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Twilight Imperium Game 8 - Game Over!
MrBlarney
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Registered User regular
Twilight Imperium
Over three thousand years ago, the Lazax ruled the galaxy. But after many millennia of control, the Lazax grew complacent with their position over the other races. The six great races of Sol, Hylar, N'orr, Hacan, Letnev, and Xxcha began to chafe under the rule of the Lazax Empire. And so when a trade dispute over the Quann wormhole resulted in the Sol armada acting against the Letnev, a flame spread like wildfire throughout the galaxy, igniting a civil war between races that had only tenuously been held back by the Lazax rule. In the centuries that followed, the Twilight War eradicated the Lazax race and turned back thousands of years of progress. The great races retreated to their home planets to rebuild, and once the Galactic Council was once again able to meet, it was a shadow of its former strength. And now, thousands of years later, after the long era of the Dark Years, the time is right for a new race to step up and become the rulers of the galaxy, and the guiding hand for all races within its domain.
Twilight Imperium is a boardgame of galactic empire-building on a large scale, often described as a 4X game given physical form. Players build ships, conquer planets, research technology, and engage in trade and diplomacy, all in the pursuit of earning victory points toward claiming the Imperial Throne of Mecatol Rex and rule over the entire galaxy. For this forum game, I am planning on including the following options from the game's two expansions and a number of house rules:
- Wormhole Nexus; Empty Worlds stack includes both Wormhole systems for setup; Regular Worlds stack includes Lodor and Quann systems for setup
- Modified galaxy creation, starting location, and race selection
- Strategy card set from Shattered Empire with modifications
- Open Preliminary Objectives and modified Secret Objective selection
- Mixed Public Objective deck from base set and Shattered Empire with modifications
- Action Card deck cut from combined 170-card deck to 120 cards
- Political Card deck cut from combined 110-card deck to 60 cards; Political cards cannot be spent as Trade Goods but instead provide a Trade Good when drawn
- Racial Technologies, Flagships, Mechanized Units with modification, Shock Troops with modification
- Alternate Starting Technologies and Tech Tree with Technology modifications
- Tactical Retreats
- Custodians of Mecatol Rex
- Resources and Influence may be converted to Trade Goods as a common Refresh ability
Rules and Utilities
Base Set Rules
Shattered Empire Rules
Shards of the Throne Rules
Official FAQ
Alternate Tech Tree
Walkthrough/Tutorial
Previous Games on PA: Game I, Game II, Game III (setup), Game IV, Game V, Game VI, Game VII
There are a lot of rules to read through, and the summary I am putting into these opening posts will not be entirely comprehensive. I recommend reading through the Walkthrough/Tutorial linked above for starters and as a good review of the base game for veterans. You might also want to look at previous games played on the forum for an idea of the flow of the game. Keep an eye out for text in darkorange to note house rule modifications.
In general, actions will be noted in bold dodgerblue, bold limegreen, and bold red: see the sections below for specific formatting. Alternatively, players may post actions in bold using their race's color. Except for conversations between teammates and those initiated by the host, all inter-player conversation must be done in-thread. If you have need for clarifications, feel free to ask in bold darkorange.
Game Objectives
In order to claim the Imperial Throne of Mecatol Rex, players must accumulate 10 victory points (VP). VP are earned by fulfilling Objective cards, including Public Objectives, Preliminary Objectives, and Secret Objectives. As soon as any player has completed 10 VP worth of Objectives, the game ends immediately, even if another player could have gained more VP later in the round.
The Public Objective line is comprised of 6 Stage I cards and 5 Stage II cards. At the start of the game, cards are randomly selected, revealed in a line (Stage I cards first, followed by Stage II), and a Red Tape counter placed on each card but the first. Cards with a Red Tape counter on them may not be fulfilled; counters will be removed as the game progresses (see the Bureaucracy II strategy card). Among the Stage II cards is "Imperium Rex", which acts as a bit of a game clock: if it is unlocked, the game ends immediately and the player with the most VPs wins. In case of a tie, ties are broken in order by number of Objective Cards fulfilled, number of planets controlled, number of reserve Command Counters, and number of allocated Command Counters. If none of these measures break the tie, then the game ends in a draw.
A line of Preliminary Objectives is also dealt out at the start of the game equal to the number of players. Each Preliminary Objective may only be claimed once and each player may claim at most one Preliminary Objective. When a player completes a Preliminary Objective, they draw two Secret Objectives from the Secret Objective deck. When a player completes a Secret Objective, all remaining Secret Objectives in their hand are returned to the Secret Objective deck and the deck shuffled.
The Public Objective line is comprised of 6 Stage I cards and 5 Stage II cards. At the start of the game, cards are randomly selected, revealed in a line (Stage I cards first, followed by Stage II), and a Red Tape counter placed on each card but the first. Cards with a Red Tape counter on them may not be fulfilled; counters will be removed as the game progresses (see the Bureaucracy II strategy card). Among the Stage II cards is "Imperium Rex", which acts as a bit of a game clock: if it is unlocked, the game ends immediately and the player with the most VPs wins. In case of a tie, ties are broken in order by number of Objective Cards fulfilled, number of planets controlled, number of reserve Command Counters, and number of allocated Command Counters. If none of these measures break the tie, then the game ends in a draw.
