Dune: Spice Wars

Dune: Spice Wars is a global strategy game where the player controls one of the factions fighting for Arrakis. The planet is almost entirely covered with sand, and a war is going on over spice. Sandstorms obscure troop movements and disrupt supplies. The map is divided into sectors, and the borders are guarded by forts. The sectors are connected by roads, and supply flows along them. Regions must be captured and held, and local villages provide workers and income. Spice is collected by combines, and every trip to the desert risks ending in an encounter with a sandworm. Harvesters require protection, otherwise the spice will go to the neighbors. Water is extracted from wells and preserved like a spice. The spice is exchanged for water and equipment through traders. The economy is based on water: it is saved, extracted and exchanged, and errors in calculations hit the army. Diplomacy and Landsraad allow you to put pressure on rivals with decrees and votes. A voice in the Landsraad costs money and influence. Voting allows you to cancel other people's decisions and introduce your own. Alliances tend to be short-lived and agreements are easy to break. Espionage, ornithopters, and mercenaries add ways to influence neighbors. Updates brought new factions, units and rules. Mercenaries serve for a limited time and then leave. Supplying an army requires supplies and warehouses close to the front. Special operations weaken the enemy without a major war. For those who like a slow fight for resources, this Arrakis is suitable. Ornithopters scout the desert from the air. The sandworm responds to the vibration of the equipment. Victory in a campaign depends more on endurance and calculation than on numbers.