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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Morrus" data-source="post: 7649442" data-attributes="member: 1">Taken from the Noble History of The Terran Directorate: “The  Terran Directorate had spent centuries peacefully coexisting in their  own little corner of the galaxy. Though their empire was small, they  were a self sufficient race that was content to keep to their own. Some  small exploration once in a while brought about expansion and new blood  to the Directorate, but beyond their borders something was stirring that  would change history forever…” [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK][align=right]http://www.enworld.org/newsimages/elipse_box.gif[/align]Eclipse, designed by  Touko Tahkokallio and first released back in 2011, is an epic game of  intergalactic exploration that – over the course of a few hours – will  see the growth and downfall of various alien cultures that vie for  domination of space. We’d normally call this a 4X game, meaning that  it’s concerned with four different elements that come together in order  to create a sprawling beast that covers many gaming bases. As  you play, you’ll Explore the deepest regions of space, slowly Expanding  your empire while exploiting the various resources that you discover.  Should anything get in your way, you’ll need to Exterminate them in  order to maintain control. This style of game has been around for  decades, both on tabletops around the world as well as in video games,  and Eclipse is one of the finest examples you’ll get to experience.  Each  player has a tableau in front of them displaying a wealth of  information. The various starships that you have developed sit at the  top, while three tracks representing your monetary, material and  scientific income sit below. Underneath that is an influence track  filled with discs that, one by one, will be removed every time you  choose an action. Beginning with a single sector of space under your  control, you’re give the option of choosing one of six different actions  each time play comes round to you. Exploring adds hexes  to the board, hopefully revealing planets that you can take over and  populate. Influence allows for the placing of those discs from the  track; very useful should you come across a hex that has no-one in  control. Research works in partnership with Upgrade as you develop new  technologies and install them on your ships. Of course, you’ll need to  get those ships made, so there’s also a Build action. Finally, Move will  see them soar through the cosmos, attacking enemies or defending your  territory. “The Terrans, frankly, grew soft. As they had  no need for assistance from any other race, they neglected to invest  more than necessary into their military. And so, as time progressed and  strange and interesting aliens sought to expand their borders, The  Directorate was seen as an easy target. Worlds that had long been part  of the empire soon fell to the rule of another set of leaders, and it  was quickly decided that enough was enough…” You’re  allowed to take as many actions as you like in Eclipse, but it comes at a  (literal) cost. Each disc moved to the action bar or placed on a hex  adds to the cost that you’ll need to pay at the end of the round.  Balancing the books can prove to be one of the trickiest elements of the  game, but through decent management you should be able to  maintain a good mix of enhancing your fleet, expanding into new areas  and keeping your borders defended. However, over the course of the nine  rounds that make up the game, you and your fellow players are quickly  going to run out of room to move.  Of course, you’ll  still want to expand, but now the only way to do so is to go to war.  Moving your vessels into an opponents’ area is seen as an act of  aggression and – once everyone has passed – play moves onto the Combat  phase. This is swift and nasty, a dice-driven affair where fistfuls of  d6s can end up being thrown. Modifications to your ships can add extra,  more powerful dice as well as technology that improves your chances of  hitting the enemy as well as keep your fleet safe. Should things not be  going your way you could get the chance to retreat, but most of the time  battles descend into a Last Ship Standing slugfest with the victor  seizing control of the area. “Terran military strength  was mediocre at best, so it was no surprise when one of their finest  generals developed a plan based around guerrilla tactics. Essentially  suicide missions, speedy Interceptor class ships were outfitted with Ion  Missiles. Their task was simple: engage the enemy, whatever size they  may be, then fire everything that was on board in an all-or-nothing  blaze of hope. They were not expected to come back alive. Not one single  pilot ever survived a mission.” Once the nine rounds are  done, points are tallied to see who is victorious. These come from a  range of sources; the sectors of space that you control, battles that  you have been involved in, technologies that you have developed and  various bonuses, all come together at the end. And yet having played  Eclipse I feel that this part, the finding out who won, really doesn’t  matter – for me, it was all about the experience of the game. Those  hours spent at the table as the six of us told our stories, slowly eking  our part of space then building up to this almighty tussle as the game  drew to an end.  It’s a wonderfully put together game  with solid rules and a beautiful production. But really, the pleasure is  in how Eclipse actually works, how it all comes together to tell these  tales of stellar expansion and extinction. Sure, there can be a bit of  downtime, but that’s to be expected when you’ve got six people  struggling to keep their empires afloat, but it’s a price worth paying.  If you have a hankering for something a bit meatier than normal and  aren’t afraid of a game that gives you more options than you can shake a  photon shield at, Eclipse should be on your table. “When  all was said and done, when the wars were over, the Terran Directorate  was changed for all time. Their home worlds overrun by a faceless enemy,  their only option was to retreat and regroup on smaller outlying  planets. What had been a peaceful race concerned only with its own  people was now forever scarred. Should the need arise, they would know  in future that they would have to develop those aggressive technologies a  lot earlier, not be afraid to go on the offensive, and – most of all –  make sure their ships had some decent bloody hulls…”  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/newsimages/eclipse_board.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> This review was written by EN World reviewer Michael Fox, host of the <a href="http://littlemetaldog.com/" target="_blank">Little Metal Dog podcast</a>.</blockquote>

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