Fantasy Flight Games has announced more details concerning the November release of the Rex: Final Days of an Empire (MSRP $59.95), a reimagined version of Avalon Hill’s Dune set in FFG’s Twilight Imperium universe, is a board game of negotiation, betrayal, and warfare in which 3-6 players take control of a great interstellar civilization, competing for dominance in the galaxy’s crumbling imperial city. Set 3000 years before the events of Twilight Imperium, Rex takes place during the last days of the Lazax Empire, presenting players who represent factions with wildly asymmetrical racial abilities with opportunities for diplomacy, deception, and tactical mastery.
Players vie for control of the continent-size Mecatol City. Only by securing three key locations (or more when allied with other factions) can a play dominate the expiring empire. Though open diplomacy or backdoor dealmaking can often make combat avoidable, when two or more opposing forces occupy the same area, a battle results.
The six factions vying for control of Mecatol City are The Lazax Empire, The Federation of Sol, The Universities of Jol-Nar, The Emirates of Hacan, The Xxcha Kingdom, and The Barony of Letnev.
A host of optional rules and additional variants mean that no two games of Rex will be exactly alike. The game’s asymmetrical faction abilities also provide variety, since playing as each of the factions offers a very different play experience, demanding different tactics and skills from the player.
Rex utilizes the classic game mechanics of Avalon Hill’s Dune, but substitutes the factions of FFG’s Twilight Imperium for the competing factions of Frank Herbert’s novel (and thus avoids the need to acquire the Dune license, which in spite of a considerable effort, FFG was unable to obtain). Along with the recently announced new version of Wiz-War, the classic board game of fighting wizards, (see “Five New FFG Board Games”), the new version of Rex, which essentially revives the essence of Avalon Hill’s Dune, demonstrates FFG’s commitment to keep these classic late 20th Century board games as part of its ongoing product mix.
