Dune: Imperium – Uprising
Dune Imperium Uprising Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- ACROSS THE IMPERIUM
- GAME COMPONENTS
- SETUP
- GAME OVERVIEW AND MAJOR CONCEPTS
- DECK-BUILDING
- AGENTS
- FACTIONS
- INTRIGUE CARDS
- ROUND STRUCTURE
- CHOAM MODULE
- CLARIFICATIONS
- STRATEGY TIPS
- COMBINING UPRISING WITH OTHER DUNE: IMPERIUM PRODUCTS
ACROSS THE IMPERIUM
DUNE: IMPERIUM — UPRISING is a deck-building worker placement game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the films from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.
Note: The game comes with multiple leaders from some of the Great Houses. For the most authentic story experience, more than one leader from the same House shouldn’t be used in the same game. But the game is also designed to allow nonstandard leader combinations and “What If?” scenarios.
Shaddam IV of House Corrino is the ruthless Emperor of the Known Universe. Through inroads with him, your wealth will increase and you may be granted assistance from his elite military—the Sardaukar.
The Spacing Guild has a monopoly on foldspace travel. Their massive heighliners can deliver critical supplies and large numbers of troops, if you can afford to pay the high price they ask in spice.
The intrigues and machinations of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and their generations-long planning are everywhere in the Imperium, seen and unseen.
The harsh landscape of Dune has molded the Fremen into fierce warriors. You may seek to befriend them to amass desert power and the incredible ability to ride sandworms into battle.
The Emperor presides over the Landsraad, the governing body that represents the Great Houses of the Imperium. It’s no coincidence that Solari goes a long way here at making connections, earning favors, or gaining a permanent strategic advantage.
The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles (or simply CHOAM) is a massive commercial organization that spans the Imperium. Filling their trade contracts yields Solari, the main currency of the Imperium, while selling them your spice brings even greater payoffs and strengthens important political pacts.
The populated areas of Dune are important sites from which to stage any military campaigns, as you can muster troops at most of these locations. And some of the locations (along with Imperial Basin) are protected from the sandworms by a mighty shield wall of solid rock.
The deserts of Dune are where you’ll harvest the most precious substance in the Imperium: the spice melange. They are also home to colossal sandworms. Spice harvesters must flee when they approach, but those who master the ways of the Fremen and their maker hooks might have other plans…
GAME COMPONENTS
Two-sided game board
20 water
Solari 8 large (worth 5) 20 small (worth 1)
Spice 7 large (worth 5) 20 small (worth 1)
Sandworms, 4 plastic, 4 wood. Use either or both, as you prefer
First Player marker
4 Alliance tokens
Shield Wall
4 Maker Hooks
18 Reserve cards - 8 Prepare the Way, 10 The Spice Must Flow
69 Imperium Deck cards - (including 4 used only with the CHOAM module)
9 Leaders - Two-sided (including 1 used only with the CHOAM module)
16 Conflict cards - 3 Conflict I; 9 Conflict II; 4 Conflict III
44 Intrigue cards (including 4 used only with the CHOAM module)
5 Objective cards
Feyd token Used with the Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Leader
Board Space Guide sheet
PLAYER COMPONENTS
10-card starting deck Containing:
- Convincing Argument (2)
- Dagger (2)
- Diplomacy (1)
- Dune, the Desert Planet (2)
- Reconnaissance (1)
- Seek Allies (1)
- Signet Ring (1)
16 cubes
2 discs - 1 Score marker; 1 Councilor token
3 Spies
3 Control markers
3 Agents
Combat marker
For games with one or two players, see the additional components and rules in the Rivals rules supplement.
For games with six players, see the additional components and rules in the Six-Player Games rules supplement.
SETUP
A. Place the game board in your play area (with the side shown face up), and then place the following components on it:
- Place the Shield Wall token in the marked area below the Spice Refinery board space.
- Place the four Alliance tokens on the marked areas of the Faction’s Influence tracks (Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, and Fremen).
B. Create a Conflict Deck:
Separate the Conflict cards by their backs: Conflict I, Conflict II, and Conflict III.
