We are busting out twilight imperium 4 this weekend, with most/all being new players so we have put the whole day aside for it. Very excited!
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Tell us how it goes. That is something I am desperate to do. We would all be new players.
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I’m hoping to take photos and notes as I go, if it doesn’t get in the way of the game. If it all comes out nicely I’ll make a post about it
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Would love to give TI4 a try, but there’s no way my group would put up with a teaching session and game session that long. I really need to spread out and get more than one game group…
Who has played Talisman on the table? It’s sitting in my Barnes & Noble clearance section for 50% right now and I’m tempted.
I can’t stand it any more. It all depends on your tolerance for roll and move.
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I played the snot out of talisman in my early 20s, with a girlfriend and our couple friends. It’s light and swingy, yet has every chance to be overlong. They might have tightened it up in the more recent versions. I always enjoyed it, but hardcore it isn’t.
I’d pass. It works on iPad because I can turn it off after 10 minutes and come back to it later. On the tabletop its swingy and drags.
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If you want a Talisman experience on the tabletop that actually works, I’d recommend Vlaada Chvatil’s game Prophecy; it has the same arc of “bimble around a big board having encounters, picking up eclectic loot and statting up your character, then take a shot at the McGuffin of Victory when you feel prepared enough”, while giving you some actual control over your movement and actions, and not outstaying its welcome. All it lacks is the 1980s nostalgia value, replacing it with 2000s design sensibilities.
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I had a really good first play of twilight imperium 4 this weekend. We ended up with 4 players, which wasn’t ideal but we made it work. The total run time with 2 new players and 2 more experienced players was 8 and a half hours to finish the longer 14vp game, with a dinner break in there too.
There was interaction between all players throughout, although the majority of the combat was between immediate neighbours. This lead to a situation like in bridge where we were de facto partnered with the player on the other side of the table. As luck would have it each new player was opposite an experienced player.
The 2 new players were experienced board gamers and had watched a rules introduction video before hand (which I’ll link at the end). However the pace of the game was greatly helped along by having an experienced player (the games owner) to move us through some of the less intuitive parts of the game. PDS offense was a particular point of confusion and required regular clarification.
The owner also gave us a very important warning early on, which was only 1 public objective can be scored per player at the end of the round so if you want to stay in contention you need to try to score every turn. Without that warning us new players could easily have gone halfway into the game before scoring, with no way back.
One thing I noticed was all players were regularly forgetting to use their tech abilities. It seems we had so many bits of card in front of us that gave a bonus to this or that, and everyone frequently forget to use their abilities.
I think it’s also worth noting that if you play with a proverbial table flipper, or someone that gets super salty when attacked, then you might have a bad time here. I think the game demands you be aggresive and launch limited wars on your neighbours as the most valuable objectives will need more planets than your fair share. That’s not a great combination if a player takes being attacked to heart.
I took photos at the start of every round, but so much stuff happened in the round that they don’t paint the whole picture. I’ll add one from near the end of the game that should tell a lot of the story.
(Well, it would do if I could get it working)
The game gave me what was promised, which was a grand space game that created a bunch of stories along the way. Stories of broken cease fires, sneak attacks, devious goblin creatures, suicidal cultists worshiping nuclear and biological WMDs, and an epic final battle. This final battle wasn’t even over the vast central system, but over a backwater planet that was elected as some kind of space Jerusalem.
I can’t wait to play again.
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It’s pretty good, and if you play it regularly, TI4 actually comes down to a reasonable 4-5 hours. Quite a lot going on but none of the different areas of the game are complex, barring the combat resolution. We have one player who adores it, which is nice because it means we can play it whenever we want. The downside is he compares every other game to it and finds them lacking.
My copy of Palm Island arrived, neat little palm of your hand game that doesn’t even require a table.
You cycle through a deck of 17 cards, 8 times, while flipping and rotating cards in the stack to gather resources and build up a tiny island civilization.
Seriously scratches that Friday or Onirim itch.
They just sent out the post Kickstarter backers orders, so might turn up on Amazon or your local game store soon.
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Privateer Press has announced that it will soon launch a Kickstarter campaign based on player-demand for a second edition of its popular out-of-print game LEVEL 7 [OMEGA PROTOCOL]. OMEGA PROTOCOL is a tactical miniatures-based board game for 2-6 players set in a secret government facility that has been overrun by an alien menace that threatens the existence of all humanity. The Kickstarter campaign for the new edition will give backers the opportunity to acquire not only the updated game but also bonus contents and even a copy of the game’s sequel, EXTREME PREJUDICE.
L7OP is a great one, with an excellent balancing system. Needs an overlord player, but I love that.
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This looks really cool. Definitely going to look into getting a copy.
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Yesssss.
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I really, really need the original. My brother-in-laws are both triathletes and I think they would like the game.
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It’s a bit of a winner. Easy to play and quickly becomes about the strategy rather than trying to learn the game. Plays up to 12 if you get the Peloton expansion and work in pairs.
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What @OhBollox said. It’s a pretty great, light game that isn’t quite as light as it appears at first glance. My group of grizzled 18xx fans love it and I bring it to every game night to play before or after our main dish. The Peloton expansion is fantastic, too. Dummy teams, new track. Will be picking up the new expansion ASAP.
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Somebody blocks me one more time and I’m hiding their amphetamines.
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Just ordered it. Do you guys get commission?