A line of Preliminary Objectives is also dealt out at the start of the game equal to the number of players. Each Preliminary Objective may only be claimed once and each player may claim at most one Preliminary Objective. When a player completes a Preliminary Objective, they draw two Secret Objectives from the Secret Objective deck. When a player completes a Secret Objective, all remaining Secret Objectives in their hand are returned to the Secret Objective deck and the deck shuffled.
Races and Special Abilities
Six races from a pool of seventeen were randomly selected for play:
The Arborec:
- Starting Units: 4 Ground Forces, 1 Cruiser, 1 Carrier, 2 Fighters, 1 PDS, 1 Space Dock
- Starting Technologies: Gen Synthesis + (Stasis Capsules OR Transit Diodes)
- Trade Contracts: 1, 2
- You may not build Ground Forces with your Space Docks.
- Your Ground Forces have a production capacity of 1. You may not produce units with Ground Forces that have moved during the same activation.
- At the start of the Status Phase, place 1 Ground Force on one planet you control.
- Racial Technology: Bioplasmosis (Cost: +3) - At the beginning of the Strategy Phase, you may move 1 Ground Force from a planet you control to a friendly or uncontrolled planet in an adjacent system. (Discard any Domain Counters on the planet.)
- Racial Technology: Spore Acceleration (Cost: +5) - Increase the production capacity of your Ground Forces by 1.
- Flagship: Duha Menaimon (Cost: 10) - Battle 6 (x2), Movement 1, Capacity 5, Sustain Damage, Production Capacity 5 - You may not build units with this ship if it has moved during this activation.
- Starting Units: 4 Ground Forces, 2 Destroyers, 1 Carrier, 2 Fighters, 1 Space Dock
- Starting Technologies: Gravity Drive + (Gen Synthesis OR Transfabrication)
- Trade Contracts: 2, 2
- You may treat “A” and “B” Wormhole systems as if they were adjacent to each other.
- You may always use Wormholes, regardless of other game effects or restrictions.
- Other players may not use “A” or “B” Wormholes to travel into a system you control.
- Racial Technology: Dimensional Splicer (Cost: +3) - At the start of a battle in a system containing a Wormhole and at least 1 of your ships, you may assign 1 hit to 1 enemy ship of your choice.
- Racial Technology: Slave Wormhole Generator (Cost: +5) - At the start of each Status Phase, you may place (or move) your extra “A” or “B” Wormhole tokens into any empty or friendly non-Home Systems.
- Flagship: Hil Colish (Cost: 10) - Battle 4, Movement 1, Capacity 3, Sustain Damage - You may treat this ship’s system as if it had a “D” Wormhole in it. When this ship is moving, treat its destination system as if it had the Wormhole
- Starting Units: 4 Ground Forces, 2 Carriers, 2 Fighters, 1 Cruiser, 1 Space Dock
- Starting Technologies: Antimass Deflectors + (Micro Technology OR Cybernetics)
- Trade Contracts: 1, 2
- Gain 1 Trade Good every time you acquire a new planet.
- Your Space Docks have a movement of 1, but may not build during the same activation in which they move. Your Space Docks are never placed on planets and have a production capacity of 4. Your Space Docks are destroyed if ever present with an opponent’s ship without any of your ships present.
- You may fulfill Objectives even if you don’t control your Home System.
- Racial Technology: Floating Factory (Cost: +3) - Your Space Docks have a production capacity of 5, a fighter capacity of 5, and receive +1 movement.
- Racial Technology: Chaos-Mapping (Cost: +2) - You may activate Asteroid Field systems. Your Fleet Supply limit in Asteroid Field systems is 3 (which cannot be modified).
- Flagship: Son of Ragh (Cost: 10) - Battle 6 (x3), Movement 1, Capacity 4, Sustain Damage - This ship rolls 4 dice for your anti-Fighter barrage.
- Starting Units: 1 Carrier, 3 Cruisers, 1 Space Dock, 1 PDS, 4 Ground Forces
- Starting Technologies: Micro Technology + (Gen Synthesis OR Maneuvering Jets)
- Trade Contracts: 1, 1
- You start the game with one additional Command Counter in your Fleet Supply area.
- Before a Space Battle begins (in which you are participating), you may fire with up to two Cruisers or Destroyers (or a mix thereof). Enemy casualties are taken immediately, with no return fire allowed.
- During the Strategy Phase, you may take one Trade Good token from up to two different players. Each such target player must have at least 3 Trade Goods on his Race Sheet.
- Racial Technology: Salvage Operations (Cost: +4) - Gain 2 Trade Goods at the end of each Space Battle in which you participate. If you won the battle, you may build one ship in the system of a unit type that you destroyed during combat. You must pay the ship’s resource cost.
- Racial Technology: Mirror Computing (Cost: +4) - When you spend Trade Goods, each Trade Good counts as 2 resources or 2 influence (instead of 1).
- Flagship: Fourth Moon (Cost: 8) - Battle 5 (x2), Movement 2, Capacity 2, Sustain Damage - Opposing ships may not use the sustain damage ability in this system.
- Starting Units: 5 Ground Units, 2 Carriers, 1 Destroyer, 1 Space Dock
- Starting Technologies: Cybernetics + (Fleet Logistics OR Enviro Compensator)
- Trade Contracts: 2, 2
- As an Action, you may spend one Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation box to place two free Ground Units on any one Planet that you control.
- During the Status Phase, you receive one extra Command Counter.
- Racial Technology: Mark II Advanced Carriers (Cost: +4) - Your Carriers now have a capacity of 8 and gain the “sustain damage” ability.
