Hunter Donaldson

Space Cats Peace Turtles

Leisure EN ↓ 491 episodes

An unofficial podcast for fans of Twilight Imperium and other strategy board games. Each episode is a humorous analysis of mechanics and strategies for new and experienced players alike!

Author

Hunter Donaldson

Category

Leisure

Latest episode

Jul 8, 2026

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Episodes

Ep 036: First Round Strategies - The Yin Brotherhood (it's a joke) 11.06.2018

For as long as space has had cats and peace has had turtles, our relationship with the Brotherhood of Yin has been tumultuous. It’s finally time to settle the score and break down these booger-boys. What does it take to unlock their kamikaze potential? Join us as we explore the depths, and then afterward, we’ll respond to your errata on our Hacan guide!   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at...

Ep 035: First Round Strategies - Emirates of Hacan 05.06.2018

For every Peace Turtle, there is a Space Cat. For every Space Cat, there is a handful of trade goods. And for every handful, there is a table of people saying, “Wait, how did we let Hacan get so much money? Okay, that’s enough, no more trading with the Lions! Any trade with Hunter is an act of war!” Today, we hope to help you combat the intricacies of the Emirates of Hacan and find a path to victo...

Ep 034: First Round Strategies - Trading with Hacan 29.05.2018

And you thought we couldn't work any slower. It's time to start talking about the Emirates of Hacan, but there is a lot to break down with the Space Cats, so we had to split it into two separate conversations. Consider this Part One of the Hacan First Round Strategy guide, and it's entirely about relationships and trade. Before we could get into what are solid strategies with Hacan, we had to disc...

Ep 033: Agendas 22.05.2018

It's night. The Galactic Council has assembled, and from the shadows you hear collective whispers. The wind picks up, and leaves begin to skip along the ground. A figure steps forward and then stands motionless before you. It speaks. "Agendas." Without hesitation, you are surrounded by the the force of a hundred collected voices all bellowing, in unison, "AGENDAS." You mustn't disappoint them. But...

Ep 032: First Round Strategies - Ghosts of Creuss 15.05.2018

Don't get spooked! We're talking about friendly ghosts today, or at the very least highly encouraging you to be a friendly ghost. The Ghosts of Creuss have some struggles, but when overcome, they can be a very powerful faction. So let's find out how best to avoid failure! After that, we errata the heck out of some L1z1x Mindnet talk. Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or...

Ep 031: First Round Strategies - L1z1x Mindnet 08.05.2018

Strategies abound in this issue of SCPT! This week: Will the roboboys find their way to the throne? Is L1z1x Mindnet a hard name to remember? Are these questions doing a good job of explaining the content of this podcast? Tune in and find out! Then stay tuned for two whole questions of errata about the GenCon Tournament Interview and listen as it takes us 20 minutes to accomplish even that simple...

Ep 030: GenCon Tournament Inteview with Blarknob 01.05.2018

Sign-ups for the GenCon Tournament are next week (Sunday, May 6) and in preparation we decided to talk to the organizer of the tournament about what we can all expect. We discuss this year’s upcoming tournament, the history of the tournament, and dig into blarknob’s own (very long) history with the game. Afterwards is some very meandering errata for the Flagship Tier List.   Music provided by Ben...

Ep 029: Flagships Tier List 24.04.2018

We’ve got another Galactic Council episode for you! This time, the council wanted us to present you with a Tier List for Flagships. So, we’ve done all the categorization we can muster, and here are the results. It’s a mad dash through every flagship with analysis on their benefits, weaknesses, and uses within that specific faction. We even follow up the discussion with a nonsensical tournament sty...

Ep 028: First Round Strategies - Winnu 17.04.2018

We’re peaking the crest of the mountain that is First Round Strategy Guides. Winnu has been, perhaps, our toughest nut to crack, and we can’t say with much confidence that we’ve even fully cracked it. They start from behind, are stopped easily, and don’t have a lot to bargain with, so join us while we DESPERATELY try to find something workable with this notoriously difficult faction. Then, we go b...

Ep 027: First Round Strategies - Embers of Muaat 10.04.2018

We’re back at it with another First Round Strategy Guide. This time it’s everyone’s favorite hard-boiled eggs, the Embers of Muatt! It’s a tricky race that relies heavily on your ability to work with other players, but is given some handy tools in managing that task. Afterwards is our errata on the Etiquette, Elimination, and Kneecapping episode as well as the Kingmaking and Support for the Throne...

Ep 026: Kingmaking and Support for the Throne 03.04.2018

Continuing our discussion from last week, Matt and Hunter are joined by their good friend Alex to have a roundtable discussion on the impact of kingmaking. Also discussed is the promissory note Support for the Throne's role in kingmaking and its purpose in the game at large. It's a big topic with MANY varying opinions. So join us in this complicated issue by taking part in the discussion!

