Space Cats Peace Turtles

This month the Galactic Council foisted upon us a episode so daunting, we had to enlist help from our own private Rules Judge, Milty! Milty is known in the community as the master of all rules, and there is no better person to host our newest game show: Rules Quiz Extravaganza!   1:35:26 -  Explore: Expedition and Sardakk N'orr Mech: Valkyrie Exoskeleton   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more a...

I hope you enjoy your outdoor cooking with lots of SALT. Today, we delve into our only remaining base game Root faction, the Vagabond. Much maligned by the rest of the forest creatures, the Vagabond is power, requires focus from the rest of the table to stop, and...honestly can sometimes not be that fun to play as. It is an uphill meta-battle, and here are tools on how to survive your early games...

It’s not 2018 anymore, and that means we get to like the Yin and talk about them in a serious context. This might legitimately be Matt’s best faction, and hopefully that translates to some somewhat decent strategic insights. You be the judge! And stick around for the final Yin Brotherhood Prophecy of Kings spoiler!   4:53 - Overview 24:43 - Tech Paths 40:29 - Strategy Cards 59:39 - Problems 1:01:3...

This month on Fireside Chats Alec sits down with the creator and moderator of the TI4 on TTS Discord, PhilRoi. He’s a huge figure in the community who puts in tons of effort and hours to ensure everyone has a safe and fun place to organize games of Twilight Imperium online. Not to mention he’s an incredibly kind person who is incredibly easy to talk to!   5:02 - Objective: Explore the Outer Rim  ...

Development of Leder Games’ Oath has been completed, and a lot has changed since the last time we talked to Cole Wehrle. So, we decided to sit down with him again so he could update us on what’s new, what’s not, and what’s to come! Additionally, we talk about where he sees Root heading in future expansions, as well as the competitive Root scene and our upcoming test tournament!   8:20 - Explore: E...

For our second consecutive Galactic Council episode, the winner was an update on all of the components and abilities revealed for Prophecy of Kings so far. Now we couldn’t cover EVERYTHING, but today we touch on all of the tech, objectives, and faction stuff we’ve seen. It’s a LOT, so strap in and prepare to get your lace up your analysis shoes. We’re about to go trekkin’.   4:12 - Tech: Bio-Stims...

It’s the day you’ve been waiting all this time for. Nearly 3 years in, and we’ve finally managed to book our significant others to appear on the show. They were a tough get, and we had to offer some major residuals, but we finally got them on board. The Galactic Council submitted loads of questions, and we went through as many of them as we could so that you all could get the inner scoop of what i...

We’re trying to get our significant others to sit down for this month’s Galactic Council episode, but it’s proving more difficult than we originally planned. So, Alec is here to save the day with yet another Fireside Chat. This time with longstanding patron and Discord rabble-rouser, Billy!   6:47 - Objective: Command an Armada and Barony Agent: Viscount Unlenn   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find...

And so begins the saga of the most temporary strategy guides ever written. Why are we writing guides for a game whose strategy will be radically changed in a matter of months? BECAUSE! When you start something you finish it! Even if it costs you everything. Even if all you’re left with is a Floating Factory and a single infantry sitting alone in a distant asteroid field. See, I still tied it back...

Deemed “The Jol-Nar of Root,” the Woodland Alliance is very powerful, and rather straight-forward in what they need to do in order to win. However, they can still have rather intimidating hurdles to get over for new players. So today, we want to cover solid play while avoiding the traps new players fall into. Stick around too, because at the end of the episode, we have more Twilight Imperium: Prop...

There has already been so much new stuff to digest this weekend, but only one thing is actually CURRENTLY playable. Alongside the reveal of Prophecy of Kings on Friday, Fantasy Flight also released the first official Twilight Codex, which contains more Omega components, new action cards, and a whole playable scenario! Today, we sit down with Dane and just talk through every single thing in the doc...

AAAAHHHH! It happened. The expansion for Twilight Imperium 4th Edition, Prophecy of Kings, has been announced! And the only way to celebrate this momentous occasion is to bring designer Dane Beltrami onto the show and go in depth into every new mechanic. Additionally, we have been given exclusive access to one of the SEVEN new factions, and will be doing an exhaustive reveal of the lore and abilit...

