I'm not going to name names but I've watched all the major board game reviewers on UA-cam and this guy's reviews are the best on the platform. How is this channel not blowing up?
There is a huge advantage to having some victory points hidden. It prevents the players from sitting down on turns 8 and 9, doing many calculations to figure out who is ahead, and ganging up on them. If the Reputation tiles are hidden, you can try to do that, but what is the point? Your calculation is going to be off by 2, 3, or 4 points, and that is usually the difference between the 1st and 2nd player. The random Discovery tiles reward those who attack early, since you have a higher chance of getting the good 3 or 4 point tiles. If you just grind your engine and plan to make a big push in the end game, you can. But you are more likely to get more of the 1 and 2 Victory Point tiles, as the good tiles are earned by people who take early risks. Lastly I disagree that the Reputation Tiles are the majority of the victory points. A typical winning score is around 40 points. If you have 4 spots to place a Reputation tile and get a 1, 2, 3, and 4 tile (pretty typical) then you have 1/4 of your Victory Points coming from Reputation Tiles. Where as you will be typically be getting 20 or more points from the territory you gained, maybe 6 to 8 points from technology, maybe 6 points from Discovery Tiles, and a few more from misc, and racial abilities.
No one I’ve played the game with makes those calculations. Why would anyone do that? If you attack early and get crap discovery tiles then it makes no difference.
The 2nd edition is worthwhile if only for the amount of time you save setting it up and taking it down. The organization was a HUGE problem in this original edition. Sell it. Buy the new one. You won't regret it.
Agree. The new player storage trays with lid (which also tracks resource cubes and have indents to help keep the cubes in place) and the storage trays for tech and ship parts makes the game much easier to play, setup and tear down. The trays also help to reduce the table footprint of the game.
@@MattTheSpratt Yeah I am SOOOO tempted to sell then buy the 2nd edition But!....i don't think I'd play it enough to justify it, PLUS I backed Voidfall for that 4X itch. And it doesn't have die rolls for ship combat
Thanks for the review, always nice to see games through other people's lenses. Could you explain your home brew victory tile rules again? As I understood it, you gain VP equal to the number of victory tiles you would have pulled. Do you cap this somehow? Like use the victory tile spots with pieces of paper that has the VP amount, and if you get a bigger point at some point, you can replace a lower paper with the higher paper (similar to replacing victory tiles). If not, doesn't this skew the game heavily towards combat as there is no cap? Even with cap, two players might get a ton of victory points for duking it out against each other with a ton of ships, earning over 10 points for single combat... To summarize: 1) is there a cap on how much VP you can gain through one combat, 2) is there a cap how much VP you can gain through combat throughout the game? While the pull is random, it encourages you to fight early and gives an identity to races with higher or lower amount of victory tile spots. All the victory point sources are affected by randomness to some decree (area = what tiles you draw, science = do you get enough science production/correct tech order to abuse the discounts) so I don't feel the pull randomness is out of place. Happy to hear your thoughts! It is the one you can least directly affect with your game actions though (area you can go conquer elsewhere, you can trade other resources to force tech points, while combat you pray to upgrade your 1's and 2's).
@@BoardGameBollocks No problem. I myself am trying to think of a surrender home brew rules if a player wants to drop out (mostly due to feeling lost). Atm the draft is that they would turn their sectors upside down and remove all components. The sectors can be traverses as if they did not exist. This way the player dominating the other does not get free or "guarded by the remaining ships" tiles. However, I feel this should be dissallowed on the last 4 rounds. Just allows for a quit if you get almost but not entirely destroyed by the player next you. I don't need the surrender, but some of my play group tend to get pissy if they do bad at the start so allowing them a way out could be cool in a game with 4-5h playtime. It is still a draft and maybe won't ever try it. Other one is a "retake of first Ancient battle". If you lose all your ships in your first combat and it's against the Ancients, you can revive the army back at the hexes they were at the start of that round. Prevents a the early game "i have lost" feel which was the reason for the surrender rule to even exist. But it is only the first one and against Ancients. Could also implement that you need to pay the ships' prices for half the cost (without spending an action). Again, not something I feel the game needs, but can be nice for new players who can't gauge the combat and encourage them to go for it. I feel my group tends to be too afraid of the Ancients and/or not upgrade their ships enough, and only relying on number of ships... Cannot do partial revive, only if all your ships died and you did not retrear. Sorry for bad formatting, on mobile.
I’ve owned Eclipse 1st edition since 2014 own everything including the cube holders and I’ve painted all the ships. When the 2nd edition came out I nearly checked myself into a mental hospital. The new one is so pretty but I’ve spent a boatload of cash and time on the last one how can I justify it? Still on that fence.
isn't the 2nd edition a more "vanilla" experience, than 1st edition with expansions? (I've got ship expansions, both big box expansions, and 3 smaller ones like supernova, pulsar and some other, don't remember the name)... also on the fence, but I feel (think) I get a richer game experience with my 1st edition stuff than 2nd... and to buy 2nd edition with ALL the expansions would be SUPER EXPENSIVE since they decided to have all the little expansions sold one by one... which is dumb.. and mechanically it seem pretty much identical.. the only smal tweeks like getting the discovery tile without placing influence disc and getting +2 money for passing first, are easly house ruled into 1st edition... and just to add a note.. the setup of 1st edition is kind of fixed for me, have a little fishing storage box, i store the upgrades in, so just open the lid and *bam*, all sorted and available. Convince me, please.
