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 KNOW THAT THE NEKRO ARE SPOOKY? They are.   Also please watch the FFG inflight report with Hunter and friends on July 29th 7PM Central (5PM Pacific). Watch it on https://www.twitch.tv/ffglive while you listen to us jabber on https://www.twitch.tv/spacecatspeaceturtles   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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 and stay tuned for our proper Galactic Council episode about Twilight Imperium Lore in a few days.    Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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, & Evening 28:28 - Opening Strategies 37:43 - Crafty Corner 1:02:00 - Pitfalls 1:09:15 - Finding Victory   1:14:18 - L1z1x Errata Music by Brian Kupillas. Find more at wanderinglake.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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:  Overview - 7:09 Early Game - 20:14 Technology - 42:25 Trading/Meta - 55:00 Mid Game - 58:15 Late Game - 01:01:25 Rundown - 01:09:58   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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. ;) If you need any clues it’s Hunter writing this episode summary and I uhh never do that normally.    Section Outline:  Overview - 7:09 Early Game - 20:14 Technology - 42:25 Trading/Meta - 55:00 Mid Game - 58:15 Late Game - 01:01:25 Rundown - 01:09:58   Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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 to better organize our thoughts. Music by Brian Kupillas. Find more at wanderinglake.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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 sure. Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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 Cards 50:15 Early Game Problems 54:28 Technology 1:04:50 Trading/Meta 1:14:05 Mid-Game 1:19:52 Late Game Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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, at the top, we chat a bit about our games in the 14 point tournament Semifinals that we both took part in last weekend. More on that experience to come in a future episode, though!   0:00 Matt and Hunter’s games in the 14 Point Tournament Semifinals 19:30 Mentak Overview 36:22 First Round Strategy Cards 58:12 Early Game Problems 1:05:05 Technology 1:23:00 Trading/Meta 1:34:22 Mid-game 1:40:00 Late Game Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon

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 Brian Kupillas. Find more at wanderinglake.bandcamp.com   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 game moments for Play of the Week! and This Imperium Life at spacecatspeaceturtles@gmail.com We appreciate all of the feedback and discussion, but there are more ways you can contribute! If you want to join in and decide future games and topics to cover, visit our Patreon