Hunter is hitting the road this week, moving back to Arkansas to be with his baby daddy. In lieu of time to record a proper episode, Alec is here to fill the gap yet again with another Fireside Chat. This time, he sits down with Weird Bear Fargoness and his son, GenCon 2019 Finalist Xenofeline. There aren’t many father/son duos in our community, and the humor and skill these two both bring is so v...

Winnu Winnu, Chicken Dinnu. It’s a faction so bad at winning that they have a celebratory catch phrase. How did we get here? Is there a trick to all of this that makes Winnu truly viable? Or is every win just a fluke? Let’s talk about “strategy” for the faction that really really really wants Mecatol Rex and basically nothing else. Also, if you prefer three and four player games...I’m really sorry...

Birds, man. Lemme tell ya. This was a tough nut to crack, but eventually we found some comfort with The Eyrie Dynasties in Root. They are a good faction, but they can, at times, feel a bit tough to learn and unlock the full potential of. Half programming, and half slow-burn, the Eyrie makes for a faction that, when things go wrong it can feel crippling. But when things go right, they are among the...

Open up your cosmic history books and get yourself ready for story-time!   Today Hunter and Alec the person sat down together to talk about the Lore of Twilight Imperium 4th edition. We talk a lot about the opening crawl in the learn to play book and dive deep into several faction sheets. It was actually super fun and I feel a new sense of appreciation for the writing in these games. LIKE DID YOU...

Introducing a new show within the show, FIRESIDE CHATS.   This week enjoy some special programming from community favorite Root, AKA Alec. Today (actually in April) he sat down with one of our favorite players of all time MAGI to have a wide-ranging conversation about strategy games, TI, and tournaments.    Check out the beginning of the episode for this week’s rundown and general announcements an...

She is industrious. She is stalwart. She is really hard to win Root with. She is the Marquise de Cat. What is often used as the “learning” faction for Root is the one with some of the most problems to overcome. So, to help you in your process of learning all of the varied faction in Root, we wanted to present this overview of the Cats!   6:19 - Abilities & Setup 19:14 - Birdsong, Daylight, & Eveni...

The time rift is still open and the universe is in absolute chaos. This episode careens back and forth between pre-baby and post-baby Matt, and you can expect more in the weeks to come. While Matt and Hunter are trapped in this time loop, they found a chance to talk about the L1z1x Mindnet. Enjoy that talk before eternity folds back in on itself and we all wake up as cyborgs.    Section Outline: ...

Today we’re going to mind-meld with the psychic reptiles we love so much, The Naalu Collective! Listen as Matt and Hunter unveil their Naalu strategy guide! Also we have entered the Baby arc of the show where Matt and Hunter will begin hopping through time as they record many episodes early for air so that the baby will have plenty of Matt time. Also stay tuned to the end for a live update on that...

Our original plan was to make an overview episode for the Marquise de Cat in Leder Games’ Root for this week. But, in setting out on that journey, we realized Root requires a bit more setup. So, this week, we want to cover the key actions at your disposal in Root and the ways they impact your positioning and points. Then, when we DO get to faction overviews, we can use these ideas as a framework t...

Kind of a weird tone to start this week’s episode, but that’s just the vibe these days. Eventually, we talk a bit about the 14 point tournament from last weekend that was a wildly fun party for the community. We’ve got thoughts on 14 point games, winmaking, and streaming TI, so maybe there’s something in there for everyone. We certainly hope everyone willing to listen feels welcome, that’s for sur...

What a world we’re in! Last week was a faction guide, and we’ve got another one hot on it’s trail. Yssaril is a faction all about subterfuge and sneakery, and turns out that can be a difficult tool to wield. Action Cards can be a mighty force, but only with the economics to back them up. So, is this faction good? Come listen and find out!   11:58 Yssaril Tribes Overview 25:21 First Round Strategy...

This episode hit a few snags along the way. Our first recording put us over three, and we ended up getting pillaged, so we had to record another once we’d spent our other episodes. So, here now, finally, is our Mentak Coalition Strategy Guide. They’re a bit more straightforward than some of our previous guides, but that doesn’t mean there are important nuances that any player must tend to. Also, a...

It is time to embark on a new journey! We’ve been honing our skills at Leder Games’ Root, and we want to start this game off the way we start all of our games: learning how to LEARN Root. This is different from your Learn to Play guides out there, and instead we discuss the ways to approach the game and the types of tactics to approach if you hope to develop a real love of this game. Music by Bria...