Twilight Imperium
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#1 Twilight Imperium
May be the wrong forum, but I wasn't exactly sure where board games would go.
Anyway, I've been drooling over this game for months now, and finally, I broke down and bought it from a local gaming shop. What game, you ask? Twilight Imperium 3rd Ed.
Going to have my first full game of it today, but anyone who even remotely likes STGODs or 4X games should check it out. They even have the rules available online for people to download and see if they like them before buying the game.
Anyway, I've been drooling over this game for months now, and finally, I broke down and bought it from a local gaming shop. What game, you ask? Twilight Imperium 3rd Ed.
Going to have my first full game of it today, but anyone who even remotely likes STGODs or 4X games should check it out. They even have the rules available online for people to download and see if they like them before buying the game.
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#2
How'bout some more information on where it's set, what the backstory is, etc.? Because I'm not going to look at it until I know it's something I'd be interested in learning more about.
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- frigidmagi
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#3
From here So basically this is a large scale interstellar board game of conquest.TI3 is an epic empire-building game of intersteller conflict, trade, and struggle for power. Players take the roles of ancient galactic civilizations, each seeking to sieze the imperial throne via warfare, diplomacy, and technological progression.
"it takes two sides to end a war but only one to start one. And those who do not have swords may still die upon them." Tolken
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#4
This technically belongs in the Bookshelves, which is where game reviews and recommendations go.
As punishment, Hotfoot must play the game and report on his experiences.
As punishment, Hotfoot must play the game and report on his experiences.
It's not that I'm unforgiving, it's that most of the people who wrong me are unrepentant assholes.
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#5
I find this punishment harsh but fair.
"it takes two sides to end a war but only one to start one. And those who do not have swords may still die upon them." Tolken
#7
I will post in more detail (including pictures) after I get home from work, but from the several "sample" games that have been played so far, here is what I can say:
The game is hard to learn. There is no two ways to go about this. There's a lot to do, so there's a lot to figure out. This isn't Monopoly people, it's more like Dune and Risk with starships.
There are ten races, of which the players pick 3-6 at random. You build the map randomly (we've found that having players be unaware of where they will be sitting makes for more reasonable map deployment, otherwise there tends to be a glut of good planets by one or two players). The map can be set up differently every time, since it is made up of large (3") cardboard hexes.
Each race has a special ability. They're not all useful for combat, but they are all useful. Each race also has specialized starting technologies and starting fleets, which means that each race has a different optimal strategy for the first few turns of the game.
By and large, the first 2-3 turns are usually establishing your empire, making alliances, grabbing planets, and building up war fleets. By around turn 5-6 or so on a full game, wars can get started in full force. For beginning players who are learning all the rules for the first time, turns can take roughly an hour or so, but once you get practiced, the time required drops to about thirty minutes. Games usually last between 6-10 turns unless special rules are used by the group.
The point of the game is to amass 10 victory points, not just to annihilate everyone else on the board. There are public objectives, which are generally easy, like spend 6 trade goods in a round, private objectives, which are much harder (capture the last planet of your neighbor with a space dock, control Mecatol Rex, have 6 ground forces, and a space dock on the planet). Then, there is the Imperial Strategy card, which gives whoever takes it 2 victory points right away. Now, of course, people are going to fight over this card, but the problem is, all of the strategy cards are awesome (some stay good throughout, some are lifesavers later in the game).
Combat works like this: Every ship has a combat number, you need to beat this number on a D10 to inflict damage on the enemy fleet (representing how powerful each ship is). Fighters and Destroyers need a 9+, Cruisers need a 7+, Dreadnaughts need a 5+, Planetary Defense Systems need a 6+, and War Suns need a 3+ (and get three attacks). War Suns, however, are a very late-game technology. When you inflict a hit, the player you attacked gets to choose his casualties, so very quickly fighters become important to take hits for the rest of the fleet (also, a few races can quickly make Fighters as powerful as a standard cruiser). Every shp except for a Dreadnought and a War Sun can only take one hit, whereas the two aforementioned units can take two before being destroyed. Combat ends either when someone runs away or one side is annihilated (you keep doing more combat rounds until one or the other occurs). If you want to run, you have to declare it at the beginning of the combat round before dice are rolled, and then have to stick it through to the end of the round, so that combat always is at least one round of shooting (with some exceptions based on special cards or abilities).
