Hey, long time supporter of this game just wanting to know what optional rules does your group ALWAYS play with, sometimes plays with and never plays with. I decided to make a list of these with our group, and since the new expansion is adding so many new elements I also am implementing a system to allow players to choose which ones they want. I also took the liberty of deciding on which ones will be chosen upon in the next expansion.

I want to know if this seems about right for most groups or if they play with different sets of optional rules. If so, I would enjoy to read what you guys play with.

List of optional rules ALWAYS played with:

1) Sabotage Runs
2) Race Specific Technologies
3) Shock Troops
4) Space Mines
5) Facilities
6) Tactical Retreats
7) Flag Ships
8) Mechanized Units
9) Wormhole nexus
10) Artifacts
11) Custodians of Mecatol Rex

List of optional rules sometimes played:

1) Age of Empire (with Imperial 2)
2) Which Set of Strategy cards
3) Which set of Victory Cards
4) Preliminary Objectives
5) Mercenaries
6) Political Intrigue
7) Heroes
8) Fall of the Empire (only if 5 or 7 players)

List of optional rules NEVER or RARELY played:

1) 14 Victory Points
2) Extended map
3) Distant Suns
4) Final Frontier
5) Simulated Early turns

Here's how we roll:

Always play with:

1) Distant Suns

2) Tactical Retreats

3) Shock Troops

4) SE Variant Strategy cards

5) Racial Techs

Never play with:

1) Long War

2) Trench Runs

3) Artifacts

Sometimes play with:

1) Everything not mentioned above

I notice you've taken the liberty of adding Shards optional rules to your lists. We'll certainly be taking them all for a spin to see how they work once we get our grubby mitts on the expansion, but it remains to be seen which ones will become regular inclusions for us. I expect the new units (flagships and mechs) will be a shoe in for us, and the space-borne DS tokens will probably be well received.

And the new races, of course. Do those even count as optional? Seriously.

It remains to be seen how well the rest of it will stick with our crew, but I am excited by the possibilities. =)

When we do play, I like using the following set:

1. Distant Suns

2. Leaders

3.Sabotage Runs

4. Artifacts

5. Shock Troops

6. Space Mines

7. Facilities

8. Custodians of Mecatol Rex

9. Expanded and Race Specific Tech.

10. Flagships and Mechanized Units

The other options we vote on, and the first option that's eliminated most of the time is The Long War.

Meant to add the Final Frontier to that list of always played.

Oh, right! I forgot about Custodians. That is an always on for our group. (adding now)

I just don't like the idea of Mecatol Rex being claimed for free. There should always be some effort in defending it, even if it is minimal.