On April 13th, Tim, Bob, Eric and myself got together for another Twilight Imperium/ Shattered Empire slugfest. The following races were randomly chosen:
Bruce - Universities of Jol-Nar
Tim - The Winnu
Bob - Sardak Norr
Eric - Brotherhood of Yinn
Because there were just four players this night we decided to forgo the usual rolling of the dice to decide where we would be seated, a highly unusual move to say the least considering past performances. As such, I was seated between Eric and Bob with Tim straight across from me.
The map was painted red and all requisite markers were placed where they should be per the rules of the game or some derivative thereof as agreed by all players.
As the Universities of Jol-Nar I was already quite ahead in the Tech field and was positioning myself to reap great rewards with the public objective cards hoping they would turn up in my favor. As the map came into focus with our explorations, it became clear to Tim at least that it was going to be a long night! Though he was merely 3 hexes away from Mecatol Rex, he might as well have been on the far side of the moon with the Nebula and Ion Storm blocking a quick move to Mecatol when the time was ripe for him.
I believe I had something to do with placing the Ion Storm during the initial setup phase but I wasn't the only person trying to slow Lord Hiddeous down. I think Bob placed the Nebula in Tim's way as well. Of course, this would force the Winnu under Tim's tutelage to tangle with the Brotherhood of Yinn being lead by Eric. Mixing things up even more between Eric and Tim was the fact that an ancient artifact worth one victory point sat between Eric and Tim, enticing both antagonists to duke it our over this relic from the past.
Needless to say, Tim was having a rough time with his precarious position as both Eric and Bob continued to squeeze the Winnu from either side and preventing a true breakout to gather planets and ultimately points to win the game.
Bob as the Sardak Norr and I as the Universities of Jol-Nar were of a natural kin-folk as we "slapped suckers" as Bob put it and sealed a deal to allow each other to expand without provocation from either one us thus avoiding war between the two pond-scum alien races. This allowed both Bob and I to gather victory points at the expense of Tim and Eric. Surprisingly, neither Tim nor Eric ventured a temporary alliance to counter our very thin truce/alliance much to their eventual loss.
In the meantime, Tim maneuvered two starfleet task forces around the Nebula and Ion Storm with both Eric and Bob watching anxiously from afar. Tim now had a ready force available to strike Mecatol Rex on one side of the Ion Storm and another force captured the ancient artifact located on the planet of Tar Mann opposite Eric's purple-colored fleet. Tim was certainly walking on egg shells around both Eric and Bob knowing full well that any little match could set off the powder keg of war. For good measure, Tim dropped space mines in orbit above the planet of Tar Mann. Naturally, Eric as the Brotherhood of Yinn decided to follow suit with his own space mines as well.
Eventually, Tim did in fact strike Mecatol Rex with ease, taking down the native space fighter defense forces as well as mopping up the remaining token ground forces without so much as coughing or sneezing. There was much rejoicing on the part of Tim.
Unbenownst to everyone else, however, Bob as the Sardak Noor decided to build a War Sun and laid the keel of it right next to the recently occupied Mecatol Rex that Tim so easily invaded. Clearly, a War Sun so close to a strategic planet like Mecatol could only mean one thing - war!
In the meantime, Eric as the Brotherhood of Yinn opened up with a salvo on the Winnu fleet stationed at Tar Mann. Eric won handily over Tim and was able to seize the ancient artifact from him much to his chagrin. There was much rejoicing on the part of Eric.
Bob was also eyeing the ancient artifact that Eric had just taken from the Winnu and decided to move his War Sun task force into the Mecatol Rex system. Naturally, he took out Tim's outnumbered space fleet with ease.
It was at this time that I grabbed the political strategy card and forced Eric to read a political card from his hand for the galactic council to vote upon. Eric then read aloud the card which stated that an ancient artifact had been found on Mecatol Rex and that to open it could either bring reward or doom depending on how we rolled the dice. If we rolled a "six" or above then we would all get two tech advancements for free, however, if I rolled a "five" or less then the entire Mecatol system would suffer a Hiroshima-like nuclear explosion from the ancient artifact and destroying every single unit in the Mecatol Rex system with each system touching Mecatol Rex suffering a similar but less deadly fate. If we voted yes then I would roll the dice but if we voted no then the card would be rejected and nothing would happen. Naturally, both Bob and Tim voted against opening the artifact and setting off who knows what but both Eric and I voted for opening the artifact. The vote was passed. I rolled the dice. And I rolled a "five"! Booooom! The entire system was destroyed taking Bob down with it much to the joy of Eric who made a hail Mary pass with that vote as he was certainly on the receiving end of Bob's War Sun. I'm sure it was like a million suns shining forth from Mecatol Rex leaving nothing in its wake. I believe that was the first time that a War Sun was destroyed by a political card. Good job Eric for playing the card! Good job Bruce for rolling the die!
So Eric was saved and both Tim and Bob were stunned. As the game wound down for the night I was indeed well positioned to profit and eventually placed a decent 2nd place finish. Eric had tied with me but takes 3rd place as no two people can tie in Twilight Imperium. Unfortunately for Tim, he would take last place but certainly made the best effort anyone could possible do in the confines of his empire. Bob despite his grotesque losses on Mecatol Rex did in fact win the game for April! Not sure how that happened but it did. Great job Bob!
Great game everyone!
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