Almost every round, a vote will come up for the galactic council (the players). Every planet has an influence value which is used to increase the number of votes you get. These votes can range from making certain technologies easier to buy to making it harder for someone to use the Imperial Strategy to win the game.
In all, the game is pretty fun, and very playable with even just 3 people (though, like most games, it really picks up with 5 or 6). There's a lot of meat in this game, and not a whole lot of fat, but it's a lot to swallow in one go.
And of course, one of the best things is that people can be total bastards in this game and not feel so bad about it (rather like munchkin). There are a lot of ways to backstab people, and ways to turn the tide just when it looked like you were done for (there's a strategy card that keeps a player from attacking you for a turn so you can get reinforcements in to place, for example).
Anyway, some more, plus pictures, shortly.
Edit: Now, the pictures
Marcao is getting just a little too in to the game. Does he write all of his STGOD posts like this?
"You see my friend, what you do not realise is that by giving yourself all the good planets, you are simply inviting the bangbus into home for tea. This is simply not wise."
The board set up a few turns in.
My side, I'm the green bastard.
Innocent and Knighthawk's side, Innocent is red.
Did I mention he was red? And he got most of the good planets? Marcao, by the by, is that yellow bastard.
The game is hard to learn. There is no two ways to go about this. There's a lot to do, so there's a lot to figure out. This isn't Monopoly people, it's more like Dune and Risk with starships.
There are ten races, of which the players pick 3-6 at random. You build the map randomly (we've found that having players be unaware of where they will be sitting makes for more reasonable map deployment, otherwise there tends to be a glut of good planets by one or two players). The map can be set up differently every time, since it is made up of large (3") cardboard hexes.
Each race has a special ability. They're not all useful for combat, but they are all useful. Each race also has specialized starting technologies and starting fleets, which means that each race has a different optimal strategy for the first few turns of the game.
By and large, the first 2-3 turns are usually establishing your empire, making alliances, grabbing planets, and building up war fleets. By around turn 5-6 or so on a full game, wars can get started in full force. For beginning players who are learning all the rules for the first time, turns can take roughly an hour or so, but once you get practiced, the time required drops to about thirty minutes. Games usually last between 6-10 turns unless special rules are used by the group.
The point of the game is to amass 10 victory points, not just to annihilate everyone else on the board. There are public objectives, which are generally easy, like spend 6 trade goods in a round, private objectives, which are much harder (capture the last planet of your neighbor with a space dock, control Mecatol Rex, have 6 ground forces, and a space dock on the planet). Then, there is the Imperial Strategy card, which gives whoever takes it 2 victory points right away. Now, of course, people are going to fight over this card, but the problem is, all of the strategy cards are awesome (some stay good throughout, some are lifesavers later in the game).
Combat works like this: Every ship has a combat number, you need to beat this number on a D10 to inflict damage on the enemy fleet (representing how powerful each ship is). Fighters and Destroyers need a 9+, Cruisers need a 7+, Dreadnaughts need a 5+, Planetary Defense Systems need a 6+, and War Suns need a 3+ (and get three attacks). War Suns, however, are a very late-game technology. When you inflict a hit, the player you attacked gets to choose his casualties, so very quickly fighters become important to take hits for the rest of the fleet (also, a few races can quickly make Fighters as powerful as a standard cruiser). Every shp except for a Dreadnought and a War Sun can only take one hit, whereas the two aforementioned units can take two before being destroyed. Combat ends either when someone runs away or one side is annihilated (you keep doing more combat rounds until one or the other occurs). If you want to run, you have to declare it at the beginning of the combat round before dice are rolled, and then have to stick it through to the end of the round, so that combat always is at least one round of shooting (with some exceptions based on special cards or abilities).
Almost every round, a vote will come up for the galactic council (the players). Every planet has an influence value which is used to increase the number of votes you get. These votes can range from making certain technologies easier to buy to making it harder for someone to use the Imperial Strategy to win the game.
