I've composed a team-based scenario for 4, 6, or 8 players in teams of 2. Feedback would be greatly appreciated, and if anyone wishes to use or modify these rules for their own game, feel free to do so.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4LAt9U_T_OtaDJNVDNGejBBNzA/view

This scenario is intended to be used with the base game and the Shattered Empire expansion. I'll be using these custom rules in a 6-player game this coming weekend and will report back on any successes / failures we encounter. Thank you!

Document updated to address how to handle casualties in combat and how allies can protect one another.

Finally got a chance to play this with 6 players. Overall it was an enjoyable game, but unfortunately we were unable to test almost all of the team aspects due to the multi-galaxy setup. I'll introduce those problems in a list of cons below, and then give a more detailed run-down of our experience afterward with a second list detailing how the rules have been changed to improve the experience for next time -- the new v2.0 can be accessed using the link in the original post.

Cons:

• The multi-galaxy setup made gameplay feel like two separate 3-player games rather than one 6-player game.
• The multi-galaxy setup created pre-game issues when trying to determine the logistics of how to seat allies next to each other while still giving them easy physical access to their starting location.
• The multi-galaxy setup made certain secret objectives near impossible to accomplish (such as “Keeper of the Gates” since there were 9 wormhole locations).
• The scenario's required Optional Rules bogged the game down with constant rule checking.
• The ability to jointly fulfill public objectives using your ally's resources was confusing, so we played it differently from what was specified in the rules to avoid some unforeseen points of contention.
• No team ever managed or chose to combine forces, which was largely due to the huge physical barrier created by the multi-galaxy setup.
• Trade agreements existed primarily between allies which made trading much less interesting.

The teams we had were Sardakk N'Orr / Naalu Collective, Yin Brotherhood / Clan of Saar, and Winnu / Mentak. In the Alpha galaxy we had Sardakk N'Orr, Yin Brotherhood, and the Winnu, which put the Naalu Collective, Clan of Saar, and Mentak in the Beta galaxy. The team combinations showed no significant advantages or disadvantages over another. As mentioned in the cons, it essentially felt like we were playing two separate 3-player games that only intermittently overlapped. Players enjoyed the idea of being on a team and being able to make plans and coordinate actions with a team member, but very little of that actually happened -- no one ever traveled to their ally's galaxy, although one team did manage to conquer most of the Mecatol Rex galaxy. Play proceeded like a standard 3-player game, only much more slowly due to the mix of Optional Rules and the fact that we were playing an entirely new scenario. Whenever trading occurred, trade always happened between allies first, which severely hampered the bargaining power of a trade agreement, and any other trade was usually denied. Occasionally players utilized the ability to exchange trade goods and action cards. The Assembly strategy card was always used to target the ally to either become Speaker or to play a political card, which felt unbalanced. We opted to play to 10 points instead of 14 for the sake of time, but were circumvented by the Game Over objective. The Sardakk N'Orr / Naalu Collective team won with the highest combined victory points, followed closely by Winnu / Mentak and then Yin Brotherhood / Clan of Saar.

There's not much more to say than that about our experience. It wasn't a bad game, but again, no major team aspects were able to truly be utilized and the game was bogged down by having too many rules. To create a better play experience for next time, the following changes have been made to version 2.0 of the scenario:

• No multi-galaxy map setup. Use a 4-, 6-, or 8-player single galaxy map instead.
• Removed all requirements to have the Shattered Empire expansion; scenario now accommodates for players who have only the base game.
• Removed all Optional Rules requirements to simplify.
• Removed the “Fractured Alliance” feature and made it impossible to break your starting alliance since this goes against the whole idea of the scenario and adds unnecessary complications.
• Removed the additional victory point options, again to simplify.
• Removed the ability to jointly meet public objectives to avoid complications. All public and secret objectives must be met individually, as per standard gameplay.
• Removed the restrictions on not being able to incorporate certain races and/or options to make the scenario more moddable.
• Removed the modification for receiving 2 secret objectives instead of 1; one is enough.
• Removed the ability to have an individual victory to reinforce the team aspect of the scenario.
• Made it so that allies cannot form any trade agreements between each other; they already have one, which is the ability to swap trade goods at will.
• Made it so that allies cannot be targeted by a strategy card.
• Added an ability to allow team members to transfer planet ownership (1 per round) to facilitate helping your ally to meet objectives.

Hopefully we'll get to try this again in another month or so. If you get a chance to try this scenario, it'd be great to hear your feedback. Thanks!