I have been playing Twilight Imperium today to get familiar with the game before I run a short 1 or 2 hour game with my best friend and some of his family members. I have some big questions that I have to ask though I know search is a friend, I just am curious.

I know that command counters are used to enable fleet movements into activated systems, conduct transfer actions. However, I still cannot find in the rulebook about WHEN to put your command counters to the allocation area. For instance, in the Status Phase, you can obtain 2 Command Counters and re-organize your allocation area as you wish to benefit your race. But what if you were in the strategy phase, obtained a strategic card that says "You may obtain 4 Command Counters from your reinforcement area." Do I plop those command counters down immediately or must I wait until the Status phase has started and putting them down when reaching the "Re-organize the Command Area" subphase?

Another question is, I can understand command counters are required to be used to activate systems before moving, attacking, or building. For example, if I have not activated a specific system but have reached the stage in tactical action where I can produce units, could I simply take a command counter straight out of the Command Pool and then activate the system BEFORE producing an unit? Or must I activate the system FIRST before the last tactical action to take?

From what I can surmise, I MUST activate the system first, continue down the list, and then plop down whatever I want to build. I can understand how a new space dock cannot build anything until the next round, it's the space dock that's been pre-built since Round 1 that I'm concerned with, including all other ones after its "first fresh round". Even though I do build units on an activated system, could I simply place them near that dock at that time? Regarding that, my understanding is that it can be placed there since the Status phase did not require units to be placed AFTER the Status phase has begun.

I also noticed that each player is required to take ONLY one action per action phase. For instance, strategy requires that one player conducts an action to take one strategy card. Each player continues to do so until it has been fully resolved. Next, the action phase begins. Does that mean that if one player plopped down a command counter moving ONE fleet to a system to populate planet(s) constitutes one action or can he continue to move more fleets and complete them all as an action? From what I've been seeing in my play is that I keep moving ships, different fleets, in one action by activating several systems as one player. I could be wrong in this but if I'm reading it right, the rulebook says ONLY one action. That means one activated system, one fleet, several options to take, then let the next player take his action, then repeat for next action to take for another fleet. Could this be right?

For now, these are my questions. I'm new so I'm ready to be de-virginized someday as TI3 will see the light of day when the next BBQ comes along. Of course, no race sheet will be harmed in the process by grubby, grimy fingers.

Status phase, you remove all the command counters from the board.

Place 2 new counters from your reinforcements on your race sheet. Sol gets 3 counters.

Reorganize your counters on the race sheet however you like.

If you lowered your fleet supply, look on the board and destroy ships that are not supported..

That is, if you lowered your fleet supply from 4 to 3. You must destroy ships until you have only 3 ships in each system.

Strategy phase. If you take a strategy card with bonus counters. Take a command counter from your supply for each bonus counter and put it on your race sheet any where you want. After you do that, then the next player choses his strategy card.

When playing, you follow the steps in order on the race sheet.

When your turn comes you can do one thing.

1. Play your Strategy card 2. Play an action card that says at the bottom of the card "Play as an action" 3. Do a racial ability, for Sol, it is spend a strategy counter to place 2 free ground troops, or 4. Activate a system with a command counter.

Most of the time you will just be activating a system with a command counter.

When you activate a system with a command counter, follow all the steps in order.

1. Activate the system. This announcing to all the players, what you are going to do in ………this system only.

2. Movement. If you have any ship in range that can move to this system, you can now immediately move that ship there.

If you have ships that are out of range, you can play an action card "Flank speed" to get them there.

Those ships can pick up fighters and ground troops along the way if they pass through unactivated systems. But they may not drop off ground troops or fighters along the way.

Last step is Production. If you have a space dock there, you can now produce units. This is important to do last because PDS with Deep space cannons fire when ships moves in, not at newly built ships.

Transfer actions , the important thing to remember is fighters must always be supported. If you have a carrier with 6 fighters and wish to reorganize your ground units, you may not kill fighters to do that. Your space dock supports 3 fighters. You may not kill 3 fighters so your carrier can move 3 ground troops.

The important thing to remember about the game.

1. Follow the rules exactly as written.

Do not interpret a rule using common sense, or what seems right, or add to a rule just because you think it is needed.

If the rule does not mention it, it is not important.

2. If two rules clash, it is a grey area. Look in the FAQ for the ruling.

3. Action cards temporarily break a rule. Use an action card to get around a rule.

4. Political laws permanentyly change the rules. Look for a Political card for a rule you like.

5. Some tech allows you do things you normally could not. Work toward buying those techs.

6. House rules are fun. That is a rule you make up for the game and all the players agree to it. As long as the rule does not conflict with another rule in the game, it is ok. Example: House rule: Dreads can now support 1 fighter.

The game is all about counter management. You can have all the ships you want but if your fleet supply is too low you are going to get beat.

A player with a fleet supply of 2 will always lose to a player with a fleet supply of 7.

Not doing the secondaries but putting the 3 counters into fleet supply might be better.

Huscurian said:

I think you've got some confusion over how the different phases of the game work-- though maybe I'm just confused by your questions. During the Strategy phase, every player takes one Strategy Card, starting with the speaker and going clockwise. In smaller games, this may go around a second time to allow everyone to get a second card. If a card has any Bonus Counters on it, they get to pick the bonus and get it immediately-- but that is all. Then the Action Phase starts and it continues to go around until every player has taken the Pass Action. Before taking the Pass Action, a player must have use their strategy card(s) at some earlier turn by performing one Strategic Action for each of their Strategy Cards. This is when the ability on the Strategy Card will take place. For example, the Logistics Strategy Card will give the player who chose it 4 Command Counters during the Action Phase when they use their turn to take the Strategic Action-- that's when, everyone else has an opportunity to use the secondary ability. Then the Action Phase continues with the next player's turn.

Huscurian said:

The only part of a Tactical Action or Transfer Action which is manditory is activating a system at step 1. Furthermore, any production must take place only in the system you have just activated and it must be the destination for any movement during your turn. You cannot produce units in a different system than the one you just activated while taking a Tactical Action or Transfer Action.

Huscurian said:

Units are normally placed during the Action Phase, during the turn in which they are paid for and built. They are not placed during the Status Phase. However, units may be scuttled or repaired during the Status Phase.

Huscurian said:

Players ordinarily take one action per turn, but each player gets multiple turns during a single Action Phase. Turns continue to go around until everyone takes a Pass Action; then the Action Phase ends and the Status Phase begins. During a single Tactical Action, a player may move any number of their fleets into the system that they just activated, as long as all units being moved in the fleet(s) are able to make the movement. This will essentially unite multiple fleets into a single fleet in that system.

If this small detail have been said already, I appologise. Soooo tired. Whenever you gain one or more Command Counters you are totally free to place it/them in any of the three areas of your race sheet you want. But only the CCs you gain may be placed thusly. Not those already on the race sheet.