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Dune: Spice Wars News

Introducing: The Smugglers







As with any high yield market, the spice trade attracts all kinds of enterprising individuals. Those who want to avoid the reach of CHOAM turn to smugglers to acquire the precious substance, making them a major underground economic power in the Imperium.

And wherever there may be profit, there will be smugglers, just waiting to play their cards right…

The smugglers manage their own territory, with an armed force and some political influence. Their agents have their hands in the dealings of every planet, influencing public policies and trade everywhere.

After all, secretly, the ultimate goal of the Smugglers is to one day reach a state where their family will rise to become a Landsraad house in their own right.




Having been in the trade for many years, Esmar Tuek is the most respected Smuggler amongst his peers on Arrakis. With the outset of the spice war between the major houses, the smugglers have banded together under his leadership to defend their interests on the planet.

Esmar is a skillful spymaster, with ties to the Fremen, the Spacing Guild, and the Landsraad houses. He knows when to be tough with his employees and always respects a contract. His men are loyal to his gold, but also to his cunning business acumen.




Esmar Tuek has formed a reliable crew. All of his advisers’ loyalty has been tested time and time again through years of criminal operations. They are all dependable professionals who know their craft inside out.
  • Drisq is the loyal quartermaster of Esmar. She is taking care of the regular logistics of most of his smuggling operations. She manages the whole network of spies of Sietch Tuek.
  • Staban Tuek, the son of Esmar, has an innate sense of the political landscape of Arrakis. He has many connections in the Landsraad, and uses his deep pockets to influence the council in favourable ways.
  • Bannerjee is the head of security of Esmar’s enterprise. He knows all about the most dangerous individuals of the criminal underworld and leads his crews with a firm hand.
  • Lingar Bewt is specialised in the water trade. His control of this most essential resource gives him a lot of authority in the Pan and Graben villages.




Starting near the polar region, the smugglers are likely to encounter the other factions early. Luckily, this plays well with their unique capacity to infiltrate their opponents’ villages, profiting from their infrastructure and increasing their reach on Arrakis. It also puts them at an advantage to benefit from the trade of polar waters.

In all aspects of their development, Smugglers are specialists in optimising their economic outcomes. Parasitizing the development of their neighbours, embedding their underworld into the smallest furrows of their productions, they are renowned for their rapid and meticulous looting of even the smallest wealth of Arrakis.




The Smugglers are experts at focusing on vulnerable, easy prey and extracting the most of it. On the battlefield, they take some time to heat up. Their units reduce the supply of their targets throughout fights, and benefit from starving units, making them the best faction for long-lasting battles in neutral territories. They also excel at surprising armies returning home from a tough fight...

Their unique units include:
  • Scavengers are opportunist killers, who’ll do anything for an easy buck. They prefer to attack weak, starving units with their sharpened blades. Their strength increases when their target supplies diminish.
  • Wreckers use chemical weapons to reduce the supply of enemies in their area of attack, which makes them the perfect harassing unit, allowing their allies to comfortably loot the spoils.
  • Snipers, deadly marksmen with modified sniper rifles, have the longest attack range on Arrakis. Factoring in their camouflage, they are adept at finishing fleeing units.
  • Free Company are the most famous assassins and bounty hunters in the Imperium, equipped with dual swords and impressive stealth gear. Their versatility comes mainly from their ability to mimic the skills of their targets during fights.
  • The combat drone is a strong, extremely agile mechanical unit conceived for autonomous fighting, to support the Smuggler troops.


Dune: Spice Wars devs' tease the 4X game's third faction

The next Dune: Spice Wars faction reveal will happen "next week on Steam", according to developer Shiro Games. As for what the third faction will be, the team is strongly hinting that it may be the Fremen - if so, this would be the first time the native fighters will have been a full side in a Dune strategy game.


With Dune: Spice Wars being both the first 4X strategy game based on the franchise and still a bit of a mystery right now, developers from Shiro Games took to Reddit to answer a few questions fans might have. Responding to a query about further factions outside Harkonnen and Atreides, community director James Croucher says that the game's third faction will be revealed "next week on Steam".


Croucher offered the hint that fans should note, "emphasis on 'Factions' not 'Houses'". While there are hints that the next side could be the Emperor's House Corrino or even Dune 2's non-canon House Ordos, the developers strongly suggest that the third faction could be the planet's native Fremen.


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RELATED LINKS:

Dune: Spice Wars 4X gameplay reveals its first sandworm attack

Dune: Spice Wars reveals the first details on its villains

Dune: Spice Wars dev on Dune 2's House Ordos: "We'll see"

Dune: Spice Wars - Gameplay-Einblicke und Early-Access-Start im Frühling



Führt eure Fraktion in Frank Herberts revolutionärem Dune-Universum an, um die Vorherrschaft auf dem rauen Wüstenplaneten Arrakis zu erringen.

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Dune: Spice Wars 4X gameplay reveals its first sandworm attack

The first glimpse of Dune: Spice Wars gameplay has been shown off in a new trailer, giving fans an initial look at how the promising 4X strategy game is going to play. The Dune gameplay trailer shows how players will go about their conquest of the planet Arrakis, alongside the reveal of how one of the series' iconic sandworm attacks will occur in Spice Wars.


Following its announcement at the 2021 Game Awards, its developers have stated that Dune: Spice Wars will be more of a 4X-RTS strategy game hybrid than previous Dune games - such as Dune 2, which was arguably the template for the entire RTS genre. However, while Northgard developer Spiro Games has released bits and pieces of information, this is the first time it has released any actual gameplay.


You can watch the gameplay trailer below, and it shows the major influence of 4X strategy games on Dune: Spice Wars - as players are tasked with sending scouts and armies out into the sands of Arrakis and slowly conquering territories while fending off attacks from rival Houses.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Dune: Spice Wars reveals the first details on its villains

Dune: Spice Wars dev on Dune 2's House Ordos: "We'll see"

Dune: Spice Wars is a hybrid RTS-4X game from the developers of Northgard

Dune: Spice Wars is an exciting mix of RTS combat and political maneuvering




Dune: Spice Wars is an RTS set on the desert planet we've seen so much of in the books, movies, and other Dune games, but excitingly, it's not just about pushing an army around: It also involves the alliances and economies of Dune's broader galaxy. During a recent hands-off demonstration, I watched as a House Atreides player spread out from a single starting territory to explore the surface of Arrakis while also engaging in imperial intrigue, something you can glimpse in the new trailer above...
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