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Twilight Imperium 4
MMMig
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Is anyone interested in starting a TI4 game via Tabletop Simulator / discord?
We can do a weekly 2-3 hr session, or a single long-session, depending on what folk prefer.
The people I used to play with are now old and boring and have 'better' things to do like raise families n stuff.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/233078/twilight-imperium-fourth-edition
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wra
MMMig on
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Totally worth those sleepless nights.
I was the Council Keleres. After looking up the meta, I noticed that no one selected Mentat before play, so I quickly pounced on it. I was set up for a perfect Turn 1 seige on Mecatol Rex due to selecting Warfare but I blew it by being skittish on the same turn about dumping my entire starting armada through a Gravity Rift to do it, and misinterpreting the streams between planets (which both make you neighbors and allow transportation.) I had Mecatol Rex on Round 5 and 6 and someone else ended it with 10 points. I had three points and was sitting on a four point burst. Another lesson I learned is that I could have sat on Mecatol Rex all game long and I could still lose because other players can, and will, claim Imperial for its abilities unrelated to Mecatol Rex.
Looking back upon it, I realized that two digital 4X games I like, Stellaris and Dune Spice Wars, owe their existences to Twilight Imperium because of the voting mechanic. I am humbled and fascinated.
I have a dislike for TTS but I will need to reconsider this winter so I can play this more.
It's mostly fan-made and has the base game done with PoK objectives and some map tiles.
It definitely scratches that itch and the discord community is pretty swell.
Since it's async games can go from 3 weeks to months, depending on the player count and player response.
For example, I'm currently in 12 games right now.
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wra
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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😛
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wra
How do I be a gentlemanly Hacan who does not slow the game down while playing effectively?
Also remember to offer action cards for sale, or to buy any good ones.
Also, if there's a mentak in your game... yeah...
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wra
This game will be 4P and no one is Mentak.
I know that I'll want Scanlink Dronk Network, as I have two Industry planets. And I ultimately want Hacan's final tech.
Opponents are Winnu, Xxcha and Empyrean.
Nothing yet for a live game or scheduled sessions.
Some of us are heavily playing the async web version mentioned above. It's been getting updates fairly often recently, some bug fixes but also some pok components. I.e. it now has frontier token exploration and some more PoK techs. Exciting!
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wra
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wra
Friend code: I7IzKX
Was there a game starting in the near future with people here?
I'm uhh... always up for a new game.
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*betrays you for 1 TG*
Empyrean. I'm playing as them in one of my asyncs right now. Worried I'm fucking it up. I struggle with rounds 4 and 5 since the expansion came out
Yeah tech is always an alluring mistress. One thing I've learned is that a lot of times tech can be really cool to have, but when you look back, did it actually help you get any VPs?
Especially on 10 point games, they are somewhat short where it's only viable to get 1, maaaybe 2 top-tier techs (unless you're the nerds obv).
Usually the goal is to get 1 objective per round, and sneak in the secret ones when possible.
There's also usually a big VP leap near the end and initiative matters most of all (who will score first). That's where taking politics the round before the last one can make or break someone's odds of sealing the win.
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wra
Sol is pretty solid. Hacan is fun, their special feature is easy to understand and fun.
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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Saar is absurd (take warfare r1 and tech chaos mapping asap, it's bonkers).
Jol as kime out it, is pretty busted.
Naalu is also top tier because of always scoring first. Usually able to clutch wins from others.
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wra
For example, barony loves red skips, mentak looooves yellow skips, sol would like a blue.
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Are you fully prepared for the duration? How long have you set aside for the game? Are you the only new player, and if these people have played with each other before, how long did the most recent game take?
Right now I'm looking at L1Z1X, The Xxcha, the Saar, the Naalu, and the Sardak N'orr as options.
The PoK expansion does a lot to fix this by adding other non-tech objectives. It's the best solution, imo, because tech objectives are good, but there are too many (proportionally) in the base game.
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I hate them because they're either freebies or impossible. Unlike the other objectives, they have next to nothing to do with your economy, military, or positioning. It's a hard cap on how many you can get per round, you have no way of knowing if it's going to require you to do wide or deep on the tree, and pretty much nobody but Jol Nar can do both. The objective comes up and you either have the techs or you don't. It's practically an auto win for Jol Nar if more than one Stage II tech objective comes out.
It isn't a coincidence that the base race tier rankings tracks almost exactly along the line of how many starting techs each race gets.
Do you have any particular vibes you're looking for?
Hmmm. I strongly disagree, I suppose. With every faction in almost always going for 2 in two colors, and 2 unit upgrades. If you don't get that, I feel like you've oopsied (or gambled)
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Stage II: 2 of every color, 3 unit upgrades
No faction but Jol Nar can realistically go for both of them. You have to aim for one from the very beginning, but you don't know which one (or any) will show up. If the one you planned for shows up, 2 free automatic VP. If it's the other one, oops you're never getting it. Doesn't matter how rich you are or how well you've played. 2-4 VP down to a coin flip. Races that start with 0-1 techs probably won't even qualify for one. Jol Nar automatically in the winner's circle. Muaat/Yin/N'orr automatic losers.
What do those objectives add to the game? Every other objective requires holding territory, being rich, winning battles, or positioning your fleets smartly. And even then, they require the risk of a sacrifice or making yourself vulnerable (huge payment, getting into a fight, spreading yourself thin). There's no risk aspect of tech objectives, other than the risk of complete randomness of being drawn and lucking out that it was the path you committed to 4 rounds ago.
Totally down for asynch games though.
If you start a (private) game and ask who wants to join in the server, it'll fill up fast!
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Not particularly? Not familiar enough with the rules to be looking for anything specific besides just something that doesn't need too much experience to get something out of it.
It's hard for me to remember you're playing base game but i just did a little research and i think you'll be happy with L1 if you can play with the errata / codex promissory note. If you can't then I like the Saar for vanilla. You're space nomads and they play like it. Wander across the map leaving a slug trail of one infantry per planet, not caring about holding territory.
Chaos mapping is super good and super fun because you don't have to plan ahead as much
Traditional saar victories look like the vehicle is on fire as it crashes the finish line. It won't make it another hundred feet without collapsing but it didn't need to make it any farther than here!
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wra
Of course, at the right table, you can absolutely count on not being attacked until round 3, if you stay in your slice