Eclipse
Yeah, I’ve totally been bingeing this game now that it’s back in our heads. I played the Space Nerd race (they even look like they’re wearing a CPAP), which starts with an accelerated tech research track, and it was nice but eventually, you gotta throw down against your enemies. Because that’s pretty much what tech is for.
The game winner stumbled into some very nice rare techs (one-off advances that don’t belong too any particular track) and I didn’t play with an eye toward denying him those things aggressively enough. So he ended up with interceptors loaded with Rift Cannons (which, given their combination of low energy requirement and totally ignoring both computers and shields, I thing might be OP), and cruisers equipped with carrier bays to haul the evil little monsters around. I kept him from putting his grubby paws on traditional better energy sources, but once Rift Cannons are in circulation, the arms race is pretty much over.
This is also the second time the genetics race won by a wide margin. Allegedly the downside is that they’re spending their time mutating and not advancing up the tech tracks, but near the endgame they get more than ample replacements for not earning endgame VPs for tech. And without much effort, you can get brokenly good gene combos, like cheaper Orbitals that also give you victory points. That’s an ugly one.
If the gene race wins a third time we might need to…I don’t know. House rule something? I don’t know.
The Space Nerds came in last and I regret not coming out swinging harder earlier. Some of that was table meta: our third player was relearning after a long absence, and latching to his face and clawing like a crazed weasel seemed…unsporting.
