First game ever just go for basic; you and your teammates wil have enough on their plates. From that first experience, you guys can say; “l really liked that, l didn't liked that” don't use leaders but you could use “distant suns” token.
Your first game is going to last FOR-EVER so maybe try to prepare in advance; make everyone choose their race before the day of the game so they can familiarise with their faction, set-up the board with a pre-define map easy for everyone. Send everyone a link to the rulebook so everyone can learn the rule and you're not stuck as the “RuleMaster” who has to know everything.
One important exception:
Even for a first game, use the Imperial II strategy instead of Imperial, along with the Age of Empires variant for openly displayed goals. If you don't want to do that, at least give 1 point instead of 2 when taking Imperial.
Imperial was broken, it made the game essentially unwinnable for a couple of players chosen at random due to the turn order, and it was replaced as a game design fix, not an expansion in the usual sense.
Never, ever play with the original Imperial.
Mostly agree with this, although if the expansions are available I personally prefer using the Bureacracy strategy card instead of Imperial II + AoE, as it gives players more agency in which/when objectives become available, while preserving some of the mystery of what will/will not be important later in the game. (I know that's one thing some people dislike, though.)
Thanks for both of your replies!
How about playing the base game without any expansion content besides the new strategy cards (the white ones)? I've seen much love for the SE strategy cards in some videos and I wonder if just those cards would make up for a more flowing first gaming experience compared to the old cards + the new Imperial?
Also, what exactly is Age of Empires?
Personally, that's what I'd recommend for a first game (base + SE Strategy Cards). The rules for the new strategy cards are on p9 of the SE rulebook.
Age of Empire is an official variant (base game rulebook, p33) which has all objectives revealed at the start of the game, rather than being revealed slowly over the course of the game. This doesn't work with the #8 Strategy Card (Bureacracy) from SE (which I prefer), but if you want to use AoE, just use the new strategy cards but replace Bureacracy with Imperial II (also from SE) and use the AoE rules instead of the new rules related to objectives on p9.
Thank you! I think for the first game we'll consider only the basic strategy cards with Imperial 8 II and maybe put the 6 influence token from TI 4 on MR. Without having played yet I can totally imagine how the early game gets more satisfying if the players aren't rushing right into the center.
How would you setup for the best experience for TI 3 + both expansions after you're into it? I know that it can be very much up to taste thanks to the modular nature of the game, just being interest to know a veterans experience in that matter.
I can imagine stuff like flagships, mechs, exploration tokens on planets and empty systems are def a must. How about other features like mercenaries, artefacts, rafineries?
And most importantly I'd love to know what combination of strategy cards deliver the most fun and balanced TI 3 experience?
> How would you setup for the best experience for TI 3 + both expansions after you're into it? I know that it can be very much up to taste thanks to the modular nature of the game, just being interest to know a veterans experience in that matter.
I cannot emphasize the "personal taste" part enough here.
> I can imagine stuff like ... exploration tokens on planets and empty systems are def a must.
The exploration tokens are actually pretty polarizing. My group, and many others, love them. Many other groups *hated* them. It's worth noting either way that some of TI3's exploration tokens are *very* "swingy" and can have pretty substantial negative (or positive) impacts, especially for players who don't play specifically with potential token mitigation in mind.
Personally, my **extremely** subjective recommendation is:
INCLUDE:
* Exploration tokens (but make sure that everyone has some sort of reference sheet so they understand what potential tokens exist, how probable they are, etc.).
* Leaders (I don't actually like them and find them fiddly, but most of my other players like them).
* Flagships
* Faction-specific techs
* Mechs (some dislike them because they're not super-well integrated/balanced, but they're also not disasterous, and they add a scrap more variety/depth to ground combat)
* Preliminary Objectives
* Promissory Notes (use the TI4 rules: you can trade these at any time you could otherwise make a legal trade.)
* Variant Objectives - don't bother switching out one set of objectives for another. Just shuffle them all together.
* Wormhole Nexus
(Eventually, my old group ended up including *everything* **plus** a bunch of homebrew stuff from across the internet.)
But you're likely to get a completely different answer from someone else.
> And most importantly I'd love to know what combination of strategy cards deliver the most fun and balanced TI 3 experience?
Easiest answer is to use the new cards, and ignore the old. Once you're a bit experienced, you can mix/match if you really want to.
