Top 10 Twilight Imperium Factions

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[@victorlamy6590]

I love that you focused on how fun each faction’s mechanics are rather than their potentiel to win the game!

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Fun factor is definitely more important than winning. :)

[@marioprinceton1173]

sorry to be off topic but does anybody know of a trick to get back into an Instagram account? I somehow forgot the login password. I love any help you can offer me!

[@crewsawyer6822]

@Mario Princeton Instablaster ;)

[@marioprinceton1173]

@Crew Sawyer thanks for your reply. I found the site thru google and im in the hacking process atm. Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@marioprinceton1173]

@Crew Sawyer It worked and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thank you so much you saved my ass!

[@Maladjester]

I enjoy doing a bit of light roleplaying so I tend to have fun with any faction. Last game I was Sardakk. Me and Mentak got into an extended fight over Rex. I was killing him 1.5:1 in every fight but he had more resources to rebuild. Probably would have made sense to let him have it for a turn to get his objective, then he'd let me take it to get mine.....but that isn't how space bugs think. Mentak kept telling me about deal-making and I was like, "I don't understand, I'm just going to eat you." While we were stupidly but enjoyably fighting, Creuss steamrolled Naalu and took over 40% of the galaxy, while Xxcha struggled with bad RNG and everyone just sort of ignored their little corner. It looked like Creuss was a shoo-in but it turned out Xxcha had been setting up a slingshot maneuver to get 4VP in one turn for the win, yanking the carpet out from under us. Lesson learned, do NOT ignore the turtles. Anyway, had a 10/10 time being space bugs, would foolishly squander resources in endless battle again. EDIT: My top five in no particular order are Letnev, Hacan, Sol, Jol-Nar, and Arborec. Really want to try Titans, Nomad, and Vuil'Raith though. Never played an expansion race.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

That sounds like an awesome time! The player being ignored can often come from behind for the win.

[@Maladjester]

I know this is 7 months later but I played Nomad in a game with friends and can confirm Nomad and Vuil'Raith are awesome. I tied for victory with Hacan over Xxcha and Vuil'Raith. Vuil'Raith's capture ability is simply mind-boggling, he just sat on this pile of minis as he slowly ate everyone away. Nomad's flagship shenanigans on the turn they pop their ability have to be seen to be believed, that thing is just EVERYWHERE.

[@SnoopyThe4th]

Incredible. Unstoppable. I'm crying. I've watched it more times than I can count. Bravisimo

[@CraigS-]

The Yssaril Tribes are my number 1. They were the faction I got my first win with in base 3rd edition when I started playing Twilight Imperium, so I will always have that nostalgia factor to keep them on top. Plus their delay ability is incredibly infuriating to other players which leads them to make "nonoptimal" moves, and often times that delay allows you to wait for other players to fight it out and then the Tribes can swoop in to clean up the mess. The rest of my top 10 would be: 2. Barony of Letnev 3. Naalu Collective 4. Federation of Sol 5. Universities of Jol-Nar 6. Ghosts of Creuss 7. L1Z1X Mindnet 8. Arborec 9. Emirates of Hacan 10. Clan of Saar Thanks for the great video!

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Very nice list! Great choices all around. My first ever win was with the Xxcha Kingdom, and it’s definitely part of the reason for them being as high as they are on my list as well.

[@Callm3sol]

I agree except Hacan

[@kyleweeks2941]

We will need a follow up video once you get the expansion. I'm planning a game in December to play with the expansion. Cant wait!

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I’m definitely planning to review the expansion when it comes. Stay tuned! :)

[@PatrikGustafsson]

My favorit is Arborec, but i get distracted by evolving them and forget about the points. But I never have a bad time. :)

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I'm also a fan of the Arborec, I actually did an episode of Grokking Twilight Imperium on them in case you're interested, I'll post a link below. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHawaXVqiMyAoZo

[@Trueflights]

any chance of an updated version of this video including the new races from Prophecy of Kings?

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

It's definitely a possibility. ;)

[@NarutoUzumaki-po8ve]

I love the emerites of hacan they are ok with military but they look so cool!

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Indeed, they always reminded me of the Kzinti from Larry Niven's books. I'm a big Ring World fan.

[@jaceivanova5248]

"Some obviously didn't make it," (shows Winnu) 😂

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

That was completely unintentional, I assure you. However, I do agree that it's pretty hilarious that it worked out that way. I'm definitely not a Winnu fan. :)

[@jaceivanova5248]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain Thanks for the video as well, I just find it funny how underpowered the Winnu are.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

They definitely are bottom tier. BTW, did you see the new races that are going to be in the expansion? I'm super excited, the expansion looks awesome.

