Space Cats Peace Turtles
An unofficial podcast for fans of Twilight Imperium and other strategy board games. Each episode is a humorous analysis of mechanics and strategies for new and experienced players alike!
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Episodes
Tuesday Dec 31, 2019
Tuesday Dec 31, 2019
2020 is upon us, and the only appropriate way to close out 2019 is with an annual Faction Tier List. An Absolutely Real, Super Important, 100% 2019 Huge SCPT Faction Tier List. This year we chose to approach the list with the tournament in mind, and this tier list is based on the faction when they are played by 6 high-level, Finalist worthy players. It changes up some of our assumptions about a lot of factions. There are a lot of great factions we’ve routinely see under-perform, and plenty of “bad” factions that hold up just.
Also! There is some very important Patreon information in the back half of this one, so please stick around so you can hear the major changes coming to the show in 2020. Not just for our Patrons, but for the structure of the show itself!
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
Sunday Dec 29, 2019
Sunday Dec 29, 2019
We survived the holidays, which means we survived yet another Holiday Spectacular. This year’s show was extra special because we were able to play with all of the members of our original Twilight Imperium crew. Most of us played our classic factions, but the game itself was a wild ride with some players taking the game significantly less seriously than others. Today, we chat with one of those players, Shawn, about the game, as well as some games of Dune and Root that we’ve been playing over the holiday break.
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
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Patience_is_a_Virtue is a bit of a legend in the TTS community due to the strange situations he seems to always get himself in. And the reason he gets into these situations? Because he hasn’t told his wife, family, or job that he plays this game online with other nerds. He has quit many times in the past, but the fun community consistently brings him back in. But, the fact that no one in his real life knows he’s playing remains the same. So today, we get to the WHY, HOW, and WHAT?!
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
Tuesday Dec 10, 2019
Tuesday Dec 10, 2019
We went to PAX Unplugged and all we got was the best episode of our show ever. We sat down with Cole Wehrle of Leder Games and discussed his upcoming work-in-progress, Oath. It’s a remarkable game that we can’t wait to sink our teeth into. We cover how to play, what kind of design Cole is trying to achieve, as well as some design insights into his last hit Root, and some notes on his history with Twilight Imperium.
5:47 - Oath Overview
33:18 - Cole Interview: Oath
51:20 - Cole Interview: Root
58:28 - Cole Interview: Twilight Imperium
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
Tuesday Dec 03, 2019
Tuesday Dec 03, 2019
The tournament is looming over us, and with many players starting to get in practice games this seemed like the perfect time to go over a lot of our rules and expectations for the tournament. But, in addition to our specific guidelines, this episode serves as an analysis of what role we feel the moderator of a game is meant to fill and when it is important to follow strict timing procedure. So hopefully you can find this useful whether you’re in the tournament or not!
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
Tuesday Nov 26, 2019
Tuesday Nov 26, 2019
It’s our second official foray into the world of Dune. To get things started, it seemed important to start digging into each of the factions. We didn’t start with something as brave as a “strategy guide,” but getting started with an in-depth overview and analysis of House Atreides seemed safe. They’re a great starter faction, especially if you want to learn the components quickly and have an urge to make bold plays!
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
Friday Nov 22, 2019
Friday Nov 22, 2019
Our third new Strategy Guide is for our toughest faction yet. Sardakk N’Orr start with some glaring weaknesses, and many question the power of their only true ability. Today we uncover what could be some reliable strategies to employ and the best ways to overcome these weaknesses.
4:22 Sardakk N’Orr Overview
28:33 Early Game Rounds
56:05 Tech Paths
1:11:30 Trading
1:16:23 Mid Game
1:23:51 Late Game
1:30:00 Pre-Errata
Check out the Schroeder Semifinal Sardakk game mentioned!
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
Tuesday Nov 12, 2019
Tuesday Nov 12, 2019
Tournament Signups are already FULL! This is a wildly unexpected outcome, but to celebrate it, today we’re showing off the Preliminary round’s map. 36 games will be played on this map with our draft method, so we’re hoping to learn a lot about it over the coming months, but here are our first thoughts!
Find the map here!
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
Tuesday Nov 05, 2019
Tuesday Nov 05, 2019
This month the Galactic Council has gifted us with another great episode for newer players. Does the Agenda Phase always leave you wishing you had gained more? Is it tricky figuring out just how you’re supposed to navigate the plethora of action cards that seem to all go off at the same time. Just how much should you pay for votes? We will probably answer these questions, but only if you play your Construction Rider against.
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
Tuesday Oct 29, 2019
Tuesday Oct 29, 2019
Space Kitty Mantis joins us this week to explain the WILD variant known as Frankendraft. It’s like taking Twilight Imperium, throwing it in a blender, and seeing what kind of smoothie you end up with. We played a game of it with Mantis and others, and it was an absolutely hilarious experience. This episode covers the basics of Frankendraft, and details how OUR draft went and what kind of “factions” are possible.
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