Lautapelit.fi Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy

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Sci-fi as a genre is hugely popular, but in my experience, there aren’t many board games that capture the thrilling possibilities of space travel the same way a movie or TV show could. Something always seemed to be missing…until I played Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy, and my understanding of what board games can achieve within the sci-fi genre was altered entirely. With that being said, when I first became aware of Eclipse : Second Dawn for the Galaxy a few years ago, I already had Twilight Imperium IV in my collection. However, given how long that game can be, I decided I needed a “short” 4x game to scratch the itch whenever the urge to play such a game came about without needing to commit an entire day to it. I was forced to choose between The Silver River and the 2nd version of Eclipse at the time, and in the end went for the Silver River due to the significantly lower price point and the somewhat innovative idea of fighting Space monsters. And I wasn’t disappointed in my choice in the least.

After a few years of waiting for shortages of the game that was between printings and having accrued enough savings, I can finally say that I own the 2nd edition of Eclipse now. Will, thanks for this thoughtful review, and briefly comparing Eclipse 2nd Dawn with its more established cousin, Twilight Imperium. I’d like to share a few comments regarding whether players feel having both games is redundant. Players select and resolve Actions during each round until all players pass. Actions are made up of different Activations, varying depending on your Species and Techs. Resources There is a constant battle in resource management in this game, making it so you always need to be sure to have enough gold to maintain your population scattered across various planets. While you do generally need to spread your influence throughout the Galaxy to obtain the all-so-precious Victory Points needed to win the game, having a large galactic presence means you need to pay more to maintain your power. What this means in gameplay is that if you somehow manage to go broke, you are out of the game! Though it should be mentioned there are ways to eliminate your debt by relinquishing systems you control, it is nevertheless very easy to bite off more than you can chew (yes, it has happened to us on more than one occasion!).Eclipse also gets the nod with some of my friends because in many sessions of TI, someone is very clearly “out of it” by about the midway point. The latter half of the (very long) game is rarely great for them. There are ways to mitigate this, but we’re not power gamers, so it’s an occasional issue for us. Eclipse obscures enough of the victory point information that hope generally stays alive until near the end.

Not only are there eight rounds per game, but it also takes a long time to get to grips with all the rules, so if you’re impatient like me, you might find it difficult to enjoy at first. So here in combat, ironically, I think we see the strongest Euro-gaming influence. It’s a system that can be mapped out and calculated more than the premise initially implies. Dice rolls still matter, of course, and outcomes aren’t predictable when sides are more or less evenly matched, but decisions can definitely lean toward the analytical side instead of gut reactions to board state and player dynamics.After this, other players who pass may take one Reaction or Pass. You can choose from the following actions: I do wish the game still came with a central game board, as it can hard visually aligning the hexes without a reference. Yes it can be done, but it can be a little sore on the eyes of things don’t initially seem symmetrical during the initial game layout. Not to mention the fact that negotiation is a crucial facet of the gameplay in Twilight Imperium, with last year’s Prophecy of Kings expansion filling out the game in such a way that it’s almost a must-have for those who fall in love with this space classic. The expansion includes a beefy new exploration mechanic and new factions that turn an already intense experience into a multi-day carnival of the animals Influence - You can add an influence token to a system next to one of your own. You can also remove a token from one of your systems if you think you might have overreached yourself. The game concludes after eight rounds have been played. The person with the most victory points wins!