Shuffle the four Conflict III cards and place all of them face down in the marked area of the game board.
Shuffle the nine Conflict II cards, then deal five face down on top of the Conflict III cards.
Shuffle the three Conflict I cards, then deal one face down on top of the Conflict II cards.
You should now have a 10-card Conflict Deck on the game board, with one Conflict I card on top, five Conflict II cards below it, then the four Conflict III cards on the bottom. Return the unused Conflict cards to the game box without looking at them.
C. Prepare the following cards along the edge of the game board. (If you’re not using the CHOAM module described on page 16, omit any cards marked with a TODO.)
- Shuffle the Intrigue Deck and place it face down.
- Shuffle the Imperium Deck and place it face down. From it, deal five cards face up to form an Imperium Row.
- Next to the Imperium Row, place the Reserve cards in two stacks: one for Prepare the Way and one for The Spice Must Flow.
D. Each player takes a Leader and places it in front of them. (You may choose or select at random.) Do not use Shaddam Corrino IV unless you are using the CHOAM module.
Leaders have from one to three icons after their names. Leaders with more icons are more strategically complex. For your first game, it is recommended that each player chooses a Leader with just one icon.
E. Each player takes a 10-card starting deck, shuffles it, and places it face down in their supply to the left of their Leader.
F1. Each player takes 1 water and places it in their supply.
F2. Create a bank next to the game board containing the Solari, spice, remaining water tokens, and the sandworms you prefer (either wood, plastic, or both). These are not meant to be limited; if you run out and need more, make any convenient substitution. Also, add the 4 Maker Hooks tokens to the bank.
G. Each player chooses a color and takes all of its components.
- Place two of your Agents on your Leader. Place your third Agent (your Swordmaster) next to the game board.
- Place one of your two discs on the Score track. In a 4-player game, place it on the 1 space. Otherwise, place it on the 0 space.
- Place your Combat marker (with the side shown at the right face up) on the 0 space of the Combat track.
- Place four cubes, one each, on the bottom spaces of the Influence tracks of the four Factions.
- The other 12 cubes represent your troops. Place three in one of the four circular garrisons on the game board (each player taking the one closest to them).
- Place your remaining components in your supply, in clear view of all players.
H. Shuffle the Objective cards. (Some are marked “1-3P” or “4/6P,” for those numbers of players. Omit any that don’t match your player count, returning them to the game box.)
Each player draws one Objective at random, then places it face up in their supply. The player whose Objective shows the First Player marker takes that marker.
In step A, there is no Mentat; place the Shield Wall token on the board instead. In step C3, there are no Foldspace cards. Sandworms and Maker Hooks are placed in the bank in step F2. Spies are added to the components each player takes in step G. Objective cards are distributed in step H, and these determine the first player.
GAME OVERVIEW AND MAJOR CONCEPTS
OBJECTIVE
You are a Leader representing one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad (or another powerful figure on the galactic stage). Defeat your rivals in Combat, wield political Influence, and form alliances with the four major Factions. Your successes will be measured in Victory Points.
Whenever you gain or lose a Victory Point, move your Score marker up or down one space on the Score track. At the end of a round, if any player has reached 10 or more Victory Points (or if the Conflict Deck is empty), the game ends, and whoever has the most Victory Points wins.
LEADERS
Each Leader has two different unique abilities:
The first, on the left, is used during play as described on the Leader.
The second, on the right and marked by the Signet Ring icon, is activated when you play your Signet Ring card on one of your Agent turns.
DECK-BUILDING
You start the game with a 10-card deck containing the same cards as the other players. Adding to and changing that deck is the key element of play in a deck-building game. During each round, you may acquire new cards to add to your deck. Because cards do many different things, each player’s deck and strategy will diverge from the others as the game unfolds.
Whenever you acquire a new Imperium or Reserve card, it is first placed in your discard pile. Any time you’re unable to draw a card because your deck is empty, you reshuffle your discard pile to form a new deck, then continue to draw as needed.
There are also ways to “trash” cards, removing them from your deck altogether for the rest of the game. By strategically removing weaker cards from your deck, you increase the chances of drawing your stronger cards more often.
