There are two new planets, dwarf planets, which are basically asteroids with up to 50 population and more random resource extractors, and the occupation planet, which is used for the occupation victory.

Speaking of which the new victory conditions (Capital, flagship, occupation, and research) I suppose count if you don't know about them, but they got a fair bit of publicity so I wouldn't call them hidden either.

The AI does seem to be a bit better, at least to me. Early game they can be quite nasty, and will make you work for your expansion, though eventually starbases and titans do bring them back into line late game.

There are also some new item you can use for galaxy forge and custom maps, and as with any new expansion but especially with this one the new stuff will give modders more options. But whether its worth $30 dollars to trinity owners is a tough question, as much of Rebellion was inherited from Diplomacy, and its one only you can answer from everything that will be posted on this thread.

The AI is still a work in progress but I've noticed that it makes a better ally (I only play SP) than in trinity.  It's more supportive without being told to be and especially for the Advent it's using superweapons better - firing at planets it or I was attacking not just randomly.

Once I had a starbase slowly loosing to a titan in an otherwise empty gravwell but it was keeping the titan busy while I attacked on another front.  Eventually a single subjugator pops into the system and hits my SB with perserverance - very cool.

No, another high level Titan with Capital ships (preferably Battleships/Carriers) can do the same thing.

That's because the Eradica is made for taking out multiple targets at once while the Coronata is better equipped for taking on a single tougher target.

If both Titans had fleets with them you can be sure the Eradica will have wiped out the enemy fleet way before the Coronata can do the same, and then it's not a Titan 1v1, it's a lone Titan against a whole fleet.

How many new units are there?

Really...the different factions should have gotten their own new cap ship.

Love the game always have, an appreciate it's rock solid, but come on.....guys give us some new toys.....

With three new games being built concurrently I think Stardock is being stretched a little thin.

Ironclads: Sins of a Dark Age

The point being Ironclad does not have 100% time allotted to give us extra content in SOS, because they are doing SODA.

And I think GoaFan77 missed something: there are also about 10 new techs for each sub factions. Those new techs, may change the game severely, so each sub-faction may not be one you know any more.

And also some tweaks. Let the exact numbers alone, what I found are:

• Advent culture upgrade now grants some chance of blocking phase missile.
• Vasari fighters now use pulse beams instead of phase missiles.

I'm not sure if more.

Argh, I forgot that. Yes, it is really a big change. Now some of the skills are useless.

I would definitely recommend it to new players that want to evolve their skills in the RTS genre. Actually, I think Sins is the best place to start getting into the genre, for it isn't as fast paced as other popular RTS titles like StarCraft 2 or C&CQ Tiberium Alliances.

When playing Sins on less high difficulty levels you have time enough to start to get the hang of the game, while Sins packs a great challange when facing harder AI players and even more when entering the multiplayer scene (assuming the desynchs get fixed).

Sins has never had a campaign. In this way its set up more like a 4X turn based game like Master of Orion or civilization. You pick a map to play with the settings you like then whatever happens is up to you. Or in what I think greatly underestimates this game, its just "skirmish mode".