In all, the game is pretty fun, and very playable with even just 3 people (though, like most games, it really picks up with 5 or 6). There's a lot of meat in this game, and not a whole lot of fat, but it's a lot to swallow in one go.
And of course, one of the best things is that people can be total bastards in this game and not feel so bad about it (rather like munchkin). There are a lot of ways to backstab people, and ways to turn the tide just when it looked like you were done for (there's a strategy card that keeps a player from attacking you for a turn so you can get reinforcements in to place, for example).
Anyway, some more, plus pictures, shortly.
Edit: Now, the pictures
Marcao is getting just a little too in to the game. Does he write all of his STGOD posts like this?
"You see my friend, what you do not realise is that by giving yourself all the good planets, you are simply inviting the bangbus into home for tea. This is simply not wise."
The board set up a few turns in.
My side, I'm the green bastard.
Innocent and Knighthawk's side, Innocent is red.
Did I mention he was red? And he got most of the good planets? Marcao, by the by, is that yellow bastard.
Last edited by Hotfoot on Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
#9
Well be in the state next time and you will have a chance
Here's the down and dirty of the races in Twilight Imperium
-Federation of Sol: Humans, fast command point generation, can recruit new ground forces from any planet
-The Naalu Collective: Crazy Psychic Space Snakes. Boost to fighters, can flee before combat if defending, always first on initiative
-The Mentak Coalition: Former Penal Colony made a sort of Pirate Nation, can field larger fleets at start, get limited pre-emptive strikes (ambushes) before battles, can steal trade goods
-Sardakk N'orr: Insectoid Warlike Race, gets a bonus to all combat
-The Xxcha Kingdom: Hippie Space Turtles, powerful in all political actions, and their prestige makes enemies hesitant in the first round of combat
-The Barony of Letnev: Space Vampires, can burn trade goods for temporary combat bonuses, and can always field larger fleets.
-The Yssaril Tribes: Space goblins, can delay acting until it is more beneficial for them, can hold unlimited action cards, draw extra action cards, can look at other player's action cards
-Univiersities of Jol-Nar: Big brains in jars, get huge technology bonuses, can re-roll dice for a cost, overall -1 to all combat
-The Emirates of Hacan: Muslim Space Kitties, trades don't need approval, can't cancel trades except in war and trade meltdowns, receive extra trade goods, can trade action cards
-The Llzlx Mindnet: Evil Borg-type baddies. Dreadnoughts cost less, Dreadnoughts do more damage, troops do more damage on the offensive, start with one extra command point.
Here's the down and dirty of the races in Twilight Imperium
-Federation of Sol: Humans, fast command point generation, can recruit new ground forces from any planet
-The Naalu Collective: Crazy Psychic Space Snakes. Boost to fighters, can flee before combat if defending, always first on initiative
-The Mentak Coalition: Former Penal Colony made a sort of Pirate Nation, can field larger fleets at start, get limited pre-emptive strikes (ambushes) before battles, can steal trade goods
-Sardakk N'orr: Insectoid Warlike Race, gets a bonus to all combat
-The Xxcha Kingdom: Hippie Space Turtles, powerful in all political actions, and their prestige makes enemies hesitant in the first round of combat
-The Barony of Letnev: Space Vampires, can burn trade goods for temporary combat bonuses, and can always field larger fleets.
-The Yssaril Tribes: Space goblins, can delay acting until it is more beneficial for them, can hold unlimited action cards, draw extra action cards, can look at other player's action cards
-Univiersities of Jol-Nar: Big brains in jars, get huge technology bonuses, can re-roll dice for a cost, overall -1 to all combat
-The Emirates of Hacan: Muslim Space Kitties, trades don't need approval, can't cancel trades except in war and trade meltdowns, receive extra trade goods, can trade action cards
-The Llzlx Mindnet: Evil Borg-type baddies. Dreadnoughts cost less, Dreadnoughts do more damage, troops do more damage on the offensive, start with one extra command point.
#10
Well, it's time for another AAR. Four player game this time, still not at the point where we played to completion, but it was a brutal match.
