I'm on maybe 70-80 games played now, feedback: 1) Explore early. Sorta. I mean you explore on your first move and probably the next three but don't go mad. It makes sense to focus on 3s as they're the finite resource; especially with low player counts. Your real priority is getting your economy going. Bloated Empire Syndrome will kill you; that's why orbitals are so powerful. Be very careful about taking too many sectors without gold early on. Don't let someone else cut you off though. 2) Win your first battle. Wrong, at least in the sense of dreading losing. Obviously ideally you'd win but in tonnes of games your first interceptor will just sit there all game unmoved as you develop dreadnoughts or cruisers. So exchanging it for an early dip into the black VP bag - that might net you 4VPs is well worth it. This might be taken by an opponent later. It's worth much more than the 3 build it costs. Plus, it's a dice roll, you might get lucky although doing something, even something small, to up your odds is probably the way to go. More often than not you can calculate the precise odds in Eclipse in your head. It's your economy stalling that will cripple you, not your first interceptor. 3) Hull strat. This is just wrong. There are loads of viable ship setups that don't need any hull at all. Obviously, high initiative negates hull. Missiles don't need hull. Numbers don't need hull. Shields don't need hull. Many strats can get away with just the minimum hull. If there is a killer app then its computers, hitting on each throw is almost always king and very few good builds don't have this. 4) Pass for research. Distinctly dodgy advice. You can but the research you need might not come up and you've just wasted your turn. A much better reason to pass is the 2 gold. But really, the rule of thumb is to play as many turns as your economy can handle. If you're running out of spend, look to capture a sector and do the maths. 5) Invest in the same tech. Not wrong per se, it is a viable strat but it's one of many. It's often much better to focus on the tech you actually need. Obviously this depends on how much research you're getting. If you want to fight but you need power, get the power.
I’d say definitely pass to go first on technology is valid. It doesn’t always pan out though so it’s a risk. This is mitigated with the turn order variant. What you don’t want is the player to your left passing before you because then you’re going last.
Orbitals are the first thing I go for they massively improve your economy, late game go for monolith tech, and computers stacked are amazing, If you basically hit on every dice and have decent hull as well then you can't really be beaten.
Very interesting for me! I never won at Eclipse (2d down) while I'm used to expert games and easily win at Terraforming Mars, Star Wars Rebellion and many others. I'm such a loser at Eclipse it's strange! I can't clearly see the Victory Points around me! Crazy game! My buddies call me "the shame of the galaxy" (we love kidding lol) OK - Gonna try your tips! TY
So, I got a group who loves Eclipse and... I don't get why. it looks, and plays, so boring. All games, no matter who, no matter what, is all about: alliances of 2 players, and all going into an orgy of ships on the center to fight for it. No other strategy is valid really. Always, always, no matter what, ally with the player right next to you on the board. If you wanna change things up and attack that who is next to you, all you will achieve is be alone and when someone captures the center he with his ally will steamroll you while your neighbor will come to exploit your weakness. So no one ever does that. Trying to connect with your opponents through any direction other than the center is you giving up the game: whoever captures the center will easily just pour into your territory and destroy your entire economy before you can exploit any "flanking" you do. I tried it, and my friends warned me the game just doesn't work that way, and it will punish me for trying. They tried it before and it always went wrong. So I don't get it... this game all about just building up, going for hte center, and then ending the game. In fact we rarely finish teh games cuz once someone captures the center it's over, there is no point in even trying anymore. And I saw it in action: first time we played I wanted to continue and it played out just as expected: controlling the center makes it easy to just invade someone's turf without his ally being able to come to the rescue... The game feels incredibly repetitive and dull, I am trying to learn ways to break this stalemate but it feels as if the game will punish me for trying to do anything other than building up and charging into the center.
You said it very eloquently yourself. You (and your game group) don't get it. You could read up on how to properly play the game and then crush your friends each game. Then they'll probably start to realize they don't understand what they're doing. It's easier said than done, but I had to say this, because it's interesting how you claim the game is boring, when it is clear you (and your friends) don't know how to play.
Strange, in our games, the first person in the centre is adjacent to everyone, and everyone attacks them. The first player in the centre, better be tough, because with 3+ others attacking you, you don't keep the centre for long. Maybe rather than saying, "he has got the centre, let's surrender", you should say, "you hit him high, and I'll hit him low". Our group loves Eclipse. Warm regards, Rick.
I'm on maybe 70-80 games played now, feedback:
1) Explore early. Sorta. I mean you explore on your first move and probably the next three but don't go mad. It makes sense to focus on 3s as they're the finite resource; especially with low player counts. Your real priority is getting your economy going. Bloated Empire Syndrome will kill you; that's why orbitals are so powerful. Be very careful about taking too many sectors without gold early on. Don't let someone else cut you off though.