Could we have a review of the new Dune game 'Conquest and Diplomacy'? It's based on the old 'Mega' Dune game but is much shorter with onyl 4 max players, and can be played with only two players! would be fun to see!
I’d love to but we already have the gale force 9 dune game and to be honest I’m not that enamoured with the theme. Plus the latest movie, while visually stunning, seemed more like watching a series of expensive adverts than a full film. If we come across a bargain bin copy then we may pick it up but it’s unlikely we’ll be playing that one anytime soon…sorry mate.
Tks for this great review! Another 10+ year old game that would be worth you to review: Space Empires 4X! Would really like to hear your thoughts on it
Thanks for posting. I am glad that you enjoy Eclipse but I do not share your love for this monster. My first edition box sits on my shelf and glares at me but I feel no impulse to work on getting it to the table. Although it neither swivels nor is little, there is too much Eurogame in there, and the worst kind of point-salad at that. The ships that came with first publication were cheap and nasty, the game is too long and too sprawling, and on the one time I played it in my old Games Group four hours left me feeling unsatisfied (there’s a joke in there somewhere). “Why spend £120 to buy a game you already own?” Well said, I must play my copy of Twilight Imperium (second edition) real soon.
I'm not going to name names but I've watched all the major board game reviewers on UA-cam and this guy's reviews are the best on the platform. How is this channel not blowing up?
Just need to like and share harder
I don’t fancy being blown up…
There is a huge advantage to having some victory points hidden. It prevents the players from sitting down on turns 8 and 9, doing many calculations to figure out who is ahead, and ganging up on them. If the Reputation tiles are hidden, you can try to do that, but what is the point? Your calculation is going to be off by 2, 3, or 4 points, and that is usually the difference between the 1st and 2nd player.
The random Discovery tiles reward those who attack early, since you have a higher chance of getting the good 3 or 4 point tiles. If you just grind your engine and plan to make a big push in the end game, you can. But you are more likely to get more of the 1 and 2 Victory Point tiles, as the good tiles are earned by people who take early risks.
Lastly I disagree that the Reputation Tiles are the majority of the victory points. A typical winning score is around 40 points. If you have 4 spots to place a Reputation tile and get a 1, 2, 3, and 4 tile (pretty typical) then you have 1/4 of your Victory Points coming from Reputation Tiles. Where as you will be typically be getting 20 or more points from the territory you gained, maybe 6 to 8 points from technology, maybe 6 points from Discovery Tiles, and a few more from misc, and racial abilities.
No one I’ve played the game with makes those calculations. Why would anyone do that?
If you attack early and get crap discovery tiles then it makes no difference.
Love your channel. Its the only board game channel where i look forward to new vids. Keep it up! :D
Thanks for that…👍🏻
The 2nd edition is worthwhile if only for the amount of time you save setting it up and taking it down. The organization was a HUGE problem in this original edition. Sell it. Buy the new one. You won't regret it.
Agree. The new player storage trays with lid (which also tracks resource cubes and have indents to help keep the cubes in place) and the storage trays for tech and ship parts makes the game much easier to play, setup and tear down.
The trays also help to reduce the table footprint of the game.
Not for the $120+ layaway it's not, that's enough for the original plus a few other decent board games.
@@MattTheSpratt Yeah I am SOOOO tempted to sell then buy the 2nd edition But!....i don't think I'd play it enough to justify it, PLUS I backed Voidfall for that 4X itch. And it doesn't have die rolls for ship combat
You are the best!!! Keep up the great content and sense of humor. It’s refreshing in the board game hobby.
Too many tossers in the industry imho ✊🏻
Thanks for the review, always nice to see games through other people's lenses. Could you explain your home brew victory tile rules again? As I understood it, you gain VP equal to the number of victory tiles you would have pulled. Do you cap this somehow? Like use the victory tile spots with pieces of paper that has the VP amount, and if you get a bigger point at some point, you can replace a lower paper with the higher paper (similar to replacing victory tiles). If not, doesn't this skew the game heavily towards combat as there is no cap? Even with cap, two players might get a ton of victory points for duking it out against each other with a ton of ships, earning over 10 points for single combat... To summarize: 1) is there a cap on how much VP you can gain through one combat, 2) is there a cap how much VP you can gain through combat throughout the game?
While the pull is random, it encourages you to fight early and gives an identity to races with higher or lower amount of victory tile spots. All the victory point sources are affected by randomness to some decree (area = what tiles you draw, science = do you get enough science production/correct tech order to abuse the discounts) so I don't feel the pull randomness is out of place. Happy to hear your thoughts! It is the one you can least directly affect with your game actions though (area you can go conquer elsewhere, you can trade other resources to force tech points, while combat you pray to upgrade your 1's and 2's).
