Ixians & Tleilaxu functional prototype

The 26 October live World follow-up keeps occupation capabilities available while an original Sandtrout waits. It corrects a module-context rejection; the original Spice effects and provisional compositions below retain their existing source and timing.

Original Spice cards and selected policy — 24 October 2026

Normal lobbies now offer labelled Basic/Advanced expansion previews through the current entry controls. The September initializer and evidence below are historical; complete expansion rules and publication acceptance remain open.

This bounded source review covers original Thumper, Sandtrout and the two physical Harvesters. It retains existing mechanics under the standing 14 October choose-recommended instruction, with these explicit interpretations:

Thumper creates an encounter without consuming a real Spice Card. The original photographed card faces replace the reveal with Shai-Hulud. The GF9 November FAQ, printed page 8 confirms Nexus and Advanced subsequent-worm placement; it does not expressly decide first-turn precedence.
Provisionally give the base first-turn rule, printed page 8 precedence over both generated and drawn worms. Thumper is discarded but its first-turn encounter is ignored; a drawn first-turn worm does not consume waiting Sandtrout or earn doubling. Real ignored worms return to the original deck, while the virtual encounter never becomes an extra physical card.
On later turns, waiting Sandtrout suppresses Thumper by the card's equivalence to Shai-Hulud. This composition is provisional, not a named publisher ruling. The E1 rulebook, printed page 11 limits doubling to the immediate replacement territory. Another worm instead resolves normally, including its Nexus; a later territory receives no bonus.
Each original Harvester doubles the current fresh blow while its window remains open. Two distinct copies therefore give four times the original blow, or eight times when an immediate Sandtrout replacement already doubled it. Pre-existing ground spice is unchanged. This is the recommended sequential reading of the photographed faces, not an independently confirmed FAQ result.

The photograph shows original components but is hosted by a retailer. Direct official PDF retrieval returned 403; publisher-domain indexed excerpts and those photographed faces supplied the bounded review. The authorized local Advanced PDF corroborates first-turn ignoring on physical page 7 (printed 5), Thumper on physical 41 (printed 39), and Sandtrout on physical 42 (printed 40). It does not settle the stated ambiguities and supplies no new Basic authority.

The held Thumper explanation persistently warns about first-turn disposal before the player spends it. Waiting Sandtrout also has an immediate-replacement warning. Public chronicle entries explain ignored first-turn encounters. These are readable controls and feedback; no extra confirmation, timing restriction or numerical effect was introduced.

Focused proof and limits

tests/fixture-ix-spice-cards.ts starts actual three-seat public Basic/Advanced selected-Ix games with Atreides, Harkonnen and Fremen. Only four unopened original Treachery deal positions and specified unopened Spice prefixes are selected; native setup, phase openings and intervening turns actually execute. No dealt hand, force, wallet, mode, turn or effect flag is installed. The independent tests/ix-spice-cards-engine.test.ts assertions cover first/later Thumper, first-turn Sandtrout/worm precedence, an immediate doubled replacement, a normal replacement worm and both original Harvesters. All twelve programmes finish the actual Spice phase, retain all 47 physical Treachery identities and preserve the six real worms, fifteen territories and one physical/waiting Sandtrout. A second Harvester clears earlier readiness and spends its own original physical card.

Frozen integration passes 4 files, 47/47 tests, types/lint and production build. Twelve original gameplay programmes also render the actual GameTable: held-card warnings appear before disposal, and public projected logs retain the new ignored-encounter explanation. Four existing minimal difficulty profiles each submit one legal acceptance from the actual harvested window and finish the phase; this is participation evidence, not strategy calibration.

Programme	Basic source + continuation actions	Advanced source + continuation actions	Actual fresh-blow outcome
First-turn Thumper	18 + 7	20 + 10	8; no Nexus
Later ordinary Thumper	78 + 10	83 + 13	8; Nexus
First-turn Sandtrout then worm	18 + 9	20 + 12	8; Sandtrout still waiting
Two original Harvesters	18 + 12	20 + 15	8 → 16 → 32
Waiting Sandtrout then Thumper and two Harvesters	18 + 70	20 + 76	8 → 16 → 32 → 64; no Nexus
Waiting Sandtrout then Thumper and replacement worm	18 + 70	20 + 76	8; Nexus, no delayed doubling

