Thank you for doing this. I have only had a chance to play this by myself two-handed and it was good to see it played by two real people. Ryan has already released a page of official variants on BGG. The one that you might want to use is the Liberation variant where you can "liberate" a planet back to its natives from your opponents forces.
Wow, that was a GREAT game! You guys are wonderful, and so much fun to watch. I'm surprised at how quickly a story started to unfold during gameplay, that's what makes games fun and memorable for me. I want this game so bad, but I need people who will be willing to put in the effort. A few questions I have regarding the game: -Are you not allowed to split your starsloops from the mothership and move them independently? If so why didn't you do it? -Are you allowed to leave troops in planets to defend them? Inhabited or not? A few times you guys took control away from each other just by landing.
Thanks for the runthrough. I think you can have a much different experience if you leave aliens on your controlled planets to defend them and make use of ALL your ships. You start with 1 Worldship and 1 Sloop, but you have the ability to buy up to 2 more sloops. It is not only a Base that can defend a planet but the allies you leave there. So Anthony wouldn't have lost Corzar so easily if he had left behind some fighting units. And Francis would have found the available real estate more crowded and contentious for two players. The board becomes less open, and you really have to worry about your powerful opponents, whether they attack you or not. Also you cannot attack a planet with more than three fighting units (unless cards or aliens powers allow otherwise).
Excellent playthrough and I love watching your thoughts/review at the end. I had not considered this game, but looks like it's going at the top of the purchase list. I haven't been let down by any Red Raven games.
Great video! I've never played a Ryan Laukat game before and I might still try Above and Below first, but I am compelled to look at this one further because of one thing you said around 1:41:24 about space themes and I am exactly the same way. My interest drops big time when I found out a game is about space. Probably why I passed on this a long time ago. I love Dwellings of Eldervale, but I have no interest in Andromeda's Edge either.I just don't care for space games, but I am oddly intrigued by this.
Anthony and Francis, you said you never played the first empires of the void. As an original backer of the first one back in 2012 or 2013, I can tell you it was a very different game then this one. Diplomacy was a big part of the first one. When you enter the planet you had to either use diplomacy by discarding cards from your hand or take the planet over by force using your ships. There were also a lot of different ships that you could build - kind of like eclipse - but the rules in the gameplay had a lot of problems. They came out with the revised rules which completely changed the game. It got rid of most of the ships, got rid of a lot of the cards, and also changed the way you used diplomacy or force to take a planet over as well. There's instructions that tell you what to do to turn your 1.0 into the revised version but it's a lot of work and so far I haven't really got my head wrapped around how it all works so I never did it. Either way, it is a very different game than this one - this seems a lot more polished then the original 1.0.
Everyone uses the 90 degree overhead shot of the board for playthroughs. But it’s not a natural view, it takes up more screen real estate, and it obscures the 3D pieces on the boards. The better alternative is an angled shot (45 deg?). Consider trying that adjustment and hopefully others will follow!
Hello. Could you please advise - which is the best sci-fi space board game (not fantasy,)? Is it this the best on the market or another one, please recommend?
Ok, first of all I liked watching this game and, man, the game looks so alive! I really liked the events a lot! Everything looks nice and polished, I just have a question...was this a particular pacifist game by you two, or you almost never face your opponent in battle, in Eotw2? You never did a space battle between the 2 motherships, and you never sieged another player's planet. Is this normal? Or it can actually happen in a game, maybe more "crowded"? Also, you never left some troops guarding planets, is this also normal? Is the military activity in this game simply versus Ai? thanks for the reply
Hey this is Frances - I design and make them! I was unhappy with lack of female gamer gear that was more my style, so I started making my own. When people showed interest, I started selling them :p We have an Etsy shop here with a few things - just got it up and running :) www.etsy.com/shop/tabletopthreads
It seems you were searching very hard to find a con for this game, the conflict and play time turned out to be pros 😁, where do you rate this one between other games from Ryan Laukat !?
Played four player game. Not sure how I feel about the game. Components are beautiful. The Godzilla figure never landed on our board which made the experience incomplete. Would be curious how you store the game because setup is a bear.
