From: klash@mail.wcb.state.ny.us
Subject: Twilight Imperium: 1st game

OK - I've had TI for a few weeks now and finally got a chance to play it.
 We had 4 players.  The N'orr (+1 combat), Letnev (+2 combat w/trade
agreement), Halcon (can't refuse trade agreement) and me, the lizard race
with the Diplomacy skill.  We used the beta wormholes.  I have the
Borderlands expansion but we didn't use it.

My comments:

1) The game is LONG!  I read the reviews here stating the game would take
about 6 hours.  We got started at around 2pm, took a 1 hour break, and
packed the game up at 11:30pm (and the game was still going on - 1 player
was out of it, a 2nd player (Halcon) almost won but then got beat back.

2) Not enough counters.  We all ended up dipping into unused player races
for counters - especially fighters and ground forces. Once you get level 3
Propulsion your fighters don't need to be on carriers so we always produce
a couple and have them float around.

3) The two races with warfare advantage (N'orr / Letnev) seemed to rule.
The N'orr get a +1 combat, then he got the "commander" action card that
gave another +1, giving his fleet a +2 at all times (he placed his
commander on a fighter so he couldn't be taken out by the Lucky Shot
action card - don't know if that was a legal play or not). Plus the lucky
SOB kept getting the Morale Boost card, thus having +3 in most of his
battles.  We were able to kick his butt by making a trade agreement with
the Letnev (thus giving him a +2) but the Letnev was resource poor so it
was a tough fight.  The N'orr was the player that got completely
eliminated (luck of the draw made all his planets influence poor, so he
was running around with 30+ resources and 6 influence).

4) The Halcon player (who almost won) complained that his power was the
worst, since he usually had more planets than anyone else it was more
advantageous for the other players to trade with him.  Can the Halcon
voluntarily refuse and/or break a trade agreement?

For my lizard guys, the starting influence plus the bonus influence for
trade agreements gave me the upper hand for half the game during the
voting. I never used the special power of sending a law back the discard
power.

5) Action card timing problems.  OK - The N'orr attacks me.  I figure he
has the Morale Boost action.  I have the Retreat action.  If he plays the
Morale Boost card, then I want to retreat before combat, otherwise I'll
stick around and try to whittle away at him.  Of course, the N'orr player
would prefer me to play the Retreat first before he plays the Morale Boost
so he doesn't waste the boost.  So who plays their card first?  Or do we
play them both face down then reveal them?   This also came up when two
players wanted to both play that action that allows you to look through
the action deck (a source of play slowdown, by-the-way) and pick any card
you want.  Since there might be only 1 of what both players want, some way
 of deciding who goes 1st is needed (I guess the player with the most
influence could go first).

6) Any limits on combat die rolls - like, does a 10 always hit and a 1
always miss?  This came up since the N'orr got a +3 in combat.  Since a
Dreadnaught hits on a 4 or better, it's an auto-hit.  Also, the Letnev
play got all 6 levels of Weapon tech, giving his bombardment a +1.  With
the +2 for having a Trade Agreement, all if his orbital bombardments
caused automatic hits (once the N'orr was depleted, The Letnev ran though
and smoked the N'orr's colonies.  No one was building ground forces until
near the end when ground forces were needed to assault other planets.)

Despite the game length and problems, the players generally liked the game
and would like to try it again.  I hope to have 6 players next time, as
I'm sure that would significantly alter the complexion of the game.

--Dave
(david.klash@wcb.state.ny.us)

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