- Racial Technology: Spec Ops Training (Cost: +5) - Each time you roll a 1 during Invasion Combat, you may reroll the die. You must use the second result.
- Flagship: Genesis I (Cost: 10) - Battle 5 (x3), Movement 1, Capacity 3, Sustain Damage - Ground Forces on this ship do not count towards its capacity.
- Starting Units: 4 Ground Units, 2 Carriers, 1 Cruiser, 2 Fighters, 1 Space Dock
- Starting Technologies: Sarween Tools OR Neural Motivator
- Trade Contracts: 3, 3
- Your trades do not require approval during Trade Negotiations.
- You do not need to spend a Command Counter to execute the Secondary Ability of the Trade Strategy. When you receive Trade Goods from one of your Trade Agreements, you receive one additional Trade Good.
- No player may ever, except for war, break a Trade Contract with you.
- During the Status Phase, you may trade Action Cards with other players.
- Racial Technology: Production Centers (Cost: +3) - As an Action, you may spend one command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to gain 6 Trade Goods. You must then give 2 of your Trade Goods to one other player. You may only do this once per turn, and only if you have fewer than 6 Trade Goods.
- Racial Technology: Quantum Datahub Node (Cost: +5) - At the end of the Strategy Phase, you may trade one of your Strategy Cards with a Strategy Card belonging to one of your trade partners. The other player does not need to agree to this trade.
- Flagship: Wrath of Kenara (Cost: 10) - Battle 7 (x3), Movement 2, Capacity 4, Sustain Damage - When this ship is present, up to two times each combat round, you may spend 1 Trade Good to reroll one of your dice.
Game Setup
At the start of the game, players each receive five system tiles for creation of the game map. Mecatol Rex is set at the center, with home system locations on the third ring directly outward. Starting from the first player and proceeding in a snake draft (first to last, last to first, etc.), each player places a system title from their hand with the following restrictions:
Once the game map has been created, players will conduct an auction for race, start location, and starting player (speaker token). Six races will be randomly dealt out for selection. Starting with player 1 and moving clockwise, each player will place a bid of trade goods (including zero) on a race, start location, or the speaker token. Players may take a claim away from another player by placing a larger bid on an item; if a player already has a claim on a race or starting location, they may not re-bid on a different race or starting location on their turn. Once all items have been claimed and all players have passed, bonus trade goods will be dealt out by summing the total amount bid by each player on their final claims, with each player gaining the difference between their bids and the maximum bid.
After race and start location selection, Custodians of Mecatol Rex tokens are placed on Mecatol Rex (see Odds and Ends) and the Public Objective and Preliminary Objective lines are created. Simultaneously, players place their starting units and select starting technologies. Players then receive 2 Political Cards (and 2 Trade Goods) and allocate 2 Command Counters to Strategy Allocation, 3 counters to Fleet Supply, and 3 counters to Command Pool. The game begins with the first Strategy Phase.
- Each ring must be filled completely before moving on to the next, starting from the center and moving outwards.
- Special systems with red borders may not be placed adjacent to one another.
- If a player has placed a system containing no planets, then a system containing at least one planet must be placed on their next turn.
Once the game map has been created, players will conduct an auction for race, start location, and starting player (speaker token). Six races will be randomly dealt out for selection. Starting with player 1 and moving clockwise, each player will place a bid of trade goods (including zero) on a race, start location, or the speaker token. Players may take a claim away from another player by placing a larger bid on an item; if a player already has a claim on a race or starting location, they may not re-bid on a different race or starting location on their turn. Once all items have been claimed and all players have passed, bonus trade goods will be dealt out by summing the total amount bid by each player on their final claims, with each player gaining the difference between their bids and the maximum bid.
After race and start location selection, Custodians of Mecatol Rex tokens are placed on Mecatol Rex (see Odds and Ends) and the Public Objective and Preliminary Objective lines are created. Simultaneously, players place their starting units and select starting technologies. Players then receive 2 Political Cards (and 2 Trade Goods) and allocate 2 Command Counters to Strategy Allocation, 3 counters to Fleet Supply, and 3 counters to Command Pool. The game begins with the first Strategy Phase.
General Game Flow
The game is played over a number of rounds, typically 5-10 in total. Each round is divided into three parts: the Strategy Phase, the Action Phase, and the Status Phase. In the Strategy Phase, players select Strategy Cards: this determines the special action that player may take during the round as well as play order. The bulk of activity takes place in the Action Phase: here players may deploy abilities specified by their choice of Strategy Card, activate systems for unit movement, space combat, invasion of planets, and building of new units, or to play certain action cards. Once everybody has passed their turns in the Action Phase, the Status Phase allows for players to score victory points by claiming objectives and refreshes the board setup for the next round of play.
Strategy Phase
In the Strategy Phase, players select Strategy Cards for the round. Each Strategy Card has a special ability and determines play order in the Action Phase. Starting from the player with the Speaker token and moving clockwise, each player will choose a card; each card may be selected by at most one player. To select a Strategy Card, note your selection in bold dodgerblue. Example:
I select the (1) Leadership Strategy Card.
At the end of the Strategy Phase, there will be two unselected Strategy Cards. A Bonus counter will be added to each card as incentive for selection in future rounds. When a player selects a Strategy Card with a Bonus counter, they immediately exchange each counter for either a Trade Good or Command Counter.
I select the (1) Leadership Strategy Card.
