Strengthen Bonds: an async Twilight Imperium podcast

Episode 28 - Let’s Help Dane Accidentally Something

BLT talks about playing, fast and slow — plus, let's win a silly popularity contest on BGG! 
0:35 - Root for Fin in the SCPT Finals!1:35 - On playing fast and floating windows7:55 - Vote for TI4 in the BGG Geek Madness tournament! (and like a lawnmower or something?)10:28 Weird game mode of the week11:33 Tech of the week (Psychoarchaeology)14:42 Async tips of the week17:00 Various updatesBGG Geek Madness: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/335702/2024-geek-madness-tournament-quarterfinals-elite-e?itemid=10706244#10706244

Episode 27 - Rand is an Async Junkie

Rand joins the show to talk about the origin of TI Junkies, the importance of emojis, the joy of playing Nekro, and an idea for building up a TI Junkies-esque story for every async game! (warning: I think I actually got the volume louder finally!)
1:28 Why play async when you get to play TI synchronously so often?
4:07 Why async is better than IRL! 
6:25 The origin of TI Junkies
9:45 Can we record micro-summaries from each player at the end of each round, and then reveal them at the end?
14:45 Rand's infinite money printing scheme
21:35 Do you derp more in async or in live games?
24:30 Shoutout to Zulu's tournament in Seattle
27:20 Tech of the week (Plasma Scoring)
31:04 Various updatesTI Junkies YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TIJunkies

Episode 26 - Tournament 2 Finalists

BLT introduces the Tournament 2 finalists and shares some info about each of them, so we know who we're watching! Also a final update on Sigma's leaders  tournament, the first all-Commander game, and BLT hits 100 PoK games played.
1:41 - Intro to Tournament 2 finalists
9:44 - Best thing I saw this week
10:57 - Stats thing of the week (Sigma's leaders tournament: https://challonge.com/ti4lead/standings )
15:40 - Tech of the week (Infantry II)
21:30 - Weird rules thing of the week
23:03 - Various updates
 

Episode 25 - That Lovely Speaker Token

BLT discusses the practice of selling the speaker token to the person on your right, with input from pally and OldTom'sBootsandHat. Also, this was recorded before the  last Tournament 2 finalist was determined — more on that next week!
1:45 Selling the speaker token
13:55 Best thing I saw this week (infinite Nekro/Letnev money)
15:58 Random stats thing of the week (randomkiblitzer’s Tech tournament: https://swissonlinetournament.com/Tournament/Rating/2342875ccec149ed849dcf1edc38793f )
19:00 Tech of the week (Dread 2)
21:25 Async tip of the week (bot thread buttons)
24:58 Weird rules thing of the week (Creuss IFF)
26:26 Various updates

Episode 24 - Ghosts are Fun

BLT shares a few fun game anecdotes, including the Hil Colish being… good? Plus, a 4v4 alliance fog game variant, and Milty draft coming into the bot itself. 
2:33 Random personal thing of the week
4:35 Best thing(s) I saw this week, from pally and sarbor (and BLT)
11:05 Stats thing of the week (Ghosts winning tech paths)
12:50 Weird game mode of the week (4v4 alliance fog mode from Fin)
16:20 Tech of the week (Sling Relay)
20:35 Async tip of the week
22:15 Various updates
 

Episode 23 - The Friends You Eliminate Along the Way, with susan

susan joins the show to talk about playing TI with a more aggressive playstyle, the power of whispers, and Embers of the Imperium. 
 
1:33 - Best thing I saw this week
2:50 - susan joins the show!
3:40 - Why are you aggressive, and how do people tend to respond?
7:25 - Aggression can be fun; going counter to the meta can be especially fun
10:38 - A conversation about whispers in async games
13:48 - Aggression in async games (vs synchronous games) and ghosting/ragequitting
17:10 - Creative writing, TTRPGs, susan's TI4 murder mystery, and async Embers of the Imperium
20:30 - susan's favorite faction
24:42 - Being aggressive but still being chill above the table
25:53 - Tech of the week: Space Dock II
28:20 - Async tip(s) of the week
31:36 - Weird rules thing of the week - Mahact Commander
33:00 - Various updates
 
Susan’s guide to Being a Pleasant Habitual Murderer https://docs.google.com/document/d/144B9ikAVa6s2_NxzT5eQSlBSiThbYN85fhJSmtYz7nM/edit  

Episode 22 - GMing Fog Games

BLT shares the joys of running fog games and the thought process behind the foggy maps he makes, plus the usual rundown of various things "of the week".
1:07 GMing fog of war games
3:33 Getting to see everything!
5:55 Building fog maps
13:38 Best thing(s) I saw this week: Enrick and ppups
16:06 Stats thing of the week: most common win paths for 10- and 14-point games
19:17 Tech of the week: X-89 Bacterial Weapon Ω
21:35 Async tip(s) of the week
27:10 Various updates

Episode 21 - Tech Paths for Everyone

BLT shares how good an experience he had losing his SCPT game, talks about Arborec and Muaat again, and congratulates the 5th finalist in Async Tournament 2.
0:40 SCPT Prelims game mini-recap
1:50 Best thing I saw this week
3:33 Stats thing of the week: faction tech path data
6:10 Weird game mode of the week: 2 games using the same Milty draft
8:55 Tech of the week: War Sun
12:10 Various updates
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Winslaying blog from TheCalculatingPoet: https://bellumgloriosum.substack.com/p/the-many-flavors-of-winslaying 

Episode 20 - Campaign Games (with sarbor)

sarbor joins us to talk about campaign games in Twilight Imperium! If you've ever wanted a sort of "legacy" aspect to TI, this is a great way to get into it. 
0:34 Async tournament 3!2:24 sarbor!5:22 Campaign TI games19:20 How do I get started with my own campaign game?22:20 Fog campaigns and fun Fin maps25:49 Why we love Arborec31:57 Various updates

Episode 19 - Mailbag Episode #1

BLT is traveling, so instead of coming up with anything useful to say, he let the Discord server tell him what to say instead. He also may have almost lost his voice before recording.
0:37 Mailbag questions!
19:55 Tech of the week - PDS 2
22:45 Various updates