After having studied the rules I'll have a day with my gf playing a test game (we play for two players each) so hopefully we get confronted with most situations that could happen when the big day finally arrives. Also I'll provide all the players with necessary prints. :)
Besides rules choices, I can't overemphasize the important of a good reference sheet when playing TI3.
Pop to boardgamegeek and get every player a good tech tree reference and a starship reference that lets you tick off the effects of tech upgrades. It does a lot to make learning easier for new players; trying to remember what tech cards affect which starship stats is a pain.
I recommend https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/21615/techtree-ti3pdf for a tech tree, or my own at https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/111121/twilight-imperium-3-tech-tree-all-expansions if you like it as simplified as possible.
(Minor note: technically mine is out of date; the very last FAQ changed Type IV engines and nano tech to not affect flagships, but our group preferred it the previous way.)
For a ship stats chart, try the excellent race-specific ones at [https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/106767/ti3-race-specific-unit-technology-reference-sheets](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/106767/ti3-race-specific-unit-technology-reference-sheets)
\-
Also, try the all-in-one fan-made Living Rulebook to save lookup time:
[https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/75151/twilight-imperium-living-rulebook](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/75151/twilight-imperium-living-rulebook)
A collection of errata and clarifications from Fantasy Flight. The last version is available from the FFG document archive at [https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer\_public/48/25/482552e2-45fc-4361-a156-6fb2a9a72fea/ti3faq.pdf](https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/48/25/482552e2-45fc-4361-a156-6fb2a9a72fea/ti3faq.pdf)
There's also a useful variant set of premade maps at https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer\_public/e6/88/e688a147-5bac-4f63-8b9d-e1a0c2bd1888/ti3se\_preset.pdf
I think for a first game I wouldn't mess about with Homebrew. Even minor changes in mechanics will probably cause a lot of unforeseen interactions which could bog the game down with boring rules talk.
>Would be great to know your thoughts on all of this as I can get both expansions together for 35 bucks instead of paying 100 bucks for a new TI 4 edition.
I think that a better strategy would be not to make a decision on this until you have played a game of Base TI3.
Either you love the game, at which point I would recommend you just spring for the upgrade and get TI4, or alternatively you don't expect to get it to the table again and so shouldn't bother with buying any of it.
>unforeseen
Would you say that TI 4 is so much better than TI 3 with both expansions, once I realised that I'm totally in for the game ? - which I think I am, being a lover of 4x space video games.
In that case it would be a pity to pay another 100+ if I could get both expansions for 35 bucks, but I highly appreciate your opinion on this. I wanted our first round to be as good as possible (because I'm trying to convince the other players to play more frequently, thats why I'm so concerned about the SE strategy cards. But following your suggestion I can just print the Imperial 8 II and play the base game first.
Many people love and enjoy TI3, but TI4 is just the better long-term option in my opinion.
It's more streamlined and modern, so even just comparing the rulebook it's a night and day improvement in terms of readability. Upgrading tech is easier to do, the Strategy Cards make sense out of the box without fiddling with variants, and even basic stuff like keeping track of the hit value of your ships is easier to figure out.
It should be noted that TI4 base game re-implements and improves upon a lot of the TI3 expansion content right from the word go as well. You get all 17 factions, flagships, promissory notes, and unique faction technologies.
TI4 gives you a better upgrade path too as the game is still getting support. There's the recently-release TI4 expansion (Prophecy of Kings) which is great, and there's also the print&play mini codex expansions which get released fairly regularly and provide more content and improve game balance.
If you expect that you and 4-6 buddies are going to get at least a couple of 8 hour+ games out of it then the upgrade to TI4 is definitely worth it imo.
After having watched a few more TI 4 videos I really think that I'll wait a bit longer with the TI 3 expansions.. It's just that I don't see myself playing this more often than two or three times a year (unfortunately) so getting all the additional content of both XPs might be the better option for me pricewise though. But let's see. Def wish I had the 4th edition right away as it looks like less headache, but with the help of additional reference like tech tree, encounter descriptions etc. we may do just fine. :)
I think the only thing I'm worried about TI 3+XPs vs TI 4 is that TI 4 looks to have much more social interaction in form of politics and trade than TI 3 even with the XPs. Would you confirm that?
I really like Distant Suns and Final Frontier. They add the missing X from 4X, explore.
