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Twilight Imperium REX: Final Days of an Empire

From FFG: "Rex is a strategy board game for three to six players, set in the Twilight Imperium universe. During a game of Rex, each player takes the role of one of the great races attempting to control Mecatol City. Each race has a set of unique economic, military, strategic, or treacherous advantages that allows it to control certain aspects of the game or even win the game with a unique victory condition.

In each game round, players move their units about the game board attempting to collect influence (the main resource in Rex) and conquering areas of Mecatol City.

Though combat and conquest are elements of the game, the heart of the experience is about diplomacy, treachery, and brittle alliances. Players must be careful who they trust, and always be wary of sneaky and often sudden victories."

REX uses a revised and streamlined version of the rules and game mechanics found in the original (1979) Avalon Hill Dune board game. At the time FFG had the rights to the rules of that edition of the board game, but could not secure the rights to the Dune IP from the Herbert estate. So, FFG decided to revise the rules and release this game, but instead of using the Dune setting, they set it in their own Twilight Imperium setting.

For a long time this was the only "modern version of Dune" that was available. However, since 2019, Gale Force Nine has released new officially licensed revised editions of Dune which I am sure there are mods for on TTS. The newer editions of Dune are great, and full credit must go to Gale Force Nine for finally securing the rights to the IP and rules, and releasing great revisions of the game.

I am a lover of both Dune and Twilight Imperium. However, for me, I prefer REX to all of the editions of Dune that are currently available. The things about REX that tip the balance for me are the streamlined mechanics and the Twilight Imperium setting. Even the new editions of Dune feel quite heavy and cumbersome in comparison. Heavy game weight is not necessarily a bad thing, I like plenty of heavier games, but when something like REX is available and feels a little more streamlined, that inclines me more toward REX. Also, while I love the Dune setting, the Twilight Imperium setting just feels more fresh and exciting to me. So given the choice I am usually going to choose to play REX. Dune has many very devoted fans that will of course disagree with me, but those are just my reasons for preferring this game.

For this mod, I made one minor change to the game. I did not reproduce the battle dials and leader tokens, because I did not know how to create functioning dials in TTS. Instead I created three new decks of cards for each of the races. So when resolving combat, each side will choose one battle strength card indicating how many of the available units they will commit and sacrifice, one leader card, and one battle plan card indicating which kinds of strategy cards they will play, if any. These cards will be placed face down, and both participants will reveal all of their cards simultaneously.

The game rules can be found here:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/rex-final-days-of-an-empire/#/support-section

I hope you enjoy this mod, and if you enjoy REX, please support the publisher by purchasing a physical copy of the game.

Publisher:
Fantasy Flight Games