Hey, my group of four finally got around to doing a quick mock trial of the turn structure of the game! I bought this game a year ago and am finally excited to get to work on it. We stumbled upon one awkward thing however.

When you're doing the Transfer Phase, do you have to move units from one system to another? Also, if you have activated a system earlier in your Tactical Phase, can you still use that activated system, or do you need to activate a whole new system with more friendly troops on it? Likewise, can you just skip to the construction phase or must you complete the phases prior to it in the Transfer Phase? Thanks a lot for the help guys, I'm really looking forward to this game, the content and strategy is just overwhelming!

CountingGardens said:

You don't have to move any ships with a Transfer action, but if you're not moving any ships, it's probably not a good use of a Transfer action.

If you have a Command Counter in a system, you cannot use that activated system in later Transfer action. Both systems activated must be "unactivated" systems.

You can choose to do nothing for any of the steps on an activation sequence (except for activating the systems). But remember, during a Transfer action, you can only build in ONE of the two systems, so if you aren't moving any ships, you are needlessly activating one of the systems.

CountingGardens said:

+1 to everything Sigma said.

Also, a few details to keep in mind (maybe you already had these points figured out, but just in case):

- the two systems chosen must be adjacent (not sure if wormholes count for this purpose)

- both systems must have a friendly unit and they cannot have enemy units in them, anywhere. A system where you are blockading an enemy planet is not valid for a transfer action. It's also not useful for expanding to an unoccupied system while building at the one you already controlled.

- if you perform planetary landings during a transfer action, you can only land on planets you already control. You can't land on neutral planets or enemy planets with nothing but a control flag (per the rulebook.) No combat will be triggered during a transfer action.

All in all, transfer actions are not something that get used very often in my experience. Their primary purpose is to help you shuffle around units between two systems, not to help you gain new territory. They can be useful in preparing defenses (moving a new fleet into a system that just got badly hurt by an enemy attack while build more ships in the supplying system, for example) or in rearranging forces if you've noticed a gap in your defensive strategy. You aren't required to move units between the two systems if you don't want to, but like Sigma said, it's a waste of a transfer action if you aren't using it for that. You're probably better off using a tactical action otherwise.

So just curious... But you can build during a Tactical action? Is that correct?

Tactical action:

Tactical Action (costs 1 Command Counter from Command Pool)
Activation Sequence

1. Activate any System: The active player places his Command Counter in the System. Mandatory.
2. His Ships (within movement range, and in non-Activated Systems) may move into the Activated System. Carriers with XRD may leave the System to transport units as long as they return. Optional.
3. Each enemy PDSs (within firing range) may fire at the active player’s Ships in the Activated System (each “hit” requires the active player to damage or remove a Ship from his fleet). Then the active player’s PDSs (within firing range) may fire at any enemy Ships in the Activated System. Optional.
4. Space Battle (breaks any Trade Agreement). Mandatory. (if step 2 was not skipped and there is at least 1 enemy ship in the system)
5. Planetary Landings: At least one Ground Forces unit (and not a lone PDS unit which is lost during its landing) is required to land on each neutral planet (and/or each enemy planet with no Ground Forces) in a System for the active player to claim them and collect their exhausted Planet Cards (any enemy Control Markers are removed). Optional.
6. Invasion Combat (breaks any Trade Agreement, the active player chooses which planet to invade first). Mandatory. (if step 5 was not skipped and there is at least 1 enemy GF on the planet)
7. Produce units at any friendly Space Docks in the Activated System. The active player may build a Space Dock if the planet was controlled for the entire round and there is no Space Dock already present and there are no enemy Ships in the Activated System. Space Docks under blockade may only produce PDSs and Ground Forces for the planet. Optional.

You can always skip any optional steps. You can never skip any mandatory steps. So if you just want to build units in your home system you can simply build them.

As for transfer:

Transfer Sequence

1. Activate two adjacent Systems that contain only friendly Ships/Units. The active player places a Command Counter in each Activated System (one from his command pool, one from reserve).
2. His Ships/Units may move between both Activated Systems according to their movement allowance.
3. Each enemy PDS (within firing range) may choose which of the two Activated Systems to fire into.
4. Planetary Landings: PDSs and Ground Forces may not land on neutral or enemy controlled planets.
5. Produce units in only one of the two Activated Systems.

