the efficiency of the faction's agents. She adds the merchant trait to all agents in the house. Bannerjee is best suited to reap bonus benefits from extorting villages. As an incentive, the councilman provides 30% more resources and salvages plascrete from the destroyed villages.

2 Military Units

Dune Spice Wars Smugglers Military Units

Scavengers are a close-range combat unit and are the faction's primary military unit. They are more suitable for attacking weaker platoons with subpar attack and defense traits. Wreckers are the faction's grenadier options and use chemical weapons as their attack mode. They are effective in raiding villages and provide medium-range combat options while defending against raiders and enemy fire.

Snipers are the faction's best bet for all long-range combat and are believed to have the longest attack range in the game. They are also inept with camouflage and can quickly lose track of their attackers. The free company are stealthy units better equipped with dual swords and are known as the most dangerous assassins in the spice wars universe. Their ability to mimic their targets makes them a force to reckon with. Combat drones are mechanical units designed for auto-combat while aiding other smuggler units in battle.

1 Strategy

dune-spice-wars-smugglers-settlement

Unlike the two powerhouses Artredies and Harkonnen, players opting for the Smugglers should take a more conservative route. Prioritizing on claiming valuable and resource-rich regions and working through underground headquarters, pillaging, and Black Markets is the route to victory via the smuggler way.

The first approach to playing as the smugglers would be to set the Ornithopters on auto. The faction relies heavily on building underworld headquarters beneath enemy villages. However, before that, it would be wise to set up the spice refinery and get the numbers going. By the time the Ornithopters find an enemy village, players would have had enough time to build up the economy and upgrade the capital. Once done, it would be time to set up underworld headquarters in as many enemy territories as possible. It is essential to remember that the faction's military is not the strongest. Players would need Contraband Cache and Hidden Explosives to target places to aid the on-field military units. The more the enemy factions prosper, the better the smugglers prosper. This gives them the leverage to ramp up and negotiate quick deals with other factions, keeping them at peace while leaping over the leader boards.

For players going for a Political victory, it is essential to sustain peaceful relationships with the neighbors while keeping the underworld headquarters running efficiently and well defended. For a victory through dominion, it is crucial to work frequent operations to aid the weak military units to outsmart the enemy defenses. As the time flies, options to assassinate the heads of the rival factions open up and with the smugglers being the master spies that they are, it would be a walk in the park to jump straight to a crown level assassinations.

Dune: Spice Wars is now available for PC as early access on steam.

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