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.