So, in the next few weeks Fantasy Flight is releasing a second expansion for Twilight Imperium.
Shards of the Throne is due to come out in the Spring of 2011 (rumored to be June).
Shards includes new races, units, technology, strategy cards, and game mechanics.
Races: There are four completely new races. Three of them are playable in standard games. The fourth is the infamous Lazax, whose home system is Mecatol Rex and they are played in some kind of custom game setting.
Units: There appear to be two new units. One is a tank like unit for ground combat. It is rumored to have two wounds, like a dreadnought. The other type is the "flagship"; apparently each races flagship has its own different rules.
Technology: There are rumored to be more racial technologies for each race. (Hopefully Mentak will get something awesome)
Strategy Cards: There are rumored to be 4 or 5 Strategy cards that are designed as replacements for older cards. (i.e. Assembly II, Trade III) They are used to take advantage of the new game mechanics of "Mercenaries", "Representatives", and "Promissory Notes".
Game Mechanics: Some new rumored game mechanics include mercenaries, representatives, and promissory notes. Mercenaries appear to be exactly what they sound like. Specialized units for hire. representatives apparently cost influence and can do a variety of political things. Promissory notes are my new favorite, I think they can be traded like trade goods or trade contracts. They are basically binding agreements that players can use. Kind of like a deal you cannot go back on.
As always, I am super excited for anything to do with Twilight Imperium. Come June, I hope to do a short piece on how "Shards of the Throne" changed the way the game is played.
-Mike
