Hello guys

our group is getting ready for our first match tomorrow night (finally). While we were reading the rules, some questions and doubts came across and we want to make sure that we have the best experience possible:) So here are the questions.

a) The first person that gets the speaker token is chosen randomly correct? the only way to change hands is via the Initiative strategy card?

b) At the end of the turn, i only get 2 used command counters (from the command pool) from the ones i've spent, even if i had 1 million?

c) Can someone bribe another player just to negotiate a trade contract? i get that the active player can be bribed, but why wouldn't a Mentak player (trade contract 1) bribe a Hacan (trade contract 3) player to get his contract? Hacan would be much better with other contract but they could be persuade

d) Can a player try to execute every secondary ability played in a turn with the Initiative Strategy card for free?

e) just to see if i got it right….every round you choose either a) strategy b) action c) transfer or d) pass. if you choose a), b) and c), you get to play again after every player has played in that round and until you choose d) correct?

Now i would like to ask for your advise. I own both the original game and Shattered Empires.

- Which combination of Strategy Cards do you think works better for a first match? I don't want to use the Imperial one that comes with the original game.

- Im thinking in using the following additional rules for our first match:

a) Heroes (characters tend to add a bit of flavour to every game)
b) Sabotage run (who doesnt want to be Luke )
c) Race techs
d) Facilities
e) Custodians

im still thinking if i want to add the following ones: distant suns, shock troopers and age of empires.
Do you think it's a good mix for the first match? can you tell me if the distant suns option is a good choice for my first match? what about age of empires?

Thanks a lot for your advises

Kopos said:

Correct

Kopos said:

Incorrect. At the end of the round you gain the 2 (3 for Sol) Command Counters (CC's) from your Reinforcements (The pile of unused playing pieces) and place them in either your Command Pool, Fleet Supply or Strategy Allocation areas of your race sheet. It is important that everyone use the correct name for everything to avoid confusion. The correct names, in this case, are the names in the rule book(s) and game components.

I understand that this answer might come across as condescending and if so, I appologise. It is not my intention to be a d-bag. It's just my way of trying to teach.

Kopos said:

Of course they can. Bribery is an important part of trade negotiations. Let's say the Mentak REALLY want the only 3 on the table (Hacan). Mentak could offer to pay the Hacan player 1 Trade Good (TG) each round that the agreement stands. The Mentak might, however, also need to bribe the active player to allow such a contract if they want to strike the same deal with another race than the Hacan (since the Hacan do not need permission from the active player).

Note, however, that all such deals are, as far as the rules go, non-binding. This means that the Mentak don't actually need to fulfill their side of the bargain. It might, however, be a good idea to do so, else it cometh back to bite ya.

Kopos said:

Yes. As long as any player have the ability to pay the required cost to execute them, he/she may execute as many secondaries as he/she wishes. The only thing the Initiative Strategy Card (SC) does is lower the CC cost of the secondaries to 0. Any resource and/or influence cost must still be payed in full, though.

Kopos said:

Incorrect. A round is a complete cycle of all three phases, the second of which is played over several turns . If by round you mean turn, however, then you are correct. (see the second part of the answer to question b)

Kopos said:

I'd go with the complete alternate set from Shattered Empires.

Kopos said:

Since it's your groups first game, I would probably recommend keeping the optionals to a minimum until you get a good solid hang of the basics. And by minimum I mean optionals that don't add more rules. Such as racial techs. Shock Troopers add a few rules, as does Sabotage run.

But if you feel that you, by prereading the rules and such, already have a good grasp of said basics, I'd say go nuts. I for one am a sucker for bling in TI3. If I didn't have the other players stopping me I'd use every single optional rule there is in every single game.

Kopos said:

No worries.

[edited for blatant spelling errors]

thanks a lot!

and yes, by round i meant turn sorry:)

one other thing…when playing with 4 players, one must choose 2 strategy cards but can only choose one to play that round correct? since everybody picked 2, how do i check initiative order? Seeing the lower number each player has?

Example: i chose card 3 and 7. my iniative order is 3rd (supposing both 1 and 2 were picked obviously)?

thanks

Yes, you are correct. Each player takes their turn in initiative order as per the lowest initiative number on the strategy cards they've picked.

You're also correct that in a four player game on your turn you can execute one of the two strategy cards as your action that turn. You can execute the other strategy card on a subsequent turn.

To clarify: Yes you only use the lowest number to determine initiative and yes you play both SCs during the game round but not on the same turn.

yes, i've picked that up during the match: it's a risk when you're the only one that knows the rules. But we managed to play some turns with that right

Hope you had an enjoyable first match!