Dune Imperium Leader Strategy Guide: Earl Memnon Thorvald

[@ajinkyaargonda2722]

theres lines of memnon where u can get r3 swordmaster which requires 1 faction access for first 2 rounds r1 t1: wealth r1 t2: use signet if available else any other action is good r2 t1: haga basin as long as no one has gone there so thats 4 spice total r2 t2: conspire and maybe win the combat with the intrigue that u get the last solari prolly comes from somoene smuggling or combat

[@hidden-assets]

This is a great video resource! There are a few things that are missing here that I want to share. If you're interested in making Memnon your main, take note. 1) Cheesable rightly mentions that the 2 and 3 cost techs (Specifically the 2s) are GREAT for Memnon because he can R1A1 to tech negotiation with his ring and get those 2 costers. HOWEVER, what isn't discussed is how his ring shapes his overall tech buying strategy. Low-costed tech is fine for Memnon, but he really wants a big 6-cost tech like Holtzman or Shuttle Fleet. These are imo the best techs for Memnon: Holtz, Shuttle, Memnoncorders, Minimic, Restricted Ordinance (in that order). His ring smooths out your harvest turns by letting you pick up slightly smaller accumulations or spice from the desert earlier than other players. Most players need to wait for 5 spice on Great Flat, but you can do it with 4 (maybe 3 if you also have a tech negotiator). The only players that can race Memnon to high techs are Rhombur and Beast: Rhombur because his ring has a very similar effect to Memnon's regarding tech, and Beast because he starts with an extra spice, so you have to be careful that you don't all have the same idea. To summarize: the amount of spice you need to actually harvest for big tech is, most of the time, 4, which is very reasonable. Plan on hitting tech negotiators early and then either Stilsuits to aim for Great Flat R2 (or Haga Basin -- both work and play into your game plan). 2) The best card for Memnon, in a vacuum, is Boundless Ambition. Effectively doubling-up on your ring is a powerful effect and it lets you lean a bit more into imperium row cards that require spice to activate (Shifting Allegiances, Fremen Camp, etc.). Immortality cards he wants are, in no particular order: High-Priority Travel (see #3), Guild Impersonator, Face Dancer & Planned Coupling (or any decent graft card that sends you to a faction), Scientific Breakthrough, Interstellar Conspiracy. There are lots of great cards in Immortality that are great for your gameplan, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind. 3) Memnon is weak on track climbing, so you REALLY NEED (I cannot stress this enough) to have strong track climbing cards to supplement your tech buying and spice using. A Treachery, In the Shadows, Web of Power, Shifting Allegiances, or something like... It doesn't seem like he should be so terrible at climbing because of his one-time passive, but that effect is very clumsy and it seems to only plug some of his weaknesses. Memnon gets STRONGER with Immortality if you can pick up High-Priority Travel--a very underrated card. That card lets you camp under the Emperor bonus, get High Council, get 2 troops, toss them directly in to combat and hopefully you have a Restricted Ordinance to back that up! In addition, it lets you send troops during tech negotiation, which can help if you spy an Invasion Ships. He's a bit more flexible with Immortality, though still not amazing :D .

[@andruwjonez]

"Memnoncorders" i see what you did there :) the early spice does seem strong. illesa can race for techs even faster, especially good for 2/3 player games, easier to plan 2nd agent. i've usually gone coins early but maybe spice is actually better, even though harder to plan for.

[@davidguay2222]

I love memenon and always pick it when available. With memocorders you can surprise even the most prepared baron to steal interstellar without ever touching spacing guild. once. Conspire is one of the most crucial space you can go to.

[@Redragonclaws]

What do you think of Ariana in this expansion? With research track maxed the lowest cost basin reads "Gather 0 spice, draw 2 cards, deploy troops" on an experimentation.

[@andruwjonez]

i notice different play style than my usual 2/3 player games where we would always try to block that SM round 2, still seemed strong in 4p though, if nobody blocks you, that is stronger than other players opening shipping track imo.

[@cheesable]

I think if interstellar shipping is free, it is slightly stronger than straight swordmaster in ix. In immo, I'm thinking straight swordmaster is stronger

[@andruwjonez]

@@cheesable I only play Immo so that makes sense

[@zacharybrown3010]

You don't think turn 1 Spy Satellites is a good pick?

[@cheesable]

No. It's too steep an investment that does absolutely nothing

[@mecenasandrzejbudzynski597]

When to pick Memmnon? Never. End of video😅

[@hidden-assets]

I am shocked that I didn't get to contribute to this vid lol

[@cheesable]

Haha feel free to contribute it now. I'll pin it