Space Cats Peace Turtles

343: Most Anticipated Board Games 2024

Beach episode time! This week we've taken the Galactic Council poll results and really ran with it. Instead of just hearing about what games Matt and Hunter are looking forward to we've basically asked everyone we know to submit their games. Get your pen and paper out because you about to get a big ol' list of interesting suggestions from people with excellent taste, also EJ is in there.
 
Special thanks to Cole, Nick, Brooke, Ted, and Alita of Leder Games.
Normal Regular thanks to EJ Sanders of the Walmart Corporation.
 
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

342: 8 Player Games

This week, we're tackling a much requested topic. 8 Player Games! Matt and Hunter have both done some research and are reporting on strategic differences they found in their limited experience. Lot's of talk is devoted to why we don't prefer the player count so prepare yourself.
We've also got an excellent discussion with Tactic Blue on the upcoming Discordant Stars Twilight Imperium Homebrew Expansion that you'll definitely want to hear about.
At the end of the episode we have some surprise guests you'll definitely want to hear from. 
 
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

341: Arcs - Resources and the Court Deck

More Arcs! We're having a lovely time learning this new game and before we start diving into guides for different Leaders and eventually getting into the Campaign expansion (where we'll spend most of our time), we needed one more episode covering the basics. We've talked about the limited action economy of the game and alluded to the fact that you are able to improve upon it, but it's time to discuss that in depth! Resources and the Court Deck are your key to improving your action set and taking better control of the game, so let's learn about them!
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

340: Super Universities of Jol-Nar Strategy Guide

Let's do another Faction Strategy Guide! Universities of Jol-Nar are discussed a lot. They've been around since the very beginning, and in every edition of the game they've been a powerful faction. They have a -1 to combat and that just doesn't seem to hold them back! So what makes them good and how can we best harness their power?
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

339: Twilight Imperium Second Edition Overview

Let's travel back in time to the year 2000! FFG was still a young company and Christian T. Petersen decided to take another stab at the design of our favorite game. At times, Second Edition almost feels like the version lost to time. It's quite simple in it's approach to the game and it chooses to add very little over the course of it's life. It's mostly just a refinement of the rules of First Edition, but let's take a closer look to see what that means.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

338: Agenda Phase Mailbag!

We've both been in the process of trying to find new homes in Minnesota, which means it's time for a beach episode where we dip into our mailbag! Our patrons submitted these questions for our Agenda Phase segments, but this is a collection of, generally, more off topic questions than usual. That just means it's a good time to hang out with your friends Matt and Hunter. And no criticism!
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

337: Arcs - Actions and Ambitions

More Arcs! It's getting incredibly fun starting to dig into the meat of this game. You can refer back to episode 333 to hear our Learn to Learn guide about the game, but now we're going to start getting more specific! We wanted to kick things off with a component episode where we cover the Actions in the game as well as the Ambitions you'll be using to score points and win. There's a lot to chew on and we're really only at the surface, so get ready for a lot of Arcs episodes to come.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

336: Super Clan of Saar Guide

Despite the chaos in both our lives, Matt's ready with another Super Faction Guide! Due to the wonders of Async, Matt's found a lot more opportunity to work on guides and this is one that definitely benefited from that since he got to play big meaty games with Clan of Saar legends TheDeftPiper and Imsen. This is a powerful faction whose strategy is more about pumping the breaks a bit so you aren't the premiere target at the table. How can you preserve peace when you show up to the party with your knife collection?
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

335: Guide to the Prelims

The Prelims are already a couple of weeks underway and we're learning a LOT. This definitely feels like a new, distinct year for the tournament given the outcome of the majority of these games. So what does that mean for folks testing their mettle in the prelims or for people wanting to adapt to the newest waves in the meta? Let's take a closer look at what makes the Prelims of our tournament unique and what players can do to try and find success.
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/

334: Winmaking Roundtable with Dane and Milty

The topic of "winmaking" is constantly evolving and changing. Every year we see tournament play handle shenanigans at the end of the game differently and it's nice to check in from time to time and evaluate the community. Today, we have two very special guests to help us in that endeavor! The designer of Twilight Imperium 4th Edition, Dane Beltrami, and rules guru and creator of Miltydraft, Milty!
Music provided by Ben Prunty. Find more at benpruntymusic.com or benprunty.bandcamp.com
Additional Music and Sounds by Brian Kupillas. https://wanderinglake.bandcamp.com/
 
To learn more about our Discord, Patreon, Merch, and more, visit https://spacecatspeaceturtles.com/