The galaxy is shattered. With the fall of the Lazax, the races of the galaxy are at each other’s throats, each vying to be the one who will forge an empire and rule above the rest. But who are these warring factions? What makes them so unique in the galaxy?

Today, we’re previewing just four of the seventeen factions found in Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition! Your choice of faction will provide a unique experience in Twilight Imperium every time you play, with different special abilities, starting technology, original fleets and more for each race.

A Note On Twilight Imperium Pre-Orders

We’re proud to say that as of this moment we are officially sold out of the exclusive Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition promotional items!

If you have placed an order through the Fantasy Flight Games website on or before Friday, October 27, 2017 at 7:30 AM Central Time, you will receive an email update soon regarding shipping.

If you placed a Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition pre-order with your local retailer, they will receive a shipment date from our sales team soon. Please contact them directly if you have questions about your copy of the game.

Stacks of hardcover rulebooks and art prints are being carefully packed in preparation for delivery, we can’t wait to get them in your hands!

The Federation of Sol

Humans represent the most numerous and diverse species of the galaxy. Since the discovery of the mass-drive, humans have left Jord to explore, and that drive for exploration continues to push them to explore the distant corners of space. Humans can be found in all corners of the galaxy and seem to demonstrate the greatest variation in intellect and application of skills. Human colonies and settlements can be found everywhere, as can human servants, traders, cartographers, explorers, mercenaries, scholars, construction crews, smugglers, scientists, diplomats, and more. It is commonly recognized among galactic historians that the diversified skills of the human race has been the determining factor in avoiding annihilation or extinction.

The Federation of Sol, above all else, is resilient. As an action, they may place two ground forces on a planet they control—ensuring the proliferation of your faction throughout the galaxy, and preventing you from being spread too thin in your conquest across the stars. Furthermore, when the Federation of Sol gains command tokens during the status phase, their natural versatility grants them an extra token. Though this may seem like a small addition, it gives you greater resources and versatility to explore your own limits in technology, fleet size, exploration, and more.

As you lead the Federation of Sol across the stars, you may choose to lead your fleets with the Federation of Sol’s flagship, the Genesis. This flagship does much to propel the human conquest of the stars. With the Genesis, you may place one ground force unit in the space area where the flagship resides at the end of each Status Phase, overwhelming your foes with sheer numbers.

The L1Z1X Mindnet

The galaxy thought the Lazax Empire utterly lost until a mighty alien fleet appeared on the outskirts of Yssaril space. From that fleet, a small delegation of representatives travelled to Mecatol, submitting an ancestral claim to the Imperial throne. They claimed to be the true remnants of the ancient Lazax, now calling themselves the L1z1x (“Ell Won Zee Won Ex”). Grisly to behold, they resemble the Lazax, but utterly changed, their bodies almost entirely overtaken by invasive cybernetic implants.

The L1Z1X Mindnet is a terrifying, technologically-advanced race that uses their natural ability to assimilate their foes to dominate the galaxy and reclaim their rightful throne on Mecatol Rex. Anytime they gain control of a planet, they replace all PDS units and space docks on that planet with their own. After the fires of war, newly claimed planets are often barren, with the fleets protecting them weakened from space battles. The ability to convert PDS and spaceports to your own cause is a major advantage, as it immediately gives you defensive measures as well as a tool to expand your fleet in the area.

The L1ZIX’s signature ship is their Super Dreadnought, which not only costs less to build than a regular dreadnought, but is enhanced by other abilities. Dreadnoughts have the ability to bombard planets, wiping out ground forces from the safety of the skies. Ships may normally only bombard the planet before the first round of ground combat, but the L1Z1X are not restrained by such rules, and bombard between every round of ground combat. Your opponents will not only have to contend with an army of fully-synced L1Z1X on the planet’s surface, but constant bombardment from space as well.

The L1Z1X flagship, the 0.0.1, only enhances their already-impressive dreadnoughts. The flagship restricts the targets of all your hits to non-fighter ships, meaning your opponent can no longer use his fighters to shield his more critical ships. With a full fleet of dreadnoughts ravaging the galaxy, the L1Z1X Mindnet is a fleet that any faction would do well to avoid.

