Space Cats Peace Turtles

This is a major part of almost every faction guide, but it feels like a very long time since we last checked up on and took stock of how we feel about Technology. What's good? How much should you expect to get per game? What are some of the trends we see in competitive play? The answer to all of these questions is of course "Blue Tech." Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com...

Hunter's got the week off while Matt and Absol talk about the third and final novel in Tim Pratt's Twilight Imperium series! All of the main characters from our first book are back in this spy adventure and this might be the best book of the whole set! Save for some Arborec nits Absol desperately needs to pick, this book has a lot of fun in it and feels more political than any of the previous entr...

The Galactic Council decided it wanted us to spend some time this month playing and researching Alliance Mode, the variant provided in Codex 2. It's a silly variant that isn't even fully play-tested, so expect hiccups and a lack of rules clarity. But if you're willing to allow your Twilight Imperium to be fun, instead of a serious no-fun cage match, it's probably worth checking out! Although it's...

With this episode, we put a sort of wrap on Codex 3 required update episodes! A few factions drastically changed, and none more than the Naalu Collective. Naalu's "ranking" amongst the factions has been quite a roller coaster, but with these recent additions the snakes are back on top. So, how do you wield the raw power of such a strong faction? How much gas is too much?? Similar to our recent Win...

It is a wild one this week. Matt has been away on vacation and so Hunter has been left to his own devices! So obviously, it's beach episode time. Hunter brought his buddies on to just talk about various board games we like as if this is some normal boring regular cool podcast.   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com To learn more about our Discord,...

This is us revisiting a classic SCPT topic. When we first asked "How does one win from ahead?" I don't think we even fully knew what being "ahead" truly meant. Not only that, but an expansion and multiple codices have released since then, so it seemed an important time to make another attempt at an answer. More important, winning from ahead seems harder than ever and it's time to get to the bottom...

Oh my dear, another year is upon us. It is officially sign-up season for the next SCPT Patreon Twilight Imperium Tournament. The first half of this episode is most of the things you need to know about the upcoming sign-ups as well as new Patreon Goals, followed by a discussion of our experience with the Asynchronous TI Discord server ( https://discord.gg/vY3nBkegkn ) Async TI begins at 42:47 Music...

We've been taking some time recently to revisit old topics deserving of an update. One of those is surprisingly recent: Exploration. We've only had this mechanic since Prophecy of Kings was released, but we've learned a lot since we first introduced it, and it's about time we cleaned up our thoughts a bit. So, here we'll read the exploration cards for every deck, including Frontier and Relic, and...

We're big time important kids and our opinions matter. That's why we were sent a copy of Twilight Inscription to give our unbiased, unfiltered, uncompromised, objective review. You came here for hard hitting journalism and boy howdy I tell ya that's what we're here to deliver. Game Journalism matters A LOT, and we take our roles very seriously. Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntym...

We're making our way back through all of the factions, starting with those that got recent updates in Codex 3. Xxcha only received a new hero, but it seems that simple change was enough to make us reconsider everything about this faction. It's now an economic powerhouse if you play it right and it's time to explore how to do that and what it means for the faction!  Music provided by Ben Prunty. Fi...

It's been so long since we've tuned into Root, and there's been a new expansion out for a while now! This isn't a strategy guide, but we do intend to do some down the road. Instead, this is an overview of all of the things that came with the Marauder Expansion, as well as what Root even looks like these days. There's more than just these big box expansions and it can all be a bit hard to follow, s...

August's Galactic Council Episode is the season wrap on GC episodes that fit this kind of vibe. For a while now we've been doing GC episodes off the cuff, and for the next batch we want to put in a bit more time on each episode. But for this "Improv Finale," we've saved the best for last. It's time for the Definitive Hero Tier List. Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or...

I know you just loaded up this episode and saw that timecode. That ain't no joke. This episode is nearly 3 hours and 35 minutes long and it's because we have to talk about every single Action Card in the game. Yes, we HAVE to. Never forget that this is our job and we will treat it as such. Prophecy of Kings and Codex 1 both introduced a lot of new cards that we have not talked about in depth so pr...

