https://frontrowcrew.com/geeknights/20120110/eclipse-board-game/
I could not locate the old thread in the forum for this so linking the episode instead. The reason…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO-YqmlY9XE
Second edition!
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I was interested until the price 
EDIT; £150 for something I’ll play once or twice…
I’m definitely interested, but will wait till spring (or later) next year when I can actually play board games with a close group of friends personally again. Game Trays were such a great upgrade for Suburbia Collectors Edition that seeing them used fully in storage and gameplay is a major selling point in a game for me. The setup on this and gameplay looks pretty quick compared to a Twilight Imperium or other big stonking war board game.
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Did you not play the first edition? It’s basically TI but condensed. Once you know what you’re doing, a 4 player game takes 2 hours.
I honestly don’t play it enough but would love to get a group going for it once that’s feasible.
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I am interested in this, but that price tag and already owning the first edition makes it a bit of a difficult buy.
As someone who never owned Eclipse, and passed on TI:4, I have to admit that I’m tempted by this game.
That being said, part of what I like about these big epic wargames, as opposed to more traditional Euros, is the emergent narrative and rpg-like elements that develop during the game. While Eclipse might be a tighter/faster version of TI, for me, nothing beats that sheer sense of EPICNESS of a good game of Twilight Imperium. From the Shut Up and Sit Down review, as good as Eclipse may be, it doesn’t seem to have that element.
I’ve been lucky to play a bunch of TI:4 games and my friends and I still talk about some of the crazy stuff that happened in those games. I don’t think in all my years of playing board games that I’ve ever had a conversation years later about a particularly effective turn I took in Terra Mystica, but with Twilight Imperium, when we play, my friends and I are creating our own Epic Space Saga. While other people might not care about that, and only want better gameplay, that’s one of the things I love about TI.
I’m very torn…
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I’ve got TI:3 with all the expansions and they are pretty awesome and epic, it’s the 2+hours per player that kills me. I hope that TI:4 is faster but from what I understand it really isn’t that much faster.
I love Eclipse way more because the over and done in 2ish hours. And it’s not that much smaller honestly.
When I look back in my mind of TI:3 I remember spending more time waiting or looking for a snack, than I remember doing something. Eclipse I remember doing things.
Eclipse does not have that element. As with any game, nothing stops you from bringing it yourself, but Eclipse doesn’t facilitate it very much at all.
I bet there’s an actual TTRPG out there that gives the 4X space battle story without the actual micro managing simulation game attached. If not, someone who isn’t me should make it.
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I think this is going to greatly depend on the players. In my experience, TI:4 is MUCH faster than TI:3, but that’s relatively speaking. The games of TI:3 that I played all took over 10 hours. The longest game I ever played was 14 hours.
By contrast, most games of TI:4 that I’ve played are done in about 6 hours. While that’s nowhere near as fast as the 2 hours for Eclipse, that’s almost half as long as TI:3. For me at least, I don’t mind spending 6 hours for that kind of epic experience.
6 Hours doesn’t seem that bad … I could probably get enough to buy into TI:4 if I sell my TI:3 set >>
I’d go so far as to say that Eclipse prevents that kind of narrative. The entire game is tightly focused on fighting to get points, so much that I see little room to actually add that fluff in. And if you try, you bog the game down and find out that it’s actually not very fun if it’s drawn out.
Never played first edition. Among myself and my friends theres me and 1-2 others who would have interest in some games but not a burning passion so TI’s price sort of self excludes it from serious purchase consideration.
A serious tactical war game or euro (we love Brass Birmingham for example) is something were all way more likely to buy and play.
My largest boardgame expense ever was dropping 150ish for Suburbia Collectors Edition on kickstarter and that was for a game type and specific game we love.