TI3 - 18th October 2015

Hrm... so I'm sat next to the virus am I... great! Lets hope TomW invests in Science and attracts their attention.

TomW: Yssaril Tribes or Arborec
Kat: Barony of Letnev or Shardak-Norr
Steve: Xxcha Kingdom or Naalu Collective
DaveB: Ghosts of Creuss or Mentak Coalition
TomC: Clan of Saar or Winnu
PaulG: Emirates of Hacan or Yin Brotherhood
Aneurin: Embers of Muaat or Federation of Sol
Simon: Nekro Virus or L1Z1X Mindnet

Bar the Nekro this game has the potential to be a very politically driven game... not many war type races at all... Winnu should dominate the technology phase...

I would like to be the Barony of Letnev please




Well, honestly id like to be the lion people from dr who as they look cool, or another peaceful trading race (or space bunnies) but given the options actually available, Letnev it is

Should have gone for Shardakk-Norr; they're super peaceful.

Jamie wrote:Should have gone for Shardakk-Norr; they're super peaceful.

They're not the way I'd have played them...

That felt like the first game of TI3 I've played where I was actually able to execute what I wanted to do almost every turn. The Trade Goods that the Hacan get make for such brilliant flexibility - I was able to buy the secondary of tech every turn that I wanted it and get to War Sun very quickly (their starting techs also helped greatly with that). Not that I actually made great use of the war suns I bought, but I think they acted as a slight deterrent. I was quite happy for the virus to pick up the tech off me too as I thought it was unlikely that Simon would target it with me (why go for the only other player who has the big nasty ships?).

I'll admit that I had a fair rub of luck. Every planet I took was abundant in trade goods. I half expected to open the dishwasher this morning and find it full of trade good tokens. And, once I'd finally managed to locate a couple of cruisers and get my preliminary done, my secret was pretty easy. I definitely made a few small mistakes during the game, but nothing terrible this time (I think). It was quite an open game and it felt like a small galaxy (everyone was everywhere) with a crazy amount of wormholes. I enjoyed it.

Aneurin - if I win three in a row do I get to keep the game? ;-)

PaulG wrote:That felt like the first game of TI3 I've played where I was actually able to execute what I wanted to do almost every turn. The Trade Goods that the Hacan get make for such brilliant flexibility - I was able to buy the secondary of tech every turn that I wanted it and get to War Sun very quickly (their starting techs also helped greatly with that). Not that I actually made great use of the war suns I bought, but I think they acted as a slight deterrent. I was quite happy for the virus to pick up the tech off me too as I thought it was unlikely that Simon would target it with me (why go for the only other player who has the big nasty ships?).

I'll admit that I had a fair rub of luck. Every planet I took was abundant in trade goods. I half expected to open the dishwasher this morning and find it full of trade good tokens. And, once I'd finally managed to locate a couple of cruisers and get my preliminary done, my secret was pretty easy. I definitely made a few small mistakes during the game, but nothing terrible this time (I think). It was quite an open game and it felt like a small galaxy (everyone was everywhere) with a crazy amount of wormholes. I enjoyed it.

Aneurin - if I win three in a row do I get to keep the game? ;-)

I should also add that I thought the two newbies played very well. Much better than I managed in my first couple of games!

PaulG wrote:I should also add that I thought the two newbies played very well. Much better than I managed in my first couple of games!

Yes I agree they did well - excellent tutoring I guess.

Yes I really enjoyed the game - came a close second - not bad considering I only ever had control of 4 system Hexes (well 3 and taking control of the Nekro home world for 1 turn to secure my secret objective). I could have easily come first if I hadn't been distracted and Steve had have shouted at me to blast your war sun out of that Ion Storm. I had 6 PDS ready to fire and just didn't think... grrrr... next time gadget! Also Kat saved your butt by coming through that wormhole... and Steve dident help going for that precursor station on the wormhole exit next to your home world! I should have asked Dave to generate one on my hex... but then my plans may have been obvious! And out of the 2 of us I'm sure they would want you to win.

I loved that my preliminary was the traitor card...

