Strategy in 'Imperium: Third Millennium'
By Doug McNair
April 2006

During my three-year hiatus from Avalanche Press (when I foolishly thought a high corporate salary was adequate recompense for dealing with bureaucrats as bad as the Vogons . . .), Imperium was the game that got played most often at my house. My wife and I adore the game for the same reasons we love Soldier Kings, and the fact that it’s a space opera makes it the #1 choice for Paula (the local sci-fi con queen).

Politics, resource management, and the huge difficulties involved in coordinating a galaxy-wide campaign are the major factors driving Imperium play. Both players must spend their resource points carefully to build the best mix of ships, ground troops and outposts every turn. Just as important, they must carefully balance offensives with defensive preparations to avoid being caught off-guard when the unexpected happens (and it happens A LOT!).

The major issues each player in Imperium must deal with in the First Galactic War scenario (which can be played alone or as the start of the Campaign Game) are as follows:

Imperials

The Imperial governor is charged with invading the Terran sector and subduing the human rebellion. He starts the game in a reasonable position to do this — he has almost double the number of warships as the Terran player, and he’s got plenty of transports and troops ready to invade. He’s also got access to the Terran sector on two fronts, so if he can deceive them as to where his main battle strength is, he can avoid significant opposition until he’s already at the Terran home worlds.

But time is not on the governor’s side. Imperial taxation robs him of most local resource production. Even though he controls at least triple the number of planets as the Terrans, he only gets 1 Resource from each of them, while the Terrans get the full Resource output of all planets they control. This means that the Terrans can outspend the governor mightily as the game goes on, building more and bigger ships with which to oppose him, plus plenty of ground troops to deal with any invaders that get through.

The governor must therefore do all he can to win the war early, hitting the Terrans aggressively to overwhelm their meager defenses fast. If he’s unable to do this, then the only recourse he has is appealing to the Emperor for aid. This costs the governor one Glory point every time he does it. Since Glory is the key to victory, and since there’s no guarantee that the appeal for aid will be heeded, the Governor must be careful to make appeals only when he’s out of other options.

Terrans

The Earthers start out badly outgunned, but they have a huge advantage in their resource production potential. The worlds and outposts the Terrans control at the game’s start produce more than 150% of the entire Imperial provincial budget. For this reason, the Terran focus must always be LONG-TERM!

It’s very easy for the impulsive humans to get swept up in early successes, launching massive offensives in hopes of a quick victory. If waging a galactic war were a simple affair, and if the galaxy were an uncomplicated place, such Terran early aggression might make sense. But the unexpected plays a gigantic role in Imperium, and unforeseen events run the gamut from operational breakdowns to local intervention by the Emperor himself. Going out on a limb is a very bad idea in a chaotic universe.

The Terran player must do everything possible to preserve, protect and defend his or her home worlds, and to stick to a program of slow, steady force buildup. This will help assure that Terran territorial gains will be backed up by the force to protect them. More importantly, this is the best way to make sure that Earth always has the forces on-hand to deal with unexpected threats.

Game Summary

The following action report illustrates these points. Note that while there are no fixed directions in space, for the sake of clarity I use standard compass directions to describe fleet movements.

Turn 1

Administrative Segment

The Imperium player rolls for Imperial Intervention, but rolls 7 and gets “No Result.” Both players then earn Resources from their planetary holdings plus the local Imperial budget, and they end up with Resource point totals of Imperium 29, Terrans 49.

The governor decides to build an Imperial strike cruiser, a destroyer, a unit of jump troops (good for invading planets with toxic atmospheres) and an attack transport (good for getting jump troops into such places fast), for 28 Resource points.

The Terran player purchases three infantry units (useable on Earth-like planets only), two jump troop units, one attack transport, three torpedo boats (cheap ships with lots of firepower) and one light cruiser (a powerful light ship, especially at close range) for 46 Resources.

The players place these units on the turn record track since they’ll be received on future turns. Most of the units built will be received on Turn 2, but the Imperial strike cruiser and all the attack transports will be received on Turn 3.

