Wargame Night 04-12

On April 14th, we got together to play Twilight Imperium Shattered Empire. The following alien races were randomly selected:

Bruce - Sardok Norr
Ross - Universities of Jol Nar
Eric - Brotherhood of Yinn
Bob - Federation of Sol
Wayne - Winnu
Tim - Barony of Letnev

The map was set up for a maximum 4 ring capacity and all map hexes were divied out appropriately. Domain counters were left out but the wormhold nexus was included as well as mines and artifacts. After all secret objective cards were handed out, I finally got one that was "easy". And really, it was easy because all I needed to score my secret objective was to occupy four planets with the same tech color. Amazingly, as the map was set up I was able to place 3 planets in my sphere of influence with the green tech discount but even more surprising was when Tim placed his very last planet hex in my sphere, it too contained a green tech discount - thus fulfilling in one huge sweep my secret objective. Talk about low hanging fruit! It was beautiful. And indeed, by the end of the 3rd turn I was able to secure my secret objective.  I was easily in first place as a result.

Slowly, Tim as the Barony of Letnev crept up to Mecatol Rex without much ado from the other alien races. I pleaded for the other races to sabotage his space dock or attack directly at Tim but again, the galactic council did nothing. As a result, Tim gained his secret objective of 2 points.

Back at the Wormhole Nexus, my diabolical plan to sew enmity among the alien races was working devilishly as an artifact was found at the planet of Malice located in the Wormhole Nexus system thus drawing Eric as the Brotherhood of Yinn and then Bob as the Federation of Sol to attack each other over a vain attempt to gain a mere 1 point. Oh, the vainglory of empires! Eric unfortunately was not able to hold out against the superior forces of Bob and like the ring of Sauron, the artifact was taken from a very unhappy Eric who in addition to losing his dignity also lost 1 victory point. I do recall him simpering under his breath in a low but audible way "my precious...my precious". Very sad really.

In the meantime, Ross as the University of Jol Nar decided to make a show of force near Mecatol Rex which did lure the Barony of Letnev out of his Mecatol lair and engage the UJN's in full force. Much to everyones surprise was how badly the forces of the Barony performed. The UJN's completely demolished Tim's fleet without so much as inflicting a scratch on Ross. At least 4 dreadnoughts were lost by the Baron in that sharp but short skirmish.

As the game wore on and public objective cards were revealed, Wayne as the Winnu made very good progress without having to declare war or engage in subterfuge against his alien neighbors and I do believe played the entire game without firing a single shot.

In the end, Tim would win the game at 1st place. Wayne, Bob and myself took 2nd place. Eric was in for 3rd place and Ross crossed the finish line at 4th place. The nice thing about TI3 is that it's quite possible that everyone can be winners! No, I haven't gone mushy liberal on you but it may be possible that all players could achieve 1st place as the winners podium can be shared by all.