[@jaceivanova5248]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain Can't wait

[@maxpowerdup]

Give them a few months, prophecy will deal with that

[@kurtbertling2511]

All can be fun. I'm a fan of blind picking factions before game play. I like playing the bugs, reminds me of starship troopers. Thank you

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Blind picking can be great to help you try new factions or if you have trouble deciding. I used to do it a lot during third edition. You're definitely right, they are all great and definitely better balanced this edition. :)

[@CraigS-]

Agreed. They seem much more balanced in fourth edition and still all feel different. Such an amazing game.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Craig S definitely, it’s still my favorite game of all time. :)

[@brentsmelser]

We just started playing TI4. With the Arborec, the rules say 1 infantry on ANY planet. It doesn’t say EVERY planet. Are you only able to produce only 1 infantry unit in the status phase, or 1 unit for every planet you control? Thanks

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

You get 1 infantry that you can place on 1 planet, bit their infantry have production 1 so they can build more. I did an episode of Grokking Twilight Imperium on them, I'll link it below in case you want to check it out. It gives you a strategy deep dive on them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHawaXVqiMyAoZo

[@Maladjester]

I know I'm late to the party, but Arborec producing units out of ground forces rather than space docks makes them tricky to learn. Once you figure it out, it's an incredibly powerful ability. Arborec can make fleets spring out of nowhere and are almost impossible to remove from planets they want to keep. Their major hindrance seems to be just trying to get enough command counters and resources to drown the board.

[@montesomerville4249]

I recently started playing, able to win a couple times with ghost of creuss. Having trouble trying to research technologies

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

You should watch some of my Grokking Twilight Imperium videos, I give specific advice on technologies to take. :)

[@glorfac]

So how would a match between the Xxcha Kingdom, Clan of Saar, and Arborec probably play out.. assuming everyone played like their respective species

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Xxcha would take a bunch of planets and then ply defensively and diplomatically, Saar would expand the fastest and probably take Mecatol Rex first, though whether or not they could hold it would be another story. Arborec would start slow and unassuming, lulling the other players into a false sense of security, all the while building up their ground forces at an exponential rate as well as developing lots of tech and come in for a late game win.

[@zoebaz6969]

I realise i'm two years late, but had a game yesterday with these three as well as sol and l1z1x. Arborec got really scary with their sheer masses. Saar fought them back quite a bit but was only focused on fighting and not VP. I (turtles) collected VP and avoided confrontation for as long as i could. Arborec ended up decemated after several rounds of horrible combat rolls, tried to double-cross me, then gave me support for the throne when i saw through his plan

[@explorer47422]

I thought Embers suffered massively from early game stuff, like they're one of the lowest winning factions of all the races lol, powerful but can't win most games?

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I still love to play as them though. :)

[@wargrizzero5158]

I’ve only played one game, as the Embers, I lost, but I built two warsuns in a single turn. 10/10

[@SilentNSly]

Did you re-do this for PoK?

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

No, I haven't yet. I am planning to come back and do some more TI4 content, I've just been taking a bit of a break from it while getting my Grokking Battletech series off the ground and working on catching up on my review copies. I do plan to update this list though, I just need to find the time.

[@foyoGames]

My 1st & only yet time playing TI(3), 6 player game, I won with the Snake people (are they snake pirates?) ...they seemed pretty boss. ...15hr game

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I believe the faction you played was the Naalu Collective. 15 hours?! Wow, what an epic game, 6 players can really take a while. It is a little faster in 4th edition now, but a 6 player game would still be an all day affair.

[@foyoGames]

Gotta get that 4th ed to the table. You have the expansion already ordered? I'm sure that'll drag it back out to TI3 lengths.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

@@foyoGames oh I'm definitely getting the expansion. I'll buy anything they put out for twilight Imperium. I can't wait.

[@foyoGames]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain can't wait for your review

[@DerMeisterhafte]

Thanks

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

You’re very welcome

[@fenixproductions9637]

My favorite(and to clarify I have only played third edition) has to be Jol nar. I actually find it cool that they are on of the few factions with a straight up negative ability. It makes you think very differently. And on top of that you then have to consider if you want to compensate for your weaker military right away or if you should focus on more specific techs. So much fun

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I'm also a big fan of the Jol-nar. They have such great positive abilities that they needed the negative one to balance them.