Innocent Bystander (Danny) played the Xxcha, Thirdfain (Terry) played the Llzlx Mindnet, Knighthawk (Dave) got the Barony of Letnev, and I got the Sardakk N'orr (again!). Wormholes linked Knighthawk and myself and Thirdfain and Innocent, yet the real battle lines were drawn between Knighthawk and Danny on one side with Thirdfain and myself on the other. The amount of backstabbing in this game was legion (what's that, Thirdfain being a vile betrayer? Perish forbid). I wish the game would have gone longer, but there were some simply brutal back and forth battles going on. Thirdfain at one point invaded my homeworlds, but was soundly beaten back by a vicious counterassault. He was a turn or two away from building War Suns, which would have severely turned the tide of battle to his favor. PDS with the deep space cannon upgrade are amazingly useful for defending your more valuable worlds.
Meanwhile, Knighthawk a turn or so earlier launched an assault on Innocent's main fleet which left Innocent with two damaged dreadnoughts from a rather massive warfleet. Had the game continued to the end, it still would have been a tossup. Thirdfain and I would have been tied for victory points, and assuming he had no more lockdown cards, I could have launched a counterattack at his secondary fleet before he could have mobilized warsuns, but again, nothing was certain.
In the end, another good learning experience, and soon, a full out brawl will occur, and I can't wait for that expansion.
Innocent Bystander (Danny) played the Xxcha, Thirdfain (Terry) played the Llzlx Mindnet, Knighthawk (Dave) got the Barony of Letnev, and I got the Sardakk N'orr (again!). Wormholes linked Knighthawk and myself and Thirdfain and Innocent, yet the real battle lines were drawn between Knighthawk and Danny on one side with Thirdfain and myself on the other. The amount of backstabbing in this game was legion (what's that, Thirdfain being a vile betrayer? Perish forbid). I wish the game would have gone longer, but there were some simply brutal back and forth battles going on. Thirdfain at one point invaded my homeworlds, but was soundly beaten back by a vicious counterassault. He was a turn or two away from building War Suns, which would have severely turned the tide of battle to his favor. PDS with the deep space cannon upgrade are amazingly useful for defending your more valuable worlds.
Meanwhile, Knighthawk a turn or so earlier launched an assault on Innocent's main fleet which left Innocent with two damaged dreadnoughts from a rather massive warfleet. Had the game continued to the end, it still would have been a tossup. Thirdfain and I would have been tied for victory points, and assuming he had no more lockdown cards, I could have launched a counterattack at his secondary fleet before he could have mobilized warsuns, but again, nothing was certain.
In the end, another good learning experience, and soon, a full out brawl will occur, and I can't wait for that expansion.
#11
Photos, and a somewhat more detailed report. Turns 1-3 were largely setting up empires, political posturing, and amassing resources. As noted before, the wormholes which would have otherwise ensured war between the owners instead lead to uneasy peace between the connected empires, as the first to strike through the wormholes would undoubtedly get rushed by their more immediate neighbor. That, and Terry is just notoriously untrustworthy. Seriously, never trust him unless he has what you want right there and gives it to you right away. Even then be cautious. Danny proved that even non-combat races can be powerful, using his veto power to strike down several political agendas that would have hurt him or his interests. By turn three, the battle lines were drawn, and the control of the Diplomacy Strategy Card became a hotly contested issue (control of it meant that you could declare peace for a turn with one other player). Terry's favorite use of it was to attack, then declare peace as soon has he could to avoid serious retribution. That, combined with a nasty combination of strategy cards kept me from deploying one of my more deadly fleets for a good stretch of the major combat.
We start of with the unimaginable tension between Dave (Knighthawk) and Danny (InnocentBystander). It's so thick, you could cut it with a spork! Look at those eyes, they want nothing more but devestation and mayhem.
The buildup of forces along Dave and Danny's border, Dave went all in, or close to it, even though Danny's special includes a -1 to all his opponent's combat rolls in the first round. It was a most glorious battle.
And were it not for Dave running out of steam from lack of trade goods to activate his +1 to combat per round special, it would have been M.A.D. at the very least. This ending, however, left Danny with a strong position after the fact.
