Eric - Universities of Jol-Nar
Bob - The Nekro Virus
Bruce - Emirates of Haccan
Tim - Clan of Saar
We included the domain counters this time and after a slow start (around 8pm) the first round got going at the snails pace that is Twilight Imperium.
The game immediately became intense as Tim suddenly amassed his forces near my sphere of influence. This necessitated a reordering of my fleet from an exploration mission to one of a defense- in-depth posture. Most unfortunate. Naturally, I began laying mines everywhere! Tim eventually picked up the Warfare Agenda and his nefarious fleet went to Red Alert. Suddenly, what I thought was going to be a trip to my homeworld, his fleet instead solar sailed towards Mecatol Rex and he took the planet with ease with nary an opposing word from either the Nekro Virus nor the rather liberal Universities of Jol-Nar.
Bob as the Nekro Virus, meanwhile, was aghast at his race's inability to research Tech abilities. This completely threw him for a loop and as a result Bob was flummoxed as to where to go and what to take as he was at the mercy of his neighbors' tech advances. His race only allows him to "steal" tech advances from other races following a victorious space battle. With both myself as the Emirates of Haccan with very little to show for tech purchases as well as Eric, who as the Jol-Narians was also surprisingly low on technology acquisition in this game, Bob was unable to capitalize on his races ability to acquire technology and thus, was left with the Nekro Virus' proverbial panties in a bunch! As a result, Bob was barely out of the gate before both Eric and I started to feast on his ships and planets throughout the game. Bob couldn't decide whether to attack me or Eric and with Mecatol Rex fully invested by Tim, was left with nothing much in his hands for victory points.
As I crept out of my homeworld system, however, it was Tim who for some odd reason felt the need to "avenge" the past by attacking my homeworld system. Actually, he did have a secret objective to attack the "last space dock of an opposing player on his right or left". Why he went after me and not Eric I'll never know but clearly my smaller fleet was an invitation for him to attack the Emirates of Haccan as he smelled "weakness". Most unfortunate.
As the game night wound down, Eric finally decided to make a rendezvous at Mecatol Rex with the largest fleet on the board at this time. He rounded up a sizeable amount of Dreadnoughts as well as lesser vessels and carriers for the occupation of Mecatol. It was a massive battle, but somehow, Eric though he was able to win the space battle, was unable to secure the ground from Tim's army forces on MR. Thus, Tim was able to keep Mecatol in his pantheon of planets.
He will pay dearly for his lack of vision. Obviously, I've already paid for mine!
It was a fun game overall.