At the end of the Strategy Phase, there will be two unselected Strategy Cards. A Bonus counter will be added to each card as incentive for selection in future rounds. When a player selects a Strategy Card with a Bonus counter, they immediately exchange each counter for either a Trade Good or Command Counter.
Action Phase
Starting with the player with the lowest-numbered Strategy Card and moving up in number, players take actions sequentially until all players have passed. There are four different types of actions that players can perform: the Strategic Action, Tactical Action, Transfer Action, and using Action Cards that are played as actions. Details about the first three actions are contained in the following sections. The fourth is straightforward: the acting player declares the card they wish to play in bold dodgerblue, noting its effects. For expediency in the forum game environment, players do not need to declare use of the Action Card, wait for others to declare, and then actually play the card. (Please note that the two-step declare-then-play protocol still applies for other phases of the game, including the Strategy Phase, Status Phase, and battles.) Example:
I play an Action Card: Alien Technology.
I exhaust Arnor (2R) and Saudor (2R) to gain the technology Sarween Tools.
If a player does not wish to make any more actions during the round, they may pass their turn. Players must use the Strategic Action specified on their Strategy Card before ending their turn for the round. Players who have passed their turn will still be able to participate in secondary abilities from other players’ Strategic Actions, but take no further actions in the Action Phase. Players may pass their turn in bold red. Example:
I PASS my turn.
I play an Action Card: Alien Technology.
I exhaust Arnor (2R) and Saudor (2R) to gain the technology Sarween Tools.
If a player does not wish to make any more actions during the round, they may pass their turn. Players must use the Strategic Action specified on their Strategy Card before ending their turn for the round. Players who have passed their turn will still be able to participate in secondary abilities from other players’ Strategic Actions, but take no further actions in the Action Phase. Players may pass their turn in bold red. Example:
I PASS my turn.
MrBlarney on
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I activate the primary ability...
I PLAY the secondary ability...
I PASS on the secondary ability.
Secondary Ability: Masterful Tactician You may spend influence to purchase up to 3 Command Counters from your reinforcements. You receive 1 Command Counter for every 2 influence you spend.
Notes: Unlike other Strategy Cards, there is no need to spend a Strategy Allocation counter to use this card’s secondary ability. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (1) Leadership Strategy Card and exhaust Mellon (2I), placing 1 counter into Strategy Allocation, 1 into Fleet Supply, and 2 into Command Pool.
I PLAY the secondary ability, exhausting Dal Bootha (2I) to place 1 Command Counter into my Command Pool.
a) Choose one system containing a planet you control. Each opponent must place one of his Command Counters into the system from his reinforcements.
b) Execute the secondary ability of this card without paying a Command Counter or any influence.
Secondary Ability: Peaceful Annexation Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area and 3 Influence to claim an empty planet adjacent to a system you control. Place your Command Marker on the planet.
Notes: The a) side of the primary ability protects a system from interference by other players; if they have no counters in their reserves they must take one from their race sheet if possible. Players may not use the secondary ability to take control of Mecatol Rex or a planet that was just annexed by another player using this ability during the same activation. Players may annex planets under the control of other players if the opponent has no ground units based at that planet. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (2) Diplomacy II Strategy Card, choosing option a) and targeting the Abyz-Fria system.
I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter and exhausting Torkan (3I) to annex Vefut II.
a) Claim the Speaker token and choose one other player to play a Political Card and resolve its agenda. You may not choose this option if you are already the Speaker.
b) Choose one other player to claim the Speaker token. Play a Political Card from your hand and resolve its agenda. You must select a player that is not currently Speaker.
Secondary Ability: Morale Boost Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to refresh any number of your Planet Cards with total combined resource and influence of 6 or less.
Notes: If a player selected to play a Political Card has none to play, the top card of the Political Card deck is drawn and resolved instead. After negotiation, players vote on the agenda, starting to the left of the Speaker, with the option to also abstain from a vote. Each player's vote is worth the amount of influence on their unexhausted planets (minimum 1); Trade Goods may not be spent here to increase the power of the vote. The option with the most votes wins, with the Speaker breaking any ties. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (3) Assembly Strategy Card, choosing option a) to claim the Speaker token and choosing The Universities of Jol-Nar to play a card. (The activating player may wait to receive cards before making a choice)
Selected player under option a): I choose to bring "Ancient Artifact" to a vote., and posting the Political Card text.
Voting: I vote FOR the agenda, I vote AGAINST the agenda., I ELECT <item> for the agenda., I ABSTAIN from the agenda.
I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to refresh Lodor and Xxehan.
Secondary Ability: Double Efforts Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to immediately build up to 3 units in one of your systems containing one or more friendly Space Docks, even if you have activated this system already. Building units here does not activate the system.
Notes: Players are still limited by the normal production capacity of Space Docks during activation of this card. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (4) Production Strategy Card, exhausting Fria (2R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and 2 Destroyers (2R) at the Space Dock on Abyz.
I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter and exhausting Lodor (3R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and 2 Fighters (1R) at the Space Dock on Lodor.
Notes: Each race has two Trade Contracts that they may exchange with others to earn Trade Goods in the Trade Strategy Card, and trade agreements must be made between different races (i.e. you can’t exchange both Contracts with the same race). Negotiation is encouraged when making and approving agreements. There is no secondary ability associated with this Strategy card. Players do not need to declare the Trade Goods they gain, but may do so optionally. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (5) Trade II Strategy Card, receiving 6 Trade Goods (3 free + 3 from agreements). or
I activate the primary ability of the (5) Trade II Strategy Card, breaking the Trade agreement between The Universities of Jol-Nar and The Barony of Letnev. I collect 3 Trade Goods (all from agreements).
