Dune Imperium: Uprising has some very odd design constraints regarding player count.

It seems to be designed deliberately for 3 or 4 players only.

You flat out can't play 5 player. You can play 6, but it splits the players into 2 teams of 3, and each team has a leader who can't put troops on the map.

You can play 2 player, but you have to use a bot so the game becomes 3 player.

You can play 1 player  with bots - this is normal though.

Makes me think - could there have been a simpler way to do it?

Like, I assume you need the 3-4 players because the number of action slots on the map fits that player count.

Maybe the designer could have made an alternate map, with fewer slots for 2 player?

It's frustrating me slightly because I want to play 2 player with a friend, which means I have to learn all the bot rules - which seem to be sufficiently complicated that they come in a separate rulebook!

Likewise, I'd like to try 6 player on a big game day as an alternative to Twilight Imperium, but then I need to read another separate rulebook for that!

Surely there's a better way?