I always wanted to try out this game and last weekend I finally got the chance to do it. Net day I was in the shop to buy it! I love it! Of course I still have alot to learn. So that's why I thought I' make a post and gather up some strategy and newbie tips here on the forum from more experienced players. So can anybody help me out with general/gameplay/tactical/strategy tips? All help welcome! Thanks!

Hi, I'm even newer than Nostra, merely being in the anticipation phase of playing for the first time early next month. Having read the rules PDF I'm now drooling (or that could just be the cold) and it'd be nice to get some tips so I'm not floundering in emergent complexity.

The biggest tip that players miss the first time out is that victory points matter. At the end of the game, it doesn't matter how many planets you have, how large your fleet is, or how many technologies you aquire. I have seen new players pass up imperial, and end the game in a strong board position but in last place with VPs. Every turn you should have a plan to qualify for an objective that round, and if you're are playing with the original strategy cards DO NOT let the initiative/imperial cycle pass you by.

~Maebon

I concur with Maebon. It's easy to get caught up building lots of ships, taking lots of planets and (especially) gunning for tech, but unless you have public/secret objectives related to those things, they aren't going to win you the game. I'm not saying you should ignore these things since they also bear obvious benefits in terms of available resources and defenses to keep you in the game, I'm just saying you shouldn't tap yourself out trying to get a shiny tech that doesn't actually earn you VPs in the process. Always remember what Public Objectives are showing. If you're playing with the variant rule that reveals all POs up front, then look at them and try to plan a few turns ahead on how you're going to get them. At the end of the day the only thing that counts is VPs.

Thanks guys. Sounds like a good general tip in a game as full of shiny distractions as TI looks to be

Is there a consolidated resource anywhere that offers some insight into how a game runs in general (when people start achieving VPs, running into territorial conflicts etc... Turn1 or turn 3 or ??; how many VPs are generally grabbed per turn; how many turns does a game last?) and how the various races play (which are slow starters, which base their success in trade, tech, politics or conflict)? Any after action reports of games? I did use the search but it looks like it covers the entire FFG forum with no options to limit it to TI forum only, so the results were a bit low in the signal:noise department, and I don't have a copy of the game, so the initial states of the various nations and their special abilities are largely unknown to me.

Edit: punctuation

There's some general guides you can find over at the TI3 wiki: javascript:void(0);/*1256142525736*/

And while it may not as clear as the player sheets, you can see all the racial abilities and starting techs here: javascript:void(0);/*1256142696710*/

womble said:

You can read and download the full rulebook for the game, as well as the FAQ/errata from the TI3 support page right here on ffg.com.

Thanks for all the wonderful tips. If anyone has others to add please do. I did get caught in the 'omg I must have the war sun as fast as possible'-thing. Just for the fun of it so I could wipe my neighbour It was fun but it didn't earn me much points ^^

An another tips that I gave to my new TI3 player is that colonisation is important.

The two or three first round are the most crucial on how your empire will be placed physically and pollitically for a great part of the game. Especially if you are playing the roleplaying way and acording great importance on alliances, pollitical power and cold war. (Wich make the game a lot more interesting.)

As this is closely related to victory points I think it is close to the tips you have already got. But more precisely :

1. In the begining of the game Carrier = power
2. More carrier, more planets quickly, more stability for your empire.
3. Carrier with a movement rate of two (Technology required) = more power
4. Remember that having a ship in a system is sufficient to control it. Player will be forced to engage you in space battle to take possesion of the planet below and it will give you time to bring ground forces. (Exemple, reserving a far system with a cruiser then come back few rounds later as millitary forces grow.)
5. Take the system away from your home system and between you and your neighbor first. It is easier to make a border then fill it than to take few system then being prisoner in your few planets or worst, having a neighbor next to your home planet.

Remember that a player without his home system (Except clan of Saar) cannot take VP.

Except for thoses wich are common misunderstood statements for new players. I think the best is still being focused on your victory point schedule and secret objective.

I'm rather new myself (my group has played it three times).

But, I do have a tip for new players: - Know your fellow players.

It may sound obvious, but here is what I mean.

In any board game like this, I am the tech guy. They know, if given the choice, I will go for the technology.

We have two that will try forming alliances with anyone they can. If it is with each other, it is unstable.

One actually plays toward VP, while still trying to keep up with the rest.

The last one doesn't care about VP. He is great at strategy (military background) and he only accepts victory or defeat if it is by might.

Our first play of the game, was chaos as we were learning the rules.

The second play through, anyone collecting VP was squashed.

The third play through, VP was all but ignored (two people got to 3 VP), as the cold war built up and then everything exploded and fleets couldn't be built as fast as they were lost.

If your group is able to use VP to determine a winner, then I envy you. lol

As said by others, if you get a race with multiple Carriers and at least two Ground Forces in each, at the start, spread fast.

Also, if you get the tech race, go straight for War Sun as fast as you can. They can get there long before anyone else. Other races the War Sun is icing on the cake.

Funny... We did that too in the begining. Going starignt for the war Sun. But as players became more aware of victory points and the might of pollitical alliances...

Last games we even forced a player to decomission his war sun and prove his peacfull intention... That, or being crushed.

War Suns are powerfull indeed. But hide as most as possible you have them until needed. They rapidly become a reason for enemy to ally against you as if you were threthening the world with an atomic bomb without using it... It can be convincing, but it is politial strategy. If you use it, or have great motive suspected to use it, it become double edged. You be surprised by the nuber of guns wich suddenly appears when someone create a War suns in our games. I also already saw two players arguing for peace buying four war sun in the same round to contain the more unpredictable player...

Not all our games are backstab based... But most are. If you want the millitary slaughter to stop, think about a stategy to overcome it by alliances. And if it is not sufficient... Then your millitary player is brilliant XD.

Every single move you make should in some way gain a point or bring you closer to getting a point. Every turn have a plan to gain at least one point and a backup plan to forward yourself on the point track.

You want the throne, not a bloody war. If that war doesn't gain you points in any way it was a complete waste.

Warsuns are a nice tool but should not be used in every situation or by every race.

Play to your racial advantages, they are your own personal "cheat" don't let them go to waste.

If you have the biggest fleet on the board you are probably losing, because you have concentrated on production instead of objectives.

Cover your ass, you can't gain points without your homesystem.