Tom Teaches Dune: Imperium (Rules Overview & Gameplay)

[@stevenmill9887]

Thanks for the guide as I’ve just purchased DI. One of the best things about your guides is the detailed explanation of your strategy / turn to understand why you are doing things. Not many guides do that so well done for taking the time

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thanks Steven! (I know we've "chatted" on more recent stuff now, I'm just taking some time to night to scroll though comments I've missed.) I really think it's fun to just turn on a camera, and say whatever is on my mind. So it makes me feel awesome that there are people who enjoy that kind of video. It does make for a longer video, but hopefully a semi-engaging one. Thanks again for all of the support you've been giving me.

[@topofthemuffintoyou5610]

I love your tutorial videos. Really natural and what you say, actually makes sense to someone new to a game. Thank you.

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thank YOU for saying that! I know my style is really different than most.... so I get pretty nervous and paranoid every time that I post... so hearing things like that really helps a lot. Thanks again and happy new year!

[@MattHoevenaars]

Thanks for the Playthrough Tom, really enjoyed it. Your style reminds me of Rahdo, esp. with the rules goofs, but it keeps it fun 😄. Not a big deal, but a couple of additional misses that I don't think got caught was that Red didn't get the Bene Gesserit point at 1:59. Also Red didn't get their 2nd place reward for the battle at 2:14. Thanks again!

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thank you! I'll check that out and start annotating.... I appreciate you keeping an eye out!

[@jagga68]

Great video Tom! At 1:14:04 you should not advance influence for all factions, you should choose ONLY two factions instead :)

[@JohnQSpartan]

This error in the playthrough really triggered my OCD while watching. From that point on it dominated my thoughts! ha.

[@TomTeachesGames]

Yeah..... I done messed up..... It's annotated now..... Let's pretend like Blue actually won, since blue is my favorite color. 😏

[@ningaubleotse171]

Great playthrough. Thanks, Tom. Happy New Year :)

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thanks! I’m glad to see you survived 2020! Welcome to 2021

[@rmsgrey]

Some background on the setting: In the Dune universe, the spice, melange, is only found on Dune. In addition to prolonging life and promoting health and percipience, it also allows some users to perceive the possible futures, and is the only thing that allows interstellar navigation - the Navigators see which choices lead to arriving safely at the desired destination. At the time of the novel, the brutal House Harkonnen have just lost the lucrative spice franchise to their long-standing rivals, House Atreides, who take possession of Dune in the knowledge that the Harkonnens will have seeded the planet with traps, both obvious and subtle. The resulting conflict brings chaos to the system that has persisted maybe ten thousand years. The game involves 6 of the galactic factions (and they are factions rather than families): The Emperor is notionally in charge of all civilised planets, leads the most powerful House (nuclear-armed power controlling at least one planet), and commands the loyalty of the Sardaukar - the only significant standing army. The Landsraad Council is the collective body of all the other Houses, which serves as a check on the Emperor's power. Except when acting in response to a perceived imperial threat, the Houses compete among themselves, with the Atreides-Harkonnen conflict just one example. The Spacing Guild is the third major power. They depend on the supply of melange from Dune to continue providing reliable transport, but their position as sole carriers means they can also enforce a ban on open interstellar war and have full control over the flow of trade. CHOAM is the corporation that actually does that trading. Intended as an analog for OPEC, it is notionally run by the Emperor and whichever of the Landsraad Houses are in ascendancy at any given time. The Bene Gesserit are officially not a major power, but unofficially are known to have their fingers in many pies, and be manipulating events toward unknown ends. Many of the major figures at the time of the novel have Bene Gesserit wives or mistresses helping to steer their decisions. They also have many strange powers coming from their mastery of their own bodies. The Fremen are the native people of Dune - adapted to desert life, existing in an uneasy symbiosis with the great Sandworms. The Harkonnens have followed traditional Imperial policy of ignoring and disdaining them as savage wilderness-dwellers, but the Atreides have a tradition of nurturing and exploiting all the people under their rule. On a galactic scale, the Fremen would be insignificant were it not for their position on Dune and their greater insight into its unique environment. They may also be the only people in the galaxy tougher than the otherwise invincible Sardaukar. Anyway, on to the errors I picked up on: 58:10 forgot to claim the 2 coins (Solari) from Wealth for blue 1:14:06 red should have only gone up on two tracks due to the combat card specifying "Choose two:" 1:34:16 forgot to put blue's cube into combat (moot since he lost by a lot) 1:59:47 forgot to give red the point for allying with Bene Gesserit (which would have left them at 9 points going into the final round and 13 for final score) 2:03:52 forgot to give the 5 spice to each player for combat (with significant impact on the remaining turns) 2:10:30 forgot to draw the extra card for blue from spending coin on their action 2:12:19 spent 2 water for blue to take the 1 water cost action of Hardy Warriors 2:14:45 forgot to give red their consolation prize for 2nd place in combat (intrigue + 3 spice) The errors were mostly in red's favour, but my guess as to what drove the game in their favour most are that they kept picking up bonuses from combat (particularly in rounds where blue could have picked up an easy second place just by showing up), and getting that 2 points of Fremen influence that let them gain and use water more freely. There were several rounds where blue could have done something if only they had a little more water, and never befriending the Fremen to unlock that additional access to water looked like it cost them in the long term even if it would have cost them more in the short term.