Action Segments

Each turn there are four action segments. In each action segment, each player can take a varying number of actions with his fleets. The players roll one die each turn to see in how many star systems they can activate fleets during that action segment. Whoever rolls higher goes first, and the players alternate taking activations until they’ve both run out of activations for the segment. If both players roll the same number, nothing happens that action segment and they go on to the next one or to end the turn (if they were rolling for action segment #4). Ships move along pre-set jump routes that lead from star system to star system, and must battle enemy ships in star systems they enter while jumping.

Action Segment 1

The Terrans roll a 6 and the Imperials roll a 4. The Terrans go first.

Terran Activation #1: The Terran player decides to activate Terran fleets 1 and 2, which he set up at the outpost at Barnard’s Star, southwest of Earth on the galactic map. Fleet 1 (a light cruiser, a destroyer and a torpedo boat) moves farther southwest to a forward position at the Agidda star system. They leave behind one unit of jump troops at Barnard’s Star to protect the outpost there in case of an Imperial breakthrough. Then Fleet 2 (two scout ships) moves past Fleet 1 into Imperial territory, attempting to detect the composition of enemy forces there through Stealth Scouting (rule 17.2). It is successful, and discovers that the Imperial fleet at Nusku 1 outpost (southwest of Agidda) is composed of a cruiser, a light cruiser and a destroyer, while the planet of Nusku 1 has a Planetary Defense System (PDS). The scouts then move northwest to the Imperial outpost of Ishimshulgi, where they successfully scout another Imperial fleet. It consists of two DDs and two scout ships, while Ishimshulgi also has a PDS.

Imperial Activation #1: Imperial Fleet 1 at Nusku (the one the scout ships reported on) advances from Nusku 1 to Agidda and engages Terran Fleet 1 in battle. There are up to three combat rounds per battle, and each side can try to close range or disengage depending on their ships' spee.

Forces:

• Imperial : Cruiser (CR), Light Cruiser (CL) and Destroyer (DD) (7 Beams, 10 Missiles)
• Terran: Light Cruiser, Torpedo Boat (TB), Destroyer (6 Beams, 8 Missiles)

Combat Rounds:

1. Both sides line up and fire first at long range (missiles only). The Imperial CR shoots at the Terran CL, while the Imperial CL and DD shoot at the Terran TB. They get no hits. Then the Terrans shoot back, with the TB hitting the Imperial CL and the Terran CL and DD hitting the Imperial DD. They damage the CL.

2. The Terrans try to disengage but roll lower than the Imperials. The Imperials then roll to close range and succeed. The Imperials fire at the same targets and damage the TB. The Terrans fire back and damage the Imperial CR and DD (it took two hits to damage the CR, so that was some good close-range shooting!).

3. The Imperials are not doing as well as they’d hoped — all three of their ships are damaged now, while only the Terran TB has taken damage. Their firepower is vastly reduced, and they’d like to back off to long range to let their missile superiority take its toll. But the Terrans roll higher, so they can’t back off. The Imperials fire all their missiles and beams at the Terran CL and damage it. Then the Terrans fire back one for one, and DESTROY ALL THREE Imperial ships! Imperial Fleet 1 is wiped out.

Terran Activation #2: Flush with their stunning victory at the Battle of Agidda, the Terrans decide to go on the offensive. The two Blue Giants of Sirius and Procyon will slow any Imperial advances into the Terran sector from the east, so the Terrans send their fleet guarding their eastern flank west to reinforce the victorious but damaged ships at Agidda.

Imperial Activation #2: The Governor must move forces to the systems southwest of Agidda to block the gathering Terran advance. He moves Fleet 3 from Ishimshulgi to Dushann, just west of Agidda and in the same hex as Nusku.

Terran Activation #3: Terran Fleet 5 picks up an infantry unit at Alpha Centauri B, in preparation for invading Imperial planets to the west.

Imperial Activation #3: The two scout ships who spied on Imperial Fleet 3 at Ishimshulgi are now alone there, and they can threaten the Imperial transports (loaded with troops) one jump to the southwest at Amarku 2. So the transports unload their troops and send them down to the planet for safety.

Terran Activation #4: The transport fleet at Sol 2 (otherwise known as Mars) picks up the infantry unit there.

