How to Play Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition – Twilight Codex Volume II: Affinity

Game Objective

The Twilight Codex - Volume II: Affinity is a publication that highlights rule updates and introduces new content for Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition and its expansion Prophecy of Kings. The overall objective of the game is galactic conquest and the pursuit of victory, which can be modified by game variants. In one of the variants, the Alliance Game Variant, the objective is for one player to reach 14 victory points and their ally to have at least 10 victory points for the alliance to win the game.

Setup

Game setup follows the basic rules of Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition and Prophecy of Kings, with some modifications for specific variants, such as the Alliance Game Variant.

Codex Components

• Faction Reference Cards: A set of standard poker-sized cards that can be used to choose factions or provide a quick summary of a faction's capabilities.
• Alliance Reference Cards: Mini American-sized cards that show the shared commander ability of an allied player.
• Relic Cards: New relics, such as the Titan of Ul, the Dynamis Core, and the Nano-Forge, which are combined with existing ones in the base game and expansion.

Setup for the Alliance Game Variant

1. Choose Factions: Each player must receive an ally. Determine which pairs of players will be allies.
2. Choose Color: Each player discards their "Alliance" Promissory Note card and takes the alliance reference card corresponding to their ally, placing it in their play area.
3. Commanders: All commanders are unlocked at the start of this game mode, by flipping them to their unlocked side.

Note on Components: It is recommended that all components of a certain type (such as cards) be "sleeved" (placed in protectors) along with cards of the same type from the base game, so that players cannot determine if they are from the Codex before drawing them. Components that do not need to be shuffled or hidden (such as technologies) do not need to be sleeved. Each new Codex component is marked with a specific icon.

Game Flow

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Actions and How to Play

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Alliance Game Variant: Modified Rules

When playing the Alliance Game Variant, some rules are modified to accommodate team dynamics:

• Transactions:
  • Commodities traded with your ally do not become trade goods.
  • You can receive promissory notes from your ally, but you cannot resolve them.
• Movement and Control:
  • Your ships can enter systems with your ally's ships without initiating space combat.
  • Your ground forces can land on planets controlled by your ally without initiating ground combat or gaining control of the planet.
  • When redistributing command tokens, you can swap planet cards with your ally, provided the recipient has at least 1 ground force or structure on the planet. This does not change the card's state or trigger planet control abilities.
  • When your ally activates a system, you can simultaneously perform a tactical action in that system, spending and placing a token from your tactical reserve as normal.
  • You can, with your ally's permission, transport and support their fighters and ground forces using your capacity units.
• Combat and Unit Abilities:
  • In combats where you and your ally have units, both can participate; your rolls are combined and hits assigned normally. If an opponent produces hits against allies, they decide together which units the hits will be assigned to; if there is no consensus, the active player assigns the hits.
  • Effects that produce hits assigned by an opponent against an allied pair can be assigned to any ally's units in any combination.
• Abilities and Effects:
  • Your ally's units do not count as your units or as other players' units for resolving game effects and abilities.
  • Abilities triggered by activating a system with another player's units, planets, or command tokens are not triggered if those players are allies.
  • Your unit abilities (space cannon, planetary shield, etc.) do not affect your ally.
  • Agent abilities can be used on your ally.
  • Your ally's planets count as your planets for resolving abilities, but you cannot exhaust them and they do not count towards fulfilling objectives or scoring the "Imperial" victory point.

New Components and Abilities

• Relics:
  • Titan of Ul: An additional agent that can be used to build structures. Its effect can be lent to other players and interacts with abilities such as the Yssaril agent and the Nomad's Temporal Command Suite faction technology.
  • Nano-Forge: Allows a planet to become legendary, altering its interaction with some abilities and objectives.
  • Dynamis Core: The first effect in the game capable of increasing a player's commodity value.

End of Game and Scoring

In the Alliance Game Variant, the game is played using the "14" side of the victory point track. For an alliance to win the game, one player must have 14 victory points and their ally must have at least 10 victory points.

Elimination

A player cannot be eliminated as long as their ally controls at least one planet.

Tips for Winning

1. Cooperation in the Alliance Variant: In the Alliance Game Variant, coordination with your partner is crucial. Remember that commodities traded with your ally do not become trade goods, and you can move ships and land ground forces in each other's systems without initiating combat. Take advantage of the ability to perform tactical actions simultaneously and to transport each other's units to maximize efficiency.
2. Team Scoring Strategy: To win the Alliance Game Variant, the alliance needs a combined total of points, with one player reaching 14 victory points and the other at least 10. This means one player can focus on high-value objectives, while the other secures a solid base of points, protecting planets and contributing to mutual defense.
3. Utilizing New Relics: The new Relics can offer significant advantages. The Titan of Ul can accelerate structure construction, the Nano-Forge can make a planet legendary to fulfill specific objectives, and the Dynamis Core can increase your commodity capacity, providing more resources for transactions and development. Integrate these new tools into your strategy to explore their unique effects.