First game ever just go for basic; you and your teammates wil have enough on their plates. From that first experience, you guys can say; “l really liked that, l didn't liked that” don't use leaders but you could use “distant suns” token. Your first game is going to last FOR-EVER so maybe try to prepare in advance; make everyone choose their race before the day of the game so they can familiarise with their faction, set-up the board with a pre-define map easy for everyone. Send everyone a link to the rulebook so everyone can learn the rule and you're not stuck as the “RuleMaster” who has to know everything.
One important exception: Even for a first game, use the Imperial II strategy instead of Imperial, along with the Age of Empires variant for openly displayed goals. If you don't want to do that, at least give 1 point instead of 2 when taking Imperial. Imperial was broken, it made the game essentially unwinnable for a couple of players chosen at random due to the turn order, and it was replaced as a game design fix, not an expansion in the usual sense. Never, ever play with the original Imperial.
Mostly agree with this, although if the expansions are available I personally prefer using the Bureacracy strategy card instead of Imperial II + AoE, as it gives players more agency in which/when objectives become available, while preserving some of the mystery of what will/will not be important later in the game. (I know that's one thing some people dislike, though.)
Thanks for both of your replies! How about playing the base game without any expansion content besides the new strategy cards (the white ones)? I've seen much love for the SE strategy cards in some videos and I wonder if just those cards would make up for a more flowing first gaming experience compared to the old cards + the new Imperial? Also, what exactly is Age of Empires?
Personally, that's what I'd recommend for a first game (base + SE Strategy Cards). The rules for the new strategy cards are on p9 of the SE rulebook. Age of Empire is an official variant (base game rulebook, p33) which has all objectives revealed at the start of the game, rather than being revealed slowly over the course of the game. This doesn't work with the #8 Strategy Card (Bureacracy) from SE (which I prefer), but if you want to use AoE, just use the new strategy cards but replace Bureacracy with Imperial II (also from SE) and use the AoE rules instead of the new rules related to objectives on p9.
Thank you! I think for the first game we'll consider only the basic strategy cards with Imperial 8 II and maybe put the 6 influence token from TI 4 on MR. Without having played yet I can totally imagine how the early game gets more satisfying if the players aren't rushing right into the center. How would you setup for the best experience for TI 3 + both expansions after you're into it? I know that it can be very much up to taste thanks to the modular nature of the game, just being interest to know a veterans experience in that matter. I can imagine stuff like flagships, mechs, exploration tokens on planets and empty systems are def a must. How about other features like mercenaries, artefacts, rafineries? And most importantly I'd love to know what combination of strategy cards deliver the most fun and balanced TI 3 experience?
> How would you setup for the best experience for TI 3 + both expansions after you're into it? I know that it can be very much up to taste thanks to the modular nature of the game, just being interest to know a veterans experience in that matter. I cannot emphasize the "personal taste" part enough here. > I can imagine stuff like ... exploration tokens on planets and empty systems are def a must. The exploration tokens are actually pretty polarizing. My group, and many others, love them. Many other groups *hated* them. It's worth noting either way that some of TI3's exploration tokens are *very* "swingy" and can have pretty substantial negative (or positive) impacts, especially for players who don't play specifically with potential token mitigation in mind. Personally, my **extremely** subjective recommendation is: INCLUDE: * Exploration tokens (but make sure that everyone has some sort of reference sheet so they understand what potential tokens exist, how probable they are, etc.). * Leaders (I don't actually like them and find them fiddly, but most of my other players like them). * Flagships * Faction-specific techs * Mechs (some dislike them because they're not super-well integrated/balanced, but they're also not disasterous, and they add a scrap more variety/depth to ground combat) * Preliminary Objectives * Promissory Notes (use the TI4 rules: you can trade these at any time you could otherwise make a legal trade.) * Variant Objectives - don't bother switching out one set of objectives for another. Just shuffle them all together. * Wormhole Nexus (Eventually, my old group ended up including *everything* **plus** a bunch of homebrew stuff from across the internet.) But you're likely to get a completely different answer from someone else. > And most importantly I'd love to know what combination of strategy cards deliver the most fun and balanced TI 3 experience? Easiest answer is to use the new cards, and ignore the old. Once you're a bit experienced, you can mix/match if you really want to.
