Twilight Imperium 4th Edition - An owner's review, four years on...

[@tengwenzhe3701]

As a non native speaker, really appreciate the manner you articulate the opinion! So clear and elegant🎉

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you teng, i very much appreciate that!

[@johndaly604]

Delighted to see this coming up in my feed. I'm your LGS (I hope LFGS) but I love your honest and genuinely critical review. TWI is a hard commitment even just for the first and one session. While being a board game it can have a lot of crossover with RPGs with the commitment levels. I do feel like it's a very simple game mechanically speaking, there's just an awful lot of mechanics happening all the time, and time to work that out. Great and concise breakdown on what the game is, tbh. It's genuinely a wonderful experience for anyone interested in this sort if gameplay but at the end of the day it's a long haul.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thanks john, i really appreciate the kind comment and insight. We are already putting that little game of cheese master i got off you to work!

[@ImperialGit]

This was a nice video. As an owner (and therefore a host) it can be quite the struggle to get it flowing smoothly. But man, is it worth the effort!! Got a game coming up on the 20th, and I've started introducing the new players with mechanics via groupchat (and throwing how to play vids and manuals in their face).

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thats the best way to do it, and hit the ground running. We are in the procesd of planning our games for the year ahead as well. Such an epic game

[@jackbrennan3568]

Can't believe my boardgame antics have now been immortalised in this channel. My technology is indeed still advancing 😂

[@seanmcnallyactor]

STOP RESEARCHING

[@jackbrennan3568]

Well I have been banned (with full agreement) from playing universities again so I guess you're safe for now 😂

[@seanmcnallyactor]

We are never safe

[@Emsworth377]

​@seanmcnallyactor what's that now, father Ted?

[@iansutton7416]

Super practical insight🙂

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you Ian, very much appreciated

[@Gdank72]

We get around 6-8 games per year, with 5-7 players per time. This doesn't include TTS games, which we get another 3-4 per year. Still takes us 7-9 hours per game, and weeks of planning the next game. Bloody love it!

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Its a great thing to plan bank holidays around

[@alexeybychenkov3659]

If we are all veteran players, it takes 6-6.5 hours excluding the lunch break (totally needed one)

[@cmdrTremyss]

This is the first time I see your videos Sean, but you seems like the guy who I can sit down with accompanied with a good bottle of whiskey and pounder on the meaning of life for hours.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you cmdr. I really appreciate that, some 20 year old jameson is what id be bringing to the table!

[@ercderua]

I am in the family commitments party. Sean has invited me numerous times to play in those years and ive only managed to accept and play twice! Its a major commitment

[@ImperialGit]

Family is love, TI4 is life... And love, if we're being honest. Get your priorities straight ;) XD

[@khyberw]

As someone who has played third edition with eight players and all the expansions, everything this man says is true. We played in college over long weekends, and it was difficult to find eight people willing to sacrifice four nights and who knew the game. I would definitely recommend only bringing in one or two new players at a time, and don’t hide that it will take 14+ hours to play. But there are few things more enjoyable than an 8 player game of TI, I can still remember all the exciting moments of those games. If you can make it happen, it’s totally worth it!

[@TheLuckyRoll]

Well said! Thanks for commenting.

[@graymason]

About to purchase. This was the perfect video for me as I’ve only played it online 3 times but finally managed to find 5 others to commit. Thank you for this content.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you for watching, and im very glad the video was of value for you. Enjoy the game, its an investment but well worth the time investment.

[@nagysuti]

Lots of great practical advice! I am in the extreme minority who plays it every 2 weeks or so due to my workplace, but even then the 8 player experience is not something we do often, if at all. Doing a milty draft has been the standard way of prepping for a session and it gives a level playing field as much as possible.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you for the little snippet of advice, and I'll admit I'm insanely jealous you get to play it so often!

[@ImperialGit]

Never forget how fortunate you are! Pretty sure you're not located near the Netherlands, right?

[@abefroman81]

Fantastic review! I was thoroughly engaged. I got this for myself for Christmas last year and still have yet to get it to the table. You made some very helpful points here I will be sure to take into account when I coordinate the first game. Liked. Commented. Subbed.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you for the kind comment and the sub. Very much appreciated!