AGENTS
You start the game with two Agents (and can gain a third during play). You send Agents to spaces on the game board, sometimes gathering resources, sometimes paying resources to advance your strategy. (This is explained fully in Phase 2: Player Turns, while board spaces are described in detail in the separate Board Space Guide sheet.) In DUNE: IMPERIUM — UPRISING, Agents and cards are tightly linked; you can’t send an Agent to a board space without first playing a card that allows it.
There is no Mentat Agent in UPRISING.
FACTIONS
In DUNE: IMPERIUM — UPRISING, the four Factions represent powerful forces on Dune and elsewhere in the Imperium. Increasing your Influence and earning an Alliance with one or more of them is one of the key routes to victory in the game. See “Across the Imperium” on Page 2 for short descriptions of each of the Factions.
Your Faction cubes begin at the bottom of each Faction’s Influence track. Throughout the game, your Influence with a Faction will increase or decrease, depending on the cards you play and the actions you take. When you send an Agent to a Faction’s board space, gain one Influence with that Faction by advancing your cube one space on its Influence track. Other game effects can also move your cube up (and occasionally down) the track.
When you reach 2 Influence with a Faction, you gain a Victory Point. If you drop back below 2 Influence, you lose that Victory Point.
When you reach 4 Influence, you earn the bonus shown on that space of the track. If you drop back below 4 Influence, you do not give back the bonus. (It’s possible—though unusual—to earn the same bonus more than once, if you move back then advance again.)
The first player to reach 4 Influence with a Faction also earns an Alliance with that Faction. They take the Alliance token from the track, put it in their supply, and gain the Victory Point shown on the Alliance token. If they are ever passed by an opponent rising to a higher space on the track, they must give the Alliance token to that opponent; they lose that Victory Point and the opponent gains it.
INTRIGUE CARDS
Intrigue cards represent subterfuge, backroom dealings, and surprise twists— they can provide resources like water or spice, increase your Influence with a Faction, or even score Victory Points. Each Intrigue card indicates when it can be played, what effect it has, and whether there are costs or conditions to playing it.
You receive Intrigue cards primarily from board spaces such as Secrets, Sardaukar, and Assembly Hall. (But look for other opportunities on cards, wherever you see the Intrigue card icon.) They are kept face down, separate from your deck. You may look at them at any time. Reveal them to your opponents only when you play them. Once an Intrigue card is played and resolved, place it face up in a discard pile next to the Intrigue Deck.
There are three types of Intrigue cards: Plot, Combat, and Endgame.
- You may play a Plot Intrigue card any time during one of your Agent or Reveal turns.
- You may play a Combat Intrigue card only during Combat.
- You may play an Endgame Intrigue card only at the end of the game.
ROUND STRUCTURE
DUNE: IMPERIUM — UPRISING is played in a series of rounds. Each round consists of five phases, in this order:
- Round Start
- Player Turns - Agent Turn, Reveal Turn
- Combat
- Makers
- Recall
PHASE 1: ROUND START
Each round begins by revealing a new Conflict card from the top of the Conflict Deck. Place it face up in the space next to the Conflict Deck (on top of any Conflict cards that might remain from previous rounds).
Next, each player draws five cards from their own deck, forming their hand for the round.
PHASE 2: PLAYER TURNS
Starting with the player who has the First Player marker and continuing clockwise, players take one turn at a time.
On your turn, you will take either an Agent turn or a Reveal turn. These types of turns are detailed over the next five pages. Generally, you will take Agent turns until you run out of Agents to place, then you will take a Reveal turn. (Note that Agent turns are optional. If you choose to, you can take a Reveal turn while you still have Agents instead of taking an Agent turn.)
Once you’ve taken a Reveal turn, your turns are skipped for the rest of the phase, while other players finish taking their turns. Once all players have taken a Reveal turn, this phase ends.
You may play any Plot Intrigue cards you have during this phase, at any point during one of your own Agent or Reveal turns.
The effects of each card in your deck are divided into two parts: an Agent box and a Reveal box. On any given turn, you may use the effects contained in only one of those boxes: the Agent box during an Agent turn, or the Reveal box during a Reveal turn.