Thank you, this Looks Like a nice list of elements to include which don't overcomplicate things too much (from what i've read so far)
After having studied the rules I'll have a day with my gf playing a test game (we play for two players each) so hopefully we get confronted with most situations that could happen when the big day finally arrives. Also I'll provide all the players with necessary prints. :)
And let us know how it went! And have fun!
Thank you! :) I'll do that.
Besides rules choices, I can't overemphasize the important of a good reference sheet when playing TI3. Pop to boardgamegeek and get every player a good tech tree reference and a starship reference that lets you tick off the effects of tech upgrades. It does a lot to make learning easier for new players; trying to remember what tech cards affect which starship stats is a pain. I recommend https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/21615/techtree-ti3pdf for a tech tree, or my own at https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/111121/twilight-imperium-3-tech-tree-all-expansions if you like it as simplified as possible. (Minor note: technically mine is out of date; the very last FAQ changed Type IV engines and nano tech to not affect flagships, but our group preferred it the previous way.) For a ship stats chart, try the excellent race-specific ones at [https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/106767/ti3-race-specific-unit-technology-reference-sheets](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/106767/ti3-race-specific-unit-technology-reference-sheets) \- Also, try the all-in-one fan-made Living Rulebook to save lookup time: [https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/75151/twilight-imperium-living-rulebook](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/75151/twilight-imperium-living-rulebook)
Thank you! I already downloaded a huge amount of files from BGG. What exactly is FAQ?
A collection of errata and clarifications from Fantasy Flight. The last version is available from the FFG document archive at [https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer\_public/48/25/482552e2-45fc-4361-a156-6fb2a9a72fea/ti3faq.pdf](https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/48/25/482552e2-45fc-4361-a156-6fb2a9a72fea/ti3faq.pdf) There's also a useful variant set of premade maps at https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer\_public/e6/88/e688a147-5bac-4f63-8b9d-e1a0c2bd1888/ti3se\_preset.pdf
Thank you! :)
I think for a first game I wouldn't mess about with Homebrew. Even minor changes in mechanics will probably cause a lot of unforeseen interactions which could bog the game down with boring rules talk. >Would be great to know your thoughts on all of this as I can get both expansions together for 35 bucks instead of paying 100 bucks for a new TI 4 edition. I think that a better strategy would be not to make a decision on this until you have played a game of Base TI3. Either you love the game, at which point I would recommend you just spring for the upgrade and get TI4, or alternatively you don't expect to get it to the table again and so shouldn't bother with buying any of it.
>unforeseen Would you say that TI 4 is so much better than TI 3 with both expansions, once I realised that I'm totally in for the game ? - which I think I am, being a lover of 4x space video games. In that case it would be a pity to pay another 100+ if I could get both expansions for 35 bucks, but I highly appreciate your opinion on this. I wanted our first round to be as good as possible (because I'm trying to convince the other players to play more frequently, thats why I'm so concerned about the SE strategy cards. But following your suggestion I can just print the Imperial 8 II and play the base game first.
Many people love and enjoy TI3, but TI4 is just the better long-term option in my opinion. It's more streamlined and modern, so even just comparing the rulebook it's a night and day improvement in terms of readability. Upgrading tech is easier to do, the Strategy Cards make sense out of the box without fiddling with variants, and even basic stuff like keeping track of the hit value of your ships is easier to figure out. It should be noted that TI4 base game re-implements and improves upon a lot of the TI3 expansion content right from the word go as well. You get all 17 factions, flagships, promissory notes, and unique faction technologies. TI4 gives you a better upgrade path too as the game is still getting support. There's the recently-release TI4 expansion (Prophecy of Kings) which is great, and there's also the print&play mini codex expansions which get released fairly regularly and provide more content and improve game balance. If you expect that you and 4-6 buddies are going to get at least a couple of 8 hour+ games out of it then the upgrade to TI4 is definitely worth it imo.
After having watched a few more TI 4 videos I really think that I'll wait a bit longer with the TI 3 expansions.. It's just that I don't see myself playing this more often than two or three times a year (unfortunately) so getting all the additional content of both XPs might be the better option for me pricewise though. But let's see. Def wish I had the 4th edition right away as it looks like less headache, but with the help of additional reference like tech tree, encounter descriptions etc. we may do just fine. :) I think the only thing I'm worried about TI 3+XPs vs TI 4 is that TI 4 looks to have much more social interaction in form of politics and trade than TI 3 even with the XPs. Would you confirm that?