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Dune Imperium was one of my favourite games from last year, the only issue was that some of the components were a tad lacklustre. Your troops were wooden cubes, the faction tokens were cardboard disks and while I did not mind this too much, you can just imagine, with such a rich IP, a few upgrades would take the game a long way.
Deluxe, Box, Sleeves And Miniatures
With the deluxe upgrade pack, you get a new, larger box to hold all your Dune goodies, which even holds the recently released Rise of Ix expansion. The box is lovely, full of game trays to hold all the components and some of the trays are even embossed with a sandworm logo to really hammer home the deluxe-ness of it all.
You also get a tray of miniatures that replace your troops with, unique for each player, to do your combat-based bidding. You are also treated with very detailed miniatures for your three agents, the mental and a miniature for each faction. These miniatures, unlike the smaller troop ones, are begging to be painted and I have added them to the never-ending list of board game stuff I need to paint.
Along with these goodies, you also get a very heavy metallic first player token and two packs of deluxe Dune branded card sleeves which I was slightly irked to find are not enough to sleeve both the expansion as well as the base game. Well, that’s just annoying! I have not sleeved mine yet as I am waiting for the sleeves to come back in stock so I can sleeve the base and Ix together.
Solari-Like Quality
Everything in this deluxe upgrade screams quality. From the detailed miniatures to the branded card sleeves. The storage solution and box are much improved over the base game and boy does it give the game a much better look on the table.
Inside the box is a small tray to keep your water, Solari and Spice in, which you can just slide straight out of the box and put on the table. I love additions like this as I normally store my resources in some sort of Geek-Tray like a solution, inside the box to make setup and tidy away quicker, while also keeping piles of resources tidy on the table. I’m a bit weird like that.
Gone are the cubes and cardboard disks, the battles actually look like battles and gaining favour in the games four factions reward you with a lovely miniature you can place in your play area. I can only imagine how great it will all look with a lick of paint.
Pushing your troops into battle and flying up the faction tracks are given much more weight with the beautiful miniatures. As is placing your agents on worker placement slots, instead of placing a small wooden piece on the board you now get to slide a miniature, which again is different for all players, onto the board spot of your choice. These figures also come with coloured, replaceable bases so you can mix up which miniatures you use in each game.
Final Thoughts
Yes, I know this is not required to enjoy Dune Imperium and its price point may be very high, but I really enjoy what it brings to my copy of Dune Imperium. The box is a beautiful storage solution for both the game and the first expansion and doubles up as a resource tray.
The miniatures are beautiful and add so much to the table and gameplay. While I do not think it's necessary to own, if you have cash spare and love Dune Imperium, you will probably appreciate what the box offers. I just wish they included enough sleeves to cover the base game and first expansion. A bit of an oversight in my book.
