Space Cats Peace Turtles

We’re chuggin’ along with these Dune Faction introductions, and this week Matt took the lead on The Fremen. There’s a lot of thematic exceptions to rules with the Fremen, all of which lead to a faction that can hit hard, but has very few tricks up their sleeve. Finding allies can be tricky, so where are these sand people supposed to find a win?? Listen and we’ll tell you!   After the guide, there’...

There’s a bit of stalling this week. It was meant to be a Galactic Council episode featuring a Player Profile on our friend Alex. However, scheduling mix-ups have delayed that interview, so for now, we’re going to give you everything ELSE we could have given you! Lots of tournament updates and Hacan strategy guide errata! We should have an interview with Alex out to you soon*. Music provided by Be...

The Spacing Guild in Dune is a faction that makes a lot of money, but has very little battle prowess to back it up. Do you strike at any given opportunity, or hold out for as long as you can? Today we explore how to get your Guild game started. Not to mention some errata for our Atreides and Harkonnen guides.   After the guide, more Twilight Imperium Tournament Updates! We cover 5 more games and g...

We are the Space Cats. You are the Space Cats. We are all Space Cats, and we must seek to be the greatest Space Cats we can be. So, for your furry pleasure (no, not that furry pleasure), we have our Guide on the Emirates of Hacan. It’s a faction that relies HEAVILY on the relationships at the table, which makes it a very difficult guide to spell out, so stick with us while we describe some pretty...

It’s another Dune week, finally! This time, we’re learning how to play Harkonnen. They’re a tricky faction that require a lot of subterfuge. Their abilities don’t amount to a lot if not used properly, so it’s important to think outside of the box!   After the guide, we have a deluge of Tournament Updates. Nine more games were played this week, and we want to keep you up to date on all of them, so...

The Galactic Council is just as into tournament season as we are, and as such they have voted for us to do an episode all about Tournament Drafting. We did an episode recently where we went over this year’s Draft Rules, but we didn’t get to expand on what those rules might result in. So today, we do a handful of Mock Drafts just to get a better look at what kind of strategic thoughts come up with...

2020 is upon us, and the only appropriate way to close out 2019 is with an annual Faction Tier List. An Absolutely Real, Super Important, 100% 2019 Huge SCPT Faction Tier List. This year we chose to approach the list with the tournament in mind, and this tier list is based on the faction when they are played by 6 high-level, Finalist worthy players. It changes up some of our assumptions about a lo...

We survived the holidays, which means we survived yet another Holiday Spectacular. This year’s show was extra special because we were able to play with all of the members of our original Twilight Imperium crew. Most of us played our classic factions, but the game itself was a wild ride with some players taking the game significantly less seriously than others. Today, we chat with one of those play...

Patience_is_a_Virtue is a bit of a legend in the TTS community due to the strange situations he seems to always get himself in. And the reason he gets into these situations? Because he hasn’t told his wife, family, or job that he plays this game online with other nerds. He has quit many times in the past, but the fun community consistently brings him back in. But, the fact that no one in his real...

We went to PAX Unplugged and all we got was the best episode of our show ever. We sat down with Cole Wehrle of Leder Games and discussed his upcoming work-in-progress, Oath. It’s a remarkable game that we can’t wait to sink our teeth into. We cover how to play, what kind of design Cole is trying to achieve, as well as some design insights into his last hit Root, and some notes on his history with...

The tournament is looming over us, and with many players starting to get in practice games this seemed like the perfect time to go over a lot of our rules and expectations for the tournament. But, in addition to our specific guidelines, this episode serves as an analysis of what role we feel the moderator of a game is meant to fill and when it is important to follow strict timing procedure. So hop...

It’s our second official foray into the world of Dune. To get things started, it seemed important to start digging into each of the factions. We didn’t start with something as brave as a “strategy guide,” but getting started with an in-depth overview and analysis of House Atreides seemed safe. They’re a great starter faction, especially if you want to learn the components quickly and have an urge...

Our third new Strategy Guide is for our toughest faction yet. Sardakk N’Orr start with some glaring weaknesses, and many question the power of their only true ability. Today we uncover what could be some reliable strategies to employ and the best ways to overcome these weaknesses.   4:22 Sardakk N’Orr Overview 28:33 Early Game Rounds 56:05 Tech Paths 1:11:30 Trading 1:16:23 Mid Game 1:23:51 Late G...