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thank you! Both for the info, and the rules goofs.... I just had a moment to sit down and respond to comments and annotate those. You're the man! Are you excited for the new movie?

[@rmsgrey]

@@TomTeachesGames I'm waiting to see about the new movie - I've not been following the news about it particularly, so I don't know how promising the indications are, and it's not an easy story to commit to film - and this version is at least the third attempt (though I haven't ever seen the early-2000s Sci-Fi Channel (as it was then) Dune miniseries).

[@tonybowers9490]

Thanks for sharing. Well done. Been playing solo and enjoying it a lot.

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thank you! I need to go back and try solo again, now that I have my feet slightly under me.....

[@michaelhill6453]

Great stuff. Thanks this is right up my street and I can see the CLANK! DNA in there too.

[@TomTeachesGames]

Absolutely! I think fans of Clank can find a lot to like in here too

[@JohnQSpartan]

CHOAM stands for 'Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles', they essentially control all economic affairs across the cosmos, although it relies upon the Spacing Guild for transport across space due to the Guild's monopoly on faster-than-light travel.

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thank you! I cannot wait for the movie to come out so I can learn some of this stuff, and come back to playing when I can feel a little more informed....

[@patrickruszkowski9182]

Great content, very clear camera angles. You missed grabbing some money at about the 1 hour mark

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thank you! I’ll get that annotated. Thanks a bunch!

[@mariusferreira1297]

Excellent play through, thank you so much

[@TomTeachesGames]

Thank YOU! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@simonb4689]

Best game of the year. Will look at your site for sure

[@simonb4689]

Holy fuck your DIY stuff is amazing

[@TomTeachesGames]

Well dang! That's the first I've heard that 😂 And I loved it! Thanks for taking the time to check it out! Hopefully you find some good stuff in there to build. Happy gaming/crafting!

[@JohnQSpartan]

This seems like a difficult game to multiplayer solitaire. Not due to the rules, but because it's hard to keep both strategies, and cards purchased straight in your head. I'm sure filming/teaching makes it even harder. Great video though, I enjoyed watching. Thanks.

[@TomTeachesGames]

Yeah -- it really was pretty tough to keep the all straight. No doubt. But I'm glad you enjoyed! Sorry for the delay in my responses.... with school started again, I'm pretty swamped with work stuff....

[@DaniCha]

At 36:38 do we always skip the rival bot turn even when they have a worker if human players begin their reveal?

[@TomTeachesGames]

So, I hope I understand your question.... The rival bot always goes after the starting player for the round, and will have the same number of workers as that starting player. This includes (I hope I’m right here) if the starting player gets their swordsman during a given round, (therefore one extra worker) then the bot would also use their third worker. The only thing the bot wouldn’t get is a worker for the mentat “worker”..... Nope that helps!

[@JohnQSpartan]

You might correct this later in the video, but Money = Solari

[@TomTeachesGames]

I'm constantly terrible at using proper game terminology.... I always default to "money' "dollars" and just saying the colors of various resources.... It's a curse.

[@jasonmountain4643]

I kept thinking of Sentari from the movie The Last Starfighter. 🤣