[@Generic64]

Really no Nekro? Played a 14 point game last night and the Nekro just dominated. The trick is to lay low for a turn or two maybe convincing a neighbour to allow you to copy sarween tools etc then you will leave them alone. Made it so much easier when starving players of tokens. The naalu tried to retreat repeatedly to save his warsun tech but shot himself in the foot ashe had no tokens and I eventually got them anyway. If you get the chance play Nekro.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Lynn's Number 1 favorite to play is the Nekro. She plays them about half the times she plays. There's a few things about them that just don't click with me. They're definitely quite competitive, just not one that I go out of my way to play. :)

[@Generic64]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain Yeah its not for everyone. We play with races being chosen randomly I had a choice between Yassirl Tribes and Nekro, I wasnt happy about either, once I got into the gane with Nekro I was pleasently suprised

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

@@Generic64 we roll off to see who choses first, then pick our faction, though we house ruled it back in 3rd edition that you can't pick the same faction twice in a row. If we hadn't done the house rule, Lynn would never play anything other than the Nekro.

[@Generic64]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain Thats a good one I might suggest that next time we play. Think we only used the random thing so it wasnt always the OP races being picked. Really like the videos by the way really insightful. Looking forward to the TI4 expansion and your video on it.

[@woj_kal]

Embers, Arborec and Ghost are the lowest tier factions. And some of the most fun

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Fun is generally what I care more about too. Winning is secondary to a great day of gaming. :)

[@sarcasmo57]

Play my first game tomorrow

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Very cool, do you know what faction you're going to play? Good luck, let me know how the game goes. :)

[@aero821]

Just noticed your irish flag, would love to get a few games going if you are in the leinster province! I'd have 3 or 4 players in the south of leinster

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I’m in Illinois in the USA. I got the flag when they played an exhibition game in Chicago. I wish I lived close enough to set up a game or three, I love to meet people and game.

[@aero821]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain big disappointment!! I lived there for a summer 4 years ago. Beautiful city in the thunderstorms! Hit us up on tabletop simulator any time!

[@xv1675]

always played Arborec ;)

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Arborec rock! Especially once you start getting their faction tech cards out.

[@PatrikGustafsson]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain Do you thec their fraction tech is good? I go for AI and other tech before fraction tech.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

@@PatrikGustafsson I love their faction techs, I always try to get them out when playing them, though not necessarily first.

[@Shinesprk]

Huh, I would have expected the federation of sol to at least be top 10.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Sorry, I'm not a huge fan of the humies. ;)

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Jacob Gill I'm doing a series of deep dives into tactics to use with the various TI4 factions, called Grokking Twilight Imperium. I am taking requests for which factions to cover. The next 2 are already set, but if you'd like to request The Federation of Sol, it could be after those 2. Let me know. ;)

[@Shinesprk]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain dew it!

[@Shugenjya]

Embers of Muaat powerful? Muhahahha...t! ;)

[@barelyprotestant5365]

No Sol? Interesting. I love playing Sol, primarily for story/thematic reasons. Interesting list!

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Thanks, I just find playing all the strange alien races so much fun that I often overlook the humans. I have done an episode of grokking twilight imperium for them though. I'll link it below in case you're interested. :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jp2cpqd8iLCil9k

[@barelyprotestant5365]

@@TheBoardGameKaptain I've seen it! It's a good one. I've only recently started getting into TI4; only on Tabletop Simulator, right now (although I do have a copy, with Prophecy of Kings). My hope is that once things open up here in California, I can get a board game group together to play this (and other) game(s).

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

@@barelyprotestant5365 I know exactly how you feel. Things have improved a little since some of my regular game night friends and I got vaccinated. I can’t wait for normal. I’m really hoping that some of the conventions will happen later this year.

[@deanogorman6335]

What’s with the rugby flag??? I’m just back from a WC match 😂

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I got it at a rugby 3 game event here in Chicago. Ireland beat Italy in the second of the three games. It was a great time and I just held on to it as a memento.

[@Alawatakima]

Where's the POK list???

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I haven’t done one yet. I’m planning to do an updated list that includes POK at some point.

[@craftsmenMC]

ive never clicked so fast in my life. the hacan better be on here edit: only number 10? dissapoint. but, we al lgot our opinions owo

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

I used to rate them much higher in third edition. They're still great though. :)

[@craftsmenMC]

The Board Game Kaptain why were they rated higher in third edition? I only played fourth so I don’t know much about how races worked back then

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

craftsmenMC trade was a bit more powerful and they used to be able to have even more control over it. They would get veto power over other players’ trades. It was amazing.

[@craftsmenMC]

The Board Game Kaptain oh wow, veto powers?! That’s cul

[@firemothful]

First

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

Indeed. ;)

[@kathyking6482]

1997? That is not that old

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

23 years. It freaks me out a bit too. ;)

[@dennisduigou5384]

That song stinks.

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

What song? This is a video about Twilight Imperium factions.

[@leonpedraza8209]

2 minutes and still waiting the top10... So boring video

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

You have the attention span of a goldfish. There's no way you've ever been able to actually play a game of Twilight Imperium with an attitude like that. Perhaps you should go play some tiddlywinks, it's more your speed.