[@enjoythestruggle]

I believe everything you said about this game. I like the idea of it but I'd basically never get it to the table. I have other grand strategy board games in my collection already that I pretty much can't get to the table. I have like 4 people I play board games with and only 1 would be suited to this on occasion.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

There are online versions of it and online groups that play it on apps like tabletop simulator, its a slow paced way to play it as its like playing chess by mail. But its a way to scope out the game. Another option is eclipse... a very similar vibe but much more streamlined. Thank you for the kind comment

[@starshadow8857]

Thanks for the informative video. I’ve never played this game before and I’ve always wanted to but like you said finding people who are willing to put in the time constraints makes it difficult. I only know one person who has the game and scheduling has just not worked out over the years. I’m really hoping one day to be able to play it. This video helps to understand the commitment to it.

[@daem0nfaust]

Very useful insights. I appreciate it.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you daemonfaust.

[@braydenb1581]

As an owner the best success for fun imo is i lay the factions out easiest to hardest in rows of three. Its not perfect but i try to let people get an idea of what they each do and since its all out on the table let them fall in love with the art. My rule is we deal out an even amount of factions for the random. But before then if someone WANTS to be a faction for any reason, they just can. Its too long a game not to be happy about that but then they get last pick at the map. Then, we shuffle. We pick. And the rule is if your random feels off dont pick one of the 3. Wait til everyone has a faction then grab whats left over

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you for the advice and comment, thats a brilliant way to organise it

[@chadnine3432]

I love Hacan and have to tear myself away from them to play other factions, but I do think it's important to play other factions to get a feel for what they're capable of.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

I know... the temptation to play familiar with a favourite faction is always so tempting :(

[@percyblok6014]

So, only for the Special Forces section of geeky board gaming. Physical, mental, emotional, logistical implications all apply. Grueling seems like a pretty good description.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you.... to be fair its rules complexity isn't overwhelming... so id be more thinking that its for the more devout of players rather than the best. Its a very playable game, just dense.

[@phild2310]

thanks for your practical insight, as usual ! Great video.

[@TheLuckyRoll]

Merci!

[@davidlovejoy1558]

I’m sold that’s a game that suits me and my group, nice video well presented I’ve ordered it and can’t wait to get this epic game to the table

[@TheLuckyRoll]

Oh great! Thank you and enjoy your epic games with Twilight Imperium! Let us know your experiences of bringing it to the table.

[@diyanski3022]

amazing review!

[@TheLuckyRoll]

Thanks for the kind compliment!

[@calvinb7636]

What do you think about adding codex’s before playing for the dots time?

[@ImperialGit]

It's fine; codices don't alter all that much in regards to base game.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Its a nice way to get in the zone of your faction as well. Sometime i like to play moments in character if in doubt in a move. If the faction is brash, then make the brash decision.

[@lucaswb1433]

Very nice vid. Kudos to you.

[@TheLuckyRoll]

Cheers!

[@aero821]

Hey, great video! Is there wexford based play groups one could join?

[@c4r6amd01]

That’s a great owners review!

[@TheLuckyRoll]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@Morowww]

Thx for the Video

[@TheLuckyRoll]

You're most welcome!

[@GGdeTOURS37]

Ouch! We sold this one back because we only played it once in years and now we prefer to play Eclipse which is much faster and still gives the feeling of a "space opera"!

[@seanmcnallyactor]

We've only played eclipse the once as a group so far, but tony loved it so much he bought all the expansions. We are planning a Vrs review down the line with it

[@chrisedwards6573]

Having owned this since release, I'm confused why you'd wait to play on a day where everyone normally has to work the next day. I've played this several times more than you in real life, and several hundred times online, and I can say that I'd never considered this a game to play when I don't have the following day off. That said, repeated plays increase speed of play, as with any game, but primarily it takes a certain kind of player to play this, enjoy it, play it well, and play it in a reasonable time frame, and if your friends are prone to AP or cannot plan ahead, this is not the game for them. I'd also say that trying it online with more experienced players is a better idea than buying the base game and trying it first there. Or, find a group that's playing and join it before you buy a copy. It's relatively expensive, hard to table, and time consuming. This is a game that becomes a hobby, all by itself.

[@seanmcnallyactor]

Thank you, i agree with you on a lot of your points. I think our games are made more difficult as most of my player base would be rural as opposed to city. Less available players and more difficult logistics locally

[@BrotherCron]

You close to Laois, I need a game 😂😂😂

[@TheLuckyRoll]

You'll have to relocate to Cork!

[@matjazkralj4228]

The audio quality is to low that I can't understand what you are saying.

[@TheLuckyRoll]

Sorry for that, the audio mix is a bit low alright

[@goldengriffon]

First half of the review: Calm down, man. It's just a board game. Take a breath.

[@TheLuckyRoll]

😂What do you mean it's just a boardgame...?🤔