We were playing a 6 player game of Twilight Imperium Prophecy of Kings and I was the Mahact Gene-Sorceres, a somewhat violent faction that bases most of their strategy on battle.

From the start of the game, people were weary of me. They made it their goal to see me fail wherever possible. They purposely voted against policies in their interest just so I wouldn't get what I wanted. I knew that it would be an uphill battle.

Towards the middle of the game, I was lagging behind pretty severely. But as someone who isn't aggressive and a more political player, I couldn't just attack anyone I wanted. I had to use other means to qchieve my goals. Using my savvy puppydog eyes and convincing everyone that I was behind enough to not pose any threat to anyone, I convinced other players to let me team up with them to defeat the leading players, since they were at 10-11 points (out of 14) and I was at a measly 6.

The great part about being an underdog for most of the game is that people still remember you as a weakling, even as you progress towards their level. I was able to achieve several public and secret objectives in the final hours of the game to bring myself up on par with everyone else.

Even better, the leading player (playing the Ghosts of Creuss and now at 13 points) had Mecatol Rex, the most powerful system in the galaxy and held the Imperial card, meaning they could win the game on their turn. Unless anyone stopped them.

The game board transformed to an all out war. People sent as many Dreadnaughts, War Suns, Destroyers, and Mechs as they could to the system. It seemed like each player's turn could turn the tide. But the Ghosts held strong. They had an endless stream of backup pieces from their home planet and were able to fend off all other players.

On my turn, however, I used my Hero ability: choosing 2 adjacent factions and making them fight to the death. I used it on the Ghosts on Mecatol and the Sardakk N'orr, another powerful militant faction. The battle was close, but the Ghosts held them off, though severely weakened.

Throughout that phase, Mecatol changed hands about 3 times. The weakened Ghosts were taken over by the L1Z1X Mindnet, who in turn lost it to the Embers of Muaat. I was able to snag it myself and hold it until the end of the round. I was ecstatic! I might just come out on top.

It was just my luck, too, that I was the Speaker that round and was able to select the Imperial card, meaning if I could only hold on to Mecatol Rex until my turn, the game would be mine!

War broke out again. People were making alliances with each other in order to try to take me out! The Ghosts of Creuss ended up attacking me and they were supported by the other players. Last round they were the villains, but now they were the only hope of letting the game continue. Bringing extra ships from their wormhole onto the battlefield,I felt nervouse. I was outnumbered. It all came down to the tosses of dice and the odds weren't in my favor.

I started off by getting the upper hand, assigning more hits than the Ghosts. Unfortunately, my luck didn't hold and I quickly fell back behind. I destroyed the Ghosts' War Suns and Dreadnaughts, but the cost was too high and I ended up losing the battle and in turn, Mecatol Rex, my only chance at victory.

But then I saw it! I had an Action Phase Secret Objective: destroy another player's War Sun or Flagship. Though I lost the battle and it seemed like my enemies had a chance, I played my final card and gained that last victory point, winning the game and returning the Mahact Gene-Sorceres to their rightful place on the throne at the center of the galaxy.

The game took 15 hours and we finished at 2 am, but it was the greatest board game experience of my life!