Tournament Signups are already FULL! This is a wildly unexpected outcome, but to celebrate it, today we’re showing off the Preliminary round’s map. 36 games will be played on this map with our draft method, so we’re hoping to learn a lot about it over the coming months, but here are our first thoughts!   Find the map here!   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunt...

This month the Galactic Council has gifted us with another great episode for newer players. Does the Agenda Phase always leave you wishing you had gained more? Is it tricky figuring out just how you’re supposed to navigate the plethora of action cards that seem to all go off at the same time. Just how much should you pay for votes? We will probably answer these questions, but only if you play your...

Space Kitty Mantis joins us this week to explain the WILD variant known as Frankendraft. It’s like taking Twilight Imperium, throwing it in a blender, and seeing what kind of smoothie you end up with. We played a game of it with Mantis and others, and it was an absolutely hilarious experience. This episode covers the basics of Frankendraft, and details how OUR draft went and what kind of “factions...

We’re very excited to finally present our first “officially unofficial” episode about Dune! We set out to establish a Game 2 months ago, and it’s time to dig into it! First up is a crash course on how to best get into Dune. Many of us are learning to play the game for the first time, so we wanted to give our tips on the easiest ways to get started and what to focus on first! This isn’t a “learn to...

After a week of delay, we’re ready to present our Barony of Letnev Strategy Guide! Hardly as straight-forward as the Federation of Sol, The Barony require a bit more planning to find success. Unarguably powerful, they are still surprisingly hard to actually win with. So take a listen, and discover your safest use of the most massive fleets in the galaxy.   3:27 Barony of Letnev Overview 28:41 Earl...

You’ve been waiting for this announcement for almost a year now. Okay, not THAT announcement. Man, every time I want to announce stuff on this show, you all freak out and start yelling “expansion” at me. This ain’t that! No, this is a 2020 SCPT Patreon Tournament! Some would argue that’s BETTER than a possible expansion, and we’re incredibly excited to break down the details of the upcoming tourna...

This week’s episode topic is brought to you by the Galactic Council! Similar to our “Can It War Sun?” episode, today we’re taking a closer look at each factions’ chances of taking and holding Mecatol Rex. Why is Mecatol important, and what does it take to get there first and stay there longest? Stick around and we’ll tell you!   Join in on the discussion here, on our Discord , or at our Board Game...

We start the second season of the show off with a bang! It’s your stories! Your face! You’re responsible! It’s your fault! This Imperium Life, and it even gets an episode number. We’re really turning over a new leaf here. Anyways, enjoy your own mess.   Join in on the discussion here, on our Discord , or at our Board Game Geek Guild . Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter . And send us your in g...

We’re a two year old pod-baby, and are celebrating our 100th episode at the same time. We’ve always hoped to sit down with the man behind all of the magic, Christian T. Petersen. Lucky for us, this was just the occasion to get ahold of him. This interview is an up close look with a lot of the original development of Twilight Imperium as a property and how the game and story has changed over the ye...

Our copies of Dune finally came in, and we’ve been getting a lot of questions about what makes our second game so special. So we thought we should take the time and break down all the reasons we’re excited about Dune by Gale Force Nine, and how we hope to be able to start covering it on our show!   Join in on the discussion here, on our Discord , or at our Board Game Geek Guild . Connect with us o...

We had the pleasure of meeting Nateraide in person at GenCon this year. And while we didn’t get to record his episode live at GenCon, he did come to us with a brilliant topic of discussion. So, join us for a dissection of the different styles of group metas that are most prevalent amongst the community, and what types of players each meta benefits the most!   Join in on the discussion here, on our...

THIS is it. This is the episode you’ve been looking for. If you are looking to learn how to play the Federation of Sol or just wanting to improve your game, this is YOUR episode. If you’re familiar with our First Round Strategies episodes, this is meant to override that episode. THIS is the official SCPT Federation of Sol Strategy Guide! 6:20 - Sol Overview 19:38 - Early Game 1:01:32 - Tech Path 1...