A turn or two later, Terry makes his move on me, thinking I'm about to turn on him. It ended up being a very annoying sequence of turns, with invasions followed by peace, sabotage to tie up critical fleets. This ended up being a massively fun battle. My deep space cannons bombarded his ships as he came into my systems, my destroyers tore into his fighters, and my massive combat bonuses tore his fleet to shreds even though the first attack left me on the losing end.
However, the counterattack soundly defeated his forces invading my homeworld, leaving him with a handful of dreadnoughts and a single carrier with a full load of fighters. However, the next turn he would have built a War Sun, which could have turned the tide of the battles. Of course, a single war sun each turn with me pressing my fleet advantage would have made for a most interesting set of battles. Unfortunately, this is where the game was cut short, just as Terry and I were vying for control of the galaxy, with Danny ready to mop up Dave, then fight the victor of the grand conflict, almost certainly using the wormholes to launch devestating assaults.
We start of with the unimaginable tension between Dave (Knighthawk) and Danny (InnocentBystander). It's so thick, you could cut it with a spork! Look at those eyes, they want nothing more but devestation and mayhem.
The buildup of forces along Dave and Danny's border, Dave went all in, or close to it, even though Danny's special includes a -1 to all his opponent's combat rolls in the first round. It was a most glorious battle.
And were it not for Dave running out of steam from lack of trade goods to activate his +1 to combat per round special, it would have been M.A.D. at the very least. This ending, however, left Danny with a strong position after the fact.
A turn or two later, Terry makes his move on me, thinking I'm about to turn on him. It ended up being a very annoying sequence of turns, with invasions followed by peace, sabotage to tie up critical fleets. This ended up being a massively fun battle. My deep space cannons bombarded his ships as he came into my systems, my destroyers tore into his fighters, and my massive combat bonuses tore his fleet to shreds even though the first attack left me on the losing end.
However, the counterattack soundly defeated his forces invading my homeworld, leaving him with a handful of dreadnoughts and a single carrier with a full load of fighters. However, the next turn he would have built a War Sun, which could have turned the tide of the battles. Of course, a single war sun each turn with me pressing my fleet advantage would have made for a most interesting set of battles. Unfortunately, this is where the game was cut short, just as Terry and I were vying for control of the galaxy, with Danny ready to mop up Dave, then fight the victor of the grand conflict, almost certainly using the wormholes to launch devestating assaults.
#12
Lesson of the game: A large number of weaker, faster ships is better than a smaller number of bigger, slower ships. Still, with my industrial and technological advantage, I might very well have been able to turn the tide. Also, I should have spread out and hit your weakly defended borders rather than bull-rushing your capital.
"Winter is Coming"
#13
Oh, it certainly would have been close, but unless you could have locked down my fleets again, I could have pressed my advantage, making your life much more difficult. In all, it would have been a very interesting engagement. We must do this again.Thirdfain wrote:Lesson of the game: A large number of weaker, faster ships is better than a smaller number of bigger, slower ships. Still, with my industrial and technological advantage, I might very well have been able to turn the tide. Also, I should have spread out and hit your weakly defended borders rather than bull-rushing your capital.
#14
Ah, but could you have pressed the advantage into my interior territories, where I had a whole bevy of cruisers unused, along with the bulk of my PDS- I'm not sure you would have fared so well without enjoying the advantage of fighting on your home territory under all those PDS guns. Also, with 18 resources/turn against your 10 resources a turn, I could have built a LOT of hurt to welcome you...
"Winter is Coming"
#15
My destroyers = your cruisers, and I pay half as much for them, so the resource advantage is somewhat neutralized in that regard. I had nearly all my cruisers available, so like I said, it would have been a brutal fight.
What's worse is that I could have tried to grab the two planets by you and drop my PDS on the worlds, meaning I could have easily taken my PDS advantage with me.
What's worse is that I could have tried to grab the two planets by you and drop my PDS on the worlds, meaning I could have easily taken my PDS advantage with me.
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#16
Okay... I'm sold, I gotta try this thing.
"it takes two sides to end a war but only one to start one. And those who do not have swords may still die upon them." Tolken
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#18
Frustrated by my lack of funds yet inspired to play kick ass boardgames based on imperial conquest I have decided to create my own game. A lofty goal to be sure, but I can't get the idea out of my head.