No you cant have the game... but we should get an official trophy done! Maybe I can 3D print out a warsun to go in a cheap plastic cup? More importantly... When is the next game? 23/24th January? Possibility of snow... but that's 3 months!

Aneurin wrote:
Yes I really enjoyed the game - came a close second - not bad considering I only ever had control of 4 system Hexes (well 3 and taking control of the Nekro home world for 1 turn to secure my secret objective). I could have easily come first if I hadn't been distracted and Steve had have shouted at me to blast your war sun out of that Ion Storm. I had 6 PDS ready to fire and just didn't think... grrrr... next time gadget! Also Kat saved your butt by coming through that wormhole... and Steve dident help going for that precursor station on the wormhole exit next to your home world! I should have asked Dave to generate one on my hex... but then my plans may have been obvious! And out of the 2 of us I'm sure they would want you to win.

Well, I had a backup which was that I had been given back that mercenary to let me pick a trade card - so next round I'd have got 8 and perhaps secured the win (on planets) that way? But obviously you might have completed some more objectives by then...

Aneurin wrote:No you cant have the game... but we should get an official trophy done! Maybe I can 3D print out a warsun to go in a cheap plastic cup? More importantly... When is the next game? 23/24th January? Possibility of snow... but that's 3 months!

Trophy sounds good
Let me consult with Kat about suitable weekend for the next one. That weekend unlikely to be popular as it's her birthday. Which other Jan weekends can you do?

Is there not a better way to spend your birthday? Current no plans in any Jan weekend... late the better for reduced risk of snow...

PaulG wrote:
I should also add that I thought the two newbies played very well. Much better than I managed in my first couple of games!

Kat was impressively (and terrifyingly) ruthless. I wasn't particularly impressed with how I played (or picked up) the game - even when I struggle to get my head round the rules I normally have it sussed halfway through the game, but there was so much stuff to juggle and whatnot I just couldn't reconcile it all in my mind and was still struggling to follow everything in the final round.

I'm particularly annoyed I screwed up one round - there was a window where I had a chance to complete my secret objective that I missed due to a stupid mistake on my part and another chance didn't really present itself for the rest of the game.

I'm not sure if I'll want to play again or not - I know I wasn't exactly in the best headspace to pick it up but still, felt completely drained at the end of it.

PaulG wrote:It was quite an open game and it felt like a small galaxy (everyone was everywhere) with a crazy amount of wormholes. I enjoyed it.

I think part of that was the law we voted in prohibiting more than two ships of one type, which made it hard for anyone to build a super-armada and dominate an area early on. I think it's great that any two games of TI can have quite different ways they play out.

Congratulations on another solid win. I suppose I may have stood a chance of delaying your victory by a turn if I'd spent everything I had trying to take your point token and/or that '9 point win' token but that wouldn't have helped me at all, even if I'd managed it. Maybe if I hadn't just been robbed of 18 trade goods by your wife...

DaveB wrote:

PaulG wrote:
I should also add that I thought the two newbies played very well. Much better than I managed in my first couple of games!

Kat was impressively (and terrifyingly) ruthless. I wasn't particularly impressed with how I played (or picked up) the game - even when I struggle to get my head round the rules I normally have it sussed halfway through the game, but there was so much stuff to juggle and whatnot I just couldn't reconcile it all in my mind and was still struggling to follow everything in the final round.

I'm particularly annoyed I screwed up one round - there was a window where I had a chance to complete my secret objective that I missed due to a stupid mistake on my part and another chance didn't really present itself for the rest of the game.

I'm not sure if I'll want to play again or not - I know I wasn't exactly in the best headspace to pick it up but still, felt completely drained at the end of it.

I thought you did well. The first round surprise attack definitely shook up the pattern that the rest of us were familiar with and gave you some good positioning. In my first game I was making big mistakes - activating systems in the wrong order and effectively locking myself from doing things, forgetting to do secondaries I wanted, etc. I don't think you were doing anything like that. Fair point on the objectives - and not knowing how a game might pan out it's difficult as a newbie to know when a good window is, when you'll get another opportunity, etc. And some of the objectives are harder than others...

