Twilight Imperium - Fantasy Flight Games

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Twilight Imperium
Second Edition
Fantasy Flight Games
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4.50 5

Civilization. Third Reich. Diplomacy. Sensing a theme here? That's right - epic board games. What does this have to do with this review? Well, Twilight Imperium ranks right up there with those games and many others that you may think of as epic games. Setup of epic games alone takes the time that it would take to play many other games, and play time alone can take over a weekend or more, depending on the players and their patience, as well as playtime invested. Ok, Twilight Imperium may not take that long, but I've had a few that went pretty long. You get the idea - I'm talking about a massive game here!

Twilight Imperium is the brainchild of Christian T. Peterson, co-founder of the company that would become Fantasy Flight Games. He wanted to create an epic space-opera type game that would capture people's imaginations and have all the details that any fine epic board game should have. Well, I can truly say that he's completed his quest with Twilight Imperium. Diplomacy, Technology, and war; heavy emphasis on the war part...

History
Once there was peace. The mighty Lazax, masters of stars and planets ruled the known races; N'orr, Xxcha, Hacan, Letnev, Jol-Nar, and Sol. These factions, through a Council, all worked together to create proper balance in the known galaxy, and for countless ages it was so.

In time, these "ruled" factions became restless. It is written that "Political energy soon turned into militant patriotism, and interracial power struggles began to flare." This time soon became known as the 'Age of Dusk.'

The Lazax still ruled during this time, but unbeknownst to them, the other powers hungered to have the ultimate power; to Rule as Emperor. Then came the conflict at the Quann passage.

The conflict started merely as a political affair, but erupted into an armed conflict. "War spread like wildfire throughout the Galaxy." The Quann Conflict marked the beginning of the 'Age of Twilight.'

The Lazax, trying to maintain their central power and restore peace, soon became the enemy of all races. The Twilight Wars had an impact on Mecatol Rex, the seat of power in the known galaxy, as well. Mecatol Rex soon became war-torn as a result of the conflict, with only the Imperial City (and the Council) left intact, protected by the Winnerians - a neutral faction. The Lazax, however, were not as fortunate. In the span of only 20 years, the Lazax were completely destroyed. In the 3000 years since then, no known contact has been made with any possible Lazax survivors. The Age of Twilight has seen the end of the Lazax.

The Imperial Throne stood empty, awaiting a new ruler. The Winnerians guarded Mecatol Rex and the Throne during the Age of Twilight, and also kept the Council functioning.

All is not said for the Age of Twilight, for it was far from over. The remaining powers funneled countless credits into their machines of war, vying to put an Emperor on the Throne. However, none were able to complete this mission; the reminder of what happened to the Lazax still prominent in their minds. No one had the power to take, and more importantly, hold the throne.

As a result of a seemingly never-ending war, the factions soon began to crumble. The economies of these great races began to erode; Civilization and technology regressed to almost prehistoric levels. The "great races" tumbled into a dark age of economic and intellectual disaster; retreating into small, safe areas of space.

Thousands of years have passed since then. All of the great races have rebuilt, but none of them have forgotten the yearning to have an Emperor of their kind on the Throne back on Mecatol Rex. One by one, planetary systems were either taken by force or they simply surrendered; being assimilated into the culture of their new ruling race.

The Council has once again been rejoined, thousands of years since the last Council. The Throne stands empty, still under the protection of the Winnarians. The Age of Twilight is coming to an end, and a new Age is upon us. How will fate decide who the proper ruler will be? Or will the Throne be taken by force...

The Game
In Twilight Imperium, the way to win is to become Imperium Rex. There is a track that you will use to not only see how well you are doing and what goals you need to achieve to succeed, but also to see how your opponents are faring.

As I mentioned previously, setup takes some time. There are more than 500 plastic pieces, as well as 2 different decks of cards; Action and Political. Also, there are 39 hex-pieces that will make up the board, with a different setup almost every time! One word of caution before playing that first game: separating the 500 plastic pieces will take some time, somewhere in the neighborhood of three hours if you do it alone and take a couple of breaks. But don't let that deter you - this game is definitely worth it.

There are different setups that you will use, depending on the number of players in the game. Twilight Imperium can be played with 2-6 players, but 3 or more is recommended. (Note - in the two player games, the Council is dissolved; see information on the Council below.)

After you make up the playing surface, everyone will either choose a race, bid on the race that they want, or take one randomly. There are 6 races in the game, so in a 6-player game they will all be used.

Each race has a special racial ability. It is important that you become familiar with what your racial ability can do for you, or more importantly, what it can do against your enemies. Your "race card" will also tell you what units you start with, as well as starting credits and technologies.

Units
There are 7 different military units in Twilight Imperium. The core of your development will be the SPACEDOCK where you will be building your forces. Need to protect a planet from being attacked? Well, a PLANETARY DEFENSE SYSTEM (P.D.S.) will take care of that need, as well as protect the system that the planet is in. Here are the other units:

GROUND FORCES are used to help maintain peace on planets should the inhabitants decide to up rise against you. More importantly, Ground Forces are used to take over other planets in the game; neutral or hostile.

