Fantasy Flight Games has given us one of several previews for Twilight Imperium 4th Edition that covers game setup, strategy, and tactical actions.
Mecatol Rex is your for the taking; waiting to be claimed in your name. Fantasy Flight Games has teased the game setup, the strategy phase, and the tactical action for 4th Edition. Mastering these concepts is vital and will aid in ensuring your faction reigns supreme.
When creating the galaxy during the setup phase, 51 game tiles are placed down by players in turns. These tiles include everything from resource-rich planets to dangerous ion storms. After three rings have been created, players will attach their faction’s home system to the galaxy in front of you. Players will then fill out this final ring, placing harmful anomalies by their opponents’ home worlds and plenty of bountiful planets around themselves. You must also determine how factions will claim dominion over this galaxy through the use of objective cards. Five stage one objectives and five stage two objectives are randomly selected, with only two stage one objectives revealed at the beginning of the game. More objectives will revealed throughout the course of the game and each provides victory points. The first player to achieve 10 victory points wins the game.
The Strategy Phase has players determining their faction’s specialty for the round. This is achieved by selecting a strategy card. Strategy cards provide a unique ability to use during the round and are labeled one through eight to determine player initiative. The selection process starts with the Speaker and players take turns selecting a strategy cards. There are also action cards that can used through out the game. One, “Public Disgrace”, allows a player to deny someone a strategy card.
Most the game will take place in the action phase, where players will claim planets, make trades, and even participate in deadly space and ground combat. Actions come in three varieties, tactical actions, strategic actions, and component actions. Tactical actions are your main method of moving, producing, and fighting throughout the galaxy. During your turn, you may use a tactical action by placing a command counter from your tactics pool on a system, “activating” that system. You then have the opportunity to move ships to that system, participate in space combat if another player’s ships are present, invade to claim planets for your own purposes, and produce new ships if one of your space docks is present.
When determining what ships can move into a system, simply look at their move value on your faction sheet. This value represents the number of tiles this ship can move to get into an activated system. The number of ships that you can have in system is determined by number of command tokens in your fleet supply pool. Ships with Capacity value can also transport ground forces for planetary invasions. To claim and empty planet, the invading player places the exhausted planet card in front of them.
Lastly, if a space dock is in an activated system, you can build more ships to expand your fleets.. Every ship has a cost, which is the amount of resources needed to place the ship in the current activated system. You use resources by turning planet cards you control facedown and gaining resources equal to the resource value found on the card. This means that the more planets you have, the more ships you can build.
Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition: $149.95
For two decades, Twilight Imperium has thrilled gamers with its grand storytelling and tactical strategy. Now players can explore the next step in the Twilight Imperium Legacy with Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition, an epic game of galactic conquest for three to six players.
Each player takes command of one of seventeen unique civilizations to compete for interstellar supremacy through warfare, trade, uncertain allegiances, and political dominance. Every faction offers a completely different play experience, from the wormhole-hopping Ghosts of Creuss to the Emiratates of Hacan, the masters of trade. All of these races have many paths to victory, but only one will sit upon the throne of Mecatol Rex as the new masters of the galaxy.
Other mechanics, such as combat, will be covered in a later preview. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition will be available to purchase from Fantasy Flight and your FLGS in the 3rd quarter of 2017.
For more on Twilight 4th Edition and other great games, visit Fantasy Flight Games!
About the Author: Juan Lopez
