Wargame Night 02-13

On February 9th, Tim, Ross, Eric (yes, Eric) and myself got together and played Twilight Imperium. The following races were randomly chosen.

Eric - Universities of Jol-Nar
Ross - Mentak Coalition
Tim - L1z1x Mindnet
Bruce - Barony of Letnev

Everything was set-up as usual for a four-alien game within a 3-ring map (sorry for all the dashes). The map was painted red to keep the spirit of exploration alive and well within the Twilight Imperium universe. The wormhole nexus was placed and ancient artifacts were ensconced in the proper hexes in good order.

The map was set-up with red sides up to mask our planet and system placement. As the game got going, I knew I had a tough secret objective because I needed to occupy Mecatol with 6 dreadnaughts and space dock and some troops. It seemed I could achieve this secret objective if only I could get to Mecatol Rex. Not a problem!

As I ventured forth from Homeworld, I decided to take a detour and seize the artifact conveniently located exactly midway between Ross's Mentak Coaltion and myself. Thankfully, I got there first and was rewarded with a victory point right away. I also felt it prudent to lay some mines for good measure in the system containing the ancient artifact. And wouldn't you know it, but Ross started sending some large capital ships near the system trying to find the right time or right excuse to attack there when it suited the Mentak Coaltion's alien agenda.

As it was, I was saved by Tim's L1z1x Mindnet bell! It was at this time that Tim decided to go George Zimmerman on Ross' Trayvon Martin by falling upon the peaceful world of El Nath with many warships and troops. And boy was it a slugfest, much to my glee. Ross insisted on keeping this piece of galactic real estate at all costs and Tim also felt it was much needed regardless of his costs. And pay they both did. Ross lost all of his cruisers which consisted nearly 70% of his fleet. Tim in turn lost somewhere between 3 and 4 Dreadnaughts as the system of El Nath became littered with the detritus and debris of shattered vessels and wrecked fleets.

In the meantime, Eric decided to make a bold move and seize Mecatol Rex much to my chagrin. He took it effortlessly, if I recall. Amazingly, it was in this game that both Eric and I were able to complete not just one or two but three "Transfer Actions" in the game between the both of us. As you may or may not know, transfer actions have become a source of heated debated whether they are really necessary and merely window dressing that we have yet to understand all of its implications.

As it were, Tim eventually took over El Nath from Ross after much death and destruction. Ross sued for peace. But apparently, Tim would not brook weakness from his enemy. He continued to press forward towards Ross' homeworld and eventually surrounded it and occupied it. Ross was left with merely two systems to lick his wounds with the remaining demoralized and defeated fleet of the Mentak Coaltion. Eventually, Ross would soon feel the shameful boot of occupation as Tim repeatly bitch-slapped Ross with demands that even I couldn't stomach. Indeed. Tim lived up to his moniker - Lord Hideious! It was pathetic I have to say! I kept reminding Ross that he still had dignity and didn't have to accept licking Tim's black boots of oppression. It became apparent that Tim was occupying his home world for his Secret Objective and I believe he indeed received his 2 points for doing just that.

I could see at this time that Tim was amassing for an invasion of my empire. Therefore, I ordered all cruisers to lay mines throughout the Letnev systems of control. Nearly every hex that I controlled had a space mine. And I believe that forced Tim to accept his fait accompli and reverse course back to his homeworld. As the game started to wind down, it was apparent that the game was going to end up being a tie between Eric and Tim...so I made a strategic decision and evacuated an outer system containing another artifact worth 1 victory point and let Eric occupy it in hopes that he would win the game. But alas, Tim drew the Imperium Rex public objective card which ended the game immediately in Tim's favor.

Tim got first place. Eric got second place. I got third place and Ross was dead last in fourth place. It was an interesting and exciting game even with just four players. Another great game.

Wargame Night 01-2013



On January 12th, Ross, Tim, Bob and myself got together for the first wargame of the new year and played Twilight Imperium Third Edition, Shattered Empire. The following races were randomly chosen:

 

Bruce - Clan of Saar

Tim - Federation of Sol

Bob - Brotherhood of Yin

Ross - Sardakk Norr

 

We decided to create the map with red sides up for maximum surprise. So far, we haven't had any troubles with map creation following this method but someday it may prove to be a problem as someone will probably be unable to leave homeworld due to hazards like supernovae or ion storms.

The wormhole nexus was placed and the artifact tokens were randomly chosen and placed on the red hexes. We agreed that if an artifact was discovered in an open space hex, supernova or any other red-sided hex space then it would be considered lost.

As the Clan of Saar, I had the special ability to move my space docks but then I read that I could only move "or" build at the same time. Unfortunately, I was used to building and moving at the same time in other games.

Needless to say, I ventured forth cautiously but optimistically in hopes of securing a world of peace and harmony. Alas, it was not to be. I had the clever but sneaky Ross on my left side and the troglodyte Bob on the right side. Neither one can be trusted for very long. Eventually I did discover a wormhole and was able to warp on into the Wormhole Nexus with the planet Malice featured prominently in this space zone. Everywhere I went I dropped mines from my nimble cruisers including dropping some in orbit around the planet Malice.

As the game wore on, it was apparent that Tim was gearing up for an occupation of Mecatol Rex. He had expanded near the border of Mecatol and was fully prepared to invest it fully with capital ships of the line and a number of expeditionary troops to compliment it.

But Ross, like a loose canon on a rolling deck, used an action card against Tim (Signal Jamming) and forced him to place a command counter on his fleet that was amassing for the invasion of Mecatol. As a result, this forced Tim to wait one more round before he could launch his glorious invasion. Unfortunately for Tim and fortuitously for Bob, this allowed the Brotherhood of Yin to move on into Mecatol Rex unmolested by Tim's forces of the Federation of Sol on that turn. For the Brotherhood of Yin, there was much rejoicing. And yet, Bob was not collecting any victory points for occupying the regal planet of Mecatol while the rest of us contemplated our next moves.

With Tim bogged down near Mecatol with nearly all of his forces, Bob preoccupied on Mecatol and Ross gearing up for an attack on the Federation of Sol, I decided to make a bold move from the Wormhole Nexus. I had noticed that Tim had a wormhole next to his homeworld and with my forces building up on Malice in the Wormhold Nexus I figured it would be a simple jump to his homeworld with enough forces to occupy it and prevent him from garnering any more victory points. Up till now, he had two ancient artifacts but with his homeworld occupied by my forces then he would not be allowed to collect any additional points per game rules. Thus, we revved up our FTL Drives and appeared in orbit around his homeworld in force enough to take out what token forces were left behind in addition to killing a leader, I believe an agent in fact, by our landing. Much to the Federations' angst, the invasion was a success. Naturally, once the planet was secure, I dropped an additional mine from my cruiser for good measure. If Tim was going to take it back, it was going to cost him dearly.

In the end, however, Tim was unable or unwilling to retake his homeworld. For Bob, the occupation of Mecatol Rex paid off for him. In addition to collecting points for other objectives, Bob was able to secure first place for the night. Ross' patience and strategic planning placed him into second. Amazingly, Tim was still able to hold third place in spite of my treachery. Again, I tied with Tim for third place as well.

A great game to start off the new year!