Imperial Activation #4: Fleet 2 moves from Tau Ceti (northeast of Earth sector) westward to Zaggissi (northwest of Earth) to oppose any Terran probes northward if they get past the ships at Dushann and Nusku.

Terran Activation #5: Terran Scout Fleet 4 moves eastward from Earth to the Blue Giant Procyon as a feint — the Imperials don’t know what’s in the fleet, so they’ll hopefully keep some ships northeast of Earth to prevent invasion from that quarter.

The Terrans have no fleets left to activate, so they skip activation #6.

Action Segment 2

Both sides roll 4’s, so the action segment is skipped.

Action Segment 3

The Imperials roll a 4 and the Terrans roll a 2.

Imperial Activation #1: Fleet 2 from Zagissi makes three jumps (two south and one northwest) to attack the scout fleet at Ishimshulgi (the one that could threaten the transports at Amarku 2). The CL and DD in Fleet 2 destroy one Terran scout with long-range missile fire, and then the other scout disengages and escapes southeast to Nusku 2.

Terran Activation #1: Fleet 3, which came in to reinforce the victors of Agidda, moves southwest from there to Dushann and attacks Imperial Fleet 3. The victorious Fleet 1 goes northeast to the outpost at Barnard’s Star so they can use it as a maintenance base at the end of the turn.

Forces:

• Imperial : 2 DDs and 2 Scouts (SC)
• Terran: DD, TB and 2 SC

Combat Rounds:

1. The Imperials damage the TB with long-range missile fire, while the Terrans damage one of the Imperial DDs. The Terrans then try to close the range (to take advantage of their greater beam capability) but the Imperials roll higher.

2. The Terran TB and one Imperial DD are destroyed. The TB constituted the majority of Terran firepower, and since the rest of their ships are undamaged they’re faster than the partially damaged Imperial fleet. The Terrans disengage and go back northeast to Agidda.

Imperial Activation #2: With the threat from the Terran scout fleet at Ishimshulgi gone, Transport Fleet 4 re-embarks the troops from Amarku 2.

Terran Activation #2: Scout Fleet 4 advances northwest from Procyon to Sirius to continue the diversion.

Imperial Activation #3: Fleet 3, which just repelled Terran Fleet 3 at Dushann, pursues the Terrans northeast to Agidda and attacks.

Forces:

Both sides have a DD and 2 SCs, but the Imperial SCs have one missile each while the Terrans don’t.

Combat Rounds:

1. All Imperial missiles fire at the Terran DD. They score one hit, but the DD’s countermeasures deflect it. The Terran DD is the only Earth ship with missiles, and it misses the Imperials. The Terrans then roll high and close on the Imperials to bring their beams in to play.

2. The Terran DD is damaged, and there are no hits on the Imperials.

3. The Terran DD is destroyed, but so is one of the Imperial SCs, while the Imperial DD is destroyed.

The combat is over, and since there are still Earth ships at Agidda, the Imperials must retreat back to Dushann.

Imperial Activation #4: An Imperial transport fleet flees from the Terran feint at Sirius, moving north to Ishkur.

Activation Segment 4

The Terrans roll a 5 and the Imperials roll a 4.

Terran Activation #1: The one remaining SC in Fleet 2 tries to get back home from Nusku 2. It slips past the just-damaged Imperial fleet at Dushann and makes it to Alpha Centauri 2.

Imperial Activation #1: Fleet 2 takes five jumps from Ishimshulgi and ends up at Shuligi outpost north of Earth sector — it’s moving generally northeast to oppose the Terran feint at Sirius.

Terran Activation #2: Loaded transports at Mars move eastward to Procyon to turn the feint into a reality. . . .

The Imperials pass.

Terran Activation #3: Transport Fleet 5 at Alpha Centauri B heads east to join the Martian Invaders at Procyon.

The Imperials pass again.

Terran Activation #4: The Victorious First Fleet heads back to Earth for maximum maintenance help.

Imperial Activation #2: Fleet 3 heads to Nusku 1 outpost for maintenance help.

Terran Activation #5: Fleet 3 heads to Barnard’s Star outpost for maintenance help.

