In the year 2388, a group of university students working in the Tycho Crater settlement, New Pottsdam, invent the long-desired technology of a Faster Than Light (FTL) propulsion system. (In this case, an Alcubierre design.) Mankind expands outward in every direction, for 3000 light years, in the next 700 years.
It is now the year 3000 AD, and after a little less than 700 years of FTL technology, man has created a modest sphere of inhabited systems some 6000 light years in diameter, and a collective population nearing 1 trillion souls. Many, many systems containing habitable worlds still remain to be explored and colonized within that sphere, yet the expansion relentlessly continues. A few, planet-bound sapient races have been found, but no other race with space travel (much less FTL capability) has yet to be revealed.
But the Milky Way galaxy is a vast expanse of hundreds of billions of stars, and despite centuries of FTL drives, Man (or the race of your choosing) has still only seen the smallest fraction of a single percentage point of those star systems.
Much, much more lies out there, not the least of which is other, star-faring races. And of those, some are hopefully friendly and open-armed (in some cases, figuratively), some likely paranoid beyond reason, some simply convinced that any species other than their own must be eradicated, but most will likely fall in various places across the spectrum of possibilities. The diplomatic skills of man will be sorely tested, as may his ability and will to wage interstellar warfare.
Fourth Millennium is a 4X game for 1 to 6 players, set on a map of the entire Milky Way galaxy – 100,000 light years in diameter – where each player will represent a different, interstellar species, and will choose their own path in attempting to carve out the biggest and best empire, encountering a variety of 36, possible alien races, each with its own unique attributes, attitude, and aspirations, not to mention the empires being built by the other players. The game engine is driven by action points, and the makeup of your empire will dictate how many action points you'll get each turn. You'll then decide how to use your action points - maintaining existing and building new fleets and armadas, adding more population (and thus more research abilities or even generating victory points), exploring new sectors, conducting player and Autonomous Race diplomacy, and improving research. You'll also have the chance every turn to improve your technology in four different categories.
Staying relevant technologically will prove a challenge. Some alien races you encounter may be more advanced than you…and not happy about your presence on their doorstep. Indeed, you may even need to ally with other players in order to whittle down a common threat.
And during your explorations, you may find multiple artifacts, left behind by a long-gone race. They are key to understanding new technologies and improving your overall civilization. But be forewarned. Those who left behind these artifacts - which we call "The Phobe" - are still observing, may decide to intervene, and if so, with the sole intent of destroying all, competing star-faring races. And they are quite capable of doing so.
—description from the designer
Science Fiction, Space Exploration, Wargame · Action Points, Dice Rolling, Grid Movement, Hexagon Grid
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