PLAYER TURN – AGENT TURN
In an Agent turn, you play one card from your hand face up in front of you, using it to send an Agent from your Leader to an unoccupied space on the game board. This board space must have an icon in its upper left corner matching one of the Agent icons on the card. (Though Spies, explained on page 11, provide an alternative to this.)
You must choose only one Agent icon on your card; one card can’t send multiple Agents.
You can’t send an Agent to a board space that already has one. (Though Spies, explained on page 11, can provide a way around this.)
You must pay any costs and meet any requirements of the board space you choose.
In addition, the Agent box of the card you played may provide an effect when you play it on an Agent turn. (You ignore the Reveal box of the card during Agent turns.)
If a card does not have any Agent icons on it, you may not play it during an Agent turn. It may only be revealed during a Reveal turn.
Board Space Costs
To send an Agent to some board spaces, you must pay a cost. If you can’t pay the cost immediately (before resolving any effects of the space or the card you played), you can’t send your Agent there.
Here are the two Fremen spaces on the game board. The top space, “Desert Tactics,” requires that you pay 1 water to send an Agent there.
The bottom space, “Fremkit,” has no additional cost.
Influence Requirements
To send an Agent to certain board spaces, you must have enough Influence with a particular Faction.
- Imperial Privilege requires 2 or more Influence with the Emperor.
- Shipping requires 2 or more Influence with the Spacing Guild.
- Sietch Tabr requires 2 or more Influence with the Fremen.
When you play a card and send an Agent to a board space, you gain the effects of the board space as well as the effects contained in the Agent box of the card. If the board space belongs to one of the Factions, you also move your cube one space up on its Influence track. You may carry out all these effects in any order.
Some card effects are written out, but many are iconized. Refer to the separate Board Space Guide sheet for an explanation of all board spaces, and the back cover of the rulebook for a guide to all game icons and additional game terms.
Arrows on cards and on the board indicate that there is a cost (left of the arrow, or above it) you must pay to get the effect (right of the arrow, or below it). You are never forced to pay such a cost. However, if you don’t, you won’t gain the effect. You may only pay the cost and gain the effect once during your turn.
There are additional board spaces requiring 2 Influence with a Faction, and a new Agent icon (Spy).
Units and Conflict
At the start of each round, the current Conflict card is revealed, offering rewards for which the players will compete in Combat. Players will need to deploy units to fight for these rewards. There are two types of units: troops and sandworms.
The RISE OF IX expansion includes another type of unit, called dreadnoughts.
Whenever the cube icon appears on a card or board space, you recruit one troop. Take a troop from your supply and place it in your garrison on the game board. (If you run out of troops in your supply, you can’t recruit more until some return there.)
Units won’t help you win combats while in your garrison, however. You may deploy them to a Conflict when you send an Agent to a Combat space. Combat spaces are board spaces that feature a desert illustration and crossed swords. While most of these appear on the planet Dune itself, three appear with the Factions: one with the Spacing Guild (Heighliner) and two with the Fremen (Desert Tactics and Fremkit).
When you send an Agent to a Combat space, you may deploy units to the Conflict area—the area of the game board in the center of the garrisons. You may deploy any or all units recruited during your current turn (including from the board space and from the card you played), plus up to two more units from your garrison. (The Conflict area is divided into quadrants. Keep your deployed units in the quadrant nearest to your garrison.)
Whenever the sandworm icon appears on a card or board space, you summon and immediately deploy a sandworm to the Conflict. (A sandworm can never be placed in a garrison.) Two restrictions also limit the summoning of sandworms:
- First, the sandworm icon is usually prefaced by a requirement to have a Maker Hooks token on your garrison (which can be obtained at Sietch Tabr).
- Second, a sandworm can’t be summoned to a Conflict protected by the Shield Wall. (See Critical Locations and the Shield Wall.)
Critical Locations and the Shield Wall Some Conflict cards (explained more in Phase 3: Combat) represent a struggle taking place at one of three locations on Dune: Arrakeen, Spice Refinery, or Imperial Basin (based on the card’s title). If you win such a Conflict, your rewards include control of the board space: take a Control marker from your supply and place it on the flag below the appropriate space.
