Lesson Learned in Dune: War for Arrakis

Master the Atreides faction in Dune: War for Arrakis. Learn strategies, strengths, and tactics to lead House Atreides to victory in this epic board game.

I had another opportunity to play Dune: War of Arrakis, this time exploring the Atreides faction while battling the Harkonnens. An old friend of mine bought the game and has recently learned how to play it. Currently, we’re the only two in our group who are familiar with the game.

I’ll share my strategic approach, the key challenges I’ve faced, and the important lesson I’ve learned from leaving my sietches vulnerable while focusing on the secret objectives.

I decided to play as the Atreides because I wanted to explore the desert and tackle their secret objectives. I wasn’t particularly eager to engage in battles, especially against the Harkonnens, whose larger army felt intimidating. The Harkonnens’ strategy involves emerging from their settlements to launch attacks on the Setiches.

I began concentrating on the secret objectives, achieving several at once while biding my time for the Harkonnens to emerge from their settlements and strike. Several battles ensued, and I successfully won, taking out some of their units. My aim was to decrease their units and eventually infiltrate their settlements to gather tokens that would accelerate my progress on the Prescience track.

In the desert, I chose not to focus on attacking their harvesters to conserve my desert actions. On one occasion, I did attack a few to accomplish a secret objective, but they managed to deploy additional harvesters with one of their actions.

Halfway through the game, I struggled with the secret objectives and found myself slowing down. I couldn’t complete them because I was running out of actions while trying to protect my Setiches. I began feeling overwhelmed by the numerous decisions I had to make. The Harkonnens increased their attacks, leading to continuous battles that were depleting their units and intensifying the game.

Feeling trapped on the outskirts of the desert, I realized that my only option was to invade some settlements hoping to advance on the Prescience track. I began blocking their access to the Setiches, the invasion started spreading towards the Harkonnens. With more of my setiches left unprotected in the desert, I advanced into their settlements. My opponent felt increasingly constrained, as if I had him in a headlock.

On his turn, he revealed a planned action card. I don’t recall the exact wording, but it was something like, “Move 3 units anywhere in the desert!” While he was reading it, I focused on my next move. Suddenly, I noticed 3 units being placed adjacent to each of my 3 empty Setiches! Where on earth did that card come from? This is impossible!

I quickly verified each token number to determine how much he would advance and which one was most crucial to protect. With only one deployment action left, I was capable of defending only one of the three Setiches. Fast forward, he did his attack, it was all over.

From this experience, I learned a crucial lesson: never leave your setiches unguarded! Not even one! Use your sandridng actions and ride back to your Setiches. The game’s diverse paths to victory and the potent planned action cards can significantly influence the outcome. Both the Atreides and Harkonnens have unique abilities and strategies, reflecting their roles in the Dune universe. The Atreides focus on progressing along the Prescience track through objectives, which can open up opportunities for the Harkonnens to exploit if the Atreides make poor decisions.

Until next time, we’ll see how things unfold with the Atredies.