When trying to create an agreement: I request the creation of a Trade Agreement between myself [2] and The Xxcha Kingdom [2].
When approving a trade: I approve of the creation of a Trade Agreement between The Xxcha Kingdom [2] and The Federation of Sol [2].
Secondary Ability: Reinforce Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to move up to two of your ships from unactivated systems into any adjacent systems that do not contain enemy units. Then place one of your Command Counters from your reinforcements in each destination system that you did not control before the movement.
Notes: The High Alert token does not affect the performance of ground units, nor does it affect pre-combat abilities. Moving ships using the secondary ability does not trigger PDS Fire. Control of a system is defined by control of all planets in the system (if any) and the presence of at least one non-Fighter friendly ship. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (6) Warfare II Strategy Card, placing the High Alert token in the Abyz-Fria system.
I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to move a Destroyer from Quann to Qucen'n-Rarron and a Cruiser from Dal Bootha-Xxehan to Qucen'n-Rarron.
Secondary Ability: Advanced Development Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area and 6 resources to receive one Technology advance (for which you have the necessary prerequisites.
Notes: Common technologies are divided into four categories and organized into a tech tree. (Tech Tree) If purchasing technology, the cost may be reduced by one for each technology specialty icon matching the type of technology you wish to buy on your unexhausted planets. You do not have to exhaust such planets during technology purchasing to gain their bonus. Each race also has two Race-Specific Technologies only they may purchase. These technologies have no prerequisites, are colorless, and incur an additional resource cost to purchase; this includes if the technology is selected for the 'free' technology in the primary ability. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (7) Technology II Strategy Card and exhaust Abyz (3R) to gain racial technology "Production Centers". (Hacan racial technology costing +3 resources)
I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter, exhausting Abyz (3R), Fria (2R), and using the Fria Technology specialty to gain "XRD Transporters".
Primary Ability: Imperial Control Receive 1 Command Counter from your reinforcements. Then remove one Red Tape counter from the Public Objective of your choice. Stage II cards may not be selected until at least five Stage I cards have been unlocked. You may then immediately claim one Public Objective that you qualify for.
Secondary Ability: New Agendas Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to draw one Political Card and one Action Card.
Notes: If "Imperium Rex" is unlocked, whether by the special action or primary ability, the game ends immediately without any further player actions (including qualification for further objectives). "Imperium Rex" may only be selected if at most one Red Tape counter is in front of it in the line. A player must control all planets in their home system in order to claim an objective. Usage examples:
I activate the primary ability of the (8) Bureaucracy Strategy Card, placing a Command Counter into Command Pool.
After receiving Objective Cards: I unlock the following Objective Card:, and posting the Objective Card text.[/color][/b]
I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to draw one Political Card and one Action Card.
Tactical Action
- Activate a System One counter will be spent from the Command Pool to activate the chosen system.
- Movement into the System Ships cannot be moved out of activated systems and cannot pass through systems with non-Fighter enemy ships. Units with carry ability can pick up units at any time during their movement as long as the systems do not contain enemy ships and are not previously activated.
- PDS Fire If there are any enemy PDS units in range, play will be paused to allow their owning players the opportunity to decide whether or not to react. The active player may then choose to activate their own PDS units, if any. Hits are scored as in Space Battles (see below) by each player.
- Space Battles A Space Battle occurs when ships of different players are in the same system. See section below.
- Planetary Landings Units being carried may be landed at this time; they may be split between multiple planets.
- Invasion Combat Invasion Combat occurs when units of different players are in the same planet. See section below.
- Produce Units Players may exhaust planets and spend trade goods to build units at a previously established Space Dock, or to build a Space Dock if the planet it is being built on has been controlled the entire round. The maximum number of units that may be produced is equal to 2 plus the resource value of the planet housing the Space Dock.
If a planet is taken, either by landing a Ground Force or Mechanized Unit on an empty planet or winning Invasion Combat, the planet card is received in exhausted state. Example:I spend a Command Pool Counter to activate the Tar'mann system and perform a Tactical Action.
A Carrier with two Fighters and two Ground Forces from Tequ'ran-Torkan and a Cruiser from the Xxcha Home System will be moved in. (If there were PDS in the area, the action would pause for PDS fire. Assuming the system is empty,)
I land two Ground Forces onto Tar'mann, taking control of the planet.
Building units: I exhaust Bereg (3R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and two Fighters (1R).
Space Battles and Invasion Combat
- Announce Withdrawals/Retreats Attacker has first option to declare a retreat, followed by the Defender. Players may retreat into an adjacent activated system without enemy ships. Alternatively, the defender may spend a counter from Strategy Allocation to activate an adjacent empty or friendly system for the purposes of retreat.
- Roll Combat Dice Both players simultaneously roll outcomes for all their ships.
- Remove Casualties Both players decide what ships to remove from their own fleets; attacker removes first.
- Execute Withdrawals/Retreats If there are still ships of both players in the system and a retreat was declared, it is executed now.