While your Control marker is on one of these spaces, you receive the bonus shown whenever any player (yourself included) sends an Agent there. The bonus is 1 Solari for Arrakeen or Spice Refinery, and 1 spice for Imperial Basin.
When a Conflict card is revealed for a space that you already control, you receive a defensive bonus: you may deploy one troop from your supply to the Conflict.
These three important locations are protected from storms and sandworms by a Shield Wall, a token placed on the board during setup. While this token remains in place, no sandworms can be summoned to a Conflict at one of these three protected locations. However, it is possible for a player to blast a hole in the Shield Wall.
When the Shield Wall detonation icon appears on a card or board space, you may remove the Shield Wall token from its place on the board (returning it to the box). Once this token has been removed, sandworms may be summoned to any Conflict.
Sandworms are a new type of unit, detailed in the final three paragraphs at the left. The Shield Wall protects against their use, as detailed in the final two paragraphs above.
Spies
Across the board are various observation posts where players may place Spies. Each of these is connected to one or more board spaces.
Whenever the Spy icon appears on a card or board space, you may place a Spy from your supply on an unoccupied observation post on the board. If you have no Spies in your supply when you need to place one, you may first recall one of your Spies for no effect.
Some effects allowing you to place a Spy (like the one from the Lady Margot Fenring Leader, pictured at the right) specify a particular Agent icon that must be connected to the observation post, or you can’t place the Spy.
When the Recall Spy icon appears on a card, you may return one of your Spies from an observation post to your supply. (This will usually be a cost to get a powerful effect.)
A Spy may also be recalled (without the use of a card), for one of two effects:
Infiltrate: If you wish to send an Agent to a board space occupied by another player, you may recall your own Spy from a connected observation post to ignore the other player’s Agent and send your Agent to that same board space.
Gather Intelligence: Whenever you send an Agent to a board space, you may recall your own Spy from a connected observation post to draw a card. You must choose whether to do this immediately after placing your Agent (before receiving any effects of the board space or card you played).
You cannot recall the same Spy to both Infiltrate and Gather Intelligence. (Though on certain spaces, like the Research Station, you may be able to recall one Spy to Infiltrate and another Spy to Gather Intelligence.)
The Spy Agent icon allows you to send an Agent to a board space connected to an observation post where you currently have a Spy. You do not recall the Spy for this purpose.
Spies are a new element of the game, detailed above.
PLAYER TURN – REVEAL TURN
When a player has no more Agents for Agent turns (or chooses not to use any Agents they have remaining), that player takes a Reveal turn. This consists of the following steps in order: Reveal Cards, Resolve Reveal Effects, and Clean Up.
REVEAL CARDS
Reveal all cards remaining in your hand, placing them face up in play in front of you. Keep them separate from other cards you played previously on Agent turns.
RESOLVE REVEAL EFFECTS
You now gain the effects in the Reveal boxes of all the cards you just revealed (but not those of any cards you played during Agent turns earlier in the round).
You may resolve Reveal effects in any order you like. In addition, you may use Persuasion that you’ve gained to acquire new cards for your deck before, between, or after your Reveal effects.
Setting Your Strength
After you Reveal Cards, but before you Clean Up, you also total your strength for the Combat this round.
Each unit you have in the Conflict adds to your strength. (Units in your garrison or supply contribute nothing.) Each troop is worth 2 strength. Each sandworm is worth 3 strength.
Each sword you revealed during your Reveal turn is worth 1 strength.
You must have at least one unit in the Conflict to have any strength. If your last unit is ever removed, your strength becomes 0.
When you’ve totaled your strength, announce it to your opponents and move your Combat marker to the corresponding space on the Combat track. If your strength is over 20, flip the marker to the +20 side and start again from the beginning of the track.
CLEAN UP
Remove all the cards from in front of you (from your Agent and Reveal turns) and put them in your discard pile.
Acquiring Cards
The Persuasion you gain during a round is used during your Reveal turn to acquire new cards for your deck. You may acquire any of the five cards in the Imperium Row, or Prepare the Way or The Spice Must Flow from the Reserve.
