"Here on Mecatol Rex, the Galactic Council is growing in influence once more, while civilizations new and old, are re-colonizing the neighboring systems abandoned during the Dark Years."

- Mahthom Iq Seerva A new age of twilight has dawned and the great factions of Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition are scrambling to become the dominant force in the galaxy.

While large armadas will be essential to your galactic conquest, you will also need the silver tongue of a politician to come out on top. A game of Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition will not only see players do battle with their enemies, but work hand-in-hand with their direct rivals in a galactic council to enact laws that propel their climb to greatness while pushing down those who would oppose them.

Today, we’re previewing the agenda and status phases of Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition. These phases occur after the action phase, allowing players the opportunity to vote on new laws and climb closer to domination by scoring objectives and refreshing their command tokens.

A Brief Respite

The status phase sees factions refresh themselves for the battles to come, advancing the options to claim victory and pushing the old galaxy further into its new, and violent, age.

The first thing that occurs is that players are allowed to score objectives. A player may score one public objective and one secret objective they achieved during the turn. This can be the most harrowing moment of the game—if a player reaches ten victory points, the game is immediately over.

Once players have claimed objectives, a new one is flipped over, able to be claimed during the next round. This steady stream of new objectives will give your empire direction as they continue their conquest throughout the galaxy.

Players then refresh their fleets by redistributing command tokens, repairing their ships, and gaining new action cards to influence the flow of the game. Planets that were used to construct fleets are also refreshed, available for use during the upcoming agenda phase.

Players also have the opportunity to rearrange the command tokens on their command sheet, giving them ability to shift their focus on the fleet, tactics, or strategy pool. The status phase is an opportunity to evaluate your position among the factions and decide on the best course of action to proceed forward.

Galactic Laws

After a player has claimed Mecatol Rex as their own, the agenda phase takes place after the status phase of a round. The galaxy does not run on its own, and though countless factions are vying for domination, they must come together as a galactic council to enact rules and laws for the galaxy they govern.

The agenda phase begins with a card being flipped from the top of the agenda deck. These cards will present players with a choice. It could be selecting a player to receive a victory point, or it could be a question of banning a certain type of technology. The powerful Publicize Weapon Schematics can act as a great equalizer, either granting everyone the ability to research the powerful War Sun, or harming those who have already taken that step. Meanwhile, Shard of the Throne sees the galactic council elect a player to receive one victory point. However, this point is fluid, and can be taken by a player who wins combat against the card holder. These cards represent important decisions, and drastically impact the flow of the game.

Each player, starting with the player to the left of the speaker, casts votes for a single outcome. When players vote, they may exhaust any number of their planets, each one contributing a number of votes equal to its influence.

During this period, players are free to negotiate transactions among each other, perhaps trading valuable promissory notes or trade goods in exchange for votes. Every player can negotiate a maximum of one transaction with each other player during the agenda phase. If a vote is important to you, be prepared to pay. If a deal can be resolved immediately, it is known as a binding deal and players are locked in to their promises. Deals that must be fulfilled later in a turn, like a non-aggression pact, are not binding and can be broken with no gameplay repercussions.

When voting for the first agenda card, you must be cautious with how many planet cards you exhaust, because immediately after the first vote is resolved a second card is flipped, which may prove to be even more vital. The voting process is repeated one more time, except many planets will no doubt be exhausted from the first vote. This can leave players scrambling to make transactions to force the second vote to go their way. It will take a shrewd sense of politics to navigate these laws and allow your faction to come out above the rest in a game of Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition.

Dominate the Galaxy

Though the massive fleets that make their way through the galaxy are the backbone of galactic conquest, clever politicking and diplomacy are the brains. Every vote can inch you closer to your objective, sitting upon Mecatol Rex as the rightful rulers of the galaxy. Are you sly enough to negotiate your way to victory? Find out in the fourth quarter of 2017 when Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition is released.