Dune: Imperium Influence and Alliances: Racing the Four Tracks

Four Faction tracks hold up to 8 Victory Points in Dune: Imperium: one for reaching 2 Influence on each track, and one for each of the four Alliance tokens. In a game that ends at 10, that is most of a win. This lesson is about reading the tracks as races and spending your Agents on the steps that matter.

The track, step by step

The rulebook and the FAQ give each track six spaces, from 0 to 5 Influence. Each step does something different:

So the scoring steps are the second and the fourth. The others are investments, and an investment is only worth it if you collect.

Cheap steps and dear steps

Every visit to a Faction space gives one step. In the original game, each Faction has a free space and a costly one: Wealth, Foldspace, Secrets, and Stillsuits are free, while Conspire, Heighliner, Selective Breeding, and Hardy Warriors cost spice or water. Cards add steps too, and some add two at once.

That makes the free spaces the cheapest Influence on the board, and the most contested. When two players race the same track, the free space is the one to take first.

Two points from one step

The Alliance rule creates the biggest swing on the tracks. The first player to reach 4 takes the token. After that, only a player who climbs to a higher space takes it away, and the FAQ adds that a holder who drops to 3 or below loses it to anyone else at 4 or more.

So when a rival holds an Alliance at 4 and you sit at 4, one step to 5 moves a point from them to you. That is a two-point swing between you and them for one Agent. Against the leader, few moves on the board are better.

Defending an Alliance

If you hold an Alliance at 4 and a rival is at 3, you are one step from a tie, which keeps your token, and two from losing it. If a rival is at 4 with you, one step loses it. Dire Wolf’s designer diary on politics points out that some cards jump two steps at once, so a single step of lead can vanish in one turn.

Defense options:

• Climb to 5 before they can reach it. Then they need two steps just to tie.
• Block the space they need. If a rival needs Secrets, an Agent there this round costs them the step.
• Let it go, if the defense costs more than a point elsewhere.

Picking your tracks

Most strong positions build on two or three tracks, not all four. Three things decide which:

1. Your deck. Influence comes from Agent icons. If your deck reaches the Bene Gesserit three ways and the Fremen once, the tracks have chosen for you.
2. The crowd. A track where two rivals are already at 3 is a costly race. An empty track is cheap points.
3. The bonus at 4. Each track pays something different for reaching 4. Read them at setup and value them in your plan.

A point on an uncontested track costs two steps. A point won in a race may cost four or five. Count before you run.

Alliance effects on cards

Some cards have effects you may use only if you hold a certain Faction’s Alliance, and some check whether you have 2 or more Influence. An Alliance can be worth more than its point when your deck is full of those cards. That is one more reason to buy Faction cards that match the tracks you are climbing, as the deck-building lesson suggests.

Uprising: the steps to 2 open more

The Uprising rulebook makes the step to 2 more valuable. With 2 Influence, the Emperor opens Imperial Privilege, the Spacing Guild opens Shipping, and the Fremen open Sietch Tabr and its Maker Hooks. Several Bene Gesserit cards get stronger. Its strategy tips urge you to reach some of these quickly.

Reading the races at a glance

At the start of each round, look at each track and ask:

• Who holds the Alliance, and who is one or two steps behind?
• Which Faction space would decide that race this round?
• Can I reach it, and is it worth an Agent?

Our piece on area majority explains the family of mechanics these tracks belong to, if you want the wider view.