The cost to acquire a card is shown at the top right of that card. You may acquire as many cards as you like, as long as you have enough Persuasion to spend. You may pool Persuasion from multiple sources (cards and board spaces) to acquire one card, and may split Persuasion from a single source to pay for different cards. Persuasion is not represented by any tokens because you can never save it; any Persuasion you don’t use during your Reveal turn is lost.
When you acquire a card, place it in your discard pile (face up to the right of your Leader). You don’t get to use the new card right away; you will shuffle it along with the rest of your discard pile when you run out of cards to draw.
The Imperium Row must always have five cards; whenever it does not, replace missing cards from the top of the Imperium Deck. This means that after you acquire one card, you may then acquire the card that replaces it (if you have enough Persuasion).
Setting Your Strength is no longer an explicit step between “Resolve Reveal Effects” and “Clean Up.” Set strength at any point while resolving reveal effects, and update it as needed. This distinction allows cards like the new Gurney Halleck Leader to reference your strength during your Reveal turn.
PHASE 3: COMBAT
Combat is resolved during this phase, but first, players have the chance to play Combat Intrigue cards.
COMBAT INTRIGUE CARDS
Starting with the player who has the First Player marker and continuing clockwise, each player with at least one unit in the Conflict may play any number of Combat Intrigue cards, or may pass.
You are not required to pass just because you passed earlier in the Combat phase. Once all players involved in Combat pass consecutively, you then resolve the Combat.
If a card changes the number of units a player has in the Conflict (or otherwise alters their strength), they adjust their Combat marker accordingly on the Combat track. (Remember: if you have no units in the Conflict, your strength is 0.)
RESOLVE COMBAT
Rewards from the Conflict card are given to players based on their strength, as shown on the Combat track.
The player with the highest strength wins the Conflict and gains the first reward on the Conflict card. The player with the second highest strength gains the second reward. In a game with four (or six) players, the player with the third highest strength gains the third reward. (With three or fewer players, the third reward is used only in a tie for second place, as described in the box at the right.) Finally, the winner takes the Conflict card, places it in their supply face up, then checks for a battle icon match (see Battle Icons below).
A player with 0 strength does not receive any reward.
Refer to this rulebook’s back cover for a guide to the icons used on Conflict cards.
Once all rewards have been given, each player takes their troops from the Conflict and puts them in their supply (not their garrison). Reset all Combat markers to 0 on the Combat track. Return any sandworms from the Conflict to the bank.
Battle Icons
There are three battle icons: Crysknife, Desert Mouse, and Ornithopter. When you win a Conflict and take that card into your supply, check if you have another face-up Conflict or Objective card in your supply with the same battle icon. If you do, you must flip the matching pair of cards face down and gain 1 Victory Point.
Sandworm Reward Doubling
When taking rewards, if you have one or more sandworms in the Conflict, double the rewards you take. Most rewards can be doubled (but taking control of a location cannot, nor can battle icons on Conflict cards you win). When a reward offers the option to pay a cost to gain something, you may pay the cost a second time to gain it a second time.
Ties
When any number of players tie for first place:
- They each gain the second reward. No one wins the Conflict or takes the Conflict card into their supply.
- If there are three or fewer players, no other rewards are given for the Conflict. In a game with four (or six) players, if three or more of them tied for first place, no other rewards are given; however, if exactly two players tied for first place, the remaining players compete to gain the third reward.
When any number of players tie for second place, they each gain the third reward. The winner of the Conflict keeps their rewards (and takes the Conflict card into their supply), but no further rewards are given.
When any number of players tie for third place, they receive nothing.
Battle Icons and Sandworm Reward Doubling bring new strategic considerations to Combat. After other rewards are taken, the winner of a Conflict takes the Conflict card into their supply and checks for a battle icon match. Sandworms are returned to the bank after combat.