The Imperials don’t want to activate anyone else, so all activations for the turn are over.

Closeout

Everybody has all the maintenance points they need because they’re at worlds or outposts. But after the massive building at turn-start, remaining resource points for repairs are few; most damaged ships stay that way.

Turn 2

Administrative Segment

The Imperial Intervention roll comes up “Economic Boom,” meaning the governor gets +10 Resources this turn. This is very good, because he is in desperate need of more ships. He was considering making an Appeal to the Emperor, but the 1 Glory Point loss would be fatal if the Terrans are able to invade and take over one Imperial world and one Imperial outpost this turn. That would lose the Governor 4 more Glory and drop his total to zero, winning the war for the Terrans. So, he just decides to spend his good fortune on lots of ships.

After collecting points from planets and budgets, the Resource point totals are Imperial 39, Terran 49.

The governor builds 2 CLs, 2 DDs and 2 fighters for 30 points. The Terrans build an outpost (for transport to an uninhabited planet, where it will produce more Resources), a heavy cruiser (CA), a transport (TR), a CL, a TB and a repair ship (for maintenance in enemy territory) for 38 points.

Activation Segment 1

The Imperials roll a 5, and the Terrans roll a 1.

Imperial Activation #1: The governor jumps at the chance to try and hit the Terrans when they’re seemingly having trouble coordinating their invasion. Fleet 3 out of Nusku 1 makes three jumps to Barnard’s Star and attacks Terran Fleet 3 there.

Forces:

• Imperial : 2 DDs (one damaged)
• Terran: 2 SC

Combat Rounds:

1. Only the Imperial DDs have missiles for long-range fire, but they miss the SCs. The scouts close range, hoping to destroy the damaged DD.

2. The Terran scouts do indeed destroy the damaged Imperial DD, but the Imperials destroy one of the scouts.

3. The remaining DD destroys the last Terran SC.

Imperial Fleet 2 remains at Barnard’s Star.

Terran Activation #1: The Terrans must eject the Imperials from Barnard’s Star or they’ll transport in jump troops on an attack transport and drop them to fight the Terran jump troops there for the outpost. The newly reinforced (with builds from Turn 1) and still damaged but famous Terran Fleet 1 leaves Earth and hits Imperial Fleet 2 at Barnard’s Star.

Forces:

• Imperials: DD & SC
• Terrans: 2 CLs (one damaged), 2 TBs (one damaged), DD

Combat Rounds:

1. The Imperials destroy the damaged Terran CL, while the Terrans destroy the Imperial SC. The remaining Imperial DD disengages and heads back to Agidda.

Imperial Activation #2: Fleet 2 moves back south from Shuligi to Agidda to reinforce the retreating Fleet 3. It isn’t needed to the east right now since the Terrans can’t activate anymore this action segment.

The Imperials pass on the rest of their activations.

Activation Segment 2

The Terrans roll a 5 and the Imperials roll a 2.

Terran Activation #1: The still-victorious First Fleet at Barnard’s Star moves southwest to hit Imperial Fleets 2 and 3 at Agidda.

Forces:

• Terran: CL, 2 TBs (one damaged), DD
• Imperial : CL, 2 DDs

Combat Rounds:

1. The Imperial CL and a DD get two missile hits on the Terran CL, but the CL rolls two 6’s on three countermeasures dice and deflects them both! Then the Imperial CL shows that it knows that trick too, and deflects the one missile hit the Terrans get on it. The Imperials then disengage and head southwest to Dushann.

The Imperials pass.

Terran Activation #2: Newly built Transport Fleet 8 (with troops loaded) moves from Alpha Centauri B to Barnard’s Star.

The Imperials pass again.

Terran Activation #3: Terran Fleet 2 (an SC now reinforced with a TB) joins First Fleet at Agidda.

The Imperials continue to pass.

Terran Activation #4: Fleet 9 (TB and transport) moves from Alpha Centauri A east to Procyon to join the invaders.

Imperials pass again.

Terran Activation #5: Transport fleets 6 and 7 move to Barnard’s Star and Procyon respectively.

Activation Segment 3

The Terrans roll a 4, and the Imperials roll a 1.