There is a lot to take in but after a couple of games I'm able to sort that into important stuff (knowing all the ways to get more command counters, calculating my income and what I want to build, etc.) and less important stuff that I can ask at the time. The basic mechanics are simple, but there are lots of fiddly bits. A lot of the fiddly bits don't make that much difference (unless you're really playing at an expert level I guess).

I also try to cut down on what I have to think about by essentially planning my tech advances before the game (which does sometimes have to be modified, e.g. yesterday when I suddenly needed to research green techs to get the 3 colour objective). But it is a game that leaves me feeling like I've been concentrating for 8 hours (because I have!).

BeardyTom wrote:

PaulG wrote:It was quite an open game and it felt like a small galaxy (everyone was everywhere) with a crazy amount of wormholes. I enjoyed it.

I think part of that was the law we voted in prohibiting more than two ships of one type, which made it hard for anyone to build a super-armada and dominate an area early on. I think it's great that any two games of TI can have quite different ways they play out.

Congratulations on another solid win. I suppose I may have stood a chance of delaying your victory by a turn if I'd spent everything I had trying to take your point token and/or that '9 point win' token but that wouldn't have helped me at all, even if I'd managed it. Maybe if I hadn't just been robbed of 18 trade goods by your wife...

I think you're right about the law shaping the game a lot. I was thinking about this, and I think it's unfortunate that there isn't an always-available way to repeal laws. Even if it was expensive, like 10 trade goods or something. It just felt that Steve got so heavily penalised by the laws that came in that it was essentially game over from the start. I know some of the point is in persuading people not to vote for things that will cripple you, but that's not always possible. I don't think I've seen anything in any of the games we've played that would let someone repeal a law? Feels a bit harsh when some of the laws can hinder people so much.

PaulG wrote:But it is a game that leaves me feeling like I've been concentrating for 8 hours (because I have!).

I woke up from a very restless doze around 0100 this morning thinking I was involved in area control for my duvet :/

So hey if I looked tired yesterday you really don't want to see me today!

DaveB wrote:

paulyg wrote:
I should also add that I thought the two newbies played very well. Much better than I managed in my first couple of games!

Kat was impressively (and terrifyingly) ruthless. I wasn't particularly impressed with how I played (or picked up) the game - even when I struggle to get my head round the rules I normally have it sussed halfway through the game, but there was so much stuff to juggle and whatnot I just couldn't reconcile it all in my mind and was still struggling to follow everything in the final round.

I think I had an easier first game than you - I had a start of game strategy so knew what I wanted to accomplish in my first turn which gave me chance to figure out what was going on. I also played a less complex game as I didn't get any technologies until the final two rounds, and didn't have any trading agreements, so there was less to focus on. There was a lot of stuff I still have no idea about like and need to learn for the next game - what dice rolls which in which situations, what the stats of the ships mean, when I can build stuff.

I got to a point where I got stuck though, and then lost a few rounds before I came up with a new plan - I think knowing more about what sort of thing the objectives can be would have helped. (to be fair Paul did try and tell me but I have a very short attention span) but I was on track to complete two more objectives. So I didn't get anywhere close to winning, but I felt I did ok for a first game. I also really appreciated how patient people (especially Steve) were and how they helped me work out what to do/not do.

I thought you (DaveB) were playing the game much more how it should be played (compared to me) as you seemed to be fighting and being fought and trading and getting tech and doing really well - but you were ever so far away, so I wasn't totally sure what was going on down that end of the table. I think I would prefer it as a 4-6 player game as I think it would involve more interaction with all the other players - whereas the 8 player had everyone who wasn't my immediate neighbour feeling a bit remote. But I liked it, and I think I would play it again. Not sure if I would play it on 16/17th January, but very possibly.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

theatrekat wrote:Not sure if I would play it on 16/17th January, but very possibly.

Aneurin - looks like we have our next date, if either of those works for you?

Fair warning - I'm going to start the thread for the next epic TI3 game in a couple of mins. Fingers on mouse buttons ready to reserve those places when I post

Oooo me me me

Aneurin wrote:Oooo me me me

I was hoping you might want to play since it's your game! ;-)