Of the Houses Three....

[Guest Tainted]

Alright, firstly...

Which of the three houses do you think is best ? Or do you consider them equal ?

Secondly, it seems that almost everyone is ravinging about the Imperials and Fremen.

What about the other Sub-Houses ? I'd like to read some opinions on them...

Thanks for your time.

- Dovie'andi se tovya sagain. -

[Guest Albatross]

Ix:

To me, these things are relatively useless. The little self-destructing thing is just goofy, and until recently I never knew that the stupid 'duplicator' thing was worth using. Gonna experiment with it more, though, since it seemed I made a hasty decision.

Tleilaxu:

Great in concept, fun in single player versus a machine, yet relatively useless against a human player. First off, their contaminators cost too damn much to be so weak. They cost as much as an anti-infantry scout vehicle for any house, which will kill them before they even get the chance to attack! Second, they are too slow in the movement and attack area to be worth using, since even the cheapest infantry can kill them as fast as they can contaminate things. Sure, they'll turn something else into a Contaminator, but usually die at that same moment, leaving a net gain of 0. Not good when regular infantry outrange them! The fact that their anti-vehicle abilities are non-existant (chewing armored hull with toothless gums) doesn't help much, either.

Then there's the Leech. This thing, I like. I really wish it gave line-of-site into the Shroud like the Parasites from StarCraft. It's quite quick, resilient enough for hit-and-run, and not too expensive considering how easy it is to breed more of them. The problem is, there's not that much REASON in breeding more of them. Once they attack a tank or vehicle, it's pretty much immune to further damage. The Leech Larvae will suck at it slowly, but even if there's a crowd of 20 Leeches all spitting on that one tank, it's health doesn't go down any faster. It'd be nice if the program code were patched so that further shots past the first actually did damage to vehicles. Or, better yet, let them leech troops and have them explode into Contaminators! Anyway, I actually like this unit, since it's good enough to keep up with my Laser Tank raiding squads, and thus, allows me to breed massive numbers of them for harassment and cannon fodder. Only problem is that they aren't really all that worth it. I haven't tried them against structures yet, though I will in a few minutes, but these things honestly don't do much more than make more of themselves. This would be kickass if they had a decent alternate attack, but all it really lets you do is turn enemy kills into bonus units that only provide more of the bonus units---you still have to do the main killing with your REAL combat units. Of course, this is exaggeratting a bit... their true power is sneakier than any damage equation or directly-damaging attack. They are truly useful against humans since they FORCE the other guy to micromanage.... either he has to order Engineers to save them, the units to shoot each other to get the Leeches off (prime time to attack the guy, of course), or just try to ignore them. Well, everyone except Atreidies, whose omnipresent repair vehicles make these things toothless. They are more a terror and confidance-bashing weapon than a unit designed to blow up things.

Spacing Guild: Ahhh yes. This is DEFINATELY one of my favs. My second-fav, in fact, after Sau (Fremen are third, Tlei fourth, and Ix last).

The Makers are cute, but mostly extra support. I'm not certain, but I don't think the little Makers have regenerative abilities. This is bad, since the NIAB does. Makers are pretty much the infantry mass-murderers. I like them, but don't use them nearly as much as their bigger brothers.

The NIAB tank is all that and then some. Expensive as hell, but it can TELEPORT anywhere on the map. Holy @#&%! It's got decent armor and a great shock cannon, although ,unlike what it says in the manual, it still has to face a target to fire. Still, I'd rather have these bastards than Sonic Tanks! I'm not sure, but it appears that they auto-heal even without veteran bars. All this combined makes a great unit, something that us Snakes have to think carefully about. Personally, if the Guild were a selectable ally in the single player campaign, I would have finished it on the first or second day I played the game. LOL

There's a problem about this Subhouse, though... EVERYTHING is expensive. Just the level one palace is a large price (much higher than the cheaper Sau and Fremen buildings). The Makers are more costly than most small units. The NIAB's are really high, and the upgrade to get them costs well over the price of the actual palace itself! That being said, none of these units can ever expect to see the field early in a game, and even if they do, the economic drawback from rushing to them will generally get you killed as the opponent runs you down with swarms of small vehicles and armies of infantry. Bad Spacing Guild, bad! But in a longer, drawn out game, ESPECIALLY on larger maps (the bigger the map, the more useful this house is! Sweet!), these guys will go from non-existant to small, powerful squads, to eventual dominance of the land.

