Space Empires 4X Endgame: All Good Things Part 2

MarcM, 16 April 2026

The battle was joined, and the hits were coming. Would the Enterprise survive?

A missile scores two damage points on Enterprise. One more hit destroys it.

The Flagship rolled to repair one point of damage, but with the -2 modifier, was able to repair both.

click images to enlarge

The Terrans are able to use their Damage Control Crew Card to successfully roll for repairs on both hits. However, Enterprise is the only Terran ship of any size remaining and next round takes the opportunity to retreat.

Enterprise retreats, but with Sisu in pursuit, things don’t look good.

The Sisuians pursue and engage the Terrans. Combat continues, the repair rolls fail this time and Enterprise is destroyed by missiles.

Terra is severely compromised. They don’t have the speed the Sisuian ships got as a result of their Scenario Card, and as a result of their own Scenario Card, they pay extra maintenance for every ship. And while they’ve been focusing on ground troops as an invasion force thanks to the jump gates, Sisu has a modest ground force as well so a ground victory isn’t certain. Meanwhile, Terra needs to rebuild their navy and Sisu’s small force can do a lot of damage to colonies before help arrives. Terra’s not out but they’re definitely down.

They lost their ships, left planets uncolonized, and now they face an enemy fleet in orbit.

In the end it was a rushed and lopsided combat, but it makes the point. While Close Encounters and Replicators each added ground combat and a completely unique Empire for major shifts in gameplay, All Good Things brings a range of smaller changes that improve the game and add replayability.

I had no idea what to expect from Missile Boats. They added a small but fresh touch to combat.

How Did It All Work?

The new Empires really only add a couple of ship variants. But Missile Boats offer an advantage early in ship-building tech. The missiles are slow, but they pack power. And even if you take out the Missile Boats right away, they might have already launched their missiles.

When the Plasma Storm finally moved, it went right into the Black Hole. And that was that.

The new system markers definitely make the board more interesting for me, but they didn’t have an impact on the game I played. We encountered a Plasma Storm, but the surrounding terrain kept it from moving and wreaking the havoc I was hoping for. And then it disappeared into a Black Hole. The new terrain is more of a factor when you have a large Deep Space area, I think.

Colonel Alexandre Boureau and his +1 didn’t impress me as much as Ensign Haslo’s damage control efforts. In fairness, Boureau works best with Fighters.

Crew Cards are a mixed bag for me. The combat modifiers don’t feel new, and they give me more bookkeeping, but I think some of the cards add innovative twists to the game. The ability to repair during combat is an example. There are also Crew members that let a ship fire at a higher class, deal two points of damage, re-roll an attack, cancel hits and more.

Scenario Modifier Cards had the potential to make the biggest change in my game. Expensive Ships slowed the Terran Empire, and getting two Empire Advantage cards gave Sisu ships that could speed halfway across the board in just a couple of moves. Other Modifier Cards put aggressive aliens in your home system, give you advanced ships, decrease Tech costs and more. There’s potential for chaos here.

All Good Things

And like the other expansions, there are additions in All Good Things that I’ve yet to try out. Planet Attributes provides variation to Deep Space and non-player aliens. The uniqueness of the Alternate Empires gets a bit deeper as you play. Logistic Centers add new supply rules. Temporal Centers generate points to activate effects ranging from revealing an enemy group to re-rolling combat to suddenly removing an entire Empire from the game. But by this point in the series there are so many variations I really have to pick just a handful so I can keep up and enjoy the game. And I think, as I sift through them all, that’s a key point for Space Empires and the expansions. So many, many ways to play. New rules from each expansion work seamlessly together but also work when you just skip the ones you don’t want to play. Each playthrough can be unique.

My Vestian Scout Ship is about to enter Bot space, That will turn the Fleet at the top of the defensive so they’ll move to intercept. I think.

One thing I didn’t mention yet. There’s a new Solo Bot with a really robust set of rules. From what I’ve played so far it has tremendous potential, but I’m truly not “getting it” yet. Hopefully a few rounds in it’ll start to make sense.

I’ve already had a few “aha” moments, just not enough to confidently know what I’m doing. A flowchart in the documentation would be nice, but there are lots of rules and maybe the size was prohibitive.

I don’t like endings, but All Good Things ends the Space Empires 4X series well. Some of the new features land better for me than others, but regardless, Krohn has continued to layer on new features that make it worth coming back to the game to get a different experience each time. If I had one issue, it’s this. The more of the new rules you play, the more you’re committing to, well, paperwork. Not a problem necessarily, but something to be aware of if you want to get the full Space Empires experience. The great news is, the rules are so modular you can choose your level of record keeping and still get an enjoyable game. Now to get back to the Solo Bot. And try out those features I skipped. And organize. Wow. I think I could write a multi-part series on corralling all of the series counters, cards, player aids, documentation and production sheets…oh yeah, and the board…in a usable fashion.

Right before the two Empires fell, I had the ships organized (counter trays not included). At least I got them off the floor before the terrier found them.

And I do need to organize.

Space Empires 4X Series
(Re)introduction ~ (Re)Learning AAR pt 1 & pt 2 ~ Ground Battles pt 1 & pt 2 ~ Replicators pt 1 & pt 2 ~ All Good Things pt 1 & pt 2 ~ Forum Thread

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