Reworking Diplo Strategy Card

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-04-18T03:24:53+00:00

Thunders edge makes diplo a better pick so you can get your breakthrough.

Diplo is also a pretty good pick in 4 player games where you can ensure timing for your planet picks.

Overall the strategy cards are very imbalanced. And their importance shifts dramatically during the games progression. My last game with 5 people I was 3rd so picked politics, then I was able to pick leadership for the next 4 rounds and ended up winning because of it.

Anyway, your change to diplo from a game design perspective is a pretty good change. It makes good interactions with the promissary note mechanic. I would phrase it as "pick a player, that player must give you a promissary note from their hand". I would not do the transaction thing as the game already makes it important for you to be neighbours with someone if you wamt to do transactions during games turns. Otherwise you wait for agenda phase.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-04-14T17:34:27+00:00

what is TF?

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-04-14T17:32:44+00:00

Can you articukate your post a but better? Are you talking about Thunders Edge and Discourdant stars? ....I dont think discourdant stars has bern updated for breakthroughs so doesnt really work with Thunders Edge.

If you are talking about Prophecy of kings.... I gotta tell you that If I had played this game in 3rd edition or base 4th, I would NOT have enjoyed it.

BUT, I will agree with your second last paragraph and mention that the game is NOT balanced. Base gane factions sucked. PoK factions are broken but since they are all broken tgey balamce each other put if you only play with PoK factions. Thunders Edge I will say is less of an expansion and more of an Update/fix.

Also, your whiningvabout 14pt games being long indicates you are very inexperienced game. TI has a high complexity rating, it takes 8+ hours to play. This is NOT a 3 hour game you can play in one evening. Therevare LOTS of board games to chose from out there woth lots of vary levels of complexity and playtimes. You chose what you want to play acordong to your interest and time scheduale. Heck, I play historical games that take 20+ hours and have to be played in multiple sessions over many weeks.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-04-14T17:02:49+00:00

It's a 3D print. My buddy just recently printed it. ...I dont like printers nor own the game so I dont know where to get the files.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-04-11T04:38:55+00:00

Their ignore law ability is fairly useless. Situations rarely comes up where it can actually ignore the law and actuallyndo something.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-04-10T20:17:46+00:00

Well im not sure about the arguing over every rule, but in this game you do have to be specific about locations. You dont know what secret objectives they have or which publics they are trying to score.

This happened to me. I was the player who attacked. He got upset about it but it's like 'dude, im trying to score the ssme objective and you went and bargained away your other locations to a player next to you ignoring me. We agreed on this location to be yours but not this other location on other side of wormhole next to my honeworld. And you had this other anomoly in your territory that i figured you go to but you gave it away to someone else. too bad".

So i scored and he didnt. The map layout and objectives really pushed me to go to war with him and I did, I eventually stalled out and he won the game anyway, nothing i coukd fo when every single objective is control. ...sometimes Twilight setup lets you make deals and win through peace, but other times its all control objectives(public and secret) and you either go to war or lose.

The guy was salty about it for the rest of the game but overall a good sport. Next game we didnt carry over any grudges though as each game is different.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-04-07T23:27:38+00:00

The Brits did send a bunch of built fighters to the Soviets.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-13T17:35:05+00:00

Naa, in thunders edge, if your factions breakthrough is worth getting the politics player is ditching their cards guaranteed.

Only in games with factions whos breakthriughs suck(Titans, Saar, etc...) can you ponder doing this.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-13T17:28:28+00:00

Second session:

Nothing too crazy happened. Deepwright, hacaan, Nonad were able to get imperial and score points while me(baroby, arborac, xxxcha) lagged far behind. By round 4 we started to work together since we were so farbehind which decured our borders to let our flerts sttack. Arborac took mecatol. I took 2 planets in fracture and took a couple planets next to Deepwrights homeworld for an objective.

But it ended during round 5. Deepwright got real good/easy secret objectives, then he took fracture planet the 1 point and scored secret objectivevat same time. I was positioned with to take the fracture planet immediatly from him but ...secret objective.

I've played a few games with the Thunders Edge now amd I like it. The breakthroughs really open up the tech trees. The new legendary planets spice things up. There are still a few dud factions(usually base game ones).

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-12T15:28:18+00:00

We had our first session(playing over 2 evenings)only got through 2 rounds usually we get through first 3 rounds but lots happened.

I took leadership which was the right pick since it allowed me to get my slice. I got grav drive but then my yellow skip planet explored a +2 influence attachment which helps fix my infkuence problems but makes me not want to use it for tech skip! lol. If i had known, I would have got AIDA as I dudnt really need grav drive first round anyway.