Battle rounds continue until a player retreats or only ships of one kind (or fewer) remain in the system. Generally, battles will be conducted via private message, and it is encouraged to have conditional orders in place with me in order to expedite the process. Results will be announced in thread at battle’s completion.Invasion Combat flows similarly to Space Battles, but without a retreat option. Pre-combat, the attacker has the option of using Planetary Bombardment with his Dreadnoughts and War Suns and the defender may use PDS fire. For Bombardment, ships must be split between planets if there are multiple invasions, and Dreadnoughts may not bombard planets that contain enemy PDS units. PDS units must be on the planet being invaded to be used in PDS fire. For each hit by each player, one Ground Force or Shock Troop is removed or one Mechanized Unit is damaged (but not destroyed). Remaining Ground Forces, Shock Troops, and Mechanized Units fight it out in rounds of rolling combat dice, then removing casualties. If the attacker wins with at least one Ground Force, Shock Troop, or Mechanized Unit remaining, then he gains control of the planet. All enemy Space Dock and PDS units are destroyed, unless the attacker has at least one Shock Troop; in that case, the invader may choose to capture the facilities instead, replacing them with units of his own.
Units
Transfer Action
- Activate Two Systems One counter will come from the Command Pool like in a Tactical Action, the other will come from the reserve tokens. Both systems must be “friendly”, containing at least one friendly unit and no enemy units, and must be adjacent to each other.
- Movement Between Systems
- PDS Fire
- Planetary Landings Units may not be landed on neutral or enemy-controlled planets in the Transfer Action.
- Produce Units Units may be produced or a Space Dock may be built at only one of the activated systems.
Example:I spend a Command Pool Counter to activate the Saudor and Arinam-Meer systems and perform a Transfer Action.
A Carrier with two Fighters and two Ground Forces will move from Saudor to Arinam-Meer; a Cruiser will move from Arinam-Meer to Saudor.
I will land one Ground Force from the Carrier to each of Arinam and Meer.
I will exhaust Saudor (2R) and spend 2 Trade Goods to build a Space Dock on Arinam.
- Qualify for Public/Preliminary/Secret Objective Cards Players may qualify for at most one Public Objective Card and one Preliminary or Secret Objective Card per round. A player must control all planets in their home system in order to claim an objective. All players may claim each Public Objective once; Each Preliminary Objective may only be claimed once and each player may only claim one Preliminary Objective; players may not claim other players' Secret Objectives.
- Repair Damaged Ships
- Remove Command Counters Counters are removed from the board and returned to players' reserves.
- Refresh Planet Cards Trade stations and certain worlds have Refresh abilities that can be used immediately after refreshing, causing them to become exhausted. All worlds (including trade stations and other worlds with specific Refresh abilities) may also be exhausted for their resource or influence values to gain Trade Goods at one Trade Good for every two points spent. A maximum of three Trade Goods can be gained per round, whether via resources, influence, or both.
- Receive 1 Action Card and 2 Command Counters
- Redistribute Command Areas If a player reduces their Fleet Supply, they must make sure their fleet numbers are in compliance with the new number.
- Return Strategy Cards Strategy Cards return to the common area for selection in the next Strategy Phase.
Players may also scuttle units during the Status Phase, returning the unit to the reserves. Most steps are automatic; outside of potential Action Card plays and scuttling units, players need only declare how they are redistributing their Command Counters in the Status Phase. Example:I gain 2 Command Counters, placing one in Strategy Allocation and one in Command Pool., or I gain 2 Command Counters, rearranging my Command Areas to include 2 in Strategy Allocation, 4 in Fleet Supply, and 2 in Command Pool.
Odds and Ends
TG/AC/PC: 2/0/2
SA/FS/CC: 2/3/3
Game State Links
Player Order and Galaxy Creation, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5
Race, Start Location, and Speaker Token Auction, Update 1, Update 2, End of Setup Round
Round 1, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Start of Status Phase
Round 2, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Start of Status Phase
Round 3, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Start of Status Phase
Round 4, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Start of Status Phase
Round 5, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Start of Status Phase
Round 6, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5
Via Imperium Rex, with 9 Victory Points, The Mentak Coalition is declared victorious!
People interested in playing should indicate their interest by posting a message indicating such in bold limegreen. I'll close signups Tuesday 2014 March 11, 11pm PDT, conditional on there being at least six interested players. Six players will be selected randomly for game participation; remaining players will act as reserves in case someone drops from the game or is no longer interested in playing.
Please take note of the optional modules and numerous house rules that will be employed in this game, as listed at the top of the opening post:
I am quite open to suggestions for other changes. To aid in your discussion, elaboration on a few of the points above follows, mostly noting differences from the modules and rules used in Game 6.
Start Location, Race, and Starting Player Selection:
Open Preliminary Objectives and Modified Secret Objective Selection:
Mixed Public Objective Deck:
Stage I
[1 VP] I have at least 5 Technology Advances.
[1 VP] I have Technology Advances in all 4 colors.
[1 VP] I now spend 8 resources or 8 influence.
[1 VP] I now spend 3 Command Counters from my Command and/or Strategy Allocation areas.
[1 VP] I am blockading an opponent’s Space Dock or have destroyed an opponent’s Space Dock this turn.
[1 VP] I won a Space Battle against at least 3 opposing ships in one system this turn.
[1 VP] I successfully invaded one planet containing at least 1 opposing Ground Force or Mechanized Unit this turn.
[1 VP] I took control of 3 planets this turn.
[1 VP] I control 5 planets outside my Home System.
[1 VP] I control Mecatol Rex.
