I’ve bought into too many gaming backgrounds, I’m now suffering from cynical background syndrome (c) so if a game is going to plaster on the fluff thick it had better be good. Aliens that look like turtles and tigers just doesn’t cut it.
The Twilight Imperium universe is… generic. I’m sure if I read all the fluff it would be great and the bad guys would be really evil but in some ways good and the good guys really troubled and YAWN! I couldn’t be bothered. There are no good guys when you game so get to the mechanics already.
Rex. Final Days of an Empire is a game we revisited after a wee break. The group has been hungry for a big epic game after thurs of multiple small lite games. So Rex fit the bill… or so we thought
It’s a remake of the 1976 DUNE game and unfortunately Fantasy Flight didn’t get the IP for that setting so they transplanted the game to the Twilight Imperium universe they had hanging around and it’s got tiger and turtle people in it. So as far as fluff goes, I’m out. Thanks very much
As for the game, well the nice thing about it and I really like is every one of the races play a little differently. Some are peacekeepers, some make money from weapon sales, some predict who will win etc. etc. This makes for a very different game but there are two problems from the off
1. you NEED six players, no more no less or it just doesn’t work
2. those Six intrepid players need to be familiar with the game
If you can assemble such a crew you’re in for an interesting nights entertainment (sans fluff). If like us you played with five it’s just not the same. It’s not a bad game with less it’s just not an epic game. Speaking of which the game is not what you think, it’s all about alliances and working together (no wonder it didn’t work with our guys), but (and we’re back in comfortable ground now) it’s about stabbing your ally in the back.
I’m tempted to write this game off based on last thursdays play but from a lot of soul searching (I don’t have one so it was a short search) I think it deserves another go. in the future. once we get through some other epic games
We played it twice btw. One of the players who won it in two turns while we weren’t watching so we played it again. Someone else won. I can’t remember it certainly wasn’t me and it didn’t look like it was going to be me from the get go
You’re on a warning Rex, I’m going to assemble six players and try you again but if you fail me once more… it’s the trading pits for you, you’ve been warned.
More of this next week
Huzzah!
Vic
Victor Gannon Games 
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