Saturday we celebrated a birthday with an epic Imperium Double Header! First up was Twilight Imperium 4. This is the ultimate game of galactic conquest, and it has become an annual tradition!
There are so many amazing interactions between these mechanisms that result in hilarious, thrilling, heart-stopping moments. I jumped out to an early lead in planets, and spent their resources on an objective. Next, I colonized Mecatol Rex. I didn’t intend to take Imperial in the next draft, but when it was left for me I coudn’t resist. I scored another victory point.
Now we had an Agenda phase. The first agenda assigned an extra resource and influence to a planet. I voted for one of my planets. That meant I could be outvoted on the second agenda. It turned out to be Mutiny: if passed, then each player who voted “For” gained one victory point. If not, then each player who voted “For” lost one victory point. Al decided to play a rider on the vote; he would not be voting.
Paul was in the catbird’s seat: he controlled more votes than I did. If I voted “Yay,” then he could vote against it and I would lose a point. If I voted “Nay,” then Paul could vote for it and he would gain a point. The best option for me was to vote “Nay.” My victory point lead over Paul would be reduced by one, but my lead over Al would be maintained. Al was currently in second place.
I turned to Paul and asked, “Is there any deal I can make that will get you to vote ‘Yay’ alongside of me and we both score a point?” Paul said “Sure. Give me your Spy Net.” This was my faction’s promissory note, and it allowed Paul to look at my hand of Action Cards and take one at the start of a future turn. Done deal! Al was shocked! These wheelings and dealings are common in this amazing game!
Game Two
The second game in our Imperium Double Header was Dune: Imperium! Once again, I jumped out to an early lead thanks to five points of influence with the factions. But Paul had one of my favorite cards in the game, Worm Riders. When it is used to visit a board space, it gives two spice. Paul used it to visit desert spaces with Maker’s bonus spice. Combined with good timing of his Diplomacy card, and he was able to get to Heighliner multiple times and win Conflicts. I had one final trick up my sleeve, but fell short of the nine persuasion I needed to buy Spice Must Flow for my tenth point. It was a great win by Paul, and an awesome way to spend an afternoon!