I’m looking to buy a Space game and I am torn between pulsar 2849 and empires of the void II. I know that they are very different mechanically but which would you recommend over the other?
Brock Summers EoV II is richer in theme and story. Pulsar is a crunchy point salad. It’s really whichever of those characteristics you prefer most. Both are excellent.
It was KS funded and published by Red Raven Games. It looks to be available at Cool Stuff Inc. Looks like Canadian retailers still have it on pre-order.
A quick check with a couple of US online stores (Coolstuff Inc, Miniature Market, Funagain), it appears to be available now as a pre-order. Both sites show an expected release date of Feb 21, but take that with a grain of salt :-)
Martin Pedersen That’s an interesting opinion. We don’t think we’ve ever argued during a playthrough on or off camera. None of our videos are scripted, so what you see is our typical, comfortable banter. 😉
Bought this game after watching your playthrough! I have to say, it is one of my favourite games of all time now - and this playthrough is stellar!
Thank you for doing this. I have only had a chance to play this by myself two-handed and it was good to see it played by two real people. Ryan has already released a page of official variants on BGG. The one that you might want to use is the Liberation variant where you can "liberate" a planet back to its natives from your opponents forces.
I really like the new review format at the end of the video, just chatting in front of the board. The softer lighting is also a good idea.
You have become my go-to-channel, I always agree with your old reviews so I listen carefully to all new reviews. Thanks!
I bought anachrony and the exosuit expansion after y’alls play-through and your top ten two player board games for two review!!!
Just want to thank you for a great video, appreciate explanation of every action or move, very easy to understand and learn the game.
Thanks guys for posting this video! I ordered by copy yesterday, and can't wait to play soon!
Also, you guys have great video quality, and great camera angles on the board! It makes it very easy to follow along. Thanks!
YO!!! Check out the floating/spinning Death Star!!! Fantastic playthrough as always.
Wow, that was a GREAT game! You guys are wonderful, and so much fun to watch.
I'm surprised at how quickly a story started to unfold during gameplay, that's what makes games fun and memorable for me.
I want this game so bad, but I need people who will be willing to put in the effort.
A few questions I have regarding the game:
-Are you not allowed to split your starsloops from the mothership and move them independently? If so why didn't you do it?
-Are you allowed to leave troops in planets to defend them? Inhabited or not? A few times you guys took control away from each other just by landing.
Thanks for the runthrough. I think you can have a much different experience if you leave aliens on your controlled planets to defend them and make use of ALL your ships. You start with 1 Worldship and 1 Sloop, but you have the ability to buy up to 2 more sloops. It is not only a Base that can defend a planet but the allies you leave there. So Anthony wouldn't have lost Corzar so easily if he had left behind some fighting units. And Francis would have found the available real estate more crowded and contentious for two players. The board becomes less open, and you really have to worry about your powerful opponents, whether they attack you or not. Also you cannot attack a planet with more than three fighting units (unless cards or aliens powers allow otherwise).
Finally getting this to the table tonight, this has been really helpful getting me ready to teach the game!
I think you can only use up to three units in battle.
Excellent playthrough and I love watching your thoughts/review at the end. I had not considered this game, but looks like it's going at the top of the purchase list. I haven't been let down by any Red Raven games.
Great video! I've never played a Ryan Laukat game before and I might still try Above and Below first, but I am compelled to look at this one further because of one thing you said around 1:41:24 about space themes and I am exactly the same way. My interest drops big time when I found out a game is about space. Probably why I passed on this a long time ago. I love Dwellings of Eldervale, but I have no interest in Andromeda's Edge either.I just don't care for space games, but I am oddly intrigued by this.
