In the Friday game of TI?there were lots of rules questions, but I had an answer for all of them (that I remember…) except one. For some reason, I had interpreted the rules for production of units to mean that any Tactical or Transfer Action could be followed by Production… anywhere. So, we would activate a system, move junk around, then activate the system with our spacedock, then build there. This did not sit well with Mrred5.
Having forced Mrs. G to take part in the Twilight Imperium nerd festival, I didn’t feel right trying to get her to play another game that wasn’t meant for two. So, I opted for a 4-player game by myself. Best… husband… ever.
As I’ve mentioned before, I love the Catan games. I like having the possibility of getting something every turn, whether it is mine or not. I also like having the possibility of trade outside of my own turn. It makes me like I am playing more than just waiting for the other people to hurry up and finish.
Mrs. G suggested calling it Midnight Imperium, but the game went until almost 2am.
Markus O’Reallyus was the first to arrive, followed soon by MrRed5. Turbo Taxi ensued. ‘Twas okay, but not as rockin as it usually is. Once VitaminZ appeared, Mrs. G had to be roused from her ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep. We began at 8:30pm.
The beginning
I have mentioned my feelings about card games before. However, Mrs. G dictated that tonight was the night that we were going to “sit down and play a game and watch an episode of Heroes” instead of working.
So I went downstairs to find the highest rated 2-player game in the collection that I hadn’t played yet, and Blue Moon is what bubbled to the top.
The game is simple. Each player has a deck of 30 cards. In the center of the play area there are three plastic dragons. As each “fight” is won, a dragon is “attracted” to the winning side. When all three dragons are on a player’s side, the next victory for that player finishes the game.
I had?almost completely given up this game of Colosseum after a hideous second round, which had netted me only 14 points. I?passed a whole turn without a cent to my name, there was no way I could win.
When suddenly, I?managed to buy “Mare Spielbergum”, and everything came together. I had stars, I had a huge colosseum, I had season tickets!
I rode high for turns III and IV. I was doing the impossible, I was winning! In turn V, the end, I made my final production with 71 points.
A Turn in Twilight Imperium is broken up into three phases:
1) Strategy
2) Action
3) Status
This post will go over the basics of the Strategy Phase.
There are eight strategy cards, numbered 1 through 8. Each has a Primary and a Secondary Ability. The player holding the card when it is invoked takes the effects of the Primary ability, and each of the remaining players may take the effect of the Secondary ability.
Click on the images of the cards to get a more legible view. As I haven’t played the game yet, I can’t really comment on why you would choose a given strategy over another.
Yesterday I went through the setup, but I broke my rule dictating that I must describe victory conditions first, so I am backtracking.
The only scoring metric for the game is the “victory point”. (Some day, I am going to try to find one of these, and describe what they look like. They must be pretty awesome because it seems that every friggin game is based on collecting them.)
The main game is played to 10, although there are ways to short-circuit this and finish the game sooner. There is also a variant called “The Long War” that plays to 14. I won’t be playing that one for… a while. Victory points are counted on the victory point track.
In one of the recent great Tangapacolypses, I pulled the trigger on Twilight Imperium. On paper, this is exactly not my type of game. Complex, massive, and epically long.
However, it is currently #22 on Boardgamegeek, and my previous Tanga policy was, buy anything in the top 50.
So, when all 10 pounds of it arrived on my doorstep, I wasn’t really sure what to make of it. I let it perk for a week in the analog room before I moved it closer. Then it started talking to me. Open me up and check out all my bits… there’s lots of them, and they are pretty!
I have infected two “non-gamers” with?Catan?this week. I am starting everyone with a tutorial game of the Settlers of Catan Card Game, which you can read about here.
My hope is that, by the next Bunker Party, there will be an army of Catan addicts. From there… Puerto Rico… and then… Twilight Imperium, my new Holy Grail!
The Emperor… which is not me. The emperor, as you married people know, is the wife.
I have now officially struck out three times with Mrs. G. First Settlers the Card Game, followed by Caylus, and ending with Colosseum.
?I was sure she was going to like it. I mean, the whole thing is about putting on a good show, and she had a drama career in High School and College… and… it’s a Days of Wonder game! They made a wargame that she liked! A?war game!
