What's up with Harkonnen Military?

[Ocelot]

I understand that the assassins build is preferred. But what of those players that want to play Harkonnen as a military power?

Any thoughts on the appropriate builds for troops configurations? Harkonnen infrastructure? Defense?

Right now, it seems a little unreal how trounceable the Hark's are by the Atreides in particular.

What are you thoughts?

[Katitoff]

What's with it?
It does not stand up to Atreides(no one really does), but other then that, depending on composition, they are doing fine against everyone else.

You are not going to beat defensive Atreides as any faction, period.

[Ocelot]

Is this really the case^?

[Laliloluhla]

Yeah Atreides are a bit overpowered when it comes to faction strength right now.

[Ocelot]

Thank you for this confirmation.

Do Harks have to assassinate?

Do nukes matter at all?

[Katitoff]

Originally posted by Ocelot:

Thank you for this confirmation.

Do Harks have to assassinate?

Nope, they are just most efficient with it, you can focus on hegemony instead, but it still resolves around espionage.

Do nukes matter at all?

That depends on your military and economy, just try it one game.
Also, while it may be punishing, it is one reliable way to remove Atreides vetted up deathblob and wipe them out before they are able to rebuild or ruin their economy while they rebuild.

Harkonnens military is really expendable with techs reducing their cost and giving you back solari on death, don't try to save them, sacrifice them if it means you can make a mess of your opponent.

[Ocelot]

Thank you for these tips^ Keep em coming.

Not sure how to consistently get up to the 6k required for a nuke, with only two spice fields, even with investment buildings and rare element territory.

[Lachlann]

Originally posted by Ocelot:

Thank you for these tips^ Keep em coming.

Not sure how to consistently get up to the 6k required for a nuke, with only two spice fields, even with investment buildings and rare element territory.

sacrifice your useless agent to speed up and reduce cost of operations

[Ocelot]

TY for the tip

[Ocelot]

How does one actually sacrifice agents?

[Novia]

Once you're past a certain threshold of Hegemony, you may notice a box appear on each of the individual operations you can purchase. This is your sacrifice slot, simply drag an agent onto it to mark them for elimination.

By process of elimination, agents you capture and "brainwash" as a result of your special Harkonnen brand of counter-intelligence should be considered first, as they are effectively just fodder due to their special trait.

But in the end, all are expendable for the Baron's agenda. You'll see a preview of what the cost will become before you confirm whether or not to sacrifice an agent, this applies to all operations, including assassination phases or everyone's favourite: atomics.

Do note however this does not prevent mission complications from randomly occurring, so bear that in mind if you're resource starved, or in a tight spot with agents available. Best to operate as if you're prepared for the full cost, as a buffer for more complicated operations.

[Ocelot]

Thank you for this detailed breakdown, it is much appreciated!

[Cryptic]

First try, I beat atriedes without issue as the smugglers

Not sure what you guys mean...

Refunded the game due to some issues and the blue screen problem in particular

[TwoTonTuna]

Originally posted by Ocelot:

I understand that the assassins build is preferred. But what of those players that want to play Harkonnen as a military power?

Any thoughts on the appropriate builds for troops configurations? Harkonnen infrastructure? Defense?

Right now, it seems a little unreal how trounceable the Hark's are by the Atreides in particular.

What are you thoughts?

I can only give feedback from a single-player perspective, with everything i say here being pure theorycraft. Might be useful in MP, might not. Here's my take:

commanders:
lakin nefud
^ensures that you always come out on top in engagements against enemies. they will lose 100% of their unit costs while lakin's 50% refund means you only lose 50% of the resources spent. synergizes well with stealth probe spam, since dying probes give up to 100% power and 10 armor to nearby units
piter de vries
^start being able to build stealth probes right away. also generate intel when you have ornis/stealth probes in enemy territory. this will help make it easier to keep your operations up and running.

early game: build 2 stealth probes for each trooper you build. use them to annex/pillage villages. use stealth ornis to quietly check neighbor's territory. use stealth probes to poke at enemy harvesters, interrupting spice production or forcing their military to guard harvesters. works best if spice field is near deep desert, as drones don't need supply nor do they attract worms.

mid game: replace troopers with executioners so you have a pure stealth army. executioners also get +10% power/+2% speed per unit that dies--again, synergizing well with dying probes. if you built a barracks, give stealth probes a melee attack to boost their hp. with invisible melee drones that do not require supply, you can even pillage rear-line villages unprotected by turrets. continue conducting ambushes to interrupt harvesting and pillaging while building up your own economy. build spacing guild asap and start gathering guild favors.

late game: 5 harpies + 1 overlord will be your endgame ideal. the aoe of a harpy flock will smash infantry blobs, while the 5 stings of the overlord will deal excellent single-target DPS. harpies also deal armor break, making them useful for cracking bases. send in the overlord to tank base missiles (afaik players cannot control turret/base targeting) while the harpies crack armor. once armor is cracked, send in executioners/probes in to deal more damage.

edit: that feel when you write a long-winded guide only to find out that the last poster not only necroed a dead threat, but also posted garbage irrelevant to the opening question. sheesh

[NVDragon]

Originally posted by Kodesh:

edit: that feel when you write a long-winded guide only to find out that the last poster not only necroed a dead threat, but also posted garbage irrelevant to the opening question. sheesh

Still a good post. I'm strongly considering trying it, and Harkonnen are probably my least favorite faction in general. Stealth probes are kind of a game-changer... though I'm not sure how good Harpies are going to be after the last patch dropped them from 18 damage to 13.