Stage II
[2 VP] I have at least 5 Technology Advances of the same color.
[2 VP] I have at least 9 Technology Advances.
[2 VP] I now spend 16 resources or 16 influence.
[2 VP] I now spend 6 Command Counters from my Command and/or Strategy Allocation areas.
[2 VP] I won two Space Battles this turn, each in different systems and against at least 3 opposing ships.
[2 VP] I successfully invaded two planets, each containing at least 1 opposing Ground Force or Mechanized Unit, this turn.
[2 VP] I control 10 planets outside my Home System.
[2 VP] I control the Mecatol Rex system and at least 3 systems adjacent to it. I "control" a system if I have at least one (non-Fighter) ship there, and I control every planet in the system.
[WIN] Domination!: I control all the planets in the Home Systems of two other players and have at least 4 (non-Fighter) ships in each.
[GAME OVER] Imperium Rex: As soon as this card is revealed, the game ends immediately. The player with the most victory points wins the game.
Trimmed Action and Political Card Decks:
117 Action Cards achieved a score of above 3.0, having at most one "cut" call and each having at least two "keep" calls. Three Action Cards achieved a score of exactly 3.0 and were selected on the basis of other cards with the same name achieving a score above 3.0 (there were cases where cards with the same name were given different tags), for a total of 120 cards for the Action deck.
52 Political Cards achieved a score of above 3.0; adding in the eight cards that had a score of exactly 3.0 generates a set of 60 cards for the Political deck.
Alternate Tech Tree Technology Modifications:
Reserve up? If someone goes AWOL I'm happy to step in, and I'll keep an eye on the thread in the meantime.
Have never played before and barely skimmed the other games. Looking forward to losing horribly.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
And if there is an option, I would choose this one (or whichever is the more complicated).
Of course, I am not 100% sure what MrBlarney is thinking. That is just from previous experience.
Start Location, Race, and Starting Player Selection:
Interesting. I suppose the most obvious boost to 'economy' will probably spamming CC purchase via leadership, early tech or flagship. Typically, the construction of fleets and their movement is limited by command counters, fleet supply and space dock capacity - trade goods don't really help with that. In light of this - should there be a cap on the combined bids? Say... a max of 6-8TG between the 3 criteria (race, start, speaker). Otherwise, I WOULD bid 10 on each to get something like... Mentak, first turn to get tech with bitchin' systems to colonise. The 30 TGs everyone else would get... eh... 3/5 players I wouldn't see until well into the midgame, and they would spend the TGs fighting each other anyway.
Open Preliminary Objectives and Modified Secret Objective Selection:
Huzzah! This should be a thing... Woo!
Mixed Public Objective Deck:
Stage I
[1 VP] I have at least 5 Technology Advances.
[1 VP] I have Technology Advances in all 4 colors.
[1 VP] I now spend 8 resources or 8 influence.
[1 VP] I now spend 3 Command Counters from my Command and/or Strategy Allocation areas.
[1 VP] I am blockading an opponent’s Space Dock or have destroyed an opponent’s Space Dock this turn.
[1 VP] I won a Space Battle against at least 3 opposing ships in one system this turn.
[1 VP] I successfully invaded one planet containing at least 1 opposing Ground Force or Mechanized Unit this turn.
[1 VP] I took control of 3 planets this turn.
[1 VP] I control 5 planets outside my Home System.
[1 VP] I control Mecatol Rex.
Stage II
[2 VP] I have at least 5 Technology Advances of the same color.
[2 VP] I have at least 9 Technology Advances.
[2 VP] I now spend 16 resources or 16 influence.
[2 VP] I now spend 6 Command Counters from my Command and/or Strategy Allocation areas.
[2 VP] I won two Space Battles this turn, each in different systems and against at least 3 opposing ships.
[2 VP] I successfully invaded two planets, each containing at least 1 opposing Ground Force or Mechanized Unit, this turn.
[2 VP] I control 10 planets outside my Home System.
[2 VP] I control the Mecatol Rex system and at least 3 systems adjacent to it. I "control" a system if I have at least one (non-Fighter) ship there, and I control every planet in the system.
[WIN] Domination!: I control all the planets in the Home Systems of two other players and have at least 4 (non-Fighter) ships in each.
[GAME OVER] Imperium Rex: As soon as this card is revealed, the game ends immediately. The player with the most victory points wins the game.
No problems with the list. Took control of 3 planets for a stage 1 is a bit harsh if it's not one of the first.
Trimmed Action and Political Card Decks:
117 Action Cards achieved a score of above 3.0, having at most one "cut" call and each having at least two "keep" calls. Three Action Cards achieved a score of exactly 3.0 and were selected on the basis of other cards with the same name achieving a score above 3.0 (there were cases where cards with the same name were given different tags), for a total of 120 cards for the Action deck.
52 Political Cards achieved a score of above 3.0; adding in the eight cards that had a score of exactly 3.0 generates a set of 60 cards for the Political deck.
Didn't know that was the system... hopefully you derived stuff from comments. Sounds about right though... 120 for AC, 60 for PC.
I've been throwing around an idea of how to rework sabotages. Basically, it's not an action card, it's an overt, tradeable ability. Basically somewhere between the action card and the Agent Leader, only without using the Leaders option. This cuts down forum "no sabo" time halts and isn't any more damaging to planning than playing with Leaders. Few ways to acquire, but quickest, dirtiest and first idea was - instead of executing the primary ability of a strategy card, you get a sabo token. Can hold 2 or 3 max. No sabo cards in AC deck.