Fremen: I like these, now. The Fremen Warrior was always a pain in the ass, before, since it didn't automatically go to Guard mode. Now that I understand that, I've found that they are sickeningly useful. They are like short-ranged, cloaked snipers that never have to worry about being snacked on by worms. Well, not by AI controlled worms, anyway. ;) They are expensive but devour most other infantry for breakfast, and at longer ranges. They are much less useful against vehicles, though squads of them can plink through the armor. The only drawback they have is that they lose cloaking when wounded past green, and unless they get Veteran quickly, they have to way to get it back.

The Fedaykin is just sick. That wierding module does quite reasonable damage to everything (except air, of course), and these guys can actually take hits. It's that worm-summoning ability that makes me love them, though. Most people tell the worm to directly attack a target, which is the WRONG way to use them... it'll eat the unit, then go back under the desert sands. The trick is to click BEHIND a unit or group of them, and the worm will just plow through them like God's bulldozer. This can clear the way for many an army, or make a human wet his pants when one cruises into his spice field. Personally, I take these guys OFF of guard after such an event and use them for kick-ass scouts behind enemy lines. If only they got kill credit for the things the worm devoured. ;) Just because I love the worms doesn't mean I don't like the Fedaykin fighting ability, however... Fedaykin are quite impressive in combat, it's just that they cost quite a hefty bit more.

Sardaukar: Favorite subhouse, as Ordos, simply because they fill what Ordos lacks... strong, solid anti-tank and anti-infantry defense in a single unit. Using them in small squads with my Laser Tanks can generally leapfrog both groups though enemy opposition. These are units you definately want to protect, though, since at 300 a pop they are by no means cheap. Their miniguns chew things quite well, dicing infantry in a second, and they seem to be able to take far more punishment than infantry should. That being said, their moronic insistance on standing up in the middle of a firefight (cowardice, my ass, these guys are just plain brute stupid) generally makes them take more damage than they should. The fact that they are so expensive, combined with the fact there are no Combat Medics in this game (yet), makes them critters you have to babysit... they absolutely MUST reach Veteran status.

Elite Sardaukar: These guys are interesting. They slaughter infantry in one hit, but only at close range, and generally will be dead long before that. They are, of course, the bane of all that is Ordos, since their laser generally pops the Ordos unit (and the trooper himself) in one shot. Expensive, but not entirely unreasonable. That little laser uzi doesn't seem to do much against troops. It's decent against vehicles, but even the tiny normal Sau minigun damage is usually higher, thanks to the minigun's high rate of fire. What's funny is that this little laser pistol can actually hit air units! It won't be of much help against Ornithopters or Gunships, but it's a great way to teach Carryalls to stay away from your dudes.

[cyclonus]

Best house Ordos, because of las tanks super fast and reliable.

Best sub-house- IX. I use duplicators to dup long range units Inkvines, minotaurus's, however cloned Kobras can't deploy so not as usefull. The infiltrators are devastating used properly. Sarduakar are my second, they are cheap and pack one helluva punch.

[Guest Tirinal]

For best house, I would have to say Antriedes, with Ordos coming in a close second. I personally think on a one-on-one battle, the Ordos would win due to Kobra/LasTank rushes, LasTank quickstrikes, EITS, and so on. Antreides are much more fun for me to play, however, and thats what the whole point of the game is, anyway (contrary to popular belief).

Best SubHouse: IX. I don't see why everyone hates them. The main reason I like them is because of Infiltrators. The Projectors are useful in certain situations such as mass Feydakin rushing, but are rather specialized. The Infiltrators are great, though. It takes one Infiltrator edxplosion to kill a refinery, outpost, or barraks. It takes two for a factory, and three for a construction yard. And since they are cloaked, I usually have no trouble at all getting them to the required location and detoning them.

For weakest house, I would probably say the Teilaxu(sp?). Contaminators have no real use, and leeches are more annoying than actually deadly.

Tirinal

[cyclonus]

The Tleilaxu, can be deadly if you aren't prepared to deal with them. But if you are prepared... well lotsa dead zombies and bugs everywhere.