The Emirates of Hacan

Under the punishing rays of the massive star Kenara lies the tri-system of the Hacan, each of its three satellites wrapped in the yellow haze so distinctive of desert planets. These three jewels are called Arretze, Kamdorn, and Hercant. Here, the united Emirates of the Hacan have grown a mighty civilization of warriors, nomads, farmers, and above all, merchants.

In their distant past, the Hacan were a poor species, their exploits into space dwarfed by the other great races of the Imperium. Then, slowly, the Hacan discovered an insatiable off-worlder lust for the special products grown under Kenara’s blinding light or dug from the deep sands of their home worlds. Clothes made from the star flowers that only rise during Hercant’s equinox, Spehat aphrodisiacs, liquors, medicines, and forbidden drugs: all harvested and manufactured by the crafty and patient hands of the Hacan.

The Emirates of Hacan are masters of trade, and many of their abilities revolve around controlling the economy of the game. While whoever owns the Trade strategy card gets to decide who can replenish their commodities without using a command token, they have no such sway over the Hacan, who can use the secondary ability on the trade strategy card freely.

Furthermore, the Hacan are also unshackled from trade rules. Their guild ships allow you to trade with players who are not your neighbors, freeing you to place your ships throughout the galaxy without worrying about the location of trade partners. Furthermore, when negotiating a transaction, the Hacan can exchange action cards as part of the deal, giving them a resource to trade that no other faction has.

The Hacan flagship, Wrath of Kenara, turns their penchant for trade goods into powerful weapons. After you roll a die during space combat in the same system as Wrath of Kenara, you may spend one trade good to boost your result, making you much more likely to hit. If you are well-stocked on trade goods (as the Hacan normally are), your die rolls can suddenly become much more consistent.

The Ghosts of Creuss

For millennia, space in proximity of the Shaleri anomaly has been mistrusted and avoided by spacefarers. Despite the undeniable historic universality in avoiding this region, few concrete explanations have been made as to the reason for such aversion. Some simply denote the area as “high risk.” Others conjecture that the area ebbs with “unknown radiation.” Regrettably, most navigation records simply refer to the Shaleri region as “bad space”—the superstitious spacefaring analogy of “here be dragons.”

It is not known why the beings that dwell within the Shaleri anomaly (now commonly called the Creuss Gate) chose to reveal themselves during the early Years of Awakening. Perhaps they’d finally learned enough about the galaxy that surrounded them? Perhaps their societal progress had finally propelled them into the greater universe? A more ominous possibility, one favored by storytellers, is that the Ghosts of Creuss have come forth for some sinister purpose yet to be revealed.

The Ghosts of Creuss have the benefit of beginning the game outside of the known galaxy—the Creuss Gate connects their home world to the rest of the galaxy via a wormhole. While this separates the Ghosts to a certain extent, it also allows them to have a comfortable buffer between their home system and the turmoil ripping the galaxy apart.

Fittingly for a race born on the Creuss Gate, the Ghosts of Creuss are masters of wormholes. Not only can they use alpha and beta wormholes interchangeably, any of their ships on an alpha or beta wormhole increase their movement value. If the Ghosts build up a fleet on a wormhole, they can threaten much of the galaxy with a single move.

The Ghosts of Creuss flagship, Hil Colish, is a marvel among spaceships. Hil Colish acts as a mobile delta wormhole, providing a direct way for the ships you produce in your home system to enter the center of the galaxy. With their ability to warp and move where they are least expected, the Ghosts of Creuss are one of the most powerful factions in the game.

Choose Your Path

These factions are just a few of the diverse races that populate the galaxy of Twilight Imperium. From the pirates of the Mentak Coalition to the diplomats of the Xxcha Kingdom, the factions battling for Mecatol Rex are diverse and many. What faction will end their journey on the throne of Mecatol Rex in your games?