Source identity: base 6fabe6aa627845a8521049ea217faf9f9cc54826, frozen tree c4fa1d22163a3b0ebd00e5107ddef4a4b76fed00c0d8a3e36a5fbe8671ae96c5, 2,603 tracked/nonignored files. Private reports, original failed rendering check, repaired runtime, HTML and proof manifest live outside Git under 20261024-ix-spice-cards/. The initial rendering check incorrectly expected text inside the default-collapsed chronicle. Only that private assertion changed to check the public projected log; runtime alone reran on the identical source. The final aggregate retains the original passing tests/types/lint/build with their logs and links the repaired runtime explicitly. Subsequent checkpoint prose/reference changes are separately reviewed; runtime source stays frozen.

These source programmes do not certify native Ixian/Tleilaxu decisions, all phase-opening priorities, optional-module combinations, full modes, save/recovery assurance, browser visuals or deployed acceptance. Those requirements remain due.

Historical prototype — 13 September 2026

13 September 2026. This connects the existing expansion mechanics to genuine setup and an ordinary saved browser table. It is a working prototype, with rules coverage still partial. Normal Advanced/expansion start gates and the publication gate remain closed.

Playable boundary

initializeIxGameForAudit uses the same staged setup as the game: prediction, private traitors, starting forces, private Ixian starting-card selection, then the automatic deal and first Storm. It accepts Basic or Advanced, two through six ready players, base factions plus Ixians and Tleilaxu, and exactly the Ix expansion. It includes the 47 physical Treachery Cards and the 22-card Spice Deck containing Sandtrout from the outset. It does not inject cards or change factions after setup. Tech Tokens, Stronghold Cards, Homeworlds, Nexus Cards and combined expansion decks remain separate integration work.

The actual player controls, private views, bot actions and saved game format are reused. The initializer cannot redeal a started or nonempty game, and no player action or HTTP endpoint dispatches it. Existing card outcomes and the interpretations documented in the Ix deck, component inventory, Ixian Cunning sources and setup contract are preserved. In particular, the Thumper/Sandtrout timing, repeated Harvester effects and remaining faction interactions are not settled by this prototype.

Start a local prototype table

Create a new local browser room with the Ixians & Tleilaxu expansion selected, choose its human/AI factions, and mark everyone ready. Retain its room cookie. Use the current database version of that named lobby with:

node --import tsx tools/start-prototype.ts \
  --db PATH_TO_LOCAL_D1_SQLITE \
  --room EIGHT_CHARACTER_CODE \
  --version CURRENT_LOBBY_VERSION \
  --out /private/new-prototype-checkpoint

The output directory must be new and outside the repository. The command first captures an online backup and saved-room hashes, then initializes only that fresh ready Ix lobby. An atomic version-and-state comparison rejects a concurrent lobby change. It leaves every seat/recovery record and other room untouched. Its private result records the source revision/fingerprint and before/after versions. Refresh the invitation to continue through normal private setup. Keep the resulting game; rerunning setup on it is rejected. Reuse the running server—this workflow does not require a restart.

Evidence and remaining work

tests/ix-prototype.test.ts exercises genuine Basic/Advanced setup at all four AI profiles, private Ixian choices, Face Dancer custody, starting hands and JSON restoration. Two complete mixed-profile games include both expansion factions, checking final force/card inventory and winners. These sample games do not prove every card was played or measure difficulty ordering.

tests/prototype-room.test.ts covers the local saved-room entry, unchanged sessions/other rooms, stale version and redeal rejection, and invalid lobby immutability. Independent review caught and fixed a missing JSON version update in the prototype writer; the database row and saved game now advance together. It uses in-memory SQLite. Browser room W5LE6VFB was created normally with a human Ixian, Medium Tleilaxu and Hard Atreides. It reached private traitor and starting-card choices through real setup, restored the same card offer after refresh, played Weather Control, placed the mobile stronghold at Sihaya Ridge 9 and handed the owned seat to Brutal autopilot. No post-setup card/force staging was used. Its later outcome and final checks are recorded with the checkpoint. The earlier writer's version mismatch was corrected by the first ordinary game action; current browser state and database version were confirmed equal. Expand combination and rules coverage during the later refinement pass; continue prototyping independent missing functions.

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