Alternate Tech Tree Technology Modifications:
Neural Computing and Gen Synthesis needed the nerf.
Duranium Armor... weaker, not sure how 'significantly' though. And not really sure that it got weakened. Dreadnoughts tend to blob, and old Duranium Armor only came into play after 4 or 5 rounds of combat. With this change, having 3 Dreads/Warsuns has the same effect on casualties as old Duranium with 4 rounds of combat - 3 casualties preserved effectively. And if you play the AC that lets cruisers sustain damage - Duranium Armor makes you unstoppable-ish.
In smaller combats - it's actually stronger. It prevents an additional casualty from the first round into second round, which means an additional shot will be fired in the second round. Going 1 dreadnought against 2 cruisers is a GUARANTEE of getting at least 2 shots out, ACs aside. With old Duranium - Cruisers had a 25%ish chance of an outright win.
On the alternate tech tree. One of the issues that comes of it is the changed starting techs. Some races though, NEED those techs to function. After reviewing game 6, Saar without XRD is murderous. They are so gimped it's not even funny. Ditto for a lot of races. Actually maybe... 10 races still function and that's mostly because they are war races or are Hacan or Jol Nar. I think racial starting techs should be kept with original game, but in light of new tech tree - techs that can't find a path back to 'always researchable' techs - basically the first tier - cannot be counted as prerequisites. Therefore Saar would start with XRD, but could not use it as a prerequisite for Light/Wave until it got both Fleet Logistics and Antimass or Hyperm.
So is this you volunteering to run another game? Thanks, MrBody!
There will still be plenty of reading, even without the house rules, heheh.
More or less what robinlambert said: this changes the strategy of board building rather than removes it. It also gives starting positions a bit more fairness by providing compensation for extremely good or extremely poor race/starting position selection. It's a bit experimental, but I hope it proves fruitful.
I'm more than happy to add or remove modules according to player request and demand. Seems like people are happy with things so far...
If you think you're willing to give the other players a 20-30 TG head start in their resources, well, I think you might be in for a rough game. If bids get much higher than about 6 TG on a single item, I might get worried, but let's see how the system works in practice before panicking.
It was a happy coincidence that the numbers turned out the way they did, and I think five was enough to build a good enough consensus for trimming. It's a test, and things will only continue to get better with more testing. If anybody else out there wants to provide an opinion for trimmings (either before the start of the game proper or as data for informing the next), let me know and I can hook you up with the information.
I'm not sure where you're arguing that Duranium Armor only came into play after a few round of combat; they very much play a part right from the start after healing the first point of damage. But in any case, I agree with your analysis for the most part. However, the biggest impact that the change in the technology is that it avoids stalemates. It used to be fairly easy for one or two Duranium Armor Dreadnoughts to mop up a group of Destroyer and Cruiser units due to inconsistencies in landing hits. It's now easier for small units to overcome Dreadnoughts since a single hit in a round doesn't activate Duranium Armor. To compensate a little bit for Dreadnoughts in these kind of situations, their base hit number has been improved by 1, as though they have a built-in Hylar V, Cybernetics, or Gen Synthesis upgrade.
As for starting techs in the alternate tree, I'll consider your suggestion. It's an interesting idea for hybridizing the two technology trees.
Anyway, no matter. Interesting change, but I'd peg it at roughly the same power, just slightly different applications. Don't even think the dreads need the +1 combat upgrade... but you the boss. Incidentally... >_> Is the L1Z1X a race that can be played?
Not sure dreads need the starting to hit boost on top of it. Unless the thought is that base dreads needed that boost period.
It's going to make L1z1x an absolute beast. (do their dreads start at 3+ then?)
Shhhh! God, MrBody, give away the game why don't you :P
Was neural computing really that great? It only saved you 2 resources every turn you bought tech, which wouldn't be every turn. So bare minimum it takes 3 rounds to pay itself off. Good if you start off with it, but I never considered it worth paying for. Micro technology giving 2 extra trade goods each round always seemed way better to me.
As for Neural Computing, even though it did take time to pay off, one of the side effects of the technology is that it also makes it easier to collect new technologies due to reduced costs: in the first few rounds, it can be difficult to save up enough to buy Technology, and Neural Computing can provide quite an early boost (if you can get it). Well, I think it's worth testing in its weaker form, especially since most people will also be getting bonus TGs at the start of the game.
In the case of 4+ dreads though, it would nullify one of the key strengths of L1z1x. Unless their dreads became 3+, which would probably make them too strong.
I sort of assumed this would be the standard bidding system (http://ti3pbf.com/wiki/Home_System_Auction and http://ti3pbf.com/wiki/Trade_Good_based_Race_Selection) which would hardly get anyone 30 TG.
Sabo Tokens:
Not a fan of this. I like it being an action card. Then it can be stolen. Then there are a finite amount of them in the deck. Then there is a layer of caution to playing them.
Alternate Tech Tree Technology Modifications:
Personally I thin that Neural Computing was fine but enjoy the other modifications.
and
I love the aspect of the Alternative Tech Tree that the player has to pick which tech they will start with. It is a nice twist. I don't think anyone is screwed from the beginning. You get to customize your initial options a bit.
Looking forward to a good couple of games
I think that's overstating it but we can disagree. That's ok.
Auction.
Would you bid on location and race with one bid then? Or two but in same style?