I can’t for the life of me remember. Soz…
@@BoardGameBollocks No problem. I myself am trying to think of a surrender home brew rules if a player wants to drop out (mostly due to feeling lost). Atm the draft is that they would turn their sectors upside down and remove all components. The sectors can be traverses as if they did not exist. This way the player dominating the other does not get free or "guarded by the remaining ships" tiles. However, I feel this should be dissallowed on the last 4 rounds. Just allows for a quit if you get almost but not entirely destroyed by the player next you.
I don't need the surrender, but some of my play group tend to get pissy if they do bad at the start so allowing them a way out could be cool in a game with 4-5h playtime. It is still a draft and maybe won't ever try it. Other one is a "retake of first Ancient battle". If you lose all your ships in your first combat and it's against the Ancients, you can revive the army back at the hexes they were at the start of that round. Prevents a the early game "i have lost" feel which was the reason for the surrender rule to even exist. But it is only the first one and against Ancients. Could also implement that you need to pay the ships' prices for half the cost (without spending an action). Again, not something I feel the game needs, but can be nice for new players who can't gauge the combat and encourage them to go for it. I feel my group tends to be too afraid of the Ancients and/or not upgrade their ships enough, and only relying on number of ships... Cannot do partial revive, only if all your ships died and you did not retrear. Sorry for bad formatting, on mobile.
I’ve owned Eclipse 1st edition since 2014 own everything including the cube holders and I’ve painted all the ships. When the 2nd edition came out I nearly checked myself into a mental hospital. The new one is so pretty but I’ve spent a boatload of cash and time on the last one how can I justify it? Still on that fence.
Grass isn’t always greener
I sympathize. Just get Voidfall instead!
isn't the 2nd edition a more "vanilla" experience, than 1st edition with expansions? (I've got ship expansions, both big box expansions, and 3 smaller ones like supernova, pulsar and some other, don't remember the name)... also on the fence, but I feel (think) I get a richer game experience with my 1st edition stuff than 2nd... and to buy 2nd edition with ALL the expansions would be SUPER EXPENSIVE since they decided to have all the little expansions sold one by one... which is dumb.. and mechanically it seem pretty much identical.. the only smal tweeks like getting the discovery tile without placing influence disc and getting +2 money for passing first, are easly house ruled into 1st edition...
and just to add a note.. the setup of 1st edition is kind of fixed for me, have a little fishing storage box, i store the upgrades in, so just open the lid and *bam*, all sorted and available.
Convince me, please.
Loving the jump cuts. Did you direct every modern action film?
No. Im just lazy 🤷
Could we have a review of the new Dune game 'Conquest and Diplomacy'? It's based on the old 'Mega' Dune game but is much shorter with onyl 4 max players, and can be played with only two players!
would be fun to see!
I’d love to but we already have the gale force 9 dune game and to be honest I’m not that enamoured with the theme. Plus the latest movie, while visually stunning, seemed more like watching a series of expensive adverts than a full film.
If we come across a bargain bin copy then we may pick it up but it’s unlikely we’ll be playing that one anytime soon…sorry mate.
@@BoardGameBollocks :-(
Tks for this great review! Another 10+ year old game that would be worth you to review: Space Empires 4X! Would really like to hear your thoughts on it
A GMT 4x sounds interesting. Hard to get hold of though 😔
@BoardGameBollocks For sure, best bet on BGG. Last and final expansion (3rd) coming out this year
Over £100 on there…it’s a no from me I’m afraid.
@BoardGameBollocks ouch, yup that is too much...
See this getting sold 2nd hand for $30 all the time….which is so tempting vs the price for 2nd Edition.
Do it
didnt know Roose Bolton was into board games... oh well!
Great review
👍🏻
Thanks for posting. I am glad that you enjoy Eclipse but I do not share your love for this monster. My first edition box sits on my shelf and glares at me but I feel no impulse to work on getting it to the table.
Although it neither swivels nor is little, there is too much Eurogame in there, and the worst kind of point-salad at that. The ships that came with first publication were cheap and nasty, the game is too long and too sprawling, and on the one time I played it in my old Games Group four hours left me feeling unsatisfied (there’s a joke in there somewhere).
“Why spend £120 to buy a game you already own?” Well said, I must play my copy of Twilight Imperium (second edition) real soon.
Maybe you could sell it for the second edition…said no one ever.
I think you'd appreciate XIA:Legends of a Drift System! Just customizable ships you build and fight it out!
Still laughing at your intro every time…
Is it cos I is ginger?
@@BoardGameBollocks how did you know! 🤣
How can you be a game board review channel and use that excuse to NOT review Eclipse 2? 😂
Because I can’t afford to spend over £100 on something that’s the same as the thing I’ve already got. Kids need feeding for starters.