Terran Activation #1: First Fleet and Fleet 2 move southwest of Agidda and strike the last ships guarding the western Imperial holdings at Dushann.

Forces:

• Imperial: CL, 2 DDs
• Terran: CL, 3 TBs (one damaged), DD, SC

Combat Rounds:

1. The Imperials miss, but the Terran TBs get 5 hits on the Imperial CL, destroying it outright on the first round! The Imperials disengage, running northwest to Ishimshulgi, hoping to at least delay the Terrans from destroying the transports at Amarku.

Imperial Activation #1: The transports way north at Dingir drop their troops on the planet in anticipation of invaders.

Terran Activation #2: Transport fleets 6 and 8 move southwest to Agidda (behind First and Second fleets — they don’t want to expose themselves to a suicide attack by the DDs at Ishimshulgi next activation segment).

Terran Activation #3: The previously feinting but now really scouting Scout Fleet 4 moves northwest from Sirius to Tau Ceti 1. Detecting the monitor guarding the Imperial world there, it then moves west to the outpost at Shruppak and detects the PDS there. It then moves north to Gashidda to pursue the unmoving Imperial Fleet 5 — it must not be powerful since it ran away.

Terran Activation #4: Invasion/Transport fleets 5, 7 and 9 move northwest from Procyon to Sirius. Next activation they’ll be ready to invade the empire from the East while First and Second Fleets spearhead the invasion of the west. . . .

Activation Segment 4

BUT BOTH PLAYERS ROLL SIXES! The Terrans get their wireless crossed, and the Imperials have had confusion thrown upon them, so there’s operational breakdown on both sides and nobody can activate this segment!

This is very, very bad for the Earthers, because they’re all in pre-strike positions in deep space. They can’t get any Resource points for maintenance from worlds and outposts, so they have to spend all their remaining Resource points just to keep their ships alive. They run out of Resources before maintaining all of their ships and troops, so one infantry unit on a transport at Sirus starves and dies, and another infantry unit on a transport at Agidda flips to half-strength. The Imperials (or what little is left of them) are all fine, because they’re all sitting on worlds and outposts waiting for the end. They do have Resource points remaining, so they repair their one damaged DD at Ishimshulgi. . . .

AND THE EMPIRE IS SAVED! (At least for now.)

Turn 3

The governor puts on his best uniform and fires up the holo-link for a last-ditch Appeal to the Emperor . . . but is immediately blessed with a 3D vision of the Divine Countenance Itself, which proclaims that He has anticipated the Governor’s every need. (Translation: The Imperial player rolls a 9 on the Imperial Intervention Table, which results in a Mandated Offensive. The Emperor declares an offensive must be launched in this sector, and sends two battleships (B1 and B2) plus two heavy cruisers (CAs) to accomplish this). The governor falls down and weeps all over the Emperor’s virtual boots . . .

The Imperial Battlefleet starts at Dingir in the northwest corner of the map. It is split into two fleet counters to oppose both invasions. Resource totals for the turn are Imperial 35, Terran 49.

The condition of the Mandated Offensive is that the Emperor must gain Glory every turn, or he’ll withdraw his battlefleet, so the Governor builds lots of troops to occupy Terran worlds and outposts.

The Terrans, on the other hand, suddenly find themselves way out on a limb, with their home worlds devoid of troops to protect them (they’re all on transports in deep space, ready to invade the now incredibly powerful Empire). They are also massively outgunned, so they have to build lots of powerful ships right now (even though they won’t arrive for 2 or 3 turns). They spend 41 points to build a battleship (B), a strike cruiser (CS) and a CL.

Action Segment 1

The Terrans roll a 4 and the Imperials roll a 3.

Terran Activation #1: Not wanting to blow the one opportunity for an invasion he might have, and hoping that a successful takeover of an Imperial outpost will negate any Imperial Glory gains (and cause the battlefleet to leave), he goes ahead with the invasion from Sirius to the east (the forces there are farthest from the Imperial Battlefleet). The transports whose troops did not starve advance northwest to the Imperial outpost at Shruppak. They’ll have to wait until next activation segment to drop their troops and take over the outpost. The empty transport goes back to Procyon.