PHASE 4: MAKERS
In this phase, spice can accumulate on Maker board spaces. Check each of the board spaces with a Maker icon: Deep Desert, Hagga Basin, and Imperial Basin. (In a six-player game, there is another: Habbanya Erg.) If the space does not have an Agent, place 1 spice from the bank on that space (in the spot designated for bonus spice). This spice is added to any bonus spice that may already be there from previous rounds.
PHASE 5: RECALL
If any player is at 10 or more Victory Points on the Score track, or if the Conflict Deck is empty, the Endgame is triggered.
If no one has won, prepare the next round:
- Players recall their Agents, returning them to their Leaders.
- Pass the First Player marker clockwise to the next player, then begin a new round with Phase 1.
ENDGAME
First, you may play and resolve any Endgame Intrigue cards you have. Then whoever has the most Victory Points is declared the winner.
If the case of a tie, tiebreakers are, in order: amount of spice, Solari, water, and garrisoned troops.
CHOAM MODULE
DUNE: IMPERIUM — UPRISING comes with a mini-expansion called the CHOAM Module. We recommend that you play without it at least once to familiarize yourself with the game. When you feel comfortable, you can add the CHOAM Module for more strategic depth.
SETUP
Add or modify the following steps of your setup:
A3 Shuffle the 20 contracts face down, then fl ip two of them face up and place them on the marked spaces on the board beneath the Landsraad Council. Place the remaining 18 face down in the bank.
C1 Shuffle the four additional Intrigue cards into your Intrigue Deck.
C2 Shuffle the four additional Imperium cards into your Imperium Deck.
D A player has the option to choose Shaddam Corrino IV as their Leader. (Though this is not required.)
TAKING CONTRACTS
When playing without the CHOAM Module, the contract icon means that you simply gain 2 Solari, as indicated on the board. But when playing with the CHOAM Module, this icon means that you take one of the two face-up contracts on the board and place it in your supply. When you take one, replace it with another contract from the bank, flipped face up. (If all contracts have been taken by players, the icon reverts to giving you 2 Solari.)
COMPLETING CONTRACTS
A contract represents your promise to fulfill a service for the CHOAM Corporation. Only when you have made good on that promise will you receive a “payment.”
- Most contracts name a specific board space, and are completed by sending an Agent to that space.
- A Harvest contract is completed by sending an Agent to a Maker board space and gaining the amount of spice shown during that turn (in total, including from sources other than the space itself).
- The Immediate contract is completed as soon as you take it.
- The Acquire The Spice Must Flow contract is completed when you next acquire that card.
When you complete a contract, announce that you have done so, gain the rewards it shows, then flip it face down. Leave it in your supply, as certain cards refer to “completed contracts.”
If you take a contract involving the board space where you’ve already sent your Agent this turn, you must wait until a future turn to complete the contract. (That is, you must have had the contract at the time you sent your Agent.)
Playing the CHOAM Module with RISE OF IX
The RISE OF IX expansion replaces one of the locations on the UPRISING board where you can take a new contract. To compensate and jumpstart the completion of contracts, UPRISING includes 10 additional contracts (with different backs) to use specifically when playing with RISE OF IX.
After setting up the 20 standard contracts, shuffle the 10 RISE OF IX contracts and give two to each player. Each player looks at the two they’ve been given, choosing simultaneously which contract they want to begin the game with (placing it face up in their supply). Return all of the unchosen RISE OF IX contracts to the box.
CLARIFICATIONS
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen — During setup, place the Feyd token on the leftmost space of the Training track printed on the Leader. When the token reaches the rightmost space, it remains there for the rest of the game.
Lady Jessica — You begin the game with this side of the Leader (not Reverend Mother Jessica) face up.
Lady Margot Fenring / Princess Irulan — You “reach” 2 Influence even when you move past 2 while gaining multiple Influence at the same time. You can reach 2 Influence with the same Faction more than once per game by losing Influence and later regaining it— though you only reach 2 Influence when moving up the Influence track, not down.
Shaddam Corrino IV — When you play your Signet Ring to send an Agent to a board space, the Emperor of the Known Universe restriction on deploying units to the Conflict takes effect immediately.
Spacing Guild’s Favor — Moving this card from in play to your discard pile during Clean Up does not trigger the discard ability. Only discarding it from your hand triggers the ability.