CARRIERS do just that - carry. They aren't meant to take over anything, but are needed to get those Ground Forces to planets that you want to take over. Carriers are limited in their carrying capacity, however.

FIGHTERS are small spacecraft that help protect Carriers and other space units. They are cheap to make, but do not fight very well. It's better to loose a fighter than the more-important carrier.

CRUISERS are slightly more expensive than fighters, but are far more valuable in combat. Cruisers also have the best movement rate out of all of the space units, making those surprise attacks a little more surprising, if you play your cards right.

Finally, we have the DREADNOUGHTS. These baddies are very expensive, but are nasty in combat. They also have enough firepower to attack planets that are not protected by any P.D.S. units, making easy work for your Ground Troops. Be careful, though - don't stock up on too many of these babies or you will have "TARGET" written all over your forehead.

Technology
Technology in Twilight Imperium is a great facet of the game. There are 4 areas of technological advancements: Weapons, Propulsion, Biological, and "Generic" techs. Techs can greatly effect the game, but they are pretty pricey, and you are limited to purchasing one per turn. Technological advancements are required to win the game by becoming Imperium Rex, so don't fall behind in the technology race unless you are looking to win by military might alone!

Turn Sequence
The turn sequence for Twilight Imperium is as follows:

1) Political Phase
2) Economy Phase
a) Draw Action Card Segment
b) Receive Credits Segment
c) Purchase Units Segment
3) Individual Turns Phase
a) Movement Segment
b) Space Combat Segment
c) Invasion Combat Segment
4) Technology Phase
5) Place New Units Phase
6) Progression Phase

Political Phase: In this phase, the council gathers to vote on issues. You will also vote on many laws that are brought to the council. And just because you vote something down doesn't mean that it's not going to have an effect on what happens afterwards. Sometimes both sides of that coin are bound to bring an undesired result for some, if not all of the players. Note that Laws voted in will stay in effect until a revote is called (by a card function) or if the game is brought down to 2 players (and the Council is dissolved).

Voting is done by the number of influence that you hold. Each point of influence is a voting point. So, if you have 10 influence, you have 10 votes on the council. However, all of your voting points have to go towards one objective; you cannot split your votes up. So as you can see, the more influence you have, the better chance that you have to decide the policy of the council. (Unless of course, everyone is against you!)

Many other things can happen when the Council gathers, however. Bribes are taken, threats are made, and deals that may become broken in the blink of an eye are made. There is pretty much no limit on the things that you can do during this phase, and the nice folks at FFG want it that way!

If the game is only being played by 2 players, then you will not have a Council Phase. If you are playing a game with more players than 2, but enough players get eliminated to bring the total down to 2, then the Council is still dissolved. Two warring factions will obviously not agree on anything, and would prefer to put all of their efforts into warring than attending the Council.

Economy Phase: Everyone gets to draw an Action card (or cards, if you have the right technology) as the first segment of this phase. Action cards have a variety of effects on the game and add a lot of fun and excitement to the action. The second segment is where you figure out your income based on trade agreements and planetary resource production. Credits are important, so spend them wisely. That brings us to the third segment, the Purchase Units segment. This is where you choose what military units that you want to build for the next round (or this one if you happen to have the proper technology).

Individual Turns Phase: This phase is where people act in turn order. All previous phases happen with everyone working at the same time, but here's where your influence (based on the planets that you control and other various things) is important. You will begin by moving your units, and if you end up in a system with other enemy space units, you proceed to the Space Combat Segment.

Combat in Twilight Imperium is pretty simple: roll a 10-sided die (d10) for each unit and meet or exceed their success number. Your opponent gets to choose who takes the hit or hits, but all of his participating units get one shoot before that happens. (Unless, of course, you have a technology that will change that...)

Combat will continue until either all units of one side are eliminated, if the attacker withdraws, or if an Action Card played ends it.

If you were victorious in space combat (or there weren't any opposing space units) and you have some Ground Troops on a Carrier in that System, you can begin the "Invasion Combat" segment. You will drop the Ground Troops from the Carrier onto the planet. If there is a Planetary Defense System on the planet, it will get one shot at your troops as they drop. If there are any troops on the planet, you will fight them much in the same way that you handled the space combat. Whoever is victorious gains (or keeps) control of the planet. If the planet had no opposing forces on it, you gain control of that planet without a fight! Who's going to oppose one of the greater races?

So, why do you need planets you ask? Well, because how are you supposed to expand you empire without the proper resources? Planets also provide influence points, and are also used for determining the value of trade agreements. Oh yeah, you need someplace to build your spacedocks!

After you complete your individual turn, the player with the next-most Influence gets to take her turn. After everyone completes their individual turns phase, you go on to the next phase.

Technology Phase: Nothing special about this phase, other than buying technologies! Tech are slightly expensive as I already mentioned, but are valuable and necessary to win the game unless you are looking to win by military victory. Almost all techs have a prerequisite tech that you need to own before purchasing, so you cannot just purchase any one you want. Planning is involved, and though some techs are not that valuable alone, they may be needed down the road so that you can purchase something with a little more "umph."