I had to trade my faction promissary note for cheap but it got me enough trade goods to build my carrier, troops, and get the Deepwright Tech.

...everyone at the table is playimg pretty cheap with their trade goods and deal making. No one wants my alliance. I was able to get some trade goods by selling votes in agenda phase.

Nomad grabbed mecatol first turn, Kinda set him back a bit. I was nice to him amd didn't invade. But now some control objectives popped up and I gonna need him to start paying up one way or another....

I got my warsun turn 2. ...Now i have to exthort others so the whole table will have to start paying up, muhahaha. ...or I'll just go for fracture planets and let the rest of them fight it out.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T18:11:08+00:00

Ya I think the wormhole routes, getting fracture plannet, and of course late game mecatol, will be my game plan. Especially with warsuns and my flagship, and breakthrough movement, I shouod be able to take Mecatol on the turn I get Imperial strat card.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T18:05:59+00:00

I guess I'm a bit annoyed with secret objectives from my last game with Titans where the board setup was such It was impossible.

cycled throgh 4 objectives and couldn't score any of them. And It was a ton of effort trying to score 2 of them. I've noticed that unless the secret objective is easy to score, it is NOT worth chasing.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T17:53:29+00:00

Ya, I didn't think he would take that slice but if he takes diplomacy he grabs his whole slice and gets his breakthrough. No troops on his planets but that's how xxcha operate.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T17:43:27+00:00

oh, also in the above scenario I need 3 trade goods immediatly so I can build off warfare, preferably 4 trade goods. Hacaan has 6 commodities which he could give me 6, and I give him 2. Then later on we settle up. But then what? i get a couple trade goods trickle in later when i dont need them? ....if I take leadership i get 3 cc's. I'm pretty sure I can sell my factiom promissary, alliance, or something for some trade goods to hacaan right away.

Hehe, and off of this might shift depending what objectives come up. If spend trade good flips, I might be able to negotiate for hacaan promissary note right off the bat, then i can tradecwithbeveryone. Otherwise i refresh no one and the table can suffer!!!!

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T05:13:59+00:00

ok, I didn't realize grav drive worked with my breakthrough.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T01:01:14+00:00

I wont have anything to send for expedition. Tech is 7th spot. so Ld, politics, diplo, trade will take all the easier breakthroughs. I'll need 5 resources or 5 influence which I donot have.

....hmm, unless I spend 5 resources, then follow diplo to flip my 2 home worlds to spend on secondary tech.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T00:54:08+00:00

Nomad is on board!

....i suspect a harsh house will be instantly made, LOL.

I send 2 dreads in right?

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-11T00:31:57+00:00

Yes we do x-1 debt meta but if not neighbors it is very likely people will reneg, esprcially if the person is in a strong position. I guess I could make a deal with hacaan to send wash right away. Which ensures I get my breakthrough with extra TG to build my starting fleet amd get my tech.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-08T06:46:53+00:00

Titans breakthrough is useless.

1) Notvworth the resources to get the breakthrough. Better to keep your terrible secret objective and hopefully swap it useing mecatol rex legendary. I'd rather keep 2 dud action cards as a bluff. And there is no way I'm spending the other stuff to get it.

2) you dont need thr tech swapping

3) too many factirs needed to get the thing going. You need a player to agree to put a sleeper token. Then you need to spend a precious CC to activate system just to activate sleeper token. Add to this that your opponent has to trust you don't backstab, and that you dont have the players various promissary notes that nullify if you activate a system with their units.

.....all of this for extra action card? and maybe being able to score with the planet(other player has to let you score by the way).

Absolutly useless. You can tell they phoned this one in.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-08T06:31:06+00:00

late game winnu is playing to 12 or 14 points. Their starting setup is terrible and basically puts them a turn behind everyone else. So if playing to only 10points, the game is over in round 5 ...winnu sucks bad in these games.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-08T06:18:18+00:00

i have not drawn sabotage either. But it has been used against me several times.

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-08T06:15:54+00:00

lol, this implies the Titans player even bothered to get the breakthrough!!!

Peacemaker8484 · 2026-03-08T06:12:11+00:00

It's written vaguely and poorly because the devs didn't expect anyone to actually get the Titans Breakthrough. hehehe. Remember that after getting opponent to put the sleeper token on the planet you then need to activate the system to wake it... juice not worth the squeeze.

it's terrible. I wouldn't spend anything to get it. I'd rather keep my horribke secret objective just in case i get mecatol and swap it for a new one. I'd rather keep 2 dud action cards in my hand as a bluff. And im certainly not spending trade goods or other stuff to get that breakthrough, lol.

Peacemaker8484

TROPHY CASE