After spending several hours playing this game, I have to say that I was presently suprised. I thought it would be a game of massing and sending forces at the enemy like Warcraft or Dawn of War, but the game is much more of a combination of Stelaris and the Dune boardgame. There is politics (though basic when playing CPs) trade, technology, a balancing act between resources and trying to reach one of the many objectives, and a unique combat system.
Early on, I found myself invading numerous neutral villages to utilize their resources toward my economic goals. Later, despite progressing well into the game, I never found myself with a huge army. I always had to balance where to send my troops at any given point with the conditions and many places I would get raided. In the deep desert, you lose supply, sandworms swollow units whole, and neutral raiders ambush you. Manpower or water supplies dwindle and you feel a need to keep expanding to prevent your enemies from one-upping you.
On top of everything, the setting is very cool for me because I got to role play as the Fremen and do suprise raids on the colonizing powers of the plan. While, I have yet to finish a game yet, I would love to end up in a 4 player game with freinds as I think the potential is really there (and this is only an early access game). Definitely recommend it for new players, though the first 30-40 mins will throw you right in as there is no real tutorial yet.