Ep 025: Etiquette, Elimination, and Kneecapping 27.03.2018

This week’s episode was left up to our Patreon’s Galactic Council! They voted, and so here we are with an episode on the etiquette of Twilight Imperium and some of the more difficult social interactions. After that, we’re catching up on errata. That means House Rules, Sardakk N’Orr, our interview with Dane Beltrami on the Living Rules Reference, AND the Barony of Letnev. It’s a long one folks, so...

Ep 024: First Round Strategies - Barony of Letnev 20.03.2018

On paper, the Barony of Letnev seem like an exceptional race, but according to player submitted statistics, they tend to do quite poorly. Today, Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson dissect why and give an exhaustive look at what to do with the Barony’s big scary fleets.

Ep 023: Dane Beltrami Interview - Living Rules Reference 13.03.2018

We have an incredibly special treat for everyone this week. Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson sat down with the developer of TI4, Dane Beltrami, to discuss his history with Fantasy Flight, the development of Twilight Imperium 4th Edition, and exploring the recently released Living Rules Reference. This episode is PACKED with information about previous iterations of your favorite races, what it was...

Ep 022: First Round Strategies - Sardakk N'orr 06.03.2018

Today, Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson are covering a very contentious race. People's opinions vary greatly on the quality and ease of the Sardakk N'orr, and so establishing a Round One plan can sometimes be very difficult. But Matt and Hunter are consummate professionals, and they see right through all your doubts and trepidations. FEAR NOT! The bugs can be conquered, it merely takes one stern...

Ep 021: House Rules and Patreon Announcement! 27.02.2018

Twilight Imperium is a huge game and leaves a lot of room for interpretation in its setup. Today, Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson lay out their house rules for setup, especially going into detail on what they've often referred to as their "Cooperative Galaxy Setup." There's also details on map variants, tournament rules, and giving the game more flavor.   After, in lieu of errata, we wanted to g...

Ep 020: First Round Strategies - Naalu Collective 20.02.2018

Thpace Catth Peathe Turtleth ith a thow about thekthy thnake ladieth. This episode is full of stupid voices, potty humor, and in depth strategy about the Naalu Collective! Afterwards, we have errata for our Sol episode and another Play of the Week!

Ep 019: First Round Strategies - Federation of Sol 13.02.2018

Hey Duders! Wanna hear two dudes talk about a bunch of dudes and their dude movers? Well look no further. On this episode, Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson give their strategies for the Federation of Sol. And after that, some errata on the Jol-Nar strategies and a new segment: Play of the Week!

This Imperium Life 02 06.02.2018

Today’s episode is about YOU. It’s our second installment of This Imperium Life, and that means more listener submitted stories of their favorite in-game moments. Honor, betrayal, drama, and big doo-doo mistakes are all detailed within, so join us, won’t you?   Music was provided by www.benpruntymusic.com Additional music used in this episode graciously provided under Creative Commons License by h...

Ep 018: First Round Strategies - Universities of Jol-Nar 30.01.2018

Let's talk about tech baby, let's talk about the fishies. The Universities of Jol-Nar are the master of tech, and that makes nailing down specific strategies with them rather difficult. Nevertheless, Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson will certainly try to give you ideas on how to start a game with everyone's favorite cybernetically enhanced Chordata. And sticking with the topic of tech, the errata...

Ep 017: First Round Strategies - Nekro Virus 23.01.2018

The future is now! Automobiles! Engines of War! Microwave ovens! This week's episode covers all things technological, because it's time for Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson to discuss the Nekro Virus' opening strategies. Is our most situational faction ever in a situation to win? Yes, definitely yes. Also, there's errata on last week's Mentak Coalition episode, so stay tuned until the end to see...

Ep 016: First Round Strategies - Mentak Coalition 16.01.2018

Space Pirates are about as old as science fiction itself, and Twilight Imperium's version are one of our favorites! This week, Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson explore the nuances of the Mentak Coalition's first round and early game. It's a long discussion about a faction that takes advantage of the metagame more than almost any other faction. After that, there's a LOT of errata; first for The Ar...

Ep 015: 2017 Wrap Up 09.01.2018

We're officially recording in the New Year, and we wanted to take a look back at last year before we get any further away from 2017. This episode is a closer look at our Holiday Spectacular game, then discusses our important takeaways from the release of TI4 and the rest of the year. At the end of the episode, instead of errata, we introduce some of our goals for 2018 as well as announce a couple...

Ep 014: First Round Strategies - The Arborec 02.01.2018

To ring in the New Year, Matt Martens and Hunter Donaldson want to discuss everyone’s favorite sentient kudzu, The Arborec. The focus this time is on the trials of round 1, how to properly snowball, and factions to look out for. After the guide, there’s errata about the Clan of Saar for our episode from two weeks ago.

The 2017 Holiday Spectacular! 27.12.2017

This brief episode is a wrap up discussion of the holiday game we played with our dearest friends. Hear about the Xxcha, Letnev, Hacan, Jol-Nar, Yssaril, and Sol! We'll do an edited video of this whole game soon, so stay tuned!

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