We ran around GenCon for three days and talked to some amazing folks! 0:00 - First up, James Kniffen, the designer of the new TI Roll and Write Twilight Inscription. We discuss his background with FFG and what inspired this crazy genre shift for our beloved franchise 13:13 - Then, Sam Gregor-Stewart whose team at Edge have been trying to release the hotly anticipated Twilight Imperium sourcebook f...

We were finally able to return to GenCon for the first time since 2019, and this time we got to hold a a real live show at the local Helium Comedy Club. Our other podcast, Old Gamer's Almanac, opened for us because they are incredibly kind and to be honest they went kind of long. But once they were done, we had some time to also do some live SCPT shenanigans. Listen, this isn't your normal episode...

We packing in a quick episode between the Tournament Finals and GenCon, so here's one where we talk about exactly 5 things: Generic Promissory Notes! It's the basics to how to handle, as any faction, your Political Secret, Trade Agreement, Ceasefire, Alliance, and Support for the Throne! Go watch the Finals!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0mfWgfuGJs Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at be...

IT'S A BIG EPISODE! The tournament Finals are literally upon us, but that doesn't mean we can't bring you fresh, dense, gritty strategy talk. We've been playing with Yin since their Codex 3 update, and it's time to talk about where the faction is. Newflash: they're still not very good. It's almost like there's a fundamental flaw in their entire design ethos, BUT WHO AM I? JUST SOME DUMB GUY. Pleas...

The Galactic Council let us know you were all begging for more information about all of the work being done of the virtual mod of Twilight Imperium for Tabletop Playground! Well we brought Darrell on to give us the scoop! In here, we talk a bit about Darrell, the old TTS mod, what TTPG has done so far, and where we think things could go! There's almost TOO much information in this podcast, so you...

It's our favorite episode of every year! We sat down with the six finalists of this year's tournaments to learn a bit more about who they are and how they approach a game like Twilight Imperium. Not only is it great prep to understand them better when we all watch the finals on July 30 at 13:00 UTC, but you might just learn a bit about this game we hold near and dear along the way! Again, THE FINA...

If you want the fastest path to getting better at Twilight Imperium, than look no further. Tempo is the key to unlocking top level play and understanding the game, and here we are today breaking it down for you. What does the standard path to 10 points look like? When do you know if you're behind tempo? How do you stop someone who is ahead of tempo? Let's explore! 0:00 Keleres Guide Errata 25:15 P...

You're telling me they can fit a 25th faction into this thing? Well by gum, someone ought to teach me how to use all of 'em. Wait, someone HAS? Well butter my biscuit, ain't that just about the most important service anyone has ever provided. Just you wait, I'mma listen to that final faction guide and I'mma take them's there's advice and wear it like a badge of honor. I won't question it or disagr...

The Galactic Council chose violence this month. It's a question that apparently gets asked from time to time, and it's now OUR TIME to settle the score. Can anyone be good at Twilight Imperium? What does it MEAN to be good at this game (or any game for that matter)? What does it look like to get better at this game? Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcam...

IT'S TIME FOR A BIG EPISODE! This one is long and it's because it's basically two episodes crammed together; how lucky are you? First is an deep analysis of everything to do with the Agenda Phase and all relevant abilities. Following that is the OFFICIAL reading of every single Agenda that you have been craving for years. What a wild show you listen to... Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at...

This one snuck up on us and we almost forgot to celebrate. In fact, it's not even almost, we DID forget to celebrate. But we did take the time to make a sort of beginner's guide to this very podcast. So if you're new to the game or the community, this episode is intended to serve as your gateway into the various depths before you. How deep do you want to dig in? There's something for everyone, eve...

We love Leder Games and so of course we're over the moon that they have another Kickstarter running right now. But to make things even more exciting, IT'S A SPACE GAME. WE TALK A LOT ABOUT SPACE GAMES! So we invited Cole Wehrle on to discuss all things Arcs and help us get ready for this newest release. Enjoy! Kickstart Arcs yourself at: https://bit.ly/ArcsKSStream Music provided by Ben Prunty. Fi...