2) Win your first battle. Wrong, at least in the sense of dreading losing. Obviously ideally you'd win but in tonnes of games your first interceptor will just sit there all game unmoved as you develop dreadnoughts or cruisers. So exchanging it for an early dip into the black VP bag - that might net you 4VPs is well worth it. This might be taken by an opponent later. It's worth much more than the 3 build it costs. Plus, it's a dice roll, you might get lucky although doing something, even something small, to up your odds is probably the way to go. More often than not you can calculate the precise odds in Eclipse in your head. It's your economy stalling that will cripple you, not your first interceptor.
3) Hull strat. This is just wrong. There are loads of viable ship setups that don't need any hull at all. Obviously, high initiative negates hull. Missiles don't need hull. Numbers don't need hull. Shields don't need hull. Many strats can get away with just the minimum hull. If there is a killer app then its computers, hitting on each throw is almost always king and very few good builds don't have this.
4) Pass for research. Distinctly dodgy advice. You can but the research you need might not come up and you've just wasted your turn. A much better reason to pass is the 2 gold. But really, the rule of thumb is to play as many turns as your economy can handle. If you're running out of spend, look to capture a sector and do the maths.
5) Invest in the same tech. Not wrong per se, it is a viable strat but it's one of many. It's often much better to focus on the tech you actually need. Obviously this depends on how much research you're getting. If you want to fight but you need power, get the power.
Getting ready to play my first game this weekend. Thanks for the tips :)
@@tonyzaddo Enjoy! It's an amazing game.
I’d say definitely pass to go first on technology is valid. It doesn’t always pan out though so it’s a risk. This is mitigated with the turn order variant. What you don’t want is the player to your left passing before you because then you’re going last.
Orbitals are the first thing I go for they massively improve your economy, late game go for monolith tech, and computers stacked are amazing, If you basically hit on every dice and have decent hull as well then you can't really be beaten.
Thanks
2:49 That is cheat only 4 energy and the cruiser use tecks with 5 energy?
Sweet tips - thank you!
Very interesting for me! I never won at Eclipse (2d down) while I'm used to expert games and easily win at Terraforming Mars, Star Wars Rebellion and many others. I'm such a loser at Eclipse it's strange! I can't clearly see the Victory Points around me! Crazy game! My buddies call me "the shame of the galaxy" (we love kidding lol) OK - Gonna try your tips! TY
Very useful - thx
Glad it was helpful!
Great tips.
Have you player the game Beyond the sun? Tech trees and exploration game.... I am curious to find out how you liked it.
Thanks
I really like it. It's sort of like Eclipse without combat and exploration.
I did not - it looks pretty cool though.
So true. I didn't commit enough in my first battle and lost, and it ruined the entire game for me. I was way behind the rest.
never knew fantano played board games
Best teeth in the game!
So, I got a group who loves Eclipse and... I don't get why. it looks, and plays, so boring.
All games, no matter who, no matter what, is all about: alliances of 2 players, and all going into an orgy of ships on the center to fight for it. No other strategy is valid really. Always, always, no matter what, ally with the player right next to you on the board. If you wanna change things up and attack that who is next to you, all you will achieve is be alone and when someone captures the center he with his ally will steamroll you while your neighbor will come to exploit your weakness. So no one ever does that.
Trying to connect with your opponents through any direction other than the center is you giving up the game: whoever captures the center will easily just pour into your territory and destroy your entire economy before you can exploit any "flanking" you do. I tried it, and my friends warned me the game just doesn't work that way, and it will punish me for trying. They tried it before and it always went wrong.
So I don't get it... this game all about just building up, going for hte center, and then ending the game. In fact we rarely finish teh games cuz once someone captures the center it's over, there is no point in even trying anymore. And I saw it in action: first time we played I wanted to continue and it played out just as expected: controlling the center makes it easy to just invade someone's turf without his ally being able to come to the rescue...
The game feels incredibly repetitive and dull, I am trying to learn ways to break this stalemate but it feels as if the game will punish me for trying to do anything other than building up and charging into the center.
Maybe you should make some house rules to prevent this from happening?
You said it very eloquently yourself. You (and your game group) don't get it. You could read up on how to properly play the game and then crush your friends each game. Then they'll probably start to realize they don't understand what they're doing. It's easier said than done, but I had to say this, because it's interesting how you claim the game is boring, when it is clear you (and your friends) don't know how to play.
Strange, in our games, the first person in the centre is adjacent to everyone, and everyone attacks them. The first player in the centre, better be tough, because with 3+ others attacking you, you don't keep the centre for long. Maybe rather than saying, "he has got the centre, let's surrender", you should say, "you hit him high, and I'll hit him low".
Our group loves Eclipse.
Warm regards, Rick.
I have won game without capturing the center. I have seen people won the game by tech tree. Multiple ways to win.
Ngl, I learned nothing.
“Explore early” was all I needed to hear to know this video is shit. Wtf else is there to do early?!