STRATEGY TIPS
Water is rare and precious on Dune, and essential to harvesting the valuable spice. The Spacing Guild can provide vital supplies, if you find yourself in need. An alternative approach is to gain the favor of the Fremen and visit Sietch Tabr.
Spice is a versatile substance and there are many ways to use it. Three Factions provide valuable services in exchange for varying amounts of spice.
Solari is the currency of the Imperium and greases the workings of the Landsraad Council. Whether you’re looking to make upgrades in the form of a Swordmaster or High Council seat, or just need some additional troops, don’t come empty-handed.
Remember, when you’re acquiring cards for your deck, part of what you’re paying for is access to the various Factions. Take care not to leave yourself without the right tools to send Agents to key board spaces.
Gaining 2 Influence with a Faction not only provides a Victory Point, but also unlocks a unique ability related to that Faction. For the Emperor, Spacing Guild, and Fremen, a new board space will become available. For the Bene Gesserit, several cards become stronger. Try to unlock some of these abilities quickly and use them to your advantage.
When it comes to winning Conflicts, position is everything. The longer you can wait to commit your units, the more information you’ll have when you do so and the less opportunity your opponents will have to react.
Sometimes in a Conflict, a lesser victory achieved at a lower cost can be more valuable than a greater victory dearly bought.
Intrigue cards mean you can never be too certain which way a Conflict is going to break.
Gaining an Alliance with one of the Factions can be a powerful asset on your path to victory. Watch out for other players trying to race past you, and don’t miss an opportunity to do the same to them!
Spies can provide a sense of security; their Infiltrate ability means you can’t be blocked from sending an Agent to a space they are spying on. However, don’t be shy about recalling them to Gather Intelligence—especially when you have multiple Spies in the field.
The sandworms of Dune are powerful forces of nature. However, with the aid of the Fremen, it is possible to become a sandrider. This process requires some time, so if you go down this path, you may find yourself behind other players in the middle of the game. Be sure to realize your investment by summoning sandworms whenever you have an opportunity to secure rewards from a Conflict. Even if you don’t win a Conflict, doubling second or third place rewards can be important!
COMBINING UPRISING WITH OTHER DUNE: IMPERIUM PRODUCTS
DUNE: IMPERIUM — UPRISING is compatible with all previous DUNE: IMPERIUM products.
ADDING RISE OF IX
- During setup, keep the CHOAM board overlay folded in half and cover only the top-right corner of the UPRISING board. This will create a new CHOAM section and cover the Assembly Hall and Gather Support board spaces in the Landsraad, while leaving the rest of the Landsraad board spaces in UPRISING unchanged.
- Because RISE OF IX was produced before UPRISING, the CHOAM board overlay and Ix board don’t have observation posts printed on them. Play as if there is one observation post on each of those boards: one observation post connects to Interstellar Shipping and Smuggling and the other connects to Tech Negotiation and Dreadnought.
- We recommend that you do not add the Conflict cards from RISE OF IX. You may do so if you wish, but it will make matching battle icons slightly harder. (However, you will need one additional Conflict III card to play the Epic Game Mode. In this situation, you should add Economic Supremacy.)
- Using Ilesa Ecaz requires the Foldspace cards from DUNE: IMPERIUM. (Allow Ilesa Ecaz to acquire Foldspace cards, even though they can’t be acquired by anyone else.)
ADDING IMMORTALITY
- Although the Research Station in UPRISING is different from the one on the original DUNE: IMPERIUM game board, you should still cover it with the Research Station overlay.
COMBINING WITH BASE DUNE: IMPERIUM
- We recommend that you don’t add the Conflict cards from DUNE: IMPERIUM. You may do so if you wish, but it will make matching battle icons harder.
- As there is no Mentat in UPRISING, you should remove the Calculated Hire Intrigue card (and the Sort Through the Chaos Conflict card, if you’ve chosen to use the Conflict cards from DUNE: IMPERIUM).
- You may shuffle all other Intrigue and Imperium cards with UPRISING if you wish, or create your own custom blend of select DUNE: IMPERIUM and UPRISING cards.