Triplanetary Play Experiences

Tom H. · 06-28-2018, 12:14 AM

I finally got to play Triplanetary yesterday with a friend.

We just tried the learning scenario Bi-Planetary, and it surprised me.

This scenario just involves a race against your opponent to traverse between two planets by harnessing the vector movement system to your best advantage.

I initially thought that the ideal route would be unique and highly precise. However, we both tied using different strategies. It seems that space and thrust are more forgiving.

If I remember correctly this was our "score".

Me: 14 turns, 13 fuel
My friend: 14 turns, 12 fuel

My route was a little less direct, but I got up to a bit higher speed.

If you are comparing, I want to clarify exactly what I counted as turns.
For example:
Turn 1: Boosters take me off Venus into an initial gravity hex.
Turn 2: I burn a fuel to move laterally into an adjacent gravity hex thereby inducing orbit.
Turn 3: I burn another fuel to escape orbit.
. . .
Turn 14: I burn a fuel to descend from Martian orbit to land on the planet.

Today, I decided to attempt the most direct route from Venus to Mars by myself. Surprisingly, it still took me 14 turns, but I reduced my fuel consumption to just 11 burns.

If anyone can beat the 14 turn travel time, I would like to know.

Also, if you have any other interesting play experiences to share, you can always co-opt this thread.

mstlaurent · 06-28-2018, 05:21 PM

My sons and I played two games last weekend.

We started with the race scenario. Now, I played Triplanetary in its original incarnation, but I haven't touched it in thirty years at this point. I beat my nine-year-old by one turn. My eleven-year-old lagged us by about three turns, but the movement system kicked his kiester at one point and he wound up losing a lot of time navigating between Mercury and Sol.

For our second game we tried the Nova scenario. For future reference, the Nova scenario becomes very unbalanced when the EastBloc and WestBloc players decide to bury the hatchet and gang up on the hapless Alien player. And if either of the Bloc players just puts a couple of Dreadnaughts into orbit around Sol, it makes it really difficult for the Aliens in any case.

But in any case we all had fun, and my boys are hooked.

06-28-2018, 12:14 AM	#1
Tom H. Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Central Texas, north of Austin	Triplanetary Play Experiences I finally got to play Triplanetary yesterday with a friend. We just tried the learning scenario Bi-Planetary, and it surprised me. This scenario just involves a race against your opponent to traverse between two planets by harnessing the vector movement system to your best advantage. I initially thought that the ideal route would be unique and highly precise. However, we both tied using different strategies. It seems that space and thrust are more forgiving. If I remember correctly this was our "score". Me: 14 turns, 13 fuel My friend: 14 turns, 12 fuel My route was a little less direct, but I got up to a bit higher speed. If you are comparing, I want to clarify exactly what I counted as turns. For example: Turn 1: Boosters take me off Venus into an initial gravity hex. Turn 2: I burn a fuel to move laterally into an adjacent gravity hex thereby inducing orbit. Turn 3: I burn another fuel to escape orbit. . . . Turn 14: I burn a fuel to descend from Martian orbit to land on the planet. Today, I decided to attempt the most direct route from Venus to Mars by myself. Surprisingly, it still took me 14 turns, but I reduced my fuel consumption to just 11 burns. If anyone can beat the 14 turn travel time, I would like to know. Also, if you have any other interesting play experiences to share, you can always co-opt this thread.

06-28-2018, 05:21 PM	#2
mstlaurent Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: Triplanetary Play Experiences My sons and I played two games last weekend. We started with the race scenario. Now, I played Triplanetary in its original incarnation, but I haven't touched it in thirty years at this point. I beat my nine-year-old by one turn. My eleven-year-old lagged us by about three turns, but the movement system kicked his kiester at one point and he wound up losing a lot of time navigating between Mercury and Sol. For our second game we tried the Nova scenario. For future reference, the Nova scenario becomes very unbalanced when the EastBloc and WestBloc players decide to bury the hatchet and gang up on the hapless Alien player. And if either of the Bloc players just puts a couple of Dreadnaughts into orbit around Sol, it makes it really difficult for the Aliens in any case. But in any case we all had fun, and my boys are hooked.