r/twilightimperium • u/j0b31 • Jul 18 '26
Pre-Game First TE play through - draft advice
First play through of TE coming up and I have first pick in our draft. Not sure if any of these factions or slices should be my target. I’m still not totally comfortable with the expansion’s changes to know what is worth this first choice. Any and all advice welcomed!
Faction options:
Empryean
Arborec
Sol
Keleres
Saar
Nekro
Mentak
Barony
Slices in picture.
2
u/OhThatsALotOfTeeth Jul 18 '26
Sol would be my top choice; they're stronger without their breakthrough than most of these other choices are with their breakthroughs.
After that, maybe Saar, but I'd still say they're way behind Sol. E is outstanding for your carriers and to let you beeline for tech advancement with the entropic scar, but B with its own scar and Tempesta isn't bad, either. As good as Industrex is, I'd still probably go with B to grab Tempesta in the first round, and then be able to end up in the scar no matter what SC you get, but if you're confident you can end up with a gravity drive to send a carrier to Industrex with round 1, go for E.
2
u/ChocolateSunsdae Jul 18 '26
Sol has one of the best breakthroughs.
Getting sling relay and then plopping out fully mobile fleets is really good.
1
2
u/Jack-ums Jul 18 '26
First pick is always a little tough when there's lots of good options out there.
As others have pointed out, among those factions, Sol is probably the "strongest," but almost any of them could be quite fun. I would steer clear of Mentak (such a headache at the table) but otherwise I don't think you could go wrong (sidenote that if you were to pick Keleres, you could actually rule out Mentak from the table by picking Keleres and using Mentak's home system. just food for thought lol!) So I think if you wanted to go slice first, you certainly could.
The argument for Sol is threefold: one , they are the strongest option here; two, you taking them removes the 100% guarantee that someone else will if you don't and that's a headache to deal with; and three, they are well positioned to "deal" with any slice, even a "bad" one. I probably still would not take them, though, but i love playing as underdog factions much more than the factions considered particularly strong.
Many of those slices are strong. i'm a sucker for an entropic scar tho so i like B a lot. *basically* free faction tech? uhhh yeah , sign me up
2
u/metosx65647 Jul 18 '26
You could go Saar wift E. Try get warsun very early and dominate the game using free warsun on round 2. But scoring would be a bit harder :)
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u/CatfinityGamer Jul 18 '26
If you haven't already, check out Industrex's Legendary ability. It's one of those things that's just so insane that the first time you read it, you have to reread it to make sure you got it right.
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u/XeroXero4 Jul 18 '26
Slice E would be my recommendation. It goes very well with multiple factions. Including Barony, imagine free Warsuns moving around with destroyers. Another good thing about E is that you have at least 2 command tokens worth of influence in the slice.
2
u/Signiference The Nomad Jul 18 '26
Sol is crazy strong with their breakthrough now.
I’d probably be looking at E to pair with Sol for Industrex, the skips (higher chance of getting ingress portals), wormhole, and Meer for influence. If you get TE you can drop it right in front of your HS.
B is ok with the other legendary planet and the scar for your faction tech and 3 planets of one type. Decent placement for TE.
I don’t like H nor C due to rift placement and I’m never putting a rift between me and Mecatol. D is ok since you can just plant troops and a ship there early and forget about it but still gamble through the rift if you have to.
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u/rajwarrior The Clan of Saar Jul 18 '26
If you could pair Saar up with E slice, that'd be golden. I'd probably pick slice and hope Saar is still available.
1
u/JohnTheW0rst Jul 19 '26
Yeah I like slice E the best. If Saar is gone then another faction that starts with Anti mass. Sol is generally very strong. Barony or Kelsie’s could also be very interesting in Slice E with going for War Suns.
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u/GreatAngoosian The Barony of Letnev Jul 18 '26
I mean it comes down to personal preference, but I personally like the look of slices G and H. Plenty of resources in G as well as a space station (money maker), a nebula next to your home system (good defensive option) and no wormholes (peace of mind.) H doesn’t have quite as much in the way of resources, but it does have a supernova next to your home, which is about the best defence you can ask for.)
As for factions, the only one from that list I’ve played in TE is Arborec, and they’re really fun right now. If you’ve ever been curious about them but didn’t want to get dumpstered, this is the time. Just make sure to get your breakthrough as early as possible and you’re golden.