Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen schemes on the longest timeline in the game. With Masterstroke, you secretly choose two Factions at setup; the first time you deploy 4 or more troops to a Conflict in one turn, you reveal them and gain one Influence with each. His Signet Ring trades 1 Solari for an Intrigue card, feeding an endless stream of plots.

Three complexity icons are honest advertising: the Baron asks you to plan a military spike rounds in advance while banking intrigues for exactly the right moment.

Engineer one thunderous military turn — Heighliner (5 troops) or a stacked garrison plus recruits — to trigger Masterstroke, converting an army into two Influence steps that often mean two VPs' worth of track position. Ride the same army to the round's top Conflict reward.

Between spikes, the signet keeps your hand full of Intrigue: combat swings, plot economy, and endgame points your rivals can't count. The Baron wins games that look close on the score track and aren't.

• Pick Masterstroke factions you'll visit anyway — the reveal's two Influence steps should stack onto tracks you're already climbing, converting the bonus into thresholds and Alliances
• Build toward one big deployment — garrison troops with Rally Troops and Carthag, then Heighliner or a combat-space turn with recruits: 4+ troops in a single turn is the trigger
• Signet early and often when Solari is spare — each Intrigue is hidden value; hoard until 3 (stay under the Steal Intrigue threshold of 4)
• Weaponize timing — reveal Masterstroke on a Conflict you'll also win: the Influence, the reward, and the table's shock arrive together