Also some notes:

• You can never activate system that already has your command counter.
• You can activate any system on the board
• You can not make transfer actions if you do not have any command counters in your reserve

Thanks a lot guys. This game is gonna prove to be a ton of fun once me and my crew get the rules hammered out.

wormholes of the same kind count as adjacent for all purposes including transfer actions.

kaiflax said:

For all movement purposes, yes. You can't shoot a DSC through a wormhole, though. Per the FAQ:

Q: When are systems containing matching Wormholes
considered adjacent?
A: These systems are considered adjacent for movement
purposes only (including Transfer Actions). This means that
you cannot fire PDS cannons through, annex planets through,
or use the Integrated Economy technology through.

Some other interesting q's came up about the game. We actually played our first full game. I just had some general questions for some of you more experienced TI'ers. What's the general strategy for winning the game? Because no one but me was really picking the Imperial Strategy Card, so honestly, I was the only one getting victory points. This also lead to an incredibly long game where basically most players were just slowly tech-ing up and building up ships for turns and turns. Basically just walls of ships waiting to attack each other.

On another note, Fleet Supply command points, do those ever diminish or do you just stack those all game? That was a pretty big question we all had, since it seemed odd. Also, when you're moving PDS or Ground Troops to a different planet in the same system while using a carrier, do you need to activate that system first or can you merely activate the system, move a carrier into that system and than move the troops? Sorry for such random q's but a bunch of stuff just was bizarre on the first game.

CountingGardens said:

Well, if you're playing with the original SC set, there's the "Initiative/Imperial" mechanic which was meant to act as a "game clock" to keep play time down, but turned into a "do it or you lose" mechanic, which people did not enjoy. It sounds like you were the only one at your table who saw the value of the Imperial card.

In general, how you win is by getting VPs (duh.) How you get VPs is by completing objectives. Buying techs and building up armies is great fun, but it won't win you the game unless it somehow helps you claim an objective card. You should always look at what objectives are out there and try to claim at least one every turn. We prefer the Age of Empire optional rule since it reveals all objectives up front and allows you to plan your long-term strategy a little more clearly.

If you want to avoid the Initiative/Imperial "game clock" you can look at the suggested house rules on the support page, or pick up Shattered Empire, which provides a second, and much more entertaining, set of SCs.

If your friends insist on turtling up every game, there's not much you can do to stop it. Just take your easy victories by focusing on VPs yourself and wait for them to finally ask why you always win.

CountingGardens said:

Fleet Supply rarely goes down. It can happen, but not often. Remember that there's a cap of 8 Fleet Supply though, IIRC.

CountingGardens said:

If there's already a carrier in the system, you can use that one to transfer planetary units from one planet to another simply by activating the system. Assuming it has room for everything that wants to move all at once, of course. Units are picked up in the Movement step and dropped off in the Planetary Landings step, so everything has to be picked up first and then everything gets put down elsewhere later.

If there is not a carrier in system, you CAN move one in from another system after activating the target system, and then pick up and put down as above once it's there. It just picks up at the end of it's movement step instead of earlier on.

By activating said system to move troops to another planet in that system, you can also undergo the Produce Units step, correct? Or do you have to wait and activate that system again? Basically, you complete the list of tactical actions on a system whenever you activate?

CountingGardens said:

Yes, if you declare a Tactical (or Transfer) action in a given system(s) then you perform the entire action sequence as appropriate.

Oh wow that's awesome. Definitely gives you a ton more options!

Steve-O said:

Where is it in the rules that there's a cap of 8 Fleet Supply?

Same question, as I don't recall reading that. There is that Secret Objective of controlling Mecatol Rex with a space dock and 8 non-fighter ships but I don't recall anything that prevented you from overkilling that objective by clogging Mecatol with a fleet of 10 for instance. Thanks in advance for the reference if you care to share it.

Sorc said:

It's possible that my mind is playing tricks on me, it has been a good long while since I last played TI3. I thought there was such a rule, but if you're saying it's not to be found in the rulebook then perhaps I was lying. Sorry about that.