Hey there, pretty sure that these questions have simple answers I missed, bu I can't seem to find answers anywhere. Here goes:

1) Am I mising something with he imperial strat card? It gives the player 2 vps no questions asked, 5 turns and it could be game over and either way it essentially takes the challenge out of objective cards. Maybe I just don't get it but it seems to kinda break the game...

2) Do players start the game with any trade goods?

3) Each turn do you only get 2 command counters + any leftover counters from the previous round, essentially meaning players can take three turns a round provided they put nothing in their strat allocation? That seems like a very limiting rule, if a player wants to get a tech card and act on his tade agreements he loses any chance to act...

Thanks in advance for any help, cheers,

Sandweiche

sandweiche said:

I'm fairly new to the game, but I'm fairly certain that the strategy cards from the expansions cover the Imperial Card issue you mention.

1 . Imperial card is broken and was replaced with Bureaucracy card in the expansion in Shattered Empire.

Just go online to the fantasy flights and copy the card from the Shattered Empire rule book or just look at the end of the post.

Many players play with strategy cards from different combo's from the differnent expansions. Like Warfare I, Tech II, Trade III

That is one reason why alot players buy all the expansions.

The standard tactic in the original game was.

Take Initiative, then pick Imperial and claim the 2 VPs

Everyone would then attack you forcing you not to take Initiative or Imperial, and hence you lose because you fall 2 VPs behind.

2. You do not get trade goods. But everyone gets 2 Political cards which you can spend as trade goods.

Many players ban using political cards as trade goods because they want those dangerous cards voted on.

I like using political cards as trade goods.

3. Counters is key in this game. Logistics strategy card allows you to buy counters. 3 Influence for 1 counter.

The limitation on counters forces players to limit how many secondaries they can do, like buying tech.

The first 2 round, counters are used alot so it is easy to run out, but later in the game it is not too bad.

Generally, every turn, you put 2 or 3 counters into strategy and the command pool and try to eventually increase your fleet supply to 8.

Many times, you may only do 1 secondary because of a shortage of counters.

Many times on turn 2, I may lower my fleet supply to 2 or even 1 so I can take an extra planet. But having a low fleet supply will make you easy pickings if someone decides to attack you.

8) Bureaucracy
Special
After selecting this Strategy Card, reveal cards from the Objective deck equal to the number of Bonus Counters on this card.
Primary: Senatorial Control
Receive 1 Command Counter from your reinforcements. Then draw the top two cards from the Objective deck. Place one face up in the common play area and the other on the top of the deck. You may then immediately claim one public objective that you qualify for.
Secondary: New Agendas
Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to draw one Political Card and one Action Card.

Shadow said:

Actually, I believe that you start with 2 Political Cards and can use them as Trade Goods only if you are playing with the Assembly Strategy Card from Shattered Empire (Page 15 of SE Rules).

The Archon said:

That's true. Players having a hand of Political Cards and being able to discard them to spend them as Trade Goods came in with the Shattered Empire expansion.

Kerrin2 said:

There is, off the top of my head, actually one instance where some players start the game with trade Goods. The 5-player setup.

Thanks a lot, that answers everything I needed to know. One last thing: I'm new to forum etiquette; should I close this thread to keep things uncluttered, or leave it up for other players. Thanks again!

Fnoffen is correct: in a 5 player game, the fifth player (being closest to two other players) starts with 6 Trade Goods and his/her neighbors each start with 4 Trade Goods.

I know that others have answered, but I do have some input on two of your points.

1. The idea is that 8 is the one everyone wants, but it goes last in sequence. The person who took 1 the previous round would obviously pick 8 (As they have first pick) and the 2nd would take 1 so they would have it next round. So the idea was that the card would circle the table, almost always getting played, both for the advantage it gave you as well as preventing others from getting it. It served as somewhat of a game timer. If you don't have the expansions and want to tone it down, I suggest going to the support section of the TI minisite and looking at the alternate version of the imperial card, under "variant rules". That version is much more balanced, as it only gives 1VP unless you're planning on claiming multiple objectives. It basically turns it into a "Powerful when played right" card instead of a "Always powerful" card.

3. The idea is to limit what people can do each round. You are correct in that you only get 2 CC per turn, as well as whatever you have leftover from the previous round. Hence, it is to your advantage to choose carefully on what you do each round. Also (I mention this because I've seen others forget this) don't forget you cannot activate a system twice in one round, nor can you move anything out of an activated system unless permitted specially by a card effect, so you actually don't always have a lot to do each round. Furthermore, playing a strategy card or an action card that says "Play as an action" does not cost a command counter.