Place New Units Phase: Remember those units that you purchased earlier in the turn? Well, now is when they go out on the board. Space Docks are required to produce these units (except other space docks), and are limited by the planet's resource rating. Example: If the planet that your space dock is on has a resource rating of 5, you can only build 5 units on that planet. Space docks that you would build do not count against this number, so in essence you could build 6 units as long as one of those units was a space dock. Be careful, though - you are limited to 6 space docks in a game per player!

Finally, we hit the Progression Phase. In this phase, players consult the "Progression Track" to see if they have grown large enough to advance. This is based not only on technology as I have mentioned before, but also the number of planets you control outside of your home system, your influence rating, and the number of resources you produce each round. One thing to note is that you never move backwards down the track. (So if you need so many techs and one gets destroyed after you advanced, you will not go back to what you were. However, it may slow you down to getting to the next level.)

One thing that I REALLY dig about this game is that it has optional rules. I love when games have them! There are two in the game: Manifest Destiny (allowing you to purchase neutral planets in the beginning of the game) and Distant Suns.

The Distant Suns optional rule adds a whole new feel to your space exploration. The game comes with these extra chits (Domain Counters) that you put onto the neutral planets during the setup of the game. These pieces represent the good and bad things that can happen when you explore a new planet, their exact nature hidden. Will there be new found riches on the planet, or rebellious forces that will fight against you? Drop some ground forces and find out!

Want to be a little more cautious? Baby! (Just kidding!) You can actually send in your fighters to "Probe" the planet to see what's up. You can sneak a peek at the Domain Counter on the planet so see what fate beholds you. However, you cannot take it if there's something good there - you will have to wait until you can land ground forces on that planet to take the goodies.

Don't like what you turned up when you probed the planet? Well, you can "raze" the planet to get rid of the Domain Counter. You have to use a dreadnought to do this, and there's a chance that it can have some bad effects on you. When you raze a planet, roll a d10. If the result is 7 or less, you were successful and nothing bad happens. Roll an 8 or more? Well, I won't tell you what bad things can happen, but rest assured you will not like the results.

The rulebook for Twilight Imperium is laid out pretty well, though it does lack in examples and explanations. For people who have internet access, you can find answers to your questions at the Fantasy Flight Games website (link above) or on their message boards. There are a lot of people out there that love this game and would be more than happy to assist you with a rules question.

The military pieces are plastic, and are fine in quality. Not as polished as something from Avalon Hill, but FFG isn't as large as Hasbro/Avalon Hill. The cards are thin and small, but the tech chits are on thick and durable cardboard. However, the name of the tech is on one side, and the function of the tech is on the other. That, especially for new players, can slow the game down a touch. It's not that big of a deal, just an oversight.

One other complaint is that there isn't a good way to track your resources. Every round you have to count up how many resources you produce, and what your influence is. That can REALLY slow things down. Create a cheat sheet for this function - you won't be sorry.

Something that Twilight Imperium could use (in my humble opinion) are some alternate victory conditions for shortening or at least changing the game from time to time. You know, to make things more interesting.

In J.U.M.P., a space-opera type game from Evil Polish Brothers Games, there are 20 alternate victory conditions that you can use for more variety or a shortened game, and that's a good thing. In Twilight Imperium, there are only 2 - become Imperium Rex, or through a "Military Victory." That's it. Of course, you could invent your own, but that may make things worse if any of the players think that the homemade "alternate" rules are unfair since they didn't win. Trust me, I've seen it happen before...

First Edition vs. Second Edition
Ok, I have never played the First Edition of Twilight Imperium. I've heard many people comment, however, that the Second Edition is much better. If you have played First Edition, here are the updates - directly from the rulebook:

What is new in the Second Edition?
The First Edition of Twilight Imperium was published by FFG to great success in May 1995. It spawned a loyal following and 4 expansion sets were produced for the game. In the 2nd Edition, we have gone back to the drawing board on a number of things. The new elements in Twilight Imperium 2nd Edition are as follows:

New Action and Political cards.
New technology system.
New Progression Chart requirements.
New racial abilities.
"Manifest Destiny" and "Distant Suns" rules options.
New map tile assortment.
Extra starting units.
Plastic game components.
Race card stands.
Insurgence Checks.
New 'Military' victory conditions.
New rules for planetary control.
Carriers only hold 5 units.
New rules for P.D.S.

Summary
I knew right out of the box that Twilight Imperium was going to be a great game. Sure, it's not for everybody, but there are a lot of people who enjoy this game. I had a few minor complaints, but those things aren't enough to keep me from giving it a good rating. If you like epic games like the ones I mention in the introduction of this review, you have to give Twilight Imperium a try. Looking to graduate from Risk to something with more guts? Try Twilight Imperium. Even at $55.00, this game is a great buy.

All hail the new Emperor! Question is, will it be you?

Written by Gene Vogel
(Posted 09-16-02)