Imperial Activation #1: The two sections of the Battlefleet plus a transport fleet at Dingir activate and head out. The transports follow Battlefleet 3 eastward and stop at Shuligi, while the Battlefleet goes one farther to Enki-Kalama (just west of the Terran invaders hovering above Shruppak). Then Battlefleet 1 goes four jumps south from Dingir and hits the Terran First and Second Fleets at Dushann.

Forces:

• Imperial: B1, CA, DD (10 beams, 15 missiles, B1 and CA take 2 hits to damage)
• Terran: CL, 3 TBs (one damaged), DD (damaged), SC (6 beams, 15 missiles)

Combat Rounds:

1. The Imperials damage the CL, kill a TB in one round with three hits, and damage another TB. The CL and two TBs fire back at the B1 and get 3 hits, which are halved to 2 because light ship weapons are too small to damage most capital ships. Then the B1 rolls a 6 on countermeasures, which deflects one of the two hits. That brings the hits down to 1, which is not enough to damage it. The Imperial DD is damaged, however. The Terrans then try to disengage, but the Imperials roll higher.

2. The Imperials roll to close the range and succeed! Their beam fire is murderous, and they blow up the CL, a TB, the DD and the SC. The Imperial DD is destroyed in return.

3. The Terrans can’t escape, but as a dying gesture they get hits on the B1 to damage it. The Imperials miss the last surviving TB, which escapes to Agidda.

The Glorious First and Second Fleets have died heroically defending Earth, and only a TB survives to tell the tale. . . .

Terran Activation #2: The transport fleets at Agidda which were poised to invade the Imperial west turn and flee east, hoping to outrun the Imperial Battlefleet so they can drop troops there to defend the Terran home worlds from Imperial troops. The TB who brought the news of the disaster at Dushann stays at Agidda to delay the Imperial onslaught.

Imperial Activation #2: Fleet 2 moves from Ishimshulgi to Agidda to hit the damaged TB there.

Forces:

• Imperial: 2 DDs
• Terran: TB (damaged)

Combat Rounds:

1. The Imperials destroy the TB on the first missile shot. The way to Barnard’s Star is now open.

Terran Activation #3: The newly built CL guarding Earth streaks southwest to Agidda to hit the two DDs of Imperial Fleet 2 which just destroyed the TB. But the CL is destroyed by long-range missile fire, while it is only able to damage one Imperial DD.

Imperial Activation #3: Fleets 4 and 8 (loaded transports and a CS) activate, with the transports advancing to Agidda and the CS going beyond to Barnard’s Star.

Terran Activation #4: The two scout ships up north at Gashidda 2 try to sneak past Battlefleet #3 at Enki-Kalamma, but they roll and 11 and get attacked. One is destroyed and the other disengages and flees south to Shruppak.

Action Segment 2

Imperials roll a 5, and Terrans roll a 2.

Imperial Activation #1: Battlefleet 3 hits the just-about-to-start invasion of Shruppak, and destroys everything there except the scout which escaped here from Enki Kalamma last segment. The scout escapes to Markhashi. But the would-be invaders do manage to damage an Imperial CA before dying.

Terran Activation #1: The transports at Alpha Centauri B drop their troops there, while another moves to Earth.

Imperial Activation #2: Battlefleet 1 bypasses Barnard’s Star and moves straight to Mars, which is guarded only by a transport and a TB. They blow up the transport and damage the TB, but it disengages and escapes to Earth.

Terran Activation #2: Transports drop their troops on Earth, and the TB there moves down to Barnard’s Star to attack the Imperial CS there. The CS destroys it.

The Imperials have three more activations this action segment while the Terrans have none, and the Terrans have no more warships on the board. The Empire invades Mars and takes it, earning 3 Glory for a Terran world captured. They then invade the unguarded outpost at Proxima Centauri and take it, earning another Glory.

That brings the Empire’s glory total up to 9, which is 1 short of victory. The Terrans will get a couple of ships next turn, but they will be destroyed by the Imperials, who are now swarming all over Earth sector. The war is over, and . . .

THE EMPIRE WINS!

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