Anthony and Francis, you said you never played the first empires of the void. As an original backer of the first one back in 2012 or 2013, I can tell you it was a very different game then this one. Diplomacy was a big part of the first one. When you enter the planet you had to either use diplomacy by discarding cards from your hand or take the planet over by force using your ships. There were also a lot of different ships that you could build - kind of like eclipse - but the rules in the gameplay had a lot of problems. They came out with the revised rules which completely changed the game. It got rid of most of the ships, got rid of a lot of the cards, and also changed the way you used diplomacy or force to take a planet over as well. There's instructions that tell you what to do to turn your 1.0 into the revised version but it's a lot of work and so far I haven't really got my head wrapped around how it all works so I never did it. Either way, it is a very different game than this one - this seems a lot more polished then the original 1.0.
this play through and teach is great. Thanks. Super fun game.
Final thoughts 1:28:39
@9:45 Frances comedy gold. All the thumbs.
Another game added to my want list. Thanks, Ant Lab Games! :)
Everyone uses the 90 degree overhead shot of the board for playthroughs. But it’s not a natural view, it takes up more screen real estate, and it obscures the 3D pieces on the boards. The better alternative is an angled shot (45 deg?). Consider trying that adjustment and hopefully others will follow!
Hello. Could you please advise - which is the best sci-fi space board game (not fantasy,)? Is it this the best on the market or another one, please recommend?
Ok, first of all I liked watching this game and, man, the game looks so alive! I really liked the events a lot! Everything looks nice and polished, I just have a question...was this a particular pacifist game by you two, or you almost never face your opponent in battle, in Eotw2? You never did a space battle between the 2 motherships, and you never sieged another player's planet. Is this normal? Or it can actually happen in a game, maybe more "crowded"? Also, you never left some troops guarding planets, is this also normal? Is the military activity in this game simply versus Ai? thanks for the reply
At 38:11. Anthony, during battle on Corzar did you use all four tokens on your world ship?
Thanks so much for the video! How would you rate this versus Exclipse 2e?
Where did Frances get that shirt?! My wife would love it!
Hey this is Frances - I design and make them! I was unhappy with lack of female gamer gear that was more my style, so I started making my own. When people showed interest, I started selling them :p We have an Etsy shop here with a few things - just got it up and running :) www.etsy.com/shop/tabletopthreads
It seems you were searching very hard to find a con for this game, the conflict and play time turned out to be pros 😁, where do you rate this one between other games from Ryan Laukat !?
Are all of Francis' mushrooms b/c of the deep fungus?
Great review! I think I'd rather play Eclipse, but this one seems like it'd be shorter though.
Is this the normal retail version, or the deluxe edition? Please let me know, anybody.
matthlowder Normal retail
Ant Lab Games incredible!
Played four player game. Not sure how I feel about the game. Components are beautiful. The Godzilla figure never landed on our board which made the experience incomplete. Would be curious how you store the game because setup is a bear.
Wauw, I watched the whole video. Not something I would do but it was fun and learned how too play without opening the book 😂
how this ammmmazing game has such a low rang on bgg? ... this is absolutely must be on top 50 strategy games.
I’m looking to buy a Space game and I am torn between pulsar 2849 and empires of the void II. I know that they are very different mechanically but which would you recommend over the other?
Brock Summers EoV II is richer in theme and story. Pulsar is a crunchy point salad. It’s really whichever of those characteristics you prefer most. Both are excellent.
That Death Star though.
I really want to try this game!
Would you say is this your favorite space game? If not, do you have one?
ok you guys basically sold this game to me .. thx
Nice game
Your games planet tiles aren't all bowed to hell like my are - 30 minutes after opening the box.
I need to touch those components.
Who’s selling this?
It was KS funded and published by Red Raven Games. It looks to be available at Cool Stuff Inc. Looks like Canadian retailers still have it on pre-order.
A quick check with a couple of US online stores (Coolstuff Inc, Miniature Market, Funagain), it appears to be available now as a pre-order. Both sites show an expected release date of Feb 21, but take that with a grain of salt :-)
Marry her
I had to stop watching after you kept arguing with each other even while reviewing the setup.
Martin Pedersen That’s an interesting opinion. We don’t think we’ve ever argued during a playthrough on or off camera. None of our videos are scripted, so what you see is our typical, comfortable banter. 😉
Final thoughts 1:28:44