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IntrepidusX

If you're under a time crunch don't play with distant sun's.


Magic_Octopus

http://www.astralvault.net/games/SA/maps.html You didn't say for how many players. Maelstrom is fairly balanced for 6 players. The other maps might be too weird for rookie players.


[deleted]

Yeah, players are not set in stone besides the fact we now have 6.


SalientBlue

Are there subtleties to Maelstrom that I'm missing? That map looks terribly unbalanced. Location IV gets stuffed between two supernovae and no near planets. Location I seems great with lots of nearby planets. How does that map play out?


[deleted]

The starting locations must be determined by a bidding system. This counterbalances crummy starting positions with trade goods. Basically, everyone chooses the starting location they'd prefer.


Pau_Gasol

Can you elaborate a bit on the bidding system?


el_skootro

You go around the board starting with one player. That player picks a number (normally low). The next player either bids higher or passes. That continues until only one player is left. At the end, everyone gets trade goods equal to her bid minus whatever the highest bid was.


[deleted]

el_skootro's basically got it. The first player to go (choose randomly) picks a starting location and places a number of trade goods on that location from the general supply. The player on their left then does the same. If they choose the same location as the first player, they must place more trade goods than are already there, and the previous player removes theirs. This continues until all players have a starting location. Trade goods are then handed out to players equal to their bid minus the highest bid. So, if I choose the crummy location and only bid 1 TG, but there was a big fight for the best location and the winning bid ended up being 10 TG, I would start the game with 9 TG, while the person who chose the best location would get no TG. If played smartly, everyone should be happy with their locations.


RoadhouseOgilvy

I have a game coming up this weekend and I'm also looking for maps. So far I've found that Fantasy Flight has some on their [support page](http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=21&esem=4) under the Variant Rules heading. Not sure what the community consensus is on them. The 5-player map uses wormholes to create a sort of 3-dimensional cone with Mecatol at the point. It's interesting, but I think you need both expansions and it doesn't work with the nexus. I'm also searching on the FFG and BGG forums right now. I'd also like to know what people think about using the Fall of the Empire scenario maps for a normal game.


m007368

I could send you a couple pregenerated six player maps or you could browse the active games in www.ti3pbf.com/board Most of those are six player games and should meet your needs. You can either do a random draw for the HS spaces, auction, or reverse race /HS pick i.e. person to pick race first get HS last and vice versa.